The Nature vs. Nurture Debate Essay Example for Free

The Nature vs. Nurture Debate Essay The nature versus nurture debate is of constant discussion amongst psychologists today. In the 17th century the French philosopher Rene Descartes set out views which held that people possess certain inborn ideas that enduringly underpin peoples approach to the world (Bee, p.3). On the other hand, the British philosopher John Locke took a more empirical approach emphasizing the role of experience as fully contributing to behavioral development (Bee, p.3). Since the days of Descartes and Locke, the empirical nurture approach has possibly tended to have the best of the argument but the debate is far from being settled. Nature is our genetic gift; it determines our basic physical layout, hair and eye color. It determines the types of emotions and motivations we can experience like happiness, sadness, and fear. A person maintains his mental ability only based on what he is born with genetically on the nature side of the debate; therefore stating the environment plays no role in determining his mental aptitude. Nurture is the experience during our lifetime; the assumption that what makes children turn out the way they do, aside from their genes, the environmental part of child development, is the experiences they have at home in particular the experiences they have with their parents and society. This side argues that the environment and surroundings of a person affect their mental ability and are influential in the development of that person. A nature-nurture debate is concerned with what causes something to develop. The debates of nature vs. nurture tend to be historical rather than current. Today, most psychologists see development differently: they believe biological predispositions guide development in certain directions, but experience as influencing how that development manifests itself. The two sources are seen as interconnected, not as opposing alternatives, and it is the way that they interact which is the focus of interest.

Violated Human Rights Essay Example for Free

Violated Human Rights Essay On Oct 10, 2012 a womans rights were violated when an inmate (female) gave birth to her first child. No doctors were present during labor nor during the actual delivery. Said inmate, Julie Bilotta, had reported that the guards at her prison had heard her cries of pain during labour and had chosen to ignore it. If that wasn’t bad enough, the guards even got irritated of her constant yelling and had her transferred to a new cell. Julie eventually gave birth 4 hours after the transfer. Luckily, the baby was born and is healthy. My personal view on this issue is that this is an incident that should have never happened. I think that we are a civilized enough society to realize that these inmates are still people, they are just people who have made mistakes. While paying for it, should they be treated like they are not even humane enough to have a proper health care when in need? Not only that, but because of this epidemic a child’s, or mother’s, life could have been taken away. With almost no help at all, this woman gave birth, endangering both her child and her self. The report even stated that the baby’s birth was something called a â€Å"breech birth† ( that’s when the baby enters the birth canal either buttocks or feet first rather than the head.) something like this is extremely serious during birth because it can sometimes lead to the baby getting caught and choking to death. Also, the woman giving birth can possibly bleed to death. That is why there is usually a medical procedure called a â€Å"c-section† for the safety of both mother and child. So far, the major rights that I see violated are. 1) Article 3: Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. An innocent child, who hasn’t even been born long enough to even make mistakes, has had it’s life at risk. It has the right to live, and that prison took away it’s right by refusing to give the mother proper medical care. What if that baby really had died for something that could have been easily avoided? 2) Article 25. (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. This article states that everyone has the right to proper health care. Although, in all fairness, the prison guards did have Julie checked out by nurses, the reason why she didn’t receive proper medical attention is due to the fact that they thought it was a false labour. But even at that, they should have made sure that it was indeed false labour by getting a proper checkup by a doctor. At least that’s what standard procedure states, and according to article 25: Everyone has the right to standard living adequate including things like health care. I do believe that something like this will not happen ever again since it caused such an uprising by a group of womens rights activists. Along with all the press the incident got when it first occurred, it seems that everyone has the same thoughts on this matter and that, hopefully, this is the last time that this is to ever happen. However, if people still don’t get the message after this incident, I strongly believe that there should be some prison rule stating that when an inmate is pregnant the baby, and mother’s, well being become top priority and treat the birth the same as if the mother weren’t a prisoner.

Languages Are Constantly Changing English Language Essay

Languages Are Constantly Changing English Language Essay Languages are changing as the world is constantly changing. After the Second World War, English neologisms emerged in a remarkable way. New vocabulary came into existence due to new technologies and new discoveries such as ; computing, internet , cell phones and the like. Peoples daily activities like dancing, looking and many others, renewed their popularity giving birth to new lexicon. In deed, new words are invented rapidly and are developed quickly thanks to mass communication. They appear and fall into disuse when they have served their momentary purpose ( Bernhart 54).Only a few of them will get recorded in glossaries of neologisms of general dictionaries. The matter of neologism becomes a new hot spot of research owing to its practical and prevailing use in reality. The study of neologisms evoked a whole cluster of questions: -What are the reasons beyond the rise of new lexicon? -Why are some new words just a flash in a pan? -Why are other words successful? -What are the qualities that make a word successful? -Are Neologisms markers of changes in societies? Chapter 01:Literature Review 1.Definition of a Neologism The term neologism originates from Greek: neos means new, logos means word, i. e. a neologism is literally a new word. Neologism is the creation of a new lexical item as a response to changed circumstances in the external world, which achieves some currency within a speech community(qtd. in Chrystal 1992: 264) at a particular time. In linguistics, a neologism is a recently-coined word, or the act of inventing a word or phrase. Additionally it can imply the use of old words in a new sense (i.e., giving new meanings to existing words or phrases). Neologisms are especially useful in identifying new inventions, new phenomena, or old ideas which have taken on a new cultural context. The word neologism was coined around 1800 and was, at that time, a neologism itself. A person who develops a neologism is sometimes called a neologist; neology is the act of introducing a new word into a language. l. 2. Background of English Neologisms The famous American new word expert John Algeo wrote in the preface of his book Fifty Years Among the New Words, Although the dictionary of new word is warmly welcomed by readers only in recent years, actually the compiling of English dictionary began with the collection of new word ever since 1604. The early English dictionaries like Table Alphabeticall (1604, Robert Cawdrey), English Expositor (1616, John Bullokar), and The English Dictionarie (1623, Henry Cockeram) all