The American Civil War Essay Example for Free

The American Civil War Essay In analysis of the debate of whether wars are always wrong since they are violent or if they are a necessary evil sometimes, it is important to study both sides of the argument, pro and anti war. War is seen as a resolution of conflicts which could not be solved in any other way, a common example given being the American Civil War. This war was fought to abolish slavery and to eliminate racism in the country and succeeded in giving blacks their rights. War is said to part of the system of nature, where an everlasting struggle to survive persists, in relation to Darwin’s theory. As only the fittest survive, war is said to be a way in which mankind progresses. It also is said to control the population which is continuing to grow in rapidly. It balances the population and resources available. It is also argued that war gives the economy a boost and helps develop infrastructure. War is also seen to play a unifying role in countries which had been previously divided. An example lies in the English Civil Wars. War has a great number of negative effects as well and is not a necessary evil. It is stated that the American Civil War was completely unnecessary as there are a number of other countries which successfully abolished slavery without a war taking place. The possibility of nuclear wars is a very great threat to the peaceful existence of mankind. The possible negative effects are tremendous and under speculations must be avoided at all costs. Overall, war devalues human lives. It compares them to material things and degrades human beings. The anti war stance is humane and helpful for humanity and its good as war has devastating effects on its victims. Are All Wars Since They Are Violent Wrong, Or Are They At Times a Necessary Evil? War is an occurrence that mankind has been faced with every few years, sometimes being apparently inevitable and sometimes being viewed as wholly unnecessary. Always being outright gloomy and terrifying due to the loss of lives and the suffering caused, there are also some effects of war which are seen as being positive and are thus stated to be in favor of war. This has caused for two different opinions, one being that war is always unjustified and should be avoided and the other being that war is essential. As the eternal debate of the necessity of war has been sparked by thousands of years of bloodshed, some argue that it is a necessary evil, while those who keep in mind the value of every single human life claim that war must be avoided at all costs. As both sides of the argument have humongous implications, it is essential to examine each proposal with the utmost care before forming an opinion. It is argued that some conflicts cannot be resolved in any other way. For example, the American Civil War. Had it not been for this war, the black people of the country would have been forced into continued existence as slaves. Their families were being torn apart and they were being deprived of their basic rights. Some say that there was no other way to make the white people give the blacks their basic human rights as they would not choose to pay their workers when they clearly benefitted from slavery. Thus in the case of eradication of discrimination, war seems to have been necessary. There are also those who call attention to the fact that war is required as it is the law of nature. It is said that it is an essential component of nature’s design of the world. As Darwin has proposed that there is an everlasting struggle for survival, this is used as evidence that war is inevitable. It is said that with war mankind progresses as in the struggle for survival only the fittest survive and the weak, who may have been obstacles to progress, are removed. War gives the opportunity for heroism and self-sacrifice and thus human development takes place. (SINGH, n. d. ) War is also said to be needed to control overpopulation. As the population of the world grows rapidly and resources grow scarcer by the minute, war is said to keep the population in check. (SINGH, n. d. ) Population and resources are thus forced to be balanced in this way. Also an attributed to war is the growth of an economy and also the development of an infrastructure. People are provided with a number of job opportunities and thus the rate of unemployment declines favorably. It forces the citizens of a country to rally its resources and work hard of their country. (How wars are good For an economy, 2005) However, this point is highly debated and claimed to be completely untrue by a number of anti-war activists. The arms and ammunition industries may flourish but this may benefit only a small section of the population and is thus frowned upon. War is also said to help in the unification of a country as many wars throughout history have proved to do so. An example lies in the English Civil Wars which took place between 1642 and 1652, which is the time when the country of England was divided. The king of England at that time was Charles I who deprived the people of sovereignty although it was a constitutional monarchy and the people felt that their voice was remaining to be unheard in parliament. The war was forced to begin when Charles I tried to take over Scotland despite having no approval whatsoever of the parliament. In reaction, the parliament constructed and raised its own army in order to stop that of the king. The war lasted nine entire years and after much suffering and severe losses the army of the parliament were found to have victory. Subsequently, the king faced a trial and was found guilty of crimes against the people of England and was thus executed. The war was in the interest of the English people and benefitted them greatly throughout the years as there were many positive long term effects. In result of these wars, the citizens of England were reunited with their sovereignty. Also, the commonwealth took shape and the entire Great Britain was united under it. (war as an evil necessity, 2006) In light of this example it can be said that war indeed does have effects which results in the ultimate unification of a country. The statement that war is a necessary evil is thus further highlighted as war was necessary for the unification of the country but also cost a great number of lives and caused much pain and suffering as well. On the other hand, there are those who claim that war is not an unnecessary evil. They state that war is a wholly unmixed evil in its purest form. Countering the example of the American Civil War are the examples of all the other nations which successfully removed slavery from their countries without the occurrence of horrifying large-scale wars. For example, the Parliament in Britain passed the Slavery Abolition Act on August 24, 1833 which became the law on August 1, 1834. Subsequently, an average of about eight hundred thousand black people who were oppressively held in the British colonies became freed. In order to balance off the loss the previous slave owners faced, the British Parliament set aside the monetary total of one hundred million dollars. Slavery was thus abolished throughout the British lands. ‘Emancipation Day’ is celebrated as a public holiday in a lot of countries which were previously British colonies, marking the date of freedom. Another example is in the instance of France abolishing slavery on 27 April 1848, under the Second Republic. In order to compensate the previous slave owners, the state bought the slaves from the colonists and then they were freed. Similar examples of a war-less abolishment of slavery are seen in the histories of Argentina, Chile, Mexico, etc. Thus, in this regard war was not necessary. Slavery could have been abolished through other various means such as education and buying and freeing of slaves instead of the costly American Civil War. (Is War a Necessary Evil? , 2009) A point worth mentioning in favor of the anti war side of the debate is the existence of nuclear weapons. If a nuclear war were to take place in this day and age, any possible benefits would have been eliminated as it is. The effects of a nuclear war would be devastating. For example, the countries of Pakistan and India have been rivals ever since Pakistan’s independence and have had wars of their own. In a model of what might happen if there were to be a nuclear war between the two countries has been created by the scientists at the University of Colorado. According to them, â€Å"A limited nuclear weapons exchange between Pakistan and India using their current arsenals could create a near-global ozone hole, triggering human health problems and wreaking environmental havoc for at least a decade, according to a study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder. The computer-modeling study showed a nuclear war between the two countries involving 50 Hiroshima-sized nuclear devices on each side would cause massive urban fires and loft as much as 5 million metric tons of soot about 50 miles into the stratosphere, said CU-Boulder Research Associate Michael Mills, chief study author. The soot would absorb enough solar radiation to heat surrounding gases, setting in motion a series of chemical reactions that would break down the stratospheric ozone layer protecting Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation, said Mills. † (Nuclear War is Bad for You, 2008). Also, an estimate of about one hundred million people are to die in the blasts or in the aftermath of the radiation poisoning. It is clear from this example that nuclear war would be wholly unacceptable and the countries must decide some other means of settling their disputes. It also shows that nuclear war must never be resorted to by any other countries in the world as well. War is said to be, in most situations, mostly needed in order to gain material things. By this the value of a human life is being compared to material wealth. It is being considered unimportant and worthless. For when a war takes place and an army of thousands is formed, one single life is nothing in comparison to those thousands. War has taken place for territorial expansion, reducing the value of lost lives to be beneath the value of land. It has also taken place in order to unrightfully gain other nations resources, where fruitful trade could have taken place instead. As war leads to the devaluation of any number of human lives, it is a terrible thing to occur at any point in time in any place and should be avoided at all costs. As for the argument that war leads to human development, it is said that human development is in fact inhibited by the occurrence of war. War leads to death, which leads to pain, suffering, and frustration. This is as if for example, a family’s breadwinner dies at war, the family will be subject to a great amount of helpless pain and a series of negative emotions. They will also have to struggle for survival. War is thus unhelpful in the area of human development. The debate of whether war is always wrong due the violence that inevitably results or if it is a necessary evil has continued for quite a while and seems as if it shall persist in the years to come as well. However, when keeping in sight the above discussed information, the arguments against war prove to be more humane and compassionate, which are necessary traits in today’s world to prevent cruelty and injustice. References How wars are good For an economy. (July 14). Retrieved 5 13, 2010, from rediff. com: http://www. rediff. com/money/2005/jul/14perfin. htmIs War a Necessary Evil? (2009). Retrieved May 13, 2010, from CreateDebate: http://www. createdebate. com/debate/show/Is_War_a_Necessary_Evil Nuclear War is Bad for You. (2008). Retrieved May 13, 2010, from Sandwalk: http://sandwalk. blogspot. com/2008/04/nuclear-war-is-bad-for-you. html SINGH, R. (n. d. ). 101 War Books. Retrieved 5 13, 2010, from Rajput Brotherhood: http://www. rajputbrotherhood. com/eng/articles/101-war-books. html war as an evil necessity. (2006). Retrieved May 13, 2010, from oppapers: http://www. oppapers. com/essays/War-Evil-Necesity/93065

Analyse And Discuss The Concept Of Structural Violence Politics Essay

