Free Essays on Instinct Or Free Will

, what they do is not explainable solely by references to factors that have influenced them. My thesis then, is that human beings are able to cause their own actions and they are therefore responsible for what they do. In a basic sense we are all original actors capable of making moves in the world. We are initiators of our own behavior. The first matter to be noted is that this view is in no way in contradiction to science. Free will is a natural phenomenon, something that emerged in nature with the emergence of human beings, with their kinds of minds, minds that can think and be aware of their own thinking. Nature is complicated. It includes many different sorts of things and one of these is human beings. Such beings exhibit one unique yet natural attribute that others things apparently do not- that is free will. A reason why some think that free will is not possible is because many believe that the only way we know about nature is from observations that we collect. Since observation can not give us a justification of free will, it is easy to think that there isn’t any such thing. Free will may not be something that we can see directly, but what best explains what we do see in human life. This may include, for example, the mistakes that human beings make in contrast to the few mistakes that other animals make. We also notice that human beings do all kinds of odd things that cannot be accounted for. We can examine a person’s background and find that some people with bad childhoods turn out to be decent, and vise versa. Free will comes as a very helpful explanation of this. Another matter that might count against free will is that the beings in nature do not exhibit free will. Dogs, lizards, fish... Free Essays on Instinct Or Free Will Free Essays on Instinct Or Free Will Free Will- A Matter of Perspective I want to argue that there is indeed free will. In order to defend the position that free will means that human beings can cause some of what they do on their own; in other words, what they do is not explainable solely by references to factors that have influenced them. My thesis then, is that human beings are able to cause their own actions and they are therefore responsible for what they do. In a basic sense we are all original actors capable of making moves in the world. We are initiators of our own behavior. The first matter to be noted is that this view is in no way in contradiction to science. Free will is a natural phenomenon, something that emerged in nature with the emergence of human beings, with their kinds of minds, minds that can think and be aware of their own thinking. Nature is complicated. It includes many different sorts of things and one of these is human beings. Such beings exhibit one unique yet natural attribute that others things apparently do not- that is free will. A reason why some think that free will is not possible is because many believe that the only way we know about nature is from observations that we collect. Since observation can not give us a justification of free will, it is easy to think that there isn’t any such thing. Free will may not be something that we can see directly, but what best explains what we do see in human life. This may include, for example, the mistakes that human beings make in contrast to the few mistakes that other animals make. We also notice that human beings do all kinds of odd things that cannot be accounted for. We can examine a person’s background and find that some people with bad childhoods turn out to be decent, and vise versa. Free will comes as a very helpful explanation of this. Another matter that might count against free will is that the beings in nature do not exhibit free will. Dogs, lizards, fish...

Definition of the Preterite Tense in Spanish

Definition of the Preterite Tense in Spanish Definition of the Preterite Tense The preterite (often spelled preterit) verb tense is the tense that expresses an action that took  place at a definite time in the past. It is contrasted with the imperfect tense, which expresses an action that took place at an indefinite time or has not been completed. The preterite is the tense that would normally be thought of as the past tense in English. The preterite is also known as the simple past tense in English and as the pretà ©rito indefinido or pretà ©rito perfecto simple in Spanish. When To Use the Preterite In general, the preterite is used in referring to events that happened at a specific time or to repeated events that happened over a specific time. A simple example would be Ayer yo buscaba las llaves (I looked for the keys yesterday) because the event happened at a specific time. If youre talking about something that didnt occur at a particular time, you usually would use the imperfect tense. For example, you might say, Yo buscaba las llaves en todas partes (I looked for the keys everywhere), as its unspecified when you did the searching. Some Spanish words and phrases, sometimes known as indicators, always or nearly always are used with the preterite. Among the common ones: anoche (last night)anteayer (the day before yesterday)h3Miscellaneous Facts About the Preterite/h3el aà ±o pasado (last year)ayer (yesterday)hace _____ (_____ ago)el mes pasado (last month)el otro dà ­a (the other day)la semana pasada (last week) Conjugation of the Preterite Here are the regular  conjugations  for the preterite  -ar,  -er, and  -ir  verbs. The endings, added to the verb stems, are shown in boldface: Example  -ar  verb  cantar  (to sing): yo cantà ©Ã‚  (I sang)tà º cantaste  (you sang)usted/à ©l/ella cantà ³Ã‚  (you/he/she/it sang)nosotros/nosotras cantamos  (we sang)vosotros/vosotras cantasteis  (you sang)ustedes/ellos/ellas cantaron  (you/they sang) Example  -er  verb  temer  (to fear): yo temà ­Ã‚  (I feared)tà º temiste  (you feared)usted/à ©l/ella temià ³Ã‚  (you/he/she/it feared)nosotros/nosotras temimos  (we feared)vosotros/vosotras temisteis  (you feared)ustedes/ellos/ellas temieron  (you/they feared) Example  -ir  verb  partir  (to divide): yo partà ­Ã‚  (I divided)tà º partiste  (you divided)usted/à ©l/ella partià ³Ã‚  (you/he/she/it divided)nosotros/nosotras partimos  (we divided)vosotros/vosotras partisteis  (you divided)ustedes/ellos/ellas partieron  (you/they divided) Note that in the first-person plural or we forms, the forms are the same for both the  present  and imperfect tenses. In other words,  cantamos  can mean either we sing or we sang. Context will nearly always tell you which translation is appropriate. Sample Sentences Using the Preterite Pablo me hablà ³. (Pablo spoke to me.) Ana escribià ³ la carta. (Ana wrote the letter). Hace dos aà ±os fuimos a Nueva Zelanda. (Two years ago we went to New Zealand.) Se se cayà ³ tu celular al agua y no sabes que hacer, no desesperes. (If your cellphone fell into the water and you dont know what to do, dont worry.) Se puso el sol. (The sun set.) Compraron dos respiradores para el hospital. (They bought two respirators for the hospital.) El aà ± aà ±o pasado, esperamos las lluvias, pero nunca llegaron. (Last year we expected the rains, but they never came.) Anteayer estudiamos la epidemia de Barcelona de 1821. (The day before yesterday we studied the 1821 Barcelona epidemic. Note that without anteayear, the sentence would be ambiguous as to whether the studying occurred in the past or is currently taking place.) Ayear  fui el mejor dà ­a de mi vida. (Yesterday  was the best day of my life.) Mirà © a la derecha y ella mirà ³ a la izquierda. (I looked to the right and she looked to the left.)   Miscellaneous Facts About Using the Preterite The preterite is nearly always used in discussing events that happened only one time. El concierto fue un à ©xito. (The concert was a success.) One use of the preterite is to indicate that a process has become complete. La estudiante alcanzà ³ el tà ­tulo de campeà ³n. (The student took  the title of champion.) The preterite can also be used to indicate the beginning of a process: Guillermo conocà ­ a mi madre. (Guillermo met my mother. Note that conocer can mean to know or to meet. The translation of met is used because it refers to the moment that the two people began to know each other.)Tuve el coche perfecto. (I got the perfect car. If you used the imperfect form, tenà ­a, the verb would indicate ownership of the car rather than the obtaining of it.)

