Friday, January 24, 2020

Comparing Satire in 100 Years of Solitude and The House of the Spirits :: Comparison Compare Contrast Essays

Use of Satire in 100 Years of Solitude and The House of the Spirits A major preoccupation with contemporary South American novelists, as seen with Gabriel Marquez's "100 years of solitude" and Isabelle Allende's "The house of the spirits", is the traditional and long lasting conflict between the Liberals and the conservatives. Although a common preoccupation with Marquez, Allende, and various other Latin American novelists the manner in which this preoccupation is expressed varies considerably depending on the author. In "100 years of solitude", Marquez looks to satire in all it's forms, to express this preoccupation. This is contrasted with Allende's "The House of the Spirits" in which she uses conflict in ideologies between generations as her method of exposition, as seen for instance in the conflict between Esteban Trueba (a true conservative) and his grandaughter Alba. To see how Garcia and Allende treat political issues we must first examine why they chose to examine them. When Marquez wrote his first works Colombia suffered the second greatest American fratricidal war of the twentieth century, as a result of the assassination of the popular Liberal leader Jorge Eliecer Gaitan, in 1948. His novels examine in his words "... motives for that violence." The importance of politics in the Novel is reflected in the choice of title 100 years of solitude which correspond to the 100 years between the formation of Colombia, in 1830 to 1930 when Conservative homogeny ended. Allende on the other hand was the niece of the first Socialist president in Chile who was killed following the Coup. The Oxford Dictionary defines satire as a piece "...in which prevalent follies or vices are assailed with ridicule or serious denunciation." This is exactly what Marquez has done. Hyperbole is well used in the novel in the form of 'Magical realism'. Marquez believed that ' Magical Realism' "...provides a magnifying glass so readers can understand reality better..." (as quoted in Playboy interview). We first see this used in the opening pages of the novel where Marquez describes the world as "...so recent that many things lacked names, and in order to indicate them it was necessary to point." This parallels the political naivety of the newly formed Colombian republic. Macondo is a garden of Eden ".

