The Manchurian Candidate

Films have always been an outlet for a confused society; with themes of politics, religion, relationship and illness movies are the way the modern world deals with its hardships and examines its own motives and actions.   â€Å"The Manchurian Candidate† is one of the more controversial films in this eye-opening genre, with political themes running strong throughout in such a way as to seemingly point fingers and make strongly opinionated remarks about our current political situation. The 2004 film was remade from an earlier 1962 version, which before taking that format was actually a novel written by Richard Condon in 1959.   Its political premise was originally based on the Cold War; the book and the original film shied away from the usual opinion that it was Communists who were solely misguided and instead portrayed a world where Communists, Capitalists and everybody in between was faulted ideologically.   The people in Condon’s book existed within a conspiratorial net that saw brainwashed operatives of the Communist Party seeking to take office and exploit their position for monetary gains (Gianos 1998). The 2004 version, by contrast, has been quite clearly adapted for the age of the War on Terror, with Communists replaced by the new perceived enemy, corporate giants, in this case â€Å"Manchurian Global†.   It becomes clear as the movie progresses that the main characters have been brainwashed by Manchurian Global to protect and grow the interests of the corporation. One character, under the direct influence of his power hungry mother, seeks election into office, while the other is representative of an entire section of the military in supporting his campaign.   This latter character, Marco, becomes suspicious of his own actions concerning the vice-presidential candidate, Shaw, when he realizes that he and every other military officer who served with his is using the exact same words to describe their support of the man; basically that he is a wonderful man and an excellent soldier who will make the best vice-president. Marco believes he is suffering from a mental illness, and seeks help from the military doctors who are pledged to offer comprehensive care following service in the army.   They seem willing to help until Marco finally refuses the pills they keep giving him.   He claims they don’t work and that he wants something different, however the doctors won’t do anything for him – in fact they are very concerned about his refusal to accept their treatment.   In the end, Marco pieces together the entire story that he has forgotten: while serving together in the army, he and his companions, including Shaw, were brainwashed by Manchurian Global to support the candidacy of Shaw while Shaw himself was groomed to take the vice-presidency. Through the brainwashing, the corporation expected to gain high level contracts and a huge amount of money and power.   It falls to Marco to expose the plot and explain it to Shaw before he gives the company and all the people connected to the plot exactly what they want.   It is a story of corruption in government and the overall will of those in powerful places to exploit whoever is necessary to stay on top and bring in the cash. The reverberations of this film in current American politics is very strong and very controversial.   Political controversy in film is of course not a new thing; Brian Nerve explains that Hollywood has been a refuge for the suspicious world since its earliest days, and that movies like â€Å"The Manchurian Candidate† are not the product of unsound minds but of a lack of transparency throughout the political world (Nerve 1992). This movie in particular has been built upon that ever-present facet of the American public: the conspiracy theory.   Whether it’s a Presidential assassination or a corporate cover-up, Americans want to know every detail and whether or not there are real conspiracies of this magnitude actually occurring is difficult to tell when questions constantly go unanswered and the imagination takes over.   More than anything, Manchurian Global has a startling likeness to American corporations like Halliburton, who have in recent years been harshly chided for their role in global inequality and exploitation in the name of money. The people in league with Manchurian Global are portrayed as basically heartless, inhuman and scandalous; these elements of scandal can always be found in political films according to Gillespie and Lerner (2000).   The producers were well aware of the parallels they were drawing between their characters and the members of America’s present government, and the audience was generally predisposed to believe the worst of its government before seeing such a shocking story of manipulation played out for them onscreen.   They wonder if they are being brainwashed to accept a fabricated reality, or if they are simply not seeing the whole picture. In its entirety, â€Å"The Manchurian Candidate† has questioned the accuracy of media portrayals of events in such a way as the American public truly wanted to see – however the movie was so undeniably outrageous in its plot details that instead of reinforcing the idea that the government is hiding something from the public all it really did was make the audience question their current beliefs concerning conspiracy. Few people are prepared to believe blatant military brainwashing, and this is the major weak point in the film.   â€Å"The Manchurian Candidate† is a movie that sets itself far apart from mainstream entertainment in its political aspects and ideas.   It has drawn an audience mostly intent on getting angry at the state of government and politics, though unfortunately in the end it falls short.   Instead of solidifying current thought patterns or expanding on them, the film merely sparks doubt in the minds of those most willing to believe its plot.   All in all, â€Å"The Manchurian Candidate† is quite unworthy of the hype. Works Cited Gianos, Phillip. Politics and Politicians in American Film. CT: Praeger Publishers, 1998. Nerve, Brian. Film and Politics in America: A Social Tradition. New York: Routledge, 1992. Schultz, David. It's Show Time!: Media, Politics, and Popular Culture. New York: Peter Lang, 2000.      

Discount rate

The rate used to discount future cash flows to their present values is a key variable of this process. A firm's weighted average cost of capital (after tax) is often used, but many people believe that it is appropriate to use higher discount rates to adjust for risk or other factors. A variable discount rate with higher rates applied to cash flows occurring further along the time span might be used to reflect the yield curve premium for long-term debt. Another approach to choosing the discount rate factor is to decide the rate which the capital needed for the project could return if invested in an alternative venture. If, for example, the capital required for Project A can earn five percent elsewhere, use this discount rate in the NPV calculation to allow a direct comparison to be made between Project A and the alternative. Related to this concept is to use the firm's Reinvestment Rate. Reinvestment rate can be defined as the rate of return for the firm's investments on average. When analyzing projects in a capital constrained environment, it may be appropriate to use the reinvestment rate rather than the firm's weighted average cost of capital as the discount factor. It reflects opportunity cost of investment, rather than the possibly lower cost of capital. An NPV calculated using variable discount rates (if they are known for the duration of the investment) better reflects the real situation than one calculated from a constant discount rate for the entire investment duration. Refer to the tutorial article written by Samuel Baker[3] for more detailed relationship between the NPV value and the discount rate. For some professional investors, their investment funds are committed to target a specified rate of return. In such cases, that rate of return should be selected as the discount rate for the NPV calculation. In this way, a direct comparison can be made between the profitability of the project and the desired rate of return. To some extent, the selection of the discount rate is dependent on the use to which it will be put. If the intent is simply to determine whether a project will add value to the company, using the firm's weighted average cost of capital may be appropriate. If trying to decide between alternative investments in order to maximize the value of the firm, the corporate reinvestment rate would probably be a etter choice. Using variable rates over time, or discounting â€Å"guaranteed† cash flows differently from â€Å"at risk† cash flows may be a superior methodology, but is seldom used in practice. Using the discount rate to adjust for risk is often difficult to do in practice (especially internationally), and is difficult to do well. An alternative to using discount factor to adjust for risk is to explicitly correct the cash flows for the risk elements using rNPV or a similar method, then discount at the firm's rate. Discount rate The rate used to discount future cash flows to their present values is a key variable of this process. A firm's weighted average cost of capital (after tax) is often used, but many people believe that it is appropriate to use higher discount rates to adjust for risk or other factors. A variable discount rate with higher rates applied to cash flows occurring further along the time span might be used to reflect the yield curve premium for long-term debt. Another approach to choosing the discount rate factor is to decide the rate which the capital needed for the project could return if invested in an alternative venture. If, for example, the capital required for Project A can earn five percent elsewhere, use this discount rate in the NPV calculation to allow a direct comparison to be made between Project A and the alternative. Related to this concept is to use the firm's Reinvestment Rate. Reinvestment rate can be defined as the rate of return for the firm's investments on average. When analyzing projects in a capital constrained environment, it may be appropriate to use the reinvestment rate rather than the firm's weighted average cost of capital as the discount factor. It reflects opportunity cost of investment, rather than the possibly lower cost of capital. An NPV calculated using variable discount rates (if they are known for the duration of the investment) better reflects the real situation than one calculated from a constant discount rate for the entire investment duration. Refer to the tutorial article written by Samuel Baker[3] for more detailed relationship between the NPV value and the discount rate. For some professional investors, their investment funds are committed to target a specified rate of return. In such cases, that rate of return should be selected as the discount rate for the NPV calculation. In this way, a direct comparison can be made between the profitability of the project and the desired rate of return. To some extent, the selection of the discount rate is dependent on the use to which it will be put. If the intent is simply to determine whether a project will add value to the company, using the firm's weighted average cost of capital may be appropriate. If trying to decide between alternative investments in order to maximize the value of the firm, the corporate reinvestment rate would probably be a etter choice. Using variable rates over time, or discounting â€Å"guaranteed† cash flows differently from â€Å"at risk† cash flows may be a superior methodology, but is seldom used in practice. Using the discount rate to adjust for risk is often difficult to do in practice (especially internationally), and is difficult to do well. An alternative to using discount factor to adjust for risk is to explicitly correct the cash flows for the risk elements using rNPV or a similar method, then discount at the firm's rate.

