Gun Manufacturers free essay sample

Manufacturers and Responsibility Velasquez, 6th edn, 2006, p. 49 During 2002, John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo shot and killed up to 13 people in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D. C. They used a semiautomatic assault rifle manufactured by Bushmaster Firearms, Inc. The two killers bought the rifle from Bulls Eye Shooter Supply, a gunshop in Tacoma, Washington, although federal law prohibited the shop from selling the gun to either Muhammad, who had a record of domestic battery, or Malvo, who was a minor. Survivors of the victims have claimed that although Muhammad and Malvo were directly responsible for the deaths of the victims, both Bushmaster Firearms, Inc. , and Bulls Eye Shooter Supply (and their owners) also â€Å"should be held responsible. â€Å" Audits by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms showed that Bulls Eye had â€Å"lostâ€Å" guns (238 in a 3-year period) or â€Å"lostâ€Å" documentation – including its records of the Muhammad-Malvo sale – yet Bushmaster Firearms continued to sell its guns to the shop. We will write a custom essay sample on Gun Manufacturers or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Survivors of the victims claimed that Bushmaster Firearms had an obligation not to create an unreasonable risk of foreseeable harm from the distribution of its guns. The company, they claimed, failed to adequately investigate or screen this dealers record of weapons handling, failed to adequately monitor and supervise how its dealer was selling its guns, and failed to provide training or incentives for its dealer to comply with gun laws. If Bulls Eye and Bushmaster had acted as they had an obligation to act, Muhammad and Malvo would have been prevented from obtaining the assault rifle they needed to kill their victims since federal laws prohibited both from buying guns. Bulls Eye and Bushmaster helped cause the deaths, the wife of a victim claimed, and so â€Å"they share the responsibility for my husbands death and many others. â€Å"

The Concepts of Migration and Its Types

The Concepts of Migration and Its Types Migration refers to a situation where individuals and /or family members relocate to a foreign country or region to ameliorate their economic or social prospects. According to the United Nations, a migrant is someone who has lived in a foreign country for a period exceeding one year, regardless of the circumstances that prompted them to move.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Concepts of Migration and Its Types specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Considering this definition, those visiting for shorter durations cannot be classified as migrants. There are several concepts that relate to migration. They include transnationalism, transnational migrants, and migrant transnationalism. Transnationalism refers to any social process that surpasses national borders. These activities are not confined to a particular country or region. Transnational migrants are those in constant motion. They constantly cross national borders as opposed to settling in one country. Migrant transnationalism refers to a situation where migrants retain and maintain ties with their home countries. This accords them an opportunity to participate in affairs of the host country, as well as their home country. There are various types of migrant transnationalism. They include economic transnationalism, and political transnationalism. In economic transnationalism, migrants contribute to the economy of the host country, as well as maintain relations with their home country. Such migrants send money back to their country of origin. These remittances are meant to support families that were left behind by the migrants. The remittances largely impact on the economies of sending countries. In political transnationalism, immigrants participate actively in political activities both in the host and home country. Most immigrants retain right to vote in their home country. However, migrant transnationalism is not a new occurrence. In contempora ry society, migration is made easier by technological advancements and developments in international mass media. These factors have increased the visibility of migrant transnationalism. Migration impacts heavily on the identity of immigrants. Identity refers to consciousness of belonging to a certain social grouping. Types of identity are ethnic identity, national identity, occupational identity, and social class identity. Migration plays a key role in altering identity of individuals. In migration trends, women are constantly put to focus. Most immigrant women find it difficult to move around and search for employment in the host country. Any form of movement by women impacts negatively on familial bond and structure. This is attributed to the fact that family relations and interactions are anchored on women.Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More If women are away from thei r families for long periods, the family gets to realign itself to the prevailing circumstances. Immigrant women earn less compared to men. This is because women are mostly semi-skilled. This makes it difficult for them to get well-paying jobs. In many societies around the world, women are required to stay at home and look after children. This means that immigrant women do not get support from their male partners. Therefore, migration for women is an occasion for possible rejection. It is evident that women face numerous challenges relating to migration. Women find it difficult to move around with their families. Consequently, they have to arrange on how their families will be catered for in their absence. Immigrant women often perform jobs that are lowly ranked in society. They work as sexual workers, caregivers, and domestic household workers. These jobs attract poor compensation rates. Women are disadvantaged by their subordinate gender position in society. Their jobs are exploita tive and demeaning. Most women migrate for economic reasons. Others are forced to migrate in order to escape abusive spouses. Others migrate to reunite with their families. Women have more to lose in comparison to men. The circumstances surrounding migration of women are difficult and unique. Women face difficulty in finding employment in host countries. However, men are well placed in terms of employment prospects in the host country.

The different views of marriage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The different views of marriage - Essay Example The sonnets rank among the finest love lyrics in the English language. The subject of the sonnets – love and the beloved, their soft music and the occasional graceful turn of phrase earn them an elevated place in English literature. A bit more about the title of the sonnet collection, Mrs. Browning was not Portugese, but she was a pronounced brunette, which is why her husband referred to her as â€Å"my little Portugese†. When she compiled her love poems in book form, she remembered the nickname and gave them the title â€Å"Sonnets from the Portugese†. One of the sonnets, Sonnet XLIII, often called â€Å"How Do I Love Thee† is hereby reproduced: Mrs. Browning’s Sonnet XLIII has been called the greatest love lyric in English and many readers would agree. The spontaneity and extent to which the persona in the poem experiences the emotion of love is very clear and evident from the beginning. In the poem, she expresses the fact that love encompasses her whole being and her whole life. Looking into her biography, the reader discovers that she led an active child’s life until one day, in trying to saddle her pony, she fell and suffered an injury that made her a partial invalid for years. In 1816, however, she married the poet Robert Browning and went with him to live in Florence, Italy, where her health improved and where their only son was born. Apparently, marriage and a more cheerful outlook towards life agreed with her and did her a lot of good. Line 9 of the poem would attest to this: â€Å"I love with a passion put to use Not all marriages are as perfect and ecstatic as that of the Brownings. In an analysis of short story that ensues, â€Å"Story of an Hour† by Kate Chopin, the negative side of marriage is presented. On the outset, however, the reader is kept guessing (Is the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard, a happily-married

Hedda Gabler Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hedda Gabler - Essay Example She is never happy and her love for Tesman is close to non-existent. For Hedda, this marriage to Tesman is a sham and she simply cannot bear to live with him. Coming from a wealthy family from higher social class, she has more refined tastes, a better sense of the world and a completely different way of thinking. She doesn't submit to passion like Tesman does and is usually disgusted by exaggerated expressions of joy by Tesman. Not only does she suffer from unwanted love, she is also clearly bored with her existence. As a woman of a wealthy well-known family, she had been accustomed to a different kind of life- one that Tesman cannot give her. Hedda is bored out of her wits and this results in developing dangerous habits. One such habit is playing with pistols as we see in one scene where she equates fiddling with pistols with complete boredom. When Judge Brack tells her not to play with pistols, she responds with a sheer sense of exasperation: "Then what in heaven's name would you have me do with myself" and when he inquires if she had had any visitors, she retorts, "Not one. I suppose all our circle are still out of town." (p. 284) This boredom leads to complete loss of mind as the woman starts contemplating suicide and finally kills herself. Married to Hedda was a professorship aspirant, Jurgen Tesman. Tesman is a coward. He wants to please Hedda and is dying to attain professorship but he fails to understand his inner cowardice. He feels inferior to Hedda and his constant efforts to please her have only backfired. She is simply disgusted by him and his attempts at pleasing her have failed because they indicate weakness. Tesman is also not as intelligent or learned as he would have himself believe. Eliert is his main rival and when it seems that he might just get professorship, Tesman steals his manuscript. However Tesman is not really a bad person. He wants to abide by the law and would love to return the manuscript but in a moment of weakness, he had stolen it. This theft leads to Eliert death and sets Tesman on the path of a brighter career. Tesman knew that with Eliert present, there was no real chance of succeeding since Eliert was a young man of considerable intelligence. He is the main rival of Tesman. He loves his work to death. It is the loss of his work that actually results in the tragic event of his untimely death. Eliert respects Mrs. Elvsted who had tried to help him with his work and to avoid hurting her, he tells her nothing about the theft and instead says he had torn it. Hedda encourages him to kill himself because she herself has become neurotic and death is a fantasy for her. Eliert takes the pistol but doesn't kill himself. His death is an accident and the lack of beauty of his death causes Hedda to kill herself. The person who had helped Eliert throughout his career was Mrs. Elvsted. Thea Elvsted is a lonely woman suffering from a loveless marriage. She cannot bear to stay neglected and thus moves from one man to another in search of affection. But she is a weak and timid person who is quite the opposite of Hedda. Hedda is manipulative while Thea is selfless. She seeks to gain affection of men in her life but doesn't try to manipulate them. Hedda is however not the only manipulative character in the story. Judge Brack is as much as opportunist as Hedda. He is happy to take advantage of people and their situations. He is a good match to Hedda's manipulative tactics. He knows it was Hedda