embodied some hard words, which were absolutely new words to people in those days. Thus, those dictionaries somehow held the characteristics of neologism dictionary. However, the scientific and systematic study of neologism began at 200 years later, the 20th century. In 1902, Leon Mead published a book named Word-Coinage, being an Inquiry into Recent Neologisms, also a Brief Study of Literary Style, Slang, and Provincialisms, which said to be the first book studying neologism in the 20th. Although it was not a neologism dictionary, it contained some articles about new words. Whats more, Mead put forward the idea of making research on new words for the first time in the history. He also provided lots of examples of new words created by some American writers at that time. In 1920, C.Alphonso Smith, the dean of the English department of American Navy Institute wrote a book entitled New Words Self-defined, in which 420 new words were illustrated by examples. This had proved to be a big progress in the research on the neologisms. From 1937 to 1940, the famous American scholar Dwight Bolinger first applied newspapers and magazines to introduce new word. He created a column, The Living Language, in the newspaper, Words. In 1943, the column was brought into American speech and the title was changed into Among the New Words. Then, in the next year,Professor I. Willis Russell took the place of Bolinger and became the chief-editor of the column. He wrote articles entitled Words and Meanings, New, to introduce new words and their new meanings. War is said to be the major cradle for the born of new words. Majorie Taylor, a librarian in New York, collected numerous neologisms created during the World War II. In 1944, Taylor compiled a word-list, The Language of World War II: Abbreviation, captions, Quotations, Slogans, Titles and Other Terms and Phrases, in which every new word was explained. Similarly, Clarence Barnhart published his Dictionary of U.S. Army Terms. At that time, some academic magazines also published articles to introduce new words. Many neologism dictionaries in the 1950s are very popular, especially the Dictionary of New Words in English compiled by Paul Charles Berg in 1953 and The Dictionary of New Words by Mary Reifer in 1955. During 1950s, Mr. Paul Charles Berg did a lot of job to collect new words about the war, which brought us his Dictionary of New Words in English in 1953. After the World War II, science and technology development had greatly influenced the society. Subsequently, a lot of scientific and technical words were flooding into the language field. A lot of neologism dictionaries about words in those fields were published. Two of them are mostly welcomed: An Explaining and Pronouncing Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Words by W. E. Flood Michael West and Words of Sciences and the History Blind Them by Isaac Asimov. From 1970s on, the study of English neologism drew great attention from western scholars, many of them established special column to introduce new words in English, such as William Safire who was well known for his On Language in New York Times weekly and Anne H. Soukhanow who was the chief-editor of Word Watch. In Safires column, he provided a considerably clear explanation of new words by citing typical examples, exploring their origins and performing their current usage. Besides, the American Dialect Association Dispatches introduced some new words yearly to the public. For instance, in 1994, information superhighway was rewarded as the newest word; cybersex was the most surprising word and mosaic culture the most unnecessary word. The digital revolution in 1990s is the radical reshaping and restructuring of social patterns. Because of the wild spread of internet, America is speaking a whole new language, said Shawn Holley in his The New Word Revolution. Lots of neologisms that have a historical significance by reason of the influence they exerted on the language field are brought into existence. According to the statistics, more than 20 neologism dictionaries have been compiled, among which some put emphasis on the academic field and some are distinctive by their popularity. Oxford English Dictionary, Websters Third New International Dictionary and Barhart Dictionary of New English are the ones with the highest academic value. New words are numerous. Sometimes it seems as if a new word has about as much chance of developing into a permanent addition to our vocabulary. Only few of them will remain as serious candidates for the dictionary. Books especially about new words are abundant. However, only a few scholars have ventured to propose factors that make for the success of new words. One is Goran Kjellmer, whose article Potential Words in the journal Word for August 2000 also reviews previous proposals. The other is the executive secretary of American Dialect Society, Allan Metcalf who proposed the FUDGE scale. The two reached different conclusions. Along with books and periodicals, there is the Internet. In particular, it makes my extensive searches for examples of how words are actually used today possible. Here the author has searched thousands of pages indexed by Google.com countless times to find current uses of words under discussion. A jump of several decades has showed us more researches on the neologisms. Language reflects our life, and the research on the neologisms has never been stopped. By collecting new words or phrases occurring in languages, the previous researches have provided precious materials for the further exploration in this field. Therefore, a careful look at the research background of neologisms carries an essential academic significance. In china, the study of neologism began from 1980s. Most of the specific works and papers are mere introduction of theories from abroad lacking of much original study. To keep up with the latest English vocabulary is really difficult, thus a thorough and systematic analysis about English new words is of practical significance both in learning and teaching of English as a foreign language. Chapter 02: Factors for the Rise of English Neologisms It is not language change itself that has occupied the attention of historical linguists for the past decades, but the causes and the processes of change. Early researchers, such as Saussure (1922) or Bloomfield (1933), for instance, maintained that the causes of linguistic change cannot be established despite numerous attempts at feasible explanations (Wardhaugh,1990:187). The majority of the early researchers have maintained also that the actual processes of change cannot be observed that what one can observe and perhaps analyses are the consequences of change. The findings of later research, however, envisage the process of change as an initial fluctuation between the new and the old, with the completion of the process occurring when the new replaces the old (Fromkin et al.,1996:295). In other words, if the new form, be it phonological, morpho-syntactic, lexical or semantic, spreads the change is in progress, if it eventually replaces the old form, the change has become a fait ac compli it has gone to completion(Holmes,1992:212). In regard to the causes of change, although the reasons for an aspect of a language undergoing change at a particular point in time still remain unclear, a number of theories have been proposed, depending on the orientation of individual researchers. For instance, Mcmahon M.S (1994: 179-182) discussing causes of semantic change, delineates the following: Linguistic causes Historical causes (subdivided into ideas and scientific concepts) Social causes Psychological causes (subdivided into emotive factors and taboo) Foreign influence The need for a new name Quite a lot of reasons are responsible for the creating of English neologisms. Any new thing or new concept, which takes place in our society, may provide a foundation for the creating of the new words. In the following, four of the major reasons will be emphasized: 1) the rise of new concepts and new ideas in social culture; 2) new discoveries in science and technology; 3) the manufacture of new products in economy, and 4) the events in the field of politics. Accompanied by a series of neologisms, we can have a clearer understanding of the current English neologisms. 