Technology Forecast

Technology forecasting is considered to be vital in today’s business environment. There have been many success stories as well as failures. Forecasting technology impacts many aspects from acquiring a new technology to developing a new technology. The course will start with reviewing several methodologies and then will analyze those impacts and how to make them beneficial for the organizations through many case studies, professional and research articles. Case Studies are selected from Harvard Business School Case Studies. Articles are selected from journals such as Technology Forecasting and Social Change. GRADING AND DELIVERABLES Specific Deliverable Cases (team – in class)30%Presentations Project (team)40%Paper + Presentation Readings (individual)30%2 article discussions ———————————————————————————– TOTAL100% GUIDELINES FOR DELIVERABLES CASES – Cases will be analyzed and presented in class by teams. You should read and get yourself familiar with the case before the class, READINGS – You will be assigned 2 articles to discuss in class. PROJECT – Identify an emerging technology as a team and develop a forecast using Technology Forecasting Tools. Examples of such projects will be provided. Your team is required to present the progress and results of your project during the scheduled times in class. Progress presentations should not exceed 20 minutes and the final presentation will be limited to 45 minutes. You also will need to submit a report which should follow TFSC journal guidelines for a journal paper. Your report should include a literature search justifying the topic and methods used. CASES 1. Strategic Planning at United Parcel Service, David A. Garvin, Lynne C. Levesque, Product#: 306002 2. Forecasting the Adoption of a New Product, Elie Ofek, Product#: 505062 – AND – Forecasting the Adoption of E-Books, Elie Ofek, Peter Wickersham, Product Number: 9-505-063 3. Illinois Superconductor Corp. : Forecasting Demand for Superconducting Filters, Mohanbir Sawhney, Lisa Damkroger, Greg McGuirk, Julie Milbratz, John Rountree, Product#: KEL096 READINGS Introduction to Technology Forecasting 1. Linstone, H. A. , TFSC: 1969-1999. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 62, Issues 1-2, August-September 1999, Pages 1-8. 2. Ayres, R. U. What have we learned? Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 62, Issues 1-2, August-September 1999, Pages 9-12. 3. Martino, J. P. , Thirty years of change and stability. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 62, Issues 1-2, August-September 1999, Pages 13-18. 4. Porter, A. L. , Tech forecasting an empirical perspective. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 62, Issues 1-2, August-Septem ber 1999, Pages 19-28. 5. Linstone, H. A. , The 21st century: Everyman as Faust – technology, terrorism, and the multiple perspectives approach. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 70, Issue 3, March 2003, Pages 283-296. Technology Forecasting Techniques 6. Mishra, Somnath, S. G Deshmukh and Prem Vrat, Matching of technological forecasting technique to a technology , Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 69, Issue 1, January 2002, Pages 1-27. 7. Technology Futures Analysis Methods Working Group, Technology futures analysis: Toward integration of the field and new methods, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 71, Issue 3, March 2004, Pages 287-303. 8. Silberglitt, R. , Hove, A. , and Shulman, P. Analysis of US energy scenarios: Meta-scenarios, pathways, and policy implications. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 70, Issue 4, May 2003, Pages 297-315. 9. Rowe, G. and G. Wright, The Delphi technique as a forecasting tool: Issues and analysis, International Journal of Forecasting, Volume 15, Issue 4, October 1999, Pages 353-375. 10. Lena Borjeson, Mattias Hojer, Karl-He nrik Dreborg, Tomas Ekvall and Goran Finnveden, Scenario types and techniques: Towards a user's guide, Futures, Volume 38, Issue 7, September 2006, Pages 723-739. 11. Winebrake, J. J. , and Creswick, B. P. The future of hydrogen fueling systems for transportation: An application of perspective-based scenario analysis using the analytic hierarchy process, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 70, Issue 4, May 2003, Pages 359-384. 12. Sager, B. , Scenarios on the Future of Biotechnology. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 68, Issue 2, October 2001, Pages 109-129. 13. Modis, T. , Technological forecasting at the stock market. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 62, Issue 3, November 1999, Pages 173-202. 14. Devezas, Tessaleno C. , Harold A. Linstone and Humberto J. S. Santos, The growth dynamics of the Internet and the long wave theory, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 72, Issue 8, October 2005, Pages 913-935. 15. Ilonen, Jarmo, Joni-Kristian Kamarainen, Kaisu Puumalainen, Sanna Sundqvist and Heikki Kalviainen, Toward automatic forecasts for diffusion of innovations, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 73, Issue 2, February 2006, Pages 182-198. 16. Martino, Joseph P. , A comparison of two composite measures of technology , Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 44, Issue 2, September 1993, Pages 147-159. Emerging Technology Forecasting Techniques 17. Inman, Oliver Lane, Timothy R. Anderson and Robert R. Harmon, Predicting U. S. jet fighter aircraft introductions from 1944 to 1982: A dogfight between regression and TFDEA, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 73, Issue 9, November 2006, Pages 1178-1187. 18. Anderson, Timothy, Rolf Fare, Shawna Grosskopf, Lane Inman and Xiaoyu Song, Further examination of Moore's law with data envelopment analysis, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 69, Issue 5, June 2002, Pages 465-477. 19. Barley, S. R. , What Can We Learn from the History of Technology. Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, Volume 15, Issue 4, September 1998, Pages 237-255. 20. Bowonder, B. , T. Miyake, and B. Muralidharan, Predicting the future: Lessons from evolutionary theory, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 62, Issues 1-2, August-September 1999, Pages 51-62. 21. Guice, J. , Designing the Future: The Culture of New Trends in Science and Technology. Research Policy, Volume 28, Issue 1, January 1999, Pages 81-98. 22. Phaal, R. , Farrukh, C. J. P. , and Probert, D. R. , Technology Roadmapping – A Planning Framework for Evolution and Revolution. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 71, Issues 1-2, January-February 2004, Pages 5-26. 23. Kayal, A. , Measuring the Pace of Technological Process: Implication for Technological Forecasting. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 60, Issue 3, March 1999, Pages 237-245. 24. T. U. Daim, G. Rueda, H. Martin, and P. Gerdsri, Forecasting Emerging Technologies: Use of Bibliometrics and Patent Analysis, Technology Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 73, Issue 8, October 2006, Pages 981-1012. 25. Watts, R. J. and A. L. Porter, Innovation Forecasting. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 56, Issue 1, September 1997, Pages 25-47. SCHEDULE Subjects to be CoveredAssignment/Readings 1/4 †¢Teams Formed 1/11 †¢Introduction to Technology Forecasting †¢Technology Planning †¢Case Study 1: Strategic Planning at United Parcel Service †¢Case Preparation and Presentations †¢Article Discussion Articles 1-5 1/18UNIVERSITY CLOSED 1/25 †¢Extrapolation by Regression – Guest Speaker: Jisun Kim †¢Project Proposal Presentations 2/1 †¢Delphi, Analogy, Scenarios, Environment Monitoring, Growth Curves †¢In Class Exercise: Cable TV Diffusion Article Discussion ?Articles 6-16 2/8 †¢Case Study 2: Forecasting the Adoption of a New Product †¢Case Preparation and Presentations †¢Project Progress Presentations 2/15 †¢Emerging Technology Forecasting Methods: TFDEA – Guest Speaker – Tim Anderson 2/22 ?Emerging Technology Forecasting Methods: Bibliometrics, Pa tent Searches, †¢Article Discussion? ?Articles 17-25 3/1 †¢Project Results Presentations 3/8 †¢Case Study 3: Illinois Superconductor Corp. : Forecasting Demand for Superconducting Filters †¢Case Preparation and Presentations 3/15 †¢Final Reports