Polite and gracious Essay Example for Free

Polite and gracious Essay For the first time in my life things seemed to be looking on the bright side and then, just like usual, it was torn away from me by a selfish, ignorant Mr.Birling. I had been doing well at the works, had only recently been promoted as the leading officer, a head of a group of girls. I was in charge of them and got to know them well, there was Betty, Martha, Lucy, Agatha, Emma, Vicky and quite a few others. Marthas the nicest. Shes an orphan, like me so I guess. Well, during the short holiday in the summer, we got talking about our wages and how most of us were barely scraping by on the measly 22 6pence we got. I mean we were only just surviving and its no good just being able to survive, we wanted to live! Other people do so why cant we! So seeing as we shouldnt be treated as cheap labour, but people we decided to go to Mr.Birling himself and ask for 15 shillings instead. But as he is mean and penny pinching he refused blankly. Said he wouldnt even consider it! After that it only gets worse. Stupid as we were we went on strike hoping that that would show him but of course how could we manage having just been on holiday. We were all even more broke then usual, so the strike having failed miserably we had no choice but to go back to the works.  But No! It wasnt as simple as that, life never is. Of course he wouldnt accept us ringleaders back and came down himself and told us to clear out! I had a lot to say to that Mr.Birling but he wouldnt even listen to a word of it! Sent us packing right on the spot. If only he would have listened to me, Id have told him a thing or two! God, there is so many thoughts and questions running round my head! There is so much I want to say to people, but no one will listen. There are so many others just like me out there, who struggle and suffer simply because of the conditions they work in and the measly wages they receive but no one dares do anything about it. Why shouldnt we try for higher wages? Its unjust that we should be sacked just for having a little more spirit than the others!  But who am I kidding? Im just lower class, cheap labour, scum. Im meant to just accept that thats the way it is. Dont try and go against it, dont ask questions, dont do any thing but just take whats given you. Maybe it is Gods will for me to end up like this, just like it was for my parents. Im angry and frightened and dont know what to do. I have looked for almost 2 months for some kind of work but it is scarce and hard to get, Im living in lodgings which I cannot do for much longer, I have no money saved, not one penny, no family, few friends, no home to go back to, Im lonely and scared, stuck in a rut, unable to climb any where higher or better. No one to turn to for support or comfort apart from the lord some may say. But when out of the many times I have begged him to help me had he answered my prayers? Never. Enough of this miserable complaining. When has it done anybody any good? I guess Eva Smith is better than this (or I shall try to be). Just because some mean selfish man made me lose and job, that I hardly enjoyed any way, doesnt mean I have to throw everything away and stop living! I will try! Tomorrow I will continue looking for a job although if I shall succeed I do not know, but it is better than sitting here counting the pennies in the dark. I have never been so happy! Last week at last, my dream came true! No more cold nights, no more hungry bellies, no worrying if Ill make it till tomorrow, I am at last safe! I have eventually found a respectable, fairly well paid, secure job at one of the best, and most expensive shops around. Milwards! Every body goes there. No, not only every normal body but every rich, prosperous noble body! Its a wonderful stroke of luck, I really couldnt of asked for a better job! Its lovely working there, Im treated like a normal human being for once. Its an amazing change from the factory where I would be surrounded by loud machinery drilling into my head, people moaning and sweating, horrible smells, shouts and cries, no escaping from it. But now its completely different. Everywhere I look I see beautiful, clothes hanging rail by rail and whereas before the most I could do was longingly stare into shop windows I can now actually hold these gorgeous dresses and if Im lucky, try them on! I may even start saving up for one even though it would take a long, long time. Lovely people talk to me there and theyre ever so polite and gracious. They no longer look at me as if Im some piece of dirt but almost as if Im one of them. I feel like Ive entered a different world, a world with out suffering and pain. I see this as a good fresh start for a new life, a new road now lies ahead of me. This job is a lot better pay (I now get 95 shillings a week!) so I can now start looking to try and rent a place out for my self but the first thing I will do is go a buy my self a nice juicy steak with some of this weeks wages. Its been so long since Ive had a proper, tasty meal, I can feel my mouth watering just thinking about it. Well enough about food. I have been thinking recently that its about time I tried to find my self a husband. I look around me and everywhere I see are happy couples arm in arm. I know my parent would have wanted me to find a nice young man and now Im working in respectable job I can hopefully find one who isnt too badly well off and quickly settle down happily. I can see myself, in a few years time, married to a works manager of some sort. Hed be tall and dark and have beautiful blue eyes. Hed be ever so loving and caring to me and would never treat me badly. Wed have two lovely children, a girl and a boy, and we would live in the biggest, most beautiful rose covered, marigold house, along pixmore lane.

Climate Change Effects on Agriculture

Climate Change Effects on Agriculture Climate change is a change in average weather over certain periods of time. Issues about the climate change have been going on for quite some time now. The main issue is of course whether the Earth is experiencing climate change or not. The respond to this issue is surely positive although countless number of arguments is being highlighted regarding this issue. People usually confuse the climate change with the variations of weather that occurs constantly. This is wrong since the climate change is the change in average weather as being stated in the definition earlier. Climate change is also being observed for a certain period of time usually for a long time period ranges from decades to millions of years. Research that have been done and still going on about this issue offer a scientific assurance and great amount of data that supports the argument that the Earth is experiencing climate change. Various types of data like temperature variations, precipitation and wind patterns are us ed regarding this issue. These data record variations since they are affected by the dynamic processes on Earth such as instability of sunlight intensity and in recent times the human activities. Climate change effect all sort of people around the world and but the main group of people that will be affected the most is the poor population of the world. This is based on the facts that they rely mostly on their natural resource base for instance agriculture, fisheries and tourism activities. These types of industries are known as the climate sensitive industries which contribute to a vital number of national gross domestic products (GDP) (11). Agriculture share in total GDP at world stage is approximately 13% in developing countries and 2% in developed countries (5). Australia reliance on agricultural industry is quite significant although it is a developed country. The agriculture industry only contributes approximately 2% of the national GDP in Australia but around 66.7% of its products are being exported and this contributes approximately 18% of total Australian merchandise exports (8). Australian Governments Department of Climate Change reports that the interdependence between agriculture and economy was observed during the terrible droughts in 2002 to 2003 where the gross value of agricultural production decreased by 19% (approximately $32 billion) which accounts for the reduced of GDP by 1% (1). The relation between climate change and agriculture is a subjective matter and researches have been going on for quite some time now to find out what are the effects of climate change on agriculture and also the effects of agriculture on climate change. Most farmers are aware that they have to grow crops and rear animals depending on the local climate. This is important since the weather plays a very important role in determining the quantity and quality of the crops despite a lot of technological advances being introduced like genetically modified organisms, improved irrigation system and seed variation. This fact is being accentuated by Wall and Smit (2005) (4) who said that the main aspects in the success of agri-food sector are the weather and climate conditions. The climate impacts on agriculture are best being observed at local stage rather than at global stage because the impacts are more related to local climate. A detailed insight on the interrelation between climate change and Australian agriculture will be provided in this paper. This is due to the fact that agriculture plays an important role in Australian economy and is at risk caused by the adverse effects of climate change. The projected changes of climate, effects of climate change on the Australian agriculture, effects of Australian agriculture on climate change, ways to lessen the effects by means of mitigation and adaptation will be discussed in detail later in this paper. Australia is a big country and includes various types of climate. The temperature increase is difference from one region to another. In this case, the temperature average is taken into account where the estimated temperature increase is 1à ¢Ã‚ Ã‚ °C to 5à ¢Ã‚ Ã‚ °C in 2070 contrast to that in 1990 (CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology (BoM), 2007, Table 1.0 in ABARE 200) (8). In general, the coastal areas of Australia will experience smaller number of temperature increase compared to the inland area of Australia. The changes in precipitation level are also being considered in order to observe the changes of climate. This type of change is less definite compared to the changes in temperature and the precipitation patterns are notably different at regional stage (IPCC 2007) (8). According to the modelling, the warming of Earth will anticipated to increase the precipitation level over Southern and Eastern Australia (7). According to CSIRO and BoM (2007), Australia will be expecting 20% more drought months by 2030, by taking the drought months in 1990 as a comparison (8). This number will be increased by 2070 with 40% more drought months are expected in Eastern Australia while 80% more drought months in South Western Australia (8). There will be also an increase in the number of flood occurrence and soils erosion as a results of the high number of precipitation level and longer drought throughout Australia (CSIRO and BoM 2007) (8). According to Garnaut Climate Change Review, the number of days with extreme fire weather will be increase approximately 5% to 25% in 2013 (6). Climate change can be both beneficial and detrimental to the agriculture industry. Which one plays the main role is still in question and arguments are still going on. The sure thing is that the climate change will certainly affect agriculture industry since this industry depends a lot on the climatic conditions. According to the Garnaut Climate Change Review, crop production is affected directly by the temperature changes, average rainfall rate changes, rainfall distribution over a year and rainfall variability (6). For example, temperature increase and rainfall decrease will results in the smaller amount of wheat yields and land values in all agricultural industries including crops, mixed and livestock by approximately 7% to 16% (10). Changes in the important climate variables in Australia are also results in the loss of agricultural production, decrease in crop yields, pasture growth and livestock production returns and increase in the cost of agricultural production (8). Climate change can also be beneficial to the agricultural industry as being said earlier. The beneficial effect includes the increase rate of photosynthesis that leads to higher crop production in certain plants due to the increasing number of carbon dioxide emissions (6). This is supported by John Houghton, the author of the book titled Global Warming by saying that the carbon dioxide fertilisation effect will leads to higher productivity, C3 plants in particular (9). On the other hand, this relation is complex and could possibly be compensate by the temperature increase and decrease in the water availability (1). Climate change effects on the agricultural are usually depends on the geographical aspect of an area and also the capability to adapt to them. According to a report, in mid to high latitude regions, moderate local temperature increase will results in small beneficial effects on crop yields, despite the fact that the same moderate local temperature increase will results in detrimental effects on yield crop (2). In a book titled Global Warming wrote by John Houghton, the writer states that with detailed knowledge of the conditions required by different species and the expertise in breeding techniques and genetic manipulation available today, there should be little difficulty in matching crops to new climatic conditions over large parts of the world (9). The statement is true but unfortunately it is only applicable to crops that take over a year or two to mature. Agriculture itself has its own effect on the climate change. The main reason is because the massive emissions of greenhouse gases which is one of the contributors to global climate change. According to Australian Governments Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF), the Australian agricultural sector is the second highest source for greenhouse gases behind the electricity production, with approximately 18% of the overall national emissions produce by on farm activities (3). The highest amount of emissions (12% of the national greenhouse gas emissions) is methane (CH4), a main greenhouse gas produce by livestock, followed by nitrous oxide (NO2) produce by fertilized soils that contributes 3% of Australias greenhouse gas emissions, and the remaining amount is represented by carbon dioxide (CO2) (3). At world stage, Australias per capita emissions results from agriculture activities contributes to more than six times the world average, more than four times the average Or ganization for Economic CO-operation and Development (OECD) countries emissions and the third highest in OECD (6). It is proven that the Australian agricultural activities are very much vulnerable to the effects of climate change and also the effects of Australian agriculture on global climate change. There are many ways to deal with these two problems. The best ways to deal with this situation are to mitigate to lessen the effects and also to adapt to the foreseeable changes. The effects of agricultural activities on the climate change results in the establishment of international agreement, conventions and conferences as an effort to solve this problem. DAFF has prepared the Action Plan consists of a number of measures focussing on decreasing the CH4 and N2O emissions and discovering further prospect to encourage enhanced efficiency, understanding prospect to decrease the energy use in agriculture, promoting cost efficient alternatives to fossil fuels and developing biosequestration prospect in agriculture (6). Moreover, the emission trading scheme in Australian agriculture industry introduced by the government is also a way to decrease the adverse effects of climate change by making sure that farmers taking appropriate steps to reduce their carbon footprint and at the same increasing the net farm profits (8). Careful and principled approaches have to be taken to make sure that the design of the scheme does not create needless costs on the Australians (6 ). Another method is adaptation. The definition of adaptation is a structure modified to fit a changed environment. In this case, the modification that can be done to face inescapable climate risks. ABARE (2007) reports that the adaptation in agriculture could incorporate altering the species planted to those with more suitable thermal time and vernalisation requirements and with enhanced resistance to heat, frosts or drought; altering application times and quantity of fertiliser or irrigated water to sustain quality and growth; altering pasture rotations and grazing times; and supplying additional feeding to livestock (8). Another step is to increase the efficiency of water delivery which helps in reducing the declines in supply of water for irrigated agriculture due to the climate change (6). The climate change that strike the Earth which results in temperature and precipitation increase plus the greater rate of extreme weather events are understood to have significant effects both beneficial and detrimental on agricultural sector. On the contrary, agriculture industry also contributes to the climate change, mostly owing to the greenhouse gas emissions. Consequently, mitigation and adaptation approaches have to be taken in order to deal with this problem.

