Different elements of a contract Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Different elements of a contract - Assignment Example The next element of a contract is the acceptance. An acceptance is â€Å"an expression of absolute and unconditional agreement to all the terms set out in the offer. It can be oral or in writing. The acceptance must exactly mirror the original offer made†(Smithies, 2007). The offer should be accepted without any conditions. If there are any changes, modifications or additions in the original offer made, it is considered as a counter-offer which must also be accepted by the offeror. A counter-offer cannot be considered as an acceptance. An example of this is when the offer price for a car is $20,000 and the offerer gets back at the offeror and asks that the price instead be $18,500. The legal consideration is that thing of value which the parties to a contract must receive(Smithies, 2007). A contract will only be binding if it is supported by something of value. For a contract to be valid, the persons entering into a contract should have the legal capacity to do so. This means that they should not have any mental impairment; they must be of legal age, i.e. they are not minors and must not be prisoners(Fitzroy Legal Service Inc., 2010). For example, a person who is suffering from autism cannot enter into a contract with another person because of his mental impairment. He might be entering into an agreement which he does not fully understand, which is not fair for him and the other party.

Research and Account Essay Example for Free

Research and Account Essay Two carers were moving a service user from a bed to a chair using a hoist. they placed the hoist sling underneath the service user and then attached it to the hoist. Whilst the hoist was stationary one carer turned away to pick up the service users slippers and as a result the service user fell forward to the ground. The service user suffered wounds on their scalp and bruising to their head. The service user was taken to hospital but passed away 10 days later. It was found that the sling loop fixings were wrongly adjusted and a safety pommel was not used. In this report the carers were lacking in training and guidance to use the hoist from the company they worked for. One carer was not focused on the task of the service user being in hoist as she took on another task to get the slippers which meant she wasnt aware of what the service user was doing. If the correct equipment was used and adjusted properly then that would have prevented the fall and death of this service user. When assisting a service user with a task whether it be small or large we always need to carry out the task using the correct equipment, and the correct members of staff to be present. Also our full attention should be on the task at all times and aware of what the service user is doing and what is happening around them. if not doing so then this could result in the service user falling or being injured and equipment could be damaged. Carers should always carry out a visual check of the equipment prior to using and if a problem arises should not be used and reported to the relevant person. Report 2 Michael Shorthouse suffered from Downs Syndrome, learning difficulties and dementia. He moved into Cedars Care Home in May 2007 but, despite hes families pleas over hes treatment, within five months his health had deteriorated so much he had to be admitted to hospital. Whilst in hospital doctors found that he was seriously dehydrated, had developed acute kidney problems and pressure sores, and had aspiration pneumonia, which is an inflammation of the lungs caused by breathing in foreign material like food or liquids. Michael Shorthouses condition improved once he had been transferred to hospital and then moved into a different nursing home, but later died in 2010. Cedars Care Home was reported to Social Services and the Safeguarding Adults Office (SAO) which investigated and found that there had been overall neglect in the care given to Michael. Two years after Michael was admitted to hospital, the care home hadnt improved and was given a zero-star rating in a Care Quality Commission inspection.

Religion in the Military of Ancient Greece :: Army Greeks History Rituals Papers

Religion in the Military of Ancient Greece The Ancient Greeks held their religion to be a personal experience, to be practiced by the common man on a daily basis. Thus, it comes as no surprise to read in the historical works of the period that the people also relied on religion to aid them in military matters. This paper will give historical examples of the people's reliance on the deities and attempt to explain the psychological necessity of these rituals. An examination will be made of the typical forms of rituals, and cite their effects, whether ill or benign, on the military endeavors of the peoples in the age of the Ancient Greeks. RITE OF PASSAGE Many people who experience battle for the first time find themselves panicked, totally unprepared for the horrors of war. Waging war is not a task for the inexperienced civilian. As a result, religious rituals were formed that would brace the aspiring warrior for the obscenities he would face as well as fill him with a sense of obligatory duty through ritual ordaination. Walter Burkert's Greek Religion gives ample detail on the subject: Crete is also the place where myth localizes the Kouretes, who by their name are just young warriors.

