Brazilian Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Brazilian Economy - Essay Example These factors combine to show that Brazil is on its way up. Those who maintain that Brazil is performing the most of the BRIC group also argue that despite huge withdrawals by foreign investors, Brazil has suffered less than the other BRIC members and this is a good sign of a healthy economy. Delfeld (2008) says, "BRIC begins with Brazil. Political stability (Mr. Lula is up there in the stratosphere at a 78% approval rating), strong consumer spending, more flexible exchange rates, a more effective central bank and higher reserves may help Brazil weather the global financial storm much better than most expect. Brazil has been able to maintain foreign reserves in excess of $200bn. More than that, the credit crisis may have come at a good time, potentially helping the economy to cool without damping growth too far below the country's potential. Inflation has risen recently to about 6% due to strong consumer spending. A slowing of global growth could be helpful in moderating this and also allow the central bank to suspend its tightening policy sometime later this year." Brazil has been doing exceptionally well since the election of President Luiz Lula in 2006. With exports booming, the country has witnessed considerable growth in the size of its middle class. Not only that, Brazil has its millionaire's club expanding too with 130,000 members in 2006 to 190,000 in 2007. That is extraordinary economic growth and it is because of this that Brazil was awarded "investment grade" status by Standard and Poor's which also attracted considerable investor energy and helped boost their confidence.1 A country that now poses a threat to the US economy has seen all this exceptional growth in only the last two years. Before this period, the company was far behind the US and even other strong economies like Japan. The GDP comparison in 2005 is shown below: Gross Domestic Product in 2005 (Trillions USD, Current Prices)US 12.46, Japan 4.56, Germany 2.79, UK 2.20France 2.13, China 1.98, India 0.80, Brazil 0.80 2 At that time United States was clearly the leader but a lot changed this year when world's biggest economy was dealt some serious blows. Brazil however continued to show growth signs till as late as October 2008 but beginning November, Brazil has also faced some growth problems. The recession that has hit the world has also arrived in Brazil. According to the very recent survey by Morgan Stanley, Brazilian economy is expected to grow by 2 percent in 2009; this is clear down from the earlier prediction of 3 percent. Apart from this, Morgan Stanley also doesn't rule out the possibility of zero growth. Brazilian currency is also consistently falling against US dollar. The only reasons why we must not rule out possible economic problems in the future is Brazil's continued fight against drug lords and its unequal income distribution. Brazil's poor continue to suffer as its rich section is consistently getting higher share of economic growth. Lula has certainly been successful in creating a robust economy but what he is overlooking is the fact that there is vast disparity between the rich and the poor which not only translates into fewer opportunities for the poor but also leads to higher drug-related activities. The Gini co-efficient is a useful tool for measuring income distributio

The differences between Classical and Modern theater Essay

The differences between Classical and Modern theater - Essay Example In classical theaters, they were open air venues where performances could only be conducted at daytime in daylight (Walton 1987 pg 122-6). On the contrary, the modern theaters are permanent buildings with complete seats. The theaters use modern equipment to compliment the natural implements. The theaters are said to be built with padded seats with a complete enclosure. The performances of the modern theaters take place both at night right from the afternoons. The large part of the design and the presentation is formed by the artificial lights. The classical theaters could evolve to satisfy the ever changing specifications of the events acted (Walton 1987 pg 67-9). It was made in different shapes, sizes and had a variety of functions. While the modern theaters are unnecessarily complex, the classical theaters were just so simple with a great influence on any performance that was conducted on it. In terms of performance, the classical performances sometimes entailed performances that impact on moral negatively as opposed to the modern ones which are endeared towards the theme to the audience (Walton 1987 pg

Stages of Child Language Acquisition

Stages of Child Language Acquisition A child starts to communicate with those around him/her since birth, although in the first few months this communication occurs on a non-verbal level. However, as a child develops physically, he/she gradually acquires language skills. Overall, child language acquisition begins from phonological development and proceeds to syntactic and semantic development. The aim of the present essay is to analyse three major stages of the first language acquisition (phonological, syntactic and semantic). Although linguists and other scholars have agreed in opinion that language is a process of acquisition (rather than the process of learning), they provide contradictory theories of child language acquisition (Cole Cole, 1996). Among the most famous theories are a reinforcement theory, an imitation theory, a critical-age theory and an analogy theory. Despite the fact that all these theories present a valid explanation of language acquisition, certain problems occur when they are applied to practic e. The most likely interpretation of phonological, syntactic and semantic development of a child is provided by imitation and analogy theories; hence, these theoretical concepts are employed for the analysis. According to these theories, the process of