Michelle Morano’s “Grammar Lessons: The Subjunctive Mood” Essay

The essay â€Å"Grammar Lessons: The Subjunctive Mood† by Michele Morano is a work that parallels the Spanish language and life. In the story, Michele reveals a little about herself as a character in the essay. She offers the reader a glimpse into an extravagant daydream into the locales of exotic Spain in which she hopes to one day visit to escape her husband whom had recently tried to kill himself. Throughout her fantastic tale, she encounters many unusual characters and proceeds to compare aspects of the Spanish language such as clauses like, ‘si’ and ‘como si’ (Morano 111), and ‘verbs of doubt and emotion’ (114) to the complexities of life. As I first began reading the essay, I was puzzled that Morano chose to ‘speak’ in the second tense as it is a rare form of writing, especially for a non-persuasive essay. While she was using her own experiences to provide the reader with an imaginary world, she wrote as though she hoped her audience would find themselves in her shoes. I also found it difficult to understand Morano’s style of writing because of her choice to use the future tense. I was able to grasp the concept that this extravagant adventure had not occurred yet, but I found it difficult to insert myself in her whimsical, romantic production. Once I began reading the essay and analyzing it, however, I took a liking to her ‘what-if’ style of writing. It suited the topic matter very well. Morano was able to equate the Spanish language with life beautifully with her writing style and extensive use of imagery. While I enjoyed the style of writing very much, the essay itself left me tentative on weather or not I enjoyed the piece as a whole. I am very familiar with the Spanish language, but I believe Morano could have clarified each educational segment a little further. As amusing as it was to brush up on high school Spanish, I found the presentation of the content in the text itself very confusing. I am uncertain that I would have enjoyed the piece as much had I not taken Spanish in earlier years of schooling. I also found it distracting how Morano would switch from her ‘grammar lessons’ to her fantasy life in Spain so abruptly. Beginning to read the piece, I was unsure of whether or not Morano had actually lived these experiences she was writing about, or if they were a thoughtful delusion of the future. For example, while reading about Morano’s encounter with the swimmer (110), I  found myself being pulled into the reverie of this romance in Spain; and suddenly I would be brought back to this lackluster high school Spanish class. And while Morano did provide the reader with a comparison from the language to the event itself, the change seemed so abrupt that it left me displeased. I also could have gone without the jumping back and forth between Morano’s life with her depressed husband and her musing of a life in Spain. While I do believe that her history with her husband was pivotal to the back story, I found the bouncing between her Spanish daydream and her real life experiences with her husband very distracting. I consider it would have suited the essay better had Morano simply used that as an introduction and left it at that. One feature of the essay that I enjoyed, although, was the fact that Morano took something as lifeless as the Spanish language and seemed to enliven it to the reader. I find it very rare that an author is able to put life into something as cold as grammatical concepts, especially in a different language. Morano, through her experiences in Spain, was able to provide the reader with a looking glass into a world where language isn’t just language and grammar isn’t just grammar but they’re part of being alive. She is able to convey to the reader that while details such as how to express emotion in Spanish would seem tedious any other point, experiences such as sleeping with a stranger in Spain unexpectedly brings out these ‘grammatical elements’ of human nature such as doubt and excitement (115). As a whole, I did enjoy the essay. I found Morano’s use of descriptions and interactions between characters very intriguing. I was able to sympathize with Morano as a character through her internal struggle of leaving the man that she had been with for a long while for a fresh start in Spain. Morano, Michele. â€Å"The Best American Essays.† Grammar Lessons: the Subjunctive Mood. Ed. Lauren Slater. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006. 107-121. Grammar Lessons: The Subjunctive Mood

Concerns about the wars Essay

My Other poem that I have analysed is â€Å"Charge of the Light Brigade† written by Alfred Lord Tennyson about the Crimean war in 1855. In this poem Tennyson has a positive point of view which is the opposite of Owen. Tennyson shows a patriotic view with the words â€Å"Hero†, â€Å"Noble† and â€Å"Glory† to fight for and die for your country; ironically that is the meaning of â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est†. Owen has written â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† in stanzas. The pace of the first stanza is really slow â€Å"Bent double, like old beggars under sacks†. This shows the tiredness of the soldiers, therefore that they are really weak and tired mainly because of the lack of sleep during war. This therefore leads to fatigue, injury and disease. They would have been â€Å"Bent double† because of all the heavy equipment they have to carry during war. It is shocking how he compares the soldiers to â€Å"old† because normally you would expect a soldier to be fighting fit. The words â€Å"Trudged†, â€Å"Limped on† also help emphasise how tired the soldiers would have been. This also shows the effect of the war on the soldiers. The second stanza the pace quickens rapidly with the use of short sentences. â€Å"Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! † This how fast the soldiers react even though they are tired and exhausted but it wouldn’t just be there body’s that are tired there mind’s are as well. The words â€Å"Fumbling† and Flound’ring† help to show the state of panic and urgency of the men are in. â€Å"The charge of the light brigade† is written in a ballad form. The poem is about six hundred men who are on horse back during the Crimean war. He has written the poem in that form to help show and repeat key points. The first few lines say â€Å"half a league, half a league, half a league onwards†. The use of this repetition is to show how far the men have come to fight for there country, All the way through the poem there is a dactylic rhythm to emphasis the horse’s hooves on the ground. Tennyson also says that no one argued the decision to send them to fight he says that â€Å"someone had blundered† but still did not challenge the decision this therefore shows that they have respect for there senior offices and believed that it was their honour and glory to die for there country. When the soldiers were attacked in â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† they fled for their lives where as in â€Å"Charge of the light Brigade† they still rode ahead to fight. The use of repetition † Canon on the right of them, Canon to the left of them, Canon in front of them† shows that the men had no where to go and most of them new that they would not be coming back but still went ahead. Unlike â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† the men where organised and knew exactly what to do and when. This shows courage and bravery. In the poem â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† it focuses on the imagery of war and Owen uses similes to show the unpleasant imagery of war. â€Å"As under a green sea, I saw him drowning† This shows that the amount of gas is drowning the soldier as if he was in the sea. Owen gives us a graphic piece of imagery showing a soldier dying a slow and painful death. â€Å"White eyes writhing in his face†. This shows that he could only see the whites of his eyes which means he was either dead or in extreme pain. The word writhing shows how much pain the soldier is in because Owen could have used the word painful but instead he tries to make the reader understand the amount of pain the soldier is in. â€Å"Charge of the light brigade† focuses on the number of soldiers and also the number that died â€Å"Not the six hundred† This shows that there no longer â€Å"six hundred men† because many of them had died and there are only a few left. Tennyson also mentions The Six Hundred at the end of every stanza to make the reader remember the phrase. Tennyson also uses metaphors to show the horror of war. In both stanzas 1 and 2 he mentions â€Å"The valley of death†, and in stanza 3 he says both â€Å"Jaws of death† and â€Å"Mouth of hell†. By saying the â€Å"The valley of death† it suggest that the soldiers have no chance of surviving. This also makes the soldier look more noble and brave to the reader. Tennyson also states how many soldier died. â€Å"Then they rode back, but not, not the six hundred†. He repeats the word â€Å"not† to show how many of the soldiers died in the battle. Instead of focusing on the dead for to long he moves to how heroic the soldiers were with lines such as â€Å"When can the glory fade? † He uses the rhetorical question to say that they should always be remembered for their bravery. He has personified â€Å"death† and â€Å"hell† to help emphasis their ongoing battle with the devil. To help show how they do not want to give up even though they are fighting a losing battle. The Gas attack makes all the men feel guilty because they cannot save their companion from a slow and painful death. â€Å"As a green sea, I saw him drowning, in all my dreams, before my helpless eyes†. The word â€Å"helpless† help to show how the fellow soldiers couldn’t do anything to help. Owen changes to the past tense to show that his nightmares are just as real as when they actually happened. â€Å"We cursed through sludge†, makes his audience imagine how hard and tiring it is to walk yet alone fight in a war. Owen uses metaphors to help you imagine the horrific sights of war. â€Å"Under a green sea, I saw him drowning. † This makes the reader imagine the â€Å"Green gas† covering the soldier and also making his insides drown. There was no cure for the â€Å"green gas. † Then he describes the gas as, â€Å"obscene as cancer† he makes this comparison because there is also no cure for cancer this shows how bad it must have been because there is nothing worse than cancer. In my opinion Tennyson’s and Owens’s views are different, as Tennyson gives us a distanced account of the battle because he was not personally involved in the Crimean war. Tennyson uses collective terms like â€Å"They†, â€Å"Their† and â€Å"Six hundred† because he would not have known about specific cases like Owen does. However Tennyson does try to focus on the determination of the soldiers â€Å"while horse and hero fell† although their fellow soldiers kept falling they still had the determination to fight. In Tennyson’s eyes they are all â€Å"heroes† because they have died for their country. â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† and â€Å"Charge of the light brigade† differ because Owen actually took part in the war he is writing about where as Tennyson did not fight in the Crimean war. Owen seems have a negative approach to war saying there is no cure for the damage that war creates, â€Å"obscene as cancer†, and also includes sarcasm aimed at Jessie Pope and her poem â€Å"Who’s for a game† which said it was sweet and right to die for your country. Owen mocks this by saying that this is a â€Å"Lie† because he has experienced war first hand and also thinks that lots of innocent people are dying for no apparent reason. The use a capital L in â€Å"lie† is to help emphasises what he thinks of Jessie popes poem. Overall Owen shows a very negative view on the war but on the other hand Tennyson shows a view towards war. Owens negative view is based on him actually being there where as Tennyson’s positive views are based on him not fighting during the war. Owen has specific cases of horrific injuries, death, and sickening sights. Tennyson seems to focus on the group of soldiers collectively and does not have the same first hand accounts that Owen has. The poet that I believe more would have been Owen because of the use of his first hand cases such as the â€Å"Gas attack† and â€Å"Whites of the eyes in his head†. Where as Tennyson on speaks as a collectiveness not as individuals. This piece of coursework has helped to focus on both the bad sides and the good sides of war. It’s not the physical injuries that can harm you it’s also the mental injuries of seeing other people shot in front of your eyes. But it also shows me how brave and noble soldiers are to fight for their country. This has definitely changed my perception of war.

Big Family

Coming from a big family I am used to speaking over someone else in order to be heard, laughing loudly to express my happiness, and sitting at the dinner table eating delicious food cooked my grandmother. Because the majority of my life is spent with my mouth open, sometimes even when I sleep at night, I want to be an orthodontist.I contemplated on the possible careers I would pursue in the future, but could not think of one that would fulfill me as an individual. I thought about what I enjoyed doing the most, or what I often found myself doing-smiling. I love smiling, and love making other people smile, and there is no better way to express your happiness than by showing off your pearly whites. There are many individuals who ashamed of their teeth, refuse to smile or cover their mouth when they do. I want to be able to help them with this problem, especially children because the world always looks brighter behind a smile. In order to be fully prepared to become an orthodontist, and after browsing over the variety of courses offered at Boston University, I was interested in the pre-dentistry program offered at the College of Arts and Science. After viewing pictures and reading about the curriculum, I was convinced that Boston University would indulge me with a variety of knowledge in the liberal arts, and allow me to concentrate in science and pre-dentistry. I want to receive top quality education because one day I want to be able to fulfill my dream of having my own dental clinic and know that BU prepared me for it.

