Discussion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discussion - Essay Example We find our identity in our families and families are there to fulfill our hopes and aspirations. It is quite possible that at times, family becomes a disappointment. Nevertheless, it can be said that in current form, they are more like proving equality rather than erstwhile happy families where members were tied with some bond of belonging. Person# 3 Response It can be said for sure that global changes are making more equal families but not with certainty that it makes happier family too. Kids don't get enough time from their parents. Ever since women are working in the offices, men have to also work at home. Women across all communities and classes are involved in business. Cross marriages between members of different religious and ethnic groups have created families with multi ethnic and multi religious backgrounds. Obviously, kids are likely to pick multi cultural values from their parents. Old cultural values are dying and new sets of cultural values – rather mixed set of cultural values are taking shape. If the new set of cultural values does not suit to either members and further since women are not dependent on men, divorce is a quick fire solution. New value system has made families smaller with mostly single kid and even without kids. Old cultural values are surely on the path of decay replacing it with new phenomena.

Types of damages Essay Example for Free

Types of damages Essay According to the S. 74 damages which is the cash compensation by a court or another’s fault or negligence in suffering, the rules for damages can and frequently do vary based on the type of claim which is presented. There are many types of damages. Special damages are those which actually were caused by the injury and include medical and hospital bills, ambulance charges, loss of wages, property repair or replacement costs, or loss of money due on a contract. There are presumed to be a result of the other partys actions is general damages, but are subjective both in nature and determination of value of damages. These damages include distress, future problems of our life and crippling effect of an injury, loss of ability to perform various acts, shortening of life span, mental anguish, loss of companionship, loss of reputation, humiliation from scars, loss of anticipated business and other harm. The third damage is exemplary damages which combines punishment and the setting of public example. Punitive damages may be awarded when the defendant acted in a malicious, violent, oppressive, fraudulent, wanton, or grossly reckless way in causing the special and general damages to the plaintiff. On occasion punitive damages can be greater than the actual damages. Although the innocent asked for compensation, they are seldom awarded. Nominal damages are those given when the actual harm is minor and an award is warranted under the circumstances. For example, the most famous case was when Winston Churchill was awarded a shilling against author Louis Adamic who had written that the British Prime Minister had been drunk at a dinner at the White House. Liquidated damages are those pre-set by the parties in a contract to be awarded in case one party defaults as in breach of contract. This is similar to the measure of damages payable under common law as established in the case of Hadley v Baxendale (1854). In Tham Cheow Toh1, the appellant sold a metal melting furnace to the respondent. The appellants undertaking to the respondent that the melting furnace would have a temperature of no lower than 2,600 degrees F was not satisfied. The respondent alleged that the appellant had breached the contract and claimed damages of RM29,301. 38. The trial judge held that the melting furnace did not meet with the specifications thereby constituting a breach of the condition of the contract. A sum of RM7,501. 8 was awarded as damages for loss of profits. Abdul Hamid J: In the circumstances, I am of the view that the failure on the part of the defendants to supply a furnace which would meet the required temperature, constituted a breach of the condition of the contract entitling the plaintiffs to treat such breach as a breach of warranty. For the reasons which I have stated above, it is my judgment that the defendants are liable for the breach of the condition of the agreement and the plaintiffs clai m should therefore succeed. The Federal Court said that it is true that the amount awarded in this case was merely conjectural but there was at least some evidence before the court which might support the award. It is because that the case fell within the provisions of s 74(1) of the Contracts (Malay States) Ordinance, that is, when damages arising were such as might reasonably be supposed to have been in the contemplation of both parties at the time they made the contract, as the probable result of the breach of it. This is indeed the principle in Hadley v Baxendale (1854) . Case: Aruna Mills Ltd v Dhanrajmal Gobindram [1968] In Aruna Mills Ltd v Dhanrajmal Gobindram2, goods were to be shipped from India and the contract expressly stated that the buyers would take the