Skagen Design Report

Skagen Designs Group 4 Q1. What screening criteria should Skagen Designs use in connection with its choice of new markets for its watch collection? When Skagen Design chooses the new markets and use the connection with them, at first, they have to care about price. Competitive price is not only one of the essential of their brand, but also the easiest method to enter new markets, especially in developing markets. In watch markets, you can see which markets is developed or developing from the charts, after looking at those, you will see which strategies Skagen Design needs to enter into each market with.Somehow, competitive price is qualified advantage in any markets, of course, it is a lot more affecting to developing markets. So, Skagen Design need to keep the low price and proper quality, of course, with their characteristic design either. Next, aside from price, they also have to separate market into developed & developing markets in watch markets as I mentioned already. By dividi ng them into two groups, they can decide which strategy they will adapt to, for instance, if the market is developed market, they have to upgrade their quality.It will charge more cost, so the price should be higher, but the customer in market doesn’t need normal one, so it is necessary. Meanwhile, if the market is still developing market, the best way to attract them is to keep low price with proper quality. Also, Skagen Design has simple design, it could make easy to adapt slight change from local needs. Third, Skagen Design should check whether the market has any forces with international trade such as high tariff.It is basic step before getting into the market, since Skagen Design has not bigger brand power comparing to competitors such as Gap, Calvin Klein, it has to be emphasized with quality and low price. With high tariff, it ain’t possible to keep lower price than local brand, and not even other international brands which has good online markets. So, if the ma rket has high tariff or regulation from its government, Skagen Design should operate their business in small step such as online supply.It is uncontrollable part for every watch companies to change the market situation, so it has to keep checked, since it is also possible to get first mover’s advantage if Skagen Design gets into new market with low regulation at first/ Last, no matter how the market is developed & developing or has different situation, Skagen Design has to keep their watch proper quality and design. It is essential for every business to keep them. Consumers never buy crappy product again, also the product from those brand images.Even though Skagen Design could offer lower price than others, their brand shouldn’t be same to local anonymous brand images, so they have to keep their brand characteristic, either. Quality & characteristic design are always the most important parts in every markets, and competitive advantages for business success. Q2. Make a specific choice of new markets for Skagen Designs. Table 1 and Table 2 can be used to support your argument. The characteristics of Skagen Designs are colours, shapes, and simplicity, etc.However, one of the most competitive characteristics is competitive price. Their high turnover has been kept for decades, and it’s originally started from competitive price, of course, its design either. To choose which markets Skagen Designs get into, they have to consider not only how much retail volume they have, but also how much they are afford to pay for watch. At least, they have advantage with their price comparing to competitors like Calvin Klein, Coach, Guess, Gucci, Swatch, Alfex and Jacob Jensen, etc, somehow it could make their product more successful in retail market.About retail volume, we can confirm it from Table 1 and Table 2. From Table 1, retail volume in thousands of units can be estimated, for sure, USA market has been still the biggest market since the research started from 2003. Also, we can see interesting raise in India market, their retail volume has been growing rapidly the most. Now, India market has the second biggest retail volume in thousands of unit, and it is even same to USA almost. Looking at number of watches per 1,000 people, Mexico has showed highest ratio, and India’s ratio is still the lowest.From Table 1, we can see Mexico, Netherland, South Africa, Sweden have the greatest number of watches, and opposite to it, India, China, Japan, Belgium have the lowest number of watches. Aside from Table 1, Table 2 shows value of different watches, which also shows the biggest and the lowest markets as well. From Table 2, USA, Japan, UK are the biggest one, in opposite to Belgium, Hungary which are the lowest one. One thing we can discover here is counties with biggest retail market have not so big volume value of watch market.Also $ per capita shows similar aspect, from Table 2, we can see the separation between developed market and growing market. Already developed markets have the biggest $ per capita when it comes to market, meanwhile growing markets have the lowest one. It is same with value of watch markets. So, from those charts, we can suggest potential markets for Skagen Design would be Mexico, India or China. Skagen can offer them average quality with lower price than competitor’s, also their design is so simple and never follow established trends that it can be adapted in growing market easily.It can be adapted to local needs slightly with marketing. Meanwhile, when Skagen Design enters into developed market, it doesn’t need to adapt local needs or adaptation. What only they have to care is more high quality with higher price, so it can’t be good market as much as first one. Q3. Which market entry mode should Skagen Design use on the chosen markets? First of all, you have to know what is a market entry mode  : this is an institutional arrangement which is necessary for the entr y of a company’s products into a new foreign market.There are three different types of entry mode: – Export – Intermediate – And hierarchical mode There are few factors that influence the market entry mode choice. These factors are externs or interns, or specifics. The market entry mode is different between countries with low, medium and high standard of living. Firm’s products are manufactured in the domestic market or a third country and then transferred either directly or indirectly to the host market. Three types of exporting: 1. Indirect mode 2. Direct mode 3. Cooperative mode |Lowest US $ per capita |Medium US $ per capita |High US $ per capita | |Indirect export mode |Is the process of exporting through | | | | |domestically based export | | | | |intermediaries, but the exporter has no| | | | |control over its products and over the | | | | |marketing decisions. | | | | | | | | |Fast market access. | | | | | | | | | |No infrastructures are b uilt. | | | | |Low sale promotion. | | | |No market researches are carried out. | | | |Direct export mode | |If the international markets are considered as a | | | | |crucial part of the company’s success the direct | | | | |exporting is the best market entry tool. | | | |Using own sales subsidiary and direct marketing | | | | |(including mail order and telemarketing). | | | | |Low infrastructures are built. | | | | |Market researches are carried out upon secondary | | | | |data. | | | | | | | | |The business can use: | | | | |Distributors | | | | |Market country agents | | |Intermediate mode | |The intermediate mode is used to transfer the | | | | |knowledge and the skills to the local | | | | |producer/seller. | | | | | | | | | |There is no full ownership by the parent firm | | | | |involved, but ownership and control can be shared | | | | |between the firm and the local partner. | | | | | | | | |Four types of intermediate entry modes: | | | | |Licensing | | | | |Franchis ing | | | | |Contract manufacturing | | | | |Joint ventures | | |Hierarchical mode | | |Solid infrastructure. | | | | |Sponsoring artists, athletes and | | | | |events. | | | |Market research, qualitative & | | | | |quantitative. | | | | |Aggressive marketing campaign. | | | | |Sales promotion. | | | | |Market coverage: Intensive | Each kind of countries has one appropriate mode concerning its export, and each of these modes are listed in the table above. Q4.What should be the guidelines for including other products lines in the Skagen Designs collection? Including other products mean want to have an expansion? : you can add a new product to expand your business; just be sure to take these four steps before moving forward:? Determine the specific needs of your customers in each high-priority market segment.? Identify the product/service bundles (groups of features) that would be most attractive to them. Create a unique value proposition for the proposed line extensions and decide ho w you'll position the product in the market segments you've identified. ? Determine the sales and distribution channels that will achieve the highest penetration of your target market segments.In all, you'll need to use market research and speak customers and marketing partners or distributors and evaluate competitive products. This will help you to validate the present level of demand for the product and the best channels for sales distribution, plus shape the product messaging. If you do your homework and proceed with an analytical eye, your line extension will increase sales, help you reach new markets and build market share overall for your growing business Having a guideline represents choosing the right segmenting, targeting and positioning. Segmentation [pic] Targeting [pic] Positioning The positioning is the process by which marketers try to create an image or identity in the minds of their target market.So, the guidelines for introducing other products lines are mainly resp ecting the positioning. For Skagen, we can describe the brand as simple, elegant and affordable. It is indeed very elegant with technical precision and a true original design. It means that a new line of products has to be part of this universe; it means something chic, no food or others. Furthermore, it has to need a technical precision because they could have an advantage using their expertise with that kind of materials. It has to be simple. Indeed, for example, the super slim line is totally purified, simple. The watches are non-numerical, the logo is very discreet. So the new line has to be made in a very simple style.Last but not least, it has to be an affordable product. It means that they have to find way to produce it almost low cost. And so it has to be a product which can be made almost low cost. Ideas for the future of new products – High quality & design pen as Rolex for example – Clothes as Calvin Klein for example Q5. Which criteria should Skagen Designs use for its selection of future sponsor partners? First of all, it is interesting to give a little definition of sponsorship to understand the interest for companies to make some partnership. After that it must easier to define some criteria in the selection of future sponsor partner. Sponsoring:Supporting an event, activity or organization by providing money or other resources that is of value to the sponsored event. This is usually in return for advertising space at the event or as part of the publicity for the event. [1] For Skagen Designs it can be really interesting to set up a sponsoring policy. Sponsoring is one of the best ways of communication for two reasons. Firstly, it is a good tool to highlight and precise the positioning of Skagen Designs thanks to an event or a celebrity really famous and know by everyone. Secondly, this kind of partnership makes advertisements more visible. For example in the past, Skagen Designs had a partnership with the famous TV series Ally McB eal.This sponsoring corresponded to the Skagen Designs targeting (active population, 25-45 years old with a fashion sensitivity) and to the positioning also (classy, elegant and affordable). Moreover, people who loved ally McBeal and who recognize themselves in the series must be more sensitive to the brand Skagen Designs. It was a really good promotion. Indeed, when the sponsorship is well selected, it allows identifying with a particular target market or lifestyle and so attracting customers, easier. The first reason is increasing of awareness of brand name and then, reinforcing perceptions of key brand image associations. For example, every time people watched Ally McBeal, they thought Skagen Designs.The sponsoring makes the brand alive and present everyday in the life of customers. As any decisions, nevertheless, sponsor partnership can be risky. That’s why we speak about selection. One of the difficulties of sponsorship it is hard to measure and predict success and outco me. Another risk depends on the sponsored person’ image which can change because of an event or a situation. This can affect the brand credibility and associate the brand with this bad event or behavior and change perception of brand values. That is why it is important to establish a list of criteria in order to make a good selection amount the different sponsor partnerships available.Firstly the partnership has to be in adequacy with Skagen Designs values and strategy: †¢ The sponsorship has to be in line with the business and communication objectives. †¢ It has to be a strategic fit between the events target markets and Skagen Design? s. †¢ The sponsorship must match the targeted market and be able to reach it. Finally the sponsor partnership has to be in line with the positioning and targeting in order to touch the customer and attract him: †¢ The sponsorship must generate sufficient awareness, possess the desired image and create the desired effects. à ¢â‚¬ ¢ The consumers have to see attributions for the sponsor’s engagementTo conclude, Skagen Desings has to focus on its values and keep in mind its strategic direction for the brand. Then it must be easier to choose a partner by following the criteria. Finally by following up and evaluating the sponsorship Skagen Designs will be able to decide if it’s better to continue or stop the sponsorship. Q6. Skagen Designs is considering online sales of his watches. What problems and possibilities do you see for the company in this area? On this basis what are your conclusions? Nowadays, every brand is most of the time at least a brand â€Å"click and mortar†, if it is not a â€Å"pureplayer†. Nevertheless, the online trade cannot be adapted to every type of brand. Indeed, the brand universe has to be able to be put on the internet.Furthermore, when competitors start to sell on the internet, if you do not want to lose market share, you have no choice: you have to fight their advantages and so start considering selling online. First, we have to remember what an online sale is. An online sale is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet without intermediary services. So, we can think that a luxury brand such as Skagen, which anyway looks luxury, will lose its ability to advice consumers, one of his strengths. Furthermore, those watches are pretty technical products and so require some expertise. However, there must be some advantages. It is important to say that Skagen has already a website and is already selling on this website, so every watch can be purchased on the internet.Indeed, for example, you can choose a watch, click on it to have a bigger view of it, and then you can â€Å"add it to the bag†. You can then see your â€Å"bag† on which you see the price of your watch and of the shipping. The last step is to do the check out by giving your perso nal address, and of course, paying. As a consequence, we can think that Skagen took its decision: they decided to sell by the internet also. Now, what means â€Å"problems and possibilities†. A problem is an obstacle. A possibility is more an opportunity. It means in this case how the website can be done, what possibilities they have. But also, it means what opportunities it will bring.So, we can think that the expression â€Å"problems and possibilities† refers to the â€Å"Threats and Opportunities† in the SWOT analysis. First, it is an opportunity because customers are not the same nowadays. The new customer is always in a hurry, always wants to change his style, optimizes a lot his time in the transport by using his cellphone. So, of course, if the competitors start to sell on the internet, Skagen customers, which are young and active people, will lose their faithfulness toward Skagen finding better answers to their needs. Second, as it was said, the typical Skagen customer is the typical person who spends a lot of time buying on the internet and who is very comfortable with new technologies.It means that it will not be a problem for him to buy at the online store, and even, it will bring new customers: this main target, the one of Skagen, is sometimes so much active that it does not have time to buy and sometimes, he is totally willing to buy in another country but cannot because there is no online store. As a consequence, it means that more than an advantage, creating an online store was necessary for Skagen’s customers. Plus, every brand does not have exactly the same target. We can guess that because, for example, Alfex is still not selling on the internet, you can just click on â€Å"where to buy† on its website. Third, but it is a detail, it quite easy to establish some advantages for faithful customers on the internet. For example, reductions, special sales. And it is easily accessible. These advantages can also be combined with partners.Indeed, Skagen, choosing to start selling on the internet can start having good partners for complementary items such as clothes for example. However, we can observe that most of this brand does not make any promotion for other brands. We can think that it is because the world of watches is an â€Å"elegant† world; it means that websites are really modern and purified. Fourth, we can think that it could be cheaper to sell on the internet because you do not have to pay a so huge rent and you do not have to pay the sells staff. However, of course, there are some disadvantages. First, it is a quite precise and technical product: some exigent customer can feel lost, even if it is well described they might need still more details.Details that are so numerous that it cannot be put on a website for example if you have some risks to break a bit your diamonds on the watch if you go on the shower with it. Second, Skagen will always have to watch the markets evol ution and to be able to answer very quickly to demands. It means a lot of stocks and money. This is an aspect of starting selling online: selling online is a job in itself, you have a lot of technics to acquire such as how to ship your products for example. And, because it is a lot of money, you have to calculate if it is really worth it to sell on the internet and if it is, how you will do it without huge amounts of moneys. Beside, details which is important for Skagen which is a brand whose positioning is selling very pretty products at affordable prices.Third, Skagen, as clothes, is a fashion brand, it means that people requires style from it. And, as they do with clothes, they might want to try it to see how it feels and how it fits their clothes. And, indeed, it is the main problem with online stores. But, anyway, it is less grave for watches than for clothes. However, we can notice that on their website we only see their watches alone, which means that it hard to imagine how i t looks on a wrist. Some competitors such as Jacob Jensen or Guess still have this trouble, they should all of them do as Alfex, show it on the wrist of a model also. As a result, it was almost mandatory for them to go on the internet.Indeed, they have the perfect target, it can be cheaper and they are an affordable brand because they can produce low cost, their competitors start to sell on the internet and this type of products which are objects and not clothes or food, can be quite easily sold on the internet. The disadvantages are really negligible comparing to the advantages. We can anyway to go more far think that they could do it in another way such as proposing pictures of people wearing it and even proposing some clothes style to fit with it. ———————– [1] http://www. tutor2u. net/business/marketing/promotion_sponsorship. asp ———————– Report 2013/02/19 INTERNATIONAL MARKETING SODERTORNS HOGSKOLA

