Equity and Trust Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Equity and Trust - Essay Example However area of conflict had arisen in the proper disposition of these gifts. A detailed description of Neil’s will and the circumstances related to each of the term stated in the will may prove to be helpful in resolving the conflict. Neil’s will states the following terms : -> 30,000 to be given to the â€Å"Supporters of Elfed Hospital† as a gift -> 60,000 to be gifted to the â€Å"Friends of Thomas Hospital† and -> 400,000 to be used to provide benefits to the inhabitants of Elfed and special privilege to be given to the employees of Neil & Co Ltd and their families. Discussing each of the terms in details would give a clear view of the scenario and will also be helpful in advising the executors of Neil on the probable terms of the declarations made. -> 30,000 to be gifted the â€Å"Supporters of Elfed Hospital† A view on the history behind the relationship between Neil and Elfed Hospital reveals that the main factory of Neil & Co Ltd. is situat ed in the village of Elfed. There is every possibility that considering this fact Neil had included this term in his will, for gifting 30,000 to the â€Å"supporters† of Elfed hospital. Though he mentioned the term â€Å"supporters† and as such there is no legal declaration or discrimination for this particular term, it could be well assumed that the main intention behind mentioning this in the will is to provide welfare in terms of monetary benefits to the Elfed hospital and not in particular to any supporters or volunteers or anyone specific as such.

Mexican Migrant Workers Essay Example for Free

Mexican Migrant Workers Essay Migrant workers have long played a crucial role in the economy of the United States, there has always been a rather heavy flow of both legal and illegal immigrants to the United States. There is a large variety of different jobs available for both legal and illegal immigrants in the United States, many women find work with more affluent families and are employed as nannies or maids. Some women find work in factories, often turning out clothes or toys, which is often labor-intensive low-wage work and especially for those migrant workers that may not be in the country legally. Perhaps the most important role that these women play in the U. S. ’s economy involves our extensive agriculture sector. Prior to slave labor restrictions agriculture in the U. S. was largely dependent on slave labor, which was essentially free as one might expect. The first English colonies imported slave labor as early as 1619 and Spanish colonies had practiced intensive slave labor since the 1560s. Slave labor became increasingly important in producing high-value cash crops such as tobacco, sugar, coffee and cotton. Although slave labor was most important in Southern plantation style agriculture, it also played an integral role in agriculture in the North which is contrary to the popular belief of Northern states being intolerant towards slavery. After slavery was abolished in the 1860s and the slaves were emancipated, it was clear that those involved in agriculture would have to find another source of cheap labor to pick up the slack (Valdez 1). Luckily for North American farmers there were many sources of cheap labor at this time and many people willing to immigrate to find work. Shortly after the abolishment of slavery there was a very large influx of Chinese immigrants, a vast majority of these immigrants were put to work in agriculture as well as being integral to building the nations railroads. The flow of Chinese immigrants was curtailed by the U. S. government when they passed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, generally believed to be a reaction to the decline of the gold rush with legislators using the Chinese as a scapegoat. Partially due to the loss of Chinese immigrant labor, many workers began migrating to the U. S. from Mexico and the Philippines. It is important to note that there were plenty of European immigrants that also found employment doing menial agricultural work, however their experiences were generally different than the experiences faced by Mexican workers. For instance, workers from England shared a common language and religion with their employers so it became easier to assimilate into society. Although there was some discrimination towards German and Irish immigrants due to the fact that these were generally Catholic countries, these differences were usually reconciled and didn’t take as much of a toll on those immigrants. However, employers soon found out that their Mexican laborers generally did not go on strike or demand higher wages even when their working conditions were quite poor, this led to increased discrimination and abuse towards Mexican migrants (Valdez 1). The use of Mexican migrant labor declined during the Great Depression, as many of the agricultural jobs filled by Mexicans were now highly sought after by internal migrant workers that hailed from Dust Bowl states and were generally desperate to find work. After World War Two, the U. S. economy was once again healthy and began to thrive as it had before the Great Depression. During the thirty or so years following World War Two a new trend began developing. This trend involved a large number of laborers traveling from the southern United States and Latin America (most notably Mexico) to perform seasonal agriculture work in the more northern states. Indeed, there were plenty of U. S. citizens that performed migrant labor at this time, often being placed in jobs by the Farm Labor Agency, though