Monday, September 30, 2019

My Worst Nightmare

As the rain hit me like a thousand knifes, I checked my disreputable, scruffy watch for the time. I had a few more minutes until I had to be at the diminutive, quiet corner shop across from the busy train station to meet Emmy before school. The rain was starting to come down heavier so I took out my incomplete tartan umbrella and covered my reddish-brown hair. Black clouds filled the sky like poisonous fumes in the clear blue sky. I could barely see the deserted phone box ahead of me because of the intense muggy fog. I started to feel worried and nervous as I hated Emmy shouting at me every time I was late. I heard a car pull up by the side of the abandoned street a few metres ahead of me. From what I could see, the old car was blue and inside it were two men. As I innocently hurried past the tatty vehicle one of the men bellowed†¦ â€Å"Scuze me, got the time darlin'?† â€Å"Sorry, I'm in a rush, can't stop.† I replied â€Å"Jump in, I'll drive you. Where you off to?† I thought about it for a few seconds then took up the offer. â€Å"Well just around the corner then, cheers.† â€Å"Hop in then, what ya waiting for?† I didn't feel scared, although I knew it was wrong. I was fine; I just concentrated on getting to the shops in time. Time passed slowly and the traffic was diabolical. â€Å"Look guys, thanks a lot but if you don't mind I'll get out here and walk, the traffics gonna take forever† â€Å"No, we'll get you there don't worry.† I unlatched my rough seat belt and attempted to open the chipped, jammed door but it just wouldn't budge. I started to panic; the two men who seemed to be nice gentlemen had now turned into my worst nightmare. Sweat poured down my delicate face like a swiftly dripping tap. â€Å"You're staying put young lady, until I say so† said the driver sternly. I was terrified, where were they taking me? I slowly pulled out my red, run down phone and started to dial in ‘999'. I trembled with fear as I keyed in the three simple digits. â€Å"What you got there hey?† I quickly slid the phone behind my stiff back as I hesitated to answer the fully-grown, evil looking man. â€Å"Nothing, I swear, nothing† † You liar, give that to me you little brat!† I started to cry, I felt scared, I wish I'd taken the sensible way out and walked to meet Emmy. We passed the bakery; I could smell the succulent sweet, freshly cooked bread, which reminded me of home. Tears ran down my cheeks like the rain on the car window They pulled up outside a desolate warehouse, fear ripped through me like a cat tearing at a cushion. I looked around to see if I recognized where I was but I could just about focus on the horse riding stables and I knew that I was close to a local bus station. They dragged me into the warehouse like a sack of rotten potatoes. The warehouse smelt of vermin and vomit. It was dark and bloodcurdling. The walls were painted dark, repulsive green and they were covered in dirt and stains. There were only two chairs in the tiny warehouse, except for a few empty cans of beer lying around the floor. Rats scattered the cold floor for the slightest bit of food. The air was misty and smelt of damp clothes. The men tied me up to a loose, rusty radiator and started to search my pockets, they pulled out a florescent green lighter. The small man laughed in my face and dashed the lighter across the floor. I felt my heart skip a beat. The tallest man slapped me across the face, I screamed with pain and trepidation. â€Å"AAAhhhhhhhhh!† I began to aggressively cry again, the small hideous man kicked me and slammed an empty Fosters can in my eye. It hurt like hell. How long would I be here? Thos questions ran back and forth through my head like a swing. As the men headed towards the door, the tall obese man called out â€Å"there's no way of escaping!† They both sneered with joy together as they left me alone in the empty warehouse. I lent back against the freezing, brittle radiator. Tears streamed down my face. ‘How could I be so stupid?' I thought of my mum, I wanted to be with her, for her to cuddle me like I was a little kid again. â€Å"Help, can anybody here me?† I gave up, nobody could here me, and so I sat there and waited, and waited. I suddenly heard a knocking at the door. â€Å"Hello?† I was desperate to here a reply. â€Å"Help me please, I can't get up, I'm tied up† Surprising there was a voice, a friendly voice. â€Å"Just give me a minute, I'm doing all I can to get in† My heart was beating faster than the speed of light. This could be my chance to get out, to escape and be free of these daunting men. The person on the other side of the door was shaking the door and from what I could here it sounded like they were hitting the door with an axe. After 20 minutes the door finally gave way, and when it opened, standing in the doorway was a tall figure. He ran over and started to untie the ropes around my arms and legs. I stood up and stared at the man, he looked so kind and gentle. I gave him the biggest hug and insisted we got out of there as quickly as possible. The man, Mathew, drove me home. In the car it was silent, I was still in great shock and he didn't know what to say to make me feel better. When we got to my road, I thanked him and got out of the car. He watched me walk to my door to make sure I got there ok. I rang the bell, and after a few seconds my mum answered the door. It was such a relief to see her; I gave her a massive hug as tears streamed down my face. She looked at me in confusion as we went into the house. We both sat down on the leather sofa, as I began to tell her the story of my worst nightmare.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Does the Philippines Have a Chance?

