Saturday, August 31, 2019

Chimney Sweeper Essay

A great writer, or poet, will make their readers feel as if they are a part of their story. The reader will feel happy when the character is happy, or sad when the character is sad. This is achieved by various rhetorical strategies that writers use. Some of these strategies include imagery and word diction. Sometimes it is one sentence that really gets to the reader. Other times it is simply one word that can make the reader feel anything from warm to sad. In William Blake’s poem, â€Å"The Chimney Sweeper,† from Songs of Innocence, there is an important transition in which the reader’s sense of emotions change from negative feelings of darkness, death, and misery to positive emotions of happiness, hope, and salvation. This transition in emotions reflects the child’s innocence and oblivion to his victimization whereas in the same poem from Songs of Experience the child is aware that he is the victim and therefore only reveals feelings of bitterness and sarcasm. This contrast is important to my understanding of the Innocence poem because it reveals a softer and more innocent perspective than the poem of Experience does. In the first half of the poem Blake uses word diction that gives off negative connotations in order to illustrate the horrible conditions the young chimneysweepers live in. The chimneysweeper says, â€Å"And my father sold me while yet my tongue/Could scarcely cry † ‘weep! ‘weep! ‘weep! ‘weep! ’† (2-3). Not only does the word â€Å"weep† clearly give off a sense of sadness and depression, but the fact that it is repeated four times puts an emphasis on the sadness that the chimneysweeper feels. The quote implies that the father sold his child at a very young age. As a result, the child was still too young to weep and therefore could not refuse to be sold. Another quote says, â€Å"So your chimneys I sweep & in soot I sleep† (4). When one hears the word â€Å"sweep†, they are imagining dirt and filth being lifted off the ground. Moreover, the phrase â€Å"in soot I sleep†, if one imagines it in a literal sense, shows that the child is literally sleeping in soot, which is the black debris that the smoke from the chimney creates. As a result, this quote illustrates a dirty and filthy setting that these chimneysweepers are forced to live in. A phrase that, without a doubt, gives off a sense of death and hell is â€Å"coffins of black† (12). The chimneysweeper uses this phrase to describe where the other chimneysweepers are locked in Tom’s dream, which is still filthy and almost suffocating. While these quotes and phrases observe and reveal the terrible conditions that these children are living in, the chimneysweeper in the Experience poem reasons why he is living in those conditions by blaming his parents. This comparison makes evident the different perspectives from each poem. Hints of hope are first revealed in the Innocence poem where Blake uses the child’s sarcasm to show that in moments of darkness and unhappiness there is still space for optimism so as not to suffer so much. This is revealed when the chimneysweeper reassures Tom to â€Å"never mind it, for when your head’s bare/You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair† (7-8). In a way this would make Tom feel hopeful because with a bare head, the soot cannot ruin his hair. But in a metaphorical sense, it implies that darkness (the soot) will not prevail over everything, which gives one hope. What follows this sense of hope is Tom’s description of his dream: And by came an Angel who had a bright key/And he open’d the coffins & set them all free/Then down a green plain leaping, laughing, they run/And wash in a river, and shine in the Sun/Then naked and white, all their bags left behind/They rise upon clouds and sport in the wind. (13-18) This stanza contains numerous amounts of words and phrases that all give a positive connotation of hope, freedom, warmth, and happiness. Words such as â€Å"Angel†, â€Å"bright key†, â€Å"laughing†, â€Å"Sun†, and â€Å"white† give off a feeling that is too good to be true, which explains why it is a dream in the first place. But that hope and happiness is so strong that when Tom awakes, he continues his work happily. This utopian perspective clearly shows the innocence of these children, while the child in the poem of Experience has no sense of hope because he is aware of the reality he is living in. While the children in the Innocence poem use religious words and phrases to give them something to look forward to, the child in the Experience poem condemns religion. Blake shows how religion is used to almost condone the treatment and conditions of these chimneysweepers when he writes, â€Å"And the Angel told Tom, if he’d be a good boy/He’d have God for his father and never want joy† (19-20). This quote implies that obedience and sticking to your duties will bring happiness in the afterlife. The same thing is implied when the chimneysweeper says, â€Å"So if all do their duty they need not fear harm† (24). In other words, as long as these chimneysweepers continue with their gruesome work while refraining from complaints, they will be happy and will be rewarded in the afterlife for their good behavior. This mentality seems to convince the children that it is acceptable live in these horrible conditions because they will be rewarded once they pass. In contrast, the child in the Experience poem does not see the afterlife or God as something or someone to look forward to because he blames God for the position he is in. He mocks God by saying, â€Å"And are gone to praise God and his Priest and King/Who make up a heaven of our misery† (11-12). The child’s parents are praying in the church and believe that they have not caused their child any injury. In this case, it is the parents that are condoning the brutal life of their child. This major difference between the two poems is important because it reveals how differently each child views the situation they are in as chimneysweepers. Blake’s use of word diction and imagery in the poem of Innocence and in the poem of Experience differentiates the two opposing perspectives of each poem. Because the Innocence poem transitions from darkness and hopelessness to freedom and hopefulness, my understanding of this poem is extremely different from the other. It is clear that the chimneysweeper in the Experience poem is aware that he is the victim; therefore, his feelings of sadness and despair block him from seeing any hope. Instead, he blames God and his parents for the life he lives. In contrast, I am given the sense that the chimneysweeper in the Innocence poem is completely oblivious to the fact that he is a victim, and therefore it is easier for him to see the light in the darkest moments; in this sense he is still innocent of any hard feelings towards his father or God.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Critical Review: the Talent Code Essay

TalentCode:CarvingtheStatueofDavid Review:Coyle,Daniel(2009)TheTalentCode:Greatnessisn’tborn,it’sGrown.Excerpts fromChapter1-TheSweetSpot Whether talent is born or acquired is a hotly debatedtopic,notonlyamongstpsychologistbut also common people. In daily life we can observe that some people are admirably good at sometaskwhiletheothersarenot.Somepeoplearegoodatsinging,cooking,playingchessor hatsoever,whereas,therearealsopeoplewhoappeartobegoodatnothing.Butisthisso?Is alenttransferredfromgenerationtogenerationgeneticallyorgifttothechosenonesfromthe Divineprovidence?DanielCoyle,theauthorofthebookTheTalentCode:Greatnessisn’tborn, itsGrown,mayhaveanswerstomanyofourquestions. Inhisbook,Coylearguesthatnaturaltalentisameremyth.Weallcanacquireanytalent,ifwe know how. A skill is chiseled by a rhythmic pattern of failure and success, leading to the correction of errors. Here the author gives the example of Brunio from Brazil, who practiced football freestyle tricks, encoun tered failure and then, learns to perform the elastico trick. Similar was the case with Jennie from Dallas, who learned to sing after following thesimilar rhythmicpattern(seep.13) Throughoutthechapter,theauthorwhohimselfwasasportsenthusiast,emphasizedthetalent ofBrazilianplayers.Besidestraining,theauthoralsohighlightsotherfavorablefactorsthrough which we conventionally attribute the such high concentration of talented people such as climate,diversepopulation,theurgeforgreatnessandthedesiretoescapepovertythroughthis beautifulgame.TheauthorclaimstohavefoundanothersecretweaponoftheBrazilianplayers. On page 16, he presents an activity comprised of twocolumns.Onecontainingfullyspelled pairofwordsandthewordsinothercolumnshadtheirvowelsmissing(however,youcouldstill guess the whole word). We

Compulsory Voting

Compulsory Voting Compulsory voting would result in a decrease in the quality and accuracy of voting results and political leadership. Countries such as Australia do not take many factors into consideration when they require their citizens to vote in local, state, and national elections. Compulsory voting causes skewed results and stress for citizens who are not physically fit or mentally competent enough to vote accurately. Apathy and uneducated citizens can result in invalid voting results.If all people were forced to vote, uneducated citizens who are not familiar with the issues and concerns on the ballot might cast random, careless votes. Voters who are complacent about their country’s government would also create skewed results because they are not likely to research the topics they vote on. Secondly, each individual who is knowledgeable has a greater impact on the final results. These citizens who are informed, keep up with current events, and take the time to vote volun tarily because they recognize the importance of it should be rewarded.In many countries, citizens do not have an influence in government decisions. In parts of the world where citizens have the right to vote, the only method to create an accurate representation of the desires of citizens is to leave voting voluntary, not compulsory. Implementing a required voting system would be inconsiderate to many people and would cause many negative effects in society. It does not take into account citizens who are elderly, mentally or physically incompetent, or struggling financially. For elderly people, leaving the home in order to vote may enervate them.Many other groups of people might find it challenging to vote, such as those who can not afford gas or a car to drive the voting site. Some may not own a TV or a computer to research the candidates or issues they are supposed to vote for. With everyday stresses such as children, work, and finances, adding voting as a requirement for all would cause chaos. The government would have to grant exceptions to some citizens who are unable to vote, possibly causing disorder and lawsuits in the court system from people who believe they should be excused from voting.In every nation, residents should be given the choice to participate in influencing government affairs if they so choose. It would prevent inaccurate results by not forcing citizens who are unaware of the candidates or issues to vote, and would reward those who voluntarily take time out of their day to vote and research the issues. Discrimination against people who are unable to vote would also not occur. Voting should be encouraged by the government, but enforcing it would impinge on citizens and would be a disservice to society.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

