Business Law Essay Example for Free

Business Law Essay â€Å"We have completed this assignment on our own and have not discussed it with any other individual or used any other unauthorized aids. We acknowledge compliance with the academic requirements (e.g. citation of sources) of the University of Toronto.† Legal Issue #1 Who should be responsible for the men with the broken wrist? Background: On the final night of the haunt, there were two young men who ignored the sign that said danger, upper balcony unsafe this is NOT part of the tour and went upstairs to use the bathroom. Due to that fact that the renovation was not done, thus, plumbing was not fully attached As a result, after they flushed the toilet, it turned out to have a huge water spill and caused one of them to fall and break the wrist. Legal issues: If the young man wants to sue whoever is responsible for this tragedy, he must claim that the occupier of that theatre was negligence; otherwise, he won’t get any compensation for the injury Special Negligence – occupier’s liability The occupier’s liability Act under [RSBC 1996] CHAPTER 337 states that someone considered being occupier if one of the following requirements is met: 1. Someone is in physical possession of the premises. 2. Someone is responsible for and has control over the condition of the premises. 3. Someone is responsible for and has control over the activities carried on at those premises. 4. Someone who has control over who is allowed to enter those premises. 5. Also, tenants and owners are both occupiers. In this situation, we have three different parties who consider being the occupier. 1. Leanne’s parents: As we know, Leanne’s parents are the legal owner of that theatre, consequently, they absolutely could be counted as one of the occupier, now, let’s examine if they were negligence at that time. (1) Duty of care: No matter what, as long as the invitees, licensees, trespassers are in the premises of the occupier; the duty of care automatically falls on the shoulder of the occupier. In this case, the question is: were Leanne’s parents careful enough to make sure the people in their premises were safe? Due to the fact that by the time the accident happened, her parents had already rent the whole theatre to Leanne by a proper contract, even though the renovation of that theatre wasn’t completed yet. Since the age of Leanne is not given, we could not tell if Leanne is over 18 or not. If Leanne is below the age of 18, According to the law, persons under the â€Å"age of majority†: 18 in Ontario (19 in B.C.) – at time contract made she would consider being a minor, and the law says that a minor usually cannot make a rational decision therefore treated as legal incapacity. In this case, the parents should be responsible for making their daughter the person who has control over the place. On the other hand, if Leanne is above 18, due to the fact that her parents have not warned about the possible hazards that the theatre could have to the visitors, they are still responsible for not fulfilling the duty of care. (2) Standard of care: As we know that the man with broken wrist was a trespasser who is not permitted before entering that premise (upstairs). The unfinished plumbing was not deliberately set up to harm any of the people at the theatre. Therefore, her parents have met the standard of care. (3) Physical causation: the unfinished plumbing was not the direct causation of that harm; nevertheless, it was the cause to make the water spilled and indirectly harm the young man. (4) Foreseeable harm: In this case, the harm is a bodily injury. Before this haunt, the theatre was in renovation, after Leanne proposed the haunted theatre plan; her parents accepted it and stopped the renovation instead. It is reasonable for her parents to notice that there should be some potential dangers in the theatre, however, they were just amazed by the idea and forgot about the foreseeable harms that could bring to the visitors. 3-step analysis: (1) Contributory negligence: Since there is a sign to warn the people that upstairs balcony is dangerous, even though they went to the bathroom instead of the balcony, they were still acting careless in a way that they ignored the sign. Plus, the reason for one of them to fall is because of the fact that they flushed the toilet with a unfinished plumbing, causing the water to spill, and made the floor wet, as a result, the man slipped and broke the wrist. Therefore, these two young man should share the liability for this accident. (2) Other defendant: Other defendants might be Leanne and also the contractor that is responsible for the renovation. (3) Vicarious liability: There is also no vicarious liability for this case. 2. Leanne: As a tenant who rent her parents theatre for one week, also the one that is responsible for and has control over the activities carried on at those premises, she is also consider being the occupier. For Leanne’s case, if she is below 18, then the contract between her and her parents are invalid, then she could not be sued. Otherwise she should be going through the following 4+3 negligence analysis as same as her parents. 4-Step Analysis: (1) Duty of care: As I have mentioned before, since the accident happened in haunted theatre was during the time Leanne rented from her parents, plus the activity on that night was under Leanne’s control, so that she automatically had the duty to make sure everyone is safe no matter the person is invitee, or trespasser. In fact, there were just so many visitors while there wasn’t enough staff to take care of the place, even though she had put a sign to warn the visitors not to go upstairs, but, there is still a possibility that somebody would ignore it and go ahead. On the other hand, the man’s wrist was broke right at the time when he fell, according to the relevant time says by the law, it again assures that the responsibilities would fall on Leanne. (2) Standard of care: As we know, after the contractor told Leanne about the plumbing problems she had set up a sign to warn the visitors to stop going forward. Normally if someone sees a sign tells them not to go forward, people would follow, however, during