Preparing for the First Certificate Examination for Free

Preparing for the First Certificate Examination for Free Cambridge Universitys First Certificate Examination (FCE) is probably the most widely respected English learning certificate outside of the United States. Examination centers around the world offer the First Certificate Exam twice a year; once in December and once in June. In fact, the First Certificate is only one of a number of Cambridge examinations aimed at levels from young learners to business English. However, the FCE is certainly the most popular. The tests are given in Cambridge University approved exam centers using Cambridge University approved examiners. Study Strategy Studying for the First Certificate Exam usually involves a long course. First Certificate preparation course can last 120 hours and involve a difficult (and long) exam which contains five papers including: ReadingWritingUse of EnglishListeningSpeaking There are few resources on the Internet for First Certificate preparation. However, you can  find practice tests, wordbanks, and practice  exercises. You can use these materials to prepare for the exam or to check to see if your level of English is right for working towards this exam. About the Test Before beginning to study for the First Certificate, it is a good idea to understand the philosophy and purpose behind this standardized test. Practicing techniques on test taking can help you understand general test-taking preparation. The best way to understand the specifics of the FCE is to go straight to the source and visit the introduction to the exam at Cambridge Universitys EFL site. For information about where the First Certificate is placed on the European 5-level scale, you can visit this informative page. Listening Finding FCE-specific listening practice exercises can be difficult, so get creative! Visit the BBCs audio and visual page and listen to or watch various ABC programs. The exam is purely British English, so its best to listen to this classic British radio station.

Free Essays on The Search Of Identity In “Battle Royal“

Ralph Ellison’s 1948 short story â€Å"Battle Royal† depicts a boy at a proverbial fork in the road with his identity while trying to deal with cut-throat racism. The symbolism in â€Å"Battle Royal† is given in order to show the two choices the Invisible Man has to choose from in order to overcome his oppression. On one hand he can waste his intelligence and join what he has learned to hate and become the very thing that oppresses him from his full potential. On the other, he can use his intelligence to stay true to himself while at the same time overcoming the oppression that makes him different. Ellison uses two distinct symbols in to place the Invisible Man in a decision that will ultimately create his own identity. In the story, Ellison uses an important symbol in the form of a white naked woman who dances for the aristocrats. Through this woman the Invisible Man is faced with a choice to which the decision will ultimately decide his identity. To take one path, the Invisible Man views like his audience the aristocrats, the woman as an object to which he can control and ogle over as he pleases. However through another path he feels like the woman, an object himself. â€Å"I wanted at one and the same time to run from the room, to sink through the floor, or go to her and cover her from my eyes and the eyes of the other with my body; to feel the soft thighs, to caress her and destroy her, to love her and to murder her, to hide from her, and yet to stroke where below the small American flag tattooed upon her belly her thighs formed a capital V† (558). The Invisible Man is crossed over the decision to take the side of his enemies and ogle over her or to accept the fact that she falls on t he same side as him and is nothing but a toy for the spectators. This outlook on other people is a deciding factor on what kind of person the Invisible Man himself will become. If he takes the darker view of the dancer like the aristocrats then... Free Essays on The Search Of Identity In â€Å"Battle Royalâ€Å" Free Essays on The Search Of Identity In â€Å"Battle Royalâ€Å" Ralph Ellison’s 1948 short story â€Å"Battle Royal† depicts a boy at a proverbial fork in the road with his identity while trying to deal with cut-throat racism. The symbolism in â€Å"Battle Royal† is given in order to show the two choices the Invisible Man has to choose from in order to overcome his oppression. On one hand he can waste his intelligence and join what he has learned to hate and become the very thing that oppresses him from his full potential. On the other, he can use his intelligence to stay true to himself while at the same time overcoming the oppression that makes him different. Ellison uses two distinct symbols in to place the Invisible Man in a decision that will ultimately create his own identity. In the story, Ellison uses an important symbol in the form of a white naked woman who dances for the aristocrats. Through this woman the Invisible Man is faced with a choice to which the decision will ultimately decide his identity. To take one path, the Invisible Man views like his audience the aristocrats, the woman as an object to which he can control and ogle over as he pleases. However through another path he feels like the woman, an object himself. â€Å"I wanted at one and the same time to run from the room, to sink through the floor, or go to her and cover her from my eyes and the eyes of the other with my body; to feel the soft thighs, to caress her and destroy her, to love her and to murder her, to hide from her, and yet to stroke where below the small American flag tattooed upon her belly her thighs formed a capital V† (558). The Invisible Man is crossed over the decision to take the side of his enemies and ogle over her or to accept the fact that she falls on t he same side as him and is nothing but a toy for the spectators. This outlook on other people is a deciding factor on what kind of person the Invisible Man himself will become. If he takes the darker view of the dancer like the aristocrats then...