1.Critically evaluate how gender intersects with other axes of Essay

1.Critically evaluate how gender intersects with other axes of difference. Assess the implications for policy with reference to a case study - Essay Example Here we discuss the notion of intersectionality – that which looks at the multiple, socially-constructed categories that interact in complex and multidimensional ways to produce and reproduce structures of inequality. It is hinged in the idea that themes of gender, race and class should be perceived not as independent from each other, but as overlapping structures of oppression and exploitation that must be addressed and resisted together as it â€Å"shapes those upon whom it bestows privilege as well as those it oppresses.† (Frankenberg: 1993: 131).† If we begin to trace the root of gender differentiation, and even subordination, it is imperative to consider the notion of gender as social construct and see how men and women are assigned different social roles and are treated or considered differently because of perceived biological differences. As expressed by Lorber (1994: 56) – Western society’s values legitimate gendering by claiming that it all comes from physiology – female and male procreative differences. But gender and sex are not equivalent, and gender as a social construction does not flow automatically from genitalia and reproductive organs, the main physiological differences of females and males. In the construction of ascribed social statuses, physiological differences such as sex, stage of development, color of skin, and size are crude markers. As a result of this, women were then considered less able than men and therefore must be submissive to the husband. Her greatest asset is her purity. Women have been considered as the weaker sex, unable to carry out masculine tasks and duties requiring intellectual development. In the past, a little girl would learn from her mother that a woman’s place was at home – doing household work like cooking and cleaning and watching over young children. Indeed, societal norms have greatly affected women in many cultures. Women, in most cultures, are

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Financial Time series including ARCH-Garch models Research Paper

Financial Time series including ARCH-Garch models - Research Paper Example 'Financial Time series including ARCH-Garch models' forms the basis of financial and macroeconomics where model builders use stochastic processes to test and construct equations of economic variables. Time varying volatility and non-stationarity has largely contributed to the understanding and applicability of financial time series. Economic variables are referred as non-stationary when there is no tendency of being linear or constant and assume stochastic trends. Empirical research is often conducted in macroeconomics to estimate variable relationships and test hypothesis of the theories of macroeconomics. Empirical financial models are formulated based on cointergration concept that forms the basis of the major breakthrough in macro and financial economics. The aspect of volatility is important to financial economics such as the stock exchange and capital markets. Indeed, financial managers and analyst have repeatedly used the time series volatility model to forecast volatility and make relevant decision concerning future and current investments in the financial markets. Financial time series plays a big role in modeling and forecasting the financial operations of such corporations for countermeasures and avoidance of future financial crisis. The dynamics of corporate returns and stock prices can be effectively managed through application of financial time series and forecasting. Fluctuations of returns and the speculative prices in the stock markets are presented and modeled by time series volatility, which helps in decision making in investment. ... The dynamics of corporate returns and stock prices can be effectively managed through application of financial time series and forecasting. Fluctuations of returns and the speculative prices in the stock markets are presented and modeled by time series volatility, which helps in decision making in investment. Time series models such as the autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity are used by financial analyst to determine the relationship between returns and risks levels in investments. Volatility of the sequence of the returns in money markets, foreign exchange markets, and stock markets are best described by the autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity model in financial time series. Advance usage of the autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity model is also used in the futures markets and by profession and executives in the stock markets to enforce counteractive measures to stabilize the markets. China stock market is a good example of a market that has successfully used the autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity model to describe the market2 Arch Methodology This financial time series model is used to forecast random variables from information of past variable trends and linearity through specific universal assumptions on the conditional macroeconomic and financial economic variables. Forecast of variables depends on past information with regards to conditional and random variables assumption although conditional variance in conventional models does not depend on the random variables past information but on estimations and test. Econometric use of the Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity Model focuses on the limitations of forecasting in resultant prediction of the future that varies from one period to

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Physical chemistry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Physical chemistry - Essay Example An understanding of the Le Chateliers principle and catalysis is essential for proceeding with this study. Increase in temperature: Exothermic reaction favours reactants, as the heat is absorbed to counterbalance the increase in temperature. Endothermic reaction favours products as the absorbed heat facilitates a larger amount of reactants to convert to products (Atkins & de Paula, 2006). Change in reactant concentration: An increase in concentration of a reactant in a dynamic equilibrium causes the reaction to favour products, as the excess reactant reacts with other reactants. A decrease in concentration of a reactant favours the reverse reaction as the products are converted to reactants in order to balance the decrease in reactant concentration. (Clark, 2002; Morrison & Boyd, 1992) Change in product concentration: A decrease in product concentration favours the forward reaction to balance the decrease. An increase in product concentration favours the reverse reaction. (Atkins & de Paula, 2006) Change in pressure: Increasing the pressure of a system at equilibrium causes changes in the partial pressures of reactants and products. The rate constant is independent of the change in pressure of a system, but depends on ratio of partial pressures of the reactants and products. The reaction moves in the direction where number of moles is less. (Atkins & de Paula, 2006) A catalyst accelerates a chemical reaction without undergoing a net chemical change. The catalyst reduces the energy of activation by altering the path of reaction to avoid the rate determining step, which is the slowest step in a reaction (Atkins & de Paula, 2006). For example, decomposition of hydrogen peroxide, which is a slow reaction at room temperature, requires activation energy of 76 kJ/mol. In the presence of iodide ions, this activation energy drops to 57 kJ/mol and rate constant

Monday, August 26, 2019

Critically Evaluate the Evidence for the Mode of life, Behaviour and Essay

Critically Evaluate the Evidence for the Mode of life, Behaviour and Ancestry of the Pterosaurs (flying reptiles) - Essay Example Pterosaurs form the group of the first animals to fly. The winged lizards belonged to the order pterosauria. Their wings stretched from the ankle to a lengthened forth finger. Their bones were hollow, and air filled, like those for birds. They had a keeled breastbone that developed and got attached to flight muscles. Their brain was enlarged hence, showed specialized features associated with flight. Later developments of the species saw their shoulders fused into a structure known as notarium. Its purpose was to conceal the torso during flight and provide a stable support to the shoulder blade. Wilton (2013) research shows that pterosaurs remained conservative for 70 million years after which, they started practicing adaptation with all kinds of new modes of life. Such adaptation lifestyles included change of food and food sources. Pterosaurs are believed to be the ancestors of the modern day birds. However, this is not the truth. They resemble birds in many ways, but they are not cl ose to being birds. There were two major kinds of pterosaurs, the rhamphorhynchoid and pterodactyls. The first consisted of a smaller pterosaur, and the later comprised of large bodied and rare pterosaur (Bennet, 1989). Main features of pterosaurs They belonged to the category of weak flyers. Recent studies implicate that the wings of the pterosaurs were flappers, not gliders. An elongated digit on their claws was attached to them. The flight membrane and muscle attachments connected the digit to the arm, shoulders and chest to enable the creature gain stability during flight (Bennet, 1989). The wings extended up to 40 feet and attached to the hind limbs. The essence was to connect the hands and legs. The bones were hollow (i.e. honeycomb). This made them light for easy flight (Bennet, 1989). The membranes were very complex but very thin for flight purposes. The consistent of the membrane included blood vessels, fibrous tissues and small muscles. The membrane performed cooling funct ions preventing the body from too much heat (Bennet, 1989). Pterosaurs walked on four legs. This caused constraint to the animal since it could not walk fast with its limbs connected to the wings. These features lead to the conclusion that pterosaurs evolved from tree climbing reptiles. Their claws were curled like those of tree climbing reptiles (Frey et al. 2003). The claws of the hind limbs resembled those of the birds that walked on the ground (Prentice, Ruta & Benton, 2011). Those of the forelimbs resembled those of the perching birds. The adaptability mode for the limbs was to be able to walk on the ground and perch on trees (Bennet, 1989). Scientists critically examine the head of the animals and come up with many physiological and behavioral traits of the animals. The shape of the head acts as an adaptive feature for prey catching. Some pterosaurs had beaks long, to about two feet (Witton, &Naish, 2008). Those that had teeth were very sharp aligned on the side of both jaws. The ones that did not have teeth had very long, pointed and sharp edged bills (Kellner, 2003). The animal had a head that sloped downwards. The floccolus is a lobe in the brain that had connections to the eye and neck muscles (Padian, 1997). The functions of the connection were to stabilize and sharpen view of pray within the eyes. Some pterosaurs had head crests thought to have been used to attract mates or repel rivals and attackers (Prentice, Ruta& Benton, 2008). They

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Buyer Behaviour Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Buyer Behaviour - Case Study Example The youth today is not lured by goods that are merely expensive. They want value for money and they purchase luxury goods for self-identity and well-being. Purchasing certain branded luxury goods help them to display their own tastes and values. For some it serves to fulfill the emotional needs where they see luxury as an indulgence of their senses. Luxury goods are premium goods with high quality products, aesthetic design supported by excellent service, purchased by people from the higher income bracket (Cheng, 2006). In the earlier days the term ‘luxury’ was applied to products that were rare and scarce and available to a small segment of the people. The luxury items were out of reach of the ordinary people and considered rare. Today the luxury product market has increased manifold. The young are spontaneously aware of the luxury brands with the men focusing on cars and motorbikes and women’s focus on beauty and food. These reflect the desires and fantasies tha t are conditioned by the social environment and associations with well-being.Interpretation of the word ‘luxury’ depends upon their socio-economic background. The youth greatly represent the hedonistic effect in their attitude towards luxury items. This implies that they are not influenced by group norms. On the other hand they purchase luxury goods that give them self-fulfillment. They look for exclusive benefits and if products create an emotional value for consumers it represents that the product has been beneficial. The emotional value that the youth look for include pleasure, excitement and aesthetic beauty. They indulge in luxury items as it gives them a sense of well-being and self-respect and would also go the extent of using their credit cards for them. They prefer these luxuries against bringing up a child while the elders indulged in luxury only after their basic responsibilities were fulfilled (Hamilton, 2004). The elders seek more than value when considerin g purchasing a luxury brand. They try to balance the product’s tangible and intangible value with price. They assess discretionary purchases as either dispensable or indispensable, based on more deeply held core values (Salzman, 2009). While the youth focus on increasing their influence, power and wealth, the elders seek new priorities driven the fundamentals of human development. The traditional materialistic values are less important for the elders. The elders look for self-actualization in the luxury brand which as per Maslow’s hierarchy of needs comes only after all the other needs have been satisfied. Culture has a strong impact on the purchasing decisions. The youth are well aware of the luxury brands in areas like perfumes, clothing, fashion, leather goods, accessories, costume jewelry but not so in tableware. However they are very conscious of the modern sports cars and other different models of cars that emerge everyday. The attitude of the youth towards cars has definitely undergone a sea change from the 1980s. Marketing communications used by car