that evening the situation is slightly different. We know that it is a haunted theatre event during Halloween week; consequently the visitors on that evening are most likely to seek challenges and excitements. Therefore, it is reasonable for some risk loving people who would deliberately ignore the sign and go upstairs to seek for more fun. As the planner and the manager of the event, she should have studied the behavior of the potential customers in order to guarantee a better performance and strategies to control the whole activity. Nonetheless, the two young men were considered to be trespasser in this case due to the fact that the haunted event didn’t invite anyone to go upstairs. As a result, the duty owed to trespasser was extremely limited, according to the Common Law Status Approach, as long as the occupier of that particular premises didn’t mean to set up the hazard to trap the plaintiff, then, the standard of care will be satisfied by the occupier. (3) Physical causation: In this case, the wrist of the young man was broken in an indirect way. The plumbing of the toilet had some problems, after the young man flushed the toilet, it caused the water spilled out and the floor became wet. Finally, the young man slipped and broke his wrist. As we can see during the whole process, Leanne had done nothing directly or indirectly to cause the harm of the young man. However, it is the reckless conduct of the young man himself to cause the accident. (4) Foreseeable harm: As I have mentioned, before the haunted theatre, the theatre was in renovation. After Leanne proposed the idea of stopping the renovation for one week and opened the theatre for Halloween event, and the danger can clearly be foreseen. Even though the actual hazard didn’t harm the visitor directly, but it still created a dangerous situation for the two young men. 3-step analysis: (1) Contributory negligence: As I have analyzed in Leanne’s parents 3-step analysis, the plaintiff himself as a trespasser, ignored the sign to warn the dangerous situation of upstairs, and used the upstairs toilet which has a plumbing problem, as a result to make the water spilled on the ground and made the young man fell. Thereby, the young man had contributed to the accident, and should be sharing the responsibilities with whoever is negligence in this accident (2) Other defendants: Other than Leanne’s parents and Leanne herself, the contractor may also be responsible for this accident which I will be examined later. (3) Vicarious liability: There is no Vicarious liability in this case, since the actual harm brought to the young man was mainly caused by himself, therefore we couldn’t claimed that somebody hurt him while doing his/her job. 3. Contractor: The contractor is the one who is responsible for the renovation, naturally the condition of the whole theatre is somehow related to him and he should be responsible for that. As the occupier’s liability Act says that anyone that is responsible for and has control over the condition of the premises is considered as occupier. Due to the fact that the young man was hurt under the premises that was renovated by the contractor, he should consider being one of the potential defendant. 4-Step Analysis: (1) Duty of Care: As we know the contractor is one of the occupiers, therefore, he automatically has the duty to make sure the people are safe, no matter the people are invitees, licensees, or trespassers. (2) Standard of Care: As we know, before Leanne started her haunted theatre plan, the contractor had informed Leanne about the unfinished plumbing and the potential harm that could bring to the visitors. We could clearly tell that as an occupier, he did not try to harm the trespasser (Two young men) intentionally. Meanwhile, he actually tried to protect the visitors from being hurt. (3) Physical causation: As far as we know, even though the contractor is considered being an occupier, but, he didn’t have any control over the place at that particular day, moreover, he is not there by the time the accident happened. On the other hand, due to the fact that he didn’t finish the renovation and caused the plumbing problem and it lead to the water spill which ended up made the man fell down, this whole series of events are just too â€Å"remote†. In conclusion, there is not physical causation of this contractor to make the wounded man the way he is. (4) Foreseeable harm: As we concluded that the accident is just too â€Å"remote† from the contractor, therefore, there is no foreseeable harm caused by the contractor. 3-Step Analysis: (1) Contributory Negligence: As we have proven previously, the young man got into the premises where he was not invited to, thus, he considered being a trespasser. That is the reason for him to share the obligations of this accident. (2) Other defendants: There is no other defendant other than Leanne, Leanne’s parents, and the contractor. (3) Vicarious liability: There is no vicarious liability in this case. Legal Issue #2 Would two of her friends sue Leanne for breach of contract? Background: Leanne recruited two friends and offered them 20% of the net profit or a set amount of $500. Both of them indicated that they were sure 20% of the net profit would be work out to be more. After the operation of business, Leanne gave them each 20% of the net profit ($400) but those two friends asserted that the contract was for 20% of the net profit or $500 and they definitely would choose $500. Two of her friends would probably sue Leanne for breach of contract if Leanne paid them each only 20% of the net profit instead of $500. Let’s consider is there a contract between Leanne and two of her friends: Contract Requirements: â€Å"O+A+C+I† Offer: Leanne (offeror) offered verbally that she would give two of her friends (Offerees) 20% of the net profit or a set amount of $500. Acceptance: Two of her friends (Offeree) accepted offer by saying â€Å"20% would work out to be more† and also by conduct that they started to work next day. In addition, they did not change any terms in the offer so that no counter-offer had been made. Consideration: Leanne (Offeror) would pay money to two of her friends (Offerees) while the offerees