Assess the impact of ideology on the (United Kingdom) Coalition Essay

Assess the impact of ideology on the (United Kingdom) Coalition government elected in May 2010 - Essay Example To understand how the ideologies of political parties in the UK affect the present coalition governance it will be necessary to define political ideology based on the UK situation, their development over the years and therefore how they affect people, societies and governance in the land. Political ideology like any other form of ideology will have as part of its components a definition of the cognitive values (expression of knowledge and doctrines), intended effects on the subjects’ feelings, the definition of norms and system of judgment through its valuation criteria, plans and action points and lastly its social base. These are what the main political parties in the UK strive to monitor in order to achieve the support of groups and collectivities. For a government to run smoothly there has to be agreement among the members in the government to a common ideology. However in cases where parties are forced to come together in form of coalitions to form government then comprom ises are sought in the ideologies (Ball, 1987 p 1-3). This is quite a challenge in a case where the ideological differences are sharp and incompatible. In assessment of the state of the UK coalition government formed following the may 2010 general election, political ideologies of the constituent parties are found to have a major contribution on governance of the country. In this paper we seek to give an assessment of the effects of ideology of the constituents of the coalition on governance by first assessing the ideologies of individual major in the UK namely the Conservatives, the Labor Party and the Liberal Democrats. The paper will further consider how the ideologies affect governance in the coalition through analysis of opinions. The role of political parties in the UK Political parties in the UK are charged by the electorate and members with the important role of governance through direct formation of government as the ruling party or as a check to the government as backbench ers or the opposition party. In cases where no particular winner is obtained as the case in the 2010 general elections, the parties agree to form a coalition government. Other functions of political parties in the UK can be summarized as: 1. Development of particular party ideological positions. 2. Facilitation of political education while encouraging participation by party members and the electorate in political processes. 3. Formulation of individual policies that are combined to form a coherent political program implemented in case the party forms government. 4. Oversee political elections at all levels (local, national and regional) 5. Represent political, social, economic and cultural interests of supporters though ensuring they are elected to the Legislature as the ruling party 6. Institutionalization of conflict by providing mechanisms of peaceful conflict resolution in the political system From this checklist it can be understood why party ideals are an important element in the UK political systems because of their deterministic role in the success of governance. An overview of political ideology of political parties in the UK For the purpose of this assessment we shall consider the three major parties namely: the Conservative, the Labor party, and the Liberal D

Reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Reflection - Essay Example This has transformed into a language of the future and a valuable asset. Growing up, a child of Chinese background is expected to gain mastery of basic mathematical skills. This starts from the initiative of their parents and is strengthened as he goes to school. In multiplication, 45 easy to memorize phrases are taught to children (Rao, Chi, & Cheng, 2009). The Chinese have a highly developed language that extends to mathematics which makes it easier for children to gain knowledge of the subject. Unlike in other countries where children first have to learn English symbols and translate math concepts before they are able to comprehend arithmetic problems, they have their own counterpart to basic mathematical language that a child easily adapts it starting at their home. This subject, considered to be a problem area by many students, is something simple to the Chinese. This may actually also translate to why they are considered good businessmen. China has a longstanding history and cu lture that has allowed for the cultivation of its language into many forms in different regional variations. The structure of the Chinese language is very different than from that of English. The most obvious of these differences is the writing style between the two languages.