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Media Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Media Economics - Essay Example The Big 6 Media Giants namely General Electric, Walt Disney, News Corp, Time Warner, Viacom and CBS are a practical example of this definition. These conglomerations not only control what we see, hear and read but also control our thoughts. They are all vertically integrated which allows them to produce and distribute media and news to their likings and manipulate our views (Shah, 2009). Media ownership and conglomeration have taken a new form with time. They are no longer attached to the purity of journalism or of best interests of the audiences. The media conglomerations are now slanted towards corporate goals and interests. In order to achieve the goals, the conglomerates are most often accused of being biased with allegations of corporate whitewashing and censorship (Bagdikian, 1997). In addition, to promote their own interests, media conglomerates favor infotainment over relevant news stories. Although the idea of media conglomeration and ownership is not a bad idea as it can create a healthy competition providing viable and valid news to the audiences. The concern is basically related to the concentration of ownership which can and is increasing the economic and political influence. According to Rifka Rosenwein, the concentration of media ownership has increased the control over expressions which has led to an aggressive competition and silencing of the news and ideas in the marketplace (Shah, 2009). According to the latest statistics, in 2009, there are only six giant conglomerates that own the US media namely the Big 6. This is eventually leading to monopolies and oligopolies which from a business perspective is not a good sign. Considering the role played by media in a prevailing democracy, reaching out to masses is of paramount importance. Many of the media conglomerates own entertainment companies such as Walt Disney where one cannot expect the company to discuss sw eatshop labor when, on the other hand, it is accused of being part of it (Shah,

Friday, August 23, 2019

Choose two poems from the book Donkey Gospel and argue for a single Thesis

Choose two poems from the book Donkey Gospel and argue for a single theme supported by both poems - Thesis Example This paper gives an insight into two of his famous poems from the very collection, and how the two may be compared to each other on the basis of stark humour. The poet is not afraid to go all out and make comments about everyday things that might end up hurting others. This is because, he has tried to make everything simple and help people understand the spirit and jest hidden in everything. His writing style elucidates the kind of writing a man with an open conscience would be able to carry out well. The two poems chosen for the purpose of analysis within this paper are ‘Jet’ and ‘Reading Moby Dick at 30,000 Feet’. Both the poems have the element of humour within them explained with the help of examples taken from life’s perspective. â€Å"On earth, men celebrate their hairiness, and it is good, a way of letting life out of the box, uncapping the bottle to let the effervescence gush through the narrow, usually constricted neck.† (Hoagland, Ton y) These lines have been taken from the poem titled Jet, and they talk about the obviousness that a person must go through in life, in order to understand its true meaning. Adept with deep humour, the lines talk about how a man has no choice but to celebrate the joy of life with what he has, even if it is his own bodily hair, and doing this is the best way by which one can let go of himself. He has tried to make an analogy of a person’s imagination and mind with that of champagne gushing out of the narrow neck of a glass bottle. The humour in the lines can be seen in the way Hoagland has tried to portray the simplicity of life; equipped with personal hair. He means to tell his readers that a person might not have much but even facial or body hair is enough to get him out of the rat race that everyone seems to be so inherently a part of. In his other poem titled â€Å"Reading Moby Dick at 30,000 Feet, he writes, â€Å"I would estimate the distance between myself and my own f eelings is roughly the same as the mileage from Seattle to New York, so I can lean back into the upholstered interval between Muzak and lunch, . . .† (Hoagland, Tony) Through these very lines, the poet has again tried to make humorous comparisons of life with analogies taken from everyday routines that people undergo. He has tried to depict how human emotions and feelings do not only play up when a person wants them to do so, against or for someone else. Feelings are something that is strong enough to distance a man from his own self too. So in accordance to the same, he writes that his feelings are as far away from himself as the distance there is between Seattle and New York and the best part about embarking upon this long journey of figuring out what his feelings are actually, is that during the interim period, a person is able to relax into his calm sub conscious mind and make travels to and fro the various nooks and crannies in the corner of one’s mind (between mus ic and lunch, or other aspects of daily living.) Both these poems thus are very similar to one another on the basis of the theme that they have been written in. They both talk about certain fundamental questions of life and how to counter a person’s emotions. Both poems have strong analogies with a certain hint of humour equipped in them as well. Even though the poems might answer different questions altogether, they do fall into line while coming

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Contribution of Organizational Culture to Change management Essay

Contribution of Organizational Culture to Change management - Essay Example When considering the influence of culture in the change management process, certain factors often emerge that include the management or leadership style preferred by the workers. In addition, the workers may demand for an active participation in the change management process since such changes impact on their lives both at the office and at home. When effecting change in an organisation, the culture embraced by the management and employees is important in ensuring that the new plans introduced in an organisation achieve their goals.Among the organisational culture that is often adopted during the change management process is empathy. Empathy as a process associated with the management of organisational change creates a strategic environment for improved communication. In addition, empathy improves understanding that exists between the change agent and the personnel working for the organization. The change agent further need to understand their employee’s concerns by establishi ng an empathetic relationship with them. This is important especially during periods of effecting changes in the organisation.Developing empathetic relationships with workers assist managers to anticipate any discontent among their employees. In addition, it is the manager’s role to support their employee’s and makes them feel valued in times of making changes in an organisation. Empathy further allows the change agent to understand the employee’s needs and this helps the managers to plan for the change process.

Guns, Germs and Steel Essay Example for Free

Guns, Germs and Steel Essay The book Guns, Germs and Steel is an interesting impression of Jared Diamond to challenge and refresh our outlook towards the effect of politics to cultural and individual development as based from historical and theoretical concept. JD is a physiologist and evolutionary biologist and has made this work on a broader scope during his explorations in New Guinea to study the culture as well as the environment of the people. It started out in a prologue while Jared travels with his friend Yali, a New Guinean and questions the diminutive cargo of the locals against the bulk of cargos of the Eurasians. JD tried to explain to Yali by answering him with historical and theoretical views according to his research. JD said that while the natives own the land and the resources, the foreigners are capable of dominance because they are superior in technology as can be seen with their tools and machinery. But JD explained to Yali that what he sees is not proof of the superiority of the Eurasians over the natives but rather the opposite. JD said that Yali’s people are actually smarter and adaptable to any environment because they live in a world that has requires critical survival. Chapter 1 of the book discusses the origin of man and their discovery of tools and art as depicted from their paintings. JD theorizes that man made a great leap and used his intelligence 50,000 years ago as found on skeletons found in Australia and New Guinea. Accordingly, the Americans were probably colonized during 11,000 BC which correspond to the final stage of the Pleistocene Era and the melting of the ice in the last Ice Age. Chapter 2 details the war between the Maoris against the Morioris in Polynesia as early as 1835 in the Chatham islands and. Polynesia during that period has different set of climates, geography, resources and political and social conditions which lead to less diversification of human populations to be able to adapt in their environment. Chapter 3 details the conquest of European Francisco Pizarro and his men to capture Atahuallpa, the Inca emperor at Cajamarca, Peru in 1532. The superior weapons and their armor which were made of steel and the horses and cavalry pushes the natives out of their place while the Europeans brought along with them diseases such as smallpox and eventually infected and killed another native emperor of different tribe. JD pointed out that people of dominant culture has the foremost advantage over those who are less in technology and political organization as the Incas does not have. On Chapter 4 of the book, JD significantly emphasizes the importance of agriculture to propel the development of a fragile society because with the increase of food production there is a room for population to grow larger and stronger. Enough supply of food can sustain people to be more vigorous and organize themselves without resorting to violence to survive. An organized society can form political government to protect its people against conquest such as JD pointed out. In chapter 5, the author describes the technology of calibrating sites for food production by naming sites and crops suitable to grow in their environment while in chapter 6, 7 and 8 discusses his confidence the possibility of converting native hunters into agriculturist because of degeneration of wild games and animals in their environment. He said that there are already great varieties of plants and animals that can be domesticated and cultured and there is no need to hunt for food for a family to survive. JD gave an example in chapter 9 and 10 the success of the Indians in domesticating animals and prevents the extinction of wild animals in their forest. He said that breeding animals is one of the most accepted principles in domesticating animals that even wild species of animals can be bred in captivity. But this depends on the adaptability of animals with the climatic conditions on certain locality. Lack of animal adaptation means limited domestication and cultivation of animals and plants. The New World on the other hand is located on a tropical zone therefore people have more favorable climatic conditions as compared with the Eurasian countries. However, major infectious diseases or what JD calls â€Å"killers of humanity† mainly comes from animals men domesticates. He said that small pox originates from cowpox, flu from pigs and ducks and tuberculosis from cattle. These are only few of the negative impact on the cultivation of livestock by man that even people in the cities are not safe from certain diseases as they kept animals as pets. Industrialization gave man endemic diseases because he attracts germ carrying pests and we now have yellow fever, hookworm, bubonic plague and many other diseases transmitted by pests. Man also is a carrier of pest and diseases to his fellow human such as the body lice, sexually transmitted disease and other human infections. The following chapters introduced the origins of writings in early period of Mesoamerica and most part of Asia. JD significantly highlights necessity as the mother of invention and the invention of writings lead to the invention of the technology and then to arms for weapons and destruction. He said that the introduction of technology was also the beginning of civilizations to colonize other civilizations, destroying their population and their culture. The author also reviews the societal form of organization on a certain level which starts from the smaller faction or the band. The â€Å"band† is composed of people that are usually related by blood, nomadic in nature and have one ethnicity and language and no more than 5 to 80 people bonded together to be form a small society. The â€Å"tribe†, however has more people with fixed community, one ethnicity and language but being led by a leader in a societal form of government such as tribe in New Guinea and Australia . The â€Å"group† leads to chiefdoms and then to a larger extent which forms the state. The â€Å"state† have more than 50,000 people living in various villages, class and residence-based relationships. They also have more than one language, have centralized bureaucratic government levels and politicians to man the government, the law and the state. States have also their police and militaries to protect its citizenry against injustice. This was discussed on chapter 14. Chapter 15 to 16 depicts the Australian and New Guinean’ climate where Yali belongs. These two countries were formerly united as one large mass of land but separated because of the effect of large body of water 10,000 years ago. The following chapters discuss how China became the China of today which brought by forced unification of the Qin dynasty in 221 BC. Continuous fighting and dominance of Asian ethnicities in old China produces mixed races of different Asian origins but came up to have one traditional language which is the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. Among these languages is the Mandarin. Chapter 17 is explained by JD on how the islands of the Pacific were able to be colonized by the Asians who arrived in New Guinea around 40,000 BC. This Asian group composes the ancestors of Philippine Negritos and formerly called the Austronesian. Their migrations began from China, reached Taiwan and then the Philippines at around 3000 BC. Those who came to Sumatra and Java became the Malayo-Polynesian while those who arrived in Northern New Guinea and Samoa became the Samoans. JD reviews on chapter 18 the factors which led to the European conquering Americas. The Europeans are better in food production, domestication of animals, producing metals and weapons, organization of armies, transportation and communication and solid political organization which the people of early America lacks. The people of the New World such as New Guinea, however are more primitive and backward and lacks capabilities to organize themselves. This was the reason why the Europeans or the Eurasians have been able to establish their colony in their nation without conflict and resistance. And finally chapter 19 discusses how the people of Africa came to be blacks. Accordingly, in the previous era, North Africans were whites who resemble Middle Eastern and Europeans and speak Afro-Asiatic languages. The pygmies or small black African people are mostly confined to Central Africa but were outnumbered by indigenous people. The blacks occupy only most of the Saharan Africa but extended their occupancy to the East coast to Cape town. From there they began to cultivate crops and domesticate animals and expand largely in numbers. The epilogue of this book answers Yali’s question on why whites have been so successful with their trades and always have larger cargos compared with the locals on a shipping trade comes to conclusion. The book answers his question by chapters and details. The effect of geographical formation and the environment clearly emphasizes the commencement of dominance by the Eurasian whites. Dominance factors illustrates the capability of the Eurasian to domesticate plant and animals better than the people of the New World, the speed of their technology which also sped up the rates of migration and their concrete population and size of their continents enable them to migrate and search for more opportunities to other continents. Furthermore, JD wants to search further with his study to come up with more variables that could defend his theory. He believes that he can only do this through natural historical experiments that need to be researched. These involve the history of human societies which are always intricate to understand than the lost dinosaurs of the old world (McGoodwin). Work Cited: McGoodwin, Michael. Jared Diamond: Guns, Germs and Steel. (2000). April 10, 2008 http://mcgoodwin. net/pages/gungermsteel. html.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Responce To Working Life Of A Waitress English Language Essay

