Mother Tongue by Amy Tan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Mother Tongue by Amy Tan - Essay Example   Lastly, the essay tells of how she got into many problems as a result of the way her mother spoke English.Lastly, the essay tells of how she got into many problems as a result of the way her mother spoke English. In my opinion, it is easy to use many different languages with different people without even realizing it (Tan 2). For example, it is easy to speak proper English with people who speak proper and correct English. The author has done a great a job at showing the readers this fact. This is through showing us that when she spoke with her mother, English language was usually broken and simpler. She could not even understand the difference herself until her friends told her how her mother spoke. This article is very useful in helping readers to correct the mistakes that they make when speaking English. This is because it can help readers to understand the differences of correct English and broken English as they use it over time, thus bettering themselves (Tan 4). This can he lp many people to overcome various hurdles they face in using the English language. Lastly, it is evident that having a background where people use broken and incorrect English can seriously affect the way one communicates in English. This is because one gets used to using broken, simple and incorrect English and may find it difficult to distinguish it from correct and proper English. It takes determination and mixing with people who use proper English to be able to succeed in using the English language the right way (Tan 5).

Observation Paper Essay Example for Free

Observation Paper Essay Conformity is behavior change designed to match the actions of others. During my research, I found many examples of conformitive behavior. I often related conformity to adolescents due to the fact that they usually do their best to try and fit in when it comes to group settings. This type of behavior can be seen in college students attending educational facilities away from home. Those that are in dorms tend to indulge in drinking even if they aren’t â€Å"big drinkers†. They do this to conform to that of others and to be included in the fun and try and fit in. One last example that I will discuss prior to getting into my own observation, was the study that was done my Crandall in 1988 which examined normative social influences involving bulimia in college sororities. Sororities are the true definition of conformity and those that don’t conform are usually not allowed to continue to pledge. In the particular sororities that were examined, Crandall found that it had its own norm when it came to the â€Å"right† amount of food to eat and the popularity within the sorority was associated with adhering to this norm. Those that wanted to be a part of the sororities needed to conform to the â€Å"norm† and fell into a bulimic state. These girls had to of known this was not healthy for them yet they wanted to continue to become of part of this group and follow the â€Å"norm† that was set out. To me, this is just ridiculous. Some of us have issues with conforming and I believe I’m one of those people. The observation that I decided to conduct was that of a military setting. I decided to do this based on the fact that when I was in the military, there were times when I struggled with those appointed over me because I knew the tasks that they were giving me were wrong. I wasn’t willing to conform when I knew it wasn’t right. This is where my â€Å"issue† with authority came into play. The military is one of, if not the largest, organization that requires conformity to the fullest. Those that don’t conform will be punished. During my reading I found a Japanese saying that really hit close to home. â€Å"The nail that sticks up gets hammered down†. What that means to me is that it’s better to not stand out in the group but rather conform and fall amongst them. Prior to the start of my observation, I had a background of the military setting so I guess we could call that an unfair advantage because maybe I didn’t go into this assignment with open-mindedness. I had the assumed idea that those being observed would  conform to the standards set forth by the military official in charge of them regardless if they thought that it was right/wrong. I envisioned that normative pressure would come into play since those that are in authoritative position are respected and looked up to. So, in order to support my assumption, I decided to have my wife, who is currently active duty and a Division Officer, assist me. She didn’t do this by choice, but I had her conform ï Å  I asked her to give personnel in her division orders that they would know were wrong. For instance, she gave three separate Sailors (2-E3, 1-E4) direction to go to McDonald’s to get her something to eat while in a duty status. Then, she briefed all of them at duty section muster that no one was authorized to leave the confines of the ship on their duty for any reason to include going to get something to eat. They all were aware this wasn’t allowed but being that she told them, they thought that it must be right. There was no questioning attitude, just a â€Å"yes Ma’am† by every single one. I wanted her to take it one step further so I asked her to do something that would affect the safety of Sailors and see how they responded. Would they conform? So, all her Sailors are required to wear protective head gear and glasses due to the dry dock environment and the hazards associated. She went to quarters and directed them all to come back tomorrow with only their hard hats. She stated glasses were no longer required. Not one person said anything when she gave this information out. No one questioned her but simply just went on about their days. The next day, over 75% of her personnel showed up without glasses. This was clearly a safety violation and could potentially have an impact on their individual safety but because she was an authoritative figure, they accepted that risk and conformed to what she stated. It wasn’t right but they did it anyway. After it was completed, she let them know that it was ok to question things that you thought weren’t right. She informed them about the study and stated that she was surprised so many had not followed their instincts and did the right thing. I wasn’t quite so shocked by the results. I saw a lot of Sailors do things that aren’t necessarily right because someone higher ranking told them and instead of questioning them, and possibly getting in trouble, they just did it. So, the results she got didn’t surprise me. In the military, it’s like the unspoken rule†¦just conform. Overall, this study was exactly what I thought it was going to be. In many  situations, we are uncertain how to think or act/react to those around us especially when it’s not the socially accepted â€Å"norm†. We tend to use the behavior and actions of others to dictate what were going to do. Informational social influence occurs because we conform using others as a source of information. That’s exactly what happened in my observation. No one stood up and said it was wrong so being that my wife told them it was right (she was the source of information), they did it! Was it right, no! This is where I think change needs to happen. Stand up for what you believe. Don’t just be rebellious because you can but have a reason and stand by it. Find people who believe in the same thing that you believe in and take a stance. Her Sailors should have confided in one another and they all should have worn their glasses to muster knowing that it was their safety that they were protecting. All of them should have stood up to protect themselves!

Flight/Your Shoes: A comparitive essay -- English Literature

Flight/Your Shoes: A comparitive essay In this essay I will be comparing ‘Flight’ by Doris Lessing and ‘Your Shoes’ by Michà ¨le Roberts. The content and style for both stories are similar in some ways and different in other ways. For example, the main problem in both stories is the daughter leaving home for the first time. Another example of a difference is ‘Flight’ is written in third-person whereas ‘Your Shoes’ is written as an interior monologue. The difficulties about the daughters leaving are: in ‘Flight’, the grandfather is reluctant to let his granddaughter go off and marry. This is because she is his favourite granddaughter and his last. ‘He confronted her, his eyes narrowed, shoulders hunched, tight in a hard knot of pain which included the preening birds, the sunlight, the flowers. He said: â€Å"Think you’re old enough to go courting, hey?†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ He also does not like Steven, the postmaster’s son, and is maybe jealous of him and how he can win over his granddaughter better than he can himself. ‘â€Å"Waiting for Steven, hey?† he said, his fingers curling like claws into his palm. â€Å"Any objection?† she asked him lightly, refusing to look at him.’ In ‘Your Shoes’ the mother has a bigger problem because her daughter has already left and she does not know where she is. To justify this she goes mad and pretends that she is talking to her daughter through a pair of white trainers, the most expensive and perfect item that the mother bought her daughter before she left. ‘I’ve tied the shoes’ laces together so they won’t get separated or lost. White laces, that I washed and ironed.’ These shoes represent what the mother would like her daughter to be, perfect. ‘I locked the wardrobe door on those rebellious shoes.’... ...d to ‘Flight’, the Justin Liu Maine A English AXS Flight/Your Shoes (cont†¦) mother’s condition clearly gets worse and lapses into madness at the end. ‘Laces like strings of white liquorice. They taste sweet.’ Again there is the symbolism of the shoes and again it represents the way the mother would like her daughter to be. I prefer ‘Flight’ to ‘Your Shoes’ because the story is much clearer and you get to see everyone’s point of view whereas in ‘Your Shoes’ the storyline is not so clear and harder to understand because only one person is speaking. However, ‘Flight’ has less detail than ‘Your Shoes’ because there are many more people to focus on. For example, in ‘Your Shoes’ you know who is still alive and who is not whereas in ‘Flight’ it is not as clear. However, I enjoyed both stories and thought that they had more similarities than differences.

The Evil Character Medea in Euripides Medea Essay -- Euripides Medea

The Evil Character Medea in Euripides' Medea Euripides created a two-headed character in this classical tragedy. Medea begins her marriage as the ideal loving wife who sacrificed much for her husband's safety. At the peak of the reading, she becomes a murderous villain that demands respect and even some sympathy. By the end, the husband and wife are left devoid of love and purpose as the tragedy closes. In Medea, a woman betrays her homeland because of her love for a man. Jason is the husband that she ferociously loves and makes sacrifices for. They have two children together: Antigone and Ismeme. In Jason's quest for the golden fleece, Medea assists him in multiple ways. One of the things she does to help their cause is bring about the death of her own brother. Certainly this is a woman who would sacrifice anything for her husband. Weigel records the fierceness of Medea's passion in his critique: "As a woman of passion, Medea is wholly committed to Jason as the object of her emotional life, whether in love or hate. When she loved Jason she did not hesitate to kill her brothe... The Evil Character Medea in Euripides' Medea Essay -- Euripides Medea The Evil Character Medea in Euripides' Medea Euripides created a two-headed character in this classical tragedy. Medea begins her marriage as the ideal loving wife who sacrificed much for her husband's safety. At the peak of the reading, she becomes a murderous villain that demands respect and even some sympathy. By the end, the husband and wife are left devoid of love and purpose as the tragedy closes. In Medea, a woman betrays her homeland because of her love for a man. Jason is the husband that she ferociously loves and makes sacrifices for. They have two children together: Antigone and Ismeme. In Jason's quest for the golden fleece, Medea assists him in multiple ways. One of the things she does to help their cause is bring about the death of her own brother. Certainly this is a woman who would sacrifice anything for her husband. Weigel records the fierceness of Medea's passion in his critique: "As a woman of passion, Medea is wholly committed to Jason as the object of her emotional life, whether in love or hate. When she loved Jason she did not hesitate to kill her brothe...

Dead and Breakfast Essay

The person who killed dusty could have been anyone of these people, they all had motive but only one of them was desperate enough to kill one of his closest friends. (7:20)The murderer must have been wearing gloves when he set the table again because he left traces of sodium, carbon, iron, and gold. When the Murderer saw his chance, he took it. 7:25)Right when the table had been set and no one was around he slipped the Potassium cyanide into Dustys cup. Now potassium cyanide is a hard thing to come by and only someone who had worked with it for many years would have known the right amount to give to Dusty to make him drop dead. (7:35) Dusty returns down stairs to finish his breakfast. (7:40) Dusty takes one drink then five minutes later he drops dead. Now let me fill you in on how all this evidence plays into this. Mr. Horace Throat had been experiencing some money problems with the mob and really need this auction to go well. Horace was counting on Dusty to help him out but when he let him down, he snapped. Horace had been working in metal finishing for many years and he used the same gloves as he did to work as he did to place the cyanide in the drink, which is how the traces of gold ended up on the table. Second Dusty was the only one of that group of people who had already had potassium cyanide on him because he was already doing work for Dusty. Horace Throat killed one of his closest friends and best buyers of many years just for money to pay off the mob.

