Free Essays on 911

On the morning of September 11th, 2001, four Boeing passenger jets were hijacked within an hour by nineteen Arab terrorists armed with box cutters. Pilots among these terrorists took control of the commercial planes and changed course towards targets in New York City and Washington D.C. Two of the planes were deliberately crashed into the nations political and financial centers, causing fires within the towers, which melted the steel support structures, thereby causing the buildings to collapse completely. A third airplane was deliberately crashed into the Pentagon. Passengers on the fourth plane overpowered the hijackers and caused the airplane to crash in Pennsylvania. This was an attack on America planned and directed by Osama Bin Laden as the leader of Al-Qaeda, a previously obscure anti-U.S. international terrorist organization composed of mainly Arabs. This horrible tragedy crippled the airline industry and shook America’s sense of security. After this horrible attack A mericans suffered not only physically but psychologically also. Because of the September 11 terrorist attacks, Americans were affected in five key ways, which in turn will affect American society in the way it responds, reacts, and recovers. The first way that Americans were affected by the 9/11 attacks was the role that the media played by showing detailed coverage to American citizens. This caused Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in some Americans that watched the terrible acts unfold. Jennifer Ahern and Sandro Galea, wrote that â€Å"Exposure to graphic television images may exacerbate psychological symptoms in disaster situations. We tested the hypothesis that more frequent viewing of television images of the September 11 terrorist attacks was associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, and that direct exposure to disaster events had a interactive effect with media viewing (1). We recruited 1,008 adults of the borough of Manhattan of... Free Essays on 911 Free Essays on 911 On the morning of September 11th, 2001, four Boeing passenger jets were hijacked within an hour by nineteen Arab terrorists armed with box cutters. Pilots among these terrorists took control of the commercial planes and changed course towards targets in New York City and Washington D.C. Two of the planes were deliberately crashed into the nations political and financial centers, causing fires within the towers, which melted the steel support structures, thereby causing the buildings to collapse completely. A third airplane was deliberately crashed into the Pentagon. Passengers on the fourth plane overpowered the hijackers and caused the airplane to crash in Pennsylvania. This was an attack on America planned and directed by Osama Bin Laden as the leader of Al-Qaeda, a previously obscure anti-U.S. international terrorist organization composed of mainly Arabs. This horrible tragedy crippled the airline industry and shook America’s sense of security. After this horrible attack A mericans suffered not only physically but psychologically also. Because of the September 11 terrorist attacks, Americans were affected in five key ways, which in turn will affect American society in the way it responds, reacts, and recovers. The first way that Americans were affected by the 9/11 attacks was the role that the media played by showing detailed coverage to American citizens. This caused Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in some Americans that watched the terrible acts unfold. Jennifer Ahern and Sandro Galea, wrote that â€Å"Exposure to graphic television images may exacerbate psychological symptoms in disaster situations. We tested the hypothesis that more frequent viewing of television images of the September 11 terrorist attacks was associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, and that direct exposure to disaster events had a interactive effect with media viewing (1). We recruited 1,008 adults of the borough of Manhattan of... Free Essays on 911 September 11, 2001, will be remembered as one of the most horrific and unbelievable days ever experienced in the United States. The events of this day certainly affect every American, and likely affect every person in the world in some way. Between 7:45 a.m. and 8:10 a.m. EDT - Four airplanes were hijacked from east coast airports. 8:46 a.m. EDT - The first airplane crashed into the North tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. 9:03 a.m. EDT - The second airplane crashed into the South tower of the World Trade Center. 9:43 a.m. EDT - The third airplane crashed into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.. 10:05 a.m. EDT - The South tower of the World Trade Center collapsed. 10:10 a.m. EDT - The fourth airplane crashed into a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. 10:28 a.m. EDT - The North tower collapsed. 5:20 p.m. EDT - A third building at the World Trade Center collapsed. Approximately 260 people died in the four airplanes. Approximately 120 people died in the Pentagon. Approx imately 3,000 people died in the World Trade Center When we look back on September 11, 2001, we think mainly of people. We mourn for the victims of the attacks, we empathize with their families, we honor the rescue workers, and we reflect on our own experience. At the same time, we remember all of the technology of that day the airplanes that the hijackers used as flying bombs, the buildings they damaged and destroyed, and the heavy equipment used in the massive rescue and then clean-up effort. â€Å"As reports circulate that the U.S. is planning to scale down its troop commitment in Iraq, President Bush has vowed that U.S. forces will not leave the region before both Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden are captured or killed. In an interview with London's Financial Times published Friday, the president said a U.S. pullout was ‘inconceivable’ in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying troops will remain ‘until the job is done. Period.’ Asked whethe...