Analyse And Discuss The Concept Of Structural Violence Politics Essay to what extent it explains international conflicts. Although structural violence does lead to conflict, it has had minimal effect on international conflicts. Structural violence has been a major factor in numerous internal or regional conflicts. The genocide in Rwanda and the Maoists Movement in Nepal are examples of structural violence that has led to an internal conflict. Another example is the Chinese suppression of the Tibetan peoples. Any attempts by the Tibetans to protest or challenge the rule of the Chinese in an attempt to gain independence from Chinese rule is met with swift violent retaliation. (Walsh, J. 2007) The two truly international conflicts were not started by a system of structured violence, but by deliberate planned actions of countries and their leaders to go to war. As a result of these wars systems were put in place that were structural and designed to suppress and repress social groups as well as the wholesale murder of people. Although conflicts between neig hboring countries are considered international conflicts, I have classified these as regional conflicts and used the First and Second World wars as examples of truly international conflicts. Structural violence was a term first banded around in the 1960s by liberation theologians and in particular by Johan Galtung, who used it to describe social, economic, political, legal, religious and cultural structures that stop individuals, groups and societies from reaching their full potential. (Farmer, P, 2006) Staugstad goes further when he explains that Structural violence is violence that does not hurt or kill through fists or guns or nuclear bombs, but through social structures that produce poverty, death and enormous suffering. Structural violence may be political, repressive, economic and exploitative; it occurs when the social order directly or indirectly causes human suffering and death. (Staugstad, A. 2001) These are two examples of the definition of structural violence. To better understand we need to dissect the term structural violence into its two separate parts. In this context the word structured relates to the social structures that are imposed on peoples, societ ies, religious groups and others causing them to be discriminated against and forced to live as second class human beings. These structures can take many forms but all suppress one particular group, for example a religious group, an ethnic group, or a group based on gender or sexual orientation. (Staugstad, A. 2001) The word violence when used in this context does not mean a physical form of violence but describes the imposition of rules and regulations and social structures that lead to all forms of abuse and poverty which in turn can lead to humiliation and death. Structural violence is systemic, it is not directly violent yet imposes such discriminatory rules and regulations that forces people into poverty and lives of extreme hardship, which can lead to death. Sometimes the social structures that are the root cause of structural violence can be age old traditions or rules or acts of legislation that when introduced may not have been seen as harmful by those who imposed them except to maintain control over the populace. When they were introduced those who imposed the legislation had ultimate control or power over the peoples through various means, such as slavery, bonded labor, debt, and education to name a few. (Gilman, R. 1983) Structural violence can also be viewed in two different ways, both vertical (political repression and economic exploitation) as well as horizontally (distance and alienation). The institutionalised structures of a country can enforce structural violence, by causing a gap between those that have or hold power over others and those that do not, as well as a social structure (classism) that separates the groups and creates a social distancing. This social distancing maybe because of economic separation, religious, ethnic or cultural, all of these factors create or reinforce structural violence. (Galtung, J. 1995) The vertical aspect of structural violence highlights those political policies such as segregation which lead to repressive measures designed to force a group in society to become second class citizens. Economic exploitation works hand in hand with political repression when certain social groups are barred from holding jobs of influence and status. I intend to break Structural Violence down into component parts and explain each one and how they have the potential to lead to conflict. Racism is an example of structural violence as it can be the result of discriminatory practices and entrenched legislation that place one segment of the population as a lower class citizen than the others and enforces rules and regulations on them to ensure that they stay as second class citizens. One of the most visible faces of racism was in the United States where until 1866 slavery was an accepted way of doing business for a large portion of the population. This racism was not only confined to the enslaving of Black Africans but also included discriminatory practices against the native American Indians, African Americans (slaves or decedents of) Asians, Italians and Mexicans to name a few. The 1964 Civil Rights Act made racial discrimination in public places, such as theaters, restaurants and hotels, illegal. It also required employers to provide equal employment opportunities. Projects involving federal funds could now be cut off if there was evidence of discriminated based on c olor, race or national origin. This Act was the cornerstone of the bid to completely eliminate segregation and other discriminatory practices in public places. (United States Department of Justice, 1964) Although the Civil Rights movement who were advocating for a change in the law which would allow equal rights to all, was at times violent it never evolved into fully fletched internal conflict. This example shows that policies in place at the time contributed to structural violence, however as large as the problem was it never expanded to an international level of conflict, the conflict remained low level and internal. South Africa is another and more visible country to be recognised for its racist policies. Laws were introduced in 1948 which segregated inhabitants into four racial groups, white, blacks, colored and Indian Residential areas were segregated, a segregation which at times was achieved by forced removals of non whites. From 1958, Blacks were deprived of their citizenship of South Africa, legally becoming citizens of one of ten tribally based self-governing homelands called Bantustans, four of which became nominally independent states. The government also segregated education, medical care, and other public services, and provided black people with services inferior to those of whites. South Africa used harsh measures to suppress the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa with the police and the armed forces in an armed struggle with movements such as the African National Congress (ANC) as they tried to enforce and maintain white supremacy in South Africa. (Fredrickson, G. 2003) The Sou th African military were also prominent in several neighboring countries trying to fight the spread of communism in Angola, which was another example of structural violence where conflicts arose due to political ideologies. Although at times the racial tensions created by the practice of apartheid were extremely violent the, conflicts were internal or confined to small scale regional conflicts. They never developed into a wider international conflict. Although the anti-apartheid movement had a huge global following which used actions such as trade embargos to try to pressure the South African government into ending its apartheid regime. It was not until 1994 that an open election was held that allowed all South Africans to vote regardless or color, or race. The legacy of the apartheid period still influences South Africa today especially in the areas of economics and trade. (Thompson, L. 1996) Another example of structural violence that is not as visible and recognised is the caste system found in several East Asian countries like India, Pakistan and Nepal. The caste system was described in Hinduisms ancient sacred text, the Rig Veda, as a social order intended to maintain harmony in society. It divides people into four main castes, but there also are those outside the system, the untouchables, who now call themselves Dalits, literally broken people. (George, N. 2010) Though discrimination based on caste has been outlawed since Indias constitution was adopted in 1950, the practice pervades society today. The caste system is an example of your place of birth dictating your social and economic standing. The caste system segregates a section of society from other and denies people their rights to be treated as equals in all areas of life. However although in the countries mentioned above racism and discrimination have led to violence and internal confrontation and conflict, it has not been influential in creating an international level conflict. Galtung defines cultural violence as being those aspects of culture, the symbolic sphere of our existence, exemplified by religion, ideology, language, art and empirical science. (Galtung, 1990, pg 291) He goes on to explain that these structures can be used to justify direct and structural violence. Galtung tries to illustrate that societys norms of behavior can be used as structured violence. Things that are seen as wrong can be colored to make them look normal or socially acceptable in that society. He uses a mathematical formula to demonstrate that the higher your social status the greater your life expectancy, the lower your social status the shorter your life expectancy will be. In most cases this is because the structure is weighted in favor of one particular race or group of peoples. Because of this those that have greater access will benefit from the services that the social structure provides (affluent) where-as those that do not enjoy such access are not able to benefit an d there-by suffer. This suffering leads to poverty and suffering which brings with it the potential for diseases and other problems that affect the poor or repressed. When conditions like this exist it then leads to disharmony amongst the repressed and becomes the breeding ground for dissent and resentment of those who are seen as benefiting from the social structures. (Galtung, 1969) An example of this can be seen in those post colonial countries such as Sierra Leone and Liberia, where once the slaves were returned to these countries from the USA and Great Britain and told they are now free, set up cultures and structures where they were the masters. They copied what they had only ever seen which was the way their masters had lived and ruled the freed slaves copied these ways and adopted them as their own. These returned slaves were on the whole not from either of these countries and both countries had existing indigenous populations, whom were force to accept these freed slaves into their country. As they were not from either of these two countries they bought with them their own beliefs and culture that differed from that of the indigenous population. This imposition of outside cultures and beliefs only adds to any resentment held by the indigenous peoples. As mention above the freed slaves copied the ways they had observed from their masters and began to see that this way of living and doing things was the norm or accepted way (affluent). This in turn caused friction with the indigenous population, (repressed) which after a period of time led to small scale conflict and later to a larger internal conflict which have until recently was still being fought. (History World, 2010) Although the USA and Great Britain had good intentions, when they repatriated ex slaves the consequences have been terrible for both countries. It also highlights what Galtung was eluding to when he wrote about cultural violence as a form of structural violence. The freed slaves took on the role of master in both countries and the indigenous population became the repressed citizens in their own country. This led to discontent and finally to conflict. The conflict in each country was internal to