risk of any devaluation of the rupee. The rupee was devalued and the price payable by the buyers was increased accordingly. However, a portion of that increase arose as a result of late shipment by the sellers, and it was held that the resultant loss could be recovered by the buyers. The ‘devaluation’ clause demonstrated that the parties had turned their minds to the impact of exchange losses. Lord Reid observed: â€Å"I am satisfied that the court [in Hadley v Baxendale] did not intend that every type of damage which was reasonably foreseeable by the parties when the contract was made should either be considered as arising naturally, in the usual course of things, or be supposed to have been in the contemplation of the parties. Indeed the decision makes it clear that a type of damage which was plainly foreseeable as a real possibility but which would only occur in a small minority of cases cannot be regarded as arising in the usual course of things or be supposed to have been in the contemplation of the parties: the parties are not supposed to contemplate as grounds for the recovery of damage any type of loss or damage which on the knowledge available to the defendant would appear to him as only likely to occur in a small minority of cases. In cases like Hadley v Baxendale or the present case it is not enough that in fact the plaintiff’s loss was directly caused by the defendant’s breach of contract. It clearly was so caused in both. The crucial question is whether, on the information available to the defendant when the contract was made, he should, or the reasonable man in his position would, have realized that such loss was sufficiently likely to result from the breach of contract to make it proper to hold that the loss flowed naturally from the breach or that loss of that kind should have been within his contemplation. Here, Lord Reid saw the law as applying an objective test, and one which reflects the realities of the business transaction entered into by the contracting parties. In the light of the decision of our court the law on remoteness of damage in contract is therefore as laid down in Hadley v Baxendale (1854) and restated in Victoria Laundry [1949] s 74 which provides that compensation is not to be given for any remote or indirect loss sustained is superfluous in view of the limits. Case: Tan Chin Kim Sawmill Factory Sdn Bhd v Lindeteves-Jacoberg (M) Sdn Bhd3 [1982] In Tan Chin Kim Sawmill, it is clear from these three clauses and from the terms contained in MIMB’s letter dated 2 June 1975, which terms were accepted by both the appellant and the respondent that the intention of the parties was that MIMB was to be compensated not only for all sums of money which would become due and payable by the appellant but also for â€Å"all losses, damages costs and expenses† suffered by MIMB. The letter and these three clauses by stipulating that sums other than rentals due are recoverable therefore make the financing case inapplicable to the case under the present appeal, and as such the amount of $527,039. 37 which the respondent paid as a cash price settlement for the equipment on 11 February 1977 was in fact the amount which the appellant itself was bound to pay under the lease agreement. In fact the appellant was informed of this fact by MIMB in its letter to the appellant dated 22 March 1976 and the respondent was offered back the equipment on the stated cash price settlement only in the event that the appellant was unable to pay MIMB the said cash price settlement by 1 April 1976. Abdoolcader J:  In the circumstances on a consideration of the evidence adduced both oral and documentary and for the reasons I have stated, I find no substance whatsoever in the contention of the plaintiffs that the first plaintiff was at any time the owner of the machinery in question or that the arrangement entered into to provide finance to the first plaintiff was otherwise than what the documents produced tales quales show it to be, namely, the provision of lease financing to the first plaintiff by the second defendant by way of a lease of the machinery to the former by the latter which had purchased it from the first defendant. The crux of the plaintiffs claim to the effect that the documents are a sham because they were a device to cover a transaction whereby goods were given as security for a loan must accordingly fail. Cadit quaestio, and it follows that the plaintiffs ancillary claims for damages and other relief must necessarily succumb, and it is perhaps only necessary for me to observe that in the matter of the plaintiffs claim for damages Mr. Rajah himself had to admit that the y have not satisfactorily proved every item of the damages sought. The Federal Court said that, in order to make a particular loss recoverable it is not necessary for the plaintiff to prove that the defendant could, as a reasonable man, foresee that a breach must necessarily result in that particular loss. Rescind S. 76 means that it is exercising the right to terminate the contract that communicated clearly by a party revocable contract. If the contract never existed, it is an irrevocable step that frees the other party as well from its