Environmental Studies Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Environmental Studies - Assignment Example c) Ice and gas are two different elements with different qualities. It so happens that their age would also differ depending on their qualities. d) 2.53 years younger. e) It is smallest at the bottom of the core. This is because it is exposed to elements. STEP 2 b) Very reliable c) 160.73 and 28.1 years ago respectively STEP 3 10. Carbon dioxide and temperature are directly proportional 11. CH4 is more closely correlated with temperature. This is because it is lighter than CO2. 12. They are inversely proportional 13. 199.81 and 594.65 14. CO2 = 289.76 – 189.23, which is 100.53. CH4 = 273.4 – 197.37, which is 76.03 A combination of effects of the Antarctic, Southern Ocean, processes in the tropics and in the Norther Hemisphere, where the primary sources of methane are located, had a big influence. The close correlation between CO2 concentration and Antarctic temperature indicates that the Southern Ocean played an important role in causing the CO2 increase. However, the similarity of changes in CO2 concentration and variations of atmospheric methane concentration suggests that processes in the tropics and in the Northern Hemisphere, where the main sources for methane are located, also had substantial effects on atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Part 3: Hypothesis Activity The time period with extremely elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, combined with the rings has a big influence on the patterns of increasingly hot summers and increasing torrential storms in the two cities.

Leadership & Ethics- Research Paper Essay Example for Free

Leadership Ethics- Research Paper Essay Introduction With the collapse of major corporations like Enron, Tyco International, WorldCom and the like, corporate corruption and mismanagement has been in the forefront of some of the major issues that corporate organizations have to overcome and manage. With this research paper, my aim is to review and present three scholarly journals that highlight the impact that leadership can play on the ethical performance of an organization. Firstly, in the â€Å"Cultural Leadership Predictors of Corporate Social Responsibility Values of Top Management: A GLOBE Study of 15 Countries†, the study states, that with the spread of globalization, it has become imperative to understand managerial values that guide their actions. The authors suggest that the three main dimensions of managerial values that are relevant to the study of CSR are: shareholder/owner values where the aim is to maximize profits, stakeholder relations which refers to ethical and positive relations towards employees, consumer groups and the like and thirdly, community/state welfare which is based on the principle of public responsibility. In a more in-depth analysis the study explores the correlation of societal culture factors such as institutional collectivism, in-group collectivism and power distance on the above three managerial values that impacts managerial decision making. Furthermore, the paper proposes that visionary leadership and integrity enhances corporate social responsibility (CSR) values on moral and ethical grounds. Secondly,† The Association Between Ethical Leadership Employee Outcomes – The Malaysian Case† will help understand the value in gaining employee commitment and trust through effective ethical leadership skills. This article studies the impact of ethical leadership on the employee outcomes in areas such as organizational commitment and trust. A micro study was done on the country of Malaysia which has experienced a tenfold increase in corporate crime over the last 15 years. From the study one gathers that the main reason for such an exponential increase in such crimes is due to fact of the failures on part of corporate leadership to act ethically in their decision making process. Lastly, with â€Å"Leadership Styles the Moral Choice of Internal Auditors† I will examine how an employee’s self interest and management leadership guides their ethical decision making. This study plays close attention to one set of an organization’s workers the Internal Auditing professionals, in order to understand the how their choice in making ethical decisions are subjective to various factors , one of them being leadership. The primary viewpoint of this study indicated that an auditor’s decision making is enhanced by the leaders who adopt a standard achievement oriented leadership style and when they see clear benchmarking, fair performance assessment and growth opportunity. In conclusion, this can be held true for any employee within an organization. Hypothesis According to the GLOBE study, there were three main hypotheses that the researches proposed. The first hypothesis testing was split in two parts wherein, they proposed that â€Å"societies stressing institutional collectivist values will have a positive relationship with stakeholder’s relations and community/state welfare CSR values while societies stressing in-group collectivist values will only have a positive relationship with shareholder relations CSR values (Waldman et al).† The second theory states that cultures that have a high power distance tend to have low CSR values (Waldman et al). Lastly, visionary leadership and integrity on part of CEO’s, adds variance to the prediction of followers (stakeholders) CSR values that go beyond the effects of societal cultural values (Waldman et al). With the Leadership and Employee Outcome – The Malaysian Case, the two main hypotheses of the study were based on the notion that â€Å"there was a significant relationship between ethical leadership behaviour and employee’s organizational commitment and, that ethical leadership behaviour was positively associated with employee’s trust in leaders (Ponnu, Tennakoon).† This study aimed to examine the empirical significance of ethical leadership on employee attitudinal outcomes. The main hypothesis of the â€Å"Leadership Styles the Moral Choice of Internal Auditors† study was to understand the motivational factors that influence internal auditors when faced with ethical dilemmas pertaining to â€Å"spilt loyalty, expectation gaps and conflict of interest (Woodbine , Liu).† The authors proposed that the dependent and independent variables such as â€Å" personal needs strengths, leadership styles, the interaction between needs strength and leadership styles and situational factors impact an internal auditors moral choices when faced with an ethical issue (Woodbine , Liu).† Sampling In the GLOBE research paper the selected firms were picked from diverse sectors such manufacturing, information systems and tourism, however government run and educational institutions were excluded from the sample. Each firm had an average of 500 employees with six or more respondents from each firm. The final analysis was based on the responses of 561 firms from over 15 countries from various regions and a total of 4656 individuals completed the survey. The respondents comprised of CEO’s and several of their subordinates i.e. top executives. The leadership (two variables- vision and integrity) and societal cultural dimensions (three variables – institutional collectivism, in-group collectivism and power distance) were measured using reliability and confirmatory factor analyses. Cronback’s alpha for the above measures ranged from 0.70 to 0.90 for a five factor model. A two factor model was also used however it was not considered to be a good enough of fit. Control Variables such per capita gross domestic product, firms performance, average of age of respondents, average education and average gender, were used to enhance precision of the model (Waldman et al). Mean, standard deviations and correlations amongst the variables were interpreted and a hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the three main hypotheses. All survey items were standardized by country using Z – scores, so as to control potential differences in items scores and rating processes between countries (Waldman et al). Lastly various data collection strategies were put in to play in order to avoid single source bias issues. The Malaysian cross sectional case study was based on the primary data collected from 172 intermediate managerial employees from a wide variety of industries within the corporate sector in Klang Valley, Malaysia. The sample included 77 males and 97 females, age range from 20 to 53 and with 84% of the respondents holding bachelors or post graduate degrees. The data was collected through self administered questionnaires and â€Å"convenience sampling was used in drawing samples ((Ponnu, Tennakoon).† SPSS Version 14.0 was used to analyze the data and test the studies hypothesis. Correlation matrix and reliability analysis was done all variables to determine relationships among constructs and lastly in order to allow for correlation amongst factors,† exploratory factor analysis using principle components with oblique rotations was conducted (Ponnu, Tennakoon).