To Kill a Mocking Bird. essays

To Kill a Mocking Bird. essays It is a sin to kill a mockingbird because they do nothing but make music for us to enjoy. In Harper Lees novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus says the above quote to basically sum up one of the major themes of the book. To Atticus, a mockingbird is a harmless bird that makes the world a more pleasant place to live. Throughout the book, Jem, Tom, Boo and Scout can all be associated with a mockingbird. They have all been innocent people, who have been shattered by contact with evil. When Tom was accused of raping Mayella Ewell, it was like a mockingbird itself had been shot and killed. Chopping wood and doing whatever he was capable of doing was all Tom had ever done for Mayella. Tom was innocent. He had never hurt a soul, or had the intentions of hurting someone. Once he is shot, Mr. Underwood comments that his death is comparable to the senseless slaughter of songbirds. Tom did no harm to anyone, but by helping Mayella, he ended up dying for it. When we are first introduced to Scout at the beginning of the novel, we are exposed to an innocent child who is oblivious to the evil in the world. Once she is faced with the evil, it is questionable on whether or not she will emerge a mockingbird or not. With her luck of being raised by Atticuss wisdom, she learns that evil can sometimes be narrowed with the right attitude. Even though Scout is still a child, she is taking on a perspective of life that a grown-up should have, and that is how she proves that she is a mockingbird. Jem himself has been scarred by the experience of Toms trial. When he sees that justice does not always succeed, he is confused and susceptible. All the same, he still stands strong with the confidence that Atticus has instilled in him, as he has also done with Scout. Boo was another character that Lee associated with a mockingbird. Boo was a man who was seen by society to be dangerous. But in reality, Boo was ...

BUS 620 Essays

BUS 620 Essays BUS 620 Essay BUS 620 Essay The Future of the New York TimesMicah BlountBUS 620- Managerial MarketingPro. Mary WrightJuly 29, 2013The New York Times cannot compete with digital media and still deliver the best quality news because as stated by The Future of The New York Times (2005), â€Å"Advertising accounts for almost all of the digital operations revenues†(par.32). Much of the revenue from newspapers come from classified advertising, but the majority of this form of advertisement has moved to the Internet. Individuals and companies seeking to buy or sell products and services now us sites like Amazon and Craigslist, also job opportunities are posted on site like Careerbuilder.com and Indeed which has mad it hard for giants like The New York Times to compete. Marketers have utilized the innovation of clicks per ad, this how can the innovation allows Markets to monitor how my people click on their ads and if that click resulted in a purchase, it is a great way for marketers to better target their audie nce. For example an ad on Facebook can track individuals based on location, demographics, gender, etc. Along with the falling ad revenue its print circulation is dwindling too but it is not just The New York Times, Statics from the US Audit Bureau of Circulation show that total daily US newspaper circulation has declined by almost a quarter since its peak of 63.3 million in 1984 to 10.6 per cent in 2009 to around 44 million (Perez-Pena, 2009). Even though The New York Times print circulation ads are dwindling, according to The Future of The New York Time (2005) â€Å"A majority of the paper’s readership now views the paper online, but the company still derives 90% of it revenue from newspapering† (Par.37). In order for Sulzberger to revive the newspaper they must embrace digital product offerings and let go of how they are accustom to selling information. The challenge The New York Times face, with so much free access to information online, how will

NeoConservatism essays

NeoConservatism essays There are two inter-related spheres, which this paper will explore. The first one asks what the relative appeal of Neo-conservatism was in Britain and Germany. The second determines the extent to which Neo-conservative policies were successfully implemented in the two respective countries. The perspectives chosen here try to explain Neo-conservatism with theories of social and cultural change to provide examples of its effects. The New Right is "conceptualized as populist Neo-conservative reactions to fundamental change in culture and values in a society. Neo-conservatism reflects a new cleavage based on value change." Neo-conservatism still fell within the confines of traditional conservative ideologies, for example, opposition to the welfare state and the redistribution of income. In this paper the comparison between Britain, a country with long-standing democratic traditions and a civil society, and Germany, which has had strong non-democratic traditions, a fascist past and the recent establishment of a civil society will help to determine to what extent they has been 'socialized'. Neo-conservative governments came to power in Britain prior to 1979, and in West Germany to 1982. Prior to their victory, there was great discontent with certain aspects of the existing social democratic politics over issues of state-influenced and state intervening economic policy. Polls taken in Britain prior to the 1979 election likewise showed "a massive 75% of respondents in favour of a reduction in state spending." Similarly, "the fall of the West German Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the 1982 coincided with a dramatic collapse of public confidence in the Schmidt administration's handling of the economy. Only 17% of voters considered the SPD the party that guaranteed job security." The lack of faith in government to solve such economic crises reflected a more general loss of faith in the political system. This lack of faith was also ev...

Criminal Justice Investigative Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Criminal Justice Investigative Plan - Essay Example 3. Usage of proper investigative plans-By utilizing proper investigative plans, the objective of an overall investigation as well as gathering all relevant information concerning a case can be collected upon. This proves to be very efficient in an investigation process (Peterson, 2013). 4. Expand the usage of critical thinking procedures-This aspect takes into concern the importance of analyzing a situation in-depth and also critically examining a situation to gather a fair idea about the future instances of a crime (Peterson, 2013). 5. Application of problem-solving methodologies-This step involves various processes that are implemented to solve a crime. This step may involve various methodologies that depend on the graveness of a particular crime. It generally involves various authorized professionals who perform the methodologies (Peterson, 2013). 6. Managing the case data thoroughly-It is considered to be a primary aspect as in this particular stage, all relevant data serves as e vidences for the conduct of a particular case or a crime event (Peterson, 2013). 7. Usage of data analysis techniques-This step involves full utilization of data that is collected. The data is utilized by way of performing proper analysis techniques that help in better execution of data in a precise and a formative manner (Peterson, 2013). 8. Developing an analytic case package for prosecution-By the development of an appropriate case package, a lot of clarity regarding the case will be ensured. In addition, it will also help in chalking out the major players involved in the case and proper inventory can be maintained regarding the analysis of the case documents (Peterson, 2013). 9. Recruiting trained officers-If officers who are already experienced in the field of preserving law and justice are engaged in solving a case, then it will definitely lead to an extra edge. It will also lead towards making the overall investigation plan strategy more comprehensive (Peterson, 2013). 10. Ex pansion of Crime Resistant programs-The crime resistant programs can be expanded by way of strengthening the rules as well as the regulations in the crime combating divisions. Also by way of ensuring deliverance of proper education regarding security and crime prohibition, massive improvements can be made at large (Peterson, 2013). Question 2 In order to conduct this particular operation i.e. dealing with the situation of multiple daytime robbery attacks, a huge portion of technological assistance would be needed by a certain degree. In this similar concern, firstly, a highly qualified team which could analyze the situation in a skillful manner would be employed. The team needs to be highly specialized in analyzing all the collected evidences so that the series of crimes can be judged accordingly for the purpose of deriving into relevant results. Along with the engagement of highly qualified individuals, proper technical infrastructure will definitely be required. These might includ e projectors and speakers that will be required while conducting meetings. In addition, all the entities associated with the operations are required to work as a collaborative unit. In order to ensure this aspect, they are to be to be provided with proper

Precis for two articles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Precis for two articles - Essay Example The effect is seen as the forest size in the state was reduced significantly. The author also notes that there have been challenges in saving trees in the region. One of the biggest challenges has been due to political consideration. This is because the area has a vast population of people making a large political base. Additionally, the government has been supporting voters at the expense of environmentalist. In fact, the frustration to the environmentalist has led to resignation of environment minister in the government. The other challenge has been on government policies such as Plano Amazonia. The policy of expanding infrastructure has also led to increased effect on the forest. Moreover, poor economic status has led to increased deforestation as some people depend on logging as a source of livelihood. As a result, clearing trees creates ways for cattle farmers to sow grass and raise their cattle’s. In fact, increased interest for land has led to murder especially in Para. However, there have been some initiatives for saving the forest. First, there has been a passage of land reform bill by the congress. Secondly, the government is engaging in improving economic status of the residence through commercialization of forest products. Moreover, foreign institutions have joined the effort through the provision of funds aimed at conserving the forest. Additionally, the infrastructure will be built in a sustainable manner. As a result, it is believed the initiatives will help in preserving the forest. The World Resource Institute report notes that the forests are under intense pressure and hence facing substantial environmental challenges. As a result, the pressure has been linked directly and indirectly to human. The significant pressure has been from human settlements. First, there has been increased deforestation for the last decade to create room for

5 paragraph essay In what instances of your own life has malleability

5 paragraph In what instances of your own life has malleability been a factor in success or failure - Essay Example Usually malleability is considered to be a good property to have in the natural sciences. Being malleable means to be adaptable, to take outside influences to improve one’s own personal properties or strong points. Therefore using malleability is a recognised means of driving forward self-improvement and personal development as well. Arguably malleability is also about having to react to different kinds of pressures and other developments which could well be beyond personal control or an individual’s ability to chose. Malleability has played a prominent role in and being a notable factor in personal self-development as well as success. Malleability has allowed for the adoption of thoughts, activities, and the gaining of enhanced personal attributes to thrive at school, college, university, in paid employment, and within in various social groups. Malleability is a personal attribute that is priceless when it comes down to having a flexible approach which allows one to fit in and be very useful in most if not all social, academic, and employment circumstances. As a personal quality malleability means being able to adjust to all circumstances under varying degrees of pressure or high levels of expectations to achieve the desired outcomes and results. In other words demonstrating the personal quality of malleability is a key element in achieving success in academic, social, and employment situations that have already arisen or will arise in the future. Academic institutions, social groups, and businesses all need and will benefit from having people available to them who could clearly show their personal malleability to contribute to team working and decision-making. Malleability could and does make the difference between success or failure, a sound decision or an unsound decision. Personally speaking, or more accurately writing, malleability has