Applied linguistics Essay

Applied linguistics 1 History The term applied linguistics dates back at least to the 1940s in the USA when linguists applied analytical methods to the practical problems of producing grammars and phrasebooks and developing language courses. 2 What Is Applied Linguistics? Applied linguistics: (1) was interdisciplinary, drawing on psychology, sociology, and pedagogy as well as theoretical linguistics; (2) included a range of fields including lexicography, stylistics, speech pathol ogy, translation, language policy, and planning among others; (3) performed a mediating function between theory and practice. Ð pplied linguistics must take into consideration the nature of language and the nature of the particular world in which language is used, the beliefs, social institutions, and culture of its users, and how these influence language use. Ideally, the job of an applied linguist is to diagnose a problem in real-world language use, bring the insights of linguistics to bear on the problem, and suggest solutions. 3 Relation of Theory and Practice: the Case of Language Teaching The applied linguist stands at the intersection of theory and practice, but it is not always clear how the applied linguist mediates between the two. This suggests a one-way street in which theory is at the starting point, and the applied linguist directs traffic from theory to practice. Influenced by structuralism in linguistics and by behaviorism in psychology, applied linguists believed that language was a collection of discrete learnable structures, speaking was primary, and learning a language was a matter of correct habit formation. To inculcate correct habits, teachers drilled students incessantly in correct pronunciation and patterned practice of grammatical structures. Under the influence of the theoretical work of Noam Chomsky, applied  linguists saw language learning as a cognitive process of hypothesis testing, in which errors indicated the stage of the language learner’s interlanguage. Instead, knowing a language means knowing how to communicate in the language; it involves acquiring â€Å"communicative competence. † A richer model of the relationship among theory, practice, and applied linguistics sees it as a two-way street in which the applied linguist directs traffic from theory into practice and from practice into theory. Similarly in applied linguistics, practice provides a testing ground for theory,  but it is more than that: real-world language use provides new questions and issues requiring new theories. 4 Recent Range of Inquiry Nevertheless, the central characteristics of applied linguistics remain: (1) focus on contextualized language use; (2) application of theory to practice and vice versa; (3) practical problem-based approach; (4) multidisciplinary perspective. 4. 1 Second language teaching and cross-cultural linguistics 2Accurate description of language use with the ultimate goal of teaching has motivated research in cross-cultural discourse and pragmatics. Concentration on  spoken language, combined with speech act theory among others, has engendered numerous research projects in applied linguistics investigating specific speech acts such as making requests and apologies in different languages and cultures. Applied linguists have examined the development of pragmatic competence in second language learners and the possibilities for teaching pragmatics. 4. 2 Language use in context: contributions of discourse analysis Outside the area of language pedagogy, the burgeoning of discourse analysis has provided a means whereby linguistic insight can be applied to real-world situations. Other institutional and professional settings, too, have come under scrutiny from applied linguists using theoretical constructs to explain how language is used in real-world settings such as commerce, employment, and public services. A field that has developed considerably in recent years in response to societal concerns is the investigation of language and gender. Recent empirical studies have enriched understanding of the interrelationship of language and gender and demonstrated that generalizations about male and female speech are unreliable when the particular communicative contexts in which the speech occurs have not been examined. Other work has examined gender and language cross-culturally and in specific institutional settings. 4. 3 Language maintenance and endangered languages and dialects The work of applied linguists on endangered or minority languages and dialects brings together field linguistics, anthropology, sociolinguistics and education. For example, a longitudinal study of language use and cultural context draws together sociolinguistic research into language use, research in language socialization, and second language acquisition research into educational discourse. It is not only minority languages that are under threat, but also dialects. 2. Contemporary linguistic approaches: Clinical, forensic, computational linguistics ( Ð ²Ã'‹Ã'‡Ð ¸Ã' Ã »Ã ¸Ã'‚Ð µÃ »Ã'Å'Ð ½Ã °Ã'  )( 29, 30, 25) We have chosen to focus on four relatively popular areas of inquiry: †¢ syntactic parsing; †¢ discourse analysis; †¢ computational morphology and phonology; †¢ corpus-based methods. Parsing and discourse analysis have had the longest continuous history of investigation. Computational morphology and phonology began to grow as a separate discipline in the mid-1980s. Corpus-based approaches were investigated as early as the 1960s. 1 Parsing (Ã'€Ð °Ã ·Ã ±Ã ¾Ã'€) Parsing is the act of determining the â€Å"syntactic structure† of a sentence. The goal is to represent â€Å"who did what to whom† in the sentence. Parsing involves tagging 3the words with an appropriate syntactic category and determining their relationships to each other. Words are grouped into phrase-like constituents, which are arranged into clauses and sentences. Machine translation systems employ parsing to derive representations of the input that are sufficient for transfer from the source to target language at either the syntactic or semantic level. A great deal of attention – to the application of syntactic parsing models for language modeling for automatic speech recognition. 2 Discourse Analysis. The area of discourse analysis is concerned with inferring the intended meanings of utterances. In order for the dialogue participants to successfully carry out a dialogue, they must be able to recognize the intentions of the other participant’s utterances, and to produce their responses in such a way that will enable the other participant(s) to recognize their intentions. A recipe is a generic template for performing a particular action. The recipe library contains a collection of generic recipes, and during discourse understanding, the plan inference module attempts to infer utterance intentions and relationships using  information provided by this library. 3 Computational Morphology and Phonology Roughly speaking, the topics can be classified into computational morphology, which treats the analysis of word structure; and computational phonology, which, deals with the changes in sound patterns that take place when words are put together. 4 Corpus-based Methods The word corpus in linguistics is typically a collection of texts. Corpora have been widely used by linguists to identify and analyze language phenomena, and to verify or refute claims about language. However, a corpus also reveals important  quantitative information about the distribution of various language phenomena. 29 Clinical Linguistics Clinical linguistics is the application of the linguistic sciences to the study of language disability. 1 Identifying Linguistic Symptoms Attention has now come to be focused on important symptoms of language disability, and to those aspects of the problem which have been ignored or misdiagnosed. â€Å"Less noticeable† refers to any feature other than the audible qualities of pronunciation, the order and omission of surface grammatical elements, and the actual items which constitute vocabulary. These features exclude  most of the properties of phonological systems, the sense relations between lexical items, the constraints operating on discourse in interaction, and the many ramifications of underlying syntactic structure. All of these play a major part in identifying the various kinds of language disability. The use of a clinical linguistic frame of reference has also enabled people to make progress in identifying disorders of language comprehension. That requires careful testing and the controlling of variables. Disorders of a pragmatic kind, likewise, 4 have often remained undiagnosed, or have been misdiagnosed as problems of a  psychological or social behavioral type. 2 The Role of Clinical Linguistics 2. 2 Description A major area of clinical linguistic research has been to provide ways of describing and analyzing the linguistic behavior of patients, and of the clinicians and others who interact with them. 2. 3 Diagnosis An important aim of clinical linguistics is to provide a classification of patient linguistic behaviors. This can provide an alternative diagnostic model, and one which is more able to provide insights about intervention in cases where there is no clear evidence of any medical condition. 2. 4 Assessment (Ð ¾Ã'†Ð µÃ ½Ã ºÃ °). Clinical linguistics has also been much involved in devising more sophisticated assessments of abnormal linguistic behavior. A diagnosis tells us what is â€Å"wrong† with a patient; an assessment tells us just how seriously the patient is â€Å"wrong. † 2. 5 Intervention The ultimate goal is to formulate hypotheses for the remediation (Ð ¾Ã ·Ã ´Ã ¾Ã'€Ð ¾Ã ²Ã »Ã µÃ ½Ã ¸Ã µ) of abnormal linguistic behavior. Not all aspects of a patient’s problem are directly relevant to the need for linguistically based intervention, clinical linguistics can help clinicians to make an informed judgment about â€Å"what to teach next,† and to monitor the outcome of an intervention hypothesis, as  treatment proceeds. To a large extent, moving well beyond the patient’s language, to include an investigation of the language used by the person(s) carrying out the intervention, the kind of teaching materials used, and the setting in which the interaction takes place. 3 Linguistic Insights The chief aim of clinical linguistics is to provide the clinician with increasing levels of insight and confidence in arriving at linguistic decisions. The three pillars of any clinical linguistic approach: description – grading – intervention. All change needs to be regularly monitored, to demonstrate that progress is being made – this  is the task of assessment. The keeping of comprehensive linguistic records is a further priority, without which the efficacy of intervention can never be demonstrated. Forensic Linguistics Now linguists also have begun examining voice identification, authorship of written documents, unclear jury instructions, the asymmetry of power in courtroom exchanges, lawyer–client communication breakdown, the nature of perjury, problems in written legal discourse, defamation, trademark infringement, courtroom interpretation and translation difficulties, the adequacy of warning  labels, and the nature of tape recorded conversation used as evidence. 