Hedges in Linguistics

The definitions of Hedges by various Linguists According to Nikula (1997, p.188), hedging is a technique in communication which speakers employ in their utterances to ‘soften’ their magnitude of their speeches. The approach aims at enhancing agreement between the speaker and the listeners. In short, he suggests that it helps to bring the hearers and the speakers to the same levels and enhance understanding and acceptability.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Hedges in Linguistics specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Hedging applies most in situations that deal with criticism. The approach therefore, acts as a tool to cool down the tempers of the hearers by making them accept the speaker’s views. Hedging can act a substitute to politeness or a means in which the speaker uses his utterances consciously in order to find acceptability thereby avoiding any negative perception from his/her listeners. Lako ff (1972, p.195) refers the strategy as ‘face’ which he uses to mean, â€Å"Making things less fuzzy.† The original application of the word hedging meant â€Å"expressions, which show some words modifying others like ‘sort of’, ‘kind of’† (Markkanen Schroder 1997, p.4) among others. A good example is â€Å"a cat is kind of a cheetah family species†. The illustration shows how the use of hedge changes the affiliation that exists between a cat and a cheetah. Clemen (1997, p.238) criticizes Lakoff of basing on logical relationships in his use of words and some semantic hedging facets by not putting in mind the context as one of the most imperative aspect in giving hedges their outright meaning rather than viewing them as self-determining lexical. Other people have seconded the idea of Lakoff asserting that the techniques employed in almost all languages seems often used by various speakers in their conversations. Furthermore, other linguists have used the foundation of Lakoff to build on the idea of hedging for instance, Mauranen (2004, p.173) who views hedging â€Å"†¦ as pragmatic apart from its semantic phenomenon.† He asserts that hedges not only convey semantic phenomenon but also contribute to pragmatic strategies like alleviation and courtesy in a communication process. Hedges also refer to elements in relations that link the slit between the writer’s versions and the information found in the text. Hedges therefore â€Å"†¦contribute in terms of semantics to statements they feature† (Lyons 1977, p.196).Advertising Looking for essay on linguistics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More On the other hand, hedges act as devices in linguistics that alter the archetypal words or items for example, â€Å"a lion is a kind of animal† (Coates 1987, p.21). Hedges play a very crucial role for instance enhancing relation ships. Functions of Hedges Hedges Soften Face-Threatening Acts Hedging serves a variety of functions in the linguistic aspects of the day-to-day interactions. Markkanen and Schroder (1989, p.89), provides a lengthy discussion of some of the functions hedges plays. One of the functions of hedges is that they soften face threatening acts when it comes to disparagement, complains or suggestions. For instance, a speaker may use them in his/her speech to suggest an idea in a different manner thereby fostering consensus and avoiding any kind of disagreement between him/her and the listeners. For instance, the speaker will employ words like ‘i’m sorry to have hurt you’ or ‘forgive me for disturbing you’ among others. Therefore, through the employment of hedges, the speaker will create these relationships of mutual by making his or her utterances less strong. Hedges Specify the Speaker’s Communication Approach Furthermore, the use of hedges functions to make the speaker’s communication approach specific for instance, a statement like ‘would you mind coming tomorrow?’ A speaker may address about an event or a topic, which he/she does not agree. As a result, he/she might employ hedges to hide his/her true position. Therefore, he/she will employ these hedges to fit into the shoes of the listeners to hide his/her feeling and opinions about the topic. Therefore, the strategy assists him to avoid contradictions and doubt among his listeners. Hedges play an ‘Illocutionary Force’ Function â€Å"†¦hedges play a function of ‘illocutionary force’ encoded in some particles which constitute to frequently used words but which do not appear in dictionaries and given little attention in their use or study or language† (Brown Levinson 1987, p.89). These words feature in the spoken words of speakers and therefore adapt to level his/her words thereby avoiding the aforementioned face threat ening acts. Statements like ‘I’m kind of busy’ or ‘I feel some sort of sick’ illustrate this function. Hedges specify quality and relevance Other hedges specifically address relevance, prices, quality, manner maxims, and quantity among others. They also postulate that hedges achieve politeness function for example words like, ‘honest enough’, ‘frankly’ among others. Likewise, Clemen (1997, p.32) comment on hedge â€Å"as captivating and refreshing. To him, hedges are phrases or words that weaken or soften the force in the way of saying a certain idea†.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Hedges in Linguistics specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Example is words like â€Å"any chance†, â€Å"sort of† among other. According to Carter, hedges are used to present different impressions like uncertainty or used to qualify the already spoken words like, â€Å"well,† â€Å"sorted,† â€Å"kind of†. Other uses include different description of maxim of quality and enhancing communication like use of words like â€Å"I feel,† â€Å"I guess†. They also used to bring the speaker and the listener to a common mind set of sharing or point of view through use of terms like â€Å"you know†, â€Å"is it true?† According to Clemen (1997, p.47), hedges perform the function of caution, engagement, background, requesting, reproving as well as stating. Use of hedges serves to avoid making unnecessary conclusions and assertions thereby providing a solution by filling gaps that may result if an earlier intended task goes contrary to the projected plans. Hedges indicate some level of uncertainty Hedges also play a function of indicating some doubt when speakers use them especially in addressing technical issues (Lyons 1977, p.797) or to soften their utterances to ensure acceptance (Nikula 1997, p. 188) viewed as personal politeness functions of hedging. Therefore, hedging has found prominence in most of the third world countries as leaders use it to tone down their positions and view as people continue to witness bad leadership. Since they seem aware of how the people doubt their powers, they often employ words like ‘well’, ‘kind of’ and ‘sorter’ among others to accommodate the doubt. Hedging acts as a way of achieving preciseness where as speakers do not wish the hearers to know the true or their real positions. Hedging does not provide cover to an assertion but need to be treated as a rational for interpersonal strategy whereby it should seek to ensure that relationship between the writer and reader is established. Some statements arouse different meaning to their readers for instance; â€Å"it is important to think before making a decision†¦appropriate insights into the benefits should have been looked up before making up the de cision† (Brown and Levinson 1987, p.94). This could imply ingenuity and uncertainty on the part of the speaker or reflect polite and diplomatic disagreement.Advertising Looking for essay on linguistics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Hedging therefore, falls on the category of negative politeness through its disconnection of speaker by distancing them away from the contents they make; it makes the conversation fuzzier. On the other hand, hedging softens a criticism making the listeners take in whatever the speaker says easily. As we have seen, functions of hedging can often overlap (Mauranen 2004, p.176) an approach adopted by Markkanen and Luukka (1997, p.168) who in their point of view, see hedging as a mega strategy with sub strategies. Various linguists have suggested a number of hedges. Various types of Hedges As the researchers continue to engage in their work, attempts to reclassify the traditional meaning of hedges into various approaches have emerged. Prince (1982, p.2) has suggested subdivision of hedges into various categories. One of the categories is the approximators, which hold a semantic purpose, shields as those serving a pragmatic role. In addition, diffusers serve as another class of hedges. D iffusers play a function of providing a broader view of an aspect by making it look even more appealing. He further suggests understatements and hedges while others like Hyland (1998, p. 23) analyzed in detail the functions of hedges and later distinguished between alleviation and equivocation. Other categories of hedging include the employment of ‘modal auxiliary verbs’, which seem the most widely used in the contemporary English based on their modernity. It includes expressions such as could, can, would and many others. Modal lexical verbs commonly known as speech act verbs are also a way of hedging. They serve in performing actions involving doubts, and evaluation as opposed to description. They include words like â€Å"to seem,† â€Å"to tend† among others. Adjective, adverb and nominal modal phrases like possible, nouns like claim adverbs like â€Å"likely† among others too function as hedges. Other categories include approximators of quantity, frequency; degree and time like ‘often’, occasionally, ‘lot of’ among others. Introductory phrases used include; â€Å"we acknowledge,† â€Å"we feel that†. All these show a sense of belonging and association and therefore bring the speaker and the listener closer. â€Å"If clauses† are also an example of or a type of hedges mostly used. They include statements like, if anything, among others. Speakers also use compound hedges. This type of hedges take up several hedges including those consisting of modal auxiliary in conjunction with lexical verb combined with hedge content. Example is â€Å"it could appear†. Other types of compound hedge includes those of lexical verb like ‘then’ and the hedging adverb or adjective, like, â€Å"It looks probable† among many others. Reference List Brown, P., Levinson, C., 1987. Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Clemen, G., 1997. The Concept of Hedging: Origins, Approaches and Definitions.  Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. Coates, J., 1987. Epistemic Modality and Spoken Discourse. Transactions of the Philological Society, 85 (2): pp. 100 – 131. Hyland, K., 1998. Hedging in Scientific Research Articles. Amsterdam: John Benjamin’s Publishing Company. Lakoff, G., 1972. Hedges: A Study of Meaning Criteria and the Logic of Fuzzy Concepts. Chicago: Chicago University Press. Lyons, J., 1977. Semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Markkanen, R. Schroder, H., 1989. Hedging as a Translation Problem in Scientific Texts.  Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Markkanen, R. Schroder, H., 1997. Hedging and Discourse: Approaches to the  Analysis of a Pragmatic Phenomenon in Academic Texts. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Markkanen, R., Luukka, M., 1997. Impersonalization as a Form of Hedging. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. 168 – 187. Mauranen, A., 1997. Hedging in Language Revisers’ H ands. Chicago: Chicago University Press. Nikula, T., 1997. Inter-Language View on Hedging. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. Prince, E., 1982. On Hedging in Physician-Physician Discourse. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. This essay on Hedges in Linguistics was written and submitted by user Brielle L. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Reacting to Injustice

