The Neurobiological Factors Associated with Depression Essay

The Neurobiological Factors Associated with Depression Depression is a mood disorder that affects approximately ten percent of men and nearly twenty-five percent of women at least once in their lifetime (1). There are several types of clinical depression, such as unipolar depression and bipolar depression. Unipolar depression consists of primarily depressive states while bipolar depression involves a fluctuation between states of depression and mania (2). Some of the most common symptoms of depression include excessive feelings of sadness, guilt, or worthlessness, a significant change in appetite, insomnia or hypersomnia, energy loss, thoughts or attempts of suicide, and anhedonia (3), (4). While the symptoms of depression are†¦show more content†¦While some of the findings from these genetic studies are still preliminary, several investigations have indicated that the role of certain neurotransmitters, called monoamines, in depression is immense (7). Neurotransmitters are chemicals in the brain that bind to receptors in order to excite or inhibit the firing of neurons (6). The Catecholamine Theory of Mood was proposed as a major explanation for the cause of depression in the 1960s by Joseph Schildkraut (7). Schildkraut suggested that a deficiency of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine at receptor sites caused depression while increased levels of norepinephrine caused mania. Some evidence for Schildkraut’s account was established by the success rate of monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitor drugs, which block the reuptake of monoamines and facilitate the release of neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine and serotonin (8). Further evidence has been established by studies that found decreased norepinephrine levels in the cerebrospinal fluid of deceased depressed patients (5). More recently, drugs have been developed that selectively block the reuptake of norepinephrine by the presynaptic cell. It has been found in preliminary st udies that the level of depression decreases in these patients, which provides further evidence for the role of norepinephrine in depression. While empirical support for the Catecholamine Theory of Mood has grown substantially, evidence from more recent studies highlights theShow MoreRelatedIntroduction to Addictions and Substance Use Disorders Essay646 Words   |  3 PagesIntroduction to Addictions and Substance Use Disorders Cognitive-Behavioral Models The cognitive behavioral models say that incentives make way for the right conditions for the need for drug abuse. Drug use is associated with experiences such as self-exploration, religious insights, altering moods, escaping boredom or despair, enhancing creativity, performance, sensory experience or pleasure, and so on (Capuzzi Stauffer, 2012). Cognitive behaviorism has brought in appreciated data at the sameRead MoreNeurobiological And Biological Relationships Of Major Depressive Disorder1312 Words   |  6 PagesNeurobiological and Biological Relationships to Major Depressive Disorder Biological and neurobiological studies have become more and more closely correlated with mental disorders throughout the past decade of scientific progress. This paper aims to expound models that have contributed to our developing understanding of the origins of Major depressive disorder (MDD) and treatment guidance, from both neurobiological and biological fields. It will also explore the implications, both positive and negativeRead MoreMajor Depressive Disorder Impacts Many People Worldwide1310 Words   |  6 Pagescharacterized by feelings of sadness accompanied by emotional and physical withdrawal, all thought to result from molecular and cellular abnormalities that interact with genetic and environmental factors. To date, no concrete neurobiological explanation exists to completely define, diagnose and treat this illness. Depression debilitates patients, society and economies. An estimated 14.8 million Americans (6.7% of the population) suffer from this disease, costing the eco nomy 83.1 billion US dollars annuallyRead MoreOutline The Processes Of Nociception1498 Words   |  6 Pages-Weak surrounding ankle muscles -Referred pain -Unable to fully weight bear -Reduced Passive Active range of motion Q (2b.) Explain how these factors might impact on her pain. Describe the likely neurobiological mechanisms involved. Relate to the Clinical Model of Pain. Linda may have psychological factors such as stress, anxiety, depression, fear of moving her limb for it might cause more damage and due to her previous injury 2 years ago. Additionally, she is feeling quite disappointed andRead MoreStroke Accounts For 11.13% Of Total Worldwide Mortality1416 Words   |  6 Pagespatients stop taking their prescribed medication 1 to 2 years after their stroke incident [1][2][3]. These high rates of non-adherence are influenced by multiple factors such as patient’s cognitive characteristics, behavioral factors, social support and environmental-related factors (Einsiedel Eastlick, 2000). The consideration of these factors will give us a clearer insight in understanding non-adherence. The causes of non-adherence can be categories into ability, information and motivation (â€Å"AIM†Read More Traumatic Brain Injury Essay1983 Words   |  8 Pagesresponse to a perceived threatening stimulus and is frequently accompanied by negative affect, facial expressions described as hostile, temper tantrums, anger and a reported feeling of loss of self-control has been strongly associated with a range of adolescent physical and social factors such as peer rejection and lower social orientation , social skills problems starting fights, getting angry and physical abuse . On the other hand, Proactive aggression (PA) is pre-meditated, controlled or has the specificRead MoreExposure To Social Violence1134 Words   |  5 Pagesfindings showing that intra-familial ACEs (child abuse and household dysfunction) are associated with premature delivery (11–13) and low-birth weight (10,13). Furthermore, it spread out past research (23–25) by confirming the association between maternal history of adversities during childhood and depression during pregnancy. Our analysis adds power to the previous literature on the negative impact of social ACEs on depression. Previous research’s explored peer violence, which has shown that bullied adolescentsRead MoreThe Causes And Consequences Of Anxiety943 Words   |  4 Pagesfurther exploration of these beliefs by Carver and White (1994) will be explored. In addition to these, it is also suggested that anxiety is correlated to hippocampus and amygdala formation and volume, therefore, this idea will also be explored, other factors that may influence anxiety will also be discussed in order to consider other potential causes and consequences of anxiety. After review and consideration of this evidence, the question â€Å"To what extent can individual differences in anxiety be explainedRead MoreSymptoms And Symptoms Of Ptsd3334 Words   |  14 Pagesobserved to be comorbid in post-trauma patients. As PT SD is often considered the most severe manifestation of post-trauma psychopathology, this review will focus more specifically on the risk factors for developing PTSD and associated psychopathology in response to trauma exposure. Identification of risk factors for the development of PTSD could inform the optimal delivery of services and resources after trauma and disaster to those who are most likely to develop psychopathology and might benefit theRead MoreSubstance Misuse And Substance Abuse Essay1837 Words   |  8 Pagesmisuse behaviour characterised by a strong desire to continually take the drug in uncontrolled manner, which leads to withdrawal symptoms once the dosage of the drug is discontinued (Koob, Sanna Bloom, 1998). This disorder has its roots in both neurobiological and social processes (Galizio Maisto, 2013), this essay will critically discuss both the biological and social catalysts in which substance misuse initiates and leads to substance misuse behaviour, with r eference to the psychopharmacology of