† With the Internal Auditors case study, the sample population description comprised of full time internal auditing jobs with respondents that had at least one year experience with their respective organizations. The study was conducted in Australia and comprised of mailed out questionnaires. The total sample size was 128. The demographics were as follows: 84 males and 44 females, average male age 44 years and average female age of 36 years. Out of the 128 respondents, 48 of them were audit managers of equivalent. Organizations involved in the sampling were government departments, private sector and accounting firms. Statistical methods that were employed included correlation analysis for the dependent variables using a two tailed test and significant relationship amongst the three variables was found to exist and Q-Q plots and detrended normal plots were used to validate normality and reliability. For the independent variables such as leadership styles, growth needs and the like principal component analysis was used. Reverser measurement and regression analysis using stepwise method was used to explore relationships between the variables and in certain instances to test validity of model. Major Results Findings From the two GLOBE tables listed below the hypothesis that in-group collectivist values results in positive shareholder/owner is unconfirmed. The statistical analysis has confirmed and supported the authors proposal in that institutional collectivism positively predicts stakeholder CSR values, with a positive ÃŽ ² coefficient of 0.13 (P ≠¤ 0.01); power distance is negatively predictive of stakeholder CSR values, with a ÃŽ ² coefficient of -0.20; and that the leadership variables of vision and integrity enhanced CSR values, with ÃŽ ² coefficients of 0.23 and 0.13 respectively and variance of 9% (P ≠¤ 0.01) (Waldman et al). With GLOBE table 2, total variance amongst the three main managerial values are: shareholder/owner dimension equals 22%, stakeholder values is 45% and community/state welfare is 28% with a 5% significance level. Hence the model best suits stakeholder CSR values. The main findings with the GLOBE study are as follows: 1.The authors multidimensional of managerial values with the dimensions of shareholder/owners, stakeholders and community/state welfare values were appropriately construed. 2.The research indicates that manager from wealthier countries are more inclined to favor shareholder/owners values and less likely to consider the welfare of the state or community at large. In comparison, managers from poorer countries feel a greater personal responsibility towards society. 3.Managers from institutional collectivist societies tend to have greater value for the three managerial values while there has been no significant relationship between the two variables for in-group collectivism. 4.In societal cultures that have great power distance, managers tend to devalue CSR values, thus leading to a more manipulative use of power with little consideration given to stakeholders such as employees, customers, environmentalist. This could pose a definite risk for multinational firms in today’s global economy. 5.Organization variables such as CEO leadership in terms of vision and integrity are very likely to account for variance in managerial attitudes and decision making. One of the major recommendations of the GLOBE study is the need for multinational firms to pay close attention to cultural and leadership factors that have a critical impact on management CSR values. For example CSR values and policies of a multinational firm could be strong and this may be due to the home country’s high institutional collectivism and low power distance however managers in a subsidiary country may have weaker stakeholder CSR values as a result of weak institutional collectivism and high power distance (Waldman et al). The resulting scenario could lead to conflicting policies and business practices that can have an adverse effect on multinational firms. This further reiterates the authors’ proposal that in cases such as this, it’s the firm’s leadership values of integrity and vision that help managers look beyond the economic and cultural limitations. In the Malaysian case as mentioned earlier, correlation analysis was preformed to test strength and linear relationship amongst the variables. With the first hypothesis there was a medium positive correlation between ethical leadership behaviour and organizational commitment. The Malaysian Table 1 below shows correlations r = .46 and p .0 5 and, co-efficient of distribution is 21% of the variance, which can be explained. Hence with the supporting empirical data the research shows that â€Å"high levels of perceived ethical leadership behaviour are associated with higher levels of employee’s organizational commitment (Ponnu, Tennakoon).† As for the second hypothesis, there was a strong positive correlation between ethical leadership behaviour and employee trust. The Malaysian Table 2 below shows correlations r = .634 and p .0 5 and, co-efficient of distribution is 40% of the variance, which can be explained. Hence with the above results supporting hypothesis 2, it can be safely concluded that â€Å"high levels of perceived ethical leadership associated with higher levels of employee’s trust in leaders (Ponnu, Tennakoon).† Some of the main antecedents to the Malaysian case findings are as follows: 1.If leaders make ethics a cornerstone of all business practices they gain internal organizational fellowship and employees tend to value a more social exchange with the organization rather than an economic exchange. Employees reciprocate these sentiments through organizational behavioral commitment and are â€Å"willing to exert considerable effort in terms of job dedication and job commitment, on behalf of the organization (Ponnu, Tennakoon).† 2.When an organizational leader priortizes the group’s interest first, who does not wish to seek personal gain at the expense of others, who respects the rights of others and treats them fairly; tends to harness employees trust. 3.When leaders empower employees and involve them in decision making processes they not only facilitate employee well being and growth but increases their trust in them as well. With the Internal Auditors case the major findings of the study support Path goal and ERG theories (Woodbine, Liu). As per the table below, internal auditors are motivated to make ethical decisions based on their personal growth needs. Leadership styles play a significant role as well especially Standard achievement oriented approach that encourages individual performance and achievement (Woodbine, Liu). Lastly gender, age and experienced was an important predictor, as female respondents that were younger and less experienced showed less motivation towards making moral ethical choices. Conclusion The GLOBE study has been extremely informative and clearly structured to provide an in-depth understanding of how societal cultural factors and leadership guide managerial values when it comes to decision making within an organization. Some of the key limitations to the study were that the analyses were limited to 15 countries and the surveyed firms did not represent a wide range of industries (Waldman et al). Actual CSR performance was not measured and lastly, due to multiple levels of data to be collected, additional insight could not be gained. The study indicates that even though leadership integrity is a significant and unique predictor of managerial CSR values, it remains to be an under researched variable. This may be due to the fact that leadership integrity is associated with more tangible organizational outcomes such as reductions of business of costs. However, the authors still believe that it a significant factor that enhances managerial decision making and is worth future examination and research. My personal opinion would also include a more directed research towards in-group collectivism in order to find a relationship between individualistic societies and importance of CSR values towards society at large. The study concluded that, organizations that have strong corporate social responsibility values gain the trust of both internal and external stakeholder which in turn solidifies the foundations for an ethical culture. It also states that Neo – charismatic leadership that is guided by the principles of visionary leadership and integrity have a strong impact on an organization’s ethical performance. The Association Between Ethical Leadership Employee Outcomes – The Malaysian Case† study showed me a direct link between leadership ethical behavior on employee commitment and trust. It empirically proved that unethical leadership can adversely impact employee outcomes that in turn affect organizational performance. I noted related some factors such supervision, leadership honesty, trustworthiness, fairness and care, have an impact on employee perception and outcomes. The key limitations of the Malaysian study as noted by the researchers due to time and budget constraints, was that, convenient sampling may not be representative of the entire population due to insufficient representation of the entire corporate sector of the country and could be subject to self-selection bias; secondly the study could not measure if distance with top/senior management has an effect on employee perception of ethical leadership. Hence lower level employees who have very minimal contact with upper level management may rely more on information based on public opinion then direct leadership experience (Ponnu , Tennakoon). Both authors found that their study although valid and reliable, needed to be border in terms of sample size and area of study in order