Gustave Mahler Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Gustave Mahler - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that Gustav Mahler was a romantic Australian composer born in eastern Bohemia; on July 7, 1860.   He came from a humble background.   Mahler’s grandmother was a street peddler. The composer’s family was part of a Germany-speaking minority among the Bohemians. The present research has identified that in 1860, Mahler’s family moved to a town called Iglau. Mahler’s father became a prominent businessperson in the new town. Mahler was introduced into music through â€Å"street songs, dance tunes, folk melodies and the trumpet calls and marches† of the local military band. As young as four years old, Mahler discovered his grandparent’s piano which he adopted immediately. He developed skills immediately and gave his first public performance when he was ten years old. Academically the teachers said he was slow, and most of the time absent-minded. Even after being transferred, he made no improvement lead ing to his return to the town of Iglau. He suffered the loss of his younger brother Ernst in 1874, who passed on after a long illness. He sought music to express his feelings. Josef Steiner was the friend that assisted him to work on an opera. Mahler’s father was supportive of his son’s music ambitions and talent, thus he agreed to take him to Vienna conservatory where he auditioned and was admitted in 1875-1876. He was a good pianist and he won a number of awards in his first two years.... During the summer of 1880, Mahler took his first professional directing job in a small wooden theatre in the spa town of bad hall, south of Linz. Mahler was reluctant on taking the job, but he was advised that he would work his way up by beginning in small jobs. In 1881, he was involved at the â€Å"landestheater† in Laibach, whereby the small but inventive company was ready to attempt work that is more promising (Spencer 12). Through the company, Mahler was able to conduct his first full-scale opera. After completion of his six-month appointment, Mahler moved back to Vienna and was employed as a part-time chorus master at Vienna Carltheater. In 1883, Mahler became a conductor at a run down theatre in olmutz. Later he composed â€Å"from the moment I crossed the threshold of the olmutz theatre I felt like one awaiting the wrath of God† (Moricz 360). At the beginning, he had poor relations with the orchestra, despite the poor associations, he brought five new operas to t he theatre that included Bizet’s Carmen and was received well with the press people who were previously hostile. He became the theatre â€Å"musical and choral director† from august of 1883. Mahler struggled to work in different places until his breakthrough in 1888 (Whitall 90). He became famous, and a great composer at the time, in November of 1901 he met Alma Schindler . They got married the following year, and they had two daughters Maria born in 1902 and Anna born in 1904. Although their marriage was faced with a lot of criticisms, they made it work. In 1907, they were faced with a tragedy after they returned from Maiernigg. Both daughters fell sick after their return with â€Å"scarlet fever and diphtheria† (Whitall 91). Anna

Church History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Church History - Essay Example Moreover, many of the religions followers were being converted to Finney's theological teachings.3 As Charles Finney's following grew in numbers, so did the criticism he received from those who felt as if Finney was threading and invading their own territories.4 As it has been mentioned, Finney's lectures were broken down by his staunchest opponents. Every single detail of his teachings was analyzed to reveal anything that they might be able to use against him. The following discussion will focus on Finney's thoughts and how these differed from the traditional teachings of the Church. Furthermore, the reactions of various groups and individuals to Charles Finney's lectures will likewise be included in the discussion. The primary objective in undertaking such analyses is to reveal the rationale behind the Finney's castigation. Finney asserts that the need for a revival comes from the assumption that the church is in a, "backslidden state."5 Furthermore, Finney believes that a revival is the rise of the church from its backsliding. This should happen together with the conversion of sinners.6 Finney believes that revival is but merely the commencement of the people's new obedience to God. He furthers this by saying, A revival according to Finney is the renewal of the Ch... g from the backslidden state where members of the church were blind to the state of sinners.8 In this backslidden state, Christians do not see the reality of the truth embedded in the scriptures. Although it may seem as if they admit to such truth, and that, "their conscience and judgment assent to it," the faith of Christians does not see such truth as it stands out in reality.9 Furthermore, Finney believes that, A revival breaks the power of the world and of sin over Christians. It brings them to such a vantage ground that they get a fresh impulse towards heaven. They have a foretaste of heaven, and new desire after union with God; and the charm of the world is broken, and the power of sin overcome. 10 In all of Finney's thoughts regarding revival, one element stands out. Finney's concept of revival is not one that is a gift from heaven. Finney did not believe that a revival is a product of a miracle and that the church needs not to do anything but accept such gift from God. This is what one may deduce from Finney's statements on the origin of a revival, "A revival is not a miracle, nor dependant on a miracle, in any sense. It is a purely philosophical result of the right use of the constituted means."11 This statement clearly explains Finney's concept of a revival. For Finney, the revival is the product of human effort.12 He believes that Christians have the capability to initiate a revival. Miller states Finney's view of spiritual reformation was that of a self-reformation rather than a divine reformation.13 He did not believe that a miracle or a gift from God is needed in order for any miracle to begin. Finney's view of revival was pragmatic just as his view of the universe was. According to Horton, The American pragmatic impulse that produced both Finney and

Climate Change

Climate Change Historically, only natural factors were believed to have affected the earths climate. However, during the 18th Century, scientists began to attribute human activities to changes in climatic patterns (U.S Environmental Protection Agency, 2010). Subsequently, much scientific evidence has linked the activities of human beings to the concentration of greenhouse gases being significantly increased in the atmosphere, thus contributing to climate change. Despite the evidence presented, many skeptics still believe that climate change is a naturally occurring heating and cooling cycle of the earth and that the extent to which human activities have contributed to it are being exaggerated (Hudson, 2009). However, based on the scientific evidence presented and the effects that climate change has already had and is predicted to have on planet earth, my position is that climate change is a real and eminent danger which could seriously affect our welfare on planet earth. In its Declaration on Clima te Change 2009, The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) captured the essence of my viewpoint in proclaiming that â€Å"climate change poses the most serious threat to our survival and viability and that it undermines our efforts to achieve sustainable developmental goals and threatens our very existence†. The world has already started to experience the effects of climate change in various ways which affects all aspects of livelihood. Therefore, if serious efforts are not made to reverse the effects of climate change, planet earth is in serious trouble. Climate change has already affected and continues to threaten the survival of terrestrial beings. In order to ensure survival here on planet earth, human beings as well as animals have basic requirements, water and food being of paramount importance. According to AOSIS (2009) water resources will be seriously compromised and food production will be affected as a result of increased inundations, erosion and salt water intrusion, which are all directly linked to climate change. Costello et al. (2009) purport in their article entitled â€Å"Managing the Health Effects of Climate Change,† that as a result of the rising temperatures associated with climate change in tropical and subtropical areas, half of the worlds population could face severe food shortages. For example, as a result of ocean acidification and increased temperatures, many coral reefs will be killed off. This could cause serious food shortages since coral reefs serve as nurseries for many fish, which approximately one billion people depend on as a source of protein (Black, 2009). Another way in which climate change affects the survival of human beings is that it has also been linked to an increase in various health problems. Costello et al. (2009) also explicitly stated that â€Å"climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st century†. They also went on to say that â€Å"the effects of climate change on health will affect most populations in the next decades and put the lives and wellbeing of billions of people at increases risk†. For example, the spread and transmission rates of malaria by mosquitoes are accelerated by increased temperatures. The hotter the climate the faster mosquitoes multiply (Costello et al., 2009). Thus, it can be seen that increases in food and water shortages as well as negative health effects are a direct consequence of climate change. Therefore, if human beings are unable to have adequate amounts of food, safe drinking water and mainta in good health, then survival will become very difficult. Climate change also affects the ability of countries to achieve sustainable growth and development. The United Nations (2004) in its Brundtland Commission Report defines sustainable development as ‘the ability of the present generations to meet their current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to satisfy theirs. In light of the fact that climate is drastically affecting the ability of human beings to continue to adequately sustain themselves without further destroying the planet, sustainability will be more difficult to achieve. Black (2009) addresses climate change as it relates to development in his BBC News article entitled Bank Urges Climate ‘Action Now citing the point put forth by the World Development Report 2010 that â€Å"development will get harder, not easier, with climate change†. Development is one of the main ways in which governments are able to provide jobs and generate revenues. The resources found on planet earth are respo nsible for providing jobs and government revenue which all contribute to development. Climate change poses a serious threat to natural resources on sea and land with the intensification of natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes. According to AOSIS (2009) tropical storms have become more frequent and stronger. As a result of this, tremendous damage has been done to infrastructures such as international airports, homes hotels and road networks, which in turn puts a serious strain on governments financial resources and in turn hinders sustainable growth and development. For example, in 2004 hurricane Ivan wreaked havoc on Grenada and has left the country still struggling to recover. As a result of the destruction of most of the nutmeg crops the government was forced to turn to tourism as the countrys main income earner which is proving to be very difficult since balancing conservation of already strained natural resources with economic development is a very difficult task (Kelly, 2008). Also, the continued effects of climate change such as water shortages which the island is currently experiencing directly affect sustainable growth and development efforts since water is not only required for human consumption but for construction and other purposes. The fact that climate change affects the ability of human beings to survive as well as their ability to preserve the planet for use by future generations extends to a more serious matter which is that it could potentially threaten our very existence. Already, rise in sea levels have threatened the disappearance of entire populations. This is clearly exemplified in Bangladesh where, according to Shukman (2009) salty water could reach so far inland that the cultivation of staples which are essential for human survival could become very difficult. Coupled with this the occurrence of cyclones has left thousands homeless, killed many more and has caused widespread destruction and flooding. The very existence of 20 million people is being threatened as a result of climate change. Moreover, entire islands have already disappeared in Maldives, Kiribati and other Pacific Islands (AOSIS, 2009). In November 2006, at the United Nations negations on climate change held in Nairobi the vice preside nt of Kenya Moody Awori captured the essence of the seriousness of the climate change matter when he commenced the talks by stating that â€Å"climate change is rapidly emerging as one of the most serious threats humanity will ever face.† The evidence has shown and continues to show that he is absolutely right. Therefore, it can be concluded that the effects of climate change are a global crisis extending to the entire sphere of planet earth affecting the ability of human beings to survive, be sustainable and inevitably even exist. A plethora of events have taken place and continue to occur which underscores the urgency of the effects of climate change. The extreme weather patterns which are currently being experienced as compared to previous events can be emphasized using numerous examples from all over the world. What is most astonishing about this matter is that human beings contribute to its cause. It is quite ironic, that in our quest to improve and revolutionize the quality of our lives here on earth that we are the underlying cause of the destruction of the very earth that is our source of survival. Therefore, it is definitely apparent that urgent steps need to be employed in order to combat the problems caused by climate change. Human beings need to make an extra effort to correct t he error of our ways since our ability to survive and continue to exist here on earth critically depends on it. References Alliance of Small island States (AOSIS). (2009). Declaration on climate change 2009. New York. Black ,R. (2009). Bank urges climate action now. BBC News. Retrieved from https://angel.sgu.edu/Angel/section/default.asp?id=ASSSCI405%2D1%2D1%2D2010 Black, R. 2009. Climate targets will kill coral. BBC News. Retrieved from https://angel.sgu.edu/Angel/section/default.asp?id=ASSSCI405%2D1%2D1%2D2010goto Costello, A., Abbas M., Allen A. et al. (2009). Managing the health effects of climate change. Lancet and University College London Institute for Global Health Commission. Hudson, P. 2009. What happened to global warming? BBC News. Retrieved from https://angel.sgu.edu/Angel/section/content/default.asp?WCI=pgDisplayWCU=CRSCNTENTRY_ID=4D18682A8C7842578219AA7690673288 Kelly, A. (2008). Will tourism wreck Grenadas environment while rescuing its economy?gardian.co.uk. Retrieved from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/mar/31/grenada Shukman, D. (2009). Seas threaten 20m in Bangladesh. BBC News. Retrieved from https://angel.sgu.edu/Angel/section/default.asp?id=ASSSCI405%2D1%2D1%2D2010 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). 2004. Sustainable Development -Concept and Action. Retrieved from http://www.unece.org/oes/nutshell/2004-2005/focus_sustainable_development.htm U.S Environmental Protection Agency. (2010). Climate change basic information. Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/basicinfo.html