Thelma & Louise and Do The Right Thing Movie Review

Thelma & Louise and Do The Right Thing - Movie Review Example Women never had to worry about the absence of home and Thelma & Louise makes this concrete in the concept that their journey is not about finding a home at the end, but escaping the suffocation of patriarchal domination. This domination that begins at home commences from the opening frames of the film. Thelma is quite literally under the thumb of a domineering husband. Louise's situation is revealed to be that of submission to the prevailing order that places men in control and women as servants; she works as a waitress. The film quickly locates home not as a place to which most women would long to return, like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, but as burden to escape. There is nothing specifically peculiar to the early 1990s in this regard; the film could be made today or could it have been made in the 1930s as a Warner Brothers gangster film. As the sign in the original Scarface promises Tony Camonte: The World is Yours. Thelma & Louise, then, fits more closely into the gangster movie genre than the buddy picture as they too come to believe and pursue that ultimately empty promise. In the buddy movie, the men have it all from the beginning. Even if they have nothing, it is still a man's world so they still have the upper hand. The gangster genre presents a man's world as well, but the dominant theme in that genre that is missing from many buddy movies is the establishment of authority. Thelma & Louise do not embark upon a journey to locate home; the climax proves there is no home in America that is not a return to the status quo. Their overwhelming desire is to, just for a brief period, assign domination to the matriarchy. The drive over the cliff is a validation of their acknowledgement that such domination can only be fleeting in America and it is also an acknowledgement of their refusal to return home to the burden of submission to that male domination. Thelma & Louise is such a disturbing portrait of the realities of American society because the two characters are drawn with such complexity. It might be easier to accept their tragic fate if there mere ster eotypes of women commonly referred to as doormats; if they were women who'd been victims of domestic abuse. The fact that Thelma and Louise are intelligent, engaging, beautiful women only serves to underline the fact that patriarchal dominance is systemic in America. Do the Right Thing is the most incendiary, honest, and unflinching portrait of race relations in American film history. Most importantly, the film avoids the trap of suggesting that racial tensions exist entirely within a vacuum constructed on the concept of prejudice as some kind of genetic predisposition. It may be all too easy for viewers of Do the Right Thing to overlook the fact that from what can be gathered, this multiracial community in New York City for the most part seems to have gotten along quite well for decades. The violence escalates not as a result of mindless racial hatred; the encroaching racism is ignited by the disparity in economic power between the haves and have-nots. The opening credits set the stage for a showdown with the subversive lyrics to the rap song "Fight the Power." The power will wind up being Sal, the businessman, and the police who are charged with the protecting the interest of business rather than the people's

DV - An Integrated Approach Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5750 words

DV - An Integrated Approach - Essay Example Availability and access to information, shelter, medical care, education, and other support services is essential in empowering women to rebuild their lives. In essence an integrated approach represents a cohesive structure that relies on the principle of a public health model focusing on prevention, intervention and cooperation by key partners across all levels. The main objective of the research seeks to investigate and critically analyse the issue of domestic violence. The study would begin by establishing the lessons that can be learnt in relation to the issue of domestic abuse. The researcher would also highlight about the extent, nature and impact of domestic abuse. The writer would develop the argument on the premise that an integrated approach in coping with the problem of domestic abuse represents a consolidated comprehensive framework that relies on the principle of a public health model and this would be done in three stages in particular. The first stage would focus on prevention of domestic abuse against women instead of dealing with the consequences. The core element of prevention is elimination of gender-based attitudes, stereotypes and behaviours. Secondly, the essence of an integrated approach is broad-based which involves programmes and interventions through a wide range of levels and sectors from family to major international organisations. This stage would try to investigate how these various sectors can be integrated in attempting to formulate a lasting solution to the problem of domestic violence. Thirdly, the study would investigate how the key notion underlying an integrated approach that the key partners must closely cooperate within and across the levels could be a viable solution to this problem. In recent years, the contentious topic of domestic violence has come to occupy an increasingly

Present Value Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Present Value - Assignment Example The monthly profits of this business seem not to be any stable. In this case, the profits vary a lot through high ranges, hence show possibility of not remaining stable at any moment. In as much as the yearly profits show steady increase, the monthly profits show staggering values that may make the business not that stable during the year. The gross margin of this project also shows a high monthly decrease. This shows that revenues increase but at a decreasing rate. The cost of sales also increases even as the sales increase. Therefore, the project experiences a reduction in its net profits from 24.19% to 16.38%. There is also a staggering increase in the net cash flow as shown in the graphs. The monthly profits of Shaved Ice Beverage project seem to be fairly stable, hence not so much risky. The yearly profit for this business seem to be stable and increasing each year. The gross margin will increase in the first year, but get back to normal in the third year, showing staggering growth. Operating expenses, however, increases yearly, hence reducing on the profit. The net profit percentage, however, increases at some significant rate, hence the business is not hat risky. A problem only sets in during its net cash flow where the values are very low, and sometimes go to negative. The third project, the Truck stop business, show fairly stable cash flows throughout the year except for the first two months of the year when the net cash flow becomes too high and too low. Income received from operations, however, increases steadily year after year. The monthly profits is also very high and very stable throughout the year. This is one significant reason that shows that this business is free from risks. However, when one looks at its net profits, it is clear that it increases on the second year, but not with a big range, then gets back on the third year. This probably shows indications of

Letter of Motivation in masters of public policy Essay

Letter of Motivation in masters of public policy - Essay Example As a responsible citizen I would like to participate in the process of addressing delicate questions of internet regulations, regarding protection of privacy, security and access of information. The main problem is the misuse of these media for crimes including terrorist activities. Thus, I personally feel that framing suitable public policies has become a matter of top priority in the modern world. My basic interest in this branch of academics stems from my realization of the problem in its right perspective. I further feel that I will be able to contribute to positive outcomes in this regard, if I can combine personal interest with academic knowledge. My keen interest in gaining in depth knowledge on this topic and my yearning to contribute to this field has bred in me the desire to pursue a Masters in Public Policy. I want to explore the possibilities ICT holds for improving information and service delivery. In order to achieve my objectives, a more pluralistic approach for internet governance is required. This will enable me to incorporate in my professional life an understanding of the different industries affecting public policy today. The MPP program, in its broad and contextually imbedded approach, would provide ample opportunities to develop and expand the necessary skill sets to understand technology driven governance. I am eager to develop an understanding of the complexity behind the questions of media globalization and to master the skills to analyse and employ this shift of power in modern democracies. I also expect the course to equip me with the ability to understand these two forces which are indispensable in the c reation of modern public policy. My degree in Global Communications and Business Administration from the American University of Paris, serves as a solid base. I chose this program to establish a broad perspective of cultural,

Solutions to Overpopulation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Solutions to Overpopulation - Essay Example Consequently, this migration poses a shortage of people in remote areas and cause to stress in urban as well. Moreover, advanced medicine means a longer life span that result in the unequal balance between birth and death rate which in its turn gives rise to the lack of basic needs for the whole populace. Furthermore, overpopulation leads to environmental degradation due to pressure on natural resource. However, the issue of overpopulation can be tackled by providing financial incentives to small size families and diminishing poverty rate as well as achieving equal balance between birth and death rate. The first viable solution that could ameliorate the problem of overpopulation is to offer financial bonuses to the low sized families. In population control, money can be utilized as a form motivation to encourage people to a decrease in fertility rate. As Berelson states money is proven to be one of the most powerful motivators.(Cited in Donner, 2010a).Therefore, it is likely that people’s desire towards money will discourage them from having more children and large families. According to Donner (2010) financial incentives in the form of credits for the couples who decided to limit number of children would be an excellent motivation to curb family size. This policy could be implemented by creating a program that provides a credit to the couples by the government when they have their first or even second child but refunding the given credits as long as they exceed this number.

Juvenile Detention Facility Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Juvenile Detention Facility - Essay Example The detainees are predominantly criminal offenders, but children requiring supervision and traffic violators occasionally serve time at James River. As it is with most detention centers, the focus at James River is on providing detainees with the programs and services to ease the transition back in to their communities and to foster a crime free future. In order to ensure the best possible results, there is close supervision from all three counties and they have implemented educational, religious and recreational programs as well as psychological screening. The cornerstone of the rehabilitation effort at the James River Detention Center is the educational program. The program is composed of individual and group learning classes, personally tailored to address the individual needs of the detainee. Individual Education Programs (IEP), are used to simulate the curriculum of the respective detainee's home school. This is important because an efficient transition back into the school system aids in the overall rehabilitation process. While it is difficult to properly gauge the effectiveness of this center's success, they certainly appear to have the right idea with regards to their educational programs. Conversely, it seems that James River Regional Juvenile Detention Center has some proverbial "red flags." For instance, three counties currently have administrative voices in the operations, which presents a potential problem. As previ

Cost Acccounting Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cost Acccounting - Case Study Example The resulting amount is then deducted by the work in process beginning to come up with cost of goods manufactured. The cost of goods manufactured is then added to the finished goods beginning to come up with goods available for sale. The goods available for sale is deducted by the amount equal to finished goods ending inventory to arrive at COST OF GOODS SOLD. The cost of production report is a major tool for decision making. The cost accounting system shows us the true picture of the Elan company. Based on Table 1 in the Appendix, for the year ended December 31, 1999, When the cost of goods sold amount of $137,935 is divided by the total revenue for the same year of $676,734, the cost of goods ratio of 20.38 percent. When the cost of goods sold for the year ended December 31, 1997 amounting to $106,182 is divided by the total revenue amount for the same year of $384,181, cost of goods ratio is 27.64 percent. To be more conservative, we can divide the cost of goods sold for the year 1998 of $137,935 by only the product sale of $342,078, the cost of gold ratio increase to 40.32 percent. As for the year 1997, when we divide the cost of goods sold amount of $ 106,182 by the total product sales of $215,486 then the cost of goods sold for the year will increase to 49.28%. The table shows that the product selling price is higher than cost of goods sold. The... The direct materials are the ingredients that used in making the drugs and other products. The second production cost is the direct labor. The direct labor is the total amount paid for factory workers who are directly making those products. The third kind of production cost is the Factory overhead. All factory cost that cannot be identified as direct materials and direct labor are lumped under the account title factory overhead costs. Examples of factory overhead are indirect materials, indirect labor or janitor, electricity cost and telephone expenses. The production cost is an actual amount and not estimated. Factory overhead costs can be divided into two kinds. The first kind is fixed cost. This means that the amount will generally be the same for the current accounting period irregardless of the increase or decrease in the number of products that are being processed. An example of fixed cost is factory supervisor salary and the factory rent expense. The second kind of production cost is the variable cost. The variable cost is named so because the cost or expense amount will increase if production of goods will increase and the amount of such cost or expense decreases when the production of goods will decrease. Examples of variable production cost are direct materials and direct labor. The production cost is an actual amount and not estimated. (B)Assess the extent to which the system provides useful information for pricing,decision making, planning, control and performance measurement.(80 marks)The cost accounting system presented in section (A) above EXTENSIVELY will provide all the minimum requirements that the pricing and decision makers in the Elan company will need for their decision making functions. The

