Literary Devices of Prose Poetry Flashcard

Literary Devices of Prose Poetry

Ankgor Civilization, the Khmer Empire in Southeast Asia

Ankgor Civilization, the Khmer Empire in Southeast Asia The Angkor Civilization (or Khmer Empire) is the name given to an important civilization of southeast Asia, including all of Cambodia and southeastern Thailand and northern Vietnam, with its classic period dated roughly between 800 to 1300 AD. It is also the name of one of the medieval Khmer capital cities, containing some of the most spectacular temples in the world, such as Angkor Wat. The ancestors of the Angkor civilization are thought to have migrated into Cambodia along the Mekong River during the 3rd millennium BC. Their original center, established by 1000 BC, was located on the shore of the large lake called Tonle Sap, but a truly sophisticated (and enormous) irrigation system allowed the spread of the civilization into the countryside away from the lake. Angkor (Khmer) Society During the classic period, the Khmer society was a cosmopolitan blend of Pali and Sanskrit rituals resulting from a fusion of Hindu and High Buddhist belief systems, probably the effects of Cambodias role in the extensive trade system connecting Rome, India, and China during the last few centuries BC. This fusion served as both the religious core of the society and as the political and economic basis on which the empire was built. The Khmer society was led by an extensive court system with both religious and secular nobles, artisans, fishermen and rice farmers, soldiers, and elephant keepers: Angkor was protected by an army using elephants. The elites collected and redistributed taxes, and temple inscriptions attest to a detailed barter system. A wide range of commodities was traded between Khmer cities and China, including rare woods, elephant tusks, cardamom and other spices, wax, gold, silver, and silk. Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) porcelain has been found at Angkor: Song Dynasty (AD 960-1279) whitewares such as Qinghai boxes have been identified at several Angkor centers. The Khmer documented their religious and political tenets in Sanskrit inscribed on stelae and on temple walls throughout the empire. Bas-reliefs at Angkor Wat, Bayon and Banteay Chhmar describe great military expeditions to neighboring polities using elephants and horses, chariots and war canoes, although there doesnt seem to have been a standing army. The end of Angkor came in the mid-14th century  and was partly brought about by a change in religious belief in the region, from Hinduism and High Buddhism to more democratic Buddhist practices. At the same, an environmental collapse is seen by some scholars as having a role in the disappearance  of Angkor. Road Systems among the Khmer The immense Khmer empire was united by a series of roads, comprised of six main arteries extending out of Angkor for a total of ~1,000 kilometers (~620 miles). Secondary roads and causeways served local traffic in and around the Khmer cities. The roads which interconnected Angkor and Phimai, Vat Phu, Preah Khan, Sambor Prei Kuk and Sdok Kaka Thom (as plotted by the Living Angkor Road Project) were fairly straight  and constructed of earth piled from either side of the route in long flat strips. The road surfaces were up to 10 meters (~33 feet) wide and in some places were raised to as much as 5-6 m (16-20 ft) above the ground. The Hydraulic City Recent work conducted at Angkor by the Greater Angkor Project (GAP)  used advanced radar remote sensing applications to map the city and its environs. The project identified the urban complex of about 200-400 square kilometers, surrounded by a vast agricultural complex of farmlands, local villages, temples and ponds, all connected by a web of earthen-walled canals, part of a vast water control system. The GAP newly identified at least 74 structures as possible temples. The results of the survey suggest that the city of Angkor, including the temples, agricultural fields, residences (or occupation mounds), and hydraulic network, covered an area of nearly 3,000 square kilometers over the length of its occupation, making Angkor the largest low-density pre-industrial city on earth. Because of the enormous aerial spread of the city, and the clear emphasis on water catchment, storage, and redistribution, members of the GAP call Angkor a hydraulic city, in that villages within the greater Angkor area were set up with local temples, each surrounded by a shallow moat and traversed by earthen causeways. Large canals connected cities and rice fields, acting both as irrigation and roadway. Archaeology at Angkor Archaeologists who have worked at Angkor Wat include Charles Higham, Michael Vickery, Michael Coe and Roland Fletcher; recent work by the GAP is based in part on the  mid-20th-century  mapping work of Bernard-Philippe Groslier of the École Franà §aise dExtrà ªme-Orient (EFEO). The photographer  Pierre Paris  took great strides with his photos of the region in the 1920s. Due in part to its enormous size, and in part to the political struggles of Cambodia in the latter half of the 19th century, excavation has been limited. Khmer Archaeological Sites Cambodia:  Angkor Wat, Preah Palilay, Baphuon, Preah Pithu, Koh Ker, Ta Keo,  Thmà ¢Ã‚  Anlong,  Sambor Prei Kuk, Phum Snay, Angkor BoreiVietnam:  Oc Eo,  Thailand:  Ban  Non Wat,  Ban Lum Khao, Prasat Hin Phimai, Prasat Phanom Wan Sources Coe MD. 2003.  Angkor and the Khmer Civilization. Thames and Hudson, London.Domett KM, OReilly DJW, and Buckley HR. 2011.  Bioarchaeological evidence for conflict in Iron Age north-west Cambodia.  Antiquity  86(328):441-458.Evans D, Pottier C, Fletcher R, Hensley S, Tapley I, Milne A, and Barbetti M. 2007.  A new archaeological map of the world’s largest preindustrial settlement complex at Angkor, Cambodia.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences  104(36):14277-14282.Hendrickson M. 2011.  A transport geographic perspective on travel and communication in Angkorian Southeast Asia (ninth to fifteenth centuries AD).  World Archaeology  43(3):444-457.Higham C. 2001.  The Civilization of Angkor. Weidenfeld Nicolson, London.Penny D, Hua Q, Pottier C, Fletcher R, and Barbetti M. 2007.  The use of AMS 14C dating to explore issues of occupation and demise at the medieval city of Angkor, Cambodia.  Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Bà ‚  259:388–394.Sanderson DCW, Bishop P, Stark M, Alexander S, and Penny D. 2007.  Luminescence dating of canal sediments from Angkor Borei, Mekong Delta, Southern Cambodia.  Quaternary Geochronology  2:322–329. Siedel H, Pfefferkorn S, von Plehwe-Leisen E, and Leisen H. 2010.  Sandstone weathering in  tropical  climate: Results of low-destructive investigations at the temple of Angkor Wat, Cambodia.  Engineering Geology  115(3-4):182-192.Uchida E, Cunin O, Suda C, Ueno A, and Nakagawa T. 2007.  Consideration  on  the construction process and the sandstone quarries during the Angkor period based on the magnetic susceptibility.  Journal of Archaeological Science  34:924-935.