would work for Leanne. There is no gratuitous promise between them. Intention: Leanne had a need to recruit the workforce while two of her friends were passionate to work for Leanne, both of the parties showed their serious intention Hence, there was a contract existed between Leanne and two of her friends. Two of Leanne’s friends were able to sue Leanne for brea ch of contract. This contract could be viewed as either a unilateral contract or a bilateral contract. Reasons for a unilateral contract Two of her friends (Offerees) could accept simply by doing what offer required. They needed to work for Leanne and in return they would get money reward. Issue – Did Offerees have the right to claim an option at any time? The key term â€Å"20% of the net profit or a set amount of $500† would be the main argument for both parties in the court. Two of Leanne’s friends would insist that they had the right to choose an option at any time because Leanne had not made a deadline. Undoubtedly, there are different understandings of meaning in regard to this specific contract term. Both parties agreed on contract wording but the term meant different to them. In the eyes of two of her friends, the contract offered them two options that they could choose after they acknowledge the exact amount of the 20% of the net profit. With no doubt that they would go for the option which had higher amount of money. From Leanne’s perspective, she offered them those two options before they started to work. Leanne believed two of her friends accepted the term†20% of the net profit† by the fact that they said that 20% would work out better. In this situation, the court would apply the most â€Å"reasonable† interpretation to the key term: It was unreasonable that two of Leanne’s friends had the right to choose after they realize which option would be higher. Leanne’s offer would be meaningless if two of her friends could do so. The intention of offering an option of 20% of the net profit was to motivate two of her friends. The most reasonable interpretation would be that two of her friends only had the right to choose an option before they started to work, as a step to accept the Leanne’s offer. Therefore, their wording â€Å"20% would work out to be more† would be considered as approving this term only and accepted Leanne’s offer. Reasons for a bilateral contract This was a bilateral contract because offerees needed to trade promises with the offeror. The offerees’ wording â€Å"20% of the net profit would work out to be more† was strong evidence that they accepted this specific term so that they gave this promise to offeror they would work and in return they would get 20% of the net profit. Issue – was there breach of contract? As a matter of fact Leanne gave two offers to two of her friends, one offer with the key term â€Å"a set amount of $500† and another offer with the key term â€Å"20% of the net sale†. As two of her friends chose the second option, they rejected the first offer and accepted the second offer. In this case, two of her friends would not be able to sue Leanne because there was no breach of contract and the court would surely favor Leanne because she did not violate any terms on the contract. As a result, two of Leanne’s friends would not succeed in the lawsuit. In the future, Leanne should be more careful when she makes the contract. She has to list all key terms in details and elaborate on all those terms so that the offoerees would not have a different understanding on those terms. Legal issue #3 – Would the film maker sue Leanne for breach of contract? Background: The independent film maker would like to film in the haunted house and asked Leanne for the offer. Leanne asked for $500 and told the film maker that he could film any night that he liked. The film maker said he needed time to consider the offer. Afterwards, the film maker got very upset when he came to the theatre on Nov 5 and consequently realized that the haunted house was not in operation anymore and the renovation had resumed. Let’s consider is there a contract between Leanne and the film maker: Contract Requirements: â€Å"O+A+C+I† Offer: Leanne (offeror) offered the film maker (Offeree) that he could film on any night he liked and the price would be $500 Acceptance: After Leanne had offered to the film maker, the film maker said he would have to think about it so there was no acceptance at this point. But later the film maker came to the theatre to film on Nov 5 could be considered as an acceptance by conduct. Consideration: Leanne (Offeror) would provide the film maker (Offerees) a place to film while the film maker would pay Leanne $500. Intention: The film maker had a strong desire to film and Leanne was willing to provide the place Hence, there might be a contract or no contract existed between Leanne and the film maker, depends on whether or not there was acceptance and when the offer lapsed. Issue – when the offer lapsed? There was no specific time in the offer that required the offeree to accept. Thus the court would consider a â€Å"reasonable time†. The â€Å"reasonable† time was usually 1 month. Nonetheless, this â€Å"reasonable† time was difficult to tell in this situation. Leanne would consider the offer goes expire after Halloween, because the operation of the haunted house was a seasonal event and it was reasonable to presume that there would be no more people coming after Halloween. Leanne would likely shut down the haunted house after Halloween. From the film maker’s view, the â€Å"reasonable† time would probably be one month because this was usually a standard. It was reasonable for him to believe that the haunted house would continue to operate because he did not know Leanne only ran this event for one week. Thus, the â€Å"reasonable† time was hard to assess. If the court considered the â€Å"reasonable† time was before Halloween, then Leanne would be free from any legal liabilities. If the court insisted the â€Å"reasonable† time was within one month, then Leanne would be sued for breach of contract since she could not fulfill her promise. Leanne had to revoke the contract immediately before she stopped operating the haunted house to avoid any legal duties.