International Airlines Hit by European Unions’s CO2 Emissions Plan

Bearing in mind that this article is comprehensive, coherent and fluent, the written account is inclusive and demonstrates an apparent connection with Section 2. 4 Market Failure and sets up a close relation with the two sections in particular; negative externalities1 and the possible governmental responses concerning the quandary given, which in this case proposes a European Commission draft proposal requiring all flights arriving at or departing from the European Union airports to buy permits for their carbon dioxide emissions. This article is effective for the internal assessment because it does not dive into the economic theory, but introduces many notions that can easily be absorbed into economic presumptions and then be analysed. The extract portrays about how the advantages and disadvantages of using pollution permits, how effective they are and how several European companies are learning to deal with the more stringent regulations of the EU on pollution as a result of global warming. Pollution permits, are certain amounts of CO2 which are allowed to be emitted by companies in during production. These are given out by the respective governments to the companies, who can also purchase further permits from other companies who don't need all their permission to pollute. 2 The draft proposal which will require all flights arriving or departing from EU airports to buy permits to cover their carbon dioxide emissions, will be presented just before Christmas, and is crucial to the community's fight against global warning and climate change. The E. U. has incorporated pollution permits, in order to curb carbon gas emission, and slow down global warming, forcing international airlines to pay for the negative externalities they are causing during production. This means that the trans-national airlines have to pay for the vertical distance between SMC and PMC, so that they are paying the expenditure the society would normally have to sacrifice for, which can be seen in Figure 1. , before the European Unions incorporation of pollution permits: Fig 1. 1: Before the Introduction of Pollution permits Figure 1. 2: After the Introduction of Pollution permits Figure 1. 1 shows the situation clearly before the pollution permits were introduced by the European Union draft proposal. The problem undoubtedly being that the market was experiencing failure, as the global airline firms did not have to pay the cost they were causing the society by their carbon gas emissions. In Figure 1. , the Private Marginal Cost (PMC) has shifted into the same position as the Social Marginal Cost (SMC) 3 was in Figure 1. 1, as now the Airliners have to pay for the negative externalities they are causing, consequently leaving the society left without having to pay for the pollution the aircraft caused, and the negative externality being pollution, abolished. Also, the Private Marginal Cost has become sharper, as the company must now compensations in case it exceeds a certain amount of carbon gas emissions. This is an incentive for the company to either produce less or produce more eco-friendly. As a result, Figure 1. 3 will arise, as the respective Airline Firm is now producing eco-friendly, and will not exceed the limits on its carbon gas emissions, furthermore will even be able to sell some of its excess pollution permits, to other firms who need surplus to cover their pollution. Fig 1. 3: During the Introduction of Pollution permits: The problem is that it does not happen like this, and that in fact the limits on the emissions are far too large for there to be any effect, and David Henderson from the Association of European Airlines (AEA), â€Å"We could see another trade war,† cited stiff opposition from the US several years ago against European plans aimed at reducing jet engine noise. A possible solution to the continuing problem would be further stringent regulations by the E. U. , and possibly a solid example are, the airline emission controls would come under already existing European emissions trading scheme (ETS), which was launched in â€Å"2005 as the cornerstone of EU efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. † 4 An evaluation of the economic theory shows that the idea behind the pollution permits is very good, and that there are some advantages of using it in real-life. However, it does not work as smoothly as was initially planned. For one, international airline firms are able to evade paying for the pollution permits, by moving production to developing economies outside the E. U. , who don't have any regulations on the carbon gas emissions. The effects of this are that they pollute excessively in the new production environment, which has exactly the opposite effect to the desired one. This of course, shows that many alterations need to be undertaken for the European Commission draft proposal's requirement of all flights arriving at or departing from EU airports to buy permits for their carbon dioxide emissions to work effectively. The E. U. will have to alter their plan slightly, which should be made more rigorous and binding to produce the desired plan, which is the slowing down of global warming, but also to combat the endless possibilities of negative externalities.

The Easter Rising Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Easter Rising - Research Paper Example The first day of the rebellion was Monday, April 24, 1916, with approximately 1200 rebels participating in the fight against the government. The men were all volunteers but were less than what was expected due to the extreme secrecy of the group and the doubts some did have about the plan of attack. The plan was to use the General Post Office as their center of command due to its solid structure and ease of defense. As was to be proved later on while the GPO did have the advantage of defense, it would prove difficult to command the rebellion factions from it or plan attacks (Friedrich 10). Debate has risen over the significance of the GPO with some experts arguing that it was due to its symbolism of British imperialism that it was taken. The GPO was one of the largest buildings in the city and having being built by the British many saw it as a symbol of their superiority only comparable to Dublin Castle. By Noon on Monday most of those who had volunteered to fight took their position s divided into 4 battalions. The first battalion was led by Ned Daly who was to take control of the 4 courts with 250 men while the second Batallion led by Thomas MacDonagh was told to take charge of a biscuit factory South of the city center (Ciment and Russell 291), the factory was possibly to be a source of food as the fighting continued. The third battalion comprised of 130 men and was led by Eamon de Valera who were to control a bakery and Eamonn Ceannt was in charge of the 4th battalion that was made of 100 men and were to take charge of the Dolhpins barn in Emerald square in the town center and to prevent a counterattack by the Irish Army. The British government as well as most of the Irish population was taken by surprise at the commencement of the attack and responses were disorganized especially since Britain was at the time at war with Germany. The squad that was in City Hall with Conolly came under intense fire and soon had to surrender, Sean Conolly who was the commande r of the group was shot dead in the fight and several others were arrested. The fourth battalion also faced some fire from the British army but they managed to hold their positions ("The 1916 uprising..."). On Tuesday April 25th the battle of Mount street canal was fought between the British soldiers and the insurgents. The British infantry had been commanded to take the most direct route to the Dublin Castle as this was where the British headquarters and so was a point of political and strategic importance. The castle was where the then incumbent Viceroy Lord Wimborne resided in and was also where commands were dispatched from. Sherwood Foresters had to pass through Northumberland Road in spite of the dangers that the place would pose as members of the rebellion had captured neighboring territories. As the group cut into Haddington Road, they were attacked by rebels resulting in Captain Dietrchsen being injured. This also signaled the other rebels to inform them that an attack had begun and they too began to fire on the foresters (Mcnally 76). The foresters attacked the group that was located in No. 25 that was behind them and had initiated the attack. The rebels had however prepared for this and had barricaded the doors and windows resulting in the British Foresters being cornered in the open road. Attempts to escape by dodging to the other side of the street were countered by a brigade that pushed them

Java Graphical user interface (GUI) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Java Graphical user interface (GUI) - Essay Example In the early 1930s, Vannevar Bush first envisioned of a device he called a â€Å"memex,† which was visualized like a â€Å"desk with two touch screen graphical displays, a keyboard, and a scanner attached to it† (Reimer). During that time, there was no way to execute his ideas and his concepts caught little attention. It was not until after the Second World War that those computing machines that are programmable were produced. Bush revived his memex desk concept and, in 1945, he published it in his article in Atlantic Monthly, entitled â€Å"As We May Think† (Reimer). This was the inspiration of the young Douglas Englebart, the pioneer of the graphical user interface. In 1948, Douglas Englebart finished a degree in electrical engineering. While working at the Stanford Research Institute in the 1960s, he began developing the On-Line System, â€Å"which incorporated a mouse-driven cursor and multiple windows† (Szturc). Xerox Corporations Palo Alto Research Center designed the first graphical user interface in the 1970s using the â€Å"WIMP (windows, icons, menus, and pointers)† model (Szturc). In 1981, Xerox 8010 Star system was released commercially. Several units were released after the Star system; nevertheless, the first commercially successful GUI was that of the Macintosh, released in 1984. The widely used Microsoft Windows (MS Windows) was sculpted in 1985, modeled after the Mac OS GUI. Two years after, Apple introduced the first color GUI, the Mac II. MS Windows 3.0 was released into the market in 1990, the advent of the popularity of the Windows interface series. Java is a general-purpose programming language. Its features are best suitable for Web-based use. Graphical user interfaces work best for Java applications designed for a wide range of users, and for Java-based applications that require the display of data. Through the Abstract Windowing Toolkit, or AWT, Java supports a graphical user interface development. AWT

Propostition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Propostition - Essay Example Among the most vivid issues is the sexual tendency of Mary. It is clear that she found opportunities to use sex as a way of surviving in the extremely demanding and fast growing city of New York. For this reason, she could reap economic benefits from the many encounters she was bound to have. Secondly, it is evident as per Amy’s perspective that she represented a class of indecisive women who were readily practicing manipulation through use of their beauty. It is only normal that one may have negative escapades with people while exercising such vices. While working at the cigar shop where she had been employed, Mary had once disappeared and then resurfaced after a period of time. This shows that she was not a stranger perplexing acts. It is also strange of how a suitor by the name Cromellin retreated after having his proposal rejected. The silence and attention may seem evil. Also, during the times she worked, there had been several youth gangs in the area. They committed acts of violence in the streets causing the police to be put on the spotlight. Mary’s daily routines of interaction with such people obviously did not translate well considering her manipulative nature. Consequently, there arise a lot of players in the life of Mary, many of whom have or may have a score to settle with her. It can be assumed that hers is a mysterious death since no one can point a finger at a specific player. On the other hand, it can be opposed that her death was not mysterious but rather consequential. Settling on the sexuality nature, it can be argued that the final conclusion of the police investigation may have been true. The police concluded that her death may have been as a result of a botched abortion procedure. Considering her sexual involvement with young men it is natural that she could have got pregnant. Mary also had a love affair with David Payne and they had planned to get married. Afterwards, Mary showed up at Crommelin premises (who she had earlie r rejected) planning for a reconciliation. Crommelin’s failure respond to the desperation letters from Mary finally prompted her to ask for financial assistance from him. It is understood that Crommelin did not respond therefore Mary acquired the money for an â€Å"emergency† elsewhere. On acquisition of the money she disappeared. Amy, in her book, asserts that she may have been seen in a place known for conducting abortions. In addition, witnesses reported that they had spotted Mary at a joint owned by a woman who executed such practices. The woman known as Mrs. Loss was a disciple of Madam Lestell (nicknamed Madam Killer). She had derived her nickname from her long-standing belief that the only birth control method was abortion. Since she was rather too reserved for the richer women, Mrs. Loss would take care of Mary. Mrs. Loss she denied any involvement with Mary upon interrogation. However, clothes resembling Mary’s were found at the nearby thicket. The woma n also admitted to hearing screams in the nearby bush. The evidence documented by the author and largely point to the act of abortion perpetrated by Mary Rodgers. More so, the asking of an â€Å"emergency loan† by Mary and the sight of her at the place associated with abortion inclines towards the act abortion. The final conclusion of the police: terming the death as a result of a botched abortion is dependable considering the provisions. This conclusion is more dependable than that of terming the

Change Resistance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Change Resistance - Essay Example These researchers underline that in such cuntries as Pland and Russia resistance t change is influenced by cultural traditins and unique values. Mst individuals prefer wrking life t prceed accrding t accustmed nrms. Changing the nrms brings disruptin, t say the least, and there is n guarantee that the visin f the future will find favr with thse n whm it is t be impsed. Different authrs have different views and understanding f resistance t change, its causes and management techniques. Shared values act as a kind f infrmal cntrl system that tells peple what is expected f them. In ding s, values can be mre r less pervasive in the sense f being shared by many r a few, and strng in the sense f being felt mre r less intensively (characterizing crprate cultures will be discussed again later in this chapter). Pervasive and strng values may affect perfrmance psitively by increasing dedicatin and pinting at what shuld be given extrardinary attentin. Hwever, pervasive and strng values can als h ave a negative effect: they may be incnsistent, may becme bslescent and/r may lead t a massive resistance t change, even if change is needed. Burnes (2000), Carnall (1992) and Cch and French (1998) state that the prblem with any planned change in Rmania, the Czech Republic and Slvak Republic has been planned and therefre managers wh have initiated the change largely define the expected utcmes befrehand. Similar t ther Pst-Sviet Unin cuntries, in Rmania, the Czech Republic and Slvak Republic natinal values and traditins are imprtant in day-t-day business. What brings values t life, hwever, is the awareness f everyne in the rganizatin f them and why they are imprtant. Values alne are nt enugh, it is the extensive sharing f them that makes a difference. Believing that peple are a cmpany's greatest resurce and acting accrdingly means, amng ther things, t keep in mind the implicit, but pwerful, frce f values shared by the members f the rganizatin f a cmpany (which in turn shape the behavir f its individuals and grups) and t realize that managing peple is nt thrugh (r at least nt directly thrugh) mems frm budget meetings r cmpu ter reprts, but thrugh the subtle cues f a culture. Emplyees resists changes because they are afraid f unknwn and new circumstances. Similar t previus researchers, Cllins (1998) and Chnk (2006) underline that the human being is capable f cmplying in terms f behavirs while withhlding cmmitment lng term. These researchers fund that EU wrkfrce represents a unique envirnment marked by lw mtivatin and lw prductivity levels. In all EU acceding cuntries, resistance t change is a natural prcess influenced by fear t lse jbs and surce f incme. When faced with such massive change and cultural resistance , a cmpany shuld ask itself if it is really necessary t change many f the fundamental rganizatinal factrs, and if the changes can be made with any real expectatin that they will be acceptable and successful. If the answer is 'n', the cmpany shuld seriusly recnsider and refrmulate its strategic plan. Hwever, the difference between suppsedly unavidable failure (e.g. Russia) and excessive cst depends, accrding t the structuralists, largely n the degree f mnplizatin f the ecnmy. As a result, the