Hp Compaq Merger Essay Example for Free

Hp Compaq Merger Essay The world’s largest corporate Information Technology merger began in September 2001 when HP announced that they would acquire Compaq in an all stock purchase valued at $25 billion. Over an 8 month period ending in May 2002, the merger passed shareholder and regulatory approval with the end result being one company. The new HP has annual sales of approximately $90 billion which is comparable to IBM, and an operating income of almost $4 billion. The merger was led by Carly Fiorina, the chairwoman and CEO of HP.   The president of the new HP was Michael Capellas who was the former chairman and CEO of the old HP and who has recently resigned and is now the CEO of World Com. Overall, many analysts were critical of the merger from the beginning since both Compaq and HP were struggling companies before the merger. The common question that has been raised by analysts is: Do two struggling companies make a better merged company? Some analysts have indicated that the merger is a gamble and that it is difficult to see any focused logic behind the merge considering that most I.T acquisitions are not successful. Prior to the merger, Compaq has been unable to grow despite previously buying Digital, while HP was trying to grow internally, without much success. Both companies were still adjusting to acquisitions they have made in the past and both were adjusting to new leadership (Fiorina and Capellas). The merger deal also means that there are many overlaps in products, technologies, distribution channels, services, facilities and jobs. Employee morale is a threat to a successful merger as there have been numerous layoffs -15,000 employees. The claimed annual cost savings of about $2.5 billion dollars by the year 2004 amounts to only 3 % of the combined costs of both companies. Gartner Group research has indicated that the merged company has failed to do a good enough job of presenting the benefits of an acquisition of this scale to justify the deal’s risk as it is generally known that technology mergers rarely work. In addition, both companies in the past have struggled to resolve conflicts between direct and indirect sales channels. The cultural background of both companies is quite different and integration will take a long time. The culture at HP is based on consensus; Compaq’s culture on the other hand is based on rapid decision making. From a positive perspective, most botched tech mergers involved companies that were trying to buy their way into new businesses they knew little about, this is not the case with the HP/Compaq merger. Apart from servers and PC’s, they have several areas where their products overlap e.g.: they are both are involved in making data -storage equipment and both make hand held computing devices. In addition, both companies also bring different strengths to the table. Compaq has done a better job in regard to engineering an entire line and HP has been strong in consumer products. The justification provided by HP senior management suggests that a merger will enable them to compete with two of their biggest competitors, IBM and Dell.  In conclusion, it is viewed by many analysts that there will be at least 2 more years of bitter infighting which will cause the new HP to lose direction and good personnel. This is great news for competitors such as IBM and Sun as both of them will be able to pick off the market while the new HP is distracted by the merger. The new HP may be a threat to IBM but not anytime soon. It could take several years to determine if the largest merger in I.T history will be a success or a complete flop. THE IT INDUSTRY PROFILE Information technology (IT) is a broad field that covers all aspects of managing and processing information. IT professionals design, develop, support, and manage computer software, hardware, and networks. From the exuberant growth of its early years to the uncertainty of recent times, the IT industry has stabilized—with job growth rates now rising steadily—and continues to change in order to meet the needs of the business world. While the wild optimism that surrounded the IT industry a few years back has been deflated, the IT industry is adapting to a changing market. New developments such as creating infrastructure for mobile technologies will continue to ensure the vitality and viability of the industry. And as the industry responds to new business needs, it will continue to evolve into a mature profession, a profession versatile enough to adapt to new demands and stable enough to support new innovations and developments. In information technology (IT), India has built up valuable brand equity in the global markets. In IT-enabled services (ITES), India has emerged as the most preferred destination for business process outsourcing (BPO), a key driver of growth for the software industry and the services sector. The IT industry is passing through a phase of mergers and consolidations in India largely in line with global trends. Companies are focusing on organic as well as inorganic growth. Indian IT companies are prowling for potential acquisitions both in the domestic as well as foreign markets. 3 Indian software companies – TCS, Infosys, and Wipro have all crossed the billion dollar mark. Competition in the Indian IT arena is increasing leaps and bounds with global giants like IBM, Accenture, and CSC etc.   Trends over the last five years tell the story of Dell’s increasing market share, at the cost of its competitors. This degree of competition prompted a  merger between HP and Compaq in 2001; IBM has refocused its priorities to lucrative corporate customers. In 2003, the PC industry grew 11 % as a whole. Despite differing focuses, all players saw an increased demand by consumers for new systems. INTRODUCTION TO THE COMPANY PROFILE HEWLETT PACKARD In 1938, two electrical engineering graduates from Stanford University called William Hewlett and David Packard started their business in a garage in Palo Alto. In a years time, the partnership called Hewlett-Packard was made and by the year 1947 HP was incorporated. It began offering stocks for public trading 10 years later. The company has been prospering ever since as its profits grew from five and half million dollars in 1951 to about 3 billion dollars in 1981. The pace of growth knew no bounds as HPs net revenue went up to 42 billion dollars in 1997. Starting with manufacturing audio oscillators, the company made its first computer in the year 1966 and it was by 1972 that it introduced the concept of personal computing by introducing the first scientific hand-held. HP introduced its first personal computer in the year 1980. The company is also known for the laser-printer which it introduced in the year 1985. HP – Product Portfolio * Laptop/Notebooks * Palmtops/PDA * Printers and Printing Consumables * Digicams * Scanners * Monitors * Mainframes Major Competitors * IBM – Servers, PCs, Storage and IT services * Dell – PCs * Canon – Printers, Fax, Copiers and Optical Equipment * Compaq – PCs, Servers and Pocket Computers COMPAQ Compaq Computer Corporation is an American personal computer company founded  in the year 1982. It had the charm of being called the largest manufacturers of personal computing devices worldwide. The company was formed by two senior managers at Texas Instruments. The name of the company had come from-Compatibility and Quality. The company introduced its first computer in the year 1983 after at a price of 2995 dollars. In spite of being portable, the problem with the computer was that it seemed to be a suitcase. Nevertheless, there were huge commercial benefits from the computer as it sold more than 53,000 units in the first year with a revenue generation of 111 million dollars. Company existed as an independent corporation until 2002, when it was acquired for $25 billion by Hewlett Packard. COMPAQ – Product Portfolio * Enterprise Computing Group * Mainframes * Servers * Workstations * Internet products * Networking Products * Commercial Products * Portables * Small and Medium Business Solutions Major Competitors * IBM – Servers, PCs, Storage and IT services * Sun Microsystems – Servers * Dell – PCs * HP – PCs, IT Services and Pocket Computers * Palm – Pocket Computers PRE – MERGER STATS FOR HP COMPAQ RELATIVE PERFORMANCE OF HP AND COMPAQ HP – COMPAQ MERGER â€Å"If HP was progressing at such a tremendous pace, what was the reason that  the company had to merge with Compaq?