History of Human Resource Management Essay - 1398 Words

The History of Human Resource Management Human resource management is the strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organizations most valued assets - the people working there who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the business. The terms human resource management and human resources (HR) have largely replaced the term personnel management as a description of the processes involved in managing people in organizations. Human Resource management is evolving rapidly. Human resource management is both an academic theory and a business practice that addresses the theoretical and practical techniques of managing a workforce. (1) Human resource management has it roots in the†¦show more content†¦Some industries experienced difficulty recruiting and retaining employees because of the poor working conditions workers were exposed to. As the means of production continued to shift from farmlands and guilds to city factories, concerns grew about wages, safety, and child labor and 12-hour workdays. Workers began to band together in unions to protect their interests and improve living standards. Government stepped in to provide basic rights and protections for workers. (3) The growth of organized labor soon followed. The first union the Knights of Labor formed in 1869. This union pushed for 8 hour work days (which we all enjoy today), the prohibition of child labor, and equal pay for men and women. Unions supported boycotts Ââ€" not purchasing products from a producer it they were not participating in what the union wanted. The Knights of Labor switched their stance to striking when in the 1880s unemplo yment and wage cuts were widespread. This proved less effective the larger the union became because they could not control the members from unauthorized strikes and sabotaging the factories. The employers resorted to using strikebreakers, non union members willing to replace striking employees. Violence became more prevalent in the late 1900s during strikes. The Molly Maguires became infamous for beatings and murders of employers. The turn of the century did nothing to curtail such violence. TheShow MoreRelatedThe History of Human Resource Management1460 Words   |  6 PagesThe History of Human Resource Management Human resource management  (HRM, or simply  HR) is the  management  of an  organizations  workforce, or  human resources. It is responsible for the  attraction,  selection,  training,  assessment, and  rewarding  of employees, while also overseeing organizational leadership  and  culture, and ensuring compliance with  employment and labor laws. In circumstances where employees desire and are legally authorized to hold a  collective bargaining agreement, HR will also serveRead MoreHistory of Human Resource Management2055 Words   |  9 PagesHistory of Human Resource Management Overview of Human Resource Management By definition, Human Resource Management (HRM) is the strategic and coherent approach to the management of organizations most valued assets; specifically the people working there whom individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of objectives of the business. Simply it is the process of employing people, developing their capacities, utilizing, maintaining and compensating their services in tune with theRead MoreHuman Resource Management And Its History Essay1864 Words   |  8 PagesHuman Resource Management and its history To begin evaluating strategic human resource management approaches, one must first understand the concept of human resource management and how it came to be. Human resource management stemmed from what use to be called personnel management in the early 1940’s. The term human resource management (HRM) was first used in the United States and it suggests to some that â€Å"employees were an asset or resource-like machines, but at the same time HR also appearedRead MoreHistory of Human Resource Management1806 Words   |  8 PagesPeople Management In this assignment I will be looking at the role played by the Personnel Management to Human Resource Management (HRM) for Sainsbury s and there historic developments. I will also be looking at how the existing HR function for Sainsbury s could be developed to work more effectively with the rest of the organisation. Human Resource Management (HRM) is fundamentally another name for personnel management. It is the process of making sure the employees are as creative as theyRead MoreThe Importance of History in Human Resource Management (Philippines Setting)2029 Words   |  9 Pagesimportance of History in Human Resource Management History is defined by the Oxford Dictionary of Current English as â€Å"a continuous record of events.† As such, a country’s history encapsulates all that has happened in the country, and between it and other countries. A country, at a particular point in time, is thus the result of its history. Understanding a country’s history is fundamental to understanding the country and its people. In addition to shaping cultural values, history also shapesRead MoreInformative Speech : The Society Of Human Resource Management966 Words   |  4 PagesINFORMATIVE SPEECH FULL-SENTENCE OUTLINE GUIDE FULL-SENTENCE OUTLINE GUIDE Introduction I. Attention Getter: The Society of Human Resource Management quoted John Green, a Vice President of Human Resources in an article they released called The Look and Feel of Strategic Human Resource Management: Conversations with Senior HR Executive saying â€Å"In the past, when I started the business, the people would look for security and plan to be there the rest of their life. They had more of an attitude ofRead MoreHistory Of Union And Human Resources1205 Words   |  5 Pagescompany gets profit, labor can get their reasonable benefit back. The trend of an organization is management in the twenty-first century. A company thinks an employee is part of assets in the organization. Therefore, the Human Resource Management is more valuable than the union to manage the employee. History of Union and Human Resources The history is a track shows the development of unions and Human Resources. In the past, the original labor unions happened in the nineteenth century which was the IndustryRead MoreCareer Choices For A Career1539 Words   |  7 Pagescareer is dealing with Human Resources. One field that one might look into as a profession would be Human Resource within recreation. With HR being a growing field in recreation, it is important to become equipped in the building blocks to be successful in the career as well as knowing the careers available. Thus following up on what was stated before; the job market is forever growing, meaning, so are new directions a person might take on in the field of Human Resource recreation. RecreationRead MoreHuman Resource Planning : An Important Area Of The Organisation1241 Words   |  5 Pages Strategic human resource management Assignment 2 Name: Muhammad Zakaullah khan Completed: 30/08/15 Student id number: 144014 Lecturer’s name: DAVID Greenshields Human resource planning is an important area of the organisation which deals with all primary activities and its identifies the current and future needs of organisation. It includes hiring, firing, managing, training, developing and rewarding people within the organisation. 2.1: Analyse the business factorsRead MoreHow Strategic Management Plan And The Human Resource Planning Process1410 Words   |  6 PagesAbstract: For this assignment we will examine how strategic management plans are established and redefine to keep the organizations moving forward in growth. Management promotes and brings about a change in the structure to keep it active and efficient in the approaches to achieving its goals and objective. The strategy behind the approaches correlation is what leads to actually implementing and providing data to analyze on an ongoing basis to enhance the strategic plan of the organization. The