Romanticism and Russia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Romanticism and Russia - Essay Example The basic premise of Romanticism is that everything cannot be explained by reason or logic. Romanticism also upholds the fact that the human emotion is pure and expressing it was important. This was a reaction to the previous movement which is Enlightenment. Enlightenment emphasizes the power of logic and the scientific method over anything else. The romantics, on the other hand, looked for deeper and more meaningful meanings other than numbers and the like. The romantics are more sensual and more rooted to conveying human emotion (Moscovici, 3). And in contrast with the Neo-Classicists, the Romanticists in not just an observer to the creations of the divine but now a creator of fragile meaning and beauty. Romanticists also point out the frailties of the human beings, hence, the common themes of depression and despair on romantic literature (Moscovici, 9). It also asserted the importance of the individual and personal experiences, making a unique hero, because promotes originality. E xamples of this would be Frankenstein and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Romanticism also posits relativism in all aspects. There are no absolute truths unlike in Classicism or Enlightenment. For romantics, there is no right and wrong, even in aspects of morality, but each society was encouraged to make their own sets of rules . According to the Romantics, the theories of Enlightenment prevent emotions and creativity, turning man into a robot and man must liberate himself from these chains – through romanticism. Romanticists are also socially involved, as well as politically (Melani). However, they were also a bit aloof as they often distance themselves from the public, preferring to live in far flung areas. As noted, these romanticists express their own thoughts and feelings and as noted earlier too, this period was happening almost in the same era when the French Revolution also took place (late 1700s). Many authors tried to uphold romanticism in the revolution and the revolu tion, also partly owes some of its principles on Romanticism. With this, artist took stands, wrote works with highly politicized subjects. In other countries, like Germany for example, romanticism boosted nationalism by letting nationalism have an intellectual anchor. Romanticism links various branches of knowledge, from art and humanities to social sciences, psychology, politics and in philosophy . II. Russian Revolution There are two Russian Revolutions. The first one was in 1905, but it did not really gain momentum and failed to revolutionize the government, so to speak. This essay will focus on the 1917 revolution. The 1917 revolution transformed Russia into the Union of Soviet Socialists Republic from monarchy. This had two phases, one led by the peasants and the other phase led by the Bolsheviks (Palmer, Colton and Kramer, 725). The 1917 happened during the last phases of the World War 1. The World War 1 happened in 1914 and Russia was in it. Most of their resources were put o n the efforts for the World War 1 and many soldiers died. On March of 1917, when it was said to be one of the coldest and snowiest winters in St. Petersburg, many people were starving as the weather kept them from city markets (Banks, et al, 535). Workers, most of them hungry, lined up for hours just to get bread. These workers are quite impoverished compared to the Russian monarchy. They have very little money and they hope to spend it on little loaves of bread out in the cold (Banks, et al, 535). The people protested yet again (just like in 1905, Bloody Sunday) when the skies cleared. For four days, people went out in the streets of St. Petersburg and shouted statements like â€Å"Down with the government!†, â€Å"Down with war!†