both countries with limited involvement from neighboring countries, and although humanitarian support was provided by the international community the conflict remained localised. In recent years food security has been identified as a potential flashpoint for conflict. When he wrote in the Journal of Peace Research in 1990, Galtung introduced the topic of violence against nature as a form of structural violence. He may have been musing about the future, however twenty years later the structured systems of countries that have seen vast tracts of land slashed and burned in the name of sustainable economic growth (Galtung, 1990, pg 294) has caused the depletion of non-renewable resources. Large areas of land are stripped of vegetation to allow for the expansion of agricultural land and for mineral resources such as timber, oil and gas. These actions by governments have marginalised those groups whom have traditionally worked these lands or lived in the forest areas. These groups are now forced to abandon their traditional ways and be moved into makeshift towns where they are denied their rights to hunt and fish on their ancestral lands. An example of this is in B razil and other countries where the Amazon forest stretches across their borders. This forest is rapidly being cut down to make way for mineral exploration and the expansion of agricultural land. By doing this the government are forcing the indigenous peoples to withdraw further into the forests or forcing them to live in makeshift shanty towns which impose on them a lifestyle they are not used to or adapted for. Because of the size of the Amazon forest and its influence on the global environmental system, any interference with the forest will have environmental effects globally. This combined with at times contested idea that global pollution has influenced the global weather patterns and led to global warming. This global warming has interfered with the traditional weather systems and affected crops and animal production to such as extent that it has created a whole new group of disadvantaged peoples. (Rainforest Action Network, 2007) When examined what is happening as a result of planned government and global initiatives in industry and in the name of sustained economic growth is a form of structured violence. This can be further explain at country level as well, with those countries that have mineral wealth or those countries that are able to afford to access to the mineral wealth and those countries that cannot afford access to minerals or as a result of exploitation are drifting further into poverty and deprivation. Galtungs observation twenty years ago has proven to be valid today and could possibly be the catalyst for conflict in the future. If we examine the origins of the only two truly international conflicts the First and Second World Wars we will see that it was not the due to systematic structural violence. The events that led to the commencement of international conflict were not as a direct result of structural violence. In the case of the First World War, an assassination of an heir to the throne of the Austria-Hungary empire by a group of student idealists whom at the time of the actual assassination not intending to kill the Archduke Ferdinand, but were instead more focused on the assassination of Governor Potiorek and only at the last moment did the target switch to the Archduke. (Sowards, S.1996) Although the assassination was politically motivated it was perpetrated by a small group of idealist young men. The months between the assassination of the Archduke and the declaration of hostilities which led to a rapid chain reaction of events as countries were drawn into the conflict through existing alliances. (FirstWorldWar.com) This lapse in time shows that it was a more deliberate action to go to war, than an immediate reaction to the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand. (Sowards, 1996) The event that sparked the start of the Second World War was the German invasion of Poland, whom was an ally of both Britain and France. Prior to the invasion of Poland, Hitler and the Nazis had for many years previously articulated in speeches and propaganda of the need for race and space These concerns centered on the importance of racial purity (Aryan race) and on the need for a nation to be prepared to compete with its neighbors in a brutal, uncompromising and ceaseless struggle to survive and to expand. (Henig, R. 1997) Why Hitler hated the Jewish population so much still remains a mystery. What led him to order the extermination of millions of Jews is still open to debate. Hitler and the Nazis were racists and persecuted many different groups in societies such as homosexuals, which led to the killing of homosexuals regardless of their race or origins. The drive for a pure Aryan race was before the war only rhetoric, it was not until the war started that structures were put in p lace to suppress and kill millions of Jews and others. It was not structured violence that led to the Second World War, as the structures were put in place as the war started. (Minorityrights.com). As horrific as these wars were they were not started as a direct of structural violence, however when conflict started the policies and regimes that were put in place ensured that millions suffered. These events are examples of structural violence. Structural violence as has been indicated above has been and is still a major part of todays societies. Not all structural violence ends up in conflict, such as the rules in countries such as Saudi Arabia, where it is forbidden for women to drive a car. This type of entrenched structural violence continues today in many different parts of the world. Racism and Cultural violence are two of the more visible forms of structural violence we see or hear about. These forms of structural violence have their roots in the past in areas such as slavery and ethnic divisions. A new area of structural violence offered by Galtung was that of the structural violence against nature or the environment. This concept although new has gained new importance in the modern era when areas such as food security and environmental degradation are gaining global importance. Although environmental structural violence has not led to global conflict it is responsible for many small internal conflicts as the indigenous inhabitants of the lands or forests fight to keep their lands and waters from being taken from them in the name sustainable economic growth. As demonstrated above structural violence has led to many internal or regional conflicts, but has not been directly responsible for the starting of major international conflicts such as the First and Second World Wars. The extent that structural violence has had on international conflict is small. Structural violence is responsible for many internal or regional based conflicts, but they have not spread to a truly international conflict. I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use. -Galileo  Galilei.  Italian  astronomer,  mathematician,  and  physicist  (1564-1642)

Characteristics Of Perfect Competition Economics Essay

Characteristics Of Perfect Competition Economics Essay Monopoly is a market structure that is the only sole seller of a product and large number of buyers that have no close substitution and have a high entry and exit barrier. A monopoly markethas no other firms can enter the market and compete with it to produce some good or service. For an example that gave by Vengedasalam, D., et. al. (2008, p.229) If want to subscribe television channel services, the only one will go is Astro. But if want to use Astro services, it have various options to choose from, and this industry is not a monopoly market. 2.1 Characteristics of Monopoly: Single seller in the market: Monopoly is a price maker in the firm which has the power to control the price. In the proof of the auxiliary theorem Jackson, J. (1998, p.22.5), price maker is a seller of a commodity that is able to affect the price at which a commodity sells by changing the amount it sells. No Close Substitutes:It means customer or buyers could not find any substitute for the product. If the buyer can find out, then this product is no more in monopoly. In others way to describe, a monopoly cannot exist if there is a competition or any substitute product. Restriction of entry of new firms: In a monopoly market, there are strict barriers to the entry of new firms. Barriers to entry are natural of legal restrictions that restrict the entry of new firms into the industry. Average and Marginal Revenue Curves: Under monopoly, average revenue is greater than marginal revenue. Under monopoly, if the firm wants to increase the sale it can do so only when it reduces its price. 2.2 Types of Monopoly 2.2.1 Natural Monopolies One firm can produce at a lower cost compared to what two or more firms could produce. 2.2.2 Government- Created Monopolies Government creates monopolies to prevent firms from entering into a market. This can be done through difficulty in obtaining license to operate in the market or providing patent and copyrights to a monopoly firms. There are some legal barriers that are government franchise, government license, patent, copyright and control over raw material. 2.3 Monopolys Revenue A monopolists marginal revenue is always less than the price of its good. (According from N. Gregory Mankiw, principle of microeconomics fourth edition pg. 317), shows the example how the monopolys revenue might depend on the amount of water produced. C:UsersTOSHIBADesktop123.jpg Table 1: A monopolys Total, Average, and Marginal Revenue Table 1 shows a result that is important for understanding monopoly behavior: A monopolists marginal revenue is always less than the price of its good. For monopoly, marginal revenue is lower than price because a monopoly only faces a downward-sloping demand curve. C:UsersTOSHIBADesktop123a.jpg Figure 3: Demand and Marginal-Revenue Curves for a Monopoly The demand curve shows how the quantity affects the price of a good. The marginal-revenue curve shows how the firms revenue changes when the quantity increases by 1 unit. Marginal revenue is always less than the price because the price on all units sold must fall if the monopoly increases production 2.4 Profit Maximization In this graph shows the profit maximization for a monopoly. The point of A is the intersection of the marginal-revenue curve and the marginal-cost curve determines the profit-maximizing quantity. All this curves contain all the information we need to determine the level output that a profit-maximizing monopolist will choose. C:UsersTOSHIBADesktop123b.jpg Figure 4: Profit Maximization for a monopoly A monopoly maximizes profit by choosing the quantity at which marginal revenue equals marginal cost (point A). It then  uses the demand curve to find the price that will induce consumers to buy that quantity (point B). Thus, the monopolists profit-maximizing quantity of output is determined by the intersection of the marginal-revenue curve and the marginal-cost curve. 2.4.1 A Monopolys Profit C:UsersTOSHIBADesktopMicro Assignment diagram20130222_121054.jpg Figure 5: The monopolists Profit The area of the box BCDE equals the profit of the monopoly firm. The height of the box (BC) is price minus average total cost, which equals profit per unit old. The width of the box (DC) is the number of units sold. 3.0 Characteristics of Market Structures In a perfectly competitive market, the market structure is an interconnected feature or characteristics in which will affect the nature of competition and the price. For example, the volume and relative strength of buyers and sellers, the degree of collusion among them, level and forms of competition, the extent of product differentiation, and the ease of entry into and exit from the market. Market structures refer to the competitive environment within which a firm operates. Market structures divided into four basic types which is perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly and monopoly. 3.1 Perfect Competition Perfect competitive is defined as a market in which there are many buyers and sellers, the products of selling are homogeneous, and sellers can easily enter and exit from the market. 