2.1. Sociolcultural Changes: 2.1.1. New Concepts and ideas in Social Culture. The improving living condition and the enhancing cultural standard have formed a solid basis on which a large number of new things find their occurrence. It is not necessary to demonstrate that with the development of social culture, new concepts and ideas are introduced into us constantly. Since there are many more concepts than there are existing words, there will always be new words created. Changes in social outlook and manners of behavior call for new terms such as beatnik, peacenik, and hippie. Even new culinary arrangements demand new labels and in English they have some forth in the form of cheeseburger, chiliburger, mushroomburger, etc. (Anderson, 1973) Brian Foster presents us a striking example of how fast English vocabulary changes. In the year 1914, a young girl named Monica Baldwin entered a convent, remaining secluded there until 1941. When she returned to the outer world, she found herself in a totally different world: the conditions of everyday life altered by technical developments and social changes were beyond recognition. Whats more puzzling to her was the language people speaking. During a railway journey, the term luggage in advance meant nothing to her. Reading the daily newspapers made her feel idiotic in the extreme, because words like jazz, Gin, Hollywood, Cool, noshing and Isolationism were completely incomprehensible to her. Not to mention how bewildered she was at hearing friends say, Its your funeral or believe it or not. (Brian Foster, 1981) Lets look at another example moonlighting. It was anything but new to the vocabulary, and it gained a brand new meaning in 1957 as the verb to moonlight and its related noun, moonlighting. Time magazine, beamed moonlighting at its readers in its issue of July 22nd, 1957. According to Time, it was in fact not just a new name, but a new trend and a new concern. MOON-LIGHTING, proclaimed the headline: A Problem Born of Prosperity. As a noun, moonlight goes back with the moon itself to the beginning of the English language and even earlier to the Germanic and Indo-European ancestors of English. Presumably ever since humans could speak, they have talked about the light of the moon. As a verb, to moonlight is more recent, but it still goes back to the nineteenth century. From the start it has meant doing something by the light of the moon, but at first this was something that could get one arrested. In the nineteenth century, moonlight was a slang term for the activity of burglars, who benefited from moonlight at their work. In the twentieth century, it was also used for herding cattle and hunting deer by moonlight. Whether it was the illegal work that in 1957 caused the transmutation of moonlight into a standard term for legal work, or whether this new meaning was independently derived from the original moonlight, nobody knows. And it doesnt matter much. Either way, moonlight meaning the light of the moon easily took on its second meaning of to work a second job, and Americans have been moonlighting ever since. This second meaning seems likely to stay in the vocabulary, as long as people continue to hold down second jobs. 2.1.2.Disguising Language, Misnomers While taboo words are words that have been banned by the speech community, misnomers are words that individuals have decided to coin in order to deceive the hearer by disguising unpleasant concepts. Examples: E. friendly fire instead of bombardment by own troops. 2.1.3.Prestige, Fashion Lexical change may be based on the prestige of another language or another variety of the same language, certain fashionable word-formation patterns or certain fashionable semasiological centers of expansion. The kernel of this force is mostly found outside of language. It is often the prestige of a culture, the superiority of a group or politics which cause speakers to adopt linguistic elements (words, morphemes, morphs, sounds) from the prestigious groups speech. Example: English, for instance, borrowed heavily from French during the ME. period because the upper social classes were made up of French people: garment, flower, rose, face, prince, hour, question, dance, fork, royal, loyal, fine, zero are all Gallicisms. Today, English is now the most prestigious language for many parts of the world. 2.1.4.Social, or Demographic, Reasons By social, or demographic, reasons we shall refer to the contact between different social groups. This contact may easily, and rather subconsciously, trigger off lexical change- the more intensive the social contact is, the more intensive the linguistic exchange. Example: In the history of the English language, the two prominent instances of exchanges between two social groups were the one with the Vikings in the 8th to 11th centuries and the one with the French in the 11th to 15th centuries. The force of direct contact between different speech communities must not be mixed up with the prestige force, where no direct contact with the other speech community is necessary. Thus, we can say that the early French loans (from Northern French) rather go back to the everyday contact with the English population and the French soldiers, not so early French loans (from Parisian French) go back to the prestige of the French aristocracy, the French loans in the official bilingual phase of Englands history may either go back to prestige or to the social contact or to both. Examples: The inherited ey is replaced by Scandinavian egg, the inherited nimen is replaced by Scandinavian taken except for theform benumb, throwen is supplemented by Scandinavian casten; early French loans are army, carpenter, catch. 2.1.5.Culture-Induced Salience of a Concept (Cultural Salience) Sometimes concepts are not salient to humans because of gerenal human nature, but because of the concepts cultural values. Their salience can change with the change of culture. Example: The increased importance of arts and fashion has affected the lexical treatment of the conceptual field of colors: from a vague differentiation between dark blue and light blue to a neat distinction between cobalt blue, royal blue, indigo etc. (such neat detailed differentiations often originate in expert slang and then penetrate the language of the general speech community). Conceptual fields which have gained salience through cultural importance may very well serve as designations in other conceptual field in the form of metaphors. Example: In the US, a lot of metaphors in general language have been taken from the field of baseball, e.g. to be off base to be completely wrong, to hit a home run to be highly successful and from the field of entrepreneurship. 