Case study Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 8

Case study - Assignment Example There is also the possibility that the individual in question may be incapable of performing his or her responsibilities for one reason or another (Shaer 45). In such a case, the manager has to fire the incompetent employee because he or she refuses to take advantage of existing opportunities to increase his efforts on the job. When an employee chooses inaction, he or she makes a conscious choice to refuse to work (Shaer 44). He or she then has to be held responsible for this choice; and not the company. Another reason why it is easier to fire an incompetent employee than fix one is because it is both expensive for the company, and difficult to change long –held negative habits. Some individuals simply do not understand the importance of being responsible because they were coddled their whole lives (Shaer 48). Changing their personal habits, in such a case, would need much more than ordinary counseling- it would require deeper therapy. To be effective, a performance plan has to identify the main criteria required to attain job success, while also having clear benchmarks that managers can use to perform evaluations of employee performance (Shaer 41). Under-performing employees may rationalize their performance by claiming dissatisfaction with their current positions (Shaer 47). This causes them to act out like a spoiled child who ruins something, or tips something over in order to demonstrate his or her frustration. Under-performing employees may also have a secret desire to collect unemployment insurance; and so will set about sabotaging his or her own performance in order to be fired (Shaer 48). Another way in which under-performing employees seek to rationalize their performance is by coping inaction by refusing to take the advice that is offered to them about the best way to improve their performance (Shaer 48). Those who do this who do this are usually people who have never had any real demands made of their time or intellect. They

Movie The Marriage of Maria Braun Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Marriage of Maria Braun - Movie Review Example Maria's former life is non-existent. Her virginal entrance into marriage is an assumption. She is perceived as America unexplored. Where did she learn her "tricks of the trade" As Germany struggles to recapture some semblance of power in the late 1940's the film "The Marriage of Maria Braun" by Fassbinder, depicts the stages of war and a relationship that begs the question of her marriage; is it legitimate or indeed a farce Maria Braun played by a bountiful Hannah Shygulla represents a virginal America. Remember that America is pulled into the war predominantly by the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. America, in all reality, played the role of maiden well, forgetting its previous conquests and meddlings all for the sake of democracy. In the first scene, the audience is asked to grapple with the destruction of the world around the young couple. There is destruction amidst babies crying, armory sounds, guns sounding and fires. Maria loses her husband to the war and America loses its oil. Both come out in bad shape. Maria gives away her most sentimental possessions to save her marriage as to America fighting for oil under the guise of democracy. Recalling once the olden days of George Washington, when the policy of neutrality was upheld, oil was an all encompassing monster of a thing to deal with considering embargos and such. Maria gives away her wedding dress to get a few potatoes literally, as she did in the movie, and ultimately the Germans end up "French fried". All this occurs in the second scene where she implies that rations during the war were as rare as the men. The nurse questions the validity of her marriage. Japan drops the bomb on Pearle Harbor. Is the America we know as strong as they boast How far will America go for oil and democracy. Mrs. Braun gives away everything to save her marriage until which point she resorts to giving away herself. The peddling and the hustling begins with a dress. She walks to a dark vestibule and negotiates for the purchase of a new fancy dress. Her German peddler is also selling books. She buys the dress. Is this dame sincere in her purchase. What is a dress to the viewer To the keen intellectual eye it is a treaty that works itself as the Allied Forces. She seals the purchase by bringing all her longtime friends and aquaintences along in her world who are not sure whether or not to believe that her husband will return. What is profound about Wildenhahn was that he tried to capture the "truth of the everyday" by using stereotypes as central characters. Where or what would America be without the element of racial division and the element of prostitution. These issues are touchy in Western Culture but still warrant delving into in conversations at forums, colleges and universities where change can start in America. Filmmakers such as he, rallied for the right to address sensitive issues and boldly at that. Wildehahn knew when pushing the envelope how far to go. His movie, set in post WWII Germany had not the censorship issues that others had. Such as was the case with Group 47 formed in protest to the liberal-left literary journal Der Ruf in 1947. And to boot he pursued the audiences point of view and not necessarily his own. In the movie "Who needs Whom," (1972) the filmmaker, struggling with issues of audience and participation devised a strategy of a cabaret show to propel the audience