The Role of Ethnicity and Race in the Way Audiences Interpret Media Mes

The Role of Ethnicity and Race in the Way Audiences Interpret Media Messages According to the sociological definition of race and ethnicity, there is a close interrelation between race and ethnicity. Race has not been defined by the biological difference that it is stood on the social construct. Race does not discriminate the skin color from others which is related to the ethnicity. Race is defined on the social construct which based on physical and cultural features (Fulcher & Scott, 2007). ‘Ethnicity is a general category for describing collective identities’ (Fulcher & Scott, 2007:200). Ethnicity is based on the cultural and historical background that it means the people in this ethnic group is sharing the same language, religion and same experience of life. Ethnicity is the ethnic characteristic for the specific race. Ethnicities represent the role for separating the different race. In terms of race, people might have the racism to the different culture of others which might base on the historical colonization, the control of the western culture and so on (Fulcher& Scott, 2007). This racism also occurs in the media. The western media may intentionally neglect the people of Black or Asian. Media are more likely to use the white people as their main character. Although media has increased the number of the Black and Asian people in recent year on the screen, there is still the inequality in the media product. The Black and Asian people might totally disappear in some scene which is shot in the place with the large number of Black and Asian people (Ross & Playdon, 2001). This phenomenon provokes the anger and dissatisfaction of the Black and Asian people. Also, media may offer the wrong information for those minorit... ...rom you born to die that race is innate for everyone. In this world, everyone is equal that each person might have the same right to stay in this society. Works Cited Fulcher, J. and Scott, J., (2007) Sociology 3rd ed., Oxford : Oxford University Press Ross,K.,(2001) White Media, Black audience: Diversity and Dissonance on British Television in Ross, K. & Playdon, P.(eds.) Black marks : minority ethnic audiences and media, London: Ashgate Dines, G. & Humez, J.M.(eds.) (2002) Gender, race, and class in media : a text-reader London : Sage Dickinson,R., Harindranath, R. & Linnà ©. O.,(1998) Approaches to audiences : a reader, London : Arnold Saltzis, K.(Professor), (2010 February 23) CULTURAL STUDIES AND THE AUDIENCE Lecture 5, University of Leicester, UK Downing, J. & Husband, C. (2005) Representing race: racisms, ethnicities and media, London: SAGE

Dating and the Single Parent Essay

Summary In the book Dating and the Single Parent Ron Deal walks the single parent through the process of dating again. This book is broken into three sections. Section one has five chapters and is titled â€Å"Getting Past the Butterflies and Warm Fuzzes.† In the beginning Deal starts with â€Å"Dating in a Crowd: Dating with Purpose.† (29) With this in mind the reader begins to understand you will be dating the entire family. Deal describes different types of daters, and warns the reader against the â€Å"Consumer daters who want guarantees† (44) about the dates. These consumer daters want the dates to be their all in all and meet their every need. Deal also describes the thought of â€Å"Mirror, Mirror on the Wall; Am I Ready to Date? (47) This section describes â€Å"the impact loss has on you, and your willingness to surrender to God’s direction regarding divorce and remarriage.† (58) While determining if you are ready to date; Deal lists the readiness factors: can you handle being alone, trusting in God, looking at past issues, and asking the questions like, â€Å"What in my past can I not shake?† This is getting yourself and kids ready for dating. While thinking of fear as the main hurdle in beginning to date, Deal suggests you not â€Å"sidestep† (83) your fear but â€Å"acknowledge it.† (83) Not only your fear but how to handle the kids’ fears and concerns in the dating world. Deal explains â€Å"When a parent dates, kids feel the shift in direction away from them and the family; this ignites their fear of more loss.† (98) The second section of the book is called â€Å"Going Fishing† (115) and talks about finding love. â€Å"Finding love in all the right places †¦and in all the wrong ways† (117) talks about defining the  relationship or the DTR; there are three ways to look at relationships; we need to learn when to yield, stop or run with yellow, red and green lights. â€Å"Going deeper† (163) reminds us to think of where we are in life. Deal states â€Å"Single people need that perspective so that won’t overvalue getting married, and married people need that perspective so they won’t lose sight of their purpose in being together.† (165) â€Å"Marital Commitment and Stepfamily Preparation† (181) is the topic of the third section of the book. It is about getting re-engaged and making decisions about getting married. Guidelines are given about what things to look for such as commitment and trust issues, how to be open with the children (young and adult). Some key steps in how to become a blended family are listed. Deal suggests exercises on how to be introduced, recognize loss in your child, planning the wedding and including the children, and telling the ex. This book takes you through the processes of wanting to date again, dating, and choosing the right type of person to date. The next steps are about the engagement, telling families and children you’re getting married and creating a happily blended family. Potential Use for Christian Couples The chapter on â€Å"Yellow Light. Red Light. Green Light.† (141) is a chapter that most pastors need to share with their clients in the premarital counseling. This chapter and the concepts to be taught and learned can save couples from a lot of pain down the road and give additional skills for making a marriage more compatible. â€Å"Yellow lights saying slow down† (143) warm that things are great for now, however when you get married and the honeymoon is over rough times are coming. When you are trying to carefully blend families you need to make sure no one has on â€Å"rose-colored glasses† (145) or is ignoring the bumps in the road that will turn in to mountains later on if not dealt with before the couple gets married. A counselor needs to advise a couple to slow down if â€Å"loneliness or desperation† (146) are detected in the counseling sessions. This could indicate an underlying problem that will come out later in the marriage. The person with one of these disorders may demand that the other person in the relationship try to be their all in all, and no one can be everything to someone. Counselors should consider a postponement of a marriage if one of the clients comes in with any character traits like: â€Å"quick temper, intimidating, anger  reactions, chemical or physical abuse, can’t say no, constantly blaming others, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, problems staying calm, financial problems, disengagement with family, hiding previous relationships, or diagnosed personality disorder.† (147-148) If a person has experienced or is experiencing one of these challenges, this counselor will strongly suggest that it is dealt with before the marriage takes place. One of these problems will cause too much stress for most marriages to overcome. Deal suggests there are red stoplights. If you â€Å"have extreme differences in parenting styles† (151) you need to stop dating. This counselor would agree. Raising children is a very hard job when you agree; however, when you disagree children tend to play one parent off the other causing conflict between the parents. You need to remember you are not only marrying the person, but also the children. Another red light could be the ex-spouse. If he/she causes constant trouble, you will be in constant turmoil in the new marriage and will need to consider canceling your plans to marry. Deal suggests other red flags such as cohabitation. This counselor would agree with Deal that cohabitation leans toward persons â€Å"who have negative attitudes toward marriage, increase their divorce risk by 50%, are less sexually trustworthy, have lower religious commitment, and are tempted to slide into marriage.† (154) Cohabitation is not biblical, in Genesis 2:24 gives us the standard for all marriages and in Matthew 19:5 Jesus tells us marriage is a legal and binding relationship. The â€Å"green light† (159) means everything is good and you can proceed with the dating or marriage plans. In the â€Å"green light† stage you can define your relationship. At this point Deal suggests you can share your relationship with your children. This also is the stage during which it is suggested you take the â€Å"Couple Checkup† (169). There are two advantages to doing it in this stage: first â€Å"it provides you and your partner an objective X ray of your relationship health.† (169) Second â€Å"learning about your weaknesses helps you as a couple target specific ways to improve.† (169) This counselor will encourage couples in the red light zone to take a break and consider not dating any longer. If they are in the yellow light zone this counselor will encourage them to consider looking deeply at what the problems are and working through them before proceeding with the relationship. In the green light zone this counselor will encourage them to be willing to talk about issues when they arise, to be willing to  talk about them, and to work on a compromise. Deal states: â€Å"Confidence calms the heart and reduces anxiety†. (194) This counselor could not agree more, and knowing where you stand in a relationship is the most important element. Solidifying the relationship so both persons know how each other feels and what to expect keeps the green light going. Telling the children if you have children will be important. A plan needs to be made about how to tell them and expect the unexpected. One needs to expect them to be happy and for them to be angry about the decision. Letting the children know what will happen will help them through the fear and anger. Deal does not go into depth about what to do if the families do not want this marriage. What if the families do not like the person you want to marry? This counselor agrees the spouse that was married to the ex ought to tell him/her before the wedding day. Once the wedding day has taken place often times the children are going to be stressed out by this and misbehave. Deal suggests often times when things settle down from the wedding the child parent relationship will work itself out. This is a relationship neither party has had to handle before and it will be new challenges to both the parent and the child. Deal encourages parents to have a united front with the children. (206) If they do not have a â€Å"unified team everything will begin to crumble.† (207) Critique Deal speaks about â€Å"commitment and trust† (187) issues with couples. He explains that marriage is complicated and requires a couple to not be selfish. â€Å"God in his infinite wisdom ask each person to make a covenant that binds them together throughout life,† (187) or â€Å"until death do us part.† (187) Elwell states in the time of Christ a man could â€Å"divorce his wife for the most trivial of reasons† (347) from the â€Å"Hillelite Pharisees.† (347) This would suggest that if you take the side of the Hillelite Pharisees, our no fault divorce laws have been around for centuries. It is a delicate dance to get someone to commit to marriage to you when you are ready to commit to marriage and they will not. Deal gives several ideas: â€Å"Patiently continue dating, wrestle with your impatience, identify any specific concerns, give time for the hesitant person to find resolution, and at some point, the higher desire person will grow weary of waiting.† (188) Deal does later in the book suggest a time line of five years is a reasonable time to wait on  someone. If you have waited for five years and they still have not made a decision but you love them and cannot imagine life without that person do you walk away? Would it not be like a divorce? This counselor would not suggest anyone stay with someone for more than the five years unless they can make a decision to marry or not to marry. Deal speaks about crockpots and blenders in the chapter about â€Å"Preparing for a Good Blend.† The crockpots are those couples who move slowly with low heat,† (208) while the blender couples are those who â€Å"move quickly with high velocity.† (208) Deal states: â€Å"It is far wiser to adopt the crockpot cooking style.† (208) Otherwise slow and study is a much better way to blend a family than trying to quickly trying to force them to be a blended family. In this chapter he gives ideas about how to create stepfamilies. He says: â€Å"Younger children under the age of five may require far less time to soften toward stepparents than those between the ages of ten and fifteen years. Also, on occasion, a stubborn ingredient may resist softening and retain a sour taste. In either case, keep cooking.† This counselor would whole heartedly agree with his wisdom. The younger children are when stepparents arrive into their life, the easier it is to accept t hem. Deal also gives ideas about how to handle situations like: â€Å"getting married, calling a stepfather Daddy, combining holidays and other special-day traditions, and taking pictures as a family.† (209-210) With statistics saying that â€Å"fifty percent of first marriages fail and sixty percent of second marriages fail† (smartmarriages.com) this counselor believes Deal has made great recommendations in his book about how to blend families. Blended families will take work and Deal says that many times in this book. This book is an easy read with thought provoking topics. Some of the topics have a different way of looking at them than traditional thoughts. This book is a must read if you are thinking of remarrying or marrying someone who has been married before. References Deal, R. (2012). Dating and the single parent. Bloomington, MN: Bethany House Publishing. Eller, W. (2001). Evangelical dictionary of theology. 2n ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House. Marano, H. E., Divorced? Don’t even think of remarrying until you read this. www.smartmarriages.com. Accessed November 8, 2014.