The US Presidency Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The US Presidency - Essay Example Article II of the US Constitution assigns the President the responsibility of appointing diplomatic officers, regulatory officers, judicial officers, maintaining relations with the foreign powers, the implementation of federal law along with all the executive powers. The President enjoys the immunity to grant pardon, freedom and amnesty above judicial decisions and can call upon or suspend both houses of the Congress under special circumstances. Ever since the birth of the United States of America, the president’s power has increased multiple times and from being a president who used to veto or sign congressionally passed bills, it has given him the power to dictate policies and pass both domestic and foreign laws (US Department of State). The president of US is elected through the Electoral College by the people for a four-year term. The Constitution of United States disallows anyone from being elected for the third full term. From the foundation of United States to this day, 43 men have served for 55 four-year terms as the President of US. The current President Mr. Barack Obama1 was elected the 44th president on 20th January 2009. Chief of the State has to be an inspiring personality for the nation. He has the duty to stand for morals and ideas of the country. People honor the President and he has to be a living symbol for the nation. In this role, the president has to deal with the diplomatic and foreign relations with other countries of the world. With the help of diplomats and ambassadors around the globe, president devises the foreign policy. Here president is in charge of US marines, Air forces, Land forces and Navy. The president is responsible for deciding the allocation of budget, weapons and location of the troops. Military heads take direct orders from the president. Congress is the law making body, but the president enjoys the power to advocate Congress for passing new bills and reject the ones that do not favor. In this

Marketing Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Marketing Paper - Essay Example This is because as a potential customer, one desires to feel valued by the sender/company. An indicator of how much a company values its targeted clients is when it has exerted effort on getting correct details regarding the customer. Furthermore, addressing potential customers by their complete name adds the personal touch to the sales method that is often appreciated by the client. In line with rules of etiquette, getting customer details precisely signifies respect towards the recipient of the mail. In both cases, it is highly probable that I would purchase these products. Given my preference for convenience in handling my finances, I opt to use multiple credit cards for various purposes since I am pre-occupied with studies among other things. Thus, it is much easier for me to settle my bills through credit card and at the same time have funds on hand for my purchases. On the other hand, I have not come to the point of demanding pre-need plans and other insurance products. Probably in the near future I will realize the value of securing my future, my possession, and my loved-ones. For the meantime, I have not identified this product as a need. In this regard, I have not availed of life or medical insurance. The professional-looking promotional materials from the companies caught my attention since they, in a way, stand out from the rest of my mails. Apart from this, the catchy taglines printed on the elegantly designed envelopes have aroused my curiosity and persuaded me to open their solicitation. The mails looked promising and I felt that I might be mission on a perk or benefit that these companies offer if I failed to open the solicitation. 5. What differences or similarities do these companies use to try to make you buy the product Both companies offered tempting promos that go with purchasing their products. The difference lies in their approach. For instance, the credit card company was offering a chance to win a vacation package to a tropical paradise if I decide to avail of the credit card. On the other hand, the insurance company was granting substantial discount for the early birds who would purchase their insurance product package. Another difference is that the credit card company also had telemarketers to contact me shortly after I received the solicitation. In contrast, the insurance company provided an email address that I could write to in order to express my interest to have the brochure sent and its salesperson to get in touch with me. 6. What suggestions would you make to improve these direct mail pieces to have the consumer open them / have the consumer respond To have the consumer open the direct mails, these companies may consider offering freebies like small souvenir items or mailing the complete promotional kit that may perk up customer interest along with

