Wednesday, October 30, 2019

English as a Second Language Learning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

English as a Second Language Learning - Essay Example Yule also outlines six traits inherent in language but are not all realized in animal communication. Therefore, animal communication may exhibit some of them but not all of them. This includes the following: First of all is the notion of duality in which language is organized at two distinct levels which makes it possible to produce different meanings from combining same segments. For instance, b ,a , and d can be combined to produce dab and bad which have totally different meanings.(†¦ibid)Secondly, animals have a bistratal communication system while humans have a tristatal one. The bistratal system unlike its counterpart cannot be manipulated to produce different messages. A case in point is the mowing of a cow. This could be interpreted differently depending on the context. It could mean it needs grass, or water or calling out for its young one. Human language on the contrary as seen before combines different segments uniquely in order to vary the meanings.Displacement also i ndicates a variation because unlike animals, humans have the ability of expressing events that are far removed from time. Their grammar is developed and expresses the past through past tense and the future time aspect for things to come. Animal communication does not allow for such.Moreover, human language is arbitrary. There is no natural relationship between a word and its meaning. For example, preacher, vicar and clergy all refer the same person but there is no relationship between the sign and the signified.

Monday, October 28, 2019

East Asian Buddhism Essay Example for Free

East Asian Buddhism Essay The Ghost festival, the second most important festival of the year, is an event in which features of Buddhism are most relevant in Chinese culture. The ritual, by essence, belongs to the living and the dead – it creates a harmony between the two, as well as that between the individual, society and nature in its performance. Its Chinese term, Yu lan pen hui, is composed of the foreign word â€Å"yu lan† that refers to the pitiable fate of those hung upside down in the prisons of hell and the Chinese term â€Å"pen† which indicates the bowl in which offerings are placed. As the story of Mulien recorded in the Hungry ghost sutra represents, the festival synthesizes elements of Indian Buddhism into the indigenous concepts of China. Stephen F Teiser essentially captures this quality when he descirbes it as â€Å"China was made more Buddhist and Buddhism was made more Chinese. † Because the Yu lan pen jing is a key text in the development of the Buddhist rites in the ghost festival that is held in the seventh month of the lunar calendar, it will be examined to observe the blending of the two values. The Ghost Festival Sutra (also known as Yu lan pen jing), which was written in the sixth century, is peppered with traces of Buddhism attempting to integrate into Chinese life. Its first few lines become all the more significant when considering that they were not present in the oldest narrative forged approximately eighty years earlier that serves as the basis of the ghost festival, The Sutra on Repaying the Kindness by Making Offerings (also referred to as Bao en feng pen jing). As Alan Cole, Professor of Religious Studies at Lewis and Clark College cites in his book Mothers and Sons in Chinese Buddhism the Ghost Festival Sutra, Buddha pronounces these words as Mu Lian explains his failure in feeding his mother: â€Å"Even [you cannot achieve this feeding] though your filial submission resounds [everywhere], shaking heaven and earth. Neither the gods of heaven nor the gods of earth nor the evil demons of the heterodox [sects], nor the Daoist masters, nor the four heavenly kings can achieve this either† (Cole 88). Primarily, this passage directly highlights Mu Lian’ s filial affection – as Cole points out, he is endowed with the honor of being praised by the Buddha as someone whose filial submission â€Å"[shakes] heaven and earth,† which indicates that Mu Lian is considered to be the paradigm of filial piety (89). This addendum could be construed as an adaptation to the Chinese ideal, in which filiality is of the essence. More importantly however, the second half strongly suggests that the Buddhist institution has the sole rights to perform such form of ghost festival. The writers deem the non-Buddhist religious specialists – including all other gods and Daoist practitioners to be incapable of achieving the feeding of the dead (Cole 89). This reflects the increasing competition between the Buddhists and Daoists over crafting such offerings. The mix of Chinese and Buddhist ideas is also manifest in Buddha’s explanation of the reason for â€Å"the food enter[ing] [Mu Lien’s mother’s] mouth †¦ chang[ing] into flaming coals, so in the end she could not eat† as cited by Stephen F Teiser (Teiser 50). The Buddha states that his â€Å"mother’s sins are grave† (50). This directly refers to the Indian notions of Karma, signifying that his mother’s actions in previous lifetimes have led her to her current state. The second half of the Yu lan pen jing further denotes the filial theme, but emphasizes that it can only be fulfilled using Buddhist ritual means, by making offerings to the Buddhists. As Cole puts it, filial devotion is evidently â€Å"equated with being a good Buddhist† – this can be observed for instance, in the Mu Lian’s question to the Buddha shown in the following quote from Stephen F. Teiser’ s translation of the Sutra in his book The Ghost Festival in Medieval China: â€Å"But all of the future disciples of the Buddha who practice filial devotion, may they or may they not also prevent yu-lan bowls as required to save their parents as well as seven generations of ancestors† (Teiser 52). This again concords with the Chinese essentiality of filial affection, which â€Å"surpasses all other ethics in tis historical continuity† as Ho describes in William Lakos’ book Chinese Ancestor Worship (Lakos 52). Moreover, as translated by Teiser, the final passage states the desired relationship between the ritual and the Chinese society in affirming that â€Å"kings of states, princes, sons of kings, great ministers, counselors, dignitaries of the three ranks, any government officials or the majority of common people who practice filial compassion† are required to perform the ritual. This again underlines the explicit connection that the Sutra draws between performing the ritual and being filial. As Cole coins it â€Å"if you are to be filial, you perform this 7/15 Buddhist offering regardless of who you are in Chinese society† (Cole 93). In this respect, the text places the date 7/15 as the center of discussion on Buddhist filiality, characterized by the duty to save one’s parent and the necessity to make offerings to the Sangha. The festival reveals the syncretic character of Buddhism with Chinese social and cultural systems. Buddhist myths and rituals exist simultaneously with the Chinese indigenous forms of ritual and conceptions of society. The ghost festival also offers a solution to the problem of the ascetic way of life of Buddhism that imposes on Chinese culture that resounds family values. While opponents have long condemned the Sangha for fostering otherworldliness, the celebration integrates those who have chosen the ascetic path to participate in the well-being of their ancestors. As noted in the canonical source of Yu lan pen sutra as translated by Teiser, the Buddha orders â€Å"the assembled monks of the ten directions should chant prayers on behalf of the family of the donor for seven generations of ancestors† (Teiser 52). The ritual hence by nature, accepts monasticism and more importantly appoints it as a central aspect of the life in the community – the participation of the monks is pivotal to the salvation of the ancestors. Their ascetic energy is especially effective during the ritual because the full moon of the seventh month designates the day on which Sangha has finished its three-month summer retreat during which they â€Å"release themselves† through meditation, meaning the energy has been accumulated during the period (Teiser 4). In a larger sense, because the festival takes place at the time of the fall harvest, it can be interpreted as not only a symbol of the passage of priests and ancestors to new forms of existence, but also of the â€Å"completion of a cycle of plant life† (4). Their role came to entail a state level importance in the seventh century when the practice was established as part of Chinese state religion, rituals being performed for the benefit of imperial ancestors. The vitality of such function, rather than being confined to local cult, assured the cult to survive into the modern times (5). An irony arises from this ritual – wandering ghosts as well as settled ancestors are recipients of the offering. Ancestors contrast with the concept of ghosts. In his book Unities and diversities in Chinese Religion, Robert P. Weller explains that ghosts are socially marginal beings that lack â€Å"both social standing of the gods and the kinship standing of the ancestors† (Weller 60). In contrast, ancestors re deemed to have â€Å"permanent wealth and power† in the community at large – they were more than a religious concern, involving both social and political implications and upholding â€Å"indispensability in the socio-political realm† (Lakos 32). Their worship serves as a cornerstone for the ancestor-family-kinship system. This idea is well supported with the traditional Confucian view. As sociologist Hugh Baker puts it in Teiser’ s article, â€Å"other people’s dead were of little concern, the only dead to be worshipped were one’s dead and ancestors† (Teiser 60). This view corresponds to those of the defenders of indigenous traditions like Yen Chih-t’ui who assert that the solidarity of ancestors is the solely valid aspect of the celebration – they disapproved of the offerings for the hungry ghosts. Comparably, others consider the ghosts as the only recipients of the offerings, claiming that including the ancestors as the recipients were aimed to adapt the religion to the dominant, yet ultimately non-essential, cultural values (60) – their emphasis is on the Buddhist deliverance from the six paths of rebirth. This stark contrast is deemed to create a conflict between the Buddhist idea of ephemerality and Chinese social solidarity. Interestingly, the two concepts are able to be reconciled to form a bigger whole. In fact, historical records clearly reveals that both entities were served. As Teiser cites from the yun lian pen sutra, the Buddha orders the Sangha to release themselves â€Å"for the sake of seven generations of ancestors, your current parents and those in distress† (61). In his article â€Å"Ghosts and Ancestors in Medieval Chinese Religion: The Yu-lan-p’en festival as Mortuary Ritual† from the book History of Religions, Stephen F. Teiser tackles the controversy by construing the ghost festival as rites of passage. This means that the ritual allows the individual to undergo a transition from one social group to another. He or she hence leaves one â€Å"world† and joins another, with liminal period in between (Teiser 52). The celebration imbues in the dead a sense of regeneration and rebirth, through the cycle of seasonal festivals (58). In this respect, both the marginal state of the ghosts and the settled group status of the ancestors are imperative aspects of the entirety of the process. While both sides are different, they are by ritual structure, on the same side, hence by no means contradictory. Anthropologists tend to describe this as the ideas the yin and yang aspect – the fundamental basis of Chinese philosophy- of death: two seemingly opposing sides that in fact complement each other to a unitary process. Acknowledging the mutual existence of ancestors and ghosts reflects the dual nature of the hungry ghost festival. Several other views prevail in appreciating the duality of the yun lan p’en. The ritual can also be interpreted as a practice that allows a new form for an old practice – as In de Groot contends, Buddhism has offered Chinese culture with an â€Å"exotic edifice† of ritual that concords with the Chinese â€Å"extreme concern for the destiny of the dead† (62). Another perspective relies on the Chinese practicality to explain the seemingly contradicting nature of the ritual. As Holmes Welch explains, the Chinese cult exercises both aspects of the practice like a â€Å"prudent man dealing with the unknown,† since there is no way of knowing which version of the afterlife is true. This results in the form of ghost festival, which ensures that the rites of both versions are engaged (62). Essentially however, the practice recognizes the immortality of the group – as demonstrated by the ancestors – in the face of death – the ritual by nature is aimed to place the deceased as a part of the structurally unchanging king group and compels all of the members of the group, both living and dead, to gather for a communal meal (Teiser 64). One does not have to dominate, suppress or reduce the other. Understanding that these concepts are not mutually exclusive allows for an appreciation of the bigger framework of the festival – one that is full of seemingly contradictory ideas such as Buddhism and Chinese cult, ancestors and ghosts, life and death. Hence the coexistence of the ideas in the ritual are not an irony but rather a paradox in that juxtaposing the two concepts sheds light to the value of the Hungry Ghost festival.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