Being A Passive Listener English Language Essay

Being A Passive Listener English Language Essay Listening is a prerequisite of learning. It involves hearing, attending, understanding, remembering, evaluating and responding to spoken messages. We cannot understand , learn or remember something unless we pay attention. A passive listener is one who pays low concentration and effort into what is been communicated, which may be attentive or supportive but occurs without further conscious engagement from the listener, this unresponsiveness may represent a failure on the part of effective listening skills with school,family ,friends and co-workers. There are numerous disadvantages of passive listening. Being a passive listener is an unresponsive act, it may affect an individuals academic progress, social and official interactions. In class participation may be highly important but being a passive listener deprives one the opportunity of staying focused. it brings about low intake during lectures and study hours. More concentration could have been made within the time spent on mopping or interacting with other folks. The passive listener tends to hear words but does not really listening to the words nor the deep meaning of them. The listener is known for staying at a surface communication level and never understands the deeper significance of what was being said. Being a passive listener is a very bad skill for students because they tend to loose a lot during lectures and classes. A passive listener might be present in class but isnt paying total attention to what is been taught . They could be easily distracted when been spoken to because they tend not to have their minds on what is being taught and because of this they tend to loose the most vital information during lectures ; instead of taking down important notes in class, their minds wander so they only collect little or no points and information which is not really important. Hence, they do not get most out of a lecture can affect a student during exactly because they tend to be lost. It is a largely inactive process which leaves the individual clueless. They do hear the words but find it extremely difficult to understand or to empathize with the speakers intention. The listener tends to listen logically and is more concerned for content than for feeling ; this makes the listener emotionally detached from the conversations, by this attitude friendships may be ruined as well. Passive listeners tend to destroy their short or long term relationships and friendships, it also gives an unpleasant impression about people, it sends around the idea that the listener isnt interested in paying attention to what is been said, due to the fact that they do not take in a lot from the senders messages , this could be either personally or professionally informations. Personal information could include social relationship , marriage complains , school issue , break ups, unwanted pregnancy and so on. If sender could find confidence in an individual. Being a passive listener can also affect ones communication with friends and family or even in work places due to the fact that passive listener makes one not to communicate properly because the passive listener cannot give inputs, opinions and supportive words but instead waits for a speaker to response what the individual has to say . being a passive listener also makes one not to react while listening or even give verbal dues to show they are listening e.g. nodding , blinking of eyes , questioning etc. Hence, if you care for someone you would pay attention to their lives too, thats what good friendships are made of. Being a passive listener does not motivate one to be active student because passive listeners tend to be dull and not responsive in class because they tend not to understand the speakers pattern of organization. i.e. what the speaker is ariving at and how the speaker is getting there. passive listening can also make one to be an unmotivated listener because a passive l istener may not know why listening is important because they do not even have the time to determine why what the speaker is saying is important to them. Low motivation to examine the text critically or at an in-depth level. other factors may include ; low motivation to study , poor reflection skills and unprogressive reading. Important pieces of data and assumptions may be missed. Data and assumptions that are perceived by the passive reader are accepted at face value or are examined superficially, with little thought. Being a passive listener can also affect ones communication with friends and family or even in work places due to the fact that passive listener makes one not to communicate properly because he/she cannot give supportive words but instead waits for a speaker to response what he/she has to say . being a passive listener also makes one not to react while listening or even give verbal dues to show they are listening e.g. nodding , blinking of eyes , questioning etc. They receive information has though bing talked to rather than as being an equal partner in the communication process. A passive listener is a big assumer. they believe the communication is the responsibility of the speaker. Little do they know such listening habit can lead to dangerous misunderstandings because there is insufficient communication. Being a passive listener can make one not to have high grades during tests or exams , which have happened due to the fact that the listener did not develop organized notes for study time and has less knowledge when it comes taking in good ideas from class topics. Getting low grades is an end factor of being a passive listener , not only does it reduce the performance of the passive listener but it may also decrease the individuals self confidence academically and socially. They tend to tune in and tune out unexpectedly. They are somewhat aware of others but mainly pays attention to self thoughts. They follow the discussion only enough to get a chance to talk. Their listening is quiet and unresponsive, such a listener will often fake attention while thinkin g about unrelated matters , forming rebuttals or preparing what he wants to say next. According to the english writer Chesterton G.K there is a lot of difference between listening and learning. Listening is when an individual puts full concentration or is consciously aware of the communication from the speaker while learning is perfectly likewise to listening but the big difference is the response and features of the listener when questions are being asked. The passive listener tends to misunderstand the of actually relating with each sentences that comes from the speaker; and writing it down on paper for more understanding However, every individual should master good listening skills as it is important in every aspect of our lives. Poor listening skills brings about nothing but no preparation and unawareness for an individual. A good listener will defiantly learn and progress more with academics and social interactions with friends and family. It takes a great individual to be a good listener

Shifting Identity of an International Student