Raise the drinking age free essay sample

Allowing only adults of the age 25 or older to consume alcohol is a decision that could help prevent thousands of alcohol related fatalities every year. This is a controversial topic that is discussed and debated by many. One individual in particular is Andrew Herman, who argues this in â€Å"Raise the Drinking age to Twenty-Five†. Herman does very well in addressing the rhetorical situation by presenting the audience with data from alcohol related accidents and deaths, this evidence is strong and makes his claim credible and logical. Herman does a tremendous job identifying his position on making the drinking age 25. He also does well separating the audience and speaking directly to them on his position toward the drinking age. Herman’s argument is directed to an audience of anyone who has ever attended college or a college party. He provides the audience with evidence and data such as â€Å"Every year 1,400 college students die from drinking too much† or â€Å"Every year 17,000 die from drunken driving† (Herman 470). We will write a custom essay sample on Raise the drinking age or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Herman uses these to persuade his audience to agree. To continue, Herman uses excellent means of persuasion such as Logos and Ethos. He also uses a small amount of pathos to persuade his audience’s emotions. For example throughout the article Herman uses the Logos technique to persuade the audience logically increasing the drinking age will decrease the amount of youth drinking, therefore preventing deaths due to alcohol consumption . Also, Herman gives annual numbers of alcohol accidents and deaths as a form of Ethos to persuade the audience. Last, he uses a small example of Pathos as he says â€Å"For the sake of our friends, those we love and our futures† (Herman 471). This appeals to the audience’s emotions further persuading them to agree. Furthermore, Herman’s Rhetorical strategies develop very well because of his organization, evidence and use of strategies. His organization helps identify his thesis and explains the principal reason behind his article. Also Herman uses great techniques of Ethos, Logos and Pathos to persuade the audience. Then Herman’s evidence helps connect these ideas back together to a coherent claim. All in all, Andrew Herman addressed the Rhetorical Situation very well by identifying it and presenting his audience with credible evidence to back up his claim.  Because of this Herman’s Rhetorical strategies were extremely effective in getting the interest of the audience. He had a specific claim and very strong evidence that supported his claim well. Raise the drinking age free essay sample Allowing only adults of the age 25 or older to consume alcohol is a decision that could help prevent thousands of alcohol related fatalities every year. This is a controversial topic that is discussed and debated by many. One individual in particular is Andrew Herman, who argues this in â€Å"Raise the Drinking age to Twenty-Five†. Herman does very well in addressing the rhetorical situation by presenting the audience with data from alcohol related accidents and deaths, this evidence is strong and makes his claim credible and logical. Herman does a tremendous job identifying his position on making the drinking age 25. He also does well separating the audience and speaking directly to them on his position toward the drinking age. Herman’s argument is directed to an audience of anyone who has ever attended college or a college party. He provides the audience with evidence and data such as â€Å"Every year 1,400 college students die from drinking too much† or â€Å"Every year 17,000 die from drunken driving† (Herman 470). We will write a custom essay sample on Raise the drinking age or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Herman uses these to persuade his audience to agree. To continue, Herman uses excellent means of persuasion such as Logos and Ethos. He also uses a small amount of pathos to persuade his audience’s emotions. For example throughout the article Herman uses the Logos technique to persuade the audience logically increasing the drinking age will decrease the amount of youth drinking, therefore preventing deaths due to alcohol consumption . Also, Herman gives annual numbers of alcohol accidents and deaths as a form of Ethos to persuade the audience. Last, he uses a small example of Pathos as he says â€Å"For the sake of our friends, those we love and our futures† (Herman 471). This appeals to the audience’s emotions further persuading them to agree. Furthermore, Herman’s Rhetorical strategies develop very well because of his organization, evidence and use of strategies. His organization helps identify his thesis and explains the principal reason behind his article. Also Herman uses great techniques of Ethos, Logos and Pathos to persuade the audience. Then Herman’s evidence helps connect these ideas back together to a coherent claim. All in all, Andrew Herman addressed the Rhetorical Situation very well by identifying it and presenting his audience with credible evidence to back up his claim. Because of this Herman’s Rhetorical strategies were extremely effective in getting the interest of the audience. He had a specific claim and very strong evidence that supported his claim well.

Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston Essay Example

Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston Paper Asian American womens writing came of age in the 1970s and 1980s. Most of these women writers were middle- or upper-class, well-educated women. This fact is reflected in the development of Asian American memoir/fiction-as-theory and can be seen in the works of Maxine Hong Kingston. Maxine Hong Kingston utilizes the Chinese tradition of â€Å"talking-story† as a structuring device within her prose narratives. â€Å"Talking-story,† as its name suggests, is the female Chinese practice of telling stories, often from one generation to the next. One of such â€Å"talking-stories† is Maxine Hong Kingstons autobiography, The Woman Warrior, which embodies the search for identity in the narrative act. The Woman Warrior expresses the Chinese American experience through family history combined with memory, legend, and imaginative projection. Maxine Hong Kingston is writing about the writer’s Chinese American experience and the Chinese American experience, where Maxine has stressed the need for many voices to speak out and express the diversity and variety of Chinese American life. The Woman Warrior needs to be considered fundamentally as feminist text. As Kingston says quite simply, ‘Growing up as I did as a kid, I don’t see how I could not have been a feminist. In Chinese culture, people always talk about how girls are bad. Right away, it makes you radical like anything’ (Kubota 1998, p. 3). Clearly, The Woman Warrior partly concerns the narrator’s apprehension of, and rebellion against the misogynistic scenario. At the same time, however, she is quick to recognize its repressive complement in the sexual standards of America, where feminine submissiveness is prized in different ways. We will write a custom essay sample on Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Kingston’s highly crafted reworking of mythological and biographical sources in the text as a whole is underpinned by a desire to move through and beyond these limiting constructions. In her reappropriation of the Fa Mu Lan mythology, particularly, she can be seen as attempting to construct a new narrative of femininity that is neither ‘traditionally’ Chinese nor ‘traditionally’ American, combining the assertion of female strength and resourcefulness with the celebration of passion and maternity. By equating the battles of her reappropriated Fa Mu Lan with the author’s own struggles of writing, moreover, she explicitly seeks to identify her own use of story-telling as the weaponry of a contemporary woman warrior: The swordswoman and I are not so dissimilar. May my people understand the resemblance soon so that I can return to them. What we have in common are the words at our backs. The idioms for revenge are ‘report a crime’ and ‘report to five families’. The reporting is the vengeance not the beheading, not the gutting, but the words. And I have so many words ’chink’ words and ‘gook’ words too that they do not fit on my skin. (p. 53) In Maxine Hong Kingstons family memoirs, The Woman Warrior is introduced as a complex legacy of family secrets, a repressed history that haunts the American-born narrator. Although The Woman Warrior seems to suggest that the narrators primary quarrels are with her parents and community, whose methods of socializing her seem too Chinese and out of step with the familys life in America, the grimness of that life is gradually revealed to be rooted in the Asian American past in America, the invisibility of that past to mainstream Americans, and its consequent resistance to narration. When Maxine Hong Kingston broke the silence that had been punishing her aunt in 1975, she shocked American readers into recognizing Chinese Americans as complex subjects, subtly changing the cultural landscape for those to follow, but many of her readers did not immediately understand that hers was an American story. The narrator in The Woman Warrior struggles to comprehend the legacy of craziness and conventionality, of curses and blessings, bequeathed her by her mother, who is at once a vessel of traditional culture and a courageous fighter in a harsh environment. The daughter, fearful that she has â€Å"no stories of equal pain,† avoids becoming merely the transmitter of her mothers stories: although The Woman Warrior begins with the mothers stories, it ends with the daughters.