Written Word Media An Awesome Ad Platform for Authors

Written Word Media An Awesome Ad Platform for Authors Written Word Media: An Awesome Ad Platform for Authors One of the questions we get most often at Reedsy is: "where can I promote my book". You're probably already familiar with Bookbub, but their  exclusivity makes it hard for the emerging author to get a promotion with them. This is where Written Word Media come in: another proven ad platform for authors with several "brands" to make your book visible. Here's our interview with their co-founder Ferol Vernon, who shares some numbers and great nuggets of advice with us.Hello Ferol! Great to have you on the Reedsy blog! You are the COO of Written Word Media, a series of ebook-focused websites. Can you tell us what the concept is, the story behind the company and how you’ve managed to build a community of about 500,000 readers?The short version of the story is that we were looking for a place to promote my mother-in-law’s book, and there weren’t any good options at the time. We built our first site Freebooksy.com to solve her problem, the problem of one author. As we grew, we expanded the number and variety of websites that we run in order to solve the problems of many authors, which helped us build great reader experiences as well. We’ve focused on building great brands that connect with readers, and it’s allowed us grow very rapidly.Who is your target market? How do you differentiate yourself from Bookbub?Our target market is anyone who has a book and wants to promote that book. We work with mostly independent authors, but we also work with a lot of small presses, and 3 of ‘big five’ major publishers as well.The difference between BookBub and us is exclusivity. BookBub’s policies force them to outright reject most authors. Our policies and pricing are designed to be friendly to the emerging author. We tell authors that if you can get into BookBub, great, you should do it, AND you should buy with us. If you don’t get into BookBub, don’t sweat it, know that you can always reach your audience throug h us.As an author, what can I expect from being featured in your emails? Can you share data from your previous campaigns? How much does the service cost?What you can expect depends on things like your genre and the quality of your book. We see a wide variance in how well books perform, but to give you a sense, popular genres like Mystery and Romance can generate 1,000 - 5,000 free downloads on Freebooksy. For paid books, on BargainBooksy in popular genres authors can expect to sell anywhere from 10-50 copies of their books with some authors selling 200-300 copies. It’s highly dependent on the price and quality of the book.On Freebooksy and Bargain Booksy, our ads cost between $40-$200, with the majority of ads being in that $50-$100 range. For our premium brands, NewInBooks and Red Feather Romance prices start at $49 and go up to $499 for our full service packages.I believe the New in Books brand is the most recent. The concept is slightly different as it is not just for book s that get discounted; there is no economic incentive to subscribe. Who is it for? Why do you think readers enjoy it?NewInBooks is exciting for us. The hook for readers is to alert them about great new books that are coming out, as well as news from the world of books. It’s a way to never miss a new book from your favorite author or in your favorite genre. Readers have reacted well to the service and to the brand.The two big differences with NewInBooks are that it’s not a discount site, and it’s not restricted to ebooks. This audience pays full price for books, and purchases physical and audiobooks in addition to ebooks. On NewInBooks there is an emphasis on discovery, we have more content around books to read if you like a certain author or a certain subgenre. This type of content doesn’t create the same spike in sales that running a discount day does. However, it creates a consistent stream of sales weeks and months after the content is published as rea ders discover the content through social media and search.You have been collecting a lot of data helping about 20,000 authors market their books. What makes an author successful in today’s marketplace?We just posted a great article with some findings about what successful authors do compared to emerging authors. The two most salient findings were:Write more! We found that successful authors write on average 30+ hours per week, which is a lot. If life gets in the way of writing 30 hours a week, try simply writing more than you did last week.Pay a professional. We found that successful authors pay professionals for things like cover design and editing. These services are generally pretty affordable, and make a big difference in the overall end result of a book.Your most recent projects have a strong emphasis on design; discovering new books is an entire experience. Websites like Goodreads seem not to care. What’s the rationale behind this choice?Design has been a passion of mine since I was a kid. My mother is an artist and a designer so I grew up learning about things like color, perspective, spacing, and typography from her. I believe in good design very deeply, and I understand the power that a well-designed product. Our emphasis on branding and design stems from this belief, and both authors and readers respond to it. Website design is a lot like fashion design, trends are important. Sites like Goodreads aren’t necessarily poorly designed, but they are behind the trend. Goodreads is a great service, and I’m hopeful that a design refresh is on the horizon.What’s the next step for Written Word Media? Building other brands for other segments of the market?Our strategy is working and we’re going to stay true to it. We believe that each segment of readers is different, and that the best way to connect with a reader segment is to launch a new brand that fits their needs. We believe that books are a force for good in this w orld, and that supporting the authors who write them is an honor and a privilege. We’ll continue to build great brands for readers and great promotional products for authors.Follow Written Word Media and Reedsy on Twitter: @WrittenWordM and @ReedsyHQHave you tried advertising on one of Written Word Media's brands? Please  share your thoughts  and experience with us, or ask Ferol any question, in the comments below!

Chinese Trade Profile Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Chinese Trade Profile - Research Paper Example China is essentially the globe’s second-largest trading country after the United States of America. Statistics has it that she is the world’s leading exporter and comes second regarding imports. Between the years 2009 and 2011, the GDP ratio of China was about 53.1%, whereas her per capita was about $2,413 (Mion & Linke p 208). The output growth of China reached the highest value at 10.4% in 2010 for the period between 2009 and 2013 as shown in figure 2. Today, many countries all over the world prefer China to be their most vital bilateral trading partner. By 2011, China had become the largest exporter and importer by trading with 32 and 34 nations respectively (Mion & Linke p 208). The total value of Chinese exports is estimated to be $2.05 trillion.Her principal or primary export commodities include electrical and other machinery. These include data processing equipment, radio, telephone handsets, apparel and integrated circuits.  Ã‚  Export Markets Her major export second-large stong Kong, the US, Japan, Germany and South Korea. The US trades with 17.2% of the total exports (Mion & Linke p 208). Hong Kong has a statistic of 15.8% as Japan trades with 7.4% of the exports. China exports 4.3% and 3.4% of her goods to South Korea and Germany. The rest goes to other parts of the world like Africa. China exports were highest in the year 2010 for the period between 2009 and 2012 as shown in figure 2. The total value of Chinese leading import goods is $1.817 trillion.

Green Technology against Global Warming Research Paper

Green Technology against Global Warming - Research Paper Example Green Technology involves the design, operation, construction, renovation and maintenance, and even demolition. All these processes must be environmentally responsible for mitigating the effect of global warming. The green building and the technology behind it strives to reduce the effect of the built environment is having on the natural environment and human health by implementing the following; reduction of the effect of pollution, wastes,   and environmental degradation, improvement of the employees productivity, and efficient use of water, energy and other naturally available resources. The Green industry technology is being embraced by every country in the world; this is towards the concerted effort to reduce check on the global warming. The technology provides employment to any individual in the world and several firms have associated themselves with the technology. In the United States alone, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on March 2012 that the industry employs about 3.1 million employees (Rider, Glass, & McNaughton, 2011). This translated to about 2.4% of the total national employment in the nation according to the 2010 statistic in the US, the report further cited (Rider, Glass, & McNaughton, 2011). The industry contributes significantly to the environment in more than one way. The technology employs many factors in ensuring that the environment remains undisturbed and therefore fit for human and plants habitation by ensuring the following;   that there is a significant reduction in the waste that is discharged into the environment as well the pollution of the environment. The technology also prevents environmental degradation, which involves depleting resources such as water, air, and soil (Yudelson, 2007). The technology also takes care of the ecosystem and the vast flora and fauna in their various habitats. The technology ensures the ecosystem of remains stable and that the environment disadvantages no organism.