What can neorealism explain Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

What can neorealism explain - Essay Example This concept is therefore based upon the notion of competitive self-interest for the nations where the concerns for security and individual interests are superior to any other ideology. Classical realism outlines that it is the essential and basic nature of the man and the states to put the self-interest above any ideology therefore it is dominated by the will to dominate and gain power. This is considered as necessary in order to maintain the status where a state remains in same position to always safeguard its interests. Neorealism though is driven by the classical realism but goes one stage above that and put more priority on the international system as a whole. The international system therefore is considered as the structure above the states and the individuals are considered as agents below the stage. The neorealism therefore does not view the human nature as essential but maintains that international structure actually works as a constraint over the motivations and interests o f the agents. This paper will therefore comprehensively discuss and explain as to what neorealism actually is and how it can be viewed within the perspective of international politics and relations. Classical Realism Classical realism is often associated with what is called power politics because both the terms outline priority of the national interests over moral obligations of a State. As such any considerations for moral obligations, social reconstruction as well as ideology does not hold any preference over the national interest. Based on the economic concept of competitive self-interest, classical realism advocates that it is the basic human nature and that of state that they pursue their self-interest first. This nature therefore forces states and the man to remain in dominating position and creates the drive for the power. One of the key assumptions of the classical realism is fundamentally based upon the notion that there is no actor above the states therefore the relationsh ips between the states cannot be controlled by a higher authority. As such each state therefore moves in a direction which suits its national interests and without any coercive influence of other states or actors. (Donnelly, 2000)Â   It is however, important to understand that the overall relationships between the states are dominated by the military and economic powers of each state. The extent of power of each state therefore is mainly dominated by the way each state holds the economic as well as military power without having any reference to the moral obligations. It is therefore maintained that the maintaining moral obligations unnecessarily put commitments on the States which may be undesirable for the relationships between states in longer term. Neorealism Neorealism is a relatively different concept than the classical realism as it views layers above the states which may be in dominating position. While departing from the realism’s basic postulate of human nature, neo realism sees States facing structural constraints which can actually limit their strategies as well as motivations. Neorealism is also different from classical realism due to the assumption that the international politics can be considered as a defined and precised structure. This view was not held by the classical realists who view the international politics based upon the individual behaviors of the States at the international level. The focus on the system level thinking therefore has allowed theorists of neorealism to avoid from making any assumptions about the human nature, power and self-interests as well as the moral obligations. It was because of this reason that the Neorealists were able to see

Upstream, Downstream Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Upstream, Downstream - Essay Example According to the discussion â€Å"Rule of capture† illustrates ground water; landowners have the resources, and the right to use water under their land. Surface water usage is regulated by the Texas state. Individuals or organizations using the surface water must continuously get water right permission from Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). For the Colorado River basin, Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) grants the water usage rights. Due to the worse drought conditions LCRA and TCEQ implemented an emergency relief partnership. This ensures efficient water usage by all stakeholders in Texas. The Austin area of the state utilizes water for diverse purpose. These include industrial usage, domestic usage, and agricultural usage. The continuously increasing population is the Austin area calls for efficient water usage plans to be effectively implemented. TCEQ usually directs the LCRA to change the water plan, so as to effectively manage the downstream releases. This ensures efficient water usage in the state by all the stakeholders. TCEQ has the authority of controlling surface water like spring deliveries. Controls minimizing deliveries negatively affects wildlife and agricultural activities. For instance, the rice industry in Texas is negatively affected but to inadequate irrigation water supply. The TCEQ action is a painful decision, as a result of inadequate rainfall that led to reduction in water volumes of Highland.

What can neorealism explain Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

What can neorealism explain - Essay Example This concept is therefore based upon the notion of competitive self-interest for the nations where the concerns for security and individual interests are superior to any other ideology. Classical realism outlines that it is the essential and basic nature of the man and the states to put the self-interest above any ideology therefore it is dominated by the will to dominate and gain power. This is considered as necessary in order to maintain the status where a state remains in same position to always safeguard its interests. Neorealism though is driven by the classical realism but goes one stage above that and put more priority on the international system as a whole. The international system therefore is considered as the structure above the states and the individuals are considered as agents below the stage. The neorealism therefore does not view the human nature as essential but maintains that international structure actually works as a constraint over the motivations and interests o f the agents. This paper will therefore comprehensively discuss and explain as to what neorealism actually is and how it can be viewed within the perspective of international politics and relations. Classical Realism Classical realism is often associated with what is called power politics because both the terms outline priority of the national interests over moral obligations of a State. As such any considerations for moral obligations, social reconstruction as well as ideology does not hold any preference over the national interest. Based on the economic concept of competitive self-interest, classical realism advocates that it is the basic human nature and that of state that they pursue their self-interest first. This nature therefore forces states and the man to remain in dominating position and creates the drive for the power. One of the key assumptions of the classical realism is fundamentally based upon the notion that there is no actor above the states therefore the relationsh ips between the states cannot be controlled by a higher authority. As such each state therefore moves in a direction which suits its national interests and without any coercive influence of other states or actors. (Donnelly, 2000)Â   It is however, important to understand that the overall relationships between the states are dominated by the military and economic powers of each state. The extent of power of each state therefore is mainly dominated by the way each state holds the economic as well as military power without having any reference to the moral obligations. It is therefore maintained that the maintaining moral obligations unnecessarily put commitments on the States which may be undesirable for the relationships between states in longer term. Neorealism Neorealism is a relatively different concept than the classical realism as it views layers above the states which may be in dominating position. While departing from the realism’s basic postulate of human nature, neo realism sees States facing structural constraints which can actually limit their strategies as well as motivations. Neorealism is also different from classical realism due to the assumption that the international politics can be considered as a defined and precised structure. This view was not held by the classical realists who view the international politics based upon the individual behaviors of the States at the international level. The focus on the system level thinking therefore has allowed theorists of neorealism to avoid from making any assumptions about the human nature, power and self-interests as well as the moral obligations. It was because of this reason that the Neorealists were able to see

The American History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The American History - Essay Example There arose great tension between Great Britain troops and colonial militiamen in Lexington. April 1775 kicked off the armed conflict, and one year later, the rebels were waging the full-scale war for their independence. France joined to support the Continental Army to force the British to give up their power. Finally the British surrendered at Yorktown, Virginia, in1779, and the Americans won their independence, though fighting did not formally end until 1783. These were the founding fathers of America. Just after the revolutionary war, these men came with a political system that was entirely novel for an era in which monarchs ruled most countries around the world. Just after having being freed from the British Empire, the fledgling king would have no king at all. Instead, an elected head referred to as the President of the United States of America would be elected (Michener). The president would be the leader of the federal government, enforcing the laws of the land, and acting as the commander -in- chief of the armed forces. And yet, while the presidency has since become the emblem of the American way of life, the country might have gone in a very different direction before George Washington took the oath of office on April 30, 1789, many Americans envisioned a crown for the wildly popular Virginia planter. Washington refused, and so did the farmers of the Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C., and a big mansion that would be called the White House. After Washington's reign as president then followed a series of others like John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt all the way up to the current president who is actually the first black president of the United States of America. This constitution established America's national government and fundamental laws and guaranteed the basic rights for all of its citizens. The Constitution was signed on September 17th, 1787 by the delegates to the constitutional convention to the United St ates. In 1791, The Bill of Rights that guaranteed basic individual protections such as freedom of speech and religion became part of the Constitution.

Animal Testing Is Cruel and Unnecessary Essay Example for Free

Animal Testing Is Cruel and Unnecessary Essay Is the Statement Animal Testing is Cruel and Unnecessary Correct? It is common knowledge that many animals are used in medical and scientific research. These innocent animals are often obliged to undergo countless of cruel processes and endure great suffering as a result. Despite all the disputes and discussions regarding whether or not animal testing is actually necessary, they wouldnt change the fact that it is, in fact, an extremely cruel thing to do. Therefore, it is only to be expected for the need for product testing involving experiments on animals to be strongly debated. The debates themselves usually revolve around scientific, ethical and even political implications, often based upon biased beliefs. For example, an animal lover would clearly be against animal testing. They would, in fact, not care whether it is necessary or not. A doctor desperate for a new research, on the other hand, would clearly think animal testing is necessary, and ignore the fact that thousands of animals are endangered because of it. I personally think animal testing is cruel. It is an inhumane thing to do, as animals too deserve to be treated normally, and not as objects that are just used to test whether a mascara is safe enough for a persons eyelashes or not. Furthermore, it has been proven that about 9% animals such as rats, rabbits and mice end up dying after going through these experiments. Do you honestly think the decreasing number of these animals is worth a new type of blush-on or eyeliner? Regarding the statement Animal Testing is Cruel and Unnecessary, I would have to agree with the first point: Animal testing is, indeed cruel. Nevertheless, as I am not exactly experienced in the medical field, I managed to do some research, and eventually found a rather interesting quote said by two doctors, Ray and Jean Greek, who briefly mentioned the necessity of animal testing in their book Sacred Cows and Golden Geese. They said: Animal experimentation is not necessary. It is expensive. It is inaccurate. It is misleading. It consumes limited resources. And further, it is detrimental to the very species it professes to be working to help humankind. Coming from doctors, I found their explicit quote to be rather surprising. Moreover, even though animal testing is not always accurate, there isnt a definite answer as to whether the term Animal Testing is Cruel and Unnecessary is true or not. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, to each their own, thus I couldnt help but fathom their statement. With all these advanced technology, knowledge and finances, have we indirectly dehumanized ourselves?