Three Main Problems in the Middle East Essay Example for Free

Three Main Problems in the Middle East Essay The Middle East, as the West calls the Islamic region in Southwestern Asian continent, had been the focus of many recent studies. The region’s key role in shaping global economy and politics could be the main reasons why the Middle East became so intriguing within the circles of academic debates, political policies and other similar venues. News from this region usually carries banner stories of suicide bombings, wars, terrorism and similarly outrageous reportage.   Thus, Middle East was portrayed to the public as land or chaos, tyranny and intricate conspiracies and violence. Although the Middle East has a rich history of its people, culture and political sovereignty, it had long been disregarded especially that the focus of most historiography and social sciences are on the Western civilizations. . Throughout the course of societal evolutions, the Middle East had always been portrayed as the villain and the West so often portrayed as the arbiter and the good guys in wars and other social turmoil that happened in the region for the past centuries. Despite numerous attempts to deeply probe into the secrets of the region, the Islamic world had always been subjected to the probing eyes of the global community. It had long been misunderstood, maybe because of ignorance to the real situation in the Middle East that, that this part of the world is ‘no man’s land’ because of terrorism and tyrants which the Western powers so despise.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hence, the dilemma that world faces regarding the situation in the Middle East is a problem caused by ignorance of the historical background which had molded the region’s economic, political and cultural dynamism. On the outside it could be viewed as a static block of nation-states, firmly anchored on Islamist fanaticism but much like any other country, the people are waging a struggle in various ways possible to change the existing order. This paper aims to break the notion that the Islamic Middle East is a rigid desert of ideological uniformity (Beinin Stork 7). Often that terrorism was linked to Islamic doctrines since the United States waged its global war on terror. Arbitrarily, the policies that sought to counter terrorism were not really directed to the ultimate cessation     of terrorism as a tool for anarchic ends but were effectively used to control the economic and political life of the countries in this region. It was effectively manipulated that from the true circumspection of terrorist movements the attention was diverted to superficial issues that were less likely to resolve the conflict, both external and internal.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The lack of unity of the Middle Eastern nations can be viewed as one of the reasons why this region is continually deprived of West-defined peace and stability. One possible answer is that Western powers have greatly profited from the absence of a uniting factor among Muslim neighbors. Though almost all of these Muslim nations had laws and forms of government highly adhesive to religious thought, there were still varied interpretations in the context of ‘religious’ approaches to state affairs, not to   mention the sectarian divisions within Islam. Take Iran and Iraq for example. Although there were reasons for the war between these two nations in 1980’s, the sectarian differences of the two nations have greatly affected the course of the war for domination of the Persian Gulf (Moghadam 136-138). The Islamic nations were divided by certain issues that had created a vast misunderstanding among themselves. The dilemma brought by secularist ideas caused the rifts between and among governments to worsen. Islam was at the very first of this dilemma. Its nature had long been argued, whether it is a religion or a civilization. The answer to this question however is not on the religious aspect itself but on the political side of the. Islam’s definition is a matter of political refinement that was effectively sown to disarray the focus of scholars in finding the answer to the question of why Islamic militancy, radicalism and fundamentalism (Filali-Ansary 196-197).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the centuries that have passed, nationalism was developed in the Middle East due to external threats, especially those that was posed by Western colonial powers. Nationalism in other nations such as Turkey and Iran went far beyond the limits of nationhood. At some point during Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and Shah Pahlavi’s reign, touched even the religious aspect of the nation such that they even used military force to impose a â€Å"Western† concept of nationhood, one which is secular (Hashemi 168). However, through the decades, Islamic modernism had been witnessed which broadened the spectrum for political commonality. These types of deviation from the Islamic codification and norms among Islamic societies were the start of a somewhat â€Å"betrayal† of the Islamic chord.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Those countries that have embraced westernization were isolated from the Islamic fundamentalist section of the Muslim nations. Such embrace of the infidel’s culture was to them a desecration of the Islamic customs. If history will be reviewed this divisions were more of cultural in essence. For hundreds of years, the Islamic states turn against each other for subjugation. The Ottomans annexed Egypt and many other nations in the Mediterranean belt. This display of hostility towards each other became vital in the ferment of suspicion between each nation (Moaddel 128-129). The dilemma of the forming a single political force cannot be only be blamed on the religious aspects of the society but also of foreign control and domination. The vast oilfields of the region had been enticing for Western powers so that they supported some regimes and made use of tactical alliances during the Soviet annexation of Afghanistan in the 80’s. The House of Saud of Saudi Arabia for example had strong ties to European regimes since many of these regimes have economic interests in the region (Beinin Stork 4).   This had been aggravated by the current developments in world politics directly concerning the region. The terror hysteria and the subsequent wars thereafter grappled Afghanistan and Iraq further divided the Islamic world. Regimes friendly to the United States were caught in the middle of the squabble. George W. Bush’s pronouncements in the onset of the war on terror forced these regimes to support the anti-terror war lest they would be ‘with the terrorists.’ Such actions were explicitly influential in the polarization of the Middle East. Samuel Huntington was quoted on the exact description of the implications of this event: â€Å"On the other hand, the â€Å"clash of civilizations† thesis resurfaces and reverberates. Even though many refused Samuel Huntington’s thesis for its simplistic and essentialist depiction of cultures and cultural interaction, his conceptual framework proved its resilience, particularly with the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Islam quickly became the inscrutable, violent, and intractable Other, a threat to liberal democratic values† (Arat 2). The rationale of the war on terror, as claimed by US propagandists, is aimed at the Islamic regimes was to promote democracy in the backward governments that are hospitable to or actually promotes terrorist organization. In countries wherein the regimes are somewhat committed to the liberal democratic ideology: â€Å"†¦some 250 million USD that USAID alone spent in the Arab world on projects and programs related to DP () certainly seems more than the negligible amount of money, this must be contrasted with the roughly one billion USD the United States appends each year in Egypt alone – on military aid for the Mubarak regime. Some observers have recently depicted the â€Å"forward strategy for freedom† in the Middle East announced by the Bush administration as a major shift from former US policies toward the region, emphasizing today the importance of democratic rule as opposed to†¦strategies based on the primacy of stability over democracy† (Schlumberger 37-38). The Middle East was an easy prey for US military campaigns primarily because of the forms of government that these nations have adopted. It was easy to claim in totalitarian regimes that these nations must be introduced to democracy and liberate the people from the clutches of Islamic dictatorships. Such was being used today in Iran in the face of nuclear weapons issue, Syria on its human rights records, and Libya on its anti-imperialist stance, while others have remained to be isolated from their people because of their failure to address the concerns of the citizens. A post- invasion Iraq have had experienced the resurgence of Islamic militancy and fundamentalism in the outset of a US-backed puppet regime. Such events even drove the conflict outside the borders of Iraq and spilled through Syria, Iran, and Egypt, only to name a few, in the name of aiding their Muslim brothers (Beinin Stork 7). It should be understood though that this politicization of Islam did not occur overnight. This could again be traced from the past centuries and decades of Western domination. The Crusades in the middle ages could even be the source of this politicization. But most notably, this politicization was most effectively utilized by the US against the Soviet Union in the 80’s during the Afghan war. After the Afghan war these radicalized freedom fighters were transformed into terrorist groups and from then on political Islam has been interchanged with fundamentalism, militant Islamic movements and the like to directly associate genuine liberation movements to terrorism and downplay the legitimate issues raised by these groups (Beinin Stork 5). Both served the US in ridding it of its enemies and protecting its allied regimes against internal liberation movements. The question now arises whether democracy would be possible in Islamic societies. Some do believe. It is said that these societies were torn into two governing laws. One of those is Islamic or the shari’a and the other, secular. There had been stressed points that states that these governments, though harboring the Islamic hierarchy of powers still consider a ‘consultative’ form of governing, thus a democratic interaction among the ruler and ruled (Filali-Ansary 200).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What is unique in the Middle East is that in order to reinstate the Islamic laws as the supreme judicial system is through revolution which has happened in Iran. Such was the perceptions in the Middle East that women, as a part of the revolutionary process, were restricted. However: â€Å"In Iran as of 1994, 30 percent of government employees were women, and 40 percent of university students were women, up from 12 percent in 1978. In the past few decades, women have thus made significant, but uneven, strides in the labor force†¦Hassan al-Turabi claims that women in Sudan â€Å"have played a more important role in the National Islamic Front than men recently† in all aspects of party, in Parliament, and as ministers and judges. Segregation is definitely not a part of Islam.[though his claims in Sudan are disputed]†¦it is clear that women elsewhere in the Muslim World –Morocco, Jordan, Egypt†¦Turkey – do hold political office† (Eickelmann and Piscatori 95) Within this basis one could assert initially that women are not bound to the patriarchal society, but in order to truly say that women have had complete freedom, would rest on the cultural and religious aspects of the society. But along with these concerns the forces of democratization have failed to touch the issues on gender. This issue in the Middle Eastern nations had been raising a movement by women who had, despite the conflicts that the patriarchal regimes fight, lack in total consideration of the women (Moghadam 139). Regimes may be considered as progressives in terms of political and economic stance but there is a difficulty in assessing whether theses same governments would consider the question on gender. Proving this may be difficult because of the religious aspect of the concern which all regimes, pro or anti-US, share. These seemingly centuries old threats to the Islamic societies from the outside caused by rifts within the regimes themselves had also been supplemented by internal difficulties which these regimes face (Dris-Ait-Hamadouche 117). Even though the states were divided by the political tensions developed by the combination of historical and contemporary Western influences, women in the Middle East are somewhat united in their fight for women’s right in the predominantly patriarchal culture of the Islamic nation. The issue of gender is completely intertwined with the issue of secularization (Nanes 113-115). Different governments were torn between allowing certain liberal manifestations of secular authority in public places and religious considerations (Najmabadi 240-241).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Seemingly, the problems of the Middle East with regards to the political and cultural aspects are not to be considered as solitary and independent of the economy. The reason that Western powers are interested in the liberal democratic conception of regimes is because of the economic interests that US has with the resource rich desserts. The only conclusive message that these events relay to us is that these were all concocted in order to divide the Islamic world and extinguish its formidable force against foreign interests especially that of US. Islamic Middle East had long been captured in that policy cage and until the resources are there, the clutches of US hegemony in the Islamic world will never loosen. Works Cited Arat, Yesim. Rethinking Islam and Liberal Democracy: Islamist Women in Turkish Politics. New York: State University of New York Press, 2005. Beinin, Joel, and Joe Stork. On the Modernity, Historical Specificity, and International Context of Political Islam.   Political Islam: Essays from Middle East Report. Eds. Joel Beinin and Joe Stork. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1997. Dris-Ait-Hamadouche, Louisa. Women in the Maghreb: Civil Societys Actors or Political Instruments? Middle East Policy 14.4 (2007). Eickelman, Dale F., and James Piscatori. The Firmest Ties and the Ties That Bind: The Politics of Family and Ethnicity.   Muslim Politics. New Jersey Filali-Ansary, Abdou. Muslims and Democracy.   Islam and Democracy in the Middle East. Eds. Larry Diamond, Marc F. Plattner and Daniel Brumberg. London: The John Hopkins University Press, 2003. Hashemi, Nader A. Islamic Fundamentalism and the Trauma of Modernization: Reflections on Religion and Radical Politics.   An Islamic Reformation? Eds. Michaelle Browers and Charles Kurzman. New York: Lexington Books. Moaddel, Mansoor. Islamic Modernism, Nationalism, and Fundamentalism: Episode and Discourse. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Moghadam, Valentine. A Tale of Two Countries: State, Society, and Gender Politics in Iran and Afghanistan. The Muslim World 94.October 2004 (2004). Moghadam, Valentine. Patriarchy in Transition: Women and the Changing Family in the Middle East. Journal of Comparative Family Studies 35.2 (2004): 137. Najmabadi, Afsaneh. Gender and Secularismhow Can a Muslim Woman Be French? Feminist Studies 32.2 (2006): 239. Nanes, Stefanie Eileen. Fighting Honor Crimes: Evidence of Civil Society in Jordan. The Middle East Journal 57.1 (2003). Schlumberger, Oliver. Dancing with Wolves: Dillemas of Democracy Promotion in Authoritarian Context.   Democratization and Development: New Political Strategies for the Middle East. Ed. Dietrich Jung. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. Princeton University Press, 1996.