â€Å"Does the Philippines have a Chance? † Book of Peter Wallace as reviewed by Nash Gibril Introduction To have a glance on the a report prepared by Mr. Peter Wallace in its book entitled â€Å"Does the Philippines have a Chance? † you can see the naked truth about Philippines negative side. The identified realities then hamper development of the country. These realities were very complex that intertwined with each reality. Once the one problem exists it bred other problem or simply called the domino effect. The interrelated detrimental realities maybe made Mr. Wallace to raise the question, â€Å"does the Philippines have a chance? The challenge now for each and everyone of us from mere tao up to the national leaders is draw a positive recommendation from the said report that could possibly be the or at least part of the solution to the embedded problems of the society and expectedly could at least lessen the problems if impossible to eliminate. In this book review, I will first present the world view of the author in per subject matter then I will try to find myself whether I am amenable to the idea or not and then offer an alternative position if not satisfied, otherwise, I will confirm the practicality or truthfulness of the author’s concept.Sad Political Environment – bred poor governance and corruption Is Mr. Wallace is right when he stated â€Å"politics is the heart of the problem? Indeed, he is right in saying so. The politicians now are the most powerful individuals along with the businessmen in the country. The political leadership controls almost everything, once Mr. Politician held in the throne, first he/she easily acquires wealth through kick-backs, red tapes and any other illegal manner, and then control follows. They [politician] controls the legislation and/or implementation of the laws – they will atify what is justifiable and directly or indirectly on their advantage to their vested interest, otherwise they will be out of the circulation. Another attitude of the political leadership is the so called dynasties – once he/she occupied the post, the tendency is he/she don’t want to vacate or leave the office as far as the constitution allows; and much worst, there were instances of strategic maneuvering, for example, the father is the mayor, the son or daughter is the vice mayor, and a son/wife/daughter is the ABC President, what a strategy.In that structure of ascendancy, the tendency is there’s no check and balance, as the ideal structure is designed for. In other words, the government is very susceptible to graft and corruption practices. And another form of dynastic attitude of the politician is as much as possible; the family can hold strategic position in the political system, let say, there is one governor, a congressman, one mayor, and so on and so forth.And once there corruption, the immediate effect is basic services like education, health and sanitation , livelihood assistance, and others, that are expected from the government were not delivered in timely manner, thus, the poor remained to be poor, and those in the position and power are reaching the sky for their personal satisfaction achievements. Moreover, the political leadership is driven by their own personal agendas and not for the common good of the general public. For instance, the villain of the contemporary administration could be the hero tomorrow and the hero for today could the villain tomorrow.There’s no such thing as solidarity of agenda and aspiration for the betterment of the country in terms of socio-economic upliftment. The poor governance also effect low collection of revenues. The businessmen and all other tax payers would always find ways to evade from paying the appropriate tax of their properties. In some cases, these tax evaders are collaborating with revenue officials in order for them to lessen the amount due from them. Lastly, the competence of s ome of the political personalities are also low evel as to some extent, the rich, regardless whether they are competent or not they can be enthroned to office as they have the money to finance electoral expenses whether legal or illegal like in the form of vote buying. The result of this reality is the formula of Mr. Wallace that a weak leadership is equal to political instability. Uncontrolled population growth The next issue is the question of uncontrollable population growth. The question now is population growth detrimental to the society? Or the huge population could be utilized by the government in attaining its desired goal of development? If to rely on the assumption of Mr.Wallace, definitely, population growth hampers economic development of the country in a sense that the population shares the national wealth of the country. To elaborate further, when fewer people shares the national wealth of the country, the government can spend more high value-added products that can he lp drive the economy. On the query if it is possible that the huge population can be the resources of the government in accomplishing its goal, I don’t think so. It could be possible if the government have the funds in equipping its citizens with necessary skills and expertise like of the case of China.As context, Philippine is very limited on agricultural skills that are sometimes antiquated knowledge are pass from the parents to the siblings, that’s why we cannot expect enhanced agricultural production output from it. The issue on population control is further hindered by the position of the church [Catholic] that does not allow the passage of the Reproductive Health Bill. The church opposes the law as accordingly, to engage in artificial contraceptive is against the tenet of the Catholism. However, as presented by the author, many western countries that predominantly Catholic are practicing the desired method of birth control.Why do the church leaders oppose the alt ernative solution to the problem? On the other hand, the Philippine president is in off-hand in the issue, why? Is it because once he/she insist or at least influence the passage of law, he/she would be condemned by the majority Catholic believers? Lastly, being the highest position in the government must not look back his career and must take a risk to ensure the confirmation of something that would benefit majority of the country citizens. In addition, as suggested by Mr.Wallace, the government shall provide option for family planning along with intensive information dissemination and advocacy through educating of the parents. Education The enrollment rate in the country is used to be at the forefront in Asia in terms of secondary education (77%) and tertiary level (31%) ratios. And accordingly, the figure is continued to improve, however, the other Asian countries improve much faster, the tendency now is there will be times that Philippines will be overtaken. But is the great num ber of enrollment is sufficient enough for the education sector of the country?What about the quality? Why is it that huge number of college graduate can land a job? Is it because of lack of job opportunity or less knowledge acquired or both? What about the curriculum? To start with, let’s check the quality of the education. Philippine universities now seldom got international recognition in terms of efficiency of curriculums – only few were internationally recognized as prominent institution, among to the recently published universities are University of the Philippines, De Salla University, Ateneo University, and University of Southeastern Philippines in Davao City.If the government could implement the free education for primary, elementary up to secondary, the better, however, I can’t support the idea of privatizing the tertiary education, it only add to the problem of the parents in sending their siblings to universities. Once the tertiary education is priva tize, the government no longer can impose regulation in terms of tuition fees and all other fees for very common ground, the school is business that is aimed at profit. Rather, I’m in full support to the idea of curriculum enhancement along with method of teaching improvement.But the most important is the accountability of the education sector officials in their expenditures. There must be no corruption in the education/academe as this institution is the molders of future leaders and officials. Infrastructure The inability of the government to provide necessary infrastructures like paved roads, bridges, dikes, irrigation canals, solar driers, warehouse and others, add the hardship blocks of its citizens. The productions of agricultural products are somehow affected by the roads, bridges, driers and warehouses.The infrastrucres are stock capital of the government that attracts more produce of agricultural products, and it also invites investors to come in and have business in our localities, when there is infrastructures, there will be more businesses thus income comes. However, this infrastructure constructions/provisions are attached to various issues, like prolonged bidding procedures, palakasan system/kumpare system of winning the bidding, breaching of contracts, contractors/sub-contractors incapacities, kick-backs to some government officials, and poor quality outputs.Now with these circumstances, what could be the common tao expect from its government. These sad realities must be changed by the government officials as well as the contractors, to have a sense of responsibility and credibility for the benefits of common public must be considered. On the other hand, self-centeredness shall be minimized if not erased in the blood of the Filipinos, otherwise, decade hardship will commence in the coming future. Antiquated agricultureIn terms of agriculture sector, no doubt that we have the wide arable and fertile lands ideal for many types of agriculture products like rice, corn, banana, coconut, coffee, cacao, pineapples, and a lot more. But the problem in this sector are also wide as the lands of the country, for example, the appropriate farming technologies, capital of small farmers, inequitable distribution land ownership, the pro-hybrid and anti-GMO, and lack of necessary infrastructures to support the produce of the farmers.These interlinked realities can only be addressed if the government and farmers will work hand in hand for the resolution of the issues attached to the sector, otherwise we will be of great dependence in terms of food consumption from other neighboring countries. Lastly, in my opinion, the government shall gradually shift to the sustainable agriculture to evade possible environmental impact of the extreme usage of chemicals like pesticides and fertilizers in farming. Job creation In the statement of Mr. Wallace â€Å"give the poor a job, and they no longer poor† is absolutely right.In community orga nizing work for example, the intervention must be attitudinal change with the given technological skills/knowledge and not by just providing temporary solutions to the circumstances. For the case of humanitarian relief, there must be a timeframe of when to stop giving relief goods, as it will create a culture of dependency. And for the issue of providing skills, the TESDA must intensify its campaign in providing necessary skills training as this will propel individual income. The Court System The Supreme Court being the highest court of the land shall perform its mandated and expected functions as well.While the integrity and competence of the justices are unquestionable, in some way or another, their knowledge on technical, economic and technological matters are somehow limited, thus, I support the call of Mr. Wallace that the justices before having a final verdict on issues pertaining to technical, economic and social consequences must have to consult to experts on the particular field where decision will have to be made. My statement however, does not pertain to mining as my personal judgment that mining exploration must be deferred awaiting political maturity and integrity of the public officials.Security Frankly speaking, I am not convinced with the formula of Mr. Wallace that â€Å"Security and Development = Peace + stability. In my own opinion though it could be bias for other as I am Moro, holistically seeing the matter, the only cure for the Moro rebellion is the granting of self-determination. Aside from that, there will no sustainable solution to the problem as the Moro are just retracting their decade’s stolen sovereignty and freedom that their fore parents enjoyed for centuries long ahead of the Philippine republic.My inclination to the self-determination is further backed by the experiences of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) as the failure of the government to impose the desired development. My position, is why not let the Mor o people chart their own destiny through Federal State and/or any other from? The notion is, you cannot impose development to the discontented and untrusting people, they [Moros] has the discretion to develop themselves. However, I support the statement of Mr. Wallace that government cannot win by fighting the rebels, and cannot negotiate peace in isolation.For me, the statement is suggesting for more peaceful solution and not by fighting as in war, everyone is a loser. Conclusion What is my personal assessment on the statements and/or arguments of Mr. Peter Wallace? In a fair and square answer, I agree to most of the notions of Mr. Wallace, whether it is the negative aspect about Philippines and it’s leaders/citizens and the suggestions and recommendations he offered, except for two aspects: (1. ) the promotion of the mining industry, and (2. the formula of resolving Moro insurgency in Mindanao [but no comment on the NDF/NPA]. My stand is influenced by my belief that as long as the Philippine political environment including the judicial system would not be changed, then one cannot expect that the ideal regulations of extracting earth minerals will be followed by the mining companies. The foreign countries he referred were all successful in that endeavor [mining industry] considering that there government are in good status unlike in us which corruption is becoming a phenomenal culture.While we know that development could positive and/or negative effect on the environment, what I suspect is more on negative side effects considering the attitude of the government officials and the mining companies as well. And for the solution for the insurgency, I am not convinced with the formula as I support self-determination is the foundation of any peace and development in the concern areas. Now, to answer the question, does the Philippines have a chance? I am optimistic that there could be chance for the Philippines to develop socio-economically, as long as the re commendations of Mr.Wallace and all other development planners must be considered by the government and by every one of us. The political leaders cannot solve the problem alone, so the cooperation and participation of its citizens is required, otherwise we cannot expect any change. The change we dreamed of must start in ourselves, by being vigilant, law abiding individuals. Indeed, development is a great challenge for each Filipino. No one but Filipinos only can develop its own country.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Ratio Analysis of Ryanair Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ratio Analysis of Ryanair - Essay Example First we chose Operating Profit as our initial measure of economic performance. Since Operating profit is the cornerstone of the success of any company, and it serves to provide an overall picture of a business in general. It is clearly an indicator of the success of the strategic planning and decisions made during the course of the course of the year by management in general. One can clearly gauge also how the company performed compared with the competition. In order to calculate the operating margin you have to divide operating income by the total revenue. The Operating Profit for RynAir for the year 2007 was 21.09% (471,745/2,236,865) compared with an industry average of 0.6 % (Dun & BradStreet, 2007). Here we can perceive that management definitely is plating their cards right at RynAir. They are demonstrating a level of efficiency and profitability that is vastly superior to any competitor. The financial ratios we have chosen portray a clear image of the Rynair’s profitability, solvency and resource efficiency. The first two ratios we have chosen measure the firm’s level of solvency, or its ability to pay its liabilities. These two are the Quick Ratio and Debt to Equity Ratio. The Quick Ratio or Acid test ratio is the most demanding and clear portrayal of a company’s true level of liquidity.   It serves as one of the main metrics used by financing institutions in order to gauge the credit worthiness of a business or corporation. In order to compute the quick ratio, first obtain the current assets and subtract the inventory, this number represents the "quick assets" or the type of assets that can be converted to cash immediately.  From this total of quick assets the total of current liabilities must be discounted. The result from this formula is the quick ratio. Due to the fact that inventory is rarely sold as quickly as the more liquid assets, this is why inventory levels are excluded from the

Friday, September 27, 2019

Financial Innovations and Monetary Policy Term Paper

Financial Innovations and Monetary Policy - Term Paper Example on of debit and credit card into the economy was seen as a major step as this was believed to significantly curb the risks associated with carrying cash and eliminate the losses incurred by investors due to destruction of money as a result of losing cash or fire epidemic. Use of cash is also dispirited due to the continual problem of counterfeiting and the often contested argument that it makes it easy for criminals such as prostitutes and drug dealers to conduct business (Mishkin, 2009; Goodhart, 2000). While the prognoses for the eradication of cash have demonstrated to be quite challenging, the boom in internet shopping has sent a clear signal to futurists that the cashless society is almost becoming an overpowering reality which will present its benefits and drawbacks to consumers and banks, particularly when the whole concept of monetary policies is taken into consideration (Goodhart, 2000). Many developed economies are presently striving towards an economy where cash will be mi nimal and e-money, which in its broadest sense is electronic money often exchanged electronically through technical devices including mobile handsets and computers, is also significantly reduced (Goodhart, 2000). A cashless society implies that coins and currency will be absent but that does not imply a backward development towards barter system, but rather a development towards a society with widespread use of EFTS (Electronic Funds Transfer System). In the US, for instance, only 7% of transactions are in cash as over 90% of transactions are sealed via e-money (Palley, 2011). Apparently, these transactions are low-value transactions involving only small amounts of money. People have accepted EFTS, and it is not surprising that organizations have been forced to use EFTS to remain competitive. However, as the move towards a cashless economy proceeds incrementally, it raises significant issues with regard to monetary policy, the consumer, and payment system threats. Under the monetary