† Carly Fiorina, who became the CEO of HP in the year 1999, had a key role to play in the merger that took place on 3rd September, 2001. She was the first woman to have taken over as CEO of such a big company and the first outsider too. She worked very efficiently as she travelled more than 250,000 miles in the first year as a CEO. Her basic aim was to modernize the culture of operation of HP. She laid great emphasis on the profitable sides of the business. This shows that she was very extravagant in her approach as a CEO. In spite of the growth in the market value of HPs share from 54.43 to 74.48 dollars, the company was still inefficient. This was because it could not meet the targets due to a failure of both company and industry. HP was forced to cut down on jobs and also be eluded from the privilege of having Price Water House Coopers to take care of its audit. So, even the job of Fiorina was under threat. This meant that improvement in the internal strategies of the company was not going to be sufficient for the companys success. Ultimately, the company had to certainly plan out something different. So, it was decided that the company would be acquiring Compaq in a stock transaction whose net worth was 25 billion dollars. Initially, this merger was not planned. It started with a telephonic conversation between CEO HP, Fiorina and Chairman and CEO Compaq, Capellas. The idea behind the conversation was to discuss on a licensing agreement but it continued as a discussion on competitive strategy and finally a merger. It took two months for further studies and by September, 2001, the boards of the two companies approved of the merger. In spite of the decision coming from the CEO of HP, the merger was strongly opposed in the company. The two CEOs believed that the only way to fight the growing competition in terms of prices was to have a merger. But the investors and the other stakeholders thought that the company would never be able to have the loyalty of the Compaq customers, if products are sold with an HP logo on it. Other than this, there were questions on the synchronization of the organizations members with each other. This was because of the change in the organization culture as well. Even though these were supposed to serious problems with respect to the merger, the CEO of HP, Fiorina justified the same with the fact that the merger would remove one serious competitor in the over-supplied PC market of those days. She said  that the market share of the company is bound to increase with the merger and also the working unit would double. GROWING PROBLEMS AT HP * HP was not adapting to technological innovation fast enough * Margins were going down * IPG (HP’s Imaging and Printing Group) was the leader in its market segment but did not rank anywhere among top 3 in servers, storage or services * Printing line was facing competition from Lexmark and Epson which were selling lower-quality inexpensive printers * Needed to build strong complementary business lines HP’s POSITION BEFORE MERGER * By 2001, as the industry stumbled, meeting growth targets became difficult for HP and it was forced to cut jobs and scrap plans * As a result HP stock price dropped drastically * Turning the company around required more than just strategy from within OBJECTIVES OF THE MERGER * Increase competition with major competitors i.e. IBM, Dell * Cut costs by $3 billion annually by 2004 * Increase earnings for shareholders * Face the challenge of a shrinking market EXPECTATIONS FROM THE MERGER OF HP AND COMPAQ * The merger of HP with Compaq will create superior customer value by expanding its product range and together HP and Compaq can focus on R D in a greater extend. * The second best benefit that the merger will emerge is cost benefit by generating cost synergies reaching approximately $2.5 bn annually. * Drive a significantly improved cost structure, approximate assets of $56.4 billion, and annual revenues of $87.4 billion and annual operating earnings of $3.9 billion. * Adds up to world-class innovation and quality through the merger of two of the leading IT companies of the world. * Larger PC position resulting from the merger likely to increase risk and dilute shareholders interest. * Operations in more than 160 countries and over 1,45,000 employees. * Expand the numbers of the company’s service professionals. * Improves access to the market with Compaq’s direct capability and low cost structure. * Work force reduction by around 15,000 employees saving around $1.5 billion per year. * Improve HP’s market share. KEY POINTS THAT ENCOURAGED THE MERGER DECISION * HP’s failure to meet target (in spite of increased share value) * Merger as the way to fight the growing competition in terms of prices * Merger would eliminate one player in an oversupplied PC market * To compete with IBM and other companies * Reduce costs * 1990’s IT recessionary phase * Merger expected to yield savings projected to reach $2.5bn annually by 2004 * Advantage of more volume of sales * Development of direct distribution capability * Strengthen sales force * Improve customer base ADVANTAGES OF MERGER Merger would create a full-service technology firm capable of doing everything from selling PCs and printers to setting up complex networks. Merger would eliminate redundant product groups and costs in marketing, advertising, and shipping, while at the same time preserving much of the two companies’ revenues. MARKET BENEFITS * Merger will creates immediate end to end leadership * Compaq was a clear No.2 in the PC business and stronger on the commercial side than HP, but HP was stronger on the consumer side. Together they would be No.1 in market share in 2001 * The merger would also greatly expand the numbers of the company’s service professionals. As a result, HP would have the largest market share in all hardware market segments and become the number three in market share in services * Improves access to the market with Compaq’s direct capability and low cost structure * The much bigger company would have scale advantages: gaining bargaining power with suppliers. OPERATIONAL BENEFITS * HP and Compaq have highly complementary RD capabilities * HP was strong in mid and high-end UNIX servers, a weakness for Compaq; while Compaq was strong in low-end industry standard (Intel) servers, a weakness for HP * Top management has experience with complex organizational changes * Merger would result in work force reduction by around 15,000 employees saving around $1.5 billion per year FINANCIAL BENEFITS * Merger will result in substantial increase in profit margin and liquidity * 2.5 billion is the estimated value of annual synergies * Provides the combined entity with better ability to reinvest Even though it seemed to be advantageous to very few people in the beginning, it was the strong determination of Fiorina that she was able to stand by her decision. Wall Street and all her investors had gone against the company lampooning her ideas with the saying that she has made 1+1=1.5 by her extravagant ways of expansion. Fiorina had put it this way that after the companys merger, not only would it have a larger share in the market but also the units of production would double. This would mean that the company would grow tremendously in volume. Her dream of competing with the giants in the field, IBM would also come true. She was of the view that much of the redundancy in the two companies would decrease as the internal costs on promotion, marketing and shipping would come down with the merger. This would produce the slightest harm to the collection of revenue. She used the ideas of  competitive positioning to justify her plans of the merger. She said that the merger is based on the ideologies of consolidation and not on diversification. She could also defend allegations against the change in the HP was. She was of the view that the HP has always encouraged changes as it is about innovating and taking bold steps. She said that the company requires being consistent with creativity, improvement and modification. This merger had the capability of providing exactly the same.