contractual obligations. Rescission may be on mutual consent, by either party for reasonable cause such as a material misrepresentation. The second definition is unmaking of a contract by a court in the interests of justice. However, both parties are not possible to reinstate their original positions. Furthermore, rescind a contract defined as to affirm a contract void in its inception and to put an end so further defined as to terminate it and release parties from further obligations to each other and restore parties to relative positions which they would have occupied had no contract ever been made. Case: Lam Gow Anor V. Maju-Tekno Sdn Bhd Anor 4 [ 1994] In the present case, the plaintiffs had, on 27 June 1990 contracted to purchase land with a building thereon measuring 258 square meters. They did not discover that the said land only measured 193 square meters until July 1992. Immediately upon such discovery, they wrote to the defendant, complaining of the matter. The circumstances and the plaintiffs conduct indicate that there was no acceptance of the reduction in the size of the land by the plaintiffs. Ranita Hussein JC: â€Å"In my view, the reduction by 25. 19% in the size of the land alone can be regarded as having transformed the subject matter of the sale into one which the purchasers would not have purchased had they known of the true position at the time of the signing of the agreement. In other words, the difference aforesaid would not give the purchasers substantially what they bargained for. † For the reason above, I find that the plaintiffs have the right to rescission. Judgment is given to the plaintiffs for rescission and it is ordered that the sum of RM14,659 paid by the plaintiffs to the defendants be refunded with interest at the rate of 8% and costs. The interest is, as agreed by the parties, to take effect from 3 January 1991 to date of realization. It is also ordered that the plaintiffs be entitled to damages on account of the non fulfillment of the agreement, the amount of such damages to be assessed by the senior assistant registrar. The Federal Court said that the plaintiffs for rescission and it is ordered that the sum of RM14,659 amount paid by the plaintiffs to the defendants be refunded with interest at the rate of 8% and costs. The interest is, as agreed by the parties, to take effect from 3 January 1991 to date of realization. It is because that the plaintiffs be entitled to damages on account of the non fulfillment of the agreement, the amount of such damages to be assessed by the senior assistant registrar.

A Critique of Arguments Against Taking Future Generations Into Account

A Critique of Arguments Against Taking Future Generations Into Account In doing the readings for this week, I noticed that there were few arguments in favor of ignoring concern for future generations. A large percentage of the authors seemed to feel that it is our moral responsibility to at least take the well being of future generations into account in our decision-making (Note: these authors also provided us with powerful arguments as to why we have a moral obligation to future generations). In trying to figure out why there were so few arguments on the other side of the issue, I realized that there simply aren't many ways to argue against our moral responsibility to future peoples. I would like to briefly address the weaknesses in arguments which suggest that we should not factor the well-being of future generations into our decision-making. I would then like to address the issue of whether providing for future peoples will result in problems for the present generation. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, I will discuss a weakness which I found in all of the articles, which is: in talking so much about future concerns,it can be easy to lose track of the immediacy of environmental concerns for generations who are already alive. The only real arguments which we read against concern for future peoples were found in the Heilbroner article. Heilbroner quotes two different economists, both of whom seem to raise the same question: why should I care how long the human species lives? One of the economists states that we cant necessarily say that generations who are yet unborn are any better off if they are born than if they are not (quoted in Pojman 277). The... ..., I critiqued the two economists quoted in Heilborns article. To return to them for a minute, both men seemed to miss the point which I just mentioned -- the environmental crisis is not simply a matter of whether or not humans survive. Instead, it is a matter of how we are able to live over the next couple of centuries (and possibly beyond). Will the world continue to be plagued by rising cancer rates? Will the air be adequate to breathe without developing illness or asthma? Will our children have forests to play in? The answer to these questions lies clearly in our hands and in our willingness to take responsibility for the consequences of our actions. Regardless of whether the consequences will occur in twenty minutes, three days or a year, we must be willing to face up to reality instead of always turning to look the other way.