The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Essay Example for Free

The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Essay The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide is the collection of five books in one novel. A combination of clever wits and hilarity, this book is sure to let you laugh out loud. This book brings simple things into extraordinary packages (like making a fuss about a digital watch and a bath towel). The book, although written in a sharp and notable style is also full of humor.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The story is a parody, which is a form of writing that uses the conventions and rules of one form and uses them for hilarity or comic effect. It can be distinguished from satire form because satire just points out human folly and reforms them, while parody is in the style of writing itself.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the most noticeable themes in The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide is the absurdity of the story. Things in the story happen randomly without meaning or cause. Although absurdity is one of the major themes of the story, most of the random meaningless things that occur in the story actually have meanings – they are the product of the Infinite Improbability Drive on the Starship Heart of Gold. The absurdity of the themes allows the author to introduce oddities in the story. The Author   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Douglas Noel Adams, also known as Bop Ad and DNA, was an author, a radio dramatist and a musician all rolled into one. He is well known for his work, The Hitchhikers’s Guide to the Galaxy, which is a series that began on the radio, and was later on developed into a trilogy of five books, a television series, a towel, a comic book series, a computer game, and a feature film. (Douglas Adams)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Adams also wrote Doctor Who, Dirk Gently, Liff, and Last Chance to See. The idea of the computer game Starship Titanic also originated from Douglas Adams. (Douglas Adams)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Furthermore, he was also known as an environmental activist, actively participating in the campaign for the preservation and the restoration of the environment. He was also a self-described â€Å"radical atheist†, and a certified techie (he loves cars, cameras, Macintosh computers, and other gizmos). He even uses the electronic mail and the Usenet long before it was widely known. (Douglas Adams)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   He died at the age of 49 and has been an institution in the field of fantasy fandom circles and science fiction. (Douglas Adams) Characters Arthur Dent – the feeble lead character of the story who never fails to give hilarious stand-ups with his sidekick Ford Prefect Ford Prefect – a daring, researcher of the revised edition of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy who considered himself as an out of the work actor; he dragged Arthur Dent and together, they travel the galaxy using the Hitchhiker’s Guide Zaphod Beeblebrox – the totally out to lunch president of the galaxy; a two-headed, three armed ex-hippie Trillian – formerly known as Tricia Mcmillan; girlfriend of Zaphod whom Arthur tried to hook up with in one of the galaxy’s time zone Marvin – a brilliant, obsessed, and sequentially depressed robot Veet Voojagig – a graduate student who is very much obsessed with ball-point pens’ disappearance Slartibartfast – the one who told Arthur the Earth’s story Deep Thought – the extremely intelligent computer Benjy Moouse and Frankie Mouse – the mice that tried to get Arthur’s brain from him Slartibartfast – the Earth’s designer, who is very proud to receive an award for his design of the Norwegian fords   Protetnic Vogon Jeltz – the commander of the Vogon Construction Fleet; the one who assigned to demolish the Earth Eddie – the annoyingly cheerful computer on board the Heart of Gold Flook – one of the computer programmers who programmed Deep Thought Summary The story begins when Arthur Dent wakes up just to discover a bulldozer about to tear down his house because someone is planning to build a galactic freeway. He went out and lies in front of the bulldozer saying that he doesn’t know of the plans until the day before. Moments before a cosmic construction team demolish the Earth to build a galactic freeway; Arthur Dent is dragged off the planet by his daring friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the book, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. As they journey through the endless and unknowable space, they literally wreak hilarious havoc. Ford always carries with him the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, a book which contains the so-called ‘guide’ to one’s travel in the universe. In it are the words â€Å"don’t panic†, written in a â€Å"large and friendly letters†. Ford, following what is written on the book, also carries with him a large bath towel believing that it is the â€Å"most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have.† In this part of the story, we can see that the nature of things on Earth is very much universal. Meanwhile, Marvin, Zaphod Beeblebrox and his girlfriend Trillian are traveling inside a new traveling ship (Heart of Gold), stolen by Zaphod. They bumped with Arthur and Ford Prefect in the universe vacuum. Together, they journey towards a mythical planet known as Magrathea. This planet is known to construct other planets and for some reasons unknown to all of them, Zaphod wanted to visit this planet. (Zaphod forgets some things because he conditioned his two brains to do such). Finally, the Heart of Gold landed to the planet they all want to go – Magrathea. They decided to explore the place first and when they notice that the impact created by their space ship resulted to open the planet’s crust to reveal underground networks of tunnels. They decided to go inside the tunnel while leaving Arthur and Marvin behind. While inside the tunnel, they suddenly realized that the door behind them were shut and the place they are in are beginning to be filled with gas. On the other hand, while Arthur waits for the others to return, he reads the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, particularly a part where it discusses what happens to a lost biro (a ball-point pen). An elderly man named Slartibartfast suddenly appeared into the view introducing himself to Arthur. He then asked Arthur to come with him in his air car. Slartibartfast took Arthur into the place were they make luxury planets. He also told Arthur that they are now rebuilding a planet called Earth and that Earth is a custom-made luxury planet. Slartibartfast works in Norway and so he was very upset to hear that the planet was destroyed. Moreover, he was told that the original Earth was actually commissioned, and was supposedly to be run entirely by mice. But the most unacceptable fact of all is that human beings are just part of a research program. Slartibartfast then started to tell Arthur the Earth’s tale. He told him that the millions of years ago, a particular race of very intelligent creatures were all set to determine the very meaning of life. Because of this, they created an extremely intelligent computer called ‘The Deep Thought’. Two of its programmers, Lunkwill and Fook ask Deep Thought to tell them the answer to the real meaning of everything. Deep Thought then told them that in seven and a half million years, the Question will be answered. Arthur was very much awed by the story but he tells him that he really have no idea what the connection is between the Earth, the computer and the mice. Slartibartfast then invited Arthur to his study and showed him the day of the Great Answer – seven and a half million years later. Arthur was plunged into the Sens-O Tape, a kind of tape that would take you to your requested time. A lot of people were waiting for the answer when Deep Thought then revealed that the answer to their Ultimate Question of Life is the Number Forty Two. Arthur then notices that the people doesn’t like Deep Thought’s answer, and the intelligent computer, justifying himself, told them that the problem is actually not with the answer, but with the question. If the people only find out what the real question is, they would be able to understand the answer. Unfortunately for the people, Deep Thought cannot provide them with the answer, but it offered help by saying that the he will design a very intelligent computer which can give them the answer. And that computer will be called The Earth. Meanwhile, on the other side of the story, Trillian and Ford listen to Zaphod as he tries to remember what happened to his brain. He then remembered that before Yooden Vranx, the former President of the Universe died, he visit Zaphod and asked him to run for the Presidency and steal the Heart of Gold. He also told Zaphod to modify his own brain so that he will pass the Presidential Brain Screening Test (this test will show all the things the candidates are thinking). At that moment, a Magrathean man tells them that the mice are now willing to see them. Arthur and Slartibartfast, on the other hand, are contemplating about the Earth’s destruction, as well as the fact that it happened five minutes juts before the computer program was completed. A man then appeared on the view and asked Arthur to meet the mice. The mice wanted to meet him because he was on Earth the night before the destruction happened and maybe he can tell him something really important. Arthur and Slartibartfast then met up with Trillian, Ford and Zaphod at the design room. Two mice, Benjy mouse and Frankie mouse, were the mice present at the meting. The mice decided that since Arthur was on Earth five minutes before the destruction, the structure of his brain can tell them the Ultimate Question. They offer to surgically remove it for him but Arthur doesn’t want to cooperate so the mice, together with the other Margatheans went down to get Arthur’s brain. The situation was almost hopeless for Arthur and his friends when an ear splitting alarm distracts all of them. Because of this, the four travelers use the distraction to get out. But the cops from the space ship with the ear splitting sound then cornered the four travelers but they soon found themselves again so lucky when they once again escaped. After the hard-won escape, they all then decided to take a bite at a restaurant located at the very end of the universe. Analysis   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The whole story almost revolves on looking for the Ultimate Question, which is the real meaning of life. It is an inescapable fact that whatever happens, and whatever time or era or place in space it is, the question of the real meaning of life never fails to haunts us all.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The story may be simple, even comical, but that doesn’t stop it from bringing us closer to the Ultimate Question about life. Why we live, the reason why we are here, the purpose of our existence, these are just some of the questions where we will find time to look for the answer.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It was also mentioned in the story how important the great question is. Notice that the First Earth was destroyed but they still want to build another Earth for them to know what the real meaning of life is.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Notice that the story never mentioned the real answer to this question. This is because it is really close to impossible for us to know what life really is all about. It is up to each and every one of us to find the answer for ourselves.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The absurd simplicity of the answer (number 42) to the question also makes the story interesting. Just imagine if Deep Thought gave a much serious answer, it wouldn’t be as interesting as it was.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is also safe to note that the author actually uses mice as the creatures which, according to the story can control all human beings. It is an ultimate change because it is very rare, and that more often than not, human beings are always in control. Maybe it is just a representation how important every creation on Earth is. â€Å"Bureaucracy and incompetence continue to show up as a central theme alongside random, improbable coincidence. It is beginning to sound a bit like Chaos theory, which holds that order can be found in seemingly random data. One aspect of chaos theory is a phenomenon called sensitive dependence on existing conditions. The thought is that small changes in initial conditions can have drastic effects on the outcome. Douglas Adams Hitch Hiker series could be considered in some ways a humorous study of Chaos theory.†(Adams, 2005) Zaphod’s character can also remind us of today’s world leaders – leaders who do not tell their real motive of running for the position. Although his character is really kind, it is an indication that outside forces (like the former president) can turn a good leader to someone he is not. It is also interesting to note how Ford appreciates the way human beings speak of the obvious. Saying â€Å"It’s a nice day† when the weather is perfect, just says how we want to state what we often see.   It also states that a need to communicate with others is necessary because taken from what Ford said, human beings should have someone to talk to. Where they can tell what they are thinking, to show appreciation and affirmation. Furthermore, Marvin’s character (the robot) also tells us how human beings are fascinated with creating something that can help us make our lives easier. Take for example the case of the robot. Just imagine something that doesn’t sleep and doesn’t eat but can be able to do physical things an average human beings cannot do. But just like Marvin, it also tells us that robots can also make a lot of mistakes and that human beings are the ones who can really think for themselves. There is something called the Infinite Improbability Drive which is considered as the â€Å"engine† of the starship Heart of Gold. This is a representation that a lot of things in this world are improbable and we need a lot of experiences to discover the probable side of all these improbability. Another interesting part of the book is the part where it was mentioned that the loss of biro or ball-point pen brought problems in the world. Notice the comical effect of this part because instead of the starvation, hunger, or political killings, the author focused on a comical problem to create a hilarious effect on the story. It is also evident in the story how incompetence, bureaucracy and selfishness sometimes became the theme of the story. It should be noted how those who care much about finding the answer to life (the philosophers), are actually the ones who are also preventing it from coming to life. They are the ones who seem to be the happiest regarding the seven and a half million years because they will be very much benefited from this ignorance. The extraterrestrials and the aliens are also a big part of the story. The story tells us that aliens really exist and they are actually much more advance than us. It is now a question of whether we are going to believe it what the story tells us or not. According to studies, extraterrestrials are life that originated fro outside the planet earth – which is the only place in the entire universe known to support life. The existence of such life is currently hypothetical because there is not enough evidence to say that there really is life outside the earth. All in all, the story is a masterpiece, one that can touch both end of the spectrum because of its comical absurdity and hidden metaphorical meanings. Definitely a must read.   Reference: Adams, D. (2005). The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.  Ã‚   Retrieved December 04, 2006, 2006, from http://www.douglasadams.com/creations/0345391802.html