The Grandmother in A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery OConnor :: Papers

The Grandmother in A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor The grandmother is the central character in the story "A good man is hard to find," by Flannery O'Connor. The grandmother is a manipulative, deceitful, and self-serving woman who lives in the past. She doesn't value her life as it is, but glorifies what it was like long ago when she saw life through rose-colored glasses. She is pre-scented by O'Connor as being a prim and proper lady dressed in a suit, hat, and white cotton gloves. This woman will do whatever it takes to get what she wants and she doesn't let anyone else's feelings stand in her way. She tries to justify her demands by convincing herself and her family that her way is not only the best way, but the only way. The grandmother is determined to change her family's vacation destination as she tries to manipulate her son into going to Tennessee instead of Florida. The grandmother says that "she couldn't answer to her conscience if she took the children in a direction where there was a convict on the loose." The children, the y tell her "stay at home if you don't want to go." The grandmother then decides that she will have to go along after all, but she is already working on her own agenda. The grandmother is very deceitful, and she manages to sneak the cat in the car with her. She decides that she would like to visit an old plantation and begins her pursuit of convincing Bailey to agree to it. She describes the old house for the children adding mysterious details to pique their curiosity. "There was a secret panel in this house," she states cunningly knowing it is a lie. The grandmother always stretches the truth as much as possible. She not only lies to her family, but to herself as well. The grandmother doesn't live in the present, but in the past. She dresses in a suit to go on vacation. She states, "in case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady." She constantly tries to tell everyone what they should or should not do. She informs the children th at they do not have good manners and that "children were more respectful of their native states and their parents and everything else." when she was a child.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

The Dragon Creature as Fairy Tail Creature

Dragons, for example, are usually giant fearless creatures that destroy anything and everything in their way. They capture maidens, kill knights and possess extraordinary confidence, but the dragon in this poem shows none of those characteristics. The majority of his section is filled with complaints about his portrayal in the painting. like the angle he was painted at, and he is upset that two of his feet weren't in the painting. He also has no interest in the maiden that he has captured, he actually finds her quite ugly. All he is worrying about is what people are going to think of him, when usually a dragon wouldn’t care, all they want to do is kill, and capture, but this dragon shows little confidence or interest in those tasks.Traditionally maidens are supposed to be pure at heart and pure at mind, but this maiden is in no way like that. She is very much attracted to the dragon who has captured her and she has no interest in being rescued, by the possibly ugly knight. Her lust towards that dragon is very strong, and her supposed â€Å"pure† mind is actually quite dirty. Unfortunately, her little crush must end because the dragon was defeated, which meant she might as well run off with the Knight who â€Å"saved† her, because she needs to think about her future.The knight in this story cares little about the maiden he is saving and more about his credibility as a Knight. He has all the latest horse, and weapons, and he is the most qualified to slay the dragon. He wants to finish the job that was assigned to him and he doesn't understand why this maiden won't just get out of his way so he can rescue her and add another achievement to his already stacked resume. He portrays a more modern mind then the customary knight, and work is most important to him. Each speaker from each section is showing a different side, then readers would usually see or expect, and the sides they are showing are pretty unpleasant which is why the poem is called à ¢â‚¬Å"Not My Best Side†. There is also humor added to the usually serious love story.the dragon, unlike it's mythological counterpart has quite a sophisticated vocabulary, use of adjectives like ‘ostentatiously beardless' and the idiom ‘old chap' suggests an intelligent, well spoken, stereotypical British,  Upper Class gentleman, the antithesis of a ferocious monster. The line ‘Not my best side, I'm afraid.', reveals the dragon's self conciousness and obsession with appearance, a reocurring theme.The nouns ‘artist' and ‘pose' indicate the poem is about a character in a painting and the dragon is highly critical of both the painter, ‘Poor chap, he had this obsession with Triangles, so he left off two of my Feet.' and the other characters, ‘Why should my victim be so Unattractive as to be inedible,'. It is the comical and conversational tone that makes the dragon so likeable and lots of rhetorical questions draw the reader in, particul arly ‘(What, after all, are two feet To a monster?)' which, enclosed in brackets gives the impression the dragon is addressing the reader directly.Continuing the pattern of reversing the stereotypes, the girl is presented as a slightly feminist, with a mind of her own, ‘It's hard for a girl to be sure if She wants to be rescued.', not the†¦.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Rain of Gold Occupied America Comparison

A Dreamer’s Struggles In Victor Villasenor novel, Rain of Gold is an accurate view in how he portrays what his family experienced in migrating into the Southwest of the United States, in attempt to live a safe prosperous life. Lupe, Victoriano, and Juan are three characters from the novel that best illustrates the struggles that many immigrants face in crossing over in search for work and safety. In Occupied America, by Rodolfo Acuna supports the experiences of the characters in the novel, making it clear that the events that took place in Rain of Gold are in fact what people experience in the real life.For instance, Lupe struggled with the threat of being rapped as well as any other young lady in the novel; she also struggled with education by either not having the support of the community to establish a school district, and or putting obstacles that keep her from attending school when school was available. In the case of Victoriano, he experienced discrimination from his own race, and beatings from authority.Lastly, Juan, struggled, like Victoriano, discrimination, and like the other characters in the novel struggled to cross borders and under goes difficult struggles as a young boy, and then the biggest issue we still struggle with today, assimilation. Growing up was difficult for Lupe. She endured a lot of hardship growing up, where instead of living a peaceful childhood she had to constantly hide and be aware of those around because at any given moment a creature from hell could just come and grab her and snatch her innocence from her, on page 74 of novel Lupe states that, â€Å"No girl was safe anymore.La Liebre and his men were raping any girl that happened to walk by the plaza unescorted†, examining this quote it is evident that no female girl or woman was safe in their own home, in order to run errands or do daily chores away from home they needed to be accompanied to keep them from harm. In Occupied America makes it easy to understand th at these incidents truly did occur to women, â€Å"Californio families lived in no Utopia. They were patriarchal; sexual violence, rape and incest burden fell on the poor and native women, who did not have â€Å"protectors†. (pg 127) In other words women had no worth, and no one to defend their worth. Being a woman myself I cannot imagine what they went through and to think that many of them after the years perhaps thought that this is in fact was their purpose, to be nothing. Lupe was no exception she encountered many incidents where she was nearly raped, as a matter of fact a lot of the girl of her town were raped so bad that they died from the impact. â€Å"And not only had the bandits killed Don Tiburcio, they’d taken their gold, raped Paloma and other two Indian girls, killing all of them. (pg 198) Another obstacle Lupe experienced that majority of girl’s experienced were no support for an education. It was a privilege for any child to go to school, none less a girl. The novel puts emphasis through the story how Lupe struggled to get an education. For example, when Don Manuel declares, â€Å"He’s under no written obligation to supply a school for the village. † He was arguing with the mothers of the students whom attended school when they discontinued paying Senora Munoz, though she continued to teach which was leading her to secretly starve.But the village united and helped maintain education by paying the teacher what they could as long as they could and took turn having her over for dinner and feeding her in the meantime she was there. Another occasion was when Lupe was older and by then she had migrated to the United States, she had returned to school and although she was making great progress and maintain good discipline and determination she went through a hurdle that scared her from ever returning she explained to her mother stating, â€Å"Mr.Horn my new teacher, was real nice to me, too, helping me after schoo l; but then one day he, he, he grabbed me from behind while I was writing on the blackboard. †(pg267) This frightened Lupe especially when he called her a dirty Mexican prick-tease that she was too old to be in school. In her time women Mexican women were taught to be respected and not allow a man to ever mistreat them, their customs were solid in marrying a virgin, so this act from a professor raged anyone with values like Lupe. Occupied America† also supports lack of education affirming, â€Å"Spanish authorities were not inclined to educate them. † Meaning women, â€Å"Few religious schools dedicates to educating young women existed. † (pg 27) It is clear that there was very little if any support to educate women, Euro American viewed women to be inferior and keeping them ignorant was in their best interest, though I am proud to say that today because of good men and intellectual ingenious women the female gender has an overall equal fair chance at an ed ucation.But like everything else it was not an easy rode to et there. Victoriano, which in the novel is Lupe’s older brother by a few years, battled his own demons. For example, when he saw that his family was struggling to survive he ran to find any scrap of gold that was left behind were the miners threw old scraps of materials, during his search he founds a few rocks that could potentially had been gold, when he ran into trouble doing absolutely nothing wrong, â€Å"Nothing he could say would stop these vicious men. They were sneering at him like huge, hungry cats ready to pounce on a mouse. (pg85) At this point La Liebre found him digging the grounds and questioned him and accused him of stealing though that was open for anyone to dig, but they were just itching for violence. They tried to hang him stating that they were going to make an example of him for stealing, but his mother would die before watching her only make son die. In the process she managed to save her tee ns live from being hanged and shot the main leader of La Liebre, forcing the other men who were still alive to leave the village leaving the people to celebrate for uniting against terror.Victoriano having experienced injustice beatings and almost death provides lucid narrative of authority abuse. Where an official or someone with some form of power takes matters into their own hands. â€Å"Los Mineros† video delegates the experiences of miners in the United States that were brought from two main territories Chihuahua and Sinaloa, based on their past experience as miners, little did they know that they would be getting paid scrap money and live in horrible conditions.When they reached their ending point they began to organize protest and fight for healthcare and welfare. During their battle many participants were jailed and beaten sometimes to death, for protesting stating that they were disturbing the peace. In reality government officials would make up any story to imprison these men, which were only fighting for what was owned to them. The video was not made up by actors it was a documentary of the men who experienced the unfair treatment of the â€Å"white man. Evidence is all around us it’s just a matter of us realizing and making a change. Juan was an interesting character. He came of a line of heroes and embraced his ancestry; he was a boy who grew up to be proud of his past. When I first began to read into Juan’s story I had the impression he was a grown man based on is actions and attitude, little did I know he was just a thirteen year old boy who know more about life than the average 20 year old today.Juan went through a lot of discrimination throughout the novel, at one point when he is talking to two of his nephews he informs the two that, â€Å"Hell he treated the dogs better than me. He only had eyes for my brother Domingo, who was blue-eyed like himself. †(pg228) and goes on and tells the boys that prejudice exist in Mexico too, meaning that it’s not just in the United States that narrow-mindedness is present but in their native country as well.In the article, â€Å"The True Significance of the Word White† maintains how assimilation came to birth and how the mindset of the Euro American affected the culture and lifestyle of the Latin people. One piece of the article it’s obvious what they thought of the Mexican people and therefore look down on then and discriminated against them, â€Å"European Americans believed Mexicans were an â€Å"indolent† people, whose backwardness reflected their having poor personal habits and collective deficiencies such as laziness or a penchant for extravagances. In them succeeding in passing along this â€Å"opinion† of Mexican people it was just as easy for Mexican people to accept this concept. In result, any trace of being Mexican was viewed as even being ugly, yet if one was Mexican but had traces that made them look white i t was praised upon and it made it quite easy to blend with the rest and reject their cultural which is what the Euro Americans wanted and succeeded in. This is also referred to as assimilation. In the novel many of the characters adapted assimilation, Juan was sure to be one of them.When he left Montana to visit his mother his sister and mother noticed he was not the same young boy they once knew. He was almost unrecognizable at first and second glance, â€Å"Just look at you! These clothes, and the taxi† (pg223) His sister took notice of Juan’s transformation, and though she did not emphasize too much about how much he had changed it was apparent that he had lost a part of himself along the way. He realized that he could hardly speak clear Spanish anymore having difficulty pronouncing words fluently.In â€Å"Occupied America† there is an important message written that is empowering and influential, it reads, â€Å"Yet the debate is not whether assimilation is taking place, but what it means. Most agree that assimilation into life in the U. S. is not an instant transformation in which an immigrant suddenly becomes a full-flagged American. Nor does it require the obligation of ethnic identity. Instead, assimilation is a long-term, sometimes multi-generational, process in which newcomers of different backgrounds adopt basic notions of American life—equality under law, due process, and economic opportunity.Put another way, assimilation is not about immigrants rejecting their past, but about people of different racial, religious, and cultural backgrounds coming to believe that they are a part of an overarching American family. † It was necessary to write it all out to truly capture the depths of this message. Thou some may argue was assimilation is this we can all agree in. In the case of Juan it took him a while to find him and to realize that one must first think with our minds before acting on impulse.Juan experienced a true r oller coaster like I am sure many did. I felt that Juan stands out among the rest because if analyzed piece by piece it is true that he experienced by far what most immigrants have and do presently in their quest to the southwest. Rain of Gold, Occupied America and other resources studied in class, identifies how events stated in the material used was very much so true, and though people may deny or ignore the truth it is not likely to be forgotten if informed, it is up to the individual to own up to the truth.The three characters Lupe, Victoriano, and Juan were good examples in the novel that added emphasis to real life experiences of people migrating to the southwest. Though there is so much to say about these characters and others with just concentrating with this analysis one can conclude that a life of an immigrant is not a choice or a preference but a form of survival.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