3.2.1 Characteristics of Perfect Competition Large number of buyers and sellers: Reynolds, R. L., (2005, p.2) points out that the idealized perfect competitive insures that no buyers and sellers has any power or ability to influence the price. The perfect competitive market is price takers. Products of selling are homogeneous: The firm must sell homogeneous product. The products are where the buyers could not differentiate the products of one seller to another seller. Easy enter and exit: From the research of Salvatore, D. (2009, p.245) demonstrated that resources or inputs are free to move among the various industries and locations within the market response to monetary incentives. So, there are no artificial barriers to entry into and exit from the industry. Perfect knowledge: Both of the sellers and buyers have perfect knowledge of the market. Sellers and buyers cannot influence with each others.Both of them must know the market price of the goods as given. Non-price competition: Microeconomics, 2008 Author: Dviga Vengedasalam, Karunagaran Madhavan, Rohana Kamaruddin point out the role of non-price competition is insignificant since many sellers sell the products at a fixed price and furthermore, the products are identical. The firms have no control over the price and their gods are identical, so there is no selling cost. 3.3 Monopoly Monopoly is single seller in which sell the product is unique. Thus, there are large number of buyers and selling the products that have no close substitution and have high barriers between entry and exit. For an example that gave by Vengedasalam, D., et. al. (2008, p.229) If want to subscribe home telephone services, the only one will go is Telekom Malaysia. 3.3.1 Characteristics of Monopoly Single seller in the market: Monopoly is a price maker in the firm which has the power to control the price. In the proof of the auxiliary theorem Jackson, J. (1998, p.22.5), price maker is a seller of a commodity that is able to affect the price at which a commodity sells by changing the amount it sells. No Close Substitutes: It means customer or buyers could not find any substitute for the product. If the buyer can find out, then this product is no more in monopoly. In others way to describe, a monopoly cannot exist if there is a competition or any substitute product. Strong barriers to the entry into the industry exist: In a monopoly market there is strong barrier on the entry of new firms. Monopolist faces no competition. The monopolist has absolute control over the production and sale of the commodity certain economic barriers are imposed on the entry. 3.4 Monopolistic Competition Microeconomics, 2008 Author: Dviga Vengedasalam, Karunagaran Madhavan, Rohana Kamaruddin points out that the Monopolistic competition is a market structure in which there are large numbers of small sellers differentiated products but these are close substitute products and have easy entry into and exit from the market. 3.4.1 Characteristics of Monopolistic Competition Large numbers of seller and buyers: It is less as compared to perfect competition. Because, monopolistic competition will produces different or unique products, so that they will have some control over the prices. Hence, each firm will follows an independent of the price output policy. Product differentiation:Each firm produces a product that is at least slightly different from those of other firms. For example, if coffee is sold in coffee pack only, then it is perfect competition. But, if the same coffee is mixed with chocolate packaged in a box and label as Choco-Coffee, then this product is in monopolistic competition. Easy entry and exit:This is freedom to entry of new firms, but it is not as easy as perfect competition because it needs to make some differentiate product enter the monopolistic competition. 3.5 Oligopoly According to the preservearticles.com, Oligopoly is often referred to as competition among the few. In brief oligopoly is a kind of imperfect market where there are a few firm in the market, producing either and homogeneous product or producing product which are close but not perfect substitutes of each other. 3.5.1 Characteristics of Oligopoly Few numbers of firms: The firms are few but the size of firms is large. In few firms will control the overall industry under oligopoly. For example of the oligopoly which is Unisem and Carsem. Homogeneous and differentiated product: The firms in an oligopolistic industry may produce standardized or differentiated products. For example, DIGI or U-mobile produced by one firm is identical to another firm. Mutual interdependence: The author further stated that oligopoly always consider in choosing price, sales target, advertising budgets and other. Price rigidity:According to the preservearticles.com, there is the existence price rigidity. Prices lend to be rigid and sticky. If any firm makes a price-cut it is immediately retaliated by the rival firms by the same practice of price-cut. There occurs a price-war in the oligopolistic condition. 3.7The Differences between the various characteristics with the four types of market structure The various characteristics between the four types of market structure which are Perfect Competition, Monopolistic Competition, Oligopoly and Monopoly have been discussed. The most important of these characteristics are differentiate in which will affect the nature of competition and the price. Therefore, table 2 shows the differentiation of the characteristics of the following market structure. Perfect Competition Monopolistic Competition Oligopoly Monopoly Barriers to entry Low Low High Very High Number of Producers Many Many Few One Types of product Standardized Differentiated Standardized or Differentiated Unique Example Fruit Vegetables 100 Plus Carsem Astro Table 2: Characteristics of market structure 4.0 Conclusion and Recommendation As my conclusion, I think that monopoly is the best in microeconomic. This is because monopoly is a form that is the sole seller of a product without close substitutes. It remains other firms cannot enter the market and complete with it.

Night by Elie Wiesel Essay -- Night Elie Wiesel Jews Nazi Genocide Es

Night by Elie Wiesel Nobody wants to read such a morbid book as Night. There isn’t anybody (other than the Nazis and Neo-Nazis) who enjoys reading about things like the tortures, the starvation, and the beatings that people went through in the concentration camps. Night is a horrible tale of murder and of man’s inhumanity towards man. We must, however, read these kinds of books regardless. It is an indefinitely depressing subject, but because of its truthfulness and genuine historic value, it is a story that we must learn, simply because it is important never to forget. As Robert McAfee Brown states in the preface of the memoir â€Å"the world has had to hear a story it would have preferred not to hear- the story of how a cultured people turned to genocide, and how the rest of the world, also composed of cultured people, remained silent in the face of genocide.† Elie Wiesel has paid much attention to an inner desire and need to serve humanity by illuminating the hate-darkened past.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Night is a horrifying account of a Nazi death camp that turns Elie Wiesel from a young Jewish boy into a distressed and grief-stricken witness to the death of his family, the death of his friends, even the death of his own innocence and his faith in G-d. He saw his family, friends and fellow Jews first severely degraded and then sadistically murdered. He enters the camp a child and leaves a man. At the book’s end, Elie bears little resemblance to the teenage boy who left Sighet almost a year earlier. Night is a memoir exquisitely written. Wiesel’s eloquence makes his descriptions seem terrifyingly real and repulsive. It is a book about what the Holocaust did, not just to the Jews, but to humanity. People all over the world found themselves affected by this atrocious act. Even today, there are a number of survivors who are tormented by their experience every day of their lives. The Wiesel’s have, throughout the novel, several opportunities to escape Sighet as well as the camp itself, but they are stubborn in their beliefs and refuse to listen to the warnings. Moshe the Beadle, Elie’s mentor at the beginning of the novel, while Elie is still a deeply religious young man, manages to escape the Gestapo in Poland. He returns to Sighet to deliver his message and to try to warn people of the pending situation. The villagers, however, believe Moshe has lost his mind, find... ...e† was Elie’s body, but it had not only lost so many pounds to make him look like a walking skeleton, but he had been robbed of its soul as well. This is similar to the loss suffered by people all over the world. Although several survivors are still alive physically, their mind and spirit have long been dead, or at least a large part of it. Recovering his spirit, his personality, even his faith, is, when he is released, is the most difficult obstacle for Elie to overcome. Night tells the story of innocent victims. It is the story of people who were destroyed simply because they were Jews. These people had done nothing and yet were tortured, degraded and liquidated for no other reason other than their faith in the Jewish religion and their semitic â€Å"racial inferiority†. Wiesel is a witness to all the horrible things, and by reading his memoir we too, become witnesses. He is a spokesperson for all those who cannot bear to speak and to pass the message on to us, the next generation. We are the ones who are obliged to keep the memory of the Holocaust alive. We must take advantage of his eloquence and its importance, which is never to forget, in order never to let this happen again.

Alternative Approaches to Meeting Peugeot Objectives Essays -- Papers

Alternative Approaches to Meeting Peugeot Objectives Are Peugeot using the best methods for the line of work they are involved in? Is there a way of improving their efficiency, quality and productivity? We should be able to tell if there is by looking at the theory known as benchmarking. Benchmarking can be defined as imitating the standards of an established leader in quality and attempting to be better them. Benchmarking is a technique used by some businesses to help them discover the 'best' methods of production available and then adopt them. Benchmarking involves: - Ã ¼ Finding out what makes the difference, in the customer's eyes, between an ordinary supplier and an excellent supplier. Ã ¼ Setting standards for business operations based on the best practice that can be found. Ã ¼ Finding out how these best companies meeting those standards. Ã ¼ Applying both competitors' standards and, if possible, exceed them. What should be benchmarked? I Who should the company benchmark against? I How is the information obtained? I How should the information be analysed? I How should the information be used? These are the five main steps in Benchmarking. The first step is to identify exactly what the company intends to benchmark. Benchmarks that are important for customer satisfaction might include consistency of product, correct invoices, shorter delivery times, shorter lead times and improved after sales service. Peugeot could decide to benchmark better sales figures. What better company to benchmark against than 'Ford', the leading company in market penetration. If Peugeot were to i... ...ompanies meet those standards. Then Peugeot could apply both standards and their own to meet the new standard and possibly exceed that excellent customer service standard. Due to Peugeot previous innovations, they were very successful in winning awards for the company, such as the 'car of the year' award; the 206 won the 'best used car' award. Also Peugeot were able to produce a world record, producing half a million 206s in three years. As we can see from Peugeot's previous success they are very innovative and progressive in the car industry. Using every new technological advantage possible to create that competitive advantage over their rivals. And with policies like "eight airbags as standard" Peugeot are a tough act to follow. Especially with such high regards to recycling and safety to the environment.

