Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Health Care Reform Reaction Paper Term Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Health Care Reform Reaction - Term Paper Example Language barrier also influences delivery of health care as the inability to comprehend instructions from health care providers diminishes people’s abilities to receive preventative and curative care. Ethnic and personal beliefs also influence the delivery of health care as some people prefer home rem dies to hospital medication. Geographical factors also influence access to health care as people in rural areas encounter barriers such as poor transportation, which impede access to hospitals. Conversely, nursing practice is influenced by factors such as nurses’ work environment and advancement opportunities and legislation (Ellerbe & Regen, 2012). This paper will examine such legislation, discussing its impact on nursing practice. Health Care Reform In 2010, President Obama ratified the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The purpose of the federal statute is to provide a regulatory overhaul of America’s health care system by enhancing access to he alth care by increasing the quality and affordability of health coverage, thereby reducing the price of health care for Americans (Ellerbe & Regen, 2012). ... These gaps are the primary deterrents to the effective delivery of health care for all in the US. With regard to access to care provision, the Act eliminates discrimination practices that hamper access to health coverage (Ridge, 2011). The Act also enhances funding for care delivery programs and locations, including nurse-managed health clinics. On the quality of care, the Act requires all care givers to ensure that their care is effective, patient-centered, safe, equitable, efficient and timely. Consequently, the Act promotes support systems aimed at the improvement of care and the work environment, for instance, by creating opportunities for enhanced nursing leadership and research (Ellerbe & Regen, 2012). The Act builds on the provisions of the Public Health Service Act, which offers federal backing for nursing development and education. On the other hand, with regard to cost of care, the Act provides for consumer protections to ensure basic health coverage to all Americans and le gal residents. Educational and Practice Consideration for Nursing The discipline of nursing must address various practice and educational consideration to keep up with the demands of the Affordable Care Act. Firstly, nursing practice should be to the full extent of training and education. This is because the core of PPACA is the provision of quality care by care givers who have sufficient training and education to meet health care service demands. In addition, it is essential for all nurses to attain higher educational levels and intense training through an enhanced educational system, which advocates flawless academic development. This means nursing professionals should enter programs such as bridge

Monday, October 28, 2019

Sociolinguistics Essay Essay Example for Free

Sociolinguistics Essay Essay INTRODUCTION The research paper deals with personal advertisements presented via the medium of the Internet. This kind of advertising is a relatively new genre because the medium of the Internet is not a very old phenomenon; therefore it is nearly unexplored. The following analysis of personal advertisements appears to be quite interesting as today personal advertisements represent one of the very popular and often used means providing possibility to meet new friends and potential life partners. Ads offer a rich source of written language, as well as research material. They usually facilitate in sending right messages to people of opposite gender identities on dating webpage. The most important goal of the research paper is to focus on the features of online dating from the point of view of gender differences. It tries to find out whether and how the differences between men and women influence the language of personal advertisements. It wants to explore whether some general gender stereotypes also occur in this new kind of personal advertisement. II. RESEARCH PROBLEMS In our society it is believed that men and women talk as they belonged to two different entities. Since personal advertisements are written by both sexes, the research paper tries to explore how language relates to gender and how stereotyped assumptions and beliefs are reflected in the text of online personal advertisements. The paper focuses on how men and women characterise themselves, as well as their potential partners, what kind of expressions they use for this purpose. From the viewpoint of gender stereotypes, the paper will concentrate on the issues of talkativeness and a hedges usage as it is presupposed that women will be more talkative and will use hedges more frequently. It is also presupposed that men will emphasise success in their self – description and appearance in their partner –description. Women are  presupposed to put greater emphasis on their appearance as well as on partner ´s success. 1 III. THEORETICAL PART 1. Advertisement in general 1.1.Role of advertisement Nowadays, advertisement is a usual part of everyday life. Wherever we are, ads are always surrounding us. We can see it everywhere: on TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, billboards, means of transport, the Internet or in public places. Its goal is to attract people  ´s attention and give information about some concrete product or service. The ultimate aim of ads is to persuade people to buy what is advertised. Information provided by the creators of the advertisement has a strong impact on the addressees, either negative or positive. Advertisement is very often rejected and invokes passionate discussions. However, thanks to it, people or companies can quickly inform about their products or services in a very easy way. 1.2.Language of advertisement A great variety of advertisements for different subjects emerges on the market, ads for e.g.: products, services, ideas or images of organizations, charities, companies, individuals. Language of present advertisements is special. It tries to attract possible customers or addressees and focuses on their attention and consciousness to influence them positively. „ Ads use fictions, word play, compressed storytelling, stylized acting, photography, cartoons, puns, and rhythms in ways which are often memorable, enjoyable and amusing. The word and details of ads often come to people ´s minds more readily than those of novels and poems and plays, and they are often recalled with more laughter and enthusiasmâ€Å" (Cook, 2003, p. 3). It can be said that language used in advertisements plays a very important role. It is obvious that the more extraordinary, peculiar, interesting and original the advertisement is, the greater chance it has to draw addressees ´Ã‚  attention and to go deeply into their subconscious. 