Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Culture similarities and differences in early East Asian history Essay

Culture refers to people’s way of life. Culture is transmitted from one generation to another. Culture is leaned. Culture is a means through which society share values, beliefs, customs, behavior and artifacts. Tradition refers to the process of doing an action more than once. For example, repeating an action now and again makes it be a tradition. Going home to celebrate festivals together as a family could become a tradition if every festive you go home. Culture in the Asian countries rotates around art, beauty, medicine and cuisines. Chinese culture In the Chinese society, there are five necessities that define their culture. These necessities are: Food, clothing, housing, transportation and education. Chinese cooking is of two types. That is, Northern and Southern cooking styles. Northern dishes have a lot of oil and garlic and vinegar are usually pronounced. Pasta is valued in the Northern style of cooking. In the Southern cooking styles, chili peppers are valued. Rice and rice products are usually used as accompaniments. In Chinese cooking, color, smell and taste are given same value in meal preparation. Most of the time, a meal will include three to five colors. Most valued during cooking is the preservation of the fresh natural taste of the spices. The three properties of color, aroma and taste are not only the issues valued in Chinese cooking, but nutrition is of great importance. According to Shang dynasty(Chinese culture 16th to 11th B. C ) Yi Yin, he related the five tastes of sweet, sour, bitter, piquant and salty to the nutritional needs of the five major system organs of the body( the heart, liver, spleen, lungs and kidneys) and emphasized their function in maintaining good physical health. Most of the vegetables used in Chinese cooking such as garlic, dried lily buds, tree fungus have components that help in preventing and alleviating diseases. Chinese culture believes that food and medicine share the same origin. Chinese culture has got certain restrictions associated with eating. That is, meals taken while seated, sitting arrangement is based on age and gender. The dishes are arranged per table basis with a table capturing around ten to twelve people. Chinese dressing symbolizes a meaning of its own. The main types of Chinese traditional dressing are: pien-fu, long robe and shen-i. The pien-fu is a ceremonial costume in which one had to wear a tunic like top that extends to the knees and a skirt that touches to the ankles. A pien is a cylindrical cap. Similarities between these clothing are wide cut and voluminous sleeves with straight lines. They are also made more attracting by adding ornaments onto them such as doing embroidery along the edges, decorated bands, draped cloths and silk. In the traditional Chinese clothing, dull colors were favored to light colors. Bright colored clothes were used by common people around the houses. Chinese culture associated certain colors with specific times such as green symbolizes spring, white representing autumn, black for winter and red for summer. Traditional Chinese housing is characterized by a rectangular- shaped unit space that is joined into a house. The Chinese structures combine rectangular patterns of different sizes and positioned in order of preference, with every stage clearly distinguished. In the traditional buildings, the principle of balance and symmetry is taken into consideration. The main building is the axis with the other buildings being joined to the sides to form wings on both sides serving as the main room and yards. All other Chinese structure such the church, residential houses, palaces and official structures follow the same design. The interior space is allocated in away that it defines the Chinese social setting and ethics. For instance the main room is for the master, elder members of the master occupy the backyard of the main room while the junior members live in the right and left wings with the most senior occupying the left wing and the others right wing. Certain pronounced features of Chinese structures are its wooden structural frame with pillars and a beam, and mud made walls surrounding the three faces. The main doors and windows are constructed on the front face of the building. Woods is used in Chinese structures because they believe that wood represents life which is the essence of their culture. Chinese people build houses that have deep and over hanging roofs. Because of this, they came up with their own way of giving the roofs support. This invention is called ‘tou-kung’, which goes up stage by stage from pillar to pillar. The tou-kung gives support to the structure and at the same time acts as a unique and attractive ornamentation. The significance of using wood in the Chinese construction is that the size of the rooms depends on the wooden frame used. Again, color is applied to prevent the wood and third is the skill of building a structure on a platform to prevent moisture. The use of various colors in Chinese buildings has both symbolic and aesthetic meaning. In the transport system, china did not have any kind of wheeled vehicles until importation of the chariot was done from central Asia in the period of 1200bc. Scholars also ague that early Bronze Age china did not own the skills of the chariot and never invented any other means of transportation such as wheelbarrows or carts. For example, Edward Shaughessy found out that during the Shang periods, â€Å"there is absolutely no artifactual evidence for other types of wheeled conveyance†. In the 19th and 20th centuries, rickshaws became most popular but were later overtaken by cycle rickshaws and auto rickshaws. Bicycles today are so many in china that, they cause traffic jams. Today china use both railways and waterways as modes of transportation. Education system in china is socialist oriented with a classroom having a capacity of about 50 students. Learning is always through group work to promote team spirit and cooperation among the students. Chinese value education because they believe it is a stepping stone to success. In china excellence is the main purpose for education. This is because they aim at producing responsible citizens who can give quality service to society. That is, a student excels to benefit the country but not him or her. Japanese culture Japanese culture is largely borrowed from china but Japanese culture is mainly influenced by its language. Japanese language is a combination of subset languages that are borrowed from china. That is, hiragana, katakana and kanji. Japanese usually have different types of traditional foods for various seasons such as osechi-ryori foods for New Year, kabochi on winters, weeding foods and mother dinners. Japanese also use spices in food preparation so as to make it tasty and give an appetizing smell. Japanese have got eating manners that they expect people to adhere to when eating. These tips on how to eat varies from one meal to another. Their dishes include sushi, tempura and teriyaki. Japanese performing art is characterized by costumes, mask and stylish gestures. Their four theatres are noh, kabuki and bunraku. Japanese way of building is also an important aspect of their culture. It was heavily influenced by the Chinese architecture and examples of these are seen in the temples, shrines and castles. In terms of clothing, Japanese wear kimono. Kimono implies â€Å"something to wear. † Initially Japanese used the word kimono to refer to all types of dressing but today it only implies long dress that is worn by men, women and children. Kimono is available in different colors with men prioritizing dark colors and women prioritizing brighter colors. The summer kimono is light and it’s called yukata. In the world of sports, methods that were used to train warriors in the past have been organized into sports. For example, kenjutsu, kyudo, and sumo. Again, Japanese popular culture presents a link to the past. Favorite films, television programs and music are all established from the traditions. Japanese also have got aculture of making sculptures. The oldest sculpture made is known as Amitabha in the Zenko-ji temple and it is made of wood. Japanese value wood and it has been used in Japan as one of the main materials by architectures. Other materials that have also been used are stone and pottery. They also have a flower arrangement art known as Ikebana which emphasizes on harmony, rhythm and color use. Comparison between the two cultures However there are certain variations in the two cultures. That is, in Japan buildings are structured around grand palaces while in china, they are based on the concept of walled cities. In terms of food, their primary dish is rice even though the mode of preparation is different. In their concept of beauty, Japanese considers beauty as a concept that is temporary to life. They use a symbol known as sakura (cherry blossom) to express the fleeting property and wilting nature of beauty. But in china, beauty is part of nature and this explains the common paintings of lions, cats and tigers. Musically, Japanese love more vocal music that takes its routes from dramatic styles such as Noh, Kabukl, and Bunraku while Chinese traditional music is dominated by instruments such as the flute and oboe. Traditionally the two societies do not like each other. Japanese have a collective kind of culture than Chinese. Both Chinese and Japanese up hold respect for tradition, family and beauty but Japanese tend to be consistent with the practice. Taking the above discussion into consideration, I wish to conclude that the two cultures are different even though Japanese culture was influenced mainly by Chinese culture, References Chinese culture and tradition. The five necessities of Chinese culture. Retrieved. December 15, 2008. from, http://www. chinatownconnection. com/chinese_culture. htm eHOW, How to distinguish between Japanese and Chinese culture. Retrieved December 15, 2008. from, http://www. ehow. com/how_2081085_distinguish-between-japanese-chinese-cultures. html

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Critical analyse of the external and internal environments Essay

From the long run, the economy will only be developed better than before, as long there are no large scales of wars. If the economy in the world is developing in a steady and healthy way, the demand for the cars will be larger and larger. The fact that the number of Japanese cars assembled in North American will soon reach 2 million per year will lead to the oversupply, so it is likely to threaten the price structure of the U.S. auto market and in the meantime, it will bring about negative impact on the revenue of the automotive businesses in the U.S. market. 3.3 Social factors As long as the customers have a certain level of buying power, there will be a large number of car buyers. After the World War II, nearly all countries in the world were making every effort to recover from the war. The war was destructive to all the countries that had participated in the war. In some developing countries, people even had to worry about whether they had to suffer from hunger, let alone buying car to make their life easier. However, as the recovery of economy, people begin to think about the houses and cars to improve the quality of their life(Ravichandran et al., 2005). In the meantime, the social concept is also changing. Men were the trend of the drivers, but more and more women are independent and have good economic conditions, so the demand for cars is also increasing. The changing social trend has enabled Ford to produce various types of cars in order to meet the different demands from different groups. 3.4 Technological factors The advent of the Internet has simplified customers’ life, and the advent of cars have make customers’ life more convenient. However, Ford does not cease to make innovation in terms of technology. For instance, most modern cars have been equipped with intelligent systems such as Global Positioning System (GPS) which enables the customers not to get lost no matter where they go. The intelligent system will be able to provide the car owners with alternative lines according to the actual situation of the road. If there are traffic jams, the system will remind the car owners to choose another alternative. In addition to the intelligent system which will benefit for the car owners, the design of the cars will also be more human oriented. The innovation of technology will bring convenience to customers, so the design and the function of the cars in Ford will ! enable the customers to have better experience of driving. Therefore, more and more customers who can afford cars wil l choose to buy a car. 4. Internal environments of Ford The analysis of internal environment can find out the absolute strengths and weaknesses. If the enterprise sticks to its past successful strategies, they will fail in the new competitiveness for not updating its strategies(Leidner et al., 2011). Every enterprise has its strengths and weaknesses, and the internal strengths and weakness and the external opportunities and threats will be the foundation for enterprise to formulate strategies. This section will use SWOT analysis to explain Ford’s internal environment. 4.1 Strengths Ford has long history and its brand has been well-known to the whole world,  and this strength has enabled Ford to make brand marketing. As long as the brand has been known to the customers, the customer will buy the product due to the brand effect. Then, there is effective customer management system which will enable Ford to target the existing and potential customers more accurately. On the other hand, there is diversified management system that can attract real talents to Ford to make wise decisions. There are many job opportunities that are offered by Ford, and the policies on human resource management are flexible. 4.2 Weaknesses It has reported that the quality of the products has not met the standards in recent years, so many of the cars have to be recalled back to the factory. This incident has indicated that the quality check system has problems, and this may cause public relation crisis. On the other hand, to compare Ford with its competitors, Ford has not introduced sophisticated technology such as robot in the process of manufacturing the products. The third weakness is that the cars that have been produced in Ford have not reached 27.5 miles per gallon fuel efficiency standard(Peppard and Ward, 2004). 4.3 Opportunities As Ford is a multinational company, the international market has been developed due to the market expansion. In such case, the product will not only be sold in the native country  but also in foreign countries. In the meantime, Ford has developed its e-business system on the internet, so the international market is able to enlarge and the market share of Ford is also likely to increase. Then, the low cost of cars does not mean low quality, so the cars will be cost-effective, which will attract more customers to buy them, and thus increase the sales(Peppard and Ward, 2004). 4.4 Threats The major threats come from the competitors of Ford, especially the Japanese cars, for the Japanese manufactures are trying to open the market of luxurious cars in the United States. In the meantime, the exchange rate of Japanese yen and the U.S. dollar is ever   changing and not steady. In addition to Japanese cars, the new entrants to the U.S. will also come from China and India(Leidner et al., 2011). Another threat is that the government has been more involved in the regulations and policies on cars. Although there are concessions made by the government, the  concessions may be taken back by the government. 5. Strategies for Ford in the next five years The analysis of SWOT for Ford will be helpful for the decision makers to make the strategies for the future. When the key external and internal factors have been effectively matched together, it will help Ford to be more competitive than its competitors. It is suggest that the decision makers can implement SO strategy. This strategy will enable Ford to take full advantages of its internal strengths and external opportunities(King, 2002). Effective brand marketing and good customer management system, as well as human resource management system will enable the company to develop its e-businesses in the international market. If the famous brand has affordable price for customers, the sales and market share will increase to a certain extent. As long as the market share and sales has successfully increased, the company can rank at the first or second in the same industry. Another plausible strategy is WO strategy which will make use of the external opportunities to make up for the weaknesses. However, the weaknesses can sometimes become obstacles for seizing the opportunities, so if the company should try to overcome ! the weaknesses and turn them to strengths. For instance, if the demand for the cars which have equipped with intelligent system is large, but the factory has not acquired the technology o f equipping the system, so Ford can cooperate with the companies which have this technology. In such case, both companies will benefit from this business. On the other hand, if the company does not want to cooperate with other companies, the employees who have the knowledge of such technology should be employed to the company with high salary in order to assure the technology innovation. 6. Conclusion In conclusion, this report has conducted a close study of the external and internal environments for Ford Motor Company. The political environment has proved that the government has both positive and negative impacts on Ford, and the economic and social factors have turned out more and more people can afford a car, especially the independent women. The technology factors have also contributed to the increasing market share and sales of Ford for its convenience and comfort and affordances. Then the report has made a SWOT analysis of Ford’s internal environment, and it has suggested two plausible strategies for Ford in the next five years. One is SO strategy and the other one is WO strategy, which will enable Ford to realize its stra tegic objectives in the automotive  industry.