Comparing the Fall of Han China and Roman Empire Essay

Han China and Rome were two of the most powerful and popular empires of their time, but they fell like any other empire before them. Han China and Rome’s Empires had the same causes for their declines, but their effects are different. The major reasons for the fall of Rome are truly those that have to do with Rome’s political and economic state. One of the Rome’s problems prior to its fall was the lack of respect for authority, among the citizens and military forces. All the attacks from the barbarians caused problems in the military. This basically led to a lot of political turmoil because of all the chaos that was born, and it started to make the military crumble as well. Rome’s economy started to go downhill too, after a long period of time, especially because of the gold. The Romans started using gold (coins) and because of that the trade shortage of the eastern regions of the Empire served to block the growth of wealth in the west. The major reasons for Han China Empire’s fall were also because of their economic and political problems, but the effects are different. One of Han China’s problems was the uprising of desperate and hungry peasants. Another problem was their lack of authority to the Han government, which caused the economic problem. The Han Empire was being invaded by nomads, which were also known as barbarians. These barbarians kept invading the empire and made them have to keep fighting, and provide military forces. This worsened the economy and Han finances. Han government had to hire foreign soldiers who only wanted to be paid for their services which made the economy even worse.

Measurement of the force of typical and jerking impact on a horses Essay

Measurement of the force of typical and jerking impact on a horses mouth by the snaffle bit used in equestrian sports - Essay Example The key issue addressed is the defining of regular and maximum rein tension and bit pressure, which is applied by riders in the case of punishing the horse. The report describes a laboratory experiment with several selected training techniques that are used in this modern age. The amount of pressure that was actually applied by six riders of different qualifications to the mouth of the horse by pulling the reins was determined with a dynamometer attached to the reins. The experiment tested â€Å"typical† and â€Å"jerking† forces applied by the rider, and the subsequent impact of the bit (common snaffle) on the horse’s mouth. The maximum impact force of the reins upon the horse head mannequin was fixated at the levels of 179kg. Mechanical impacts of mentioned intensity, registered during experiments, might lead to various damage of oral cavity tissues. The authors are of the opinion that the bit punishment represents pain and cruelty, and after the experiment, all participants were interviewed. Common methods of bit punishment, the amount of rein tension, and why they were applied to the horse’s mouth were di scussed and analysed. Data was presented in tables, and statistical principles were applied. Attention was raised that all training methods used across equestrian disciplines could jeopardise equine welfare. While it was proven that the bit is a cause of many diseases, disorders, and injuries (Cook, 2003), it is still used in equine sports and recreation. The term ‘cruelty’ is still not attributed to physical punishment, harm, pain or injury that may happen in the equine sport. McGreevy (2007) addressed the issue of the horse’s welfare in his review of Equitation Science. It is an emerging discipline that combines learning, theory, physics and ethnology to evaluate current training techniques. Up to now, arguments concerning the horse’s welfare rely

A model of how we should look at war Research Paper

A model of how we should look at war - Research Paper Example The severity of pains keeps him busy with himself, not giving him much scope to mull over the necessity of this painful reality. He cannot brood much over the philosophy why people need to involve in war because he himself is busy with it. On the contrary, the speaker in Tennyson’s poem sees war from a bird’s-eye point of view. The flaw (or limitation) in such a viewpoint is that it does not allow the speaker as well as the readers to experience the realities of war from within itself. Therefore, Tennyson’s speaker fails to view war as an unwanted reality. Being blindfolded by an undefined (it is undefined because he fails to define why he should call the soldiers glorious and honorable) idealism and by love and passion for one’s country, he tends to glorify war. Such an attempt of the speaker in Tennyson’s poem is often difficult to be sorted out from a fascist tendency to glorify one’s country’s involvement in a war, irrespective of the right and the wrong. Tennyson’s poem â€Å"The Charge of the Light Brigade† tells the story of the British soldiers’ courage and heroism in a disastrous military event in the beginning of the Crimean War. The six hundred soldiers of the Light Cavalry Brigade were moving forward in order to execute Lord Raglan’s order to defend the Russians from seizing their guns. But that was a blunder. As a result, most of the soldiers were killed in the fight. Despite the huge losses, Tennyson as well as some of contemporary authors glorified the courage and heroism of the soldiers in that war (Landow 23). Quite contrary to Tennyson’s stance about the British involvement in the Crimean War, Owen’s poem deals with dark aspects of the chemical attack of Germany during the First World War. The overwhelming massacre was induced by the use of chlorine gas, which â€Å"is a powerful irritant that can inflict damage to the eyes, nose, throat and lungs. At h igh concentrations and prolonged exposure it can cause death by asphyxiation† (Romano 23). The lethal effect of this gas on the health of the soldiers is further described by Sidell, Urbanetti, and Smith as follows: Internal and external bleeding and attacked the bronchial tubes, stripping off the mucous membrane. This was extremely painful and most soldiers had to be strapped to their beds. It usually took a person four to five weeks to die of mustard gas exposure. (4) Though both Tennyson and Owen failed to uphold war as a reality that still exists and though some people do not want it, Owen’s portrayal of war as a painful reality obviously provokes the readers to be more cautious while deciding whether human societies need war. On the other hand, Tennyson’s idealistic view of war can instigate any group, community and society to involve into war since people who are willing to fight can easily establish their own ideals. Amazingly, it is true that Tennysonâ₠¬â„¢s poem can be used to warm up soldiers in each of the parties involved in a war. The loyalty, the obedience and the courage, which the six hundred soldiers of the Light Brigade of the British Army show against the Russian soldiers in the War of Crimea, could be exemplary for even the Nazi soldiers. Therefore, Tennyson’

Diabetes Melllitus Type II Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Diabetes Melllitus Type II - Research Paper Example The Indian physician Sushruta in 400 B.C. described the sweet taste of urine from individuals affected with a disease called ‘sugar’. Around 250 B.C., the name â€Å"diabetes† was first used, meaning in Greek â€Å"to siphon†, reflecting the marked polyuria and loss of water in diabetes. The complete term â€Å"diabetes mellitus† was coined in 1674 by Thomas Willis, personal physician to King Charles II. Gradually the latin word for honey, â€Å"mellitus† was added due to its link with sweet urine (Settley, 1996). Diabetes mellitus is a heterogeneous clinical disorder with two major classifications: primary and secondary. Secondary diabetes is a condition when hyperglycemia (diabetes) is due to the complications of another disease. As per the latest recommendations of American Diabetes Association (2010) diabetes should be classified into four classes viz. I. Type 1 diabetes: Previously known as insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), since the patients require exogenous insulin for survival. Type I diabetes involves ÃŽ ²-cell destruction leading to absolute deficiency of insulin. According to ADA (2010), Type 1 diabetes could be described under two sub-headings – a) Immune-mediated - where the autoantibodies against ÃŽ ²-cells of pancreas destroy the islets of langerhans, b) Idiopathic diabetes – with no known cause of diabetes mostly seen in people of African or Asian ancestry. II. Type 2 diabetes: It represents 90-95% of all diabetes cases and presents with peripheral resistance to the effects of insulin or a defect in insulin processing/secretion. The disorder is also known as non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), because insulin is not required for treatment in most of cases. It manifests at a later age (>40 years) that acquires it the third name -- late or ‘adult-onset diabetes’ and has a slow and silent onset. NIDDM is more commonly found in obese (particularly trunkal obesity) individuals and is