Case Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Case - Research Paper Example This case study will explore an actual situation that existed as an illustration of divergent management styles at CD Hotels Inc. This happened during Eddie’s tenure at the company when he was a member of the management team. Kenny was a young and fresh graduate from university with the eagerness and enthusiasm to work. He had studied Business Administration with majors in Management. From the onset, he looked naà ¯ve and vulnerable at times. However, he was ready to listen to what other people had to say. He created an aura of likeness within and around him from the day he started working at the company. He knew how to create rapport with fellow colleagues without creating any tension. When people approached him with issues, he always seemed ready to help whenever there was a need to do so. He made it easy for people to work with him and he was never the type of person that would put his team off. Instead, he wanted input from his colleagues and was ready to listen and reach a consensus whenever there was a dispute. CD Hotels was established in 1981 as a small establishment that used to house middle class people in Washington D.C. It was established by Martin Atkinson as the first of the would-be many worldwide hotel chains. In 1984, the organization began its expansion programs to cover areas outside Washington D.C. During that year, five hotels were established in the United States, which were serving the most clients in the hospitality sector. Over the years, the company has received international status with improved revenue collections as well as financial muscle. It developed an international reputation as one of the finest hospitality industries around the world. The establishment has spread out beyond borders into the East, Europe, Africa, and South America. The company has since grown and witnessed the creation of different departments and divisions that have clear roles and responsibilities. For

1.Compare and contrast two perspectives on the idea that commercial Assignment

1.Compare and contrast two perspectives on the idea that commercial mass media provide a marketplace of ideas - Assignment Example rence is that, in a neoliberal society, in addition to the dominant elite controlling the message, there is also a message to the mass audience that the neoliberal tenants – that deregulation, private enterprise and low taxes are all good, as are income and wealth disparities – are the tenants that should be present in society. In contrast, the opposite views, the progressive views, that higher taxes should be pursued, government should be expanded, wealth should be more evenly distributed, and businesses should be firmly regulated, are all beliefs which would presumably harm the free market system and the corporations that make up the free market system, therefore these are the tenants which are disparaged in a neoliberal society. At any rate, under either of these ideas, there is not a free exchange of ideas, because the messages are so controlled by dominant forces. This essay will examine the two schools of thought – political economists and neoliberals †“ and show how each of these schools of thought leads to a mass media that does not disseminate ideas so much as it creates propaganda for the ruling elite. Political economists, according to Brenkman (1979) are in line with Karl Marx, as his critique of the bourgeois economy was known as political economy. The basis for Marxism, at least in the classical sense, is that the economic base determines everything else that occurs in the superstructure of the social, political and intellectual consciousness of a given society. Thus, the culture industries, including commercial media, would be examined in this light, in terms of the economic determinations. This would mean that the media and the messages that are disseminated throughout a society are determined by the economic base of the organization that produces them (Chandler). The political economist looks at large economic structural forces, and how the mass media is associated with this (Havens et al., 2009). Thus, for example, in a very crass way, Fox

Analysis of a company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Analysis of a company - Essay Example Such moves by Thomas Cook have been seen as part of its strategy to eliminate competition and expand in a horizontal way. Thomas Cook has 19000 employees with 800 stores. It owns popular travelling brands such Airtours, Direct holidays, Cresta, Sunworld and Sunset. The company has also vertical integration strategy denoted by its ownership of 44 aircrafts to its fleet. The company has also other plans apart from the travel plan including financial services such as foreign exchange and Thomas Cook credit card. In 2012, the company was an official Olympic and Paralympics supporter by offering accommodation and transport. The success of Thomas Cook is denoted by number of sales, revenue and market share (Thomas Cook Para 4). Thomas Cook is better placed in terms of commanding the travel and tourism industry. The company is considered very reliable in terms of customer service. Being an old player in the industry, Thomas Cook has been able to build trust to its customers. For instance, in 2009, the company was trusted by over 22 million passengers. A total of 9 billion pounds was added to the trust as a way of assuring its customers that the company cannot go into bankruptcy. The other strength is the fact that the company has been at the top by its strategy of eliminating competition by horizontal integration. Additionally, the company has been able to comply with the laid down laws and regulations that govern operations of travel and tourism firms. The UK travel industry is controlled by strict rules and regulations. Any tour operator is required to sell a package approved by a DTI approved body. Several insurance requirements must be adhered to by any tour operator. With all these regulations, the company has overcome them and this places it at a better position to compete with its opponents effectively. The command of the market denoted by its 30% market share is critical in that the company has an advantage of effectively controlling the

Graduation Day Speech Essay Example for Free

Graduation Day Speech Essay April 1, 2007 our graduation day. Our final day in high school. The day weve been waiting for. The day wherein we are going to close another chapter of our lives, to finally cross the line, to reach the stars and sadly, to say goodbye. Four years. Four years of projects, assignments, examinations, bundles of research papers cramming so hard just to pass it on the deadly deadline clearances, and a whole lot more. But then, its still just the first phase, we still need to continue what we have started. And thats the college life. A lot will change, for sure. But the memories, the fun, the experiences It all cant be taken away just like that. High school life is still the best ever. Here, we can feel the hardships, sense of responsibility, the fun of life, the game of love, the puzzle of choices, the mending of heartaches, the signal to move on, the time that we are being pressured, the friends we can talk to, the teachers we once both loved and hated, the events we will never forget. Every start has an end. But hey, the question is: Is this really the end of it? I dont think so. I know that therell be more to come. Â  Think positive always. Set your choices and goals in life on the right track. Cite your target and aim to success! All of these, all of what we have now were made possible by our hard work, the sweat and blood of our parents and the guidance of God. May it be that what we have learned over the past years will mold us to be better people. People who dont just go along with this fast-paced world, but people who see the end of the road clearly. As what Mr. Gasapo said last Friday night, You must have a 20/20 vision. Fellow graduates, that paper your diploma is your key to that dimension. A dimension which will offer a lot of opportunities to choose from. And from these opportunities, will be your life. Live that life. Never waste it. Stand to what you believe in is right, as long as it is really the right one. Show the power of the youth. Dont put yourself down caused by the words of other people. Take it as a challenge in life and say, This will pass. Yes, this will pass. We have passed a lot of controversies. Our unique batch survived and will continue to survive the quest of life. From Qui Seperabit? to Con Brio, we held hands and fought the strong waves. And here we are, with our caps and togas on, ready to pursue what we really wanted. The class prophecy said it all. Who knows? During our alumni homecoming, it might all come true. Today, Ill take this opportunity to plug a website. It is where the farewell speeches of my fellow graduates are posted on. Please, if you have time, visit www.nmaconbrio.tk. With this simple site, may it bring back and reminisce thoughts of high school life to you. Con Brio 2007, we are indeed with vigor and brilliancy. Hold that name wherever you go and be proud! May I request the Con Brio 2007 to please sing with me the first stanza of our class song, Goodbye my Friend. (-) Yes, let us keep the knowledge we have learned. Let us live the dreams we have dreamed of. Let us show the world what we really have. Together, forever, we will stand. We will bid goodbye today, but never will we go away. We will look back to our alma mater for it is here, where it all began. Farewell! Farewell! Hope to see you again in the crossroads of life.

The Social Norms Essay Example for Free

The Social Norms Essay I chose to break the social norm in an elevator as my experiment. I chose this so that I could actually combine two social norms into one. I chose to stand backwards in the elevator and when there were numerous people in the elevator, but I thought it would be more interesting if I stood very close to the person instead of facing backwards when there was just one person in the elevator. The independent variables in my experiment were gender of the person that I stood close to, the amount of time we had together in the elevator, and of coarse the number of people in the elevator and how many stops were made. I began to measure the way people reacted to when I invaded their space in an elevator, which was nearly empty. I also measured what would happen when a person would be just getting on and my back would be towards them. My hypothesis was that the people that I stood close to would actually move because they had space to, and could actually ask me what I was doing. My other hypothesis is that no one would react to my facing the opposite direction but they would stare and stare hard. When the elevator doors opened and I noticed that only one person was on the elevator walked right in with an abrupt step. Usually the person was on either the right side or the left and never really in the middle. I then proceeded to hit a floor number just higher than theirs and stand directly next to them, but the whole while keeping silent. To no surprise the people became uncomfortable and tried to in an unobvious way move away. They tended to look at me very annoyed and some would actually blatantly reject me. Most of the people that were rude were women about the same age as I was. I think that they may have thought that I was mocking them in some way. Now when I faced backwards in the elevator people seemed not to make very many gestures or movement. They although did stare and wonder what I was doing like my hypothesis stated but they never really did much. It wasnt until people began to get on while I was already in the backwards position did it occur. The ones getting on the elevator steered clear of my area even when the other side was crowded, they tended to single me out from the rest and make sure that I was not next to them. Later in the experiment a man said to me, are you doing that for some kind of experiment, and of coarse I said yes and decided that it was time for me to end my experimentation. I was actually able to accept my hypothesis, although it was somewhat of an easy hypothesis to generate. I think it may have been a little different if the environment I was in was not on campus. The actual size of the elevator limited my results and the fact that I was doing the experimentation in the PLC limited what kind of people I had to be with. If I were to do the experiment again I would go to a hotel where there are all sorts of different people.