2.1.6.Word-Play The category of word play includes humor, irony and puns. Although word-play often goes hand in hand with other factors (such as taboo, prestige or anthropological salience), it can also trigger lexical change on its own. Example: ModE. perfect lady prostitute, to take French leave to leave secretly (without paying), to cool look ( 2.2 New discoveries and Products In Science and Technology Suppose youre advancing the cause of science rather than pitching a product, and you have something new to report-a new element, a new compound, or a new species. How does it get a name? No new science is possible without neologisms, new words or new interpretations of old words to describe and explain reality in new ways. How could Aristotle have developed the logic of syllogisms or Newton thetheory of dynamics without new vocabularies and definitions? They were neologists, and everybody wanting to contribute new knowledge must be. For new knowledge there is no way around the creation of new terms and concepts. For new objects and new inventions, scientific discoveries, technical theories, etc, the new name is usually the work of one man or of a very few. To reject neologisms, often despicably, is to reject scientific development. No sign of scientific conservatism is so telling as the rejection of all but the established concepts of a school of thought. Neologisms are, however, relative to the terminological paradigm actually dominating a field of knowledge. It may be a radical renewal to introduce terms from a tradition believed to be outmoded. Nowadays the idea of the technical highway has been very familiar to people. Development in the science and technology has brought tremendous energy to the improvement of our civilization. And these achievements also find their reflections in language. Technical advancements in a society demand new designator terms, many of which can be found in linguistics such as hypercorrection, phoneme, allomorph, etc. The progress of science and technology gives occasion for the large majority of new words; for a new thing we must have a new name; hence, for instance, motor, argon, and appendicitis. It is interesting to see that the last word did not exist, or was at least too obscure to be recorded, when the Oxford Dictionary began to come out in 1888; but we cannot do without it now. Take the word software for example, that computer term was invented by John W. Tukey, a statistician at Princeton University. As long ago as 1958, he used the word in the American Mathematical Monthly. Today the software comprising the carefully planned interpretive routines, compilers, and other aspects of automotive programming are at least as important to the modern electronic calculator as its hardware of tubes, transistors, wires, tapes and the like. Tukey was already known for inventing another now- famous computer term. In 1946 he used the little word bit as the designation for a unit of information, a binary digit with value 0 or 1. That led a decade later to bytes (groups of bits, now always eight, a term invented by Werner Buchholz at IBM) and to todays kilo-, mega; and tera-bytes of computer storage and information. 2.3 The Manufacture of New Products in Economy Economic development is the mainstream of our era. The improvement of language, to a certain extent, benefits a lot from the new phenomenon that occurs in the economic field. In this competitive world, any innovation or fresh things taking place in economy will soon find their voice in the language. If theres anything a new product needs, its a brand name. To the extent that the product succeeds, the name will too. Its a sure thing, the one way to guarantee that a new term will be a success: spend mighty amounts of money on marketing persuade people to buy and keep on buying a product, and they will call it by the name you give it. When you want a product, a company would like you to think of its brand name. The Coca-Cola Company wants people to think of a Coke when they want a soft drink. But if the marketing is successful enough and the name Coke is embedded in peoples vocabulary, people will ask for a Coke and be satisfied if they get a Pepsi. In fact, in the southeastern United States, home of Coca-Cola, Coke is such a successful brand that many people there (and in the rest of the country) refer to any soft drink as a coke. Some brand names even joined the pack of the general vocabulary. Here are some of them: à ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Ã‚ ºÃ¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Aspirin: a name for acetylsalicylic acid, trademarked by the Bayer Company of Germany at the start of the twentieth century. à ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Ã‚ ºÃ¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Elevator and escalator: both originally trademarks of the Otis Elevator Company. à ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Ã‚ ºÃ¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Zipper: a name given to a separable fastener by the B.F. Goodrich Company many years after it was invented. The new name helped the zipper attain popularity in the 1930s. à ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Ã‚ ºÃ¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Loafer: for a moccasin-like shoe. à ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Ã‚ ºÃ¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Cellophane: for a transparent wrap made of cellulose. à ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Ã‚ ºÃ¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Granola: a trademark registered in 1886 by W K. Kellogg, now used for a natural kind of breakfast cereal. à ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Ã‚ ºÃ¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ping-pong: for table tennis, a trademark registered by Parker Brothers in 1901. à ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Ã‚ ºÃ¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Xerox: for photocopier. à ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Ã‚ ºÃ¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Kleenex: for facial tissue. à ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Ã‚ ºÃ¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Band-Aid: for adhesive bandage. à ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Ã‚ ºÃ¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Tupperware: for storage container. à ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Ã‚ ºÃ¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Scotch tape: for transparent adhesive tape. à ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Ã‚ ºÃ¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Jazzercise: for exercise to jazz music. 2.4. The Events in the Field of Politics. The forming of English new words is sometimes considered as the result of the political changes. Language reflects the society, as it has always been. Politics is an essential part of the development of the world; therefore, it can easily find its relative neologisms in the language field. For instance, when Mr. Bill Clinton was elected as the president of the US., his name has been associated with many political words. His policy is Clintonian, he is carrying out the Clintionism, his economics policy is Clintonomics, and his supporters were called Clintonites, he ultimately wanted to realize his Clintonization. Another widespread usage of affixes is -gate, which came from the historical Watergate event. People took use of Irangate to disclose the involvement of some American government office workers in U.S. selling arms to Iran. Camillagate was used to mean the love affair of British Prince Charles and his lover Camilla Parker. Nannygate was pointed to the illegal hire of baby-sitter or the hire of illegal immigrants. Another striking example, On September 11, 2001, the peace of a sunny late-summer morning was shattered by the impact of four hijacked airplanes on the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania. There were more direct casualties in these disasters than on any previous day in American history, and soon the entire country felt the impact of damaged or destroyed lives, businesses, and sense of security. Out of the ashes came patriotism, resolve, and unity. And out of the ashes came new words, too, to describe new situations never before imagined. The events stir memories of Pearl Harbor and Oklahoma City, and we refer to other memorable occasions by their locations Lexington and Concord, Gettysburg, Little Big Horn, and Wounded Knee but in this case the name of place wont work. Its not just because several places were involved, but also because the places are too famous. New York City and Washington, DC, have too many other connotations, so do the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. For lack of a suitable designation deriving from place, we have used the date as a reference point: September 11. That does have