Shifting Identity of an International Student Over the last two decades the immigration for study by long-term migrants grew from 40,000 in 1990s to 192,000 in 2015 (Population Briefing International student migration What do the statistics tell us? January 2016). This paper aims to examine the reasons behind the students decision to immigrate for higher education, the challenges and issues they might encounter, as well as how having to live far away from home, in a different country, facing a whole new culture and new mentalities ultimately shapes their own personality. Immigration provides the immigrant with a new start in life and more growth opportunities than were previously available. The reasons behind this decision are complex, and differ from student to student, but what all of them have in common is the idea of a brighter future, of more opportunities and the chance to a better life than they would have in their country of origin. As it emerges from my interview, the participants decision to move to England was taken based mostly on the fact that the level of education in universities in England is higher than the one in her country of origin, Egypt, offering a broader diversity of courses and more career options and opportunities. Also, other factors that counted for this decision were the political affairs in Egypt, the revolution, and the fact that her country was not very stable at that moment in time. But apart from its benefits, there are many complex challenges associated with immigration, most of them regarding the assimilation into life in the host country. Migrants, almost by definition, move with the future in mind, but their journeys inevitably involve taking their past with them. Immigration is not only about changing countries, but also about shifting identities, known as the phenomenon of hybrid identity formation. They develop their personal identity as they face conflicting ethnic, personal and national identity options. They deal with both host and origin social constructs, contradicting expectations, traditions and norms during the process of individual identity formation. This phenomenon can be observed in the respondents answers as well. She identifies with some ideals of the British culture, but she feels that she does not belong here. She finds British people too free and uncensored in their thoughts and actions and sometimes even offensive. There is also a great discrepancy between the way in which women are treated. While in England girls are allowed to dress as they want, smoke, attend parties, or walk alone at night feeling safe, and without being judge, in Egypt people have clear, strict standards when it comes to girls clothing and behaviour, and if these are not respected people would stare and judge. Moreover, she faced a significant contrast regarding peoples religious beliefs and practices, as well as the level of religiosity. This affected her life on many levels. Things considered very bad, or even sin in her culture, are seen as normal in England and more, people would consider her weird and treat her differently if she would not take part in those activities or behave as they do. This is why she feels a constant pressure from the contradicting expectations people from the two countries she now belongs to have from her. Thus, migrant students can usually experience alienation of the culture of origin and the loss of meaning con cerning traditional values and norms, or they might feel an exclusion from the host majority society. The shift in migrant students personalities and formation of a dual identity can be observed as well very clearly in the evolution of their home friendships in contrast with the new relationships built in the host country. While they adapt to the new environment, their attitude and views inevitably change and so, their home friends will start facing difficulties in understanding their new ideas and acts. Meanwhile, their new friends from the host country will never be able to fully comprehend their distinctive character, as they do not understand the international students past, including the mentality and culture in which they were born and raised. This is further supported by the persistent finding in the research on international education that for many international students, a major disappointment is their failure to establish meaningful local friendships. Therefore, the migrants start developing feelings of alienation and isolation because neither friends can relate to them com pletely. As my interviewee admitted, she cannot be entirely honest with either of her friends because there are things only the ones from here would understand, and other things only the ones from Egypt would. However, the crucial characteristic, defining people with hybrid identities is the fact, that home is neither represented by their country of origin, nor by their host country. The migrant rather feels affiliated to both places, with both cultures, phenomenon called by sociologists bilocalism. The international students develop familial affiliations, relationships, cultural and material roots in two countries; they identify themselves with two place at the same time. The German-Turkish poet Zehra ÇÄÂ ±rak depicts this fact by using the metaphor of a bridge: the two ends of it symbolize two different cultures. People presenting hybrid identities walk on this bridge freely, from one culture to another. At some points of life one culture might be dominant, later on the other one. Nevertheless, essential for hybrid identities is the permanent presence of both cultures, no matter to which extent. This idea is further supported by Glick Schiller and her colleagues, who argue that nowadays migrants lives cut across national boundaries and bring two societies into a single social field. As my respondent admitted, she often faces contradictory feelings regarding her migration in England. On the one side, she misses home and everything that is related to it, feeling that she does not really belong in UK, but on the other side, there are things in her host country that she got attached to, that make her happy and without which she would not imagine her life now. Many international students might face difficulties in accommodating to the new environment and more importantly in trying to be academically successful in this new environment. However, studies have shown that they are conspicuously better motivated, focused and more aware of the benefits of higher education because they know the sacrifices they had to make in order to get where they are and the struggles they faced in adapting in the host country, so they appreciate more what they have and try to give their best in order to make these efforts worth it. These findings are consistent with my interview research. The respondent declared that she often feels unaccomplished and pressured to work hard and be persistent until she achieves what she wants because she had to leave everything behind in order to come here, and does not want these sacrifices to be in vain. But sometimes she is not as motivated to study and work as she usually is, or as she thinks she should be because she feels isolated, alone, away from home and family, further developing a guilty conscience during these moments. Moreover, migrants can usually experience alienation of the culture of origin and the loss of meaning concerning traditional values and norms, or they might feel an exclusion from the host majority society. From my interviewees experience, she considers that in general British people are colder and more interested in sticking together, than getting to know the international students. Moreover, she does not really like the life here as she considers that moving to UK does not help her accomplish what she really wants. She feels pressured by her identity to learn more about her culture and not being able to do so here bothers her. She could not say if she would change her decision to come to England if she could go back in time. What makes her happy here is what she studies and the friendships she has built so far and she is aware of the fact that she would not be able to continue her studies somewhere else, or leave her friends behind.