child language acquisition is aimed at adjusting to adults’ speech that has its rules and structures. As acquisition of language is a rather intricate process, a child only listens to adults’ speech in the first few months. Actually, in this period a child is involved in the process of language perception rather than the process of language production (See Table 1). However, as a child reaches the age of 6 months, he/she starts to pronounce various sounds (Fee, 1995). At first a child pronounces vowel sounds and further he/she manages to unite vowels and consonants (e.g. sa, da, ma, ba, di, ti, gu, etc.). At approximately 8 months a child constantly repeats syllables (e.g. ba-ba-ba or di-di-di) and by 12 months he/she successfully combines these syllables into a simple word (e.g. â€Å"mama†, â€Å"papa† or â€Å"baba†). It is significant that child’s pronunciation of sounds also reflects intonation and stress; according to Echols and Newport (1992), through these patterns a child makes an attempt to impart certain meaning or reveal his/her emotions . This babbling is the initial step in child’s phonological development (Macken, 1995); the true phonological skills are exposed by a child at approximately 1.4 years (though even at the age of 0.4 – 0.9 months a child already has some phonological abilities, as he manages to recognise native and non-native speech). At this time a child demonstrates comprehension of the relation between sounds and meanings; moreover, he/she starts to identify phonemic differences in adult speech. In the process of sound production a child certainly makes pronunciation mistakes that linguists regard as phonological deviations. Generally, phonological deviations are divided into two basic categories: substitution errors and syllable errors (Bankson Bernthal, 1998). Further, these categories are divided into several sub-categories, including weak syllable deletion, final consonant deletion, consonant cluster reduction, velar fronting, palatal fronting, stopping, gliding of liquids, word final devoicing, etc. Due to an immature speech apparatus, some sounds are more complex for child’s pronunciation than others; for instance, such consonant sounds as â€Å"l† and â€Å"r† are learned by a child later than sounds â€Å"p† and â€Å"m†, because the former sounds are phonetically similar, while the latter sounds are different. As a result, a child substitutes voiceless sounds with voiced sounds (e.g. â€Å"gap’ instead of â€Å"cap† or â€Å"tad† instead of â€Å"dad†); it is context sensitive voicing. The second deviation is word final devoicing; it is a process when final voiced consonants are substituted with voiceless consonants (â€Å"dad’ is pronounced as â€Å"dat†). A child may also employ final consonant deletion, pronouncing â€Å"co† instead of â€Å"cow† or â€Å"pin† instead of â€Å"pink†. Velar fronting (e.g. â€Å"tiss† instead of â€Å"kiss†) and palatal f ronting (e.g. â€Å"sake† instead of â€Å"shake†) are used by a child, because it is easier for him/her to pronounce consonants that are at the front of the mouth and teeth. Other phonological deviations include weak syllable deletion (â€Å"pape† instead of â€Å"paper†), consonant harmony (â€Å"goggy† instead of â€Å"doggy), cluster reduction (â€Å"tool† instead of â€Å"stool†), stopping (â€Å"pan† instead of â€Å"fan†) and gliding of liquids (â€Å"wat† instead of â€Å"rat). In reality, as Maye, Werker Gerken (2002) demonstrate in their research, a child perceives accurate phonemic contrasts, but he/she is unable to produce correct sounds until a proper age. Moreover, unlike adults, an infant may even distinguish foreign phonemic contrasts from native contrasts; due to this ability a child who is adopted in a foreign country may easily acquire language of his/her parents. At the age of 3-4 years most children learn to rightfully pronounce all sounds, eliminating the majority of phonological deviations. However, some children may continue to employ these deviations in their speech; specialists regard these children as individuals with certain phonological disorders that may have a detrimental effect on their reading skills (Ingram, 1989). When a child learns how to pronounce simple words, he/she proceeds to combine known words into small utterances. In this respect, a child acquires syntactic skills that are usually developed in two stages: the holophrastic stage and the two-word stage. During the holophrastic stage (between 0.9 and 1.0 years) a child forms one-word utterances with a certain intonation. In general, these utterances are composed of either verbs or nouns, while adjectives and other parts of speech are acquired by a child afterwards. In fact, it is rather difficult for adults to interpret child’s one-word sentences, as, for instance, â€Å"book† may mean that he/she wants his/her parents to read a book or that he/she sees a book or that he/she does not like this book. The situation is even more complicated when a child pronounces a phrase without intervals. According to O’Grady (1997), â€Å"many children initially treat what’s that? look at that, come here, and similar expre ssions as single units that are linked holistically to a particular situational context† (p.13). In other words, if a child hears phrases that are somehow stressed, he/she may extract them from the rest of speech and use them as a single entity, making no pauses among words. In the two-word stage (1.5-2.0 years) a child creates two-word sentences that are pronounced with single intonation and start to reflect the first semantic relations, for instance, â€Å"baby read† or â€Å"sit table† (Pinker, 1994). In general, these utterances are categorised as follows: 1) Noun Utterances: My apple, His Daddy. 