Marketing Proposals for Jones Lang LaSalle Essay

Marketing Proposals for Jones Lang LaSalle - Essay Example In a global environment that is constantly changing, Jones Lang LaSalle hopes to deliver and create value services for its shareholders, clients and its employees (Jones LangLaSalle). There are indications of economic opportunities coming from the growing interest in corporate rentals, investments and government housing priorities in Hong Kong that is a sign of rebound of its economy. In this context, it is proposed to take this opportunity to maintain its leadership in the real estate business and strategic proposals are presented to implement this decision. In my earlier study about this company, I have found out that the corporate rentals in Hong Kong show promising opportunity and it is an area where Jones LaSalle should act speedily. Competition is putting JLL in a difficult situation as it is getting a big share of the market. Competitively, JLL is financially strong, it has expertise and capable of handling a project of this magnitude. However, there are certain areas that bother its operation such as responding to the environmental laws and regulations of the government. The immediate plan is to respond to the interests of multinationals to establish offices in Hong Kong. Second is to support the government’s housing project for the locals. ... In my earlier study about this company, I have found out that the corporate rentals in Hong Kong show promising opportunity and it is an area where Jones LaSalle should act speedily. Competition is putting JLL in a difficult situation as it is getting a big share of the market. Competitively, JLL is financially strong, it has expertise and capable of handling a project of this magnitude. However, there are certain areas that bother its operation such as responding to the environmental laws and regulations of the government. The immediate plan is to respond to the interests of multinationals to establish offices in Hong Kong. Second is to support the government’s housing project for the locals. JLL is managing properties that could easily be used as corporate offices and be offered to multinationals. On the housing project, partnership with government is an ideal set up to get the project off from the drawing board. Marketing Proposals for JLL 1. Introduction A marketing plan i s proposed in order to take action on the opportunity to increase sales and revenue of Jones LangLaSalle. My previous study confirmed the interests of foreign companies in doing business in Hong Kong and in renting office spaces. Another business opportunity comes from Hong Kong government policy in providing affordable houses to its citizens. Taking this into account, a proposal is presented to address the opportunities present. As an evidence of foreign confidence to Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Financial Secretary, in a speech delivered at a seminar on office development, reported that the city of Victoria in Hong Kong has 6,500 foreign companies that give employment to 350,000 people

Raymond Carvers Cathedral Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Raymond Carvers Cathedral - Essay Example ed helpless and plain and was even dreading their meeting following his wife’s insistence after a short interaction which opens an entirely new state of affairs in his life. The foregrounding of seeing over looking is the author’s centre of focus. This is well demonstrated through a juxtaposition of the two related but substantively dissimilar ways of ascertaining and acquiring knowledge and insight into different phenomena. Literally, the hosts who are composed of the narrator and his wife are able to see as they have fully functional eyesight. Their guest for the night who is called Robert on the other hand is a blind widower fresh from the mourning of his wife Beulah who passed away after suffering from bouts of cancer. It is through the dynamism of the narrator that the author successfully manages to bring out the distinction between seeing and looking. The narrator clearly portrays the picture of a person with eyes but ironically cannot see. He initially uses his ability to see as a special attribute that makes him more important than the blind guest they expect to host for the night. According to Carver’s Cathedral, the narrator quickly sums up the pitiable look of Robert asserting how peculiar his eyes looked with glasses instead of shades. In his imagination, a woman married to him was like bondage to sorrow especially the thought of not being seen by a visually handicapped man. However, with his fully functional sense of sight, the narrator is unable to describe the structure of a cathedral shown on the television to Robert with whom they are watching. It is then that Robert asks for a pen and a paper and asks him to draw what he was seeing as the blind man’s hands followed the movement of his own. He is later asked to try drawing with eyes closed which he ably does. On finishing, Robert asks him to open his eyes and look at the drawing but the narrator marvels at the artistic creation with his eyes closed exclaiming that he had never

Aspects of Cultural, Leadership and Shareholder Differences in a Research Paper

Aspects of Cultural, Leadership and Shareholder Differences in a Merger - Research Paper Example Cultural difference was defined by the American Heritage English Dictionary as â€Å"The totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions and all other products of human work or thought† (Barrett and Eneroth, 2012). This signifies that when a group of people work together or spend time together, they develop a pattern of habits that become the culture of an organization. Now when another company merges to form a joint venture, the human resource of both the companies have to work in coordination with one another, although they are used to different ways of working or spending time. This is where diversity or difference arises in an organization. Culture in case of private companies are usually quite random and is highly influenced by the decisions of the senior managers, while in case of public companies, group dependability is higher. In such cases, cultural difference is considered to be an obstacle to the success of the alliance (DeChesare, 20 13). In a survey conducted by CFO Research Services in 2004, it was found that among every five respondents, one of them considered cultural clashes to be the primary reason for alliance failure. This raises a question in the minds of readers about the true perception regarding cultural difference during joint ventures or mergers (Chanlat, Davel and Dupuis, 2013, P. 250-251).     Vebego and Risse successfully drove this joint venture for a span of two years. However, the problem had started with the entry of a third party called Westrom Group, which was a similar company like, The Risse Group. The intention of a public-private joint venture was to bring in the knowledge and experience of the public company and since private companies are good at handling business aspect, they can take care of marketing and administration segment carefully. However, the issues were created after the entrance of the third party because the existing companies made the new organization responsible f or many significant decisions, but only the support staffs were considered within the joint venture to handle the operations. The policies and framework for including a third partner were not rightly decided which had augmented the challenges for the joint venture. In this scenario, the cultural transformation tool (CTT) developed by Richard Barrett would be the best way to discuss the lesson learned from this situation, thereby stating the probable recommendations in this context. The CTT assist in the cultural evolution of the organization, which further helps the leaders to manage the operations. Barrett introduced a consciousness model with seven levels, which are evolutionary in character. He did some modifications to Maslow’s Hierarchy model. In 1998, he had developed a model, which was also called CTT. As can be seen in Figure 1 below, there are seven levels of consciousness such as service, making a difference, transformation, cohesion, self-esteem, relationship and s urvival (Barrett Values Centre, 2009a).

Reflection on the film 12 Angry Men Research Paper

Reflection on the film 12 Angry Men - Research Paper Example Reflection on the film 12 Angry Men The problem of prejudice and the difficulty faced by the jurors in decision making process is still an unresolved problem in the global context. In the beginning, most of the jurors were against the culprit. In the end, all the jurors came to know that their decision is based upon their personal opinions on the immigrant population. My personal opinion/reflection on the film 12 Angry Men is divided into three sections: prejudice, racial supremacy, and misuse of law. Prejudice I am of the opinion that the director made use of the protagonist (the immigrant boy, probably from Puerto Rican Island) to unmask the depth of prejudice against immigrants in America. I believe that prejudice based upon racial and cultural identity is an important problem faced by a member who belongs to an immigrant community. If we are not from an immigrant community, there exists less possibility to have deeper understanding on this problem. Within this context, the director makes use of the protagonist as a medium to express his opinion on the problem faced by immigrants. In the beginning of the film, the jury, which consists of 12 members, does not show any particular interest in the emotional trauma faced by the boy. Biskind (2001) made clear that, â€Å"In the view of the strong case against the defendant, it is not too surprising that the jury’s first straw vote comes out 11 to 1 for conviction† (p.11). ... So, in my opinion, the film portrays how prejudice affects the smooth functioning of law and order in a modern society. Racial superiority I think racial superiority is a myth based upon false opinion, not upon fact. The elite class in the society considers that their status in the society is indebted to their racial identity. But one cannot prove that racial identity determines one’s superiority over others. So, I am totally against racial superiority. One of the factors which attracted me towards this film is the director’s attempt to expose that racial superiority is a myth. In the film, the boy is the victim of racial superiority/racial supremacy. For instance, most of the members of the jury are white middle class men. Still, all the members are from different layers of the society. Most of them do not try to allow the boy to prove his innocence. On the other side, juror 8, an architect by profession, is not ready to act against the boy. Later, some of the jurors l ike Juror 5 and Juror 11 decide to change their opinion. Still, Juror 3’s wavering nature hinders the jury members to have a unanimous decision. In the film, most of the jury members are not aware of their role in decision making process because they act according to the false beliefs in the society. One can see that most of the jury members are middle aged and their personal opinions on the immigrants deeply influence their decisions. So, the film helped me to know more about the problem of prejudice based upon racial superiority. Misuse of law I consider this film as an eye-opener to those who believe that death penalty can reduce crime in the society. On the other side, law is misused to victimize innocent individuals who are not