Frostbite PROLOGUE

Like always, this book couldn't have been written without the help and support of my friends and family. In particular, I need to thank my IM Counseling Team: Caitlin, David, Jay, Jackie, and Kat. You guys logged more late-night online hours than I can even begin to count. I couldn't have gotten through this book and the rest of this year's craziness without you. Thanks also to my agent, Jim McCarthy, who has moved heaven, earth, and deadlines to help me finish what I need to. I'm glad you've got my back. And finally, many thanks to Jessica Rothenberg and Ben Schrank at Razorbill for their continued support and hard work. For Kat Richardson, who is very wise. PROLOGUE THINGS DIE. BUT THEY DON'T always stay dead. Believe me, I know. There's a race of vampires on this earth who are literally the walking dead. They're called Strigoi, and if you're not already having nightmares about them, you should be. They're strong, they're fast, and they kill without mercy or hesitation. They're immortal, toowhich kind of makes them a bitch to destroy. There are only three ways to do it: a silver stake through the heart, decapitation, and setting them on fire. None of those is easy to pull off, but it's better than having no options at all. There are also good vampires walking the world. They're called Moroi. They're alive, and they possess the incredibly cool power to wield magic in each of the four elements earth, air, water, and fire. (Well, most Moroi can do thisbut I'll explain more about the exceptions later). They don't really use the magic for much anymore, which is kind of sad. It'd be a great weapon, but the Moroi strongly believe magic should only be used peacefully. It's one of the biggest rules in their society. Moroi are also usually tall and slim, and they can't handle a lot of sunlight. But they do have superhuman senses that make up for it: sight, smell, and hearing. Both kinds of vampires need blood. That's what makes them vampires, I guess. Moroi don't kill to take it, however. Instead, they keep humans around who willingly donate small amounts. They volunteer because vampire bites contain endorphins that feel really, really good and can become addictive. I know this from personal experience. These humans are called feeders and are essentially vampire-bite junkies. Still, keeping feeders around is better than the way the Strigoi do things, because, as you might expect, they kill for their blood. I think they like it. If a Moroi kills a victim while drinking, he or she will turn into a Strigoi. Some Moroi do this by choice, giving up their magic and their morals for immortality. Strigoi can also be created by force. If a Strigoi drinks blood from a victim and then makes that person drink Strigoi blood in return, well†¦you get a new Strigoi. This can happen to anyone: Moroi, human, or †¦ dhampir. Dhampir. That's what I am. Dhampirs are half-human, half-Moroi. I like to think we got the best traits of both races. I'm strong and sturdy, like humans are. I can also go out in the sun as much as I want. But, like the Moroi, I have really good senses and fast reflexes. The result is that dhampirs make the ultimate bodyguardswhich is what most of us are. We're called guardians. I've spent my entire life training to protect Moroi from Strigoi. I have a whole set of special classes and practices I take at St. Vladimir's Academy, a private school for Moroi and dhampirs. I know how to use all sorts of weapons and can land some pretty mean kicks. I've beaten up guys twice my sizeboth in and out of class. And really, guys are pretty much the only ones I beat up, since there are very few girls in any of my classes. Because while dhampirs inherit all sorts of great traits, there's one thing we didn't get. Dhampirs can't have children with other dhampirs. Don't ask me why. It's not like I'm a geneticist or anything. Humans and Moroi getting together will always make more dhampirs; that's where we came from in the first place. But that doesn't happen so much anymore; Moroi tend to stay away from humans. Through another weird genetic fluke, however, Moroi and dhampirs mixing will create dhampir children. I know, I know: it's crazy. You'd think you'd get a baby that's three-quarters vampire, right? Nope. Half human, half Moroi. Most of these dhampirs are born from Moroi men and dhampir women getting together. Moroi women stick to having Moroi babies. What this usually means is that Moroi men have flings with dhampir women and then take off. This leaves a lot of single dhampir mothers, and that's why not as many of them become guardians. They'd rather focus on raising their children. As a result, only the guys and a handful of girls are left to become guardians. But those who choose to protect Moroi are serious about their jobs. Dhampirs need Moroi to keep having kids. We have to protect them. Plus, it's just†¦well, it's the honorable thing to do. Strigoi are evil and unnatural. It isn't right for them to prey on the innocent. Dhampirs who train to be guardians have this drilled into them from the time they can walk. Strigoi are evil. Moroi must be protected. Guardians believe this. I believe this. And there's one Moroi I want to protect more than anyone in the world: my best friend, Lissa. She's a Moroi princess. The Moroi have twelve royal families, and she's the only one left in hersthe Dragomirs. But there's something else that makes Lissa special, aside from her being my best friend. Remember when I said every Moroi wields one of the four elements? Well, it turns out Lissa wields one no one even knew existed until recently: spirit. For years, we thought she just wasn't going to develop her magical abilities. Then strange things started happening around her. For example, all vampires have an ability called compulsion that lets them force their will on others. Strigoi have it really strongly. It's weaker in Moroi, and it's also forbidden. Lissa, however, has it almost as much as a Strigoi. She can bat her eyelashes, and people will do what she wants. But that's not even the coolest thing she can do. I said earlier that dead things don't always stay dead. Well, I'm one of them. Don't worryI'm not like the Strigoi. But I did die once. (I don't recommend it.) It happened when the car I was riding in slid off the road. The accident killed me, Lissa's parents, and her brother. Yet, somewhere in the chaoswithout even realizing itLissa used spirit to bring me back. We didn't know about this for a long time. In fact, we didn't even know spirit existed at all. Unfortunately, it turned out that one person did know about spirit before we did. Victor Dashkov, a dying Moroi prince, found out about Lissa's powers and decided he wanted to lock her up and make her his own personal healerfor the rest of her life. When I realized someone was stalking her, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I broke us out of school to run off and live among humans. It was funbut also kind of nerve-wrackingto always be on the run. We got away with this for two years until the authorities at St. Vladimir's hunted us down and dragged us back a few months ago. That was when Victor made his real move, kidnapping her and torturing her until she gave into his demands. In the process, he took some pretty extreme measureslike zapping me and Dimitri, my mentor, with a lust spell. (I'll get to him later). Victor also exploited the way spirit was starting to make Lissa mentally unstable. But even that wasn't as bad as what he did to his own daughter Natalie. He went so far as to encourage her to turn into a Strigoi to help cover his escape. She ended up getting staked. Even when captured after the fact, Victor didn't seem to display too much guilt over what he'd asked her to do. Makes me think I wasn't missing out on growing up without a father. Still, I now have to protect Lissa from Strigoi and Moroi. Only a few officials know about what she can do, but I'm sure there are other Victors out there who would want to use her. Fortunately, I have an extra weapon to help me guard her. Somewhere during my healing in the car accident, spirit forged a psychic bond between her and me. I can see and feel what she experiences. (It only works one way, though. She can't â€Å"feel† me.) The bond helps me keep an eye on her and know when she's in trouble, although sometimes, it's weird having another person inside your head. We're pretty sure there are lots of other things spirit can do, but we don't know what they are yet. In the meantime, I'm trying to be the best guardian I can be. Running away put me behind in my training, so I have to take extra classes to make up for lost time. There's nothing in the world I want more than to keep Lissa safe. Unfortunately, I've got two things that complicate my training now and then. One is that I sometimes act before I think. I'm getting better at avoiding this, but when something sets me off, I tend to punch first and then find out who I actually hit later. When it comes to those I care about being in danger†¦well, rules seem optional. The other problem in my life is Dimitri. He's the one who killed Natalie, and he's a total badass. He's also pretty good-looking. Okaymore than good-looking. He's hotlike, the kind of hot that makes you stop walking on the street and get hit by traffic. But, like I said, he's my instructor. And he's twenty-four. Both of those are reasons why I shouldn't have fallen for him. But, honestly, the most important reason is that he and I will be Lissa's guardians when she graduates. If he and I are checking each other out, then that means we aren't looking out for her. I haven't had much luck in getting over him, and I'm pretty sure he still feels the same about me. Part of what makes it so difficult is that he and I got pretty hot and heavy when we got hit with the lust spell. Victor had wanted to distract us while he kidnapped Lissa, and it had worked. I'd been ready to give up my virginity, and Dimitri had been ready to take it. At the last minute, we broke the spell, but those memories are always with me and make it kind of hard to focus on combat moves sometimes. By the way, my name's Rose Hathaway. I'm seventeen years old, training to protect and kill vampires, in love with a completely unsuitable guy, and have a best friend whose weird magic could drive her crazy. Hey, no one said high school was easy.

Monday, July 29, 2019

Learning Team Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Learning Team Paper - Essay Example I, in this paper, review application of week one’s objectives of understanding flowcharts and metrics, and factors that affect process development. One of the week’s objectives is understanding the designing of flow charts and measures for determining and improving processes. The objective involves an understanding of elements of flowcharts and approaches to modeling elements to achieve a desired performance level, and process analysis plays an important role. Application of the knowledge of process analysis by a manager or designer in a manufacturing process is an example. This would include determination of the process’s objectives and aims of the specific analysis and determination, through exploring questions, of factors around a process. Such questions may relate to current output capacity of the process, expectations, possible modifications, and involved costs. The manager would then consider available materials and equipments, and process cycles to develop a flow chart, a process that would allow for easy understanding of the process towards improvements. Once a process is understood from its analysis, its performance can be measured from productivity, efficiency, time, and rate, and decisions made to improve the performance (Chase and Jacobs, 2006). Identification of factors that affect process development, and a further understanding of how the factors influence the development are another set of objectives and are applicable in improving processes towards optimum levels of efficiency. Understanding factors such as expected output, customers’ waiting time, and alternative approaches to process generates ideas for establishing a process, refining a draft process, or improving an existing process (Chase and Jacobs, 2006; Inan, Buyukkupcu and Akinci, 2010). The week’s objective of developing flow charts and metrics for determining and improving process performance together with identifying and

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Research proposal and introduction and literature review Paper