2) Verb Utterances: Me play, Girl sing. 3) Questions: Mom read? Baba go? 4) Negatives: Not eat, No shirt. As the examples show, though these sentences are not grammatically right yet, they are constructed in a right order (Ingram, 1989). By the age of 2-3 years a child easily produces several thousand syntactic utterances, and the major stress in these utterances is placed on the word that provides more information (e.g. â€Å"Mummy COME† or â€Å"MUMMY come†). Initially, these sentences lack such function units as â€Å"on†, â€Å"the† or â€Å"of† and such inflections as â€Å"-s†, â€Å"-ing† or â€Å"-ed† (hence, child’s speech at this stage is usually regarded as â€Å"telegraphic speech†), but gradually a child includes negations, passives, comparatives, relative clauses and conjunctions in his/her sentences. In some cases a child may use right patterns and wrong patterns in one sentence, for instance, I reading and Mama is cooking. Such a combination reveals that a child knows certain grammar patterns, but he/sh e has not mastered them yet. However, if an adult uses these patterns incorrectly, he/she will obviously point at the mistake. As a child acquires knowledge of such a pattern as â€Å"-ed†, he/she usually turns to overregularisation, that is, a process when all verbs become regular in child’s speech (e.g. â€Å"goed† or â€Å"spended†). This overregularisation can be explained by the fact that a child acquires a language in certain patterns and, as he/she learns the pattern (e.g. â€Å"mama helped† or â€Å"baba claimed†), he/she applies this pattern to other verbs, including irregular verbs. It is certainly easier for a child to apply â€Å"-ed† to all verbs than to memorise all irregular verbs and differentiate regular verbs from irregular verbs. As the time passes, a child learns to change the wrong verb form for a right form. In addition, he/she gradually acquires knowledge of definite and indefinite articles, plural nouns, linkin g verbs and possessive cases. However, even when a child acquires knowledge of all these rules and patterns, he/she may still be unable to form complex utterances; consequently, a child may turn to the repetition of certain phrases to fill gaps in his/her speech. Finally, as a child manages to create simple sentences, he/she acquires semantic skills (approximately 3.0 years). As word acquisition intensifies, a child collides with a necessity to form semantic patterns; above all, a child uses those content categories that refer to objects, events and humans, although usage of these categories greatly depends on social, cultural and linguistic aspects. However, in all cultures a meaning that a child puts into a certain object or an utterance differs from a usual adult speech. As Harris (1990) states, young children â€Å"are able to express complex meanings, although these meanings are concerned with the current interests and needs, rather than abstract concepts or events that are distant in terms of time or space† (p.4). If a child mainly interacts with his/her peers, then he/she adjusts language to this childish realm. As a rule, a child employs either overgeneralisation or underextension when he/she creates semantic patterns. As for the first process, a child provides a word with more meanings than the word has; for example, he/she may apply the word â€Å"fox† to different animals. In the case of underextension, a child uses fewer meanings than a word has in a usual vocabulary; for example, he/she may associate a word â€Å"arm† only with a mother who touches him/her. In other instances a child fails to recognise a word. Besides, if a child can not find an appropriate word during speech, he/she may devise completely new words with new meanings. However, as a child grows and interacts with people in different situations, he/she learns more meanings of words and utterances (Beals Tabors, 1995). This especially regards interactions with adults; as adult speech is more sophisticated, a child memorises unknown patterns and then employs them in his/her speech. Hence, as a child acquires words and phrases with a profound semantic content, he/she gradually eliminates less semantically valid patterns. According to Frawley (1992), a child’s early semantic patterns reflect the following semantic categories: Agent and Action Cat run Agent and Object Girl doll Entity and Locative Baba far Attribute and Entity Wet hair Agent and Location Mother bath Action and Recipient Give birdie Possessor and Possession Papa pen But as a child shapes linguistic skills (3.5–4.0 years), he/she starts to employ more semantic categories, such as number, time, colour, substance, shape, position, etc., for instance, â€Å"Mummy and I went to a playground†, â€Å"My doll cries and I calm her† or â€Å"I give it to you†. Mastering the major concepts of grammar/meaning relations, a child manages to gradually employ complex grammar patterns: negatives: shouldn’t, needn’t, couldn’t; when-questions (as well as what and why): When do you go? tag-questions: You will go with me, will you? be + verb + -ing: Is Mummy Cooking? compound utterances: Papa is working and I am playing. if sentences: I will do if I wish. Thus, analysing child language acquisition, the essay suggests that from 6 months to 4-5 years a child gradually acquires phonological, syntactic and semantic skills. Although every child develops individually, language acquisition reflects common stages of speech perception and production. Some researchers (e.g. Pinker, 1994; O’Grady, 1997) claim that syntactic and semantic development of a child occurs simultaneously. The fact is that meanings of some verbs can not be understood by a child merely from a context; it is the knowledge of syntactic patterns that provides a child with an opportunity to rightfully uncover the meaning of these verbs. Whether this viewpoint is valid or not, it is absolutely clear that while a child has inborn abilities for language, he/she needs specific social environment to acquire it. This became especially obvious with a discovery of Amala and Kamala, the feral children who were brought up with wolves and could not speak at all. Such findings ce rtainly refute an innate hypothesis and reveal that linguistic skills of a child are formed by and within