Hula Auana vs. Hula Kahiko essays

Hula Auana vs. Hula Kahiko essays In the year 1893, the Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown, marking the divergence of two styles of traditional hula. Both forms of the dance, the ancient Hula Kahiko and the modern Hula Auana, are choreographed to interpret a poetic text called mele. Although the two dances are both a form of hula, Hawaiis most popular art form, the two dances have many differences. The older, more indigenous form of hula, Hula Kahiko, is danced to chants in Hawaiian, which tunes tend to not be too melodious. The instruments are older indigenous percussive pieces, drums such as a ipu heke (a double gourd) and hula pahu (drum made of sharkskin and the trunk of a coconut). The hand motions describe the story which is told by the chants, and are simple, vigorous gestures. The feet in this form of hula are also very simple, basic movements, and facial expressions are more ritualistic. The modern form of hula, called Hula Auana, is the transformation of hula into general entertainment due to the huge rise in tourism. Hula Auana is in general a more flowing form of the dance, as compared to Hula Kahiko, the more stiff form. This modern form is danced not to chants, but to more lighthearted songs sung in either Hawaiian or English, which have a much more melodious tune than the chants.. The instruments are stringed instruments such as ukuleles and guitars. The hand gestures are embellished and tend to look more like swaying movements than precise formations. Feet movements are not only limited to simple steps but unrestricted, and facial expressions are more animated and dramatic according to the context of the song. Although both forms of this dance are very beautiful to watch, if I had to chose one to watch, I would chose Hula Kahiko, the older more traditional form. I have visited Hawaii a few times and each visit many Luaus offer shows with the modernized hula form Hula Auana, and it is hard ...

What Is the IB Curriculum What Are IB Diploma Requirements

What Is the IB Curriculum What Are IB Diploma Requirements SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you're reading this article, I assume you know a little bit about the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. If not, I encourage you to read our other article What is the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program? before reading this article. As a brief refresher, the IBO started this program in the 1960s to be a rigorous, internationally recognized diploma for entry into universities that students all around the world could earn. In the US today, there are 873 IB Diploma Programme High Schools. At these schools, some students complete the full IB curriculum in pursuit of an IB Diploma (which I will explain in-depth below). At some of the schools, students are allowed to take a couple of IB classes without being enrolled in the full IB curriculum (ask your local IB school’s IB coordinator if this is permitted, find their contact information in our article Complete List of IB Schools in the USA, by State). As an IB Diploma Recipient, I'll discuss what it entails to complete the full IB curriculum and receive your IB Diploma. What Are the Main Components of the IB Diploma Programme Curriculum? There are two main components of the IB Curriculum: the class requirements and the core. The Class Requirements: To earn an IB diploma, you have to take courses from six subjects, one each from groups 1-5, and either one from group 6 or a substitute from one of the other groups. Group 1: Language A: literature, Language A: language and literature, and Literature and performance. Group 2: Classical languages, Language B, and Language ab initio Group 3: Business management, Economics, Geography, History, Information technology in a global society, Philosophy, Psychology, Social and cultural anthropology, World religions, and Global Politics Group 4: Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Design Technology, Environmental systems and societies, Physics, and Sports, exercise and health science Group 5: Mathematical Studies SL (known as Math Studies), Mathematics SL, Mathematics HL, and Further Mathematics HL Group 6: Dance, Film, Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts For a full list of courses from each group with descriptions, check out our article on The Complete List of IB Courses and Classes. You must take at least 3 at a higher level (study 250 hours instead of 150 hours). Each class culminates in an exam. IB tests are graded on a scale of 1-7 with a 4 considered passing. For more information on this grading scale/score criteria, check out the IBO’s website. The Core To complete your diploma programme, you also need to complete what is known as the core in addition to the class requirements above. The core consists of 3 components: a class known as Theory of Knowledge, an essay known as the Extended Essay, and a project known as Creativity, Action, Service. Theory of Knowledge/TOK: This is a class that is a mix of philosophy, and IB says that the class "encourage[s] students to reflect on the huge cultural shifts worldwide around the digital revolution and the information economy." This class makes you think about what is important to you and think about big world issues. I LOVED this class! I think your teacher is critical to enjoying the class, and Mr. Fresco, you are the best! For the class, there is no exam. Instead, you write a paper and give an oral presentation. You can take it online through Pamoja Education. Extended Essay/EE: A 4,000-word mini-thesis. You choose a topic that needs to be approved by IB (which is not very difficult). You get an advisor (an IB teacher preferably at your school, although you can also get access to one at another school through the Pamoja Education). Write about something you enjoy because you will be spending a lot of time on it. I loved British theatre and ended up writing mine about a revolution in post-WWII British theatre. #theatrenerd. I really encourage anyone who pursues an IB Diploma to take the Extended Essay seriously. I ended up receiving a full-tuition merit scholarship to USC’s School of Dramatic Arts program, and in my interview for the scholarship, I spoke passionately about my Extended Essay. I genuinely think my Extended Essay helped me get my scholarship. Creativity, Action, Service/CAS: A three-part project that forces you to get involved in extracurricular activities. Creativity, getting involved in something creative, learning an instrument, acting in a play, writing a short story, etc. As long as you can argue it is creative (since you have to do a report), you can use it as your creativity part. I acted in a few plays, which counted for my creativity hours. Action: Generally sports-related activity, sports in a wide sense (could be anything outdoorsy like rock-climbing or hiking). I played on my school’s varsity tennis team and that counted for my activity hours. Service: Think of this as traditional community service, you can volunteer to feed the homeless, host a fundraiser for brain cancer research, host a drive to collect prom dresses for Becca’s Closet, etc. Are Those All the Requirements to Get Your IB Diploma? No, you also need to hit certain score markers on your exams in order to get the diploma. You must score 24 points or more between all of your IB exams to get a diploma. If you score 24 points or more, you will receive your diploma if: All CAS requirements have been met. There is no "N" awarded for theory of knowledge, the extended essay, or a contributing subject. There is no grade E awarded for theory of knowledge and/or the extended essay. There is no grade 1 in any subject/level. There are no more than two grade 2s awarded (SL or HL). There are no more than three grade 3s or below awarded (SL or HL). Overall, there are no more than three grades 3 or below. At least 12 points have been gained on higher level subjects (for candidates who register for four higher level subjects, the three highest grades count). At least 9 points have been gained on standard level subjects (candidates who register for two standard level subjects must gain at least 5 points at standard level). The final award committee has not given the candidate a penalty for academic misconduct. How Difficult Is It to Meet These Standards? Well, the international IB Diploma Rate (The Diploma Rate is determined by the percentage of the students who receive IB diplomas out of those who were diploma candidates) is only 80%. So, about 20% of students, who complete the IB Curriculum outlined above, do NOT receive an IB Diploma. Also, the IB Diploma Rate varies drastically between schools (some have 95% diploma rates while others have less than 5% diploma rates), so I recommend contacting the IB school you are considering attending to find out their specific diploma rate. For more information on this, check out our article on Complete List of IB Schools in the USA, by State. What’s Next? Trying to figure out what extracurricular you should do? Learn more about participating in Science Olympiad, starting a club, doing volunteer work, and joining Student Government. Studying for the SAT? Check out our complete guide to the SAT. Taking the SAT in the next month? Check out our guide to cramming. Not sure where you want to go to college? Check out our guide to finding your target school. Also, figure out your target SAT score or target ACT score. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Reasons why scientist believe the global climate is in the state of Essay