The Sinking of the Lusitania essays

The Sinking of the Lusitania essays In the early part of the twentieth century, the only way to traverse the Atlantic was by ocean liner. It was a time of fierce competition between rival lineswith passengers expecting not only a speedy crossing, but luxurious accommodations as well. In 1903 Lord Inverclyde created the Cunard Line. Construction soon began on two fast and luxurious liners that were to challenge the German vessels that had held the Blue Riband since 1897. The resulting sisterships RMS Lusitania and RMS Mauretania would be a firm reassertion of British supremacy at sea. Launched at the River Clyde in June 16, 1906, RMS Lusitania was a grand ship and the first of the two sister ships to be launched. At 785 feet in length and 31,550 gross tons, she took the title of largest liner afloat. Her maiden voyage took place September 7, 1907, and in October 1907 she recaptured the coveted Blue Riband from the German liner Deutschland, which Britain had failed to obtain since the industrialization of Germany. The construction of Lusitania was financed by generous loans from the British government. In return for the generous loans, the Admiralty could requisition Lusitania or her sister in times of war. This would be key in the demise of the Lusitania. World War I would eventually erupt. During the war the Allies blockaded Germany preventing them from receiving any supplies, food or munitions. This led to Germanys development of a new weapon called the U-boat or submarine, as we now know it. This would allow the Germans to form a counter blockade as well as sink all these unsuspecting ships with out getting caught. The Lusitania left New York harbor on May 1, 1915, nobody was expecting the tragedy that was soon to occur. Although a warning against Americans boarding British ships signed by the Imperial German Embassy had appeared in the morning papers on the day the vessel was scheduled to leave, no one figured they were in...

Monday, October 21, 2019

mind and machine essays

mind and machine essays Technology has traditionally evolved as the result of human needs. Invention, when prized and rewarded, will invariably rise-up to meet the free market demands of society. It is in this realm that Artificial Intelligence research and the resultant expert systems have been forged. Much of the material that relates to the field of Artificial Intelligence deals with human psychology and the nature of consciousness. Exhaustive debate on consciousness and the possibilities of consciousnessness in machines has adequately, in my opinion, revealed that it is most unlikely that we will ever converse or interract with a machine of artificial consciousness. In John Searle's collection of lectures, Minds, Brains and Science, arguments centering around the mind-body problem alone is sufficient to convince a reasonable person that there is no way science will ever unravel the mysteries of consciousness. Key to Searle's analysis of consciousness in the context of Artificial Intelligence machines are refutations of strong and weak AI theses. Strong AI Theorists (SATs) believe that in the future, mankind will forge machines that will think as well as, if not better than humans. To them, pesent technology constrains this achievement. The Weak AI Theorists (WATs), almost converse to the SATs, believe that if a machine performs functions that resemble a human's, then there must be a correlation between it and consciousness. To them, there is no technological impediment to thinking machines, because our most advanced machines already think. It is important to review Searle's refutations of these respective theorists' proposition to establish a foundation (for the purpose of this essay) for discussing the applications of Artificial Intelligence, both now and in the future. Strong AI Thesis, according to Searle, can be described in four basic propositions. Proposition one categorizes human thought as the result of computational processes. G...

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Five Key Steps to Working with Editors

Five Key Steps to Working with Editors For those writing a series, you’ll need to describe where the book fits into the series.  There are different ways to create lists; however Excel works well for me when preparing a timeline. I head the first three columns Character, Purpose, and Relationship to Protagonist. The fourth is labeled Chapter One, subheaded with the time and date. Below Character, I list primary and secondary characters as they appear in the book, then note something about their purpose under the chapter they appear in. The great thing about Excel is that it’s user friendly. You can easily manipulate rows and columns to insert or delete material.  You writers out there are probably groaning

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Cottage Cheese Experiment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Cottage Cheese Experiment - Essay Example In the experiment, plate counts were used instead of direct microscopic counts or turbidity measurements because of the obvious advantages of the first method. Although plate counts can be tedious and time-consuming, this method is â€Å"relatively easy to perform† and it is â€Å"much more sensitive than turbidimetric measurement† (Brodhagen, 2007). This means that with plate counts, a relatively more accurate bacterial count can be obtained compared to obtaining turbidity measurements. The only disadvantages with plate counts, however, include the lengthy incubation period required for the colonies to grow and become visible, and the possibility of crowding of colonies which will most likely require serial dilution (Abedon, 2003). Nevertheless, these disadvantages do not compare to those of direct microscopic counts and turbidity measurements. In direct microscopic counts, the number of living cells cannot be distinguished from the dead cells, which may be included in the count (Brodhagen, 2007). In the same way, turbidity measurements may not fare well in the bacterial count as clumps of cottage cheese may not be distinguishable from the mass of cells that is expected to block of intercept light (Brodhagen, 2007). These two methods – direct microscopic count and turbidity measurement – are actually less time-consuming than plate counts, but the disadvantages simply outweigh this advantage. The goal of the cottage cheese experiment after all is accuracy and not speed. When it comes to the difference between the control cottage cheese and the experiment cottage cheese, the difference cannot be exactly determined due to insufficiency of data. Basically we need more information on the consistency or lumpiness of the cheeses, their gross appearance after the experiment and perhaps differences in texture, temperature and other aspects. The most obvious difference is that control cheese has no preservative added but experimental cheese has. It then follows that if this is the only difference between the two, then this is a fair test.   Besides, both cheeses have been subjected to the same variables – the same temperature and incubation period lengths, and assuming the same mode of preparation.

Friday, October 18, 2019

Organizational Behaviour - Leadership in Organizations Case Study

Organizational Behaviour - Leadership in Organizations - Case Study Example These theories discussed different styles of leadership also which include leadership styles such as situational, transformational, servant-leadership etc. The topic of this essay is to discuss the contingency model of leadership and the subsequent changes which took place over the period of time in the concept and theoretical foundations of the concept. However, before discussing the concept, it is important that a comprehensive look at what the leadership is and how it emerges must be taken into account. As discussed above that there were different attempts being made in defining the process of leadership and how it emerges. Leadership has typically been defined as the process of influencing others in order to accomplish some objectives through others. Leaders often achieve this through their personal attributes such as values, knowledge, ethical considerations as well as character. However, on an organizational level, leadership is more concerned with organizational functioning as well as the coordination of various activities in order to achieve the intended objectives. Recent advances in the literature, however, clearly indicate that leadership is not just limited to the concept of accomplishing tasks through personal attributes rather it is more of a collaborative effort which does not rely on the leader but on followers also. This leadership is, therefore, a two-way concept involving both the leaders and followers to accomplish any given task. A historical look at the development of leadership theories would suggest that it started with the emergence of Great Man theories which emphasized the in-born capabilities of the leaders. Such theories highlighted that great leaders are born leaders and leadership is something which cannot be acquired or developed over a period of time. (Horner,1997). The next generation of change in leadership theories focused on the contextual relationship of the leadership with the organization. The situational leadership theories, therefore, concentrated on studying the influences of the external environment on the behaviour of the leaders and attempted to define the external environment as an influential factor on the overall shaping of the leader. Situational theories are based on the assumption that leaders emerge either due to the economic condition of the country, group dynamics, threats which are external to the organization as well as the different organizational culture prevailing in organizations. The situational leadership is therefore considered as the result of a leader's reaction towards the different external settings and influences faced by the organization. (Hollander, 1971). Fiedler's contingency model is part of this school of thought about leadership.  