Stonehenge :: essays research papers

I. On Salisbury Plain in Southern England stands Stonehenge, the most famous of all megalithic sites. Stonehenge is unique among the monuments of the ancient world. Isolated on a windswept plain, built by a people with no written language, Stonehenge challenges our imagination. The impressive stone circle stands near the top of a gently sloping hill on Salisbury Plain about thirty miles from the English Channel. The stones are visible over the hills for a mile or two in every direction. Stonehenge is one of over fifty thousand prehistoric "megalithics" in Europe. As Stonehenge is approached, the forty giant stones seem to touch the sky. Most of the stones stand twenty-four or more feet high. Some stones weigh as much as forty tons. Others are smaller, weighing only five tons. At first glance, the stones may seem to be a natural formation. But a closer look shows that only human imagination and determination could have created Stonehenge. II. The Stonehenge today looks quite different from the Stonehenge of old. Wind and weather have destroyed a little of Stonehenge over the ages. People have destroyed much more. Today, less than half of the original stones still stand as their builders planned. Many of the once upright stones lie on their sides. Religious fanatics, who felt threatened by the mysteries posed by Stonehenge, knocked over many of the standing stones. They toppled some of the huge stones, which then split into pieces; they buried others. Other stones were "quarried" over the centuries as free building material and hauled away. Even into this century, visitors have come with hammers to carry away a chip of stone with them. III. Only in recent years have the stones been protected from the huge amounts of people that see them every year. No longer can anyone roam among the stones. Too much damage, intentional or not, has been done by the hundreds of thousands of visitors. Today, tourists are even prevented from walking between the stones for fear that the millions of footsteps every year might make the stones unstable. IV. The twelfth-century English writer and historian, Geoffrey of Monmouth, first recorded Merlin's building of Stonehenge in his famous book History of the Kings of Britain. Geoffrey claimed that his book was a translation of "a certain very ancient book written in the British language." However, no other scholar or historian knows of the existence of such a book. According to Geoffrey, the great stones were brought from Ireland to England to mark the burial place of a group of slain British princes.