Racial inequality and treatment

Racial inequality and treatment Introduction It goes without saying that education equality has always been one of the most important questions in Afro-American struggle for equality. It is essential that the Southern states has always been the stronghold of racial inequality and treatment to the Afro- Americans was worse than anyone else is one the most important places in the struggle for equal education. This paper would examine the endless struggle of the black minority in St. Louis for getting the equal education, as good as the white majority gets. The analysis of the struggle for the primary civil rights of the Afro-American nation would help to realize how important was reaching educational equality in the area where the blacks were always considered to be unequal members of the society, who does not have right for the equal jobs, rights and education as well. This struggle for the equal education would be the best illustration for the further generations and help them to understand what a difficult way. â€Å"What hap pens inside the classroom is only a small part of education. What, where, and how students learn is a function of the organization of the school system, prevailing theories about learning, local political pressures, and, of course, financial realities. The history of education in St. Louis is little different than that of most American cities, in that it forms another framework through which to view the communitys past† (St. Lois Government, 1996). The aim of this essay to reveal the difficulties the black minority met while fighting for the equality in the educational sphere St. Louis. The beginning of the struggle for equal education of Afro-Americans It is a well known fact that even in the 20th century it could be hardly spoken about equal rights for the backs and the whites in the educational sphere and Southern states of the U.S. The education of the black minorities, if it is was possible, was separated from the white children and it goes without saying there was no even slight mention about the equal educational facilities: â€Å"Schools were segregated by race. Churches operated the first schools for African-American children until 1847, when Missouri law forbade teaching African-Americans to read and write. First Baptist Church pastor John Berry Meachum responded by opening the â€Å"Freedom School† on a barge in the Mississippi River, which was federally owned, and thus beyond the reach of state law† (St. Lois Government, 1996). The segregated schools became legal in 1896 by the United States Supreme Court (Plessy v. Ferguson case). Back and white children in St. Louis studied separately for more than 50 yea rs and only after the World War II the first steps towards the desegregation were made. The black children were mistreated at school as were as well their parents at work and what is the most poor in this case that it was legally supported over the whole country: â€Å"Giving the power of law to the separate-but-equal doctrine, school systems nationally kept black and white children apart. The problem was that separate wasnt equal† (St. Lois Government, 1996). Hence after the war the civil rights movement was developing quite quickly. Afro-Americand understood that they could not live under the white oppression and the most burning area were Southern States of the United States. : â€Å"In its landmark Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision in 1954, the court reversed itself, saying that separate education was, by definition, unequal. Amidst a rising tide of social awareness about racial equality, Catholic schools in St. Louis had already figured this out, desegregat ing the Archdiocese system in 1948. The Brown decision did bring about one immediate change in St. Louis education† (St. Lois Government, 1996). The first step towards the changes which were so much needed was made. It goes without saying that the whole system needed desegregation as equality of education is one of the primary rights of the person. It is essential that representatives of the Afro-American nation were seeking for the equal education and equal work facilities with the whites. They were not intended to yield the places in public transport to the whites and were intended to provide for their children equal with the whites education. The schools were poorly equipped compared to the white communities schools: â€Å"East St. Louis Senior High School, whose biology lab has no laboratory tables or usable dissecting kits, with nearby suburban schools where children enjoy a computer hookup to Dow Jones to study stock transactions and science laboratories that rival thos e in some industries† (Linda Darling-Hammond, 2010). The primary equipment needs in the schools of racial minorities were still severely violated and it is not surprising that the educational level of the black children was significantly lower that the white ones and they could not get equal job and get equal income in future. The problem was really burning and it got to be solved, either by the local government or by Afro-American community itself. As it usually happens the problem solution was found by the the black themselves. It is a well known fact that one of the most significant problems in segregated schools was teaching. The white teachers did not appreciate teaching of the black children that the Afro-American community of St. Louis was eager to train black teachers themselves to raise the quality of the black teachers and the level of the black children education: â€Å"Stowe Teachers College evolved out of the Sumner High School program to train black school teach ers since 1890. But Brown v. Topeka Board didnt fully address the issue of de facto segregation brought on by housing patterns. Blacks were relegated to their own city neighborhoods, where their children attended neighborhood schools. When housing is segregated, so too are the schools. Funding, and therefore educational quality, receded during the 1950s and 1960s as well. What had once been one of the best public school systems in the United States had plummeted. Black students especially suffered as public schools declined in a core city with a disproportionately high African-American population. Three in four students in the St. Louis Public Schools were black in 1980, while more than two in five white youngsters attended school outside the system. Public education in St. Louis came under court supervision in 1980, with the goal of desegregating St. Louis Public Schools† (St. Lois Government, 1996). More than hundred years have passed after declining of slavery and starting of the fight for the equal rights of Afro-Americans with the white majority, when in St. Louis the desegregation program started. It is not surprising that being separated from the equal education from the very beginning the Black Minority did not chanced to protect themselves and seek for the better future. Low rating of the Afro-American schools and their segregation from the white children also had a significant impact on the crime rate in the region, the level of unemployment among the Afro-Americans and other significant factors that form the whole economical vision of the city. Such a poor treatment and late start of desegregation program negatively influenced St. Louis as resort area and economical center of the region as desegregation program was not started earlier, but only in the late 20th century. The following chapter would reveal how desegregation program was started and what were the results of it. St. Lois. Desegregation program of primary and secondary educational systems in the area. Its beginning, results and decisions. Desegregation plan was started in 1983 and since then it has a controlling eye of media, civil rights foundation and other on it. It is essential that development of the blacks segregation in the certain areas in the late 20th century, when the civil rights were not just an empty words, but people struggles for equality for more than hundred years and finally reached it. Then we see that desegregation was started to assimilate the white majority and black minority as the human rights should be observed and the Afro-American community could not stay aside the social life of the country: â€Å"Five years ago, St. Louis pioneered a metropolitan wide school desegregation plan that tried to fuse the predominantly black and poor inner city with 16 mostly white and wealthy suburbs. The plan, which resulted from a Federal District Court settlement that postponed threatened litigation for five years, involves no mandatory busing and became the largest voluntary school transfer program in the country, with 12,000 children attending schools outside of their designated districts each day. It has also met most of its goals for integrating blacks into suburban St. Louis County schools† (Amy Stuart Wells, 1988). It was the first attempt which was under the strict control and attention from the federal government. And it should be mentioned that even after just five years of this program operation in St. Louis the other areas took some significant parts of this particular program to solve the typical questions in their local place. It is not surprising that being the pioneer is very difficult task and St. Louis as the area of traditional confrontation between the black and the white communities had to overcome certain difficulties in order to reach the desired effect. The core idea of the program was the ability of parents to chose the schools for the their children studies outside the area of their dwelling: â€Å"Once hailed as â€Å"one of the most creative social experiments of our time† by William H. Hungate, the judge who oversaw its design, the plan has fostered many problems. Among them are what some parents and educators in the city call a brain drain of the citys best black students, too few white students coming into the city system and high operating costs, financed mostly, and reluctantly, by the state. Concepts National Appeal. Still, the main component of the plan, the concept of allowing parents to choose schools well outside their local districts, has gained national appeal as a way to extend to inner-city children the better educational opportunities often available in suburban districts† (Amy Stuart Wells, 1988). Different civil rights foundation often relate to the St. Louis desegration program as one of the most significant attempts of the past century and consider that it has incorporated the core elements of the school changes involving expansion of such an element as freedom of school choice and accountability . The researches consider that St. Louis desegregation program is one of the most significant achievements in the fight for the civil rights of Afro-American community and it was the largest school choice plan, which let with 13,000 to 15,000 to break through the boundaries of the suburb, the boundaries of inequality, and the boundaries of racial discrimination: â€Å"It permits parents of children in failing schools to send their children to more successful public schools. The St. Louis desegregation plan reconstitutes failing schools with new principals and educational programs-elements of the education reform program supported by President George W. Bush and Senator Edward M. Kennedy† (William H. Freivogel, 2002, p. 209). The same time analytical investigation of the school reform in St. Louis provided by the investigator of the Century Foundation (Task Force on the Common School) William H. Freivogel came to the conclusion that even desegregation did not solve one of the most significant problems for American secondary system and the St. Louis reform has a number lessons to take for the further reforms all over the world: â€Å"the St. Louis desegregation plan has lessons to offer the rest of the nation. Neither school desegregation nor accountability magically creates a level playing field for African-American children. But an entire generation of students-black and white-has had an opportunity for a high-quality education in an integrated setting. African-American students, who took advantage of this opportunity, gained significant, if not dramatic, improvements in achievement, graduation rates, and college attendance† (William H. Freivogel, 2002, p. 210). The increasing of secondary educati on of drop out rate is probably one of the most significant problem for the white majority and the black minority of the area met. The data provided by the different educational establishment showed that the black minority used their advantage and actively participated within the desegregation. The following data give the compared results to the other cities of the U.S.: â€Å"Data from the 1990 census show that, in Florida and Texas, urban districts generally have a greater percentage of minority students as part of the total student body than rural districts. This is a national trend as well. It has been estimated that in the mid-1990s, for example, 53.8 percent of urban schools had predominantly African-American student populations. In some cities the number is higher: Milwaukee, 61 percent; Philadelphia, 64 percent; St. Louis, 80 percent; Atlanta, 92 percent; and Birmingham, 94 percent† (Matthew Ladner and Christopher Hammons, 2000, p. 94). We see that the drop out rate i ncreasing is not just the problem of the St. Louis Area and it even yet it may have connection to the desegregation, It should be noted that the Black minority after the years of suffering from inequality and mistreating within the different educational establishment took their chance. The success of the desegregation should be undertaken as one the positive example of the racial struggle for equal right for the education and freedom of choice. Understanding the mistakes of the past the government developed the plan which corresponded to the needs of the racially discriminated African-Americans. The final edition of the plan included five main components. One of them was so called interdistrict transfer program it â€Å"required mostly white suburban districts to either increase the number of African-American students by fifteen percentage points, or to reach and maintain the plan goal of a student population that was 25 percent black† (William H. Freivogel, 2002, p 213). One of the core features of this plan was that the student would apply for the district she or he would like to study in. The same time the district should identify the children, who need special education and screen for any discipline problems, but it should be noted that they could not send the student off due the academic disorders. Another element of the program was creation of magnet schools in the city and their aim was to create balanced student bodies, which would be attended by the white students from the surburb: â€Å"After a decade of slow growth, the number of white students from the suburbs traveling to schools in the city climbed above 1,100, reaching a peak of 1,478 in 1997† (William H. Freivogel, 2002, p 214).. The third part of the plan was quality of educational component. The thing the black segregated schools always suffered its aim was â€Å"to make capital improvements in city schoolhouses and to improve the education of those students left behind in all- black schools-a number expected to be from 10,000 to 15,000 students† (William H. Freivogel, 2002, p 214). The forth element included financial part, which was aimed to make the first three components working. The prosperous areas received nearly $ 10, 000 per pupil for accommodation and less prosperous from $ 3,000 to 4,000. And the fifth element was to provide 5 year lasting stay of the interdistrict case. It would help to evaluate critically the effect and the results of the first step. It is essential that each step of this plan contributed a lot to the unending struggle of the Black minority for its educational rights. It goes without saying that this desegregation plan was one of the most important decisions in the fight of Afro- American society for the equal educational facilities and it actually reached the aim. It goes without saying that it was the great victory in unending struggle for equality. Conclusion In the end it would be essential to make a stress on the fact that this desegregation program provided a significant impact on the whole country. The positive elements were undertaken in other areas, when they started their personal desegregation programs celebrating cultural diversity and racial equality. Personally I support the idea, that it was the great victory of Afro-American community in their fight for equal education and now not only in St. Louis but in many other cities all over the United States people could choose the school despite the district we live. The racial question is still one of the most important in the present day United Sates but such reforms help a number of Afro-American children to find their place and the white ones to understand the necessity of interracial equality and communication. References: William H. Freivogel. St Louis: Desegregation and School Choice. Century Foundation Press. 2002 Matthew Ladner and Christopher Hammons. Special but Unequal: Race and Special Education. Houston Baptist University. 2000 Linda Darling-Hammond. Unequal Opportunity: Race and Education. Education, Race. Education, Race. Spring 1998 St. Lois Government. 1996. St. Louis Historic Context. Education. 28. 04.2010. Official web site of St. Louis city. Amy Stuart Wells. St. Louis Evaluates Its Pioneer Integration Plan. The New York Times. June 8, 1988

Frankenstein: Who is the victim? :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Frankenstein, the monster and Victor are both put through many depressing and hurtful situations. I think that the monster was the true victim. He was rejected by everyone he came across from the day he entered life. His creator was never there to teach him right from wrong or responsibility. And also, the monster's soon-to-be wife was killed before his eyes. These agonies are what make the monster more of a victim than Victor Frankenstein does.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  From the beginning, the monster was abandoned by his creator Victor, the only man he's ever had a relationship with. He was made eight feet tall and very grotesque. At first sight, his creator rejects him. The monster tries to integrate himself into society, only to be shunned universally. When the creature goes to the village, he is attacked because of his horrifying appearance. He assists a group of poor peasants and saves a girl from drowning, but because of his outward looks, he is rewarded only with beatings and disgust.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The monster is left to live his life with no help from his creator after being abandoned. While having the mind of a newborn, this is not easy for him. By not knowing right from wrong, he murdered Victor's loved ones in order to get attention. He never had anyone to teach him how to live life with dignity and respect. This is a major loss for a living being. The creator is at fault here because the monster does not know better. Victor should have taken responsibility by accepting, raising, and controlling the monster.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After Victor destroys his work on the female monster meant to ease the monster's solitude, the monster is overcome with suffering and sadness. These feelings affected his state of mind and caused him to do wrong things. He did not deserve to see his one and only mate be destroyed.