Reasons why scientist believe the global climate is in the state of crisis - Essay Example Earth’s energy budget constitutes the shortwave radiation net flow into the earth from the sun and the long wave radiation out to space. The weather and climate experienced on Earth are determined by the amount and distribution of incoming radiation from the sun. For an equilibrium climate, outgoing long wave radiation (OLR) necessarily balances the incoming absorbed solar radiation (ASR). However, there is a great deal of fascinating atmosphere, ocean, and land phenomena that couple the two. Greenhouse gas warming is caused by a shift in this balance where OLR is reflected back to the surface by the atmosphere. This reflection is due to the presence of heat-trapping gases (greenhouse gases) in the atmosphere. These gases include: carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. Naturally this reflection helps maintain the life sustaining surface temperature of the earth. Human activities have however increased the concentration of these gases; specifically carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere has been building up since the advent of the industrial revolution in the mid-1700s, mainly due to the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) and the cutting down of forests. Human activities have also increased the emissions of other greenhouse gases, such as methane, nitrous oxide, and halocarbons. Halocarbon emissions come from the release of certain manufactured chemicals to the atmosphere. Examples include chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which were used extensively in refrigeration and for other industrial processes before their presence in the atmosphere were found to cause stratospheric ozone depletion. Methane concentration has increased mainly as a result of agriculture; raising livestock (which produce methane in their digestive tracts); mining, transportation, and use of certain fossil fuels; sewage; and decomposing garbage in landfills. About 70%

Analysis of Surveillance Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 7

Analysis of Surveillance Systems - Essay Example The views are largely others’ views and The Economist, to a large extent, engages in reporting and discussing the features of the developments rather than criticising the systems. The other article discussed in this paper is â€Å"Trading Liberty for Illusions† by Wendy Kaminer published in the 2nd issue of the 22nd volume of the Free Inquiry Magazine. The focus of the article is broader than The Economist’s as it argues in general about all security measures and systems. The article rejects security systems as illusions and builds a strong argument against security systems on the basis that they are invasive and repressive and threats to civil liberties. The strategies used by The Economist makes its article argumentative to some extent and descriptive and expository to a large extent, whereas those employed by Kaminer makes her article more an argument. To illustrate, The Economist’s article on surveillance systems is largely a detailed account of the various developments in the ICT enabled surveillance systems, their features and how they promise to deliver greater and more effective security systems. An example it gives is of security systems capable of studying biometric features or physiological posture and movements. Another is of a system that can identify not only suspicious behavior but also correlate them to their contexts to help determine whether a particular action or a person is actually a threat. However, Kaminer uses examples of various security systems, both historical and current, not to focus on their description and development, but to use them as evidence to support her thesis and advance her argument tha t security measures have been only illusions and tramped on liberties.