Compare CAD and Manual Drawing

Compare CAD and Manual Drawing P1) Identify and describe a range of equipment, furniture and media necessary to produce manual and CAD drawings for the projects. Manual There are four types of materials traditionally used for drafting, which come in arrange of sizes including; A1, A2 and A3. Types of Paper used for drafting; Bond This is similar to the paper used everyday in office printers. Its the least expensive paper and is usually supplied in roll form for drafting plotters. Bond paper is most commonly used in weights from 18 lb all the way up to 24 lb, but much heavier weights are available and used for mainly posters and presentation work. Mylar This is a drafting film made from plastic material. It has the advantage of being erasable which, if you are working in ink, is a great advantage. Its also semi transparent, making it possible to overlay mylar drawings on a light table to check if line work matches up. The film is however more resistant to tears but is more durable than paper. It is still used with drafting plotters and is available in roll form and in cut sheets. Mylar has a matte side and a shiny side which you draw on. The surface of mylar is quite slippery, and therefore pen companies in the past have released special pens and inks which are developed specifically for drawing on it. Modern plotters have found problems printing on mylar as the material does not absorb ink quickly and therefore is prone to smudging as well as unclear lines. Where as bond paper is far more absorbent and does not smudge so easily. Mylar is also quite expensive. Vellum This is a linen based paper that has traditionally been used for historical building plans along with many drafting offices. The high linen content makes it durable and allows pencil work to be easily erased and revised multiple times. Its not as strong as mylar material but is not as expensive. Vellum also has a smooth surface which does not absorb ink as fast as bond paper. That may cause problems with the ink smudging and therefore is not fit for purpose if used for printing. With this said vellum paper is no longer used today to draft plans. Photo With the advances in drafting printers, photo media became available in roll form for printing super size renderings and images. Its a costly media and is usually reserved for the best of presentation graphics. But it allows the engineering office to do more by taking on work that was previously done by printing shops and the graphic designer. Although these are the four main materials used for drafting tracing has also been used in the past in the drawing industry, but is still heavily used for smaller scale work, such as; school/college/university projects, art projects and much more. Tracing Paper this paper is thin and translucent which enables the drawer to copy the image/design several times easily. The faint lines of the image/design are then re-drawn in pencil and are later filled in using a specific drawing pen. The paper comes in a range of grades for drafting work. They start at around 80g/m2 and go up to around 110g/m2 when there are master copies needed. In the past tracing paper when copied using a ammonia copier it was prone to fading in the light and therefore was not clearly visible. However this problem does not occur anymore due to the introduction of photocopying machines which have no side effects as yet. Drawing boards The drafting table is still in use despite all the advances in computer aided drafting. There are still many individuals who still use the traditional drawing table. Architects, graphic artists and many structural steel drafters use the drawing table to make and modify there drawings on paper along with pencil or ink. Drawing boards are large tables which are angled with a lip and a rule which slides up and down the board. The instruments allow you to create parallel, perpendicular and diagonal lines. Drawing boards are becoming less popular due to the introduction of Computer Aided Design. Pencils These are the main working tool of a draftsperson and are available in arrange of harnesses. The darkest pencil used for technical drawings is a B which is used for shading and adding texture to a drawing. The HB pencil follows which is the most commonly used on a day to day basis but is only used for rough sketches for drafting. The F is used for printing and general line work. Following on from the F is the H pencil which is used for dimension lines and hatching by draftspersons. Finally is the 2H which is used for construction lines. For the finest drawings, all pencils used must be permanently sharp and have standard, smooth point. A soft rubber is used for rubbing out pencil lines. Scale rules Drawing are produced to a particular scale which will fully fit onto a drawing sheet. The main tool which helps you draw scale drawings more easily is a scale rule, the most common scales; 1:5, 1:10, 1:20, 1:50, 1:100, 1:200, 1:250, 1:500, 1:1000, 1:1250 and 1:2500. g/m2: refers to the paper quality and weight Tee Square It can be used as a guide for architectural and mechanical drawings. It consists of two arms joined at 90 degree angles. The smaller arm moves along the edge of the drawing board and the larger arm is used to draw straight parallel lines. It can also be used to support set squares which can draw lines at different angles. Adjustable set squares These are mainly used to draw vertical lines at 90 degree angles to the parallel motion arm. A set square can also produce a line at any angle on the paper by adjusting the scale of the protractor. Propelling Pencils A propelling pencil is very thin and can be easily replicable. Unlike a normal standard pencil a propelling pencil always stays sharp due to the thinness of the lead. The most common leads are 0.5 and 0.7. You can also purchase leads in thicknesses of 0.3, 0.9 and 2mm. Compass These are used to create circles and arcs when drawing. Precision sets include a thumbwheel compass. A standard compass set includes an extension arm, a pen clamp and replaceable leads. The purpose of an extension arm is to draw larger arcs and circles with the same amount of precision. Protractor They are generally made from transparent plastic. Protractors can come either in semi-circle or full 360 degree form. There are bevel protractors which are circular protractors with a pivoted arm used for accurately measuring and creating angles to draw from. Rubbers Rubbers come in a large variety of shapes and form. The trapezium shaped is preferred as its points can rub out pencil lines more accurately. Plastic and putty rubbers can be moulded into points to carry out similar work. CAD For CAD to be successfully installed and used the computer which will run this software must have CPU with 3 GHz or more. This number of GHz will allow the CAD software to run at the correct speed rather than it crashing/freezing. Microsoft Windows Vista or Microsoft XP are both operating systems which allow CAD to be used successfully. The computer will also need 2GB of RAM on its operating disk and 2GB of free space minimum on its hard drive. The computer screen must have revolutions of at least 12801024 pixels which will include a display adapter which is able to produce 32-bite colour 128MB or more if possible. There are three main hardware configurations for the use of a CAD system. Depending on the size of the company and office will decide which hardware will be in use. The first software configuration is a standalone single user which simply means that the information and software is held by a private domain. Therefore CAD drawings can only be sent by email or sent by post. The next main hardware configuration is a small office based intranet where CAD drawings and document information is held in a project folder which is within the computers server. The work is organised by a plot management function which segregates the drawings in order of importance. Therefore the company can easily track and record the drawings within the software easily. Finally the third main hardware configuration is a large multi located extranet set up for a wide area network which contains various members of a project team which are more often than not in different parts of the country or countries. As there may be members of the project team in another country this extranet allows the members to easily access the drawings or information which has been uploaded from the drawing office onto the internet through subscription. Mouses, keyboards, digitisers/pads and light pens are used everyday by CAD workers. Mouses A standard mouse has two buttons which are positioned where your fingers lie on the mouse. 2D motion ball mouses are also used and easily direct the mouse much like a standard mouse. More advanced mouses include scroll buttons or additional buttons which are found on the side of the mouse which allow the user to carry out a task quicker. Laser mouses are far more accurate than a standard mouse as the movements are a lot more refined. There are more advanced mouses like the trackball mouse which are far more accurate due to the trackball which is located at the top of the mouse. These mouses are used by designers, gamers and web designers. The actual trackball contains optical and mechanical sensors which are able to track movement and therefore gain on accuracy. Keyboards The most common is the QWERTY keyboard which is used for everyday life and has all requirements covered. However if you are sat at your desk in the office all day you may face some health and safety issues due to the basic design of the QWERTY keyboard. Therefore there are keyboards specifically designed for this issue which are called Ergonomic keyboards which are designed to relieve stress. Using a keyboard can result to carpal tunnel syndrome and repetitive stress injury therefore the ergonomic keyboard was designed for this purpose and is recommended by doctors. Finally there is the DVORAK keyboard which is an ergonomic alternative to the QWERTY keyboard. QWERTY keyboards were designed to comply with typewriters and therefore they are ineffective for touch typing. For that reason the DVORAK keyboard was invented for touch typing which also adds to the comfort of the typer. Digitisers/pads and light pens These are electronic drawing pads which allow people to easily draw and scribe free hand. This enables easier usage of the computer. P4 AutoCAD AutoCAD is usually used on Microsoft desktop software and is available in around 20 languages. It is a form of CAD software which is used to produce 2/3 dimensional designs. AutoCAD can be used for a range of tasks including designing landscapes, buildings and automotive machinery. The earlier versions of AutoCAD used basic functions which included lines, circles, arcs, plotlines and text. The latest version of AutoCAD is more advanced than the earlier additions and is able to form solid modelling such as creating prisms, boxes and spheres. There are also far more detailed and accurate models which use 3D tools. There are many support programs which use AutoCAD such as Auto LISP, VBA, Object ARX and Visual LISP. Object ARX is a base model which helped create AutoCAD Architecture, AutoCAD Civil 3D and AutoCAD Electrical. AutoCAD LT This is a smaller, cheaper version of AutoCAD which can easily be purchased from computer stores unlike the full version of AutoCAD, purely due to the cost of the who AutoCAD programs. AutoCAD LT costs around $900 where as the full version of AutoCAD costs around $4000 which is far more specialist. AutoCAD LT costs around a quarter of the price of the AutoCAD full version as it has to compete with other similar softwares where as the full version of AutoCAD is unique and is the only software of its type used by company in this sector of work. However due to the cheapness of AutoCAD LT software there are some features which are excluded from this software which are included on the full version of AutoCAD. One of the features excluded from the LT version is the 3D function, others include the exclusion of LISP programs and the inability to interact with 3rd party programs. AutoCAD student version This version has a noticeable price difference for student, teachers and lecturers, and can be licensed for 14 months. There are few features which are included on AutoCAD but of which are excluded from the AutoCAD student version. However when a DWG file is created or changed by the student the file is given an educational flag and when this type of file is printed on AutoCAD software it has a plot stamp or banner on all four sides and therefore makes it invalid for commercial use. If a student imports a DWG commercial file they will infect the file so that it can then be used commercially. Also a registered student can has access to free AutoDesk applications from the AutoDesk community. Hence the student therefore has access to the Civil 3D version and the Architectural version of AutoCAD softwares. Other AutoCAD softwares There are many vertical programs which have been designed such as AutoCAD Architecture or AutoCAD Civil 3D. These vertical programs allow the designer to illustrate 3D objects with more intelligent data rather than using sample lines, circles and other solid objects. The program can also be programmed to symbolize products used to construct the design. Therefore the data can be used to estimate the overall cost for the construction of the building, the cost of the materials and other values needed for the building as a whole. Managing CAD Designers need to be assured that the CAD software will save, store and manage their work efficiently so that it can easily be found if changes are required. To achieve this, major companys have different files for their software. Graphisofts ArchiCAD is an example of this. This software depending on whether the data is two or three dimensional, Graphisofts ArchiCAD uses a filing system of which the designers work is stored in a drawing database. DWG files can be easily imported onto this system and this allows a larger range of information to be stored. Thanks to the DWG software, the latest version of CAD has been strengthened and developed by using the DWG software as the primary file format. Due to the filing system employed by the DWG system it is popular with most designers. Due to frequent updates CAD is now a well-built piece of software and has helped improve modern day computers due to the requirements needed to run the CAD software successfully. The modern day computer now has a greater ram, better resolutions, far more memory, superior CPU and more enhanced hard drives which means that the computer can easily support the softwares which are ran through them. CAD can project an image in several ways, of which include; Orthographically, Isometrically, Axonometrically and can use perspective views but sometimes an exploded view is used. An exploded view can take apart an image to show the parts and layers which enables you to examine all parts of the original image. This view is used by Architects and Engineers to enable them to perfect their projects. A designer can use pre-set symbols to represent objects such as doors for a cross section of a building. CAD also allows you to use standard house designs, which can save time for architects and therefore allows them to be ahead of the project and deadlines. The CAD software allows you to easily save work into electronic drawings and also enables you to transfer drawings by email. CAD enables you to create very realistic designs and images depending on the specific CAD software which you are using. The software allows you to create 3D virtual environments which include pictures of real life buildings and people. Other softwares enable you to create naturalistic textures including sunlight, shadows, plants which move in the wind and people walking or moving. To meet the clients needs certain CAD programs allow you to create walkthroughs. This allows the client to visually see their building in a realistic view rather than two or three dimensional form drawing. Advantages and Disadvantages of using CAD and Manual drawings Manual Drawings Advantages; Cheaper to buy the equipment needed to construct the drawings such as set squares or scale rules. If the equipment is broken or not working correctly the user can simply buy a new one without having to go to allot of trouble. The equipment never needs updating as it is already adequate to carry out the job correctly. If you are on site it is far easier to use a manual drawing as you are able to get a better perspective and scale. Easy to modify a manual drawing. You do not need as much technical ability. You always have a hard copy. Disadvantages; Takes a long time to post or fax the drawing to the client. Need a large, light area to set out and work on the drawing. The equipment can be effected by human error maybe a shaky hand. It takes a long time to construct or reproduce a drawing when manually drawing. It is difficult to get the pressure applied to the pencil to determine the type of line you are looking to achieve whether it is a tracer line or primary line. A manual drawing can get easily damaged. A manual drawing is far harder to store as each drawing takes up space and you need put a storage system in place so that each individual drawing can easily be found. CAD Advantages; The drawing can be accurate as the tolls on the software are electronic so they wont be affected by human error such as the incorrect thickness of line. The user can save their work to any electronic storage device such as the hard drive of the computer or a CD or even a memory stick. The computer memorises the drawing in every dimension possible so that the user doesnt have to waste time trying to remember what the drawing looked like and which is which drawing. It is very easy for the user to rectify any mistakes they have made or to move a part of the drawing. Rotate a 3D drawing or to erase any irrelevant parts. The drawing can be transferred by email, saving on postage time and cost. CAD is far quicker to use. The storage and organisation of drawing using CAD software means drawings can easily be stored, dont take up any office space and are well organised and maintained. Disadvantages; Some shapes are still very difficult to draw using CAD software. It is very expensive to purchase CAD software no matter what version you choose. The computer and the necessary equipment needed have to be maintained and regularly updated which adds to costs. If the software was to crash or something went wrong it will need to be fixed by a professional in this field of work which costs time and money. CAD is very difficult to use and is regularly updated, therefore it is very hard to use and understand. As a result you will regularly need to be trained on how to use the software which adds to costs and time. If the software was to break all of the drawings and information ever saved on the computer software may be lost. CAD is not always suitable for site work. There are always doubts concerning glitches or viruses to the computer system. How the quality of graphical information significantly affects the quality of the completed civil engineering/construction project. In the construction industry finished work it contains a number of things such as the written specification; whether the designers requirements were met or not; whether the contractor has estimated the cost accurately or not; the products are ordered within time; whether the design and construction team have kept misunderstandings to a minimum. Consequently the graphical information for the civil engineering/construction project must always be correct and accurate. The graphical information should include every single material or item that is needed for the civil engineering/construction project with all its specifications. The designer must ensure they have created an accurate drawing along with a detailed schedule plan. This will ensure the contractor has the all of the correct products ordered before the work is supposed to commence. However if the architect or designer knows they have not achieved an accurate drawing they may include a schedule which they have used already on a similar project so that they can spend the remaining time modifying their drawing so that it meets their own and the clients standards. Though this may save time for the architect to create a perfectly accurate drawing the schedule is inaccurate and therefore lowers the standard of the project and also may add to costs as they may have the wrong equipment as the schedule is not specific to the project. If the schedule initiates up to the construction stage this may cause the project to run past the deadline dates and therefore add cost to the overall project. If the designer creates an accurate drawing for the project which is specific and contains the specific schedule it means that the overall finished construction of the project should also be of a high quality because it allows the contractors to plan ahead before the construction work starts. But if a schedule of high quality is used on the project which has originally used on a similar project the quality of the overall construction will suffer as a result. So no matter how detailed a schedule or information is on the drawing will only create a high quality project if it is specific and accurate to the job.