Elizabeth Costello in J.M Coetzee’s in relation to the theme of Kafka’s works Essay

Elizabeth Costello is a humane, ethical and uncompromising creation of Coetzee. In Coetzee’s book The Lives of Animals, Costello is used to describe her dislike and rejection of the rationality of the criteria justifying the unequal treatment of animals. Costello claims that the purpose of the book is to clarify that to differentiate beings with regard of their species is a form of discrimination, indefensible and immoral. Costello also maintains that she had chosen the path not because she was not aware of the crucial kind of thoughts and sentiments of respect regarding other creatures, but because the reason was more universal and compelling to appeal. Costello maintains though she admired those who eliminated speciesism form their lives due to their compassionate regard for other creatures she did not believe a pressure to empathy and good-heartedness only would prove to majority of the people into the wrongness of speciesism. Nevertheless, the messages Costello portrays are not from the invisible world although from the invisible of this world most cases the voiceless like animals that she can access by imagination. She is not worried with other earthly, disembodied voices, although this-worldly, embodied and embedded voices, dead or alive perpetrators fictional or historical. The human critics such as Costello are opposed to the authority of the world of other world as he is to the powers of this world. Costello proclaims that there is not any salvation to be brought into being in an afterlife in immortality. Costello is midwife not to immortal Forms, although a mortal voices and to being of the voices. The power of imagination stays not only in its potential to stir up and listen to other voices and to enter into speaking for other including for the voiceless but also use narrative to depiction literature in the particular work of narrative that rationally is divine spark that raises mankind above the rest of nature therefore in showing our continuity with animal-kind which allows us to regain our death, our humanity and imperfectness. The similarities between Costello and Socrates are outstanding, and are more striking than their differences. Similar to Socrates, Costello attempts to prompt persons to realize their humanity, to open their hearts, to the anguish of animals. Costello just like Socrates is faced by unfairness, which in her case is the discrimination of specialism, which she attempts to dispel with counter-illusions. â€Å"What does one choose the side of justice when it is not in one’s material interest to? The magistrates give the rather Platonic answer: because we are born with the idea of justice. † (Paola, et al. , 95). In The Lives of Animals the disregarded has come to take account of non-human animals. Costello is convinced that there is a crime regarding animals as stupid that is perpetrated towards animals. Costello challenge is to attempt to extend justice to animals especially to those that resemble humans. In Socrates, Plato’s mouthpiece in the Republic, spends the whole discussion arguing for justice suggesting that it is better to live rightly and show to be unjust than being unjust with all material rewards that come by and yet show to be just, Costello ends her speech by saying that proof points in the opposite direction and that individuals can do anything and get away with it that there is no reprimand. In The Poets and the Animals Costello disapproves the ecological approach to animals suggested by Plato since Plato’s perception implies that only human beings can understand the position of living things in the entire picture of natural world and as a result solely have the right to manage animal populations not including human population. Therefore (Paola, et al. , 102), might have valid point which is that a person should not enforce principled vegetarianism on a society but its misdirected as a disapproval of the position of Costello since she had gone to the great lengths to disapprove reason as decisive criterion of moral worth and as an only means to live an ethical life. Costello maintains that it is not right to construe the animal rights movement like imposing vegetarianism upon free citizens. Instead it appears as protecting the interests and the rights of nonhuman animals, guarding animals form exploitation, though this might as well lead to outlawing the eating of meat. Nevertheless, is clear that just as Coetzee distrusts commitment to moral principles he is suspicious of certain notions of justice. Coetzee and Costello’s aim is to alter the heart of individuals through feeling, friction and compassionate imagination instead of enforcing a large-scale utopian changing of society as purportedly stated by reason. Costello is perceived as arrogantly superior and as heralding a foreign set of values that of fighting for animal rights in opposition to blindly anthropocentric culture, and both individuals made numerous enemies by courageously inquiring the prejudices of the people around them. The arrogance of Costello can be demonstrated by certain members his audience anger having their discrimination and lack of knowledge exposed. In addition, Costello seems to be earnestly attempting to break through the shadows of ignorance and prejudice with the light of her imaginative sympathy and is ready to admit that she dose not understand that she could be correct â€Å"Am I fantasizing it all? I must be mad! † (Derek, 69). Costello might be ironically aware that some of her images might be imaginative for example when she gives anthropomorphic feelings to ape, Sultan: â€Å"In his deepest being Sultan is not interested in the banana problem. Only the experimenter’s single-minded regimentation compels him on it. The question that truly occupies him, as it occupies a rat and the cat and other animal trapped in hell f the laboratory or the zoo, is: where is home, and how do I get there? † (Stephen, 69). Costello was attempting to get her audience to think, feel and imagine that in new ways about something persons do not care to regard at all, specifically their use and abuse of animals: certainly she desires people to imagine how it would experience in the place of an exploited animal a state of powerlessness. Costello believes the mission will awaken individuals form their assertive sleep. Costello does not attempt to reject the reason for the infallibility and its assertion to make a distinction between animals and human beings and therefore doe not give good reason for the exploitation of animals. In The Lives of Animals, Coetzee portrays Costello as a Socrates figure. The analysis starts with â€Å"What is Realism? † since it was first in 1997, prior to its publishing in Elizabeth Costello in 2003. The Socratic and Platonic ideologies are clearly evident in this story strengthens the contention that Costello plays a role as Socratic figure in The Lives of Animals. Certainly, Coetzee refers to this story in his fist foot note of The Lives of Animals therefore further sustaining this perspective. In â€Å"What is Realism? † Platonic ideas are crucial to the story. Even though Coetzee keeps interrupting his realist mode and drawing attention to the fact that it is an undertaking therefore suggesting that realism and certainly all fiction deals with imaginations and there are times the power of fiction to attain immortality is asserted though always ironical. The depiction to the monkeys echoes Costello’s discussion of Kafka’s ape, suggesting that artistic creation is what differentiates humans from other animals. The story of Socrates might also illuminate other features of Elizabeth Costello, as described in The Lives of Animals, namely her reference to her embodiedness and her mortality. A similar relationship takes place between Costello and Coetzee, and in spite of his undeniable intellectual contributions as a public thinker, Coetzee remains retiring and an imaginary figure. On the other hand Costello is depicted as heavily embodied throughout Elizabeth Costello and The Lives of Animals. Behind every dialogue of Plato Socrates emerges and there is a consciousness of the fact that Socrates will be executed by the Athenian democracy for impiety and corruption of the youth. The same feeling of Costello’s mortality, together with a declining sense of desire, accompanies all Coetzee’s works in which he is featured. Therefore when Costello cannot be regarded as a martyr for her beliefs as did the Socrates there is nevertheless a feeing in which she is dying for her beliefs. Costello’s own mortality and feeling of her mortality heightens her compassion for animals that are being bred in numerous numbers and when still healthy and young are being exploited for experimentation, hunting testing and slaughter. â€Å"After a long flight, Costello is looking at her age. She has never taken care of her appearance; she used to be able to get away with it; now it shows. Old and tired. † (Stephen, 3). These illustrations continue in the beginning of the first paragraph of The Lives of Animals: He is waiting at the gate when her flight comes in. Two years have passed since he last saw his mother; despite himself, he is shocked at how she has aged. Her hair, which had had sneaks of gray in it, now was entirely white; her shoulders stoop; her flesh has grown flabby. In Costello’s speeches death is recurrent topic, in a sense The Lives of Animals reads like a memento mori for Coetzee himself. John (Costello’s son) guesses that his mother was about to talk about death. John dose not enjoy Costello talking about death and in addition her audience who majority consists of young people do not want any talks regarding death. Costello goes ahead in comparing the mass killing of animals in abattoirs to the mass killings of Jews in Nazi death camps. All through her speech, Costello talk about and describes the Nazi death camps and she returns to discuss death while talking about Nagel’s bat-being. â€Å"What I know is what a corpse does not know: that it is extinct, that it knows nothing and will never know anything more. For an instant, before my whole structure of knowledge collapses in panic, I am alive inside that contradiction, dead and alive at the same time. † (Derek, 32). Costello’s talk about lives of animals can be more or less lessened to her own solitude, seclusion and awareness of her own human mortality and all that she required was compassionate interaction with other human beings. In Slow man Costello is illustrated as returning rejuvenated. In The Lives of Animals, when Costello starts her conversation, she returns to her use of Kafka earlier in another speech, â€Å"What is Realism? † in which she identifies with Kafka’s ape, Red Peter. In both cases Costello points her similarity with Red Peter in that they are both salaried entertainers performing before a literate audience. Afterwards in her speech, Costello returns again to Kafka, and uses the terminologyâ€Å" amanuensis† two times with reference to the association between Kafka and his imaginative creation, the ape Red Peter (Franz, 35). The meaning of â€Å"amanuensis† is a person employed to take dictation or to copy manuscripts. The use of the phrase is not usual since it implies that Kafka the author took dictation from Red Peters in his imaginative creation. The same case applies in the relation between the writer Coetzee and Costello his imaginative creation. In the two cases, the normal causal association between the author and the character, creature and creator is interchanged. Costello and Red Peters are used by the authors as creatures that have an artistic reliability, a life of their own, which the authors have represented faithfully. The authors have respected the individual beings and voices of these creations. The two creations are required to come across as living animals and not just the ideal of animals. In â€Å"What is Realism? † Costello disputes that the greatness of Kafka is that Kafka stays awake during the gaps when people are sleeping. † WORKS CITED Derek, Attridge, J. M. Coetzee and the Ethics of Reading: Literature in the Event. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 2004. Stephen, Mulhall, The Wounded Animal: J. M. Coetzee & the Difficulty of Reality in Literature and Philosophy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008. Paola, et al. , The Death of the Animal: A Dialogue, New York: Columbia University Press: 2009. Franz, Kafka, The Diaries of Franz Kafka 1910–23 . London: Vintage, 1999.