Competition Bikes Inc. Storyline Essay Example for Free

Competition Bikes Inc. Storyline Essay To: Vice President The following is a summary report to recommend whether Competition Bikes should change its traditional costing method to activity based costing, and an analysis of the breakeven point with regards to sales units and dollars for both CarbonLite and Titanium bikes. It also discusses the impacts to the breakeven point. The cost-volume-profit evaluation and the traditional vs activity based costing method overhead analysis were used for the review and analysis. Traditional Based Costing vs Activity Based Costing Traditional Based Costing Method (TBC). TBC uses one rate, the overall cost of production, to estimate costs based on the revenue production created. Unlike ABC, manufacturing costs in TBC are only assigned to sold merchandises and do not account for nonmanufacturing costs such as administrative costs. This method is general not as accurate as ABC as it does not account for costs specifics to the level of products. For Competition Bikes, the company can see its manufacturing overhead is $239,020 for the Titanium bikes, and $232,380 for the CarbonLite bikes for a total of $471,400 in overhead costs. This means the unit cost for each is $713 for Titanium bikes, and $1359 for the CarbonLite bikes. Activity Based Costing Method (ABC). ABC determines and allocates cost by activities a company executes. This generally happens in four steps: identify each activity and its associated costs, both total and indirect; estimated cost driver and quantity; allocation computation; and cost allocation to the respective activity. ABC refines the way indirect costs are allocated to production and focuses on the costs of each individual activity. Costs are also further assigned to each product within the activities and each activity has its own cost driver. Because of the  specificity, active based costing provides a more accurate picture of the true costs. Direct material (DM), and direct labor (DL) are the same for each bike in using TBC or ABC. However, in using ABC, the company can break out the manufacturing overhead into factory setups, quality control, engineering services, product movements, utilities and services, and depreciation. The total for each bike using the ABC method is $590,715 for Titanium bikes, and $729,985 for CarbonLite bikes. Although the total is still the same $471,400 in overhead costs, the ABC method allows Competition Bikes to see that the Titanium bikes depreciate much faster than the CarbonLite and that it takes more utilities and services to make those bikes. Factory setups and quality control are much higher for CarbonLite bikes than those for Titanium ones. Per unit, the Titanium Bikes cost $656 each and the CarbonLite bikes cost $1460. Recommendation. It is recommended to use ABC to determine true costs associated with activities and products. This will give the company more knowledge of its finances and spending and in return by seeing a clearer picture of costs, make better decisions on funding and budget, and gain cost savings. Activity based management in Competition Bikes can use ABC to make decisions that increase profits while still meeting customer needs. Understanding where costs are going will help Competition Bikes to remove unnecessary costs and set fair price for the products. Overpricing products causes a lost in market sharing while underpricing products diminishes revenue. Better prices for consumers means more business for the company. With activity based costing, Competition Bikes will be able to determine the optimum sales units required with the sales mix of 9 Titanium bicycles produced for every 5 CarbonLite bicycles that will produce the bikes at San Diego at breakeven. The company will also be able to reevaluate activities on a regular basis to reduce future costs as well. Evaluating activities and setting sales prices are part of value engineering. Currently the company thinks it costs $1359 to make a CarbonLite bike and have set the selling price accordingly. In reality, the bikes cost $1460 to make. With a $101 difference, the company may want to adjust their selling price in future months. Using ABC also allows the company to use the Just in Time (JIT) system. This system allows ensures materials are purchased just in time to produce the products, and products are completed just in time for delivery. JIT uses the demand-pull system to receive the order, schedule production, delivered materials, and finished product delivered to the customer. This lessens the amount of excess parts and inventory saving the company money as well. Breakeven Point This analysis will evaluate the breakeven point for Competition Bikes Inc. Sales units and sales dollars will be identified for the breakeven point. These sales units and dollars will be broken down between CarbonLite and Titanium bikes. The breakeven point is used my companies to prevent loss. The Cost Volume Profit (CVP) is the tool in which to capture the breakeven point. Sometimes it is referred to as the breakeven analysis. The CVP assists the company in identifying future operation need, production costs, and expansion possibilities based on estimating costs, prices, and volumes. This profit response can help Competition Bikes determine the amount of needed sales, what products to manufacture, pricing policies, marketing strategies, and how much profit is actually needed. In this analysis we will assume that the fixed and variable costs remain constant, and that the number of units produced equals the number of units the company sells. CVP is defined by the equation Total Revenues – Total Costs = Profit. The breakeven point is the