Understanding Leadership Essay Example for Free

Understanding Leadership Essay

Law for Standard Form Contracts in Businesses

Law for Standard Form Contracts in Businesses 1a. Explain the different types of business agreement and the importance of the key elements required for the formation of a valid contract A contract is defined as an agreement which legally binds the parties (BPP Professional Education, 2004). However there are many types of contract between two businesses such as unilateral, bilateral, specialty, simple and standard form contract (Doti Chee, 2009). Firstly unilateral contract is a legal agreement in which only one of the two parties makes legally enforceable promises. In this contract between two companies at a certain time only one party will do their duties only when a particular situation come out the other party will do their duty (BPP Professional Education, 2004). Furthermore the rule of unilateral contract is that it holds that offers can be revoked at any time prior to completion of the requested performance. The promise is enforceable only upon completion of the requested performance (Doti Chee, 2009). One of the most famous case studies in unilateral contract is Carlill v. Carbolic Smoke Ball Co. 1892 (Referred to Appendix A) (Lawnix, accessed 2009). In this case there is a unilateral contract which was stated by Smoke Ball Co. The contract is if any person who used Ds smoke ball three times per day as directed and contracted influenza, colds, or any other disease they will receive 100 pounds by Smoke Ball Co. However for Carlill, she purchased a ball and used it as directed and Carlill contracted influenza, it shows that she accepted the offer by performing the conditions. So the contract between both parties was valid. Furthermore it is a unilateral contract so that the rule of unilateral is applied in which when Carllil contracted influenza which means she performed the conditions of the contract and met all requirements o the contract. So after that it Smoke Ball Co.s turn to perform their actions which is give Carllil 100 pounds. As for the rule the promise is enforceable onl y upon completion of requested performance. The performance of Carllil is the requested performance so at that time the company is bounded by the contract and they had to pay Carllil the money. The case if Carllil vs Smoke ball Co. can alsobe considered as executed consideration. It is a performed or executed act in return for a promise (BPP Professional Education, 2004). The second type is bilateral contract, it is the contract in which both parties take responsible at the same time and both of them take promises (BPP Professional Education, 2004). It arises where let say company A promises to sell a computer to company B in return B promises to pay the purchasing price. It means that both parties will take their actions at the same time and as the rule of bilateral contract both of them are bounded by it. It means that company A will have to deliver the right product which is computer to company B at the given time and in return company B has to pay the purchase price for company A. This contract is usually seen in trading and commercial transaction. It would be breach of contract if either withdrew without the consent of the other. It also considered as executory consideration which is a promise given for a promise not a performed act (BPP Professional Education, 2004). On the other hand, specialty contract is express contract made under seal. They are not merely written but delivered over by the party bound. The specialty contract is usually in buying bonds, deeds, etc. The solemnity and deliberation with which a deed or a bond is presumed to be entered to, attack to it an important and character which do not belong to a simple contract. In the case of specialty, its rule is no consideration is necessary to give it validity, even in the court of equity (BPP Professional Education, 2004). The forth type of business contract is simple contract. Simple contract is any binding contract other than a contract under seal. It can be both express and implied or partly written or partly oral. It consists of a promise to do or refrain from doing something, in exchange for doing something given or promise in return. The parties must intent the agreement to be binding on each other. Furthermore the rule of simple contract requires that there be some good cause, consideration or motive, before they can be enforced in the courts (BPP Professional Education, 2004). The last type is standard form contract. It is a pre-prepared contract where all the terms have already set. In standard form contract each of the party will have different duties such as a recipient, they have little or no prior negotiation. On the other hand the provider of the contract has their own standard terms and conditions. The standard form contract can usually be found in a contract between employees and the company (BPP Professional Education, 2004). On the other hand in contrast to specialty contract, the rule of simple contract stated that as a general rule, the common law treats standard form contracts any other contract. It must contain the essential elements of a contract (Doti Chee, 2009). However in every contract there are seven keys elements which a contract must contain in order to be valid and enforceable by the law which are agreement, consideration, intention to create legal relations, legal capacity to contract, form of a contract, consent and legality of object (BPP Professional Education, 2004). Firstly the agreement which is determined by the rules of offer and acceptance. It must contain the offer which is a defined promise to be bound on specific term and acceptance which is unqualified agreement to the terms of the offer (BPP Professional Education, 2004). As shown in the figure below is the formation of a simple contract. However in offer there are three elements which are certainty of offer, invitation to treat and termination of offer. The certainty of offer is a definite offer maybe to a class of persons or to the world at large. While on the other hand, the key way that an offer is terminated is by being accepted or creating agreement. So that an offer is terminated and it may no longer be accepted in some case such as rejection, lapse of time, revocation by the offeror, failure of a condition to which the offer was subject and death of one of the parties (BPP Professional Education, 2004). Lastly the invitation to treat is an indication that someone is prepared to receive offers with the view to forming a binding contract. It is not an offer in itself. There are our types of invitation to treat which are auction sales, advertisements, exhibition of goods for sale and an invitation for renders (BPP Professional Education, 2004). The second element in agreement is acceptance, it can be by express words or by action and it may also be inferred from conduct too. There are three important elements of acceptance which are term of acceptance, counter offer and communication of acceptance (BPP Professional Education, 2004). Firstly the counter offer is the acceptance which purports to introduce a new term. If a counter offer is made, the original offeror may accept it but if he rejects it his original offer is no longer available for acceptance (BPP Professional Education, 2004). On the other hand the acceptance must be communicated. The general rule is that acceptance must be communicated to the offeror and is not effective until this has been done. Furthermore The acceptance must be communicated by the offeree or someone authorized by the offeree. If someone accepts on behalf of the offeree, without authorization, this will not be a valid acceptance (Doti Chee, 2009). The offeror may waive the need for communicat ion of acceptance by marking an offer to the entire world. Moreover he may indicate that he expects acceptance through the post. There are also three exceptions to the communication rule which are terms of offer, conduct of the offeror and postal rule (BPP Professional Education, 2004). Furthermore as the term of the order, it can state or imply that acceptance need not to be communicated to the offeror. One of the case examples for agreement is the case between Ramsgate Victoria Hotel Co vs Montefiore 1866 (referred to Appendix A) (BPP Professional Education, 2004). In this case the defendant applied to the company for shares and paid a deposit to the companys bank, it means that the defendant give an offer to the company. However after that the company sent him an acceptance by issue of a letter of allotment it means that it is the acceptance for his offer. However the acceptance was sent only when the offer was lapsed so that it is not accepted. The second element is the consideration. The agreement or the obligations assumed by each party must be supported consideration from the other party. The principle is that the parties to a contract must each provide something, whether money, the provision of a service or some other form of contribution to the contract. However it has also been described as the price of the other persons promise (BPP Professional Education, 2004). However for the consideration to be valid, it must contain three elements the executed, executory and cannot be past consideration. Firstly the executed consideration is a performed or executed act in return for a promise (BPP Professional Education, 2004). For example A offers a reward for the return of lost property, his promise becomes binding when B performs the act of returning As property to him. While in contrast, the executory consideration is a promise given for a promise, not a performed act (BPP Professional Education, 2004). For example if a cust omer orders goods which a shopkeeper undertakes to obtain from the manufacturer, the shopkeeper promises to supply the goods and the customer promises to accept and pay for them. Thirdly the consideration cannot be past. Anything which has already been done before a promise in return is given is past consideration which, as a general rule, is not sufficient to make the promise binding and the rule is that past consideration is no consideration (BPP Professional Education, 2004). One of the cases about past consideration is Re McArdle (referred to Appendix A) (BPP Professional Education, 2004). In this case one of the mothers son and his wife lived together in the house, the wife made improvement to the house and the children agree to repay the sum of  £488 in consideration o your carrying out certain alterations and improvements to the property. At the mothers death they refused to do so. In this situation the time of the promise between the children and the wife the improvements were considered as past consideration. According to the rule of past consideration, past consideration is no consideration so they were not bounded by it. The law says that consideration need not to be adequate but it must be sufficient. This means that the consideration need not be of equal value to the parties to the contract but it must be of some value to the parties involved. This does not have to be financial or monetary value, although obviously in many contracts it often is (BPP Professional Education, 2004). The term sufficiency of consideration means that the consideration must be something more than the party involved was already intended to do. It must be deemed actually to be consideration. While adequacy is the ability to reasonably or legally satisfy the requirement (Business Dictionary, accessed 2009). The case Chappell Co vs Nestle Co Ltd (referred to Appendix A) is a famous case study for adequacy (BPP Professional Education, 2004). The case arose when Nestle made a special offer, whereby if people collected three wrappers from Nestle bars of chocolate and sent them with small money they could get a copy of a record Rockin Shoes The copyright to the records was owned by Chapple, who claimed that there had been breaches of their copyright. The case turned round whether the three wrappers were part of the consideration. However in this case the defendants had required that wrappers were sent in as part of the special offer, for obvious commercial reasons. It was help that the wrappers were part of the consideration as they had commercial value in the eyes of Nestle, one of the parties to the contract. There is also a case of Collins vs Godefroy (1831) (referred to Apeendix A) for the sufficient of consideration (BPP Professional Education, 2004). In this case there was no consider ation for the promise, as the claimant was obliged to appear by law. Because of the performance o an existing obligation imposed by statue is no consideration for a promise of reward. The last part of consideration is the privity of contract. If you do not provide consideration, you cannot sue on the contract. This is a critical rule in contract law and reflects the fact that consideration is essential. This maxim means that only the person who has paid the price of the contract can sue on it. Privity of contract is defined as the relation between the two parties to a contract and third parties who are no privy to the contract generally have no right of action (BPP Professional Education, 2004). There is a case of Tweddle vs Atkinson 1862 (referred to Appendix A) for the privity of contract. The next element is intention to create legal relation. An agreement is not a binding contract unless the parties intend to create legal relations and have the capacity or ability to do so. It can also be defined as the willingness to be bound by the terms of the contract. Furthermore anyone entering the contract has to have the capacity to do so; otherwise it can be argued that they are not acting in full understanding of what they are doing. Where there is no express statement as to whether or not legal relations are intended the courts apply one of two presumptions: social, domestic and family arrangements are not usually intended by the parties involved to be binding, commercial agreements are usually intended to be legally binding (BPP Professional Education, 2004). One of the case examples for intention to create legal relation is the case Balfour vs Balfour 1919 (referred to Appendix A). The case is that a husband promised to pay his wife  £30 a month to return to Ceylon wit h him but later the marriage ended in divorce and the wife sued the husband for the monthly allowance which he no longer paid. In this case, because of the informal agreement of indefinite duration made between husband and wife was not intended to be legally binding so that the wife cannot sue the husband for the money. There is also very important element for the contract which is the legal capacity to contract. Capacity refers to the fact that the law regards some groups as being unable to enter into binding contractual arrangements, because they might not be in a position to fully understand the agreement they have entered into. The groups include minor, mental disorders and drunkenness (BPP Professional Education, 2004). From January 1, 1970, the Family Law Reform Act 1969 reduced the age of majority to 18 and authorized the term minor as an alternative to infant. Minor is now the preferred term. The capacity of a minor to contract is still regulated by the common law, modified by the Minors Contracts Act 1987 which repealed a troublesome statute, the Infants Relief Act 1874 (Doti Chee, 2009). There is a case of Nash vs Inman 1908 (referred to Appendix A). In this case a Saville Row tailor sued an infant Cambridge student for the price of clothes (including 11 fancy waistcoats) he had supplied. The tailor failed in his action because the student was already adequately supplied with clothes because the clothes were not necessaries so that the minor was not binding by the contract. The next key element of the contract is the form of contract. The contract can be made in writing or oral or implied by conduct. The general rule is that a contract may be in any form (written or oral) but a minority of contracts have to be made in a