Reacting to Injustice Free Online Research Papers HOW DO PEOPLE REACT TO THE INJUSTICES THEY HAVE BEEN VICTIMS OF? Different people react to different injustices in different ways. Some react suddenly without thinking, others react while thinking of the consequences, while still others accept the facts and submit to them. VIOLENT AND ANGRY REACTIONS: In this book, some people react violently, without thinking of the consequences of neither that reaction nor whom they are reacting to. Uncle Hammer is one of them. We can see that when Cassie comes home from Strawberry and tells Uncle Hammer that Mr. Simms threw her off the side-walk, at hearing this, Uncle Hammer becomes really angry and starts towards the Simms house to get revenge. He takes that action without even thinking of the consequences, he becomes emotional and acts under his emotions. He is not wise or calm. Another example is Little Man in the part where he gets his new book and when he reads the inside cover of it, he throws it on the floor and stomps on it. This was an angry and violent reaction to the name, ‘nigger’, which the whites called him and all the blacks. Some people react angrily, saying what they think is right on the white’s faces, like Cassie does in the store in Strawberry. She tells Mr. Barnett that he was ‘â€Å"waiting on them† ’ before he was on the white girl, and that ‘it ain’t fair† to serve the white girl when ‘â€Å"We been waiting on you for near an hour.†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢. She states the facts without understanding and realising the difference the whites make between themselves and the blacks. Moreover she answers back without hesitating and without knowing or thinking what this answer or this reaction might cost her. Mr. Morrison is another example of angry reactions, when we find out that he had a fight with a white on the railways, and because of which he was fired. WISE AND CALM REACTIONS: However, other people in this story react quite differently. Papa, for example, reacts wisely and calmly, always thinking of the consequences. He fights back, but not in a violent or aggressive way. He says to Cassie that ‘â€Å" there’ll be a whole lot of things you ain’t gonna wanna do but you’ll have to dojust so you can survive.’† But he tells her that; on the other hand, ‘â€Å"there are things you can’t back down on, things you gotta take a stand on.†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ From this we can note that Papa rebels, but silently and calmly. He doesn’t allow his emotions to take the better of him. We see that when he stops going to the Wallace’s store and instead goes to Vicksburg. Another example is Stacey where he gets revenge on the bus driver for splashing them with dirty water and the white children inside who always laughed and jeered at them. He and the others dig a pit in the middle of the road where later the bus falls. Stacey gets his revenge; he rebels, but silently and wisely. He doesn’t do it openly or aggressively. There is Mama too; who fights for her rights and stands up to what she believes is right by not teaching the things that are written in the books. She rebels openly but wisely and in a well thought out way. When she is fired from her job, she is angry but she doesn’t show her anger or use violence to express it. REACTIONS OF SUBMISSION: Unlike the ones mentioned above, who in one way or the other rebel and fight for their rights, there are still some who accept the facts and submit to them. Here we have the example of Big Ma, who doesn’t fight back and accepts the fact that they are blacks and that they are inferior to the whites, the way the whites put it. For instance, when she is in Strawberry and Mr. Simms orders Cassie to apologize, despite Cassie’s protests and hesitation, she tells her to do it. Now we know that in that situation Uncle Hammer would have reacted in a completely different way. This shows how different Big Ma is to him. At that time, at that place, she chose to submit to what Mr. Simms was saying and didn’t fight back. She was right in her own way because she was old and starting a fight there by refusing wouldn’t have been appropriate. We can see that even behind that submission there were reasons which were right in their own way, and that even she wasn’t gla d to tell Cassie to apologize and call Lillian Jean ‘miz’. We can see that when the author says ‘Big Ma looked at me again, her voice cracking as she spoke. â€Å"Go on, childapologize.†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ However, there are people like Mrs. Crocker who gladly accept the fact that they are inferior to whites and don’t even try to rebel against it. They no longer realise what’s right and what’s wrong, they just do and believe what the whites tell them, and never even dare to think against it. Like when Cassie shows her the book cover and tells her that they called them niggers, Mrs. Crocker says ‘â€Å"That’s what you are†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ and when Mama is putting papers on the book covers she says to her that ‘â€Å"Mary Logan, you are biting the hand that feeds you.†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ This shows that she just believes what the whites tell her and she doesn’t want to think otherwise. She accepts it and submits to it. She is even grateful to them for providing them books despite what they call them. Then there is T.J, who longs for popularity and friends. The Simms use him and make fun of him behind his back. But when he does find out he isn’t angry, only bewildered and scared. He too accepts the fact that they used him, though he doesn’t understand why. He doesn’t stand up to people; he just lets them to do whatever they want with him, particularly the whites. CONCLUSION: Summarising, we can see that the reactions of the people depend on the people themselves: the way they think, their personality, what they believe, their nature, what they think is right and what is wrong. There is a variety of reactions in this book: some use anger and violence to fight back, some use calmness and being wise to fight back, and some just don’t rebel. Each one is right and wrong in their own way. We cannot determine or decide which reaction is right and which is not. Research Papers on Reacting to InjusticeBook Review on The Autobiography of Malcolm XEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenWhere Wild and West MeetHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows EssayThe Masque of the Red Death Room meaningsCapital PunishmentThe Hockey GameHonest Iagos Truth through DeceptionThe Spring and AutumnThree Concepts of Psychodynamic