2. Personal advertisement 2.1. The role of the advertisement As any kind of advertisement, personal ads are part of everyday life. They can be seen in all media; mainly on the Internet and print media. Personal advertisements serve for the purpose of communication between people. The primary aim is to catch attention of an ideal partner. The 2 options for creating personal ads are limited as their writers depend on the space given and words expressing their intention. 2.2. Language of personal advertisement As it was said, language of advertisement is very specific, especially language of personal advertisements. â€Å"Communication adaptation theory (CAT) (Burgoon, Stern, Dillman, 1995; Giles, Coupland, Coupland, 1991) holds that individuals vary their language choices within interactions, depending on their social goals. Thus, speakers may choose to emphasize (or deemphasize) particular aspects of their identities as a way of aligning with (or distancing from) interaction partnersâ€Å" (http://pdfcast.org/pdf/enacting-gender-identity-in-written-discourse- responding-to-gender-role-bidding-in-personal-ads, p.401,cited 30.11.2010) As Winn and Robin (ibid, cited 30.11.2010) continue, the writers of the personal ads regulate their self- presentations by means of language choice. On the other hand, prescribed requirements of e.g. space can have an influence on the way of writers ´ presentation. The authors of personal ads must be brief when they portray themselves. However, they also have to use such language means which help the writers to present elements of their identities that are supposed to be most important to finding partners. Therefore it is obvious that personal ads writers â€Å" will often converge with, or match, the speech patterns of their interlocutors† (ibid, p. 401, cited 30.11.2010). As the authors of article printed in a magazine Journal of language a social psychology point out, writers of personal ads construct their text and use such a vocabulary to be in harmony with what is preferred by their readers; â€Å" individuals are seen to adapt their language† (ibid, p. 401, cited 30.11.2010). 3. Gender differences Gender study appears to be not a very old discipline. It was introduced in the second half of the last century and explores the field of differences between men and women. It is generally assumed that women differ from men in many attributes. Nowadays, comments like woman will never understand man and vice versa nearly become a proverb. Of course, differences between women and men are of various types; however for the purpose of this research paper only difference concerning language use will be discussed. A theory dealing with issues of gender differences in using language is called sociolinguistic. Its major topic is â€Å" the connection between the structures, vocabularies, and ways 3 of using particular languages and the social roles of the men and women who speak these languages† (p. 315). 3.1. Gender and language Nowadays, linguists still have the same opinion that men and women differ in the language use. The distinction is partly caused by biological differences, e.g. a constitution of human brain depends on gender; however the fact is that women and men are also psychologically different, e.g. â€Å"women are more concerned with making connections; they seek involvement and focus on the interdependencies between people. Men are more concerned with autonomy and detachment; they seek independence and focus on hierarchical relationship† ( Boe qtd. In Holmes, 1995, p. 7). According to Coates ( 1993), usually, emotiveness is a typical feature of women, while rational thinking is characteristic attribute of men. Men put emphasis on success, efficiency, power and ability, whereas women regard as the most important relationship, feelings, family, and confidence. We can say, all these areas affect women ´s and men  ´s acting, their decision making, thinking, and their expressing of their emotions, needs and opinions. The distinctions mentioned can be reflected also in personal advertisements. 3.2. Cultural stereotypes and language Not only history and culture of the society but also gender differences influence the existence of certain persistent stereotypes in the society. There are some linguistic stereotypes  concerning communicative competence of men and women based on gender differences that are believed by almost each member of our society. According to Coates ( ibid ), each of us are familiar with linguistic stereotypes, like that â€Å" women talk more than men, that women â€Å"gossip†, that men swear more than women, that women are more polite and so on† ( Coates, 1993, p. 107). Coates mentions also other language areas in which women are distinct from men, which are â€Å"tag questions, hedges, commands and directives, taboo language, compliments, topic and topic development, formal versus informal language, and minimal responses† ( Coates, 1993, p. 114). 4 3.2.1. Talkativeness As for talkativeness, â€Å" there is a widespread belief in our society that women talk more than men† ( Coates, 1993, p. 115). In spoken language Coates calls this stereotype â€Å"verbosity† (Coates, 1993, p 114). Persistence of this stereotype is closely connected with the topic discussed. In societies, it is believed that women like to talk more about  ´trivial ´ topics, as family cooking or personal issues, and they avoid topics that could be titled  ´serious ´. The triviality of topics is usually connected with abundant usage of words. Coates points out another reason for persistence of this belief that is â€Å"different expectations of male and female speakers: while men have the right to talk, women are expected to remain silent. Then talking at any length can be viewed as talkativeness† ( Coates, 1993, p. 115). However; it should be emphasized that no research has proved this general belief (Coates, 1993). 3.2.2. Markers of hesitation, uncertainty As Coates (1993) says, women ´s speech is often viewed as  ´tentative ´. While men and women telling the same, women are supposed to use more features of hesitation like comment clauses, hedges, interjections, and pauses than men. According to Coates, hedges are â€Å"linguistic forms such as I think, I  ´m sure, you know, sort of and perhaps, maybe which express the speaker ´s certainty or uncertainty about the proposition under discussion† ( Coates, 1993, p. 116). The more frequent use of hedges can be a sign of possible women  ´s markers of hesitation based on some stereotypes again as showing of certainty or confidence during  conversation could be viewed as less feminine. This stereotype about women  ´s hesitation for the purpose to be feminine correlates also with another component of conversation, tag questions. 