particular form. Firstly implied terms are those terms which, although not expressly stated by the parties by words or conduct, are by law deemed to be part of the contract. Moreover the terms can be implied into contracts by custom, by courts or by statute (Doti Chee, 2009). On the other hand, writing make it easier to prove the contents o the contract but it is not usually necessary unless related to one of the following: contracts by deed, in writing, evidenced in writing or contracts made through the internet and by e-mail. Those are the formalities of the contract (BPP Professional Education, 2004). Contracts which must be by deed include leases for three years or more, a conveyance or transfer o a legal estate in land and a promise not supported by consideration. On the other hand the contracts which must be in writing include a transfer of shares in a limited company, the sale or disposition of an interest in land, bills of exchange and cheques, consumer credit contracts. Furthermore some contracts may be made orally but are not enforceable in a court unless there is written evidence of their terms. The most important contract of this type is the contract of guarantee. A signed note of the material terms of the contract is sufficient (BPP Professional Education, 2004). There is a case of Clyde Mason vs. Charley Tatum (referred to Appendix A) in the form of contract. In this case Clyde Mason as a minor went into a contract of buying land with Charley Tatum and the contract is made in writing after some days before the delivery the price of the land was doubled and the adult refused to do his performance o the contract. The minor sued for that. This case study is an example of the form of contracts which must be by deed. So in decision because the contract is binding for the adult so Tatum had to do his duties as in the contract with the minor. The consent is also one of the key elements of the contract. The validity of a contract may be affected if a person has been misled into a contract or if the parties have come to agreement but are actually at cross-purposes, for example one of them is mistaken as to the precise nature of the contract (BPP Professional Education, 2004). In consent there are four violating factors which are mistakes, misrepresentations, duress and undue influence. An intentional act done out of mistake may occasionally be defensible if it was reasonable. On the other hand a misrepresentation is a false statement of fact made by one party to another, which, whilst not being a term of the contract, induces the other party to enter the contract. The effect of an actionable misrepresentation is to make the contract voidable; giving the innocent party the right to rescind the contract and/or claim damages (Law Teacher, accessed 2009). Duress is a possible legal defense, one of four of the most important jus tification defenses, by which defendants argue that they should not be held liable because the actions that broke the law were only performed out of an immediate fear of injury. In order for duress to qualify as a defense, four requirements must be met: threat must be of serious bodily harm or death, harm threatened must be greater than the harm caused by the crime, threat must be immediate and inescapable and the defendant must have become involved in the situation through no fault of his or her own (Law Teacher, accessed 2009). While undue influence is a judicially created defense to transactions that have been imposed upon weak and vulnerable persons that allows the transactions to be set aside. In order to establish the undue influence four elements must be shown. A judicially created defense to transactions that have been imposed upon weak and vulnerable persons that allows the transactions to be set aside. Second, there must be an opportunity for exercising undue influence. Th ird, there must be evidence that the defendant was inclined to exercise undue influence over the victim. Fourth, the record must reveal an unnatural or suspicious transaction (Legal explanations, accessed 2009). As example of the consent the case of ICI v Shatwell 1965 (referred to Appendix A) is the most common one. Because of the electric cable was too short so that two experienced shot firers decided to go against the law they carried out the test without taking cover before doing so and there was a premature explosion and both were injured. They sued the employer. In this case they had consented to the risk. The employer was not liable since it had not been negligent nor had it committed or permitted a breach of statutory duty over safety procedures. The injured men were trained for their work and properly left to carry out safety procedures of which they were well aware. So they cannot sue the employer for that. The last key element of contract is the legality of object. Legality is an agreement to be an enforceable contract must contemplate the attainment of an object not expressly forbidden by law nor contrary to public policy. For example: An agreement for the sale of realty to be used expressly for the sale of alcoholic beverages is unenforceable as its object is contrary to law. So also an agreement by which A, a confirmed woman hater, promises B a house for Bs promise never to marry, is against public policy, as discouraging marriage, and therefore unenforceable (Chest of book, accessed 2009). The courts will not enforce a contract which is deemed to be illegal or contrary to public policy. 1b. Analyze the scenario from the perspective of the law of contract. Apply the rules of offer and acceptance in a given scenario, also considering any impact of new technology Firstly as for review of the online transaction, we will go to look at the formation of contract. Contract is agreement between two or more parties which is enforceable at law (Doti Chee, 2009). However in order to be valid and enforceable by the law, the requirements for formation of contract are agreement and consideration. There is sometimes said to be a third element, namely, intention to create legal relations. But this third element is rarely a problem and it is true to say that, if it is a separate element, it goes without saying in the vast majority of cases (ANU College of law, accessed 2009). A valuable consideration in the sense of the law may consist either in some right, interest, profit or benefit accruing to one party, or some forbearance, detriment, loss or responsibility given, suffered or undertaken by the other (BPP Professional Education, 2004). On the other hand agreement is the meeting of minds between two more legally competent parties, about their relative dut ies rights regarding current or future performance (Business Dictionary, accessed 2009). Furthermore to determine whether or not an agreement has been reached, the courts will consider whether or not party has made a firm offer which the other party has accepted. Offer and acceptance are the key elements of agreement. The agreements must contain the offer which is a defined promise to be bound on specific term and acceptance which is unqualified agreement to the terms of the offer (BPP Professional Education, 2004). However for this case of online transaction, the principles governing the formation of written and oral contract can also be apply to contracts concluded through the internet. The contracts which are made through the internet also need an offer and acceptance to be valid. Moreover according to the electronic transaction act 1999 and confirmed by s.11 of the Electronic Transaction Act. Cap 88, the website containing the details and the prices of the goods is an invitation to treat (ComLaw, accessed 2009). Invitation to treat is an indication that someone is prepared to receive offers with the view to forming a binding contract (BPP Professional Education, 2004). There are four types of invitation to treat which are auction sales, advertisements, exhibition of goods for sale and an invitation for tenders. As mentioned above the website containing the details and the prices of the goods is an invitation to treat so that it must follow the rule of invitation to treat. Its rule is that invitation to treat is not offer. It is an invitation to do business with another party and it is not an offer but an invitation to others to make offers. One of the common case examples for invitation to treat is the case of Patridge vs Crittenden 1968 (referred to Appendix B). Mr Patridge placed an advertisement in Cage and Aviary Birds magazine containing the words Bramblefinch cocks, bramblefinch hens, 25s each. The RSOCA brought a prosecution for offering for a sale of protected species in contravention of the protection of Birds Act 1953. The justices convicted Patridge and he was sued. The advertisement of Mr Patridge was considered as an invitation to treat so according to the rule of invitation to treat it is not an offer. The prosecution could not rely on the offence of the offering for sale, as the advertisement constituted an invitation to treat. He was therefore not making an offer. In this case there are two contracts were formed between Tuans company and Sally, a university student with Tech Ltd. Tech Ltd is Singapore listed company selling computers and other IT products in Ha Noi and they had recently established its own website to offer for sale various products over the internet. Firstly for the existing contract between Tuans company and Tech Ltd it is a valid contract. The rules of offer are that it must be communicated, may be made to world, may be revoked at any time and distinguished from binding options and from invitation to treat. On the other hand the rules of acceptance are it must relate to offer, mental acceptance is insufficient but may be inferred, must be unqualified, method must conform with other, if offer silent as to method that chosen to be appropriate, if it is mailed effective from time of posting and communicate may be dispensed with (Doti Chee, 2009). According to the rules of offer and acceptance in the contract between Tuans company and Tech Ltd there was an offer and acceptance. The online transaction as mentioned above is considered as invitation to treat. However the system in Tech Ltd works in the following manner: every time an order was placed by a buyer after filling up the requisite form, which included the furnishing of a va lid credit card account, it would be followed by an automated reply from Tech Ltd that the transaction was successful. It means that by filling the form with valid information Tuan had already made an offer to Tech Ltd and then automatically they will send a reply to confirm that the transaction was successful and it is considered as an acceptance from Tech Ltd to Tuans offer. There is also legal intention between two parties so that the contract between Tuan and Tech Ltd is a valid contract. In this case if Tech Ltd did not deliver the 4,000 sets of computers it means that they breach the contract. Because the contract is a valid contract so that both parties are binding by the contract, they must do their duties as in the contract stated. If Tech Ltd breached the contract Mr. Tuan can sue them for that if they did not have any reasonable reasons. However in this case Tech Ltd can proof that Tuan violated the contract by capitalizing on Techs mistake. Because of an error committed by an employee of Tech Ltd, the price of the printer was altered to $388 on the website, which normally retailed at $3,800. Tech Ltd can proof that Tuan based on that mistake to make contract with Tech Ltd. Because Tuan is the owner of a shop that sold IT peripherals, including a few sets of the said laser printer. So that he came to know about the real price of the printer and the extraordinarily low price offered by Tech Ltd. Furthermore according to the rule of unilateral mistake which is wh ere one party is mistaken as to the terms of the contract and the other knows this, the contract will be void regardless of whether the terms is fundamental (Doti Chee, 2009), the contract between Tech Ltd and Tuans company is a void contract because Tuan knew about the mistake of Tech Ltd. There is a similar case of unilateral mistake which is the case of Hartlog v Colin and Shields 1939 (referred to Appendix B). In this case by mistake the defendants offered at the same price per pound instead of per piece, which obviously worked out much cheaper. After that they realized their mistake, the sellers refused to deliver the skins and were sued by the buyers for breach of contract. However in this case because the buyers were aware of the sellers mistake so that there was no contract as same in the case of Tech Ltd and Tuans company. In conclusion because there is a unilateral mistake of Tech Ltd and Tuan knew about his so that in application o unilateral mistake rule the contract is void contract and Tuan cannot sue Tech Ltd for breach of contract. However in this case if Tuans company agreed to sell those ordered printer to the third party, they cannot maintain their rights against Tech even though they may be a bona fide purchaser. Because there is no contract between Tech Ltd and Tuans company so the goods are not belonging to Tuans company and they cannot sell it. Tech Ltd had the rights to take back their goods and the third party did not have the rights against Tech Ltd. The second contract in this case is the contract between Tech Ltd and Sally, a university student, because the transaction was taking in the same manner with the case of Tuans company which is through the website o Tech Ltd. Sally placed one set of the laser printer through the same system which means she offered to buy a printer through Tech Ltds website and then they automatically sent a reply to confirm the transaction was successful. It means that they were accepting the offer from Sally to sell one set of printer with the given price on the website. The contract had both offer and acceptance so that there was a valid contract between Tech Ltd and Sally. However because of the mistake committed by an employee of Tech Ltd the price of the printer was altered to $388 which is extraordinarily low price. Sally saw Tech Ltds website and thought that the price of $388 was very reasonable and she is a university student so she cannot know the real price of the printer and she did not know that there was a mistake from the employee. According to the rule of common mistake which is if one party makes a mistake and the other party is unaware of the mistake, the contract is binding, so that the contract between Tech Ltd and Sally is a valid contract. In this case Sally as a student so she cannot know the real price and the mistake of Tech Ltd. Furthermore because of that reason Tech Ltd cannot proof that Sally actually knew the contract is under a mistake. Moreover there also a similar case of common mistake which is Centrovincial Estates plc vs Merchant Investors Assurance Co Ltd (1983) (referred to Appendix B). In this case a landlord offered, by mistake, to renew his tenants lease at a rent of  £65,000 a year; he had meant to offer it at  £126,000. The tenant, unaware of the mistake, accepted the offer. It means that the tenant did not know about the mistake so that the contract was binding to both parties. In conclusion the contract was binding with Tech Ltd and if they did not deliver the printer to Sally, she can sue them for that. Lastly for Tech Ltd to prevent similar situation in the future they should build a structure or system based on the counter offer. As has been said acceptance must be unqualified agreement to the terms of offer. Acceptance which purports to introduce any new terms is a counter offer. If counter offer is made, the original offeror may accept it but he rejects it his original offer is no longer available for acceptance (BPP Professional Education, 2004). For example it is the case of Butler Machin Tool Co vs Ex-cell-O Corp 1979 (referred to Appendix B). In this case the claimant offered to sell tools to the defendant. However the defendant accepted the offer enclosing their own standard terms which differed from