The Concept And Antilogy Of Ne Essays -- essays research papers

The Concept and Antilogy of Necessity in 'The Things They Carried'; The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, a medley of short stories tied together by a common theme, examines the many facets of necessity and poses a question of just how valuable the things we hold to be necessities really are. During the confusion of war, the definition of necessity becomes rather slippery in the minds of the soldiers and in such desperate situations, a soldier may find himself holding on to all he can. Despite the fact that these objects may hurt the soldier or bring him to his demise, letting go of such articles is very difficult. The late Ted Lavender, whose death is only a memory throughout the book, is one of those men. When he was shot, the enormous amount of weight he was carrying at the time, the fear in his heart, and the weight of the bullet caused him to collapse instantaneously. Symbolically, the act of falling relates to the weight causing his ultimate downfall - death. The Things They Carried exhibits necessity in its advantageous aspects as well as its disadvantageous ones. It examines the burdens of each individual and the effects that the burdens have on the person in given situations. O'Brien deliberately makes the reader consider what constitutes a necessity by packing his story with heavy irony; a weight that sends conflicting images to the reader and causes him/her to examine the realms of necessity. The reader can go further and apply this distinction between real ne...

Do It Now ( Not Tommarow But T :: essays research papers

The Poem entitled “Do It Now (Not Tomorrow But Today) was written by Michael Barabash who was deemed as “The poet of optimism';. The poem is about life and symbolizes how we choose to use the time of the future, in a positive way. The future time is a crucial part of life, which can work to your advantage or disadvantage. Everyone is blessed with time, even though some have more advantages then others money wise and so on, we are all give time and can use it to our advantage. As the quote says in the third stanza “success obeys the everlasting now'; implying that time is of the essence and however we choose to use it, can greatly affect how your life plays out. A second quote states “The Future waits- the while our past recedes';, the past is nothing but memories and can’t be changed, while the future awaits for you to change it. However, you decide to change it reflects back on you and can determine whether you lead a successful life or not. Problems and boundaries will make changing the future the way you want harder, but every one faces those and the future presents time for you to over come them and move on in most instances. How you use the future can be so important, as the author states “ Today is ours, to find a better way, to live; to love; to labor and to play';. If you use the futures time to your advantage it can greatly help you “the now alone can furnish all our needs'; allowing you to accomplish whatever you want or set out to do in life. Allow you to attain things that will outweigh and help overcome the tribulation that might present itself in your future. Almost anyone who is successful in life has taken advantage of the future and used it to overcome things and get places.