1 Trademark Infringement Typically, they respond to requests of attorneys to help them with their law cases. 2 Product Liability 5But the linguist, calling on knowledge of discourse analysis, semantics, and pragmatics, can determine the extent to which the message was clear and unambiguous and point out the possible meanings that the message presents. Once this is done, it is up to the attorney to determine whether or not to ask the linguist to testify at trial. 3 Speaker Identification Linguists have been used by attorneys in matters of voice identification. If the tapes are of sufficient quality, spectographic analysis is possible. If not, the linguist may rely on training and skills in phonetics to make the comparison. 4 Authorship of Written Documents Law enforcement agencies process provide a â€Å"psychological profile† of the person. Calling on knowledge of language indicators of such things as regional and social dialect, age, gender, education, and occupation, linguists analyze documents for broad clues to the identity of the writer. Stylistic analysis centers on a writer’s habitual language features over which the writer has little or no conscious awareness. 5 Criminal Cases Suspects are recorded with court authorized wire taps placed that none of the speakers is aware of being taped, or by using body microphones and engage suspects in conversation. If the law enforcement agency is concerned about the adequacy of the language evidence that they have gathered, they may call on a linguist to make transcripts of the conversations, analyze them. The tape recorded conversation itself points to the use of the other tools of the forensic linguist, including syntax, morphology, semantics, pragmatics, dialectology, and discourse analysis. 3. Discourse analysis (17) Discourse analysis is concerned with the contexts in and the processes through which we use oral and written language to specific audiences, for specific purposes, in specific settings. 1 What Is Discourse? A Preliminary Characterization The big D concerns general ways of viewing the world and general ways of behaving, the small d concerns actual, specific language use. Discourse analysis emphasizes that language is not merely a self-contained system of symbols but a mode of doing, being, and becoming. Discourse research can be divided into 2 major types of inquiries: (1) why some but not other linguistic forms are used on  given occasions and (2) what are the linguistic resources for accomplishing various social, affective, and cognitive actions and interactions. 2 Communicative Motivations for the Selection of Linguistic Forms Language is inseparable from other aspects of our life and that the selection of linguistic forms should be explained in terms of authentic human communicative needs (i. e. , social, interactional, cognitive, affective needs). 2. 1 Context 6One of the first questions is what is happening in this stretch of talk, who the participants are, where they are, and why they are there. Linguistic choices are  systematically motivated by contextual factors. Context is a complex of 3 dimensions: First, the field of social action in which the discourse is embedded. Second, the set of role relations among the participants. And third, the role of language in the interaction. In this view, language is a system of choices made on the basis of a contextual configuration which accounts for field, tenor, and mode. 2. 3 Speech act What kind of speech act utterance is and whether this act is accomplished through direct or indirect means. Speech act theory says that language is used not only to describe things but to do things as well. Further, utterances act on 3 different levels: the literal level (locutionary act), the implied level (illocutionary act), and the consequence of the implied act (perlocutionary act). 2. 4 Scripts / plans Script is to describe the knowledge that we have of the structure of stereotypical event sequences. If such knowledge can be described in a formal way, then we may have a theory of how humans process natural language. 2. 5 Referentiality How entities (Ð »Ã ¸Ã'†Ð °) are referred to in utterances. Some analysts are interested in how referential forms make a stretch of discourse cohesive in form and coherent in meaning. 2. 6 Topicality and thematicity What is an utterance about, what is the starting point of a message, what is the focus of a message. Topic – the part of the utterance about which something is said. Prague School linguists developed the functional sentence perspective which says that word order has to do with how informative each element in the utterance is – communicative dynamism, or CD. A sentence begins with elements with the lowest CD and ends with those with the highest CD. Theme is the part of the utterance with the lowest degree of CD. 2. 7 Sequential organization The sequential context of the utterance. Discourse analysts have sought to explain linguistic choices in terms of ethnographic contexts, knowledge structure, rhetorical organization, communicative intentions, textual organization, information management and sequential organization, among others. Discourse Analysis, Linguistics, and More Discourse analysts research various aspects of language not as an end in itself, but as a means to explore ways in which language forms are shaped by and shape the contexts of their use. Further, discourse analysis draws upon not only linguistics, but also anthropology, sociology, psychology, philosophy, cognitive science, and  other disciplines in the humanities and social sciences concerned with human communication. Discourse analysis promotes a view of language which says that 7 Resource Center Saved Recents Uploads My Answers Account Products Home Essays Drive Answers Texty About Company Legal Site Map Contact Us Advertise  ©2016 StudyMode. com HOME  > ESSAYS  > LINGUISTICS  > LINGUISTICS Linguistics Applied linguistics, Discourse analysis, Language By maor87 Apr 17, 2015 6489Words 150Views More info PDF View Text View PAGE8 OF 18 language use is not only reflective of other aspects of our lives but is also constitutive of them. As it draws insights from various disciplines, it also contributes to interfacing linguistics with other domains of inquiries, such that we might now investigate the construction of culture through conversation or program computers to generate interactive texts based on our understanding of the rules and principles of human interaction. It focusses on language as it is used by real people with real intentions, emotions. 4. Linguistics and pragmatics (16) The Puzzle of Language Use: How Do We Ever Understand Each Other? Pragmatics is the study of communication – the study of how language is used. This study is based on the assumption of a division between knowledge of language and the way it is used; and the goal of pragmatics is providing a set of principles which dictate how knowledge of language and general reasoning interact in the process of language understanding, to give rise to different kinds of effects which can be achieved in communication. Pragmatics as the Application of Conversational Principles to Sentence Meanings The starting point for studies in pragmatics is the mismatch between what words â€Å"mean, and what speakers â€Å"mean† by using them. There is the knowledge of  language, which dictates the meanings of words and the ways in which they can combine. This is called the encoded meaning. On the other hand, there are pragmatic principles which enable a hearer to establish some different interpretation – the nonencoded part of meaning. Moreover, given the full array of rhetorical effects such as metaphor, irony, etc. , all of which are uses of expressions in context in some sense, the proposed approach maintains a natural separation between literal uses of words, which are reflected in sentence-meanings, and the various non-literal uses to which they may be put. Knowledge of language: sentence-meanings as partial specifications of interpretation The problem for this â€Å"clean† view is that we use commonsense reasoning, whatever this consists in, not merely in working out why a speaker has said something, but also in establishing what she has said in using the words chosen. The overall picture of interpretation is that grammar-internal principles articulate both syntactic and semantic structure for sentences, a semantic structure for a sentence being an incomplete specification of how it is understood. Pragmatic theory explains how such incomplete specifications are enriched in context to yield  the full communicative effect of an uttered sentence, whether metaphorical, ironical, and so on. The Process of Reasoning: How Do Hearers ever Manage to Choose the Right Interpretation? Grice’s cooperative principle and the conversational maxims According to Grice who was the pioneer of the inferential approach to conversation, there is a general assumption underpinning all utterance interpretation that the interpretation of utterances is a collaborative enterprise. This 8collaborative enterprise is structured by a number of maxims, which speakers are presumed to obey: †¢ The maxim of quality: do not say that for which you lack evidence; do not say what you believe to be false. †¢ The maxim of relevance: be relevant. †¢ The maxim of quantity: make your contribution as informative as is required, but not more so. †¢ The maxim of manner: be perspicuous (avoid obscurity, avoid ambiguity, be brief, be orderly). Grice articulated the maxims as a means of simplifying the overall account of the relation between the use of language in logical arguments and the conversational use of language. Relevance theory This theory claims to characterize pragmatic phenomena in terms of a single  cognitive concept, that of relevance, replacing the social underpinnings of Grice’s cooperative principle. The principle of relevance Optimal relevance is getting the right balance between size and type of context and amount of information derived. The more information some stimulus yields, the more relevant it is said to become, but the more effort the interpretation of that stimulus requires, the less relevant it will become. And to be minimally relevant a stimulus must lead to at least one non-trivial inference being derived. However interpretation of an act of communication involves two agents – the  speaker and the hearer. The constraint of balancing cognitive effect with cognitive effort will also apply to what the hearer does, but here the task of interpretation is more specific because the hearer has to try and recover what the speaker intended to convey. There are two aspects to the task: 1 Decoding the information associated with an uttered expression– i. e. working out what words have been said and the information that they by definition carry. 