History Of Rap :: essays research papers

History of Rap Rap Music, a genre of R&B that includes rhythmic poetry put over a musical background. The background consists of beats combined with digitally isolated sound bites from other recordings. The first recording of rap was made in 1979 and the genre began to take notice in the U.S. in the mid-1980s. Though the name rap is often used back and forth with hip hop. The name hip-hop comes from one of the earliest phrases used in rap on the song â€Å"Rapper’s Delight† by Sugarhill Gang. â€Å"I said a hip hop, hippie to the hippie, the hip, hip a hop, and you don't stop, a rock it to the bang bang boogie, say, up jump the boogie, to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat.†. In addition to rap music, the hip-hop subculture also formed other methods of expression like break dancing, graffiti art, a unique slang vocabulary, and fashion sense. Rap started in the mid-1970s in the South Bronx area of New York City. The birth of rap is, in many ways, like the birth of rock and roll. Both originated in the African American community and both were first recorded by small, independent record labels and marketed towards, mostly to a black audience. And in both cases, the new style soon attracted white musicians that began performing it. For rock and roll it was a white American from Mississippi, Elvis Presley. For rap it was a young white group from New York, the Beastie Boys. Their release â€Å"(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)† (1986) was one of the first two rap records to reach the Billboard top-ten. Another early rap song to reach the top ten, â€Å"Walk This Way† (1986), was a collaboration of Run-DMC and Aerosmith. Soon after 1986, the use of samples was influenced in the music of both black and white performers, changing past thoughts of what make up a â€Å"valid† song. Rap music was first a cross-cultural product. Most of its important early practitioners, Kool Herc, DJ Hollywood, and Afrika Bambaataa, were either first- or second-generation Americans of Caribbean background. Kool Herc and DJ Hollywood are given credit for introducing the Jamaican style of cutting and mixing into the musical culture of the South Bronx. Herc was the first DJ to buy two copies of the same record for just a 15-second break (instrumental segment) in the middle. By mixing back and forth between the two copies he was able to double, triple, or endlessly extend the break.

Bargaining Power Is the Ability to Influence the Setting of Prices

Bargaining power is the ability to influence the setting of prices. Buyer power refers to the ability of customers of the industry to influence the price and terms of purchase. The bargaining power of customers is also described as the market of outputs. The ability of customers to put the firm under pressure, which also affects the customer's sensitivity to price changes. Bargaining power of buyers occurs when leverage is given to the buyer and demand for lower prices, increased quality and more services are made.The amount of power enjoyed by a buyer group maybe determined by the concentration of buyers or volume of purchase. Additional occasion for high levels of buyer’s power may occur when the purchase represents a large portion of the buyer’s overall expenditures, if differentiation and switching costs are low, if there is likelihood of backward integration and if the buyer is fully informed about demand, market prices and supplier cost. The power of buyers is the impact that customers have on a producing industry.In general, when buyer power is strong, the relationship to the producing industry is near to what an economist terms a monophony a market in which there are many suppliers and one buyer. Under such market conditions, the buyer sets the price. In reality few pure monopolies exist, but frequently there is some asymmetry between a producing industry and buyers. The following tables outline some factors that determine buyer power. Buyers are Powerful if: Buyers purchase a significant proportion of output distribution of purchases or if the product is standardized. or example-Circuit City and Sears' large retail market provides power over appliance manufacturers. Buyers are weak if: Buyers are fragmented, no buyer has any particular influence on product or price. For example in garments industry there are so many kinds of customers there in the market. Prices are set by supply and demand and the market reaches the Pareto-optimal point where the highest possible number of buyers are satisfied at a price that still allow for the supplier to be profitable. In garments industry some of them are facing powerful buyers and some are facing weak buyers. ike sub-dealer of boo tic stores have a limited set of potential clients, each commanding a large share of their market these industries are having strong buyers. When retailers face individual consumers with little or no power at all that means now the garments industry has a weak buyer. In the garments industry it is economically feasible for buyers to follow the practice of purchasing the input from several suppliers rather that one. The products are unimportant to the quality of the customer's product or service.The buyers pose a threat of integrating backward to make the garments industry's products. In the garments industry the supplying industry is comprised of large numbers of relatively small sellers. They are concentrated and buy in large volume. The bargaining power of customers is also described as the market of outputs. The ability of customers to put the industry under pressure, which also affects the customer's sensitivity to price changes. These factors change with time and firm's choice of buyers-groups should be regarded as an important element in strategic decision-making.

Hathorne and Parris Essay

In my opinion the main twist of the play was in the court scene where Proctor confesses his affair with Abigail, who doesn’t deny it and doesn’t confess to it either. Elizabeth is brought in as a witness, she could save all the living people accused of witchcraft by telling the court the truth, by removing Abigail’s power. However, her choice to lie or confess her husband’s adultery to the court is not based on her values and her morals. She is unaware of the importance of her decision and she doesn’t know that John has already confessed his crime. Danforth-â€Å"What of Abigail Williams? † Elizabeth-â€Å"I came to think he fancied her. And so one night I lost my wits, I think, and put her out on the highroad. † Danforth-â€Å"Your husband-did he indeed turn from you? † Elizabeth-(in agony): My husband-is a goodly man, sir. † Danforth-â€Å"Then he did not turn from you. † Elizabeth-(starting to glance at Proctor): He- Danforth-(reaches out and holds her face, then): â€Å"Look at me! To your own knowledge, has John Proctor ever committed the crime of lechery! (in a crisis of indecision she cannot speak) Answer my question! Is your husband a lecher! Elizabeth-(faintly): No, sir. This scene is packed with suspense, will Elizabeth tell the truth? Dramatic irony also plays a key part in this scene, we know that John has already confessed to his lechery, but Elizabeth doesn’t. She thinks that she is saving his name, when ironically she is labelling him as a liar. She chooses to lie in the church, ignoring her religious values. She puts her husband and family first, which shows us that she is on the private side of the private life vs. the church conflict which runs throughout the play. The confess or not to confess conflict is also shown here, Elizabeth is one of the many characters forced to make this decision, along with Proctor, the girls, Mary Warren and Abigail. The punctuation in Danforth’s speech intensifies his anger, it creates more tension and puts even more pressure on Elizabeth. Elizabeth’s sentences are mostly short, show her lack of confidence and weakness. This makes us sympathise with Elizabeth even more and involves us with her even more, just in time to intensify the hanging of her husband. ‘The Crucible’ is a play of conflicts, these conflicts make the storyline more exciting by creating suspense and tension for climaxes, create sub-plots which add to the confusion and it allows room for twists, such as when John confesses his adultery but Liz unconsciously says he’s lying. This keeps us glued to the play. The structure itself can be symbolised by a crucible getting hotter and hotter and allowing the impurities to be extracted. It puts tremendous pressure on our main characters causing more conflicts, which in turn causes, excitement, creating yet another climax. Conclusion I thoroughly enjoyed this play as it was exciting and highly emotional so I could get involved in the play and with the characters. I found myself in a position where I was unbelievably biased towards John Proctor without even realising how I’d been persuaded by Miller to side with him. This is cleverly done so you feel you have made your own choice, so you don’t feel manipulated. I found the ending of the play almost unbearable as through the story I had attached myself to John and it was upsetting to see him victimised by the pride of Danforth, Hathorne and Parris. Pride and religion are what decide the fate of the play, the threat of reality crashes down harshly on the dream of a Utopia, confusing readers and characters alike.

Estimating Process Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Estimating Process - Essay Example No matter whichever technique is used the estimator is supposed to cover all the aspects of construction project which includes the direct costs i.e. labor, equipment, material, subcontracts and the indirect costs i.e. insurance, permits, taxes , site office expenditure, head office expenditure etc. An estimate actually is the calculation of quantities of materials, work and their costs which will occur during the course of completion of the project. Moreover a good estimate should also incorporate some of the costs which are not evident during the estimation phase but are likely to occur during the execution of the project. Such a predictive expertise requires a lot of experience in the field of estimation. The total of this predicted expenditure in each category is the total estimate of the project. The estimated cost of a work is a close approximation of its actual cost. The agreement of the estimated cost with the actual cost of the project depends on two factors; the correct est imate of the project cost and following the correct procedures according to the designs and specifications during the execution of the project. For the correct estimation of the project, site investigation along with the detailed study of the project drawings and technical specifications is essential. The following are the various aspects of the estimating process: Estimating Using Handheld Devices Estimation process does not only depend on the design and specifications as certain aspects of the cost can only be calculated through thorough site investigation by visiting the site. During site investigation an estimator has to take and record certain on-field observations for which handheld estimation and recording devices are very useful. The data thus collected can easily be transferred to the desktop computers for carrying out extensive calculations. Types of Estimates Estimates in construction have been divided into various types according to the extent of details in the estimate. These types are: 1. Conceptual Estimate: It is prepared to realize the concept and idea of the owner which allows the owner/investor to have an idea about the required investment for the project and he sets a budget for the project. 2. Preliminary Estimate: These estimates are prepared at the very start of the project by the designer for the owner of the project to judge whether the architect’s/engineer’s design is in accordance with his budget or not. 3. Engineer’s Estimate: After the preliminary estimate which is based on the preliminary designs the design engineers and architects complete the detailed design of the project and the engineer’s estimate is based on these detailed designs and specifications. This helps the owner to set a criterion for the bids. 4. Bid Estimate: The bid estimate is also a detailed estimate which is prepared by the contractor and his bid is based on this estimate after adding a profit factor to it. Cost Centers Cost Centers are the various heads into which the project is divided to facilitate the estimating process i.e. foundations, columns, beams, slabs, partition walls etc. These are further subdivided into categories like excavation, formwork, masonry work etc. This approach helps organizing the estimation data as well as carrying out the estimate accurately. Estimating accounts and cost accounts are two types of cost centers which are the cost of these heads and subheads.