Cerebellar Lesions :: Neurology Health Medical Essays

Cerebellar Lesions According to an article by Rhawn Joseph, Ph.D., each of the deep cerebellar nuclei maintains a semi-independent map of the human body (2000). The cerebellum is tonically active, and is presumed to exert a stabilizing influence on motor function; accordingly, it is functionally responsible for coordination and smooth fine tuning of movement, in addition to influencing timing. Not only is the cerebellum associated with motor functioning, but, importantly, also with classical conditioning: e.g., the learning of new motor programs (Joseph, 2000). It is associated with the acquisition if finely skilled movements, such as playing an instrument, playing a sport, and performance dance. Interestingly, as motor information is acquired, it takes time for the cerebellum to acquire control over the specific task. With the notion of â€Å"practice makes perfect,† task control shifts from conscious cortical control (active, practicing memory) to the subconscious realm and control of the cerebellum. Hence, the cerebellum plays an integrated and important part in complex learning and memory (Joseph, 2000.) During early learning stages, cerebellar climbing fibers are activated, and mossy fibers seem to modulate and to monitor ongoing and related activity in the learning context. Lesions occurring in the cerebellum have the unfortunate effect of abolishing conditioned response acquisition and retention. Such lesions and/or diseases cause motor incoordination called ataxia, with symptoms of tremors, instability and teetering, and an inability to maintain regular movement of tempo (nanonline.org). There are three known major cerebellar syndromes. The vestibulocerebellar cortex controls movement of the eyes and body relating to gravity and turning of the head in space; damage to this area results in ataxia gait and stance, as described above. The spinocerebellar system, which receives information via rapid spinocerebellar pathways during the duration of movement, modulates and smoothes that movement. Lesions occurring in the spinocerebellar system are a result of chronic alcoholism and thiamine deficiency (nanonline.org, Joseph, 2000), and results in difficulty producing rapid and smooth movements. There occurs a prominent shuffle, wide gait, and hesitating steps, with ataxia, tremor and difficulty in lower limb coordination. Lastly, lesions of the cerebrocerebellum (neocerebellum) have blatant effects on well- learned volitional movements, as it has direct pathways with cerebral cortex motor control regions. Several symptoms exist to suggest cerebellar lesions. Joseph (2000) reports a study by Gordon Holmes (1971, 1939) that investigated cerebellar disturbances following gunshot wounds. Deficits involved voluntary/skilled motor function, gait ataxia, dysarthria (loss of proprioceptive input), asynergia (loss of