African American and American Society Essay Example for Free

African American and American Society Essay Is Racism a Permanent feature of American Society? Derrick Bell argues in this issue that the prospects for achieving racial equality in the United States are â€Å"illusory for Blacks. Bell reminds us despite the fact of the progress of blacks in United States; the legacy of slavery has left a portion of the race â€Å"with life-long poverty and soul devastating despair†. Bell believes that race consciousness is so imbedded in whites that it is virtually impossible to rise above it. He also argues that â€Å"few whites are able to identify with blacks as a group† and tend to view blacks through â€Å"comforting racial stereotypes†. Bell feels strongly that critical and proper examination of the history of black-white relations supports his conclusion that racism is a permanent feature of American Society. Bell makes some good point about racism in the American society today. The fact that the psychical part of racism is gone does not mean that racism as permanently left American Society. The fact that racism still â€Å"exist† is does not reflect on blacks’ success any longer. Majority of whites had a head start because their generation of success goes so many years back, were as for blacks success was not allowed at a point in time. Blacks have come a long ways over the years but there is still racial discrimination that â€Å"affects† the black population. Dinesh D’Souza does not agree with Bell, he believes that racism is not a permanent Strain of fabric in the American Society. D’Souza distinguishes between racial discrimination that is â€Å"irrational, motivated by bigotry† and which is â€Å"rational from the point of view of the discriminator. † D’Souza admits that such discrimination may be harmful to individual blacks but he rejects any casual linkage between the lagging indicators of blacks’ overall progress with racial discrimination. He believes race is a diminishing force within American society, D’Souza argues that factors other than racial discrimination are the sources of lagging process toward the American Dream. D’Souza reasoning for blacks not achieving more in America is because blacks fail to observe and embrace certain cultural norms of the dominant American Society. He implies that those who are successful exhibit cultural values that promote success. He states blacks need to place a much greater emphasis on overcoming cultural barriers rather than continuing to assert that race is being held by a persistent racism that afflicts America. Black’s generation has come a long way in American Society. Racism shouldn’t be the excuse for the failure in African American success when in 1919- current we have African American first. Slavery started around 1808 and ended in 1865 due to Lincoln Emancipation Proclamation. Racism was still in effect because the fact that blacks had rights was new. Still in all there were blacks who succeed shortly after that time. Madame C. J. Walker was the first African American female who was a self-made millionaire. In 1893 Dr. Daniel Hale Williams was the first black to perform open heart surgery. In 1908 Jack Johnson was the First African-American world heavyweight Champion. In 1993 Toni Morrison was the first African-American to win the Nobel Prize for literature. In 2009 Barack Obama was the first black president of the United States, with the support of some whites. Racism still is â€Å"permanent† due to history but it is not an excuse for Blacks not becoming successful. Derrick bell major argument is that blacks are faced at the bottom of the well. Bell exclaims despite undeniable progress for many, no African American is insulated from incidents of racial discrimination. He states because of our color we are threaten through our lives, careers. Dinesh D’Souza states racism undoubtedly exists, but it no longer has the power to thwart blacks or any other group in achieving their economic, political, and social aspirations. The arguments relates to the overall theme because yes, racism still occurs but it should not pun Blacks from achieving their aspiration. Bell major point is as a Black he experiences the racism. Blacks can work in a white community and experience racism because whites fear the superiority of blacks. D’Souza points out in his argument that racism is the least bit worries blacks should have, when there are black on black crime occurring. Racism should not be such an excuse for â€Å"underclass† blacks not achieving their goals. D’Souza points out the facts where African Americans now live in a country where black man, Colin Powell, who three decades ago could not be served in restaurants, is now a Joint chief staff. Also a white man who supported the nomination of Clarence Thomas, a black man married to a white, for the Supreme Court. D’Souza question is if white racism controls the density of blacks today, how one segment of black community has prospered so much over the past generation. Some unsupported claims in bells argument was he says, â€Å"Modern discrimination is, moreover, not practiced indiscriminately. † Bell implies whites idolize black athletes and entertainers but refuse to hire and work with blacks. Bell also states whites who number individuals blacks among their closest friends approve, or do not oppose, practices that bar selling or renting homes or apartments in their neighborhood to blacks they do not know. Then in his argument he also states that most hotels and restaurants, who offer black patrons courteous treatment, uniformly reject black job applicants. Bell defense for this was â€Å"When did you last see black waiter in a really good restaurant†. These are unsupported claims because this may be true but there are no proven facts that racist is the cause of these arguments. In D’Souza arguments there were not any unsupported claims really found. D’Souza stated his arguments and had accurate information to support his defense. D’Souza makes great points and has a lot of validity in his arguments. He states if blacks are going to reform their community, they have a right to expect that they will be treated equally under law. Hypothetically speaking D’Souza implies if blacks were refused hire on every baseball team in America, blacks would suffer most because they would be denied the chance to play professional baseball. Fans would also suffer because the quality of games would diminish. He says â€Å"But what if a few team-say the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers- refused to hire blacks? † African Americans has a group would hardly suffer at all, because they would offer there service to other teams. D’Souza saying the Yankees and the Dodgers would suffer a great deal, because they would be deprived of the chance to hire talented blacks’ players. Eventually the competitive pressure would force those teams to either hire blacks or suffer losses in games and revue. Then he makes another valid point he referenced from Gary Becker pointed out, in free market, selective discrimination imposes the heaviest cost on the discriminator where it should be. Some whites will undoubtedly discriminate against blacks but with deal with them because of the law and taste for profit. *Dinesh D’Souza is an Indian American conservative political commentator, public intellectual and current president of the King’s College in New York City. He graduated from Dartmouth College, where he graduated with a B. A. in English. D’Souza also published a book in 2007 called The Enemy at home: the cultural left and its responsibility for 9/11. In his argument D’Souza used government documents, books, articles and oral very frequently. D’Souza would state his opinion and have facts and documents to support his defense. No, the reading did not significantly add to my knowledge because these are issues that has been discussed for many years. In the article I did learn some new ways of thinking of Racism. This article did broaden my thoughts with the factual evidence the authors used to support their defense. I would recommend this article to be read to those who do not have a clear understanding of the term racism. The subject that was focus on in this case study is racism a permanent feature of American Society? The case study focused on political, social and economic issues. Bell argued blacks will never gain full equality in American and D’Souza argued that blacks have equality and racism is not important issue blacks should be worried about in today society.

Night by Elie Wiesel Essay Example for Free

Night by Elie Wiesel Essay Night, the time God Disappeared Night, the time when God broke promises to Jews and the Nazis kept the ones they made. Elie Wiesel wrote a heart breaking, mind boggling book that goes by the name of Night. Night tells the story of Elie Wiesel during the Holocaust. During that time the Jewish people were mistreated, betrayed, and dehumanized. The theme of a story describes the central messages of the story. There are many themes of Night. One that will be discussed has the horrid name of in humanity. During the Holocaust the Jews were treated very inhumane. They were beaten, dehumanized, and also killed. At the labor camps, the people were feed very little, had to work many hours and mistreated. They symbol of silence affects the story when the Jewish people had their rights taken from them, when they found out that they were going to be deported also, when the Jewish nation never said anything about the slaughtering of their people. The theme of this paper comes across as Silence. It shows how the Jewish people thought that nothing bad could come of this situation. Elie Wiesel states, â€Å"The first step: Jews would not be allowed to leave their houses for three days- on pain of death. †(Wiesel, 8). When the Jewish people had their rights taken from them, they adapted to the rules and didn’t speak out. This event showed silence because no one asked why? Or how come? It seemed like the Jewish people were not worried of afraid, as if they did not find this alarming or questionable in anyway. This event in the story makes it seem like even though these rights were taken away, anything else wouldn’t matter that much either. It would be like not being permitted to drink soda, then juice, then water, then anything. The Jews thought that they could live without going outside, like it was a luxury for them. This milestone in the story shows the theme of silence by saying that the restrictions would not kill them (meaning that everything that happens would not have any damage). When the Jewish people were deported, they did not say a word or did they ask why they should move or listen to the Nazis.