Whoole Foods in South Korea Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Whoole Foods in South Korea - Research Paper Example Based on the research, five dimensions universal to all cultures around the world were established. These include: Power-Distance; collectivism-individualism; femininity vs. masculinity; and uncertainty avoidance and long-term vs. short-term orientation (Yoo, Donthu and Lenartowicz 194). Collectivism vs. individualism: South Korea and the United States exhibit these two extreme cultural dimensions. While the U.S. culture is more of individualism, South Korea is more of collectivism. South Koreans are more contented with groups. This demonstrates that the country is a collectivist society unlike the U.S, which is highly individualistic. Being a collectivist society, South Korea can be referred to as a high-context culture according to the framework of Edward T. Hall (Rubio-Sanchez 14). Power distance: South Korea is a high power distance society. It is a hierarchical society in which the society is stratified into hierarchical order with everyone has his or her position in the organiz ation or the society. Subordinate staff in organizations usually relies on their bosses for instructions on what to do. Masculinity / Femininity: South Korea tends to be a feminine society in which the main focus is on working in order to survive. South Koreans value equality in the workplace and managers embrace consensus. Solutions to conflicts are usually arrived at through compromise and negotiation. In South Korea, a successful manager is one who is supportive and includes his or her subordinates in decision-making. Focus is usually on people’s welfare rather than status. Incentives like free time and flexibility are highly appreciated in feminine cultures. Uncertainty Avoidance: This cultural dimension concerns predictions about the future. Countries with high uncertainty avoidance tend to have rigid perception about other behaviors and ideas that are opposed to their own. South Korea has a high uncertainty avoidance culture. The society is characterized with low risk t aking ability. The society is characterized by emotional needs for rules and people have innate drive to work hard and keep busy. Punctuality and precision form fundamental norms of organizations. Individuals are highly motivated by some sense of job security. Long-term vs. Short-term orientation: South Korea has one of the highest scores in long-term orientation of the society. Long-term orientation is connected with the teachings of Confucius, which focuses of a virtuous society that focuses on the future rather than the short-term benefits (Yim 38). South Koreans are directed by good moral codes and virtues. Organizations in south Korea focus on constant growth of their share of the market and have higher proportion of own capital unlike companies from the United States and other short-term oriented societies, which focus on short-term gains or profit. South Koreans prefer to engage in business with people whom they have connections with. The U.S has been present in the country f or a long time and this might help in establishing the Whole food business. Cultural and language barrier is one of the things that would hinder successful establishment of the company in South Korea. In order to overcome this, it is appropriate to use managers and local employees with knowledge on both English and Korean language. Successful business negotiation will demand the knowledge about the country’s business etiquettes. Developing business contacts and bringing cards printed in both English and Korean language will ensure successful negotiation. Observing business etiquettes remain crucial for winning a deal and one must observe that South Koreans negotiate on a collective

Thursday, October 17, 2019

L'Oreal Global Marketing Strategy Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5500 words

L'Oreal Global Marketing Strategy - Case Study Example Head-quartered in the Paris commune of Clichy, France, the L’Oreal Group is the world’s largest cosmetics and beauty company. It has established activities in the field of cosmetics, focused on hair-color, skin-care, sun fortification, make-up, fragrances and hair-care. It is vigorous in the dermatological as well as pharmaceutical fields. In the United States, it is the paramount nanotechnology copy-right holder. According to a case study in the year 2005, the L’Oreal group, whose worth was $18.89 billion, was declared as the largest and the most successful cosmetics company round the globe, with more than seventeen international hallmarks (Case Study, 2005). Moreover, Business Week Inter-band survey ranked L’Oreal on the 49th position in August 2004, since, its brands were valued at $5902 million. L’Oreal extended its business in 150 countries by putting up on sale a wide range of make-up, fragrances, hair and skin care products to both men and women. As noted by Morais, L’Oreal sets itself apart from other brands just because of its reliability over time since it merges the double-digit top-line growth of a hot technology company with the bottom-line comforts of a well-run bank (Morais, 2000). 2. The Marketing Process L’Oreal finds itself in the situation of the most prosperous hallmark as it serves as the basis for identifying opportunities in order to satisfy the unaccomplished customer needs and requirements.... The mission of L'Oreal Group aspires to bring to reality the urge for men and women to look beautiful and aesthetic with time. This mission has always been of prime significance in for the company. As far as the marketing investments are considered, although 90 percent of the investments are accounted for by the investment in brand contacts, until now there hasn't been any tool which allows the managers to identify, a consumer perspective, the most efficacious set of contacts in which to invest. However, L'Oreal Group has described a tool which empowers the brand owners and marketers to identify and select the crucial contacts which are relevant for a particular brand. Moreover, in order to integrate across these key contact points, L'Oreal delivers brand experience through a relevant and pertinent set of consumer brand which encounters at a minimum cost, but with maximal impact. Moreover, it focuses on the metrics which can be used to inform a variety of significant decisions in the context of managing brand contacts. The essential marketing principles make it accessible for any business to survive in the market in an efficacious way as it encourages the businessmen to apply them to aspects of their daily lives as well (Jobber, 2007). In context of the first element of its marketing process, it is the company's distinct expertise of beauty that exists for the reason that it believes in beauty which is all the more unique and diversified that any

Assignment and Journal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

And Journal - Assignment Example Leadership is a critical element of change that requires consideration in achieving this goal. For this reason, the role of school authorities is essential in transforming schools into professional learning communities. Specialists relate various activities to the process of attaining PLC’s, they include; an assurance that students learn, existence of a culture of collaboration, focusing on results and hard work and commitment. All these are necessary in achieving this goal, and they go hand in hand. This paper analyzes implementation of these activities in an organization setting, the outcomes of this collaboration and its benefit on the organization. The discussion to the above issues appears below. To begin with, implementation of these activities is significant in getting a PLC. For instance, the process of ensuring that students learn is attainable in many ways. Teachers in a school should give required attention to every student depending on their abilities. There are re markable differences between an educated student and a learned student (Graham & Ferriter, 2009).Education concerns going through the curriculum while learning is the process, which result to full capacity to employ an idea in solving real life issues. Learning, therefore, results into a professional learning community. ... The organization also needs to focus on the results. This is achievable by ensuring all workers understand overall requirements and direct their efforts towards their attainment. The benefits, which accrue to, an organization by implementing such activities, are tremendous. Having a professional learning community ensures an all rounded product. Such institutions equip students enabling their survival in the outside world once through with the curriculum. Learning, for instance, is necessary for societal development. The school or organization should not only focus their attention on completing curriculum, but also on the product in the making. The benefit this has on a student is the ability it instills on them enabling them to tackle various life challenges with ease (Graham & Ferriter, 2009).Learning comes with experience, and is a slow event which requires time to accomplish. Collaboration, on the other hand, benefits the organization in that it allows corporation and acceptance of responsibilities. In this way, people own problems and no one appears burdened. In addition, results also benefit the organization. The primary motivator of behavior is an achievement of results. For this reason, it is imperative to consider concentrating everyone’s efforts to attaining such results. This collaboration has several outcomes, mostly positives. Individuals in an organization corporate, and concentrate their efforts towards achieving set objectives. Moreover, it ensures people shoulder each other’s burdens, which is also, essential in developing a professional learning community. In conclusion, the process of developing a professional learning community is essential in societal development. Not only does it ensure that students learn and gain

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

L'Oreal Global Marketing Strategy Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5500 words

L'Oreal Global Marketing Strategy - Case Study Example Head-quartered in the Paris commune of Clichy, France, the L’Oreal Group is the world’s largest cosmetics and beauty company. It has established activities in the field of cosmetics, focused on hair-color, skin-care, sun fortification, make-up, fragrances and hair-care. It is vigorous in the dermatological as well as pharmaceutical fields. In the United States, it is the paramount nanotechnology copy-right holder. According to a case study in the year 2005, the L’Oreal group, whose worth was $18.89 billion, was declared as the largest and the most successful cosmetics company round the globe, with more than seventeen international hallmarks (Case Study, 2005). Moreover, Business Week Inter-band survey ranked L’Oreal on the 49th position in August 2004, since, its brands were valued at $5902 million. L’Oreal extended its business in 150 countries by putting up on sale a wide range of make-up, fragrances, hair and skin care products to both men and women. As noted by Morais, L’Oreal sets itself apart from other brands just because of its reliability over time since it merges the double-digit top-line growth of a hot technology company with the bottom-line comforts of a well-run bank (Morais, 2000). 2. The Marketing Process L’Oreal finds itself in the situation of the most prosperous hallmark as it serves as the basis for identifying opportunities in order to satisfy the unaccomplished customer needs and requirements.... The mission of L'Oreal Group aspires to bring to reality the urge for men and women to look beautiful and aesthetic with time. This mission has always been of prime significance in for the company. As far as the marketing investments are considered, although 90 percent of the investments are accounted for by the investment in brand contacts, until now there hasn't been any tool which allows the managers to identify, a consumer perspective, the most efficacious set of contacts in which to invest. However, L'Oreal Group has described a tool which empowers the brand owners and marketers to identify and select the crucial contacts which are relevant for a particular brand. Moreover, in order to integrate across these key contact points, L'Oreal delivers brand experience through a relevant and pertinent set of consumer brand which encounters at a minimum cost, but with maximal impact. Moreover, it focuses on the metrics which can be used to inform a variety of significant decisions in the context of managing brand contacts. The essential marketing principles make it accessible for any business to survive in the market in an efficacious way as it encourages the businessmen to apply them to aspects of their daily lives as well (Jobber, 2007). In context of the first element of its marketing process, it is the company's distinct expertise of beauty that exists for the reason that it believes in beauty which is all the more unique and diversified that any