Politeness and Pragmatics in the Context of Cross-Cultural Communication

Throughout almost all societies, politeness plays an integral role in the effectiveness of social life and interaction within the context of both inter-cultural and cross-cultural communication. Within different cultures the definition of politeness may vary substantially and as a result may be appropriated in ways that are largely misunderstood within the context of other cultures.It is for this reason that scholars such as Brown and Levinson have derived theories on politeness and its use within global society, however the seemingly non-existent universal definition of politeness can also be responsible for the criticisms that these theories receive. When discussing the notion of politeness, the study of cross-cultural pragmatics as represented by Thomas, Tannen and Wierzbicka provide a deeper understanding of the appropriation of politeness and the difficulties that emerge as a result of cross-cultural misunderstanding.One of the major theories surrounding politeness is that of Br own and Levinson (1978, later revised in 1987). Brown and Levinson’s theory argues that politeness consists of three basic elements of human interaction: the maintenance of personal face, the acts which may threaten the face of either a speaker or hearer and the politeness strategies used within the context of conversation to maintain face. The concept of ‘face’, according to Brown and Levinson, outlines the human desire of avoiding embarrassment or humiliation whilst maintaining a positive representation of themselves.In accordance with the politeness phenomena theory, face exists in both a positive sense and a negative sense. Positive face is defined simply as ‘self-image’ while negative face refers to the freedom from imposition. The face-threatening act, according to Brown and Levinson, exists in four main categories. Firstly, the act which threatens the hearer’s negative face can include orders, advice, etc. and can ultimately undermine t he hearer’s freedom of action whilst criticism and disagreement can lead to a threat on the hearer’s self-image.Alternatively, acceptance of either apologies or thanks can impact on the speaker’s negative face although issuing an apology or offering a confession can upset the self-image of the speaker. Brown and Levinson theorise that â€Å"the assessment of the seriousness of a face-threatening act involves the following factors in many and perhaps all cultures† (1987, 74). These factors include Social Distance i. e. he acquaintanceship between speaker and hearer, the Relative Power of the speaker in relation to the hearer such as the degree of imposition the speaker holds over the hearer and the Absolute Ranking of the imposition within the context of the culture in which the imposition occurs. The third basic notion of Brown and Levinson’s politeness phenomena theory is that of Politeness Strategies, or simply the formulation of messages in orde r to save the face of the hearer in the wake of an impending face-threatening act.Brown and Levinson outline politeness strategies as being either ‘On-Record’ or ‘Off- Record’. Off-Record strategies avoid the use of direct impositions to maintain a hearer’s face whereas On-Record strategies can be further separated into four categories. Carrying out an act ‘Baldly, without redress’, refers to the act between a speaker and hearer who share a great deal of familiarity and thus make no attempt to avoid the most direct form of imposition. Redressive action’ is the act of the speaker imposing on the hearer while trying to adjust their behaviour to maintain either the positive face or negative face of the hearer. Redressive actions aimed at preserving the positive face of the hearer are known as ‘Positive politeness’ and are employed to enhance the hearer’s self-image.These include the exaggeration of interest in the hearer and his or her interests, sympathising with the hearer and the avoidance of disagreements. Negative politeness’ is a Redressive action aimed at the preservation of the Hearer’s negative face. Negative politeness is achieved through indirectness, deference and apologising for imposition. The politeness theory phenomena has drawn much criticism in subsequent years due to its universality. For example, Goffman advocates that â€Å"each person, subculture and society seems to have its own characteristic repertoire of face-saving practices, yet these are all drawn from a single logically coherent framework of possible practices† (1967, p. 13).Put succinctly, this argument suggests that face does not necessarily belong just to the individual, but rather to sub-culture and society as well, and as a result one concise theory, no matter how logical, cannot possibly serve to represent all cultures in global existence. Tannen, in her discussion of The Pragmatics of Cross-Cultural Communication, outlines several instances in which politeness may become lost in instances of cross-cultural interaction. She outlines eight levels of conversation: when to talk, what to say, pacing and pausing, listenership, intonation, formulaicity, indirectness and cohesion and coherence.In each of these instances misunderstandings may occur and as a result the concept of politeness may be lost. One example provided outlines the difference between American and Japanese businessmen: â€Å"Americans as a group tend to ignore or even rail against indirectness [†¦] but it gets American businessmen in trouble when they try to skip the small talk and get right down to business with Japanese [†¦] counterparts, for whom elaborate ‘small talk’ is big and essential, furnishing the foundation for any business dealings. (1984, p. 193). Thomas simply defines cross-cultural pragmatic failure as the hearer’s inability to ascertain meaning from the speaker. She outlines two distinct types of pragmatic failure: pragmalinguistic failure and sociopragmatic failure. Pragmalinguistic failure occurs when an utterance from a speaker is misused and thus misinterpreted by a native speaker. Sociopragmatic failure is used to â€Å"refer to the social conditions placed on language in use† (Thomas, 1983).These factors are large contributors to the notion of politeness being lost in the context of cross-cultural communication i. e. the dismissal of a compliment by a hearer of non-Western origin (a norm in many non-Western cultures) may be viewed as rude by the issuer of a compliment of Western origin. While Brown and Levinson’s study on the politeness phenomena allows us a greater insight into the workings of politeness in social context, it is fairly evident that its universality is not entirely representative of the practices of all cultural groups.While it can be said that face and face-threatening acts and the resulting po liteness strategies are the basis for much of the appropriation of politeness in human interaction, we must look deeper when discussing politeness on a cross-cultural level. This is evident through a deeper study of the use of politeness in a cross-cultural context and the failures that result in cross-cultural pragmatism.