Proposal and introduction and literature review - Research Paper Example The research will seek to know if politics has any influence on the political decisions of people. It will seek to identify if the media directs the public on what to think and what to do. The research will also investigate on whether the public opinions on political aspects are based on the information  supplied  to them by the media. Voting is one of the biggest political arenas that involve the public and in respect to that, the research will seek to know if the media decides where the public cast their vote during an election. In the past people have considered the media to be the source of political enmity and even have accused the media to be the cause of various political ethnic clashes. The research will seek to know if the media participates in creating political enmity between people of different ethnicities and races. To be able to dig out the above information and make viable conclusions, the research will use three different research methods. It will interview the selected participants using present research questions and record their feedback in order to know their opinions. The research will use questionnaires that will contain research questions. In order to gain valid information, it will include multiple answer questions and open-ended question so as not to limit the interviewee. The final research method will be observation. The researcher will observe the public reaction on prevailing political topics and the gauge the influence of the media on decisions and stands made by the public. The research will also use the available literature in books and journals to study the influence of the media on political behavior of the public According to Popkin, the media have a great influence on how voters make their choices during elections. He argues that the larger percentage of the society makes decisions on whom to vote for based on the media TV stations or

Saturday, July 27, 2019

The intellectual history of Islamic Spain-time frame 711 to 1248 Research Paper

The intellectual history of Islamic Spain-time frame 711 to 1248 - Research Paper Example Skilled artisans commanded respect and had ample creative opportunities. When one evaluates the merits of the city during that period, with a population of half a million, no more elaboration is needed about the administration. The city included many suburbs, a good number of mosques, public utilities, suqs (markets), many palaces and apparel manufacturing units. In the early 11th century, with mounting economic and military pressures, the disintegration of the caliphate commenced. Bishko writes, â€Å"On the political side, indeed, we are given a pious but unrealistic hypothesis that the breakdown of the Caliphate and the failure of its successor states can be ascribed to the fact that a great imperial power violates per se the spiritual premises of Islam. We are further told that schism between the power-hungry, materialistic upper class and the profundity of religious masses made political unity and defeat of the Christian advance impossible.†(Bishko, 1966, p.142) Many smal l kingdoms are known as taifas sprouted. But from the angle of lifestyles, they followed the original pattern of Cordoba. With the end of the caliphate and petty kingdoms(taifas) coming into prominence in the 11th century, the importance switched over to Granada(Gharnatah) A tribe known as Zirids shifted from Cordoba and established an independent kingdom in Granada. â€Å"At the beginning of the eleventh century (fifth century, Anno Hegirae), the old Muslim power of caliph and Amir in Central and Southern Spain seemed to stand unassailable.

Friday, July 26, 2019

Term paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Term paper - Essay Example The author tries to accomplish awareness among people. There is no argumentation here, Michelle Nijhuis only informs the audience what amazing people like Kress have done for this planet to preserve the lifecycle. Nijuis describes what puffins are; in her description she uses emotions to clear the purpose. She didn’t start by ‘the earth needs its birds to keep the natural lifecycle intact’. She merely drew the picture in readers’ minds that puffins are simply adorable to look at and their chicks bring that emotional ‘awe’ to the mouth when one sees them. But there shouldn’t be any misdirection here, she clarifies that no one needs to be an bird lover to admire cute birds like puffin. What she’s really saying is that if people like Kress are not there, we (the readers) would have missed out on such cute animals, that is the purpose of her article. Since the article is published in the Slate Magazine, the audience belongs to many ar eas of life. Slate magazine covers many areas including business, politics and technology, so anyone out there is the target. This earth and its species are for everyone. Stephen Kress is not the only one responsible for protection of puffins. This article can be read online and that makes the whole world Nijhuis’s audience. There aren’t only puffins that need to be taken care of; many other breeds of various other animals are disappearing fast. How to Fake a Puffin Society can save endangered whales, or correct someone who is poaching Siberian tigers for their fur or a person that is stealing eggs from an eagle’s nest in Himalayas. The audience is not limited by any means, it is an inspiration for all. One doesn’t need to be scientist like Kress or an article writer like Michelle to take care of the natural habitat. The audience is everyone who lives and breathes on this planet. Nijhuis comes across the subject in both neutral and funny way. There is a mix of personas. For instance when Kress was at

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Audubon zoo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Audubon zoo - Essay Example Park personnel need new challenges and the zoo needs to be constantly improved to prevent falling into a pattern that could lead to a decline. The recent political decision to give control to the City of New Orleans offers an opportunity for reorganization towards a more learning organization which would be flexible enough to make future adjustments as needed. The organization is actually getting too large not to be flexible. Currently, the Audubon Park Zoo operates within the revenues it generates, which is actually a plus, since most such projects require more public support. Financial data is found on the graph below. A questionable suggestion to lease the concessions to third party vendors needs to be examined. The concessions operated at a tiny fraction of current volume before the Friends of the Zoo took it over. While the fact that the labor is volunteer may account for some of the profit, giving up control is probably not advisable. Financially, the zoo is doing well, but it any improvements or expansions are done the funding needs to be developed. New projects are needed in order to maintain momentum. Anything that does not move forward stagnates. The vertically hierarchical structure has worked for the park until now, but the park has grown and will continue to grow, and large organizations which stick strictly to this kind of structure sacrifice flexibility for a sense of stability due to the efficient nature of this organizational structure. In the beginning of a company or during the time when it is being revamped, efficiency is of prime importance. However, as an organization matures, it must become a â€Å"learning organization† so that it can make changes as needed in response to changes in the marketplace. Becoming a learning organization is essential to the bottom line, as Hanvanich et al proved in their study. â€Å"Specifically, under low environmental turbulence, learning orientation and organizational memory

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Cross-cultural Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Cross-cultural Management - Essay Example d by non-occupied markets, cheap labor force, tax exemptions, convenient locations and they are positioning themselves to the new territories to increase their value (Konecena, 2006). All these factors contribute to the new area of management; cross cultural management. The concept of cross-cultural team management was emphasized on when western countries recognized a huge inflow of expatriates. As a result the composition of workforce over there became more diverse in nature. Since the managers were still using the western way of team management, it was not considered the best way of handling individuals who arrived from different parts of the world. This sparked the interest of researchers to focus on cross cultural issues in management literature (Taras & Rowney, 2006). This paper focuses on the particular aspect of cross cultural management; team building and their management. Teams are a core characteristic of every organization and they are formed and nurtured to achieve organizational goals and objectives. The emerging trend towards cross cultural teams has attracted the attention of many managers as these teams are considered as more innovative and creative than ordinary teams. However there are contentious issues and challenges underlying the above concept. If managers comprehend on these issues thoroughly then only they can derive substantial benefits from it and can enhance organizational effectiveness. This document also focuses on difference in working styles of diverse range of cultures and how they affect team performance. According to Kreitner & Kinicki (2004), â€Å"Cross cultural management explains the behavior of people in organizations around the world and shows people how to work in organizations with employee and client populations from many different cultures†. Cross cultural team management encompasses the word â€Å"team† in above definition. Multicultural workgroups and teams are now no longer described as a voluntary practice but

Leadership Position.Cross Cultural Decision Making Assignment

Leadership Position.Cross Cultural Decision Making - Assignment Example International business ethics is of high value, especially when team members originate from other countries. It is a spicy mixture, if team members originate from UK, Brazil, Egypt and Colombia.   A mixture of Eastern and Western culture is an effective conglomerate, but it may take time and effort to make this unity successful. A diverse world requires numerous opportunities and gives many chances for goals realization either by individuals or by the company. A leader is a mediator of relations between employees and organization. From his apt communication of goals depends future performance of the organization. A current task is challenged by international nature not only of its team members, but also by location of plants. The first plant is based in Ireland and the second plant is located in Honduras.   Raw materials come from different international companies. Manufacturing plants are located in different countries and it is very much important that cultural differences in c ommunication among employees of the plants should be properly considered by a leader. For example, lingual and cultural barriers can exist. To overcome them a wise leader should set correct goals and inspire team members of high performance by means of rewards. ... That is why it is very important for employee the way he is perceived by the leader and other members of his team. Therefore, to motivate employees from different countries, it is possible to take the following steps: to choose between need-based models of motivation and process-based models of motivation. In accordance with Hofstede (2003), the first type of model is based on social orientation, power orientation, uncertainty orientation, and goal orientation. This approach is relevant to representatives of uncertainty-avoiding cultures, when employees are focused on job stability and a personal security. It is better to implement reinforcement, which leads to positive outcomes and avoid punishment, which leads to negative outcomes (Trompenaars, 2004). To avoid misunderstanding, it is better for managers to develop his practices in compliance with a formal code of ethics of the organization. Ethical dilemmas can be dealt in interactive way, when members of organization have an oppor tunity of trainings visiting, which are mainly focused on ethical aspects of business (Alanazi & Rodrigues, 2003). Social responsibility is another integrative element of a successful international leadership. Basic human needs of employees, their rewards, promotion and support should be of high importance for the modern leaders. A modern process of decision making should be regulated by a leader with respect to the following facts: â€Å"a set of social relations  which includes consumption patterns, market regulations, ownership and control structures, labor conditions, government decision making, and the motivations and aspirations of the actors involved† (Thompson 1994, p. 4). Especially in the international context these factors play even

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Hearing Child of a Deaf Parent and a Deaf Child of a Hearing Parent Assignment

Hearing Child of a Deaf Parent and a Deaf Child of a Hearing Parent - Assignment Example Daniel never hesitated to ask the tutors, audiologists and even other professionals any questions and even other issues of concern. They would often give him the utmost assistance he required. His parents loved and encouraged him, praised him for anything he did well, often smiling with him and paid attention to whenever he wanted to share something with them. These loving activities were the most important milestone of boosting his confidence and making him feel relaxed. He often came to class and mused around with his funny stories about his experiences at the family gatherings. He dreaded the occasions since he was the eldest child, yet his younger cousins and even the adults would not understand him. He would go by himself to read any book in the apartment including the children’s books. His cousins would ignore him and go about playing and making the clay â€Å"cookies†. He would interact with the adults with his parents always trying to interpret, though the degre es of success were varying. He often missed deep conversations even with his grandparents. He tells me that my shortcomings should never deter me from achieving success and this really inspires me. Billy told her story too. She had been raised by deaf parents but had no hearing impairment. At the age of five, she was lying on her bed, and the thought of little monsters under the bed crossed her mind. Their intention was to eat her feet if she attempted to step down. Like every other child, paralyzed in fear, she tried to call for help from her parents, but unfortunately, her screams would land on deaf ears of her parents. At that age, she knew her parents were deaf, and they lived in a visual world with her. To attract her parents’ attention, it demanded her to be within their coverage of sight and wave her hands, or to gently touch them to signalize her presence.