2 Making choices which enrich that encoded information to establish what the speaker had intended to convey using those words. Relevance and speech acts  On the speech act view of language, language can best be understood in terms of acts such as these which speakers carry out in using language. The observation by speech act theorists that there is more to language than just describing things is quite uncontentious. Nonetheless, in relevance theory, where the type of implications that can be drawn is quite unrestricted, there is no need of any special discrete categories for such different kinds of act. 5. Linguistic typology and its directions (14) 1 The Diversity of Human Languages The field of linguistic typology explores the diversity of human language in an  effort to understand it. The basic principle behind typology is that one must look at as wide a range of languages as possible in order to grasp both the diversity of 9language and to discover its limits. Typology uses a fundamentally empirical, comparative, and inductive method in the study of language. That is, typologists examine grammatical data from a wide variety of languages, and infer generalizations about language from that data. The basic discovery of typology is that there are limits to linguistic diversity. By comparing diverse languages and discovering universal grammatical patterns, one can attempt to disentangle what is  universal about the grammars languages from what is peculiar to each individual language. 2 The Nature of Language Universals: Word Order One of the first areas of grammar where it was recognized that there are limits to grammatical diversity was the order of words. Word order is probably the most immediately salient difference in grammatical patterns from one language to the next. First, one must examine a sample of languages in order to infer the range of grammatical diversity and its limits. A variety sample collects as broad a range of languages as possible from different geographical areas and different genetic  groupings. Its purpose is to ensure that all possible language types are identified. Second, one must be able to identify phenomena from one language to the next as comparable. The basic problem here is the great variety of grammatical structures used in the world’s languages. The solution to this problem is due to another insight of structuralism: the basic unit of the language is the sign, a form that conventionally expresses or encodes a meaning. The basis for cross-linguistic comparison is a particular linguistic meaning; once that is identified, we may examine the different structures used to encode that meaning. Third, we must identify a range of grammatical patterns or types used to express the linguistic meaning being examined, and classify languages according to what type(s) is / are used in them. For instance, in describing word order of the sentence, the relative position of subject (S), object (O), and verb (V) are used to classify language types. Language structure is determined by factors of language use, such as processing. Language structure is also determined by historical relationships among grammatical patterns, which themselves are due to similarity in meaning. However, these factors do not uniquely determine a language structure, but  compete with each other. Speech communities resolve the competing motivations in arbitrary, language-particular ways; this leads to the diversity of languages found in the world. 3 Language Universals and the Formal Encoding of Meaning Word order universals appear to be motivated in terms of processing of linguistic structure in the act of producing and comprehending language. Word order is a fundamental grammatical property of sentences. 3. 1 Typological markedness and morphological representation 10Some of the earliest work in typology examined the coding of grammatical and  lexical concepts in inflected word forms. The universals go under the name of (typological) markedness. Typological markedness represents an asymmetric pattern of the expression of meaning in grammatical categories across languages. Typological markedness has two central characteristics. First, typological markedness is a property of conceptual categories – e. g. singular and plural – or more precisely, how those conceptual categories are expressed in languages. For number, the singular is unmarked and the plural is marked. Second, unmarked status does not imply that the unmarked member is always left unexpressed and the marked member is always expressed by an overt morpheme. The presence / absence of an overt inflection encoding a conceptual category is only one symptom of markedness, namely structural coding. Typological markedness is found in another aspect of the coding of concepts in words and constructions. Most words in sentences express more than one conceptual category. Pronouns in English, for instance, can express gender as well as number. In English, neither the singular nor plural pronouns express number by a separate inflection; instead number is implicitly expressed by distinct forms such as he and  they. The grammatical coding of additional, cross-cutting, distinctions in the singular but not in the plural is an example of the second symptom of markedness, called behavioral potential. Behavioral potential is also represented by an implicational universal: If the marked member of a category grammatically expresses a crosscutting distinction, so does the unmarked member. A third property of typological markedness points to its underlying explanation. The unmarked member is more frequent than the marked member in language use. Concepts that occur more frequently in language use (e. g. singular) will tend to be expressed by fewer morphemes than less frequently occurring concepts (e. g. plural). This explanation for how meaning is encoded in grammatical form is a processing explanation, called economy or economic motivation. 3. 2 Hierarchies and conceptual spaces We can describe the cross-linguistic distribution of plural markings across classes of pronouns and nouns with the animacy hierarchy. The hierarchy is a succinct way to capture a chain of implicational universals: if any class of words has a plural, then all the classes to the left (or higher) on the hierarchy have a plural. These  patterns are defined over a conceptual space. The conceptual space describes a network of relationships among conceptual categories which exist in the human mind and which constrains how conceptual categories are expressed in grammar. Grammatical change must follow the links in conceptual space. For instance, a plural marking spreads from left to right in the animacy space. Conceptual spaces specify what grammatical category groupings are found in, and how constructions spread (or retreat) over time in their application to grammatical categories. If we compare absence vs. presence of case marking on nouns for the grammatical  11 relations hierarchy, we find that absence of case marking occurs at he higher end of the hierarchy, and presence thereof at the lower end of the hierarchy. The grammatical relations hierarchy also defines the distribution of verb agreement across languages. Verb agreement is associated with the higher end of the grammatical relations hierarchy – the ability to trigger verb agreement indicates the greater behavioral potential of the grammatical relation. These facts demonstrate that the two grammatical relations hierarchies in fact reflect a deeper cross-linguistic universal pattern, found in many different parts of the grammar of languages. 3. 3 Economy and iconicity Economic motivation: the more frequently used category is more likely to be reduced in expression or left unexpressed. Iconic motivation – the structure of language reflects the structure of concepts. In the example, each conceptual category, both singular and plural, are overtly encoded in the word form. A subtype of iconicity called isomorphism: the correspondence between forms and meanings. There are two ways in which isomorphism occur in human languages. The first way is in the correspondence of forms and meanings in the combination of words and inflections in a sentence. This is called syntagmatic isomorphism. Economic and iconic motivation compete to produce the range of attested and unattested correspondences between form and meaning. There are 3 predicted patterns. Overt expression is iconically motivated: there is a one-to-one correspondence between meanings and forms. However, it is only moderately economically motivated: it is more economical than expressing a meaning with more than one word or morpheme, but less economical than not expressing the meaning at all. Non-expression of a particular meaning, such as the singular of English nouns like car-O (vs.plural book-s), is economically motivated: zero expression breaks one-to-one correspondence between forms and meanings. The third possible option, zero marking of both singular and plural, corresponds to the absence of expression of the category. This option is economically motivated: either the meaning can be inferred from context, or it is not relevant to the communication. There is another economically motivated pattern of expressing meaning in form: the combination or fusion of discrete meanings in a single form. For example, the suffix -s in English run-s indicates 3rd person subject, singular  subject and present tense, all in a single suffix. In other languages, inflectional categories are found in separate suffixes, as in Turkish. The second type of isomorphism is the correspondence between form and meaning in the inventory of words stored in the mind; paradigmatic isomorphism. 12The possible means of expression of meanings in words are limited by economy and iconicity. Unmotivated possibility: the existence of more than one word with the same meaning, synonymy. It is not iconically motivated. A one-to-one match between a word and a meaning is called monosemy. It isiconic ally motivated but not that economically motivated: we would need very many words to express each discrete meaning. Homonymy is economically motivated, but it is not iconically motivated (many unrelated meanings are expressed by a single form). By far the most common state of affairs in languages, however, is polysemy: the grouping of related meanings under a single form. Polysemy is economically motivated because it subsumes several meanings under a single form, as with homonymy. It is iconically motivated, because the meanings are related. 4 The Dynamic Approach to Language Universals The most common word.