Summary Of Guns Germs And Steel History Essay

Summary Of Guns Germs And Steel History Essay The Author of Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, Jared Diamond,  attempts  to  give  an explanation to a question posed by a friend of his from New Guinea. Yali wonders why the whites have been so  successful  compared  to  the rest of the world and why they  have so much cargo. We must remember that  intelligence  is not how much you know but what you are capable of learning. Obviously, other nations are just not exposed to quality education or other  advantageous  resources. White people, who were privileged with such, have been able to  conquer  others because of this reason. The real question is why do some people have advantages over others? and Jared Diamond will answer that question. The  novel  starts off with an  explanation  that our closest living relatives are the gorilla, the common chimpanzee, and the pygmy chimpanzee. Since these animals  are confined  to the continent of Africa and there is a considerable amount of fossil evidence concluding the evolution of  mankind  in that area, Africa is widely accepted as  mankinds birthplace. About 1 or 2 million years after humans originated one of our ancestors had  finally  traveled beyond Africa; Homo  erectus  fossils  had been found  in the Southeast Asian island of Java. About half a million years ago from the present, Homo  erectus  had evolved into Homo  sapiens  with their rounder, larger skulls. At that point in history, boat-building and surviving in  harsh  climates were  unthinkable  and  therefore  made it impossible  for Homo  sapiens  to inhabit the Americas and Australia.   After that, groups of Homo  sapiens  diverged into  separate  groups and eventually evolved into Neanderthals, whom surprisingly had larger brains then we do today.  Subsequently, the Great Leap Forward is where we saw the most  improvement  and  promising  development in human kind with the Cro-Magnons. Humans were then able to travel by boat to Australia and New Guinea, which caused a  major  complication in the environment: a mass extinction of many mammals. Soon enough, the Americas  were colonized, the last Ice Age ended, and we find ourselves here today. A natural example of why one group of people can conquer another could be shown with the situation between the Maoris and the Morioris. The Maoris were able to surmount the Morioris with their greater combat capabilities. Despite their common ancestors, the two groups diverged into different paths of development. The Morioris crops could not survive the climate in which they moved into, so they reverted back to hunter-gatherers. With everybody hunting and gathering food for themselves, they couldnt establish a government or militia; they simply did not have the extra resources. The Maoris, on the other hand, were able to accomplish all of the above. When the two groups met, the Maoris were inevitably victorious albeit they were outnumbered 2:1. With these basic principles in mind, we see that this can be applied to larger conquests. Francisco Pizzaro and his men were able to take down the Inca Empire, for example. As they mounted their horses, and equipped themselves with their far more durable armor, Pizzaro and company set off on a rampage- thrashing their steel weapons about whilst spreading disease. Mr. Diamonds chapter entitled Farmer Power discusses how the ability to domesticate animals and harvest crops increases a population. With stable food production, the population can grow and a government can be set up. The opportunities for development keep adding onto one another. Soon enough, we have specialized workers who can improve tools and weapons which will lead that society to supremacy. The probable origin of agriculture was the Fertile Crescent of Southwest Asia in 8500 BC. Then we also have major agricultural sites such as New Guinea by 7000 BC, Sub Saharan Africa in 5000 BC, Mesoamerica in 3500 BC, The Andes and Amazonia in 3500 BC, Tropical West Africa in 3000 BC, And the Eastern US in 2500 BC. The Agricultural cores success then spread to nearby civilizations and constituted todays global economy. With successful population growth among nations, hunting subjects decrease in quantity, resulting in the gradual need to convert hunter-gatherers into farmers. With people who can take care of producing food for the rest of the population, this made the act of creating a hierarchy of occupations possible. Also, this resulted in everyone being slightly less nourished than before on account of the thinner distribution of provisions. As agricultural business became more popular, so did the need for plant domestication. For example, wild almonds are actually poisonous so we must harvest the edible mutants and keep growing that specific mutation. We first domesticated seeds due to their ease of growth and storage. Then, we advanced to fruits and nuts. Out of the two-thousand wild plants only two-hundred have been domesticated, wheat, corn, rice, barley, sorghum, soybean, potato, manioc, sweet potato, sugar cane, sugar beet, and banana make up eighty percent of the worlds food cargo. Now, were going to need the help of animals to aid our development. Large animals that were used for military, transportation, and load carrying were all domesticated around 2500 BC. Only fourteen animals have been domesticated. These include the sheep, goat, cow, pig, horse, Arabian camel, Bactrian camel, llama and alpaca, donkey, reindeer, water buffalo, yak, Bali cattle, and Mithun/Gaur. Domesticated animals needed to have traits such as being an omnivore or herbivore, they need to be able to grow rapidly, they need to breed well in captivity, they must have an appropriate temperament, they must accept penning, and they should be able to accept a subordinate role. If all criteria are met, humans are able to domesticate them and use said animals for our own needs. Domesticated Animals have actually adapted to our utilization of them; better milk production and faster wool growth, for example. With the help of enslaved animals, humans are able to progress to higher means of living w ith ease. Even so, animals have also caused harm to humans. Many infectious diseases have derived from livestock. For example, the flu is said to have originated from pigs a ducks, tuberculosis from cattle, and AIDS from monkeys, to name a few. With farmers being around these animals so often, some may develop immunities to such ailments. Also, farmers with similar exposure to these animals had only interacted amongst each other, so there werent any major tribulations. Although, when interactions with foreign farmers occurred, the spread of foreign diseases were sometimes detrimental. In due course, humans were in need of a written form of language for records and eventually communication. The earliest forms of writing are said to have shown up in Southwest Asia, Mesoamerica, and China. The idea of writing diffused from these cores into their peripheries. The alphabet was the idea of the Egyptians, and was copied and altered to fit the needs of other societies. Eventually, the writing process matured and several nations had their own complex written form of communication. Usually, there were only a choice few who actually needed to use written language. Scribes, for example, needed to keep records while hunter-gatherers had no use for it. In regard to the original inquiry posed by Yali, the author explains that New Guinea wasnt a very popular choice to conquer due to its diseases and the low rates of successful livestock and crops. Australia, New Guineas neighbor, had been a lot more welcoming. Yet, Australia also became victim to foreign settlers along with the benefits and drawbacks. The answer to Yalis question is very simple. The first reason would be the availability and ease of crop and animal domestication. The second would be the ease of idea diffusion. Clearly, a small isolated island cant pass on ideas as easy as a country with booming trade markets could. Finally, the favorable environment of an area will attract a larger population in which a stable state may be founded upon.