3.2.3 Asking questions, tag questions Concerning the question usage during a discussion, it is known that women often ask questions to keep conversation in process. As Holmes says, they usually ask â€Å"supportive elicitations† (Holmes, 1995, p. 43) to manifest interest and get deeper into a topic. The author continues and points out: â€Å"While women elicit more questions in private conversations, men tend to ask more queries in formal and public contexts† (Holmes, 1995, p 39). The reason why men use more questions in public places could be that they incline to be dominant in public as they are 5 generally more aggressive than women. Women differ from men also in the frequency of using tag questions. Preisler claims that â€Å"women use tag questions more often than men† ( Preisler qtd. in Coates, 1993, p. 119). 3.2.4. Topics of conversations As it was already mentioned, certain topics that are called  ´trivial ´ , such as relationships, family etc., are often applied to women and topics considered to be serious, such as politics, cars, technology, etc. are related to men ´s conversation. According to Coates (1993), for women an conversation serves for the purpose to share problems, consolidate relationships, gain experience or to offer support. On the other hand, for men an conversation means a source of information, giving advice and presenting knowledge. This different expectation very often leads to miscommunication between men and women. The linguistic differences between men and women can be represented also in personal advertisement. The style of personal ads reflects women ´s desires and ideas about men as well as men ´s wishes and needs concerning the opposite sex. 6 IV. PRACTICAL PART The practical part of the paper research will focus on the analysis of women ´s and men ´s advertisements, gender differences from the perspective of self- and partner-description, using hedges and talkativeness. 1. Methodology The sociolinguistic analysis was applied on the material of 40 personal advertisements presented on the web page www.datingdirect.co.uk that belong to the UK  ´s largest dating services. The corpus consists of 20 women ´s and 20 men ´s advertisements that were under a sociolinguistic analysis. The personal ads were chosen randomly. The age of respondents was between 35 and 45 including. All of the respondents came from Great Britain. Texts of all advertisements that underwent the analysis can be found in Appendix 1. 2. Analysis and results 2.1 Graphical arrangement of online personal advertisements The overall graphical arrangement of online personal advertisements on the web page www.datingdirect.co.uk is as follows: a) prescribed items with only one choice from the list, e.g. : relationship status, occupation, body type, height, hair colour, eyes, children, personality, country/residence, smoking, date of birth, education, ethnicity, I live†¦, my style, appearance, my best feature, political view, religion, romance, etc.; b) prescribed items with a multiple choice from the list, e.g.: entertainment, interests, sports, my taste in music, my favourite films, my pets, etc. ; c) prescribed partner ´s description with a multiple choice from the list, e.g.: relationship status, children, body type, personality, smoking, views on marriage, ethnicity, nationality, appearance, height, weight, hair, eyes, style, best features, education, occupation, religion, political view, interests, sports, films, income, etc.; d) fr ee-production part that is limited to maximum of 2000 characters, and where respondents write more about themselves and the partners they are looking for; this is the most important part of the personal advertisements as it serves as a material for the research paper sociolinguistic analysis. 7 There is also possibility to add photos on the web page. 2.2. Self – description of appearance 2.2.1. Women Focusing on the description of appearance, only six women depict their appearance (ads No. 1,2,4,5,7,20). As it is obvious from Figure 1, majority of the women (5 of them) put  emphasis on their overall impression rather than on describing single parts of their appearance. The words that are used for that purpose are: sexy (used 2 times); attractive (used one time); fit (used 2 times); pretty (used one time). Two women put emphasis on their hair. Both use the word blonde. Only one woman describes her eyes by using the expression blue eyed. In only two ads an emphasis is put on figure, which is described with the words curvy and slim. There is only one advertisement (advertisement No.7) where a woman depicts all categories which are mentioned above. â€Å"I am a pretty blue eyed blonde, slim†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Generally considered, women do not put great emphasis on descri bing their own appearance. Majority of the women, that is 13 of them, do not mention their appearance at all. Although we predicted that the appearance is considered to be significant for women to attract men  ´s attention, this prediction is not proved. 2.2.2. Men Concerning the description of their appearance, the men do not put a great emphasis on their appearance. Only four of them (ads No. 2,7,8,11) try to catch women  ´s attention by focusing on their look. They use adjectives good looking (1 time) and handsome (1 time) for describing of their overall appearance; expressions athletic (1 time) and in good shape (1 time) for their figure. As it can be obvious from the Figure 1, the men absolutely do not put an emphasis on their eyes or hair. One of the advertisements (No 9) is special concerning the way how a man describes himself. He chooses a totally different way how to attract a women  ´s attention. He does not say whether he is â€Å"handsome† or â€Å"ugly†. The author of this advertisement probably wants to stay mysterious as for his appearance and so to awaken a women  ´s interest: â€Å"I am no George Cloony but am not a Frank Galliger either† Generally considered, as we previously predicted, the men do not seem to put a greater emphasis on their appearance. 8 2.2.3. Differences in self – description of the appearance 80% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% 70% 25% 10% 10% 10% 10% 0% 0% 5% women men Figure 1: Comparison of women ´s and men ´s self-description of their appearance Dealing with the appearance, Figure 1 illustrates the fact that neither women  nor men put emphasis on their own appearance. 70 % of the women and 80 % of the men do not describe their look at all. This fact does not correspond with the stereotype that appearance is very important for women. 