most employers began to see the benefits of informally employed migrant workers. Although many of these foreign workers were hired through government programs, their contracts were pre-determined by prospective employers. Essentially, this meant that employers had complete control over their workers and if any of them complained about poor working conditions or demanded higher wages they could immediately be deported at their employers whim. Working conditions certainly were poor during this time, many trends that are still perpetuated today began during this period. For instance, most migrant workers depended solely on their crew leader for goods and food which were often sold at exorbitant prices that created â€Å"company† debt for the workers. Aside from the grueling labor, most migrant workers lived in very poor conditions as well with far too many people often crammed into small, dilapidated shacks. Another trend that developed during this period is the increasing use of illegal migrant labor. Beginning during World War II Mexican citizens could legally travel to and work in the U. S. under the Bracero Program, justified due to the fact that crops couldn’t go un-harvested during war time. Essentially a guest worker program, the Bracero Program was active from 1942 to 1964 and during this time it sponsored approximately 4. million border crossings by Mexican migrant workers. This program enforced certain requirements on employers that mandated that an acceptable level of wages, housing, food and medical care be provided to their workers and as a result many migrant workers enjoyed higher standards of living than they had back home. As a result employers began seeking out illegal migrant workers that were not involved in the program, as they could pay them much lower wages while not providing any of the afore mentioned services. Pressure from employers as well as domestic agriculture labor unions (who viewed the Bracero program as an impediment to U.  S. born workers) eventually led to the demise of the Bracero program in 1964. As there was still a huge demand for cheap, agriculture labor and no longer a legal labor pool it is easy to see why there was such a flood of illegal migrant workers from Mexico (Valdez 2). Today, migrant workers are still every bit as important as they were in the past and a large majority of them continue to hail from Mexico. Federal law defines migrant workers as anyone that travels more than 75 miles in search of employment, and by this definition at the turn of the 21st Century there were an estimated 2. million people working as agricultural laborers with a scant 12 % of these workers establishing temporary residences while working and roughly half still considering Mexico to be home. Between 1990 and 2001 the total of Mexican born migrant workers working in agriculture rose from about 30% of the work force to nearly 50%. Although these workers still constitute a small portion of all the U. S. ’s wage and salaried workers they play a critical role in the more labor intensive aspects involved in the production of all fresh, canned, frozen and processed foods consumed in the U. S. More than 85% of all fruit and vegetable crops in the U.  S. require hand planting, hand cultivation and hand harvesting which is extremely labor intensive. Despite their importance in this industry, around the turn of the 21st Century Mexican migrant workers earned an average yearly income that was only about 40% of the official poverty rate (CIA 1). Although the large majority of migrant agriculture workers are male, there is still a very large number of female migrant workers seeking employment within the U. S. To understand the plight of these women we first must understand exactly why they choose to travel to the U. S. in search of work. One of the key push factors for these women is the poor economic conditions that Mexico has historically faced. Mexico went through a very harmful debt crisis in the 1980s that has played a large role in the countries current economic woes. Currently, Mexico’s GDP growth rate is a dismal -6. 5% which places it 200th compared to the rest of the world. Mexico also has an unemployment rate of 5. 5% with an underemployment rate of nearly 25%. Using a food based definition of poverty about 18% of Mexico lives in poverty, however when using an asset based definition for poverty a whopping 47% of Mexicans live in poverty (CIA 1). Due to this impoverished conditions many Mexican women have trouble finding work, and although the literacy rates for males and females are roughly equal in Mexico, and males are generally chosen over women for the jobs that do exist. It is easy to see why so many Mexican women are eager to travel to the U. S. in hopes of finding better jobs and higher wages. Along with money woes, this extensive level of poverty also takes its toll on relationships. When times get tough, there is often more strain at home and husbands and wives are more likely to not get along. Although this is certainly not a problem that is unique to Mexico, there is one key cultural component: Machismo. There is no single, set definition of Machismo, but it is generally viewed as what traditional Mexican culture believes to be acceptable masculinity. Certainly, not every Mexican male fits this Machismo stereotype and there isn’t necessarily anything wrong with the ideals that men should aspire to be strong and tough. However, there are many critics of the Machismo culture and believe that it is very counter-productive and harmful towards women. For instance, it is believed that the Macho man should be able to