Graduation Speech -- Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

Isn't it strange how princes and kings And clowns who caper in sawdust rings And common folk, like you and me Are builders for eternity. For each is given a bag of tools, A shapeless mass, and a set of rules. And each of us, a life is flown, Must either build a stumbling block or stepping stone. Builders for eternity ... what an awe-inspiring thought: That you and I not would be, nor could be, but are builders for eternity. On this day, the seventh of June 2006, at our high school graduation night, the night we say goodbye to the structured life high school offers, the night we say goodbye to friends and teachers that have impacted our lives in so many ways. This night, as we bid farewell and invite the broad, new horizon ahead of us, we must ask ourselves this: What kinds of builders will we become, and what will we build? Life is filled with endless opportunities of what we can become. Not merely as a profession, but what makes us as individuals. As we, builders for eternity, fabricate our lives from here on out as high school graduates, I hope and pray for the very best for each and every one of us; that we can all build, for ourselves, and, more importantly, others, stepping-stones. In doing this, there are three words that stand out to me to keep in mind. They all start with the letter E. The first E is for Enjoy. A band named Aerosmith said: "Life is a journey not a destination." So live it accordingly. Let us enjoy being who we are, doing those activities that excite, enliven, and motivate ourselves. It is often important and necessary to do things that are not fun, but overall, be you, someone who you will enjoy being. The second E is for Effort. "A person should do his or her job ... ... in this gymnasium this evening has these three items: A bag of God given talents, a life of time to do with what we please, and a few laws to live by when applying these talents and time. So, with these thoughts in mind, what is the challenge before us? ... And each of us, a life is flown, must either build a stumbling block or a stepping-stone. On behalf of the Humphrey graduating Class of 2006, I would like to thank the School District Board of Directors, administrators, teachers along the entire path, and any more members of the Humphrey School District staff. Also, thank you parents, families, and friends for your love and support. Congratulations Class of 2006. We made it, and have made it this far together. After tonight we take separate paths to conquer what lies before us. Let's choose our battles wisely, fight a faithful fight, and win. Thank you.