society. Table 1. Stages of Child Language Acquisition* Phonology From birth to 0.5 years – perception of adult speech; 0.6 years – pronunciation of the first sounds (vowels → consonants → vowels + consonants); 0.8 years – repetition of syllables and recognition of phonemic differences; 1.0 year – understanding of the relation between sounds and meaning; Use of phonological deviations: 1.4 years cluster reduction 2 years – weak syllable deletion initial consonant deletion final consonant deletion 2.0-3.0 years – palatal fronting velar fronting stopping gliding of liquids Syntax 0.9–1.0 years – â€Å"the holophrastic stage† – formation of one-word utterances; 1.5-2.0 years – â€Å"telegraphic speech†, formation of two-word utterances; 2.0–3.0 years – overregularisation of grammar Semantics 3.0 years – application of meaning to language patterns and grammar structures; Use of either overgeneralisation or Underextension Use of the following semantic categories: 1) Agent and Action 2) Agent and Object 3) Entity and Locative 4) Attribute and Entity 5) Agent and Location 6) Action and Recipient 7) Possessor and Possession 3.5-4.0 years – knowledge of complex grammar patterns: negatives; when-questions; tag-questions; be + verb + -ing; compound utterances; if sentences * The ages of child’s language development are approximate; the data in this table are generalised, while every child acquires phonological, syntactic and semantic skills on an individual basis. However, such a generalisation is important, as it allows specialists to reveal any deviations from the normal development of children. Bibliography Bankson, N. Bernthal, J. (1998) Analysis of assessment data. In: J. Bernthal and N. Bankson (eds.) Articulation and Phonological Disorders. Boston, Butterworth-Heinemann. pp.270-298. Beals, D. E. Tabors, P. O. (1995) Arboretum, bureaucratic and carbohydrate: Preschoolers’ exposure to rare vocabulary at home. First Language, 15, 57-76. Cole, M. Cole, S. (1996) The Development of Children. New York, W. H. Freeman Company. Echols, C. Newport, E. (1992) The role of stress and position in determining first words. Language Acquisition, 2, 189-220. Fee, J. (1995) Segments and syllables in early language acquisition. In: J. Archibald (ed.) Phonological Acquisition and Phonological Theory. Hillsdale, Lawrence Erlbaum. pp.43-61. Frawley, W. (1992) Linguistic Semantics. Hillsdale, New Jersey, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Harris, J. (1990) Early Language Development: Implications for Clinical and Educational Practice. London, Routledge. Ingram, D. (1989) First Language Acquisition: Method, Description, and Explanation. New York, Cambridge University Press. Macken, M. (1995) Phonological acquisition. In: J. A. Goldsmith (ed.) The Handbook of Phonological Theory. Cambridge, Blackwell. pp.671-696. Maye, J., Werker, J. F. Gerken, L. (2002) Infant sensitivity to distributional information can affect phonetic discrimination. Cognition, 82 (3), 101-111. O’Grady, W. (1997) Syntactic Development. Chicago, University of Chicago Press. Pinker, S. (1994) How could a child use verb syntax to learn verb semantics? Lingua, 92, 377-410. AN ANALYSIS OF SEMANTIC ROLES 2007 Until the 70s years of the 20th century semantics was completely excluded from any studies of grammar (Lyons, 1995; Bach, 2002). But recently, linguists and researchers have recognised a great variety of semantic roles (or theta roles) that provide valid information as to grammar/meaning relations (Cutrer, 1993). According to Payne (1997), a semantic role is a specific role that is classified in accordance with its meaning and is performed by a participant with regard to the principal verb of an utterance. In other words, semantic roles provide an opportunity to identify either similarities or dissimilarities of verb’s meanings in sentences. Actually, some semantic roles are regarded as principal, while others are thought to be less crucial for a linguistic analysis. But, as Langacker (1991) points out, â€Å"there is no unique or exclusive set of role conceptions. Those cited as archetypal are analogous to the highest peak in a mountain range: they coexist with others that m ay be significant despite their lesser salience† (p.237). The major semantic roles include Agent, Patient, Instrument, Theme, Cause, Experience, Goal, Benefective (or Beneficiary), Source, Location, Temporal and Path (Jackendoff, 1990; Dowty, 1991). According to Van Valin (1999), semantic relations may be also divided into two groups: the first group includes the usual semantic roles, such as Agent, Patient, Theme, etc., while the second group includes merely two semantic roles – Actor and Undergoer. The roles of the second group are usually referred to as semantic macroroles. Although this categorisation is not universally accepted, nevertheless, it is employed by researchers for a profound investigation of grammar/meaning relations. In the present analysis the classification of Jackendoff (1990) and Dowty (1991) is used. Let’s start from the following examples: Teddy killed the deer with a hunting rifle. A hunting riffle killed a deer. A deer was killed. In the first sentence Teddy performs a semantic role of an Agent, while in grammatical relations Teddy is a Subject. For all that, Teddy is associated with a hunting rifle by means of a grammar/meaning relation of a â€Å"kill† event. In the second sentence a semantic role of a Hunting Riffle is an Instrument, but in grammatical relations it is a Subject. Finally, in the third sentence a Deer appears in a semantic role of a Patient, while in grammatical relations it is again a Subject. Actually, if two participants are involved in an action of a sentence, a grammar/meaning relation is considered to be asymmetric. For instance, in the sentence Jimmy touched Marry two participants are involved in the action, but they perform various roles. Jimmy is a person who starts the action, thus, he is an Agent, while Marry is