provide for his wife and family and when poor economic conditions are an obstacle to this the man may often feel inadequate and embarrassed (Soong 1). This wouldn’t be as big of an issue if one of the key pillars of the Machismo man involved violence. Shockingly, one-third of native Mexican women interviewed stated that a husband had the right to hit his wife if she hadn’t fulfilled her obligations and 42% of those interviewed admitted that they had even been beaten as young girls. It appears that the ability for men to assert their dominance over women through violence is an accepted part of Mexican culture and most men are never punished for committing what amounts to very criminal acts. It is believed that between 1999 and 2005 an estimated 6,000 women were murdered in Mexico, with most of these deaths being caused by domestic violence at the hands of their husbands or boyfriends. Of course, we realize that not all or even most Mexican men behave this way however it is certainly a large enough cultural problem to cause a lot of strain on Mexican women. Many women, already overwhelmed by economic worries, leave Mexico simply to get themselves, and often their children, away from abusive relationships (Soong 2). As we have now outlined two key push factors, both economic and social, it is also important to recognize the pull factors: the reasons behind why women choose to migrate to the U. S. The U. S. is very appealing to Mexican women, as they believe that they will be offered better jobs and better wages upon arriving. Unsurprisingly, American companies are also integral in luring these Mexican women to the U. S. s they have began to rely on the cheap, docile labor that these women provide. In fact, many U. S. companies have been known to use Mexican immigrants as an example for how the American Dream can be accomplished. Many American businesses are now creating marketing campaigns that explicitly target Mexican immigrants, knowing full well that they will attract just as many illegal immigrants in the process. Even though these businesses are only seeking to exploit them, many Mexicans and especially Mexican women are interpreting these ads as a sign that they will be more readily accepted in American society and this makes migrating to the U.  S. even more appealing (Wyans 4). Many Mexican women also believe that the U. S. is some sort of egalitarian utopia, even though that is far from true. With the American societies push to be â€Å"politically correct† and aim for a level playing field, many Mexican women feel that the gender inequalities they experienced in Mexico will not exist in the U. S. This idea of an egalitarian U. S. most certainly stems from the very biased media that America exports to around the world, which undoubtedly paints America in a very positive light. Even though the Mexican woman migrating to the U. S. ay secure a more lucrative job and better living conditions, she will most likely face most of the same social ills she had experienced in Mexico (Wyans 5). When taking these push/pull factors in to account it is no shock that so many Mexican women are migrating to the U. S. Most casual observers assume that these Mexican women are only migrating because they are passively accompanying their husbands but this is certainly not the case, especially in recent years. In fact, more than half of the migrant workers from all Latin American countries traveling to the U. S. are women traveling by the own volition. Migrant workers as a whole are confided to the lower skill sector of the labor market, and the women among these migrant workers usually only find work in the lowest manual positions such as childcare, industrial cleaning, food processing and sewing. Not only are female migrant workers given the worst of already poor jobs, they are almost always paid less than their male migrant counterparts. Employers have also caught on to one key trait among female migrant workers, many of them are unwilling to demand higher wages or complain about working conditions simply because they are responsible for their children at home. This leads many employers to subject women to longer hours, lower pay and worse working conditions than they would expect a male worker to put up with (Cultural Survival 1). As I had previously stated, migrant workers play a key role in harvesting and processing our nations food. A very intriguing example of the role that female Mexican migrant workers play in this sector of our economy involves Maryland’s crab industry. Each year, hundreds of Mexican women travel to the Eastern Shore of Maryland to work for Maryland crab companies. These women generally enter the U. S. legally, by obtaining a temporary work visa known as an H-2B Visa. Although the H-2B program was originally intended to the employer to temporarily supplement his current domestic work force with migrant workers, most of Maryland’s crab companies have begun to rely solely on H-2B workers. The H-2B program is quite similar to the government programs I mentioned earlier. The key similarity and cause for concern is the fact that an H-2B guest worker is essentially bound by regulations to a single employer, so any demand for higher wages or better working conditions can still be met with the threat of deportation (Paral 8). In order to obtain an H-2B visa most women meet with local recruiters in Mexico.  