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Unions and labor relations Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Unions and labor relations - Research Paper Example New business concepts such as outsourcing and offshoring helped organizations to operate in a multicultural environment. In other words, employers started to deal with a much more diverse workforce because of globalization. The strategies needed to manage a diverse workforce are entirely different form the strategies needed to manage a workforce of single culture. Different employees may have different needs, especially when they operating in a multicultural environment. For example, Muslim employees always like to have a break for prayer during the mid-noon of every Friday. Same way Christian employees always like to have off on every Sundays. If the employers prevent them from taking such luxuries, they will develop dissatisfaction and their loyalty towards the management may come down. The needs of the employees are changing rapidly because of the advancements in living standards and the new challenges coming in front of them as the time goes on. For example, living expenses are g rowing day by day and it is difficult for an employee to find his livelihood if the employer is not ready to increase his salary. Same way, workloads are increasing day by day and as a result of that employees are not getting enough time for leisure activities. Work-life balancing is an important aspect of labor relations. If the employees struggle to find enough time to spend with their relatives and friends, their mental health could be damaged. Even if the employees get higher salaries for their extra work loads, they may not be satisfied if they fail to get time to spend with their beloved ones. Physical needs as well as psychological needs of the employees are important in maintaining better labor relations by the employers. â€Å"American labor unions, taken... Unions and labor relations Trade unions are organizations to protect the interests of the working class. In other words trade unions always work for the betterment of the whole employees rather than the betterment of any individual employees. However, in some particular situations trade unions may work for the individual interests also. For example, if an employee was fired unnecessarily by the employer, trade unions may come for the rescue of that employee. â€Å"The labor relation process includes recognition of the legitimate right and responsibilities of union and management†. Better Employee-employer relations or labor relations is important for the smooth functioning of an organization In a troubled organization, employees may not deliver their bests and as a result of that the productivity and the efficiency of the organization may come down. This paper analyses the effect of changes in employee relations strategies, policies, and practices on organizational performance and the relevance of trade unions in America at present. Trade unions are organizations which argue for the rights of the workers and better labor relations from the employers. Current workplaces consist of extremely diverse workforce and the needs of the diverse employees could be different. Employers should help employees to meet their physical as well as mental needs in order to maintain better labor relations. Trade unions are losing grounds in America at present because of the better treatment American employees receive from their employers.

Monday, October 14, 2019

Tourism in Philippine Essay Example for Free

Tourism in Philippine Essay The Philippine tourism industry flourished in the 1970s and early 1980s but declined in the mid 1980s, with the average length of tourist stay falling from 12. 6 days in earlier years to 8. 9 days in 1988. In 1987, tourism growth was slower in the Philippines than in other Southeast Asian countries. About 1. 2 million tourists visited the Philippines in 1992, which was a record high in the number of tourist visits since 1989. In 2000, the Philippines tourist arrivals totaled 2. 2 million. In 2003, it totaled 2,838,000, a growth of almost 29%, and was expected to grow as much as 3. 4 million in 2007. In the first quarter of 2007, the tourist arrival in the Philippines grew as much as 20% in same period last year. In 2011, the Department of Tourism recorded 3. 9 million tourists visiting the country,[5] 11. 2 percent higher than the 3. 5 million registered in 2010. In 2012, the Philippines recorded 4. 27 million tourist arrivals, after the Department of Tourism launched a widely publicized tourism marketing campaign titled Its More Fun In the Philippines. The tourism industry employed 3. 8 million Filipinos, or 10. 2 per cent of national employment in 2011, according to data gathered by the National Statistical Coordination Board. In a greater thrust by the Aquino administration to pump billions of dollars into the sector, tourism is expected to employ 7. 4 million people by 2016, or about 18. 8 per cent of the total workforce, contributing 8 per cent to 9 per cent to the nations GDP. Read more: Reasons Why Its More Fun in the Philippines

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Developing Transport Service Provisions in Rural Areas

Developing Transport Service Provisions in Rural Areas UNDERGRADUATE ESSAY RURAL TRANSPORT PROVISION: CORNWALL Critically examine the range of approaches that have been used by rural  agencies to overcome problems of service provision. Discuss in relation to a  specific policy area. The following paper discusses the range of approaches used by Cornwall Country Council (CCC) to improve its provision of transport services to its rural population, focusing in-depth on the CCC’s support of ‘community transport’ schemes. In the past two decades transport services to rural areas across Britain, as well as in Cornwall in particular, have been in a state of ceaseless decline. Bus and train timetables have been dramatically reduced and made more inefficient and unreliable, and this decline has in turn led to many rural constituents becoming ever more dependent upon private and environmentally harmful transport; at the same time, hundreds of thousands of Cornish elderly people in rural areas have been either totally excluded from public transport services or have found these services to be severely limited. This problem of public transport provision to rural areas has affected Cornwall particularly badly; Cornwall’s geography is diverse and its rural communities are widely dispersed; to meet these communities’ needs the county requires a comprehensive and highly-organized system of public transport that has simply not been present in recent decades. In these years, under both Conservative and Labour governments, a profound lack investment in the infrastructure of rural transport facilities in Cornwall has led to a degeneration of service provision. Moreover, the price of public transport in rural areas, particularly after the privatization of many services, has proved prohibitively expensive for many people. Recent efforts to alleviate this problem have centred upon a reinvestment of resources, and it is the work of this essay to consider the ways in which this money has been invested in Cornwall. On April 1st 2006 the CCC launched its Countryside Concessionary Fares Scheme (CCC, 2006), replacing the Cornish Key Card scheme, and providing free bus travel in Cornwall to persons above the age of sixty and to disabled persons who are resident in Cornwall. The scheme extends across the whole of Cornwall and is co-run in partnership between Caradon, Carrick, Kerrier, North Cornwall, Penwith and Restormel councils. To tackle the problem of the cost of transport facilities the Cornwall County Council has introduced a number of budget schemes to help poorer residents in rural areas. For instance, PLUSBUS is a scheme that allows rural residents to save money by purchasing a combined rail and bus ticket and so make an overall saving. PLUSBUS provides holders with unlimited free travel on any routes within the county of Cornwall. In addition, Cornwall County Council has pledged to provide free school transport to every child of compulsory school age in rural Cornwall who would not otherwise be able to attend school. But perhaps the most important innovation supported by the CCC is that of community transport schemes. The term ‘community transport’ is used to describe passenger transport schemes that are owned and registered by local community groups. The idea behind such groups is that each works to solve some of the transport difficulties of a particular village or town or group of associated towns. Numerous such projects have been founded across Cornwall and have thus relieved to a significant degree the service provision pressure from the CCC. The existence of such schemes mean that the council is freer to better use its resources in areas where no such community schemes exist. Community transport schemes are operated as volunteer and non-profit organizations and therefore they have a second key advantage that they do not subject the people depending upon them to financial exploitation or manipulation. Services are not operated because they are profitable, or suspended because they are unprofitable à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â€š ¬ as with transport services run by commercial companies à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â€š ¬ but rather services are operated because they meet a definite need of a particular community or group communities. The attraction of such schemes is that they can be moulded to the needs of a particular community; if only three pensioners in the village of Grisham or Chatham require daily transport to the nearest town, then, instead of being denied service by commercial companies who fear losing money by operating a service for these pensioners, a community transport service such as a single minibus or minivan can be organised at minimal cost to provide service for these three pensioners. If twenty such pensioners need transport then two or three services and minivans can be organized; such schemes therefore have a great degree of flexibility. The additional advantage of such schemes is that they are specifically founded and run to help those persons in rural areas who would not otherwise have access to help. Of the various community transport schemes run in Cornwall the following are particularly worthy of discussion. Voluntary Car Schemes are, according to the CCC ‘an organized form of lift giving’ (CCC, 2006) where volunteer drivers offer to use their own cars to make door to door pick-ups and returns for people, usually the elderly or disabled, who would not otherwise be able to travel as frequently or freely. Community Bus Services are minibus services run by local volunteer groups operating along regular routes and according to a regular timetable; such services are moreover made available to all members of the general public. Details of such services have recently been published in the All Cornwall Public Transport Guide. Minibus Hire is another community transport service whereby minibuses owned and run by one local volunteer group are lent to other groups either for free or for a very small charge. Many of these vehicles have disabled persons access and can be used f or the purposes of leisure, of sport, of education and so on. Dial a Ride is a further community service which provides transport on a door-to-door basis to incapacitated members of the community who register for the service. Shopmobility lends wheelchairs and electric scooters as well as other services to allow the elderly and others to shop for themselves rather than remaining dependent upon others for their transport. Though not directly in control of community transport schemes, the CCC has recently sought to play an active part in the running and support of these transport initiatives. On its website, the CCC tells that three principal events or ideas have led to this decision. (1) The Council has become ever more conscious of the special transport needs of disabled persons and of the elderly, and has expressed a determination to do more than the basic requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act (HMG, 1995) mandatory requirements. The CCC has set as its ultimate transport goal for disabled and elderly people the idea of transport independence à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â€š ¬ an aim that goes well beyond the minimum requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act. To this end, the council has given considerable financial support to Age Concern, an organization which operates a volunteer car scheme across the county of Cornwall. Thus the CCC states ‘This (policy) has led to the development of fina ncial support for age concern in its provision of a county-wide car scheme; greater consideration of a suitable transport provision for all sectors of the community by the County Council and other statutory agencies, which has identified more clearly the opportunities for community transport activity’ (CCC, 2006). (2) Thee national Labour government has provided greater levels of central funding for county councils to develop and improve their service provision to rural areas; the arrival of this money has enabled the CCC to focus greater attention upon rural disability access and upon totality of service provision. (3) The CCC has begun to enter into several partnerships with voluntary agencies, thus providing an extension to their existing transport services. To this end, the CCC has stated that ‘The (Cornwall) County Council recognises that whilst it has a critical role to play in sector development, it is inappropriate and simply not viable for it to be the exclusiv e agency involved. Consequently, it is looking to develop new partnerships wit both the statutory and voluntary sector, operating at both a strategic and a local level’ (CCC, 2000). This quotation best sums up this significant change of attitude and strategy by the County Council towards the question of rural transport provision. The County Council is admitting that its own resources are insufficient to provide the full range of transport services required by its rural population and so has enlisted the aid of both other agencies and the rural population itself in the form of voluntary transport schemes. A few points of caution might be given here however to intersperse the many positive notes about community transport schemes given above. Firstly, such schemes, though welcomed and applauded by local councils and official agency organizations are not directly under their control; therefore the regulation of such schemes is far weaker and less organized than official transport services run by the CCC. Concomitant with this worry is another about safety; since community transport schemes are not managed directly by local government they are not subject to the same safety inspections and regulations as official services. Nonetheless, it may generally be said that those running community schemes are responsible members of their local communities and naturally therefore adhere to general laws of transport safety. The other point is that it is a widely held sentiment of those running such schemes that they are having to do so because of the inadequacy of government provided public transpor t to rural areas. If these services were more proficient and reliable, as they used to be, and as they presently are in many European countries such as Switzerland, Denmark, Holland and elsewhere, then community transport schemes would be superfluous because public transport would be a total provision. Indeed, it is the case that in the aforementioned countries community transport schemes do not exist nor do others like them. In the final analysis, this review of the success of Cornwall County Council’s various agencies in improving rural transport provision must end with a note of equivocation and suspended judgement. On the one hand, local agencies in Cornwall have clearly recognised the problem and extent of recent decades of underinvestment in rural transport, and rather than denying this problem or blaming it on previous administrations, they have actually sought to improve those services offered to Cornwall’s rural populations. Also on the positive side the County Council has recognised the needs of the county’s long-forgotten disabled and elderly rural populations and has welcomed the opportunity to implement, and indeed go beyond, the Disability Discrimination Act, in its transport provision. Schemes like the Countywide Concessionary Fares Scheme and PLUSBUS are direct efforts to improve the transport facilities and opportunities for underprivileged people in rural Cornwall; s o too the CCC’s pledge to guarantee free school transport for all school-children of compulsory age in rural Cornwall is a crucial and admirable initiative. But perhaps the County Council’s boldest initiative, and the one that signifies a profound change of attitude towards its obligations over rural transport, is that of supporting community transport schemes such as Dial a Ride and Shopmobility. In supporting these schemes, which are not officially under County Council financing or regulation, the Cornwall Country Council has recognised that it has insufficient resources to provide a full range of transport services to its rural population. Such an admission has its positive aspects in as much as it allows the council to contribute to the excellent schemes founded and operated by voluntary groups in Cornwall; groups who have made a very real difference to the quality of transport experience enjoyed by many of Cornwall’s elderly and disabled rural populations. On the other hand, in making such an admission the County Council has also shown its own failure, as well as the failure of successive governments, to properly deal with the national question of rural transport provision, and its particular condition in Cornwall. It is a simple fact that in those countries of Europe which have the highest standard of living, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria would be examples, that community transport schemes are just not necessary because government and local councils are sufficiently funded to provide all such services themselves. Proper and more efficient government allocation and spending of resources in Britain could undoubtedly have led to the same result in Cornwall, and so made the admirable and noble efforts of community transport scheme organizers unnecessary. BIBLIOGRAPHY Academic Books, Journals Internet Sources Cornish Key: Transport in Cornwall. (2006). www.cornishkey.com Cornwall County Council (CCC). (2006). www.cornwall.gov.uk Her Majesty’s Government. (1995). The Disability Discrimination Act 1995. Restormel Borough Council. (2006). www.restormel.gov.uk The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). www.defra.gov.uk