Adidas Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Adidas - Case Study Example The paper will then focus on the SWOT analysis and highlight the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that face the company. In addition, the paper will go further to evaluate the implications of the SWOT analysis on the current marketing position, current business strategy and changes that should be implemented in order for Adidas to attain competitive edge in the global market. The paper will highlight how the company can use its strengths to exploit the market opportunities and turn the threats and weaknesses in to strengths. Finally, the paper will make recommendations on necessary changes to the current business strategy in order to ensure higher profitability.Introduction Adidas Group (Adidas) is a leading player in the global sporting industry and engages in the design, development, and marketing of sporting apparel, accessories and footwear (Blakey, 2011). Adidas mainly targets five sporting fields that are basketball, football, training, running and outdoor. The history of Adidas can be traced back to 1925 when founder, Adolf ‘Adi’ Dassler created Adidas after identifying the need of high performance athletic shoes. The gold medals of 1928 in Amsterdam and subsequent medals in Berlin in 1936 by Jesse Owens were the initial milestones that created the impetus to engage in more production of sporting shoes. Adidas 3-stripes shoe of 1949 attained the company a global recognition while German national football victory against Hungarian in 1954 World Cup finals made Adidas a household name across the world (Blakey, 2011). In 1970, Adidas conquered the football market through its Telstar official ball in FIFA World Cup since the ball enabled a higher visibility on the Black and White televisions. In 1971, Rockport Company was established in order to sell advanced technologies and materials in the casual footwear in the US market. However, the death of Adi Dassler in 1978 did not affect the company since his son, Horst and mother Kath e continued with the vision of the founder in making Adidas a modern sporting apparel and shoes provider. Continued innovation saw the development of the micropacer that provided athletics with performance statistics (Blakey, 2011). Adidas sold it stock to the public in 1995 and continued with its efforts of producing stylish and quality sporting apparel and shoes for the sporting industry. In 1996, Adidas equipped over 6,000 athletics from over 30 countries and experienced more than 50 percent increase in apparel sales. In 1997, the company acquired Salomon Group including TaylorMade, Bonfire and Mavic brands and renamed the company Adidas-Salomon AG. In 2004, the company partnered with Stella McCartney and later initiated plans of selling certain business segments like