to fully understand and demonstrate the importance of ethical leadership. It was also suggested that since the research focused on† superior direct relationships â€Å"(Ponnu, Tennakoon) it would be recommended to gather relevant data from lower level employees within the organizational hierarchy. Finally they suggested further research on the relationship between â€Å"employee psychological empowerment and authenticity of ethical leader behavior (Ponnu, Tennakoon)†. As per my personal suggestion further research can be geared towards relating individual organizational commitment and performance. In conclusion to the Malaysian study, the authors state that corporate crime is still rising as a large number of top executives do not see the importance of ethical leadership values in their business operations. Corporate leaders should set an example of strong ethical and moral values in order to earn loyalty and trust of all major internal and external stakeholders. Organizations that have strong ethical leaders and principles are held in high esteem and enable the organization to employ and retain the best human capital available in the market. The case study on the internal audit profession, provided for a keen micro analysis on the personal motivations that guide employees to make moral decisions especially in professions that require a high level of ethical decision making. The limitations of this study as mentioned by the authors included variable identification and measurement, sample size and the use of a far too simple three vignette based model (Woodbine, Liu). Further research in to gender differences and issues that affect one’s ethical and moral decision making ability. Lastly a broader analysis that analysis the organization as whole as opposed to a particular profession would help enhance understanding of the internal motivations that guide moral decisions when faced with ethical dilemmas. The authors also recommend a new variable for research i.e. â€Å"employee religious affiliation† as a possible predictor to moral choices. Even though the authors conclude that codes of conduct and governance systems provide for an internal control mechanism, whistle blowing channels and develop cultures of honesty and accountability, the study strongly suggests that employee’s moral choices are still subject to their motivation needs. Finally, employee’s motivation to making moral decisions can be difficult to predict however they can be encouraged with proper leadership (Woodbine , Liu). All three scholarly articles empirically supported the main objective of this study, which was to reiterate the sound business principle that, ethical leadership lead to the responsible management of business processes and decision making that will in turn help an organization manage its risk of failure as a result of unethical business practices. Works Cited Ponnu, Cyril H., Tennakoon , Girindra. â€Å"The Association Between Ethical Leadership Employee Outcomes – The Malaysian Case.† Electronic Journal of Business Ethics Organizational Studies 14:1 (2009). Web. Sept 19th, 2010. Walman, De Luque, Washburn et al. â€Å"Cultural Leadership Predictors of Corporate Social Responsibility Values of Top Management: A GLOBE Study of 15 Countries.† Journal of International Business Studies 37:6 (2006). Palgrave Macmillan Journals. Web. Sept 19th, 2010. Woodbine, Gordon F., Liu, Joanne. â€Å"Leadership Styles The Moral Choice of Internal Auditors.† Electronic Journal of Business Ethics Organizational Studies 15:1 (2010). Web. Sept 19th, 2010.

Selected consumer rights

Selected consumer rights Introduction The law is complex in any situation whether it is a road traffic offence under the strict liability rules or a serious manslaughter charge under the criminal law. The area of consumer protection law is no different and is complex with legislation coming from many different sources, statute, common law and EU Directives to name just three sources. For example, Silberstein, 2007, argues that every consumer transaction is based on law of contract, therefore technically every consumer should understand the basics of contract law before moving on to understand the special rules and statutes regarding consumer law. This is a complex area for any undergraduate to understand and therefore an area that some consumers, e.g. the elderly, would find extremely difficult to understand. A consequence of complex consumer protection legislation is commented on by Marsh in his 2008 book Consumer Law. Many people do not know their rights when encountering problems at the point of sale or after (p.7) Hypothesis Initial research has led to the conclusion that consumer law is complex and because of this few consumers and businesses actually understand it fully and therefore sometimes customers and indeed businesses are applying the law wrongly. This project aims to look at this in detail and to prove if the hypothesis is founded or not. The main purpose of this report is to first identify the main consumer legislation and then to investigate if Silberstein is correct in her view that consumer law is complex and through primary research if Marsh is correct when he says that many people do not know there consumer rights. Rationale This project forms part of the third and final year BA (Hons) Business Management (Legal Studies) degree at MMU Cheshire and is therefore a substantial reason for completion of this project. However over the course of the legal studies program many topics have been studied and through this project the opportunity has arisen to explore and research a particular area of interest. Having studied this topic in Advanced Managerial Law and having experenice of retail and selling consumer law was a topic that captured my imagination, it is unlikely that anybody will have not come into contact with it, knowingly or unknowingly, for example a contract is made for the simple purchase of a loaf of bread and is therefore has an impact on every bodies life. Research Methodology Having laid down some aims and objectives, a number of secondary sources i.e. statutes, textbooks and journals will be looked at to try and establish what are regarded as the main consumer laws in the UK. Having done this and using the same research a more in depth explanation of these laws will be written, providing practical examples, possibly through primary research to aid their understanding. Primary research will be used in the form of a questionnaire to attempt to ascertain what knowledge general consumers and businesses have of the law using case studies and a Likert Scale answering system. The data will be collected from 20 consumers and 10 businesses. Primary data will be exclusive and original for this task because the questions can be tailored to my specific needs and will also ensure direction over the integrity of the data ensuring a fair cross section and sample of society is used. Secondary data would be unsuitable as it is unlikely someone has already conducted the exact research that is needed and as already mentioned no control or reassurance over the integrity of the data sourced would be available. The primary data will be analysed to draw conclusions and any applicable secondary research will be used to back up the findings. Finally using all the primary and secondary data gathered to date an evaluation of the findings will take place to draw a conclusion on if consumers and business are aware of the main consumer laws drawn from earlier research. Aims and Objectives To research which laws are the main laws regarding consumer purchasing and protection. Research to explain and give examples of these laws in action and there effects on both consumers and businesses. To devise a series of questions/situations regarding the main laws identified to test the knowledge of consumers and businesses. To report and critique on the findings. To evaluate the report and findings from previous sections to draw a conclusion and make any recommendations/suggestions to the current main consumer laws. What are the main consumer protection laws in the UK? As mentioned previously the law is complex and there could be many statutes and regulations that could be regarded as main consumer protection laws just a quick search on the internet produces a long list that includes; Sale of Goods Act 1979 Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 Consumer Protection Act 1987 Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 1999 Electronic Commerce Regulations 2002 General Product Safety Regulations 2005 Consumer Credit Act 1974 Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tour Regulations 1992 Food Safety Act 1990 Consumer Protection (Unfair Trading) Regulations 2008 As has been established the general law of contract gives some protection. Silberstein states that it is the basis of every consumer transaction. Marsh, 2007 says that the tort of negligence also gives limited protection in circumstances where a consumer has no contractual rights. It had to be decided which Statutes and Regulations were to be investigated in this research project and which gave consumers most protection. The first obvious Statute to use was the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (SGA) as this covers almost every consumer transaction that takes place. Marsh, 2008:9, says, The major area of law which supports and assists consumers is the Sale