Comparison of ‘The Speckled Band’ and ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ Essay

In this essay I will be comparing the two stories ‘The Speckled Band’ by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ by Roald Dahl. ‘The Speckled Band’ was written in 1892.This was in The Victorian Period when people had very little faith in the Police and Conan Doyle needed to create a Detective who always got everything right so that the public started to believe the Police could actually get it right. It was first published in a magazine called â€Å"The Strand† in weekly episodes so to a certain extent he needed to keep his readers interested as well which is why the plot is so complicated. The plot is about a woman called Helen Stoner who is going to get married, but someone or something murders her sister who also was supposed to get married. Helen Stoner goes to see Sherlock Holmes to see if he can help solve the crime. The plot is full of twists and red herrings that is up to the reader to try and solve as they go along but as always Sherlock Holmes works out the significance of everything and solves the crime. ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ was written in 1954by Roald Dahl. This story was also published in a magazine called â€Å"Harpers† but was written to be read in one go so it does not have the complicated layout of Conan Doyles story. Instead the reader knows exactly what is going on form the start of the story and the ending is shocking and designed to entertain and horrify. It was written by Dahl to show how women at the time were a lot more powerful than the men gave them credit for and should be respected more than being at home , pregnant. The plot is about a modern couple that seem to be falling out. Mary Maloney is the perfect 1950’s housewife who makes dinner and cleans, but one day when her husband (Patrick Maloney) comes home from work they have an argument. Mary loses her temper with Patrick and hits him over the head with a leg of lamb and accidentally kills him. In a panic she phones the police and puts the leg of lamb in the oven to cook for dinner. When the police arrive she persuades them to eat the lamb because it would be a waste of food. In the end the police eat the evidence and Mary didn’t get caught. Dahl uses comic irony at the end to engage the reader as Mary sits there laughing about what she has done; you don’t imagine her to do this as a middle class housewife. The times that these stories are set in are both very different. Like travel, in ‘The Speckled Band’. They travel by horse and cart but in ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ trey use car or foot just like in the modern day. For communication the people in 1892 would have to write or go and see the person they wanted to talk to but in 1954 they would have used the telephone. Also in 1892 they did not have much electricity so they used candles instead of light, whereas in 1954 they had lots of electricity. In 1892 the women would have worn veils and long skirts but in 1954 they would have they would have worn jeans, t-shirt etc. in 1892 rich families would lived in large houses with servants but in the modern day most families are middle classed and do not have the money for servants etc. When there was an enquiry in 1892 the detectives would have had to use their own knowledge to solve crimes but in 1954 they would use fingerprints, evidence etc to solve the crimes. The language used in ‘The Speckled Band’ was old fashioned and very formal like when Sherlock Holmes says â€Å"Very sorry to knock you up Watson, † said he, â€Å"but it’s the common lot this morning.† He also says things like â€Å"Mrs Hudson has been knocked up, she reported upon me, and I on you.† This isn’t the kind of language we would use in the modern day and proves that it is set in 1892. However in ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ there was a lot of slang and it was not as formal. Like when Mary says â€Å"Hullo darling.† And † Hullo Sam† to the grocer. However the way she speaks to Sam the grocer proves it was set in the 1950’s and not in any other time because we would not know the person in the corner shops first name today but it was common in the 1950’s to be friendly with them. In ‘The Speckled Band’ Sherlock Holmes is the main character. He is a famous detective and solves difficult cases. Conan Doyle invented him because people in the Victorian times were fed with the fact that the police could not solve any crimes and he wanted a character that always got everything right. However in ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ there were police who are good at solving cases but wouldn’t be able to solve them without any evidence and they are very arrogant and treat Mary as a silly woman when in fact she is the person who has tricked them and been the murderer. Dahl does this to shock his readers and make it even more dramatic which Conan Doyle would not want to do because they needed to trust their detective! In ‘The Speckled Band’ the killer was a snake that had been hypnotised by Helen Stoner’s stepfather, but all the way through the story he is a suspect and he acts suspiciously like when Helen goes to visit Sherlock Holmes to tell him what has been going on, shortly after she leaves her stepfather came in asking if she has been here. It seemed like he had something to hide, but in the end it had nothing to do with him. In ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ Mary seems like a nice, gentle woman who feels that she has to help out. Like when she says, â€Å"Darling, shall I get your slippers?† but after the police eat the evidence she laughs so I think he whole issue hade made her go a bit insane. At the beginning of the story you didn’t expect it from her because she just seems like a normal, average wife like when it said about ‘She took his coat and hung it in the closet.’ and when it said ‘She was sat back again in her chair with the sewing.’ The scene seems too realistic for something bad to happen. In ‘The Speckled Band’ the victim was Helen Stoner’s sister because there was nothing anyone could do to save her; this made the readers feel very sorry for her. The next victim was Helen Stoner and because nobody knew what killed her sister it seemed that she needed protection. I would expect someone like her to be the next victim because she is a woman who has done nothing wrong and is innocent. I don’t think her or her sister deserved to be the victims because they are both just happy and normal people. In ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ you don’t feel sorry for Patrick because he is being horrible to Mary and you feel automatically on her side from the beginning. I think he deserved to be upset but not killed because they are just having a falling out. ‘The Speckled Band’ is set in Stoke Moran, which is Helen’s stepfather house. Sherlock Holmes is investigating the house. I think it is a good setting for a murder to take place and because it’s a very big house which makes it creepier for the reader because you don’t know what is doing the killings. ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ is set in Mary Maloney’s house. I think the way the author has described it makes it sound very realistic, like when he says, â€Å"The room was warm and clean, the curtains drawn, the two table lamps alight.† This makes the room sound cosy and like it really exists. You can really picture the scenery. I also think it’s a good setting for a murder because you can imagine it happening there. I think I would expect it because so many crimes in real life have been taken place in houses. Out of the two stories I preferred ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ because it is easier to understand and keeps you interested all the way though with the description it uses. I disliked the other story because the speaking parts dragged on to long and I did really just want to get on and find out what happens.