EXEMPTION CLAUSES ( contract ) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

EXEMPTION CLAUSES ( contract ) - Essay Example It quickly became clear that the car is seriously defective and that it will cost at least  £1000 to deal with the problems. Thomas Co always offer to those who buy cars from them, the opportunity to purchase a service contract covering parts and labour on the car purchased for 2 years. Smith Co have always declined such offers from Thomas Co. The conclusion of this paper is meant to give advice to Smith Co., hence, the main issue here is whether or not Thomas Company could be held liable for the damage in excess of the  £100 on defective car purchased by Smith Co. considering the presence of the limitation of the liability as indicated in the contract. To settle this main issue I may use the three tests and they are incorporation, construction and UCTA. To determine whether the provision of the contract containing the clause: ‘Thomas Co limits its liability for any breach of the terms implied by ss13-15 of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 to  £100’ would be deemed incorporated or part of the contract; and therefore should bind the parties in the contract, there is a need to examine the facts if they are consistent on the present status of the law. Case facts tell us that Smith Co has made a number of similar purchases of cars from Thomas Co in the past. Although normally, Thomas Co asks its customers to sign its standard terms, containing the standard clause of limiting liability, the case at bar, the purchase by Smith Co was agreed over the telephone and Smith Co were never asked to sign the standard terms. Hence the logical issue is: Was the verbal agreement made orally a continuation of previous transactions of Smith Co with Thomas Co. where there was the limiting clause? Can we imply that Smith Co. should be covered by the standard clause of limited liability considering that it is the practice of Thomas to ask its customers to sign its standard terms? It is may be argued that the purchase made

Operation management of Tom Pulling Toys Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Operation management of Tom Pulling Toys - Essay Example The intention of this study is Tom Pulling Toys as a global manufacturer of educational toys. Its toys are being manufactured in China and sold in the European and US markets. However, due to rising competition and increasing customer complaints, the company is in a spot of bother. To tackle the situation the company is planning to adopt Total Quality Management practices in its operations. As a starting step, the company has decided to use Statistical Process Control at one of its doll manufacturing lines. For this, data collection has been done over a 30 day period. The data collection has been done from the point of view of colouring defects and the height of dolls as these were the two areas the customers complained about. As an output of the analysis on the collected data, the company needs to know whether its processes are in control. The company also needs recommendations in case the processes are not in control. For the first set of data regarding the number of colour defecti ves, firstly the mean number of defectives is calculated. C-chart is the most suitable chart for this purpose since it is used when number of defects or errors is given and the size of sample (here 200) is constant. Using the mean the two 3 sigma control limits are established as: Lower Control Limit (LCL) = c bar – 3 * (c bar)^.5 Upper Control Limit (UCL) = c bar + 3 * (c bar)^.5 The minimum value of Lower Control Limit can be 0. Hence, a negative value for the same is replaced by 0. The mean number of defectives, LCL and UCL are obtained as 6.033, 0 and 13.402 respectively. C-chart is plotted using the number of defectives and control limits. The same is shown in Figure 2.1. Figure 1: c-chart for Number of defectives From the chart, it can be observed that one data point lies above the UCL indicating that the process is not in control. However, since only 1 out of 30 points lies outside, it can be removed by outlier analysis. For the second data set, x bar and R charts are appropriate. For R chart, the ranges are calculated for each of the 30 samples. Mean range or R bar is then computed as an average of these ranges. The 3 sigma control limits for R chart are then established as: Lower Control Limit (LCL) = R bar * D3 Upper Control Limit (UCL) = R bar * D4 The R bar, LCL and UCL are obtained as .5533, .254 and .853 respectively (Table of Control Chart Constants). R chart is plotted using the ranges, mean range and the two control limits. The same is shown in F igure 2.2. Figure 2.2: R chart for height of doll From the chart it can be observed that a large number of data points lies outside the two control limits. This shows that the process is out of control. For x bar chart, the mean height for each sample is calculated and then mean of mean heights (x bar bar) is calculated. The 3 sigma control limits are the established as: Lower Control Limit (LCL) = x bar bar – R bar * A2 Upper Control Limit (UCL) = x bar bar + R bar * A2 The x bar bar, LCL and UCL

Environmental Kuznets Curve Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Environmental Kuznets Curve - Essay Example On the other end of the continuum, economists advocate that progress in technology along with sustainability of natural resources would lead to little reliance on natural environmental resources; thus, economic growth ought to be there (Beckerman, 1992). As noted by (Shafik, 1994), empirical evidence was lacking to support either of the above two arguments. Furthermore, much difficulty was faced in operationally defining the dimensions of environmental quality. Although no single parameter can be used to define environmental quality, a combination of parameters has been developed for environmental deprivation in order to demonstrate the effect of economic growth on the quality of environment. Amongst one of the first studies conducted in this regard were those of the World Development Report. As shown in Appendix 1, some dimensions of environmental deprivation (including emissions of carbon dioxide and solid waste pollution) are highly correlated with income, meaning that they increa se as income increases; in other words, in terms of these dimensions, economic growth has a negative effect on environment. Others (including lack of safe drinking water and sanitation facilities) tend to decrease as income increases, implying that economic growth can be used as an instrument for enhancing quality of environment. ... Firstly, growth is demonstrated to have what is called a â€Å"scale impact† on environment; that is, the larger the size of economic activity the larger the rate of environmental degradation (Grossman, 1995). This is due to the fact that an increase in income is the product of increasing factor inputs and natural resources of which waste and environmental degradation is a by-product (Grossman, 1995). Secondly, the positive effect on environment of economic growth is what is known as the â€Å"composition effect†; that is, as income increases, structural economic changes tend to increase the proportion of environmentally friendly practices in the economy (Grossman, 1995). Thus, as per the combination of these two effects, environmental quality tends to go down due to structural economic changes in the economy that is in transition from rural to urban and from agricultural to a largely industrial structure but starts to improve as the economy undergoes a second structura l change from heavy industrial processes to technology-intensive ones (Panayotou, 1993). Finally, the technological advancement that accompanies economic growth and the resulting increased expenditure on research and development leads to the adoption of cleaner, environmentally friendly technology which enhances the environmental quality. This is termed as the â€Å"technique effect† (Grossman, 1995). As the Environmental Kuznets Curve suggests, the inverted U relationship between quality of environment and economic growth implies that the harmful impact on environment ( as per the scale effect) is explicit during the early phases of growth but is ultimately offset by the positive effects of the other two effects ( composition and technique) in the later stages. It is here that the

Mathematics IB Internal Assessment Research Paper

Mathematics IB Internal Assessment - Research Paper Example The shipping services and product business takes place along the Qatar Bahrain Causeway which links Bahrain and Qatar. This is the longest marine causeway in the world. The country, Bahrain has a very basic economy. Only 1 percent of Bahrain is arable, hence, the country cannot produce sufficient food to sustain its ever increasing population. Therefore, the entire population majorly relies on imports. The major employers in this country are commerce, industry, and services. These fields take up 79 percent of workers, while 20 percent has been absorbed by the government. Farmers make up the remaining 1 percent of the population. The country has distinctive cost difference in shipping and products across the world due to its island nature and the existence of the Qatar Bahrain Causeway. However, it is important to note that most of these jobs are held by foreigners who make up 60 percent. This has made employment a continuous problem. The economy of Bahrain is largely based on the pro duction and processing of petroleum which makes up 60 percent of the exports. 30 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) also comes from the same. The well established and developed transport and communication is accountable for efficient shipping services and it being the center for finance and banking. Several multinational firms doing business in the area of Persian Gulf have their headquarters in Bahrain. The cost difference in shipping and products in Bahrain results from its fruitful commercial activities. Some of the country’s products shipped to other countries include vegetables and fruits, dairy products, poultry, fish, and shrimp which are sold along with handicrafts produced locally. On the other hand, Bahrain depends on tourism making up 9 percent of its gross domestic product and a great deal of international banking. The industries engaged in shipping services and products in Bahrain include the major industry, petroleum production, processing, and refining , offshore banking, aluminum smelting, tourism, and ship repairing. In addition, the products shipped to other countries include cement blocks, soft drinks, plastics, paper products, and asphalt. Although shipping and products across the world are somehow convenient to the major industries, shipping in Bahrain is efficient because of its location and availability of Qatar Bahrain Causeway which connects the island to the offshore main land such as Iran, Iraq among other countries. Some countries like China have made huge profits on their exports to other countries such as the United States. However, the imports and exports of Bahrain are approximately equal in value. Petroleum accounts for about 60 percent of the exports while aluminum makes around 7 percent. These exports are majorly shipped to Japan, South Korea, India, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. 40 percent of the country export is composed of crude oil processed within the country. However, Bahrain as well has im ports shipped into the country. The major imports of the country include transportation equipment, machinery, and food from Saudi Arabia, Japan, the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The cost difference in shipping and products in Bahrain is also accounted for by the nature of division of labor. As mentioned earlier, 79 percent of the workforce is in industry, services, and

Agency Relationship Essay Example for Free

Agency Relationship Essay Agency relationship is a consensual relationship between two parties, where one party, the principal, gives authority to another party, the agent, to act on behalf of and under the control of the principal to deal with a third party, thereby creating a fiduciary relationship. The law of agency allows one person to employ another to do his/her work, sell his/her goods, and acquire property on his/her own behalf. Although a principal-agent relationship can be created by a contract between the parties, a contract is not necessary if it is obvious that the two parties intended to act as principal and agent. The intent of the parties can be expressed with words or implied by their actions. The principal can authorize the agent to perform a variety of tasks or restrict the agent to specific functions, but no matter how much authority is given to the agent, the agent represents the principal and is subject to the principals control at all times. More important, the principal is liable for the consequences of the actions that the agent performed, and the actions and words exchanged between an agent and a third party are binding to the principal. This is known as vicarious liability and it is the reason business owners must be extremely careful of who they hire to represent his/her company. Agency theory is the idea that the agent does not always have the principal’s best interests in mind. A voluntary, good faith relationship of trust, known as a fiduciary relationship, exists between a principal and an agent, and there are four main elements of fiduciary duty that the agent has toward the principal for the principal’s protection. The first requires the agent to exercise a duty of loyalty to the principal. An agent cannot receive outside benefits without the permission of the principal, share confidential information, fraternize with the competition of the principal, work for the principals competition, deal secretly with his/her principal, and must exercise appropriate behavior while representing the principals interests. An agent who acts in his/her own interest violates the fiduciary duty and will be financi ally liable to the principal for any losses the principal suffers due to the breach of the fiduciary duty. The second of these duties is the duty to obey instructions. This states that an agent must follow the directions of the principal unless by doing so, the agent would break the law or put himself/herself or others in danger. The third fiduciary duty is the duty of care, which states that an agent must use reasonable care to protect the interests of the principal. And the third of these duties is the duty to provide information. This duty says that an agent must give any and all information to a principal if that information concerns the principal. The duties that a principal has to an agent are the duty to reimburse the agent, and the duty to cooperate with the agent.