Following directions Essay

â€Å"BOOM! â€Å"sounded off as a little red car hit an 18 wheeler. The owner of the little red car was devastated when he noticed the damage done to his car. He was lost for words. The police officer at the scene said â€Å"Sir calm down †¦ you should have stopped at the stop sign.† The owner of the little red car learned to pay attention & follow directions. It is important to follow directions at all times especially when you’re pregnant, preparing food, and doing an autopsy. Following instructions is very vital when it comes to pregnancy because there’s a life at risk. If you don’t take proper precautions, you may have a miscarriage. If you drink or smoke while pregnant, your baby may have life threatening problems. No mother should have to go through this & it’d occur less often if they would follow directions. When preparing food, it is extra crucial to follow the directions on the recipe. Because if you don’t, your food wont taste right. And if you don’t cook anything that is defrosted all the way through then you might get food poisoning. But if you would have follow directions, you wouldn’t have to worry about those consequences & you can enjoy your food. Following instructions is also very vital when building a house. If you mess up one measurement, the whole house won’t have a solid foundation. If you measure something inaccurately, your house may fall in. If you don’t use tape to paint your house then your lines won’t be straight & they’ll be all over the place. Now had you followed directions, there would be no reason to worry about these consequences. To sum it all up, following directions is very important so you won’t have to worry about the consequences. It is very important to follow directions in life, because without directions, and the ability to obey the given instructions, many unnecessary or unwarranted side effects may occur. This is a basic tenant of not only professional and school life, but everyday life as well.

Spinal Tap essays

Spinal Tap essays While attempting to be nothing more than a comical spoof of the music industry, Spinal Tap was instead rocketed to cult icon status. The characters in the movie are so fully thought out that almost all rock and roll bands that became popular prior to and half a decade later than the release of the movie fit the stereotypes presented by this fictitious band that ended up being more real than any other legitimate bands of the time. The days of disco had long faded by the 1984 release of this film, and the punk scene was still for the most part underground. With the hair band scene just beginning to come to light, and rap music being confined to the street, this movie would sarcastically lay the groundwork for the sellout crowd arena rock groups of the eighties. Or as they are commonly referred to now, the hair bands. Now Spinal Tap as portrayed in the movie was in fact a metal band, but metal at that time would be called rock and roll just a few years down the road. If you look at the bands such as Poison, Twisted Sister, Ratt, Def Leopard etc... you will notice that they are in fact Spinal Tap without the punch line. On a side note the wearing women's clothes and makeup were a strange occurrence thrown in from the new wave bands that were getting club play at the time. This is actually where the term hair band came from. That fact aside you will notice that everything from personality of the band members, t o the groupies that follow them, and the inner relations of the band members themselves are just slightly exaggerated in the movie. First and foremost you have the lead singer/ guitarist that got all the recognition. In spinal tap that character is none other than David St. Hubbins, whos long blond hair and happy go lucky attitude earned him the tender hearted yet clearly conceited member of the band. If you will notice he bore a striking resemblance to the Axel Rose type of singer that became so ...

How the Mongols Took Over Baghdad in 1258

How the Mongols Took Over Baghdad in 1258 It took just thirteen days for the Ilkhanate Mongols and their allies to bring the Golden Age of Islam crashing down.  Eye-witnesses reported that the mighty Tigris River ran black with ink from the precious books and documents destroyed along with the Grand Library of Baghdad, or Bayt al-Hikmah.  Nobody knows for sure how many citizens of the Abbasid Empire died; estimates range from 90,000 to 200,000 up to 1,000,000.  In two short weeks, the seat of learning and culture for the entire Muslim world was conquered and ruined. Baghdad had been a sleepy fishing village on the Tigris before it was promoted to the status of the capital city by the great Abbasid caliph al-Mansur in 762.  His grandson, Harun al-Rashid, subsidized scientists, religious scholars, poets, and artists, who flocked to the city and made it an academic jewel of the medieval world.  The scholars and writers produced countless manuscripts and books between the late 8th century and 1258.  These books were written on a new technology imported from China after the Battle of Talas River, a technology called paper.  Soon, most of the people of Baghdad were literate and well-read. Mongols Unite Far to the east of Baghdad, meanwhile, a young warrior called Temujin managed to unite the Mongols and took the title Genghis Khan.  It would be his grandson, Hulagu, who would push the boundaries of the Mongol Empire into what is now Iraq and Syria.  Hulagus primary purpose was to solidify his grip on the heartland of the Ilkhanate in Persia.  He first completely annihilated the fanatical Shiite group known as the Assassins, destroying their mountain-top stronghold in Persia, and then marched south to demand that the Abbasids capitulate. The Caliph Mustasim heard rumors of the Mongols advance but was confident that the entire Muslim world would rise up to defend its ruler if need be.  However, the Sunni caliph had recently insulted his Shiite subjects, and his own Shiite grand vizier, al-Alkamzi, may have even invited the Mongols to attack the poorly-led caliphate. Late in 1257, Hulagu sent a message to Mustasim demanding that he open the gates of Baghdad to the Mongols and their Christian allies from Georgia.  Mustasim replied that the Mongol leader should return to where he came from.  Hulagus mighty army marched on, surrounding the Abbasid capital, and slaughtering the caliphs army that sallied out to meet them.   The Mongols Attack Baghdad held out for twelve more days, but it could not withstand the Mongols.  Once the citys walls fell, the hordes rushed in and collected mountains of silver, gold, and jewels.  Hundreds of thousands of Baghdadis died, slaughtered by Hulagus troops or their Georgian allies.  Books from the Bayt al-Hikmah, or House of Wisdom, were thrown into the Tigris, supposedly, so many that a horse could have walked across the river on them. The caliphs beautiful palace of exotic woods was burned to the ground, and the caliph himself was executed.  The Mongols believed that spilling royal blood could cause natural disasters like earthquakes.  Just to be safe, they wrapped Mustasim in a carpet and rode their horses over him, trampling him to death. The fall of Baghdad signaled the end of the Abbasid Caliphate.  It was also the high point of Mongol conquest in the Middle East.  Distracted by their own dynastic politics, the Mongols made a half-hearted attempt to conquer Egypt but were defeated at the Battle of Ayn Jalut in 1280.  The Mongol Empire would grow no further in the Middle East.