The Language And Power English Language Essay

The Language And Power English Language Essay Language is a very significant thing in our life. Therefore, it can be either empowering or disempowering relying on how its used and who is using it? The reason of my paper is to discover the diverse dimensions of the relations of power and language. First, I shall talk about two different types of power of the language. Then, I shall quote, discuss, and illustrate a piece of an interview that concentrates upon how unequal power practiced by unequal encounters has a correlation with the use of the language. Moreover, I shall distinguish between three types of constraints that appeared through discourse. Then, I shall analyze and exemplify a small text from the media to show how the uses of vocabulary, grammar, and the textual structures have a significant role as a hidden power in discourse. Additionally, I shall analyze a short extract to show how social struggle in discourse occurs. Finally, I shall give my conclusion. According to Norman Fairclough the power of the language can either appear overtly or covertly and categorized into two types: power in discourse and power behind discourse. Power in discourse is found where relations of power are applied and performed in face-to-face spoken discourse, power in cross-cultural discourse in which contributors belong to various ethnic groups, and the hidden power which is located in the discourse of the mass media. Power behind discourse works with how arrangements of discourse as dimensions of the social orders of social institutions or societies are themselves formed and composed by relations of power. (Fairclough, Ch. 3, p. 36) Let us start our discussion with a type of power in discourse in terms of face to face discourse where the encounters have unequal power. Text 1 is an extract from an interview transcript of Larry King with Chris Brown, Browns attorney (Mark Geragos), and Browns mother (Joyce Hawkins). Some indicative keys to help the reader in reading the script such as, a dot (.) means a short cease, three dots (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) mean longer cease, and the two square brackets are overlapping and interruption. We need to know that powerful participants have several devices, which can be used in order to practice a control over less powerful participants such as, interruption, enforcing explicitness, controlling topic, formulation, and turn taking. (Fairclough, Ch. 5, pp. 112-113, Text 1 in appendix) In text 1 we can see how King practices control and power over Brown, his attorney, and his mother. He controls the topic, and he is in a position that allows him to practice his power through posing intricate and critical questions. King interrupts Brown five times- in (11), (29), (35), (58), and (69) and one time he interrupts Hawkins in (45). King here is not doing all these interruptions just because he wants to. However, he is enforcing explicitness to make Browns meaning clear by asking things like in (3), (4), (5), and (6). Also, he overlaps and interrupts Brown in order to control his statement and to make sure that his answer is truthful and unambiguous because King knows that Brown has amnesia, for example, in (28) and (29). (Fairclough, Ch. 3, p. 38 Text 1 in appendix) Furthermore, King exercises his power even over Browns attorney; in (11) (what did you pleadà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ explain, quickly, Mark, what he pled guilty to.) It is clear that he has full control over the situation and over everybody involved in the discourse which we notice it in the way the turn taken is managed. King has the authority to select the next speaker. In conversation between unequal participants, turn-taken rights are unequal too. (Fairclough, Ch. 5, p. 112 Text 1 in appendix) Moreover, we can see the way in which King is overtly repeating Browns answers in (4), and (5) (possibly) and in (25) and (27) (its fair) as if he is asking him are you sure? Also, it seems to be that King is evaluating the time that Brown and his mother (Hawkins) went through such as in (3) and (19) (this had to be the worst period of your life), (especially with all this pain youve had in your life). Another point is that Brown and Hawkins are put in the spot in the series of questions of turns (43), (45), (47), (49), (53), (55), (57), (68), (70), (72), and (74). The questions compose a tactically ordered series which makes Brown and his mother hesitate in their answers, which associated with many longer pauses in (44), (46), (48), (56), (58), (71), (73), and (75). (Fairclough, Ch. 3, p. 38 Text 1 in appendix) In addition, we notice that King is using an excessive amount of interrogative sentences. Some of the questions were formed grammatically negative such as in (33) (The sentencing judge, as I understand it, has not lifted a protective order the court imposed on you in connection with Rihanna. That means you cant be with her?), (39) (But you cannot go together?) and (73) (No, well, lets say could you conceive of that down the road?) this type of questions makes Brown look guilty, looser and deserve what had happed to him. (Fairclough, Ch. 3, p. 38 Text 1 in appendix) Now, let us consider some constrains that donate specific linguistic forms. According to Fairclough, text 1 shows three types of constrains in: contents, relations, and subjects. In terms of contents (topic), Brown is accused of beating his fiancà © Rihanna, and he is trying to clear himself in front of King and the rest the world, also his mother insists that Brown has never been an aggressive individual and his attorney trying to explain to King the status of Brown at this moment. We can see how the formality of the situation applies a specific kind of attitudes and particular types of vocabulary. Also, in terms of relation, we can see the social relation between the encounters is very formal; King represents a professional relation to his guest, Nevertheless, Brown is the son of Mrs. Hawkins, so their relation ship is intimate (mother and son). Furthermore, in terms of subject position, King occupies a reporter position who is exercising his authority over Brown, Hawkins, and Geragos, Brown is accuser, and Geragos is an attorney. Notice how King has the right to ask questions, whereas, his guests have only obligation to comply and answer. As well, we can see that these constraints received from the conventions of the discourse type which is being derived from. Consequently, we come to say that power in discourse is to do with powerful participants controlling and constraining the contribution of non-powerful participants, and can indirectly constrain them by selecting the discourse type. (Fairclough, Ch. 3, p. 39 Text 1 in appendix) Now, I shall consider another type of power in discourse. It is the hidden power in mass media. This kind of discourse engages members who are separated in place and time. Actually, mass-media discourse has a very neat nature. Its power relation is usually covert and engages hidden relations of power. The main different thing between face-to-face discourse and media discourse is the one-sidedness. In media discourse, there is a strong separation between producers and interpreters- maybe because media product has the nature of a commodity, between producers and consumers. Medias text is designed for mass audiences, which mean for everybody because it is hard for the writer to specify his audience. Therefore, media discourse has created into it a subject position for an ideal subject. (Fairclough, Ch. 3, p. 41) The journalist in text 2 exercises power over readers in that he has full rights and can therefore, decide what is contained and omitted, how events are appeared, and even the subject positions of their spectators. Look at the interrogative question in (A) (Does Chris Brown have amnesia?); the writer is engaging and positioning his readers in a certain way to answer the question (yes or no). Furthermore, the title is in bold to pull all readers attention to the more important sentence. The use of clear agent in the first sentence (A) makes us focus on Brown himself and his incident. In the second part of the text (B), the writer omitted purposely the name of Browns ex-fiancà © (Rihanna) to avoid dragging the audience attention. Moreover, the use of the negative grammatical form in (B) (No, I dont. Its like, its crazy to me) and in (C) (Im in shock, thats not who I am as a person. And thats not who I pride myself on being), shows the readers that Brown is not guilty, and he is not ha ppy about what he did due to his sickness. We can see how the writer is manipulating his audiences, he is exercising his hidden power by not telling directly that Brown is innocent, but he is covertly trying to convey his message by controlling his audience to make them come to a specific conclusion (Brown is innocent). (Fairclough, Ch. 5, pp. 103-5 Text 2 in appendix) Furthermore, we notice that the representation of Brown is another form of constraint on contents such, representations cumulatively stereotype famous RB singer and more generally the singer of favored public figures, and so constrain the meanings people attach to them. Once we read the article, we dont find that Brown obviously said to be innocent, and needs our sympathy. The process relies totally on an ideal readers ability to deduce that from the list of his answer. Brown expresses his shock of what happed, he cant remember what actually happen, he is concerned for his career, he is trying to rescue his reputation, he is trying to stimulate the readers sympathy and forgiveness, he wants his audience to feel pity for him. Nevertheless, this indicates that what are being constrained are not only contents but also subjects: the process presumes an ideal reader who will certainly make the right deduction from the list, in another meaning to have the right idea about who Brown is. (Fa irclough, Ch. 3, pp. 44-5 Text 2 in appendix) We have to know that not all photographs have the same effect. Journalists usually are clever. They make an ideal choice of a photograph that gives one image of a scene or a person from many likely images. The selection is very significant because different images convey different meanings. In the example (D), we can see our attention is drawn particularly by Browns eyes and facial expression; he is looking in the right side with a broken hart and sad face. Notice the clear function of the caption. It leads us to feel sorry, pity, and sympathy with him. (Fairclough, Ch. 3, p. 45 Text 2 in appendix) Medias texts have a particular way of positioning and directing the reader towards the side that they like. The hidden power of the media text can be the journalist, the editor, or other people whom we dont know, and it is always manipulative and covert. (Fairclough, Ch. 3, pp. 46) Our last text 3 is concerned with social struggle in the discourse. Power in discourse or behind discourse is not enduring and undisputed characteristic of any individual or social grouping. Quite the opposite, those who practice power at a specific instant, have to continually reemphasize their power and authority, and those who dont have power are constantly likely to seek for power. This is a fact, whether at the level of the specific situation, or in terms of a social institution, or in terms of a whole society. According to Fairclough power at all these levels is won, exercised, sustained, and lost during social struggle. (Fairclough, Ch. 2 3, pp. 28, 57) Let us illustrate text (3) which is a good example where a struggle is overt and clear. It is an investigation situation where the interrogator is questioning the pensioner about his involvement in a crime. There are numerous ways in which (P) practices more supremacy over the discourse than anyone might imagine, goes beyond his discoursal rights and does not complete his obligations. Firstly, he challenges (I)s questions three times (turn 2, 4, and 6) rather than answering them immediately. Secondly, in (2 and 6) (P) asks questions that are not related at all to the situation and go beyond it, conversely, (I) is not answering (P), but he is asking him another question in order to keep him in the track. Lastly, it seems that (P) shows no sign of cooperation. He appears to treat the investigator as a peer, and act as if the interrogation is a normal conversation (2, 4, and 6), nevertheless, (I) success in maintaining a lot of control over the situation. While the struggle at the situa tional level is over power in discourse, struggle at the other levels may also be over power behind discourse. (Fairclough, Ch. 3, pp. 57-9 Text 3 in appendix) To sum up, I think this discussion was really useful and productive. At my work, I usually practice my power through the use of language because it can be used as a perfect instrument for practicing a power over others. For example, my pose exercises his power over me and I exercise my power over other employers who are under my authority. Accordingly, as I said at the opening of this essay language can either be empowering or disempowering depending on various reasons. It is wonderful what language can do. Appendix Text 1 Chris Brown appeared on Larry King with his attorney and his mother, Joyce Hawkins, who insists that Brown has never been a violent person. KING: Its Chris Brown exclusive, right now next, on LARRY KING LIVE. Good evening. With us tonight on LARRY KING LIVE are Chris Brown; his mother, Joyce Hawkins; and his attorney, Mark Geragos. Chris entered a guilty plea on June 22nd a deal that allowed him to avoid jail time. He pled guilty to felony assault after a widely publicized incident with his girlfriend, Rihanna. A second felony charge, making criminal threats, was dropped. And Chris was sentenced to five years probation and six months of community labor. We thank you all for coming. How are you doing? BROWN: Im good. Thank you. KING: This had to be the worst period of your life. BROWN: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.Possibly, yes. KING: Possibly BROWN: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Yes. KING: Are things calm for you now? Are you into it? BROWN: I think its more a relief now that everything is kind of all said and done as far as like what I have to do and emà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦whats going on. I think its no more .. no more media frenzy for them to kind of blow out of proportion anymore. KING: So youre glad its over? BROWN: Yes. KING: What did you plead explain, quickly, Mark, what he pled guilty to. MARK GERAGOS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Assault, basically, was what it is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ a felony assault charge; sentenced to five years of probation; as you said, 180 days of what Judge Schnegg calls community labor. And he has to undergo a domestic violence program for one year. KING: And five years means youve got to be like perfect GERAGOS: It means he walks the straight and narrow for five years. And as Judge Schnegg said in court yesterday, shesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. shes a tough task master, but shes fair. KING: Were taping this a week before it airs, so its airing on this night, but that was yesterday, meaning last Tuesday. GERAGOS: That was. KING: And before we get into the meat of everything, Chris, how have you handled all this, Joyce? JOYCE HAWKINS, CHRIS BROWNS MOTHER: Its probably the most painful time of my entire life. Its been hard, really hard, seeing him going through the pain and everything that hes gone through, dealing with the media and dealing with the situation. Its been really hard. KING: Especially with all the pain youve had in your life. HAWKINS: Yes, along with that. KING: Which well get to later. But the labor-oriented service, what à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. what does it mean you have to do, Chris? This is back in Virginia, right? BROWN: Yes, back in Virginia. KING: What do you have to do? BROWN: I think they want me to do anythingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. anything from picking up trash on the side of the street, washing cars, graffiti removal, I mean anyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.anything. But its the law, so Im willing to do whatever they want me to do. KING: Is it fair? BROWN: To me, possibly everything comes à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. everything comes with consequences. So I feel like definitely it is. And I have no misjudgment on what the judge has has has given me. So Im willing to do anything they ask. KING: So you feel its à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ its fair? BROWN: Yes. KING: Yes. The judge was very specific. She wanted labor involved in the punishment. BROWN: Yes. KING: What did that mean to you when she said that, hard work? BROWN: Hard work, yes, definitely. And Im a very hard worker, so that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ thats kind of .. I wouldnt say second nature, but its definitely something that Im willing to to do. As far as the actual what I have to do, I felt personally that, as far as not saying as as a celebrity, because I dont exclude myself and try to become like, oh, Im a celebrity so I shouldnt be punished. But I feel like with with what Im capable of doing as far as influencing people, influencing kids, the youth, I can do a lot more to help the community other than picking up trash. But I dont Im not saying picking up trash is something wrong. Im willing to do it. But Im just saying, I know I can do a lot more, which I intend to do, aside from our community service. KING: The sentencing judge, as I understand it, has not lifted a protective order the court imposed on you in connection with Rihanna. That means you cant be with her? BROWN: No, I cant. I cant communicate. Nothing. KING: Do you think thats fair? BROWN: Its kind of hard, definitely, because being her being my friend for so long and us being being that close of a friend, its kind of like, wow, like, not being able to see or talk to that person is kind of kind of difficult. And but its its also hard because were both in the same industry. We do we go to the same events. We KING: That you can do, right? BROWN: Yes, I can go to the same event. We havent (INAUDIBLE) KING: But you cannot go together? BROWN: Not not at all. We have to be like 10 yards away from each other, but I just feel like its harder, because were always in the same vicinity, and it leaves more because we have the protection order, it leaves more room for error. It leaves more room for people to start rumors and start start more stuff, like, oh, theyre together. Theyre not supposed to be together. And and it just kind of leaves more room for for problems. KING: You have to be real careful, right, Mark? GERAGOS: Yes, more than careful. I mean there was an incident a supposed incident in New York where the two of them unbeknownst to each other because they dont talk to each other are rumored to be at the same hotel. So before before we even verify it, I just tell him, move. So, you know, its almost Ive kiddingly joked, we almost have to put GPS chips into the two of them to figure out where the other one is at all times. KING: How well do you know Rihanna, Joyce? HAWKINS: Ive known Rihanna for four or five years. And KING: Do you like her? HAWKINS: erà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦I like her, yes. KING: When the incident happened, how did it hit you? HAWKINS: Like I said, emà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦I was devastated. I was really upset about the situation and really felt reallyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦erà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦em.. bad about this whole situation really KING: Were you shocked? HAWKINS: Very shocked. Very shocked. KING: Well get into all of it. During the sentencing, the judge said she was not immune from the chatter on the airwaves about meetings between you and Rihanna. BROWN: Yes. KING: Now, obviously, it upset her, right? BROWN: Yes. KING: Do you understand that part? BROWN: Yes, I understand that totally. Of course, like, the media, like Im not saying this media but the media, as far as like the the the immature media, you know KING: Immature media? BROWN: The immature media. I feel like its high school sometimes, how people just pride theirself on personal business. But like I feel like they they spun a lot of the stuff out of control, as far as with with the judge, with a lot of things, because everybody reads the newspapers. Everybody reads the blogs. Everybody reads stuff like thatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.erà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦emà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦So its easily influenced when theres something thats already stated like it happened. KING: But what happened happened. BROWN: Yes. KING: And you were involved in what happened BROWN: Yes. KING: So you have to accept the consequences. BROWN: Definitely. GERAGOS: You know, the difference in this case and Ive been through a number of cases where there was media attention the difference in this case is the aftermath of the incident, where there was repeatedly just false stuff that would be printed. And major newspapers would put out things theyre they spent the weekend together here or they spent the weekend together there, which was just false. They werent even at one point, they said the two of them had spent the night together in one location. She wasnt even in the country. KING: Simply put, when was the last time you had contact with her? BROWN: Its been a couple months, because I think thats when the actual stay away order was in effect. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ erà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦So from there, we havent had contact at all. KING: Do you love her? BROWN: Definitely. KING: In love with her? BROWN: erà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦em..Definitely. KING: Would you spend a lifetime with her? BROWN: Would I spend a lifetime well, erà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ I mean, emà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Im 20, so KING: No, well, lets say could you conceive of that down the road? BROWN: em.. I yes. KING: Well be right back with Chris Brown, Joyce Hawkins and Mark Geragos. Dont go away. Text 2 Media Text Does Chris Brown have amnesia? That sure looks like it when the RB singer spoke for the first time in public about the incident that rocked the entertainment world a few months ago When asked whether he remembers beating up his ex-girlfriend, Brown replies: No, I dont. Its like, its crazy to me. Im like, wow. Brown adds, When I look at the police reports or I hear about the police reports, I dont know what to think. I just dont know what to think. Its just like, wow. I just look at it like, wow, Im in shock, cause first of all, thats not who I am as a person. And thats not who I pride myself on being. (D) Text (3) Transcript from the series Criminal Minds was shown on Friday 1st January 2010, at 21:30, on MBC Action. It was an investigation between a prisoner and investigator: The investigator is showing some pictures for several dead girls. (I): Investigator: Why did you kill these girls? (P): Prisoner: Would you like to see a trick? (I): Investigator: How many girls did you kill? (P): Prisoner: pick a card. (I): Investigator: Where did you bury them? (P): Prisoner: Do you ever smile? It is hard to trust a person who does not smile.