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Definition a glance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Definition a glance - Essay Example Unlike before when personal conversations are rather necessitated for important discussions, today, agreements can already be achieved using social networking sites, e-mail, and text messaging. Moreover, business activities are greatly upheaved; production level has risen. Newly invented machines like the automated guided vehicles and industrial robots make significant contributions to the economy. These technologies have maintained the level of productivity and provided more accuracy considering that these technologies can work non-stop with precision, which precludes the delays thereby ensuring business profit. Lastly, technological innovation has also affected human behaviour and ethics. Due to the prevalent availability of and the ease of access to the internet, more people are using this means to conduct illegal trades. In developing countries, cybersex is rampant – utilizing minors to carry out profane online businesses. What is worst is that more people have become fascinated with such kinds of activity because of how easy earnings can be obtained. Technological innovation is a good manifestation of modernization. This means that people have adopted avant-gardism and modernistic views. While technology brings so much improvement in our economy, lifestyle, healthcare, etc.; nevertheless, sometimes, it is also being used in the wrong way. The bottom line, however, is that technological innovation inspired so many transformations in the society: good and bad. â€Å"For a long time I used to go to bed early (Lawall, 2003)† is the well-known opening of the novel. The speaker tells his episodic encounters of arising from slumber without having any perception of his present state or location. It demands an instant of strain of establishing his thoughts and reclaiming his ego. It also suggests at the point where what comes next will involve the speaker with regaining back his identity, locating himself, and

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Business Models for High Tech Products Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business Models for High Tech Products - Essay Example This limitation applies equally well to Apple’s other technological ventures such as the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad and others where it is obvious that Apple’s products target the upper segments of the market alone. This is more often done by Apple through differentiating their products with larger price tags for example the i-series of products from Apple is generally 30% or more priced from other market competitors. Whereas companies like Nokia have been ruling the market through domination of the underdog customer, Apple has chosen not to do so. Recently as other competitors have jumped into Nokia’s market share, the company has held steady because the lower end of the market is still firmly in its hand. In Apple’s case this is very different. Time and again Apple has found itself in troubled waters because Apple’s market segment (more appropriately targeted customer segment) has come under attack from other product makers. This has meant the bleeding of revenue to other competitors while Apple scrambles to innovate their products in the market segment under attack in order to keep relevant. The case of Windows 7 is very relevant in this regard. The introduction of Windows 7 hit the iOS market for computing solutions rather hard and Apple’s domestic computing solutions user drifted out of hand while Apple scrambled to recapture their interest. Had Apple been more diversified such as in the government and the corporate sectors, the threat would not have been that dangerous. Currently Apple derives most of its revenue from the mobile computing lineup consisting of the iPod, the iPad and the iPhone. The segment of mobile computing is expected to rise all the more in coming years as people would be looking for simple, lightweight mobile devices instead of grounded desktops and bulky laptops. The question now is how Apple plans to survive in an already crowded environment. Historically Apple has been providing its core and peripheral consumers with something new every other quarter or so but this run at innovation seems like dying down now. Future Course of Action Strangely enough Apple has always had the â€Å"Steve Jobs† stigma. As long as Mr. Jobs was online, Apple’s â€Å"applecart† seemed to move in the right direction. In this sense, Apple has always been a Jobs-centric company. The death of Steve Jobs in recent days might spell disaster for Apple as a company because previous runs with Jobs provide ground for such belief. Apple can already be seen entangled in a losing battle as the company’s most recent release the iPhone 4S was a complete disaster. The primary reason that the iPhone 2G succeeded was because it gave something to the market that was never there already even with the large variety on hand. Apple fanatics and others were all expecting Apple to come out with some new and innovative device that would once again revolutionize the world of smart phone s but Apple has failed to live up to these expectations. This serves as a beacon for Apple’s future course of action – the company should refrain from delivering half baked pizzas one after the other. The company needs to bring in something big and well planned and executed like Steve Jobs delivered the iPod lineage. For another thing, Apple needs to lower the price tags on its devices

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Public sphere in Australia today Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Public sphere in Australia today - Essay Example Lower secondary starts at the 7th or 8th year and continue throughout the 10th year of education. The 7th during 9th years of education are known as "preparatory years." Towards the end of the 9th year, students may choose to abandon school or to continue to the 10th year. During the 10th year of education, students may abandon school with a School Leaving Certificate (SLC), in many situations provided by the individual school. Upper secondary consists of the 11th and 12th years of education. Instead of leaving school upon conclusion of the 10th grade, students may carry on for two extra years of education, upon conclusion of which students also get a SLC, provided by the school or by an external examining authority. Once attended almost exclusively by students going to university study, an increasing number of Australian students, irrespective of their plans for advanced study, are attaining the whole 12-year term. While some time ago, professional and scholastic secondary schools were mostly distinct institutes, the majority public secondary schools in Australia at present are "comprehensive high schools" Such schools offer programs both for university-bound students and for students who intend to do different jobs after leaving school or who will take up postsecondary technical or professional education. A number of public schools, on the other hand, maintain to offer only educational, college-introductory programs for students who are registered to the optional programs. Some advanced secondary schools offer agricultural or other education. Nearly all the students in Australia accomplish the 10th year of schooling and get a SLC. The number of students who carry on to the 12th year of education is about 71 % of all students all over the country in 1991. The majority of young students in Australia are registered in some kind of kindergarten program, although attendance is not obligatory. Nearly all states offer a "pre-Year 1" program, and both the government and private agencies offer other pre-school activities for the two years before the commencement of Year 1. School Governance & Finance In each Australian state, the education system is extremely centralized. The Education Ministry and a Director-General of Education administer the educational system. Of late, nevertheless, there has been a growing tendency to decentralize several organizational functions from the state level towards the local level. Governance The ministry of education exercises extensive power over schools all over the state. The states develop policies in the fields of schooling and teacher enrollment, teacher service, student registration, program content, course authorization and student appraisal. The education ministry hires and employs the teachers in government schools, construct buildings, equipment and materials, and grant subsidy for utilization by schools. Hence almost all

Monday, September 23, 2019

Clinical supervision and reflections on practice Essay

Clinical supervision and reflections on practice - Essay Example Reflections and Supervision: Caring for the sick and elderly Conclusion References Introduction Reflective strategies are used to enhance professional observation of the work experience with others and it enhances clinical supervision. Reflection is a process of generating meaning from experiences by considering actions taken with the aim of improving upon future decision-making (Jasper, 2003). Reflective strategies help in identifying gaps in knowledge, skills and learning needs. Reflective strategies also help in analysing communication and relationships with colleagues. Reflective strategies examine decisions taken and are essential in order to identify errors made during decision-making and steps to be avoided when making future decisions. One strategy which the author has used herself for reflection in her work place is clinical supervision. In the future, she would like to consider the use a reflective diary as well. The following discussion will be contextualized both in terms of relevant literature and postings in the MOODLE Discussion Forum by this author and various contributors commenting on the usefulness of a â€Å"reflective diary† and the value of â€Å"management and supervision† of the nursing practice. As the MOODLE postings show, practice may be perceived as benefiting from reflection and supervision. Not everyone agrees, however. Nevertheless, postings on this and the issue of supervision are a very useful way of entering on a discussion of their benefits. Reflections and Supervision: Caring for the sick and elderly â€Å"Reflective practice is associated with learning from experience and is viewed as an important strategy for health professionals who embrace life-long learning† (NHS Guidelines, 2006). Reflecting upon one’s work or practise as a nurse is thus essential (Nursing Standard, 2011; Jasper, 2003). When finding oneself in a difficult situation, one may benefit from stopping and taking time to reflect on what just transpired with the goal to learn from a past mistake in order to make amendments and adjustments to be able to do things differently next time (Johns, 1995). Reflecting upon one’s own position in a certain work process that typically involves a team that has to interact to produce a beneficial outcome, scrutinizing one’s own emotions and the way one often â€Å"balances† between the demands of biology and medicine and the needs of the sick one cares for as a nurse is fundamental to ensure â€Å"best practices† (Bowling, 2009). Keeping a â€Å"reflective journal† or a â€Å"reflective diary† are effective reflective techniques (Heath, 1998, pp. 592-598). Other useful reflective strategies include mentoring, clinical supervision, appraisals, handovers, meetings, group supervision. These means imply an evaluation of skills and enhance learning. The author of this essay has herself benefited from reflecting on her practice and various factual events when she was a student nurse, recording her private experiences, emotions, thoughts and views in a â€Å"reflective diary†. Once a qualified nurse, she abandoned the use of this important tool but has again come to realize its great benefit for nurses in always attending to the above-mentioned distinction and the uniqueness and humanity of each patient. â€Å"I have overlooked the reflective diary in my experience as a qualified nurse at junior level, even as a unit manager. I felt limited by it, and if one loses the diary all the data are lost. After doing the APEL module, my focus is totally different. From the 1st of Feb 20011 till my retirement I am determined to reflect on my practise, use a reflective diary and make a secure electronic copy of it† (â€Å"Reflective Diary†, this author, MOODLE Discussion Forum, 24 January 2011). There is wide agreement on the Forum on the usefulness of the diary (cf. Rolfe et al., 2001). One contributor note s that she qualified as a nurse a long while ago and not until