Responce To Working Life Of A Waitress English Language Essay The article Working Life of a waitress, written by an author called Mike Rose, is a talk about a mother who took the leading role of a waitress. Based on my perspective of this story the protagonist was fascinated and thankful by the work of his mother even though he knew the hardships and struggles the mother had to go through in her daily job. The narrator tells us of how the mother can in fact deal with so many people and not forgetting the cutlery and at the same time with a composure and knowledge of what she is doing. After reading and understanding the story, any one who wanted to pursue the carrier of a waitress and has had a passion for it could actually relate to this story, this story could get them many pointers which the narrator discussed in the article. This article not only illustrates the work of a mother as a waitress in a busy restraint but also describes ones passion of work and its art. While the narrator described how the waiters and waitress should be in their work place, it shows us of the sacrifice essence they had to their jobs. The narrator now understands and is more aware of things that encircle the mother in a well bred manner, through the justification of his mother; the readers can see that the narrators mother is doing a good job despite the fact that she is a woman in a mans territory. This other article that is written by Barbara Enrich called Nickel and Dimed, she places interests on some of the difficulties people have when they are employed in jobs that pay low wages not exempting the hidden costs which included food and shelter. She primarily attacks the idea that the low-wage jobs need the unskilled labor, The author who is a journalist found that manual labor is degrading, taxing and uninteresting she says that the job required fast learning, quick thinking, focus and good memory, if there is repeated movements or constant, it would create a risk of repetitive stress injury. She also points facts on some persons in the management who mainly served to interfere with the workers output, they force the workers to take pointless tasks just to make the work experience more miserable. She argues about the one low wage job is usually not sufficient to support one person and his family, many of the workers named in this book exist by living in their cars, with relat ives or even persons of the same position, She concludes by saying one day the low waged workers will rise up and rise and insist to be treated fairly and everyone will be better of when that day comes. The article Santa land diaries by Sedaris, he talks about how he was discovered in 1977 in a Chicago club by a radio host, Sedaris later says that he owes everything to Ira, the radio presenter, because his life changed completely like a wave of a magic wand, his movie Santa Land diaries was a success with the radio listeners. This article according to me talks about luck, an how some individuals out there get jobs through luck, something that you have never even thought of just comes your way and changes your life forever, In the article of Daniel Levine called the myth of the sexual athlete, it talks about how the entertainment industry degrades women. Its talks about giving the girls equal class attention, he mainly talks about how women in general are treated in the industry and that they are not given equal opportunities as men and that this should be re considered since what men can do women can also do. All these four articles have a common ground when it comes to work, it talks of hard work, discipline, fair and unfair working grounds, and also the passion of your work, all these aspects are seen in the four articles and they share each one of them. Amy Tan is a writer, of the book language of discretion, she is an American born in China, and she says that different languages come with different ways of thinking, in her article she says that ones view of the world and its functions depends entirely on the language that is used. Language is not only a communication tool but also a culture carrier, in a society where one culture dominates the other, language is then used to enforce the dominant one, she also argues that something enormous is usually lost during translation and something sinister seeps in the gaps and especially when amateur linguists go on in comparing one-for-one language differences and then put forward the notions wide open to misinterpretation. Richard Rodriguez is an author of the book Public and Private Language, he is an American boy whose parents are Spanish, he went to school and he then considered Spanish to be a private language, and his parents used to talk in Spanish, he also talks of the challenges he faced as an individual in class because he couldnt speak English well, he referred English as a public language he says that they dont realize that while one suffers a diminished sense of private personality by being assimilated into the public society, such assimilation makes public individuality achievable. He says that the bilingualists that a student should be reminded of his difference from other people in the society, and his heritage but this equates more separateness with individuality, the truth is that only in private (with intimates) is the separation from a crowd a qualification fro individuality an intimate separates me, tell me that I am unique in public by distinction the fullness of an individual is achieved ironically by the ones who consider themselves members of a crowd. Caffilene Allen is an author of the book First change my name, she grew up speaking the English of the an early century, in this article there is a lot of contrast in the proper English and the culture language, in school teachers took to themselves to change her name from Caffilene to Kathleen, this was a bit extreme she thought, because of the pronunciation and spelling of how it may sound, she was exited by her new name until she found out that she was not the only Kathleen in school, though in high school she was able to get her name back, throughout this article there is a lot of controversy between the author and her mother, racial discrimination and sexist language, In fourth grade the author was ashamed of her mother and also despised her behavior and speech, she says that each culture, group or nationality have their own language and there is a place and time to show it, they way we relate and talk to our friends and family, we talk in a manner that is understood by them, th e author says that now after many years is when she is beginning to regain the sense of pride and heritage towards their culture. These authors have experiences which they have in common like they being of a different culture though since they are living in America, they have to learn English and the hard way, Richard Rodriguez had to learn it through being embarrassed in class, not being able to have sufficient and ending talks with his parents, Amy Tan on the other hand had to learn and speak English with her fellow Chinese men since if she were to speak in their language they would expect her to be more submissive since she is a woman, Caffilene Allen also says that she had to change her name at some point because of the pronunciation and was taught ,to have her culture and mother and to like her English teacher. Language enforces the culture behind it completely, people who live in a certain social order, which is dominated by definite culture and have to adjust to that dominant language. And to not only to know how to speak it but they also have to speak it in a certain way in order to be accepted and be s uccessful.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Rameshwaram,Tamilnadu