a person who is influenced by Jimmy’s action and she is a Patient. In this context, an Agent performs a conscious segment of a particular action and a Patient unconsciously responds to this action. As the above example demonstrates, an Agent should necessarily be alive, as it starts an action; however, this attribute is not ascribed to a Patient that is influenced by an action either in a direct or indirect way. There are some English sentences, where only an Agent is presented, such as Steven took a two-week holiday. Although this sentence differs from the previous utterance, both examples belong to a â€Å"do† category. But there are other categories of events, and sometimes it is really difficult to identify the right category (Frawley, 1992). The fact is that English sentences may reflect many similar features, but, despite these similarities, they may reveal various events and different semantic roles. For instance, in the sentence Peter heard a noise, Peter is a participant, but unlike prior examples, Peter does not appear as an Agent, because he is not an initiator of the action, he is an Experiencer. Therefore, such sentences may be attributed to an â€Å"experi ence† category. However, sentences that belong to this category may pose certain problems, as they may demonstrate different peculiarities of events, changing semantic roles in utterances. For example, in the sentence Ann looked at Ted, Ann is an Agent of the action, though she is also an Experiencer (similar to Peter from the previous example). Ann consciously pays heed to something, while Peter is unconscious of his action. Both sentences look similar, but peculiarities of events and semantic roles are different in these utterances. The second complexity that may occur in the process of analysis refers to the second participant of the discussed sentence. While in sentences with a â€Å"do† category the second participant is a Patient, because it is influenced by the Agent’s act, in sentences with an â€Å"experience† category the second participant (e.g. Ted) is not a Patient, as it is not influenced by the Agent’s act. As the above sentence shows , Ted is necessary for better understanding of the event; hence, he may be considered as a Theme of an action. But some utterances in this category have neither an Agent nor a Patient, though at the first sight it is easy to make a mistake. For example, in the sentence Danny loves Mag there are no agents or patients, as Danny does not perform any action and Mag is not explicitly or implicitly influenced by this action (probably she does not even know of Danny’s feelings). In this utterance Danny is an Experiencer, while Mag is a Theme. Unlike semantic roles, grammar roles can be identified more easily; in the discussed sentence Danny is a subject and Mag is an object. In fact, one grammar constituent may have a number of semantic roles; for example, a subject may involve an Experiencer, an Agent, a Patient, while an object may include a Theme, a Patient, an Instrument, etc. Thus, semantic roles provide more accurate and profound information as to the meaning of an utterance than grammar roles; however, both grammar roles and semantic roles are crucial for linguistics. In addition to the mentioned categories, there is also a â€Å"happen† category that is rather facile. For instance, the sentence My car is broken has one participant that is explicitly influenced by an action; that is why this participant (My car) is a Patient (there is no Agent in this utterance). Unlike a â€Å"happen† category, a so called â€Å"information transfer† category may pose certain difficulties for those who analyse semantic roles. In the sentence Jerome informed Timmy of a conference there are two participants – Jerome and Timmy. But while Jerome is an Agent of the occurred event, Timmy is not a Patient, as one may consider, taking into account the previous examples. In this utterance Timmy is a Recipient, and a Patient is absent in this sentence – neither Timmy nor information can be regarded as a Patient, because information is not directly or indirectly influenced by Timmy or by the transfer. In this regard, information in the discussed utterance is a Theme of the event. Overall, in all mentioned examples nouns and adjectives refer or point at a particular event; however, there are also sentences, where these parts of speech pay heed to a specific state instead of an event. Such utterances relate to a â€Å"be† category. For instance, in the sentence Viola is healthy again, Viola is a Participant that also appears as a Theme. In this utterance the state of Viola is determined by the adjective â€Å"healthy†, but not by a verb (as in the prior examples). Therefore, â€Å"healthy† fulfils a predicative role, unlike verbs in preceding sentences that fulfil an attributive role. Sentences in this category may also reflect temporal relations, like in the following utterance: Garry is in front of Nick. In this sentence there are two participants that certainly appear in temporal relations; undoubtedly, if the sentence is changed for Nick is behind Garry, the relations between Nick and Garry will not be altered. In this respect, both participants perform the role of a Theme in the sentence. In view of all observed examples, it is obvious that participants may fulfil either a central role or a marginal role in the action; that is, a division is made between the principal and secondary participants. For instance, in the sentence Nelly embraced Steve before the guests, Nelly is the principal participant, an Agent, while Steve is the secondary participant, an Instrument with the help of which Nelly fulfils the action. Even if an Agent is absent, as in the sentence A stone broke the fence, there is a supposed Agent and an Instrument. Moreover, if two participants are mentioned in a sentence, the secondary participant may perform a role of a Beneficiary, as in the following example: Mommy did homework for Sally. In this utterance