Mathematics and Technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Mathematics and Technology - Essay Example Following adoption of technology in the classrooms, the curriculum has changed learning experiences, rigor with suitable emphasis on process. Similarly, technology has played a key role in enhancing the delivery of learning activities and improved the understanding capabilities of the students. In the unforgiving competition within the global economy, the need to develop new strategies to keep up with the market is certain. Such strategies include the understanding and application of new technologies in most fields with the nation’s economy. This is more so in the education sector to aid in improvement of skills with regard to mathematics and science. Incorporation of technology within educational institutions has seen a dramatic change of perception and increased level of innovation to the benefit of the students (Nguyen, Hsieh and Donald 2006, p.252). In this regard, technology has found a home in classrooms where active educators use it as a means of improving their present ation of concepts. The use of modern flash animations and videos as learning tools to illustrate concepts in various subjects, which is facilitated by use of unique software and projectors. Computers in education engage students making the learning more powerful and relatively easy to follow through simulated computations of scientific and mathematical problems. Laptops among students assist in delivery of assignments and reading materials. The application of technology in teaching mathematics demands new interpretations of the instructional process, with those who embrace it undergoing vigorous evaluation in a bid to keep up its evolution. A key feature of mathematics is in its use of physical and intellectual tools. The use of technology during the learning process has its application limited by the user’s imagination. Its generic nature leaves room for improvement in its application especially in mathematics. Mathematical activities that involve the application of computer technology include communication, mathematical modeling, manipulation of numbers, symbols and shapes, and investigation of patterns and problems. Calculators and Mathematics A learning environment enriched by technology should be characterized by collaborative and investigative approaches to learning, which increases content integration across the curriculum. In this regard, subjects being taught in a classroom are applied before the end of the day. This plays a critical role in the development of the learning basic concepts, which in turn facilitate understanding. The use of technology such as computers and calculators during mathematics lessons has seen an increase in efficiency especially in the delivery of content by teachers. The use of calculators in Australian schools received wide endorsements from the education system as it was seen as a new way of enhancing learning. Its endorsement has seen the development of significant technologies complement the use of calculators. On e of the key benefits for the use of calculators in mathematics classes is the improvement of conceptual understanding and visualization of mathematical concepts. A mathematics class incorporating calculators in their coursework tend to have an improved sense of grasping concepts as there are taught to them. Moreover, efficiency is enhanced as students move along the coursework with much easy. The use of calculators and other technologies within a mathematics course improve the procedural skills and knowledge in a student. This is as evidenced in studies conducted to examine the benefits of technology in classrooms. Therefore, in order to achieve successful application in the classroom, technology is based on a

Safety Management System in the Airline Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Safety Management System in the Airline - Essay Example In this paper, the consequences of a poor safety culture on the effectiveness of an airline organisation namely Southwest Airlines will be taken into concern. Moreover, the procedures to detect or measure a poor safety operational culture along with setting effective plans in order to improve a safety culture in the organisation will also be portrayed in the discussion. Consequences of a Poor Safety Culture in the Airline The notion of safety culture is considered to be the ‘engine’ which drives the procedure towards the objective of preserving the utmost resistance in relation to any operational associated hazards in relation to airline industry. The consequences of a poor safety operational culture are the occurrence of individual as well as organisational accidents which in turn impose considerable impact upon the effectiveness of a particular airline organisation such as Southwest Airlines. ... In this context, it can be said that the chief kinds of human error include decision and skill-based faults. The pilot of a respective airline can make a rule-based mistake which ultimately results in the person to take a wrong decision that ultimately causes the crash. From the viewpoint of the skill-based errors, the accidents are duly caused due to the malfunction of the memory or the attention of the pilot about a particular operational function (Shappell & Wiegmann, 2004). The effect of the individual accidents leads to huge damage to the people. Along with the individual accidents, organisational linked accidents can take place in the systems of an organisation like Southwest Airlines. The chief reason for the occurrence of organisational accidents is the lack of technological innovations. It involves various people who work at different functioning levels within the organisation. The crucial effect of organisational accidents often disturbs the entire working procedure of the airline organisation such as Southwest Airlines which ultimately puts huge amount of people into danger (Reason, 1998). For instance, the cause of Lexington Plane Crash which occurred in the year 2006 was human error that can be considered as a type of individual accident. In this regard, it has been viewed that the pilot involved in the crash used the wrong pathway to take off the plane or flight which ultimately led towards the crash. The effect of this plane crash led to the death of 49 people and posed tremendous negative impact upon the business image as well as the customer service linked facilities of the organisation by a considerable level (ThinkReliability, 2011). Detection or