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Thomas Jefferson: The Man, The Myth, and The Morality :: History

Thomas Jefferson: The Man, The Myth, and The Morality Thomas Jefferson was a man of the greatest moral character who has been excoriated routinely over the last 30 years by historical revisionists and presentists. His commitment to America and his vast contributions to the framing of society as it is today are overlooked in favor of base analysis of his character that, while not flawless, is that of a morally upright person who has deeply held convictions and lives by them. Jefferson was born to a prominent family of Virginia tobacco growers. Plantation life is based largely around the work of slaves, so Jefferson was surrounded by them from the time of his birth in 1743 until the day he died. One of the harshest criticisms of Jefferson comes from the fact that, while he vehemently opposed slavery, was indeed a slave owner himself. As historian Douglas L. Wilson points out in his Atlantic Monthly article â€Å"Thomas Jefferson and the Character Issue†, the question should be reversed: â€Å"...[T]his was of asking the question... is essentially backward, and reflects the pervasive presentism of our time. Consider, for example, how different the question appears when inverted and framed in more historical terms: How did a man who was born into a slave holding society, whose family and admired friends owned slaves, who inherited a fortune that was dependent on slaves and slave labor, decide at an early age that slavery was morally wrong and forcefully declare that it ought to be abolished?† (Wilson 66). Wilson also argues that Jefferson knew that his slaves would be better off working for him than freed in a world where they would be treated with contempt and not given any real freedoms. Another way that Thomas Jefferson shows his moral character is in his most famous achievement, the drafting of the Declaration of Independence. This document is probably the most important document in the history of the United States, and one of the most important in the history of the world. Jefferson writes that â€Å"all men are created equal† and argues that every man has the right to â€Å"life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.† Jefferson’s document shows not only his strongly held beliefs in freedom, but his acceptance of and belief in the views of the Age of Reason. He believed himself to be a person who was doing what was morally right, not for the fame that would eventually accompany it. Thomas Jefferson: The Man, The Myth, and The Morality :: History Thomas Jefferson: The Man, The Myth, and The Morality Thomas Jefferson was a man of the greatest moral character who has been excoriated routinely over the last 30 years by historical revisionists and presentists. His commitment to America and his vast contributions to the framing of society as it is today are overlooked in favor of base analysis of his character that, while not flawless, is that of a morally upright person who has deeply held convictions and lives by them. Jefferson was born to a prominent family of Virginia tobacco growers. Plantation life is based largely around the work of slaves, so Jefferson was surrounded by them from the time of his birth in 1743 until the day he died. One of the harshest criticisms of Jefferson comes from the fact that, while he vehemently opposed slavery, was indeed a slave owner himself. As historian Douglas L. Wilson points out in his Atlantic Monthly article â€Å"Thomas Jefferson and the Character Issue†, the question should be reversed: â€Å"...[T]his was of asking the question... is essentially backward, and reflects the pervasive presentism of our time. Consider, for example, how different the question appears when inverted and framed in more historical terms: How did a man who was born into a slave holding society, whose family and admired friends owned slaves, who inherited a fortune that was dependent on slaves and slave labor, decide at an early age that slavery was morally wrong and forcefully declare that it ought to be abolished?† (Wilson 66). Wilson also argues that Jefferson knew that his slaves would be better off working for him than freed in a world where they would be treated with contempt and not given any real freedoms. Another way that Thomas Jefferson shows his moral character is in his most famous achievement, the drafting of the Declaration of Independence. This document is probably the most important document in the history of the United States, and one of the most important in the history of the world. Jefferson writes that â€Å"all men are created equal† and argues that every man has the right to â€Å"life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.† Jefferson’s document shows not only his strongly held beliefs in freedom, but his acceptance of and belief in the views of the Age of Reason. He believed himself to be a person who was doing what was morally right, not for the fame that would eventually accompany it.