2.3. Description of partner  ´s appearance 2.3.1. Women Concerning the description of partner’s appearance, only four women depict how their ideal partner should look like. They use general adjectives, such as attractive (used in No. 17); tall (used in No.16); handsome; and young-looking (both used in No 18). One woman puts emphasis on the partner  ´s eyes, as she uses expression attractive eyes (No 1) , and one women is even more specific in her description of an ideal partner as she writes :†¦. taller men, with nice teeth, 34/36 waist ( in No 16). An overall majority of the women (16 of them) do not mention their ideal partner  ´s appearance at all. 2.3.2. Men At the beginning of the analysis we assumed man will emphasise the appearance of their ideal partners. However; the analysis shows that only two men concentrate on the women ´s look. Those men who mention appearance of their partner use general adjectives such as attractive and slim: I am looking for someone slim and attractive (No 12); †¦someone †¦that†¦is attractive†¦(No 1) The rest of the men do not mention the women  ´s look at all. It seems men prefer other qualities rather than appearance of their ideal partners. 2.3.3. Differences in partner-description of the appearance 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% 90% 80% 5% 10% 10% 0% 5% 0% 0% 5% women men Figure 2: Comparison of women ´s and men  ´s partner appearance description Focusing on the description of the ideal partner ´s appearance, the results are very similar in both groups. 80% of the women and 90% of the men do not mention how their ideal partner should look like at all. The stereotype that men emphasise the women  ´s appearance is not proved. 2.4. Self- description of qualities and personality 2.4.1. Women When creating a personal advertisement, to mention people ´s positive qualities seems to be a very important part. It is a useful way how to easily draw a potential partner ´s  attention. The authors of personal ads do it by various means, however; the most common is using adjectives that help to describe human qualities clearly and briefly. In the advertisements the women use a wide range of adjectives to depict their qualities and personality in the best way. More than 40 adjectives have been used for this purpose. The adjectives are divided into several groups expressing the same element of character: sense of humour; feminity; i ntellect; emancipation; moral qualities; social qualities; success; and others. Figure 3: Women  ´s description of their qualities and personality To compare description of appearance with the description of qualities and personality, only one woman do not put emphasis on description of her personality. It is obvious this part of personal ads is significant for the women. The most important qualities are those belonging to the categories of emancipation, sense of humour and feminity. Concerning the category of success that is connected with a good job, owning a car, or a house, the women to describe themselves as being successful do not use adjectives, but other expressions, such as †¦ I work hard, own my house and car †¦(No 10); †¦ I have a great job in advertising and media which I love. I work hard and long hours, †¦(No 12); or †¦ I have my own home car and good job so i am looking for the same(No16). 2.4.2. Men Focusing on men  ´s qualities and personalities, the men use approximately the same range of vocabulary as the women. They use more than 40 adjectives for the purpose to describe themselves from the point of personal qualities. Again, the adjectives are divided into several groups according to their meaning (see Appendix 3). The  following categories were possible to create: sense of humour; affectionate; intellect; moral qualities; social qualities; success; masculinity; others. Figure 4: Men  ´s description of their qualities and personality As it is obvious from the Figure 4, the vast majority, even 75% of the men, put emphasis on their success. This category includes not only adjectives, however other expressions, such as mentioning their profession, a successful career, owning a company, a car or a house:.. .i own a small yet busy painting and dec firm. .of which ive been doing for 15years now (No 4); I have a successful professional career that I enjoy (No 7); I own a plumbing and heating company (No 10); I have a couple of jobs firstly I head up an International Charity†¦(No 11); I have a fantastic job, Im financially solvent and I own my home own, which is located within a beautiful part of Wales (No 11). The men put great emphasis not only on their success; however they stress also such qualities that belong to the category  ´affectionate ´- even 55% of the men, which is very surprising. Six of the men depict themselves as caring, five of them as romantic, or three as hearted. By contrast, personal quali ties that are part of the group  ´masculinity ´ appear only in seven ads, which is 35%. 2.4.3. Differences in self-description of the personal qualities Concerning the qualities, some considerable differences have been found between men and women (see Figure 5). As it was predicted at the beginning of the analysis, women do not stress their success at all. It seems to be unimportant for them when they try to attract potential partners. Surprisingly, the women attach importance to the personal qualities that are part of the category  ´emancipation ´. They describe themselves as adventurous, confident, hardworking, down-to-earth, independent, or even strong. The women emphasise also their feminity. It is in 12 contrast with the appearance that the women consider being not so relevant for catching men ´s attention. They apparently try to attract more men by typical women ´s qualities as they depict themselves as feminine, warm, sensual, passionate, and caring. The women are may be persuaded that men desire to have such a women alongside. Unlike the women, the men put great emphasis on their success. For the men being successful seems to be rather significant for attracting an ideal partner. On the other hand, they do not stress their masculinity; however emphasise the qualities that soften their personality. Probably, they want to approach a women  ´s ideal of the perfect partner. As it was previously discussed in the theoretical part, the authors of personal ads write their text and use such a vocabulary to be in harmony with what is preferred by their readers. The men present elements of their identities that are supposed to be most important to finding partners. It can be an explanation why even 55% of the men stress the qualities belonging to the category  ´affectionate ´. 