Cinema In France Film Studies Essay

Cinema In France Film Studies Essay Select a national cinema of your choice to examine its position in articulating a cultural identity. Attempt to present your answer by a close reading of at least two films.   (2,000 words) Cinema in France has always been a key issue in society, the arts and culture in general. This can be understood through many different aspects. The first being the very invention of cinema in France by the Lumià ¨re brothers, with the first public projection in the world taking place in Paris in 1895. But also many other key elements such as George Mà ©lià ¨s being considered as the first director and inventor of scenarios and special effects, until more recent features such as the Nouvelle Vague, the movement of rejection by young film-makers against more academic ways of film-making and acting, influencing cinema worldwide until this day. In other words, cinema in France is well and very active, with production, exports, viewers, talented directors being steady. The number of Art Houses and Festivals are higher than anywhere else in the world, and France has the highest number of screens per million inhabitants, as well as the ceremony of the Cà ©sars, the equivalent of the Os cars in France. This places the French movie industry third in the world, behind the USA and India, which makes it the strongest in Europe, with 22% of European films being produced and having the largest market-share of nationally-produced films in Europe. This is due to its long history in the cinema industry, but also to its more recent policies concerning French films, and what is known as lexception culturelle. This French concept, basically meaning the French cultural exception, defends everything that is cultural, in opposition to a product and the market and protected from free enterprise and quotas. This is because French society, most culturally represented by its language, needs to protect itself against any competition that would harm the French culture and replace it by another one. Everything that refers to Culture in France; writers, musicians, film-makers, and more are protected against market laws and this is the States role; therefore there being a Minister of Culture. This is ultimately a reaction against globalization, seen as dangerous in this sense, and a will to maintain or reinforce a national identity. Before World War 1, Pathà © and Gaumont dominated the industry and French cinema was first worldwide in terms of quality, quantity and diversity. But after the war, this cultural status was replaced by American cinema. This struggle of course concerns the USA more than an y other, as they are the leading country in the industry, and the American hegemony in the rest of the world is evident. Therefore, France came up with a unique financing system to fight against the main threat for French cinema; television and North American cinema. In the 1980s the French State put in place quotas in television in favor of audiovisual and cinematographic oeuvres. The main television channels have to allocate 3.2% of their revenue to cinema, which includes 2.5%, minimum, to French films. A minimum of 50% of French films must be broadcast. And this is when the now very popular pay-channel, Canal+, helped a lot, as they must give 20% of their income to buy rights. And on each cinema ticket, a tax (11%) is billed to a support fund for foreign films, as long as they are co-produced with a French producer. In result, over 160 films per year are made, and France ranks third worldwide. Moreover, an important factor concerning television, is the amount of broadcast cultural programs on public channels, relating to the exception culturelle concept and that helps understand French cinema better, in the sense that, a movie in France is considered as a message made by the director, on top of the entertainment aspect of it. Compared to most countries, French audiences are very aware of their audiovisual landscape, and experience more films in cinema and on all television channels, often at primetime, giving them a very different cinematic experience, closer to culture. In the 1980s, the Socialist government of the time, and more particularly the Minister of Culture, Jack Lang, made many efforts to help and promote a more cultural cinema. A goal to marry popular and cultural cinema, and distribute French cinema domestically and abroad, also as a way to offset the Hollywood domination. Jack Lang wanted a cultural cinema for the masses, promoting films that were assimilated with French cultural heritage, but that could also provide popular entertainment for a wide public. These particular heritage films, or films de patrimoine, have played an important part in the French audiovisual landscape from the late 1980s. It was successful as the key aspects put together worked very well, not being too frankly popular nor too highly cultural. This genre, seems to dominate international perceptions of French cinema, although of course there is much more diversity. The first prominent example of this kind, was Claude Berris movie, Jean de Florette, in 1986, a box office success, and the first high budget film in France, including French stars, such as Yves Montand and indicative of old-school French cinema, Gà ©rard Depardieu, often compared as the contemporary equivalent of Jean Gabin or Maurice Chevalier, and the rising Daniel Auteuil, for which this movie marked the beginning of his career as a serious actor. It is drawn upon the very popular novels of French author, Marcel Pagnol, continuing and developing furthermore the tradition of literary adaptations. This combination of elements along with the natural locations in Provence, evoking nostalgia, and celebrating the landscape, the history and the culture of France, actually contemporizes the film as a whole. At the same time, Jean de Florette marks continuity in French cinema, with its central locations mainly being Paris and the South, often opposing them too. In this film the focus is on the past; past values and past issues. But a past that is not so far away as it has and still marks Frances national identity, and this film was made to reinforce this by a whole aesthetic of nostalgia, tending to idealize the past and the regions and the nations geography, taking part in the protectionist cultural imperatives. France relies a lot on its past to vehicle its national identity, and that is why canonical source-texts, by the greatest French authors were and are often used as basis for films. The past, in Jean de Florette, is used as a spectacle, the nations territory, the landscape of Provence evokes the nations nostalgia, as it idealises its rural past, showing the French industrys will to affirm itself through the representation of its past. This is because it offers a firm cultural point, marked in the nations history, in a time where notions of national identity were, and still are, unstable, with the globalization and issues of immigration in the 1980s.These concerns can be found in the story itself, with questions of greed, materialism, identity, exclusion concerning the main characters Jean, the outsider, and Papet Soubeyran and Ugolin, the established peasants, and at the time it was suggested that the way Jean was treated by the locals, represented the anti-immigration movement, growi ng at the time. Now, it could be said that in the film, the past, represented by Provence itself, is the main character. Through a mix of panoramic and static tableau shots, Berri shows it as an idyllic place, providing visual sites for national identification, as not only is it one of the most symbolic regions in France, but it often speaks to the spectator who in many cases may have childhood recollections of the journeys down south, to visit family. This feeling can be experienced in the opening sequence, where a car journey is shown, without showing the character, which gives a feeling of intimacy. The spectator has a view from the window, and a feeling of return to the past, going back to nature, from urban to rural, with many elements that could be seen as stereotypical, such as the long winding roads, the crowing cock in the morning, the magnificence of the mountains. Therefore the emphasis on the geographical setting is the most important aspect in the film, but also the somewhat stereotypic al images of Provence. The characters, first of all, include a patriarch, and loud southerners, an outsider, farmer, an introverted peasant, and a bad guy of course. These characters all take on traditional rural activities, and the action takes place in the most emblematic Provenà §al and rural places: the cafà ©, the market, the fountain, the square, as well as the main spaces of the action in the film, being Jeans house and garden, the Soubeyrans property, the village and the mountain, which build up a sense of place and identity. Of course another main aspect of the region is very much reliant on dialogue, which reinforces the specificity of the film within the region. The accent of Provence is very marked, and clearly illustrates the difference between the locals and Jean, with his standard spoken french, who represents frenchness for many foreigners through Gà ©rard Depardieu, and marks the binary of Paris/province, meaning anywhere outside of Paris. Similarities to some of Paul Cà ©zannes paintings can be found in some of the bar scenes, reminding the Card players series and The Smoker, but also the mountain panoramas, recalling his famous paintings of Mont Ste Victoire. The background characters also provide a local color and credibility, with the game of boules and the pastis also being typical associations. In essence, Berri used this film to emphasize Provence as a French, cultural, historical region, representing the past and everything the French can identify to the region. Right after Jean de Florette, the sequel, Manon des Sources, came out. They were filmed as a whole over the period of seven months. In the long term, they did much to promote tourism in the region, causing interest internationally, as the film was very successful, inspiring true authenticity of rural France. Of course, many successful films of the kind followed, most notably, Cyrano de Bergerac, with Depardieu, also a literary adaptation, which won Best Foreign Film Oscar in 1990, and contributed to expand and revive Frances historical national identity. Now, a binary opposition was mentioned above, and it comes with the notion of films in Paris. Paris, the capital, the city of love, arts, and of course of cinema. For many, Paris truly represents France, of course this is a more international perception, but it still maintains its position in Frances history and key elements in the nations culture. A film that recently played upon many key cultural elements, giving it a worldwide success in 2001, is Le Fabuleux Destin DAmà ©lie Poulain, by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Again it can be said that Amà ©lie Poulain celebrates nostalgia. The nostalgia of typically French and Parisian aspects of life. The action is set in Montmartre, a quartier of Paris, well known for being where many artists established themselves living la bohà ¨me, also a classic setting seen in many films, such as Les 400 coups (Truffaut, 1959), French Cancan (Jean Renoir, 1955), Lautrec (Roger Planchon, 1998) or Zazie dans le mà ©tro (Louis Malle, 1960). The particular element of the film is that it is seen through the eyes of the main character Amà ©lie, which gives it a romantic and idealized aspect, picturesque and clearly serving many stereotypes, a reason for its national and international success. Many key elements are present, the grocers, the cafà ©, the metro station, the scooter, the old painter, and the different views of Paris in general. At different moments in the film, Amà ©lie is watching Jules et Jim on television, a classic of Franà §ois Truffaut, which is a testimony of the importance of French cinema and the influence of the New Wave on current film-makers. The photography of the film is very special, and contributes to this nostalgic feeling, mainly displaying two colors, red and green. The story is very simple, and could be considered as a modern fairytale, but it is the way it is told, and the backdrop and atmosphere of the whole that give an aspect to it that can be considered French, culturally. This very atmosphere is also majorly due to its magnificent music that accompanies Amà ©lie everywhere she goes. The young composer, Yann Tiersen, used music from his earlier album, but also composed 19 songs and variants for the film. The main motive of the film appears in different variations, expressing different moods. Tiersens music, mainly includes accordion and piano, and what more can the accordion refer to than frenchness; a marker of the past, at the time of the guinguettes, open air dancing establishments outside the center. The accordion vehicles a known clichà ©, but also nostalgia and marginality, and is practically the real center of the film. This retrospective to guinguettes, is reprised in different ways, with references to the Moulin de la Galette, a Montmartre guinguette, which was painted by Toulouse-Lautrec, Renoir and Van Gogh in the 1870s and 1880s. The reference to Renoir is also repeated with the character of Dufayel, the old painter neighbour, who repeats the same painting every year, by Renoir, The Luncheon of the Boating Party (1881). This obsession and the repetition, aim to make what was in the past, present. This is also marked in the many repetitions of the accordion which anchor the film nostalgically in the period of the guinguettes, between 1880 and 1940. The accordion signifies a national identity, but that is very specific to Paris, and the imaginary this place evokes; romanticism, and a touch of exoticism. At the time, the two presidential candidates for 2002, Jacques Chirac and Lionel Jospin, publicly marked their appreciation of the film, and audiences were seen clapping eagerly at the end of the film in cinemas, a very rare happening in France, and which testifies the important role cinema has in French culture and society. France treats cinema very seriously,