Rameshwaram,Tamilnadu Rameswaram town in Ramanathapuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu is famous as Rameshwaram throughout the world.The holy island of Rameswaram called as ?Benaras of the South? is the only place worshipped by both Saivites and Vaishnavites as it is India?s most venerated and most visited Shiva shrines and is also associated with the life of Lord Rama, the hero of the epic Ramayana. It is located on an island separated from mainland India by the Pamban channel. Kashi and Rameshwaram together are one of the holiest places in India to Hindus and part of the Char Dham pilgrimages.The Rameshwaram island is spread over 61.8 square kilometers and has shape of a conch. Rameswaram is one of the 12 Jyothirlingas of India and   considered one among four most sacred pilgrim centers of India namely Rameswaram in the South, Badrinath in the North, Puri in the East and Dwaraka in the West. Among these, Rameswaram is dedicated to Shiva, while the other three are dedicated to lord Vishnu.T he Ramanatha Swamy Temple is the main temple of Rameshwaram and is very beautifully constructed.It can be considered as the masterpiece of Dravidian architecture.The temple has twenty-two wells and surprisingly the taste of the water of each well is different and wells are believed to possess medicinal properties.Dr. Abdul Kalam,Ex-president of India,belongs to a small village,Dhanushkodi situated on the island.Legends says Lord Rama built a bridge Ram Setu across the sea at this place to reach Lanka to rescue godess Sita and   also worshipped Lord Shiva after   killing Ravana, who was the greatest worshipper of Lord Shiva and also blessed by lord shiva.According to the Puranas lord Rama along with Sita and Lakshmana installed and worshipped the Sivalinga here to avoid sins of killing Ravana,a brahmin.Sethu Karai is 22 km before the island of Rameswaram where lord Rama is believed   to have built a Floating Stone Bridge Ramasethu till Rameswaram that further continued from Dha nushkodi in Rameswaram till Talaimannar in Sri Lanka.Rameswaram is an acclaimed Parihara Sthala, where it is believed all sins get absolved. Devotees take holy dips at Sethu Theertha, Agni Theertha and other sacred waters, offer pujas to get progeny, perform Shraadha for their ancestors. Places to visit- Sri Ramanathaswamy Temple- This temple is directly related to lord Rama and believed to be the must visit place for hindus if one wants to attain nirvana from the cycle of birth and death.There are seven such places in India where one would like to offer prayers for achieving salvation in life and Rameshwaram temple is one of those.The temple has the longest corridor in whole of India. This place has great significance as it is believed that Whole Ramayan was conceived in this place. Gandhamadhana Parvatham- Gandhamadhana is most renowned and worshiped in the southern India having Lord ramas feet imprinted on the chakra placed in the temple.Gandhamadhana is the deity of several communities in southern India. It is a holy place thronged by devotees from all parts of India.It has Rama tirtham constructed on the Gandamadhana Parvata hence th it is called Gandamadana.It is near Dhanushkodi,where Rama met Vibhishana and has its own historical importance. Agnitheertham- It is one of the 12 jyotirlings of India and is one of the holiest place to visit.It has a large lake   whose water is considered holy and people believes that taking bath in the place washes away their sins and one attains salvation.It has 22 wells having waters of different taste. It is one visit place. Badrakaliamman Temple- It is the largest temple of Ma Kali in southern India who is the holy mother for devottes in southern India.The statue of Maa kali is of pure gold and   temple has different master pieces of different ages. Annai Indira Gandhi Road Bridge- It is the longest bridge in southern India connecting Rameswaram Island to the main land.It is also called the Pambam Bridge as it is located beside Pamban, the sacred place where Rama could quench the thirst of Sita by throwing an arrow in the place where they could actually retrieve cool water.It is 7kms long.   Other temples- There are numerous other temple having religious as well as historical significance. Villondi tirtham is one of those temples located on a place where lord Rama buried his bow as villondi means a buried bow.It is about 7 kms from main Rameshwar temple and is considered to be a sacred place by most of the followers.It has a   spot where drinking water is available in the midst of salty sea. Dhanushkodi Temple is other main temple on the southern tip of India located near the Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean on the other side. The seas are in the shape of bow and arrow when viewed from the top.Lord Rama has his pious feet even in this temple and whole story of Ramayana revolves here as well. Five faceted Hanuman temple is other famous temple.The statues of lord Rama, Laxman, Sita and Hanuman are placed in the temple.The temple has a floating stone which was believed to be used to bulid the bridge on the sea.Nambu Nayagiamman Temple is other worth visiting temple How to reach- By Air- Nearest airport is   Madurai,163 km from Rameshwaram and has good road connection to it. By Train- The railway connects Rameshwaram to places like   Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Trichy and Thanjavur   and 2 km long Indira Gandhi Bridge connects the island of Rameshwaram with the mainland of Mandapam. By Road- Rameshwaram is well connected by roads   to all the major cities nearby, Kanyakumari, Trichy, Pondicherry, Tanjore and Chennai.  

Monday, August 19, 2019

Law Enforcement Intelligence Processes :: essays research papers

LAW ENFORCEMENT INTELLIGENCE PROCESSES   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The fundamental key for any successful intelligence mission is the ability to access information from the different intelligence disciplines: Imagery Intelligence (IMINT), Signals Intelligence (SIGINT), Measures and Signals Intelligence (MASINT), Human Intelligence (HUMINT), and Open Source Intelligence (OSINT). These five disciplines are in essence the only way for the analyst to gather information, short of actually traveling the world to investigate hands on.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The development of intelligence within the law enforcement field began in the early 20th century as a collection method during the investigation of organized crime organizations. The Sicilian crime families across the United States were the focal point from the 1940s to the 1980s, which were known as the La Cosa Nostra or the Mafia. During the 1980s, law enforcement realized that other organizations were sprouting up into a new era in organized crime. Today’s analysts are responsible for investigating and analyzing information on other non-traditional crime organizations like drug cartels, outlaw motorcycle gangs, street gangs, and various other non-Sicilian Mafia organizations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The common denominators in all organized criminal activities are violence, corruption, and organization. The problem of dealing with the new non-traditional organizations is that there is not an extensive amount of information on each organization spanning over the last couple of decades. New information must be acquired, recorded, and filed. Modern technology has been crucial in the latter for creating databases.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the most imperative pieces to completing any organized crime scenario are the day in and day out facts of how the organization was ran, what people were contacted, and the different types of activities that were illegally preformed. The analyst must be able to obtain information in order to make an analysis of what or who may or may not be at the root of a crime(s). This type of information can be found in law enforcement files, which are now moving towards electronically storing information. The analyst must be especially computer literate in order to research criminal activity and association. One device that the analyst has available is the Internet. Although this is not the only open source information-collecting device, it is one of the most commonly used open source methods. The problem of the â€Å"wheat versus chaff† can be realized very easily at any search engine. The Internet can be a very valuable tool for the analyst, but can also be a very time-consuming and an overwhelming obstacle if the analyst does not know how to overcome the problems of over-information.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Child Dieting and eating disorders :: essays research papers

Worried about her weight, Kristy swore off dessert and cut back on meal portions. As do many of us all the time. Eventually, she began skipping breakfast and was just nibbling at lunch and dinner. Within six months, she dropped 13 pounds. A weight-loss success story? Not at all. Kristy is only 10 years old. Her diet cost her 20 percent of her weight.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Children such as Kristy, a 4th-grader, are at the forefront of a disturbing new trend affecting the health of U.S. children: dieting. Around the country, children as young as 6 are shedding pounds, afraid of being fat and increasingly being treated for eating disorders that threaten their health and growth. With girls reaching puberty at younger ages, it has become natural for youngsters under age 10 to grow increasingly concerned about bodily changes and weight gain. Puberty is a time of rapid growth in a child's life. Girls and boys alike usually become curvier during this time. Females tend to gain weight on their hips, while males develop broad shoulders and backs. Therefore there is often an increase in overall body fat. A study by Steven R Thomsen in the Internalizing the Impossible Journal says that U.S. girls are showing signs of puberty at a younger age. A common medical view is that less than 1 percent of girls under 8 enter puberty. The study based on current data from 17,000 children found pubescent development in 7 percent of white girls and 27 percent of black girls between 7 and 8 years old. Between ages 8 and 9, signs were evident in 15 percent of whites and 48 percent of blacks. This is one of the reasons for an increase in the number of adolescent children on diets and with eating disorders. Another reason would be the increase of obesity in the United States. During the past 20 years there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the US. In 1991, four states had obesity rates of 15–19 percent and no states had rates at or above 20 percent. In 2003, 15 states had obesity prevalence rates of 15–19 percent; 31 states had rates of 20–24 percent; and 4 states had rates more than 25 percent. Not only are the obesity rates increasing, so is the knowledge of these statistics. More and more parents are putting their children on diets so they do not become a number in these statistics.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Applied linguistics Essay