These women are already being exploited before they leave their home town, as these H-2B recruiters illegally force them to pay large fees in order to obtain their H-2B permits. Many of the women that can’t afford these fabricated fees wind up working out loans with their H-2B recruiter, which generally have exorbitant interest rates that put the women further in debt. Legally, these recruiters are not allowed to charge any fees but it is impossible to enforce U. S. relations south of the border. Employers are often able to send certain messages via recruiters that violate U. S.  Civil Rights laws, they are able to suggest that recruiters discriminate when choosing employees and are able to plead ignorance if ever reprimanded for their recruiters behavior. After receiving their H-2B visas, the women cross the border and board a bus that will take them to Maryland. They are not informed how long the trip will take, and although they are told to bring American dollars to buy food, many women either cannot afford to eat or are too intimidated by the language barrier to shop for food and as a result go the entire 2-3 day bus trip without eating (Kloer 1). When these women finally make it to Maryland they typically rent houses that are owned by their employers and located on islands in Chesapeake Bay. Crab companies are not legally required to provide housing for the crab pickers, but most own and operate rental houses in order to ensure that their workers remain close to the crab picking houses. The houses not located on islands may just as well be, because during high tide the bridges and roads connecting them with the mainland become impassable. These houses are usually in very poor condition and the women often complain about such problems as non-working stoves, leaks, and poor plumbing. These poorly maintained houses have also been known to house up to 30 women at one time, some women interviewed reported sharing a bedroom with up to 7 other women. Most women must either share beds with other women or sleep on the floor and generally have little to no privacy while staying in rental housing. To top it off, very few companies give keys to their tenants which means they cannot even lock their houses to protect their possessions while working in the crab picking houses (AUWCL 3). Many of the rental houses also have problems that are in direct violation of the counties housing code, such as broken windows and mold infestations. Despite these infractions, no legal action has been taken by the county in order to ensure that these rental houses be in livable condition. Not only are the living conditions of these rental properties very poor, living on an island is also detrimental to the women in some very significant ways. Since these women reside on an island when not working, they become very isolated from the rest of the local community. One almost wonders if these houses weren’t strategically placed by the employers, because living in such isolation shields their plight from the locals and also forces them to rely solely on their employer (Kloer 2). Since there is no public transportation to and from the island, and these women cannot afford to buy a boat, they must rely on their employer for transportation to the mainland. Many companies only arrange transportation for their workers weekly and on fixed days, because there is limited space on the boat only a limited number of women can go to town at once. As a result of this some women reported having to wait two or three weeks before they could get to the mainland to purchase groceries, this meant that they had to rely on fellow workers for food and other items.

Scene Analysis Of America Beauty Film Studies Essay

Scene Analysis Of America Beauty Film Studies Essay American Beauty is a film written by Alan Ball and directed by Sam Mendes in the year 2000. The film is about Lester Burnham , who is searching for happiness. Lester Burnham is an ordinary-looking man in his forties. Lester is in a loveless marriage because his wife, Carolyn Burnham, who thinks that success is the most important thing in life, neglects him due to her obsession to her real estate career. In the film, Lester often mentions that Carolyn doesnt acknowledge him. Lesters daughter, Jane Burnham, is emotionally distant from her father, and often claims how pathetic she thinks Lester is. In the beginning of the film, Lester was told that he was in danger of losing his job. All these factors dramatically culminate into feelings of desperation and vulnerability for him. This begins to change as Lester is introduced to his daughters friend, Angela Hayes. Lester overhears a conversation between Jane and Angela, where Angela states that she would have sex with him if he would star t working-out and building up his body. The thought of having a teenage girl finding Lester hot, excites Lester thus beginning Lesters change throughout the movie (American Beauty, motion picture, 2000). I will be analysing two scenes of this film which I found to be the most significant in terms of how it helped me shape my interpretation of and emotional response to the film. Both scenes involve major turn of events in the film regarding Lester Burnham and I found that the cinematographic qualities of the scenes played a major part in contributing to the movies overall meaning. According to Richard Barsam, cinematography is the process of capturing moving images on film or some other medium (Barsam 2007, p.140). Barsam states that, Although cinematography might seem to exist solely to please our eyes with beautiful images, it is in fact an intricate language that can contribute to a movies overall meaning as much as the story, mise-en-scene, and acting do (Barsam 2007, p.140). This means that the use of the different aspects of cinematography such as lighting, framing, camera angles can help