2.5. Use of hedges As it was already discussed in the theoretical part of this paper, hedges are markers of hesitation and uncertainty. MiÃ… ¡Ã… ¡ikovà ¡ offers another explanations of hedges: â€Å"†¦hedging is the qualification and toning-down of utterances†¦in order to reduce the riskiness of what one says† ( 13 Wales qtd. in Topics in Linguistics, 2007, p. 76 ), or hedges are â€Å" linguistic expressions that enable the speaker to avoid being too direct in her/his utterance† ( Watts qtd. in Topics in Linguistics, 2007, p. 76 . Mentioned previously, according to gender stereotypes, more frequent use of hedges is typical for woman speech. Concerning frequency of hedge using, the analysis of the personal ads shows following results: total number of elements in ads 2170 Men  ´s ads 3655 Women  ´s ads Figure 6: Number of hedges As it can be seen in the Figure 6, our analysis confirmed the gender stereotype that women use hedges in their utterances more frequently than men. While the women use the hedge expressions in every single advertisement, eight men do not use them at all. Average number of hedges per one women ´ s advertisement is 4,95 and per men ´s only 1,85. Probably, the women use them not to look very direct or confident. By showing certain degree of uncertainty (with the use of hedges), they try to express their feminine identities. 2.6. Talkativeness The theoretical part of the research paper discussed cultural and linguistic stereotype concerning talkativeness. In many societies, it is taken for granted women talk more than men. The analysis of the chosen personal advertisements reveals that the number of elements per advertisement is 182,75 in the women  ´s ads and the total number of elements is 3655, which is more than in the men  ´s ads, where the number of elements per advertisement is 108,5 and the overall amount of elements is 2170. The longest woman ´s advertisement has 354 elements (No 3), the shortest 76 elements (No 7). Surprisingly, the longest man ´s ad has 376 (No 11) elements, which is more by 22 elements than in the longest woman  ´s ad. The  shortest man ´s advertisement has only 33 elements (No 20). Although the analysis finds out that the women use more words, the number of the advertisements under analysis is not sufficient to be able to prove definitely the general myth that women are more talkative than men. V. CONCLUSION The aim of this research paper was to analyse men ´s and women ´s personal advertisements from the sociolinguistic viewpoint and to find out whether there are considerable differences between genders. Because personal advertisements are written by both sexes, the research paper tries to explore how language relates to gender and how stereotyped assumptions and beliefs are reflected in the text of online personal advertisements. The research paper dealt with 40 personal advertisements presented via the medium of the Internet. It concentrated on the issues of talkativeness and use of hedges from the perspective of gender stereotypes. The presumptions stated at the beginning of the analysis were proved as the research explored that the women used hedges more frequently than the men, as well as they were more talkative than the men. The supposition that men emphasise success in their self – description in order to attract potential partners was also proved. However; they do not stressed the appearance of their partners at  all. For the women, neither success nor their appearance and appearance of their partners were important. On the other hand, the women put greater emphasis on their personal qualities. To sum it up, the men and the women differed in their language. Some of the common beliefs and myths were proved, some not. In order to attract attention of a potential partner, both sexes probably varied they language according the expectations of the opposite gender. The extent of this research paper, as well as the number of the advertisements under the analysis did not allow going deeper into language of men ´s and women ´s advertisements. It was not possible to explore and analyse all the differences. However; this research paper can serve as an idea or a source for further research of personal advertisements. There is a great amount of issues which could be studied, such as gender differences in sentence structure or structure of   personal ads; differences in using formal, informal language; differences in doing grammar or spelling mistakes; way of self – identification; differences in intended relationships; way of opening and invitation for respond; use of abbreviations, emoticons; idiomatic and collocative expressions; and others.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

The Face of the Other Essay -- Culture Cultural Ideology Essays

The Face of the Other Everything seen is seen with the help of the Others. At birth, we are thrown into a specificity of culture that is alien to us. We are engulfed in this culture and the networks of ideologies entailed by culture that define the world because there is a grounding for the possibility of ideology that lies not only in our existence of a subject with Others, but also in the way that culture, as a form of existence with Others, manifests meaning and understanding. Although we are thrown into culture, we cannot recognize us as beings alien to the cultural process itself, there is a primordial ethical responsibility that our existence with the Others calls forth. Culture arises at the same moment it disperses, it is constantly being remolded by the individuals that take part in their everydayness as subjects. Commonly understand, culture is the products of a given society. Value is assigned to these products through their historical relation to the crumbling network of production that we call ‘culture’. Commonalities in personalities of Others begin to arise exponentially as individuals encounter different experiences. There are some commonalities within all of our personalities, and more of these commonalities the specific subjectivities within a culture, these cultural codings are how the Others define each other. Culture is maintained and sustained through individuals. But, what is it that maintains similar subjectivities among each other, consisting us as neighbors? The term most readily available in English would have to be â€Å"ideology†. Ideology functions through the use of language as it transmits culture; it acts as a systematic body of concepts that transgresses into an individual not only th... ...rhetorical language as ideology. The same set of meanings that defines the terrestrial world affects all of us relatively equally. All of our reception is received into our thought-processes through the same â€Å"ideological† process as our encounter with language. It is ideological in that the elements are received as a whole, as a systematic body of beings. To receive the plenum of elements is to receive an ideology of sorts. And this reception is essential to ourselves as Visions, as looking out and understanding the world. There is a difference between the acceptance of the meanings in language and the acceptance of substance in the world. But this is preceded by an acceptance and a vision. Mythical social structures envisioned by sociologists are words and only words. Ideology and language are inseparable; they arise and interact with us experientially.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