Applied linguistics 1 History The term applied linguistics dates back at least to the 1940s in the USA when linguists applied analytical methods to the practical problems of producing grammars and phrasebooks and developing language courses. 2 What Is Applied Linguistics? Applied linguistics: (1) was interdisciplinary, drawing on psychology, sociology, and pedagogy as well as theoretical linguistics; (2) included a range of fields including lexicography, stylistics, speech pathol ogy, translation, language policy, and planning among others; (3) performed a mediating function between theory and practice. Ð pplied linguistics must take into consideration the nature of language and the nature of the particular world in which language is used, the beliefs, social institutions, and culture of its users, and how these influence language use. Ideally, the job of an applied linguist is to diagnose a problem in real-world language use, bring the insights of linguistics to bear on the problem, and suggest solutions. 3 Relation of Theory and Practice: the Case of Language Teaching The applied linguist stands at the intersection of theory and practice, but it is not always clear how the applied linguist mediates between the two. This suggests a one-way street in which theory is at the starting point, and the applied linguist directs traffic from theory to practice. Influenced by structuralism in linguistics and by behaviorism in psychology, applied linguists believed that language was a collection of discrete learnable structures, speaking was primary, and learning a language was a matter of correct habit formation. To inculcate correct habits, teachers drilled students incessantly in correct pronunciation and patterned practice of grammatical structures. Under the influence of the theoretical work of Noam Chomsky, applied  linguists saw language learning as a cognitive process of hypothesis testing, in which errors indicated the stage of the language learner’s interlanguage. Instead, knowing a language means knowing how to communicate in the language; it involves acquiring â€Å"communicative competence. † A richer model of the relationship among theory, practice, and applied linguistics sees it as a two-way street in which the applied linguist directs traffic from theory into practice and from practice into theory. Similarly in applied linguistics, practice provides a testing ground for theory,  but it is more than that: real-world language use provides new questions and issues requiring new theories. 4 Recent Range of Inquiry Nevertheless, the central characteristics of applied linguistics remain: (1) focus on contextualized language use; (2) application of theory to practice and vice versa; (3) practical problem-based approach; (4) multidisciplinary perspective. 4. 1 Second language teaching and cross-cultural linguistics 2Accurate description of language use with the ultimate goal of teaching has motivated research in cross-cultural discourse and pragmatics. Concentration on  spoken language, combined with speech act theory among others, has engendered numerous research projects in applied linguistics investigating specific speech acts such as making requests and apologies in different languages and cultures. Applied linguists have examined the development of pragmatic competence in second language learners and the possibilities for teaching pragmatics. 4. 2 Language use in context: contributions of discourse analysis Outside the area of language pedagogy, the burgeoning of discourse analysis has provided a means whereby linguistic insight can be applied to real-world situations. Other institutional and professional settings, too, have come under scrutiny from applied linguists using theoretical constructs to explain how language is used in real-world settings such as commerce, employment, and public services. A field that has developed considerably in recent years in response to societal concerns is the investigation of language and gender. Recent empirical studies have enriched understanding of the interrelationship of language and gender and demonstrated that generalizations about male and female speech are unreliable when the particular communicative contexts in which the speech occurs have not been examined. Other work has examined gender and language cross-culturally and in specific institutional settings. 4. 3 Language maintenance and endangered languages and dialects The work of applied linguists on endangered or minority languages and dialects brings together field linguistics, anthropology, sociolinguistics and education. For example, a longitudinal study of language use and cultural context draws together sociolinguistic research into language use, research in language socialization, and second language acquisition research into educational discourse. It is not only minority languages that are under threat, but also dialects. 2. Contemporary linguistic approaches: Clinical, forensic, computational linguistics ( Ð ²Ã'‹Ã'‡Ð ¸Ã' Ã »Ã ¸Ã'‚Ð µÃ »Ã'Å'Ð ½Ã °Ã'  )( 29, 30, 25) We have chosen to focus on four relatively popular areas of inquiry: †¢ syntactic parsing; †¢ discourse analysis; †¢ computational morphology and phonology; †¢ corpus-based methods. Parsing and discourse analysis have had the longest continuous history of investigation. Computational morphology and phonology began to grow as a separate discipline in the mid-1980s. Corpus-based approaches were investigated as early as the 1960s. 1 Parsing (Ã'€Ð °Ã ·Ã ±Ã ¾Ã'€) Parsing is the act of determining the â€Å"syntactic structure† of a sentence. The goal is to represent â€Å"who did what to whom† in the sentence. Parsing involves tagging 3the words with an appropriate syntactic category and determining their relationships to each other. Words are grouped into phrase-like constituents, which are arranged into clauses and sentences. Machine translation systems employ parsing to derive representations of the input that are sufficient for transfer from the source to target language at either the syntactic or semantic level. A great deal of attention – to the application of syntactic parsing models for language modeling for automatic speech recognition. 2 Discourse Analysis. The area of discourse analysis is concerned with inferring the intended meanings of utterances. In order for the dialogue participants to successfully carry out a dialogue, they must be able to recognize the intentions of the other participant’s utterances, and to produce their responses in such a way that will enable the other participant(s) to recognize their intentions. A recipe is a generic template for performing a particular action. The recipe library contains a collection of generic recipes, and during discourse understanding, the plan inference module attempts to infer utterance intentions and relationships using  information provided by this library. 3 Computational Morphology and Phonology Roughly speaking, the topics can be classified into computational morphology, which treats the analysis of word structure; and computational phonology, which, deals with the changes in sound patterns that take place when words are put together. 4 Corpus-based Methods The word corpus in linguistics is typically a collection of texts. Corpora have been widely used by linguists to identify and analyze language phenomena, and to verify or refute claims about language. However, a corpus also reveals important  quantitative information about the distribution of various language phenomena. 29 Clinical Linguistics Clinical linguistics is the application of the linguistic sciences to the study of language disability. 1 Identifying Linguistic Symptoms Attention has now come to be focused on important symptoms of language disability, and to those aspects of the problem which have been ignored or misdiagnosed. â€Å"Less noticeable† refers to any feature other than the audible qualities of pronunciation, the order and omission of surface grammatical elements, and the actual items which constitute vocabulary. These features exclude  most of the properties of phonological systems, the sense relations between lexical items, the constraints operating on discourse in interaction, and the many ramifications of underlying syntactic structure. All of these play a major part in identifying the various kinds of language disability. The use of a clinical linguistic frame of reference has also enabled people to make progress in identifying disorders of language comprehension. That requires careful testing and the controlling of variables. Disorders of a pragmatic kind, likewise, 4 have often remained undiagnosed, or have been misdiagnosed as problems of a  psychological or social behavioral type. 2 The Role of Clinical Linguistics 2. 2 Description A major area of clinical linguistic research has been to provide ways of describing and analyzing the linguistic behavior of patients, and of the clinicians and others who interact with them. 2. 3 Diagnosis An important aim of clinical linguistics is to provide a classification of patient linguistic behaviors. This can provide an alternative diagnostic model, and one which is more able to provide insights about intervention in cases where there is no clear evidence of any medical condition. 2. 4 Assessment (Ð ¾Ã'†Ð µÃ ½Ã ºÃ °). Clinical linguistics has also been much involved in devising more sophisticated assessments of abnormal linguistic behavior. A diagnosis tells us what is â€Å"wrong† with a patient; an assessment tells us just how seriously the patient is â€Å"wrong. † 2. 5 Intervention The ultimate goal is to formulate hypotheses for the remediation (Ð ¾Ã ·Ã ´Ã ¾Ã'€Ð ¾Ã ²Ã »Ã µÃ ½Ã ¸Ã µ) of abnormal linguistic behavior. Not all aspects of a patient’s problem are directly relevant to the need for linguistically based intervention, clinical linguistics can help clinicians to make an informed judgment about â€Å"what to teach next,† and to monitor the outcome of an intervention hypothesis, as  treatment proceeds. To a large extent, moving well beyond the patient’s language, to include an investigation of the language used by the person(s) carrying out the intervention, the kind of teaching materials used, and the setting in which the interaction takes place. 3 Linguistic Insights The chief aim of clinical linguistics is to provide the clinician with increasing levels of insight and confidence in arriving at linguistic decisions. The three pillars of any clinical linguistic approach: description – grading – intervention. All change needs to be regularly monitored, to demonstrate that progress is being made – this  is the task of assessment. The keeping of comprehensive linguistic records is a further priority, without which the efficacy of intervention can never be demonstrated. Forensic Linguistics Now linguists also have begun examining voice identification, authorship of written documents, unclear jury instructions, the asymmetry of power in courtroom exchanges, lawyer–client communication breakdown, the nature of perjury, problems in written legal discourse, defamation, trademark infringement, courtroom interpretation and translation difficulties, the adequacy of warning  labels, and the nature of tape recorded conversation used as evidence. 1 Trademark Infringement Typically, they respond to requests of attorneys to help them with their law cases. 2 Product Liability 5But the linguist, calling on knowledge of discourse analysis, semantics, and pragmatics, can determine the extent to which the message was clear and unambiguous and point out the possible meanings that the message presents. Once this is done, it is up to the attorney to determine whether or not to ask the linguist to testify at trial. 3 Speaker Identification Linguists have been used by attorneys in matters of voice identification. If the tapes are of sufficient quality, spectographic analysis is possible. If not, the linguist may rely on training and skills in phonetics to make the comparison. 4 Authorship of Written Documents Law enforcement agencies process provide a â€Å"psychological profile† of the person. Calling on knowledge of language indicators of such things as regional and social dialect, age, gender, education, and occupation, linguists analyze documents for broad clues to the identity of the writer. Stylistic analysis centers on a writer’s habitual language features over which the writer has little or no conscious awareness. 5 Criminal Cases Suspects are recorded with court authorized wire taps placed that none of the speakers is aware of being taped, or by using body microphones and engage suspects in conversation. If the law enforcement agency is concerned about the adequacy of the language evidence that they have gathered, they may call on a linguist to make transcripts of the conversations, analyze them. The tape recorded conversation itself points to the use of the other tools of the forensic linguist, including syntax, morphology, semantics, pragmatics, dialectology, and discourse analysis. 3. Discourse analysis (17) Discourse analysis is concerned with the contexts in and the processes through which we use oral and written language to specific audiences, for specific purposes, in specific settings. 1 What Is Discourse? A Preliminary Characterization The big D concerns general ways of viewing the world and general ways of behaving, the small d concerns actual, specific language use. Discourse analysis emphasizes that language is not merely a self-contained system of symbols but a mode of doing, being, and becoming. Discourse research can be divided into 2 major types of inquiries: (1) why some but not other linguistic forms are used on  given occasions and (2) what are the linguistic resources for accomplishing various social, affective, and cognitive actions and interactions. 2 Communicative Motivations for the Selection of Linguistic Forms Language is inseparable from other aspects of our life and that the selection of linguistic forms should be explained in terms of authentic human communicative needs (i. e. , social, interactional, cognitive, affective needs). 2. 1 Context 6One of the first questions is what is happening in this stretch of talk, who the participants are, where they are, and why they are there. Linguistic choices are  systematically motivated by contextual factors. Context is a complex of 3 dimensions: First, the field of social action in which the discourse is embedded. Second, the set of role relations among the participants. And third, the role of language in the interaction. In this view, language is a system of choices made on the basis of a contextual configuration which accounts for field, tenor, and mode. 2. 3 Speech act What kind of speech act utterance is and whether this act is accomplished through direct or indirect means. Speech act theory says that language is used not only to describe things but to do things as well. Further, utterances act on 3 different levels: the literal level (locutionary act), the implied level (illocutionary act), and the consequence of the implied act (perlocutionary act). 2. 4 Scripts / plans Script is to describe the knowledge that we have of the structure of stereotypical event sequences. If such knowledge can be described in a formal way, then we may have a theory of how humans process natural language. 2. 5 Referentiality How entities (Ð »Ã ¸Ã'†Ð °) are referred to in utterances. Some analysts are interested in how referential forms make a stretch of discourse cohesive in form and coherent in meaning. 2. 6 Topicality and thematicity What is an utterance about, what is the starting point of a message, what is the focus of a message. Topic – the part of the utterance about which something is said. Prague School linguists developed the functional sentence perspective which says that word order has to do with how informative each element in the utterance is – communicative dynamism, or CD. A sentence begins with elements with the lowest CD and ends with those with the highest CD. Theme is the part of the utterance with the lowest degree of CD. 2. 