a well-known precedent. One other event in American history is referred to by its date: July 4 or the Fourth of July, the date in 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed in Philadelphia. In addition to the spelled-out month and day, the numerals 9/11 or 9-11 have been used. Never before has such a historic event been so labeled, but because of the striking coincidence that 911 is the telephone number to call for help in an emergency, that numerical designation has been a success. Headline writers like the concision of this expression, just three numerals to take in all the events of that day. So far, the events of that day have resulted in just one new term: ground zero, for the place of impact, the center of destruction in New York City where the World Trade Towers once stood. That phrase has succeeded because it is not really new; its an old term for the location on the ground directly under a vast atomic explosion, corresponding to air zero, the location in the air above the ground where the bomb goes off. Ground zero had been gathering dust on the shelf in recent years because of a fortunate lack of atomic explosions. No one knows who first said ground zero in reference to the site where the World Trade Towers were attacked and collapsed, but the term immediately caught on because of its familiarity and emotional power. Chapter 03:Success of English Neologisms 3.1. How are Neologisms Found? The authority for a word in fact, the authority for a language rests with the users of the language. Thus, the process of adding new words to the dictio ­nary begins with a systematic examination of almost everything printed and said in English. As far as Among the New Words is concerned, this important task citation with source information (qtd. in Algeo 1991a: 3) is fulfilled by active members of the Words Committee, who contribute the words they regard as new in any material they read or listen to (Algeo 1991a: 3). The cited word must contain the name of the publication, the day, and the page number. Concerning oral citations, the source information must consist of the day the sentence was heard and where and when one came across it (Algeo 1991a: 3). The following list shows that usually American dictionaries are consulted (with the exceptions of two British dictionaries: the OED and Websters Third) to check the newness of each contribution (Algeo 1991a: 2): Random House Websters College Dictionary, 1991. Oxford English Dictionary, 2d ed., 1989. World Book Dictionary, 1989 Websters New World Dictionary, 3d College ed., 1988. Random House Dictionary, 2d ed. Unabridged, 1987. Websters Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, 1983. Websters Third New International Dictionary, 1961. Only if the new word is assumed to be British, are additional British dictionaries referred to. To make sure that a neologism has not been lexicalized yet, the following dictionaries of neologisms are used: Third Barnhart Dictionary of New English. 1990. Chambers English Dictionary, 1988. Collins Concise Dictionary, 2d ed., 1988. Collins Dictionary, 2d ed., 1986. Longman Dictionary, 1984. Readers Digest Great Illustrated Dictionary, 1984. If a word entered one of these dictionaries, then it is usually not recorded in Among the New Words (Algeo 91a: 2). Since Among the New Words receives more citations than there is space to print, a selection has to be made. The criteria on what and when to enter a word is up to the lexicographer. As I said, lexicographers have different opinions (Algeo 1991b: 75) and therefore it is hard to give exact rules. However, two principles can be set up: the absolutely newness of a word and the reflection of the zeitgeist. 3.2. Reasons of Success of Neologisms 3.2.1 The frequency of occurrences The most important factor is that a word appears in as many different sources as possible. The more sources (newspapers, magazines, books etc.) a word appears in, the more obvious is the frequency and range of the term (Sheidlower 33). Besides, the more a word is cited the more popular it is; and consequently the more likely it is to be included in a dictionary. 3.2.2 Range among sources It is of interest to know the range of the new word because if a word is only common in a special field, it is not a candidate for a general dictionary but rather for a technical one. Therefore, a general dictionary excludes technical terms or terms well known in a certain field because they are not of general interest. However, there are exceptions: the term intellectual property  [1]  was limited to certain fields. Today, its use is widespread because new technologies are invented; thus the intellectual property has to be preserved (Sheidlower 33). 3.2.3 Durability The use of a term over a certain time gives information on its durability. Nevertheless, this criterion must not be overrated. It is true that a word that appears over a certain time span, but otherwise does not constitute sufficient evidence (qtd. in Barnhart 59) probably will not be included; however, a brandnew word with sufficient evidence (frequency of occurrences, range among sources, cruciality in a given field) is likely to enter a dictionary (Sheidlower 34). Sheidlower points out that the criterion should rather be the number and range of citations than the newness of the word (34

scarlet letter :: essays research papers

The author of this novel, Nathaniel Hawthorne, is mostly known for his unique and descriptive writing style. In The Scarlet Letter, he describes his disapproval of the leading character’s morals clearly. For example, before Hester Prynne emerges from the cold and dark prison, she is scorned by a group of women who believe in a harsher punishment for Hester. Meaning, instead of being made to stand on the scaffold bearing the scarlet letter on her bosom, they suggest that she â€Å"she should be put to death or have it branded into her skin, precisely on her forehead.† Since early times, Puritans have had the reputation for strong discipline, their religious beliefs, and harsh punishment for those defying their beliefs. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a novel that portrays the Puritans as cold and unfeeling.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Puritan’s feelings were so lacking of compassion that â€Å" they were stern enough to look upon her death†¦without a murmur†¦but had none of the heartlessness of another social state.† This quote depicts that when the public is faced with a death of a sinner, they would absolutely have no reaction what so ever. These worries and concerns are focused on a passage in chapter one in which Hester is being nagged by a harsh group of women. The one woman, perhaps the ugliest of them all, goes too far in advocating the death of Hester due to jealousy   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nathaniel’s tone reveals how he feels towards the Puritan society. He begins early in the novel by describing the Puritans as â€Å"being of the most intolerant brood,† stating the lack of understanding they had toward one another. Finding out about Hester and her beautiful baby Pearl, the town at once without any word from Hester filled their hearts with hatred towards the two. â€Å"Meager, indeed, and cold was the sympathy† that the Puritans offered against Hester in her vulnerable moments aloft the scaffold. Again, Hawthorne’s choice of words indicates his harsh tone towards Puritanism.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nathaniel Hawthorne shows again that the Puritan society as cold and unfeeling in his descriptions of Roger Chillingworth and his reaction to relationships. In his search for revenge, Chillingworth responds to his adultery prone wife by sacrificing his life in order to figure out her secret lover. He used be a scholar but now is disguised as a doctor who put forth his best years, â€Å"to feed the hungry dream of knowledge,† but now he is out for something else, revenge on the one man who made love to his wife.