contribute to interpreting the meaning of the film itself. The two cinematographic elements which are mainly used in the scenes include composition and camera movement. Barsam states that the composition element refers to the arrangement of visual elements within a shot (Barsam 2007, p.161). There can be numerous visual elements within a shot. Some of the elements include lighting, shot compositions (long-shot, medium-shot, close-up), and dynamic compositions. Barsam points out that a key component of composition is lighting. The lighting shapes the way the movie looks and helps tell the story (Barsam 2007, p.148). Among its properties are its source, quality, direction and style. Barsam states that the different properties of lighting work together with other elements to determine the overall mood and meaning of a scene (Barsam 2007, p.154). According to Barsam, the second cinematographic element, camera movement, can change the way we see the images because any movement of the camera modifies the different elements of framing. These elements include camera angle, level, height, types of shots and scale (Barsam 2007, p.176). The moving camera opens up cinematic space, and thus filmmakers use it to achieve many effects. Barsam points out that the moving camera leads the viewers eye, or focuses the viewers attention and, by moving into the scene, helps create the illusion of depth in the flat screen image. (Barsam 2007, p.176) The first scene I will be analysing is the scene where Lester first spots Angela. In this scene, Lester and Carolyn decided to support Jane at her school where she was performing a dance at half-time. This scene is significant because it shows how Lester begins to rebel against who he is, as a result of Angelas sexuality. The scene begins with Lester and Carolyn arriving at the basketball game right before Janes performance. Then as the performance begins, almost immediately into the dance routine, Angela is given an upward position in the frame elevated with dynamic composition. It is dynamic composition because there is movement within the fixed frame (Barsam 2007, p.161). By giving Angela an upward position within the frame, it suggests that Lester is taking notice of her. And as the scene continues, Angela has gotten Lesters full attention. Angela is shown moving towards the camera in another dynamic composition shot complemented by the camera zooming in on her. This enhances Ang elas presence and this also gave me an idea as to the degree of attention Lester is giving Angela due to her sexuality. The scene continues with a static composition shot of Lester. According to Barsam, a static composition shot is where there is no movement within the frame, unlike a dynamic composition where there is movement (Barsam 2007, p.161). The camera then begins to zoom in on Lester. As the camera zooms in, the crowd is eliminated and only Lester is shown in the frame. Furthermore, Lesters eyes appears to be bigger than they actually are because of the way the camera is focusing on them. This makes Lester look as though he is drooling over something he desires. At this point, the camera performs a point of view shot showing what Lesters eyes are fixated on, and that is Angela. This again displays the degree of enchantment that Angela has placed over Lester. In Lesters mind, only Angela and himself exists at that moment, and everyone else is filtered out as they are not of any importance to Lester. The scene then concludes with a shot-reverse-shot of Angela and Lester. A shot-reverse-shot is where one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen), and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other (Yale Film Studies Program 2002). This allowed me to see that in Lesters fantasy, Angela is dancing erotically just for him, giving each other the same amount of attention. Because of the fact the Lester is desiring a girl that is his daughters age, it should be noted that Angela and Lester are never shown in the same frame in the scene as this suggests that there is some barrier in between them. Another technical element which I found that added to the effectiveness of the scene, was the lighting. In the point of view shot from Lesters perspective that showed that he was fixated on Angela, Angela was shown by herself in the frame. And as mentioned above, this is to point out that Lester only has his attention on Angela. The lighting used complemented the shot as the lighting helped to focus my attention on Lesters enlarged eyes and this showed me that he was being enchanted by what he was seeing. Another way the lighting was used in the scene was when Angela was shown alone in the frame and the background in the shot became a lot darker. At the same time, a bright light shined on Angela from above. The lighting in this shot is high contrast and low key. It is high contrast because the difference between the light and darkness is clear. Barsam states that low key lighting is when little or no fill light is used, the ratio between bright illumination and deep shadow is very high (Barsam 2007, p.152). This is shown in the shot because Angelas shadow can be seen behind her and shadows can be seen on the rest of Lesters face, excluding his eyes. I found that lighting contributed quite a lot in this scene. Firstly, I felt that the light shining solely on Angela portrays Angela as the object of Lesters attention. Barsam states that lighting thrown down on a character from above can be used for many different effects, (ie: vulnerability) (Barsam 2007, p.153). In the case of this scene, the light may be portraying the innocence