Monday, July 22, 2019

Ermo Essay Example for Free

Ermo Essay Ermo, directed by Zhou Xiaowen in 1994, takes place in the 1980’s when China first began to actively accept the concept of globalization. â€Å"Ermo, where the title character as the strong-willed wife of an emasculated husband† (Tang 654), explores the issues of being a matriarch as well as an individual with her own interests and desires. Compared with traditional Chinese women who were relegated to taking care of the household, Ermo is drastically different because she is the one who attends to the financial needs of her family by selling twisty noodles. Although she is a poor, peasant woman whose life revolves around the responsibilities of taking care of of her family, Ermo harbors secret ambitions which she longs to someday achieve. Fueled by her ambitions, Ermo works day and night to fulfill her aims even as she attends to her loved one’s needs. Her characteristic as responsible matriarch can also be seen when she risks her health by selling large quantities of her blood in order to earn quick money. In the film, every action that Ermo takes is a result of her free will; she is not forced or coerced to do so. Everything that she does, she does for the love of her family. The female lead in the movie is willing to do anything to support her family, which is a marked characteristic of contemporary Chinese films. The role of Ermo is a strong departure from the traditional roles of women in Chinese society. Ermo’s profession is examined in two ways: Noodle seller during the day and noodle maker during the night. In the very beginning of the film, the shot shows her as a noodle-seller on the street, peddling bunches of twisty noodles that she herself made. She yells â€Å"mai mahua mian lou† (twisty noodle for sale) (Ciecko 2) constantly. This scene particularly emphasizes her profession and skills for selling twisty noodles. There are also several close-up shots of her foot while she is making noodle dough. Ermo kneads flour with her feet, and she does it expertly, never dropping any of flour. This shot makes a statement as to the technical skills her work requires and the passion and dedication with which Ermo does her job. While generally regarded as a lowly job, it is actually a very demanding job requiring sophisticated skills. The opportunity to pursue a rewarding career among Chinese women is a fairly recent development because the women in China never had the opportunity to choose their job. Ermo’s desire can be read in various ways: desire for a better life, desire for a fulfilling sexual relationship, and desire for self-determination. Ermo’s â€Å"wish for a new life with a [Blindman, the richest guy in the town] after an amorous night halfway between town and village, expresses her desire to desire and constitutes an inspired revision of reality† (Tang, 668). This satisfies both her sexual desire and desire for better life. She also desires for having the biggest TV in her town, which at first may seem materialistic, but may actually be construed for her need to achieve and be acknowledged for her accomplishments. Although she says that she needs to buy the TV for her son so that he does not have to go to their neighbor’s house to watch, it is really her own aspiration to show people who she really is. Based on strong Confucian society, Chinese women have been traditionally relegated to the sidelines, but as China begins to open itself to changes, so do Chinese women begin to evolve and come out into their own. As examined above, â€Å"the central events in Ermo reflect a new stage in the development of contemporary Chinese society† (Tang, 663). As portrayed in this modern Chinese film, women are able to attend to their family without necessarily having to sacrifice their own dreams and ambitions in the process.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Employee Motivation in Tourism Industry

Employee Motivation in Tourism Industry Employee Motivation An important aspect for Service Excellence in Tourism Industry Introduction: Employee Motivation is believed as one of the vital factor for any organisation in order to operate successfully and ensuring service excellence. According to Charles Woodruffe (2006) â€Å"More and more organizations – especially those in the service sector – have become attuned to the idea that there is not much point in employing people at all if you are not going to take steps to make them want to give their best to you. But by no means all organizations think this way, and even if they do, they still need to put this thinking into practice†. Woodruffe (2006) C Wiley (1997) also holds and accepts the fact that employee motivation is one of the important aspects for the organisation to achieve or fulfil its visions, missions and organisational goal and thus attain success in the business. â€Å"Motivated employees can make powerful contributions to the profits and future success of a corporation† (C Wiley 1997) Paul Levesque believes that there is a unique relation between Employee Motivation and Customer Satisfaction. High level of Employee enthusiasm will result in higher level of Customer Satisfaction. â€Å"Employee motivation and customer satisfaction fuel each other in a chain reaction of contagious enthusiasm†. (Paul Levesque) For any research to be carried out efficiently and effectively, it’s really important to jot down the main aims and objectives. Laying out clear aims and objectives would benefit during research and will also be helpful enough in attaining them. The Rationale of this research topic is to critically review the importance of Employee motivation for achieving service excellence in tourism industry by conducting an extensive research and using different paradigm and methods for research. The main aim of the Research Topic is:- To evaluate the role and importance of employee motivation for achieving high level of service excellence in Tourism industry. The above mentioned aim provides a broader idea for evaluating the role and importance of employee motivation for achieving high level of service excellence in Tourism industry. So in order to critically evaluate every aspects of the mentioned aim, some important objectives have been drafted which are given below:- To identify employee motivation as an important tool for success of the organisations. To examine the use of motivational theories and strategy in order motivate employees and ensuring Service Excellence. To establish the growing use of reward and recognition and other methods like incentives as different ways of motivating employees After drafting down the objectives of the research topic it would be worthy enough to understand that for achieving them, suitable paradigms, philosophies, approach and methodology should be used and reviewed. Literature Review:- Literature by many researchers has been identified as an important factor for carrying out any type of research as it plays major role in understanding important theories, data, figures etc and also help in relating them to the data collected. But it is also important to understand that while pursuing research reviewing the available literature is an important step which should be followed. Veal (2006) believes that, â€Å"Reviewing the Literature on a topic can be one of the most rewarding – and one of the most frustrating – of research tasks. It is a task where a range of skills and qualities needs to be employed – including patience, persistence, insight and lateral thinking† (Veal: 2006). Hence, literature review also becomes an important part of the research in order to analyze the content of the available Literature for meeting the objectives of the research. This research is concerned to evaluate the concept of employee motivation, its importance for ensuring high level of service excellence and the role played by it for the success of the organization. For this particular research there are lots of Academics books, Journals Articles, Electronic Articles published on the Internet which provides extensive information. The data collected from the above mentioned secondary data play a crucial role in meeting the objectives of the research topic. At this stage of the research proposal briefly reviewing the available literature for the achievement of the mentioned objectives is required Hence, for the first objective which is to identify employee motivation as an important tool for success of the organisations mix and match of Primary and Secondary data would be referred. Good and comprehensive Academic books, journals and web articles are available in the form of Secondary Data which can be referred. There are numbers of journals and web articles which provide critical knowledge about Employee Motivation would also be referred. Journals articles and Web articles mentioned below gives information for the first objective:- â€Å"Motivating Your Staff in a Time of Change† written by Susan M. Heathfield This article provides vital information about the fact that employees are one of the factors in the success and motivating them is equally important for managers. Susan M. Heathfield believes â€Å"In today’s turbulent, often chaotic, environment, commercial success depends on employees using their full talents. Yet in spite of the myriad of available theories and practices, managers often view motivation as something of a mystery.† (http://humanresources.about.com/od/motivationsucces3/a/motivatestaff.htm) In the above article the author critically explains about the advantages of staff motivation, barrier in motivating staff and use of motivational theories and methods for achieving motivation. â€Å"Motivating knowledge workers to innovate: a model integrating motivation dynamics and antecedents† by Amar, A. D This article develops a conceptual model synthesizing motivations â€Å"what† and â€Å"how† that will bring human creativity in organizations which thrive on innovation and also understanding the theory and application of motivation which is very important in managing human resource and in making organizations succeed. â€Å"How to Encourage Employee Motivation† written by Anthony Di Primo This article gives information about the importance of employee for attaining efficiency and success. Author also point out some important steps for optimum personnel utilization. â€Å"Do All Carrots Look The Same? Examining the Impact of Culture on Employee Motivation† by Justine Di Cesare and Golnaz Sadri Provides extensive information about the effect of different dimensions of culture on Employee Motivation The second Objective which is to examine the use of motivational theories and strategy in order motivate employees and ensuring Service Excellence. For achieving this objective, Academics books would be the best assets to use. There are many books on the topic of Human Resource Management and Organizational Behaviour which provide extensive knowledge about Motivational theories and there importance. Academic books given below provides information about Content theories which mention theories developed by Maslow, Hertzberg, Mc. Clelland, Aldefer and Process motivational theories like Expectancy Theory, Equity Theory, Goal Theory and Attribution Theory. â€Å"Management and Organisational Behaviour† and â€Å"Managing People in the Hospitality Industry† by L.J, Mullins â€Å"Human Resource Management in the Hospitality and Tourism Industry† written by Michael Riley. â€Å"Human Resource Management† by Torrington, D., Hall, L and Taylor, S. Organizational Behaviour† by H. Kirk Downey, Don Hellriegel, John W. Slocum. â€Å"Strategic Human Resource Management†, by Mabey, C. and Salaman, G. Apart from the above mentioned books, Journals article could be referred. Article written by Terence R. Mitchell â€Å"Motivation: New Directions for Theory, Research and Practice† explains major theories of motivation concerned with the arousal and choice of behaviour, problems of implementation and directions for future research are suggested. For the third objective which is to establish the growing use of reward and recognition and other methods like incentives as different ways of motivating employees, again mix and match of Primary and Secondary data would be referred. Following Books and Journals examine the use of reward and recognition and incentives as useful techniques. â€Å"Strategic Human Resource Management†, by Mabey, C. and Salaman, G which critically evaluate the reward strategy used by Mangers. â€Å"What motivates employees according to over 40 years of motivation surveys† by Wiley, C, which provide in-depth information about the changes in factors influencing Employee Motivation over the years. â€Å"Recognise, Reward, Retain: The Three R’s of Performance Management† by Jennifer Juergens explains the concept of Reward, Recognition and Incentives for motivating employee and retaining them in the organisation for a long term. â€Å"Employee Motivation and Work Incentives in the Service Industries† by Robert W. McIntosh. This article explains the fact that to effectively motivate, a definite system of incentives or rewards is necessary. It also provides information different techniques and suggestion for motivating employees. â€Å"Incentive remuneration not delivering role ownership?† This article critically analyze to the fact that performance related pay is supposed to motivate people to take more ownership of their role, to work harder, be more productive and contribute. Thus by doing a literature review of the current research topic, it could be said that the above mentioned Academics books, Journals and Articles provides an in – depth knowledge about the concepts of Motivation Theories, Employee motivation and its importance in Organisation’s success and achieving service excellence in tourism industry. Although in any research, literature review is an on-going process and in a same way for this research topic many more relevant Academic Books, Journals and Articles would be referred in order to gain excessive information about the topic. Research Design and Methodology:- Research Methodology according to Glyn Jackson, â€Å"Methodologies are strategies with strong focus on gathering information, planning, and design elements† (http://www.newebia.co.uk/articles/what-is-a-methodology.html) Positivist Paradigm and Phenomenology Paradigm are considered to be main paradigm for any research hence it would be very important to understand them briefly in order to efficiently use them for the current research topic. Positivist Paradigm â€Å"Positivism is a framework of research, similar to that adopted by the natural scientist, in which the researcher sees people as a phenomena to be studied from the outside, with behaviour to be explained on the basis of facts and observation gathered by researchers, using theories and models developed researchers† (Veal: 2006) In Positivist approach the data collected through is highly specific and precise .It lays emphasis on quantitative observations and statistical analysis. (Collis, J: 2003) On the other hand, Phenomenological paradigm â€Å"Is a framework which gives more emphasis on the people being studied to provide their own explanation of their situation or behaviour.† (Veal: 2006) Phenomenological paradigm is predominately Qualitative in nature and data derived is highly rich and subjective (Collis, J.2003). For the above mentioned Research topic, a PLURALISTIC approach which is a combination of both Positivist and Phenomenology paradigm. This approach has been taken as research process which includes both observations (Positivist) and the personal views (Phenomenology) of Managers and Employees on Employee Motivation and its relation to Service excellence. For this research Inductive approach has been applied as it believed to be a process whereby the exploration and analysis of related observation leads to the construction of a theory that systematically links such observations in a meaningful way† (Clark M: 1998). Hence for this research, it would be described that Employee Motivation is essential for Service excellence by collection of Primary (surveys) and Secondary (Books, Journals) data and then processing the collected data for explanation to fulfil the objectives of the proposed research. In this research topic as informed before for the first and the third objective Primary and Secondary sources will be used for achieving them. As far as the first and the third objectives goes along with using books, journals and articles, Primary data will be collected with the method of Survey. Major survey techniques will be used like:- Face to Face Interview Questionnaire Telephonic Interviews E – mails Interviews and Questionnaire For the First objective at the preliminary stage, Telephonic Interviews or E mail Interviews would be conducted with Mangers and Supervisors in order to convince them about the research and also to carry out Face to face Interviews at the later stages. By using these survey techniques the first objective of how employee motivation plays an important role in success of the Organisations can be identified. For the Third objective which is to examine the use of rewards and incentives as Motivators. A questionnaire will also be designed for employees in order to gain information on how reward, recognition and incentives help them feel motivated. Telephonic and Face to face Interview will be conducted with managers and Supervisors to understand their views on the rewards, recognition and incentive plans as motivators for their employees. Appendix 1 given at the end of the report consists some of the potential Questions to be asked at the time of Telephonic or Face to face Interviews. For carrying out a successful survey it is very important for any researcher to use the technique of Sampling. â€Å"Sampling is a process by which researchers select a representative subset or part of the total population that can be studied for the topic so that they will be able to draw conclusion regarding the entire population† (Levent Altinay and Alexandros Paraskevas: 2008) Thus for this research, the area and number of organisations to be surveyed will be determined by the use of Multi stage sampling under Probility Sampling approach, hence undertaking Survey in four major towns of UK namely Birmingham, Wolverhampton, West Bromwich and Walsall and at least 2 organisations will be surveyed from each town. The number of Managers and Employees to be surveyed will be determined by the use of Simple Random Sampling in which 20 employees will be surveyed from each organisation and 2 managers or supervisors will be surveyed from each organisation. After discussing the Philosophy and Methodology of the research topic, another important step which would be taken care at the time of conducting the research is of Ethics. Ethics according to Veal (2006) is a behavior which is important in research, as in any other field of human activity. Ethical issues arise in the design and conduct of research and in the reporting of results. The general principles in codes of research ethics are: That no harm should befall the research subjects That subjects should take part freely That subject should take part on the basis of informed consent. (Veal: 2006) At the time of conducted research, the questions for the Interviews and Questionnaire would be carefully designed so that they don’t negative impression about the research. No individual will be forced to give interviews and answering questionnaire. The aims and objectives of the research will be discussed and made evident to the participant before doing survey of any kind. After noting the value of Ethics in research it would be important to discuss briefly the importance of Reliability and Validity. Reliability is believed to be the extent to which research findings would be the same if the research were to be repeated at a later date or with a different sample of subjects. In a phenomenological approach reliability is low as compared to positivist approach. (Veal: 2006) On the other hand, Validity is the extent to which the information collected by the researcher truly reflects the phenomena being studied. In phenomenological approach validity is high as compared to positivist approach (Veal: 2006) Thus the above mentioned Research philosophy and methodology are appropriate as the methods used for data collection are apt enough to meet the objectives of the proposed Research Topic. Conclusion:- Finally in the end it would be worthy enough to recognize the importance of Employee motivation for ensuring service excellence in tourism industry. Employee Motivation not only plays an important role for service excellence but it is also very important for smooth operations of the organisations. Wiley, C. believe â€Å"In order to attain to high levels of performance, employers depend on their employees to perform at levels that positively affect the bottom line. Thus, they must understand what motivates them. Such an understanding is essential to improving productivity and, ultimately, to ensuring the success of the company†. The aim and objectives of the research topic are clear and the method of survey and sampling seems to be the most suitable in order to collect primary data and the literature review also proves the availability of sufficient secondary data in the form of Books, journals and internet sources. Thus it can be said that the Positivist and Phenomenology par adigm , Pluralistic approach and methodology of Survey and Sampling of the research topic, if carried out in a systematic and organised manner keeping in mind the Ethics of research can be very helpful in conducting a valid and reliable research. Referencing:- Books Mullins, L.J. (1998) Managing People in Hospitality Industry (3rd Edition) Harlow: Longman Mullins, L.J. (1999) Management Organisational Behaviour (5th Edition) FT/Prentice Hall: London Veal, A (2006) Research Methods for Leisure and Tourism – a Practical Guide, (3rd Edition), Harlow: Prentice Hall Mabey, Christopher (1995), Strategic human resource management. Oxford: Blackwell Business. Torrington, Derek (2004), Human resource management (6th Edition), Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall Altinay, L (2008), Planning research in hospitality and tourism, Amsterdam; London: Butterworth-Heinemann Collis. Hussey, R .(2003): Business Research – a practical guide for undergraduate and postgraduate students , 2nd Edition, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan Altinay, L, and Paraskevas, A. (2008), Planning research in hospitality and tourism, Amsterdam; London: Butterworth-Heinemann. Mona A. Clark (1998), Researching and writing dissertations in hospitality and tourism, London: International Thomson Business Press. Journals Wiley, C (1997) What motivates employees according to over 40 years of motivation surveys, International Journal of Management, Vol 18, No 3, pp263-280 Di Cesare, J Golnaz, S (2003) Do all carrots look the same? examining the impact of culture on employee motivation In Management Research News, 26:1 Woodruffe, C. (2006), The crucial importance of employee engagement, Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol.14, No. 1, pp. 3-5. Jennifer Juergens (2005) Recognise, Reward, Retain: The Three R’s of Performance Management, Successful Sales Management, pp. 6 – 14. Amar, A. D (2004), Motivating knowledge workers to innovate: a mode integrating motivation dynamics and antecedents, European Journal of innovation Management, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 89 – 101 Electronic Source (Internet Websites) Paul Levesque, (no date) Turn Your Employees into Customer Service Dynamos [online]. [Cited 20th April 2008] Robert W. McIntosh, (no date) Employee Motivation and Work Incentives in the Service Industry [online]. [Cited 20th April 2008]. Zealise, (no date) Incentive remuneration not delivering role ownership [online]. [Cited 20th April 2008]. Glyn Jackson, (no date) what is a methodology? [online] . [Cited 20th April 2008]. Appendix 1 Telephonic or Face to face Interview: Some of the potential Questions to be asked at the time of Telephonic or Face to face Interviews Worksheet: Interview Questions What is the primary aim of your company? What really motivates your staff? Are there any recent changes in the company that might have affected motivation? What are the barriers in motivation which stop employees performing to best effect? What are the patterns of motivation in your company? How involved are employees in company development? Does employee feel motivated when they take part in development process?