What is the Purpose of Environmental Law Essays

What is the Purpose of Environmental Law Essays What is the Purpose of Environmental Law Paper What is the Purpose of Environmental Law Paper Significant developments in environmental law can be traced back to the 1800s; and dealt largely with public health concerns initially. [1]Only since the 1970s however, has ‘environmental law’ as a separate concept formed to tackle the objective of ‘sustainable development’. [2]Common law too has played an equally vital part in between these developments. [3]Indeed, the purpose of environmental laws from 1800s to present has shifted. [4]This shift in purpose shall be discussed, but firstly, taking into considerations the definitions of ‘purpose’,[5] ‘environment’,[6] and‘law’[7] ; the question shall be interpreted to ask – what the intention of the values are in law and policy,concerning the air, land, and water. Victorianenvironmental law reflected very muchthe concerns of ‘nuisances’[8] to public health. Industrialisation only accentuated these concerns within popular values and provisions were taken to intentionally rid the people of such ‘nuisance’. An early example of this creeping concern is the Factories Act 1833. [9]Victorians had mere appreciation of‘nuisance’. What would be considered as pollution in modern perspective was seen as an indicator of prosperity in Victorian Britain. [10] Nevertheless, public health concerns materialised in environmental ‘nuisance’ law. To illustrate, the Smoke Abatement (Metropolitan) Act 1853[11]provided for the control of the nuisances from smokes and vapours in the air – dangerous to human health. Similarly, the Alkali Act 1863[12] intended to place regulation on the condensing of corrosive Muriatic Acid in Alkali Factories – dangerous to public health; so as to limit its ‘nuisance’ to the public. Therefore, Victorian environmental law, despite being slow to recognise environmental significance, intended to limit the damage of these ‘nuisances’; more to the public that to the environment per se. Later, in common law, ‘mere nuisance’ transformed to actual concern for the environment itself. There was a change of opinion from tackling pollution that was already present, to trying to prevent the emergence of any new sources in the first place. As an example,the English Law, House of Lords case Rylands v Fletcher[13]will be examined. In this case it was established that if a man’s nuisances spread to another’s land, he would be strictly liable for the damage caused to the others land. Thus, these preventative measures established precedent to control citizens from creating new pollution through fear of civil action. In addition to this,the later House of Lords case of Hunter v Canary Wharf Limited[14] followed the ‘Rylands rule’ in that ‘nuisance’ (or pollution) would have legal causation to land damage only. Apparently so, this controlling intention in common law protected the environment from damage but was perhaps somewhat unfair to the private citizen in some cases. To illustrate this, if a man had suffered loss as a result of harm caused by another nuisance he would be unlikely to receive damages for example his property as in Canadian High Court case of Bottoni v Henderson. [15]Later, statutory reform wouldbe needed to proportionate and protect both environmental, as well as private interest. [16] Therefore, the purpose of environmental law developed to protective the environment more than the public as it once did in the past; despite perhaps being disproportionate in some circumstances. In post-war Britain this intention to protect the environmentcontinues[17]but, particularly after 1972 toward the principle of ‘sustainable development’;as defined by the Bruntland Report of 1987. [18] It is arguably the main purpose of environmental law today. [19]Perhaps an unsubstantiated claim, it has been argued that the principle in fact ‘†¦plac[es] human†¦ interests above†¦ environmental protection’;[20]overlooking that it intends tolimit the impact of human population on world ecosystems. [21] The Brundtland report has been criticised to say that its breadth is difficult to be incorporated into policy. [22]This is apparent in the UK up until around the mid 1990s. [23] Despite this, there has been significant intention to incorporate sustainable development; the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 has done particularly well at this. [24] However, it should be asked how effective our sustainability policy really is. The Sustainable Development Commission – the policy advisor for the UK and Scottish Government is to be shut down. [25]Furthermore, this closure has been openly criticised by its commissioners. [26] The intention therefore of environmental law in modern Britain is to pursue sustainable development; all be it not realised yet in policy. In conclusion, the purpose of environmental law was once public protection, manifested by popular concern, gradually achieved through statue. In addition, later common law provided a good effort to purpose pollution prevention. Now, from international cooperation it now pursues sustainable development, if somewhat ineffective at doing so.

Profile of Major General Smedley Butler

Profile of Major General Smedley Butler Major General Smedley Butler was a decorated war veteran. He is best known for serving in the Carribean and abroad during World War I. Early Life Smedley Butler was born in West Chester, PA on July 30, 1881, to Thomas and Maud Butler. Raised in the area, Butler initially attended West Chester Friends Graded High School before moving on to the prestigious Haverford School. While enrolled at Haverford, Butlers father was elected to the US House of Representatives. Serving in Washington for thirty-one years, Thomas Butler would later provide political cover for his sons military career. A gifted athlete and a good student, the younger Butler elected to leave Haverford in mid-1898 to take part in the Spanish-American War. Joining the Marines Though his father wished him to remain in school, Butler was able to obtain a direct commission as a second lieutenant in the US Marine Corps. Ordered to the Marine Barracks in Washington, DC for training, he then joined the Marine Battalion, North Atlantic Squadron and took part in operations around Guantnamo Bay, Cuba. With the withdrawal of the Marines from the area later in the year, Butler served aboard USS New York until being discharged on February 16, 1899. His separation from the Corps proved short as he was able to secure a first lieutenants commission in April. In the Far East Ordered to Manila, Philippines, Butler took part in the Philippine-American War. Bored by garrison life, he welcomed the opportunity to experience combat later that year. Leading a force against the Insurrecto-held town of Noveleta in October, he succeeded in driving off the enemy and securing the area. In the wake of this action, Butler was tattooed with a large Eagle, Globe, and Anchor which covered his entire chest. Befriending Major Littleton Waller, Butler was selected to join him as part of a Marine company on Guam. En route, Wallers force was detoured to China to aid in putting down the Boxer Rebellion. Arriving in China, Butler took part in the Battle of Tientsin on July 13, 1900. In the fighting, he was hit in the leg while trying to rescue another officer. Despite his wound, Butler assisted the officer to the hospital. For his performance at Tientsin, Butler received a brevet promotion to captain. Returning to action, he was grazed in the chest during fighting near San Tan Pating. Returning the United States in 1901, Butler spent two years serving ashore and aboard various vessels. In 1903, while stationed in Puerto Rico, he was ordered to aid in protecting American interests during a revolt in Honduras. The Banana Wars Moving along the Honduran coast, Butlers party rescued the American consul in Trujillo. Suffering from a tropical fever during the campaign, Butler received the nickname Old Gimlet Eye due to his constantly bloodshot eyes. Returning home, he married Ethel Peters on June 30, 1905. Ordered back to the Philippines, Butler saw garrison duty around Subic Bay. In 1908, now a major, he was diagnosed with having a nervous breakdown (possibly post-traumatic stress disorder) and was sent back to the United States for nine months to recover. During this period Butler tried his hand at coal mining but found it not to his liking. Returning to the Marines, he received command of 3rd Battalion, 1st Regiment on the Isthmus of Panama in 1909. He remained in the area until being ordered to Nicaragua in August 1912. Commanding a battalion, he took part in the bombardment, assault, and capture of Coyotepe in October. In January 1914, Butler was directed to join Rear Admiral Frank Fletcher off the coast of Mexico to monitor military activities during the Mexican Revolution. In March, Butler, posing as a railroad executive, landed in Mexico and scouted the interior. As the situation continued to worsen, American forces landed at Veracruz on April 21. Leading the Marine contingent, Butler directed their operations through two days of fighting before the city was secured. For his actions, he was awarded the Medal of Honor. The following year, Butler led a force from USS Connecticut ashore on Haiti after a revolution threw the country into chaos. Winning several engagements with the Haitian rebels, Butler won a second Medal of Honor for his capture of Fort Rivià ¨re. In doing so, he became one of only two Marines to win the medal twice, the other being Dan Daly. World War I With the US entry into World War I in April 1917, Butler, now a lieutenant colonel, began lobbying for a command in France. This failed to materialize as some of his key superiors deemed him unreliable despite his stellar record. On July 1, 1918, Butler received a promotion to colonel and command of the 13th Marine Regiment in France. Though he worked to train the unit, they did not see combat operations. Promoted to brigadier general in early October, he was directed to oversee Camp Pontanezen at Brest. A key debarkation point for American troops, Butler distinguished himself by improving conditions in the camp. Postwar For his work in France, Butler received the Distinguished Service Medal from both the US Army and US Navy. Arriving home in 1919, he took command of Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia and over the next five years worked to make what had been a wartime training camp into a permanent base. In 1924, at the request of President Calvin Coolidge and Mayor W. Freeland Kendrick, Butler took a leave from the Marines to serve as Director of Public Safety for Philadelphia. Assuming oversight of the citys police and fire departments, he tirelessly worked to end corruption and enforce Prohibition. Though effective, Butlers military-style methods, impolitic comments, and aggressive approach began to wear thin with the public and his popularity began to drop. Though his leave was extended for a second year, he frequently clashed with Mayor Kendrick and elected to resign and return to the Marines Corps in late 1925. After briefly commanding the Marine Corps Base at San Diego, CA, he embarked for China in 1927. Over the next two years, Butler commanded the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade. Working to protect American interests, he successfully dealt with rival Chinese warlords and leaders. Returning to Quantico in 1929, Butler was promoted to major general. Resuming his task of making the base the showplace of the Marines, he worked to increase the publics awareness of the corps by taking his men on long marches and re-enacting Civil War battles such as Gettysburg. On July 8, 1930, the Commandant of the Marines Corps, Major General Wendell C. Neville, died. Though tradition called for the senior general to temporarily fill the post, Butler was not appointed. Though considered for the permanent position of command  and supported by notables such as Lieutenant General John Lejeune, Butlers controversial track record along with ill-timed public comments regarding Italian dictator Benito Mussolini saw Major General Ben Fuller receive the post instead. Retirement Rather than continue in the Marine Corps, Butler filed for retirement and left the service on October 1, 1931. A popular lecturer while with the Marines, Butler began speaking to various groups fulltime. In March 1932, he announced that he would run for the US Senate from Pennsylvania. An advocate of Prohibition, he was defeated in the 1932 Republican primary. Later that year, he publically supported the Bonus Army protesters who sought early payment of the service certificates issued by the World War Adjusted Compensation Act of 1924. Continuing to lecture, he increasingly focused his speeches against war profiteering and American military intervention abroad. The themes of these lectures formed the basis for his 1935 work War Is a Racket which outlined the connections between war and business. Butler continued to speak on these topics and his views of fascism in the US through the 1930s. In June 1940, Butler entered the Philadelphia Naval Hospital after being ill for several weeks. On June 20, Butler died of cancer and was buried at Oaklands Cemetery in West Chester, PA.