Basic Syntactic Notions

S Y N T A X LECTURE 6 BASIC SYNTACTIC NOTIONS 1. Some approaches to the study of syntactic units. The central role of syntax within theoretical linguistics became clear only in the 20th century, which some scholars call the â€Å"century of syntactic theory† as far as linguistics is concerned. Nowadays theoretical approaches to the discipline of syntax are numerous and extremely diverse. One school of thought treats syntax as a branch of biology, since it conceives of syntax as the study of linguistic knowledge as embodied in the human mind.Other linguists regard syntax to be the study of an abstract formal system. Yet others consider syntax to be a taxonomical device to reach broad generalizations across languages. One more school of thought approaches syntactic phenomena from the philosophical point of view proceeding from the idea that reality consists of things, their qualities and relationships. Hence, the subdivision of words by the parts of speech and the treatment of s yntactic problems as philisophic processes. The hypothesis of generative grammar is that language is a structure of the human mind.The goal of generative grammar is to make a complete model of this inner language (known as i-language). This model could be used to describe all human language and to predict the grammaticality of any given utterance (that is, to predict whether the utterance would sound correct to native speakers of the language). This approach to language was pioneered by Noam Comsky. Most generative theories (although not all of them) assume that syntax is based upon the constituent structure of sentences. Generative grammars are among the theories that focus primarily on the form of a sentence, rather than its communicative function.Among the many generative theories of linguistics, the Chomskyan theories are: Transformational Grammar (TG) (Original theory of generative syntax laid out by Chomsky in Syntactic Structures in 1957 ; Government and binding theory (GB) ( revised theory in the tradition of TG developed mainly by Chomsky in the 1970s and 1980s); Minimalist program (MP) (a reworking of the theory out of the GB framework published by Chomsky in 1995) Categorial grammar is an approach that attributes the syntactic structure not to rules of grammar, but to the properties of the syntactic categories themselves.For example, rather than asserting that sentences are constructed by a rule that combines a noun phrase (NP) and a verb phrase (VP) (e. g. the phrase structure rule S > NP VP), in categorial grammar, such principles are embedded in the category of the head word itself. So the syntactic category for an intransitive verb is a complex formula representing the fact that the verb acts as a functor which requires an NP as an input and produces a sentence level structure as an output. This complex category is regarded as † a category that searches to the left for a NP (the element on the left) and outputs a sentence (the element on th e right)†.The category of transitive verb is defined as an element that requires two NPs (its subject and its direct object) to form a sentence. Dependency grammar regards structure as determined by the relations (such as grammatical relations) between a word (a head) and its dependents, rather than being based in constituent structure. For example, syntactic structure is described in terms of whether a particular noun is the subject or agent of the verb, rather than describing the relations in terms of phrases. Stochastic/probabilistic grammars/network theories These are theoretical approaches to syntax based upon probability theory.They are known as stochastic grammars. One common implementation of such an approach makes use of a neural network or connectionism. Some theories based within this approach are: Optimality theory and Stochastic context-free grammar. Functionalist grammars are functionalist theories, which (though focused upon form) are driven by explanation based upon the function of a sentence (i. e. its communicative function). Some typical functionalist theories include: Funtionalist grammar; Prague Linguistic Circle; Systemic functional grammar; Cognitive grammar; Construction grammar; Role and reference grammar; Emergent grammar Constructional Syntax.Constructional analysis of syntactic units was initiated by Prof. G. Pocheptsov (1971). The analysis deals with the constructional significance/insignificance of a part of the sentence for the whole syntactic unit. The theory is based on the obligatory or optional environment of syntactic elements. For example, the element him in the sentence / saw him there yesterday is constructionally significant because it is impossible to omit it. At the same time the elements there and yesterday are constructionally insignificant – they can be omitted without destroying the whole structure.Communicative Syntax. It is primarily concerned with the analysis of utterances from the point of their c ommunicative value and informative structure. It deals with the actual division of the utterance – the theme and rheme analysis. Both the theme and the rheme constitute the informative structure of utterances. Pragmatic approach to the study of syntactic units can briefly be described as the study of the way language is used in particular contexts to achieve particular goals. Speech Act Theory was first introduced by John Austin.The notion of a speech act presupposes that an utterance can be said with different intentions or purposes and therefore can influence the speaker and situation in different ways: I just state the fact; Textlinguistics studies the text as a syntactic unit, its main features and peculiarities, different ways of its analysis. Discourse analysis focuses on the study of language use with reference to the social and psychological factors that influence communication. 2. Some concrete methods of syntactic analysis.The most commonly applied concrete methods of syntactic analysis seem to be the IC and transformational procedures. The method of IC is based on the idea that sentences have a hierarchic structure consisting of a number of layers. It is assumed that parts of a sentence are combined with each other according to strict rules. If we want to know how a sentence is built we must separate its units or constituents. Hence the notion of immediate constituents /IC/. Immediate constituents are those parts of a sentence that we arrive at after dividing it into two (the first step).Those parts or IC may, in their turn, be divided into further parts until the actual place of each word in the structure of the sentence as a whole has been established. (e. g. The old man saw a black dog there. S – sentence P – phrase N- noun V – verb t – article p – preposition A – adjective D – adverb) The method of IC is very helpful in syntactical analysis. But it has certain limitations. Sentences in whic h the relations between words are considerably different despite identical surface structures get in the IC model quite similar interpretations. Compare the sentences: John is eager to please and John is easy to please. In the former the relations between John and eager are of a subjective character, while in the latter John and easy stand in an objective relation to each other. By applying the method of IC we cannot establish formally the existing difference. It is because the structures of these sentences are analyzed separately from the structures of other sentences. The tansformational method is aimed at overcoming the demerits of the method of IC.The Transformational grammar was first suggested by American scholar Zelling Harris as a method of analyzing sentences and was later elaborated by another American scholar Noam Chomsky as a synthetic method of ‘generating’ (constructing) sentenceswhich is why the theory is also called â€Å"generative grammar†. The fundamental ideas underlying this method are as follows. Every language has a very small number of sentence patterns called kernel or basic sentences. All the variety of sentences which can exist in that language are derived or generated from these kernel sentences by derivation rules.Grammarians have made attempts at setting up a list of patterns that could be regarded as kernel sentences. It is interesting to point out that the number of these is essentially different in various books. Transformational grammar makes a fundamental distinction between two types of sentences: kernel sentences and transforms. The latter are derived from the former. Transformational grammar traces the derivational history of a sentence by establishing what is called its â€Å"depth structure†. It thus shows why sentences having similar surface structures convey different structural meanings.The differences in meaning can be formally explained applying the transformational method. Z. Harris set u p the following list of kernel sentences: NV(John came); NVpN (John looked at Mary); NVN(John saw Mary); N is N (John is a teacher); N is p N (/John is in bed); N is D (John is here); N is A (John is angry) The above sentence â€Å"The old man saw a dog there† can be interpreted as the transform of the following three kernel sentences:The man saw a dog there. The man was old. The dog was black. (The man who was old saw a dog that was black. ( The old man saw a black dog there.The ambiguity of the sentence â€Å"Flying planes can be dangerous†, is easily explained by the following transformational procedure: To fly planes is dangerous. He can fly planes. ( Flying planes can be dangerous. Planes can be dangerous. Planes fly. ( Flying planes can be dangerous. Only by transformation can we explain why phrases of the N`sN type denote different relations as in John’s arrival and John’s trial, the former being a transform of the kernel sentence John arrives and the latter having a different derivational history: X triesJohn ( John is tried ( John’s trial.S. Porter reduces the number of kernel sentences to three: â€Å"All simple sentences belong to one of three types: A) The sun warms the earth; B) The sun is a star; C) The sun is bright; As an argument S. Porter adds: â€Å"Word order is changeless in A) and B), but not in C). Even in sober prose a man may say â€Å"Bright is the sun†. The sentences derived fromsuch kernel sentences are words or combination words added to the kernel ones in accordance with their combinability so as to make the communication as complete as the speaker wishes.Thus, the kernel sentence â€Å"Boys play† can be quite independent. But this sentence can be extended by realizing the combinability of the noun â€Å"boys† and the verb â€Å"play† into â€Å"The three noisy boys play boisterous upstairs†. We can develop the sentence into a still more extended one. But one should bear in mind that the rules of combinability have to be observed for the sentence to be valid. It should also be stressed that there are rules of grammatical and lexical combinability as well as stylistic ones.The combination of words will be ungrammatical if we put together â€Å"boys plays†, instead of â€Å"boys play† or â€Å"the fish shouted† instead of â€Å"the boy shouted†. 