Generations Repeated :: essays research papers

Sine the start of the town Macondo, the Buendia family has made very poor decisions in their lifetime. The choices they have made have caused the generations from then on to be repeated. Descisions that had been made in the beginning were being made in the end. In the novel, One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez displays how poor decisions made in he beginning can effect life in the future. At the end of the book, Gabriel Garcia Marquez tells how aureliano has finished classifying the alphebet of the parchments made by Melquiedes six generations before. For instance, he says, "Melquiedes revealed to him that his opportunities to return to the room were limited" (Marquez 384). Melquiedes is warning him and trying to let him know that he will never be able to leave and have a normal life outside of Macondo. The mistakes made from his ancestors had condemned him to never getting out of Macondo. Initially, One critic states that the character is wishing to treasure his origins: the cost he pays is large because, in doing so, he is obligated to forget about his future.(Alicia Borinsky) The critic is sayin the author is wishing to find his origins. Resulting from families mistakes, he will have to pay and forget about his future. Everything that his family had done in the past, he will have to pay for in the future. While reading the prophecies, Aureliano discovers the mystery of the family. For instance, the author says, "Before reading the final line, however, he had already understood that he would never leave that room, for it was foreseen that the city of mirors(or mirages) would be wiped out by the wind and exiled from the memory of men at the precise moment when Aureliano Babilonia would finish deciphering the parchments, and that everything written on them was unrepeatable since time immemorial and forever more, because races condemned to one hundred years of solitude did not havea second opportunity on earth" (Marquez 448). The prophecies tell him he will never be able to leave the city. He will be exiled from his memory of everything. One critic says, For Aureliano Babilonia, the earth of the parchments he reviews is indistinguishable from his world, the world of the town, Macondo: for Aureliano, reading as a pocket addition of the interpretation gives way to a mode of b eing. Generations Repeated :: essays research papers Sine the start of the town Macondo, the Buendia family has made very poor decisions in their lifetime. The choices they have made have caused the generations from then on to be repeated. Descisions that had been made in the beginning were being made in the end. In the novel, One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez displays how poor decisions made in he beginning can effect life in the future. At the end of the book, Gabriel Garcia Marquez tells how aureliano has finished classifying the alphebet of the parchments made by Melquiedes six generations before. For instance, he says, "Melquiedes revealed to him that his opportunities to return to the room were limited" (Marquez 384). Melquiedes is warning him and trying to let him know that he will never be able to leave and have a normal life outside of Macondo. The mistakes made from his ancestors had condemned him to never getting out of Macondo. Initially, One critic states that the character is wishing to treasure his origins: the cost he pays is large because, in doing so, he is obligated to forget about his future.(Alicia Borinsky) The critic is sayin the author is wishing to find his origins. Resulting from families mistakes, he will have to pay and forget about his future. Everything that his family had done in the past, he will have to pay for in the future. While reading the prophecies, Aureliano discovers the mystery of the family. For instance, the author says, "Before reading the final line, however, he had already understood that he would never leave that room, for it was foreseen that the city of mirors(or mirages) would be wiped out by the wind and exiled from the memory of men at the precise moment when Aureliano Babilonia would finish deciphering the parchments, and that everything written on them was unrepeatable since time immemorial and forever more, because races condemned to one hundred years of solitude did not havea second opportunity on earth" (Marquez 448). The prophecies tell him he will never be able to leave the city. He will be exiled from his memory of everything. One critic says, For Aureliano Babilonia, the earth of the parchments he reviews is indistinguishable from his world, the world of the town, Macondo: for Aureliano, reading as a pocket addition of the interpretation gives way to a mode of b eing.

Zora Neale Hurston - Their Eyes Were Watching God :: essays research papers

Their Eyes Were Watching God It is human nature to look for happiness. Some people find it in material possessions, some find it in money, but most of us find it in love. To find true love is a difficult task especially now in the times of cell phones and Jaguars. Money and power play a big role in today’s society, and some people would rather have those things than a love of another human being. In some rare cases it is not even a person’s decision who she (almost every time it’s a woman who is being given away) will marry. Although it does not happen very often, there are still cases where a woman is being married off to a man by an arrangement made by her parents, to insure stability and security of that woman. The standing in the community means a great deal, just like Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God illustrates. Janie, the main character in the book, was raised by her grandmother. Ever since Janie’s mother ran away it was just the two of them living together. As a kid Janie lived in the house where her grandmother was a nanny for a white family. She was treated the same as the white children, they ate together, played together, even got punished together. Janie, unlike most of the blacks at that time, did not see any discrimination while she was growing up. That was the building block of her strong personality. There was some teasing in school about her living in a white folks home, but she did not pay much attention to that. Now if I may go off the subject for a moment I would like to say how beautifully and descriptively the book is written. There is one passage in particular that I truly enjoyed reading : It was a spring afternoon in West Florida. Janie had spent most of the day under a blossoming pear tree in the back-yard. She had been spending every minute that she could steal from her chores under that tree for the last three days. That was to say, ever since the first tiny bloom had opened. It had called her to come and gaze on a mystery. From barren brown stems to glistening leaf-buds; from the leaf-buds to snowy virginity of bloom. It stirred her tremendously. How? Why? It was like a flute song forgotten in another existence and remembered again.