Friday, October 11, 2019

Fahrenheit 451 Summary Essay

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury Matthew Hart Nov. 12, 12 Fahrenheit 451 doesn’t provide a single, clear explanation of why books are banned in the future. Instead, it suggests that many different factors could combine to create this result. These factors can be broken into two groups: factors that lead to a general lack of interest in reading and factors that make people actively hostile toward books. The novel doesn’t clearly distinguish these two developments. Apparently, they simply support one another.The first group of factors includes the popularity of competing forms of entertainment such as television and radio. More broadly, Bradbury thinks that the presence of fast cars, loud music, and advertisements creates a lifestyle with too much stimulation in which no one has the time to concentrate. Also, the huge mass of published material is too overwhelming to think about, leading to a society that reads condensed books rather than the real thing. Guy Montag is a fir eman in charge of burning books in a grim, futuristic United States.The book opens with a brief description of the pleasure he experiences while on the job one evening. He wears a helmet emblazoned with the numeral 451, the temperature at which paper burn, a black uniform with a salamander on the arm, and a phoenix disc on his chest. On his way home from the fire station, he feels a sense of nervous anticipation. After suspecting a lingering nearby presence, he meets his new neighbor, an inquisitive and unusual seventeen-year-old named Clarisse McClellan. She immediately recognizes him as a fireman and seems fascinated by him and his uniform.She explains that she is crazy and proceeds to suggest that the original duty of firemen was to extinguish fires rather than to light them. She asks him about his job and tells him that she comes from a strange family that does such peculiar things as talk to each other and walk places. Clarisse’s strangeness makes Guy nervous, and he lau ghs repeatedly and involuntarily. She reminds him in different ways of candlelight, a clock, and a mirror. He cannot help feeling somehow attracted to her. She fascinates him with her outrageous questions, unorthodox lifestyle, perceptive observations, and incredible power of identification.She asks him if he is happy and then disappears into her house. Pondering the absurd question, he enters his house and thinks about this stranger and her comprehension of his innermost trembling thought. Montag and Mildred spend the afternoon reading. The Mechanical Hound comes and sniffs at the door. Montag speculates about what it was that made Clarisse so unique. Mildred refuses to talk about someone who is dead and complains that she prefers the people and the pretty colors on her TV walls to books.Montag feels that books must somehow be able to help him out of his ignorance, but he does not understand what he is reading and decides that he must find a teacher. He thinks back to an afternoon a year before when he met an old English professor named Faber in the park. It was apparent that Faber had been reading a book of poetry before Montag arrived. The professor had tried to hide the book and run away, but after Montag reassured him that he was safe, they talked, and Faber gave him his address and phone number. Now Montag calls the professor.He asks him how many copies of the Bible, Shakespeare, or Plato are left in the country. Faber, who thinks Montag is trying to trap him, says none are left and hangs up the phone. Montag goes back to his pile of books and realizes that he took from the old woman what may be the last copy of the Bible in existence. He considers turning in a substitute to Beatty (who knows he has at least one book), but he realizes that if Beatty knows which book he took, the chief will guess that he has a whole library if he gives him a different book. He decides to have a duplicate made before that night.Mildred tells him that some of her friends ar e coming over to watch TV with her. Montag, still trying to connect with her, asks her rhetorically if the â€Å"family† on TV loves her. She dismisses his question. He takes the subway to Faber’s, and on the way tries to memorize verses from the Bible. A jingle for Denham’s Dentifrice toothpaste distracts him, and finally he gets up in front of all the passengers and screams at the radio to shut up, waving his book around. The astonished passengers start to call a guard, but Montag gets off at the next stop.Montag goes to Faber and shows him the book, which alleviates Faber’s fear of him, and he asks the old man to teach him to understand what he reads. Faber says that Montag does not know the real reason for his unhappiness and is only guessing that it has something to do with books, since they are the only things he knows for sure are gone. Faber insists that it’s not the books themselves that Montag is looking for, but the meaning they contain. The same meaning could be included in existing media like television and radio, but people no longer demand it.Faber compares their superficial society to flowers trying to live on flowers instead of on good, substantive dirt; people are unwilling to accept the basic realities and unpleasant aspects of life. Faber says that people need quality information, the leisure to digest it, and the freedom to act on what they learn. He defines quality information as a textured and detailed knowledge of life, knowledge of the â€Å"pores† on the face of humanity. Faber agrees with Mildred that television seems more â€Å"real† than books, but he dislikes it because it is too invasive and controlling.Books at least allow the reader to put them down, giving one time to think and reason about the information they contain. Montag suggests planting books in the homes of firemen to discredit the profession and see the firehouses burn. Faber doesn’t think that this action would get to the heart of the problem, however, lamenting that the firemen aren’t really necessary to suppress books because the public stopped reading them of its own accord even before they were burned. Faber says they just need to be patient, since the coming war will eventually mean the death of the TV families.Montag concludes that they could use that as a chance to bring books back. Montag bullies Faber out of his cowardice by tearing pages out of the precious Bible one by one, and Faber finally agrees to help, revealing that he knows someone with a printing press who used to print his college newspaper. Montag asks for help with Beatty that night, and Faber gives him a two-way radio he has created that will fit in Montag’s ear; that way the professor can hear what Beatty has to say and also prompt Montag. Montag decides to risk giving Beatty a substitute book, and Faber agrees to see his printer friend.Montag gazes at Clarisse’s empty house, and Beatty, guessi ng that he has fallen under her influence, berates him for it. Mildred rushes out of the house with a suitcase and is driven away in a taxi, and Montag realizes she must have called in the alarm. Beatty orders Montag to burn the house by himself with his flamethrower and warns that the Hound is on the watch for him if he tries to escape. Montag burns everything, and when he is finished, Beatty places him under arrest. Beatty sees that Montag is listening to something and strikes him on the head.The radio falls out of Montag’s ear, and Beatty picks it up, saying that he will have it traced to find the person on the other end. After Beatty eggs him on with more literary quotations, his last a quote from Julius Caesar, Montag turns his flamethrower on Beatty and burns him to a crisp. The other firemen do not move, and he knocks them out. The Mechanical Hound appears and injects Montag’s leg with anesthetic before he manages to destroy it with his flamethrower. Montag stum bles away on his numb leg. He goes to where he hid the books in his backyard and finds four that Mildred missed.He hears sirens approaching and tries to continue down the alley, but he falls and begins to sob. He forces himself to rise and runs until the numbness leaves his leg. Montag puts a regular Seashell radio in his ear and hears a police alert warning people to be on the lookout for him, that he is alone and on foot. He finds a gas station and washes the soot off his face so he will look less suspicious. He hears on the radio that war has been declared. He starts to cross a wide street and is nearly hit by a car speeding toward him.At first, Montag thinks it is the police coming to get him, but he later realizes the car’s passengers are children who would have killed him for no reason at all, and he wonders angrily whether they were the motorists who killed Clarisse. He creeps into one of his coworkers’ houses and hides the books, then calls in an alarm from a p hone booth. He goes to Faber’s house, tells him what has happened, and gives the professor some money. Faber instructs him to follow the old railroad tracks out of town to look for camps of homeless intellectuals and tells Montag to meet him in St.Louis sometime in the future, where he is going to meet a retired printer. Faber turns on the TV news, and they hear that a new Mechanical Hound, followed by a helicopter camera crew, has been sent out after Montag. Montag takes a suitcase full of Faber’s old clothes, tells the professor how to purge his house of Montag’s scent so the Hound will not be led there, and runs off into the night. Faber plans to take a bus out of the city to visit his printer friend as soon as possible. Captain Beatty comes by to check on Montag, saying that he guessed Montag would be calling in sick that day.He tells Montag that every fireman runs into the â€Å"problem† he has been experiencing sooner or later, and he relates to him the history of their profession. Beatty’s monologue borders on the hysterical, and his tendency to jump from one thing to another without explaining the connection makes his history very hard to follow. Part of the story is that photography, film, and television made it possible to present information in a quickly digestible, visual form, which made the slower, more reflective practice of reading books less popular.Another strand of his argument is that the spread of literacy, and the gigantic increase in the amount of published materials, created pressure for books to be more like one another and easier to read. Montag withdraws money from his account to give to Faber and listens to reports over the radio that the country is mobilizing for war. Faber reads to him from the Book of Job over the two-way radio in his ear. He goes home, and two of Mildred’s friends, Mrs. Phelps and Mrs. Bowles, arrive and promptly disappear into the TV parlor. Montag turns off the TV wall s and tries to engage the three women in conversation.They reluctantly oblige him, but he becomes angry when they describe how they voted in the last presidential election, based solely on the physical appearance and other superficial qualities of the candidates. After witnessing the anonymous scapegoat’s death on the television, Granger turns to Montag and ironically remarks, â€Å"Welcome back to life. † He introduces Montag to the other men, who are all former professors and intellectuals. He tells Montag that they have perfected a method of recalling word-for-word anything that they have read once. Each one of them has a different classic books stored in his memory.

Thursday, October 10, 2019

London prepares for the Olympics

The photograph on the sheet was taken in early 2009 and presents a snapshot of the major development under way in preparation for the 2012 London Olympics. In the foreground one can see Stratford east railway station where key transport developments are taking place. In the background are a number of Olympic construction projects, including the Westfield Shopping Mall. In the past, the land shown in the photograph used to be mainly low industrial units, transport depots and railway sidings. It was relatively low-value land, which is one of the reasons that this site was chosen for the Olympics. The owners of the various industrial units have received support and compensation to enable them to relocate elsewhere. 1. What is the evidence that major redevelopments are taking place? It is evident that there is construction going on in the area, this can be seen particularly from the machinery but also because: -the Westfield Shopping Mall can be seen in the background, still under construction. – There are lots of buildings which can be seen in the background. -there is a large sign which says ‘Everyone's London 2012' which suggests that the developments taking place are on a large scale to attract large amounts of people. 2. The development at the railway station is part of an overall plan to provide a top quality public transport infrastructure for the Olympic Games. What are the benefits of this approach to transport management? -Well, the Olympic Games by nature are going to attract large amounts of people to come, and this is financially rewarding. However, public transport infrastructure must be carefully taken into consideration, because no matter how amazing the Olympic Games are, if people cannot reach there, then it may end up being a big problem (for example financially, if many people do not even bother to purchase tickets to attend the Olympic Games, as the destination is not accessible. -well thought out infrastructure is convenient for people when travelling. -Also, regarding long term benefits, it means that more people in the local area can travel after the Olympic Games to work in other areas (perhaps secure jobs with higher incomes). -the temporary workers on the Olympic Site can travel there conveniently. – The main benefit is that it will help to ensure the public gets to the venues in time and in some degree of comfort. 3. Notice that there is a slogan in the photograph, albeit partially obscured that reads ‘Everyone's London 2012'. A) What do you think is meant by this slogan?It means that all these developments which are taking place for the Olympic Games, when finished are for everyone to enjoy and experience, for example not just the athletes and tourist, but local people as well. Basically, the ambition of ‘everyone's 2012' is to inspire people of all ability, belief, postcode, and colour to participate fully in the Games – and it extends far beyond London and late summer 2012. B) How will the local community benefit from the building work taking place in preparation for the Olympics? -the area is hoped to be regenerated socially, economically and environmentally. -the sporting facilities can be used by the community; this can promote a healthy lifestyle in an area with high levels of obesity. -the community can enjoy more entertainment/recreation facilities such as the Westfield Shopping Mall. -improvements in transport infrastructure have the most long term benefits as local people can benefit from its convenience, also it means that local people could travel to other areas for job opportunities. -lots of temporary jobs will be needed, especially in the construction industry, so local people's skills can be used, and local people can be trained as well (e.g. apprenticeships). – Boosting social and economic prospects in Stratford and the Lower Lee Valley, an area of high unemployment and deprivation. – Bringing about the transformation of largely derelict, brown-field sites through comprehensive and co-ordinated development. -Improvements to transport infrastructure which would be of benefit to the wider Thames Gateway area. C) One critical element of London's winning Olympic bid was the so-called ‘legacy' of the games- the longer term benefits arising for the local community. Can you see from the photograph what some of these might be? Well, there are obviously a lot of developments going on, and it is likely that the sports facilities could be used in the future by local communities, as well as recreational uses such as the Westfield Shopping Mall, and generally the area will attract tourists, and therefore increase the economy of the area (e.g. prices going up such as hotels charging more money etc which will benefit the tourist industry). Other benefits include: * Sports facilities with a national and international profile. * The Olympic stadium itself, which could be used for an Athletic or Premiership football stadium. * 4,000-4,500 new residential units built to house teams in the Olympic village- could be used to provide affordable and key worker housing. * A 1,000,000 sq ft media centre would be created for the games, which would have the latest technology and could be used as a centre for media based organizations and creative industries in the future and would also encourage associated and complementary industries and lever in much needed private investment. * An increase in tourism linking into and complementing existing and planned regeneration in east London (people still go to Barcelona and Munich to visit the Olympic sites) * Wholesale environmental and landscaping improvements and new urban design concepts * Staging a major international event such as the Olympics would be a major cultural boost to east London, which has long suffered from the image of dereliction and unattractiveness. It would be an excellent chance to publicise the area's wide cultural diversity and create tourist attractions such as an Olympic Park. 4. If you were to visit the areas shown here one year after the photograph was taken, how do you think it would have changed? I think there would still be a high level of construction going on, and the area would look more developed e.g. the Westfield Shopping Mall might have more added to its exterior (such as the windows etc). There might also be more people there (e.g. working/just observing etc).