Preschool Literacy Essay

2 This paper is going to outline the myriad of benefits that high-quality preschool literacy programs will afford families, communities, school districts and the world. Today, numerous researchers are delving into HOW to establish an effective and successful pre-school program. In this paper, I hope to answer several questions: ? What is pre-school literacy? ? What benefits do participants in a preschool program receive? ? HOW do we go about establishing a high-quality pre-school literacy program? I am rather passionate about this area. Being a speech pathologist, literacy skills and communication skills are so interwoven it is difficult to separate them. I have to say that while going to school many years ago, we didn’t learn that much about literacy as it related to speech and language development. It is only recently that researchers and educators have identified the importance of how both developmental areas are linked. I feel that establishing successful and highly effective programs that incorporate family and child directed activities are crucial to the success of our young students. That being said, let’s explore pre-school literacy. What is preschool literacy? Most people hear the word ‘literacy’ and equate that with ‘reading’. This would be an adult analogy. For very young children, we don’t, nor should we, expect them to read! Early literacy skills refer to many different things, none of which is sitting down with Mom at the age of two and reading aloud for her. At the youngest ages, early literacy skills refer to children’s exposure and experience with books. The following list is derived from Schickendanz (1999) and Early Literacy (www. zerotothree. com) . It states that early literacy behaviors include: ? Book handling behaviors – handling and manipulating the book ? Looking and Recognizing- how are they paying attention to the book, pictures, words; demonstrating recognition of pictures, etc. ? Picture and Story Comprehension – Imitation of actions noted in a story, talking about a story ? Story-Reading Behaviors – verbal interactions with the books, imitating a pointing a finger at words and/or pictures. ‘Establishing strong early literacy behaviors is essential to literacy development and should be the focus of early language and literacy programs’ (Early Literacy, 2003) It is suggested that these skills develop naturally and unfold as a result of social interactions with parents and caregivers, rather than direct instruction. I agree with this statement wholeheartedly. Ideally, it is everyday interactions with infants and toddlers that include talking and book reading that help establish the crucial beginning stages of literacy development. I recently heard on a radio program (can’t cite it) that children between the ages of 0-3 years should hear approximately 30,000 words a day to build an effective vocabulary! Amazing. Todd Risley, co-author of Meaningful differences in the 3 everyday Experiences of young American children (Mangione, 2005), states that isn’t an intentional teaching of these behaviors but rather embedded in the social interactions. He believes, as do I, that oral language skills appear to be the basis of phonological processing skills, which is a strong indicator for reading readiness in kindergarten. As children move into the preschool realm, (typically described as ages 3 through 5), prereading skills are developing along a continuum, rather than as a set of discrete and separate skills. In the article Critical Issue: Addressing the literacy Needs of Emergent and Early Readers (www. ncrel. org), the authors made a very interesting point I’d like to share with you. They discussed the various stages of literacy development that are not relevant to this article, however, an important transition occurs when a child’s â€Å"‘reading’ of a story changes from sounding like oral language to sounding like written language. This demonstrates a change in ideas from thinking of reading as spoken words to understanding that reading is recreated from written text that has special wordings† (McGee & Richgels, 1996;Sulzby, 1991). It is the beginning of the child’s print recognition. With respect to specific pre-school literacy behaviors that we should see addressed in a high-quality preschool program, the most important would be: ? Oral Language- engaging in rich conversational exchange with students, developing oral vocabulary, reading aloud daily, having children develop their own stories by looking at pictures (Tomie DiPola books are excellent for this) ? General Knowledge – what prior knowledge are the student’s coming into school with that they share, encouraging questions and new experiences with in the classroom, ? Print Awareness- being exposed to various written materials, some repetition of early literacy behaviors, point/drag techniques while reading ? Alphabet knowledge – the ABC song, recognizing sounds that letters make, letter recognition. ? Phonological awareness- Increased awareness of the sounds of the letters and how to play with them through rhyme, segmenting, blending, ? Pre-writing skills – later stages of development and exposure to writing mediums (pen, pencil, crayon, markers, paint), using journals with self-made pictures, word walls. (Roskos, K; Christie, J, Richgels, D, www. naeyc. org) How do participants in high-quality preschool programs benefit? I think I could go on for days about the benefits of an excellent preschool experience. For the sake of brevity, I won’t! Numerous studies have been conducted to determine whether preschool programs are beneficial and cost effective. The majority of studies suggest the answer to that is an overwhelming YES. 4 The Chicago Child Parent Center (CPC), the High/Scope Perry Preschool Program and the Abecedarian Project are all examples of highly qualified preschool programs. The CPC is recognized by the US Department of Education as an exemplary early childhood program. A comparison of the benefits of these programs was conducted, yielding what I thought were incredible results. These programs have been in effect since the 1960’s, servicing low-income areas in Chicago and Michigan (Lee, J, www.ccsso. org). In a speech given by Dr. W. Steven Barnett of the National Institute for Early Intervention Research in 2006, three separate studies compared the results of participants enrolled in the above-mentioned preschool programs against a control group that wasn’t enrolled in any preschool program. Their longitudinal studies revealed amazing results, which are credited to the attending of the preschool programs. According to them, participants in the program (as compared with non-participants): ? Were less likely to be enrolled in special education ? Had a higher rate of high school completion ? Demonstrated higher test scores ? Were less likely to repeat a grade ? Had increased earning after completing high school ? Engaged in less criminal activities ? Had a lower incidence of smoking, pregnancy and abortion. These benefits did not stop at the poverty line. They also demonstrated that middle class children benefited from the experience as well. He discussed the well-known fact that disadvantaged children benefit more when they are in class with children from different socio-economic backgrounds. An analysis I found very interesting was that ‘For every dollar invested into the preschool programs described in this paper $7 is saved in public expenditures’ (Lee. www. ccsso. org). WOW, think what that could mean to a superintendent’s budget! When trying to determine whether a preschool program could benefit those in the middle class, the US Dept. of Education, NCES, (1997) article entitled Dropout rates in the United States:1995 determined that middle class children have fairly high rates of the problems that preschool reduces for low-income children. While benefits decrease gradually with an income increase, the overall benefits are greater when ALL children are exposed to PreK. In an evaluation of 5 state prek programs conducted by Barnett,W. S, Lamy, C. and Jung, K. (2005), results revealed that in all programs, whether universal or targeted, students demonstrated gains in language, literacy and math. While all students (various SES backgrounds) gained, the low-income students gained more. Soooooo†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 5 How do we go about establishing high-quality preschool literacy programs? In an ideal world with unlimited funding, it wouldn’t be too difficult. However, we don’t live in an ideal world and much needed financing is often diverted to other important (or not so important! ) causes. Really, what is more important than education? One resolution could be to emulate the success demonstrated by the Chicago and Michigan programs spoken about earlier in this paper. In Rockland County, some school disctricts already offer a district-based preschool program. This year, all districts were alloted slots to participate in a Universal PreK initiative. However, while that is an excellent start to establishing a much needed entity, a lot of work still exists. During my research gathering I read many, many articles that discussed the family-centered literacy approach. Such as at the CPC, involving the parents and providing them with strategies and useful techniques to help their children empowers them and makes them feel useful and successful. Without parental involvement at the preschool level, literacy development suffers. Since the institution of NCLB, many school disstricts are seeking wasys to provide needed support to their students without it becoming a ‘special ed’ component or target program. Instituting a universal prek program benefits all. Looking at the various