Becoming Yourself from the Short Story the Secret Lion

English 102 14September2012 Becoming Yourself Alberto Alvaro Rios’ short story The Secret Lion, captures the spirit of a coming-of-age story between childhood and adolescence through the eyes of two boys, presumably from a lower-class Latino background. Through the use of various symbols, the theme of change is made apparent through the first-person, unnamed narrator. The use of this narrator is what shapes the story and the lessons learned within.Due to the author’s choice of careful character construction within the unnamed narrator, the reader faces a significant amount of emotions and reactions within a very brief, yet compelling short story. The usage of the first-person point of view immediately presents the narrator to be a round character, due to the intimate opportunities the style of writing provides for fiction writing. Although we do not know the narrator’s name, due to the narrative style the audience can relate to the stories and experiences the cha racter has.We know how the character feels internally quite often, which is iconic of the round fictional character. For example, we are provided internal insights that only a round character would allow the audience the opportunity to discover. For example, the character reveals how he felt â€Å"personally abandoned somehow† when describing junior high school (Rios 201). We also discover a lot about the character’s personality through the actions and habits mentioned in the story. The following passage exemplifies a traits only a round character could have: â€Å".. hat we would do down there was shout every dirty word we could think of, in every combination we could come up with, and we would yell about girls, and all the things we wanted to do with them. † (Rios 201) This reveals that the narrator and his friend Sergio are going through a hormonal, rebellious stage where new sensations and impulses drive what pretty much most junior high student malesâ€℠¢ experience. Since he is a round character, the reader has a stronger connection with him, and ultimately will reap the moral of the story the author wanted to provide. Feature Article –  The Plane of the Sleeping Beauty AnalysisDue to the usage of the round character, the narrator’s motivations are very apparent. The motivations explain why the character is doing what he is doing. If the narrator was a flat character, the context of growth the two boys experience within their travels would be lost, and the story would lose an immense amount of what makes it so compelling. For example, without revelations of the motivations the character speaks of, then the story would be more or less just two boys simply walking around outside the desert, arriving to a golf course, and leaving.The passage revealing what the children did to protect their treasured metal ball states â€Å"We came up with the answer. We dug a hole and buried. And we marked it secretly. Lots of secret signs†¦ We dug up the whole bank, and we never found it again. † (Rios 202) Without knowing that they were trying to hide this discovery and cherished item and then return to search for it, the audience would be left wondering exactly why these two children are digging up holes on an entire bank in the middle of an arroyo. Also, his motivations real why the character does what he does in terms of story progression.Without motivations, there would be no engaged plot with a rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution, rendering this work just a series of meaningless anecdotes. Because we know the background of the character as a middle school student itching to discover life, we can understand why he and Sergio leave adventuring to the arroyo and head to the mountains in the first place (Rios 205). They wanted to find out what the adults, specifically his mother, were keeping from them first hand; all because she told them not to worry about lay on the other side of the pass.Their motivation and intrigue to discover what secret they had been missing out on led them to ultimately discover their version of heaven (the golf course) a nd ultimately the impermanence of life and change is inevitable. Due to the character’s said discovery that change is the only the thing that is permanent, makes him a dynamic character. He goes from being a curious, innocent naive boy at the beginning of the story who found magic in matters that were familiar to the realization that some things you love can e taken away from you, and that sadly, the grass is sometimes greener on the other side of the fence. This is revealed in the penultimate paragraph when the boys who had dug up the entire mound looking for their new treasure at the beginning of the story â€Å"didn’t look so hard for it† the second time (Rios 204). This newfound peace and acceptance that things get taken away is what makes the character dynamic; without the narrator would have not learned anything, been a static character, and the reader would have been left with an uncertainty no successful fiction author wishes to convey.Ultimately, the un named narrator in The Secret Lion drives the story with his well-said first person point-of-view. Due to the choices the author made when giving the character his traits of being a round, dynamic character, the story’s themes of change and acceptance are successfully conveyed. Works Cited Rios, Alberto Alvaro. â€Å"The Secret Lion. † Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Ed. Laurie G. Kirsner and Stephen R. Mandell. United States: Uhl, 2013. 201-205. Print.