Civic Education :: Graduate Law Admissions Essays

Civic Education Gordon Gee in The Grace Adams Tanner Lecture in Human Values on April 28, 1999 mandates that the modern university "must provide the moral, intellectual, social cultural, and emotional framework into which [students] can properly place the pieces of the puzzle of life. We [the university] must help our students accommodate not only their hopes and aspirations, but also the inevitable fears, disillusionment, the desperate moral dilemmas, the guilt, the anger, and the questions of conscience which are part of every life. We must help them channel the power of the individual into strengthening the community." Gee speaks about an obligation of the university to prepare her students for life as members of a greater community. He places inherent value on the strength of community and assigns, as do the two authors quoted, a "moral responsibility" on contemporary universities to enable each student to contribute to this strength. Like Gee, William James talks about the "action of innumerable imitative individuals upon each other." Both Gee and James believe that education is not an individual search for self or righteousness or belonging. This process is not one about receiving wealth or fame. It is a process about learning to give. It is a process about acquiring the knowledge necessary to strengthen the community in the ways you feel are right. My own experience at Brown is one that has led me to internalize many of these same values. When I first arrived at Brown, I asked myself where I would fit here; what was it that I was supposed to do? I took advantage of Brown's liberal curriculum and sought the perfect concentration for me. When I settled on Political Science, I asked myself what I wanted to DO with that degree. Over the course of my Junior year, the answer simply emerged. I became interested in education and finally found the perfect field for my interest: Civic Education. I plan to write my honors thesis next year with professors Tomasi and Kaestle on civic education. The question I ask myself now, is not what can I do with Civic Education, but rather, how can I use my academic work to enhance the educational experience for all American children. In contemporary debates over civic education theory, the question is often posed: how can an Aristotelian, republican notion of cultivating citizens fit into a modern liberal democracy?

Hamlet Moral Philosophy Essay

Throughout Hamlet there is a moral conflict in regards to suicide. As the events of the play unfold Hamlet finds himself pondering whether or not life is worth living in such a decrepit world. Uncertainty keeps Hamlet from ending the pain of life, as well as his desire for revenge on Claudius. Periodically throughout the play Hamlet stops to contemplate his mortality and ending his life. Hamlet does this in his soliloquies, often about whatever event is happening right then as well as, as is his melancholic nature, thinking about whether life is worth living. In the famous â€Å"to be, or not to be†(3.1.56) speech, Hamlet is literally weighing the options between to be, or to live, or not to be, to die, and in the end he finds that the uncertainty of death makes â€Å"calamity of so long life†(3.1.69). Speeches like this and others throughout the play are prompted by Hamlet’s distress at all of the conflicts going on around him. These speeches are Hamlet’s innermost thoughts and so are intended for Hamlet as they are his reflection on the moral conflict he is facing. Hamlet’s soliloquies reflect his inner conflict as he reflects upon whether or not he should end his life and his suffering or live and continue to suffer through his pain. In Hamlet’s soliloquy in Act 3 Scene 1, or the â€Å"to be, or not to be† speech, Hamlet uses various rhetorical techniques to judge whether he should live or die. He uses imagery in this speech such as â€Å"The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely† (3.1.71) to illustrate the pains which may be felt in the sleep of death which he is considering. Hamlet also uses repetition throughout the speech to emphasize his conflict between life and death, particular in reference to sleep as he says â€Å"To die, to sleep† (3.1.60&64), he does this to highlight his uncertainty at the idea of death, or what may be lurking thereafter, â€Å"what dreams may come†(3.1.66). Hamlet’s perspective on this moral conflict changes as he finds purpose in his revenge against Claudius and begins to see his plan come to fruition. In the beginning of the play, Hamlet seems to be contemplating suicide whereas at the end, Hamlet wants to live to see his revenge against Claudius completed.