of Goods Act 1979. This Act governs all transactions where goods are transferred for a price. By way of further note if goods are swopped or exchanged then the goods are covered by the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982, however if any amount of cash is involved no matter how small then the Sale of Goods Act 1979 will apply. The SGA covers any transaction where goods are transferred for a price but what statutes and regulations protect consumers in relation to how you pay for those goods? Transactions that are becoming increasingly popular such as purchase by credit card or hire purchase agreement? The answer is the Consumer Credit Act 1974. Indeed, Broomfield, 2007:53, states The most important Act dealing with consumers and credit is the Consumer Credit Act 1974. The main aim of the Act was to regulate the formation, terms and enforcement of credit and hire purchase agreements. It was then felt that with Acts from 1974 and 1979 respectively that the next choice should be relevant to todays society. This is not to say that the Acts already mentioned are not relevant but back in the 1970s telephone and TV selling was very uncommon, and the increase in this type of selling is why the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 1999 were introduced. These have been kept up to date and relevant by the separate but intertwining Electronic Commerce Regulations 2002 which specifically apply to internet transactions or contracts concluded by electronic means over distance. These rules regulate regarding orders, cooling off periods, fraud and unsolicited goods. One Act to mention would be the Consumer Protection Act 1987 as this would be an obvious choice for inclusion, however, the Consumer Protection Act deals largely with after the event occurrences; for example it deals with liability for defective products, government powers to regulate consumer safety through delegated legislation and statutory instruments and finally a section on price misleading which is discussed briefly later. It was therefore decided as the first two sections regarded largely situations where it would be difficult or unlikely to propose scenarios that were easily identifiable and answerable by people to answer the question Do consumers and businesses understand and know their rights under selected consumer law? that it would be omitted after the section of this report that looks at the legislation in more detail. Consumer law is ever changing and developing to opinion and the needs of consumers. Take for example the internet, Nowak and Phelps (1992) found that 91 percent of individuals surveyed felt that businesses and governments were not doing enough to protect their privacy online. Bennett (1992) and Smith (1994) commented that regulatory responses were usually triggered in reaction to an increasing level of discontent within the populace, which is transmitted to legislators in some manner. Wirtz et al (2007) found that that robust perceived business policies and governmental regulation had now reduced consumer privacy concern. Consumer Protection Laws in theory and practice The Acts and Regulations that we have identified as the main consumer protection laws in the UK that will be discussed in detail are; Sale of Goods Act 1979 Consumer Protection Act 1987 Consumer Credit Act 1974 Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 1999 Electronic Commerce Regulations 2002 Sale of Goods Act 1979 There is a common law Latin maxim of Caveat Emptor or buyer beware, this was meant to warn all buyers about the potential problem of buying products. Before the SGA 1979 a purchaser could not claim goods were defective unless he had obtained express guarantees from the vendor (seller) on the quality, usage and condition of the product. (Law, 2008 Richards, 2009) By way of consumer law with regard to contract most purchases made by consumers or made on the basis of invitation to treat this comes from the Latin phrase invitatio ad offerendum and means an inviting an offer. For example, if you go to a supermarket the items on display are being offered to you as an invitation to treat, the offer and acceptance of the contract does not occur until you have paid for the items. A supermarket is well within its rights to withdraw from sale any item or change the price, and refuse to sell it to you unless you have completed the purchase and therefore the contact of sale and purchase, this if course works vice versa in that you can take items in and out of your trolley before purchase. Advertisements are also regarded as an invitation to treat and not an offer, the person placing the advert is not obliged to sell to every customer. This was decided in the case of Partridge v Crittenden [1968], it was held that where the appellant advertised to sell wi ld birds, he was not offering to sell them. Lord Parker ruled that it did not make sense for all advertisements to be offers, as the person making the advertisement could be obliged by contract to sell more goods than he actually owned. (Westlaw Database, 2010) In the Sale of Goods Act 1979 a seller is required via statute to compile with certain obligations; there are certain times when terms maybe implied into the contract. I.e. it is not directly written into the contract but is made part of the contract due to statute. These are implied terms and impose an offence of strict liability on the seller if breached. Implied terms were added to protect the consumer giving them certain rights and guarantees in every sale, we will now look in detail at the implied terms. Implied Terms under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 This implied term states that a seller must have the right to sell the goods and to transfer the title of them to the buyer. Under the Act a seller can only compile with this in two ways by either having ownership of the title themselves or if they are acting with the real title holders permission, such as in business transactions at the time of sale. A case involving and demonstrating Section 12 is that of; Rowland v Divall [1923] Description (Section 13) There is an implied term that all goods must match and correspond with any description used. Most goods are sold with some type of description whether it be given by word of mouth, for example the shopkeeper saying these boots are waterproof or by written notice, for example a notice saying pure lamb wool jumpers. In the case of some transactions it is necessary to note that the seller is also responsible for labels attached by the manufacturer and notices on boxes even though he did not apply them. Description is important as some goods are sold entirely on description, for example, mail order. Almost all goods are sold on description and the seller is in breach of contract if this is inaccurate (Adams, 2008) Again a case involving and demonstrating Section 13 is Beale v Taylor [1967] Quality (Section 14(2)) Where a seller sells goods in the course of a business there is an implied term that the goods are of satisfactory quality. Satisfactory quality means the standard to which the reasonable man, sometimes referred to as the man on the Clapham omnibus would expect taking into account all relevant circumstances such as price paid, for example the interior of a  £50,000 car would be of substantially better quality than that of a  £5,000 car. An example of a case involving quality is that of Godley v Perry [1960]. In this case there was a breach of Section 14(2) as the item was not of satisfactory quality and Wilson v Rickett Cockerell LTD [1954] where a delivery of coal contained fragments of detonators and caused an explosion and damage to property. The coal was not of satisfactory quality. There are however limits to liability under S14(2) this section only applies where a sale arises in course of business. The seller cannot be held liable of the buyer knows about the defects and this can be achieved in two ways either by notice of the defect being given by the seller for example a tear on sleeve or spare tyre missing. The other way is by inspection by the buyer; buyers are not under any obligation to inspect items but if they do sellers can then not be held accountable for defects that should have been reasonably evident. A seller however is not liable for misuse or damage caused by the ultimate consumer. Two cases that show this point are; Aswan Engineering Establishment Co. LTD v Lupadine LTD [1987] and Heil v Hughes [1951]. Fitness for Purpose (Section 14(3)) Where goods are sold in the course of business they must be reasonably suitable for any purpose in which the goods are normally sold. (Adams, 2008:231) Goods must also comply with any special purpose that the seller claims, also if the buyer makes known to the seller the purpose for which the product is being bought and to be used any recommendation must also comply with this and be reasonably fit for purpose. Fitness for purpose claims rely on the buyer being able to show that he placed reliance on the seller when purchasing the goods; such reliance may be either implicit or explicit. Implicit reliance is when a buyer does not rigorously inspect the goods or ask questions about then but they turn out to be not fit for the usual purpose of those goods. If a buyer does not ask then a seller is not liable if the goods turn out to be required by the buyer to perform above what is normally required. (Adams, 