Stage Beauty

Stage Beauty â€Å"Stage Beauty† explores the boundaries between reality and performance. It’s the 1660s, and Edward ‘Ned’ Kynaston is England’s most celebrated leading lady. Women are forbidden to appear on stage and Ned profits, using his beauty and skill to make the great female roles his own. But King Charles II is tired of seeing the same old performers in the same old tragedies. Since no one will take him up on his suggestion to improve Othello with a couple of good jokes, he decides to lift the royal palate by allowing real women to tread the boards. In a slightly less progressive spirit, he rules that men may no longer play women’s parts. I find it hilarious, that such a prudish society who are against homosexuality and such things as women acting, will find it ok to have a bunch of men pretending to be women and having, well not physical love scenes, but professing romantic poetry to other men. The film, is really about two things at once: The craft of acting, and the bafflement of love. It must be said that Ned is not a very convincing woman onstage although he is pretty enough; he plays a woman as a man would play a woman, lacking the natural ease of a woman born to a role. Curiously, when Maria takes over his roles, she also copies his gestures, playing a woman as a woman might play a man playing a woman. Only gradually does she relax into herself. â€Å"I've always hated your Desdemona,† she confesses to Ned. â€Å"You never fight, you only die. † Ned is most comfortable playing a woman both onstage and off. But is he gay? The question doesn’t precisely occur in that form, since in those days gender lines were not rigidly enforced, and heterosexuals sometimes indulged their genitals in a U-turn. Certainly Ned has inspired the love of Maria his dresser, who envies his art while she lusts for his body. We see her backstage during one of Ned’s rehearsals, mouthing every line and mimicking every gesture; she could play Desdemona herself, and indeed she does one night, in an illicit secret theater, even borrowing Ned’s costumes. It is a cruel blow when he finds fame and employment taken from him in an instant, and awarded to Maria. Yet Maria still has feelings for Ned, and rescues him from a bawdy music hall to spirit him off to the country — where their lovemaking has the urgency of a first driving lesson. The movie lacks the effortless charm of many of the movies that I saw like O, and Shakespeare in Love and its canvas is somewhat less alive with background characters and details. But it has a poignancy that â€Å"Shakespeare† lacks, because it is about a real dilemma and two people who are trying to solve it. The London of the time is fragrantly evoked, as horses attend to their needs regardless of whose carriage they are drawing, and bathing seems a novelty. I wonder if the court of Charles II was quite as Monty Pythonesque as the movie has it, and if Nell Gwynn was quite such a bold wench, but the details involving life in the theater feel real, especially in scenes about the fragility of an actor's ego. Poor Ned. â€Å"She's a star,† the theater owner Thomas Betterton tells Ned about Maria. â€Å"She did what she did first; you did what you did last. â€Å"