achievement gaps that Dr. Barnett identified in his paper, while there is significantly more of an achievement gap at the lower SES levels, there are still marked gaps in the middle class level, thus further justifying why ALL students would benefit from the experience. In an effort to establish successful high-quality preschool programs in Texas, the retired CEO of Texas Instruments was aware of the huge impact the Perry Preschool Program had on its communities and he was eager to replicate that success in Texas. Therefore, after establishing a successful pilot program, the participants wanted to be able to spread the success throughout the state and a handbook â€Å"Improving Early Literacy of Preschool Children’ was developed for prekindergarten educators. The authors and editors really were able to target what a high-quality program looks like with suggestions on how to implement them into your existing programs. The following steps are indicated to improve a preschool program: ? Set goals ? Create an improvement plan ? Build a classroom library ? Train the teachers and encourage collaboration? Keep rack of student’s progress ? Inform and involve parents 6 ? Communicate with elementary schools the children will attend ? Measure and document results (Dougherty, 1999) All of these steps are so important to developing a program that is successful. It is hard to determine whether one step is more important than another. Personally, I really feel that if the teachers and the teaching assistants and/or aides are given the proper training, every interaction with a child will take on new meaning. The Margaret Cone Head Start Center in Southeast Dallas has serviced predominantly low-income populations. As part of their language enrichment program (LEAP), each teacher attends six weeks of instruction at the nearby university as well as several workshops a year. Because of these teacher trainings, Cone Center children have produced improved scores on a variety of tests targeting vocabulary, language skills and social skills. I believe that involving the parents as much as possible and having them in the classroom for a half-day a week or twice a month lets them see what is happening and provides modeling they can use at home. Obstacles that I can identify at this point to establishing high-quality preschool programs that ALL children can attend include: ? FUNDING ? Private preschool programs vs. school district based programs ? Consistent participation on the part of the parents ? Difficulty providing quality training programs for the teachers and teaching assistants/aides due to lack of funding, time, resources While I feel there are many excellent examples of qualified and successful preschool programs in Rockland County, we do not meet the needs of all the children of the preschool age. As CPSE chair, I am able to provide special education needs to many children that require it. However, there is great variability between the programs that we recommend students attend. Consistent high-quality preschool programs would be beneficial to ALL students involved, not just the special needs children. In conclusion, it is a well-documented fact that preschool literacy education benefits all children involved. The need lies in our ability to establish high-caliber programs that are consistent, with staff that is well trained and caring. I think if we can distribute the information about the long-term effects researched and prove to the masses (school boards! ) that the bottom line would be cost savings to the community, we might see some change. I look forward to that day! References 1. Schweinhart, L. J. Lasting Benefits of Preschool Programs ERIC Digest. ericdigests. org. Retrieved February 25, 2008, from http://www. ericdigests. org/1994/lasting. htm 2. Dougherty, C. , et al. Improving Early Literacy of Preschool Children – a Handbook for Prekindergarten Educators. Texas Instruments, 1999. 3. Lee, J. The Benefits of Preschool for High School and Beyond. Council of Chief State School Officers. Retrieved February 25, 2008, from http://www. ccsso. org 4. Roskos, K. A. , Christie, J. F. & Richgels, D. J. The Essentials of Early Literacy Instruction. National Association for the Education of Young Children. Retrieved February 23, 2008, from www. naeyc. org/resources/journal 5. Mangione, P. L. (2005). Creating Language and Literacy Experiences for Infants and Toddlers. PITC Graduate Conference. Berkeley, CA. 6. Johnson, D. & Sulzby, E. Critical Issue: Addressing the Literacy Needs of Emergent and Early Readers. North Central Regional Educational Library. Retrieved January 21, 2008, from http://www. ncrel. org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/cntareas/reading/li100. htm 7. Barnett, W. (2006, Jan. 10). Research on the Benefits of Preschool Education: Securing High Returns from Preschool for All Children. New York, NY. 8. Brain Wonders. Early Literacy (2003). Zero To Three. Retrieved January 24, 2008, from www. zerotothree. org/BrainWonders