Analysis of “Seeing” by Annie Dillard

Max 11/5/12 Eng. 101 9:30-11:00 â€Å"Seeing† by Annie Dillard: 1) According to Dillard, lovers and the knowledgeable can see well. Yet she also suggests that those who are knowledgeable on a topic, such as people who have been blind from birth and can suddenly see (due to an opperation), can perhaps view more objectively the world around them, and see it in a way that those with vision from birth cannot.Infants, she says, can see very clearly, for they are viewing the world for the first time, and can observe the colors and the light with no prejudgments, but we forget this experience as we grow older, and only occasionally catch glimpses of this phenomenon. 2) Lovers can see well, because their vision transcends the obvious, if they love a lake, they do not merely see a lake, but also see what the lake represents for them, they see meaning.The knowledgeable can see because as small children we are constantly learning, but those who are knowledgeable continue to learn through out their lives, which enables them to keep discovering new ways to view the world and allows them to keep an open mind and open eye. Those who know little can see, but only if they are open to knowledge, even if that knowledge is self taught, they just must be open to experience and to wonder. ) Seeing contributes to happiness because when we allow ourselves to see, we allow ourselves to open our minds and our hearts, and to see the wonder in the world, which we often close ourselves off to as we grow older. Perhaps when we begin to learn of all the sufferings of reality, we close ourselves off to seeing, because we don't want to know, but if we do not allow ourselves to see and feel suffering, we shut the door to the joys and wonders of this world as well. ) The part of Dillard's essay which struck me the most was her retelling of the experiences of those who had been blinded from birth and were then granted sight, and how they did not have a sense of visual space or distance. It made me realize how my perception of the world is a combination of all my senses, and I can't really distinguish them. If I see an apple, I don't only see it, but I imagine how it feels, tastes, smells, sounds as I bight into it. It is hard to separate each of those from each other, but the sound of n apple being bitten into without the knowledge of it being an apple or knowing what it tastes or smells like, is a novel idea. To think of it separately is difficult, but if you can isolate it, it is truly fascinating, exciting even, for it is like a whole new experience. 5) When Dillard uses the term seeing, she means seeing something beyond the obvious. When looking at a tree, not seeing just a tree, but seeing it as if you were seeing it for the first time, and seeing it for all that it entails. ) A person may â€Å"see† not with the eyes, if they were to feel something deep within themselves that could not be attributed to any of the senses. Seeing in this case means to under stand what the view means to the individual. 7) See is most closely a synonym with understand and appreciate. What Dillard means is to appreciate, for often we go through life not â€Å"seeing† because we are ungrateful. However, one cannot truly appreciate unless they understand. One can look at the stars and not know what they are and still see them and understand.What I mean by understand, is not to be able to scientifically explain, but to wonder about and to be able to understand what it means to the the individual. Death of a Moth- Annie Dillard 8) The indefinite article article â€Å"a† in Dillard's title suggests that when she speaks about the vulnerabilities and fragilities of one moth, she speaks for the whole species. She observed â€Å"a† moth burn in the candle, but it could have been any moth, for they all are vulnerable to fire. Humans as well, are all connected in this way, when one person dies, we are reminded of our own vulnerability and our ow n lack of power in the face of death. ) In Dillard's essay the moth dies by flying into the flame of the candle while Dillard is camping. 10) I think the moth is significant to Dillard because it reminds her of her own vulnerability. Death is one thing which connects all life forms, irronic, but true. When she speaks of â€Å"a† moth, she speaks of all moths, and not only all moths, but all life forms, including herself. The moth stands out to her as well because the moth essentially surrenders it's life in order to allow her to read through the night, not knowingly or on purpose, but Dillard benefits from the death of this moth.This is sort of an example of the circle of life, for though one life form dies, another is able to flourish, this is of course on a small scale, but the concept is the same. 11) Dillard retreats to the hills because she is going through writer's block and is trying to re-motivate herself to write. She brings with her The Day on Fire by James Ullman, a book which she read as a young person which inspired her to write. 12) In â€Å"Death of a Moth†, Dillard seems to be unsure what she wants to write about.She begins by talking about herself living alone in an apartment, then diverges to discuss her trip to the hills to try to get motivated to write again and about watching a moth die in her candle flame, and then in the last paragraph she goes back to talking about living alone. The middle of her essay about her retreat to the hills by herself seems to be about her feelings of loneliness as well though. Even the moth dying is a representation of her solitude, for the moth dies alone. Dillard enjoys being alone, as she clearly states, which I have no doubt is true, but she also seems to want to want company.I find this very relateable, I enjoy my solitude very much, but sometimes I wish that I could be happy and comfortable living with another person, but I feel I cannot be myself unless I am alone. The only time Dillard wi shes to not live alone, is when something is funny, because it is much easier to share joyous times with others than to share ones pain. I would prefer to die alone because then I would not have to worry about how those around me felt, and I would be able to allow myself to feel however I felt, and if I did feel pain when I died, I would want to be able to feel that, and people around me might hinder my ability to do that.I think this is what Dillard may have felt watching the moth die, she pities the moth for dying alone, but the moth goes out majestically and for this reason Dillard envies her. Dillard wishes her death to be real, majestic, and she fears living her life with other people will ruin her death. It is a sad reality to live your life in fear of death, but even more tragic to live your life in preperation for a perfect death.