Design Liability under National Engineering Contract (NEC)

Design Liability under National Engineering Contract (NEC) Design Liability under NEC Problem Every construction or engineering project is generally designed and occasionally defects occur as a result of defective design. These defects if possible then have to be rectified and this has associated costs. Where interested parties cannot agree on which of them is responsible for the defect they often seek a legal remedy to allocate costs. To avoid this legal entanglement the majority of construction projects are carried out under the relative control of a contract that identifies the party that is responsible for the design. The degree of liability depends on how the design responsibility has been allocated under the contract. However, the complicated interaction of various legal elements with contractual provisions can consequently make this difficult to determine. For practical use a contract should allow for the incorporation of clear acceptable levels of liability to both parties. Research by Gaafar and Perry (1998) suggests using a contract that allows for a spectrum of liability such as the NEC/ECC. This allows the level of responsibility to be tailored to the individual project by the inclusion of secondary clauses. Another consideration that must be investigated is that even if the design responsibility is not allocated under the contract, or no written contract exists, a level of responsibility under tort almost always exists. This responsibility is often forgotten and is rarely referenced in the contracts text. The level of design liability differs depending on what type of organisation the designer works for. For example, the level of design liability is the same in tort for a consultancys designer and a contractors designer, however, under a contract the level of liability may be different. In tort, the nature of the designers obligation is to exercise reasonable skill and care irrespective of the designers organisation. In contract, a consultancys designers liability is to exercise reasonable skill and care unless they know the purpose for which they are designing in which case a fitness for purpose liability is implied. Because of this risk of suffering an implied liability terms of engagement for a consultancys designer usually contract out fitness for purpose requirement. This is useful as no level of Professional Indemnity insurance exists to cover a consultancys designer for fitness for purpose liability and it is unlikely the consultancy would be able to independently cover the ris k. Even if a fitness for purpose liability is excluded, a consultancys designer could still be liable for not delivering the end result, if it can be proved that they did not use reasonable skill and care and has ultimately committed professional negligence under tort as well as being in breach of contract. As the tort of negligence is implied into both written and none written contracts, wherever a situation arises where one party owes another a duty of care, it is essential to look at its meaning. The Institution of Civil Engineers (2006) defines negligence as being based on the inflicting of injury or loss upon another person by failure to take such care as the law requires. A contractors designer suffers risk by reference to the statutory implied terms, under the Sales of Goods Act 1972 and the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982, which will impose certain contractual warranties relating to merchantable quality and fitness for purpose, irrespective of what the contract says. The statutory implied terms give rise to risk for the designers contractor in that a contract which is silent on the point will impose on him a strict liability for all the obligations he has undertaken, including his design obligation. It is also worth noting that because of this, if a contractor chooses to appoint a consultancy designer under a subcontract, even if he is using the relevant standard subcontract form of the main contract, they may open themselves up to considerable risk. This is because they still have an obligation to deliver the end result that is fit for purpose, unless there are express provisions to limit liability. This why most Design and Build standard for m contracts limit the liability of the contractor for design to that of an architect under a traditional build contract. However, if there are express provisions in the contract to impose an explicit fitness for purpose liability on the contractor these provisions will then be subject to the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977. As already stated, there are two levels of design reasonable skill and care and fitness for purpose. These two terms are the most commonly used and even though they are an over simplification it is important to define them in more detail. Fitness for purpose is just that, it should satisfy and/or deliver the clients requirements whereas reasonable skill and care can be further split into professional skill and duty of care. As well as carrying out their specialist skill competently the construction professionals have to exercise a defined level of care. This duty of care is based on foreseeability, where one must take reasonable care to avoid acts, omissions or statements, which could reasonably be foreseen to be likely to result in injury or loss to other people. The standard of care to be exercised is that of the ordinary, prudent person and will depend on the particular circumstances of each individual case. In the context of this proposal it would be the construction professionals, working for the contractor who must exercise due care to highlight errors when reading and implementing the clients design, or the contractors own designer who must exercise due care when creating and developing a design (Institution of Civil Engineers, 2006). The element of skill required by a construction professional, whether they are an engineer, designer, quantity surveyor or project manager is to carry out their own specialist skill competently. The courts have defined the specialist skill and competence on many occasions and the following direction to the jury in Bolam v Friern Hospital Management Committee [1957], has been adopted by the House of Lords and is frequently cited:- Where you get a situation which involves some special skill or competence the test is the standard of the ordinary skilled man exercising and professing to have that special skill. A man need not possess the highest expert skill it is sufficient if he exercises the ordinary skill of the ordinary competent man exercising that particular art (Institution of Civil Engineers, 2006). As previous research by Gaafar and Perry (1998) suggests, the NEC/ECC contract is an acceptable document that can be tailored to individual projects and remain workable and acceptable to both client and contractor. These advantages could explain why it has rapidly become the contract of choice for public sector work. Due to the economic situation that exists in the construction and engineering industry at present the majority of work is in the public sector and as a result is under NEC3 the most recent version of NEC/ECC form of contract. According to the Bank of England the current economic situation is going to continue for at least the next 6 months before signs of recovery start to filter through to the construction industry in the form of private investment. Because of this, more disagreements over design defects carried out under the NEC3 form of contract are probably going to go before the courts. It would be useful then for contractors construction professionals to know what design liabilities the contractor could be exposed to so that they can take steps to avoid any legal entanglement. This is especially prudent as the NEC3 contract does not include the term fitness for purpose in its text and instead relies on the works information given by the client to specify the performance requirements and secondary clauses to limit a contractors liability. When this information is incomplete or missing it creates a situation where the responsibilities and the end requirements are unclear and the contract reverts back to a silent position as discussed earlier and imposes a strict liability upon the contractor, unless secondary clauses to expressly limit liability are included within the contract document. Even where these clauses are included contractual warranties implied by the Sales of Goods Act 1972 and the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 may take precedence. It is important to note that in this silent position a contractor would not be liable for desi gn works carried out by subcontractors even if appointed by them under the relevant NEC3 subcontract form. The aim of the dissertation then, is to carry out primary and secondary research to determine whether, and if so, how, a contractors design liability can be limited to reasonable skill and care under the NEC3 suite of contracts. Your problem specification specifies the problem alright, but it does not indicate what can be done to resolve the problem or what issues need to be addressed in resolving this problem. These issues would form the basis of the ensuing chapters of the dissertation. There is a decided lack (although not a total absence) of appropriate citation to substantiate your many authoritative statements in the problem spec. Literature Review Current literature on the National Engineering Contract 3 (NEC3) includes legal cases, commentary or how to use guides and finally but not exhaustively research by construction and engineering academics and/or professionals. This literature individually covers the different aspects of design liability and the NEC3. Need to make more substantial to provide a structured overview. The NEC3 is endorsed and recommended by the UK Governmental Office of Government Commerce for use on all public sector construction projects. And because the majority of current construction and engineering work is in the public sector at present it is getting a lot of use and therefore it is important that those using it fully understand it. To that end Eggleston (2006) has written a comprehensive commentary on the NEC3. His commentary explains how each NEC3 contract is uniquely put together to meet the employers needs by assembling clauses from the option structure and by particularisation in accompanying documents. This commentary is particularly useful in that it helps the reader use the contract by providing step by step instructions to ensure the basic building blocks of the contract are set up correctly. A good example of this is the five steps that an employer must follow in order to create a set of NEC3 conditions for a particular contract. Egglestons (2006) commentary is an overview of the entire suite of NEC3 contract documents and gives a brief definition of the clauses. It does not give instruction of which combination of options and clauses to use but instead informs the user how to incorporate their chosen selection into a working document. On the down side the book does not give you enough legal analysis and only refers to a handful of cases and to this end does not highlight sufficiently what the repercussions of not getting it right are. This means unless the professional using it is fully versed or doesnt follow a commentary such as Egglestons to the letter they could end up in hot water regardless of what secondary clauses they think are in place to limit liability. Using Egglestons (2006) definitions of clauses and with cross reference to an NEC3 contract it is apparent that it is the secondary options X15 limitation of contractors liability for design and X18 limitation of liability are the most relevant to this proposal. This is because they are the clauses that can be included if agreed between the client and contractor to pre-determine the level of liability. Need to insert what Eggleston says Difference between two clauses and what they limitContradiction with works information Express catch all sentences added under Option Z or included in works info Egglestons thoughts on silent position Gaafar and Perry (1998) have written an insightful paper that is relevant to the proposed aim of this proposal. They based some of their findings on communication with an unnamed author involved in the development of the NEC. From this they discovered that these optional clauses came about due to legal advice that was given to avoid the term fitness for purpose and to the eventual adoption of the notion that the employer would either define the extent of his requirements for performance through the works information or would limit the liability through the choice of an optional clause. The term fit for purpose is very open to interpretation and could be a reason why it was left for the employer to fully define their requirements. Gaafar and Perry (1998) were unable to find a precise definition for the term fitness for purpose and concluded from comparing correspondence and discussion with unnamed legal academics and professionals that no such definition exists. This is hard to accept as regardless how many legal academics and professionals were contacted it is precedence set in the courts that establishes a meaning for the term not the legal academics and professionals opinion. It may be the case that these legal academics and professionals are unaware of any relevant case law and it is unlikely that they exhausted all published volumes. In addition Gaafar and Perry (1998) may have narrowed the question posed to the legal academics and professionals too much and a definition may exist in a non construction and engineering context that could be applied if the princi ples are the same. In addition to correspondence and discussion Gaafar and Perry (1998) also carried out a survey to determine the desirability to be able to adjust the level of liability. They highlight that 30% of clients questioned in the survey said that a fitness for purpose liability is not desirable as they recognise the practical and commercial problems it can cause. Gaafar and Perry (1998) expand on the description of these problems reiterating that professional designers do not have to carry a professional liability higher than reasonable skill and care and therefore no higher level of insurance cover exists. This means that the contractor can not obtain cover either and because of this if a fitness for purpose obligation exists and the design is carried out by a professional designer under a subcontract, the contractor can not pass this liability down to them. This leaves the contractor carrying a large uninsured risk. This unexpected result in their findings gives strong support to their re commendation of using a contract that allows liability to be tailored to an individual contractual situation. The theory and supporting research is comprehensive, however, the raw data is not given and it undermines their reasoning, as it is impossible to determine the significance of the results without knowing the sample size, methods used, the context and appropriateness of the questions. Gaafar and Perry (1998) was published in the International Journal of Project Management and looks at a number of problems associated with the interaction of legal elements and contractual provisions. They look at, but do not directly compare, a number of standard forms of contract and their individual advantages and disadvantages when the limitation of design liability is the key issue. The paper concludes by recommending the use of the NEC contract as they suggest it provides a spectrum of liability. Despite their suggestion of using a contract that allows a spectrum of liability they importantly acknowledge that a strict liability and obligations under the Sales of Goods Act 1972 and the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 