7 Sequential organization The sequential context of the utterance. Discourse analysts have sought to explain linguistic choices in terms of ethnographic contexts, knowledge structure, rhetorical organization, communicative intentions, textual organization, information management and sequential organization, among others. Discourse Analysis, Linguistics, and More Discourse analysts research various aspects of language not as an end in itself, but as a means to explore ways in which language forms are shaped by and shape the contexts of their use. Further, discourse analysis draws upon not only linguistics, but also anthropology, sociology, psychology, philosophy, cognitive science, and  other disciplines in the humanities and social sciences concerned with human communication. Discourse analysis promotes a view of language which says that 7 Resource Center Saved Recents Uploads My Answers Account Products Home Essays Drive Answers Texty About Company Legal Site Map Contact Us Advertise  ©2016 StudyMode. com HOME  > ESSAYS  > LINGUISTICS  > LINGUISTICS Linguistics Applied linguistics, Discourse analysis, Language By maor87 Apr 17, 2015 6489Words 150Views More info PDF View Text View PAGE8 OF 18 language use is not only reflective of other aspects of our lives but is also constitutive of them. As it draws insights from various disciplines, it also contributes to interfacing linguistics with other domains of inquiries, such that we might now investigate the construction of culture through conversation or program computers to generate interactive texts based on our understanding of the rules and principles of human interaction. It focusses on language as it is used by real people with real intentions, emotions. 4. Linguistics and pragmatics (16) The Puzzle of Language Use: How Do We Ever Understand Each Other? Pragmatics is the study of communication – the study of how language is used. This study is based on the assumption of a division between knowledge of language and the way it is used; and the goal of pragmatics is providing a set of principles which dictate how knowledge of language and general reasoning interact in the process of language understanding, to give rise to different kinds of effects which can be achieved in communication. Pragmatics as the Application of Conversational Principles to Sentence Meanings The starting point for studies in pragmatics is the mismatch between what words â€Å"mean, and what speakers â€Å"mean† by using them. There is the knowledge of  language, which dictates the meanings of words and the ways in which they can combine. This is called the encoded meaning. On the other hand, there are pragmatic principles which enable a hearer to establish some different interpretation – the nonencoded part of meaning. Moreover, given the full array of rhetorical effects such as metaphor, irony, etc. , all of which are uses of expressions in context in some sense, the proposed approach maintains a natural separation between literal uses of words, which are reflected in sentence-meanings, and the various non-literal uses to which they may be put. Knowledge of language: sentence-meanings as partial specifications of interpretation The problem for this â€Å"clean† view is that we use commonsense reasoning, whatever this consists in, not merely in working out why a speaker has said something, but also in establishing what she has said in using the words chosen. The overall picture of interpretation is that grammar-internal principles articulate both syntactic and semantic structure for sentences, a semantic structure for a sentence being an incomplete specification of how it is understood. Pragmatic theory explains how such incomplete specifications are enriched in context to yield  the full communicative effect of an uttered sentence, whether metaphorical, ironical, and so on. The Process of Reasoning: How Do Hearers ever Manage to Choose the Right Interpretation? Grice’s cooperative principle and the conversational maxims According to Grice who was the pioneer of the inferential approach to conversation, there is a general assumption underpinning all utterance interpretation that the interpretation of utterances is a collaborative enterprise. This 8collaborative enterprise is structured by a number of maxims, which speakers are presumed to obey: †¢ The maxim of quality: do not say that for which you lack evidence; do not say what you believe to be false. †¢ The maxim of relevance: be relevant. †¢ The maxim of quantity: make your contribution as informative as is required, but not more so. †¢ The maxim of manner: be perspicuous (avoid obscurity, avoid ambiguity, be brief, be orderly). Grice articulated the maxims as a means of simplifying the overall account of the relation between the use of language in logical arguments and the conversational use of language. Relevance theory This theory claims to characterize pragmatic phenomena in terms of a single  cognitive concept, that of relevance, replacing the social underpinnings of Grice’s cooperative principle. The principle of relevance Optimal relevance is getting the right balance between size and type of context and amount of information derived. The more information some stimulus yields, the more relevant it is said to become, but the more effort the interpretation of that stimulus requires, the less relevant it will become. And to be minimally relevant a stimulus must lead to at least one non-trivial inference being derived. However interpretation of an act of communication involves two agents – the  speaker and the hearer. The constraint of balancing cognitive effect with cognitive effort will also apply to what the hearer does, but here the task of interpretation is more specific because the hearer has to try and recover what the speaker intended to convey. There are two aspects to the task: 1 Decoding the information associated with an uttered expression– i. e. working out what words have been said and the information that they by definition carry. 2 Making choices which enrich that encoded information to establish what the speaker had intended to convey using those words. Relevance and speech acts  On the speech act view of language, language can best be understood in terms of acts such as these which speakers carry out in using language. The observation by speech act theorists that there is more to language than just describing things is quite uncontentious. Nonetheless, in relevance theory, where the type of implications that can be drawn is quite unrestricted, there is no need of any special discrete categories for such different kinds of act. 5. Linguistic typology and its directions (14) 1 The Diversity of Human Languages The field of linguistic typology explores the diversity of human language in an  effort to understand it. The basic principle behind typology is that one must look at as wide a range of languages as possible in order to grasp both the diversity of 9language and to discover its limits. Typology uses a fundamentally empirical, comparative, and inductive method in the study of language. That is, typologists examine grammatical data from a wide variety of languages, and infer generalizations about language from that data. The basic discovery of typology is that there are limits to linguistic diversity. By comparing diverse languages and discovering universal grammatical patterns, one can attempt to disentangle what is  universal about the grammars languages from what is peculiar to each individual language. 2 The Nature of Language Universals: Word Order One of the first areas of grammar where it was recognized that there are limits to grammatical diversity was the order of words. Word order is probably the most immediately salient difference in grammatical patterns from one language to the next. First, one must examine a sample of languages in order to infer the range of grammatical diversity and its limits. A variety sample collects as broad a range of languages as possible from different geographical areas and different genetic  groupings. Its purpose is to ensure that all possible language types are identified. Second, one must be able to identify phenomena from one language to the next as comparable. The basic problem here is the great variety of grammatical structures used in the world’s languages. The solution to this problem is due to another insight of structuralism: the basic unit of the language is the sign, a form that conventionally expresses or encodes a meaning. The basis for cross-linguistic comparison is a particular linguistic meaning; once that is identified, we may examine the different structures used to encode that meaning. Third, we must identify a range of grammatical patterns or types used to express the linguistic meaning being examined, and classify languages according to what type(s) is / are used in them. For instance, in describing word order of the sentence, the relative position of subject (S), object (O), and verb (V) are used to classify language types. Language structure is determined by factors of language use, such as processing. Language structure is also determined by historical relationships among grammatical patterns, which themselves are due to similarity in meaning. However, these factors do not uniquely determine a language structure, but  compete with each other. Speech communities resolve the competing motivations in arbitrary, language-particular ways; this leads to the diversity of languages found in the world. 3 Language Universals and the Formal Encoding of Meaning Word order universals appear to be motivated in terms of processing of linguistic structure in the act of producing and comprehending language. Word order is a fundamental grammatical property of sentences. 3. 1 Typological markedness and morphological representation 10Some of the earliest work in typology examined the coding of grammatical and  lexical concepts in inflected word forms. The universals go under the name of (typological) markedness. Typological markedness represents an asymmetric pattern of the expression of meaning in grammatical categories across languages. Typological markedness has two central characteristics. First, typological markedness is a property of conceptual categories – e. g. singular and plural – or more precisely, how those conceptual categories are expressed in languages. For number, the singular is unmarked and the plural is marked. Second, unmarked status does not imply that the unmarked member is always left unexpressed and the marked member is always expressed by an overt morpheme. The presence / absence of an overt inflection encoding a conceptual category is only one symptom of markedness, namely structural coding. Typological markedness is found in another aspect of the coding of concepts in words and constructions. Most words in sentences express more than one conceptual category. Pronouns in English, for instance, can express gender as well as number. In English, neither the singular nor plural pronouns express number by a separate inflection; instead number is implicitly expressed by distinct forms such as he and  they. The grammatical coding of additional, cross-cutting, distinctions in the singular but not in the plural is an example of the second symptom of markedness, called behavioral potential. Behavioral potential is also represented by an implicational universal: If the marked member of a category grammatically expresses a crosscutting distinction, so does the unmarked member. A third property of typological markedness points to its underlying explanation. The unmarked member is more frequent than the marked member in language use. Concepts that occur more frequently in language use (e. g. singular) will tend to be expressed by fewer morphemes than less frequently occurring concepts (e. g. plural). This explanation for how meaning is encoded in grammatical form is a processing explanation, called economy or economic motivation. 3. 2 Hierarchies and conceptual spaces We can describe the cross-linguistic distribution of plural markings across classes of pronouns and nouns with the animacy hierarchy. The hierarchy is a succinct way to capture a chain of implicational universals: if any class of words has a plural, then all the classes to the left (or higher) on the hierarchy have a plural. These  patterns are defined over a conceptual space. The conceptual space describes a network of relationships among conceptual categories which exist in the human mind and which constrains how conceptual categories are expressed in grammar. Grammatical change must follow the links in conceptual space. For instance, a plural marking spreads from left to right in the animacy space. Conceptual spaces specify what grammatical category groupings are found in, and how constructions spread (or retreat) over time in their application to grammatical categories. If we compare absence vs. presence of case marking on nouns for the grammatical  11 relations hierarchy, we find that absence of case marking occurs at he higher end of the hierarchy, and presence thereof at the lower end of the hierarchy. The grammatical relations hierarchy also defines the distribution of verb agreement across languages. Verb agreement is associated with the higher end of the grammatical relations hierarchy – the ability to trigger verb agreement indicates the greater behavioral potential of the grammatical relation. These facts demonstrate that the two grammatical relations hierarchies in fact reflect a deeper cross-linguistic universal pattern, found in many different parts of the grammar of languages. 3. 3 Economy and iconicity Economic motivation: the more frequently used category is more likely to be reduced in expression or left unexpressed. Iconic motivation – the structure of language reflects the structure of concepts. In the example, each conceptual category, both singular and plural, are overtly encoded in the word form. A subtype of iconicity called isomorphism: the correspondence between forms and meanings. There are two ways in which isomorphism occur in human languages. The first way is in the correspondence of forms and meanings in the combination of words and inflections in a sentence. This is called syntagmatic isomorphism. Economic and iconic motivation compete to produce the range of attested and unattested correspondences between form and meaning. There are 3 predicted patterns. Overt expression is iconically motivated: there is a one-to-one correspondence between meanings and forms. However, it is only moderately economically motivated: it is more economical than expressing a meaning with more than one word or morpheme, but less economical than not expressing the meaning at all. Non-expression of a particular meaning, such as the singular of English nouns like car-O (vs.plural book-s), is economically motivated: zero expression breaks one-to-one correspondence between forms and meanings. The third possible option, zero marking of both singular and plural, corresponds to the absence of expression of the category. This option is economically motivated: either the meaning can be inferred from context, or it is not relevant to the communication. There is another economically motivated pattern of expressing meaning in form: the combination or fusion of discrete meanings in a single form. For example, the suffix -s in English run-s indicates 3rd person subject, singular  subject and present tense, all in a single suffix. In other languages, inflectional categories are found in separate suffixes, as in Turkish. The second type of isomorphism is the correspondence between form and meaning in the inventory of words stored in the mind; paradigmatic isomorphism. 12The possible means of expression of meanings in words are limited by economy and iconicity. Unmotivated possibility: the existence of more than one word with the same meaning, synonymy. It is not iconically motivated. A one-to-one match between a word and a meaning is called monosemy. It isiconic ally motivated but not that economically motivated: we would need very many words to express each discrete meaning. Homonymy is economically motivated, but it is not iconically motivated (many unrelated meanings are expressed by a single form). By far the most common state of affairs in languages, however, is polysemy: the grouping of related meanings under a single form. Polysemy is economically motivated because it subsumes several meanings under a single form, as with homonymy. It is iconically motivated, because the meanings are related. 4 The Dynamic Approach to Language Universals The most common word.