Last Sacrifice Chapter Thirty-four

I DIDN'T WAKE UP IN the world of the dead. I didn't even wake up in a hospital or some other type of medical center–which, believe me, I'd done plenty of times. No, I woke up in luxury, in a huge bedroom with gilded furniture. Heaven? Probably not with my behaviors. My canopied bed had a red- and-gold velvet comforter, thick enough to be a mattress itself. Candles flickered on a small table against the far wall and filled the room with the scent of jasmine. I had no clue where I was or how I'd gotten here, but as my last memories of pain and darkness played out in my mind, I decided the fact that I was actually breathing was good enough. â€Å"Sleeping Beauty awakens.' That voice †¦ that wonderful, honey-like voice with its soft accent. It enveloped me, and with it came the impossible truth and its full impact: I was alive. I was alive. And Dimitri was here. I couldn't see him but felt a smile come to my lips. â€Å"Are you my nurse?' I heard him get up from a chair and walk over. Seeing him stand over me like that reminded me of just how tall he truly was. He looked down at me with a smile of his own–one of those full and rare smiles. He had cleaned up since last I'd seen him, his brown hair tied neatly back behind his neck, though he hadn't shaved for a couple days. I tried to sit up, but he tsked me back. â€Å"No, no, you need to lie down.' Soreness in my chest told me he was right. My mind might be awake, but the rest of me was exhausted. I had no idea how much time had passed, but something told me my body had been fighting a battle–not with a Strigoi or anything like one, but with itself. A battle to stay alive. â€Å"Then come closer,' I told him. â€Å"I want to see you.' He considered this a moment and then kicked off his shoes. Turning on my side– which made me wince–I managed to wiggle over a little to make room near the bed's edge. He curled up beside me. Our faces rested on the same pillow, only a couple of inches apart as we gazed at each other. â€Å"Is this better?' he asked. â€Å"Much.' With his long, graceful fingers, he reached out and brushed hair from my face before tracing the edge of my cheekbone. â€Å"How are you?' â€Å"Hungry.' He laughed softly and cautiously slid his hand down to rest on my lower back, in a sort of half-embrace. â€Å"Of course you are. I think they've only managed to get broth into you so far. Well, that and IV fluids early on. You're probably in sugar withdrawal.' I cringed. I didn't like needles or tubes and was glad I hadn't been awake to see them. (Tattoo needles were a different matter.) â€Å"How long have I been out?' â€Å"A few days.' â€Å"A few days †¦' I shivered, and he tugged the covers higher on me, thinking I was cold. â€Å"I shouldn't be alive,' I whispered. Gunshots like that †¦ they were too fast, too close to my heart. Or in my heart? I put my hand to my chest. I didn't know precisely where I'd been hit. It all ached. â€Å"Oh Lord. Lissa healed me, didn't she?' It would have taken so much spirit. She shouldn't have done that. She couldn't afford to. Except †¦ why would I still feel pain? If she'd healed me, she would have gone all the way. â€Å"No, she didn't heal you.' â€Å"No?' I frowned, unable to process that. How else would I have survived? A surprising answer came to mind. â€Å"Then †¦ Adrian? He'd never †¦ after how I treated him †¦ no. He couldn't have †¦' â€Å"What, you think he'd let you die?' I didn't answer. The bullets might be long gone, but thinking of Adrian still made my heart–figuratively–ache. â€Å"No matter how he feels †¦' Dimitri hesitated. This was a delicate topic, after all. â€Å"Well, he wouldn't have let you die. He wanted to heal you. But he didn't either.' I felt bad for thinking so little of Adrian. Dimitri was right. Adrian never would have abandoned me out of spite, but I was rapidly running out of options here. â€Å"Then who? Sonya?' â€Å"No one,' he said simply. â€Å"Well, you, I suppose.' â€Å"I †¦ what?' â€Å"People can heal without magic now and then, Rose.' There was amusement in his voice, though his face stayed sober. â€Å"And your wounds †¦ they were bad. No one thought you'd survive. You went into surgery, and then we all just waited.' â€Å"But why †¦' I felt very arrogant, asking the next question. â€Å"Why didn't Adrian or Lissa heal me?' â€Å"Oh, they wanted to, believe me. But in the aftermath, in the chaos †¦ the Court went under lockdown. They were both taken away and put under heavy protection before they could act. No one would let them near you, not when they still thought you might be a murderer. They had to be certain about Tasha first, even though her own actions were pretty damning.' It took me a moment to get past the idea that modern medicine and my body's own stamina had healed me. I'd grown too used to spirit. This didn't seem possible. As I tried to wrap my mind around the concept, the rest of Dimitri's meaning hit me. â€Å"Is Tasha †¦ still alive?' His face fell even more. â€Å"Yes. They caught her right after she shot you–before anyone else got hurt. She's detained, and more evidence has been coming in.' â€Å"Calling her out was one of the hardest things I've ever done,' I said. â€Å"Fighting Strigoi was easier than that.' â€Å"I know. It was hard for me to see, hard for me to believe.' There was a far-off look in his eyes, reminding me that Dimitri had known her longer than he'd known me. â€Å"But she made her choices, and all the charges against you have been dropped. You're a free woman now. More than that. A hero. Abe's bragging that it's all his doing.' That brought my smile back. â€Å"Of course he is. I'll probably get a bill from him soon.' I felt dizzy with both joy and astonishment. A free woman. I'd been burdened with accusations and a death sentence for what felt like years, and now †¦ now it had all disappeared. Dimitri laughed, and I wanted to stay like this forever, just the two of us, sweet and unguarded. Well–maybe not exactly this. I could've done without the pain and thick bandages I felt on my chest. He and I had had so few times alone, moments when we could really relax and openly acknowledge being in love. Things had only begun to mend between us at the end there †¦ and it had almost been too late. It might still be. â€Å"So what now?' I asked. â€Å"I'm not sure.' He rested his cheek against my forehead. â€Å"I'm just so glad †¦ so glad you're alive. I've been so close to losing you so many times. When I saw you on the floor, and there was so much commotion and confusion †¦ I felt so helpless. I realized you were right. We waste our lives with guilt and self-loathing. When you looked at me there at the end †¦ I saw it. You did love me.' â€Å"You doubted?' I meant the words jokingly, but they came out sounding offended. Maybe I was, a little. I'd told him I loved him plenty of times. â€Å"No. I mean, I knew then that you didn't just love me. I realized you really had forgiven me.' â€Å"There was nothing to forgive, not really.' I'd told him that before too. â€Å"I've always believed there was.' He pulled back and looked at me again. â€Å"And that's what was holding me back. No matter what you said, I just couldn't believe it †¦ couldn't believe you would forgive all the things I did to you in Siberia and after Lissa healed me. I thought you were deluding yourself.' â€Å"Well. It wouldn't be the first time I've done that. But no, this time I wasn't.' â€Å"I know, and with that revelation †¦ in that split second that I knew you forgave me and that I really had your love, I was finally able to forgive myself too. All those burdens, those ties to the past †¦ they went away. It was like †¦' â€Å"Being free? Flying?' â€Å"Yes. Except †¦ it came too late. This sounds crazy, but while I was looking down at you, having all these thoughts coming together in my head, it was like †¦ like I could see death's hand reaching for you. And there was nothing I could do. I was powerless. I couldn't help.' â€Å"You did,' I told him. â€Å"The last things I saw before blacking out were you and Lissa.' Well, besides the skeletal faces, but mentioning that would have killed this romantic moment. â€Å"I don't know how I survived getting shot, how I beat the odds †¦ but I'm pretty sure your love–both of you–gave me the strength to fight through. I had to get back to you guys. God only knows what trouble you'd get into without me.' Dimitri had no words for that and answered instead by bringing his mouth to mine. We kissed, lightly at first, and the sweetness of the moment overpowered any pain I felt. The intensity had just barely picked up when he pulled away. â€Å"Hey, what gives?' I asked. â€Å"You're still recovering,' he chastised. â€Å"You might think you're back to normal, but you aren't.' â€Å"This is normal for me. And you know, I thought with all this freedom and self- discovery and expression of our love stuff that we could finally stop with the whole Zen master wisdom and practical advice crap.' This got me an outright grin. â€Å"Roza, that's not going to happen. Take it or leave it.' I pressed a kiss to his lips. â€Å"If it means getting you, I'll take it.' I wanted to kiss him again and prove who really did have greater self-control, but that damned thing called reality set in. â€Å"Dimitri †¦ for real, what happens to us?' â€Å"Life,' he said easily. â€Å"It goes on. We go on. We're guardians. We protect and maybe change our world.' â€Å"No pressure,' I remarked. â€Å"But what's the â€Å"we' and â€Å"guardians' part? I was pretty sure we were out of that career path.' â€Å"Mmm.' He cupped my face, and I thought he might try another kiss. I hoped he would. â€Å"Along with our pardons, we received our guardian status again.' â€Å"Even you? They believe you're not a Strigoi?' I exclaimed. He nodded. â€Å"Huh. Even if I got my name cleared, my ideal future was that we'd get filing jobs near each other.' Dimitri moved closer to me, his eyes sparkling with a secret. â€Å"It gets better: you're Lissa's guardian.' â€Å"What?' I almost pulled away. â€Å"That's impossible. They'd never †¦' â€Å"They did. She'll have others, so they probably figured it was okay to let you hang around if someone else could keep you in line,' he teased. â€Å"You're not †¦' A lump formed in my stomach, a reminder of a problem that had plagued us so long ago. â€Å"You're not one of her guardians too, are you?' It had constantly been a concern, that conflict of interest. I wanted him near me. Always. But how could we watch Lissa and put her safety first if we were worried about each other? The past was returning to torment us. â€Å"No, I have a different assignment.' â€Å"Oh.' For some reason, that made me a little sad too, even though I knew it was the smarter choice. â€Å"I'm Christian's guardian.' This time I did sit up, doctor's orders or no. Stitches tugged in my chest, but I ignored the sharp discomfort. â€Å"But that's †¦ that's practically the same thing!' Dimitri sat up too and seemed to be enjoying my shock, which was really kind of cruel, seeing as I'd almost died and everything. â€Å"A little. But they won't be together every