History and Memory Essay

To what extent has textual form shaped your understanding of history and memory? In your response, make detailed reference to your prescribed text and at least one  other related text. The textual form of the poetry of Denise Levertov and the recount Pure Torture by Tom Moe has shaped the reader’s understanding of history and memory to a great extent. While history is represented generally as objective, impersonal, factual and static, memory is represented as subjective, personal, fragmented and fluid. Techniques applied by the composers are consistent with forging these representations. A close examination of the texts indicates that history and memory are distinct concepts, but they are also two elements which work together in an interdependent relationship to make a record of truth. A close study of A Letter to Marek about a Photograph shows how history and memory are both distinct entities, but that they work together to create a more complete representation of the truth. The poem provides a representation of the house’s history as static and objective through the adjectives used to describe the physical building: â€Å"wooden angles† and â€Å"fretted gables†. However, the composer’s memory of the context of the home provides a place filled with anxiety and worry through the use of the pun in â€Å"fretted gables†, and the metaphor â€Å"ornaments turned on the lathe of humor and trust†. While the physical photograph records in a cumulation of adjectives the â€Å"carpentered, unpainted, aging house †¦ in some white ghetto†, Levertov’s memory records the emotional context of the inhabitants of the house in the personification of the building: â€Å"the brooding face of anxiety† and â€Å"waking and sleeping†. Thus, one’s understanding of history and memory as two distinct yet interdependent elements in recording the truth has been shaped to a great degree through a close reading of A Letter to Marek about a Photograph. Similarly, in A Time Past Levertov conveys the idea of history and memory being distinct but interrelated elements in recording the past. While Levertov records the â€Å"wooden steps to the front door where I was sitting that morning† as an historic event, she intertwines the memory with the physical history of the steps. Human experience is deeply involved in the history of these steps through the senses in the tactile, aural and visual imagery. She can â€Å"feel their splinters†, the â€Å"quiet broken by no bird, no cricket†, and â€Å"gold leaves spinning in silence†. The human experience of emotion – â€Å"joy† and â€Å"love† and â€Å"cheerful, unafraid† – are captured in the record of the past. Although the memories are fragmentary in nature, like the splinters, they ironically complete the history. This fragmentary quality is captured in the various anecdotes involving the â€Å"friend and her little son who died†, â€Å"of marriage, of my son†, and â€Å"sitting alone or with my husband†. Although some memories may be blurred or faded over time – â€Å"or was it the second son who lives and thrives? † – The memories themselves do not lose their importance. While the steps play a significant place in terms of events in Levertov’s history, it is the memories involved with the steps which complete the record of truth, thus further enhancing one’s understanding of the relationship between history and memory. In Thai Binh (Peace) Province refers to Levertov’s â€Å"film† of the Vietnam War, both a physical and mental record of a past event. Textual form is very important in conveying the difference between history and memory, thus shaping the reader’s understanding of the two concepts. The historical documentation includes the repetition of the plosives â€Å"bombed†. The cumulation nouns for buildings – â€Å"hospitals †¦ â€Å"schools †¦ silk-factory† – help to convey the utter devastation of the country. This is contrasted by Levertov’s mental retreat to selectively â€Å"photograph within [her] dark sails of the river boats, warm slant of afternoon light†¦ † with the use of adjectives such as â€Å"perched, relaxed†¦ to show her retreat towards â€Å"peace within the long war†. Levertov uses juxtaposition of the â€Å"child with its feet blown off† to the â€Å"boy†¦ relaxed on a quietly grazing buffalo† effectively to provide a more thorough, comprehensive and complete record of the historical event, rather than a biased view of the history. She alludes to the history with the humanistic nature of her memory to make it more comprehensive. Thus, it is clear that the textual form of Levertov’s poem greatly enhances one’s understanding of history and memory being two distinct, yet interrelated, elements. The textual form of Tom Moe’s Pure Torture shows a clear distinction