Assessment Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Assessment Analysis - Essay Example Hence, educating the ESOL students with intellectual programs such as IT can emerge as a challenging process. It is worth mentioning in this regard that effective learning of IT requires the learners to possess skills in terms of numeracy and language application where the ESOL students are commonly observed to lack behind (Lawton & Turnbull, 2007; Kambouri & et. al., 2006). It is in this context that the effectiveness of a particular learning process, such as IT, depends on its assessment process by a considerable extent where the limitations possessed by individual ESOL students are addressed and mitigated within the classroom environment (Rust, 2002). Reviewing Two Assessment Methods The assessment method of observation in the classroom provides an opportunity to teachers to effectively and rationally recognize the various developmental needs of individual students from a comparative perspective. Observation also allows teachers to conduct continuous interaction with the students and gain better knowledge regarding their perceptions, individual competencies, individual limitations and other factors which strongly influence their behaviour as well as learning performances with regard to learning IT skills. Additionally, observation also assists in the proper identification of the distinctive learning needs among the students by allowing the comparison of one student with their peers in the classroom setting. It can be stated that as IT skills consist of diverse practical skills, thus observation can be regarded as a key assessment method. This method can significantly facilitate to enhance the level of motivation of a learner as development needs and lacunas can be better assessed by this method (Crown, 2004). Another assessment method that has proved to be quite effective when teaching IT to ESOL students is the application of practical tests. As mentioned by Kambouri & et. al. (2006), literacy skills are highly required among students when learning IT. Howe ver, owing to the behavioural limitations of the ESOL students and lack of knowledge in English language, the literacy rate is quite likely to differ from one group to the other as well as in the individual level as well. It is in this context that the practical test process aims at evaluating the literacy skills possessed by the students based on quantitative raking system where the learners are required to solve few IT problems through multiple-choice questioning by applying their obtained knowledge and skills learnt through the education process. Strengths and Weaknesses of Observation and Practical Test Assessment Methods Observation Method Strengths: Through continuous observation, teachers can maintain a record of students to identify the IT related skills as well as limitations possessed by individual students which are often non-verbally communicated by the students’ attitudes This process allows the observers, i.e. the teachers to prepare the IT related tasks accordi ng to the requirements and capabilities of the learners Comparison of the development of one student in comparison to the other with regard to

Medium Of Defamation In The Cyberspace Media Essay

Medium Of Defamation In The Cyberspace Media Essay Defamation is potentially one of the largest areas of law which will be affected by the internet revolution as it deals, quite simply, with communication between people  [1]  . The internet provides a new means to facilitate this communication and so is an ideal forum for free speech, a practice which can often lead to vituperative and contumelious language  [2]  . A communication is defamatory if it tends so to harm the reputation of another as to lower him in the estimation of the community or to deter third persons from associating or dealing with him.  [3]   With the aim to injure the reputation of the victim and in particular to cause him (or her) to be regarded with feelings of hatred, contempt, ridicule, fear, dislike or disesteem is part of the objective of the defamation  [4]  . The defamer or the defendant can be taken into custody for his/her action if the plaintiff thinks that the information given in the cyberspace is false, inappropriate and resulting lowering down the plaintiff reputation. Depending on different countries and regions, the punishment for defamation in the cyberspace is varies due to its law. Some country for example Brunei can take 5 years prisons for the punishment. It is not only the author or originator of a defamatory statement that may be liable for the publication of that statement; rather, defamation law ensures that anyone who plays a significant role in the act of republication or redistribution of defamatory message will be held responsible for that message  [5]  . This objective of this paper is to determine jurisdiction on the regional cases of defamation in Brunei and Malaysia. Other than that, this paper also explains medium of defamation in the cyberspace, the effects of the defamation to the victim, the punishment to the defamer and the court action with the case. BRUNEI AND MALAYSIA DEFAMATION LAW Both Brunei and Malaysia defamation law are based on the English Common Law  [6]  . MALAYSIA DEFAMATION LAW Malaysia Defamation Act are the Malaysian Defamation Act 1957 for civil cases and the Penal Code of Malaysia Section 499 Section 503 for criminal cases  [7]  . This law does not define defamation. It recognized two forms of defamation only that is libel and slander. There are distinct differences of these two forms of defamation. The difference lies in the means or medium by which the defamatory material is communicated. It used to be a fundamental distinction that between a written or printed word which is concludes as libel and spoken words which are considered as slander. Both libel and slander are civil and criminal offences. Thus, a person who is guilty of libel or slander may be sued in court, and also face jail sentence. In civil cases, the person so defamed will normally sue the maker of the defamatory words for compensation. The amount of the compensation depends on the damage caused to the reputation of the person suing. In criminal cases, the punishment for defamation is a jail sentence for a maximum of two years, or a fine, or a combination of a jail sentence and a fine [Section 500-502 Penal Code]. But, nowadays the general view of libel is whether the publication is in a permanent form, in other forms it is a slander. Defamation in a permanent forms and is usually visible to the eye, such as items in writing, email, pictures, statutes or effigies. Section 3 of the Defamation Act 1957 stated that broadcasting of words by means of radio communication shall be treated as communication in a permanent form. BRUNEI DEFAMATION LAW The Defamation Act of Brunei Darussalam, which was revised in 2000, punishes libel or slander by means of broadcasting, telecommunication or publication by newspaper.  [8]  Like Malaysia, the laws also governing both libel and slander are identical. Bloggers should also be aware that under the Brunei Defamation Act, a blog post for the purpose of the law of libel and slander, may be considered the equivalent to broadcasting of words by means of telecommunication and as such will be treated as publication. Even though the defamatory content on the Internet can be deleted, there is a possibility that the post can be recovered through a cache, and thus can be admitted into evidence  [9]  . Though there has not been any major case of litigation concerning blogs and bloggers in Brunei, the neighboring countries of Malaysia and Singapore have had cases which have resulted in imprisonment for comments made by bloggers  [10]  . Under Section 500 of Bruneis Penal Code, whoever defames another can be imprisoned for a term of up to 5 years and a fine  [11]  . MEDIUM OF DEFAMATION IN THE CYBERSPACE Based on Lilian Edwards study, she define that there are at least four distinct sites where defamation may occur in the cyberspace that can usefully be separated out, as to some extent they raise distinct problems  [12]  . One to one email messages Compared to the traditional written mail (via postal), transmission of email is virtually instantaneous and usually, once sent, is irrevocable. As a result, email correspondence is often in substance more like spoken conversation than written interaction  [13]  . Interaction and communication between two are becoming no limitless which can turn out to be legally actionable. Mailing List The format of an electronic mailing list is that various parties subscribe by email to the list, which is administered by some central host. The subject of discussion of the list may be anything from Internet law to real ale to homosexual fantasies. Usually the list is set up so that, by default, any email message sent by any one subscriber to the list is bounced or exploded out to every other subscriber. Carelessness can lead to the user think they reply only to the maker but actually the user sends their reply to the every member in the list. The embarrassment factor can be considerable, particularly where the members of the list form a small professional community within which the professional reputation of the person defamed can be severely damaged  [14]  . Newsgroup Newsgroups are discussion forum which are made up of comments from their subscribers, sorted by subject matter. All it takes is to subscribe and post comments to the newsgroup  [15]  . Collectively, the newsgroups available to Internet users are sometimes known as the Usenet  [16]  . There are something like 14,000 Usenet newsgroups subscribed to en masse by millions of subscribers, located in every country where there is Internet access. As a result, any comment posted to a Usenet newsgroup is virtually guaranteed to be published, and read, within days if not hours, in many hundreds of national jurisdictions. As can be imagined, the volume of material published in these forums is enormous one estimate is that around 4 million articles are available at any particular time  [17]  . Therefore, the probability of defamation cases in the newsgroup is higher. The World Wide Web Like newsgroups, Web sites can be accessed and read in multiple jurisdictions, and they therefore share many of the problems of transnational publication discussed above. But perhaps the major unique problem with the Web is how far it allows any individual to mimic traditional publishing at very low cost. Home pages can be set up which do a good job of looking like electronic journals or glossy magazines and which can be extremely attractive, with good design and graphic content  [18]  . However many of the parties setting up Web sites often fans of popular music or TV programmes, students, pressure groups, or amateur associations are not already hard copy or traditional publishers, have no knowledge of the law of defamation or libel, and may well find themselves publishing defamatory statements without fully appreciating their potential liability  [19]  . LIABILITY OF INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS The key role of ISPs is to provide access to the Internet for their subscribers. This access includes allowing subscribers both to read and write to Usenet newsgroups and to surf the Web. ISPs also sometimes host local discussion forum and almost invariably agree to act as physical hosts to Web pages set up by their subscribers (generally to a maximum storage of a few megabytes)  [20]  . In all these cases, the ISP runs the risk of being regarded as the publisher of libelous remarks, originated by another person, but published by them in one of these forums. As per mention before, any repetition or re-publication of a defamatory statement is in itself actionable. Action is possible against all intervening persons who are responsible for repeating, publishing or otherwise circulating the defamation  [21]  . Therefore, any republish or repeating, the victim can choose whether to sue original defamer or the re-publisher or both and in many cases, ISP were usually being sued due to the money issue rather than suing the original author. HOW IS DEFAMATION PUNISHED Defamation is usually a civil offence, although it can be a criminal matter under special circumstances.  [22]   CIVIL DEFAMATION Most complaints of defamation are dealt with under civil law. That means that cases go to a civil court and are punished by awarding money (called damages) against the person found to have committed the offence, usually called the defendant. If someone takes you to court for defamation, they will be the plaintiff, you will be the defendant.  [23]   In civil defamation, the principle is the same as for someone who has been physically injured as a result of someone elses actions, either through carelessness or a planned attack. The injured person may take the other person (or people) to court. If successful, the injured person will be awarded a sum of money as compensation. This money will be paid by the person who did the damage.  [24]   DAMAGES There are several kinds of damages a court can award, either separately or together.  [25]   General or Compensatory damages which a court may award for a persons loss of reputation, shame or hurt feelings. The payment to the plaintiff may be at small amount of money. Special damages compensate for any loss of business or earnings the plaintiff may have suffered as a result of the defamation. These could also include any money the plaintiff has spent as a result of the defamation, for example in sending letters to clients denying the allegations. Aggravated damages this can be awarded if the court thinks that the defamation was deliberate, possibly out of ill-will or any other improper motive (usually referred to as malice, which we discussed earlier). Punitive or Exemplary damages which may sometimes be awarded if the defamation is so extreme that the court feels the need to punish you or warn other journalists against similar conduct. Damages are usually large in the case of media organisations because the courts think that they can pay more for their mistakes than individuals can. CRIMINAL DEFAMATION Defamation can also be a criminal offence, which means that those found guilty could be fined or sent to prison or both. This is much less common than civil defamation.  [26]   A charge of criminal defamation can be brought if the words, pictures or gestures use provoke resulting riots, mob violence or other breaches of the public peace. For this reason, the prosecution does not have to prove publication to a third party. It is enough that the person the defendent are referring to hears the words (or sees the gestures) and reacts violently. However, unlike civil defamation, the prosecution will have to prove that the words complained of were malicious. In civil defamation the words may be malicious, but in criminal defamation they must be.  [27]   SOCIAL MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES Social media technologies are part of the cyberspace. It include blogs, picture sharing, email, instant messaging, vlogs and other medium that allow to be democratically interactive in ways unlike radio, television, or highly edited letters pages of newspapers and magazine. Below is some case law and summaries that happen in Brunei and Malaysia which relate with defamation in cyberspace. Facebook is a popular free social networking website that allows registered users to create profiles, upload photos and video, send messages and keep in touch with friends, family and colleague  [28]  . One recent and well-known case in Brunei with regards to Facebook Upload is Adi Adip  [29]  case where the defendant had uploaded his ex-girlfriends (Miss X) obscene picture and video clip on the Facebook. The reason for his action is to insult Miss Xs modesty as well as to get her attention after she had broken off her relationship with the defendant. The plaintiff report this issue to the police once she discovered the Facebook account is under her name, managed by the defendant and containing the obscene pictures and video clips involving herself. The court ordered for the iPhone used by the defendant to be forfeited and all photos and videos related to the case was seized and disposed of, including copies, immediately. This is one case example from Brunei of the defamation in cyberspace. Other than that, the defendant was send to jail for 10 months. In Malaysia, over the past years, Malaysians have been increasingly engaged in virtual communities and online interactions. Some have led to positive outcomes, but some of these virtual arenas have been exploited, tarnishing the true potential of the Internet  [30]  . In case of Jeff Ooi and Rocky Bru  [31]  case, this is the first time in Malaysia that a prominent media organization filed a suit against bloggers. Jeff Oois Screenshot become a topic of debate when he retracted all his libelous allegations in weblog against the New Straits Times. Raja Petra Kamaruddin is a Malaysian editor known for running Malaysia Today website. He published a series of commentary article on Malaysia politics in the website. There are a lot of cases relate to him which include both Civil and Criminal offences. Some of his cases are: Nordin Kardi UUM v RPK (2008) Lt-Col Aziz Buyong Lt-Col Norhayati Hassan v RPK (2008) Datuk Muhammad Shafee Abdullah v RPK (2008) Public Prosecutor v RPK (2008) Due to large number of cases he was being suit, he was arrested by the authorities. He was detained under the Internal Security Act on 12th September 2008 under section 73, 60 days detention by Police Officer and again on 24th September 2008, under section 8(1) which he was detained for 2 years by the Minister. CONCLUSION As mention earlier in this paper, the objective of this paper is to determine jurisdiction on the regional cases of defamation in Brunei and Malaysia. This paper also explains medium of defamation in the cyberspace, the effects of the defamation to the victim, the punishment to the defamer and the court action with the case. Weve found that there are 4 distinct medium of defamation in the cyberspace one to one email messages, mailing list, newsgroup and the World Wide Web  [32]  . As we know, defamation can result to injure the reputation of the victim and in particular to cause him (or her) to be regarded with feelings of hatred, contempt, ridicule, fear, dislike or disesteem.