A cross cultural management study on Toyota

A cross cultural management study on Toyota The aim of this paper is to identify what role culture has played in the organizational structure and management technique of Toyota. Toyota is now the world’s leading automobile industry, knocking out rivals car maker; General Motors (Marr, 2009). The Toyota Motor Company was established in 1937 and 30 years later it entered the US market in 1967. By 1980, the company already had about 20% of the US car market as the indigenous car companies started experiencing customer dissatisfaction. The company based its entrant strategy into the US on the following; Fuel efficiency as compared to ‘gas guzzling’ American cars Environmental friendliness Superior build quality The introduction of the luxury-car line The real reason for the company’s success nevertheless was based on the introduction of Japanese style of production, operation and management. According to Liker and Morgan (2006), management principles must extend beyond the shop floor as they do at Toyot a. The ‘Toyota Way’ is a set of standards that harness the Toyota (Japanese) culture. These standards are applied by the Japanese in virtually all their dealings. Although they are moderate by nature hardly showing emotions, they are still very thorough and they apply the successful cultural traits in almost everything they do. The most important aspect of Toyota America is the techniques the company has used to stay successful given the obvious cultural differences between Toyota Japan and its biggest foreign subsidiary. The Japanese and the Americans have distinctly different business cultures however; the company has been able to work in harmony for decades. The major differences are; communication skills, winning attitude, methodology of maintaining strategies etc for both the countries – Japan and United States. Thus, we can say that while establishing a new company in host country culture is highly important. HOME-COUNTRY BUSINESS VALUES (JAPAN) Managerial Autonomy and Long-term Planning Very often, Japanese employees are engaged to the companies for ‘lifetime employment’. It is therefore probable that managers are not pressured to meet requirements financially and employee related. Corporate Rigidity and Hierarchy Japanese companies like Toyota are very hierarchical in nature and as such have distinctive and autonomous power bases. The roles of top managers are defined and incline towards strategic development of the company. The business unit managers are the ones responsible for initiating and supervising new projects. Participatory Decision-making The practice of exploring ideas of employees by senior management is known as Nemawashi in a given project. The idea behind the Nemawashi is to obtain participation of all employees in the decision-making process. The Japanese style of management is a bottom-up approach as compared to the rather autocratic top-down style of management. HOST-COUNTRY BUSINESS VALUES (UNITED ST ATES) Low Context There is more or less an uncongenial nature of communication in American organizations. Expectations of employees are communicated in competency statements or the criteria of their performance. On the other hand however, the Japanese may be more contained in their communication. Individualism Employees and indeed managers in the United States are often defined by their personal achievements and place little importance in group achievements. Americans also do not place much value on trust as they are likely to engage in business with strangers not necessarily friends or family unlike their Japanese collectivist counterparts.

Consumer Protection Sale of Goods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Consumer Protection Sale of Goods - Essay Example Upon seeing the advertisement in the Old Castle newspaper regarding the racquet, which read: " This is a fantastic new tennis racquet specially designed for beginners. Its unique anti-scratch finish means that however many times you knock it, scratch it, drop it, the scratches will not show. Your racquet will look as good as a new after many years of use. are implied in a contract of sale: the goods much match the description; the condition of the goods must be satisfactory; there must be satisfactory quality; and lastly, the good must be 'reasonably fit' for the purpose for which the consumer is buying them.1 Each of these terms must conform to the contract of sale. In this case Jim had, upon joining the Old Castle Racquets Club (hereafter, ORC) and seeing the advertisement, decided to purchase the SS after paying his yearly fee of 200 to ORC and signing up for a sex week period of tennis lessons at a price of 120. Completing his transactions at ORC Jim immediately went to Old Castle Sports and Leisure (hereafter, OSL) and purchased a SS racquet for 250, paying in cash. Jim's dissatisfaction arose when after only several weeks of using the SS, contrary to the advertisement's assertions and the warranty which came with the SS the surface had become very scratched and by week three the racquet was totally unusable when the handle came off. In determining the remedies available to Jim it is necessary to show that there was a breach of contract which leads us back to the four terms of a contract: description, condition, quality and fitness. In Harlingdon & Leinster Enterprises v Christopher Hull Fine Art Ltd [1991] 1 QB 5642 the court found that "for the sale to be 'by' description the description had to be influential in the sale so as to become an essential term or condition of the contract." In Jim's the case the description (i.e. the advertisement) was an essential reason he purchased the SS as evidenced by his actions and speed with which he viewed the advertisement and the immediately proceeded to OSR to purchase the SS. Also, in Beale v Taylor [1967] 3 All ER 2533 the court found that "the buyer was entitled to damages because, although the description of the goods were not false to the knowledge of either the seller or the buyer, yet fundamentally the seller was selling goods of the description advertised." As i n Jim's case even if the seller (OSL) was unaware that the advertising of the SS was wrong, Jim had purchased the SS based on that description. Satisfactory condition4 is the next term to consider which relates to satisfactory condition.5 Rogers v Parish (Scarborough) Ltd [1987] QB 9336 found that the court upheld that goods unfit7 for use purchased are unmerchantable. As in Jim's case, he purchased an expensive racquet for the sole purpose of taking lesson and playing tennis. The inherent quality issues rendered the SS unmerchantable. In Stevenson v Rogers [1999] 1 All ER 6138 on appeal the court held that

Rehabilitation Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Rehabilitation Paper - Essay Example While referring back to the origin of the rehabilitation of the prisoners, it was the enactment of the Penitentiary Act in 1779 by British government that introduced the custom of rehabilitation of the prisoners and criminals. Thereafter, evidently imprisonment emerged as a form of correction rather than punishment. The technique and mode of rehabilitation varies according to the nature and type of offence committed. The prisoners are given educational as well as vocational training to learn various skills so that they can use it outside the prison once their term of imprisonment is over; and such rehabilitation takes place both inside the prison and outside the premises as well (Prison rehabilitation, n.d.). In the American prisons, rehabilitations found to be an effective mode of minimizing stress, aggression, and mental disorders amongst the prisoners. Studies prove that the prison inmates who learned rehabilitation techniques and participated in training activities were reformed and the number of those who returned to prison shrank to 30-35% which was far greater than other kinds of measures adopted to reduce the animosity among the inmates. The rehabilitation programs conducted outside the prison premises help to bring down over crowding in prisons. The vocation training they received made them competent to live the rest of their life without being dependant on others. Probation and parole are two means available for the prisoners to get out of their confinements and enjoy the fragments of freedom for a limited period. Probation and parole are more or less similar in function but are connected to different sections of the criminal justice system. Probation is generally imposed in lieu of jail incarceration and is increasingly being used in California as a tool to reduce jail crowding in a wide variety of situations. As per the Probation Law of 1976, (cited in Sangco, 1995) probation can be defined as a court-imposed approval that envisages to releases a co nvicted offender into the society under a conditional suspended sentence; and this practice is due to the assumption that all the criminals are not dangerous and they will rightly react to the treatments. Usually probation is given to an offender whose conduct and behavior is amicable in the prison premises (p. 1). When the term of his probation is over, he is asked to come back to the prison for the rest of his punishment. During the probation, if the offender proves himself fit for a social life, he may also get negotiation in his imprisonment. On the other hand, parole is a conditional release from state prison by the Department of Corrections. It is the early release from prison or jail under certain conditions and under strict supervision when a portion of the sentence has been completed. The practices of parole envisage that the offender has articulated his assent to abide by the rules and regulations of the prison environment and also shows respect and assistance to the socia l norms and practices. In this case also he has to come back to the prison once the stipulated days are over. As everyone knows, people are not born as criminals but it is the circumstances that make them commit offences. Probation and parole have great importance in this regard. A person who has committed murder on the pressure of

Cost Allocation in Small Businesses Research Paper

Cost Allocation in Small Businesses - Research Paper Example As the essay stresses one of the main benefits that companies get through proper cost allocation is awareness of expenses. Accurate assignment of costs to business processes makes it possible for the managers to know exactly the types of expenses incurred in any particular business operation. Here, it needs to be mentioned that such information is not just critical for the development of operating budgets; rather it is also imperative in the calculation of taxes payable to state, local, and federal tax agencies. The way a company assigns costs to different business units have a profound impact on the amount of taxes that the company pays. From the report it is clear that small businesses can also use cost allocation as a tool to know which items associated with any particular department had the most or least impact on the cost generation by that department. For example, if the accounting, marketing, and customer services departments make use of the same printer for producing prints, the company can easily spread the cost out of that printer on all associated departments according to their respective usage of the system. Such an accuracy of cost information results in improving the decision-making mechanisms of a company, as well as helps in enhancing the overall quality of business processes. Cost allocation also results in enhancing the resource usage. Companies allocating costs to different business departments know that the benefits that they will get will definitely supersede the associated costs. To be specific, when a company has to decide whether it should use the resources of any particular business department , it first takes into account the variable and fixed costs of the department. Though cost allocation, a company is able to know the extent the resources can be used without affecting the associated costs. Determines Expenses Accurately Using cost allocation, a company can determine the costs associated with hiring, retaining, and shifting of employees from one department to

Discribe the impact of Darwin's evoluntionary theory on at least 4 Essay

Discribe the impact of Darwin's evoluntionary theory on at least 4 areas of American thought during the late 19th Century, inclu - Essay Example Through his 1859 book ‘The Origin of Species’, Charles Darwin instigated a change in the world views about the origin of humankind among other species, which challenged previously existing theories such as Creationism. With this new perspective, evolution began to affect the overall system of American thought. Some of the aspects of American thought include American philosophy, technology usage in the American society, religion, medicine, politics, environment, culture and globalization in the American context. This paper delves into the impact of Darwinism on some of these aspects of American thought in the nineteenth century. The paper also looks into the changes that took place with regard to each aspect and that saw some subjects gain more popularity and others decline. Keywords: Evolution, Changes, Philosophy, Darwinism, American Thought Introduction Evolution refers to the process of a string of natural modifications that a species of a population of organisms unde rgoes, which causes the species to develop, adjust to their surroundings, and eventually die out or become extinct (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, n.d.). All species including humans have developed through the process of biological evolution. Human evolution refers to the drawn-out progression of change which facilitated the development of people from apelike progenitors. Scientific evidence has revealed that the physical and developmental attributes shared by the entire human species originated from apelike predecessors and evolved over a period of time (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, n.d.). The theory of evolution has been subject to intensive scientific research over the last 150 years. There is numerous and convincing evidence that living organisms have undergone the process of evolution spanning over a period of millions of years. According to Andrews and Stringer the account of human evolution dates back to approximately 30 million years ago i n North Africa, when the now expansive Sahara desert was an expanse of lush rain forests and the region was inhabited by a species identified by historians as Aegyptopithecus (1989). This theory was developed by Charles Darwin and is detailed in his 1859 book ‘Origin of Species’. Following its development, the theory was adapted and accepted in many societies despite the fact that it faced acclamation and criticism in equal measure. In the American society as with many others in the world over, world views based on the origin of mankind as well as the development of world and human civilizations began to be shaped by the theory. In retrospect, Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution resulted in changes in many aspects of American thought in the nineteenth century. Multiple fields of science, research and education have been influenced by Darwinism. Some of these aspects are discussed below. Impact of Darwinism on Philosophy The realization of the theory of natural s election that is a component of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution resulted in changes in American philosophy in the nineteenth century. Philosophy is applied and put into practice by humans in their development of world views and perspectives. Philosophy is developed within the human mind. The theory of natural selection to a great extent includes the development of humankind and the human brain; making them both results of natural selection. As a result therefore, Darwinism directly impacts on philosophy (Lemmens, 2006). The theory of