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Homicide Law within England and Wales Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Homicide Law within England and Wales - Essay Example In July 2005, government ordered for a review of homicide law, especially connecting to manslaughter in England and Wales2. It is stated that there are many problems in the existing law like it has confusing structure and shaky foundations. It does not reflect the degree of fault or provide right scope. There are areas that need regularisation by legislation because some of these areas are not conducive with the modern society. Two general offences of murder and manslaughter sometimes have a blurred demarcation. No doubt wilful killing of another person is murder and the rest come under manslaughter. Here again, demarcation is not very clear between gross negligence manslaughter, reckless manslaughter, voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter and unlawful and dangerous act manslaughter. Current definitions of each of them could be termed as confusing and misleading at times. Current definitions of these offences are mainly based on judicial law connected with precedent individual cases and they are not products of legislation. Most of them are behind time and do not have much legal base other than societal approval. Difference in intention of only harming and not killing, but killing by mistake is a terribly confusing legal field that could be manoeuvred by a clever lawyer in whichever way he likes. In present law culpability is too wide a field and need to be specified properly. Many reckless killers who kill with abandon are getting lightly punished under manslaughter while they deserve more stringent sentences. Law fraternity3 and police watch helplessly when the defendant goes away with hardly any punishment due to loopholes in law. Especially the police, who are aware of the committed crime and have seen the atrocity and effect of it, feel totally deceived and disowned by law. Law of manslaughter needs narrowing down urgently. It cannot be allowed to become bigger and bigger almost with every case. Some of the partial defences like concealed partial defences or self defences are set in unclear fields and need more coherence. Provocation is not clearly stated and the whole area is a confusing mixture of judge made law and rather unconnected legislation. Role of provocation in murder and manslaughter both is extremely difficult to grasp even by

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Contract Laws In China and America Essay Example for Free