Sally is a Beneficiary, as another person (his Mommy) does homework for him. Therefore, the analysed sentences demonstrate that each semantic role may reflect different properties, and identification of these properties may be rather problematic in t he process of analysis, resulting in frequent confusions. Table 2 below epitomises the observed semantic roles, their major functions and possible problems. Table 2. Major semantic roles Semantic role Function Possible confusions / problems Agent The principal participant (always animate) that starts an action An Experiencer may be wrongly regarded as an Agent But: An Agent consciously fulfils an action, while An Experiencer is not consciously involved in the action’s fulfilment Patient The principal participant (either inanimate or animate) that is influenced by an event In certain cases a Patient may perform a role of an Agent This occurs in instances that signify moves; that is, when a participant simultaneously performs an action and is influenced by it Instrument The secondary participant with the help of which an Agent fulfils an action If there are both an Agent and a Causer in a sentence, it may be difficult to rightfully identify instruments of an Agent and a Causer The instrument for a Causer is an Agent An Agent possesses other instruments Theme The principal participant that does not induce an event and is not influenced by it In the case of temporal relations there are usually two themes, instead of one Experiencer The principal participant (always animate) that does not explicitly fulfil an action; instead, it undergoes a certain state (or an event) As an Experiencer is influenced by a state (or an event), it may be confused with a Patient or even with an Agent (when an action coincides with experience) Beneficiary The secondary participant (always animate) that make gains from a certain event A Beneficiary should not be confused with a Patient that is the principal participant Recipient The objective (always animate) of an event that is connected with a transfer A recipient may perform a role of an Agent in such a sentence as â€Å"Father took a strange envelop from Jack† As is shown in Table 2, there are no definite borders among semantic roles; actually, every role may perform different functions in a sentence (Parsons, 1990), and the lack of an integrated structure complicates the analysis. The occurred intricacies can be explained by the fact that any semantic category is based on concepts of subjectivity rather than concepts of objectivity (Knott Sanders, 1998). For example, the word bookcase consists of certain letters and sounds, so it can not be attributed merely to an object. As words and meanings are acquired from a particular social, cultural and linguistic realm (Peregrin, 2003), the relations among all parts of speech are casual, but not natural. Therefore, semantic categories differ not only among members of various societies, but also among people of the same society. For instance, in two utterances Julia prepared bath for Jill and Julia prepared Jill a bath there are certain semantic roles that may be interpreted either as similar or as different. In the first utterance Julia is an Agent and Jill is a Recipient, while in the second utterance

Paradise Lost Essay -- Literary Analysis, Bible, Adam and Eve, God

In Milton’s Paradise Lost, before the fall Adam and Eve live in harmony with one another, enjoy the provisions and comforts of nature, and have a direct relationship with God and the angels. Unimpeded with conflict, they live in innocence, working not out of necessity but to make their home beautiful, speaking not to clear up misunderstanding but for the pleasure of it, and anticipating a time when they will rise up to the order of angels and be favoured with a closer communion with God. The fall changes all this. Everything becomes more separated, more differentiated: there grows a distance between Adam and Eve, they can understand each other less and they argue more; nature is no longer harmonious but rather something to be wrestled and toiled with; what was once pleasurable and innocent might now be incontinent and evil; God and the angels no more indulge humankind with friendship and discourse but distance themselves and become almost inaccessible. Adam and Eve, raised on innocence and pleasure alone, have to learn how to live in this new world where nature is mutually incompatible with God. The first thing Adam is taught is how to reason morally. Michael spends a lot of time showing Adam the image of death, lust, greed, disease, and other vices that are now to be a part of his world. When shown the image of lascivious festivities, Adam says â€Å"Much better seems this Vision, and more hope / Of peaceful days portends [†¦] Here Nature seems fulfilled in all her ends† (11.599-602). Adam is accustomed to the pleasures of paradise, and this idyllic scene reminds him of the times he enjoyed feasting with Raphael and sleeping with Eve. He believes that sex, once the pleasing and natural nightly activity, is still to be thought as such.... ...ey are now differentiated and divided. Once they shared in their labours, now they are given different roles; Eve is told to bear children and Adam to work the earth for sustenance. Adam and Eve are now to live divided in a world from which God has distanced himself, and in consequence they are distanced from Him as well. In the invocation of Book 9, the narrator said that prior to the fall God would sit indulgent with humankind, â€Å"permitting him the while / Venial discourse unblamed† (9.4-5). Now the discourse with heaven is no longer be unblamed. The lessons given by Michael stand in contrast to those of Raphael as much colder and formal; Raphael would sit with Adam and Eve and partake in their meal, while Michael stands with full armour and lectures Adam. Michael also criticizes Adam’s judgment on numerous occasions, correcting him for misguided interpretation.