3 The Subject Matter of Syntax Words by themselves do not, as a rule, make up complete units of speech, in order to become such units, they must get combined with one another in the framework of linguistic items of a higher rank. These are the sentence and the phrase. As a whole, they make up the syntactical structure of a language.From the point of view of Structural Grammar syntax is the part of grammar that studies the laws in accordance with which words become phrases, and sentences. Hence, syntax is the part of grammar that investigates the syntactical structure of a language. It treats of both phrases and sentences which, though belonging to different levels of language structure, are closely connected with each other. The traditional definition of syntax was extended by Prof. L. S. Barkhudarov who states that syntax has also to investigate phenomena lying on a still higher level, namely the level on which sentences combine into groups of sentences.Considering the fact that syntax studies the way words and phrases are combined into phrases, sentences and texts some scholars define syntax as the science which studies the types of formal and semantic relations within word combinations, sentences, supra-phrasal unities and texts. The syntactic language level can be described with the help of special linguistic terms and notions: syntactic unit, syntactic form, syntactic meaning, syntactic function, syntactic position, and syntactic relations. Syntactic unit is always a combination that has at least two constituents.The basic syntactic units are a word-group, a clause, a sentence, and a text. Their main features are: they are hierarchical units (the units of a lower level serve the building material for the units of a higher level); as all language units the syntactic units are of two-fold nature (the content side – the syntactic meaning of a syntactic unit- being opposed to the expression side -the syntactic form of a syntactic unit); they are of communicative and non-communicative nature (word-groups and clauses are of non-communicative nature while sentences and texts are of communicative nature.Syntactic meaning is the way in which separate word meanings are combined to produce meaningful word-groups and sentences. Syntactic form may be described as the distributional formula of the unit (pattern). John hits the ball – N1 + V + N2. Syntactic function is the function of a unit on the basis of which it is included to a larger unit: in the word-group a smart student the word ‘smart’ is in subordi nate attributive relations to the head element. In traditional terms it is used to denote syntactic function of a unit within the sentence (subject, predicate, etc. ).Syntactic position is the position of an element. The order of constituents in syntactic units is of principal importance in analytical languages. The syntactic position of an element may determine its relationship with the other elements of the same unit: his broad back, a back district, to go back, to back sm. Syntactic relations are syntagmatic relations observed between syntactic units. They can be of three types -coordination, subordination and predication. 4 The Phrase Level and the Sentence Level Modern linguistics distinguishes between the phrase level and the sentence level.There exist many definitions of phrases, the difference between them being that one group of scholars hold that phrases consist of only notional words while their opponents think that the constituents of a phrase can be function words (prep ositions, conjunctions, etc. ). Most definitions mention some negative feature characteristic of phrases. Prof. B. A. Ilyish, for instance, terms as phrase â€Å"every combination of two or more words which is a grammatical unit but is not an analytical form of some word. † Prof. L.S. Barkhudarov, on the other hand, defines a phrase as â€Å"a group of syntactically connected notional words being part of a sentence but not being the sentence itself. † We have already mentioned how difficult it is to draw a rigid demarcation line between phrases and analytical forms. As to the borderline between phrases and sentences, it is much easier to establish. The most important feature of a sentence as distinct from a phrase is its intonation. The structure of a phrase is of a very wide and abstract character.While singling out particular types of phrases we do not take into account the lexical meanings of the words or their morphological features. (So, for example, all the group s of words, that follow, can be classed as phrases of the V+N type: writes a letter, has seen the friend, has been giving lessons, having completed the work, etc. ) Since phrases are only parts of sentences, we must assume that there exists a higher level with its own peculiar structure. It is called the sentence level.Irrespective of its linear character (a succession in time or space of morphemes, words, phrases), the sentence has a hierarchic structure. That means that the parts of a sentence are not independent, they can exist as such only in their mutual interrelation. The interdependence of the parts of a sentence is not necessarily reflected in their linear succession. 5. Types of Syntactical Relations; Means of Expression The relations between words within phrases and sentences are not uniform.It is one of the most important tasks of syntax to single out and to define the types of syntactical relations. The universally recognized types of syntactic relations are: subordinati on, coordination and predication. Subordination is the type of syntactical relation under which the function of one part of the phrase coincides with the function of the phrase as a whole. The leading part is called the head of the phrase while the part having a function different from that of the head is called the adjunct of the phrase.Apart from the purely semantic criterion it is quite possible to establish which word is the head by applying the formal procedure of substitution (e. g. â€Å" A young man entered the room†. In this sentence the whole group a young man performs the function of the subject. We may replace the group by the word man: â€Å"A man entered the room†. Hence, the word man is the head of the phrase and young – the adjunct. ) While performing the substitution procedure one should not change the syntactical relations within the sentence as a whole(e. g. He is a young man.He is a man. He is young /wrong/). Coordination is the type of synta ctical relation under which he syntactical function of the whole group coincides with that of its parts. Coordination can also be established by applying the substitution test (Thus, in the sentence â€Å"Boys and girls studied at that school†, the group boys and girls performs the function of the subject. The same function can be performed by either of the words making up the group: â€Å"Boys and girls studied at that school†. â€Å"Boys studied at that school†, â€Å"Girls studied at that school†).Coordinative relations are found in phrases with coordinative conjunctions /but, neither†¦nor/ and also in groups like the poet Byron, my brother the teacher(e. g. The poet Byron lived in Greece. – The poet lived in Greece. – Byron lived in Greece; My brother the teacher got married last year. – My brother got married last year. – The teacher got married last year). Predication is the type of syntactical relation under which t he syntactical function of the group as a whole is different from the functions of each of its components /IC/.The most typical predicative relation is that between the subject and the predicate. This is most distinctly seen in complex sentences such as: â€Å"I hate†¦talking loudly†; â€Å"I knew he had come† None of the IC of the subordinate clauses can be replaced by the clause as a whole. It is impossible to say â€Å"I knew he† or â€Å"I knew had come†. The types of syntactic bonds just described are generally recognized, though not all scholars use the terms given above to designate them.However, these types of syntactic bonds can fail to explain the relation between, for instance, the main predication and the inserted elements in the sentences (â€Å"The boy, as it were, left the house†. â€Å" Interestingly and fortunately for him nobody saw him†). That is why some grammarians consider it also necessary to single out other type s of syntactic relation to cover the cases in question. The number and types of syntactic bonds added to the above given ones varies from author to author and we are not going to dwell on them here.Instead, we shall confine ourselves to presenting the system of syntactic bonds worked out by Prof. Smirnitskiy which will serve as an example. According to him there are four types of syntactic relations in English: 1) the attributive bond characterized by A. I. Smirnitskiy as the closest kind of syntactic relations (we deal with the attributive bond in attributive word combinations or between the attributive subordinate clause and its head in the main clause); 2) the completive bond connecting the predicate and all kinds of objects, objective subordinate clauses.Adverbial subordinate clauses are also said to be connected with the main clause with the help of this kind of bond; 3) the copulative bond connecting homogeneous parts of a sentence, or independent clauses in a compound sentenc e. Parenthesis(or insertions) of all kinds are also regarded as syntactic phenomena introduced into the sentence with the help of this kind of syntactic bond; 4) the predicative bond, which is described as the loosest of all syntactic bonds, establishes the relations between the subject and the predicate.Every language has its peculiar grammatical means that signal different syntactical relations. Like morphemes indicating various forms of words, these may be called syntactical forms for they express syntactical relations. The relations between words in a phrase or a sentence are diverse and multiple. In syntactical analyses we normally avoid mentioning relations which can be ascribed to the lexical meanings of the words (e. g. In the phrases his singing and his hat the semantic relations between the words are different (doer- process, possession) but syntactically we have one and the same relation (subordination).Modern English makes use of the following syntactical means of expres sing syntagmatic relations: Word-order. It is with the help of word-order that we make out the syntactical relations between the words in the following groups: a young man; to read a book; stone wall; Peter sees Mary; etc. Word order may indicate not only that the words stand in some kind of relation to one another but also what kind of relation it is. The forms of the words. This linguistic device has more than often been underestimated by scholars writing on the grammar of English.In the opinion of Prof. A. I. Smirnitskiy, it is just due to their scarcity that the forms of the words acquire an important role in the structure of the sentence or phrase. The importance of the morphological forms can be clearly seen if we compare the following two groups of which only the former is a sentence: He likes them – Him like they. Function words. By these we mean prepositions and conjunctions which show different relations between words (e. g. the poet Byron – the poet after By ron; a poor man – poor and proud). Intonation.Intonation may perform different functions: it helps to distinguish between a phrase and a sentence, it may also indicate different relations between words. LECTURE 7 THE PHRASE 1. Syntactical Classification of Phrases In accordance with the character of syntactic relations existing between the parts of a phrase, these are divided into three large classes: subordinative phrases, coordinative phrases, predicative phrases. This division is based on the definition under which a phrase is understood as a combination of two. or more notional words standing in some syntactical relation to one another' and being . art of a sentence. 