Genre is useful for audiences

Genre is useful for audiences Compare examples of genre texts from different decades of any media genre of your choice. Genre is useful for audiences as it enables them to differentiate between the styles and types of narrative, allowing them to decide on what they enjoy. Producers benefit from genre as they can see what is most successful at the current time, and, therefore, make more of the same to capitalise on profit. Due to the ongoing existence and progression of genre, certain changes occur in film, but yet they remain reflective of the genre they are in. This observation is supported by Steven Neales description, that genre operates as a â€Å"repetition of difference†. Subtle differences may appear on screen, but the underlying repertoire of elements are exclusively the same. I will be considering the science fiction genre, within which, the films Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Invasion, and The Faculty will be discussed. These films are recognisable as being part of the science fiction genre due to the inclusion of aliens in all three texts. This is a common trend within the genr e and is apparent in countless other films. The repetition of such ideas is noticeably popular with audiences, who have consumed similar texts for decades. Audiences like this repetition as it fits into their schema, complying with the ideologies and values of previous texts which they have enjoyed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  However, genres do not endlessly repeat themselves. Instead, they evolve, adopting new conventions and narratives to excite the audience. This variation is well-liked by audiences who would become bored of watching the same thing over and over again. The repetition of difference allows the audience to enjoy the particular genre whilst being entertained by the application of new elements. The diverse nature and imagination of science fiction allows difference to be introduced with greater success than any other genre.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Haywards theory, that genres are not static but â€Å"shifting and slippery†, can be confidently implicated into the discussion, as they do not remain the same but adjust due to the audience and society at the time. This notion can be further enforced by theorist Toamshevsky, who suggested that â€Å"no firm logical classification of genre is possible. Their demarcation is always historical, that is to say, it is only correct for a moment of history†. This theory proposes that films produced as part of the science fiction genre, reflect attitudes, worries and conflicts within society at a given time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The texts held in question all exhibit differences due to the influences of historical contexts that were apparent at the time. Invasion of the Body Snatchers is manifestly a metaphor of society during the Cold War, with the pod people representing Russian communists. The 2007 remake, The Invasion, adopts different aspects as a result of society at this time. The anxieties present in this era are disease, infection and the idea that science is foolishly breaking boundaries, represented in The Invasion by a virus that turns people into an inhuman being. The faculty is more complex as it does not involve concerns of the present society. Instead, The Faculty presents a postmodern view of humanity through its self-referentiality; drawing attention to its own construction which offers little comment on social issues.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Neale supports Toamshevskys point and suggests that genre creates meaning in a fluid way. Genre can only make sense in relation to a variety of contextual factors. The contextual factors of institution, censorship, technology and gender representation have all affected these texts and created differences between them. Invasion of the body Snatchers was produced by Walter Wanger, who had an interest in topically political material, being responsible for the making of the anti-fascist film Blockade in 1938. The films screenwriter Mainwaring was even blacklisted himself as a communist sympathiser. Furthermore, the script was rewritten by Richard Collins, a former Communist Party functionary and co-author of the once notorious Song of Russia. These institutional aspects of the film clearly show its intentions and ideologies as being pro-communism, making a satirical attack on McCarthyism. The Invasion was produced by Warner brothers and therefore has values in keeping with traditional America. The narrative of this film concludes with the uninfected triumphing over the alien life form and restoring the world to its previous state. This clearly shows the difference in values as the ending is so definite, whereas in Body Snatchers the ending is not completely resolved, with the imagination of the audience determining the real outcome. The Faculty appears to struggle in commenting on the real world we live in until the very end of the film. We can see this ending as an ironic parody through Frederick Jamesons definition of the term, as The Faculty ‘mocks rather than plunders from tradition therefore interrogating other texts that it mimics. We ask questions about the way the narrative ends as it makes no sense, with everybody becoming better people due to the experience and contradicting there former characters.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Censorship has shaped the three texts dramatically, having restricted the content of some and enabling others to show more varied footage. Invasion of the Body Snatchers was produced in 1956, a time where society was shielded from ‘unacceptable material by the MPDDA, therefore limiting the footage that could be shown, and which could be perceived as entertaining by the audience, for example violence, nudity and swearing. The Invasion and The Faculty, however, have not been affected by such rigorous censoring, being produced in a more lenient society. This has allowed both films to include more disturbing scenes such as the alien in The Faculty and the process by which humans are converted into aliens in The Invasion.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Technology also plays a significant part in recognising the differences between the texts. Invasion of the Body Snatchers lacks impressive, large scale scenes partly due to the deficiency of technology but also due to the economic context, as films were made on a much lower budget than they are today. Body Snatchers cost a modern day equivalent of 4 million dollars whereas The Invasion cost a massive 80 million dollars. These economic differences have allowed films produced in the 21st century to be much more impressive in appearance than those created decades ago. The Faculty consisted of many scenes that relied heavily on special effects. However, the methods used could clearly be seen as fake and even comical. This may have been solely due to its postmodern influences but may also have been due to the standard of technology at the time. The Invasion includes much more realistic examples of technology in use, such as the shuttle falling to Earth and the suffocat ing green mucus that covers the peoples faces.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Representations of gender are very different in the three texts. Body Snatchers clearly portrays a patriarchal society where men are the bread winners and women are the housewives. Miles Bennell is the Proppian hero who is slowed down and hindered by his partner Becky Driscoll who has no relevance to the plot, ultimately becoming an alien and betraying Miles. The Invasion, however, swaps these roles, making the women the hero and the man the burden. This can be accounted for through the second wave of feminism in the late 1960s, characterised by the growing revolt by women against their oppression as a sex. The idea of the crisis of masculinity is also encompassed within the film as men, such as Daniel Craig and Kidmans ex-husband Jeremy Northam, appear week, being dominated by Kidmans character and eventually overcome.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Neales theory that genre exists through the repetition of difference is highly justifiable when looking at Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Invasion and The Faculty. All three films are extremely familiar with the two most recent films taking their ideas directly from the 1956 classic. The Faculty is a repetition of Body Snatchers due to its close compliance with the texts narrative and conventions of alien organisms, as well as the fact that it makes direct references to Body Snatchers consistently throughout the film. The Invasion is a remake of Body Snatchers, therefore existing exclusively due to the earlier film. It does however have differences to the original to make it more exciting and more in keeping with contemporary society, which has greater appeal to audiences. For these reasons Neales theoretical framework is valid, as are the additional views of Hayward and Toamshevsky.