Usability Evaluation and Recommendations

Usability Evaluation and Recommendations For Sixties Press Poetry Magazine IT3210 – Web Systems and Technologies John Winko Capella University Introduction This paper will propose a website redesign for Sixties Press Poetry Magazine located at http://www. sixtiespress. co. uk. The site is owned by Thushari Williams according to Whois and the primary purpose of the site is curating/collecting/publishing various poets’ work that relates to a 1960’s era theme. There does not appear to be any corporate backing to the publication or syndication of any sort.After reading through the tirade of obfuscated source code, it is a safe assumption the site was initially done in an older version of Microsoft Word then saved as a webpage. Site improvements will be recommended based off of a blended heuristic matrix found in appendix 1 formed from Search Engine Journal and usereffect. com. Table of Contents Introduction2 Table of Contents3 Identity4 Structure and layout4 Informat ion architecture and site navigation5 Use of visual elements6 Usability7 Accessibility7 Conclusion8 References9 Appendix 1 – Heuristic Usability Questionnaire10Appendix 2 – Site Navigation and Use Case Scenario14 Identity The website http://www. sixtiespress. co. uk is for a magazine called â€Å"Sixties Press Poetry†. The site has a logo that is replicated at the top of every page but does not have a clear tag line to indicate the purpose of the site. A user has to glean the fact the site is a collaboration of different authors generating 60’s themed poetry from menu items and the body content on the main page. There is not a specific â€Å"About Us† page anywhere on the site and the only contact information is in a small section on the bottom left portion of the homepage.The target audience is anyone seeking poetry with a 60’s theme and critical of poetry publishing processes in place in today’s society. Additionally, there are opti ons for purchasing hard-print magazines chosen from a catalog. These facts are not readily ascertained from the overload of content found on the homepage. The site redesign will give a more concise description of the site’s purpose on the homepage as well as a brief tagline. The amount of content on the homepage will be trimmed down so that the site’s identity and purpose are more readily apparent.Structure and layout From a layout standpoint, the overall wrapping of the body of each page on the site changes with the homepage having a wrapped width of 836px while the poetry page has a fixed width of 989px. This inconsistency leads to extra whitespace for some pages while less or none for other pages based on the user’s browser resolution and size. The body content is also left aligned so all extra whitespace is shown on the right which detracts from easier focus on the central content of pages. All of the pages show the site logo at the top followed by a navigat ion menu.This is considered good design and will not be changed structurally for the site redesign. The homepage uses a 3 column layout while other pages vary from 1 to 3 columns for their layouts. Columns are not distinctive in their content and are structurally disruptive giving the appearance of â€Å"cramming† information into a tighter space. There are apparent sections within the homepage body to delineate different parts of the site but no form of clean navigation to identify a relevant section quickly aside from consolidated coloring for each section.Pages are laid out with tables using blank paragraph tags to add space for formatting. This creates a very different viewing experience across different browsers as each medium has a different set of default values for spacing padding etc. The table widths also vary from page to page and section to section creating different alignments from the fixed position formatting used. The site redesign will eliminate the table str ucture for layout and use floated elements (divisions) to accomplish a more fluid layout. Column structure will follow designs set forth in Appendix 2.Information architecture and site navigation The entire site is broken into about 8 pages branching from the homepage with numerous anchor links used to navigate long pages of poetry. The actual content pages are extremely long, to the point the thumb scroll becomes it’s minimize size at 1920Ãâ€"1080 screen resolution. Given the breadth of information on pages such as â€Å"Poetry. hml†, the architecture could be improved by breaking out pages by author and/or subject. Individual hyperlinks do follow a consistent pattern of being underlined and a hand mouse pointer to indicate that clicking the link is actionable.The actual ordering information for hard print magazines is hidden in a catalog link not listed on the main navigation bar. There are also pages for internal authors that are only accessible from the main page and are not descriptive to being a collection of a specific the respective authors work. The site redesign will encompass using a more description navigation menu to better direct the user if they wish to purchase anything the site has to