A Historical Recording of a Fictitious Story Essay

One powerful factor in effective storytelling lies in the strong characterization of the figures in the story, and the novel, â€Å"Don Quixote† sustains this factor. In the beginning of the novel, Miguel de Cervantes warns his â€Å"idle readers† (Cervantes, page __) that he simply wants to relate the story of a stepson who lived a ridiculous but great life, saying thus: â€Å"My wish would be simply to present it to thee plain and unadorned, without any embellishment of preface or uncountable muster of customary sonnets, epigrams, and eulogies, such as are commonly put at the beginning of books. † (Cervantes, page__). The second part of the novel reveals a similar contention, this time uttered by Cide Hamete Benengeli in Chapter LXXIV. The reputed father of Don Quixote de La Mancha, Benengeli says, â€Å"For me alone Don Quixote was born and I for him. His was the power of action, mine of writing. † (Cervantes, page ___). By repeating these contentions, Miguel de Cervantes emphasizes and reiterates the idea that Don Quixote is a real character, a man who is not merely a product of a novelist’s imagination, but a tangible entity. Cervantes and his phantom figure, Benengeli, claim that they are merely recorders of Don Quixote’s deeds and misdeeds. Cervantes declares thus in his preface: â€Å"In belief of the good reception and honours that Your Excellency bestows on all sort of books, as prince so inclined to favor good arts, chiefly those who by their nobleness do not Customer’s last name 2 submit to the service and bribery of the vulgar, I have determined bringing to light The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of la Mancha. † (Cervantes, page__). Cervantes distances himself from the character by saying that he is merely a recorder of a person’s history, not a creator of a person so intriguingly chivalrous and comical at the same time. In doing so, Cervantes strengthens the character of Don Quixote, making him a mystery, and an enigma. Was he real, or was he imaginary? This intriguing question has kept readers all over the world and across generations to keep turning the pages of this humorous novel, and in this respect, Cervantes achieves his triumph in making the adventures of a tragic and comic knight-errant, a very engaging read. The two mentioned passages delineating one contention are significant in the reading of the novel as a whole. Promoting Don Quixote as a tangible entity, a real character, makes the novel more humorous, more effective, and more influential; the themes and sentiments imbibed in the story are therefore communicated more strongly. Cervantes provides a critical commentary on the Spanish lifestyle and morals at the time the novel was written, and one way to take a humorous novel seriously, is to project it as a palpable, realistic account of one person’s adventures and misadventures. This in itself is an ingenious literary style. Making Don Quixote an enigma and claiming that he is real, reflects the ridiculous and preposterous nature of the novel. Cervantes is ultimately making a literary statement: that in a world and in a time when chivalric ideals are appropriate, yet overrated, a society that is suspended between the grandiose aspects of chivalry and the humility of noble chivalric ideals must examine its principles very closely. If it fails to do, it may likewise fight windmills instead of giants, and therein lays a societal problem too unbelievably difficult to overcome. Works Cited Cervantes, M. Don Quixote. (Publication Information).

Best Quotes About Friendship From the Greatest Thinkers

Best Quotes About Friendship From the Greatest Thinkers What is friendship? How many types of friendship can we recognize, and in what degree shall we seek each of them? Many of the greatest philosophers in both ancient and modern times have addressed those questions and neighboring ones. Ancient Philosophers on Friendship   Friendship played a central role in ancient ethics and political philosophy. The following are quotes on the topic from some of the most notable thinkers from ancient Greece and Italy. Aristotle aka AristotelÄ“s NÄ «komakhou kai Phaistidos StageiritÄ“s (384–322 B.C.): In books eight and nine of the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle divided friendship into three types: Friends for pleasure: Social bonds that are established to enjoy one’s spare time, such as friends for sports or hobbies, friends for dining, or for parties.Friends for benefit: All bonds for which cultivation is primarily motivated by work-related reasons or by civic duties, such as being friends with your colleagues and neighbors.True friends: True friendship and true friends are what Aristotle explains are mirrors to each other and a single soul dwelling in two bodies. In poverty and other misfortunes of life, true friends are a sure refuge. The young they keep out of mischief; to the old, they are a comfort and aid in their weakness, and those in the prime of life, they incite to noble deeds. St. Augustine aka Saint Augustine of Hippo (354–430 A.D.): I want my friend to miss me as long as I miss him.   Cicero aka Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 B.C.): A friend is, as it were, a second self. Epicurus (341–270 B.C.):  Ã¢â‚¬Å"It is not so much our friends help that helps us as it is, as the confidence of their help.† Euripides (c.484–c.406 B.C.):  Friends show their love in times of trouble, not in happiness. and Life has no blessing like a prudent friend.   Lucretius aka Titus Lucretius  Carus (c.94–c.55 B.C.):  We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by embracing one another. Plautus aka Titus Maccius Plautus (c.254–c.184 B.C.):  Nothing but heaven itself is better than a friend who is really a friend. Plutarch aka Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus (c.45–c.120 A.D.):  I dont need a friend who changes when I change and who nods when I nod; my shadow does that much better.   Pythagoras aka Pythagoras of Samos (c.570–c.490 B.C.): Friends are as companions on a journey, who ought to aid each other to persevere in the road to a happier life. Seneca aka Seneca the Younger or Lucius Annaeus Seneca (c.4 B.C.–65 A.D.:  Friendship always benefits; love sometimes injures. Zeno aka Zeno of Elea (c.490–c.430 BC):  A friend is another self. Modern and Contemporary Philosophy on Friendship   In modern and contemporary philosophy, friendship loses the central role it had played once upon a time. Largely, we may speculate this to be related to the emergence of new forms of social aggregations.  Nonetheless, it is easy to find some good quotes. Francis Bacon (1561–1626): Without friends the world is but a wilderness. There is no man that imparteth his joys to his friend, but he joyeth the more; and no man that imparteth his griefs to his friend, but he grieveth the less. William James (1842–1910):  Human beings are born into this little span of life of which the best thing is its friendship and intimacies, and soon their places will know them no more, and yet they leave their friendships and intimacies with no cultivation, to grow as they will by the roadside, expecting them to keep by force of inertia.   Jean de La Fontaine (1621–1695):  Friendship is the shadow of the evening, which strengthens with the setting sun of life. Clive Staples Lewis (1898–1963):  Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival. George Santayana (1863–1952):  Friendship is almost always the union of a part of one mind with the part of another; people are friends in spots. Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862):  The language of friendship is not words, but meanings.