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Is Canada a Post-Industrial Country? Essay -- Economics, History

The term post-industrialism refers to a transition from one form of society to another; the original society being an industrial society, mainly dominated by forms of specialized physical labour, and the latter being a service and knowledge dominated format. An industrial society has many unique and definitive characteristics that separate it from a post-industrial one. Some of these characteristics include the heavy use of machinery in large factories; the use of fossil fuels to power the machinery; the specialization of jobs allowing for increased productivity, which led to urban expansion. In regards to class dynamics, there are/were few people at the† top†, who own the factors of production, and many front-line, blue-collar workers at the â€Å"bottom.† The huge gaps in income, status, and control between these two groups produced an imbalance of power; considered a negative aspect of industrialism. With Industrialism, work is specialized, and it has been said that these workers were alienated from the goods they helped produce as a result. In contrast, a post-industrial society marks a shift from a society based on the mass production of goods to one that hinges on the provision of services. In this type of society, capital switches from bodies and heavy machinery to knowledge, as with knowledge comes creativity, a force seemingly responsible for economic growth in a post-industrial society. As far as creativity is concerned, it can flow from the skills of an engineer, a scientist, an artist, etc. Much emphasis is placed on the upgrading of human capital and of attaining some form of specialized education. This type of knowledge-based economy logically offers more opportunity to those with a high-level education, creat... ...s Canada created in this post-industrial era. Are the jobs a small amount of high-end and high-paid service jobs that require large investments in human capital or are they low-end service jobs that require minimal education and training? Works Cited Krahn, H., Lowe, G. Hughes, K. (2008). Work, Industry & Canadian Society. (5th ed.) Toronto, ON: Nelson Education Ltd. HRSDC Labour statistics Division. (2009). The Canadian Labour Market at a Glance 2007. Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada. HRSDC Labour Statistics Division. (2007). Looking Ahead: A Ten-Year Outlook for the Canadian Labour Market (2006 – 2015). Ottawa, ON: Retrieved from http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/publications_resources/research/categories/labour_market_e/sp_615_10_06/supply Critoph, Ursule. Et al. (2010). Sociology of Work and Industry. Alberta, CA: Athabasca University.

Friday, July 19, 2019

Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy Essay -- utopia, insomia patient, go

Essay Option 2: Looking Backward: Government and power imbalance from 1887 – 2000 The vision and ideas in Bellamy’s book Looking Backward that stronger government would create a utopian society were mainly related to the power imbalance developing in the gilded age, the ideas of social theorists like Henry George, workers’ rights movements known as unions and the actions of government leaders in the 19th century. In Bellamy’s book, a major theme in Julian’s journey through the year 2000 and throughout the comparison between 1887 and 2000 is that there is a vision of strong government control over multiple aspects of life more so in the dream 2000 than had been in 1887. Many of those included jobs, education, shopping and business related commercial aspects and people’s daily lives. The most important aspects of life that the government controlled were Jobs and Education because without those, there is no society. Looking Backward is about Julian West, a thirty-year-old insomnia patient born into the 1800’s. During the 19th century, the majority of the world was impoverished and the wealthy people wanted to help but they believed that there was no way to do so without losing their wealth. Julian planned to marry his fiancà ©, Edith Bartlett when their house was built but there were many builder strikes going on at the time and the house wasn’t going to be built for another year. Decoration day was a holiday that had honored union workers and Julian celebrated this holiday with Edith’s family. Due to Julian’s insomnia, he had built a secret sleeping chamber underground to aid in proper sleep. Dr. Pillsbury put Julian to sleep every night but was offered a new job and had to leave. Julian was in such a deep sleep that night and wa... ...d age, the ideas of social theorists like Henry George, workers’ rights movements known as unions and the actions of government leaders in the 19th century. In Bellamy’s book, a major theme in Julian’s journey through the year 2000 and throughout the comparison between 1887 and 2000 is that there is a vision of strong government control over multiple aspects of life more so in the dream 2000 than had been in 1887. Many of those included jobs, education, shopping and business related commercial aspects and people’s daily lives. After looking deeper into the book, the most important and frequently mentioned aspects of life were Jobs and Education because without those, there is no ability to have a higher functioning society beyond poverty and day laborers. Works Cited 1. Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward: 2000 to 1887 2. Retrieving the American Past