offer as well as a more intuitive menu and architecture for collective works by author. Use of visual elementsFor a website decided to poetry, the decisions for color and contrast do not follow a typical 60’s theme let alone theming for easier reading. Typically 60’s themed colors include Turquoise, Jade, and Mint Green amongst others (McEvoy, n. d. ), starkly contrasted to the dark red on black shown on the homepage. The â€Å"important† headings all have a random color with an â€Å"XOR’d† background while the menu has the same variation of random colors with a pitch black background. Each subsection of content within the body of the homepage is a different color with additional areas having an offset color sche me.The under-contrasted pages would make viewing the site very difficult for someone that is color blind The background wallpaper on each page has a subtle 60’s them but does not contrast well with the multi-color text of poetry passages or content in general. The font size and space are adequate but the font face itself detracts from the aesthetics of the pages’ content. The majority of the block text uses a â€Å"Black Chancery† font face which is not considered web safe and the site would be better suited to use a standard serif font.An exception can be made to allow for an embedded font such as Bellbottom Laser (Lorvad, 1991) to be used for adding flare to title headings. Usability Rather than using the html pseudo element â€Å"©Ã¢â‚¬  the designer made a picture of their copyright statement and it appears they expanded its size from the original distorting the image quality. The site redesign will use text in place of images used to accomplish to th e same task. The picture of Barry Tebb, one of the authors, requires a java applet to run only to have a non-value added effect of water droplets on a grainy photo.The site redesign will remove the unnecessary applet and use a static image instead. Additionally, the site logo will be linked directly to the homepage making navigation easier. There is a text area on the homepage that contains about 5 paragraphs of text and requires scrolling in a very narrow window. This will be revised into a more useable text block following the same design pattern as the rest of the site. With the exception of archives page, text blocks are limited to less than 80 characters per line making reading easier.Although links are properly anchored and are consistent with being underlined, the redesign will consolidate link colors to preserve thematic relevance. The actual number of links on the homepage will be reduced as its current form has more links than descriptive content detracting from understand ing the purpose of a homepage. Accessibility A W3C validation of the homepage discovered over 130 HTML coding errors and all of the styles were made inline without any use of external CSS. (W3C, 2012) None of the images on the site have alt text to failover if the image failed to load.There is not a concise separation between navigation and content within the code as the home used a table row and other pages used paragraphs as the separating entities. By eliminating the table structure of pages, the site redesign will properly code in HTML5/CSS3 ensuring the viewing experience is consistent across the majority of browsers. The site uses a JavaScript based pop-out menu to assist navigating large pages of poetry but there are numerous compatibility issues that occur. The pop-out menu rests about halfway down the screen and overlaps the body content both when expanded and collapsed.The menu bar beneath the logo is in an intuitive place but â€Å"jumps around† when navigating dif ferent pages since the formatting rules vary between browsers. The site redesign will eliminate the JavaScript based pop-out menu and will instead use a floating sub-menu for individual sections. Conclusion The majority of changes to the site will be thematic in nature, updating the color scheme and positioning. Additional changes will be made to improve the site’s identity starting with revising the homepage and including an â€Å"About Us† page to further expand the site’s purpose.HTML and CSS coding standards and practices will be strictly adhered to ensuring compatibility and proper viewing experience across major browsers. References Cumbrowski, C. (2008, Feb 20). 50 Questions to Evaluate the Quality of Your Website. Retrieved Nov 25, 2012, from Search Engine Journal: http://www. searchenginejournal. com/50-questions-to-evaluate-the-quality-of-your-website/6400/ Lorvad. (1991). BellBottom Laser font. Retrieved Nov 25, 2012, from Fontspace. com: http://www. fontspace. com/lorvad/bellbottom-laser McEvoy, D. (n. d. ). Interior Design Retro Style.Retrieved Nov 25, 2012, from All Things Frugal: http://www. allthingsfrugal. com/retro_interior_design. htm Meyers, D. P. (2012, Feb 10). 