Art Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Art Summary - Essay Example Rather, masculinity is not only displayed through the physical body, but also through the mind and how people conduct themselves nobly (Dyer, 148). The change of interest in body building from solely African Americans to whites made a big impact in the showbiz sector. The rise in many white males who were actively involved in the body building was appealing and led to several analyses of the ‘whiteness’ masculinity. Currently, body building has been portrayed as an art that white men ought to go through to have the ultimate figure. Body building involves several sacrifices, and it has been portrayed similarly to crucifixion (Dyer, 84). Lifting weights is a painful task that the participants endure substantial pain and suffering so as to attain the supreme body shape. Richard Dyer, in his book, discusses the white culture and its effect in history, films, literature and other areas. In this book, dyer writes of the importance of black culture in relation to that of the white one. Dyer brings out the difference in cultures from the black race and the white race and how the media portrays it. The symbolism of how the two cultures are dependent on each other is quite amazing. The example of how a black lighting is used to bring out the whiteness, for example of a blonde and how a white dress in a wedding brings out the glow in a black lady, shows the interracial relationships that can be achieved (Dyer, 104). In this chapter, a lot has been about the representation of the different races on camera, especially the problems that are encountered during filming of the black race, and the necessary steps taken to counter the problems. Several artists were given an assignment to define masculinity, and the results given were more confusing than defining. However, these artists had a common sentiment of masculinity in sports. The images shown by the artists refute the black and white depiction of masculinity and

Religion's Impact on Colonial America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Religion's Impact on Colonial America - Essay Example They believed that material success was God's reward for honorable behavior. These early beliefs were transformed into the laws of the land in regards to the economic system of capitalism and morality laws. The Puritan movement in the colonies also had the effect of geographically dispersing those that disagreed with the concept of the church as state. The Quakers were one of the early settlers that moved to escape the Puritan law. They believed that religion was more individualistic and split away to form new colonies, most notably Pennsylvania. These traditions of Puritan morality and Quaker individualism would later form the backbone of our constitution. A high degree of respect for the individual and a belief that America was a destiny, like Winthrop's 'House on the Hill', were woven into the fabric of America. The Great Awakening brought religion to the frontier and religion became a dominant part of American politics. Overall, religion was the catalyst for colonization and also the venue for its experimentation. Religion was a major part of the colonist's lives and it shaped their laws and their philosophies. The Great Awakening further instilled the importance of religion in America. America had become a refuge for those who wanted religious freedom and would became a home to the people that wished to practice their religion in an orderly manner without persecution. Timing and Motivation for the American Revolution The American Revolution was the last step on a long journey from the split away from England. By the middle of the 1700s, the time had presented a realistic opportunity for self-rule. The Seven Years' War had driven Britain deeply in debt and they were set to collect the payment through taxation of the colonies. The war had also eliminated the French influence in the colonies and the British remained as the only obstacle to self-rule. These events would become the tipping point for a call for independence. Many of the colonists during this period came under the influence of theorists such as Thomas Paine and John Locke. Locke professed that all men had a contract to each other, not to any authority. Paine argued that to illegally deprive a man of his property was to deny the man his life. The colonists during this period saw themselves as unrepresented in the British parliament. Though they had representation, it was across the ocean and was merely a token representation. The colonists wanted self-rule as a means to reclaim their property and their life. The colonies, for all practical purposes, were self-governing. They had local law, legislatures, authority to tax, and social infrastructure. England provided little except the regulation of imports and exports. This was in conjunction with what the colonists felt was an unfair and unjust taxation. The enormous debt incurred by England, and their insistence on collecting it from the colonists precipitated the final movement toward independence. The colonies by this time had a de facto government in place and the issue of taxation was the means to move the public into action. Diversity in the Colonies in 1760 By 1760, the population of the colonies had experienced a tenfold increase over the year 1700. The 2.5 million inhabitants were a mixed group of predominantly Europeans from England, Germany, Scotland, and Ireland. They tended to form own communities and many of them migrated into the south and settled into the backcountry of South Carolina and Georgia. These groups were further divided by religion. Many people had no religion, but those who did were the majority Protestants. There were also significant numbers of Catholics and some Jews. In New England, residents were required