How Does Fitzgerald Tell the Story in Chapter 9 Essay

In the Great Gatsby, the last chapter of the novel is told two years later still from the perspective of Nick. Nick is writing two years later after the events with Gatsby, showing that a considerable amount of time has passed between its occurrence yet it is still fresh in Nick’s mind. The fact that Nick is still reminiscing about Gatsby and has written a book about him highlights the huge impact that Gatsby has had on Nick’s life. The strong connection that Nick feels has been created between Gatsby and himself is evident particularly in chapter 9 as it is apparent that Nick feels â€Å"responsible† for him. Even two years later Nick feels a sense of responsibility and loyalty towards Gatsby and that he is owed the truth instead of all the malicious lies which are created by the reporters, similar to that of all the party goers. The idea that nobody respect Gatsby the way he does leads Nick to believe that there was a â€Å"scornful solidarity between Gatsby a nd me against them all†. And so the start of his book begins two years later, the book that Nick hoped to clear Gatsby’s name with and right the wrongs that occurred that summer. In the final chapter of the ‘Great Gatsby’, Fitzgerald creates a sense of finality for the reader suggesting â€Å"the party was over†. Through the use of the repetition of the word â€Å"last† Fitzgerald also demonstrates the end of Nicks experience with Gatsby. The reader acknowledges that Nick finds it hard to move on and accept Gatsby’s death as he tries to keep him alive through the creation of false memories as a result of his grief, believing Gatsby to have told him that â€Å"I cant go through this alone†. The obsession that Nick has with Gatsby is more evident as Nick tries harder and harder to create the funeral he feels that Gatsby deserves, however he was met with much disappointment by those who Gatsby had done so much for. During Nick’s attempts at assembling Gatsby’s funeral he tries very hard to get the people Nick thought were Gatsby’s friends to attend. The difficulty that occurred as a result of Nick’s attempt highlights just how little an impact Gatsby truly had on any of their lives as â€Å"nobody came†. Fitzgerald uses this two-word sentence at the end of the paragraph to emphasise the betrayal Nick felt towards Gatsby, that after everything he did for everyone else, no one other than himself truly cared about him. The disappointment that Nick shows when nobody other than Gatsby’s father and a few servants came, made Nick feel angry towards everyone else as the contrast between Gatsby in life and death is so hugely different and it is now a world in which Nick takes a while to accept. In life, Gatsby was someone who burned bright through his dreaming, yet in death he had become someone who was forgotten in an instance, indicating the little influence he had on the lives of so many.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Body & Cultural Text Essay

When a person has watched a film, advertisement or read a book, there are distinct elements that are evident throughout the work of art that seemingly communicate more than their surface meaning. This essay seeks to demonstrate how metaphor, connotation and metonym are usually used in distinct cultural texts such as in books, film and others. It specifically applies the basic concepts of communication theory to cultural texts, objects and images. Body Communication theory lays emphasis on exchange and production of meaning and information through symbols and signs (Littlejohn, 2002). It draws its argument from encoding and sending of a specific message, where it is received and decoded by the recipient and synthesized for a meaning and information to be drawn out of it. What communication theory depicts is that communication does permeate all evels of human experience while being central to comprehending a certain human behavior (Griffin, 1997). Through metonym, metaphor and connotation, the main elements of communication theory are brought into focus, since they are figurative use of sending certain messages but in distinct ways. Through them, cultural texts are deciphered and understood, where meanings are drawn beyond the surface meaning. Metonym Metonym, a figure of speech, is rhetorically used where a concept or entity is not called by its name but through the name of another thing that is associated intimately with it. It is the use of a single object or thing to identify another, which might be related. For example, in Act III, scene II of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, (Lines 74-77): ‘Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears’ (Pickering & Hoeper, 1982). ‘Ear’ in this case represents attention, since it is the ears that we use to pay attention to speech. Once the ‘lending ear’ (attention) has been heard, the basic understanding of ‘lend’ (to borrow something) is stretched to include nonmaterial things, in this case attention. Washington might be the capital of the United States, but it is usually used as an obvious metonym for the U. S. government. In film, metonym gives meaning to distinct elements of plot, such as in the recent movie, American Beauty. It is a comedy where personal, inner conflict is depicted through metonyms. For instance, the protagonist, ‘Tootsie’, shows signs of inner conflict when he lacks confidence to carry out a scam. In another level of conflict, metonyms in the form of coworkers, boss, father, friends, TV audience and his love depict the protagonist’s social conflict. The movie is all about different levels of conflict that are splendidly shown metonymically, through different contexts. This is achieved through outward projection of different levels of conflict on other characters it is seen, creating a very dramatic impact. Particular types of metonyms in substitution do influence our thoughts, actions and attitudes. This is achieved through focusing on a specific aspect and suppressing another inconsistent with a particular metonym. For example, Lakoff and Johnson argue that when you think about ‘Picasso’, your thoughts move beyond a piece of art (1980). You start thinking of it in relation to the individual, his artistic conception, technique, art in history and other relations. Connotation Connotation in texts, expressions and in mere words shows the expressed and emotive part of a language. Seemingly, all connotative signs and expressions lie vaguely midway between ambiguity and symbolism. For instance, the word ‘iron’ denotes a very tough metal but can connote that a man is a piece of ‘iron’ since he has won a boxing match without a problem. Connotations form a major component of poetry, where its power of expression, suggestion and emotion offers parameters that gauge the literary capability of an author while the cultural text awareness of the reader is revealed. This means that connotation must be culture and text bound to be of any significance. For instance, in Elizabethan times black was synonymous to piracy, lust, infidelity and cruelty. This is shown in Shakespeare’s depiction of Elizabethan disgust of the connotation black in more vivid racial terms. In Othello, Iago expresses that â€Å"†¦ an old black ram is tupping your white ewe† and â€Å"arise†¦or else the devil will make a grandsire of you† (Pickering & Hoeper, 1982). This association of Othello shows the established historical connotation that Western nations had concerning black as pure evil. The communicative element of connotation is pervasive and everywhere. It is expressed in all cultures and dwells across all ages in all literary styles, genres, cultural expression such as music, architecture and painting. Music offers something more to people beyond the rhythm and stones, thus connotation end up being capable of having double meanings and creating euphemisms. In film, connotation makes a communicative entry, as in the official poster of Ugly Betty, Season 2. In the poster, there is a darker background that lies behind Alexis, Amanda, Daniel, Marc, Claire and Willie, connoting Mode as being business and in that juncture, wealth and money equals evil and power. In the same poster, there is a white and blue background behind Betty, Hilda, Henry, Justin, Christina and Iganscio. This connotes family, happiness, tranquility and deeper peace. In hair product advertisements, the portrayal of hair as free flowing and seemingly in motion in an immaculate style connotes a woman readying herself to socialize, in that the free-flowing hair connotes freedom, as elaborated by Williamson, (1978). Metaphor Metaphors are simply comparisons showing two things, unlike in a major way, but importantly similar in a certain way. Being an analogy, a metaphor lies between two ideas or objects and elaborated through the usage of a certain word, which communicates figuratively. In books, metaphors communicate a poetic imagination that enables authors such as Shakespeare to show a comparison between the world and stage, where humans enter and leave the stage, as seen in the drama â€Å"As You Like It†, while Robert Frost’s poem, ‘The Road Not Taken’ compares the life of a person to a journey. In film, metaphors elaborate issues figuratively, such as in a short film entitled The Unique Oneness of Christian Savage. In the film, a child loses a best friend who falls from a tall tree where they had been playing. The child then runs away from the funeral and the words spoken, and starts beating the â€Å"evil† tree that killed the friend using a broken branch. This is a visual metaphor introducing an element of conflict without the use of words but very powerful. In adverts, metaphors are used in associating products using semantic domains that have positive connotations. The truth in an advert appears like a law for advertisers to keep off from explicitly making such statements that might be either true or false. For instance, in an air freshener advert, it might be said in an advert that it will bring a tropical breeze in your home. While it is obvious it cannot do this, what is metaphorically communicated is that your house will have fresh air. In addition, the communicative element of metaphors also takes a visual course, where it becomes a window of new thinking. These visuals give the individual a chance to escape while those who are creative can explain and interpret a novel world. In understanding the metaphor, the interpretation is on the world we live where we establish the relationship. In advertising, this is even clearer and true in the recent highly creative and digital images in advertisements. In fact, the smarter a metaphor is the more unforgettable and memorable the advert campaign. In some Ford Motors adverts, the car transforms itself in different terrains, into a metallic ape along a mountain and a crocodile in a river. This is a visual metaphor for strength and safety. Most importantly, the more fun and creative the metaphor, the more unforgettable the message it conveys. It has been a major sell for adverts with figurative images. For instance, there are adverts on the campaigns on Aids by the French. It has images which are very captivating and fearful but communicate their intention. One is a naked man having sex with a gigantic venomous arachnid, while another shows a female doing the same with another, a metaphor for unprotected sex. It is disgusting and scary to say the least, but aptly effective. Such graphical metaphors depict the underlying element of communicative theory, where the way communication is done might not be important, rather, it is whether the message has been communicated at all (Littlejohn, 2002). In the case of the French Aids Campaign adverts, the emotional figurative hook connects well with the audience. Conclusion Metonyms, connotation, and metaphors are demonstrated in cultural texts with a communicative element that edifies the spirit of the communication theory. All of them work in different ways to aid communication. References Griffin, E. (1997). A first look at communication theory (3rd edition). New York: McGraw-Hill. Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Littlejohn, S. W. (2002). Theories of human communication (7th edition). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Pickering, J. & Hoeper, J. (1982). Literature. London: Macmillan. Williamson, J. (1978). Decoding Advertisements. London: Marion Boyars.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

How to Conjugate the Verb Potere in Italian