Free Affirmative Action Essays - Affirmative Action is Discrimination :: affirmative action argumentative persuasive

Affirmative Action is Discrimination Affirmative action is a plan designed to end discrimination by guaranteeing minorities will be hired, regardless of race or gender. While our country hires such groups based upon these guarantees, the qualifications of such people are occasionally overlooked. Many believe that affirmative action is a very effective plan; however, the population which opposes such action frequently includes people of various minorities, as well as many others who have been wronged by this plan In several cases, this plan causes minorities to be perceived as being under-qualified when hired; in addition, it also causes a new minority, the white male. Our government must acknowledge the fact that affirmative action is not putting an end to discrimination; in all actuality, this plan has succeeded in creating new minorities, and more reasons for discrimination. Affirmative action frequently causes qualified employees to be looked down upon because some believe them to be "affirmative action hires". Two of my female relatives are currently on the police force; as a result, I have encountered many discriminatory comments pertaining to their positions. The first remark I usually receive suggests that they were hired for their position solely based on gender. Another comment which I usually receive is, "Well, being a woman probably didn't hurt their resume." Both of my relatives are very good at their jobs; one was even on the popular television show, Cops. Neither of them are "wimps", yet most males look down upon them as being hired because of affirmative action. This type of criticism is received by many minorities holding good jobs, whether they are qualified or not. To quote William Reynolds, assistant attorney general in the civil rights division: In many cases, affirmative action takes away from legitimate minority success. People look at the black banker downtown who has made it on his own and say, "He got his job because of affirmative action." Or, an employer hires a few talented minority people who would have succeeded anyway and says, "Those are my affirmative-action hires." (26) In this particular case, affirmative action may, or may not, have been the reason for hiring, yet that is what most perceive.