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Basic Syntactic Notions

S Y N T A X LECTURE 6 BASIC SYNTACTIC NOTIONS 1. Some approaches to the study of syntactic units. The central role of syntax within theoretical linguistics became clear only in the 20th century, which some scholars call the â€Å"century of syntactic theory† as far as linguistics is concerned. Nowadays theoretical approaches to the discipline of syntax are numerous and extremely diverse. One school of thought treats syntax as a branch of biology, since it conceives of syntax as the study of linguistic knowledge as embodied in the human mind.Other linguists regard syntax to be the study of an abstract formal system. Yet others consider syntax to be a taxonomical device to reach broad generalizations across languages. One more school of thought approaches syntactic phenomena from the philosophical point of view proceeding from the idea that reality consists of things, their qualities and relationships. Hence, the subdivision of words by the parts of speech and the treatment of s yntactic problems as philisophic processes. The hypothesis of generative grammar is that language is a structure of the human mind.The goal of generative grammar is to make a complete model of this inner language (known as i-language). This model could be used to describe all human language and to predict the grammaticality of any given utterance (that is, to predict whether the utterance would sound correct to native speakers of the language). This approach to language was pioneered by Noam Comsky. Most generative theories (although not all of them) assume that syntax is based upon the constituent structure of sentences. Generative grammars are among the theories that focus primarily on the form of a sentence, rather than its communicative function.Among the many generative theories of linguistics, the Chomskyan theories are: Transformational Grammar (TG) (Original theory of generative syntax laid out by Chomsky in Syntactic Structures in 1957 ; Government and binding theory (GB) ( revised theory in the tradition of TG developed mainly by Chomsky in the 1970s and 1980s); Minimalist program (MP) (a reworking of the theory out of the GB framework published by Chomsky in 1995) Categorial grammar is an approach that attributes the syntactic structure not to rules of grammar, but to the properties of the syntactic categories themselves.For example, rather than asserting that sentences are constructed by a rule that combines a noun phrase (NP) and a verb phrase (VP) (e. g. the phrase structure rule S > NP VP), in categorial grammar, such principles are embedded in the category of the head word itself. So the syntactic category for an intransitive verb is a complex formula representing the fact that the verb acts as a functor which requires an NP as an input and produces a sentence level structure as an output. This complex category is regarded as † a category that searches to the left for a NP (the element on the left) and outputs a sentence (the element on th e right)†.The category of transitive verb is defined as an element that requires two NPs (its subject and its direct object) to form a sentence. Dependency grammar regards structure as determined by the relations (such as grammatical relations) between a word (a head) and its dependents, rather than being based in constituent structure. For example, syntactic structure is described in terms of whether a particular noun is the subject or agent of the verb, rather than describing the relations in terms of phrases. Stochastic/probabilistic grammars/network theories These are theoretical approaches to syntax based upon probability theory.They are known as stochastic grammars. One common implementation of such an approach makes use of a neural network or connectionism. Some theories based within this approach are: Optimality theory and Stochastic context-free grammar. Functionalist grammars are functionalist theories, which (though focused upon form) are driven by explanation based upon the function of a sentence (i. e. its communicative function). Some typical functionalist theories include: Funtionalist grammar; Prague Linguistic Circle; Systemic functional grammar; Cognitive grammar; Construction grammar; Role and reference grammar; Emergent grammar Constructional Syntax.Constructional analysis of syntactic units was initiated by Prof. G. Pocheptsov (1971). The analysis deals with the constructional significance/insignificance of a part of the sentence for the whole syntactic unit. The theory is based on the obligatory or optional environment of syntactic elements. For example, the element him in the sentence / saw him there yesterday is constructionally significant because it is impossible to omit it. At the same time the elements there and yesterday are constructionally insignificant – they can be omitted without destroying the whole structure.Communicative Syntax. It is primarily concerned with the analysis of utterances from the point of their c ommunicative value and informative structure. It deals with the actual division of the utterance – the theme and rheme analysis. Both the theme and the rheme constitute the informative structure of utterances. Pragmatic approach to the study of syntactic units can briefly be described as the study of the way language is used in particular contexts to achieve particular goals. Speech Act Theory was first introduced by John Austin.The notion of a speech act presupposes that an utterance can be said with different intentions or purposes and therefore can influence the speaker and situation in different ways: I just state the fact; Textlinguistics studies the text as a syntactic unit, its main features and peculiarities, different ways of its analysis. Discourse analysis focuses on the study of language use with reference to the social and psychological factors that influence communication. 2. Some concrete methods of syntactic analysis.The most commonly applied concrete methods of syntactic analysis seem to be the IC and transformational procedures. The method of IC is based on the idea that sentences have a hierarchic structure consisting of a number of layers. It is assumed that parts of a sentence are combined with each other according to strict rules. If we want to know how a sentence is built we must separate its units or constituents. Hence the notion of immediate constituents /IC/. Immediate constituents are those parts of a sentence that we arrive at after dividing it into two (the first step).Those parts or IC may, in their turn, be divided into further parts until the actual place of each word in the structure of the sentence as a whole has been established. (e. g. The old man saw a black dog there. S – sentence P – phrase N- noun V – verb t – article p – preposition A – adjective D – adverb) The method of IC is very helpful in syntactical analysis. But it has certain limitations. Sentences in whic h the relations between words are considerably different despite identical surface structures get in the IC model quite similar interpretations. Compare the sentences: John is eager to please and John is easy to please. In the former the relations between John and eager are of a subjective character, while in the latter John and easy stand in an objective relation to each other. By applying the method of IC we cannot establish formally the existing difference. It is because the structures of these sentences are analyzed separately from the structures of other sentences. The tansformational method is aimed at overcoming the demerits of the method of IC.The Transformational grammar was first suggested by American scholar Zelling Harris as a method of analyzing sentences and was later elaborated by another American scholar Noam Chomsky as a synthetic method of ‘generating’ (constructing) sentenceswhich is why the theory is also called â€Å"generative grammar†. The fundamental ideas underlying this method are as follows. Every language has a very small number of sentence patterns called kernel or basic sentences. All the variety of sentences which can exist in that language are derived or generated from these kernel sentences by derivation rules.Grammarians have made attempts at setting up a list of patterns that could be regarded as kernel sentences. It is interesting to point out that the number of these is essentially different in various books. Transformational grammar makes a fundamental distinction between two types of sentences: kernel sentences and transforms. The latter are derived from the former. Transformational grammar traces the derivational history of a sentence by establishing what is called its â€Å"depth structure†. It thus shows why sentences having similar surface structures convey different structural meanings.The differences in meaning can be formally explained applying the transformational method. Z. Harris set u p the following list of kernel sentences: NV(John came); NVpN (John looked at Mary); NVN(John saw Mary); N is N (John is a teacher); N is p N (/John is in bed); N is D (John is here); N is A (John is angry) The above sentence â€Å"The old man saw a dog there† can be interpreted as the transform of the following three kernel sentences:The man saw a dog there. The man was old. The dog was black. (The man who was old saw a dog that was black. ( The old man saw a black dog there.The ambiguity of the sentence â€Å"Flying planes can be dangerous†, is easily explained by the following transformational procedure: To fly planes is dangerous. He can fly planes. ( Flying planes can be dangerous. Planes can be dangerous. Planes fly. ( Flying planes can be dangerous. Only by transformation can we explain why phrases of the N`sN type denote different relations as in John’s arrival and John’s trial, the former being a transform of the kernel sentence John arrives and the latter having a different derivational history: X triesJohn ( John is tried ( John’s trial.S. Porter reduces the number of kernel sentences to three: â€Å"All simple sentences belong to one of three types: A) The sun warms the earth; B) The sun is a star; C) The sun is bright; As an argument S. Porter adds: â€Å"Word order is changeless in A) and B), but not in C). Even in sober prose a man may say â€Å"Bright is the sun†. The sentences derived fromsuch kernel sentences are words or combination words added to the kernel ones in accordance with their combinability so as to make the communication as complete as the speaker wishes.Thus, the kernel sentence â€Å"Boys play† can be quite independent. But this sentence can be extended by realizing the combinability of the noun â€Å"boys† and the verb â€Å"play† into â€Å"The three noisy boys play boisterous upstairs†. We can develop the sentence into a still more extended one. But one should bear in mind that the rules of combinability have to be observed for the sentence to be valid. It should also be stressed that there are rules of grammatical and lexical combinability as well as stylistic ones.The combination of words will be ungrammatical if we put together â€Å"boys plays†, instead of â€Å"boys play† or â€Å"the fish shouted† instead of â€Å"the boy shouted†. 3 The Subject Matter of Syntax Words by themselves do not, as a rule, make up complete units of speech, in order to become such units, they must get combined with one another in the framework of linguistic items of a higher rank. These are the sentence and the phrase. As a whole, they make up the syntactical structure of a language.From the point of view of Structural Grammar syntax is the part of grammar that studies the laws in accordance with which words become phrases, and sentences. Hence, syntax is the part of grammar that investigates the syntactical structure of a language. It treats of both phrases and sentences which, though belonging to different levels of language structure, are closely connected with each other. The traditional definition of syntax was extended by Prof. L. S. Barkhudarov who states that syntax has also to investigate phenomena lying on a still higher level, namely the level on which sentences combine into groups of sentences.Considering the fact that syntax studies the way words and phrases are combined into phrases, sentences and texts some scholars define syntax as the science which studies the types of formal and semantic relations within word combinations, sentences, supra-phrasal unities and texts. The syntactic language level can be described with the help of special linguistic terms and notions: syntactic unit, syntactic form, syntactic meaning, syntactic function, syntactic position, and syntactic relations. Syntactic unit is always a combination that has at least two constituents.The basic syntactic units are a word-group, a clause, a sentence, and a text. Their main features are: they are hierarchical units (the units of a lower level serve the building material for the units of a higher level); as all language units the syntactic units are of two-fold nature (the content side – the syntactic meaning of a syntactic unit- being opposed to the expression side -the syntactic form of a syntactic unit); they are of communicative and non-communicative nature (word-groups and clauses are of non-communicative nature while sentences and texts are of communicative nature.Syntactic meaning is the way in which separate word meanings are combined to produce meaningful word-groups and sentences. Syntactic form may be described as the distributional formula of the unit (pattern). John hits the ball – N1 + V + N2. Syntactic function is the function of a unit on the basis of which it is included to a larger unit: in the word-group a smart student the word ‘smart’ is in subordi nate attributive relations to the head element. In traditional terms it is used to denote syntactic function of a unit within the sentence (subject, predicate, etc. ).Syntactic position is the position of an element. The order of constituents in syntactic units is of principal importance in analytical languages. The syntactic position of an element may determine its relationship with the other elements of the same unit: his broad back, a back district, to go back, to back sm. Syntactic relations are syntagmatic relations observed between syntactic units. They can be of three types -coordination, subordination and predication. 4 The Phrase Level and the Sentence Level Modern linguistics distinguishes between the phrase level and the sentence level.There exist many definitions of phrases, the difference between them being that one group of scholars hold that phrases consist of only notional words while their opponents think that the constituents of a phrase can be function words (prep ositions, conjunctions, etc. ). Most definitions mention some negative feature characteristic of phrases. Prof. B. A. Ilyish, for instance, terms as phrase â€Å"every combination of two or more words which is a grammatical unit but is not an analytical form of some word. † Prof. L.S. Barkhudarov, on the other hand, defines a phrase as â€Å"a group of syntactically connected notional words being part of a sentence but not being the sentence itself. † We have already mentioned how difficult it is to draw a rigid demarcation line between phrases and analytical forms. As to the borderline between phrases and sentences, it is much easier to establish. The most important feature of a sentence as distinct from a phrase is its intonation. The structure of a phrase is of a very wide and abstract character.While singling out particular types of phrases we do not take into account the lexical meanings of the words or their morphological features. (So, for example, all the group s of words, that follow, can be classed as phrases of the V+N type: writes a letter, has seen the friend, has been giving lessons, having completed the work, etc. ) Since phrases are only parts of sentences, we must assume that there exists a higher level with its own peculiar structure. It is called the sentence level.Irrespective of its linear character (a succession in time or space of morphemes, words, phrases), the sentence has a hierarchic structure. That means that the parts of a sentence are not independent, they can exist as such only in their mutual interrelation. The interdependence of the parts of a sentence is not necessarily reflected in their linear succession. 5. Types of Syntactical Relations; Means of Expression The relations between words within phrases and sentences are not uniform.It is one of the most important tasks of syntax to single out and to define the types of syntactical relations. The universally recognized types of syntactic relations are: subordinati on, coordination and predication. Subordination is the type of syntactical relation under which the function of one part of the phrase coincides with the function of the phrase as a whole. The leading part is called the head of the phrase while the part having a function different from that of the head is called the adjunct of the phrase.Apart from the purely semantic criterion it is quite possible to establish which word is the head by applying the formal procedure of substitution (e. g. â€Å" A young man entered the room†. In this sentence the whole group a young man performs the function of the subject. We may replace the group by the word man: â€Å"A man entered the room†. Hence, the word man is the head of the phrase and young – the adjunct. ) While performing the substitution procedure one should not change the syntactical relations within the sentence as a whole(e. g. He is a young man.He is a man. He is young /wrong/). Coordination is the type of synta ctical relation under which he syntactical function of the whole group coincides with that of its parts. Coordination can also be established by applying the substitution test (Thus, in the sentence â€Å"Boys and girls studied at that school†, the group boys and girls performs the function of the subject. The same function can be performed by either of the words making up the group: â€Å"Boys and girls studied at that school†. â€Å"Boys studied at that school†, â€Å"Girls studied at that school†).Coordinative relations are found in phrases with coordinative conjunctions /but, neither†¦nor/ and also in groups like the poet Byron, my brother the teacher(e. g. The poet Byron lived in Greece. – The poet lived in Greece. – Byron lived in Greece; My brother the teacher got married last year. – My brother got married last year. – The teacher got married last year). Predication is the type of syntactical relation under which t he syntactical function of the group as a whole is different from the functions of each of its components /IC/.The most typical predicative relation is that between the subject and the predicate. This is most distinctly seen in complex sentences such as: â€Å"I hate†¦talking loudly†; â€Å"I knew he had come† None of the IC of the subordinate clauses can be replaced by the clause as a whole. It is impossible to say â€Å"I knew he† or â€Å"I knew had come†. The types of syntactic bonds just described are generally recognized, though not all scholars use the terms given above to designate them.However, these types of syntactic bonds can fail to explain the relation between, for instance, the main predication and the inserted elements in the sentences (â€Å"The boy, as it were, left the house†. â€Å" Interestingly and fortunately for him nobody saw him†). That is why some grammarians consider it also necessary to single out other type s of syntactic relation to cover the cases in question. The number and types of syntactic bonds added to the above given ones varies from author to author and we are not going to dwell on them here.Instead, we shall confine ourselves to presenting the system of syntactic bonds worked out by Prof. Smirnitskiy which will serve as an example. According to him there are four types of syntactic relations in English: 1) the attributive bond characterized by A. I. Smirnitskiy as the closest kind of syntactic relations (we deal with the attributive bond in attributive word combinations or between the attributive subordinate clause and its head in the main clause); 2) the completive bond connecting the predicate and all kinds of objects, objective subordinate clauses.Adverbial subordinate clauses are also said to be connected with the main clause with the help of this kind of bond; 3) the copulative bond connecting homogeneous parts of a sentence, or independent clauses in a compound sentenc e. Parenthesis(or insertions) of all kinds are also regarded as syntactic phenomena introduced into the sentence with the help of this kind of syntactic bond; 4) the predicative bond, which is described as the loosest of all syntactic bonds, establishes the relations between the subject and the predicate.Every language has its peculiar grammatical means that signal different syntactical relations. Like morphemes indicating various forms of words, these may be called syntactical forms for they express syntactical relations. The relations between words in a phrase or a sentence are diverse and multiple. In syntactical analyses we normally avoid mentioning relations which can be ascribed to the lexical meanings of the words (e. g. In the phrases his singing and his hat the semantic relations between the words are different (doer- process, possession) but syntactically we have one and the same relation (subordination).Modern English makes use of the following syntactical means of expres sing syntagmatic relations: Word-order. It is with the help of word-order that we make out the syntactical relations between the words in the following groups: a young man; to read a book; stone wall; Peter sees Mary; etc. Word order may indicate not only that the words stand in some kind of relation to one another but also what kind of relation it is. The forms of the words. This linguistic device has more than often been underestimated by scholars writing on the grammar of English.In the opinion of Prof. A. I. Smirnitskiy, it is just due to their scarcity that the forms of the words acquire an important role in the structure of the sentence or phrase. The importance of the morphological forms can be clearly seen if we compare the following two groups of which only the former is a sentence: He likes them – Him like they. Function words. By these we mean prepositions and conjunctions which show different relations between words (e. g. the poet Byron – the poet after By ron; a poor man – poor and proud). Intonation.Intonation may perform different functions: it helps to distinguish between a phrase and a sentence, it may also indicate different relations between words. LECTURE 7 THE PHRASE 1. Syntactical Classification of Phrases In accordance with the character of syntactic relations existing between the parts of a phrase, these are divided into three large classes: subordinative phrases, coordinative phrases, predicative phrases. This division is based on the definition under which a phrase is understood as a combination of two. or more notional words standing in some syntactical relation to one another' and being . art of a sentence. 