those of the claimant. The claimant ackno Law for Standard Form Contracts in Businesses Law for Standard Form Contracts in Businesses 1a. Explain the different types of business agreement and the importance of the key elements required for the formation of a valid contract A contract is defined as an agreement which legally binds the parties (BPP Professional Education, 2004). However there are many types of contract between two businesses such as unilateral, bilateral, specialty, simple and standard form contract (Doti Chee, 2009). Firstly unilateral contract is a legal agreement in which only one of the two parties makes legally enforceable promises. In this contract between two companies at a certain time only one party will do their duties only when a particular situation come out the other party will do their duty (BPP Professional Education, 2004). Furthermore the rule of unilateral contract is that it holds that offers can be revoked at any time prior to completion of the requested performance. The promise is enforceable only upon completion of the requested performance (Doti Chee, 2009). One of the most famous case studies in unilateral contract is Carlill v. Carbolic Smoke Ball Co. 1892 (Referred to Appendix A) (Lawnix, accessed 2009). In this case there is a unilateral contract which was stated by Smoke Ball Co. The contract is if any person who used Ds smoke ball three times per day as directed and contracted influenza, colds, or any other disease they will receive 100 pounds by Smoke Ball Co. However for Carlill, she purchased a ball and used it as directed and Carlill contracted influenza, it shows that she accepted the offer by performing the conditions. So the contract between both parties was valid. Furthermore it is a unilateral contract so that the rule of unilateral is applied in which when Carllil contracted influenza which means she performed the conditions of the contract and met all requirements o the contract. So after that it Smoke Ball Co.s turn to perform their actions which is give Carllil 100 pounds. As for the rule the promise is enforceable onl y upon completion of requested performance. The performance of Carllil is the requested performance so at that time the company is bounded by the contract and they had to pay Carllil the money. The case if Carllil vs Smoke ball Co. can alsobe considered as executed consideration. It is a performed or executed act in return for a promise (BPP Professional Education, 2004). The second type is bilateral contract, it is the contract in which both parties take responsible at the same time and both of them take promises (BPP Professional Education, 2004). It arises where let say company A promises to sell a computer to company B in return B promises to pay the purchasing price. It means that both parties will take their actions at the same time and as the rule of bilateral contract both of them are bounded by it. It means that company A will have to deliver the right product which is computer to company B at the given time and in return company B has to pay the purchase price for company A. This contract is usually seen in trading and commercial transaction. It would be breach of contract if either withdrew without the consent of the other. It also considered as executory consideration which is a promise given for a promise not a performed act (BPP Professional Education, 2004). On the other hand, specialty contract is express contract made under seal. They are not merely written but delivered over by the party bound. The specialty contract is usually in buying bonds, deeds, etc. The solemnity and deliberation with which a deed or a bond is presumed to be entered to, attack to it an important and character which do not belong to a simple contract. In the case of specialty, its rule is no consideration is necessary to give it validity, even in the court of equity (BPP Professional Education, 2004). The forth type of business contract is simple contract. Simple contract is any binding contract other than a contract under seal. It can be both express and implied or partly written or partly oral. It consists of a promise to do or refrain from doing something, in exchange for doing something given or promise in return. The parties must intent the agreement to be binding on each other. Furthermore the rule of simple contract requires that there be some good cause, consideration or motive, before they can be enforced in the courts (BPP Professional Education, 2004). The last type is standard form contract. It is a pre-prepared contract where all the terms have already set. In standard form contract each of the party will have different duties such as a recipient, they have little or no prior negotiation. On the other hand the provider of the contract has their own standard terms and conditions. The standard form contract can usually be found in a contract between employees and the company (BPP Professional Education, 2004). On the other hand in contrast to specialty contract, the rule of simple contract stated that as a general rule, the common law treats standard form contracts any other contract. It must contain the essential elements of a contract (Doti Chee, 2009). However in every contract there are seven keys elements which a contract must contain in order to be valid and enforceable by the law which are agreement, consideration, intention to create legal relations, legal capacity to contract, form of a contract, consent and legality of object (BPP Professional Education, 2004). Firstly the agreement which is determined by the rules of offer and acceptance. It must contain the offer which is a defined promise to be bound on specific term and acceptance which is unqualified agreement to the terms of the offer (BPP Professional Education, 2004). As shown in the figure below is the formation of a simple contract. However in offer there are three elements which are certainty of offer, invitation to treat and termination of offer. The certainty of offer is a definite offer maybe to a class of persons or to the world at large. While on the other hand, the key way that an offer is terminated is by being accepted or creating agreement. So that an offer is terminated and it may no longer be accepted in some case such as rejection, lapse of time, revocation by the offeror, failure of a condition to which the offer was subject and death of one of the parties (BPP Professional Education, 2004). Lastly the invitation to treat is an indication that someone is prepared to receive offers with the view to forming a binding contract. It is not an offer in itself. There are our types of invitation to treat which are auction sales, advertisements, exhibition of goods for sale and an invitation for renders (BPP Professional Education, 2004). The second element in agreement is acceptance, it can be by express words or by action and it may also be inferred from conduct too. There are three important elements of acceptance which are term of acceptance, counter offer and communication of acceptance (BPP Professional Education, 2004). Firstly the counter offer is the acceptance which purports to introduce a new term. If a counter offer is made, the original offeror may accept it but if he rejects it his original offer is no longer available for acceptance (BPP Professional Education, 2004). On the other hand the acceptance must be communicated. The general rule is that acceptance must be communicated to the offeror and is not effective until this has been done. Furthermore The acceptance must be communicated by the offeree or someone authorized by the offeree. If someone accepts on behalf of the offeree, without authorization, this will not be a valid acceptance (Doti Chee, 2009). The offeror may waive the need for communicat ion of acceptance by marking an offer to the entire world. Moreover he may indicate that he expects acceptance through the post. There are also three exceptions to the communication rule which are terms of offer, conduct of the offeror and postal rule (BPP Professional Education, 2004). Furthermore as the term of the order, it can state or imply that acceptance need not to be communicated to the offeror. One of the case examples for agreement is the case between Ramsgate Victoria Hotel Co vs Montefiore 1866 (referred to Appendix A) (BPP Professional Education, 2004). In this case the defendant applied to the company for shares and paid a deposit to the companys bank, it means that the defendant give an offer to the company. However after that the company sent him an acceptance by issue of a letter of allotment it means that it is the acceptance for his offer. However the acceptance was sent only when the offer was lapsed so that it is not accepted. The second element is the consideration. The agreement or the obligations assumed by each party must be supported consideration from the other party. The principle is that the parties to a contract must each provide something, whether money, the provision of a service or some other form of contribution to the contract. However it has also been described as the price of the other persons promise (BPP Professional Education, 2004). However for the consideration to be valid, it must contain three elements the executed, executory and cannot be past consideration. Firstly the executed consideration is a performed or executed act in return for a promise (BPP Professional Education, 2004). For example A offers a reward for the return of lost property, his promise becomes binding when B performs the act of returning As property to him. While in contrast, the executory consideration is a promise given for a promise, not a performed act (BPP Professional Education, 2004). For example if a cust omer orders goods which a shopkeeper undertakes to obtain from the manufacturer, the shopkeeper promises to supply the goods and the customer promises to accept and pay for them. Thirdly the consideration cannot be past. Anything which has already been done before a promise in return is given is past consideration which, as a general rule, is not sufficient to make the promise binding and the rule is that past consideration is no consideration (BPP Professional Education, 2004). One of the cases about past consideration is Re McArdle (referred to Appendix A) (BPP Professional Education, 2004). In this case one of the mothers son and his wife lived together in the house, the wife made improvement to the house and the children agree to repay the sum of  £488 in consideration o your carrying out certain alterations and improvements to the property. At the mothers death they refused to do so. In this situation the time of the promise between the children and the wife the improvements were considered as past consideration. According to the rule of past consideration, past consideration is no consideration so they were not bounded by it. The law says that consideration need not to be adequate but it must be sufficient. This means that the consideration need not be of equal value to the parties to the contract but it must be of some value to the parties involved. This does not have to be financial or monetary value, although obviously in many contracts it often is (BPP Professional Education, 2004). The term sufficiency of consideration means that the consideration must be something more than the party involved was already intended to do. It must be deemed actually to be consideration. While adequacy is the ability to reasonably or legally satisfy the requirement (Business Dictionary, accessed 2009). The case Chappell Co vs Nestle Co Ltd (referred to Appendix A) is a famous case study for adequacy (BPP Professional Education, 2004). The case arose when Nestle made a special offer, whereby if people collected three wrappers from Nestle bars of chocolate and sent them with small money they could get a copy of a record Rockin Shoes The copyright to the records was owned by Chapple, who claimed that there had been breaches of their copyright. The case turned round whether the three wrappers were part of the consideration. However in this case the defendants had required that wrappers were sent in as part of the special offer, for obvious commercial reasons. It was help that the wrappers were part of the consideration as they had commercial value in the eyes of Nestle, one of the parties to the contract. There is also a case of Collins vs Godefroy (1831) (referred to Apeendix A) for the sufficient of consideration (BPP Professional Education, 2004). In this case there was no consider ation for the promise, as the claimant was obliged to appear by law. Because of the performance o an existing obligation imposed by statue is no consideration for a promise of reward. The last part of consideration is the privity of contract. If you do not provide consideration, you cannot sue on the contract. This is a critical rule in contract law and reflects the fact that consideration is essential. This maxim means that only the person who has paid the price of the contract can sue on it. Privity of contract is defined as the relation between the two parties to a contract and third parties who are no privy to the contract generally have no right of action (BPP Professional Education, 2004). There is a case of Tweddle vs Atkinson 1862 (referred to Appendix A) for the privity of contract. The next element is intention to create legal relation. An agreement is not a binding contract unless the parties intend to create legal relations and have the capacity or ability to do so. It can also be defined as the willingness to be bound by the terms of the contract. Furthermore anyone entering the contract has to have the capacity to do so; otherwise it can be argued that they are not acting in full understanding of what they are doing. Where there is no express statement as to whether or not legal relations are intended the courts apply one of two presumptions: social, domestic and family arrangements are not usually intended by the parties involved to be binding, commercial agreements are usually intended to be legally binding (BPP Professional Education, 2004). One of the case examples for intention to create legal relation is the case Balfour vs Balfour 1919 (referred to Appendix A). The case is that a husband promised to pay his wife  £30 a month to return to Ceylon wit h him but later the marriage ended in divorce and the wife sued the husband for the monthly allowance which he no longer paid. In this case, because of the informal agreement of indefinite duration made between husband and wife was not intended to be legally binding so that the wife cannot sue the husband for the money. There is also very important element for the contract which is the legal capacity to contract. Capacity refers to the fact that the law regards some groups as being unable to enter into binding contractual arrangements, because they might not be in a position to fully understand the agreement they have entered into. The groups include minor, mental disorders and drunkenness (BPP Professional Education, 2004). From January 1, 1970, the Family Law Reform Act 1969 reduced the age of majority to 18 and authorized the term minor as an alternative to infant. Minor is now the preferred term. The capacity of a minor to contract is still regulated by the common law, modified by the Minors Contracts Act 1987 which repealed a troublesome statute, the Infants Relief Act 1874 (Doti Chee, 2009). There is a case of Nash vs Inman 1908 (referred to Appendix A). In this case a Saville Row tailor sued an infant Cambridge student for the price of clothes (including 11 fancy waistcoats) he had supplied. The tailor failed in his action because the student was already adequately supplied with clothes because the clothes were not necessaries so that the minor was not binding by the contract. The next key element of the contract is the form of contract. The contract can be made in writing or oral or implied by conduct. The general rule is that a contract may be in any form (written or oral) but a minority of contracts have to be made in a particular form. Firstly implied terms are