Definition of Data Warehousing Essay

Search any resource (Books, Web Sites, Papers, etc.) to find three definitions for Data Warehousing. Include the detailed information (Title, authors and the source of the definitions. For example: â€Å"Data warehousing is a collection of decision support technologies, aimed at enabling the knowledge worker (executive, manager, analyst) to make better and faster decisions.† An overview of data warehousing and OLAP technology by S Chaudhuri, U Dayal, from ACM Sigmod record, Volume 26 , Issue 1 (March 1997) Pages: 65 – 74. 1. â€Å"A data warehouse is an integrated and time varying collection of data derived from operational data and primarily used in strategic decision making by means of online analytical processing (OLAP) techniques.† from â€Å"Conceptual data warehouse design† by B. Husemann, J. Lichtenberger, and G. Vossen. Page 1. 2. â€Å"A galactic data warehouse is a subject-oriented, integrated, time-variant, non-volatile collection of data in support of management’s decision making process about any and all enterprise business processes and departments, and about the enterprise taken as a whole. A business process-oriented data warehouse is a subject-oriented, integrated, time-variant, non-volatile collection of data in support of management’s decision making process about any and all business processes and their interactions with one another and the external world. A department-oriented data warehouse is a subject-oriented, integrated, time-variant, non-volatile collection of data in support of management’s decision making process about any and all departments, and their interactions with one another and with the external world.† From DKMS Brief No. Six: Data Warehouses, Data Marts, and Data Warehousing: New Definitions and New Conceptions by Joseph M.Firestone. 3. â€Å"Physically, a data warehouse system consists of databases (source databases, materialized views in the data warehouse), data transport agents that ship data from one database to another, and a repository which stores meta data about the system and its evolution.† From Architecture and Quality in Data warehouses: An Extended Repository Approach by M. Jarke, M. A. Jeusfeld, C. Quix, and P. Vassiliadis. Provide a brief summary to compare the three definitions that you’ve found. Tell me which one is your favorite and why? The first definition explains the components of a data warehouse and also its functionality in a general way. The second definition explains the function of a data warehouse and its components specific to each kind of a data warehouse like decision making with respect to a business module. The third definition explains the components of a data warehouse but does not specify the functionality of a data warehouse. I prefer the second definition over the other two definitions.

Good Man Is Hard To Find Essays - A Good Man Is Hard To Find

Good Man Is Hard To Find Essays - A Good Man Is Hard To Find Good Man Is Hard To Find Flannery OConnor A Good Man Is Hard To Find A Southern American novelist and short story writer, Miss O Connors career spanned the 1950s and early 60s, a time when the South was dominated by Protestant Christians. OConnor was born and raised Catholic. She was a fundamentalist and a Christian moralist whose powerful apocalyptic fiction is focused in the South. Flannery OConnor was born March 25, 1925, in Savannah, Georgia. O Connor grew up on a farm with her parents Regina and Edward O Connor. At the age of five, she taught a chicken to walk backwards. OConnor attended Georgia State College for women, now Georgia College, in Milledgeville, majoring in sociology. She had showed a gift for satirical writing, as well as cartooning since she was a child. By the end of her undergraduate education, OConnor knew that writing was her true passion. She spent two years at the prestigious School for Writers at the State University of Iowa on scholarship, receiving a masters degree of fine arts in 1947 (Candee 318). In 1950, she had a near fatal attack of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a chronic inflammatory connective tissue disorder. that causes periods of joint pain and fatigue, and can attack the hearts, lungs, and kidneys. Her father died of the disease when she was fifteen (Blythe 49). OConnor would have to walk with crutches for the rest of her life. By her death at the age of 39, Flannery OConnor won a prominent place in modern American literature. She was an anomaly among post-World War II writers, a Roman Catholic from the BibleBelt South, whose stated purpose was to reveal the mystery of Gods grace in everyday life. Aware that few readers shared her faith, OConnor chose to depict salvation through shocking, often violent action upon characters who were spiritually or physically grotesque (Ryiley 334). Flannery OConnors significance as a writer is her original use of religion. Like no other short story writer, she dramatizes religious themes in her fiction stories. She is established as one of the most gifted and original fiction writers of the 20th century. Everything That Rise must converge, and Revelation won first prize in the O. Henry awards for short stories. The Life You Save May Be Your Own and A Circle in the Fire won second prize in the O. Henry awards. The Complete Stories of Flannery OConnor won the National Book Award in 1971 (Bloom 145-146). O Connors work is inspired by the sense of the mystery of human nature. She tends to use good vs. evil and death to shock and startle her readers into an awareness of the theological truth of faith, the fall, the redemption, and the judgment (Riley 367). Some critics describe her writing as harsh and negative while people in the religious community wanted a happier communication of the faith. OConnor described her characters as poor afflicted in both mind and body, with little or at best a distorted sense of spiritual purpose(Harris & Fitzerald 336). OConnor claims she understood the universe created by God as good and evil. In a letter to a friend, she complained about a review that called her short story collection, A Good Man is hard To Find, brutal and sarcastic. The stories are hard, she wrote. But they are hard because there is nothing harder or less sentimental than Christian realism(qtd. In Harris & Fitzerald 336). OConnor likes to focus on the rough, often ugly memories of t he place she knew best, the rural South. She saw her world as sacrament, brushed with grace, twisted, beaten, but still straining toward her belief in God. The settings of her stories and novels are either Georgia or Tennessee, often backwoods or rural areas. She gives her characters a southern accent because this is the area she knows best. O Connor uses common symbols, such as sunsets that resemble blood drenched Eucharistic host, preening peacocks that represent Christs transfiguration, and the trees themselves writhe in spiritual agony (Bloom 49). Some critics say that she is trying to convert her readers, whom she assumes are non-believers. The story A Good Man is Hard To Find begins with a family planing to