Contract Laws In China and America Essay I.Concepts and Features of Contract and Contract Law I.Concepts A.Concept and Features of Contract 1. Concept of Contract According to the provision of Article 2 of the Contract Law of Peoples Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as Contract Law), contract is the agreement in which natural persons, legal persons or other organizations with equal status declare a common intention to establish, alter and terminate civil rights and obligations. Contract was once divided into agreement and contract. Agreement refers to the civil legal act established by both parties consensus with regard to opposite intentions, such as sales agreement. Contract refers to the civil legal act established by two or above three parties’ consensus with regard to collateral intentions, such as partnership contract. However, such division can no longer be seen in our current laws and the two are collectively referred to as contract. Contract has its broad and narrow meanings. In the broad sense, contract refers to all agreements generating rights and obligations, such as labor contract, administrative contract, civil contract, etc. Furthermore, civil contract may also be divided into creditor’s right contract, real right contract, intellectual property contract, identity contract, personality right contract, etc. In the narrow sense, contract refers to the agreement for involved parties with equal status to establish, alter and/or terminate civil rights and obligations. The contract adjusted by the contract law is generally confined to the contract of creditor’s right, real right and/or intellectual property, etc. 2. Features of Contract It can be seen from the concept of contract contract is the agreement in which natural persons, legal persons or other organizations with equal status declare a common intention to establish, alter and terminate civil rights and obligations that, contract has the following legal features: Contract is a kind of civil legal act implemented by natural persons, legal persons and/or other organizations with equal status. As the most important legal fact, civil legal act is the lawful act implemented by civil subjects, which can generate, alter or terminate civil right and obligations. Since contract is a kind of civil legal act, it is different from fact behavior in nature. Fact behavior refers to the act which does not take the declaration of intention as an essential condition and cannot generate the legal effect expected by the party involved, such as infringing act, picking up lost property, etc. In nature, contract as the civil legal act belongs to lawful act. That is to say, only under the circumstance that the declaration of intention made by the contracting parties is lawful, the contract is legally binding and protected by national laws. On the contrary, in case contracting parties make illicit declaration of intention, the agreement, even already reached, may not have the effect as a contract. As contract is a kind of civil legal act, general regulations of civil law concerning civil legal acts, such as essential condition of civil legal act, the ineffectiveness and revocation of civil act, are all applicable to contract. 3 Contract is the civil legal act in which two or more parties declare a common intention. The establishment of a contract shall have two or more parties who declare intention to each other and achieve a consensus. If such declared intentions are not consistent, no contract will be formed. Even though â€Å"one party cheats or threats or take advantage of the other party’s precarious situation to make such other party to conclude a contract which violates its real intention†, the party suffering damages is entitled to request people’s court or arbitration agency to alter or revoke the contract (Article 54.2 of the Contract Law. For similar notes cited in the following text, Contract Law will be omitted). Contract is the civil legal act with a view to establishing, altering and terminating civil rights and obligations. Establishing civil rights and obligations refers to that after parties involved conclude the contract pursuant to the law, civil rights and obligations thus emerge between; altering civil rights and obligations refers to that after parties involved conclude the contract pursuant to the law, the previous civil rights and obligations between them is changed and new civil rights and obligations are formed; terminating civil rights and obligations refers to that after parties involved conclude the contract pursuant to the law, the civil rights and obligations previously existing between them are abolished. â‘ £Contract is a civil legal relationship generated on an equal and voluntary basis by parties involved. That is to say, the subjects concluding the contract have equal legal status and no party may impose its will on the other party. â€Å"Parties of a contract have equal legal status and one party may not impose its will on the other party† (Article 3); â€Å"Parties have the right to conclude a contract voluntarily according to law and no unit or individual may intervene illegally† (Article 4). â‘ ¤Contract is the civil legal act which is legally binding. â€Å"The contract concluded according to law is legally binding upon parties involved. Parties shall perform their obligations as agreed and may not alter or terminate the contract with no consent†; â€Å"The contract concluded according to law is protected by law† (Article 8). Unless otherwise specified by law such as force majeure, the party who fails to perform the contract or whose performance of obligations does not conform to that prescribed in the contract shall assume the liabilities for breach of the contract to continue to perform the contract, adopt remedial measures or compensate losses. B. Concept and Features of Contract Law 1. Concept of Contract Law Generally speaking, the concept of contract law may be comprehended in the broad and narrow sense. In the narrow sense, given contract is the consensus of parties to the contract in nature, contract law is deemed as the law implementing the promise and agreement of parties involved. â€Å"The core of contract law is the exchange of promise†. However, the concept of contract law in the narrow sense confines the contract law to normalizing the establishment, effectiveness, performance and default liability of the contract, but excluding the non-establishment, ineffectiveness and revocation thereof. Therefore, the scope contained is not comprehensive. Just as Bayless stated, â€Å"The contract law pays attention not only to enforceable contracts and    agreements, but to adjusting the result of no contract or agreement concluded†. Therefore, the concept of contract law in the narrow sense is not suitable to apply. The concept of contract law in the broad sense proceeds from the object normalized thereby, namely the transaction relation, and defines the contract law as â€Å"the law relating to the individual transfer of property or labor service†. Most scholars in our country also consider that contract law is the law adjusting the dynamic property relations. Both contract law and real right law adjust the property relations, however, â€Å"the real right law stipulates and adjusts the static state of property relation while the contract law stipulates and adjusts the dynamic state of property relation†. Given that the contract law comprehensively adjusts the transaction relation and the establishment of a contract equals to the formation of a transaction, the performance, alteration, cancellation and termination of the contract constitute the transaction process. Consequently, it’s necessary for the contract law to stipulate the procedures to conclude the contract by parties involved, ineffectiveness and revocation of the contract, remedies upon the failure or part failure to perform the contract, various specific contracts, etc. In a word, any and all transaction relations may be adjusted by the contract law. The definition of contract law as the law adjusting the transaction relation precisely summarizes the nature and fu nctions of the contract law. 2. Features of Contract Law The contract law takes adjusting the transaction relation as its content and is applicable to various civil contracts, which determines the contract law has the features different from those in other departments of civil law (such as personality right law). These features are: Contract law has strong randomicity. Under the condition of market economy, the transaction development and property growth require the market subjects to be independent and fully express their wills. Laws shall leave broad space for the transaction activities of market subject and the intervention of government in economic activities shall be limited to the extent prescribed in the contract. The requirements put forward by the market economy against the law which endow parties with freedom to act as far as possible are thoroughly expressed in the contract. Therefore, the contract law mainly regulates the transaction through random norms rather than mandatory norms. For example, though the contract law stipulates various contracts with certain titles, it does not necessarily require parties to design the contract content precisely in accordance with the provisions prescribed in law concerning the contract with certain title, but parties may negotiate to determine the contract articles freely. As long as the articles negotiated by parties don’t violate the prohibitive regulations of laws, social public interest or public morality, the effect of the contract is acknowledged by law. Notwithstanding law stipulates the contracts with certain titles, parties are not prohibited from creating new contract forms. Although the form to establish a contract is stipulated by law, unless otherwise specially prescribed about the contract form, parties are allowed to freely choose the contract form in principle. In short, a majority of norms of the contract law may be altered by parties through agreements. The contract law also takes the freedom of contract as its basic principle; therefore, the contract law can be called as law at will in this connection. â‘ ¡Contract law emphasized the principle of consultation on an equal footing and compensation of equal value The object normalized by the contract law is transaction relation, which requires the principle of consultation on an equal footing and compensation of equal value in nature. Just as Marx indicated, the commodity is â€Å"equal by nature†. In the exchange of commodities, â€Å"only the owners of commodities with equal status stand at opposite sides, and the means of occupying others’ commodities may only be used to alienate their own commodities.† The exchange of commodities inevitably requires conforming to the law of value so as to carry out the exchange of equivalent labor, which determines that the contract law attaches more importance to the principle of consultation on an equal footing and compensation of equal value than other laws of civil law. â‘ ¢Contract law is a uniform property law. Market economy is an open economy, which demands for the integration of domestic market with international market, domestic trade and international trade. As the basic law of the market economy, the contract law should not only reflect the requirements for a uniform market with a set of uniform rules, but also integrate with international conventions. â‘ £Contract law is the law producing social wealth. Market economy is a developed credit economy, with all credit systems established on the basis of contract relations. A developed credit economy needs promise and agreement. At the same time, the more solid and universal the promise and agreement are, the more developed the credit economy is. II. Comparison of Development History and Textural Difference between Chinese and American Contract Laws A. Different Development Histories of Contract Legal Systems in China and US 1. Emergence of Contract and Contract Law Contract is the result of commodity economy, which emerges along with the emergence of commodity economy and develops along with the development of commodity economy. The contract law is accompanied with the emergence and development of the contract. In later period of clan society, due to the emergence and accumulation of private property, the exchange of products among people was becoming increasingly extensive and certain rules came into shape gradually. In the beginning, these rules were guaranteed by oaths, customs and other ways. When the oaths, customs and other ways were incapable to guarantee the implementation of trading rules, the social community emerging as the times required (organ of state power) thus formulated legal norms to supersede the foregoing. The earliest contract law of human society was developed from customs, so it’s called as customary law. However, the continuous development of society, especially the development and change of social    imbalance, made the customs different in various regions and groups, which resulted in customs here and now being inconsistent with those there and then, thus leading to transaction disputes. This determined that the written law would gradually substitute the customary law. The Code of Hammurabi promulgated by ancient Babylonian Empire in the 18th century BC is the most ancient and most well-preserved written law discovered so far in the whole world, which has 282 articles in total, among which over 120 stipulates contract norms directly. The Twelve Tables and Corpus Juris Civilis promulgated by ancient Rome have more complete legal norms about contract, acting as the most complete and typical law reflecting the production and exchange of commodities among ancient laws and playing an important role in the legislation of capitalist countries in later ages. The French Civil Code in 1804 was based on Roman law. The civil laws in European countries, except Britain, mostly originated from Roman law and formed the so-called â€Å"Roman Law System†. Along with the colonial expansion of these countries, the impact of Roman law was further extended to more regions of the world. After the Second World War, the contract law of early modern period was properly modified to become the modern contract law. 2. Development History of China’s Contract Law The ancient laws in our country had some regulations about the contract. According to the records of Rites of Zhou, there appeared written contracts such as â€Å"panshu (bamboo or wooden slips on which the texts of borrow and loan are written)†, â€Å"zhiji (sales contract)†, â€Å"fubie (borrow and loan contract)† in Zhou Dynasty. â€Å"Where any party asks for the government authority to deal with any dispute arising from debt borrow and loan, the case may only be accepted with the â€Å"panshu† previously co ncluded present†. â€Å"Where any dispute arises from a borrow and loan contract, the official in charge of trying such dispute should make a judgment according to the articles specified in fubie†. â€Å"Where any dispute arises from a sales contract, the official in charge of trying such dispute should make an award according to the articles specified in zhiji†. All these written contracts were main basis for government authorities to judge right and wrong and determine the debt liabilities. In the following dynasties of Qin, Han, Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing, laws had several regulations about contract and contract system. However, in ancient times, our country was always with the agricultural economy which was self-sufficient and self-supporting, and the commodity economy was not developed. As a result, the norms of contract law centering on trading rules was also not developed, with no specialized civil code. Even in the collection of various laws such as Tang Code and Great Qing Legal Code, articles pertaining to contract and contract system are also rarely seen. Since the founding of the Peoples Republic of China, the contract law of our country has achieved significant development. In the initial stage of new China, the Financial and Economic Committee of the Government Administration Council under Central People’s Government promulgated the Interim Measures for Organs, State-owned Enterprises and Cooperative societies to Conclude Contracts or Agreements on September 27, 1950, and the Trade Department formulated the Decision Pertaining to Earnestly Concluding Contracts and Strictly Implementing Contracts as well as the norms relating to various specific contracts such as sales contract and contract labor agreement of capital construction in the same year, all of which ascertain the legal norms of contract system and contract in the new China. Needless to say, due to the impact of wrong course and wrong trend of thought, the legal nihilism was rampant and the contract system was once cancelled in late 50s. Especially in the period of the â€Å"Great Cultural Revolution†, all the contract systems, relevant laws and regulations were discarded. In the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Party, the wrong policy of â€Å"taking the class struggle as the outline† was abandoned, the focus of work of the Party and the nation was shifted to developing economy, and the strategic decision of reform and opening up to the outside world was made in the session. All of these opened up a promising prospect for the development of contract legislation . The Economic Contract Law, Economic Contract Law Involving Foreign Interest and Technology Contract Law were successively approved by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on December 13, 1981, March 21, 1985 and June 23, 1987. It is especially worth mentioning that the General Principles of the Civil Law approved in the Fourth Session of the Sixth National People’s Congress explicitly regulates the system of civil rights and the system of civil liabilities, playing a very important role in perfecting the system of contract laws in our country. Through more than a decade’s legislation, our country has formed the legal system of contract laws which is guided by the General Principles of the Civil Law, backboned with Economic Contract Law, Economic Contract Law Involving Foreign Interest and Technology Contract Law, and based on the contract norms in specialized laws such as Maritime Law, Civil Aviation Law and Copyright Law and a set of administ rative laws and regulations normalizing contracts. All these laws have greatly promoted the economic development and the establishment and development of socialist market economy in our country. However, along with the establishment and development of socialist market economy, this legal system gradually presented new defects. In order to adapt to the requirements of economic construction and development, it’s necessary to proceed from the actual situations of our country, summarize the experience of ten years’ contract legislation and borrow general international practices to formulate a uniform and relatively complete contract law. On October 1993, the Commission of Legislative Affairs of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress embarked on drafting the contract law on the basis of the legislation program approved in the Eighth Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. According to the advice from all sources, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress further modified the draft for many times to form the Contract Law of People’s Republic of China (Draft) and submitted it to the Second Session of the Ninth National People’s Congress for deliberation. Through serious and earnest deliberation by people’s representatives, this important law was finally approved on March 15, 1999, which is a glorious page in the legislation history of the Republic, marking that the legislation of our country’s socialist market economy is ushering a new phase. 