moment, especially with her going to Lehigh. He's not going †¦ but they'll keep coming back to each other. And when they do, so will we. It's a good mix. Besides †¦' He grew serious again. â€Å"I think you've proved to everyone that you're willing to put her life first.' I shook my head. â€Å"Yeah, but no one was shooting at you. Only her.' I said it lightly, but it did make me wonder: what would I do if they were both in trouble?Trust him, a voice in my head said. Trust him to take care of himself. He'll do the same for you. I eyed Dimitri, recalling a shadow in my periphery back in the ballroom. â€Å"You followed when I jumped in front of Lissa, didn't you? Who were you going for? Me or her?' He studied me for several long seconds. He could have lied. He could have given the easy answer by saying he'd intended to push both of us out of the way–if that was even possible, which I didn't recall. But Dimitri didn't lie. â€Å"I don't know, Roza. I don't know.' I sighed. â€Å"This isn't going to be easy.' â€Å"It never is,' he said, pulling me into his arms. I leaned against his chest and closed my eyes. No, it wouldn't be easy, but it would be worth it. As long as we were together, it would be worth it. We sat like that for a long time, until a discrete knock at the half-open door broke us apart. Lissa stood in the doorway. â€Å"Sorry,' she said, her face shining with joy when she saw me. â€Å"Should have put a sock on the door. Didn't realize things were getting hot and heavy.' â€Å"No avoiding it,' I said lightly, clasping Dimitri's hand. â€Å"Things are always hot with him around.' Dimitri looked scandalized. He'd never held back when we were in bed together, but his private nature wouldn't let him even hint about such matters to others. It was mean, but I laughed and kissed his cheek. â€Å"Oh, this is going to be fun,' I said. â€Å"Now that everything's out in the open.' â€Å"Yeah,' he said. â€Å"I got a pretty â€Å"fun' look from your father the other day.' He gave Lissa a quick, knowing glance and then stood up. Leaning down, he kissed the top of my head. â€Å"I should go and let you two talk.' â€Å"Will you be back?' I asked as he moved to the door. He paused and smiled at me, and those dark eyes answered my questions and so much more. â€Å"Of course.' Lissa took his spot, sitting on the bed's edge. She hugged me gingerly, no doubt worried about my injuries. She then scolded me for sitting up, but I didn't care. Happiness surged through me. I was so glad she was okay, so relieved, and– And I had no idea how she felt. The bond was gone. And not like during the jail escape, when she'd put the wall up. There was simply nothing there between us. I was with myself, completely and utterly alone, just as I had been years ago. My eyes widened, and she laughed. â€Å"I wondered when you'd notice,' she said. â€Å"How †¦ how is this possible?' I was frozen and numb. The bond. The bond was gone. I felt like my arm had been amputated. â€Å"And how do you know?' She frowned. â€Å"Part of it's instinct †¦ but Adrian saw it. That our auras aren't connected anymore.' â€Å"But how? How could that happen?' I sounded crazy and desperate. The bond couldn't be gone. It couldn't. â€Å"I'm not entirely sure,' she admitted, her frown deepening. â€Å"I talked about it a lot with Sonya and, uh, Adrian. We think when I brought you back the first time, it was spirit alone that held you back from the land of the dead and that kept you tied to me. This time †¦ you nearly died again. Or maybe you did for a moment. Only, you and your body fought your way back. It was you who got out, with no help from spirit. And once that happened †¦' She shrugged. â€Å"Like I said, we're only guessing. But Sonya thinks once your own strength broke you away, you didn't need any help being pulled back from death. You did it on your own. And when you freed yourself of spirit, you freed yourself from me. You didn't need a bond to keep you with the living.' It was crazy. Impossible. â€Å"But if †¦ if you're saying I escaped the land of the dead, I'm not, like, immortal or anything, am I?' Lissa laughed again. â€Å"No, we're certain of that. Sonya explained it, saying anything alive can die, and as long as you've got an aura, you're alive. Strigoi are immortal but not alive, so they don't have auras and–‘ The world spun. â€Å"I'll take your word for it. I think maybe I do need to lie down.' â€Å"That's probably a good idea.' I gently eased myself onto my back. Desperately needing distraction from what I'd just learned–because it was still too surreal, still impossible to process–I eyed my surroundings. The lush room was bigger than I'd previously realized. It kept going and going, branching into other rooms. It was a suite. Maybe an apartment. I could just make out a living room with leather furniture and a flat screen TV. â€Å"Where are we are?' â€Å"In palace housing,' she replied. â€Å"Palace housing? How'd we end up here?' â€Å"How do you think?' she asked dryly. â€Å"I †¦' I couldn't work my mouth for a moment. I needed no bond to realize what had happened. Another impossibility had occurred while I'd been out of it. â€Å"Crap. They had the election, didn't they? They elected you queen, once Jill was there to stand in for your family.' She shook her head and almost laughed. â€Å"My reaction was a little stronger than â€Å"crap,' Rose. Do you have any idea what you've done?' She looked anxious, stressed, and totally overwhelmed. I wanted to be serious and comforting for her sake †¦ but I could feel a goofy grin spreading over my face. She groaned. â€Å"You're happy.' â€Å"Liss, you were meant for this! You're better than any of the other candidates.' â€Å"Rose!' she cried. â€Å"Running for queen was supposed to be a diversion. I'm only eighteen.' â€Å"So was Alexandra.' Lissa shook her head in exasperation. â€Å"I'm so sick of hearing about her! She lived centuries ago, you know. I think people died when they were thirty back then. So she was practically middle-aged.' I caught hold of her hand. â€Å"You're going to be great. It doesn't matter how old you are. And it's not like you have to call meetings and analyze law books all on your own, you know. I mean, I'm sure not going to do any of that, but there are other smart people. Ariana Szelsky didn't make the last test, but you know she'll help if you ask her to. She's still on the Council, and there are others you can rely on. We just have to find them. I believe in you.' Lissa sighed and looked down, her hair hanging forward in a curtain. â€Å"I know. And part of me is excited, like this will restore my family's honor. I think that's what's saved me from a total breakdown. I didn't want to be queen, but if I have to †¦ then I'm going to do it right. I feel like †¦ like I have the world at my fingertips, like I can do so much good. But I'm so afraid of messing up too.' She looked up sharply. â€Å"And I'm not giving up on the rest of my life either. I guess I'm going to be the first queen in college.' â€Å"Cool,' I said. â€Å"You can IM with the Council from campus. Maybe you can command people to do your homework.' She apparently didn't think the joke was as funny as I did. â€Å"Going back to my family. Rose †¦ how long did you know about Jill?' Damn. I'd known this part of the conversation would eventually be coming. I averted my eyes. â€Å"Not really that long. We didn't want to stress you until we knew it was real,' I added hastily. â€Å"I can't believe †¦' She shook her head. â€Å"I just can't believe it.' I had to go on her tone, not the bond. It was so strange, like losing one of my key senses. Sight. Hearing. â€Å"Are you upset?' â€Å"Of course I am! How can you be surprised?' â€Å"I figured you'd be happy †¦' â€Å"Happy to find out my dad cheated on my mom? Happy to have a sister I hardly know? I've tried to talk to her, but †¦' Lissa sighed again. â€Å"It's so weird. Almost weirder than suddenly being queen. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to think of my father. And I sure as hell don't know what to do with her.' â€Å"Love them both,' I said softly. â€Å"They're your family. Jill's great, you know. Get to know her. Be excited.' â€Å"I don't know if I can. I think you're more of a sister to me than she'll ever be.' Lissa stared off at nothing. â€Å"And of all people †¦ I was convinced for so long that there was something going on between her and Christian.' â€Å"Well, out of all the worries in your world, that's one you can let go because it's not true.' But within her comment was something dark and sad. â€Å"How isChristian?' She turned back to me, her eyes full of pain. â€Å"He's having a hard time. I am too. He visits her. Tasha. He hates what she did, but †¦ well, she's still his family. It hurts him, but he tries to hide it. You know how he is.' â€Å"Yeah.' Christian had spent a good portion of his life masking dark feelings with snark and sarcasm. He was a pro at fooling others about how he truly felt. â€Å"I know he'll be better in time †¦ I just hope I can be there for him enough. So much is happening. College, being queen †¦ and always, always, there's spirit there, pressing down on me. Smothering me.' Alarm shot through me. And panic. Panic over something far worse than not knowing what Lissa was feeling or where she was. Spirit. I was afraid of spirit–and the fact that I couldn't fight it for her. â€Å"The darkness †¦ I can't absorb it anymore. What will we do?' A twisted smile crossed her lips. â€Å"You mean, what will I do. It's my problem now, Rose. Like it always should have been.' â€Å"But, no †¦ you can't. St. Vladimir–‘ â€Å"Isn't me. And you can protect me from some things but not all.' I shook my head. â€Å"No, no. I can't let you face spirit alone.' â€Å"I'm not exactly alone. I talked to Sonya. She's really good at healing charms and thinks there's a way to keep myself in balance.' â€Å"Oksana said the same thing,' I recalled, feeling hardly reassured. â€Å"And †¦ there's always the antidepressants. I don't like them, but I'm queen now. I have responsibilities. I'll do what I have to. A queen gives up everything, right?' â€Å"I guess.' I couldn't help feeling frightened. Useless. â€Å"I'm just so worried about you, and I don't know how to help you anymore.' â€Å"I told you: you don't have to. I'll protect my mind. Your job's to protect my body, right? And Dimitri will be around too. It'll all be okay.' The conversation with Dimitri came back to me. Who were you going for? Me or her? I gave her the best smile I could. â€Å"Yeah. It'll all be okay.' Her hand squeezed mine. â€Å"I'm so glad you're back, Rose. You'll always be part of me, no matter what. And honestly †¦ I'm kind of glad you can't see my sex life anymore.' â€Å"That makes two of us.' I laughed. No bond. No magical attachment. It was going to be so strange, but really †¦ did I need it? In real life, people formed bonds of another nature. Bonds of love and loyalty. We would get through this. â€Å"I'll always be there for you, you know. Anything you need.' â€Å"I know,' she said. â€Å"And actually †¦ I need you for something now †¦' â€Å"Name it,' I said. She did.