Gender Role Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Gender Role - Essay Example "Slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women" (Jacobs, 2003). Through the character of Linda, Harriet Jacobs depicts that women sexual abuse and physical violence are the main forms of humiliation and oppression. Sexual abuse of a slave woman is the expression of male's power and dominance of the owner. Jacobs describes that socially slave women are used to be oppressed. They have no rights to protect their dignity and freedom used to cultural norms followed by generations. "But I do earnestly desire to arouse the women of the North to a realizing sense of the condition of two millions of women at the South, still in bondage, suffering what I suffered, and most of them far worse" (Jacobs, 2003). Similar to Jacobs, Frederick Douglass discusses the role of gender in society and its impact on relations between a slave and owner. Gender roles in 'Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass' shape not only how people identify themselves and view the world but also how others identify and relate to them and how they are positioned within society. "Slaveholders have ordained, and by law established, that the children of slave women shall in all cases follow the condition of their mothers" (Douglass, 1997). Both Jacobs and Douglass portray that women are traditionally associated with childbearing, child rearing, emotional caretaking, and responsibility for the physical maintenance of the household. In contrast, men are associated with the activities of wage labor, physical prowess, intellectual achievements, and political agency. "Slaveholders pride themselves upon being honorable men; but if you were to hear the enormous lies they tell their slaves, you would have small respect fo r their veracity" (Douglass, 1997).This gender labeling is so strong that even when women work, they typically do so in areas regarded as "women's work". Also, "Women are considered of no value, unless they continually increase their owner's stock. They are put on a par with animals" (Jacobs, 2003). Labor markets are thus segregated horizontally by gender, with women and men differentiated in occupational roles. Dominance of men adds aggression and cruelty to cultural dimensions and values. Both narratives under analysis describe masculine societies. Masculinity describes a society in which men are expected to be assertive, competitive, and concerned with material success, and women fulfill the role of nurturer and are concerned with issues such as the welfare of children. Lack of respect towards women results in norms and values which reflect gender roles. It means that men play a dominant position as keepers of traditions and customers in contrast to women who perform a reproduction function only. Jacobs portrays that even free women suffer from male oppression and low social roles. "Mrs. Flint, like many southern women, was totally deficient in energy. She had not strength to superintend her household affairs" (Jacobs, 2003). Jacobs chose to write about gender roles faced with extreme violence and oppression during her young years. She underlines that emotional abuse is socially accepted form of violence. The consequence of emotional abuse is that it causes the greatest distress resulted in betrayal of trust and responsibility involved. Douglass writes about gender roles

Causes and effects related to the success of the phenomenon of video Essay

Causes and effects related to the success of the phenomenon of video games - Essay Example Cause 1 During the course of this discussion we would specifically be looking at the different causes and effects that have contributed to the success of proliferating this culture. A major cause for the expansion of the video game industry in recent times has been the ever mushrooming entertainment industry of US in particular. With the passage of time as the entire entertainment market of the country has undergone diversification novel frontiers have been explored for launching and marketing a product. For the fulfillment of this purpose the gaming industry has proved to be the economic backbone. Fiction based movies that are based on comic book or mythical characters such as Batman, Spiderman, Harry Potter or Hercules before their release launch their video games in order to ensure that the gain accessibility to address the needs and requirements of every market segment. Since children in any form play the most proactive role of determining the success or failure of a product it i s important that their needs are addressed accordingly. (Flew. 113) Effect A concomitant effect of this has been observed in the development of extremely violent behavioral attitudes among children. Many of these games that are based on comic books characters contain intense violent and brutal ways of killing enemies as a result of which they have an overwhelmingly profound effect on the behavioral development of children. In addition to this many of these games also contain highly vituperative and inflammatory language which after developing a habit if playing these games children inherits with utmost ease. Another effect of the video game culture that is also important to mention in this context is that by getting addicted to this culture many people begin to believe in the existence of a fantasized world comprising of all these superheroes none of which exist in reality. Hence video games can also be accused for presenting fantasy in such a realistic way that is becomes more real istic than reality itself. Cause 2 The global gaming industry which is handled primarily by the technological kingpins of United States is also overwhelmingly influenced by the political operations and military affairs that are taking place in the country. We are all well aware about the military turbulence that the United States is currently going through. This is simultaneously reflected and projected in the content and storyline of the games that are prepared by the gaming industry. Many of the games such as Call of Duty, Delta Force and Medal of Honor are based on war missions many of which are based in either Afghanistan, Iraq or in any different country of the world. Even though on a technological scale these games are simply flawless, but they do develop and impose their effects on the members of a society in rather subtle ways. Effect One of such effect has been in the form of developing and incorporating stereotypes in the minds of their people regarding different nations a nd their civilians respectively. For instance, there remains less discussion about the fact that the West has long portrayed Arabs either in the role of nomads or greedy oil sheiks. Similarly, the women belonging to these countries have been characterized either as belly dancers or people who are continuously subdued or oppressed by their husbands. This kind of projection has further cemented in the minds of American people with the