and purity of Angela as she was a virgin throughout the entire film and as light can sometimes be affiliated with good and darkness with bad. The darkness in the background may represent her fake personality where she lies about her sexual experience to the people around her. The darkness surrounding Lester during the close up shots of him may be representing the sexual thoughts he fantasizes about in the scene. And thus the darkness surrounds him throughout the shots of him paying full attention to Angela. The second scene I will be analysing, is the scene towards the end of the film when Lesters fantasies and dreams are about to become reality. This scene is significant because it shows the second turn of events which transforms Lester again, but this time back to the mature person he once was, and also making him realize what it really meant to make him happy. This scene also makes use of composition and camera movement. The scene begins with Lester moving close towards Angela who is lying on the couch. The camera pans right while following Lester. I found this to build up suspense to what would happen next. And as the camera moves to the right, it moves back down. This is a dynamic shot with downward movement. Dynamic because of the movement within the frame and downward movement because the camera moves in a downward movement. According to Barsam, this downward movement implies a negative action (Barsam 2007, p.177). In this case, the negative action is Lesters sexual tendencies towards Angela who is a teenager. Barsam also mentions that the downward movement implies the loss of something (Barsam 2007, p.177). In this case, the loss is of Angelas virginity. The next shot is of Angela appearing at a 45 degree angle in the frame. This is known as a Dutch-angle shot. According to Barsam, a Dutch-angle shot is when the camera is tilted from its normal horizontal and vertical position so that it is no longer straight, giving the viewer the impression that the world in the frame is out of balance (Barsam 2007, p.174). The Dutch-angle accentuates the unnatural nature of the actions in the frame. In this case, it is of the unnatural reaction of Angela, who is about to have a sexual experience for the first time. As the scene continues, the camera pans from left to right and right to left following Lesters hands as they go up and down Angelas body. I found that this intensified the erotic feeling of the scene. In the next shot, the camera moves to a dynamic crane shot, showing Lesters hands unbuttoning Angelas shirt. According to Barsam, a crane shot is a shot made from a camera mounted onto an elevating arm that, in turn, is mounted on a vehicle capable of moving by its own power resulting in it being more flexible due to the freedom of horizontal and vertical movement. The shot is then followed by a shot-reverse shot of Angela and Lester looking at one another. In the scene, Angela was given the low angle shot, looking up at Lester. Barsam states that a low-angle shot is made with the camera below the action and typically places the observer in the position of feeling helpless in the presence of a superior force (Barsam 2007, 171). In other words, a low-angle shot emphasizes anxiety, fear and vulnerability. The fact that Angela is looking up at Lester also implies that Lester is in control. However, I noticed during the crane shots, Angelas position in the frame is always higher than Les ters. In a way, this implies that she is pure and innocent because good elements are usually given a higher position over bad elements (eg: Heaven up, Hell down). In the next shot, Angela reveals to Lester that she is a virgin. At this point, the shot goes back to Lester, who is in a Dutch-angle shot smiles and asks if Angela was kidding. The reason for the Dutch-angle shot is because Lester has realized what he was doing was unnatural. After this shot, is the second major turning point in Lesters transformation, where he finally realizes after all this while, that being lustful for a teenager wasnt what it meant to be happy. The lighting technique used in this scene seemed to portray the light and darkness symbolic meaning that was mentioned above. Throughout the entire scene, there was always a light shining down on Angela but Lester was always kept in darkness. And with composition of Angelas white shirt and the soft light shining on it emphasizing the white colour of the shirt, the light represents purity and innocence because Angela is a virgin. Whereas, the darkness that surrounds Lester, and the minimal lighting shining on his hands as he moves his hands up and down Angelas body represents the impurity of his actions. The lighting used throughout this scene was low contrast and low key. Low contrast because the lighting used was dim and rather gray. In the final shots of the scene, the lighting used were low contrast and low key as well because that implies a sense of mystery. As a viewer, although Lester had come to realize what it meant to achieve happiness, there was something which kept me wondering what would happen. And true enough, the film ended with Lester getting killed. Throughout the film, there were many more cinematographic elements used which emphasized the personalities and characteristics of each character such as high-angle shots, the use of short-focal-length lenses and Long takes. However, because I interpreted the movie as Lesters transformations through being reborn, I found that the cinematographic qualities used in the two scenes I analysed to be the most significant in my interpretation of and emotional response to American Beauty.