those terms which, although not expressly stated by the parties by words or conduct, are by law deemed to be part of the contract. Moreover the terms can be implied into contracts by custom, by courts or by statute (Doti Chee, 2009). On the other hand, writing make it easier to prove the contents o the contract but it is not usually necessary unless related to one of the following: contracts by deed, in writing, evidenced in writing or contracts made through the internet and by e-mail. Those are the formalities of the contract (BPP Professional Education, 2004). Contracts which must be by deed include leases for three years or more, a conveyance or transfer o a legal estate in land and a promise not supported by consideration. On the other hand the contracts which must be in writing include a transfer of shares in a limited company, the sale or disposition of an interest in land, bills of exchange and cheques, consumer credit contracts. Furthermore some contracts may be made orally but are not enforceable in a court unless there is written evidence of their terms. The most important contract of this type is the contract of guarantee. A signed note of the material terms of the contract is sufficient (BPP Professional Education, 2004). There is a case of Clyde Mason vs. Charley Tatum (referred to Appendix A) in the form of contract. In this case Clyde Mason as a minor went into a contract of buying land with Charley Tatum and the contract is made in writing after some days before the delivery the price of the land was doubled and the adult refused to do his performance o the contract. The minor sued for that. This case study is an example of the form of contracts which must be by deed. So in decision because the contract is binding for the adult so Tatum had to do his duties as in the contract with the minor. The consent is also one of the key elements of the contract. The validity of a contract may be affected if a person has been misled into a contract or if the parties have come to agreement but are actually at cross-purposes, for example one of them is mistaken as to the precise nature of the contract (BPP Professional Education, 2004). In consent there are four violating factors which are mistakes, misrepresentations, duress and undue influence. An intentional act done out of mistake may occasionally be defensible if it was reasonable. On the other hand a misrepresentation is a false statement of fact made by one party to another, which, whilst not being a term of the contract, induces the other party to enter the contract. The effect of an actionable misrepresentation is to make the contract voidable; giving the innocent party the right to rescind the contract and/or claim damages (Law Teacher, accessed 2009). Duress is a possible legal defense, one of four of the most important jus tification defenses, by which defendants argue that they should not be held liable because the actions that broke the law were only performed out of an immediate fear of injury. In order for duress to qualify as a defense, four requirements must be met: threat must be of serious bodily harm or death, harm threatened must be greater than the harm caused by the crime, threat must be immediate and inescapable and the defendant must have become involved in the situation through no fault of his or her own (Law Teacher, accessed 2009). While undue influence is a judicially created defense to transactions that have been imposed upon weak and vulnerable persons that allows the transactions to be set aside. In order to establish the undue influence four elements must be shown. A judicially created defense to transactions that have been imposed upon weak and vulnerable persons that allows the transactions to be set aside. Second, there must be an opportunity for exercising undue influence. Th ird, there must be evidence that the defendant was inclined to exercise undue influence over the victim. Fourth, the record must reveal an unnatural or suspicious transaction (Legal explanations, accessed 2009). As example of the consent the case of ICI v Shatwell 1965 (referred to Appendix A) is the most common one. Because of the electric cable was too short so that two experienced shot firers decided to go against the law they carried out the test without taking cover before doing so and there was a premature explosion and both were injured. They sued the employer. In this case they had consented to the risk. The employer was not liable since it had not been negligent nor had it committed or permitted a breach of statutory duty over safety procedures. The injured men were trained for their work and properly left to carry out safety procedures of which they were well aware. So they cannot sue the employer for that. The last key element of contract is the legality of object. Legality is an agreement to be an enforceable contract must contemplate the attainment of an object not expressly forbidden by law nor contrary to public policy. For example: An agreement for the sale of realty to be used expressly for the sale of alcoholic beverages is unenforceable as its object is contrary to law. So also an agreement by which A, a confirmed woman hater, promises B a house for Bs promise never to marry, is against public policy, as discouraging marriage, and therefore unenforceable (Chest of book, accessed 2009). The courts will not enforce a contract which is deemed to be illegal or contrary to public policy. 1b. Analyze the scenario from the perspective of the law of contract. Apply the rules of offer and acceptance in a given scenario, also considering any impact of new technology Firstly as for review of the online transaction, we will go to look at the formation of contract. Contract is agreement between two or more parties which is enforceable at law (Doti Chee, 2009). However in order to be valid and enforceable by the law, the requirements for formation of contract are agreement and consideration. There is sometimes said to be a third element, namely, intention to create legal relations. But this third element is rarely a problem and it is true to say that, if it is a separate element, it goes without saying in the vast majority of cases (ANU College of law, accessed 2009). A valuable consideration in the sense of the law may consist either in some right, interest, profit or benefit accruing to one party, or some forbearance, detriment, loss or responsibility given, suffered or undertaken by the other (BPP Professional Education, 2004). On the other hand agreement is the meeting of minds between two more legally competent parties, about their relative dut ies rights regarding current or future performance (Business Dictionary, accessed 2009). Furthermore to determine whether or not an agreement has been reached, the courts will consider whether or not party has made a firm offer which the other party has accepted. Offer and acceptance are the key elements of agreement. The agreements must contain the offer which is a defined promise to be bound on specific term and acceptance which is unqualified agreement to the terms of the offer (BPP Professional Education, 2004). However for this case of online transaction, the principles governing the formation of written and oral contract can also be apply to contracts concluded through the internet. The contracts which are made through the internet also need an offer and acceptance to be valid. Moreover according to the electronic transaction act 1999 and confirmed by s.11 of the Electronic Transaction Act. Cap 88, the website containing the details and the prices of the goods is an invitation to treat (ComLaw, accessed 2009). Invitation to treat is an indication that someone is prepared to receive offers with the view to forming a binding contract (BPP Professional Education, 2004). There are four types of invitation to treat which are auction sales, advertisements, exhibition of goods for sale and an invitation for tenders. As mentioned above the website containing the details and the prices of the goods is an invitation to treat so that it must follow the rule of invitation to treat. Its rule is that invitation to treat is not offer. It is an invitation to do business with another party and it is not an offer but an invitation to others to make offers. One of the common case examples for invitation to treat is the case of Patridge vs Crittenden 1968 (referred to Appendix B). Mr Patridge placed an advertisement in Cage and Aviary Birds magazine containing the words Bramblefinch cocks, bramblefinch hens, 25s each. The RSOCA brought a prosecution for offering for a sale of protected species in contravention of the protection of Birds Act 1953. The justices convicted Patridge and he was sued. The advertisement of Mr Patridge was considered as an invitation to treat so according to the rule of invitation to treat it is not an offer. The prosecution could not rely on the offence of the offering for sale, as the advertisement constituted an invitation to treat. He was therefore not making an offer. In this case there are two contracts were formed between Tuans company and Sally, a university student with Tech Ltd. Tech Ltd is Singapore listed company selling computers and other IT products in Ha Noi and they had recently established its own website to offer for sale various products over the internet. Firstly for the existing contract between Tuans company and Tech Ltd it is a valid contract. The rules of offer are that it must be communicated, may be made to world, may be revoked at any time and distinguished from binding options and from invitation to treat. On the other hand the rules of acceptance are it must relate to offer, mental acceptance is insufficient but may be inferred, must be unqualified, method must conform with other, if offer silent as to method that chosen to be appropriate, if it is mailed effective from time of posting and communicate may be dispensed with (Doti Chee, 2009). According to the rules of offer and acceptance in the contract between Tuans company and Tech Ltd there was an offer and acceptance. The online transaction as mentioned above is considered as invitation to treat. However the system in Tech Ltd works in the following manner: every time an order was placed by a buyer after filling up the requisite form, which included the furnishing of a va lid credit card account, it would be followed by an automated reply from Tech Ltd that the transaction was successful. It means that by filling the form with valid information Tuan had already made an offer to Tech Ltd and then automatically they will send a reply to confirm that the transaction was successful and it is considered as an acceptance from Tech Ltd to Tuans offer. There is also legal intention between two parties so that the contract between Tuan and Tech Ltd is a valid contract. In this case if Tech Ltd did not deliver the 4,000 sets of computers it means that they breach the contract. Because the contract is a valid contract so that both parties are binding by the contract, they must do their duties as in the contract stated. If Tech Ltd breached the contract Mr. Tuan can sue them for that if they did not have any reasonable reasons. However in this case Tech Ltd can proof that Tuan violated the contract by capitalizing on Techs mistake. Because of an error committed by an employee of Tech Ltd, the price of the printer was altered to $388 on the website, which normally retailed at $3,800. Tech Ltd can proof that Tuan based on that mistake to make contract with Tech Ltd. Because Tuan is the owner of a shop that sold IT peripherals, including a few sets of the said laser printer. So that he came to know about the real price of the printer and the extraordinarily low price offered by Tech Ltd. Furthermore according to the rule of unilateral mistake which is wh ere one party is mistaken as to the terms of the contract and the other knows this, the contract will be void regardless of whether the terms is fundamental (Doti Chee, 2009), the contract between Tech Ltd and Tuans company is a void contract because Tuan knew about the mistake of Tech Ltd. There is a similar case of unilateral mistake which is the case of Hartlog v Colin and Shields 1939 (referred to Appendix B). In this case by mistake the defendants offered at the same price per pound instead of per piece, which obviously worked out much cheaper. After that they realized their mistake, the sellers refused to deliver the skins and were sued by the buyers for breach of contract. However in this case because the buyers were aware of the sellers mistake so that there was no contract as same in the case of Tech Ltd and Tuans company. In conclusion because there is a unilateral mistake of Tech Ltd and Tuan knew about his so that in application o unilateral mistake rule the contract is void contract and Tuan cannot sue Tech Ltd for breach of contract. However in this case if Tuans company agreed to sell those ordered printer to the third party, they cannot maintain their rights against Tech even though they may be a bona fide purchaser. Because there is no contract between Tech Ltd and Tuans company so the goods are not belonging to Tuans company and they cannot sell it. Tech Ltd had the rights to take back their goods and the third party did not have the rights against Tech Ltd. The second contract in this case is the contract between Tech Ltd and Sally, a university student, because the transaction was taking in the same manner with the case of Tuans company which is through the website o Tech Ltd. Sally placed one set of the laser printer through the same system which means she offered to buy a printer through Tech Ltds website and then they automatically sent a reply to confirm the transaction was successful. It means that they were accepting the offer from Sally to sell one set of printer with the given price on the website. The contract had both offer and acceptance so that there was a valid contract between Tech Ltd and Sally. However because of the mistake committed by an employee of Tech Ltd the price of the printer was altered to $388 which is extraordinarily low price. Sally saw Tech Ltds website and thought that the price of $388 was very reasonable and she is a university student so she cannot know the real price of the printer and she did not know that there was a mistake from the employee. According to the rule of common mistake which is if one party makes a mistake and the other party is unaware of the mistake, the contract is binding, so that the contract between Tech Ltd and Sally is a valid contract. In this case Sally as a student so she cannot know the real price and the mistake of Tech Ltd. Furthermore because of that reason Tech Ltd cannot proof that Sally actually knew the contract is under a mistake. Moreover there also a similar case of common mistake which is Centrovincial Estates plc vs Merchant Investors Assurance Co Ltd (1983) (referred to Appendix B). In this case a landlord offered, by mistake, to renew his tenants lease at a rent of  £65,000 a year; he had meant to offer it at  £126,000. The tenant, unaware of the mistake, accepted the offer. It means that the tenant did not know about the mistake so that the contract was binding to both parties. In conclusion the contract was binding with Tech Ltd and if they did not deliver the printer to Sally, she can sue them for that. Lastly for Tech Ltd to prevent similar situation in the future they should build a structure or system based on the counter offer. As has been said acceptance must be unqualified agreement to the terms of offer. Acceptance which purports to introduce any new terms is a counter offer. If counter offer is made, the original offeror may accept it but he rejects it his original offer is no longer available for acceptance (BPP Professional Education, 2004). For example it is the case of Butler Machin Tool Co vs Ex-cell-O Corp 1979 (referred to Appendix B). In this case the claimant offered to sell tools to the defendant. However the defendant accepted the offer enclosing their own standard terms which differed from those of the claimant. The claimant ackno