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder In Children

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder In Children Free Online Research Papers Post-traumatic stress disorder, also known as PTSD, is among only a few mental disorders that are triggered by a disturbing outside event, quite unlike other psychiatric disorders such as depression. Many Americans experience individual traumatic events ranging from car and airplane accidents to sexual assault and domestic violence. Other experiences, including those associated with natural disasters, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and tornadoes, affect multiple people simultaneously. Dramatic and tragic events, like the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, and wars occur, and with media exposure such as we have today, even people not directly involved might be affected. Simply put, PTSD is a state in which you cant stop remembering. (WebMD) Some may think children are not affected by PTSD as adults are. This is not the case. Children are exposed to a wide variety of stressors such as: physical or sexual abuse, violence such as, shootings, national tragedies, or violence in the home, a severe accident, or natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, or tornados. PTSD can also occur in any age group. A child’s risk of developing PTSD after a traumatic event depends on several factors, some of which being: how many times the event occurs, how close the child was to the event, family and friends’ reactions to the event, how severe the trauma is and how close the child is to the victims. While the occurrence of PTSD in children following exposure to injuries and disasters varies, exposure to earthquakes and hurricanes caused the most frequent occurrences of PTSD in children. This may indicate that children experience a higher level of distress following exposure to natural disasters than following exposure to traffic accidents and injuries. Children who survive natural disasters may witness more injury and death to family and community members, destruction of their community, and adult distress than children exposed to car accidents and injuries, and these factors may contribute to the higher rates of PTSD. Children exposed to war may be at high risk for developing PTSD. Variables that may affect the occurrence and severity of PTSD in children exposed to war include proximity to the warfare; time elapsed since the war occurred and assessment of symptoms, duration of the war, and age of children. Studies of children exposed to physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect , hostage situations, and family and community violence found the occurrence of PTSD to be between 22% and 50%. However, a few studies found the occurrence of PTSD to be 100% by clinician interview among children following kidnapping or the witnessing of physical or sexual assault to murder of a parent. A few studies have assessed children’s psychological sequelae following school shootings. Pynoos et al. (1987) observed the occurrence of acute PTSD to be highest (77%) among the 35 children who witnessed a sniper attack on the playground. Acute PTSD also was observed in 67% of the 18 children inside the school, 26% of the 43 children not at school, and 18% of the 63 children on vacation. Sixty percent continued to meet full PTSD criteria 1 year after the attack. Knowing the deceased child and proximity to the attack were associated with PTSD symptoms. Proximity to trauma also was associated with severity of PTSD symptoms in several other studies of children. (Barbara J onker, 2003, pp. 46-47) The symptoms of PTSD may begin right after the event occurs, but they may not be noticeable until months later. When the trauma is a series of ongoing events, such as physical or sexual abuse, the symptoms will worsen over time. Following the trauma, children may initially show agitated or confused behavior. They also may show intense fear, helplessness, anger, sadness, horror or denial. Children who experience repeated trauma may develop a kind of emotional numbing to deaden or block the pain and trauma. This is called dissociation. Children with PTSD avoid situations or places that remind them of the trauma. They may also become less responsive emotionally, depressed, withdrawn, and more detached from their feelings. A child with PTSD may also re-experience the traumatic event by: having frequent memories of the event, or in young children, play in which some or all of the trauma is repeated over and over, having upsetting and frightening dreams, acting or feeling like the exp erience is happening again, and/or developing repeated physical or emotional symptoms when the child is reminded of the event. Children with PTSD may also show the following symptoms: worry about dying at an early age, losing interest in activities, having physical symptoms such as headaches and stomachaches, showing more sudden and extreme emotional reactions, having problems falling or staying asleep, showing irritability or angry outbursts, having problems concentrating, acting younger than their age (for example, clingy or whiny behavior, thumb sucking), showing increased alertness to the environment, and repeating behavior that reminds them of the trauma (American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, 1999). PTSD is not usually diagnosed until at least one month has passed since the traumatic event since symptoms usually develop within the first three months after the trauma has occurred. An anxiety disorder that lasts for less than one month is termed â€Å"acute stress disorder†. Before a diagnosis of PTSD can be made symptoms must significantly disrupt the patient’s lifestyle and last for more than one month. Children that exhibit symptoms of PTSD also demonstrate concurrent ADHD, anxiety disorders, and mood disorders. Borderline personality disorder is also linked to PTSD. A wide range of psychotherapeutic and educational techniques have been proved successful in alleviating the PTSD symptoms and distress experienced by children who have been sexually abused. Individual psychoanalytically oriented play therapy and psychotherapy have been used effectively with youngsters who have been sexually abused, as well as group therapy, whereas family treatment modalities have been used with some families that are dysfunctional and abusive According to Yule (1989), group counseling affords the opportunity to reinforce the normative nature of the childrens reactions and recovery, to share mutual concerns and traumatic reminders, to address common fears and avoidant behavior, to increase tolerance for disturbing affects, to provide early attention to depressive reactions, and to aid recovery through age-appropriate and situation-specific problem solving. Ultimately, the clinician must help the child to see that his or her pathological defenses, personality traits, and distorted object relations that have served to master the abusive experience and to control or ward off further assault are not serving him or her in non-traumatic, non-abusive environments. This can only be accomplished when the counselor helps the child to link these PTSD symptoms and defenses back to the original traumatic experiences, which are uncovered, remembered, refrained, and assimilated in the safety of the counseling setting. Family therapy, when warranted, can also help the family understand the manifestations of the symptomatology of PTSD, the meaning the child has attached to the abuse experience, and how to effectively intervene to help the child return to a healthy level of functioning (Putman, 2009). Research shows that cognitive-behavioral therapy is most effective on PTSD and other anxiety related disorders; however most mental health practitioners use other therapies for children and teens. Children with these types of psychological issues tend to do poorly in school if they are inadequately treated or go untreated. Other behavioral therapies are also useful. Gradual exposure therapy teaches the child to stay relaxed while being exposed to situations that remind him or her of the trauma. Family therapy may also be helpful. Family therapy treats the whole family rather than just the child. Children often feel very supported when parents and siblings attend therapy with them and work as a group. Medicines are sometimes needed when the symptoms are very severe. Medicines may help reduce symptoms of being scared and having flashbacks. Regardless of what types of treatments are used, it is important for any child suspected of having an anxiety disorder to receive professional m edical and psychological treatment on a regular basis. American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry. (1999, October). Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), 70. Retrieved November 22, 2009, from www.aacap.org: aacap.org/cs/root/facts_for_families/posttraumatic_stress_disorder_ptsd Barbara Jonker, M. R. (2003). Acute Stress Disorder in Children Related to Violence. (Poster, Ed.) Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 16 (2), 41-51. Gayle Zieman, P. (2008, November). Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children and teens. Retrieved November 2009, from Health and Wellness Resource Center: northeaststate.edu:2069/servlet/HWRC/hits?r=dtext3=text2=rlt=1bucket=reftext1=A189489683n=10l=dindex3=index2=index1=RNtcit=1_0_0_0_0_0c=1docNum=A189489683locID=tel_a_nestccsecondary=falses=11 Putman, S. E. (2009, Winter). The monsters in my head posttraumatic stress disorder and the child survivor of sexual abuse. Retrieved November 20, 2009, from Health Reference Center Academic Infotrac: northeaststate.edu:2053/gtx/retrieve.do?contentSet=IAC- DocumentsresultListType=RESULT_LISTqrySerId=Locale%28en%2C%2C%29%3 AFQE%3D%28SU%2CNone%2C32%29%22post- traumatic+stress+disorder%22%3AAnd%3AFQE%3D%28TX%2CNone%2C9%29treat ment%3AAnd%3AFQE%3D WebMD. (n.d.). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Retrieved November 21, 2009, from www.webmd.com: webmd.com/mental-health/post-traumatic-stress-disorder Research Papers on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder In ChildrenEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoGenetic EngineeringHip-Hop is ArtCapital PunishmentMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever Product