between history and memory, while it presents the notion that history and memory are interconnected to produce a more complete representation of the truth of past events. The first-person recount presented in chronological order is consistent with a recording of an historic event. Moe presents the facts of his five-year incarceration as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War. As a documented memory, it presents a history, but with the added dimension of his personal perspective that only memory can provide. Moe details the horrific nature of the event, thus personalising it through the use of graphic detail and emotion giving a more accurate representation of the truth. The memory has been recorded and published about 23 years after the events occurred. The graphic details of Tom Moe’s physical harm have been depicted in Pure Torture. He describes their skin which became â€Å"waterlogged, looking like pale cheese, a crumbling coat of slimy flesh†. The use of simile and metaphor emphasise the physical effects of the treatment, personalising and individualising the experience. The memory of how his body deteriorated similarly highlights the unique human experience: â€Å"you could stick your finger into me up to your knuckle and pull it out leaving a hole that would slowly fill with fluid,† and â€Å"I was shocked at how my body looked like a bag of chicken bones. † The composer’s intention is clear; he intends to shock and fill the reader’s mind with his memory, and he is very successful in building images so that the record of history is far more accurate and comprehensive. A close examination of the documentary film Dear America: Letters from Vietnam stands as evidence that the textual form of media recording history and memory are intertwined in such a way that they give a complete record of the truth of an event. The historical record of actual footage of a soldier who has lost his foot, graphically details the man’s pain when he is in the field: â€Å"I’ve been hit †¦ (screams) †¦ I’ve been hit!! † Later, while he is being attended to by doctors, he describes the physical pain, â€Å"It’s that sharp nerve pain †¦ urning †¦ burning †¦ I know there’s not much left. I thought the whole thing was going to come off. † The witness to the event states: â€Å"I’ve never seen such bravery and guts before †¦ You should have seen my brave men. It would give you goose pimples. † This contrasts significantly with the footage: the focus on physical pain is turned in to a focus on mental and emotional qualities. The letter writer is selective in what he wants remembered: his focus is on the courage and bravery of the soldier, rather than the pain associated with it. It appears that the trauma is too close to be passed on to members of his family, and he is selective in what he records as his memory and what he contributes to their memory of the war. The footage of the night patrols is frightening, with bombardment in a montage of explosions, gunfire and fires in the jungle. The aftermath of a night patrol is recorded by a soldier who is called in to identify a body. He writes to his family: â€Å"It’s going to be hard for me to write this, but maybe it will make me feel better †¦ there on the table was a boy †¦ is eyes were open. I couldn’t really identify him. They told me his name: Rankin. I cried. God, it can’t be. But after looking at his face again †¦ it was him. It hit me like a shot. This was the first body I ever saw †¦ it was too much. I went outside and cried. It started raining at noon today †¦ it rained so hard. † The letter writer has used his memory in a therapeutic way, much lik e Tom Moe did in Pure Torture and Levertov has done in much of her poetry. The metaphoric tears from heaven helps describe the emotional impact this event has had on the soldier. This letter shows how the event moves from historic footage of a physical event to an emotional human response in the aftermath of the event. Thus, it is clear that while the historic recording of an event may communicate the actual detail of the event, the human response to the event is vital in giving a comprehensive account of that event. It is clear from the close examination of Levertov’s poetry and Pure Torture and Dear America that the responder’s understanding of history and memory is influenced to a great extent by the textual form of the text. The representations of the objectivity and the impersonal, factual and static nature of historical record is complemented by the representations of the subjectivity and the personal, fragmented and fluid nature of memory. Techniques applied by the composers to create textual form are consistent with forging these representations. History and memory are distinct concepts, but they operate together in an interdependent relationship to make a more comprehensive and accurate record of truth of past events.