Work Trends - Contractors, Temporary Workers, Annualised Hours :: Business Management Studies

Work Trends - Contractors, Temporary Workers, Annualised Hours Changing working environments Trends  · Use of contractors  · More temporary workers  · Annualised hours  · More part-time working  · Self-employment  · Hiring consultants Employers Advantages Disadvantages 1. Less cost less employment costs helping the business compete 2. Hiring consultants bring experts into the business 3. business can cope with sudden and unexpected changes in sale 4. Less hiring costs 5. Les costs. Flexible workforce can reduce employment costs, helping a business to compete more effectively with other businesses 6. Using a consultants and self-employed people bring expertise into the business 7. The use of consultants and self-employed people means that businesses do not have to pay to them 1. Difficult to communicate with P/T and temporary workers-don’t know them 2. More labour turn over 3. Poor reputation as employers Good effects o employees  · Some employees, such as these with responsibilities for looking after young children, want only part-time or temporary work. They would be happy to be part of a flexible workforce  · Working as part of a team can be a good experience. Employees may enjoy working with other people and learning from more experienced workers. Research says that working in tem can raise morale  · Some employees may prefer to be employed as teleworkers, working from home. Teleworkers do not have the cost and the bother of travelling to work everyday. They can live where they wish and need not to be close to the business that employs them Bad effects on employees  · Some workers may be very dissatisfied with temporary contracts. They might want the security of a permanent job and not feel committed to the business. They may feel unsettled and want to look for other work

Purpose of Schools Essay

School is an institutional mechanism that tries to share knowledge and/or be an agent for social action. Looking back to the ancient history of schools, some schools of ancient Israel for example feel that the main purpose of education was to ‘produce faithful members of a nation – a son who would bring pride to his family and his people and glory to God. ’ In ancient Greece, the school was to produce a productive citizen, wise and mature and Rome followed the example of Greece. However, there are some schools which are just for education, where basic knowledge is shared based on the age through a planned curriculum. There are schools which apart from providing knowledge through planned curricula do bring in social change through actions. I believe that a school has got to play the role of both i. e. sharing knowledge and also be an agency for social action. An example that can be cited following both is the ancient Hindu school called ‘gurukul’ , where apart from knowledge through planned curricula, there are learning sessions on various social norms and values that are normally practiced in the society. The purpose of a school is thus to orient students to socialize by understanding the background, culture and values of that area which would further add to their individual growth and understanding for nurturing good citizens. Apart from this, there is a need for the schools to see to it that students are able to gain proper knowledge which should further help them to able to attain further education and employment. Thus, we can say that the main purpose of schools is to provide education which would enhance the knowledge, skills and attributes of students and make them responsible citizens of the country. Even though schools as educational institutions have their own limitations of access to knowledge, funds to provide the services to students etc. based on the need and following the goal that the educational institution wants to achieve, teachers have to redesign their teaching strategies/pedagogy.