3. Development History of American Contract Law As a whole, the American laws are developed on the basis of inheriting British laws. Although American laws are influenced by British laws at different levels in different fields, the contract rules formed in the British common law and equity law have a significant impact on American contract law. Therefore, when investigating the historical evolution of American contract law, it’s necessary to review the early development history of British contract law. a. Lawsuit of Promise in Early Britain In the medieval period, British law had not formed the concept of contract. The earliest to emerge was the so-called lawsuit of promise, namely, when the promisor violated his/her promise, the promisee might file a lawsuit with the court to force the promisor to implement the promise. The principle pursued by common court when trying such lawsuit was: only making a promise cannot generate a right of action; under normal conditions, promise doesn’t have the effect of compulsory ex ecution, exceptional situations excluded. In contrast to the practice of common court as mentioned above, other courts showed more active attitude towards accepting the lawsuit of promise. First of all, ecclesiastical court regarded the promise with oath as an irreversible one according to canon law and rendered the implementation. Secondly, in the court of equity, the Chancellor decided that since one party suffered loss because of the other party’ failure to perform his/her promise, such party shall obtain the compensation. However, till the 16th century AD, common court won the battle with the court of equity and ecclesiastical court striving for jurisdiction. In this process, the jurisdiction of common court was increasingly enlarged and the common law became the main part of British law. The opportunity for the contract law to develop through the judgments of ecclesiastical court and court of equity was always limited. From the 15th to the 16th century, along with the development of the relations of commodity production within the feudal society, to develop a kind of general basis for enforceable promise within the previous lawsuit procedures of common law was the urgent task to be resolved which was confronted by common court. At the beginning, common court just confirmed more exceptional situations under which the promise may be executed mandatorily. However, this didn’t change the basic principle that promise doesn’t have the effect of compulsory execution under normal conditions. Since the second half of the 12th century, common court started to confirm the enforceable effect of sealed covenant, which was a kind of written promise with a seal on. Some people considered, if common court could loosen its requirements about the form of this written document, such document may also be mandatorily executed even with no seal on. The existence of such covenant might become the general basis of the compulsory execution of promise, while till the 14th century, this possibility disappeared. Common court considered, the seal not only proved that one party had already made a promise, but also indicated that the promisor had seriously expressed that he/she would perform the promise for the promisee. Therefore, a covenant which was not sealed couldn’t be compulsorily executed. At the end of the 12th century, common court started to confirm the debt of a borrow and loan relation as the cause of action: In case one person borrowed an    amount of money from another person, the borrower should pay back the money to the lender. If not, the lender might file a lawsuit with the court to force the borrower to pay back money. Later on, common court further expanded the scope of lawsuit of debt repayment: Once a person granted a kind of material interest to another person, such person might lodge a lawsuit of debt r epayment against the latter one, no matter the interest provided was a valuable thing or personal service. However, the existence of such debt also didn’t become the general basis of the compulsory execution of promise for this debt was only confined to the interest which was already granted to others. If a promisee just accepted a promise from the promisor while obtained no actual interest from the promisor, he still couldn’t lodge a lawsuit of debt repayment. In the beginning of the 15th century, common court developed such a principle in its judgment: If someone made a promise of undertaking some kind of obligation to another one, and the promisee suffered damages in the process of the promisor’s performance of the obligation, the promisee might lodge a lawsuit to require the promisor to compensate. This is called the Action of Assumpsit for Misfeasance, whose basis was the theory of law of torts then already approved. In this kind of lawsuit, if the promisor didn’t perform the obligation it undertook, the promisee couldn’t obtain the remedy. In the second half of the 15th century, the judges of common court realized that, in order to win the battle for jurisdiction with other courts, the scope of lawsuit of commitment must be expanded. New legal precedent rule in this period was: If the promisor changed his status due to his dependence on the promise and the non-performance of the promisor made the promisee suffer damages, the promisee might also obtain the remedy. Till the 16th century, the previous scope of lawsuit of commitment was newly expanded, namely, when two persons made promises to each other and the promise of one party constituted the transaction object promised by the other person, even if no party of the two performed his obligation, the promise to be carried out shall have the effect of compulsory execution. The reason to adopt such rule was that, once the promise was made, the promisee has an expectation for the implementation of the promise, which should be protected, even if the promisee didnt perform the corresponding obligation, nor suffered â€Å"damages†. Generally speaking, the 17th and the 18th centuries were the period during which British contract law slowly developed. b. Evolution of American Contract Law in Modern Society The American historian Henry Maine said in 1861 that, â€Å"till now, the movement of this developing society has always been a movement from identity to contract.† This sentence indicates the profound revolution undergone by western society from the feudal times of middle ages to the times of â€Å"laissez-faire capitalism†: In the feudal society, human relation was determined by their identity; in the period of â€Å"laissez-faire capitalism†, human relation was determined by the agreement reached between them. The whole 19th c entury is regarded as the century of contract by western historians. The United States, just independent from the colonial domination of the Great Britain, entered in such a century soon after its establishment. In this period, main systems of British and American contract laws were both confirmed. With regard to the main body, American contract law remained consistent with British contract law. In this period, the consistency of American contract law with that of western countries was: The contract concluded by parties involved was generally considered as having the effect of compulsory execution. Once confirmed, such effect shall become absolute, and may not be changed by state will. In the second half of the 19th century, as the laissez-faire economy developed toward an extreme orientation, to safeguard individuals right to freely conclude contracts had become the primary goal of laws. In the eyes of Americans at that time, â€Å"in nature, justice is to safeguard lawful contracts†. The freedom of contract in the 19th century gave a full display of personal â€Å"independent will† and made private economy taking the â€Å"struggle for existence† as the motive power obtain rapid development with no government restraint and intervention. However, in late 19th century and early 20th century, the defects caused by this unlimited freedom of contract had fully appeared. In this period, contract laws of western countries underwent a new round of modification. The result was, the previous social movement â€Å"from identity to contract† started to turn to the social movement â€Å"from contract to identity†. In the US, since this century, especially since the Roosevelt’s New Deal in the 30’s, personal freedom of contract has received more and more restrictions. Today, the â€Å"identity† is playing an important role in determining the relation of rights and obligations among people for the second time: Workers are protected by â€Å"workers compensation law† due to their identity, and the article of employment contract preventing the employer from undertaking the compensation liability for industrial accidents is no longer legally binding. Similarly, the lessee of rental agreement, the insurer of insurance contract and the demanders of various contracts of public service are all protected by certain laws due to their special identities. It can be seen from the aforementioned change that, in modern American contract law, to provide special legal protection for the vulnerable party of a transaction has already become a consistent policy. Another feature displayed by American contract law in the process of its modern development and evolution is that, the impact of traditional British common law and systems and principles of other laws is decreasing, which is fully reflected from the fact that the Uniform Commercial Code abandoned and modified the traditional system of British contract law. B. Textual Difference and its Reasons between Chinese and American Contract Law Systems Given the development history of contract and the difference between Chinese and American political systems, there are following features when comparing Chinese contract law with American contract law: First, the contract law in our country is a uniform contract law applicable to all regions of China, whether in capital Beijing or western provinces. Second, this contract law is drafted with a round axis structure. Basic principles   are firstly stipulated, and then some specific contracts, such as sales contract, lease contract, etc. In this way, the basic principles are regarded as the axis, and many specific contracts are radiated to satisfy different transaction requirements. For example, the transport contract has the problem which cannot be covered by basic principles. This problem can be resolved by combining the axis and the excircle. American political system is different from Chinese political system, and the development history of American contract law is also different. In America, it’s impossible for the legislative body to approve a law with the two features as mentioned above. America has no uniform contract law, nor state contract law. The international contract laws, such as the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) and New York Arbitration Treaty are commonly used in all used in the whole United States. However, with regard to the contract among American individuals, no law is promulgated by the federation. Consequently, there is no federal legislation with a round axis structure in America. Basically, each state has its own contract law and is responsible for developing basic principles of such law. The contract law of one state is not only applicable to the court of the state, but also binding on the federal court sometimes. In other words, as long as the state contract law exists, the federal court shall apply it. Of course, when 50 different contract laws are adjusting the same legal fact, the court will be confronted with a problem, namely, how to achieve the consistency of application of law? It’s also necessary to notice that American contract law is developed by the court rather than the legislative organ. You must be familiar with the concept of common law, which was formed in Britain and then introduced to America. The contract concept of the common law is formed th rough a long time. Their judges make the judgment and give opinions on the judgment. Now, in this connection, the greatest exception is the UCC. American UCC is a uniform law. In America, every state has its own laws, but these laws cannot cover all transactions. Some are involved with transaction of several properties, such as the transaction and lease of products and some are related to bank business, security trading, e-commerce, etc. However, the construction contract and real estate contract are adjusted by commercial law. Since different state laws may result in different court judgments, if the Congress can approve a law with the round axis structure, these problems will be soon resolved, because doing that can get all transactions under the adjustment of one law. C. Summary The development histories of Chinese and American contract law systems are different. Chinese culture has a long history and the contract law system was born very early. On the contrary, the US is a new country breaking away from the colonization. Although American economy is developing rapidly, its legal systems are mainly inherited from the Britain; especially the American contract law is significantly influenced by the contract rules formed in Britain common law and equity law. In short, China has a uniform contract law applicable to the whole nation, while America has no uniform contract code other than international contract laws. In addition, the difference of Chinese and American political systems leads to a great difference in the textural structures of Chinese and American contract law    systems: Chinese contract law system is based on basic principles which guides various specific contract law systems so as to form a complete set, while America has neither guidance of basic principles in the contract law nor uniform contract law applicable to the whole nation. All in all, the development history and political system of a country influence its legal system. III. Conclusion The economic globalization and political polarization are two trends of the world development. Since China has joined the WTO, how to coordinate our laws is the central issue in the field of law. Nowadays, the world has ushered in the era of knowledge economy and the advancement of science and technology is crucial to the economic development. However, the development of economy as well as the development, transfer and application of technology will inevitably require reforming the traditional contract law system. Some countries have already been reforming the current contract law systems quietly. The birth of China’s new Contract Law is confronted with the era of knowledge economy rather than that of planned economy or the transitional period from planned economy to market economy. The development of science and technology in the era of knowledge economy is so vigorous that it’s probable that difficulties in application will soon emerge after the implementation of new contract law, or even some regulations are already outdated. This situation may be considered as normal because law is the superstructure, which is always behind the economic development. Therefore, any law has to be continuously reformed and perfected. Bibliography 1. http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com 2. Wilmot et al, 2009, Contract Law, Third Edition, Oxford University Press 3. Ewan McKendrick, Contract Law Text, Cases and Materials (2005) Oxford University Press 4. P.S. Atiyah, The Rise and Fall of Freedom of Contract (1979) Clarendon Press 5. Randy E. Barnett, Contracts (2003) Aspen Publishers 6. Scott Fruehwald, Reciprocal Altruism as the Basis for Contract, 47 University of Louisville Law Review 489 (2009).