A Shropshire Lad Essay -- essays research papers fc

Shropshire: A Place of Imagined Sexual Contentment Published in 1869, A.E. Housman’s A Shropshire Lad stands as one of the most socially acclaimed collections of English poetry from the Victorian age. This period in British history, however, proves, by judiciary focus (the Criminal Law Amendment of 1885), to be conflictive with Housman’s own internal conflicts concerning the homoerotic tendencies which he discovered in his admiration of fellow Oxford student Moses Jackson. Housman, much unlike other English literary figures such as Oscar Wilde and Thomas hardy, was not an artist who found it necessary to directly confront Britain with any political dissention imposed by is works. Instead, "for Housman the discovery of self was so disturbing and disconcerting that poetry came as a way of disclosing it" (Bayley 44). The county of Shropshire is central to much of his poetry, but it is employed merely as "a personification of the writer’s memories, dreams and affections;" meanwhile, Housmanâ€℠¢s central character is one "who could at once be himself and not himself" (Scott-Kilvert 26). In what Housman himself regarded to be one of his best poems, "XXVII: Is my team ploughing," the focus is placed upon a conversation between a dead man and one of his friends from his previous life (Housman 18). "XXII: The street sounds to the soldiers’ tread;" meanwhile, expresses an emotional wonder discovered in the eyes of a passing soldier (Housman 15). Both the ambiguous quality of the dead man’s last question (18 ll. 25-26) in poem XXVII and the nature of the chance encounter in XXII stand to exemplify the subtle undercurrent of Housman’s own enigmatic sexuality. "Is my team ploughing" is in the form of "the primitive ballad metres, which Housman revived," and primarily "employed for a poetry not of action but of introspection" (Scott-Kilvert 25). The piece begins by the dead man’s questioning of such trivialities as his "team" (l. 1) that he "used to drive" (l. 2), and "football" (l. 9) being played "Along the river shore" (l. 10). The other speaker responds to the dead man’s questions with a partially abrasive tone as can be interpreted by lines 7-8 in which ... ...t some fickleness therein. It must be said in conclusion if these works do in fact mirror the "thoughts at heart" within Housman, that his sexuality combined with his philosophy of love culminate in an intensely masochistic lifestyle. Such is reflected by the guilt that is obviously associated by the speaker of "Is my team ploughing" deciding to take his dead friend’s sweetheart. In poem XXII the speaker relays the contentment which he finds in the mutual emotions of love between he and the redcoat, but at the same time XXVII relays the frustrations ultimately found in being alone. To invest such emotional intensity only to knowingly find unrequited perspectives manifests itself as personified hope in both poems of which speak of experiences of intimate gratification and internal content. Works Cited Bayley, John. Housman’s Poems. Clarendon’s Press, Oxford. 1992. Hoagwood, Terrence Allen. A.E Housman Revisited. Twayne Publishers, N.Y. 1995. Housman, A.E. A Shropshire Lad. Ed. Stanley Appelbaum. General Publishing Co., Ltd., Toronto. 1990. Scott-Kilvert, Ian. A.E. Housman: Writers and Their Work No. 69. Longmans, Green and Co., London. 1965.

Essay --

Eutrophication in the Gulf of Mexico Introduction Even though the Midwestern United States produces the majority of the country’s agriculture to date, this immense agricultural activity in the Midwest region has not only degraded the land itself but also the water in the regional rivers and tributaries, which is all interconnected in the network known as the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin (also referred to as MARB). The MARB (Figure 1) covers an extensive 1,245,000 square miles and drains out into the Gulf of Mexico, where over the years it has accumulated an increased and dangerous amount of agricultural runoff pollution, namely nitrogen and phosphorus. Over the years, researchers have identified and pointed to several human interactions that have contributed to the degrading and toxic ecological changes occurring in the Gulf of Mexico. However, only 3 human interactions have been chosen as part of the focus for this research project, all of which will be introduced later in the paper. In addition to the human inter actions that accelerates the degradation of the water in the GoM, it also important to note that the continual increase and accumulation of excess nutrients resulting from runoff is defined as eutrophication and is a true real world problem that must be reduced before water becomes uninhabitable. Eutrophication. What is it? Eutrophication is â€Å"the process by which a body of water acquires a high concentration of nutrients, especially phosphates and nitrates. These typically promote excessive growth of algae. As the algae die and decompose, high levels of organic matter and the decomposing organisms deplete the water available oxygen, cause the death of other organisms, such as fish. Eutrophication is a natu... ...to the MARB, primarily from the application of agricultural fertilizers. Agriculture has caused an increase in the flow of nutrients from chemical fertilizers into bodies of water. The excess nutrients change the chemical composition of the water, impacting biological life forms in the affected areas. Sewage is another major source of nutrient flow to the Gulf. There are sections of lakes and oceans all over the world affected by eutrophication and hypoxia, and this has not only biological effects but also economic and social problems. The largest hypoxic area in the western Atlantic Ocean is found in the Gulf of Mexico. The biological repercussions of eutrophication, in the form of habitat alteration and entire trophic structure disintegration are devastating to the Gulf; remediation, though costly, must be put into effect in order to bring life back into the area.