Larkin’s use of language Essay

The poems that I have chosen to comment on from the collection The Whitsun Weddings by Philip Larkin are Here, Nothing to be said and Faith Healing. I have chosen to write about these three because they are all very different in terms of theme, language, verse form and Larkin’s message and purpose. Here is the opening poem of The Whitsun Weddings. It locates the reader in Larkin’s England and centres around a journey the protagonist is making from London to Northumberland via Larkin’s hometown of Hull. Larkin uses a range of language and writing devices to express his feelings and at times his prejudices through his poetry and he does this especially well in Here. The first stanza begins with â€Å"swerving east†. The word â€Å"swerving† suggests a dangerous movement and a lack of control from the person or thing that is swerving. When someone swerves it is usually to avoid something so by using the word â€Å"swerving† Larkin is immediately presenting the reader with a sense of avoidance and lack of control. Larkin then goes on to say that the fields are â€Å"too thin and thistled to be called meadows†. This shows that he is passing through an area of land, which cannot quite be classed as countryside but is not quite urban. This could possibly be a representation of how Larkin is feeling at the time about life because even the countryside is not genuine; therefore Larkin may be commenting on the falsity of life because of its in-between state. The words â€Å"Thin† and â€Å"thistled† are harsh sounding words that make up alliteration. This alliteration may have been used to mimic the gentle hissing sound of the train or can moving along the track or road. The harsh sounding words are probably applied as a vent for Larkin’s disdain on a philosophical level for the falsity and lack of true meaning in life and on a smaller level for the land he is passing through that is not quite beautiful enough to be countryside. A technique that interests me is used in the line â€Å"harsh-named halt†. This phrase uses a repetition of the /h/ sound, which is quite a hard sound to pronounce and therefore actually halts the reader’s rhythm. This includes alliteration of the /h/ sound but also a kind of onomatopoeia because the word â€Å"halt† is actually a word that sounds like a stoppage or halt and actively brings the reader to a momentary pause. The word â€Å"harsh† is actually a harsh word, which adds more emphasis to the phrase. This technique is very effective because it immerses the reader in the journey of the protagonist as it actually halts their flow when the protagonist’s train comes to a halt. Larkin uses a lot of alliteration in Here, an example of this occurs in the first stanza when alliteration occurs four times in the space of two lines: â€Å"Swerving to solitude of skies and scarecrows, haystacks, hares and pheasants†. There is a repetition of the word â€Å"swerving† which reiterates the lack of control of the protagonist. It also shows the part of the journey that is taking him through the countryside and he is â€Å"swerving† east away from the towns and towards the countryside. The repetition of the /s/ hissing sound gives a sense of speed and also replicates the sound of the train or car moving. The /s/ sound runs throughout two lines which links them together and helps demonstrate the onward movement of the protagonist and the passage of time. The actual shape of the letter /s/ is flowing and therefore mimics the journey flowing onward. In the last line of the first stanza Larkin describes the entrance to a town by saying â€Å"the shining gull-marked mud gathers to the surprise of a large town†. â€Å"Gull-marked mud† can be used as a comparison to â€Å"harsh-named halt† a few lines previously and demonstrates the difference between town and country. The comparison between â€Å"harsh-named halt† and â€Å"gull-marked mud† can also be drawn through the hyphen between the first two words (which could be used to show the onward motion of the journey) and the alliteration used of the /h/ and /m/ sounds.

Understanding Passive Vocabulary

Understanding Passive Vocabulary A passive vocabulary is made up of the words that an individual recognizes but rarely uses when speaking and writing. Also known as recognition vocabulary. Contrast with  active vocabulary.   According to John Reynolds and Patricia Acres, Your passive vocabulary is  likely to contain more words than the active one. One way to improve the range of the vocabulary in your own writing is to try to transfer words from your passive to the active vocabulary (Cambridge Checkpoint English Revision Guide, 2013). Examples and Observations A passive vocabulary . . . includes the words stored in verbal memory that people partially understand, but not well enough for active use. These are words that people meet less often and they may be low frequency words in the language as a whole. In other words, activating them takes longer and it demands greater stimulus than most textual contexts provide. Words stop being passive if people are regularly contracting relations that activate them, since this lowers the amount of stimulus needed to put them to use. A facility in using the words develops. Again constraints of another kind in the extralinguistic context may also restrict the active use of some words. This can happen even when words are available for active use in principle, such as cultural taboo words that most people know but rarely use outside certain settings.(David Corson, Using English Words. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1995)Media saturation may . . . provide what Dennis Baron called a passive lingua franca. We al l understand what we hear on the radio or see on TV, giving us a passive vocabulary, but that doesnt mean that we use that vocabulary actively in writing or speaking.(Robert MacNeil et al., Do You Speak American? Random House, 2005) How to Estimate the Size of Your VocabularyTake your dictionary and peruse 1 per cent of its pages, i.e. 20 pages of a 2,000-page dictionary, or every hundreth page (you need to take a range of letters of the alphabet). Note down how many words: (a) you are confident that you would regularly use; (b) you would recognize and understand if you read or heard them. Be brutally honest with yourself! Then multiply your totals by 100, to give a first approximation of your likely active and passive vocabularies.(Howard Jackson, Grammar and Vocabulary: A Resource Book for Students. Routledge, 2002)A Passive-Active Continuum[A]  commonly drawn  distinction is between active vocabulary, that which can be produced at will, and passive vocabulary, that which can be recognized.  However, as discussed in Teichroew  (1982), the picture is really more complicated. Lexical knowledge cannot be captured by means of a simple dichotomy. Teichroew proposed that vocabulary knowledge can best be repr esented as a continuum with the initial stage being recognition and the final being production. In her view, production should not be viewed in a monolithic fashion, for productive knowledge includes producing both a range of meanings as well as appropriate collocations (i.e., what words go together). For example, in our discussion of the word break  with regard to the work of Kellerman . . ., we noted the many meanings of that word. Initially, learners may know the meaning of break as in break a leg or break a pencil, and only with time do they learn the full range of meanings and such collocations as His voice broke at age 13.(Susan M. Gass and Larry Selinker,  Second Language Acquisition: An Introductory Course, 2nd ed. Lawrence Erlbaum, 2001)