Ntozake Shange :: Male White Dominance Essays Prejudice

Ntozake Shange After spending a semester looking at Gardner's limited selection of people, I became frustrated at his blatant message that White male creativity is the only one to exist. With his obtrusive message in mind, I felt the need to challenge Gardner and his model to become less Euro-centrally male driven. In order to confront him, I have chosen a person who is neither, White nor male. Instead, she is a Black American woman who I can consider to be, in many aspects, a creative genius. Although I find it incredibly hypocritical to try to fit Ntozake Shange into Gardner's creativity model, for all intensive purposes for the class I will first point out how she does meet his model. Next, in accordance with Black feminists, I will examine why she does not fit into Gardner's creativity model and frankly, why it does not matter that she is not shaped into the model. Further, I will confront the issue that marginal people are rejected society's cannon (i.e. the white male cannon), and how Gardner, in the position of a writer he could have broken down some of these barriers. Ntozake Shange does fit into five of the seven intelligences in Howard Gardner's model. As a performance artist, poet, musician, writer, and politician, Shange's intelligences span the interpersonal, spatial, kinesthetic, musical, and verbal talents. She blends music, drama, and poetry to characterize the Black experience in America, particularly the Black female experience. Her works empower women to take responsibility for their lives by learning to love themselves and challenge their oppressors. Shange's life and works give clarification and direction to the current feminist movement (Black Women in America). Furthermore, her supportive back-ground fits her into Gardner'stheory that, "the roles of family and teachers during the formative years, as well as the roles of crucial supportive individuals during the times in which a creative breakthrough seems imminent" through the lives of creative people (8). Paulette Williams was born to Eloise and Paul Williams on October 18th, 1948. Later in life, Paulette Williams changed her "slave name" to an African name, Ntozake Shange. Ntozake means "she who comes with her own things" and Shange means "who walks like a lion" (Current Biography 1978). However, in her earlier life, Shange lived a seemingly comfortable life. Her mother was a psychiatrist/social worker and her father was a surgeon. Despite their Blackness in a times of segregation, Shange was given violin and dancing lessons while exposed to other artistic activities as well.

Tyranny in Shakespeares Macbeth Essay -- Macbeth essays

Tyranny in Shakespeare's Macbeth   Ã‚  Ã‚   All humanity is tyrannical.  Every person wants the world to conform to their wishes.  A product of the ego, this desire culminates in tyranny among those that have the arrogance, opportunity, and instability to embrace and foster it.  We find Macbeth with the opportunity, and his arrogance and instability are bred by ego and contranatural forces, such that he becomes a tyrant.   Duncan's soft handed rule allows Macbeth the opportunity to plot against him while his proclamation of Malcom as the heir to his throne provides motive, a wounded ego.   Lady Macbeth and the witches, whether they be contranatural forces or perverted minds, prod him into action, exacerbating his tyrannical leanings, and sway the inner conflict which eventually develops.   Macbeth's rise to tyranny and his hold on it are products of his ego, provoked by inner conflict and those around him, and as such are opposed to the natural order which strives for balance.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Tyranny is not something easily obtainable.   By it's nature, it cannot be.   The rule of one must be a complicated task simply because it requires the subjugation of all others.   At first, Macbeth feigns indifference, claiming that "If Chance will have me King, why, Chance may crown me, without my stir,"1 and "I dare do all that may become a man; Who dares do more, is none."2   There is an inner conflict inside Macbeth, a sign of his weak character, which outwardly questions the morality of his actions, but more truthfully questions the probability of success.   He is not at all concerned with whether what he is doing is right, he only cares about whether he will succeed.   Finally, his strength comes to him, when "Nature seems dead, and w... ...eclaims the power that Macbeth has usurped.   Each force that played a part in his accession played an equal part in his downfall.   Self, wife, and witch together toppled Macbeth as they proved poor opponents for the force of Nature.   The offensive tyrant is banished, and Nature returns what is rightfully his to Malcom. Work Cited Shakespeare, William.   Tragedy of Macbeth . Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul  Ã‚  arstine. New York: Washington Press, 1992.  Ã‚  Ã‚   1Act I. Sc. III. Ln. 142-4 2Act I.Sc. VII. Ln. 46-7 3Act II. Sc. I. Ln. 50-1 4Act I. Sc. VII. Ln. 27 5Act I. Sc. VII. Ln. 12 6Act I. Sc. V. Ln. 40-6 7Act V. Sc. I. Ln. 68-9 8Act V. Sc. I. Ln. 9 9Act III. Sc. I. Ln. 60, 65 10Act IV. Sc. I. Ln. 50, 104-5 11Act I. Sc. V. Ln. 1-3 12Act II. Sc. III. Ln. 58-9 13Act II. Sc. IV. Ln. 9-10 14Act II. Sc. II. Ln 60-2

Spanish Language and Latin America