Sapir-Worf Hypothesis: Linguistic Determinism and Linguistic Relativit

Sapir-Worf Hypothesis: Linguistic Determinism and Linguistic Relativity The romantic idealism of the late eighteenth century, as encountered in the views of Johann Herder (1744-1803) and Wilhelm von Humboldt (I 762-1835), placed great value on the diversity of the world’s languages and cultures. The tradition was taken up by the American linguist and anthropologist Edward Sapir (1884-1939) and his pupil Benjamin Lee Whorf (1897-1941), and resulted in a view about the relation between language and thought which was widely influential in the middle decades of this century. The â€Å"Sapir-Whorf hypothesis,† as it came to be called, combines two principles. The first is known as linguistic determinism: it states that language determines the way we think. The second follows from this, and is known as linguistic relativity: it states that the distinctions encoded in one language are not found in any other language. In a much- quoted paragraph, Whorf propounds the view as follows: We dissect nature along lines laid down by our native languages. The categories and types that we isolate from the world of phenomena we do not find there because they stare every observer in the face; on the contrary, the world is presented in a kaleidoscopic flux of impressions which has to be organized by our minds--and this means largely by the linguistic systems in our minds. We cut nature up, organize it into concepts, and ascribe significances as we do, largely because we are parties to an agreement to organize it in this way-an agreement that holds throughout our speech community and is codified in the patterns of our language. The agreement is, of course, an implicit and unstated one, but its terms are absolutely obligatory; we cannot talk at all ... ...version of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is generally accepted. Language may not determine the way we think, but it does influence the way we perceive and remember, and it affects the ease with which we perform mental tasks. Several experiments have shown that people recall things more easily if the things correspond to readily available words or phrases. And people certainly find it easier to make a conceptual distinction if it neatly corresponds to words available in their language. Some salvation for the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis can therefore be found in these studies, which are carried out within the developing field of psycholinguistics. Works Cited: Crystal, David. "Language and Thought." in Language: Readings in Language and Culture, Sixth Edition. Clark, Virgina P., Eschholtz, Pual A., Rosa, Alfred F., editors. St. Matin's Press. New York. 1998. p. 631-32 Sapir-Worf Hypothesis: Linguistic Determinism and Linguistic Relativit Sapir-Worf Hypothesis: Linguistic Determinism and Linguistic Relativity The romantic idealism of the late eighteenth century, as encountered in the views of Johann Herder (1744-1803) and Wilhelm von Humboldt (I 762-1835), placed great value on the diversity of the world’s languages and cultures. The tradition was taken up by the American linguist and anthropologist Edward Sapir (1884-1939) and his pupil Benjamin Lee Whorf (1897-1941), and resulted in a view about the relation between language and thought which was widely influential in the middle decades of this century. The â€Å"Sapir-Whorf hypothesis,† as it came to be called, combines two principles. The first is known as linguistic determinism: it states that language determines the way we think. The second follows from this, and is known as linguistic relativity: it states that the distinctions encoded in one language are not found in any other language. In a much- quoted paragraph, Whorf propounds the view as follows: We dissect nature along lines laid down by our native languages. The categories and types that we isolate from the world of phenomena we do not find there because they stare every observer in the face; on the contrary, the world is presented in a kaleidoscopic flux of impressions which has to be organized by our minds--and this means largely by the linguistic systems in our minds. We cut nature up, organize it into concepts, and ascribe significances as we do, largely because we are parties to an agreement to organize it in this way-an agreement that holds throughout our speech community and is codified in the patterns of our language. The agreement is, of course, an implicit and unstated one, but its terms are absolutely obligatory; we cannot talk at all ... ...version of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is generally accepted. Language may not determine the way we think, but it does influence the way we perceive and remember, and it affects the ease with which we perform mental tasks. Several experiments have shown that people recall things more easily if the things correspond to readily available words or phrases. And people certainly find it easier to make a conceptual distinction if it neatly corresponds to words available in their language. Some salvation for the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis can therefore be found in these studies, which are carried out within the developing field of psycholinguistics. Works Cited: Crystal, David. "Language and Thought." in Language: Readings in Language and Culture, Sixth Edition. Clark, Virgina P., Eschholtz, Pual A., Rosa, Alfred F., editors. St. Matin's Press. New York. 1998. p. 631-32

Global Media, Global Culture Essay

‘The boundaries that separate one nation from another are no more real than the equator. They are merely convenient demarcations of ethnic, linguistic and cultural entities. They do not define business requirements or consumer trends.'(IBM). Boundaries delimit countries. Or, at least, this is their function. Boundaries separate traditions, languages, governments, currencies, people, economies and cultures. But, is this true? Nationalisms are rising in a world that tends to the globalization. Is it so that we are all equal for the multinational companies? There are a lot of definitions of globalization. Most of the definitions (to not say all of them) are related with the capitalism system. According with Marà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Sà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ez globalization has three steps in the history until arrives to the actual situation: â€Å"We can understand globalisation in two senses. In a wider sense, it means the expansive tendency that took place in the capitalist system. This concept talks about the power that drove capitalism to go across the boundaries to look for raw material and new markets. In a strict sense it means a concrete phase that begins with three concrete historical facts: the success of the neo-liberal powers such as USA or United Kingdom (Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher), the foreign debt in the Third World (1982) and the fall of Berlin’s wall in 1989†. Sà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ez (1999), p. 12 All of us (I’m referring to the develop countries) are connected between computers and internet, press, radio, television and cinema. We can learn new traditions or new ways of life with each media. Everybody knows who is Nicole Kidman or Gucci. We can drink a Coke with a Big Mac in somewhere. There are not boundaries for information or products. We can see the same advertisement in US or in India. But are not they different? Don’t they have different culture, tradition or language? New ways of advertisement can overcome the boundaries. Only have to show images and sell the products without words. The media configures our lives, our way behaviours, our minds. They make us. They are cultural factories. They make the perfect target to the products, the perfect consumers’ trends. The national identity is threatened. â€Å"Young people drink the same soft drinks, smoke the same cigarettes, wear identical branded clothing and shoes, play the same computer games, watch the same Hollywood films and listen to the same Western pop music.† Ellwood, W. (2001): pp.53. Governments make pacts about laws and economy. The European countries are being united in the European Union (EU). Although the citizen of each country have different tradition, they culture is very similar and is almost like the American one. These countries share currencies, economics’ politics and, in soon time, laws. â€Å"The challenge of producing and marketing in many countries, with many currencies, has fed the creation of modern international money market and currency trading.† Davis, J (1999): pp.38 Countries member of the European Union share a European Parliament, Justice Court of the European Communities, European Central Banc, Committee of the Regions and so on. The products of each country can transfer boundaries without taxes. These products are sold without differences in each country. It doesn’t matter if are German or Italian. The products are sold like if they were from the same town. They share a new globalizated culture. Somehow this globalizated culture has adopted elements characteristics from each country. In this way the globalizated culture can survive. â€Å"Business are in the business of government and governments are in the business of business.† Sivanandan, A. (1999): pp.9. Sivanandan makes a perfect summary of as the governments are in disposition of the great companies. And these companies want to make only one market around the world. In this way, they only have to make only one marketing campaign. Helped by mass media and governments, multinationals can obtain their objectives. Governments take profits of the business and help to the great companies to develop their plans. Countries depend on the others in the production of their products. They have decentralized the production of the products in different countries looking for a cheap manual labour. â€Å"This stretching of the boundaries of the economically possible by new technologies happens at al points of the circuit of capital – in production, and in the circulation of commodities and money. As companies, driven to expand profits, take advantage of the new boundaries, the components of â€Å"globalisation† take shape.† Davis, J (1999), pp.38 But in this world where culture and business are globalizated, nationalism take more popularity around the countries. Nobody wants to lose his identity. They mixed the globalizated culture (American culture) and the traditional culture. French person will keep it traditions and way of life but will wear the same cloth, will drink the same drink, will eat the same food and will see the same films than a Cyprus or Turkey person. In conclusion, globalization is a process that shows two faces: the first one shows the differences between countries and the diversity around the world, creating a nationalism and pride to belong to a country. And on the other hand shows how the countries depends on the others and there are similitude between countries, cultures and markets. In this way, I agree with the topic of the assignment: boundaries only delimit ethnics, languages and cultural entities. Marketing, mass media, governments and multinationals have made disappear the boundaries and the great differences between the cultures creating an only and great world-wide market. Reference list: – Marà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Sà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ez, V. M. (1999) Globalizacià ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½n, nuevas tecnologà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½as y comunicacià ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½n. Madrid: Ediciones de la Torre, pp. 12 – Davis, J (1999) â€Å"Race & Class: The threat of Globalism† (Vol.40, no.2/3, 1998-1999), London: Institute of Race Relation, pp.38 – Sivanandan, A. (1999) )†Racism, culture, markets†, London: Institute of Race Relation, pp.9 – Ellwood, W. (2001). The no-nonsense guide to globalization. London;Oxford, pp.53 Bibliography: – Marà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Sà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ez, V. M. (1999) Globalizacià ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½n, nuevas tecnologà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½as y comunicacià ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½n. Madrid: Ediciones de la Torre – (1999) â€Å"Race & Class: The threat of Globalism† (Vol.40, no.2/3, 1998-1999), London: Institute of Race Relation – Sivanandan, A. (1999) )†Racism, culture, markets†, London: Institute of Race Relation – Ellwood, W. (2001). The no-nonsense guide to globalization. London;Oxford – Gabriel, J. (1994) Racism, Culture, Markets. New York: Routledge