Laughter Is the Best Medicine Essay

I. Introduction A. Humour has good healing power and it is good for you. B. Dr. Lee Berk and fellow researcher Dr. Stanley Tan of Loma Linda University in California have been studying the effects of laughter on the immune system. C. To date their published studies have shown that laughing lowers blood pressure, reduces stress hormones, increases muscle flexion, and boosts immune function by raising levels of infection-fighting T-cells, disease-fighting proteins called Gamma-interferon and B-cells, which produce disease-destroying antibodies. D. Laughter also triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers, and produces a general sense of well-being. E. Laughter is the best medicine. II. Body see more:laughter is the best medicine article A. Laughter activates the Immune System. 1. First sub point a. In their study, the physiological response produced by belly laughter was opposite of what is seen in classical stress, supporting the conclusion that mirthful laughter is a eustress state — a state that produces healthy or positive emotions. Research results indicate that, after exposure to humor, there is a general increase in activity within the immune system. b. An increase in gamma interferon, which tells various components of the immune system to â€Å"turn on.† c. An increase in the number and activity level of natural killer cells that attack viral infected cells and some types of cancer and tumor cells. d. An increase in activated T cells (T lymphocytes). There are many T cells that await activation. Laughter appears to tell the immune system to â€Å"turn it up a notch.† e. An increase in the antibody IgA (immunoglobulin A), which fights upper respiratory tract insults and infections. f. An increase in IgB, the immunoglobulin produced in the greatest quantity in body, as well as an increase in Complement 3, which helps antibodies to pierce dysfunctional or infected cells. The increase in both substances was not only present while subjects watched a humor video; there also was a lingering effect that continued to show increased levels the next day. B. Laughter decreases â€Å"stress† hormones. 2. First sub point a. The results of the study also supported research indicating a general decrease in stress hormones that constrict blood vessels and suppress immune activity. These were shown to decrease in the study group exposed to humor. b. Laughing is aerobic, providing a workout for the diaphragm and increasing the body’s ability to use oxygen. c. Laughter brings in positive emotions that can enhance – not replace — conventional treatments. d. Hence it is another tool available to help fight the disease. Experts believe that, when used as an adjunct to conventional care, laughter can reduce pain and aid the healing process. For one thing, laughter offers a powerful distraction from pain. e. In a study published in the Journal of Holistic Nursing, patients were told one-liners after surgery and before painful medication were administered. Those exposed to humor perceived less pain when compared to patients who didn’t get a dose of humor as part of their therapy. Perh aps, the biggest benefit of laughter is that it is free and has no known negative side effects. III. Conclusion A. Many of us feel awkward in joking in front of terminally ill patients. Many may even consider it inappropriate or insensitive. However, it has been known scientifically that the best thing you can do to your friends is to provide a humorous environment and let them â€Å"forget† about their condition. Sitting and feeling sorry for their condition will not help them much. B. Laughter really is the best medicine. Sources: * http://www.holisticonline.com/Humor_Therapy/humor_therapy_benefits.htm * ————————————————- Top of Form

Mobile Phone Life Cycle

Samsung Electronics is a semiconductor mobile phone and mobile phone component manufacturer. It exists in the most dynamic end of the consumer product industry. It cannot succeed without continuous incremental improvement and without constantly updating its product portfolio. The product life cycle for its premium product the Samsung galaxy S3 is estimated to be only 9 months. This occurs because customers withhold purchasing a product for which they know is going to be updated and replaced imminently.Samsung is a conglomerate in multiple markets, with the main profit centres being mobile telecommunications and information technology manufacturing. Samsung has posted record profits in its most recent financial quarter. Samsung is a dynamic but reactionary company; it emulates innovations by other manufacturers such as Apple but it operates in a marketplace where such things are common. It manufactures components for most other manufacturers of mobiles tablets and PCs. Samsung has an adversarial relationship with Apple who is Samsung’s both Samsung’s main competitor in mobile telephony and one of its biggest customer’s.Samsung has an advantage over Apple at present in that it has the infrastructure and dynamic capability to manufacture the components required. This leaves its main rival Apple requiring Samsung’s co-operation. Samsung is seeking to increase the price which it charges Apple. Strategically this is a wise option as switching costs for Apple essentially having to retool its entire operating network and refresh its product’s. Samsung is a company that prefers to grow organically. It has been suggested that the firm engage in a purchase of Blackberry maker Research in Motion. This would be characterised as a defensive acquisition.It would be merely adding to its portfolio of assets and gaining ownership of a mobile operating system. Currently it licences the Android from Google. Samsung has a strong diverse product po rtfolio and is capable of competing in numerous markets from the low end smartphones to the Premium Galaxy range; Samsung has a product for every possible price point. Samsung partners with other providers and builds phones and other devices for them such as the Google Chrome book. In an industry where there are numerous rivals and whereby Product Life Cycles are becoming progressively shorter.Samsung has an advantage in that as a semiconductor manufacturer it can respond to changes in the market dynamic quicker. A disadvantage for Samsung is that is does not have the same prestige as Apple and therefore cannot charge such premiums for its products. Samsung has to offer more at a lower price point than Apple does for