1 International Baccalaureate History of the Americas HL Required Summer Reading Study Guide Born in Blood and Fire: A Concise History of Latin America By John Charles Chasteen Foreign Affairs November/December 2000 states: Born in Blood and Fire is a briskly written yet sophisticated introduction to Latin America that will be greatly welcomed by non-specialists and experts alike. Chasteen paints on a very broad canvas, but he succeeds in capturing with enviable conciseness the major ingredients of Latin America's uniqueness and complexity.Especially welcome is his graceful integration of Brazil into the overall picture, which general histories of Latin America often lack. He first takes the reader from the European conquest through the colonial consolidation by Spain and Portugal before looking at the role of indigenous communities in the new order imposed by the Europeans and African slavery's social and cultural consequences. He then follows with the independence movements and the uneven attempts at nation-building in the nineteenth century; race, ethnicity, religious and liberal ideologies, and the roles of key individuals are also covered.Chasteen concludes with the recent return to economic liberalism, this time in the context of open elections, continuing poverty, and social exclusion of large segments of the population. A stellar performance! Summer Reading Directions: The answers to these questions should be well thought out, typed, 12 point font, single spaced, New Times Roman. The completed review sheet is a summer long process that is not designed and should not be attempted at the last minute. This assignment will be due on the first full school day of the 2011 – 2012 academic school year.These questions will prepare you for the first 2 day examination made up of 96 multiple choice questions and 57 matching terms. This is the first grade of the course and will set the study tempo for the remainder of the school year. 2 Study Guide/ Discussio n Questions John Charles Chasteen’s Born in Blood and Fire: A Concise History of Latin America. Chapter 1 – First Stop, the Present 1. 2. 3. 4. According to Chasteen, what is the unifying theme or unifying conflict that characterizes Latin American history? Is this a good choice? What might be some strengths or weaknesses of this focus?Why do Cuba and Brazil have such high populations of African Americans? Define â€Å"liberalism† as Chasteen uses the term: What are the different attitudes toward Latin Americans that have been common in the U. S. during the twentieth century? Chapter 2 – Encounter (1492-1600) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. What were some of the ways the historical and cultural context of the Iberian peninsula shaped the attitudes and practices of Europeans who first sailed to the Americas? Compare the Portuguese colonization of Brazil with the Spanish Colonization of what would become Mexico and Peru.Important similarities and differences? What larger significance does Chasteen see in the name change from â€Å"Island of the True Cross† to â€Å"Brazil†? What three areas of Africa provided the majority of Black slaves for the Americas? Members of which European country became the most active slave traders? From Chasteen’s perspective, what were the key factors that enabled vastly outnumbered Spanish forces to conquer the Aztec and Inca empires? In what specific ways do Las Casas’s life and values stand in contrast to those of the majority of Spaniards who came to the Americas?Briefly define or identify the following terms: Encomienda Tupi Pedro Alvarez Cabral Moors Francisco Pizarro Malinche (Marina) Salvador (Bahia) Chapter 3 – Colonial Crucible (1600-1810) 1. 2. 3. 4. In what ways did economic realities contribute to the prosperity and influence of colonial Spanish America in comparison to colonial Brazil? Name the four viceroyalties and their capitals that came to exist in Spanish America: W hat does Chasteen mean on p. 77 when he says that â€Å"transculturation and hegemony often went together† in Latin America?Do you think he’s right? Name four areas that Chasteen considers peripheral areas or â€Å"backwaters† of colonial Latin America: 3 5. Compare attitudes toward race in Latin America as described in this chapter with attitudes in the U. S. as you understand them. What significant similarities or differences do you see? Briefly define or identify the following terms: Sor Juana de la Cruz â€Å"honor† in Latin America Gracias al sacar Quilombos and Palenques Potosi Zumbi Rebellion of Gonzalo Pizarro Tupac Amaru II Engenho AleijadinhoChapter 4 – Independence (1810-1825) 1. 2. 3. 4. In what ways did events in Europe affect the movements for independence in Latin America? According to Chasteen, which independence movements in Spanish America were actually popular revolutions? Which were primarily â€Å"revolutions from above† ? How did the Brazilian independence movement compare with those in Spanish America? What impact did the independence movements have on patterns of colonialism in Spanish America?Briefly define or identify the following terms: Creoles Jose Maria Morelos Llaneros Simon Bolivar Jose Antonio Paez Peninsulars Vicente Guerrero and Augustin de Iturbide Nativism Battle of Ayacucho Miguel Hidalgo Pedro I Chapter 5 – Postcolonial Blues (1825-1850) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Why did liberalism in Latin America seem to collapse in the years following the wars of independence? What were some of the main characteristics of a caudillo? What factors helped Brazil maintain its territorial unity during the years when many regions of Spanish America were splintering into numerous new nations?In what ways does Chasteen suggest the social structure in Latin America remained the same after independence? How did it change? Who were the main â€Å"outsiders† involved in Latin America during this period? This outside involvement was particularly notable in the two former centers of colonial power, Mexico and Peru. What shape did it take in each place? Briefly define or identify the following terms: Juan Manuel de Rosas â€Å"El Supremo† Caste War of Yucatan Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna The regency years â€Å"el pueblo† Rafael Carrera â€Å"La Nina† Central American Republic 4Chapter 6 – Progress (1850-1880) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. What were some of the significant aspects of liberalism emphasized by the key Latin American liberals mentioned in this section (be as specific as possible)? Why did Maximilian fail to reinstate conservative rule in Mexico? Based on Chasteen’s examples, what seems to have been the most common way for women to become public figures during the nineteenth century (the few, that is, who did become public figures)? Give two