Biography of Ernest Hemingway, Journalist and Writer

Biography of Ernest Hemingway, Journalist and Writer Ernest Hemingway (July 21, 1899–July 2, 1961) is considered one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. Best known for his novels and short stories, he was also an accomplished journalist and war correspondent.  Hemingways trademark prose style- simple and spare- influenced a generation of writers. Fast Facts: Ernest Hemingway Known For: Journalist and member of the Lost Generation group of writers who won the Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Prize in LiteratureBorn: July 21, 1899 in Oak Park, IllinoisParents: Grace Hall Hemingway and Clarence (Ed) Edmonds HemingwayDied: July 2, 1961 in Ketchum, IdahoEducation: Oak Park High SchoolPublished Works: The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, Death in the Afternoon, For Whom the Bell Tolls, the Old Man and the Sea, A Moveable FeastSpouse(s):  Hadley Richardson (m. 1921–1927), Pauline Pfeiffer (1927–1939), Martha Gellhorn (1940–1945), Mary Welsh (1946–1961)Children: With Hadley Richardson: John Hadley Nicanor Hemingway (Jack 1923–2000); with Pauline Pfeiffer: Patrick (b. 1928), Gregory (Gig 1931–2001) Early Life Ernest Miller Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899 in Oak Park, Illinois, the second child born to Grace Hall Hemingway and Clarence (Ed) Edmonds Hemingway. Ed was a general medical practitioner and Grace a would-be opera singer turned music teacher. Hemingways parents reportedly had an unconventional arrangement, in which Grace, an ardent feminist, would agree to marry Ed only if he could assure her she would not be responsible for the housework or cooking. Ed acquiesced; in addition to his busy medical practice, he ran the household, managed the servants, and even cooked meals when the need arose. Ernest Hemingway grew up with four sisters; his much-longed-for brother did not arrive until Ernest was 15 years old. Young Ernest enjoyed family vacations at a cottage in northern Michigan where he developed a love of the outdoors and learned hunting and fishing from his father. His mother, who insisted that all of her children learn to play an instrument, instilled in him an appreciation of the arts. In high school, Hemingway co-edited the school newspaper and competed on the football and swim teams. Fond of impromptu boxing matches with his friends, Hemingway also played cello in the school orchestra. He graduated from Oak Park High School in 1917. World War I Hired by the Kansas City Star in 1917 as a reporter covering the police beat, Hemingway- obligated to adhere to the newspapers style guidelines- began to develop the succinct, simple style of writing that would become his trademark. That style was a dramatic departure from the ornate prose that dominated literature of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. After six months in Kansas City, Hemingway longed for adventure. Ineligible for military service due to poor eyesight, he volunteered in 1918 as an ambulance driver for the Red Cross in Europe. In July of that year, while on duty in Italy, Hemingway was severely injured by an exploding mortar shell. His legs were peppered by more than 200 shell fragments, a painful and debilitating injury that required several surgeries. As the first American to have survived being wounded in Italy in World War I, Hemingway was awarded a medal from the Italian government. While recovering from his wounds at a hospital in Milan, Hemingway met and fell in love with Agnes von Kurowsky, a nurse with the American Red Cross. He and Agnes made plans to marry once he had earned enough money. After the war ended in November 1918, Hemingway returned to the United States to look for a job, but the wedding was not to be. Hemingway received a letter from Agnes in March 1919, breaking off the relationship. Devastated, he became depressed and rarely left the house. Becoming a Writer Hemingway spent a year at his parents home, recovering from wounds both physical and emotional. In early 1920, mostly recovered and eager to be employed, Hemingway got a job in Toronto helping a woman care for her disabled son. There he met the features editor of the Toronto Star Weekly, which hired him as a feature writer. In fall of that year, he moved to Chicago and became a writer for  The Cooperative Commonwealth, a monthly magazine, while still working for the Star. Hemingway, however, longed to write fiction. He began submitting short stories to magazines, but they were repeatedly rejected. Soon, however, Hemingway had reason for hope. Through mutual friends, Hemingway met novelist Sherwood Anderson, who was impressed by Hemingways short stories and encouraged him to pursue a career in writing. Hemingway also met the woman who would become his first wife: Hadley Richardson. A native of St. Louis, Richardson had come to Chicago to visit friends after the death of her mother. She managed to support herself with a small trust fund left to her by her mother. The pair married in September 1921. Sherwood Anderson, just back from a trip to Europe, urged the newly married couple to move to Paris, where he believed a writers talent could flourish. He furnished the Hemingways with letters of introduction to American expatriate poet Ezra Pound and modernist writer Gertrude Stein. They set sail from New York in December 1921. Life in Paris The Hemingways found an inexpensive apartment in a working-class district in Paris. They lived on Hadleys inheritance and Hemingways income from the Toronto Star Weekly, which employed him as a foreign correspondent. Hemingway also rented out a small hotel room to use as his workplace. There, in a burst of productivity, Hemingway filled one notebook after another with stories, poems, and accounts of his childhood trips to Michigan. Hemingway finally garnered an invitation to the salon of Gertrude Stein, with whom he later developed a deep friendship. Steins home in Paris had become a meeting place for various artists and writers of the era, with Stein acting as a mentor to several prominent writers. Stein promoted the simplification of both prose and poetry as a backlash to the elaborate style of writing seen in past decades. Hemingway took her suggestions to heart and later credited Stein for having taught him valuable lessons that influenced his writing style. Hemingway and Stein belonged to the group of American expatriate writers in 1920s Paris who came to be known as the Lost Generation. These writers had become disillusioned with traditional American values following World War I; their work often reflected their sense of futility and despair. Other writers in this group included F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot, and John Dos Passos. In December 1922, Hemingway endured what might be considered a writers worst nightmare. His wife, traveling by train to meet him for a holiday, lost a valise filled with a large portion of his recent work, including carbon copies. The papers were never found. Getting Published In 1923, several of Hemingways poems and stories were accepted for publication in two American literary magazines, Poetry and The Little Review. In the summer of that year, Hemingways first book, Three Stories and Ten Poems, was published by an American-owned Paris publishing house. On a trip to Spain in the summer of 1923, Hemingway witnessed his first bullfight. He wrote of bullfighting in the Star, seeming to condemn the sport and romanticize it at the same time. On another excursion to Spain, Hemingway covered the traditional running of the bulls at Pamplona, during which young men- courting death or, at the very least, injury- ran through town pursued by a throng of angry bulls. The Hemingways returned to Toronto for the birth of their son. John Hadley Hemingway (nicknamed Bumby) was born October 10, 1923. They returned to Paris in January 1924, where Hemingway continued to work on a new collection of short stories, later published in the book In Our Time. Hemingway returned to Spain to work on his upcoming novel set in Spain: The Sun Also Rises. The book was published in 1926, to mostly good reviews. Yet Hemingways marriage was in turmoil. He had begun an affair in 1925 with American journalist Pauline Pfeiffer, who worked for the Paris Vogue. The Hemingways divorced in January 1927; Pfeiffer and Hemingway married in May of that year. Hadley later remarried and returned to Chicago with Bumby in 1934. Back to the U.S. In 1928, Hemingway and his second wife returned to the United States to live. In June 1928, Pauline gave birth to son Patrick in Kansas City. A second son, Gregory, would be born in 1931. The Hemingways rented a house in Key West, Florida, where Hemingway worked on his latest book, A Farewell to Arms, based upon his World War I experiences. In December 1928, Hemingway received shocking news- his father, despondent over mounting health and financial problems, had shot himself to death. Hemingway, whod had a strained relationship with his parents, reconciled with his mother after his fathers suicide and helped support her financially. In May 1928, Scribners Magazine published its first installment of A Farewell to Arms. It was well-received; however, the second and third installments, deemed profane and sexually explicit, were banned from newsstands in Boston. Such criticism only served to boost sales when the entire book was published in September 1929. The Spanish Civil War The early 1930s proved to be a productive (if not always successful) time for Hemingway. Fascinated by bullfighting, he traveled to Spain to do research for the non-fiction book, Death in the Afternoon. It was published in 1932 to generally poor reviews and was followed by several less-than-successful short story collections. Ever the adventurer, Hemingway traveled to Africa on a shooting safari in November 1933. Although the trip was somewhat disastrous- Hemingway clashed with his companions and later became ill with dysentery- it provided him with ample material for a short story, The Snows of Kilimanjaro, as well as a non-fiction book, Green Hills of Africa. While Hemingway was on a hunting and fishing trip in the United States in the summer of 1936, the Spanish Civil War began. A supporter of the loyalist (anti-Fascist) forces, Hemingway donated money for ambulances. He also signed on as a journalist to cover the conflict for a group of American newspapers and became involved in making a documentary. While in Spain, Hemingway began an affair with Martha Gellhorn, an American journalist and documentarian. Weary of her husbands adulterous ways, Pauline took her sons and left Key West in December 1939. Only months after she divorced Hemingway, he married Martha Gellhorn in November 1940. World War II Hemingway and Gellhorn rented a farmhouse in Cuba just outside of Havana, where both could work on their writing. Traveling between Cuba and Key West, Hemingway wrote one of his most popular novels: For Whom the Bell Tolls. A fictionalized account of the Spanish Civil War, the book was published in October 1940 and became a bestseller. Despite being named the winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1941, the book did not win because the president of Columbia University (which bestowed the award) vetoed the decision. As Marthas reputation as a journalist grew, she earned assignments around the globe, leaving Hemingway resentful of her long absences. But soon, they would both be globetrotting. After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in December 1941, both Hemingway and Gellhorn signed on as war correspondents. Hemingway was allowed on board a troop transport ship, from which he was able to watch the D-day invasion of Normandy in June 1944. The Pulitzer and Nobel Prizes While in London during the war, Hemingway began an affair with the woman who would become his fourth wife- journalist Mary Welsh. Gellhorn learned of the affair and divorced Hemingway in 1945. He and Welsh married in 1946. They alternated between homes in Cuba and Idaho. In January 1951, Hemingway began writing a book that would become one of his most celebrated works: The Old Man and the Sea. A bestseller, the novella also won Hemingway his long-awaited Pulitzer Prize in 1953. The Hemingways traveled extensively  but were often the victims of bad luck. They were involved in two plane crashes in Africa during one trip in 1953. Hemingway was severely injured, sustaining internal and head injuries as well as burns. Some newspapers erroneously reported that he had died in the second crash. In 1954, Hemingway was awarded the career-topping Nobel Prize for literature. Decline and Death In January 1959, the Hemingways moved from Cuba to Ketchum, Idaho. Hemingway, now nearly 60 years old, had suffered for several years with high blood pressure and the effects of years of heavy drinking. He had also become moody and depressed and appeared to be deteriorating mentally. In November 1960, Hemingway was admitted to the Mayo Clinic for treatment of his physical and mental symptoms. He received electroshock therapy for his depression and was sent home after a two-month stay. Hemingway became further depressed when he realized he was unable to write after the treatments. After three suicide attempts, Hemingway was readmitted to the Mayo Clinic and given more shock treatments. Although his wife protested, he convinced his doctors he was well enough to go home. Only days after being discharged from the hospital, Hemingway shot himself in the head in his Ketchum home early on the morning of July 2, 1961. He died instantly. Legacy A larger-than-life figure, Hemingway thrived on high adventure, from safaris and bullfights to wartime journalism and adulterous affairs, communicating that to his readers in an immediately recognizable spare, staccato format. Hemingway is among the most prominent and influential of the Lost Generation of expatriate writers who lived in Paris in the 1920s. Known affectionately as Papa Hemingway, he was awarded both the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize in literature, and several of his books were made into movies.   Sources Dearborn, Mary V. Ernest Hemingway: A Biography. New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 2017.Hemingway, Ernest. Moveable Feast: The Restored Edition. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2014.Henderson, Paul. Hemingways Boat: Everything He Loved in Life, and Lost, 1934–1961. New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 2011.Hutchisson, James M. Ernest Hemingway: A New Life. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2016.