What is Ghostwriting The Master Guide to Succeeding in the Industry

What is Ghostwriting The Master Guide to Succeeding in the Industry What is Ghostwriting? All Your Questions Answered Ghostwriting is when someone is hired to write a project that is credited to another person. A ghostwriter may be the main or partial writer behind a book, but they are not the author. They are hired to carry out the vision of their client, and their main concern is with satisfying that client.While ghostwriting is a profession often associated with celebrity memoirs, some may be surprised to learn that there are many other types of ghostwriting, including:Business booksLifestyles booksBook proposalsSpeechesBlog postsSocial media postsNewslettersAnd more! But before we dive into the meat of the question "what is ghostwriting," we'll answer a question that those in the profession always get asked†¦How is ghostwriting different from co-authoring?A co-author will also - presumably - do some of the writing, but is credited as a partial author. Therefore, the book is also at least partially created under their direction, and a large part of their focus is on their readers.But the t itle "ghostwriter" doesn't just apply to people who write books. Let's take a closer look at the different projects that might require a ghost. What is ghostwriting? And why might someone turn to a ghostwriter? All your questions answered. Types of ghostwriting: long-formNon-fictionIn long-form non-fiction, a ghostwriter can be involved in any number of capacities, from leading and outlining the whole project, to filling in gaps left by the author.Memoirs and autobiographies: We always hear about the importance of taking a step back to see the bigger picture. Well, this is all the more important for memoirs. No one is closer to your own life than you, and to turn your story into a compelling narrative often requires a more impartial contributor. Step right up, ghostwriters! And, of course, there is no ghostwritten memoir more popular than the celebrity kind - in fact, most celebrity memoir are actually written by a ghostwriter commissioned by publishers who know the marketing power of a recognizable name. How to Hire a Ghostwriter – By Andrew Crofts Read post If you’re considering working with a ghostwriter, you should always determine your own budget, consider the above questions, and then be prepared to negotiate. You can learn more about ghostwriting fees in this guest post, How Much Does it Cost to Hire a Ghostwriter? by Andrew Crofts - a ghost and author with more than eighty books (including Sunday Times number one bestsellers) under his belt.Whether you’re considering working with a ghost or you were just curious to hear more about what is ghostwriting, you might have a lingering question: how ethical is this all?Well, let’s discuss.Is ghostwriting ethical?If someone bought your book under the impression that you wrote all the words - not knowing that it has been penned by a ghost -   then have you misled that reader? Have you been deceitful? It really depends, but answering this question often depends on two aspects:the intent of the credited author;and the effect on the readers/audience.Say that a life-l ong birdwatcher who struggles to string coherent paragraphs together wants to publish a bird-watcher’s travel guide. They hire a ghostwriter to help them produce this book. In this case, the author’s intent is to share their years of acquired wisdom with others. And if readers of this book are receiving well-researched and sound knowledge, then they are getting what they paid for - and nobody will really complain.Now here’s an example of when ghostwriting wades into murky territory: A person is venturing into a new business which they believe could be very fruitful, but which they know next to nothing about. They use a ghostwritten book to establish themself as an â€Å"authority† under false pretenses in order to attract clients. The â€Å"author’s† intent here - to take advantage of readers - is indeed unethical. Is ghostwriting ethical? Join the discussion here! When Dorothy discovers that the Great and Powerful Oz is actually a man behind a curtain, does this revelation diminish her personal journey and undermine her personal growth? We would say no. But if the Wonderful Wizard tried to sell her on a great investment opportunity, that would be another matter.Have you ever worked with a ghostwriter or tried your hand at ghostwriting? Tell us about your experiences - or leave any questions in the comments below!

Factors that Motive and Demotivate Young Males in the U.K. to Purchase Dissertation

Factors that Motive and Demotivate Young Males in the U.K. to Purchase Luxury Clothes Online - Dissertation Example The growth of the luxury market is attributed mainly to the emotional attachments consumers have with certain luxury brands. The growth has particularly been witnessed in the luxury clothing market that has experienced rising sales volumes. Online shopping which involves buying of goods or services directly over the Internet has grown in popularity over the past couple of years. The growing popularity of online stores or electronic shops is evident in the fact that they have increased in number. While there are countless online stores, a few of the popular ones include eBay and Amazon.com. Online shopping has several advantages to shoppers and marketers alike. Their main advantage is their convenience and capacity to link buyers and sellers who are separated by great distance. 1.2 Statement of the Problem The number of people performing online shopping in the U.K. and indeed across the globe is rising by the day. While this is a general trend, there are people who do not like to enga ge in online shopping for various reasons or as a result of various barriers. Young males in the U.K. love to own luxury clothes, especially if finance is not a limiting factor. While some of the males prefer to purchase luxury clothes online, a significant portion of the population would rather go to brick and mortar shops to make similar purchases. This study is dedicated to establishing the factors that motivate and demotivate young males in the UK to purchase or avoid purchasing luxury clothing online. This study is necessary since there is no such study that has been conducted in the U.K. before.The study will therefore fill the knowledge gap that currently exists in this respect. 1.3 Research... Traditionally, people have been used to purchasing products directly from physical stores. This method demands the physical presence of consumers at the store when selecting the products. However, the trend has changed tremendously over the last few decades because of technological advancements. According to Hasan, the developments witnessed in new media technologies ranging from the Internet, CD-ROMS, interactive kiosks, to digital TV and radio have ushered in a new era. The new media have not only changed marketing communication but have also influenced consumers’ behavior. Hasan argues that the advent of new technologies such as theInternet has changed the way consumers behave.According to Arens, online shopping enables consumers to place orders by giving a description of the product or service over the Internet. Once the order is received, the product is delivered to the consumer at the closest point of collection. Apart from offering consumers, a better way of viewing pro ducts and services offered at the store, it also builds a close relationship between consumers and marketers.

President Obama and Agenda for Possible Second Term Essay

President Obama and Agenda for Possible Second Term - Essay Example Over the years, through the development of broadcast technology, candidates are given an opportunity by the media to sell their policies through a public debate. This platform helps them to improve on their campaigns, and it assists the voters to evaluate also the candidates. The communication advisor is necessary during the campaign period because he advises the candidate and party on what strategies to use to ensure victory in the elections. As a communication advisor in the Barrack Obama campaign team in the current elections, I would suggest prioritization of some issues during the final weeks of the campaign. This essay will highlight the current trending issues in the country’s politics, and advice on some arguments and the positions that the team should emphasize on. During the final campaign weeks, some issues should not be emphasized on as shall be pointed out in the essay; moreover, the last weeks of campaigning are prominent in gathering the votes of the undecided v oters, and developing trust from the voters on the direction, which the country should take. Political structures are social structures in the society; therefore, the campaign teams need to consider the social dynamics in the society for their success. The key factor is that campaigns involve communication of messages to the public with an objective of getting their support during the elections. Therefore, it is necessary to design the message to appeal to the voters (White, 2010). In addition, the social judgment theory applies to every person because people hear a message then they compare it with another, and they make a judgment on where to place it in the different mental categories. Further, people develop some mental yardsticks (Latitudes) of acceptance, rejection and non-commitment to a message. Therefore, in the case of Obama’s campaign, one needs to know what and how to communicate messages to the public in order to persuade them towards the desired direction or vot ing. In Obama’s campaign, the use of persuasive social skills to influence voters is easier than in Romney’s team because Obama has excellent, persuasive skills through his speech. Persuasion and influence of people is necessary in all the social theories, and is essential to getting people to accept the party’s political ideologies and policies. In the current political campaign, the candidates are contesting in their campaigns on several issues. Some of them include foreign policies, energy, education, healthcare and the economy. In this presidential campaign, I would suggest that the issues to do with foreign policy and energy should not be focused on by the Obama Campaign team during the last weeks towards elections. This is because the policies and suggestions on these issues are not different to the ones used in the previous four years of the Obama Administration. Therefore, based on the consistency theory, people do not expect them to change so the campai gn should focus on other, different issues (Clarke, 2008). In the economic, education and healthcare issues, there are many differences in policies between the candidates and hence, the campaign should emphasize on them in order to develop proper social judgment from the voters.