Psychological Factors In Diabetes Mellitus Health And Social Care Essay

Psychological Factors In Diabetes Mellitus Health And Social Care Essay Health psychology is a topical development in the integration of biomedical and social sciences in health care. It addresses the role of psychological factors in the cause, progression, and outcome of health and illness (Ogden, 2007). Psychological theories can guide health education and promotion, and offer the health care practitioner a structured approach to understanding and meeting the health needs of health and social care service users (Morrison and Bennett, 2009). The appraisal of health psychology models can assist practitioners in evaluating their contribution to service users understanding of health, behaviours relating to health and the practice of health care. Appraisal and evaluation enable health care workers to apply psychological models and theories when analysing aspects of health and behaviour relevant to practice (Marks et al, 2005). Health psychology is concerned primarily with intrinsic factors, especially individual perceptions of health-related behaviour. Health behaviour, defined as behaviour related to health status, is becoming increasingly important. Public health policy has increased the emphasis on individual responsibility and choice and because of this; there is a corresponding need to improve understanding of individual motivations that affect those choices and health-related behaviours (Marks et al, 2005). The health behaviours studied by psychologists are varied, but the most commonly studied health behaviours have immediate or long-term implications for individual health, and are partially within the control of the individual (Ogden, 2007). Type 2 diabetes, formerly known as non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, is a serious and progressive disease. It is chronic in nature and has no known cure. It is the fourth most common cause of death in most developed countries (UK Prospective Diabetes Study Group, 1998a). Although no exact figures are available, it has been suggested that by the year 2010 there would be 3.5 million people with diabetes in the United Kingdom (UK). However, approximately 750,000 of the estimated number may be undiagnosed (Diabetes UK, 2008a). Diabetes UK campaigns to raise awareness of type 2 diabetes because if left undiagnosed, the condition can result in long-term complications such as retinopathy, nephropathy, neuropathy, and an increased risk of myocardial infarction and stroke. The total number of people with diabetes has increased by 75% over the last six years and the incidence in the UK is escalating at a faster rate than in the United States (Gonzà ¡lez et al, 2009). There is a higher incidence of type 2 diabetes in people with South Asian or African descent (Department of Health, 2007). One of the reasons for this is thought to be that these ethnic groups have increased insulin resistance. Signs of type 2 diabetes are already present in UK children of South Asian and African-Caribbean origin at ten years of age, according to research funded jointly by the British Heart Foundation and the Wellcome Trust (Whincup et al, 2010). The prevalence of type 2 diabetes increases with age to as much as one in ten in those aged 65 years. The lifetime risk of developing the condition in the UK is greater than 10% (Leese, 1991). Diabetes-related complications can have a major effect on the individual and family members, and are costly to the patient. A study undertaken by Bottomley (2001) examined the costs of living of patients with diabetes complications, including taking time off work and transport costs for hospital appointments. The study showed that the cost of treating someone with type 2 diabetes with microvascular and macrovascular complications was  £5,132 compared to  £920 for someone who does not have diabetes-related complications (Bottomley 2001). This also has implications for the National Health Service (NHS) in terms of the financial burden of managing and treating the condition and the use of resources. It has been estimated that the cost of treating diabetes nationally adds up to approximately 9% of the NHS annual budget, although most of that is used to treat associated long-term complications, such as kidney failure, blindness, amputations and organ transplantation, rather than the provision of medication (Bottomley, 2001). With regard to type 2 diabetes, psychological theories and models have a long history of informing attempts to change behaviour and improve emotional well-being. Over recent years, many clinical guidelines in the UK by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) have included recommendations for psychological interventions for long-term conditions. Evidence-based recommendations have been made not only for the treatment of associated mental health problems such as depression and anxiety (NICE, 2009; NICE, 2004) but also for physical health conditions such as obesity (NICE, 2007) and changing behaviour related to public health issues such as smoking and lack of exercise (NICE; 2007). The aim of this essay is to explore the psychological implications for a person suffering from type 2 diabetes and others involved in the experience of that illness. Type 2 diabetes, is caused as the result of reduced secretion of insulin and to peripheral resistance to the action of insulin; that is, the insulin in the body does not have its usual biological effect. It can often be controlled by diet and exercise when first diagnosed, but many patients require oral hypoglycaemic agents or insulin in order to maintain satisfactory glycaemic control and prevent the complications of diabetes (Diabetes UK, 2008a). To reduce the risk of long-term complications, both macrovascular and microvascular, people with type 2 diabetes need access to appropriate, individualised education, which informs them about the risks associated with the condition. Information relating to lifestyle changes such as healthy eating, increasing activity levels, and smoking cessation are vital (Diabetes UK, 2008a). Some people accept their diagnosis of diabetes and all that this means, and manage to adapt to their new lifestyle, but others find it difficult. Changes will need to be made to the type of food they eat, the amount they eat of particular foods and perhaps to the time at which they eat their meals. As a consequence of the required changes to lifestyle, it is not surprising that many people need some professional psychological support (Diabetes UK, 2008a). Diabetes may have an impact on peoples careers, driving, and insurance policies (life, driving, and travel). Difficulties surrounding holidays, work or travel abroad may prove insurmountable without support. People with diabetes who are also caring for others, for example children or elderly relatives, may find it very difficult to put themselves first (Diabetes UK, 2008a). Some people who have been diagnosed as having diabetes feel that they have been condemned to a life where everything has to be planned. There are, however, support networks available. For example Diabetes UK, a charity that supports people with diabetes, their families and the health professionals who care for them, has local and regional branches where people can meet and discuss problems and learn from each other how they manage their day-to-day-life (Diabetes UK, 2008a). The majority of people with type 2 diabetes are insulin resistant. Obesity exacerbates insulin resistance. As many as 80% of people with type 2 diabetes are obese at the time of diagnosis (Marks, 1996). Weight loss not only improves insulin resistance, but also lowers blood glucose, lipid levels, and blood pressure. Cardiovascular disease is often present in people with type 2 diabetes. The presence of insulin resistance accelerates atherosclerosis, leading to macrovascular complications such as myocardial infarction, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease. The mechanisms responsible for this are thought to be hyperinsulinaemia, dyslipidaemia and hypertension (Garber, 1998). However, microvascular problems such as retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy still occur. The mechanism responsible is thought to be hyperglycaemia (Garber, 1998). Therefore, good blood glucose control is of crucial importance. Although the prognosis for people with type 2 diabetes mellitus is less than favourable, evidence has shown that making major lifestyle changes, such as having a healthy diet, smoking cessation, and increasing activity levels, can reduce the risk of long-term complications (UK Prospective Diabetes Study Group, 1998a). However, using the threat of long-term complications as a means of inducing lifestyle or behaviour changes has not proved to have any prolonged beneficial effect (Polonsky, 1999). Continued support and appropriate education is required to empower individuals to take charge of their condition and make appropriate and timely therapeutic decisions. The healthcare professional and the individual must decide on the most appropriate treatment regimen to provide optimum care and the best medical outcome (Marks et al, 2005). NICE published a document in 2008 entitled CG66: Type 2 diabetes which recommended that all people with diabetes should be offered structured education, pr ovided by a trained specialist team of healthcare professionals (NICE, 2008). The utilisation of theoretical health psychology models can assist these specialist team practitioner in empowering individuals with type 2 diabetes to contemplate and instigate the changes in lifestyle behaviours such as smoking, lack of exercise and unhealthy eating habits that have adverse consequences on long-term health outcomes. With regard to health psychology, as previously mentioned, health psychology is concerned primarily with intrinsic factors, especially individual perceptions of health-related behaviour. Attributing health-related behaviours to internal or external factors has been discussed in relation to the concept of a health locus of control. Individuals differ as to whether they regard events as controllable by them (an internal locus of control) or uncontrollable by them (an external locus of control) (Ogden, 2007). Accessing diabetes related health services for testing or treatment could be viewed from either perspective. The healthcare professional is perceived to be a powerful individual who can diagnose and treat diabetes (external); however, by accessing services the individual is taking responsibility for determining their own health status (internal). It is useful for the healthcare practitioner to consider that in attending diabetic health services the individual has made an initial st ep in taking control of their own health needs (Marks et al, 2005). Individuals with an internal locus of control are more likely to act in concordance with advice from a health professional than those with an external locus of control (Ogden, 2007). Knowing this can assist practitioners in their communication style with individuals who have type 2 diabetes. Identifying the specific needs of the individual, by understanding their locus of control, can help the healthcare practitioner to tailor the assessment (Marks et al, 2005). When an individual has a sense of responsibility for actions or behaviours that exposed them to a potential risk of diabetic complications, the practitioner can work on exploring the circumstances that surrounded those behaviours. The individual may already feel motivated to change these circumstances. In the case of a client who does not recognise that their own behaviour or actions were a contributory factor in posing a risk of behaviour related complications, the practitioner should focus on developing the individuals leve l of awareness to shift their locus of control from the external to the internal. For example, the individual who perceives that taking responsibility for healthy eating use is always that of their partner (Ogden, 2007). Self-management for chronic illnesses such as type 2 diabetes requires adherence to treatment regimens and behavioural change, as well as the acquisition of new coping strategies, because symptoms have a great effect on many areas of life (Glasgow, 1991; Kravitz et al, 1993). For many individuals, optimum self-management is often difficult to achieve, as indicated by poor rates of adherence to treatment, reduced quality of life, and poor psychological wellbeing, effects that are frequently reported in several chronic illnesses (Rubin and Peyrot, 1999). Self-management interventions aim to enable individuals to take control of their condition and be actively involved in management and treatment choices. In the 1980s, psychological theory was applied to develop theoretical models and their constructs have had a particular effect on the development of self-management interventions. The Health Belief Model (Becker 1974) defines two related appraisal processes undertaken by the healthcare practitioner in partnership with an individual: the threat of illness and the behavioural response to that threat. Threat appraisal involves consideration of the individuals perceived susceptibility to an illness and its anticipated severity. Behavioural response involves considering the costs and benefits of engaging in behaviours likely to reduce the threat of disease. It can be useful for the healthcare practitioner to establish the clients perception of risk and implications of their adverse health behaviours when discussing the reasons for healthy eating, increasing exercise, and smoking cessation. It is also important to discuss the likely impact of diabetes on the individuals lifestyle and behaviour (Marks et al, 2005). The Health Belief Model can be applied to evaluate the risk of lifestyle changes. The healthcare professional can initiate structured discussion with the individual to identify their educational needs, particularly around developing a realistic understanding of risk factors associated with diabetes and unhealthy eating habits, lack of exercise and smoking. It is important for the healthcare practitioner to discuss the efficacy of changes in the above in prevention of diabetic complications, while discussing other methods of behaviour modification in context (Marks et al, 2005). It is also important to establish that the individual feels confident in the practicalities of and behavioural change. Therefore, the healthcare practitioner must support the diabetic in behaviour change by giving practical health education advice on the issues of healthy eating, the benefits of exercise and the importance of giving up smoking (Marks et al, 2005). The Protection Motivation Theory (Rogers 1975, 1983) expands the Health Belief Model to include four components that predict behavioural intentions to improve health-related behaviour, or intention to modify behaviour. These include self-efficacy, responsive effectiveness, severity, and vulnerability. In social cognitive theory, behaviour is thought to be affected by expectations, with individuals confidence in their ability to perform a given behaviour (self-efficacy) particularly important (Bandura, 1992). Therefore, self-efficacy can be said to be the belief in ones ability to control personal actions (Bandura, 1992), and is comparable with the concept of internal locus of control. It is based on past experience and evokes behaviour concordant with an individuals capabilities. Self-efficacy is distinct from unrealistic optimism and does not elicit unreasonable risk-taking (Ogden, 2007). Within the context of smoking and diabetes, an example of self-efficacy might be, I am confiden t that I can take responsibility for