How to Conjugate Voler (to Fly, Steal) in French

How to Conjugate Voler (to Fly, Steal) in French The French verb  voler  has two very interesting meanings. While it may be used for to fly, as in an airplane or as a bird does, it may also mean to steal, as in robbing someone or taking something. In orer to use  voler  properly, you will need to commit its conjugations to memory. A quick lesson will introduce you to the essentials you need to know. The Basic Conjugations of  Voler French verb conjugations can be a challenge because you have more words to memorize than you would in English. Thats because the verb changes not only with the tense but for every subject pronoun within each tense as well. The good news is that  voler  is a  regular -er verb. It follows some very common rules of conjugation and youll use these for the majority of French verbs. That makes each new one you study just a bit easier than the last. The first step in any conjugation is to find the radical of the verb (its stem). In this case, that is  vol-. With that, use the table to study the different endings you need to apply for the present, future, and imperfect past tenses. For example, I am flying is  je vole  and we stole is  nous volions. Present Future Imperfect je vole volerai volais tu voles voleras volais il vole volera volait nous volons volerons volions vous volez volerez voliez ils volent voleront volaient The Present Participle of  Voler The present participle of regular verbs is formed by adding -ant to the radical. For voler, this gives us volant. Voler  in the Compound Past Tense The  passà © composà ©Ã‚  is common in the French language. It is the compound past tense and its relatively easy to construct. You will begin by  conjugating avoir, the auxiliary verb, to fit your subject in the present tense. Then, all you need to do is add the  past participle  volà ©. This gives us  jai volà ©Ã‚  for I flew and  nous avons volà ©Ã‚  for we stole. More Simple Conjugations of  Voler Whenever you need to bring the act of flying or stealing into question,  the subjunctive  can be used. If, however, the act is dependent on something, then youll need  the conditional. In written French, youll likely encounter the passà © simple  or  the imperfect subjunctive  forms of  voler  as well. Subjunctive Conditional Pass Simple Imperfect Subjunctive je vole volerais volai volasse tu voles volerais volas volasses il vole volerait vola volt nous volions volerions volmes volassions vous voliez voleriez voltes volassiez ils volent voleraient volrent volassent The French imperative  form  drops all formality, along with the subject pronoun. When using it for short sentences, you can simplify it from  tu vole  to  vole. Imperative (tu) vole (nous) volons (vous) volez

Separation of a Mixture of Solids Essays

Separation of a Mixture of Solids Essays Separation of a Mixture of Solids Essay Separation of a Mixture of Solids Essay The mixed solution contained benzene acid, iron, table salt, and sand. When separated using water, fuel, or a magnet, their characteristics and properties changed. The mass of the entire mixed solids was 6. 6 grams. When the magnet was used, the iron was immediately picked up. The mass for that was 1. 7 grams. The table salt was 1. 2 grams. Benzene acid mass was 0. 8 grams and the sand was 1. 4 grams after being separated. Introduction The objective of this lab was to separate and examine different solutions within a elution. In order to separate each element different methods and techniques were used. Separating the Iron filings wasnt difficult or lengthy; however It did require patience and a steady hand. Separating the benzene acid and the table salt took the longest because it needed to air dry causing the water to evaporate. Methods While the water was boiling with the table salt, sand, and benzene acid, the water got thick. It was difficult to separate the solids because they would get stuck to the bottom of the Styrofoam cup. In order to separate the iron flings a magnet was used. The solution first needed to be spread out on a piece of paper. As the magnet was ran over the solution, the iron filings were picked up. It took several tries to get all of the iron picked up. To separate the sand, the burner and distilled water was used. As it boiled, it had to be stirred to make sure it was completely dissolved. Having done this twice ensures that the salt and the benzene acid are completely removed from the sand. An Ice bed was necessary to observe the benzene acid crystallizing. The Ice deed allowed the burning benzene acid to cool down and change appearance and texture. The sand had to be over low heat to be completely dry. No sand splattered which made it effective for the data. To separate the benzene acid, filtration was used. The mass of the filter paper was 1. 1 grams. The ice bath was used again to chill the distilled water in the cylinder. The table salt and benzene crystals were poured into the funnel filter paper. This had to be left to air dry overnight. To separate the sand, the Styrofoam cup had to also be left aside overnight for It to be completely dry. Results After each solid was separated, they were able to be weighted. The solids weighted were iron filings, sand, table salt, and benzene acid. Data Table: Experiment Data Grams Percent of mixture Iron flings 33. 3% Sand 1. 4 27% Table salt 1. 2 23. 5% Benzene acid 0. 8 15. 7% Total 5. 1 99. 5% Discussion This lab concluded that properties are contributory when it comes to separating solids. Using the magnet to gather all the iron filings was very effective, though it did take several tries. Solubility played a huge part in this lab. Each solid took a different amount of time and a different method to become separated due to solubility. This lab did bring up a few questions. For example, would the mass of the table salt or the benzene acid be different if it was boiled rather than air dried? What would happen if the sand was actually air dried rather than boiled? I wonder if their properties would have changed as well. The disadvantage with my data table is the totals. It does not equal 100, though it is very close. Solubility was definitely key in this lab.