2008) A case to illustrate this point is Griffiths v Peter Conway [1939] Explicit reliance is where the buyer asks questions and the seller recommends a product for that purpose for example, if you visit a boat shop and ask which motor is suitable for your type of boat, take the motor and it is not powerful enough then the motor is clearly not fit for purpose. (Adams, 2008) Sample (Section 15) When a sale takes place by sample there is an implied term that the bulk order will be the same as the sample in quality, for example, same materials, same resilience to damage etc. There is also an implied term that the goods will be free from any defects not noticeable on reasonable examination of the sample. Looking back at Godley v Perry [1960] the catapults had been sold to the shop keeper by a supplier after a sample has been viewed. Godley had tested for quality by pulling back the elastic, when damages were later awarded to Perry for his eye injury the catapult was tested and found to have a manufacturing fault that Godley could not have noted on reasonable inspection and therefore Perry could be repaid the compensation he had to pay Godley by the supplier, as the supplier was in breach of Section 15. Likewise the supplier could claim the compensation from the manufacturer as the manufacturer has a duty under tort and negligence for duty to their neighbours, in this case the ultimate consumer Godley. It is clear that the implied terms in the SGA 1979 are of paramount importance and these are implied which means they are drawn into every contract and can be expected by the consumer and must be obeyed by the seller/manufacturer of such consumer products. Other rights given under the SGA 1979 include S6 and S7 regarding perishable goods, S29 and S30 regarding delivery of goods and Part V of the Act, grants additional rights in consumer cases such as those in S48(b) Repair or Replacement of Goods. Consumer Protection Act 1987 This Act has three main parts as discussed regarding liability for product defects, health and safety delegation and price misleading. Part III of the Act regarding price misleading is the part on which this project will focus as this is the main part concerning all consumers. Law of contract means a shop can withdraw an item for sale or change its price before purchase because of the rules regarding invitation to treat. The shop however cannot mislead as to the price of an item; the Act states in S20(1) a person shall be guilty of an offence if, in the course of any business of his, he gives (by any means whatever) to any consumers an indication which is misleading as to the price at which any goods, services, accommodation or facilities are available (whether generally or from particular persons). So if a shop deliberately prices to mislead, for example giving prices exempt of VAT but not stating this they will have committed the criminal offence of misleading according to price, likewise if a shop was found to have deliberately mispriced an item in a sale saying it was more expensive then it has ever been offered for sale would also be guilty of the offence. This is one reason you will see disclaimers on sale boards such as this product has been offered at the higher price in at least 20 of our stores for the last 28 days. Cases considering incorrect and misleading pricing were Toys R Us v Gloucestershire CC [1994] and MFI Furniture Centres Ltd v Hibbert [1996] A shop would not be guilty if the item pricing was an honest mistake and any further mispriced items were removed immediately from sale. Consumer Credit Act 1974 The Consumer Credit Act 1974 was introduced because according to MacLeod, 2007, In twentieth century, there was explosive growth in the use made of instalment credit by both business and private consumption by 1980 80% of the market was lender credit largely due to the expansion of store cards. Unfortunately whereas the well-off were able to take part in exclusive offers, the less well off were found to be running up debt from pawnbrokers and loan-sharks, some lending modest amounts but using an unregulated industry to make large amounts in return. The CCA 1974 addressed this issue amongst others. Credit for consumers comes largely in two forms, either the borrowing of money and paying it back over a period of time for a specific item, commonly known as a hire-purchase (HP) agreement and borrowing by credit card. These are two main areas regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and the two areas to be discussed further as they affect shopping consumers the most. Sections 87-93 are some of the sections of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 that deals with HP agreements. Sections 87-89 deal with default (usually non-payment) and state that if there is a breach of the agreement the creditor must serve the debtor with a default notice before taking any action. This notice must explain the nature of the breach, what must be done to remedy it and if it is not what will happen. The debtor must be allowed at least 14 days in order to remedy the breach from the time of issue. If it is remedied then the breach is treated as if it never happened, if it is not then the creditor can take action to recover monies owed. Sections 90-92 deals with the repossession of goods and states that a creditor must obtain a court order before he can enter a premise to repossess goods and that if a third of the amount in the agreement has been paid (not including interest) then the goods are protected and a court order is also needed to repossess the goods without the debtors permission. In Common Law, this has been seen in the case of Capital Finance Co LTD v Bray [1964] The main outcome of this case was failure to obtain a court order for protected goods which are repossessed has the effect of terminating the agreement, releasing the debtor from further liability and allowing recovery of all sums paid by the debtor. Also in regard to HP agreements the SGA 1979 states that a seller must have title of goods before they can sell items, however, in the case of hire purchase, who owns the product whilst it is still under an HP agreement? This was decided by the case of Helby v Matthews [1895]. It was decided that until the last instalment had been paid that the ownership stays with the supplier of the finance and title passes on payment of the final instalment. Helby v Matthews also deals with an issue over selling of goods under a HP agreement, it was again decided that ownership is with the original supplier of finance until the last payment has been made so goods can be recovered. With regard to payments made by credit card, Section 56 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 states that the supplier, from whom you buy the goods is the creditors agent. (For example, VISA or Mastercard) The creditor is responsible therefore for misrepresentations of supplier. Section 75(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 states; If the debtor under a debtor-creditor-supplier agreement falling within section 12(b) or (c)* has, in relation to a transaction financed by the agreement, any claim against the supplier in respect of a misrepresentation or breach of contract, he shall have a like claim against the creditor, who, with the supplier, shall accordingly be jointly and severally liable to the debtor. On condition the cash price of the item being supplied is over  £100 but not more than  £30,000 (including any VAT). (www.oft.gov.uk) *Section 12(b) and (c) refer to the type of transaction that must be involved for it to be applicable (and explain in explicit terms what each means) under Section 75(1) debtor -creditor-supplier agreements. Debtor-Creditor-Supplier Agreements occur when there is a link between the creditor and the supplier. For example a credit card transaction. Debtor-Creditor Agreements are not covered by Section 75(1) and this would be things such as a bank overdraft. An example of a situation on which this Act can be valuable is used later in the scenarios for the questionnaire and means in practice that if a valid purchase was made from a shop and that product broke through not being of sufficient quality, if that shop has ceased trading you would be able to claim through your credit card company as they are both equally responsible under the law and there has been a breach of the SGA 14(2). Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 ((2005) as amended) The Distance Selling Regulations 2000 replaced large sections of the Unsolicited Goods and Services Act 1971 in response to the growing number of other ways to conclude contracts when buying items, e.g. telephone, mail order etc. The Distance Selling Regulations are a Statutory Instrument (SI2000/2334) that makes EU Directive 97/7/EC law in the United Kingdom. The Distance Selling Regulations specifically cover the practices set out in Schedule 1 of the Regulations these are; unaddressed and addressed printed matter, letter, press advertising with order forms, catalogues, telephone calls with or without human intervention, radio, videophone or videotext, e-mail, fax and teleshopping. There was a now uncommon practice called inertia selling in which a salesman would send to households goods they had not ordered later followed by an invoice hoping that fear of reprisal for non-payment would see them pay the invoice. In fact, broadly speaking it is now that the goods can be treated, in certain circumstances, as an unconditional gift and kept without paying a penny. Although the recipient will have to be careful a court would not rule that he had accepted the goods by conduct as seen in Weatherby v Banham [1832] or with regard to services in Trinder Partners v Haggis [1951]. (Brownsword, 2009) This issue is specifically dealt with in Reg. 24. Another major regulation is regulation 7 this protects consumers giving specific details on what information must be transferred to the buyer by the seller for the contract of sale to be legal, these is to ensure the consumer knows exactly what is happening in a distance selling situation. Regulation 7 states; 7. (1) Subject to paragraph (4), in good time prior to the conclusion of the contract the supplier shall- (a) provide to the consumer the following information- the identity of the supplier and, where the contract requires payment in advance, the suppliers address; a description of the main characteristics of the goods or services; the price of the goods or services including all taxes; delivery costs where appropriate; the arrangements for payment, delivery or performance; the existence of a right of cancellation except in the cases referred to in regulation 13; the cost of using the means of distance communication where it is calculated other than at the basic rate; the period for which the offer or the price remains valid; and where appropriate, the minimum duration of the contract, in the case of contracts for the supply of goods or services to be performed permanently or recurrently; inform the consumer if he proposes, in the event of the goods or services ordered by the consumer being unavailable, to provide substitute goods or services (as the case may be) of equivalent quality and price; and inform the consumer that the cost of returning any such substitute goods to the supplier in the event of cancellation by the consumer would be met by the supplier. Regulation 10 sets out a customers and suppliers rights to cancel an agreement and gives specific examples of how this can be communicated and the timeframe that it needs to be issued within; these methods are; mail, fax and e-mail. Electronic Commerce Regulations 2002 The Electronic Commerce Regulations are a Statutory Instrument (SI2002/2013) that makes EU Directive 2000/31/EC law in the United Kingdom. Electronic commerce was specifically unregulated until the introduction of these Regulations in 2002. The European Union was acting to protect consumers in the still increasing area of internet shopping. There are four main regulations that give powers to and protect consumers. Reg. 6 like Reg. 7 of the Distance Selling Regulations gives specifics to what details must be communicated to the buyer to make a legal contract for sale. Reg. 9(1)(a) provides details of what must be provided specifically when communication and buying is by electronic means it states that; 9. (1) Unless parties who are not consumers have agreed otherwise, where a contract is to be concluded by electronic means a service provider shall, prior to an order being placed by the recipient of a service, provide to that recipient in a clear, comprehensible and unambiguous manner the information set out in (a) to (d) below- the different technical steps to follow to conclude the contract; whether or not the concluded contract will be filed by the service provider and whether it will be accessible; the technical means for identifying and correcting input errors prior to the placing of the order; and the languages offered for the conclusion of the contract. 9(3) states that terms and conditions must be made available to the consumer in a means of easy storage and reproduction. Regulations are different for when the seller and buyer are deemed to have entered into the contract of sale, somewhat surprisingly these do not occur at the same time. Reg. 11(2) states that a buyer is deemed to have entered into the contract of sale when they agree to or arrive at an acknowledgement of order screen Reg. 12 states that the seller has not entered into the contract until they dispatch the item that has been ordered and can cancel the item up until this point or offer to dispatch an alternative as per the Distance Selling Regulations Reg. 7(b) and (c) as previously seen. Items in a shop are an invitation to treat and therefore as long as the price is not deliberately priced wrongly a shop can change the price and refuse to sell it to you for the lower price. 70% of people thought they definitely could insist on buying at the lower price or would certainly argue their case claiming the law was on their side. The most common mistake was people misinterpreting store policy and goodwill as the law, therefore most consumers did not know the law in this area. When posed this question most people were aware that there was some sort of credit card protection in this area so they would not lose their money but nobody actually knew there was legislation regarding this and in a reverse of the first question, people mistook the law thinking it was just a marketing gimmick on behalf of the credit card companies. Nobody was certain they would lose their money with most either positive or mostly positive that the money could be recovered. People knew the law in this area but rather by default. Again a large proportion of people (70%) were insistent that as long as the product was in resaleable condition and had the labels attached there were entitled to an exchange, however there is no legislation surrounding this. Unless a product is faulty under the implied terms of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 there is no duty on the seller to exchange or refund your product not for cash or credit note. Again people had mistaken store policy for the actual consumer protection law, which calls into question whether there is enough distinction between what are your rights in a legal sense and what is store policy or goodwill. Pleasingly in this question 80% of people answered definitely no when asked this question. In speaking to people they knew there was legislation surrounding this and a few commented that they had been sent items in the past on

Hoosiers Essay -- Movie Film Essays Hoosiers

Hoosiers   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Coach Norman Dale embodied a number of personal characteristics which enabled him to be the quality leader he was in the movie Hoosiers. His toughness, optimism, motivation, farsightedness, and self confidence assisted Coach Dale in gaining the loyalty of the team and the attention of the town. They also helped him to change the losing ways of the early team into the state champion team they ended up to be. Additionally, a number of environmental factors played a role in his success. The almost religious fervor of basketball in Indiana, the quasi-anarchist environment of the town’s men, and the fact that Hickory was a small town all played vital roles in Coach Dale’s success.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first personal traits that Coach Dale was forced to exhibit were his toughness and his assertiveness. On his first night in Hickory he met the men of town in the barbershop who were all willing to provide their experience and insight on the team and how to coach. Coach Dale had enough self confidence to know that none of these â€Å"insights† were going to help the Hickory team win basketball games and let them know they weren’t welcome by turning his back and walking out. Additionally, he was forced to demonstrate his toughness twice more on the first day of practice by telling the temporary coach, â€Å"Secondly, your days of coaching are over,† and then by standing up to the group of men after he dismissed Buddy from the team. These actions made no friends of the men; however, th...

Gender in South Asia Essay

These two contradictory comments are about women – the first one is the rigid dictum which is still going on in our society and it had always been a consequence from the time of Mahabharat to the present day that women do not have the power to be an independent human being. And in the second comment a woman wants to lead her life to her own accord by refuting the patriarchal domination. She wants to caste a rebellion against the `Patriarchal hegemony` which creates a boundary over female freedom. It seems as if she wants to repudiate the above-mentioned patriarchal dictum. These are two themes which I want to focus in my term paper which exists till now in our society of South-Asia in general and Bangladesh in particular. I want to show how South- Asian women face patriarchal oppression and how they have started to lead her life to their own accord. I want to establish these facts through Selina Hossain’s two short stories – Motijan’s Daughters and The world of Love and Labour. I choose Bangladesh among so many South- Asian countries because the stories from Bangladesh also contributed to our experience of remembering the scattered and disjointed body of Bengali women’s writing, we are ashamed to acknowledge this but the fact remains that we had been largely ignorant of the extremely powerful body of women’s writing from our neighboring country despite our shared inheritance of language and culture. The distinct features of the above-mentioned texts, both in terms of content and treatment, bring