2. Formal Relations within a Phrase. The inner relations between the parts of a phrase are expressed formally in some way or other. No uniform classification of these formal devices has not been established so far. Still, the following types of formal syntactical means have been outlined so far: Agreement by which grammarians understand the phenomenon of two or more words having similar morphological forms due to their being connected syntactically. As a rule, the subordinate element adapts its form to that of the word it is subordinated to.Agreement is found in noun phrases with demonstrative pronouns: (this book – these books that house – those houses. ) As to the agreement between the subject and the predicate, it is of a less formal character (e. g. The United States is a country situated in North America. Our group are fond of sports. ) In this respect English is less formal than, say, Russian. In English the subject and the predicate agree with each other semantically rather than formally. This type of connection is called correspondence. Government by which grammarians understand he phenomenon of one of the words in a phrase having some grammatical form conditioned by the word it is subordinate to Government is very common in Russian where even prepositions can requ ire that the nouns following them should stand in a certain case form. As a syntactical device government is rather rare in Modern English. We find it in combinations of the V+In type in which the verb requires that the personal pronoun should have the form of the objective case. The same can be said of p + In and p + whom (see him, invite us, to me, about whom, etc). Adjoining and enclosure.The absence of both agreement and government, termed adjoining, is the most characteristic feature of the syntactical structure of Modern English. Adverbs, for example, are said to be adjoined to verbs and adjectives. Strictly speaking it is not only the actual position of the adjective that helps the hearer or reader to understand what word is modified by the adverb, but in many cases some semantic features have also to be taken into account, for the adverb may be considerably far from the word it is connected with. Modern English makes extensive use of another means of expressing syntactical r elations.It is called en enclosure. A very illustrative example of enclosure is found in word groups like a. fine day, where the article is separated from the noun permitting other words to become syntactically connected with the noun. In this way any word, word group and even whole sentences may become adjuncts of the noun (e. g. The above statement; a big-circulation newspaper; a take-it-or-leave-it tone). 3. 0. Jespersen ‘s Theory of Ranks A very interesting syntactical theory, known as the theory of three ranks. was elaborated by O. Jespersen.According to this theory, there is a certain analogy between the distribution of words into parts of speech and their interrelations in actual speech. Analysing the word group extremely hot weather 0. Jespersen points out that the chief word is defined by another word which in its turn may be defined by a third word, etc. â€Å"We are thus†, he writes, â€Å"led to establish different â€Å"ranks† of words according to their mutual relations as defined defining. † In his example weather is called_the primary, hot – the secondary, extremely – the tertiary In this way one can establish the rank of a word in respect of the other words it is connected with. . Subordinative phrases: noun phrases; verb phrases; adjective phrases; adverb phrases; pronoun phrases. .Subordinative phrases are distinctly different from co-ordinative and predicative phrases. In these phrases we always find parts winch are unequal as regards their syntactical status. The word whose function coincides with the function of the whole_phrase is called the head, and the dependent or subordinate word is called the adjunct. Unlike coordinative phrases subordinative phrases are always binary in structure.That means that irrespective of the actual number of words making up a subordinative phrase it always falls into two immediate constituents. So, for example, the phrase continued to refuse to meet demands for highe r wages, at the initial stage of division into I? falls into two parts: continued and to refuse to meet demands for higher wages. What was the adjunct during the first division, in its turn, falls into the next I?: to refuse and to meet demands for higher wages; the latter also consists of two parts: to meet and demands for higher wages, and so on.The principles of classification of subordinative phrases may be various. They may be classified depending on the part of speech the head of the phrase belongs to. Under this classification the following types of phrases are distinguished: noun phrases, verb phrases, adjective phrases, adverb phrases, pronoun phrases. The second classification takes into account whether the I? of the phrase consist of one or more than one. notional words. If each I? of the phrase has only one notional_word, the phrase is called simple.If at least one of the I? has_two or more notional_words, the phrase is called complex. We can also distinguish, in this co nnection, between complex phrases with an expanded head and complex phrases with an expanded adjunct , and, finally, there may be phrases in which both the head and the adjunct are expanded. (e. g. The reception of the delegation by the President (a complex phrase with an expanded head) Saw the father of the youth (a complex phrase with an expanded adjunct); The reception of the delegation by the President of the state (a complex phrase in which both the head and the adjunct are expanded).Subordinative phrases may additionally be divided into continuous and discontinuous. This division takes into account the fact whether the I? of the phrase are found in succession or whether they are separated by some word which does not belong to this phrase. (e. g. Slowly, Old Jolyon got up out of the chair – a discontinuous phrase). a. Noun Phrases Noun_phrases are subordinatiye phrases in which the,head is a noun. As regards the mutual positions of the head and its adjunct linguists dist inguish noun phrases with preposed adjuncts and noun phrases with postposed adjuncts.In noun phrases with preposed adjuncts the latter can be expressed by the following classes of words: adjectives, pronouns, numerals, verbs in the form of participle I or participle II, nouns having the ‘s morpheme or without it. To use symbols, these phrases have the following structures: AN (white snow; thick books); laN (this room; his friend); QN (three windows; the second lesson); V-ingN (shouting boys; melting ice); V-enN (written works; corrected mistakes); N'sN (Mary's book; a week's delay); NN (window glass; university team).In noun phrases with postposed adjuncts the following units may be the adjuncts: prepositional groups; adjectives and adjective phrases; verbs in the form of participles and verb phrases in which participles are the heads; verbs in the form of the infinitive and verb phrases in which the infinitive is the head; infinitival and gerundial predicative phrases; noun p hrases; conjunctional groups; adverbs; numerals;subordinate clauses.The patterns noun phrases with postposed adjuncts are: NpN (the title of the book); NpNP (the title of the new book); NpIn (the saving of him); NpV-ing (my reason for coming); NpV-ingP (my reason for coming here). In principle any preposition can be part of a postposed adjunct. Special investigations have shown, however, that the preposition of covers 70% of all occurrences. Postposed adjuncts with adjectives are relatively rare, in this position the occurrence of adjective phrases is much more common: NA (the people present); NAP (a country rich in coal).It should be stressed here that only a limited number of adjectives can be used as postposed adjuncts. They are: the adjective present; adjectives with the suffixes -ible, -able, some adjectives with the prefix a- (afraid, alive). Postposed adjuncts with verbs in various forms are represented by the following types: NV-en (the person addressed); NV-ing (the childre n shouting); NV-enP (the work done by him); NV-ingP (the children shouting in the yard); NtoV (the work to do); NtoVD (the work to do quickly).Postposed adjuncts consisting of predicative phrases are of two kinds: they may have as a head either the infinitive or the ing-form. As a rule, they are introduced by the preposition for (the so-called for-phrases). Here are some of the most frequent patterns: NforNtoV (a book for Tom to read); NforN'sV-ing or NforNV-ing (the reason for Tom's coming; the reason for Tom coming). Each part of the adjunct may get considerably expanded (the reason for poor Tom's coming late;a poem for this little boy to learn by heart).Postposed adjuncts in which nouns are the heads or introduced by the conjunction as are not very frequent in Modern English. They are: NNP (a child the same age); NasN (his life as an artist); NasNP (his life as an opera singer). Postposed adjuncts with adverbs are rarely used: ND (Jim’s speech yesterday). Postposed adjunct s with numerals are confined in English only to quantitative numerals (page three, room ten). b. Verb PhrasesVerb phrases take a central position among all types of phrases in Modern English. They display a great variety of structure and are capable of combining with one another.Therefore they make up syntactical constructions of considerable depth, and complexity. Prof. L. S. Barkhudarov suggested that verb phrases should be classified according to the lexico-grammatical nature of the verb being the head of the phrase. As is known, all English verbs fall into two large classes: transitive and intransitive verbs. It is also known that many verbs can be used in either meaning but this is quite irrelevant for syntax because in any given sentence one and the same verb is either transitive or intransitive.Under the classification suggested by Prof. L. S. Barkhudarov English verb phrases fall into the following main classes: phrases the head of which is either a transitive or an intransi tive verb; phrases the head of which necessarily belongs to a definite subclass of verbs (transitive or intransitive). The adjuncts in verb phrases, accordingly, fall into two types: adjuncts capable of combining with verbs of either class called extensions; adjuncts capable of combining with verbs of only a definite class (transitive or intransitive) called complements.The adjuncts of a transitive verb are called object complements, those of an intransitive verb qualifying complements. The following adjuncts can be found in verb phrases with extensions: adverbs and adverb phrases; adjectives and adjective phrases; prepositional groups; noun phrases without prepositions; pronouns; verbs in the form of the infinitive; participle I and participle II;conjunctional groups; predicative phrases;subordinate clauses: VD (runs quickly); VDP (runs very quickly); VA (stood, angry); VAP (stood, red with anger); VpN (returns to the country);VNP arrived last week); VIa (lives there); VIself. wash ing himself); VtoT (came to help); VtoVP (came to help me); VV-ing (came laughing); VV-en (came, frightened); VbN (acting as judge); VbA (speaking whenever possible); Vb toV (rising so as to see); VforNtoV (stood for John to pass); VpN'sV-ing (left without John's, noticing). (For verb phrases with complements see: ?. ?. . , p? 89 -110) ?.Adjective Phrases Adjective phrases have a comparatively low frequency of occurrence, if the head of the phrase is an adjective in the positive degree, the adjunct may be: an adverb; a prepositional group; a noun; a noun phrase; a verb in the form of the gerund or the infinitive; a predicative phrase and a subordinate clause: DA (incredibly beautiful); ApNP (good for young children); AN (worth the trouble); AV-ingP (busy doing sums); AtoV (ready to go); AforNtoV (easy for John to read).Things are somewhat different with adjectives in the comparative and superlative degrees. Adjectives in the comparative degree usually combine with adjuncts intr oduced by the conjunction than (Tom is older than George). They also combine with adverbs and adverbial pronouns, such as far, still, much (far greater, much better, still greater). Adjectives in the superlative degree may have a proposed adjunct like by far or a postposed adjunct – a prepositional group introduced by the prepositions of and in. d.Adverb Phrases In adverb phrases the adjuncts may stand both in preposition and in postposition. Proposed adjuncts are adverbs and adverbial pronouns (except enough), and with the adverbs before, later, earlier, ago nouns or noun phrases. Postposed adjuncts are the pro-adverb enough, prepositional groups (p+N,etc. ), nouns and noun phrases: DD (rather well); IdD (so nicely); ND (years later); NPD (six days ago); D+enough (well enough); DpN (high in the air). e. Pronoun PhrasesOnly indefinite, negative and demonstrative pronouns can be heads of pronoun phrases.They take the following adjuncts: prepositional groups (p+N; p+In, p+NP); adjectives or adjective phrases; verbs in the form of the infinitive or verb phrases with the infinitive as the head;infinitival predicative phrases and subordinate clauses. The adjunct is always placed in postposition: In pN (some of the workers); In pIn (some of us); InA (something strange); IntoV (nothing to do); In forNtoV (Nobody for Tom to see). 5. Coordinative phrases. Co-ordinate phrases are characterized by the following features: all its members have a similar function in the sentence; their structure is not binary.As to the morphological peculiarities of the constituents of a coordinate phrase, it should be stressed here that this point is of no relevance for syntax. (So, for example, in the sentence – Celia was pretty and a good companion – pretty and a good companion are the constituents of one and the same coordinate phrase irrespective of their being essentially different as regards their morphological nature: pretty is an adjective, good companion is a noun phrase. ) Coordinate phrases fall into two groups: 1)Syndetic coordinate phrases.The syntactical connection between the I? is expressed with the help of conjunctions. If the conjunction is continuous, the coordinate phrase is said to be simple. If the conjunction is discontinuous, the phrase is said to be correlative (E. g. It was the sound of a gramophone, harsh and loud, He has both luck and talent. ) 2)Asyndetic coordinate phrases. The syntactical connection between the parts of the phrase is expressed only with the help of intonation. (E. g. He was hot, dusty, tired out. The good lady her mother now interposed. ) 6.Predicative phrases Predicative phrases fall into three groups: infinitival predicative phrases (for John to come); gerundial predicative phrases (John's coming); absolute predicative phrases (all things considered). Predicative phrases have a binary structure, they are made up of only two I?. They have much in common with sentences, but the I? of a predicative p hrase should not be termed subject and predicate. It should be noted here that the subjectival member of a predicative phrase and the subject of a sentence always refer to different persons or things. (E. g.He stood up for me to sit down. He is proud of his friend having won a prize. The lesson being over, we went home. ) Infinitival predicative phrasesThe subjectival member of an infinitival predicative phrase is a noun. a noun phrase or a pronoun, the latter in the form of the objective case. The predicatival member of an infinitival predicative phrase is any form of the infinitive with or without words subordinate to it. The phrase is preceded by the preposition for: forN/P/toV/P/ (for John to go there); forI toV/P/ (for something to happen); forI toV/?/ (for him to come late).Gerundial predicative phrasesThe subjectival member of a gerundial predicative phrase is a noun or a noun phrase with or without the morpheme ‘s; a possessive pronoun in the conjoint form or a persona l pronoun in the objective case form and other pronouns. The predicatival member of a gerundial predicative phrase is any form of the gerund with or without words subordinate to it: NP'sV-ingP (young John's coming late); NPV-ing P: (young John coming late); I'sV-ingP (his coming late); ImV-ing P (him coming late).Absolute predicative phrasesThe subjectival member of an absolute predicative phrase is a noun or a noun phrase, a personal pronoun in the nominative case or another type of pro-noun. The predicatival member of an absolute predicative phrase is a verb in the form of the participle or the infinitive, or a verb phrase with these forms as a head, or non-verbal parts of speech: adjectives, adverbs, prepositional groups:NPV-ingP (his voice trembling with excitement); InV-ingP (it rising slowly); NPV-enP ( his thirst gone);NPtoV? (the expenses to be paid); In toVP (each to be defined); NPAP (his face very pale); NPD (breakfast over); NPpNP (hat in hand); NPpIm (her back to him); NPNP (his shot a failure). Instances are not few when absolute predicative phrases are introduced by the prepositions with or without. (He looked at Mr. Micawber attentively, with his whole face breathing short and quick in every feature. I left the room without anybody noticing it)