its competing products. Samsung’s flagship Galaxy Range has 2 rivals for Apples iPhone the Galaxy S3 and the Galaxy NOTE 2. These combined even though they are of similar quality and differentiated towards different market segments than the iPhone 5 sales are sti ll less than Apple.Could Samsung drop the Samsung nomenclature and market its high end models as Galaxy? This could enhance the appeal of the high end premium line. In the technology business Samsung is a rare beast in that it rarely makes acquisitions. Very few technology acquisitions are deliberately earnings generative. Facebook buying Instagram and Microsoft buying Skype are considered to be primarily defensive plays to enhance and protect certain advantages each of these companies had. Samsung could purchase a rival chip maker, though logistically and practically there would be little point in doing so.Another concept potentially to consider would be merging with Google to create an all in one hardware and software company. While logistically this would be the ultimate defensive move by both sides, it would be very difficult integrating the different business cultures it would probably mean that Samsung would have to move its headquarters to the U. S. A. A merger to companies t hat are on friendly terms as it is would certainly produce synergies in financing, but as they both maintain large cash piles that are increasing every quarter it doesn’t seem that the risk would be worth it.Another option for Samsung would be Nokia this would give Samsung 30 per cent of all the patents for 4G networks which would give the firm a significant royalty stream from every 4G enabled phone worldwide over the next 8 to 10 years which is the expected length that 4G will remain as the most modern network. Samsung will however be paying for a brand name and significantly weak company . It would also have to fend off rumoured interest from Microsoft. It would be a costly acquisition at 30 billion dollars given the Market Capitalisation of Nokia today and the required premium with which would be required to be successful.Samsung could use its partnership with Renault Nissan in the automotive industry to create a suite of products automatically synchronised with the car. This would be similar enough the Tesla Model S. While this is a left-field suggestion it is leveraging assets that Samsung already has and utilising it in order to serve its main Profitable arm. This allows the firm to gain a competitive advantage over its main rival Apple. The struggling Nippon-French automobile manufacturing partnership might also be receptive to an outright takeover by Samsung.Samsung has heretofore been a trend follower, albeit a very adept and nimble one. It hasn’t necessarily been the most innovative company, however with product life cycles getting consistently smaller and the competition which Samsung faces at all ends of the market from the low end to very top is also getting more innovative. Samsung is one of only a small number of companies that could redefine the market. It already produces Smart TVs in large quantities. It could start selling phones laptops and tablets TVs in large bulk quantities by already pre synchronising them for customers.I ts steps like this that will put it ahead of its main rival Apple which is rumoured to be introducing a television that is expected to permanently alter viewing experience. In order to successfully manage this transition Samsung would have to be ahead in the U. S. A first and foremost. Gaining access to material is what blocked Apples entry into this new market. Aggressively Samsung could purchase a cable company or Netflix and control this content for itself, gaining such an imperative competitive advantage.Samsung if it wanted to be aggressive could stop supplying Apple severely hampering its main rival’s operations while aggressively increasing market share elsewhere by undercutting Apple. Another strategy would be to introduce a phone that would have enhanced abilities i. e. a class above its premium Galaxy range and equivalent iPhone 5 and Google Nexus 5. This would entrap Apple in a Pincer movement that would allow Samsung to be effectively the supplier of the latest ac cessory mobile phone, which at present is the iPhone 5 rather than the equivalent S3 and Note 2.The other strategy is to remain second the mobile phone market and a distant competitor to Apple in the Tablet market, this is the most conservative option and requires the least capital outlay, however it risks being overtaken in the same way Nokia was. In the technology market an aggressive approach would be beneficial, but as the relationship between Google and Samsung is seen as quite good the optimal strategy would be to jointly design products that would create a short term monopoly , such things exist in a world where second best is very often a distant second.Utilising inherent dynamic capabilities it was Apple who was playing catch up to the S3 and Note 2 but the iPhone 5 is outselling both products collectively, this could be because of the inertia derived from being introduced to a particular eco-system, in this way Apple has a first mover advantage in that it has a lot of loya l clients. Samsung primarily operates on Google’s Android operating system which is compatible with other Android users such as HTC and LG. At present Android has 68% of the market but the high margin clients have primarily tended to purchase Apple products.This is an issue that is only further compounded by time. In order to overcome this Samsung would have to be overly aggressive on a pricing strategy for a phone that would be significantly more advanced than its predecessors and its rivals. Samsung Electronics as a whole is a diversified technology company that should continue to grow unless it commit’s the cardinal sin of failing to innovate. It is a buy but it will have to alter its practices if it wants to surpass Apple’s profitability. S. Decker, 2012 Samsung Gets Review of Loss to Apple in U.S. Patent Case http://www. businessweek. com/news/2012-11-19/samsung-gets-review-of-loss-to-apple-in-u-dot-s-dot-patent-case Last Accessed 20/11/12 11. 25 http://www . investopedia. com/terms/d/defensiveacquisition. asp#axzz2ClJTl2OX Last Accessed 20/11/12 11. 30 Sam Grobart, 2012 Samsung's Four (Easy) Steps to Mobile Dominance http://www. businessweek. com/articles/2012-11-19/samsungs-four-easy-steps-to-mobile-dominance Last Accessed 20/11/12 11. 30 Samsung Annual Report 2011