How To Manage Multiple Social Media Accounts In One Tool

How To Manage Multiple Social Media Accounts In One Tool Wouldnt life be a whole lot easier if you could just manage multiple social media accounts in one place? Imagine removing the hassle of logging in and out of every social network and profile, remembering how often to post to each network and when (and if you did or didnt), and setting reminders to write, approve, and post social messages without a defined process. Your imagination is probably filling up with rides on unicorns over rainbow bridges at the sheer thought that managing multiple social media accounts doesnt have to be an organizational nightmare. But its true- your dream of getting organized can become a reality. And you dont need a  unicorn (as cool as that would be).  So today, lets take a look at how to manage all of your social media in one place. How To Manage Multiple #SocialMedia Accounts The Easy WayConsider this a step-by-step guide to: Organize your social media management to help you share faster than ever Create one clear version of the truth for all of your social media accounts and messages Plan all social media in one place to finally keep your sanity with social media while you manage everything else Lets do this. 1. Gather All Of Your Profiles Into One Social Media Accounts List Chances are, you have a handful of profiles on a bunch of different social networks. And to boot, some of these social media accounts are your companys profiles, while others are your  personal professional profiles. The first step to manage all of your accounts easily is to create a master social media accounts list that you can later enter into the tool where youll manage all of your social media in one place. How To Manage Multiple #SocialMedia Accounts The Easy WayAt this point, youre not looking for anything fancy- use a napkin, spreadsheet, or Google Doc to simply list out every one of your business social profiles. Make a list of  your companys: Twitter handles Facebook page Facebook groups LinkedIn company profile Google+ page Pinterest profile Next, create a social media accounts list for your personal profiles where youll share your companys information. Write a list of your #socialmedia accounts. Then find the tool to post to all of them.Personal professional profiles are often on LinkedIn and Twitter where youve built relationships with your followers to share your companys content- along with industry niche content. Again, make a list of  your personal accounts across your networks: Twitter handles Facebook profile Facebook group LinkedIn profile Tumblr blog Pinterest profile Easy, right!? Your next step is to find the  app that supports  your social  media accounts to help you manage all of them in one place. Takeaway: Build a comprehensive list of all of your social media accounts. Make one column for your business profiles and another for your personal professional profiles to which youd like to maintain private access  (so your team cant post to your profiles). Recommended Reading: How To Improve Your Social Media Management In 30 Days 2. Create A Checklist To Find Your App To Manage Multiple Social Media Accounts At this point, youre pulling together a checklist of requirements to help you choose the tool that will work best for your unique needs. Here are a few requirements to kick off  your checklist  as you search for your app: Manage All Social Media In One Place Use the  list of social media accounts you just created to help you find a tool that supports those networks. The goal here is to find a tool thatll eliminate the hassle of logging in and out of social networks and profiles. For example, if you use Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest to reach your audience, find a tool that will help you  post  to those social networks. Separate Your Business Accounts List From Your Personal Accounts It makes sense to share access to your business social media accounts with the rest of your team. But you probably want to keep your personal profiles private while still getting the benefits of bonus traffic from those accounts. Find a tool that helps you keep your privacy- so only you can post to your personal profiles- while giving  the right team members access to your companys accounts. That will help you stay organized by managing all of your social media accounts in one tool while avoiding any *surprises* on your personal profiles. Get and stay organized with a social media project management tool like . #bloggingKeep Your Team Accountable With Historical  Logs Know exactly who  posted what,  when they posted it, and which accounts they posted to. A historical  log to help you see changes, edits, and what was eventually posted will help you  keep the team accountable for reaching deadlines while keeping you organized. Get Organized With  A Social Account  Workflow Chance are, your campaigns run on  multiple social media accounts. Find a system that helps you define a workflow to make your content creation and approval process painless while also helping you and your team stay organized. Manage everything in one app rather than doing it in a few.This way, you can manage everything in one app  rather than  maintaining a separate project management tool. If youre creating a social media campaign, youll need some help from your team to write social messages, design awesome social media images, schedule your  messages, and approve your campaign. A workflow built into your tool- right where you create your social media content- will help you stay super organized with the entire process. Recommended Reading: How To Quadruple Your Traffic With A Social Media Editorial Calendar Customize Roles For Different Team Members To View Social Messages Sometimes, its nice to help certain people in your company see social messages but not let them edit your hard work. Have a plan to keep  those nit-pickers out of your social media messages  by letting them just see whats going on without letting them change your  projects. Features like this help with approval processes for those folks in your company who just want to see everything going out. Recommended Reading:   How To Assemble A Content Marketing Team For Your Blog How To Create The Best Content Ever With Your Cross-Functional Team See All Messages For Every Account On One Social Dashboard A great tool will help you plan the messages  youll share to each social media account before your  content publishes. Imagine creating an entire social media posting schedule for a blog post or landing page a week before your content is set to launch. Youd avoid  the last-minute promotion frenzy, strategically plan your social messages, and get super organized. Find a tool that allows you to see all your messages on one social dashboard.Find a tool where you can see all of your messages for your own content- and curated content- on one social dashboard. For example, social media editorial calendars serve as a perfect  way to see every message youre planning for every single account- including  messages that are already published and those that you will share in the future. This type of social dashboard is handy because you can visually see the times, days, networks, and specific accounts in an at-a-glance view. Takeaway:  Use these requirements as a starting point, then define a complete list of features youd like your social media account manager tool to have. Create a checklist of your requirements  to help you find the app that is the right fit for you. 3. Commit To Managing All Social Media In One Place Since youre looking for a solution to manage multiple social media accounts in one place, Ill fill you in on a little secret: can help you do just that. is a content and social media editorial calendar that combines blogging, content marketing, social media, and project management all into a single tool. Its perfect for managing all of your social media in one place- and will help you get super organized. Lets explore how to use  Ã‚  to remove the time-sucking hassle of managing multiple social media accounts: Manage  Every Profile From Your Social Media Accounts List Integrate the accounts on your list into . Simply log in to your social networks, then connect each of your accounts with a couple simple clicks: From here, youll have a complete list of your social media accounts all in one place. Now all you need to do is check which accounts youd like to remain private so only you have access to share content to those accounts: So now you have one list of social media accounts you manage, yet they are separated into public and personal profiles: Whats cool is that  the rest of your team can also have personal profiles that only they see, too. That means all of you  get the benefits of privacy and still get lots of traffic from employee advocacy. Win-win! Organize Your Social Media Content Creation And Approval Process Chances are, if youre focusing on social media, youre also creating awesome content. So why not plan to share to your social media accounts in the  workflow youre  already using? For example, on a  blog post like the one youre reading right now, youd probably like to share to multiple social media accounts. So create the blog post first, then collaborate with your  team to plan how youll share the content on social media. You can now organize your social media content creation and approval process.This is what your  workflow might look like in : Now  simply follow the workflow step by step.  And when your team has questions  or progress updates along the way, they can check off their tasks and use comments to fill you in. Start by  writing  your messages in using social helpers: Then schedule your social messages for every account using the social queue.  Since you wrote your messages in social helpers, you dont need to copy and paste, but instead, simply write the tag into new messages to easily reuse what youve already written: And finally, add in images and graphics into your social messages with the image selector: Now you have a social dashboard  view of all the messages scheduled on  all of your social media accounts for a single campaign- complete with days and previews, and  best time scheduling so you will get the most engagement possible for your content: If Your Social Media  Approval Process  Gets Advanced If your workflow requires some higher-ups to see your content for approval (but lets just say you dont want them to edit your hard work), you can let them see your progress with custom roles. Just  build a custom role in , then add them to your team and assign them that role: You can also  keep everyone accountable (and keep those big wigs happy) by knowing exactly who did what, when they did it, and to which social media accounts they sent messages with security and access logs: Use One Social Dashboard To See  Messages For Every Social Media Account At this point, you have a full list of all of the messages for every social media account for a single campaign. Thats a terrific view to understand how youre sharing a specific blog post- or any piece of content, really. What if there was one social dashboard that let you see all your social media accounts? When you step out of the view of working on just one piece, however, its natural to want to see every message youll send to every one of your social media accounts. So what better way is there to do that than with a calendar that shows you the specific date and time your messages will send? At this point, you can see when certain days have more social messages scheduled than others- and to which accounts- so you can easily drag and drop messages from any account from one day to another. That will help you avoid bombarding your followers with too many messages while consistently connecting with them to get the most engagement. Use Your App As Your Personal Social Media Organizer Whatever tool you choose as the app to manage your multiple social media accounts, make sure it helps you eliminate  the  tediousness of using multiple tools to complete the work that one could really help you do. Think of your app as your very own personal social media manager.Heres another way to think about this: You could manage your social media accounts with multiple tools, but consolidating and automating at least some parts of your process will help you get organized, stress a whole lot less, and save a ton of time. And if seems like a great place to get started to manage your social media accounts, take advantage of the 14-day free trial to get your feet wet. I promise you, its the tool Id  use if I were in your sopping  shoes. :) (I know sorry about the lame jokes.)

Accounts Payable Specialist Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Accounts Payable Specialist - Research Paper Example It is essential that an accounts payable specialists are able to match the invoices of the vendors with the payments that must be made.   Accounts payable specialist must meet several requirements. He must have at least more than two years work experience in accounts payable. Preferably, he must have taken accounting courses in college and must be proficient in Microsoft Word and Excel. A great plus for an accounts payable specialist is if he is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). It is important that he is familiar with accounting software to assist him with the performance of his job. His job becomes easier if he uses accounting software. Accounts payable specialist must be an expert mathematician and must be attentive to details (Amico, n.d.). His skills should include being analytical, organized, good at problem-solving and must be motivated. A â€Å"thorough knowledge of applicable accounts payable/general ledger systems and procedures, financial chart of accounts and corporate procedures† are necessary to make an effective accounts payable specialist (Accounting Jobs Today.com, 2012). He must be knowl edgeable of the federal and state accounting regulations and must ensure that the company follows these regulations. He must have excellent written and oral communication skills.

Business plan outline Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business plan outline - Assignment Example With Eglinton Avenue being a major road that joins various municipalities, the shop would form a quick drop by joint for travelers and other residents of Midtown Toronto, who are interested in sportswear, especially the young and active, and athletes. The lease rate that I am working with is that of $22.64 per square foot, with restoration provisions requiring a payable cost of $6 per square foot at completion of the lease. This is in view of the current 21 percent average rentals rate for properties of class A, B, and C (Dalglish, 2012). With my business dealing mostly with athletic shoes, the market holds great potential for me as a quarter of the total sales made in shoes within the entire Canada come from athletics shoes. In 2013, the total sale of athletics shoes around the entire country was a $1.3 billion (NPD Group, 2014). The major competitors that Chic&Fun has include Shoeland Discount Store and Foot Solutions, both of which are located along Eglinton Avenue and have annual revenue of $75,456 and $275,690 respectively. Nevertheless, given that I have my shoe production company, I would reduce the cost of production to offer quality shoes at a lower price than my competitors so as to attract more customers and gain a large market share. Given that Chic&Fun will put in a stock of $50,000 in its first year, with a markup of 50% employed on all the products, and assuming that all the products will be sold, then the sales forecast is as below. To protect my business property from any liability, I will seek insurance coverage for corporate liability and property insurance, all of which would sum up to a total of $5000. This would protect my business from any lawsuits. The business will offer different brands of shoes of varying sizes and quality, according to the consumer affordability. The Store’s point of different will include offering the products at reduced cost, given that I have a company that produces the shoes;