25-point Website Usability Checklist. Retrieved Nov 25, 2012, from User Effect: http://www. usereffect. com/topic/25-point-website-usability-checklist W3C. (2012, Nov 25). W3C Markup Validation Service. Retrieved Nov 25, 2012, from World Wide Web Consortium (W3C): http://validator. w3. org/check? uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww. sixtiespress. co. uk%2Findex. htm&charset=%28detect+automatically%29&doctype=Inline&group=0Appendix 1 – Heuristic Usability Questionnaire Navigation 1. Are links labeled with anchor text that provides a clear indication of where they lead? Yes. 2. Depth – what is the maximum number of clicks it takes to reach a page within the depths of the site? All pages are a single click away from the homepage (2 clicks if including anchoring fro m the menu). Given the amount of content on the site it would be more manageable to have a 3 click architecture to more concisely filter and arrange content (by author/by subject). 3.If a splash screen or navigation feature is provided in a Java/JavaScript/Flash format, is a text-based alternative also available? Yes, a JavaScript pop out menu is feature on long pages of poetry and a text version is available at the top of the page. 4. Do clickable items stylistically indicate that they are clickable? Yes, all items that are underlined are linked to some content and the mouse pointer changes to a hand to indicate that the click will be actionable. 5. How intuitive is it to navigate? Are signs obvious or obscured?In a general sense the navigation is intuitive but far from consistent with the layout changes between different pages. The pop-out menu is intuitive in IE but not in other browsers (actual clickable area is not visible). 6. Main navigation is easily identifiable. Mostly yes , however there is a page that contains revenue generation from ordering magazine that is not shown in the navigation bar or easily identifiable. Additionally there are pages that are specific to internal authors that are only accessible from the main page. 7. Navigation labels are clear & concise.Textually relevant yes but thematically difficult to read. 8. Number of buttons/links is reasonable. No, there are links to too many different areas on the homepage detracting from being concise. The homepage itself has more link than actual content. 9. Company logo is linked to home? page. No. 10. Links are consistent & easy to identify. All links are underlined but thematically change very regularly from size and color. An exception exists for the clickable area for each of the links, clicking to high on the text has no effect. Accessibility 1.Is content structurally separate from navigational elements? The navigation menu on the home page is separated from other content by a tag but on subsequent pages is contained in a tag. There is not a concise separation between navigation and content. 2. Is the website cross-browser compatible? No. The layout is achieved using tables and paragraph blanks and the viewing experience was different between Firefox, Chrome and IE. 3. How compliant is the website with W3C coding standards? Valid HTML/CSS? No, a W3C validation resulted in over 130 errors.The pages only contain inline styles with no external or embedded CSS. 4. Are ‘alt’ tags in place on all significant images? No, there are not alt tags used for any images. 5. Are text-based alternatives in place to convey essential information if this is featured within images or multimedia files? No, on top of alt text being absent, the java applet containing a photo on the main page does not fail safely and left as an empty area. 6. Site load? time is reasonable? Yes, there are very few pictures and most pages consist primarily of text in the form of poems/poetry. . Adequate text? to? background contrast? No. The featured articles page has text color very close to the background color while the navigation items are too contrasted in difference. 8. Flash & add? ons are used sparingly. Yes, but the sole java applet add-on used has no specific utility or purpose. The JavaScript pop-out menu does not load correctly across all browsers and is completely cut off from use in Chrome and Firefox. 9. Site has custom not? found/404 page. No. (Requires a server side change so not applicable) Identity 1.Company logo is prominently placed. Yes 2. Clear statement of PURPOSE of the site? Purpose does not become clear within a few seconds without reading much or no text copy at all. Assumptions have to be made from the text in the logo and menu to find out it is a magazine about poetry. 3. Who is the target audience? The site is meant for anyone seeking 60’s era poetry and those looking to purchase a copy of the print magazine. 4. Tagline makes company ’s purpose clear. No tagline present. It is assumed the site is about poetry after reading through the body content. . Home? page is digestible in 5 seconds. No, there are multiple vectors the eyes are drawn to which makes getting an overall view more difficult. There are laundry lists of authors, selected readings and selected sections for each subpage of the site on the homepage. 