English as Global Language Essay

The phenomenal rise in use of English has mainly taken place over the last two decades. English has reached high status world-wide because of several factors; as the mother tongue of millions of people all over the world, as the language that millions of children learn at school and the language that is used in international relations, for global communication and as the major media language. The importance of a global language has become major, in some contexts such as communication, e.g. international web-pages on the Internet, English is the only language used. In addition, English is used to establish and maintain connection and relationship between people with different backgrounds from different cultures. In this discursive essay, I will discuss the different aspects of a global language and how it will affect cultures, minority languages and communities all over the world. Disposition of body †¢ Definition of Lingua Franca †¢ Do we need a global language? †¢ Should English be a global language? Why/Why not? †¢ Which standard will be the Standard? / Strict or loose standards? †¢ Will native speakers take advantage? †¢ What will happen to minority languages and communities? Method Before I started to write the essay, I read relevant literature. David Crystal’s â€Å"English as a Global language† contains a lot of useful information, and so does â€Å"Sociolinguistics† by Peter Trudgill. In order to retrieve I want different aspects on the subject, I also used the Internet for research. I was also interested in average people’s opinion, therefore I asked approximately 40 people of different backgrounds, age and gender what they think of English as a global language. 1. Definition of Lingua Franca Many people do not know what a lingua franca is, therefore I will start by defining the term Lingua Franca and also tell a bit about its history. 1.1 Lingua franca is Latin and means â€Å"French language†. The first text written in a lingua franca is from 1353, but a simpler form of it appeared in the 11th century. The origin of this term is from the modern era when French became the language mostly used in commerce and diplomacy between the European countries. Not only French serves as a lingua franca, several European languages had the same status; e.g. English, Greek, Latin and German. The term lingua franca became so common that it continued to be used for any â€Å"universal† language. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingua_franca 2005) 1.2 A lingua franca can be any language which is used for communication among people who have no native language in common. In many of the former European colonies in Africa, French or English are used as the language of communication in trade and business. (Trudgill 2000:132) In some parts of Africa, other African lingua francas, such as Swahili and Hausa, are used. These languages are indigenous in some countries and have become used because of political reasons. When a language is used as a lingua franca, it undergoes a certain amount of reduction and simplification. The simplification often refers to getting rid of irregularities and grammatical gender in the lingua franca. This happens because adults are, unlike children, generally not good language learners, and therefore need a simplified version of the language. (Trudgill 2000:165) Should English be the Global Language? People in general have different opinions on English as a â€Å"global† language. There are positive as well as negative aspects of this. Do we need a global language? Why do we need it? Why should English be the best option? 2.1 Translation has always played a central role in interaction between people with different languages and language skills. Thousands of years ago, monarchs, ambassadors and merchants had to rely on someone to translate. But the more linguistically mixed the community got, the less they could rely on individuals to ensure their communication. Most of these problems have been solved with a lingua franca or a â€Å"pidgin†. A pidgin is a language created, usually spontaneously, from a mixture of other languages as a means of communication between speakers of different languages Pidgins have simple grammar and few synonyms. The prospect that a lingua franca might be needed for the whole world is something that has arisen in the twentieth century. Sin ce the 1950s, many international organisations have come into being e.g. the UN and the World Bank. Also political groupings e.g. The European Union and The Commonwealth have come into being. The pressure to make an agreement concerning one language has become urgent, but it is a sensitive issue. (Crystal 2003: 12-13) The need for a global language is mainly appreciated by the international academic and business communities, but also by individuals as the world becomes more and more global. (Crystal 2003: 12-13) 2.2 Why English has grown as much as it has, and why it might be seen as the best option for a global language have more than one answer. One is the geographical-historical reasons, and another is the socio-cultural. The geographical-historical part explains how English has reached its position and the socio-cultural explains how and why it remains that way. (Crystal 2003: 29) 2.2.1 English came to England from northern Europe during the fifth century and started to spread around the British Isles. (Crystal 2003: 30) The historical movement of English around the world began with the expeditions to Asia and America and continued with the colonial developments in Africa and the South Pacific. When many colonies became independent during the mid-twentieth century, they kept English as their official language or semi-official language. This led to a major step forward for the English language; it is represented on every continent and on islands in the three major oceans, making the label â€Å"global language† a reality. (Crystal 2003: 29) 2.2.1 The socio-cultural aspect looks at the way people in many ways have become dependent on English for their social life and for their economic well-being. English is the language of many business and political domains and also the language of entertainment such as television, the film industry, the music business, communication (internet, telecommunication and computers) and safety. (Crystal 2003: 29) 2.2.2 Today’s status of English has mainly two reasons; the expansion of the British colonial power and the emergence of the economical power of the United States. The latter is what scientist argue explain the status of English in the world today. (Crystal 2003: 59) 3. Positive and Negative Aspects on English as a Global Language 3.1 Positive aspects of English as a Global Language According to Buck (2005), English has, without doubt, reached the top position in the language hierarchy. Almost 30 % of the population are already â€Å"reasonably competent† in English. As the language of commerce, economy and politics, knowledge of and fluency in that language is helpful when participating in these fields. The economic power houses, the political bodies and commercial organisations also use English as their language of communication. More than 85% of the scientific, technological and academic production in the world today is performed in English. By using English you are able to communicate with people in almost all countries all over the world. English is the most widely spoken language with regards to number of countries, even though Chinese, Hindi and Spanish have more native speakers. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language 2005) The case might be that even in countries where one of the other languages is spoken you will be able to communicate wi th the inhabitants, using English as a lingua franca. It is often taken for granted that one speaks English and when someone does not, one might be looked upon suspiciously. I asked approximately 40 people from different backgrounds, different age and with different nationalities which language they would prefer as a global language and the majority answered English. The following reasons were given: It is the language you hear and read every day; the younger generations have learned it in school and it would be the best global language because it is the most spread all over the world. The people, who disagreed, said that Spanish would be the best global language, because it has more native speakers than English. 3.2 Negative aspects of English as a Global Language Even though there are many positive aspects of having a global language, there are negative aspects as well. How would it be possible to carry through a global language? Are there any dangers with having a global language? A global language might cultivate an elite class with native speakers, who take advantage of the possibility to think and work quickly in their mother-tongue. If this was the case they might manipulate it to their advantage at the expense of those who has another language as their mother-tongue and in this way create a linguistic gap between people. (Crystal 2003: 14-15) English has a history, sometimes cruel and violent with colonialism and war, and introducing English as the global language might be seen as a threat of future dominance. Perhaps a global language will make people unwilling or unable to learn other languages and make other languages unnecessary. (Crystal 2003: 15) One of the â€Å"risks† having only one language is that the chosen language may become very technical and â€Å"impoverished† for non-native speakers, e.g. the Eskimos, who have several words for snow, because they need it. They would probably not be able to express themselves properly if they only had one word for snow. And Swedish people would not be able to use the word â€Å"lagom†, a word which says a lot about the Swedish society and people. Many of the people who answered my question about â€Å"English as a Global Language†, expressed a worry that if we only had one language, they would feel â€Å"poor† when it comes to expressing feelings and emotions in a language that is not their mother-tongue, that they would not know enough words to be able to really express how and what they feel. 4. Standards – which standard should be used? Strict or loose standards? English is the mother-tongue of millions of people in different parts of the world. If English were to become a global language, which standard of the language would be the global standard? Perhaps the standards would become looser. 4.1. Standard English is the English that is usually used in print. It is also the English which is normally taught in school and to non-native speakers learning English. This is also the standard that is spoken among educated people and used for news broadcasts. (Trudgill 2000: 5-6) Historically, the British Standard developed from the south-east part of England (the area around London). These dialects were spoken in court, used in law and by the government. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_English 2005) Standard English has a widely accepted grammar, and an accent that comes with this standard, the British English accent, also known as the â€Å"Oxford English†, is the accent that is taught is schools. (Trudgill 2000:6-7) Furthermore this English has a major cultural influence, especially on the languages in the former Commonwealth countries, e.g. South Africa, Australia, and India as well as the European Union. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_English 2005 ) 4.2 We often hear about â€Å"American-English†, â€Å"South African-English† or other â€Å"Englishes†, but no such terms really exist. The different types of English are based on the British English but have developed grammatical and vocabulary differences because of influence and â€Å"loanwords† from other languages.(Trudgill 2000:6-7) 5. Minor Languages and cultures What will happen to minor cultures and languages if we introduce a global language? An introduction of a global language might lead to discrimination of other languages. Losing a language equals losing identity. The language is much more than just a tool for communication. According to Trudgill there is an intimate relation between language and culture and a large homogenisation of culture might lead to a shift in language where native people adopt another language and eventually the old language may die out. There is a difference between â€Å"language death† and â€Å"language murder†. Language death is when a language disappears naturally; its speakers are leaving it voluntarily, but â€Å"language murder† means that the killer language actively discourages use of other languages. Minority languages may be removed from the media and educational systems. English is referred to as a â€Å"killer language†, which means that it is a dominant language learned subtractive, at the cost of the mother tongues, rather than additively. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_language 2005) In the United States there have been a few â€Å"English Only† movements, the first one in 1803, when they banned the speaking of French among the population in Louisiana. After that, several attempts to remove Spanish and French have taken place. English is declared as the official language in several states in the US. The English-Only movements have been rejected by linguistics; they mean that a language does not create political unity, it takes more than that. The use of one single language in a community is no guarantee for social harmony or mutual understanding. This has been proven several times during the history, e.g. American Civil War, Spanish Civil War and former Yugoslavia. (Crystal 2003:16) 6. Conclusion This essay has shown that the creation of a global language has numerous advantages and disadvantages. Mutual intelligibility, great career opportunities and reduced administrative costs are some of the advantages a global language would give. The disadvantages are that English is closely linked to the British and the American cultures and history and is therefore not a â€Å"neutral† language. Perhaps a language with less historical and cultural connections would be a better option? We are in need of an international language for communication, politics, trade and security, but at the same time we are worried about language death, the advantages native speakers will have and all the disadvantages non-native speakers will face. English is growing, it is a strong language, and its future seems bright. My opinion is that if there will ever be an international language, English is the best option. It is a strong, well developed language with millions of speakers. Even if a global language might be important, different languages are of importance for their culture and for the development of their native speakers. Languages make the world more interesting and more alive.