Code Switching Definition and Examples in Language

Code Switching Definition and Examples in Language Code switching (also code-switching, CS) is the practice of moving back and forth between two languages  or between two dialects or registers of the same language at one time. Code switching  occurs far more often in  conversation  than in  writing. It is also called code-mixing and style-shifting.  It is studied by linguists to examine when people do it, such as under what circumstances do bilingual speakers switch from one to another, and it is studied by sociologists to determine why people do it, such as how it relates to their belonging to a group or the surrounding context of the conversation (casual, professional, etc.) Examples and Observations Code-switching performs several functions (Zentella, 1985). First, people may use code-switching to hide fluency or memory problems in the second language (but this accounts for about only 10 percent of code switches). Second, code-switching is used to mark switching from informal situations (using native languages) to formal situations (using the second language). Third, code-switching is used to exert control, especially between parents and children. Fourth, code-switching is used to align speakers with others in specific situations (e.g., defining oneself as a member of an ethnic group). Code-switching also functions to announce specific identities, create certain meanings, and facilitate particular interpersonal relationships (Johnson, 2000, p. 184). (William B. Gudykunst, Bridging Differences: Effective Intergroup Communication, 4th ed. Sage, 2004)In a relatively small Puerto Rican neighborhood in New Jersey, some members freely used code-switching styles and extreme forms of bo rrowing both in everyday casual talk and in more formal gatherings. Other local residents were careful to speak only Spanish with a minimum of loans on formal occasions, reserving code-switching styles for informal talk. Others again spoke mainly English, using Spanish or code-switching styles only with small children or with neighbors. (John J. Gumperz and Jenny Cook-Gumperz, Introduction: Language and the Communication of Social Identity. Language and Social Identity. Cambridge University Press, 1982) African-American Vernacular English and Standard American English It is common to find references to black speakers who code switch between AAVE [African-American Vernacular English] and SAE [Standard American English] in the presence of whites or others speaking SAE. In employment interviews (Hopper WIlliams, 1973; Akinnaso Ajirotutu, 1982), formal education in a range of settings (Smitherman, 2000), legal discourse (Garner Rubin, 1986), and various other contexts, it is advantageous for blacks to have code-switching competence. For a black person who can switch from AAVE to SAE in the presence of others who are speaking SAE, code switching is a skill that holds benefits in relation to the way success is often measured in institutional and professional settings. However, there are more dimensions to code switching than the black/white patterns in institutional settings. (George B. Ray, Language and Interracial Communication in the United States: Speaking in Black and White. Peter Lang, 2009) A Fuzzy-Edged Concept The tendency to reify code switching as a unitary and clearly identifiable phenomenon has been questioned by [Penelope] Gardner-Chloros (1995: 70), who prefers to view code switching as a fuzzy-edged concept. For her, the conventional view of code switching implies that speakers make binary choices, operating in one code or the other at any given time, when in fact code switching overlaps with other kinds of bilingual mixture, and the boundaries between them are difficult to establish. Moreover, it is often impossible to categorize the two codes involved in code switching as discrete and isolatable. (Donald Winford, An Introduction to Contact Linguistics. Wiley-Blackwell, 2003) Code Switching and Language Change The role of CS, along with other symptoms of contact, in language change is still a matter of discussion. ... On the one hand, the relationship between contact and language change is now generally acknowledged: few espouse the traditional view that change follows universal, language-internal principles such as simplification, and takes place in the absence of contact with other varieties (James Milroy 1998). On the other hand, ... some researchers still downplay the role of CS in change, and contrast it with borrowing, which is seen as a form of convergence. (Penelope Gardner-Chloros, Contact and Code-Switching. The Handbook of Language Contact, ed. by Raymond Hickey. Blackwell, 2010)

The Major Source of Competition for Best Buy Research Paper - 2

The Major Source of Competition for Best Buy - Research Paper Example Best Buy faces competition from brick and mortar retailers such as Walt-Mart, GameStop, Radio Shack, and other 2nd tier competitors. Walt-Mart is the biggest threat to the company. This company is the largest retailer in the world with revenues of $405 billion. The company has greater buying power than Best Buy which provides with the ability to achieve greater economies of scale. Economies of scale can be defined as the reduction in long-run average and marginal costs arising from an increase in the size of an operating unit (Businessdictionary). Walt-Mart has been focusing more on growing its consumer electrics business. The firm now sales game consoles and games, smartphones, and laptop computers. GameStop also competes directly with Best Buy. The organization is the industry leader in the sale of video games. Its market share in the video game industry surpasses 40%. The firm has over 6,000 stores located across the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia. The main advantage that GameStop has over Best Buy is the number of locations since Best Buy only has 1,023 stores. A third major competitor of the company is Radio Shark with 4,423 stores and overall revenues of $4 billion. Radio Shark does compete well with Best Buy in audio and video components, but customers prefer Best Buy for larger purchases. There are a variety of 2nd tier stores that also compete against Best Buy including Costco, BJ's, HH Gregg, and Ultimate Electronics. The second major source of competition for Best Buy is online retailers. Online retail sales in the United States are on the rise. In 2013 online retail sales in the United States total $395.3 billion.