Thursday, January 16, 2020

Certificate in Financial Maths & Modelling Syllabus

Certificate in Financial Maths & Modelling Syllabus Overview The Certificate in Financial Maths & Modelling provides a rigorous and integrated set of quantitative tools to understand and ex plain financial instruments, financial risk and corporate value and the fundamentally important relationship between them. The emphasis throughout is on t he practical modelling of real life problems and opportunities. Techniques such as no-arbitrage pricing, duration, convexity and portfolio analysis – including the trade-off between risk and return – are explained and applied. The course analyses the use of options for financial risk management, and the valuation of different types of option using binomial pricing models, the Black Scholes model and other techniques. It also int roduces and applies Value at Risk measures, their potential us es and their limitations. Study Unit 1 – Fundamental concepts in financial maths and modelling Study Unit 1 introduces the fundamental concepts of financial maths and modelling in the five areas of: interest rat e mathematics; modelling the values of a series of fixed or growing future cashflows; modelling the term structure of int erest rates using no arbitrage relationships; selected issues in probability and statistical models; and modelling the maths of Value at Risk. Study Unit 2 – Modelling the maths of debt Study Unit 2 looks at modelling the maths of debt in the main areas of: present values, fut ure cash flows, timing and risk; and interest rat e sensitivity and duration models, in particular value relationships with respect to yield, maturity, coupon rate and coupon frequency. Study Unit 3 – Modelling the maths of foreign exchange Study Unit 3 introduces the c oncepts of modelling t he maths of foreign exchange in the four areas of: quoting conventions; hedging using forward foreign exchange cont racts; the relationships bet ween foreign exchange rates, interest rates and inflation rates and applying VaR to foreign exchange risk management. Study Unit 4 – Modelling the maths of derivatives Study Unit 4 covers the maths and modelling of derivatives in t he two areas of: int roduction to derivatives mathematics; and modelling capital market swap mathematics. Study Unit 5 – Modelling the maths of options Study Unit 5 covers the maths and modelling of options in the four areas of: option payoff mathematics; option payoff maths in the context of hedging; option valuation modelling; and options arbitrage and the put-call parity relationship. Study Unit 6 – Modelling the maths of portfolios and corporate finance Study Unit 6 introduces the fundamental concepts of modelling the maths of port folios and corporate finance in the t wo areas of: modelling port folios – analysis of risk and return, and modelling for corporate finance – corporate valuation and the impact of changing capit al structure. Association of Corporate Treasurers (01. 04. 11, subject to change) Study Unit 1 – Fundamental concepts in financial maths and modelling Unit introduction 1. 0. 1 Notation and rules of algebra 1. 0. 2 Financial modelling Section 1 – Interest rate mathematics 1. 1. 1 Interest calculations and quoting convention s 1. 1. 2 The time-value relationship Section 2 – Modelling values of a series of future cashflows 1. 2. 1 Infinite series cashflows (perpetuities) and their valuation 1. 2. Finite series cashflows (annuities) and their valuation Section 3 – Modelling the term structure of interest rate s: no arbitrage relationships 1. 3. 1 Zero coupon, forward and par structures of interest rates: different forms of yield curves 1. 3. 2 No arbitrage relationships between zero coupon, forward and par rates Section 4 – Probability and stati sti cal models: selected issue s 1. 4. 1 Measures of central location (or central tendency), dispersion and correlation 1. 4. 2 Frequency distributions in theory and in practice Section 5 – Modelling the maths of Value at Risk 1. . 1 Modelling the maths of Value at Risk for single risks 1. 5. 2 Extending the modelling of Value at Risk Study Unit 2 – Modelling the maths of debt Section 1 – Short term debt 2. 1. 1 Short term debt issuers, market participants and market conventions 2. 1. 2 Calculation of interest and valuation of short term debt instruments Section 2 – Longer term debt 2. 2. 1 Analysis and valuation of bonds 2. 2. 2 Real interest rates and inflation indexing Section 3 – Interest rate sensitivity and duration models 2. 3. Duration and int erest rat e price sensitivity, relative and absolute measures 2. 3. 2 Interest rate immunisation, convexity and modified convexity Study Unit 3 – Modelling the maths of foreign exchange Section 1 – Foreign exchange mathematics 3. 1. 1 Converting between currencies: using spot foreign exchange rates 3. 1. 2 Converting between currencies: determining and using forward foreign exchange rat es 3. 1. 3 The maths of foreign exchange risk management 3. 1. 4 Applying Value at Risk to foreign exchange risk management Study Unit 4 – Modelling the maths of derivatives Section 1 – Introduction to derivative s mathematics 4. 1. 1 Payoffs for fixing derivatives and options 4. 1. 2 The maths of FRAs: cashflows, hedging, valuation and basis risk 4. 1. 3 Futures contracts: cashflows, hedging and valuation Section 2 – Modelling swap mathematics 4. 2. 1 The maths of capital market swaps including interest rate swaps 4. 2. 2 The maths of cross-currency interest rate swaps  © Association of Corporate Treasurers (01. 04. 11, subject to change) Study Unit 5 – Modelling the maths of options Section 1 – Option payoff mathematics 5. 1. 1 Payoffs from trading strategies with single options 5. 1. 2 Payoffs from trading strategies involving more than one option Section 2 – Option payoff maths: hedging and hedged results achieved 5. 2. 1 Hedging a portfolio: options plus underlying asset/(liability) 5. 2. 2 Hedging corporate exposures with options Section 3 – Option valuation modelling 5. 3. 1 Binomial option valuation models 5. 3. 2 Black Scholes option pricing model 5. 3. 3 Arbitrage and the put-call parity relationship Study Unit 6 – Modelling the maths of portfolios and corporate finance Section 1 – Modelling portfolios: analysi s of ri sk and return 6. 1. 1 Modelling simple port folios: analysis of risk and return 6. 1. 2 Modelling multi-asset port folios & portfolios including liabilities Section 2 – Modelling for corporate finance 6. 2. 1 Modelling the cost of corporate capital 6. 2. 2 Modelling the relationship between corporate value and capital structure 6. 2. 3 Modelling corporate valuation  © Association of Corporate Treasurers (01. 04. 11, subject to change)

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

South Korea And Plastic Surgery - 2001 Words

South Korea and Plastic Surgery The people of South Korea have a strong connection to plastic surgery which is evident by its usage among both women and men. According to a statistics website called nationmaster.com about 20% of the Korean population have had some kind work done on them. It is estimated that women between the ages of 20 and 50 years old underwent the knife for some reason, be it eyelid surgery or a nose job. While the act of cosmetic surgery mainly occurs in women, it has estimated that about 44% of college men think about getting plastic surgery at some point in their lives (nationmaster.com). In 2010 the number of Korean men who had cosmetic surgery was around 15% based on the Korean Association for Plastic Surgeons estimations. Any attempts to explain the high popularity of cosmetic surgery in South Korea mostly frames it in two ways: 1) Koreans have the desire to look more like white people or 2) according to feminists it is the continued subjection of women to patriarchal ideas. (Kim 2009). Ho wever, this is a very limited way of explaining why plastic surgery is so important to in South Korea because the issue is more complex than that. The plastic surgery world of South Korea shows a struggle between what they believe is beautiful, what the world and social status believes is beautiful, and what their culture believes is beautiful. Perception of cosmetic surgery The attitude that permeates the atmosphere about the idea of cosmetic surgery in SouthShow MoreRelatedThe Effects Of Plastic Surgery On South Korea786 Words   |  4 Pages3.2 Plastic Surgery Other industries like dancing school (Figure 8), fashioning boutiques and Spa (Figure 9), wedding photography (Figure 10) and plastic surgery (Figure 11) have also boosted by the Korean wave. Among these industries, the plastic surgery is particularly prominent. Figure 8: Dancing School in South Korea Figure 9: Fashioning Boutiques in South Korea Figure 10: Wedding Photography in Korean Style Figure 11: Korean Plastic Surgery As the Korean wave becomingRead MoreEssay on Plastic Surgery In South Korea1362 Words   |  6 PagesThe South Korean’s seeming fascination with cosmetic surgery is frequently reported on both in Asia and the West, largely for its recounted abnormal use rate by both women and men. 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