Definition and Examples of Diction in English

Definition and Examples of Diction in English In rhetoric and composition, diction is the choice and use of words in speech or writing. Also called  word choice.In phonology and phonetics, diction is a way of speaking, usually judged in terms of prevailing standards of pronunciation and elocution. Also called enunciation and articulation. Etymology From the Latin, to say, speak Example The principal meaning of diction is the selection and use of words or the manner of expression. But this fact does not rule out, as some purists would like to do, the companion meaning of mode of speaking or enunciation.(Theodore Bernstein, Miss Thistlebottoms Hobgoblins, 1971) Concrete and Abstract Diction Concrete and abstract diction need each other. Concrete diction illustrates and anchors the generalizations that abstract diction expresses. . . . The best writing integrates concrete and abstract diction, the language of showing and the language of telling (explaining).(David Rosenwasser and Jill Stephen, Writing Analytically, 6th ed. Wadsworth, 2012) Diction and Audience Diction will be effective only when the words you choose are appropriate for the audience and purpose,  when they convey your message accurately and comfortably. The idea of comfort may seem out of place in connection with diction, but, in fact, words can sometimes cause the reader to feel uncomfortable. Youve probably experienced such feelings yourself as a listenerhearing a speaker whose words for one reason or another strike you as inappropriate.(Martha Kolln, Rhetorical Grammar. Allyn and Bacon, 1999) Levels of Language Sometimes diction is described in terms of four levels of language: (1) formal, as in serious discourse; (2)  informal, as in relaxed but polite conversation; (3) colloquial, as in everyday usage; (4)  slang, as in impolite and newly coined words. It is generally agreed that the qualities of proper diction are appropriateness, correctness, and accuracy. A distinction is usually made between diction, which refers to the choice of words, and style, which refers to the manner in which the words are used.(Jack Myers and Don Charles Wukasch, Dictionary of Poetic Terms. University of North Texas Press, 2003) Small Surprises Your diction, the exact words you choose and the settings in which you use them, means a great deal to the success of your writing. While your language should be appropriate to the situation, that generally still leaves plenty of room for variety. Skillful writers mix general and particular, abstract and concrete, long and short, learned and commonplace, connotative and neutral words to administer a series of small but telling surprises. Readers stay interested because they dont know exactly whats coming next.(Joe Glaser, Understanding Style: Practical Ways to Improve Your Writing. Oxford University  Press, 1999)Note the placing of the single low word in [Dwight]  Macdonald’s brilliantly high-flown definition of the academic prose that had already begun to jam the college libraries: The amount of verbal pomposity, elaboration of the obvious, repetition, trivia, low-grade statistics, tedious factification, drudging recapitulations of the half-comprehended, and generally inane and laborious junk that one encounters suggests that the thinkers of earlier ages had one decisive advantage over those of today: they could draw on very little research. The low word, of course, is  junk. But it helps to light up a bravura sentence full of useful noncolloquial phrases:  drudging recapitulations of the half-comprehended  is a permanently good definition of the danger posed by college courses without standards, and  low-grade statistics  has the merit of starting another discussion altogether.(Clive James, Style Is the Man. The Atlantic, May 2012) Exactness, Appropriateness, and Accuracy Word choice and usage come under the heading of diction. Some people seem to think that when it comes to word choice, bigger is always better. But using a word just because it is big is a bad idea. Youre better off using words for their exactness, appropriateness, and accuracy than for their size. The only time a bigger word is a better choice is when it is more accurate. In any case, the final decision to use this word over that should be based on the audience for whom youre writing.(Anthony C. Winkler and Jo Ray Metherell, Writing the Research Paper: A Handbook, 8th ed. Wadsworth, 2012) Weasel Words One of our defects as a nation is a tendency to use what have been called weasel words. When a weasel sucks eggs the meat is sucked out of the egg. If you use a weasel word after another, there is nothing left of the other.(Theodore Roosevelt, 1916) T.S. Eliot on Words Words strain,Crack and sometimes break, under the burden,Under the tension, slip, slide, perish,Decay with imprecision, will not stay in place,Will not stay still.(T.S. Eliot, Burnt Norton) Pronunciation: DIK-shun