Pursuing a Degree in Criminal Justice Essay -- Criminal Justice

Today our world is filled with crime. The people committing these crimes must have a consequence for their illegal actions. The system in place to keeping everything fair and safe is called the criminal justice system. This was put in place to ensure there is fairness and justice served to people who break the laws set up by the government. Criminal justice is one of the most important majors one can study due to the necessity to keep the streets safe and clean. From street cops, to state troopers all the way to criminal psychologists the criminal justice system is a very important part of modern society as it keeps us safe from murders, rapists and various other criminals. The street cops are the ones that are out on our streets protecting every citizen. It can be as simple as writing a parking ticket on a car that is illegally parked, to arresting murderers and rapist in a quiet neighborhood in the suburbs. The cops are the ones that are keeping our streets more safe for families everywhere. The main thing I want to learn about Criminal Justice is where I can go with my degree. By studying criminal justice I would like to be able to pursue my dreams of becoming a Drug enforcement agent so that I can help make neighborhoods safe and take bad people off the public streets. The mission of Franklin Pierce Universities Criminal Justice Program is to produce graduates who have demonstrated competency in administration of justice, corrections, criminological theory, and law enforcement the program provides students with essential knowledge in the areas of policing, courts and corrections within a solid liberal arts framework. Special attention is given to career roles, social interaction and social forces that contribute to so... ...eb. 30 Mar. 2010. . 2."Criminal Justice Careers /Jobs Information." Direct Degree | Associate, Bachelor and Online Degree Programs. Web. 30 Mar. 2010. . 3."Criminal Justice System - Structural And Theoretical Components Of Criminal Justice Systems, The Systems In Operation, The Importance Of Viewing Criminal Justice As A System." Law Library - American Law and Legal Information. Web. 30 Mar. 2010. . 4."Criminal Justice System Processing Flowchart." Research Brought To Life : Florida State University College of Criminology & Criminal Justice. Web. 30 Mar. 2010. . 5. "Franklin Pierce University Academic Catalog 2009-2010

Psychoeducational Group Leadership: Mindfulness of Breathing Essay

In forming a psychoeducational group, it is vital to determine what kind of information may be needed by the participants. Psychoeducational groups are performed for people who are more mentally balanced and are simply seeking deeper knowledge on a certain theme related to psychological health. A good topic for discussion in many cases is the theory and technique of mindfulness of breathing. Being mindful of how one breathes is often a good indicator in the present moment of how stressed or how calm a person is (Yalom, 2006). When a person is able to self regulate one’s breathing, making sure that the breaths are slow and deep enough, then a person is aware of how situational occurrences affect one’s state of being. This paper takes a look at the case of a psychoeducational group which was formed with the intention of educating group members about the importance of mindfulness of breathing. Group Dynamics This psychoeducational group was formed by the participation of six voluntary group members who were invited to participate in a 30 minute session about the importance of mindfulness of breathing. The initial stage of the group consisted of a warm up activity where people greeted and introduced themselves to one another, followed by a short overview by the group leader regarding the importance of mindfulness of breathing and its connection to increased relaxation and decreased stress. The working phase of the group is where group members opened up to one another about certain stressful situations which occur in life and how their breathing correlated to these situations. Group members practiced being aware of their own breathing and being able to control the breath’s depth and speed. The final stage of the group is when group members affirmed their experience of working together, being thankful that they had the chance to learn something new, communicate with one another, and practice something useful for their personal health. Personal Reflection It is interesting to reflect on what it was like for me to lead this psychoeducational group about mindfulness of breathing, as this is an important element of my own personal ability to self regulate stress. I was excited to sit with the group members, to introduce myself and speak about the healthful benefits of good breathing patterns which produce happy alpha brain waves. The working stage of the group was especially interesting, in that people were relaxed enough to open up about their own personal lives and experiences and to practice slow and deep breathing with one another. The final stage of the group was also successful, in that people had a few minutes to be openly thankful for the group experience and their newfound knowledge. Although it seems like there should be something to say about how the group could have been run better, I am honestly proud to say that the group ran especially smoothly, with the right amount of time spent in each area and the right amount of educational information disseminated in interesting ways. The group members were able to bond with me and with each other, which makes me feel as if this group was led with great success. Conclusion In forming a psychoeducational group, it is important to consider the needs of the participants as well as the focus of topic and organizational structure of the group. The beginning initial stage and ending final stage of the group are usually more structured and planned, with the working stage of the group being more in the hands of the participants (Corey, Corey, & Corey, 2010). In any case, it is vital that the group is formed in a true spirit of goodwill, so that the group participants feel safe and comfortable and are able to open up to the group process. References Corey, M. S. , Corey, G. , & Corey, C. (2010). Groups: Process and practice (8th ed. ). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole. Yalom, I. (2006). The Schopenhauer cure. New York, NY: HarperCollins.