Mental Health Practice Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 10750 words

Mental Health Practice Development - Essay Example Within the healthcare practice, critical reflection has been highlighted as a significant and important skill in helping to achieve the necessary standards of professionalism among nurses and midwives (NMC, 2004).   It has also become an important approach in increasing the coverage of continuing health education, work-based learning, as well as life-long education (NMC, 2004).   Due to the increased focus on professional practice as well as education, it has become important to evaluate the reflective practice based on more practical applications, in this case, within the mental health setting.   Dewey (1933) from the very start has identified how reflection is a specialised thinking exercise.   It is an act which can come about due to doubt and hesitation relating to a situation or phenomenon.   Such a situation can also trigger inquiry and problem resolution.   Reflective practice veers individuals away from routine actions, instead, prompting more reflective and thoug htful action.   Such conceptualization begins with experience, highlighting how individuals and practitioners learn by doing and also by practice (Dewey, 1933).   In this case, problems are thought out first, hypotheses are formulated and errors are resolved and prevented with the use of plan actions, as well as the testing out of ideas.   It utilises two themes based on the modules completed, with a focus on change management and clinical leadership. The Gibbs reflective model will be used for this critical reflection (Fook and Gardner, 2007). This reflective cycle is useful in making an individual evaluate all the phases on an experience or activity. In this case, the stages of Description, Feelings, Evaluation, Analysis, Conclusion, and Action Plan shall be used as part of this model. This model has been chosen over other models because it includes more detailed elements of the reflective process (Fook and Gardner, 2007). Such details would help me present how I was able to improve my leadership ability through the modules I have gone through. This critical reflective piece demonstrates the application of different theory models of leadership and change. This reflection would also be critical about my actions and decisions in the process of completing this MSc course. An assessment of this experience, with its challenges is a necessary

Cost Allocation in Small Businesses Research Paper

Cost Allocation in Small Businesses - Research Paper Example As the essay stresses one of the main benefits that companies get through proper cost allocation is awareness of expenses. Accurate assignment of costs to business processes makes it possible for the managers to know exactly the types of expenses incurred in any particular business operation. Here, it needs to be mentioned that such information is not just critical for the development of operating budgets; rather it is also imperative in the calculation of taxes payable to state, local, and federal tax agencies. The way a company assigns costs to different business units have a profound impact on the amount of taxes that the company pays. From the report it is clear that small businesses can also use cost allocation as a tool to know which items associated with any particular department had the most or least impact on the cost generation by that department. For example, if the accounting, marketing, and customer services departments make use of the same printer for producing prints, the company can easily spread the cost out of that printer on all associated departments according to their respective usage of the system. Such an accuracy of cost information results in improving the decision-making mechanisms of a company, as well as helps in enhancing the overall quality of business processes. Cost allocation also results in enhancing the resource usage. Companies allocating costs to different business departments know that the benefits that they will get will definitely supersede the associated costs. To be specific, when a company has to decide whether it should use the resources of any particular business department , it first takes into account the variable and fixed costs of the department. Though cost allocation, a company is able to know the extent the resources can be used without affecting the associated costs. Determines Expenses Accurately Using cost allocation, a company can determine the costs associated with hiring, retaining, and shifting of employees from one department to

Mental Health Practice Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 10750 words

Mental Health Practice Development - Essay Example Within the healthcare practice, critical reflection has been highlighted as a significant and important skill in helping to achieve the necessary standards of professionalism among nurses and midwives (NMC, 2004).   It has also become an important approach in increasing the coverage of continuing health education, work-based learning, as well as life-long education (NMC, 2004).   Due to the increased focus on professional practice as well as education, it has become important to evaluate the reflective practice based on more practical applications, in this case, within the mental health setting.   Dewey (1933) from the very start has identified how reflection is a specialised thinking exercise.   It is an act which can come about due to doubt and hesitation relating to a situation or phenomenon.   Such a situation can also trigger inquiry and problem resolution.   Reflective practice veers individuals away from routine actions, instead, prompting more reflective and thoug htful action.   Such conceptualization begins with experience, highlighting how individuals and practitioners learn by doing and also by practice (Dewey, 1933).   In this case, problems are thought out first, hypotheses are formulated and errors are resolved and prevented with the use of plan actions, as well as the testing out of ideas.   It utilises two themes based on the modules completed, with a focus on change management and clinical leadership. The Gibbs reflective model will be used for this critical reflection (Fook and Gardner, 2007). This reflective cycle is useful in making an individual evaluate all the phases on an experience or activity. In this case, the stages of Description, Feelings, Evaluation, Analysis, Conclusion, and Action Plan shall be used as part of this model. This model has been chosen over other models because it includes more detailed elements of the reflective process (Fook and Gardner, 2007). Such details would help me present how I was able to improve my leadership ability through the modules I have gone through. This critical reflective piece demonstrates the application of different theory models of leadership and change. This reflection would also be critical about my actions and decisions in the process of completing this MSc course. An assessment of this experience, with its challenges is a necessary

Reliability Essay Example for Free

Reliability Essay The most known and widely used types of reliability are: parallel forms, test-retest, interrater, and internal consistency reliability. Reliability is important because it gives precision, accuracy and dependable answers in researches. Consistency of measurement means there is a reliable measurement. If a method or particular piece of research is not reliable, researchers will and should lack confidence that the results obtained would be obtain again, and can thus hardly be confident that they reflect reality. Even though that several examples of research, which reach similar results, even if the research is not strictly replicable, may still help researchers to increase their confidence in reliability, and perhaps also guide them toward appreciating the range of applicability of a theory (Kurpius Stafford, 2006). Standard scores are the scores that are comparable because they are standardized in units of standard deviation while percentile or a percentile rank is a point in a distribution of scores below which a given percentage of scores fall. It is a particular point within an entire distribution of scores. Percentile ranks have one major disadvantage in comparison to standard scores: percentile ranks have unequal units along their scale. Percentile ranks in the middle of the distribution tend to overemphasize differences between standard scores, where as percentile ranks at the tails of the distribution tend to underemphasize difference performance. The measure of central tendency is a statistical technique wherein a single number is used to represent a group of numbers. Three different central tendency measures that are usually applied in researches are the mean, median and mode. These central tendency measures are significant because they have their own importance in measuring the central tendency. Mean provides the best estimate of average. However median is more reliable because it is clear and fixed on the other hand, mode is used when a quick and approximate measure of central tendency is required.