Friday, September 20, 2019

Functions of Child Learning Through Play

Functions of Child Learning Through Play In New Zealand, play is considered as an important aspect of children’s learning especially in Early Childhood Education. Dockett and Fleer (2002) explain that Play is considered as a potentially powerful medium for learning and a strong experience for those involved in it. According to Oliver and Klugman (2002), â€Å"play is the way a child explores his world, builds skills and exercises his imagination and learns through experiences† (p. 66). What did I do or think in relation to children learning through play before the discussions and presentation? :- Before discussions I did think that play is just for fun, amusement and good time pass for children. Earlier play was important for me, but wasn’t that important as it comes clear after the discussions. What do I think now in relation to children learning through play :- Undoubtedly, play is the strong base for children’s physical, cognitive, emotional and social development. Importance of social confidence long-term effects (MoE, 1996). Physical play strengthens children’s gross motor skills through activities like riding bikes, swings, water play, running, climbing, kicking balls as well as fine motor skills by involving in activities of drawing, painting, cutting, playing with dolls. Play also holds significant importance for children’s cognitive development. It helps them in problem solving, reasoning and thinking while they are involved in plays such as puzzles, dramatic play, block play and storytelling. (Bruce, 2001) explains that language development through play is also fostered in children by verbal and non-verbal communication while expressing their feelings, interacting with playmates and listening to other’s language (Cited in New Zealand Tertiary College [NZTC], 2012). According to Glover (2001), through play, children develop and extend their social skills and develop relationships when they interact with others. Playing in groups or pairs (Cooperative play) allows them to practice their skills of sharing, turn taking, self-control and co-operating while participating in dramatic and creative plays. Children extend and practice their knowledge of the wider world through role play such as: fire fighter, doctor, father, etc. During group plays, children get the opportunity to express and control their feelings, understand others feelings, learn to resolve internal fears and conflicts. Active participation of children in their own world fosters mastery and control resulting in providing the feelings of competency and self-efficacy. Play also helps children to discover about self-including likes and dislikes (Klien, Wirth, Linas, 2004). According to the principle of holistic development in Te WhÄ riki, learning and development includes opportunities for open-ended exploration and play. For example, children love to play in sandpit, water, papers where there is no limit of amount of things that they can do with them. Materials can engage them for hours as they watch the effects that their actions can have on them (Ministry of Education [MoE], 1996). This theory is also linked with goal 4 of strand of exploration which explains that â€Å"children experience an environment where they develop working theories for making sense of the social, physical and natural worlds.†(MoE, 1996, p.90) and learning outcomes also include knowledge, skills and attitudes. Piaget believes that stages of development are directly related to stages of play (cited in Grey, 2010) .For example: Functional play (birth- 2 years) fosters sensory-motor skills in infants when they explore objects in a variety of ways using their different senses and physical abilities, can be linked to Te WhÄ riki, Goal 2 of Exploration strand and learning outcomes of â€Å"developing strategies for actively exploring and making sense of the world by using their bodies and all the senses† (MoE, 1996, p.86). Pretend play, which enables children to socialise, incorporate others in their play, use substitutions for real objects, respect other’s ideas and learn to negotiate. Lev Vygotsky’s theory is another perspective to explain the impact of play on children’s learning in early childhood education. According to McNaughton and Williams (2004), Vygotsky’s theory explains that play generates imagination through which children understand their feelings and desires. It also gives importance to rules to follow during the play to make it successful and also emphasize the importance of the social settings in which learning takes place. According to Docket and Fleer (2002), Vygotsky believes that play held greatest developmental significance in early childhood years. Children have rules and roles during the play and they learn and develop within a social and cultural context, which can be further linked to goal 3 of Contribution and strand of Communication mentioned in Te WhÄ riki. In his theory, play is explained as social learning and sometimes play is directed by the social world and children transmit social and cultural informati on and knowledge (cited in Dockett Fleer, 2002) . For example: If a child is playing alone and being mother, father or farmer, what these roles act and what social and cultural origin they have, varies with different social and cultural settings. It is also explained in goal 3 of Communication in Te WhÄ riki. Moreover, Vygotsky also emphasised that parents and educators assume an important role in children’s learning which is again a vital component of Te WhÄ riki as mentioned in goal 1 of belonging. To summarise, Play is the central component in The New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum which fulfils all curriculum requirements and learning outcomes needed by the infants, toddlers and young children as mentioned in Te WhÄ riki. Moreover, above mentioned two theories strongly supports the role of play for development and learning of children in early childhood years. The strands, goals and principles of early childhood curriculum Te WhÄ riki also explain the significance of play in children’s learning and holistic development and make it a framework in early childhood education in Aotearoa/New Zealand. What does this teach me about future my role as a beginning teacher?:- Early childhood teacher plays an important role in children’s learning and development. Children need a safe and secure learning environment in which they should be given opportunities to explore and understand their feelings, emotions, experiences from which they will construct knowledge. Teachers can offer children with a range of quality learning experiences which will encourage active learning, problem solving, effective communication, creativity, social adjustment and participation. To provide children with active learning environment, teachers should understand the individual child by knowing children’s background, family situations, parental expectations play experiences and prior learning experiences. Dunkin and Hanna (2001) believe that teacher plays various roles such as facilitator (by providing ideas and strategies to extend their thinking and reasoning), co-learner (by using open-ended q uestions, supporting them in difficult tasks and by modelling of language), co-partner, listener/decoder, observer, planner, while involved in child’s learning through play. They also emphasize that a teacher should also have formal or informal observation of child’s strengths, interests and stages of development and should discuss and share the observation results with colleagues and families/whÄ nau. While engaging in children’s play, teachers should encourage them to express their ideas through communication. At the same time, allow children to play themselves to develop their own learning, providing different kinds of play such as physical, sensory, explorative, creative and individual and group play (Dunkin Hanna, 2001). To implement a play-based curriculum, the role of a teacher is very crucial. For example: In physical play, young children need opportunities to further develop their physical skills and practice to control their body movements, teachers need to facilitate these opportunities with availability of space and equipment. By providing sufficient range of equipment and materials, time and space, a teacher can support to develop their concentration skills by explorative play. Teachers can be play-partners or co-constructors for sensory play such as by providing opportunities to explore a variety of natural materials (sand, water, dust etc.) (NZTC, 2012). Teachers should also use strategies of problem solving, encouraging, praising and helping, questioning and suggesting (Macnaughton and Williams, 2009). They should use open-ended questions rather than direct answers and allow children to share their knowledge, ideas, beliefs and thoughts to extend their interests. Another very useful teaching strategy is following children’s Interest, where teacher can adjust the activities according to child’s lead rather than using own pre-planned activities. Implication for my teaching role in future;- Play is very important aspect of children’s learning especially in Early Childhood Education in New Zealand. It focuses on the learning and holistic development of child through various types of plays (social, physical, sensory, explorative and creative) and creates the right atmosphere for children to learn life skills and paves the way for holistic development (MoE, 1996). As children spend most of their waking hours in Early Childhood Education in New Zealand, so teachers play central role in their lives. As a future teacher I will focus on encouraging children for play and will create an environment which is non-violent, inviting, informative, fun loving and homely. Therefore, I will follow specific and effective teaching strategies which are already discussed earliar in previous section, to enhance and extend children’s learning through play. Reference List: Bruce, T. (2001). Learning through play: Babies, toddlers and the foundation years. London: Hodder Stoughton. Dockett, S., Fleer, M. (2002). Play and pedagogy in early childhood: Bending the rules. Southbank, VIC: Thomson. Dunkin, D., Hanna, P. (2001). Thinking together: Quality adult-child interactions. Wellington: New Zealand Council for Educational Research. Glover, A. (2001). The role of play in development and learning. In E.Dau (Ed.), Child’s play: Revisiting play in early childhood settings. Rosebury, NSW: MacLennan Petty. Klien, T., Wirth, D., Linas, K. (2004). Play: Children’s context for development. In D. Koralek (Ed.), Spotlight on young children and play. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children. Grey, A. (2010). Developmental theories in early childhood education. In B. Clark A. Grey (Eds.), Perspectives on early childhood education. Ata kite ate pae – scanning the horizon (pp. 46-54). North Shore, New Zealand: Pearson. MacNaughton, G., Williams, G. (2004). Techniques for teaching young children: Choices in theory and practice (2nd ed.). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Education Australia. Ministry of Education. (1996). Te WhÄ riki: He whÄ riki mÄ tauranga mÃ…Â  nga mokopuna o Aotearoa/Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media. New Zealand Tertiary College. (2012). Play as framework for learning 1 study guide. Auckland, New Zealand: New Zealand Tertiary College Oliver, S. J., Klugman, E. (2002). Playing the day away. Child Care Information Exchange, 5, 66-69

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Birth Orders Effect on Personality Essay examples -- Birth Order Huma

Birth Order's Effect on Personality Birth-order could be one way to gain an understanding of friends, family members and co-workers. Research has shown that the birth-order indeed has an effect on personality. Birth-order of course does not explain everything about human behavior, personality is also affected by many different factors such as heritage, the environment of the upbringing, family size, education etc. There are four basic classifications of birth-order: the oldest, the only, the middle and the youngest born. Each has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. The birth-order factor is not always exact, but it does give many clues about why people are the way they are (Leman, 1985). First-born children tend to be highly motivated to achieve. In school, first-borns tend to work harder for grades than later-borns do. They often grow to be more competitive and have higher educational and career goals. Of the first twenty-three astronauts sent into outer space, twenty-one were first-borns or only children. Some characteristics of first-borns are: goal setting, high achievers, perfectionist, responsible, organized, rule keepers, determined, detail orientated. Only children are considered as a specialized type of first-borns. They are generally characterized much the same as first-borns who have siblings. Some famous first-borns include Mikhail Gorbachev (Russian leader), Jimmy Carter (president), Albert Einstein (scientist), Sally Ride (astronaut), and ...