examples. Liberals in Argentina agreed on the traditional tenets of Latin American liberalism. What issue divide d them?Compare the way Argentine and Brazilian liberals confronted what they considered the â€Å"national tragedy† of racially mixed societies. Do leaders in one of these countries seem to be less racist in their thinking than leaders of the other? Briefly explain the issues and significance of the following wars (and note the dates when each took place): The Triple Alliance War The War of the Pacific The Chaco War Briefly define or identify the following terms: Benito Juarez Birds Without a Nest (1889) â€Å"Golden Law† William Walker Ten Years War Domingo Faustino Sarmiento 6.Chapter 7 – Neocolonialism (1880-1930) 1. Describe the â€Å"great export boom† that marked Progress for Latin America between 1870-1930. What were its most important characteristics? Which crops or exports seemed most beneficial to Latin Americans and why? Which one seemed most harmful? Compare the governments of Mexico and Brazil during the neocolonial period: Based on this chap ter how do the ideas of neocolonialism and â€Å"importing Progress† relate to one another? Early in the chapter, Chasteen suggests that the concept of neocolonialism is both an internal and an external phenomenon.What does he mean, and, after reading the chapter, would you agree with that analysis? Describe the rise of U. S. influence in Latin America: Why did the South Cone region of Latin America attract the majority of the new immigrants? 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Briefly define or identify the following terms: â€Å"banana republics† Ruben Dario Porfiriato Cientificos Rebellion in the Backlands Paulina Luisi Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine Cesar Augusto Sandino Positivism Pan o palo Jose Marti Jose Enrique Rodo 5 Chapter 8 – Nationalism (1910-1945) 1. 2. 3. . 5. Based on the chapter, what were the most important aspects of nationalism in Latin America? Why did nationalism emerge in the early decades of the twentieth century? Compare and contrast nationalism in Mexico with that in Argentina and Uruguay and also with Brazil. Did nationalism in any one of these countries seem more thoroughgoing than in the others? Why? Why did import-substitution industrialization (ISI) provide greater benefits for countries such as Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina than for places like the Dominican Republic or Honduras?Why did the wave of nationalism seem to have very little impact on Central America? Briefly define or identify the following terms: Constitution of 1917 Pancho Villa Constitutionalists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo Batllismo Hipolito Yrigoyen Victor Raul Haya de la Torre Indigenismo ISI Getulio Vargas Estado Novo Heitor Villa Lobos Lazaro Cardenas â€Å"Good Neighbor Policy† Mexico’s â€Å"declaration of economic independence† Populists Juan and Evita Peron Emiliano Zapata Chapter 9 – Revolution (1945-1960) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Why would Brasilia represent the â€Å"perfect symbol of the ost-Vargas moment in Brazil† and the PRI the perfect symbol for Mexico at the same time (252)? Chapter 8 talked about the popularity of Roosevelt’s Good Neighbor Policy. Why did relations between the U. S. and major Latin American countries begin to sour in the post-WWII years? Why did the U. S. tolerate the National Revolutionary Movement (MNR) in Bolivia while it actively supported a proxy force to oust Arbenz in Guatemala? Based on this textbook, would you say the Cuban revolution was more an expression of Marxism or of nationalism? Why? What were the goals of liberation theology?Briefly define or identify the following terms: Raul Prebish Jacobo Arbenz Che Guevara Bay of Pigs (1961) Declaration of Caracas (1954) Pablo Naruda Fulgencio Batista Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) Juan Jose Arevalo Jorge Luis Borges Granma Paulo Freire 6 Chapter 10 – Reaction (1960-1990) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. On what basis does Chasteen argue that the Soviet Union was not involved in Latin American Marxist movements outside of Cuba during the 1960s and 1970s? Why did rule by military juntas become widespread in Latin America by the mid-1970s?What did the Brazilian generals mean when they said that the cake had to rise before it could be sliced? Why didn’t the poor ever get their slice? How did the Argentine experience of military rule differ from that of Brazil? What were the most important factors that contributed to the overthrow of the Popular Unity government in Chile? In which countries of Latin America were â€Å"dirty wars† most intense and devastating? What were the main factors that fueled guerilla wars in Nicaragua and El Salvador? Why does Chasteen place Colombia in the â€Å"countercurrents† section at the end of the chapter?What was different about Colombia? Briefly define or identify the following terms: â€Å"national security doctrine† Alliance for Progress Gabriel Garcia Marquez Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo Tupamaros Salvador Allende Augusto Pinoc het Tlatelolco massacre â€Å"dirty war† Somoza family Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) Contras Daniel Ortega Violeta Chamorro â€Å"fourteen families† Oscar Romero Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) La Violencia Pablo Escobar and the Medillin Cartel M-19 U. S. School of the Americas Chapter 11 – Neoliberalism (1990- ? ) 1. 2. 3. 4.Why did neoliberalism become the popular political/economic ideology for Latin America during the 1990s? Compare neoliberalism with the liberalism with the liberal reforms that swept the region from 1870-1930—in what important ways are they similar? How do they differ? What insights does the Chilean success story provide into the strengths and weaknesses of neoliberalism? What are the primary environmental issues surrounding the Amazonian rain forest? Briefly define or identify the following terms: Neoliberalism MERCOSUR Zapatistas NAFTA Maquiladora Candomble, Umbanda, Santeria