Using Translation As A Means Of Interpretation English Language Essay

Using Translation As A Means Of Interpretation English Language Essay Translation is an activity comprising the interpretation of the meaning of a text in one language and the production, in another language, of a new, equivalent text, or translation. Its goal is to establish a relation of equivalence of intent between the source and target texts, while taking into account a number of constraints. These constraints and differences between an SL and a TL and the variation in their cultures make the process of translating a real challenge. Among the problematic factors involved in translation include context, form, the rules of grammar of both languages, meaning, style, their writing conventions, their figurative languages, such as proverbs, idioms, metaphors, euphemisms, and the like. One of the grammar/vocabulary areas that cause most problems for students of English is euphemisms. Euphemisms are words or phrases that are used to soften the reality of what are being communicated to a given listener or reader. They are a universal feature of language usage since all cultures typically use them to talk about things they find terrifying, for example war, sickness, and death. Euphemisms are powerful linguistic tools that are embedded so deeply in our language that few of us, even those who pride themselves on being 2 plainspoken, ever get through a day without using them (Rawson, 1981:1). The need for euphemism is both social and emotional, as it allows discussion of touchy or taboo subjects (such as sex, personal appearances or religion) without enraging, outraging, or upsetting other people, and acts as a pressure valve whilst maintaining the appearance of civility. Also, euphemisms are highly important expressive means of any language and are frequently used in everyday life. They make the speech more expressive, vivid, and colorful. This makes the euphemisms adapt speech to different situations. Thus euphemisms help people to fit to the proper context and to express ideas clearly. All these euphemisms appeared naturally in the process of everyday usage. People instinctively try to avoid the word not to offend or to hurt ones feelings. So euphemisms are synonyms that aim at producing a deliberately mild effect. When people use them in proper situations, it means that they care about other people. As Holder (2003) puts it, Euphemism is the language of evasion, prudery and deceit, but euphemisms also help us to cope with troublesome situations, and many of them are a source of laughter. As euphemistic expressions evolve in the course of time and new euphemisms emerge to replace the old ones, they also help to keep the language diversity alive. Similarly, euphemisms are used to express taboos, as we feel, on some instinctual level, that the euphemism keeps us at safe distance from the taboo itself. Another use of euphemisms is to elevate the status of something (e.g., using 3 educator for teacher, attorney for lawyer); but in general, euphemisms are used to express what is socially difficult to express in direct terms. Euphemisms are formed based on four devices, as proposed by Warren (1992). The first device is word formation, in which the words are formed by compounding, blends, acronym, derivation, and onomatopoeia. The second device is phonemic modification. Below this term, the euphemisms are formed by modifying their phonetics. The third device is loan words, which are words from other languages. The last device is semantic innovation. In this case, a word or a phrase can be consider as a euphemism when its meaning no longer refer to their literal meaning, but the euphemism intended meaning. The fact that many euphemism words or phrases cannot be predicted from their formations (specifically in the semantic innovation device) makes language more complicated for the learner of English. Such formations are often particularly difficult to understand because the learner hears a string of words, which they know very well, but which in formation do not make any sense. It is common knowledge that in order to provide an adequate translation, the translator must be able to sense nuances in the semantics of both the source-language and target-language texts. English euphemism words or phrases are of great interest to the researcher in this respect because they possess quite a number of semantic, grammatical and stylistic peculiarities, sometimes making their accurate translation into Indonesian difficult. Obviously, such semantic peculiarities of English euphemisms must have influenced the process of their translation into the Indonesian language. 4 Therefore, to be able to obtain valid data, the researcher used a novel entitled The Sum of All Fears by Tom Clancy and its translated version, Puncak Ketakutan, as the source of data. It was chosen because Tom Clancy is a novelist who always set a thriller genre and put military and political circumstances in which euphemistic expressions usually appear. Finally, in this research, the study is meant to show to the reader that euphemisms in The Sum of All Fears are translated into euphemisms, non-euphemisms, or they are not translated into both forms, in the sense that they are deleted or are kept in their original forms. To do as such, the researcher also identified several kinds of strategy applied in translating them. Then, it can be concluded that the result of this research will show whether the translations of euphemisms change the meanings or not. 1.2 Scope of the study This study is focusing on two significant focuses. The first is English euphemisms, in this context, the words and phrases. The second is the Indonesian equivalent of translated form. The area in which the problem will focus is in the novel The Sum of All Fears, written by Tom Clancy. 1.3 Research Questions There are one main research question and two sub-problems when developing this study. The main research question is how the euphemisms in The Sum of All Fears are translated. The sub-problems following the main research 5 questions are What kinds of strategies do the translator use in translating euphemisms in the novel? and Does the translation of euphemisms affect the meanings? 1.4 Purpose of the Study The aim in this study is to answer the main problem, the way euphemisms in The Sum of All Fears are translated. Also, the sub-purposes of the research are to identify the strategies occurred in the translation of euphemisms in the novel and to find out whether or not the translated euphemisms affect the meanings. 1.5 Time and Place of the Study The research was held within five months, which was from March 2007 to July 2007. The study is a written-data research that is not tied to a certain place. 1.6 Significance of the Study By carrying out this research, the results of this research are expected to enrich the study of translation and to be advantageous for the writer to obtain a deeper understanding about translation area. Furthermore, this research will possibly add a valuable input concerning the translation of euphemism. Not only that, this research is also meant to enlarge the horizon for English Department students who wish for a more understanding about the area. 6 CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1. Studies on Translation Translation typically has been used to transfer written or spoken SL texts to equivalent written or spoken TL texts. In general, the purpose of translation is to reproduce various kinds of texts-including religious, literary, scientific, and philosophical texts-in another language and thus making them available to wider readers. If language were just a classification for a set of general or universal concepts, it would be easy to translate from an SL to a TL. Furthermore, under the circumstances the process of learning a second language would be much easier than it actually is. In this regard, Culler (1976) believes that languages are not nomenclatures and the concepts of one language may differ radically from those of another, since each language articulates or organizes the world differently, and languages do not simply name categories; they articulate their own (p.21-2). Translation is an activity comprising the interpretation of the meaning of a text in one language the source text and the production, in another language, of a new, equivalent text the target text, or translation. Traditionally, translation has been a human activity, although attempts have been made to automate and computerize the translation of natural-language texts machine 7 translation or to use computers as an aid to translation computer-assisted translation. The goal of translation is to establish a relation of equivalence of intent between the source and target texts (that is to say, to ensure that both texts communicate the same message), while taking into account a number of constraints. These constraints include context, the rules of grammar of both languages, their writing conventions, their idioms, and the like. In the process of translating, there are some principles that must be attained by translators. Duff (1989) summarizes them as meaning, form, register, source language influence, style and clarity, and idioms. These principles of translation keep hold on the most essential part in the process of translation, which is the meaning. As formulated above, the goal of translation is to link the same message in, yet, different form. Therefore, it should reflect accurately the meaning of the original text. The form is also significant after the meaning because of the aspect of the ordering of words and ideas. Register, in the other hand, indicates the levels of formality in a given context (say, the business letter). Register the follows by source language influence, which involve the translators thoughts and choice of words. Same with the others, the style and clarity and idioms aspects cannot be left behind since they also share the same significance part with each other during the translat ion process. The translation process, whether it is for translation or interpreting, can be described simply as decoding the meaning of the source text, and re-encoding this meaning in the target language. To decode the meaning of a text the translator 8 must first identify its component translation units, that is to say the segments of the text to be treated as a cognitive unit. A translation unit may be a word, a phrase or even one or more sentences. Behind this seemingly simple procedure lies a complex cognitive operation. To decode the complete meaning of the source text, the translator must consciously and methodically interpret and analyse all its features. This process requires thorough knowledge of the grammar, semantics, syntax, idioms and the like of the source language, as well as the culture of its speakers. The translator needs the same in-depth knowledge to re-encode the meaning in the target language. In fact, often translators knowledge of the target language is more important, and needs to be deeper, than their knowledge of the source language. For this reason, most translators translate into a language of which they are native speakers. In addition, knowledge of the subject matter being discussed is essential. In recent years studies in cognitive linguistics have been able to provide valuable insights into the cognitive process of translation. 2.1.1 Translation strategies, methods and procedures The translation strategy as defines by Loescher (1991:8) is a potentially conscious procedure for solving a problem faced in translating a text, or any segment of it. As stated in this definition, the notion of consciousness is significant in distinguishing strategies which are used by the learners or translators. Taking into account the process and product of translation, Jaaskelainen (2005) divides strategies into two major categories; some strategies relate to 9 what happens to texts and other strategies relate to what happens in the process. Product-related strategies, as Jaaskelainen (2005:15) writes, involves the basic tasks of choosing the SL text and developing a method to translate it. However, she maintains that process-related strategies are a set of (loosely formulated) rules or principles which a translator uses to reach the goals determined by the translating situation (p.16). Meanwhile, Newmark (1988) mentions the difference between translation methods and translation procedures. He writes that, while translation methods relate to whole texts, translation procedures are used for sentences and the smaller units of language (1998: 81). He goes on to refer to the following methods of translation: (1) word-for-word translation, in which the SL word order is preserved and the words translated singly by their most common meanings and out of context, (2) literal translation, in which the SL grammatical constructions are converted to their nearest TL equivalents, but the lexical words are again translated singly and out of context, (3) faithful translation, which attempts to produce the precise contextual meaning of the original within the constraints of the TL grammatical structures, (4) semantic translation, which differs from faithful translation only in as far as it must take more account of the aesthetic value of the SL text, (5) adaptation, which is the fre est form of translation and is used mainly for plays (comedies) and poetry; in the state that the themes, characters, plots are usually preserved. Here, the SL culture is converted to the TL culture and the text is rewritten, (6) free translation, which produces the TL text without the style, form, or content of the 10 original, (7) idiomatic translation, which reproduces the message of the original but tends to distort nuances of meaning by preferring colloquialisms and idioms where these do not exist in the original, and (8) communicative translation, which attempts to render the exact contextual meaning of the original in such a way that both content and language are readily acceptable and comprehensible to the readership. Thoroughly, Newmark puts forward the following translation procedures that he proposes. They are: (1) transference, which is the process of transferring an SL word to a TL text. It includes transliteration and is the same as what Harvey (2000:5) named transcription, (2) naturalization, which adapts the SL word first to the normal pronunciation, then to the normal morphology of the TL, (3) cultural equivalent, which means replacing a cultural word in the SL with a TL one. Note that Newmark stated that they are not accurate (1988:83), (4) functional equivalent, which requires the use of a culture-neutral word, (5) descriptive equivalent, (6) componential analysis, in which the translator compares an SL word with a TL word which has a similar meaning but is not an obvious one-to-one equivalent, by demonstrating first their common and then their differing sense components, (7) synonymy, which has the sense that the form is a near to TL equivalent, (8) through-translation, which is the li teral translation of common collocations, names of organizations and components of compounds. It can also be called calque or loan translation, (9) shifts or transpositions, which involves a change in the grammar from SL to TL, for instance, the change from singular to plural, the change required when a specific 11 SL structure does not exist in the TL, the change of an SL verb to a TL word, the change of an SL noun group to a TL noun and so forth, (10) modulation, which occurs when the translator reproduces the message of the original text in the TL text in conformity with the current norms of the TL, since the SL and the TL may appear dissimilar in terms of perspective, (11) recognized translation, which occurs when the translator normally uses the official or the generally accepted translation of any institutional term, (12) compensation, which occurs when loss of meaning in one part of a sentence is compensated in another part, (13) paraphrase, (14) couplets, which occurs when the translator combines two different procedures, (15) notes, which are additional information in a translation. Notes can appear in the form of footnotes. Other different translating procedures are depicted by Nida (1964: 241-47). They are as follow: (1) technical procedures, which is the analysis of the source and target languages and a through study of the source language text before making attempts translate it, and making judgments of the semantic and syntactic approximations, and (2) organizational procedures, in which a constant reevaluation of the attempt made; contrasting it with the existing available translations of the same text done by other translators, and checking the texts communicative effectiveness by asking the target language readers to evaluate its accuracy and effectiveness and studying their reactions. 