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Analysis of The Hunger Artist by Kafka Essay -- Essays Papers Kafka Hu

Analysis of The Hunger Artist by Kafka Hunger is a term that is often defined as the physical feeling for the need to eat. However, the Hunger Artist in Kafka's A Hunger Artist places a different, more complex meaning to this word, making the Hunger Artist's name rather ironic. The hunger of the Hunger Artist is not for food. As described at the end of the essay, the Hunger Artist states that he was in fact never hungry, he just never found anything that he liked. So then, what does this man's hunger truly mean? What drives the Hunger Artist to fast for so long, if he is truly not hungry? The Hunger Artist salivates not for the food which he is teased with, nor does he even sneak food when he alone. The Hunger Artist has a hunger for fame, reputation, and honor. This hunger seems to create in the mind of the Artist, a powerfully controlling dream schema. These dreams drive the Artist to unavoidable failure and alienation, which ultimately uncovers the sad truth about the artist. The truth is that the Artist was never an artist; he was a fraudulent outcast who fought to the last moment for fame, which ultimately became a thing of the past. The food was never the issue. The Hunger Artist was never interested. Instead, what the artist hungered for was his fans that appreciated his talent of being able to fast for such long periods of time. Kafka writes, ? Back then the whole town was engaged with the hunger artist; during his fast, the audience?s involvement grew from day to day.? (Kafka, 255) In fact, the Hunger Artist was at first a spectacle. Some fans would come more than once a day to see the Artist perform, some even reserving special viewing seats to enhance the artistic experience. The Artist made eve... ...and ridiculed, especially for entertainment purposes. Nonetheless, the Artist shows a hunger for fame, even if the fame and attention comes from a sick and wild point of view. The Hunger Artist dies a man of sorrow and failure, but is reborn as his opposite, a hungry, strong panther eating everything that comes its way. Maybe in some way the Artist represents a lost tradition of fasting which seemed to come and go, as well as maybe representing the desire that our generation today tends to eat too much and require too much. In the end, the Hunger Artist will be remembered as an outcast of society, and after all his years of fasting, his accomplishments are forgotten, easily replaced as if he never existed. Works Cited Kafka, Franz. ?A Hunger Artist.? Literature and its Writers. Ed. Karen S. Henry. 3rd ed. Bedford/St. Martin?s, Boston/New York 2004. 255-262

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Cherokee Indians Essay example -- essays research papers

The Removal of the Cherokees After England's acceptance of the terms of the peace made with France and Spain in 1763, in which France gave Louisiana to Spain, the grants formerly made to the six English colonies were considered good only to the Mississippi River. During the American Revolution and soon there after these former colonies were considered good only to the Mississippi River. During the American Revolution and soon thereafter these former colonies, now states of the Union ceded their unoccupied western lands to the government of the United States, thereby establishing the so-called public domain. Of these states, the last to cede its western lands was Georgia, which in 1802 surrendered all claim to land included in the present states of Alabama and Mississippi. This cession was made by what was known as the Georgia Compact. It also provided that the United States should at its own expense extinguish for the use of Georgia the Indian title to all lands within the state as soon as it could be done peace ably and upon reasonable terms. The purchase of Louisiana the following year placed the United States in possession of a large amount of territory It seemed reasonable, at least to the white man, that these Georgia Indians, mainly the Cherokees and Creeks, might be induced to move. One reason given by President Jefferson for this purchase was that it would make a suitable area for a new home for large tribes east of the Mississippi owning fertile lands needed for settlement by the whites. Years earlier some parties of Cherokees had crossed the Mississippi and had gone into what is now northwestern Arkansas because of the abundance of game in that region. Some of them had settled there more or less permanently, and from time to time others came out to join them. President Jefferson believed that others, or perhaps the entire tribe, might be induced to migrate to the West. The year following the treaty for the purchase of Louisiana he instructed officials of the United States government residing in the Cherokee Nation to approach the chiefs and head men of the tribe with the suggestion that the Cherokees exchange their lands in Georgia for others beyond the Mississippi. The officials reported to the President, however, that the Indians showed no sympathy with the proposal and had expressed themselves as determined to retain their lands and remain i... ...te shall be formed within the limits of another state without the consent of the latter as well as of Congress. It was asserted that the Cherokees had, in adopting a constitution, sought to form a new state within the limits of Georgia. The President promptly asked Congress to provide for an investigation of this purported Indian state and for "arresting its designs". The first Cherokee principal chief chosen under the terms of the new constitution was William Hicks, the brother of the beloved Chief Charles Hicks, who had authored the constatution but had died in January of 1827. William served but a short time, and in 1828 he was succeeded by John Ross who had been a protà ©gà © of Charles Hicks for several years. Ross was only one eighth Cherokee and the rest Scottish, but he had been born and reared among the Cherokees, to whom he was deeply devoted. Well educated, with a keep mind and rare ability as a statesman, he served almost continuously as principal chief until his death nearly forty years later. During all these years he wielded a powerful influence in the affairs of the tribe; his life story during this long period is virtually a history of the Cherokee people.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Doctor Faustus as a Play Essay

1. Characters The main characters are the Faustus, the protagonist, Mphistophilis, the villain. Apart from this we have Wagner, Good angel, evil angle, Lucifer as major characters. Chorus, Pope, The Emperor of Germany, Raymond king of Hungary, Duke of Saxony, Bruno, Duke of Vanholt, Duchess of Vanholt, Martino, Frederic, Benvolio, Valdes, Cornelius, Clown, Rogin, Dick, Vintner, Horse-course, Carter, Old Man, Scholar, Cardinals, Archbishop of Rheims, Bishops, Monks, Friars, Soldiers, Belzibub, The seven deadly sins, Devils, Spirits in the shapes of Alexander The great, of his Paramour, of Darius, and of Helen in the list of minor characters. 2. Dialogue The play was written well ahead 1830, so the colloquial prose is automatically eliminated. The dialogue in the play, Dr Faustus, is more of the thoughts of the characters instead of their actual words. For example, Faustus says, â€Å"Faustus, begin thine incantations, And try if devils will obey thy hest, Seeing thou hast pray’d and sacrific’d to them.† Here, he is alone on stage, and is talking to himself. Usually we don’t see people talking to themselves while they’re alone. However, Marlowe uses this so time of solitude as a time to tell us what Faustus is doing, which keeps up informed. Those words seems to be less natural because they sound like Faustus’ thoughts instead of his actual dialogue. An example of stage direction within the dialogue is when Mephistophilis says, ‘Faustus, thou shatl: then kneel down presently, Whilst on thy head I lay my hand, And charm thee with this magic wand.’ 3. Plot The play, Doctor Faustus, is all about Faustus, an erudite man in medicine and other knowledge known to man. However, disgruntled Faustus, not knowing where his life is heading, calls upon Lucifer and his accomplice, Mephistophilis, to instruct him the ways of magic. But they agree to be his mentors only if Faustus would sell his soul to Lucifer and be his after 24 years. Faustus agrees. He goes through trying times while he is unsure of his decision and considers repenting. But then he’s persuaded over and over again to the magic powers of the devil that were far more satisfying than the powers of heaven. 4. Conflict The conflict in Doctor Faustus is within Faustus himself, who is personified in two angles – good and evil – each trying to pull Faustus in their opposite paths. Hence, we often see that Faustus repents following the good advice of the good angle. However, the evil angle again scores its victory by infusing fear into Faustus’s heart. In the penultimate scene, Faustus is tested to give into the temptations of the seven deadly sins. We find him deceived by ‘lust’, one of the deadly sins, as he yields to the beauty of Helen, despite the advice of the old man. Even in the last scene, Faustus is spooked by the power of evil than the trust in God. His so called ‘repentance’ is the mere voice of fear than a firm prayer to God. Thus we find the prevalence of free-will and willful submission to the fears of his mind. 5. Settings Doctor Faustus stand on the verge of two eras – the Renaissance and the Middle Ages. Some aspects of the setting are distinctly medieval. For example, the world of Doctor Faustus includes heaven and hell, as did the religious dramas of the medieval period. The play, is often, lined up with supernatural characters – angels and demons, who might have stepped onstage right out of a cathedral. Like in the plays of Middle Ages, few of the background characters are in fiery pursuit of salvation. But, the setting of Doctor Faustus is also a Renaissance period – the period of European history at the close of the Middle Ages and the rise of the modern world – that gave rise to a cultural rebirth through the 14th to the middle of the 17th centuries. The atmosphere of the play is speculative. People are often asking question never dreamed of in the Middle Ages. For example, people are asking, ‘Is ther a hell?’ Faustus himself is seized by worldly ambitions. He is far more concerned about luxurious silk gowns and powerful war-machines than saving his soul. Was there a dividing line between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance ? The answer is there wasn’t. Both old and new ways of thinking existed side by side as people lived through a long period of transition. Transition is the key to the setting of the play. 6. Stage Direction Most of the stage direction are written within the dialogue of the script. Only few stage directions in parenthetical are the entrances, exits. â€Å"Damn’d be his soul for ever for this deed! [Exeunt all except Faustus  and Mephistopheles† Occasionally, especially during the scene involving the Pope, we find the occasional â€Å"I pledge your grace. [Snatches the cup.]†. and â€Å"Nay, then, take that. [Strikes the POPE.]† Each of these types of stage direction helps us to better understand of the action of the play. If the stage direction is in the direction, the audience not only hears what the action is about but they also get to see it. Likewise, if the stage direction is in parenthetical, then the director knows what Marlowe wants the scene to look like. 7. Scenes Allowances must be made for the shattered form in which Doctor Faustus survives. Originally, the play may have had the loose five-act structure suggested by the 1616 text. Or it may simply have been a collection of scenes or movements, as in the shorter version of 1604. In fact, the act divisions in ‘Doctor Faustus’ are the additions of later editors. Scholars have made their own decisions about the play’s probable cut-off points. That’s why no two editions of Doctor Faustus have identical act and scene numbers. 8. Theme A study in ambition, Dr. Faustus is someone who is an ‘overreacher’, a man who strives against human limitations. Faustus tries to do more than is humanly possible. He seeks to know, possess, and experience everything under the sun. There are two ways to read Doctor Faustus: First, the play glorifies ambition. Though Faustus is finally undone, his dreams emerge larger than the forces that defeat him. Second, the play criticizes ambition. Faustus falls to great depths from lofty heights. What’s more, his larger-than-life dreams are cut down to size by the pointed ironies of Mephistophilis. Thus we can say that Doctor Faustus is a great play of all the times.