Electronics :: essays research papers

Electronics The invention of the microprocessor in 1971 was a huge milestone that eventually changed everyone's everyday lives. This invention enabled the world to own a personal computer in their home as well as their office. People were able to work more efficiently and progressively with these new electronic devices.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Electronics today provides the world with an infinite amount of information at a much faster speed than that information would ever have been available before. The American public is dependent on the usage of many electronics in their lives such as the television, audio receivers, and amplifiers to stay updated on world-wide issues. Electronics also provide a superior tool for progression in the business world today. Business people rely on electronics to communicate with each other faster and to store and quickly organize vast amounts of essential data.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Electronics are improving at a blindingly fast rate. The newest technology from five years ago is literally obsolete today. Electronics are also being used for new purposes continuously. The Internet, or World Wide Web, is a relatively new concept of being â€Å"on-line†. This new project has opened a limitless number of doors for our society. Now anyone can use the Internet to communicate with anybody else in the world a lot faster and cheaper. Cellular phones have also appeared recently in the electronic world. These devices allow a person to be reached from practically anywhere. With cellular phones a person can, from then on, be in communication with the world no matter where they go.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For the next generation, electronics will certainly offer new yet simpler technology available to the general public. Home addresses and phone numbers will be replaced with Internet addresses. Business people will be able to have access to tools such as video conferencing and such in their homes. The workplace will ultimately become obsolete. Transportation vehicles will be dominated by electric cars as natural gas supplies decline around the globe. New procedures for creating power will be found and utilized. The current and upcoming advances in technology will create a steady rise of the progression of the everyday living experience.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I plan to enroll in a very prestigious university after high school and major in electrical engineering. I plan to contribute my time during my studies toward new possible designs of electronics and technology. I realize that innovative minds are the backbone of the direction technology will take and,

Deception Point Page 9

Now she had gotten as close as anyone could get. Gabrielle recalled the night she had spent with Sexton in his plush office, and she cringed, trying to block out the embarrassing images in her mind. What was I thinking? She knew she should have resisted, but somehow she'd found herself unable. Sedgewick Sexton had been an idol of hers for so long†¦ and to think he wanted her. The limousine hit a bump, jarring her thoughts back to the present. â€Å"You okay?† Sexton was watching her now. Gabrielle flashed a hurried smile. â€Å"Fine.† â€Å"You aren't still thinking about that drudge, are you?† She shrugged. â€Å"I'm still a little worried, yeah.† â€Å"Forget it. The drudge was the best thing that ever happened to my campaign.† A drudge, Gabrielle had learned the hard way, was the political equivalent of leaking information that your rival used a penis enlarger or subscribed to Stud Muffin magazine. Drudging wasn't a glamorous tactic, but when it paid off, it paid off big. Of course, when it backfired†¦ And backfire, it had. For the White House. About a month ago, the President's campaign staff, unsettled by the slipping polls, had decided to get aggressive and leak a story they suspected to be true – that Senator Sexton had engaged in an affair with his personal assistant, Gabrielle Ashe. Unfortunately for the White House, there was no hard evidence. Senator Sexton, a firm believer in the best defense is a strong offense, seized the moment for attack. He called a national press conference to proclaim his innocence and outrage. I cannot believe, he said, gazing into the cameras with pain in his eyes, that the President would dishonor my wife's memory with these malicious lies. Senator Sexton's performance on TV was so convincing that Gabrielle herself practically believed they had not slept together. Seeing how effortlessly he lied, Gabrielle realized that Senator Sexton was indeed a dangerous man. Lately, although Gabrielle was certain she was backing the strongest horse in this presidential race, she had begun to question whether she was backing the best horse. Working closely with Sexton had been an eye-opening experience – akin to a behind-the-scenes tour of Universal Studios, where one's childlike awe over the movies is sullied by the realization that Hollywood isn't magic after all. Although Gabrielle's faith in Sexton's message remained intact, she was beginning to question the messenger. 10 â€Å"What I am about to tell you, Rachel,† the President said, â€Å"is classified ‘UMBRA.' Well beyond your current security clearance.