out the political, religious nd culture specifities that inform women’s writing from Bangladesh. In these two stories the setting is rural and the women, who have the power to destabilize the status quo of the sexse, function within village community. The purpose behind this rural setting, according to me, is lied in the fact that urbanization is a fairly recent phenomenon there. And the writers are possessing intimate links with their native villages. And I choose – Selina Hossain because she is one of the most important women writers of Bangladesh. Her deep preceptions of nature and human psyche have made her writings unique and absorbing. She in her writings depict the role of a woman in the social and cultural movement of her country. She points to the challenges faced by women, to the decisions taken by women in social and political cries. Now I want to show how two above-mentioned themes function through Selina Hossain’s two stories. In Selina Hossain’s Motijan’s Daughters, the central character Motijan under goes a lugubrious marital life because of the malevolence and maltreatment of her mother-in-law Gulnur and husband Abul. She is physically and mentally tortured and she looses her identity both as a `female` and `feminine`. (1) She looses the very `She` in her. She is blamed as `Sterile` woman. All her desire of becoming mother is shattered by her husband Abul as he has an illegal relationship with Rasui. So he does not care for Motijan. She is continually tortured by her mother-in-law as her father is unable to pay the promised `dowry`. This `dowry` system is a poignant phenomenon in our society for which many women have to face tremendous torture before and after their marriage. Rabindranath Tagore has shown us how Nirupama, in his story Dena Paona had to face a fatal death as her father was unable to give the promised `dowry`. But here, Selina Hossain deviates from Tagore. Her character Motijan has transformed herself from a helpless creature incapable of even the slightest protest to a woman who can choose the man she desires and not simply put up with her husband who abuses and ignores her. She proves her fertility by making an extra-marital relationship with Lokman and like an `Angry young woman` chooses her own life to her own accord. She wants to tell what Benares in Vijay Tendulkar’s Silence ! The Court Is In Sessoon, wanted to tell –â€Å" My life is my own †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ I will do †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦what I like â€Å" or she wants to do what the duchess of Malfi had done in webster’s The Duchess of Malfi. Motijan has fulfilled her desire by crossing ` Strategic Essecentialism `(2). Kunti in Mahabharat was not able to make public about her illicit relationship and about her son Karna but Motijan is able to do that. Motijan boldly makes public about her extramarital affair by taking two daughters in her hand. Accordingly to Lacan – every desire is a misrecognition. In the case of Motijan, her desire is `non feminine` because she negates her `feminine` identity of `wife` or` Sati` to become a mother. She chooses Lokman not because she loves her, she makes a relation with him only to come out from the blame of infertility given by her mother-in-law Gulnur. Thus, Motijan’s desire for Lokman is ultimately misrecognised. She takes her desire for Lokman as a `weapon of rebellion` by which she negates her `feminine` identity of wife and builds her – female’ identity by giving birth of two female children. Jahanara Imam’s The Weapon depicts not merely the trauma of a woman who is raped brutally but the specifies of her suffering acquire a new political significance as chhabiran resists the violent take-over of the territory of her body and land by Pakistani forces. As chhabiran uses her desire as a `weapon` like wise Motijan also takes her desire as a `weapon` to rebel against her mother-in-law. Another important theme in this story is the exploitation of women by women. Gulnur is like the traditional mother-in-law of our society who maintains her tradition by torturing her daughter-in-law. Inspite of being a women she continually maltreats Motijan. As the mother-in-laws are also tortured by their mother-in-laws, so they carry on this torture as if it is a `legacy` to them. But they actually gain exploitation not any advantage. But when they use it, it becomes `negative legacy`. Gulnur is doing the same. Gulnur has not judged her self as a `woman`. She has been influenced by the conventional tradition of our society and has judged herself as a tool of `oppression`. Another important theme is about the birth of female child. In Aitereya Brahaman, 6/3/7/13 [ from Taslima Nasreen’s Selected Columns ] it is stated that the birth of a daughter was considered a curse. Therefore it is imperative that a pregnant woman should perform so that her child may be a male. This is the concept of Vedic age and it is still now very dominant and static code in our society. And in this story same thing happens with Motijan after giving birth of two female children. Gulnur, her mother-in-law wants to drive out her from the house by claiming that family line will not be saved by female children. But Motijan, like a `new woman` retaliates over Gulnur by rearing the children with utmost care and pride. Her pride is equal to the heroine Hester Pryne in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter who feels proud of her daughter Pearl. And her anger is equal to Jimmy Porter of Osborne’s Look Back in Anger. In Brihadaranyak Upanishad [ from Taslima Nasree’s Selected Coloumns ] it is declared that wife must walk behind her husband and The Satpath Brahamana directs women to follow the husband but Motijan’s husband Abul who is not worthy of a husband even not worthy of a human being, so there is no question to follow her. Besides, his torture and his smoking of `bidi` keep Motijan in a Claustrophobic situation. Abul does not do the least duty of a husband. That is why she does not consider him even as a member against which she can set a rebellion. Besides, why always women should follow Men? This is totally a power play patriarchy. And according to me, every Motijan should disobey every Abul like husband as they are not worthy of being a husband. One of the synonyms of woman is `bharjya`; one who is borne. These is a similarity in origin between the words `bharjya` – `bhirtya` – a wife and a servant. Motijan is treated like `bhirtya – slave ` in her family not as a true wife. The ending of the story is significant because although the story ends, the struggle of Motijan does not end. It is just the beginning of her struggle where she will have to face more complexity from Patriarchal society. She has brought two new `Motijan` whom she will have to make ready to struggle against later Abuls and Gulnur’s. Through the ending of the story Selina Hossain wants to tell that the revolt which Motijan has started is not the revolt of Motijan only but the revolt of every women of our South- Asian society in general and Bangladesh in particular. It is the revolt of those women who are the victims of such Patriarchal and matriarchal oppressions. And the struggle which Motijan has started is unending, there is much left to gain her proper right and freedom. Likewise, women of South-Asia will have to struggle more to acquire their right and true freedom. Selina Hossain’s another story The world of Love and Labour shows that Amzad Mia, Fulbanu’s father wants to give marriage of Fulbanu to Kasem Khan who has already two wives, for the greed of land. In spite of being a father he considers her daughter as an element of `exchangeable commodity`. This is not the present concept of our society. In Mahabharat we see that Arjun told Kunti, after bringing Draupadi by marrying her that he has brought a ` thing ` which he wants to give her mother. So, since the days of Mahabharat women are treated as an `object` not as a human being. Taslima Nasreen in her Selected Columns writes â€Å"Milk,curdles,eggs and coconuts rot, so does a woman†. Thus, we see that society applies the term to a woman as if she is an object. Taslima Nasreen in her Selected Columns again shows that Samartha Sabdokosh which is a wonderful addition to the Bengali language and literature, uses synonyms for a `Man` – `Purushmanush` , `Manab`, `Manush` etc while for women synonyms are `Stri`,`Meye`,`Ramani` etc. The numerous synonyms for woman however do not mention `Manush` which simply means `Human`. But Fulbanu stops her father’s Conspiracy in order to teach him a lesson that she is also a human being and her desire should also be valued. She marries Kasem Khan secretly without giving any information to her father and her family so that her father cannot get the property offered by Kasem Khan. On the other hand she wants to teach a lesson to Kasem Khan also. Kasem is a representative of neo-colonialism. (3) [ In Neo-Colonialist concept one person thinks himself to be superior without thinking what others think about him ] as he marries many women only to fulfil his lust without caring any body. He gives wrong notion of his practicing Polygamy that as he has no children so to save the family line he wants to marry Fulbanu. We find that it is not a recent phenomenon. In Aitereya Brahmana [ from Taslima Nasreen’s Selected Columns ] it is stated that a woman cannot marry