2. Formal Relations within a Phrase. The inner relations between the parts of a phrase are expressed formally in some way or other. No uniform classification of these formal devices has not been established so far. Still, the following types of formal syntactical means have been outlined so far: Agreement by which grammarians understand the phenomenon of two or more words having similar morphological forms due to their being connected syntactically. As a rule, the subordinate element adapts its form to that of the word it is subordinated to.Agreement is found in noun phrases with demonstrative pronouns: (this book – these books that house – those houses. ) As to the agreement between the subject and the predicate, it is of a less formal character (e. g. The United States is a country situated in North America. Our group are fond of sports. ) In this respect English is less formal than, say, Russian. In English the subject and the predicate agree with each other semantically rather than formally. This type of connection is called correspondence. Government by which grammarians understand he phenomenon of one of the words in a phrase having some grammatical form conditioned by the word it is subordinate to Government is very common in Russian where even prepositions can requ ire that the nouns following them should stand in a certain case form. As a syntactical device government is rather rare in Modern English. We find it in combinations of the V+In type in which the verb requires that the personal pronoun should have the form of the objective case. The same can be said of p + In and p + whom (see him, invite us, to me, about whom, etc). Adjoining and enclosure.The absence of both agreement and government, termed adjoining, is the most characteristic feature of the syntactical structure of Modern English. Adverbs, for example, are said to be adjoined to verbs and adjectives. Strictly speaking it is not only the actual position of the adjective that helps the hearer or reader to understand what word is modified by the adverb, but in many cases some semantic features have also to be taken into account, for the adverb may be considerably far from the word it is connected with. Modern English makes extensive use of another means of expressing syntactical r elations.It is called en enclosure. A very illustrative example of enclosure is found in word groups like a. fine day, where the article is separated from the noun permitting other words to become syntactically connected with the noun. In this way any word, word group and even whole sentences may become adjuncts of the noun (e. g. The above statement; a big-circulation newspaper; a take-it-or-leave-it tone). 3. 0. Jespersen ‘s Theory of Ranks A very interesting syntactical theory, known as the theory of three ranks. was elaborated by O. Jespersen.According to this theory, there is a certain analogy between the distribution of words into parts of speech and their interrelations in actual speech. Analysing the word group extremely hot weather 0. Jespersen points out that the chief word is defined by another word which in its turn may be defined by a third word, etc. â€Å"We are thus†, he writes, â€Å"led to establish different â€Å"ranks† of words according to their mutual relations as defined defining. † In his example weather is called_the primary, hot – the secondary, extremely – the tertiary In this way one can establish the rank of a word in respect of the other words it is connected with. . Subordinative phrases: noun phrases; verb phrases; adjective phrases; adverb phrases; pronoun phrases. .Subordinative phrases are distinctly different from co-ordinative and predicative phrases. In these phrases we always find parts winch are unequal as regards their syntactical status. The word whose function coincides with the function of the whole_phrase is called the head, and the dependent or subordinate word is called the adjunct. Unlike coordinative phrases subordinative phrases are always binary in structure.That means that irrespective of the actual number of words making up a subordinative phrase it always falls into two immediate constituents. So, for example, the phrase continued to refuse to meet demands for highe r wages, at the initial stage of division into I? falls into two parts: continued and to refuse to meet demands for higher wages. What was the adjunct during the first division, in its turn, falls into the next I?: to refuse and to meet demands for higher wages; the latter also consists of two parts: to meet and demands for higher wages, and so on.The principles of classification of subordinative phrases may be various. They may be classified depending on the part of speech the head of the phrase belongs to. Under this classification the following types of phrases are distinguished: noun phrases, verb phrases, adjective phrases, adverb phrases, pronoun phrases. The second classification takes into account whether the I? of the phrase consist of one or more than one. notional words. If each I? of the phrase has only one notional_word, the phrase is called simple.If at least one of the I? has_two or more notional_words, the phrase is called complex. We can also distinguish, in this co nnection, between complex phrases with an expanded head and complex phrases with an expanded adjunct , and, finally, there may be phrases in which both the head and the adjunct are expanded. (e. g. The reception of the delegation by the President (a complex phrase with an expanded head) Saw the father of the youth (a complex phrase with an expanded adjunct); The reception of the delegation by the President of the state (a complex phrase in which both the head and the adjunct are expanded).Subordinative phrases may additionally be divided into continuous and discontinuous. This division takes into account the fact whether the I? of the phrase are found in succession or whether they are separated by some word which does not belong to this phrase. (e. g. Slowly, Old Jolyon got up out of the chair – a discontinuous phrase). a. Noun Phrases Noun_phrases are subordinatiye phrases in which the,head is a noun. As regards the mutual positions of the head and its adjunct linguists dist inguish noun phrases with preposed adjuncts and noun phrases with postposed adjuncts.In noun phrases with preposed adjuncts the latter can be expressed by the following classes of words: adjectives, pronouns, numerals, verbs in the form of participle I or participle II, nouns having the ‘s morpheme or without it. To use symbols, these phrases have the following structures: AN (white snow; thick books); laN (this room; his friend); QN (three windows; the second lesson); V-ingN (shouting boys; melting ice); V-enN (written works; corrected mistakes); N'sN (Mary's book; a week's delay); NN (window glass; university team).In noun phrases with postposed adjuncts the following units may be the adjuncts: prepositional groups; adjectives and adjective phrases; verbs in the form of participles and verb phrases in which participles are the heads; verbs in the form of the infinitive and verb phrases in which the infinitive is the head; infinitival and gerundial predicative phrases; noun p hrases; conjunctional groups; adverbs; numerals;subordinate clauses.The patterns noun phrases with postposed adjuncts are: NpN (the title of the book); NpNP (the title of the new book); NpIn (the saving of him); NpV-ing (my reason for coming); NpV-ingP (my reason for coming here). In principle any preposition can be part of a postposed adjunct. Special investigations have shown, however, that the preposition of covers 70% of all occurrences. Postposed adjuncts with adjectives are relatively rare, in this position the occurrence of adjective phrases is much more common: NA (the people present); NAP (a country rich in coal).It should be stressed here that only a limited number of adjectives can be used as postposed adjuncts. They are: the adjective present; adjectives with the suffixes -ible, -able, some adjectives with the prefix a- (afraid, alive). Postposed adjuncts with verbs in various forms are represented by the following types: NV-en (the person addressed); NV-ing (the childre n shouting); NV-enP (the work done by him); NV-ingP (the children shouting in the yard); NtoV (the work to do); NtoVD (the work to do quickly).Postposed adjuncts consisting of predicative phrases are of two kinds: they may have as a head either the infinitive or the ing-form. As a rule, they are introduced by the preposition for (the so-called for-phrases). Here are some of the most frequent patterns: NforNtoV (a book for Tom to read); NforN'sV-ing or NforNV-ing (the reason for Tom's coming; the reason for Tom coming). Each part of the adjunct may get considerably expanded (the reason for poor Tom's coming late;a poem for this little boy to learn by heart).Postposed adjuncts in which nouns are the heads or introduced by the conjunction as are not very frequent in Modern English. They are: NNP (a child the same age); NasN (his life as an artist); NasNP (his life as an opera singer). Postposed adjuncts with adverbs are rarely used: ND (Jim’s speech yesterday). Postposed adjunct s with numerals are confined in English only to quantitative numerals (page three, room ten). b. Verb PhrasesVerb phrases take a central position among all types of phrases in Modern English. They display a great variety of structure and are capable of combining with one another.Therefore they make up syntactical constructions of considerable depth, and complexity. Prof. L. S. Barkhudarov suggested that verb phrases should be classified according to the lexico-grammatical nature of the verb being the head of the phrase. As is known, all English verbs fall into two large classes: transitive and intransitive verbs. It is also known that many verbs can be used in either meaning but this is quite irrelevant for syntax because in any given sentence one and the same verb is either transitive or intransitive.Under the classification suggested by Prof. L. S. Barkhudarov English verb phrases fall into the following main classes: phrases the head of which is either a transitive or an intransi tive verb; phrases the head of which necessarily belongs to a definite subclass of verbs (transitive or intransitive). The adjuncts in verb phrases, accordingly, fall into two types: adjuncts capable of combining with verbs of either class called extensions; adjuncts capable of combining with verbs of only a definite class (transitive or intransitive) called complements.The adjuncts of a transitive verb are called object complements, those of an intransitive verb qualifying complements. The following adjuncts can be found in verb phrases with extensions: adverbs and adverb phrases; adjectives and adjective phrases; prepositional groups; noun phrases without prepositions; pronouns; verbs in the form of the infinitive; participle I and participle II;conjunctional groups; predicative phrases;subordinate clauses: VD (runs quickly); VDP (runs very quickly); VA (stood, angry); VAP (stood, red with anger); VpN (returns to the country);VNP arrived last week); VIa (lives there); VIself. wash ing himself); VtoT (came to help); VtoVP (came to help me); VV-ing (came laughing); VV-en (came, frightened); VbN (acting as judge); VbA (speaking whenever possible); Vb toV (rising so as to see); VforNtoV (stood for John to pass); VpN'sV-ing (left without John's, noticing). (For verb phrases with complements see: ?. ?. . , p? 89 -110) ?.Adjective Phrases Adjective phrases have a comparatively low frequency of occurrence, if the head of the phrase is an adjective in the positive degree, the adjunct may be: an adverb; a prepositional group; a noun; a noun phrase; a verb in the form of the gerund or the infinitive; a predicative phrase and a subordinate clause: DA (incredibly beautiful); ApNP (good for young children); AN (worth the trouble); AV-ingP (busy doing sums); AtoV (ready to go); AforNtoV (easy for John to read).Things are somewhat different with adjectives in the comparative and superlative degrees. Adjectives in the comparative degree usually combine with adjuncts intr oduced by the conjunction than (Tom is older than George). They also combine with adverbs and adverbial pronouns, such as far, still, much (far greater, much better, still greater). Adjectives in the superlative degree may have a proposed adjunct like by far or a postposed adjunct – a prepositional group introduced by the prepositions of and in. d.Adverb Phrases In adverb phrases the adjuncts may stand both in preposition and in postposition. Proposed adjuncts are adverbs and adverbial pronouns (except enough), and with the adverbs before, later, earlier, ago nouns or noun phrases. Postposed adjuncts are the pro-adverb enough, prepositional groups (p+N,etc. ), nouns and noun phrases: DD (rather well); IdD (so nicely); ND (years later); NPD (six days ago); D+enough (well enough); DpN (high in the air). e. Pronoun PhrasesOnly indefinite, negative and demonstrative pronouns can be heads of pronoun phrases.They take the following adjuncts: prepositional groups (p+N; p+In, p+NP); adjectives or adjective phrases; verbs in the form of the infinitive or verb phrases with the infinitive as the head;infinitival predicative phrases and subordinate clauses. The adjunct is always placed in postposition: In pN (some of the workers); In pIn (some of us); InA (something strange); IntoV (nothing to do); In forNtoV (Nobody for Tom to see). 