How to Conjugate the Verb Potere in Italian Talking about what you can and can’t do is a basic cornerstone of everyday conversation, so you’re going to want to know the verb â€Å"potere† and its conjugations inside and out. What’s more, it’s an irregular verb, so it doesn’t follow the typical -ere verb ending pattern. Below you’ll find all of its conjugation tables as well as examples. Some definitions of â€Å"potere† include: To be able toCanMay What to know about potere: It’s a transitive verb, so it takes a direct object.When it’s used as a modal verb, it usually takes the auxiliary verb required by the verb it is paired with.The infinito is â€Å"potere†.The participio passato is â€Å"potuto†.The gerund form is â€Å"potendo†.The past gerund form is â€Å"avendo potuto†. INDICATIVO/INDICATIVE Il presente io posso noi possiamo tu puoi voi potete lui, lei, Lei pu loro, Loro possono Esempi: Possiamo andare al Colosseo? - Can we go to the Coliseum?Mi puà ² aiutare? - Can you help me? (formal)Loro possono fare tutto quello che vogliono. - They can do whatever they want. Il passato prossimo io ho potuto noi abbiamo potuto tu hai potuto voi avete potuto lui, lei, Lei ha potuto loro, Loro hanno potuto Esempi: L’anno scorso ho guadagnato un sacco di soldi, cosà ¬ ho potuto comprare una nuova macchina!   - Last year I earned a bunch of money, so I was able to buy a new car.Non ti abbiamo potuto aspettare. - We couldn’t wait for you. L’imperfetto io potevo noi potevamo tu potevi voi potevate lui, lei, Lei poteva loro, Loro potevano Esempi: C’erano tante lingue tra cui potevo scegliere ad imparare, perà ² alla fine, ho scelto l’Italiano. - There were a lot of languages I could have chosen to learn, but in the end, I chose Italian.Quando mi ha raccontato la storia, non ci potevo credere! - When he told me the story, I couldn’t believe it! Il trapassato prossimo io avevo potuto noi avevamo potuto tu avevi potuto voi avevate potuto lui, lei, Lei aveva potuto loro, Loro avevano potuto Esempi: Non avevo mai potuto studiare all’estero. - I had never been able to study abroad.Era il massimo che loro avevano potuto fare. - It was the maximum they had been able to do. Il passato remoto io potei/potetti noi potemmo tu potesti voi poteste lui, lei, Lei pot/potette loro, Loro poterono/potettero Esempi: L’esercito di Napoleone non potà © sopravvivere nella campagna sperduta della Russia durante l’inverno. - Napoleon’s army couldn’t survive in the hopeless countryside of Russia during the winter.I nostri bisnonni non poterono/potettero viaggiare dapertutto come possiamo attualmente. - Our great-grandparents couldn’t travel anywhere like we can now. Il trapassato remoto io ebbi potuto noi avemmo potuto tu avesti potuto voi aveste potuto lui, lei, Lei ebbe potuto essi, Loro ebbero potuto Esempi: Quando i bambini ebbero potuto, mangiarono le caramelle. - When kids were could, they ate candies.Continuai a ripetere la stessa frase, finchà ¨ Mary ebbe potuto capire. - I kept repeating the same sentence, until Mary was able to understand. TIP: This tense is rarely used, so don’t worry too much about mastering it. You’ll find it in very sophisticated writing, and that’s about it. Il futuro semplice io potr noi potremo tu potrai voi potrete lui, lei, Lei potr loro, Loro potranno Esempi: Quando tornano a casa, potremo andare a cena. - When they return home, we will be able to go to dinner.Potranno guardare il film con noi? - Will they will be able to watch the movie with us? Il futuro anteriore io avr potuto noi avremo potuto tu avrai potuto voi avrete potuto lui, lei, Lei avr potuto loro, Loro avranno potuto Esempi: Avevi il pomeriggio libero, avrai potuto dedicarti a te stessa! - You had a free afternoon, you must have dedicated time to yourself! Come avrete potuto notare avete passato l’esame! - As you will have noticed, you passed the exam! CONGIUNTIVO/SUBJUNCTIVE Il presente io possa noi possiamo tu possa voi possiate lui, lei, Lei possa loro, Loro possano Esempi: Penso che, dato che ho gi il visto, io possa vivere in Italia per un anno. - Given that I already have a visa, I think that I live in Italy for a year.Sono contenta che tu possa venire con noi. - I’m happy that you can come with us. Il passato io abbia potuto noi abbiamo potuto tu abbia potuto voi abbiate potuto lui, lei, Lei abbia potuto loro, Loro abbiano potuto Esempi: Sono felice che Leonardo abbia potuto aiutarti. - I’m happy that Leonardo was able to help you.Non siamo sicuri se abbiano potuto trovare la scuola. - We’re not sure if they were able to find the school. L’imperfetto io potessi noi potessimo tu potessi voi poteste lui, lei, Lei potesse loro, Loro potessero Esempi: Speravo che lui potesse aiutarmi! - I hoped that he would be able to help me!Credeva che potesse cercare un nuovo lavoro senza problemi. - She believed she would be able to find a new job without problems. Il trapassato prossimo io avessi potuto noi avessimo potuto tu avessi potuto voi aveste potuto lui, lei, Lei avesse potuto loro, Loro avessero potuto Esempi: Vorrei che loro avessero potuto vederci! - I wish they could have seen us!Loro sono entrati alla festa, senza che la padrona di casa avesse potuto fare niente. - They showed up at the party, without the owner of the house could have done anything. CONDIZIONALE/CONDITIONAL Il presente io potrei noi potremmo tu potresti voi potreste lui, lei, Lei potrebbe loro, Loro potrebbero Esempi: Potrei andarci, perà ² non voglio. - I could go there, but I don’t want to.Lei vuole viaggiare? Potrebbe andare in Francia e fare WOOFing. - She wants to travel? She could go to France and do WOOFing. Il passato io avrei potuto noi avremmo potuto tu avresti potuto voi avreste potuto lui, lei, Lei avrebbe potuto loro, Loro avrebbero potuto Avrei potuto dirtelo, ma ho pensato non fossi pronta. - I could have told you, but I thought you weren’t ready.Avrebbe potuto scrivere almeno una e-mail! - She could have written at least one e-mail!

Monday, October 21, 2019

Sitting on tables in NZ essays

Sitting on tables in NZ essays Sitting on tables and teacher modelling An invitation to reflect on meanings This is an attempt to share with you some of the issues involved in the prohibition against sitting on tables and how it might be viewed by educators. Under the umbrella of tapu and noa (or restrictions and freedom therefrom), there are three distinct concepts involved from pre-colonisation Mori world view and these are ideas about tables, ideas about bodies and ideas about kai. Note that the central meaning of tapu is restriction. Often it is translated as sacred and that is a valid translation in concept and I invite you to reflect on the meaning of sacred in your own understanding and make the links with the idea of restriction. What is a table? First thread of restriction. Pre colonisation Mori did not have an item of furniture or technology that equates to the Colonisers concept of a table. In the first days of meeting each other, Pkeh looked for a platform with legs to describe the closest equivalent of their concept of table and found outdoor rods or poles upon which a platform might be laid at different times. This accident of linguistic linking had the Mori name thu and if you look in the Williams Mori dictionary, you will see that it is translated as altar and was used for the express purpose of divination. So from the very beginning, this was not a place to sit freely. What about the body? Second thread of restriction. The tapu of the human body is a very simple concept to grasp at once. Every culture has enormous respect for the human body and has its own hierarchy of restriction, and every individual within that culture will have her/his own personal practices. Under what circumstances and with whom will you sha...