2.1.2 Equivalence in Translation The comparison of texts in different languages inevitably involves a theory of equivalence. Equivalence can be said to be the central issue in translation 12 although its definition, relevance, and applicability within the field of translation theory have caused heated controversy, and many different theories of the concept of equivalence have been elaborated within this field in the past fifty years. Among the theorists who stated their theories of equivalence are Nida, Catford, and Baker. Nida argued that there are two different types of equivalence, namely formal equivalence-which in the second edition by Nida and Taber (1982) is referred to as formal correspondence-and dynamic equivalence. Formal correspondence focuses attention on the message itself, in both form and content, unlike dynamic equivalence which is based upon the principle of equivalent effect (1964: 159). In the second edition (1982) or their work, the two theorists provide a more detailed explanation of each type of equivalence. One can easily see that Nida is in favour of the application of dynamic equivalence, as a more effective translation procedure. This is perfectly understandable if we take into account the context of the situation in which Nida was dealing with the translation phenomenon, that is to say, his translation of the Bible. Thus, the product of the translation process, that is the text in the TL, must have the same impact on the different readers it was addressing. Only in Nida and Tabers edition is it clearly stated that dynamic equivalence in translation is far more than mere correct communication of information (ibid.: 25). Despite using a linguistic approach to translation, Nida is much more interested in the message of the text or, in other words, in its semantic quality. 13 He therefore strives to make sure that this message remains clear in the target text. While, Catfords approach to translation equivalence clearly differs from that adopted by Nida since Catford had a preference for a more linguistic-based approach to translation and this approach is based on the linguistic work of Firth and Halliday. His main contribution in the field of translation theory is the introduction of the concepts of types and shifts of translation. Catford proposed very broad types of translation in terms of three criteria, which are the extent of translation (full translation vs partial translation), the grammatical rank at which the translation equivalence is established (rank-bound translation vs. unbounded translation), and the levels of language involved in translation (total translation vs. restricted translation). However, Catfords definition of textual equivalence is rather circular and his theorys reliance on bilingual informants is hopelessly inadequate. It can be said that the translation process cannot simply be reduced to a linguistic exercise, as claimed by Catford, since there are also other factors, such as textual, cultural and situational aspects, which should be taken into consideration when translating. In other words, linguistics is not the only discipline which enables people to carry out a translation, since translating involves different cultures and different situations at the same time and they do not always match from one language to another. In another point of view, new adjectives have been assigned to the notion of equivalence (grammatical, textual, pragmatic equivalence, and several 14 others) and made their appearance in the plethora of recent works in this field. An extremely interesting discussion of the notion of equivalence can be found in Baker (1992) who seems to offer a more detailed list of conditions upon which the concept of equivalence can be defined. She explores the notion of equivalence at different levels, in relation to the translation process, including all different aspects of translation and hence putting together the linguistic and the communicative approach. She distinguishes between four equivalences. First is equivalence that can appear at word level and above word level, when translating from one language into another. Second is grammatical equivalence, when referring to the diversity of grammatical categories across languages. She notes that grammatical rules may vary across languages and this may pose some problems in terms of finding a direct correspondence in the TL. Third is textual equivalence, when referring to the equivalence between a SL text and a TL text in terms of information and cohesion. Texture is a very important feature in translation since it provides useful guidelines for the comprehension and analysis of the ST which can help the translator in his or her attempt to produce a cohesive and coherent text for the TC audience in a specific context. It is up to the translator to decide whether or not to maintain the cohesive ties as well as the coherence of the SL text. His or her decision will be guided by three main f actors, that is, the target audience, the purpose of the translation and the text type. The last is pragmatic equivalence, when referring to implicatures and strategies of avoidance during the translation process. Implicature is not about 15 what is explicitly said but what is implied. Therefore, the translator needs to work out implied meanings in translation in order to get the ST message across. The role of the translator is to recreate the authors intention in another culture in such a way that enables the TC reader to understand it clearly. The notion of equivalence is undoubtedly one of the most problematic and controversial areas in the field of translation theory. The term has caused, and it seems quite probable that it will continue to cause, heated debates within the field of translation studies. This term has been analyzed, evaluated and extensively discussed from different points of view and has been approached from many different perspectives. The first discussions of the notion of equivalence in translation initiated the further elaboration of the term by contemporary theorists. Even the brief outline of the issue given above indicates its importance within the framework of the theoretical reflection on translation. The difficulty in defining equivalence seems to result in the impossibility of having a universal approach to this notion. 2.2. Studies on Euphemisms These terms give us ways of talking about the evaluative content of language, which is that part which doesnt describe a thing in the world, but rather expresses the speakers attitude towards it. As said by Blackaby (2002), a euphemism is a word or phrase that replaces another and that is considered less offensive or less vulgar than the word or phrase it replaces. The idea comes from a Greek word, euphemismos, which fundamentally means good speech. 16 Euphemisms, as defined by Holder (2003), involve the use of mild or vague expressions to substitute for blunt precision or disagreeable truths or concepts. They sometimes involve substituting an inoffensive, or even a pleasant term, for one more explicit, thereby veneering the truth by using kind words in order to avoid particular embarrassment or obscure negative connotation. According to Allan Burridge, a euphemism is used as an alternative to a dispreferred expression, in order to avoid possible loss of face; either ones own face or, through giving offence, that of the audience, or of some third party. In fact, many euphemisms are alternatives for expressions the speaker or writer would simply prefer not to use in executing a particular communicative intention on a given occasion. There are at least three areas, as said by Blackaby, in which to be careful about using euphemisms. First is the area in which the language related to sexuality and what might be called lavatory (potty) talk. Second is the area in which the language that involves softer words substituted for swearing or cursing. The last is the area in which the language that substitutes for profanity profaning Gods name, since the very first area that is considered in using euphemistic expressions was certainly religious. Almost every culture develops its own way of saying certain things in a better way. Every generation and every culture develop their own euphemisms. It is believed that the use of euphemisms reflect peoples psychological world. Based on this account, Huang (2005) states four main causes from the origin of euphemisms. The first is taboo subject. Because euphemisms originated from 17 primitive society, people believed that language was not merely a symbol but also with magic power. It could bring them misfortunes as well as fortunes, mentioning a certain names ran the risk of being punished, so they usually avoided these taboos. The second is the elegancy. To seek beauty is one of humans natures, consequently whenever they deal with some inelegant physiological phenomena in communication, people tend to avoid vulgarism so as to achieve elegance. These euphemisms are usually concerning part of body, copulation, pregnancy, menstruation, and excretions. The third thing is politeness. In communication, people usually followed such rules as appropriateness, generosity, praise, modesty, similarity and sympathy, so people often use indirect expressions to achieve politeness. Such euphemisms are usually concerning job, appearance, or character. And the last cause is disguise. People often use euphemisms to disguise something in the other fields of life. Such euphemisms a re usually used in politics, economy, or war. As being stated above, one of the causes of euphemistic expressions is the deal with taboos. Taboos exist in all known cultures and they change in the course of time. Hundreds of euphemisms have emerged to replace pejorative and objectionable words. However, euphemisms dont necessarily have to deal with taboos. In modern usage euphemisms are often mainly concerned with politeness. In certain situations using euphemisms instead of saying things directly is considered more tactful. For example, employees can be hired and fired, but perhaps it would be more tactful to talk about dehiring instead of firing them. Furthermore, Euphemisms are widely used in the language of commerce and 18 industry. Military jargon also contains euphemistic expressions. We may find these euphemisms are created to make the military actions less guilty for the soldiers. Of course, there are some euphemisms referred to sex, because verbal taboos are generally related with e.g. sex, death and basic biological functions. The function of euphemism is to protect the speaker/writer, hearer/reader, or all of the above from possible effrontery and offence. This offence may occur in the broaching of a religion or death topic or by mentioning subject matter to which one party involved may be sensitive. In order for communication to progress smoothly and without conflict, accommodations are continually, and often subconsciously, made. Euphemism is the language that might be misleading, but euphemisms may also help people to deal with troublesome, embarrassing and uncomfortable situations. It helps people to turn their face away from direct connection with those things that are morally barred. Euphemisms can also make the dialogue sound more poetic, of higher class, or more proper. Of course, in contemporary literature, many words or phrases once referred to by euphemistic expressions are now described in a more straightforward manner. Interpretation varies according to context, i.e. whether the speaker means the term to be euphemistic, and the hearer interprets it in that light (Warren, 1992). With euphemism being so entwined with context, however, classification of a term as euphemistic becomes difficult. For this reason, Allen and Burridge (1991:21) suggest the hypothetical context of being polite to a casual acquaintance of the opposite sex in a formal situation in a middle class environment as one in which a euphemism is likely to be used in place of a 19 dispreferred alternative. To maintain a constant standard in defining terms as euphemistic during the current study, this pragmatic context will be used. It should be remembered, however, that even within this context objective euphemism classification is a grey area, and judgements may differ from person to person. 2.2.1. Classification of Euphemisms According to Cumming (2003), euphemistic expressions can be classified based on phonological (sound) and semantic (meaning). The phonological area have seven sub-categories: (1) remodellings, (2) clippings and abbreviations, (3) foreign words, (4) abstractions, (5) indirections, (6) longer words, (7) technical terms. In the other hand, the semantic area has five sub-categories: (1) metaphor, which means a word or a phrase to refer to something that it isnt, implying a similarity between the word or phrase used and the thing described, (2) metonymy, which is a word or phrase that replaces another and uses of a single characteristic to identify a more complex entity, (3) circumlocution, which refers to a roundabout way of talking, (4) hyperbole, which is a word or phrase that replaces another that usually extremely exaggerated or extravagant, and (5) understatement, which is a word or phrase that replaces another where a lesser expression is used than what would be expected. These categories from Cumming are based on conventional euphemistic expressions. The conventional euphemistic expressions are the words which sole purpose is to make reference to a taboo topic in a polite way. This category has more to do with politeness and social norms than the speakers actual 20 feelings. This is very different with the general euphemistic expressions, which are the ways of describing a situation, event or thing which convey an attitude towards it. Meanwhile, Joseph M. Williams as noted in Neaman Silver (1983) suggests five general semantic processes by means of which euphemisms are created. First is by borrowing words from other language in which the terms are less freighted with negative associations. Second is by widening. When a specific term becomes too painful or vivid, the words are moved up in the ladder of abstraction. Sometimes, in addition to widening, the words are divided to the negative connotations of a single direct term between two or more words. Third is by semantic shift. This is the substitution of the whole, or a similar generality, for the specific part we do not choose to discuss. Fourth is by metaphorical transfer, the comparison of things of one order to things of another. The last is by phonetic distortion, which is divided into other nine sub-categories: (1) abbreviation, (2) apocopation (shortening or omitting the last syllable), (3) initialing, (4) backforming, (5) reduplication, (6) phonetic disto rtion, (7) blend