more than once. Even if a man has many wives, one husband is enough for a woman. Actually there is a medical reason behind this polygamy and to prove this matter I want to refer Taslima Nasreen’s view, who in her Selected Columns tells that between the age of fifty and seventy many men suffer from an enlargement of Prostate Gland. This enlargement of the gland leads to an increase in sexual desire, though the end is likely to be permanent impotence. These old men, because of an enlarged gland, are suddenly fired with excessive sexual urge and long to get them selves wives. Many try to saying these men need a companion in their old age. They prefer to marry adolescent girl rather than old woman. The case of Kasem Khan is also the same. Kasem Khan also reminds the example of Prophet Mohammed. But Fulbanu Shatters his dream of enjoying her and also proves that the two wives do not suffer from infertility. The true fact is that Kasem Khan Is impotent and for that he has no children. The Aitereya Brahmana gives [ from Taslima Nasreen’s Selected Columns ] unreserved praise to a woman who never Contradicts their husband. The two wives before Fulbanu blindly accept this concept. They neither refutes Kasem Khan nor try to discover the actual truth behind their infertility. But Fulbanu, like a `new woman` deviates from that cheap accepted norm of blindly receiving patriarchal hegemony. She gains her freedom by refuting that hegemony and hierarchy created by her father and Kasem Khan. I hope, she creates an example of freedom which will become an agenda to the girls who are the victims of such oppression. At the end of the story without caring anybody and without receiving any `Talaq` or `Divorce` she just starts a new journey to an unknown path. She does not know what fate will awaiting her. But she frees her self from the bondage of patriarchal hegemony and now she chooses a life of free bird. She wants to find her own place to live in Virginia woolf’s famous room of one’s own ‘ where any bondage is prohibited. She wants to become the mistress of her own desire. Thus the two heroines of Selina Hossain’s through their tragic end ( as they both do not leade a normal happy lives ) prove the dictum â€Å" Every tragedy is a story of survival â€Å". They both negate the traditional gender roles which cast men as rational, strong, protective etc, while women are emotional, weak, submissive. They prove that gender is a cultural construction, not a biological one. Men think themselves superior that is why they are superior [ Benedict Anderson’s view ](4). Actually they want to prove that no one is superior from the first days. Women also know how to build equality by breaking superiority . And through these stories Selina Hossain proves herself as a feminist writer. Her characters are the representatives of the contemporary fates of South-Asian women. Her private purpose has thus become a public feminine issue. She prefers to cast her rebellion against the Patriarchal oppression not by `Sword` but by `Pen` and I hope, she is very much successful in this fact. Virgin Woolf in her story of Judith lamented â€Å" For who shall measure the heat and violence of a poet’s heart when caught and tangled in a woman’s body ? †. But I hope Selina Hossain has no reason to lament because she has created writings which is totally free from male influence. And her writing may be treated under Gynocentricism (5) [ Elaine Showalter;s Concept ] as she in three phases ( feminine, feminist and female ) proves that she remains a fair gentle woman through her writings. Thus, through my term paper I want to tell that the women of South-Asia partly achieved their success of independence. But if there is to be a true female independence too, much remains to be done. But the struggle which has started by Motijan, Fulbanu and Selina Hossain herself is a great achievement. Their struggle is like a `torch` whose light will show path for the true right and freedom for women.

Batter My Heart, Three-person’d God by John Donne

The poem â€Å"Batter My Heart, Three-person’d God† by John Donne is a prayer to God from the poet. Donne is a struggling sinner, and the poem is his desperate cry for help. He wants God to be in his life, no matter how difficult and painful it is, and desires to be everything God wants him to be. The poem gives a sense of Donne’s complex relationship with God. It is apparent that he is in the midst of a struggle with good and evil, and begins with a plea to God to enter his heart by any means necessary and rid him of the evil that has taken over. Donne uses graphic and violent imagery throughout the poem as a way of showing his utter desperation. This imagery is used in an exaggerated way to convey Donne’s strong desire for God, as well as implying that there is something else that is hindering his ability to allow God in himself. In using the metaphor â€Å"batter my heart† in the first line, Donne is implying that he wants God to use his power like a battering ram to enter his heart. This gives a strong indication that there is some unknown force – be it sin, evil, or the devil – preventing Donne himself from allowing God to enter. He refers to God as the â€Å"three-personed God,† alluding to the Bible’s teaching of God as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Donne’s complaint is that God is not being aggressive enough in how he is dealing with him; the Father knocks, the Holy Spirit breathes, and the Son shines his light upon him, but Donne wants him to use his power more aggressively to â€Å"mend† him, help him become â€Å"new,† and force the evils out of him. The progression to violent imagery shows Donne’s desperation; he no longer wants God â€Å"knock,† but is asking him to â€Å"break† the door down, not simply â€Å"breathe† but to â€Å"blow,† and not â€Å"shine,† but to â€Å"burn. The use of alliteration with the words â€Å"break,† â€Å"breathe† and â€Å"blow† help in drawing attention to their severity, and emphasizing the extent of Donne’s desperation. He believes that in using these destructive actions, God will free him from his weaknesses and make him new again. In the second quatrain, it becomes clear that the first four lines are meant to be taken metaphorically, rather than literally. Donne likens his heart to a city that has been overtaken, and he wants God to be aggressive in taking it back. This expands upon the indication of the unknown force; Donne’s heart is the city that has been taken captive, and God is the savior that he wants to break down the gate and take it back by force. It becomes obvious in this quatrain that the previously unknown force holding Donne back is his sense reason and rationality. He shows that even his mind has failed him in his attempts to be close with God. Donne’s reason is what should be fighting for him in his battle and defending him, but instead is captured, shows weakness, and even lies to him. He suggests that although he believes God is the rightful ruler of his heart, his rationality has been impaired such that he cannot defend Him and let Him in. The sestet begins with further reinforcement of the notion that Donne wants God back in his life, no matter how difficult it may be. He begins by stating that even though his spiritual life is currently in a state of struggle, he still has a deep affection of God and wants to love and be loved by Him. His state of desperation is the result of this struggle. Donne quickly returns to the shocking imagery that has been prevalent throughout, claiming he is â€Å"betrothed† to the enemy. This claim of engagement to the devil is a paradox; he is not actually going to marry the devil, but at the time feels unwillingly more connected to God’s enemies and their ways than to God and God’s ways. He asks God to â€Å"divorce† him, to â€Å"untie or break† the engagement he has with the devil. At the end of the prayer, Donne uses two more paradoxes to explain how deep of a connection he wants to feel with God. He begs for God to imprison him to set him free and his feels as though God’s prison is the only way in which he can be truly free of his weaknesses, and pure of evils. He also begs to be ravished and filled with delight so that he may become pure, which carries some sexual imagery. As with the metaphor in the first quatrain, this is not a literal request; he simply wants to be convinced of the power of God, so that he can have a close and loving relationship with Him. These contradictions show a deeply emotional affection towards God, and when taken figuratively are very effective in conveying his message of desperation. Although â€Å"Batter My Heart, Three-person’d God† is filled with graphic and violent imagery, John Donne is not attempting to be crude or inappropriate. Donne is simply explaining his own tremulous relation with God, and uses the violent imagery as a means to show how desperate he has become in his mission to bring God back into his life. If he allows God to do whatever it takes, even if it means pain and the loss of his very freedom, he knows God can bring him into a close, loving relationship with Him and make him into the person he thinks God wants him to be. So he can pray, â€Å"Batter my heart,† â€Å"break, blow, burn,† â€Å"imprison me,† â€Å"enthrall† and â€Å"ravish† me, for he believes his God is a loving, pure, kind, and just â€Å"three-person’d God† and he trusts Him with his very heart, soul, and life.