Instructional Design Theory According to M. David Merrill

There are many ways by which an educator can look at learning and the teaching process. M. David Merrill, Patricia Smith and Dr. Tillman J. Ragan are three educators who believe that instruction may be done more effectively with given the proper approach and pacing that students may be able to follow. Merrill sought to change the way instruction is done following theories of cognitive learning by integrating consideration for the learner's background and requirements. Smith and Ragan on the other hand, favor an approach to instruction that is more audience centered and based on real-life experiences of their students. Instructional Design Theory According to M. David Merrill, Patricia Smith and Tillman Ragan. An educational psychologist, M. David Merrill has written numerous books and articles on the field of instructional technology and has taken part in the development of various educational materials including instructional computer products.   Merrill has been cited as being among the most productive Educational Psychologists (Gordon, 1984), among the most frequently cited authors in the computer-based instruction literature (Wedman, 1987), and ranked among the most influential people in the field of Instructional Technology (Moore & Braden, 1988). A co-author of the leading book â€Å"Instructional Design,† Patricia Smith is an assistant professor at Cy-Fair College in the North Harris Montgomery Community College District. She holds a doctoral degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the Louisiana State University. Smith’s co-author is Tillman J. Ragan, Ph.D. a Professor Emeritus on Instructional Psychology and Technology from the University of Oklahoma. Basic Beliefs Merrill is a proponent of the Component Display Theory or CDT.   Under CDT, learning is classified by two dimensions: content and performance.   Merrill lists four types of information that falls under â€Å"Content:† 1. Facts which consist of statements and information 2. Concepts that establish relationships between symbols and objects to form a single unit 3. Procedures or ordered/chronological steps required in problem solving 4. Principles that deal with causal relationships Performance on the other hand refers to the way content is used by the learner.   Applications is demonstrated through remembering (information recall), using (practical application) and generalities (finding or development of new abstract concept from given information). CDT presents data in four major forms: rules, examples, recall and practice. Information is further qualified by secondary forms such as are prerequisites, objectives, help, mnemonics and feedback. Merrill believes that based on CDT, effective instruction is achieved when it contains all necessary primary and secondary forms that a learner may use as standards. (Merrill, 1983) The pace of learning is dictated by the accomplishment of the objectives of each task. Evaluation is limited to determining whether the criterion for that particular task is met. What makes CDT different from other cognitive learning theories is that it takes into consideration the capabilities of the learner.   The presentation of information as well as the graduation to the next level/step is determined by what the learner has already accomplished. Also central to the concept of CDT is the empowerment of the learner wherein learners select by themselves their own instructional strategies.   Merrill believes that instructional material becomes highly individualized when done along the CDT guidelines. While Merrill places huge emphasis on course structures rather than the lesson itself, Smith and Ragan believe that creating instructional material starts in determining the needs, experience and capabilities of its intended users. â€Å"As you design instruction, it is critical that you have a particular audience in mind, rather than centering the design around the content and then searching for an audience that is appropriate† (Smith & Regan, 1999). They believed that if an instructor knew about the learning background of their students as well as their capability of assimilating new information, he or she would be better equipped to speak or instruct the students in a way that they can understand. In their book Smith and Ragan summarized thousands of studies in the hope of identifying which steps to take and instructional techniques to use to achieve each type of learning objective. Smith and Ragan also presented the ideas of authentic learning and case based learning. â€Å"Authentic learning refers to the idea that learners should be presented problems from realistic situations and found in everyday applications of knowledge while case-based learning is based on using case studies to present learners with a realistic situation and require them to respond as the person who must solve a problem.† (Smith & Ragan, 1999). Merrill for his part has presented a newer version of the CDT wherein advisor strategies have taken the place of learner control strategies.   Merrill also subscribes to a more macro view which gives more emphasis on course structures and instructional transactions rather than presentation forms. (Merrill, 1994) Cognitive vs. Constructivist Learning Merrill belongs to the theorists who based their ideas on cognitive learning. He believed a systematic and structural approach to learning by using repetition and consistency makes the instruction method more effective. The weakness in cognitive learning lies in its perceived inflexibility in adapting to new situations or methods or accomplishing things. Merrill sought to address this by proposing structured instruction tailored to the requirements and situation of the learner. Smith and Ragan takes a more constructivist or individualistic approach where learning is based on interaction with real-life situations. Adjustment to new situations would be easier and the learner is capable of interpreting multiple realities and individual choice of method in solving a problem or accomplishing a task. The flaw in this design however is that there are situations wherein a degree of conformity is expected and â€Å"individual approaches† will not be acceptable. References Gordon, et al.   (1984, Aug/Sep). Educational Researcher. American Educational Research Association. Merrill, M.D. (1983). Component Display Theory. In C. Reigeluth (ed.), Instructional Design Theories and Models.   Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum Associates. Merrill, M.D. (1994). Instructional Design Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications. Moore, D. M., & Braden, R. A. (1988, March).Prestige and influence in the field of educational technology. Performance & Instruction 21(2): 15-23. Smith & Ragan. (1999). Instructional Design (2nd ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.Young, M. Wedman, J.M., Wedman, J.F., & Heller, M.O. (1987). A computer-prompted system for objective-driven instructional planning. Journal of Computer-Based Instruction, 14 (1), 31-34.