† Rachel felt the walls of Air Force One closing in around her. The President had flown her to Wallops Island, invited her onboard his plane, poured her coffee, told her flat out that he intended to use her to political advantage against her own father, and now he was announcing he intended to give her classified information illegally. However affable Zach Herney appeared on the surface, Rachel Sexton had just learned something important about him. This man took control in a hurry. â€Å"Two weeks ago,† the President said, locking eyes with her, â€Å"NASA made a discovery.† The words hung a moment in the air before Rachel could process them. A NASA discovery? Recent intelligence updates had suggested nothing out of the ordinary going on with the space agency. Of course, these days a â€Å"NASA discovery† usually meant realizing they'd grossly under budgeted some new project. â€Å"Before we talk further,† the President said, â€Å"I'd like to know if you share your father's cynicism over space exploration.† Rachel resented the comment. â€Å"I certainly hope you didn't call me here to ask me to control my father's rants against NASA.† He laughed. â€Å"Hell, no. I've been around the Senate long enough to know that nobody controls Sedgewick Sexton.† â€Å"My father is an opportunist, sir. Most successful politicians are. And unfortunately NASA has made itself an opportunity.† The recent string of NASA errors had been so unbearable that one either had to laugh or cry – satellites that disintegrated in orbit, space probes that never called home, the International Space Station budget rising tenfold and member countries bailing out like rats from a sinking ship. Billions were being lost, and Senator Sexton was riding it like a wave – a wave that seemed destined to carry him to the shores of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. â€Å"I will admit,† the President continued, â€Å"NASA has been a walking disaster area lately. Every time I turn around, they give me yet another reason to slash their funding.† Rachel saw her opening for a foothold and took it. â€Å"And yet, sir, didn't I just read that you bailed them out last week with another three million in emergency funding to keep them solvent?† The President chuckled. â€Å"Your father was pleased with that one, wasn't he?† â€Å"Nothing like sending ammunition to your executioner.† â€Å"Did you hear him on Nightline? ‘Zach Herney is a space addict, and the taxpayers are funding his habit.'† â€Å"But you keep proving him right, sir.† Herney nodded. â€Å"I make it no secret that I'm an enormous fan of NASA. I always have been. I was a child of the space race – Sputnik, John Glenn, Apollo 11 – and I have never hesitated to express my feelings of admiration and national pride for our space program. In my mind, the men and women of NASA are history's modern pioneers. They attempt the impossible, accept failure, and then go back to the drawing board while the rest of us stand back and criticize.† Rachel remained silent, sensing that just below the President's calm exterior was an indignant rage over her father's endless anti-NASA rhetoric. Rachel found herself wondering what the hell NASA had found. The President was certainly taking his time coming to the point. â€Å"Today,† Herney said, his voice intensifying, â€Å"I intend to change your entire opinion of NASA.† Rachel eyed him with uncertainty. â€Å"You have my vote already, sir. You may want to concentrate on the rest of the country.† â€Å"I intend to.† He took a sip of coffee and smiled. â€Å"And I'm going to ask you to help me.† Pausing, he leaned toward her. â€Å"In a most unusual way.† Rachel could now feel Zach Herney scrutinizing her every move, like a hunter trying to gauge if his prey intended to run or fight. Unfortunately, Rachel saw nowhere to run. â€Å"I assume,† the President said, pouring them both more coffee, â€Å"that you're aware of a NASA project called EOS?† Rachel nodded. â€Å"Earth Observation System. I believe my father has mentioned EOS once or twice.† The weak attempt at sarcasm drew a frown from the President. The truth was that Rachel's father mentioned the Earth Observation System every chance he got. It was one of NASA's most controversial big-ticket ventures – a constellation of five satellites designed to look down from space and analyze the planet's environment: ozone depletion, polar ice melt, global warming, rainforest defoliation. The intent was to provide environmentalists with never before seen macroscopic data so that they could plan better for earth's future. Unfortunately, the EOS project had been wrought with failure. Like so many NASA projects of late, it had been plagued with costly overruns right from the start. And Zach Herney was the one taking the heat. He had used the support of the environmental lobby to push the $1.4 billion EOS project through Congress. But rather than delivering the promised contributions to global earth science, EOS had spiraled quickly into a costly nightmare of failed launches, computer malfunctions, and somber NASA press conferences. The only smiling face lately was that of Senator Sexton, who was smugly reminding voters just how much of their money the President had spent on EOS and just how lukewarm the returns had been.