6. Clear path to company information. No specific â€Å"About Us† page listed and had to specifically perform a WHOIS search to determine true site ownership. The homepage does contain a clause that specifies original copyright remains with respective authors and images were courtesy of Leeds Library. . Clear path to contact information? Not really, there are contact details on the bottom left corner of the homepage but not specifically listed as official site contact. Design 1. Is the site’s design aesthetically appealing? No, the color scheme alone makes the site very unappealing. T he stark contrasts set against the â€Å"swirling† background makes focusing difficult and the left aligned nature draws too much attention to the whitespace left on the right side of the screen. 2. Are the colors used harmonious and logically related?No, colors seem extremely random in nature although they are logically related to sections (one color for each section). 3. Are the color choices visually accessible? No, some parts have color themes that are too starkly contrasted while others are not contrasted enough to allow easier reading. It would be very difficult for someone color blind to absorb a lot of the content. 4. Is the design audience appropriate? Yes, the font size is appropriate for older audiences and those wishing to â€Å"retro† to 60’s content. 5. Font size/spacing is easy to read?Font size and spacing is adequate. 6. Readability and appropriate type face? No, there are multiple different fonts used and the specific fonts do not add to the re adability or theme of the website. The â€Å"Black Chancery† font use predominately for block text is not considering a web safe font. Content 1. Is the website copy succinct but informative? There are continuous sections of poetry that detracts from being â€Å"succinct† but the content only design can be considered informative. 2. Does the copywriting style suit the website’s purpose and ‘speak’ to its target audience?There is an attempt at using vibrant colors resembling 60’s design but that attempt falls short of effectively speaking this to the audience. 3. Are bodies of text constrained to

Rhetorical Appeals Essay

A pet is defined as a domestic or tamed animal or bird kept for companionship or pleasure and treated with care and affection. Some people believe that pets are the most loyal friends you will ever have. Anyone who owns or has previously owned a type of pet, whether it be a dog, cat, fish, rabbit, or anything else, understands what it is like to have something so innocent depend on you. When purchasing a pet, you are taking on the responsibility of nurturing and caring for someone other than yourself. I chose a commercial by the ASPCA that raises awareness about animal abuse. The goal of the ASPCA is â€Å"to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States.† I chose this commercial because I am an avid animal lover and I have both a dog and a cat at home. They are a part of my family, and I would never let anything bad happen to them or mistreat them. The thought of poor animals being abused or neglected for no reason at all disturbs me beyond belief. Why would someone choose to purposely abuse an innocent creature who has no way to defend itself, and has done nothing wrong? I do not understand people who do this. Through this essay, I want to state the reasons why I was attracted to this commercial and how it swayed me to support the association. Additionally, my goal for this piece is to represent how rhetorical appeals can be used not only in writing, but also in media. Even though this commercial is most likely geared more towards animal lovers, it does an excellent job of grabbing the attention of viewers who may not have a strong connection with animals in their own lives. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eXfvRcllV8 ************** Rhetorical Analysis through Animal Cruelty Imagine that you are walking through the mall and notice the pet store on your way to the nearest Macy’s. In the window of the pet store you see two healthy, happy, golden retriever puppies waiting for someone to come take them to a permanent home. You are in awe of how adorable they are. Unfortunately, you cannot afford a puppy right at that moment, so you move forward with your errands at Macy’s. Later that day, as you are driving home, you drive through a neighborhood that is in poor shape. Out in the front yard of one of the houses, there is a fenced yard with a somewhat large dog standing in the grass. As you drive by, you notice that the dog is extremely skinny and you can see the dog’s rib cage through its skin. Also, the dog seems to be limping around the yard. Twenty minutes later, you finally arrive home and the image of the poor dog is still in the back of your mind. You think to yourself how anyone could possibly treat an innocent animal that way. In 2006, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) created a commercial starring famous singer/song writer, Sarah McLachlan, to raise awareness towards animal abuse and to raise money to help the thousands of mistreated animals in the United States. The commercial starts out with clips of abused animals and slides with facts about these animals, and then moves on to Sarah McLachlan giving a speech about the society and how it would be beneficial to donate money to the foundation. All three of the rhetorical appeals (pathos, ethos, logos, and kairos) are used in this commercial in order to sway the opinion of viewers towards being against animal cruelty and helping to save the lives of countless animals. The first two rhetorical appeals used in the ASPCA commercial are pathos and kairos. They are demonstrated in multiple ways throughout the commercial. The first emotional appeal that viewers will notice is the somewhat sad music in the background, which is Sarah McLachlan’s â€Å"Angel†. Just listening to this song will evoke sadness. This is because the lyrics of the song are mildly depressing, and an example of this would be the lyrics â€Å"You’re in the arms of the angel, may you find comfort here.