Diffrent options Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Diffrent options - Essay Example In his opinion, firm strategy, structure and rivalry, factor conditions, demand conditions, related and supporting industries are the factors governments should control in order to manage the competitive power of nations. The following illustration provides a brief idea about the factors which affect the competitive power of nations. (Vision on Innovation: 2. Models on the dynamics of innovation, 2009). Michael Porter while teaching in Harvard University in the 70’s and 80’s has made lot of researches with the help of his associates formulated a frame work to assess the competitive advantages of nations which is illustrated above. Porter has introduced parameters such as clusters of companies, suppliers, related industries and institutions in particular locations as the factors which affect the competitive power of a nation in international market. This framework is known as Porter’s ‘diamond’ of National Competitive Advantage. This paper analyses th e competitive power of nations with the help of Michel Porter’s diamond model The competitive advantage of nations According to Porter (1990), â€Å"A nation’s competitiveness depends on the capacity of its industry to innovate and upgrade. Companies gain advantage against the world’s best competitors because of pressure and challenge. They benefit from having strong domestic rivals, aggressive home-based suppliers, and demanding local customers† (Porter, 1990). It is difficult for firms to survive in the market without innovation. The market is changing rapidly because of the advancements in science and technology and the arrival of new products. Competition or rivalry in the market always forces nations and firms to innovate new products. Until the beginning of 2000, Nokia was the leader in the mobile phone industry. However, Apple Inc introduced the touchscreen mobile phones at the beginning of 2000 and the leadership of Nokia in the mobile phone indus try is slowly diminishing now. Apple controlled the mobile phone industry until recently. However, Samsung captured the leadership of this industry from APPLE at present with the help of innovative smartphones such as Galaxy S2, S3 etc. In short, rivalry and ability to innovate new products determine the success and failures of companies in the market at present. No organization or country can take the leadership for granted. For example the technological dominance of America is currently challenged strongly by Asian countries such as China, Korea and India. America maintained leadership in the technology market until recent times; however, their supremacy seems to be challenged by many other countries at present. The following table provides the strengths and weakness of America as a country at present in the global market. Strategic Issues For the United States Strengths Weaknesses Innovation Science, technology, R&D Entrepreneurship Free and open competition Capital markets (curr ent uncertainty) Economic decentralization Human resources challenges Need to restructure public education Access to higher education Training Americans vs. low skilled immigration Falling U.S. leadership in international economic development U.S. influence, authority, and focus has diminished Weak transitional â€Å"Security Blanket† Retraining system Pension security Health insurance access and mobility Unnecessary cost of doing business. Burdensome regulations Litigation costs High-cost / high complexity tax system Energy inefficiency High healthcare

Current Business Themes Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5250 words

Current Business Themes - Dissertation Example According to the paper the two major natural disasters caused by these firms have been discussed here. Also the report states the corrective measures undertaken by these firms. It can be concluded from the study that the occurrence of oil spillage is fundamentally a subject highly dependent on probability. A probabilistic occurrence like oil spill incident or oil spill spreading and affecting the marine ecology as well as the human lives is a matter that can’t be anticipated; only an estimation of its possibility can be made.   When an organization takes steps for sustainability practices, it becomes essential for it to know the probable causes of risk. Thus considering the environment prior to the business objectives should be the main aim of every firm related to this industry.From this study it is clear that in the present corporate era, all the firms strive to gain the trust of its stakeholders so that a long term business relationship can grow between them. A long term relationship in business depends on product quality, customer service, and good reputation. Reputation is the concept that many successful firms fail to achieve. Business reputation is considered as an asset that is intangible which distinguishes a company from other firms and draws consumers to make them buy things again and again from the same company and at the same at time the consumers readily pay a top price for the goods and services.... Business reputation is considered as an asset that is intangible which distinguishes a company from other firms and draws consumers to make them buy things again and again from the same company and at the same at time the consumers readily pay a top price for the goods and services. However, in spite of the discerning involvement between financial performance and reputation, pragmatic studies account for questionable findings. Reputation is an exclusive element of a business that can be achieved by it through its good work and goodwill (Lee & Roh, 2012). One of the greatest sources of reputation is the sustainability framework practiced by the firm. Sustainability can be attained by the means of numerous activities that comprises of the reputation of the management. These activities comprises of the formation of the environment-friendly goods, motivating and retaining employees, saving energy etc. which aids the business to preserve value via return and growth on capital. The aim of the present study is to focus on the various facets of the oil exploration and production industry and the corporate social responsibility practice followed by the firms of this sector to maintain sustainability. The two main firms that will be covered in our study are BP and Shell. It will be a comparative analysis between the environmental policies of both the firms that will further discuss about the various measures taken by these firms to repair the damages. For the present study the research question happens to be, how do the oil exploration and production plants deal with the issues of environmental pollution and what are their approach to a sustainable environment? The topic in hand will be studied by the conduction