Existentialism and Metamorphosis Essay

Existentialism is defined as a modern philosophical movement stressing the importance of one’s experience and accountability. Its focus is the make on the personal reflections that these make on the individual, who is seen as a free agent in a deterministic and seemingly meaningless universe. Its philosophy is meticulous that, in a nutshell, advocates a diverse arsenal of responses and solutions to the ‘existentialist attitude’; which, essentially, is what an individual feels when confronted by the absurdity of life. Throughout humanity, rumination and self-proclaimed ‘ultimate’ truths have assumed various forms: poetry, religion, and numerous other doctrines and textual works. In The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka narrates the ramifications of a metamorphosis in which the subject and protagonist, a man named Gregor Samsa, is transformed into a bug. Despite the novella’s literary methods and influences, the most prominent being the way Kafka so nonchalantly describes such irregularity in his life, The Metamorphosis is also hailed as a prime textual work of existentialism, the previously mentioned philosophical movement. Both prior and subsequent to the transformation, Kafka portrays Gregor as a man who seems lost within himself, and lacking identity. The reminiscences of his past are neither nostalgic nor poignant: his human life is seen to revolve solely around trivial matters. His social life pays the price from this, his failure to assert a concrete and consistent existence. The extent of his lack of individuality is further exemplified by his reaction to the metamorphosis: finding himself â€Å"transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect† (K afka, 296), he prioritizes work over all else, even in his newly equated insect form. Furthermore, he panics because â€Å"the next train went at seven o’clock; to catch that he would need to hurry like mad and his samples weren’t even packed up† (297). Gregor’s identity crisis is a device for conveying Kafka’s belief of an impersonal society where individualism is drastically mitigated as a result of excessive materialism. Gregor, in the context of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Notes from Underground analogy, would be the ‘ant’ in the anthill— thus rendering his metamorphosis ironically. Another dominant theme prevalent throughout the novella is the absurd situation Gregor is confronted by. These nonsensical happenings (296-327) reflect the world as seen from the existentialist perspective: a world absent of a rational and comprehensive objective. Jean-Paul Sartre postulated that ‘every existing thing is born without reason, prolongs itself out of weakness, and dies by chance’. This meaninglessness is precisely what Gregor is victim to in the microcosm of society that Kafka generates: Gregor flounders about, beleaguered by absurdity and helplessness, presumably because he is unaware of Nietzsche and Kierkegaard’s somewhat consoling conclusions that one must devise meaning for one’s own existence ex nihilo. Once again, Kafka utilizes a combination of plot and character to convey his angst concerning an apparently pointless existence. Freedom— or rather the lack thereof— is another existentialist tenet that Kafka addresses. Gregor is depicted as someone constrained by self-imposed burdens, the most demanding being the role as the financial pillar of the family. Despite having the freedom to repudiate this role, Gregor instead pursues it with feverish ardor to the extent that it becomes his ‘sole desire’ (310). Yet his harangue regarding his career (297-298) reveals that this is not due to personal desire, but rather the belief that he must replace his father financially, regardless of preference. Gregor’s delusion regarding an absence of choice contradicts what Kafka perceives as the truth: that freedom is ubiquitous in spite of any ethical obligations we may be expected to adhere to, and that the individual defines his or herself via one’s decisions. A quasi-motto of existentialism coined by Sartre, ‘existence precedes essence’. In conclusion, Kafka employs the fictional literary elements he constructs to address the very non-fictional, existentialist aspects of society and life. Akin to Dostoyevsky’s Notes from Underground, it can be interpreted as both a rumination and tirade against impersonal communities, restriction of freedom, and the absurdity of life.