† These lyrics are symbolic towards the commercial because the ASPCA would be considered the angel, and the animals who are saved by the foundation would be able to â€Å"find comfort† when they are rescued. The next element in the commercial is the slideshow of pictures and videos of abused animals that plays along with McLachlan’s song. These pictures show many different types of animals that have been physically abused and malnourished. The melancholy music, along with these images, cause viewers to feel for the animals and want to help them. Thus, using pathos to cause the viewers to lean towards helping these innocent creatures, instead of ignoring the issue. Kairos is used in the way that everything in the commercial has perfect timing. The music immediately starts playing, which effects viewer’s emotions. Every element of the commercial comes in at the perfect time and is organized in the right way to persuade viewers. Ethos is the next rhetorical approach used in persuading the viewers to help the ASPCA and to stand against animal-related violence. Famous singer/song writer, Sarah McLachlan, is featured in multiple ASPCA commercials and is a strong supporter of rescuing animals in need and helping to raise awareness about animal abuse and neglect. In the video, she is petting a yellow lab, giving the impression that she is an animal lover and wants to help them. Also, the music playing in the background is Sarah’s song referenced above, which adds sincerity to the commercial. â€Å"Angel† was not written specifically for the commercial, but because the meaning of the song is relevant to the ASPCA’s cause, it was used. Viewers who see a celebrity such as her representing this organization may be more inclined to donate to the ASPCA. Although, some might question whether or not McLachlan is an expert on the subject and if the information she gives is credible. Towards the end of the video, she says â€Å"that for just $18 a month, you can save many animals from their abusers.† Through this statement, she causes viewers to feel like they will make a difference and become heroes, if they donate their money. By emphasizing the price, McLachlan wants convey to viewers that just a small amount of money, can go a long way in helping the foundation. This is a prime example of ethos because McLachlan uses her music fame to encourage the audience to support the organization, even though she is not an expert concerning animal abuse. Logos is the final rhetorical approach that ASPCA uses in their anti-animal abuse commercials. Certain facts are listed in order to show that this organization has made a difference in order to rescue animals that are abused and/or neglected. However, these facts cause the logical appeal to be weak because they are quite broad and non-specific. For example, the commercial stated that in the last year, thousands of animals were rescued. Then, it continues to say that for thousands of other animals, help came too late. This statement proclaims that there is a large number of animals who need to be rescued and/or helped, but it does not give specific statistical evidence as to exactly how many animals are in need. The amount of animals listed that need rescued may seem exaggerated, because there is not a specific number given. Also, it could seem like a rhetorical fallacy. For those who need these facts in order to be convinced of an argument, this may cause the viewer to lose interest or not believe the information in the commercial. In conclusion, I chose this ASPCA commercial primarily because of the way it appealed to my emotions. I was immediately drawn in while watching it and could not look away. The strongest rhetorical element for this commercial is pathos because of the strong emotional relation it creates. Ethos is equally represented in the commercial as well because of the celebrity reputation of Sarah McLachlan and her starring role in trying to convince viewers to help out the ASPCA through donation. Kairos is also well embodied through the element of excellent timing, and how each part of the commercial fell into perfect rhythm. Logos is the weakest rhetorical appeal represented because the facts listed are not detailed and quite general. Accordingly, I would argue that this commercial is extremely effective in showing the general public the seriousness of animal abuse. And because of this, viewers are more inclined to contribute to the association.