protecting myself from increasing the risk of further complications by giving up smoking. This concept has been used in self-management interventions through the teaching of skills, such as problem solving and goal setting, to increase self-efficacy. Again, in type 2 diabetes, this could mean the acquisition of knowledge relating to healthy eating principles and putting that knowledge into practice by avoiding foods that would make the blood glucose rise quickly. The goal would be to incorporate this behaviour into daily life on a long-term basis (Marks et al, 2005). Behavioural intention can also be predicted by severity, for example: Diabetes will have serious implications for my health and lifestyle, but conversely, Good blood glucose control will decrease the risk of diabetic complications. The fourth predictor of behavioural intention is vulnerability, which in the context of diabetes may be the likelihood of cardiovascular disease or diabetic retinopathy occurring. Rogers (1983) later suggested a fifth component of fear in response to education or information as a predictor of behavioural intention. The concepts of severity, vulnerability, and fear outlined in Protection Motivation Theory relate to the concept of threat appraisal, as discussed in the context of the Health Belief Model. Self-efficacy and response effectiveness, on the other hand, relate to the individuals coping response, which is the behaviour intention. If a person has self-efficacy and perceives benefits in taking control of their actions (response effectiveness), they are likely to have the intention to modify their behaviour to reduce health risks (Ogden, 2007). Information or education that influences an individuals emotional response can be environmental (external influence, such as advice from a health professional), or interpersonal (relating directly to past experience). Information and education contribute to an individuals self-efficacy. This in turn helps develop a robust internal locus of control and will inform and/or contribute to the individuals coping response (Marks et al, 2005). The coping res ponse is considered to be adaptive (positive behavioural intention) or maladaptive (avoidance or denial). Assessment of the individuals capacity to understand and apply information and to have an adaptive response is a vital skill of the health professional. A maladaptive coping response, such as the denial of identified risk factors, has potentially serious consequences for the health of the individual (Marks et al, 2005). Successful implementation of the Protection Motivation Model can enable informed choice and empower the individual to take personal responsibility and control of behaviours influencing their health (Morrison and Bennett, 2009). Skilled questioning and the use of checking skills by the healthcare professional following information-giving are important to evaluate the benefit, if any, to the individual with diabetes (Ogden, 2007). Readiness to change is a concept derived from Prochaska and DiClementes (1983) transtheoretical model. It refers to how prepared or ready individuals are to make changes to their behaviour. Interventions guided by this theory focus on individuals motivation to change and the approach is adapted according to differences in participants motivation to change behaviour. Success is achieved only when the individual is ready to take on the actions needed to change behaviour. An individual may know that smoking and type 2 diabetes are not a good combination. However, unless the person is ready to quit smoking, no amount of discussion with a healthcare professional will change the persons decision to continue smoking. Establishing an internal motivator is a good first step to assessing an individuals readiness to change, however, an individual also needs to feel that the time is right and that they are prepared to change. Readiness to change can be assessed by asking individuals, as soon as the potential problem is identified, whether they have ever attempted to change the behaviour before. Six stages of change were identified in Prochaska and DiClementes (1983) Transtheoretical model of behaviour change: Pre-contemplation; Contemplation; Preparation; Action; Maintenance and Relapse. Most people (around 60%) will be at the pre-contemplation stage when they are identified by the healthcare practitioner and will generally react in a closed way to the idea of change (Prochaska and Goldstein, 1991). They may be rebellious to the idea, they may rationalise their current behaviour or be resigned to it, or they may be reluctant to consider the possibility of change (Prochaska and Goldstein, 1991). In this situation, it is tempting to push people into making an attempt at behaviour change using their health as a motivator or by making them feel guilty. However, this is likely to prompt the individual to either lie about their behaviour or avoid the nurse completely. During the contemplation phase, it is suggested that individuals who are starting to consider change look for information about their current and proposed behaviours, and analyse the risks involved in changing or maintaining their current behaviour. The most appropriate action is to ask the individual to form alise the analytical process by undertaking a decisional balance exercise (Health Education Authority (HEA), 1996). In this exercise the person is asked to consider the positive and negative implications of maintaining or changing their behaviour. The individual then decides whether maintaining or changing the behaviour will give them increased positive outcomes, and if they are willing to attempt the change. To be at the preparation stage, individuals need to believe that their behaviour is causing a problem, that their health or wellbeing will improve if they change the behaviour, and that they have a good chance of success (Prochaska and Goldstein, 1991). Once the healthcare practitioner establishes that the individual has an internal motivator and is ready to make an attempt at behaviour change, a supportive treatment plan is needed. Individuals who are in the process of behaviour change, or who have achieved and are maintaining the new behaviour, need help to avoid relapse (Pro chaska and Goldstein, 1991). The most effective way to do this is to ask the individual to reflect on their experiences so far. Apart from taking into account the management behavioural change for those with type 2 diabetes, it is also of vital importance that there is a consideration the emotional impact of a diabetes diagnosis and living with the condition. How patients feel when presented with the diagnosis of a chronic illness such as diabetes can have an enormous impact on their lives, and on their ability to make emotional adjustments to the disease itself (Marks et al, 2005). Research has found that that the diagnosis of a chronic illness can have a strong emotional impact on individuals, with reactions of grief, denial and depression. The emotional aspects of developing and coping with diabetes can affect overall control of the disease profoundly. Similarly, these feeling may form a barrier to effective listening and learning during the consultation process and any future self-management strategies. Therefore, it is proposed that this should be taken into consideration when developing educational prog rammes and protocols for people with diabetes (Thoolen et al, 2008). Coping and adapting to a long-term chronic illness is a major theme in health psychology (Ogden, 2007). Leventhal Nerenz (1985) propose that individuals have their own common sense beliefs about their illness. These include identity: diagnosis (diabetes) and symptoms (elevated blood sugar levels, excessive hunger and excessive thirst). Perceived cause of illness: stress, a virus, unhealthy lifestyle. Time line: acute or chronic. Consequences: physical (pain, mobility problems) and emotional (lack of social contact, anxiety). Cure and control: for example by taking medication or getting plenty of rest. With regard to adapting to an illness such as diabetes, the stress coping model of Lazarus and Folkman (1984) Transactional model of stress is the concept that is most widely utilised. The model suggests that there are key factors in adaptation to chronic illness, disease-specific coping efforts, changes in illness representation over time, interaction between psychological reality of disease and affective response, procedures for coping with the disease and interaction with context. The stress coping model (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984) emphasises the value of coping strategies to deal with a particular condition. Self-management strategies based on this model attempt to improve the individuals coping strategies. In type 2 diabetes, people are faced with the prospect of long-term complications caused by the condition. If people are aware of these possibilities and also that successful treatment is, available it makes a diagnosis of such problems less daunting. However, there are limitations to this model. It is debated that it is a frame of reference, not a theory that ignores specific features of the illness. The situation dimension poorly represented and it is not specific. The model also neglects interactions with context (e.g. social support, other life events) and offers no account of life goals on illness representation and coping (Ogden, 2007). It is of vital importance that stress is controlled and managed in an individual with type 2 diabetes. Research has shown a link between stress as a causal factor and that stress has been found to be a factor in regulation of blood glucose regulation. Sepa et al (2005) found that family stress has a significant impact on the and development of diabetes among infants. With regard to stress and metabolic control, research has found that stressful life events predict poor glucose control. In a study by Surwit et al, (2002) the management of stress was found to improve glucose control. Therefore, it is posited that the impact of stress can affect diabetes adversely and any interventions to manage stress may be a worthwhile component of diabetes education programs. An additional influence on coping and adapting to living with diabetes and the development of self-management strategies has come from clinical psychology, particularly Cognitive Behavioural Therapies (CBT). Central to these therapies is the importance of attempting to change how people think about their illness and themselves, and how their thoughts affect their behaviour. Depression is one of the most common psychological problems among individuals with diabetes, and is associated with worse treatment adherence and clinical outcomes (Gonzalez et al, 2010). A randomised controlled trial (RCT) undertaken by Lustman et al, (2008) found that the percentage of patients achieving remission of depression was greater in the CBT group than in the control group. Although the research found that there was no difference in the mean glycosylated haemoglobin levels of the groups post-treatment, follow-up mean glycosylated haemoglobin levels were significantly better in the CBT group than in the control group. Therefore, it is debated that the combination of CBT and supportive diabetes education is an effective non-pharmacologic treatment for major depression in patients with type 2 diabetes. It may also be associated with improved glycaemic control. It is important to note however, that certain limitation apply to the above study that may have an effect on the findings. The generalizability of the findings is uncertain. The study was limited to a relatively small number of patients. Similarly, the follow-up interval was limited to the 6 months immediately after treatment. Likewise, the researcher cannot exclude the possibility that CBT and diabetes education interacted in a way that potentiated antidepressant effectiveness; analogous interactions may have occurred in many clinical trials. Further studies comparing CBT and diabetes education, individually and in combination, are needed to answer such questions and to see whether successful CBT alone is sufficient to produce glycaemic improvement. Correspondingly, it is worth noting that patients in the CBT group had education almost a full year longer than controls. The difference in education was not statistically significant, but the extra educational experience may have contributed to improved outcome in the CBT group. Finally, treatment was administered by a single psychologist experienced in the use of CBT. Whether treatment would be as effective when administered by other therapists is uncertain. For any person with type 2 diabetes to engage in any self-management strategy, good mental health is necessary. However, studies have shown reduced self-worth and/or anxiety in more than 40% of people with diabetes (Anderson et al, 2001). There are several possible reasons for this. Being diagnosed with diabetes immediately poses major concerns for the individual, including what the future holds in terms of health, finance, and family relationships. Although everyone deals with diagnosis differently, for some it can cause immediate stress, including feelings of shock or guilt. Some individuals may also be ashamed and want to keep the diagnosis a secret. Others may be relieved to know what is causing the symptoms they have been experiencing. An Audit Commission (2000) report acknowledged that: people with diabetes are more likely to suffer from clinical depression than those in the general population. The report then went on to specify that therefore, diabetes services should make exp licit provision for psychological support and should monitor the psychological outcomes of care. In conclusion, to be successful in changing behaviour to negate the complications of type 2 diabetes, individuals need to decide for themselves which behaviours are undesirable, that is, which behaviours could have negative health, financial, social or psychological implications. People with diabetes also need to feel that the negative impact of risky health behaviours will be reduced or altered if they change their behaviour. It is important that individuals have confidence in their ability to make and maintain behavioural changes. It is not the health practitioners role to make this judgement or impose his or her beliefs. To support behavioural change, healthcare professionals need to feel comfortable in discussing lifestyle behaviours. They also need to assess an individuals preparedness to make a change and identify the factors that motivate them to change. The application of health psychology models, such as the Health Belief Model, the Protection Motivation Theory and the Trans theoretical model of behaviour change, to the management process can enable healthcare practitioners to assess contributory factors to health behaviours. Applying models can also help to identify motivators and barriers to health-improving and health-protecting behaviours, and identify strategies which assist the person in behavioural change. The role of the healthcare professional is to enable individuals to make an informed choice by working in partnership with them to decide when and if behaviour change is desirable. By understanding how an individual copes and adapts to living with a long-term condition such as diabetes can assist in empowering individuals to managed stress that appears to have a negative impact on blood glucose levels. Correspondingly, the use of CBT as a non-pharmacological treatment has been shown to improve depression that is often apparent in individuals with diabetes. Healthcare practioners caring for those with diabetes should be trained in the use of CBT .