Linguistics and Interjections Essay

In Western philosophy and linguistic theory, interjections—that is, words like oof, ouch, and bleah—have traditionally been understood to indicate emotional states. This article offers an account of interjections in Q’eqchi’ Maya that illuminates their social and discursive functions. In particular, it discusses the grammatical form of interjections, both in Q’eqchi’ and across languages, and characterizes the indexical objects and pragmatic functions of interjections in Q’eqchi’ in terms of a semiotic framework that may be generalized for other languages. With these grammatical forms, indexical objects, and pragmatic functions in hand, it details the various social and discursive ends that interjections serve in one Q’eqchi’ community, thereby shedding light on local values, norms, ontological classes, and social relations. In short, this article argues against interpretations of interjections that focus on internal emotional states by providing an account of their meanings in terms of situational, discursive, and social context. p a u l k o c k e l m a n is McKennan Post-Doctoral Fellow in Linguistic Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology at Dartmouth College (Hanover, N. H. 03755, U. S. A. [paul. kockelman@dartmouth. edu]). Born in 1970, he was educated at the University of California, Santa Cruz (B. A. , 1992) and the University of Chicago (M. S. , 1994; Ph. D. , 2002). His publications include â€Å"The Collection of Copal among the Q’eqchi’-Maya† (Research in Economic Anthropology 20:163–94), â€Å"Factive and Counterfactive Clitics in Q’eqchi’-Maya: Stance, Status, and Subjectivity,† in Papers from the Thirty-eighth Annual Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistics Society (Chicago: Linguistics Society, in press), and â€Å"The Interclausal Relations Hierarchy in Q’eqchi’ Maya† (International Journal of American Linguistics 69:25–48). The present paper was submitted 1 vi 01 and accepted 27 xii 02. 1. A longer version of this article was presented at the workshop â€Å"Semiotics: Culture in Context† at the University of Chicago in January 2001. Chris Ball, Anya Bernstein, John Lucy, and Michael Silverstein all provided very helpful commentary. This article also greatly bene? ted from suggestions made by Benjamin S. Orlove and several anonymous referees. Western philosophy and linguistic theory have traditionally considered interjections at the periphery of language and primordially related to emotion. For example, the Latin grammarian Priscian de? ned interjections as â€Å"a part of speech signifying an emotion by means of an unformed word† (Padley 1976:266). Muller (1862) ? thought that interjections were at the limit of what might be called language. Sapir (1921:6–7) said that they were â€Å"the nearest of all language sounds to instinctive utterance. † Bloom? eld (1984[1933]:177) said that they â€Å"occur under a violent stimulus,† and Jakobson (1960: 354) considered them exemplars of the â€Å"purely emotive stratum of language. † While interjections are no longer considered peripheral to linguistics and are now carefully de? ned with respect to their grammatical form, their meanings remain vague and elusive. In particular, although interjections are no longer characterized purely in terms of emotion, they are still characterized in terms of â€Å"mental states. † For example, Wierzbicka (1992:164) characterizes interjections as â€Å"[referring] to the speaker’s current mental state or mental act. † Ameka (1992a:107) says that â€Å"from a pragmatic point of view, interjections may be de?ned as a subset of items that encode speaker attitudes and communicative intentions and are contextbound,† and Montes (1999:1289) notes that many interjections â€Å"[focus] on the internal reaction of affectedness of the speaker with respect to the referent. † Philosophers have offered similar interpretations. For example, Herder thought that interjections were the human equivalent of animal sounds, being both a â€Å"language of feeling† and a â€Å"law of nature† (1966:88), and Rousseau, pursuing the origins of language, theorized that protolanguage was â€Å"entirely interjectional† (1990:71). Indeed, such philosophers have posited a historical transition from interjections to language in which the latter allows us not only to index pain and express passion but also to denote values and exercise reason (D’Atri 1995). 2 Thus interjections have been understood as a semiotic artifact of our natural origins and the most transparent index of our emotions. Such an understanding of interjections is deeply rooted in Western thought. Aristotle (1984), for example, posited a contrastive relationship between voice, proper only to humans as instantiated in language, and sound, shared by humans and animals as instantiated in cries. This contrastive relation was then compared with other analogous contrastive relations, in particular, value and pleasure/pain, polis and household, and bios (the good life, or political life proper to humans) and zoe (pure life, shared by all living things). Such a contrast is so pervasive that modern philosophers such as Agamben (1995) have devoted much of their scholarly work to the thinking out of this tradition and others built on it such as id versus ego in the Freudian paradigm. In short, the folk distinction made between interjections and language 2. D’Atri (1995:124) argues that, for Rousseau, â€Å"interjections . . . are sounds and not voices: they are passive registerings and as such do not presuppose the intervention of will, which is what characterizes human acts of speech. † 467 468 F c u r r e n t a n t h ro p o l o g y Volume 44, Number 4, August–October 2003 proper maps onto a larger set of distinctions in Western thought: emotion and cognition, animality and humanity, nature and culture, female and male, passion and reason, bare life and the good life, pain and value, private and public, and so on (see, e.g. , Lutz 1988, Strathern 1988). In this article I avoid such abstracting and dichotomizing traps by going straight to the heart of interjections: their everyday usage in actual discourse when seen in the context of local culture and grounded in a semiotic framework. I begin by characterizing the linguistic and ethnographic context in which I carried out my research and go on to relate interjections to other linguistic forms, showing how they are both similar to and distinct from other classes of words in natural languages. Next I provide and exemplify a semiotic framework, generalizable across languages, in terms of which the indexical objects and pragmatic functions of interjections can best be characterized. Then I detail the local usage of the 12 most commonly used interjections in Q’eqchi’ and show the way in which they are tied into all things cultural: values, norms, ontological classes, social relations, and so on. I conclude by discussing the relative frequency with which the various forms and functions of interjections are used. In short, I argue against interpretations of interjections that focus on emotional states by providing an account of their meanings in terms of situational, discursive, and social context. Linguistic and Ethnographic Context While I am attempting to provide as wide a theoretical account of interjections as I can, thereby providing a metalanguage for speaking about similar sign phenomena in other languages, I am also trying to capture the grammatical niceties of Q’eqchi’ Maya and the discursive and social particularities of one Q’eqchi’-speaking village in particular. Before I begin my analysis, then, I want to sketch the linguistic and ethnographic context in which I worked. Q’eqchi’ is a language in the Kichean branch of the Mayan family, spoken by some 360,000 speakers in Guatemala (in the departments of Alta Verapaz, Izabel, and Peten) and Belize (Kaufman 1974, Stewart 1980). 3 Lin? guistically, Q’eqchi’ is relatively well described: scholars such as Berinstein (1985), Sedat (1955), Stewart (1980), Stoll (1896), and Chen Cao et al. (1997) have discussed its syntax, morphology, phonology, and lexicon, and I have detailed various morphosyntactic forms (encoding grammatical categories such as mood, status, evidentiality, taxis, and inalienable possession) as they intersect with sociocultural values and contextual features and as they illuminate local modes of personhood (Kockelman 3. Typologically, Q’eqchi’ is a morphologically ergative, head-marking language. In Q’eqchi’, vowel length (signaled by doubling letters) is phonemic; /k/ and /q/ are velar and uvular plosives, respectively, and /x/ and /j/ are palato-alveolar and velar fricatives, respectively. All other phonemes have their standard IPA values. 2002, 2003a, b). This article is therefore part of a larger project in which I examine how intentional and evaluative stances are encoded in natural languages and the relations that such stances bear to local modes of subjectivity. Alta Verapaz, the original center of the Q’eqchi’-speaking people who still make up the majority of its population, has had a unusual history even by Guatemalan standards. In 1537, after the Spanish crown had failed to conquer the indigenous peoples living there, the Dominican Friar Bartolome de Las Casas was permitted to ?pacify the area through religious methods. Having succeeded, he changed the name of the area from Tezulutlan (Land of War) to Verapaz (True Peace), and the Dominicans were granted full control over the area—the state banning secular immigration, removing all military colonies, and nullifying previous land grants. In this way, for almost 300 years the area remained an isolated enclave, relatively protected by the paternalism of the church in comparison with other parts of Guatemala (King 1974, Sapper 1985). This ended abruptly in the late 1800s, however, with the advent of coffee growing, liberal reforms, and the in? ux of Europeans (Cambranes 1985, Wagner 1996). Divested of their land and forced to work on coffee plantations, the Q’eqchi’ began migrating north into the unpopulated lowland forests of the Peten ? and Belize (Adams 1965, Carter 1969, Howard 1975, Kockelman 1999, Pedroni 1991, Saa Vidal 1979, Schwartz 1990, Wilk 1991). In the past 40 years this migration has been fueled by a civil war that has ravaged the Guatemalan countryside, with the Q’eqchi’ ? eeing not just scarce resources and labor quotas but also their own nation’s soldiers—often forcibly conscripted speakers of other Mayan languages (Carmack 1988, IWGIA 1978, Wilson 1995). As a consequence, the past century has seen the Q’eqchi’ population spread from Alta Verapaz to the Peten and ? nally to Belize, Mexico, and even the ? United States. Indeed, although only the fourth largest of some 24 Mayan languages, Q’eqchi’ is thought to have the largest percentage of monolinguals, and the ethnic group is Guatemala’s fastest-growing and most geographically extensive (Kaufman 1974, Stewart 1980). The two key ethnographies of Q’eqchi’-speakers have been written by Wilk (1991) and Wilson (1995), the former treating household ecology in Belize and the latter upheavals in village life and identity at the height of the civil war in highland Guatemala during the 1980s. In addition to these monographs, there are also a number of dissertations and articles on the history (King 1974, Sapper 1985, Wagner 1996), ecology (Carter 1969, Secaira 1992, Wilson 1972), and migration (Adams 1965, Howard 1975, Pedroni 1991) of Q’eqchi’-speaking  people. The data for this article are based on almost two years of ethnographic and linguistic ? eldwork among speakers of Q’eqchi’, most of it in Ch’inahab, a village of some 80 families (around 650 people) in the municipality of San Juan Chamelco, in the department of Alta Verapaz. At an altitude of approximately 2,400 m, Ch’inahab is one of the highest villages in this area, with an annual precipitation of more than 2,000 mm. It is also one of k o c k e l m a n The Meanings of Interjections in Q’eqchi’ Maya F 469  the most remote, access to the closest road requiring a three-hour hike down a steep and muddy single-track trail. Its relatively high altitude and remote location provide the perfect setting for cloud forest, and such a cloud forest provides the perfect setting for the resplendent quetzal, being home to what is thought to be the highest density of such birds in the world. Because of the existence of the quetzal and the cloud forest in which it makes its home, Ch’inahab has been the site of a successful eco-tourism project the conditions and consequences of which are detailed in my dissertation (Kockelman 2002). While the majority of villagers in Ch’inahab are monolingual speakers of Q’eqchi’, some men who have served time in the army or worked as itinerant traders speak some Spanish. All the villagers are Catholic. Ch’inahab is divided by a mountain peak with dwellings on both of its sides and in the surrounding valleys. It takes about 45 minutes to hike across the village. At one end there is a biological station kept by the eco-tourism project and used sporadically by European ecologists, and at the other there is a Catholic church and a cemetery. In the center there is a small store, a school for primary and secondary grades, and a soccer ? eld. The surrounding landscape is cloud forest giving way to scattered house sites, agricultural parcels, pasture, and ? elds now fallow. All villagers engage in corn-based, or milpa, agriculture, but very few have enough land to ful? ll all of their subsistence needs. 4 For this reason, many women in the village are dedicated to chicken husbandry, most men in the village engage in seasonal labor on plantations (up to ?ve months a year in some cases), and many families engage in itinerant trade (women weaving baskets and textiles for the men to sell) and eco-tourism (the women hosting tourists and the men guiding them). Dwelling sites often contain a scattering of houses in which reside an older couple and their married sons, all of whom share a water source and a pasture. The individual families themselves often have two houses, a relatively traditional thatched-roof house in which the family cooks and sleeps and a relatively new house with a tin roof in which they host festivals and in which older children and ecotourists may sleep. Because of eco-tourism and the in? ux of money and strangers that it brings, there has been an increase in the construction of such tin-roofed houses, and, as will be seen, many of my examples of interjections come from such construction contexts. My data on the use of interjections among villagers in Ch’inahab comes from 14 months of ? eldwork carried out between 1998 and 2001. The data collection con4. Before 1968, what is now Ch’inahab was owned by the owner of a plantation. Q’eqchi’-speakers who lived in the village of Popobaj (located to the south of and lower than Ch’inahab) were permitted to make their milpa in this area in exchange for two weeks of labor per month on the ? nca (Secaira 1992:20). Only in 1968, when a group of villagers got together to form a land acquisition committee, were some 15 caballer? as (678 ha) of land purchased from the owner ? for 4,200 quetzals (US$4,200). This land, while legally owned by the entire community, was divided among the original 33 villagers as a function of their original contributions.  sisted in part of characterizing tokens of usage when I heard them and in part of tracking tokens of usage through recordings of naturally occurring conversations. 5 In particular, given the fact that many interjections occur in relatively nonconversational, task-engaged situations (house building, planting, playing, cooking, etc. ), trying to record them in such contexts was futile. Luckily, as will be seen, they often occur in modes of disruption (when some goal-directed action goes awry), which makes them relatively easy to notice in real-time context and their contextual regularities relatively easy to stipulate. In addition, I tape-recorded naturally occurring conversations in the households of three families once a week over several months, usually at dinnertime. 