Tobacco Industry Csr Malaysia

1. 0 INTRODUCTION Major tobacco firms in Malaysia have begun investing aggressively Corporate Social Responsibility activities to build a positive public image and brand activities via large contributions into social programs nationwide, and to be recognised as contributors to the greater common good. Although CSR is considered as a corporate entity along standards of business ethics, tobacco industry philanthropic activities encounter much criticism and threat of a comprehensive ban on CSR atop present legislations for Tobacco Advertising, Promotion & Sponsorship worldwide.Many concerns have been raised over the practice; alleging that the motives behind tobacco industry CSR are to manipulate public perception of responsible marketing practices and gain favourable position for the individual firms in Malaysia. 2. 0 CSR AND ITS STRATEGIC ADVANTAGES Holme and Watts define CSR as an ongoing pledge by corporations to conduct themselves in an ethical manner and contribute to economic gro wth while developing the quality of workforce livelihood and their families, and the overall local community and societies.CSR programs were developed to answer public urges for corporations to advocate ethical, environmental, health and labour regulations. The Sustainability Entrepreneurship Model by Young and Tilley, as shown in Appendix I, comprises of six decisive factors: eco-efficiency, socio-efficiency, eco-effectiveness, socio-effectiveness and sufficiency and ecological equity; for corporate sustainability which adds to the business’s social responsibilities and enhances its effectiveness, bringing higher cost savings and better profit margins. 8% of consumers said they were more likely to purchase from companies that engages in initiatives to develop society. 3. 0 TOBACCO INDUSTRY AND TOBACCO USE IN MALAYSIA Malaysia is a major cigarette-manufacturing showpiece for tobacco transnational corporations operating in the South East Asian region. Among 92 sectors, the tob acco industry ranks 5th with an economic output totaling to RM11. 7 billion or 3% of Malaysia’s GDP. The tobacco industry in Malaysia comprises of large corporations such as British American Tobacco, market share 68%; Japan Tobacco Inc. 17. 7%; and Philip Morris International, 15. 3%. The industry considers itself a vital contributor in developing Malaysia’s socio-economic condition of the rural population. Tobacco is Malaysia’s most largely cultivated non-food crop, with 12,148 hectares and 1,200 hectares of land solely for tobacco cultivation in Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia respectively. The industry’s activities range from tobacco leaf cultivation and curing, tobacco production to marketing and distribution.Records show that more than 190,000 people are employed in the industry, and 120,000 people involved in tobacco farming and curing. Smoking statistics show that 10,000 Malaysians succumb to smoking-related ailments annually, making it the t op killers in the country since the 1980s. According to Global Adult Tobacco Survey based in Malaysia, 23. 1% or 4. 75 million adults currently smoke, 43. 9% (4. 64 million) being men and 1. 0% (0. 10 million) women. The study also suggested that the expenditure on manufactures cigarettes cover 3. % of the GDP in 2011, its data showing present smokers using an average of RM 178. 80 monthly on manufactured cigarettes. 4. 0 PRACTICE OF TOBACCO INDUSTRY CSR IN MALAYSIA The industry engages CSR in various methods to achieve maximum public exposure and influence. The common approach of tobacco industry CSR is corporate philanthropy in which the firms provide monetary aids in areas such as culture and arts, education, shelter, social welfare and the environment. In addition, they offer support to government policies and sponsorship of events such as youth smoking prevention programs.Several firms have even established charitable foundations to fund their initiatives, such as the British A merican Tobacco Foundation which was set up with the aim to obtain and manage funds for education, scientific and other charitable purposes. In conjunction with National Kenaf and Tobacco Board, the foundation has rewarded over 2,000 recipients RM 1. 1 million since its initiation in 2002. Formation of alliances between tobacco firms with non-governmental organizations exist as well.Yayasan Salam Malaysia is a long-term NGO partner of Philip Morris since 2006, both supporting a variety of CSR programs concerning poverty and society’s wellbeing. Their annual partnership had revolved around building information and communication technology (ICT) centres in rural places and providing financial aids for the underprivileged. BAT is also the first local tobacco company to publish Social Reports since 2001; these reports highlighting the firms CSR activities conducted year-round, looking forward to aligning itself with other businesses that conduct CSR activities.The company had rec eived the Malaysian Sustainability Reporting Award from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants for BAT’s efforts in cancer research. 5. 0 CRITICISMS TOWARD TOBACCO INDUSTRY CSR The tobacco industry is one of the most criticised members of the modern business community. Several disputes have arisen worldwide declaring that tobacco industry products are lethal to their consumers, and the CSR activities will be unable to resolve the fundamental contradiction with ethical corporate citizenship.WHO defines tobacco industry tactics utilizing CSR as a tool â€Å"to promote voluntary measures as an effective way to address tobacco control and create an illusion of being a ‘changed’ company and to establish partnerships with health interests. † These charitable campaigns purposefully influence the perception among youths and adults that the tobacco industry is deceitful and guilty for advocating smoking among youths and adults. Tobacco companies’ internal documents have revealed the motives behind industry-sponsored programs, aimed to increase profits and stimulate company investments.It is alleged that by conducting CSR, tobacco firms aim to build favourable views regarding the industry and tobacco issues by demonstrating their responsibility and concern about the wellbeing of consumers and stakeholders. Another tobacco industry goal is to achieve political influence with the intention of obstruct government efforts to regulate tobacco control, as evident in Malaysia. These CSR initiatives also pose as protection against litigations or lawsuits.The sponsorship of tobacco firms in youth anti-smoking campaigns is claimed to be a scheme to access youths for market research, to normalise brands and to avert success of anti-tobacco campaigns. A report by the British Medical Association stated that tobacco industry CSR as a form of marketing for firms, and as such it should be prohibited under the terms of Article 13 of the Fram ework Convention on Tobacco Control, which calls for Parties to impose a full ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and advertising, including CSR.CSR functions in favour of the industry by creating goodwill with lawmakers and the public, crushing bad publicity for its lethal goods, and resolving conflict from tobacco control advocates. The tobacco-caused death and disease suffered by societies and families contradict the advantages of charity or sponsorship for social interests. Tobacco consumption offers zero merits to the underprivileged, and any financial aid offered by tobacco firms accountable for smoking-related ailments and financial woes of the nation fails to relieve poverty, environmental, or health problems. . 0 POLITICAL ECONOMY AND CONTROL OF TOBACCO IN MALAYSIA Advocacy for tobacco control in Malaysia had begun in the 1970s, with gradual growing initiatives to institute specific legislations to regulate tobacco manufacturing and consumption. Compliant to the FCTC, Mal aysia enacts legislation compliant with the FCTC by providing extensive regulation and banning of advertising, promotion and sponsorship. Presently, Malaysia allows tobacco industry CSR, and it has been abused by the industry as a strategic tool to change its public image.Measures to undertake the Malaysian smoking epidemic is inconsistent – from one point of view, the cost of lives and health interests; while the other, the critical consequences of tobacco control on tobacco farmers and alleviating poverty. The Malaysian government is an active shareholder and advocate of tobacco. They are major partners in two of Malaysia’s largest tobacco corporations with direct financial interests in the industry.Major shareholders of BAT and JTI include statutory bodies such as the Skim Amanah Saham Bumiputera, Employees Provident Fund, and Amanah Saham Malaysia, demonstrating the Malaysian state controlled ownership of shares in the tobacco industry. A large number of Bumiputera s partake in tobacco cultivation with Bumiputera partners being of key importance in the ownership of tobacco firms. Corresponding to the government policy to promote foreign investment, BAT, Philip Morris, and R. J.Reynolds Tobacco Company have set up their subsidiaries and established manufacturing facilities within the country. 7. 0 CONCLUSION In averting the overall poor public image, weak knowledge regarding individual tobacco firms, and more litigations and restraints, the tobacco industry CSR activities are meant to improve public perception of the industry. CSR activities by tobacco firms purposefully highlight their philanthropic contributions to the society and also promote youth smoking prevention programs.As long as there is absence of major restraints and public criticism, the tobacco industry will continue to operate unreservedly, utilising CSR to promote its â€Å"responsible† marketing practices and to receive favorable ratings for individual firms within the country. The tobacco industry’s public relation efforts may possibly influence Malaysian audiences to develop further resistance against the objections faced by the industry, alleviate jurors’ negative scrutiny toward the industry, and thus deteriorating public or legislative support for tobacco control policies in Malaysia.