5. Coordinative phrases. Co-ordinate phrases are characterized by the following features: all its members have a similar function in the sentence; their structure is not binary.As to the morphological peculiarities of the constituents of a coordinate phrase, it should be stressed here that this point is of no relevance for syntax. (So, for example, in the sentence – Celia was pretty and a good companion – pretty and a good companion are the constituents of one and the same coordinate phrase irrespective of their being essentially different as regards their morphological nature: pretty is an adjective, good companion is a noun phrase. ) Coordinate phrases fall into two groups: 1)Syndetic coordinate phrases.The syntactical connection between the I? is expressed with the help of conjunctions. If the conjunction is continuous, the coordinate phrase is said to be simple. If the conjunction is discontinuous, the phrase is said to be correlative (E. g. It was the sound of a gramophone, harsh and loud, He has both luck and talent. ) 2)Asyndetic coordinate phrases. The syntactical connection between the parts of the phrase is expressed only with the help of intonation. (E. g. He was hot, dusty, tired out. The good lady her mother now interposed. ) 6.Predicative phrases Predicative phrases fall into three groups: infinitival predicative phrases (for John to come); gerundial predicative phrases (John's coming); absolute predicative phrases (all things considered). Predicative phrases have a binary structure, they are made up of only two I?. They have much in common with sentences, but the I? of a predicative p hrase should not be termed subject and predicate. It should be noted here that the subjectival member of a predicative phrase and the subject of a sentence always refer to different persons or things. (E. g.He stood up for me to sit down. He is proud of his friend having won a prize. The lesson being over, we went home. ) Infinitival predicative phrasesThe subjectival member of an infinitival predicative phrase is a noun. a noun phrase or a pronoun, the latter in the form of the objective case. The predicatival member of an infinitival predicative phrase is any form of the infinitive with or without words subordinate to it. The phrase is preceded by the preposition for: forN/P/toV/P/ (for John to go there); forI toV/P/ (for something to happen); forI toV/?/ (for him to come late).Gerundial predicative phrasesThe subjectival member of a gerundial predicative phrase is a noun or a noun phrase with or without the morpheme ‘s; a possessive pronoun in the conjoint form or a persona l pronoun in the objective case form and other pronouns. The predicatival member of a gerundial predicative phrase is any form of the gerund with or without words subordinate to it: NP'sV-ingP (young John's coming late); NPV-ing P: (young John coming late); I'sV-ingP (his coming late); ImV-ing P (him coming late).Absolute predicative phrasesThe subjectival member of an absolute predicative phrase is a noun or a noun phrase, a personal pronoun in the nominative case or another type of pro-noun. The predicatival member of an absolute predicative phrase is a verb in the form of the participle or the infinitive, or a verb phrase with these forms as a head, or non-verbal parts of speech: adjectives, adverbs, prepositional groups:NPV-ingP (his voice trembling with excitement); InV-ingP (it rising slowly); NPV-enP ( his thirst gone);NPtoV? (the expenses to be paid); In toVP (each to be defined); NPAP (his face very pale); NPD (breakfast over); NPpNP (hat in hand); NPpIm (her back to him); NPNP (his shot a failure). Instances are not few when absolute predicative phrases are introduced by the prepositions with or without. (He looked at Mr. Micawber attentively, with his whole face breathing short and quick in every feature. I left the room without anybody noticing it)

International Adoption

Tammy Joiner CFS 157, 6:00 PM 2 May 2012 International Adoption Offers Advantages and Disadvantages In April of 2010, an American single mother, Torry Hansen, put her foreign-adopted seven-year-old son on a plane back to Moscow—alone. She cited psychological and behavior issues as the reason for such a drastic measure, â€Å"After giving my best to this child, I am sorry to say that for the safety of my family, friends, and myself, I no longer wish to parent this child,† read the note accompanying the frightened Artyem Saviliev to the Russian Education of Ministries (Magee and Netter 2).Intercountry or international adoption is the process of establishing a permanent parent-child relationship with a child from another country through proper and legal channels (Intercountry Adoption). More Americans are opting for this means of adoption, some due to infertility but largely due to the media and celebrities bringing awareness to the mistreatment of children in foreign land s (Knox and Schacht 326-327). Although adopting abroad can be very rewarding for prospective parents, it can often result in startling challenges. Fulfilling AdvantagesThere are several benefits to international adoption. Around the world there are numerous orphaned children available to hopeful mothers and fathers. The U. S Department of State, Offices of Children’s Issues—Intercountry Adoption reports in 2011 there were over 9,300 foreign adoptions in the United States most of which were from China, Ethiopia, Russia, South Korea, and the Ukraine, respectively. With this type of adoption, parents have the option of selecting their preferences when it comes to the age (especially infants), gender, and nationality of the child.Transcontinental adoptions are usually handled by an adoption agency, the country’s adoption committee, or thorough an in-country visit (â€Å"Pros & Cons of†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). Another advantage and possibly the most important is the opportun ity to give a disadvantaged child a happy home. Unfortunately, young children often undergo global changes including poverty and war which may make it difficult for them to remain in their home country. For example, China’s one-child policy leaves infant girls open to abandonment.In that nation, parents would suffer harsh penalties for having an additional child; therefore they are inclined to desert any other children born into the household (â€Å"International Adoption†). Intercontinental adoption provides another way for children to receive the care, stability, and love that they need to succeed in the form of a permanent family. Indeed, this method of adoption offers an alternative for many potential parents desiring to build their families with children that are in need (Intercountry Adoption). Challenging DisadvantagesIn many cases of foreign adoption unexpected and surprising setbacks have occurred. Some of which are expensive fees, exploitation of children, an d behavior problems. Adoptive parents spend from $30,000 to $40,000 to bring their children home (Hannigan). It has been reported that due to the amount of money involved in these types of adoptions, children have been adopted fraudulently. These children are often stolen at gunpoint or the birthmother has been paid to place her child with an agency. Several adoptive parents have been awarded children that were not orphaned further complicating the process.Recently, due to like violations, the United States have suspended adoptions in Guatemala (Hannigan). These and other violations are under review from the Hague Adoption Convention—â€Å"an international agreement established to protect intercountry adoptions, preventing the abduction, sale, or trafficking of children† (â€Å"International Adoption†). Additionally, intercountry adoptive families may face unforeseen and major challenges dealing with behavior, health, and mental issues. Frequently, adoptive pare nts receive incomplete, or false information regarding the medical and background history of their children.This often leaves them unprepared to handle difficulties when they surface. In addition, there are virtually no post-adoptive services available, adding to the issue. Therefore, the adoptive parents contemplate returning the children as dependents of the State (Ruggiero). Conclusion Undisputedly, international adoption is one of the most admirable, life-changing, and rewarding experiences one can take on. I applaud those who are motivated by love to open their hearts and homes to children from any land, domestic or foreign.My grandmother was such a person; she adopted my mother when she was ten months old, after her biological mother abandoned her. Nonetheless, it is also one of the most difficult and weighty decisions one could ever make, as the outcome could have lasting and damaging effects for all involved. I fully support this form of adoption, hopefully, with global enfo rcement of regulations and policies intercountry adoption can continue; and succeed in protecting the adoptive parents, the birthparents, and most of all the children—like Artyem Saviliev. Works Cited Hannigan, Elizabeth. International Adoption Disadvantages. † Ehow Dot Com. N. p. www. ehow. com. Web. 24 Apr. 2012 â€Å"International Adoption. † Current Issues: Macmillian Social Science Library. Detroit: Gale. 2010. N. p. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 13 Apr. 2012 Knox, David. , and Caroline Schacht. â€Å"Choices In Relationships: An Introduction To Marriage and the Family, Tenth Edition. † Belmont: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. 2010. Print Magee, Zoe and Sarah Netter. â€Å"Tennessee Mother Ships Adopted Son Back to Moscow Alone†. ABCNews Dot Com. 9 Apr. 2010. Pag. 1-3 www. abcnews. go. com. Web. 22 Apr. 012 â€Å"Pros & Cons of International Adoption. † Adoption Media LLC. 2012. N. p. www. international. adoption. com. Web. 13 A pr. 2012 Ruggiero, Josephine A. â€Å"Sometimes Adopted Children Must Be Returned to the State’sCare. † Child Custody. Detroit: Greenhaven Press. 2011. N. p. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. From â€Å"When Adoption Isn’t Easy. † Newsweek. 15 Apr. 2010. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. United States, Bureau of Consular Affairs, Dept of State, Office of Children’s Issues. Intercountry Adoption. Oct 2011. N. p. State Adoption Agency. www. adoption. state. gov. Web. 20 Apr. 2012.