6 After I describe the forms and meanings of the interjections I will discuss the relative frequency of the various tokens collected and thereby illuminate which forms and meanings are most often used by whom. The Grammatical Form of Interjections There are four criteria by which interjections may be differentiated from other linguistic forms within a particular language and generalized as a form class across languages (Ameka 1992, Bloom?eld 1984[1933], Jespersen 1965, Wilkins 1992). First, all interjections are conventional lexical forms, or words, that can constitute utterances on their own (Wilkins 1992). They are conventional in that their sign carriers have relatively standardized and arbitrary phonological forms, and they can constitute utterances on their own because their only syntagmatic relation with other linguistic forms is parataxis—in which two forms are â€Å"united by the use of only one sentence pitch† (Bloom? eld 1984[1933]:171). They can therefore stand alone as perfectly sensible stretches of talk before and after which there is silence. Second, with few exceptions, no interjection is simultaneously a member of another word class (Ameka 1992a, Wilkins 1992). Almost all of them are what Ameka (1992a:105), following Bloom? eld (1984[1933]), calls primary interjections: â€Å"little words or non-words which . . . can constitute an utterance by themselves and do not normally enter into constructions with other word classes. † In Q’eqchi’, the main exceptions are interjections built, through lexical extension, from the primary interjection ay. In the case of ay dios, the additional 5. I also include several examples of interjection usage that occurred in the context of ethnographic interviews about topics other than interjections, for these often indicated that an ethnographic question was poorly posed or inappropriate in the local context. I also carried out extensive interviews about the meanings of interjections with native speakers (see Kockelman 2002 for an extended discussion of the relationship between form, usage, and speakers’ re? ections). 6.  Indeed, the best two accounts of interjection-like things— â€Å"response cries† in Goffman (1978) and â€Å"emblematic gestures† in Sherzer (1993)—explicitly take into account social interaction and ethnographic description. Good accounts of the discursive use of interjections are offered by De Bruyn (1998), Ehlich (1986), Gardner (1998), and Meng and Schrabback (1999). 470 F c u r r e n t a n t h ro p o l o g y Volume 44, Number 4, August–October 2003 element, dios, is a loan noun from Spanish, meaning â€Å"god. † In the case of ay dios atinyuwa’, besides the Spanish loanword there is a Q’eqchi’ expression, at-in-yuwa’ (you [are] my father). Interjections of this latter kind, which are or involve forms that belong to other word classes, will be called secondary interjections (again following Ameka and Bloom? eld). Similarly, the English secondary interjections damn and heavens may be used as both interjections and verbs or nouns. Third, with few exceptions, an interjection consists of a single morpheme and undergoes neither in? ectional nor derivational processes (Wilkins 1992). Interjections cannot be in? ectionally marked for grammatical categories such as tense or number, and they cannot be further derived into another form class such as noun or verb. Such forms are often classi? ed as a subclass of â€Å"particles† or discourse markers (see Ameka 1992a, Fraser 1999, Jespersen 1965, Schiffrin 1987, Wilkins 1992, and Zwicky 1985). In Q’eqchi’ there are three exceptions to this characterization. First, uyaluy is what I will call a reduplicative interjection, being composed, through syllabic reduplication, from the interjection uy. Second, ay dios and ay dios atinyuwa’ are what I will call extended interjections, being composed, through lexical extension, from the interjection ay. And lastly, the interjection ay may undergo further derivation into a delocutionary verb (becoming ayaynak, â€Å"to cry or yell continually,† often said of dogs howling), which may then undergo normal verbal in? ection for grammatical categories such as tense, aspect, person, and number. Lastly, although it is not a criterial feature, many of these forms are phonologically or morphologically anomalous, having features which mark them as odd or unique relative to the standard lexical forms of a language. For example, unlike most Q’eqchi’ words, in which stress falls on the last syllable (Stewart 1980), the interjection uyaluy has syllable-initial stress. Similarly, while reduplication is a common morphological process in Q’eqchi’ (Stewart 1980), the reduplicative interjection uyaluy is derived through a nonstandard morphological form. While many Q’eqchi’ words involve a glottalized alveolar stop, the interjection t’ is also implosive. 7 Whereas the Spanish loanword dios is usually phonetically assimilated in Q’eqchi’ as tiox when used as a noun, in the interjection ay dios there is no devoicing of the initial consonant of this noun (i.e. , /d/ does not become /t/) or palatization of its ? nal consonant (i. e. , /s/ does not become /x/). And the interjection sht differs from ordinary Q’eqchi’ words in using /sh/, rather than a vowel, as a syllabic (see Bloom? eld 1984[1933]:121). In short, it is clear from the number of quali? cations that interjections, like most linguistic forms, are dif? cult to characterize with necessary and suf? cient conditions (see Taylor 1995, Zwicky 1985). Nevertheless, they may simultaneously be differentiated from other form classes within a particular language and generalized as a form class across languages. 7. Often called a â€Å"dental click† (Wilkins 1992) or a â€Å"suction stop† (Jespersen 1965:90). Readers who speak some Spanish may have noticed that many Q’eqchi’ interjections look similar to Spanish interjections—ay (dios), uy, ah, eh, sht—and even to English interjections (sh[t] and t’). While I have no historical data that would attest to such a claim, given the history of sustained linguistic contact between speakers of Spanish and Q’eqchi’ via the colonial encounter and between speakers of Spanish and English this should come as no surprise. The one good account of interjections in Spanish (Montes 1999) discusses only a small range of the discursive functions of interjections and focuses on the internal state of the speaker. As I will show, however, the meanings of some of these interjections in Q’eqchi’ seem to bear a resemblance to their meanings in Spanish, as far as can be discerned from the comparative data. In this way, these â€Å"loan interjections† show that almost any linguistic form may be borrowed (see Brody 1995) with some maintenance of its meaning. The Meanings of Q’eqchi’ Interjections  Although interjections are relatively easy to characterize from the standpoint of grammatical form, there is no framework in terms of which one may order and compare their meanings—that is, the classes of objects and signs that they index (and thereby stand in a relationship of contiguity with) and the types of pragmatic functions they serve (and thereby may be used as a means to achieve). In what follows, I frame their use in terms of situational, discursive, and social context. I will begin with an extended example through which the framework will become clear. The Q’eqchi’ interjection chix indexes loathsome objects in the situational context. For example, when picking up his bowl of food from the ground, a man notices that he has set it in chicken feces. â€Å"Chix,† he says, scraping the bowl on the dirt to wipe off the feces. His wife, herself responsible for the chicken, then takes his bowl for herself and gives him a new one. Similarly, when opening the door to her house early one morning, a woman notices that the dog has vomited right outside the doorway. â€Å"Chix,† she says, and her ? ve-year-old son comes over to look. She tells him to scrape it away with a machete. Like most interjections that have indexical objects in the situational context, this interjection serves to call another’s attention to the object. 8 Relatedly, and as a function of responsibility assessment (husband 1 wife 1 child), it directs another’s attention to what must be cleaned up, avoided, etc. The interjection chix may also be transposed to index a sign denoting or characterizing a loathsome object (see Buhler 1990). In such cases of sign-based transposition, ? the interjection is in a relationship of contiguity with a 8. Montes (1999:1293) notes that most of the Spanish interjections she examined â€Å"seem to be associated with seeing. We ? nd that a large number of the interjections [ah, oh, uh, ay, oy, uy] used in the conversations examined co-occur with directives to ‘see’ or ‘look at’ or as a response to these directives. † k o c k e l m a n The Meanings of Interjections in Q’eqchi’ Maya F 471 sign that denotes or characterizes the object or event in question (rather than being in contiguity with the actual object or event, as in the usage of chix just discussed). In other words, it is as if the speaker were inhabiting the frame of the narrated event (Buhler 1990). In this way, ? the interjection chix indexes not just loathsomeness but also signs that refer to or predicate qualities of loathsome objects. Insofar as the denotatum of such a sign has the same qualities and values as the object itself, the modality of contiguity (being able to taste, touch, see, or smell the object in question) is suspended while the ontological class of the object (loathsomeness) is maintained. For example, in telling a story to a group of  men about a friend who was bitten by a poisonous spider while working on a plantation in the lowland area of Guatemala, the speaker describes the pus blisters that rose up on his friend’s arm. â€Å"Chix,† says one of the men listening. The other men laugh, and before continuing his story the speaker adds that the pus blisters took two weeks to heal. Like most interjections that undergo signbased transposition, such usage often serves as a backchannel cue, indicating that the speaker is listening but cannot or does not want to contribute to the topic at hand (Brown and Yule 1983:90–94; Duncan 1973; compare the usage of mmm or jeez in English). Lastly, the interjection chix may be transposed to index an addressee’s relation of contiguity with a loathsome object. In such cases of addressee-based transposition, the situational indexical object is transposed to a person other than the speaker. The speaker’s sign is audible (a relation of contiguity) to the addressee, who is in a relationship of contiguity with the object. In other words, it is as if the speaker were inhabiting the ad? dressee’s current corporal?  eld (see Buhler 1990, Hanks 1990), and, again, the modality of contiguity is suspended while the ontological class is maintained. For example, a mother watching her three-year-old son approach a dog that is defecating wormy stool calls out to him â€Å"Chix. † The child stops his advance and watches from a distance. In this most addressee-focused way, the sign is used by a parent to index that a child is within reach (typically tactile) of a disgusting object and serves as an imperative not to touch the object. Interjections are primarily indexical (see Peirce 1955) in that they stand for their objects by a relationship of contiguity rather than by a relationship of convention (as in the case of symbols) or similarity (as in the case of icons). 9 Although the indexical modality of interjections is emphasized in this article, the symbolic modality is always present in at least two interrelated ways. First, and trivially, the interjection itself has a standard9. If interjections were iconic, then they would be expected to resemble their objects. The problem with this, as exempli?  ed by Kryk-Kastovsky’s (1997) argument that interjections are the most iconic of all linguistic elements expressing surprise, is that one needs to know what â€Å"surprise† looks like when usually our only indication of surprise is the interjection or behavior itself. However, interjections as indexical of situational and discursive objects do in certain cases have iconic modalities of meaning (see, e. g. , the discussion of ay, ay dios, and ay dios atinyuwa’ below). ized but relatively arbitrary form that is conventionally used by members of a given linguistic community. Second, interjections conventionally stand in a relation of contiguity with particular classes of objects. These conventional classes of indexical objects are present in two ways. First, across interjections, one may characterize what semiotic class of objects is being indexed. Second, in the case of any particular interjection, one may characterize what ontological class of objects is being indexed. Besides indexing objects or signs in the immediate context, interjections have pragmatic functions: they serve as a means to achieve certain ends. For example, chix variously serves as an attentative (when nontransposed), a back-channel cue (when undergoing sign-based transposition), and an imperative (when undergoing addressee-based transposition). Both the objects indexed and the pragmatic functions served (see Silverstein 1987) are integral aspects of the meanings of interjections. Finally, interjections may index more than one object at once. In particular, they may index objects, signs, internal states, and social relations. In what follows, I will refer to these distinct types of indexical objects as situational, discursive, expressive, and social, respectively. Situational indexical objects are the objects or events in the immediate context of the speech event. Discursive indexical objects are the signs that occur in the speech event. 10 Together, situational and discursive indexical objects are the most stable co-occurrence regularities that interjections possess and therefore the only ones that are easy to tabulate. Expressive indexical objects are the intentional stances of the speaker—the putative mental states, whether construed as â€Å"cognitive† or â€Å"emotive. †11 Lastly, social indexical objects are the various social roles inhabited by the speaker or addressee (gender, ethnicity, age, etc. ) or the social relations that exist between the two (status, deference, politeness, etc. ). For example, chix may index not only a loathsome object in the situational context but a social relation (parentchild, husband-wife, raconteur–appreciative listener) and, in many cases, an internal state (â€Å"disgust†). And the interjection ay not only indexes a painful object in the situational context or an unexpected answer in the dis10. This is not quite the standard distinction between â€Å"text† and â€Å"context† (Montes 1999 and Wilkins 1992). For example, while it is tempting to put sign-based transposition into the discursive context for the purposes of schematizing the data, sign-based transpositions make sense only in terms of the qualities of the objects referred to by the sign indexed by the interjection. In contrast, an unsolicited response such as a dubitive is directed at the truth of another’s assertion rather than at any particular quality of the state of affairs predicated by that assertion. For this reason, dubitives belong to the discursive context and sign-based transpositions to the situational context. 11. Whereas interjections creatively index expressive indexical objects in that the interjection is often the only sign of the internal state in question, they presupposedly index situational and discursive indexical objects in that both interjection and indexical object are simultaneously present in context (see Silverstein 1976 for this distinction). This difference in semiotic status (presupposing/creative) maps onto a putative difference in ontological status (world/mind). 472 F c u r r e n t a n t h ro p o l o g y Volume 44, Number 4, August–October 2003 cursive context but also an internal state (pain) in the expressive context and a role in the social context (in particular, female gender). Many interjections index signs in the discursive context in that they co-occur with (or serve as) a response to an addressee’s previous utterance or a nonresponse. In the case of a response, the use of an interjection occurs after and makes sense only relative to the addressee’s previous utterance. For example, the interjection ih indexes an addressee’s previous statement and serves as a registerative, indicating that the speaker has heard and understood the statement. In the case of a nonresponse, the interjection may either elicit an addressee’s utterance (and thereby occur before it) or occur in the midst of the speaker.