exists and is difficult to sign away. This difficulty in signing away rights is also made reference to when they discuss liability under tort and the inclusion of express clauses to limit liability. These important points included by Gaafar and Perry (1998) are relevant to this proposal as they have a bearing on how effectively liability can be limited. Professor J. Perry and Dr H. K. Gaafar are academics at the School of Civil Engineering, the University of Birmingham and for this reason their assumptions on NEC3 in practice are likely to be based on 3rd part information and not their own practical experience within the construction and engineering environment. It is also worth noting that The Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (HGCRA) states that parties cannot sign away certain rights under UK law and current precedence will determine what obligations exist regardless of whether a clause was included to limit liability. The HGCRA forms the basis of the current UK law and as such must be treated seriously and acknowledged as the presiding authority on set aspects of construction projects. It is also important to note that the HGCRA is 13 years old and largely based on the report by Latham (1994), as such developments have happened in the way contracts are worded to either incorporate it or find ways around it. Egan (1998) suggests that a move to partnering and mutual cooperation will do away with a need for contracts. In this situation a strict liability will be implied by current UK law and legislation and as discussed a fit for purpose obligation will be the default situation. If clauses intended to limit design liability are not effective then Eagans (1998) view that; designers should work in close collaboration with other participants in the project will protect the contractors and reduce the risk as they will be fully aware of the requirements and ultimately able to deliver the end product that is fit for purpose. This work by Egan (1998) is a very theoretical academic view and 11 years on has not fully been adopted despite moves to create more trust through partnering, however, it does provide an alternative view to the confrontational and aggressive stand many contractors and clients are adopting in the economic down turn. Wallace (1995) states his opinion that the obligation to construct a work capable of carrying out its intended use overrides the obligations to comply with specification given in the works information. If this is the case even though a contractor may have produced a design that complied with all the works information, if the end result is not fit for purpose they are then responsible. This goes back to the implied obligation discussed earlier and responsibility of the contractor to request more information and highlight lack of clarity in the works information. They may have done everything including reasonable skill and care to produce a design that complies with the works information but if the works information was inadequate they were liable for not correcting this fault and therefore liable for not producing a design that could deliver. Wallace (1995) published this work a year after Latham (1994) and in a climate where a more progressive approach to construction was the new way of thinking, however, it ignores this work and focuses on fact and the law as it stood at the time. This is not a bad thing but when applying Wallaces work to contracts such as the NEC3 it does not always directly apply and extrapolation of the legal principles is necessary, however most are still the same and the book is still widely accepted and used. Jackson and Powel (1992) conclude that the particular obligations of a contractor to his client are generally of a different nature from those owed by a professional man to his client. They make the point that this does not expressly state that the contractors obligations amount to a fitness for purpose requirement. However they imply in the passage, my complaint against him is not that he has failed to exercise reasonable skill and care in carrying out the work but that he has failed to supply what was contracted for, that a higher level of liability than reasonable skill and care exists and that the precise level of liability is governed by what is stated in the totality of the contract. Jackson and Powel (1992) is considered to be an accepted legal text and the authors experts in their field. This opinion is supported by the fact that the book has been quoted in the courts. A good example being; Lady Justice Butler-Sloss in the Court of Appeal regarding the case of Sansom and Mona ghan v. Metcalf Hambleton Co (1997) (Was it a construction law case? Was the case to do with design liability?) EGCS 185 who quoted the book as being a helpful summary. This use in 1997 is important as it is post HGCRA and although it is 17 years old has many useful interpretations that are still relevant. For example, the concept mentioned above regarding totality of the contract is very similar to the commentary detailed in Eggleston (2006) 14 years later regarding liabilities imposed by the entire contract. In relevance to this proposal then, if the book and the authors are deemed to be an authority on the subject of negligence their implications above regarding totality of the contract carry significant weight. This would suggest that secondary clauses under NEC3 are not necessarily going to limit a contractors liability to reasonable skill and care. In addition to the above works, NEC itself provides literature in both on its website and in published form, and despite the inherent bias it may carries is worth reviewing. The bias is there because the NEC has an invested interested in portraying the NEC3 in a positive light to increase sales, however, it is useful for reference to clarify technical points and attain original copies of contract wording. What is clear is that each of these commentaries focuses on a particular area of a contract or takes a view from one particular party and at present there is nothing comprehensive to show all the interrelationships of NEC3 contractual clauses and UK law and legislation. As a result unless the employer compiling the contract or contractor entering into an NEC3 contract fully understands the full ramifications of the options and clauses chosen they should seek professional legal advice. As described by Gaafar and Perry (1998) these interrelationships are very complicated especially to the non legal professional. Gaafar and Perry (1998) try to bypass the need to understand all these complicated interrelationships by developing and suggesting the use of a Spectrum of Liability, however, as acknowledged by them no contract currently exists that fully allows for this. As stressed by Latham (1996) though and indeed acknowledged by Gaafar and Perry (1998) there are certain obligations and im plied responsibilities that cannot be signed away and a strict liability is imposed unless express clauses are used to support this flexible spectrum. Only the NEC3 contract comes close, however, the effectiveness of secondary clauses to control levels of liability is difficult to determine due to the complex legal interrelationships mentioned above. To establish whether liability can be controlled in an NEC3 contract this dissertation will use arguably the main aspect that has most bearing design liability and seek to demonstrate the following conjecture: A contractors design liability can be limited to reasonable skill and care under NEC3 by use of secondary clauses. Can expand to 2500 or 3000 words In final submission should include a statement in the summary to the literature review as to where the dissertation sits in relation to the main authors outlined in the introduction to the literature review. Methodology To manage the presentation of this dissertation it has been split into a number of chapters. The overall dissertation will form a piece of work that can be useful to all construction and engineering professionals who are considering entering into an NEC3 form of contract. Chapter 1 will be derived from the problem specification, literature review and methodology that form this dissertation proposal. Chapter 2 involves carrying out extensive secondary research. This will take the form of investigation into legal precedence that exists for cases with relevance to a contractors design responsibility and associated liability under NEC3. In addition to this, investigation into accepted academic views, professional interpretation of NEC3 clauses and commentary on UK statute and legislation is necessary. Combined this will form a theoretical perfect world view of design liability and act as the control for this research. Chapter 3 will explore construction professionals understanding of design liability under an NEC3 form of contract. To do this a statistically sufficient number of construction professionals will be interviewed. The questions are designed to be comprehensive enough to generate the desired responses but have been deliberately left open ended to ensure they do not lead the interviewees in a certain direction or stifle responses. The benefit of this is that a greater insight into the interviewees experience and knowledge is gained and helps determine how much weight to assign the responses. The results will then be summarised and initial statistical processing carried out to allow them to be analysed. The open ended nature of the interview questions also gives the opportunity for contractors problems that are not covered by the interview questions to be picked up and acknowledged and be compiled into the summary conclusions. Chapter 4 will seek to substantiate or disprove the conjecture made in Chapter 1 by comparing the differences between the control in Chapter 2 and the summary conclusions made from the interview results in Chapter 3. Depending on the outcome of this comparison will determine the recommendations made in this dissertation that aim to benefit construction professionals thinking of entering into an NEC3 form of contract. Chapter 5, the final chapter seeks to bring together all the conclusions made in the above chapters into a final summary. The outcome of the comparison in Chapter 4 should identify how effective the NEC3 form of contracts intentions are in regards creating a contract that is able to limit design liability by the inclusion of secondary clauses or whether other factors come into play and greater care and legal advice is needed before a contractor signs up to an NEC3 form of contract. The comparison will also determine whether any of the additional problems or negative experiences identified by the construction professionals in the interviews is real or merely perceived due to lack of understanding of UK law and of the NEC3 contract in general. If they are merely perceived, the recommendations made in this work should allow them more confidence when deciding whether or not to sign up to a given NEC3 contract. They would then be able to make an informed decision as to whether an included clauses attempt to limit liability under NEC3 would safeguard them or whether they would be exposed and need to adjust their price to suit the increased risk of what is effectively an imposed fit for purpose design liability. Need to justify research method. This justification is done by reference to established research methods authors. You make only one reference to Blaxter et al but it does not really get to the bottom of what you are doing and why. You do not eliminate other methodologies. Do other authors agree? A good methodology will compare the recommendations of three or four research methods texts. You might like to look at some of the following: 1) Dissertation Research and Writing for Construction Students Dr S.G. Naoum Butterworth Heinneman 808.066624 NAO 2) Research Methods in Construction Fellows Lui 3) Hart, C. 2005, Doing Your Masters Dissertation, SAGE Publications Ltd., London 4) Preece, R. 1994, Starting Research: An Introduction to Academic Research and Dissertation Writing, A Cassell Imprint, London 5) Blaxter, Hughes Tight 2006, How to Research, Open University 6) Questionnaire Design, Interview and Attitude Measurement A.N.Oppenheim Continuum 300.723 OPP The methodology should be introduced by a statement about the theoretical perspectives being employed, e.g. you are approaching this dissertation from a legal and contractual perspective by way of offering appropriate practical advice to the industry Need to justify structure. Justification for the structure requires cerebral argument and includes some linking text between your discussion on the content and format of each chapter. Remember the chapters should be based on the issues to be addressed as identified in the problem specification, so your justification of the structure could be based upon the logic of dealing with those issues. References Blaxter, L., Hughes, C. and Tight, M. (2006). How to Research 3rd Ed. Open University Press. Maidenhead. Eagan (1998). Rethinking Construction. Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions. London. Eggleston, B. (2006). The NEC3 Engineering and Construction Contract 2nd Ed. A Commentary. Blackwell Publishing. [Online] Available from: http://books.google.co.uk/books Accessed 07.07.09 Gaafar, H, K. and Perry, J, G. (1998). Limitation of design liability for contractors. International Journal of Project Management Vol. 17, No. 5, pp. 301-308. Elsevier Science Ltd. Institution of Civil Engineers (2006). ICE Legal Note Liability for Latent Defects. Institution of Civil Engineers. London. Jackson and Powell (1992). Professional Negligence 3rd Ed. Sweet and Maxwell. London. Latham (1996). Housing Grants and Regeneration Act 1996. London. Available from: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ Accessed 22.08.09 Murdoch, J. and Hughes, W. (2005). Construction Contracts 3rd Ed. Law and Management. Spon Press. Oxon. Wallace, D. (1995). Hudsons Building and Engineering Contracts, Volume 1, 11th Ed. Sweet and Maxwell. London. Uff, J. (2005). Construction Law 9th Ed. Sweet and Maxwell. London. Bibliography Blaxter, L., Hughes, C. and Tight, M. (2006). How to Research 3rd Ed. Open University Press. Maidenhead. Dissertation Creation. Dissertation Help How to Write and Structure a Dissertation Proposal [Online] Available from: http://www.ukdissertations.com Accessed 07.07.09 Eagan (1998). Rethinking Construction. Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions. London. Eggleston, B. (2006). The NEC3 Engineering and Construction Contract 2nd Ed. A Commentary. Blackwell Publishing. [Online] Available from: http://books.google.co.uk/books Accessed 07.07.09 Gaafar, H, K. and Perry, J, G. (1998). Limitation of design liability for contractors. International Journal of Project Management Vol. 17, No. 5, pp. 301-308. Elsevier Science Ltd. Institution of Civil Engineers (2006). ICE Legal Note Liability for Latent Defects. Institution of Civil Engineers. London. Latham (1996). Housing Grants and Regeneration Act 1996. London. Available from: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ Accessed 22.08.09 Murdoch, J. and Hughes, W. (2005). Construction Contracts 3rd Ed. Law and Management. Spon Press. Oxon. The Guild of Architectural Ironmongers (2004). Commercial and Contract Law. Uff, J. (2005). Construction Law 9th Ed. Sweet and Maxwell. London. Additional useful paragraphs; If the NEC3 contract is set up for the contractor to have design responsibility, then the contractors design must comply with the works information. Even if the optional clause to limit liability is used, the performance specification given in the works information will override it and therefore the contractors liability may or may not be interpreted as fitness for purpose depending on how the works information has been drafted with a strict liability imposed. Results Ques