point in which the CVP equals zero or, Revenues – Expenses = 0. Meaning, the revenues cover all the costs, fixed and variable. Therefore, the CVP can be further broken down into Total Revenue – Total Fixed Costs – Total Variable Costs = Total Profit. The contribution margin is then identified by Total Revenue – Total Variable Costs (leaving out the fixed costs). Contribution Margin is important to identify the differences in each product’s profits. For Competition Bikes, the contribution margin for the Titanium bikes is $900-$679=$221. The  CarbonLite Bikes yield $1495-$1384=$111 each. Using the 450 Titanium bikes and 250 CarbonLite bikes sold, the total combined contribution margin for Competition Bikes is $127,000. That’s broken down like this: Titanium Bikes contribution margin of $221 per unit, 450 units equals $221*450, or $99,450. CarbonLite bikes contribution margin of $111 per unit, 250 units equals $27,750. Contribution margins $99,450 + $27,750 = $127,200 Total Contribution Margin. To determine the profits in more detail, we use the equation (Selling Price (per unit) * Quantity Sold) – (Variable Costs (per unit) * Quantity Sold) – Fixed Expenses = Breakeven Point (Zero). The fixed costs are the units sold * the weighted average contribution margin. The weighted average contribution margin is used to find the breakeven point and is essentially the average of contribution margin amounts per unit. The equation is Total Contribution Margin / Total Quantity Sold. For Competition Bikes, our combined weighted average contribution is $181.71. That’s $127,200/ 700 units sold (450 Titanium and 250 CarbonLite bikes) = $181.71. To establish the breakeven point, we also need to know the combined revenue and costs as well. So we calculate total revenue as the following. Titanium bikes are $900 each and 400 units sold, equals $405,000. The CarbonLite bikes are $1495 each and 250 sold which equals $373,750. Combine the $405,000 + $373,750 = $778,750 Total Combined Revenue. The variable costs for each are Titanium bikes: $679 in costs, 450 sold, which equals $305,550 or $679*450 = $305,550. CarbonLite bikes: $1384 in costs, 250 sold, which equals $346,000, or $1384*250= $346,000. The two together, $305,550 + $346,000 = $651,550 Total Combined Variable Costs. The total combined margin can also be calculated by taking $778,750 subtracting the $651,550 and it equals the same $127,200 Total Combined Margin we calculated earlier. We use this as a check and balance system here. To determine the breakeven units, we look at the fixed costs and weighted average contribution margin discussed earlier. The fixed cost for the company is $400,000. Divided by the weighted average contribution margin  181.71, we get the breakeven units for the product sales mix of 2201. The contribution margin ratio is the percentage of contribution margin to revenue. To find the contribution margin ratio, we divide the total combined margin by the total revenue. This tells us by how much the price per unit exceeds the variable cost per unit. In this scenario, Total Combined Margin $127,000 divided by Total Revenue $778,750 which is .163, or $127,000 / $778,750 = .163 Contribution Margin Ratio. Since the bikes are not equal, we must calculate a product mix in addition to the weighted average. Using the weighted average, we can calculate the breakeven point in a proportionate way using sales units and sales dollars. For sales units, we take the breakeven units for the product sales mix and multiply it by the ratio of units sold divided by the total number of unit sold. So for Titanium, the sales units at the breakeven point is [450 / 700] * 2201, or 1415 units. For CarbonLite, [250 / 700] * 2201 = 786 units. To calculate the sales dollars, we multiply the sales units by the sales price. In this instance, Titanium is 1415 units multiplied by $900 cost for each unit or, 1415 * $900 = $1,276,500. CarbonLite is 786 units multiplied by $1495 price for each unit, or 786 * $1495 = $1,175,070. The combined total sales dollars is $2,451,570 To break even, the profit must be zero. Gains and losses are equal. For Competition Bikes, the breakeven point is 1415, or $1,276,500 in Titanium bikes, and 786 CarbonLite bikes, or $1,175,070. Impacts of the Breakeven Point A2b. Based on an evaluation of cost-volume-profit, Prepare a summary report that describes the impacts to the breakeven point if company management needed to increase the cost of direct materials by 10% cost increase and needed to add $50,000 in fixed costs to the production facility. Company management has asked for a report on the impacts of increasing the  cost of direct materials by 10% and fixed costs by $50,000 in relation to the breakeven point. The contribution margin and weighted average are based in part on direct materials, or variable costs. Raising the costs by 10% is significant and will have a great impact on the company. Total Revenue is $778,750 and variable costs now $681,800. This increase is broken down by variable cost per unit to $709 for Titanium bikes, and $1551 for CarbonLite. The Contribution Margin per unit is now 191 and 44 respectively lowering the total combined contribution margin to $96,950. CarbonLite bikes contribution margin decreased from $111 to $44 per unit, over a 60% decrease. Calculated by dividing the Total Combined Contribution Margin $96,950 by the Total Units of 700, the 138.50 weighted average contribution margin per unit also dropped by 24% from 181.71. This shows how significant a 10% can be to the contribution margin. Ten percent in one area can mean much larger impact in other areas. With an increase in fixed costs to $450,000 that now brings the breakeven units for the product sales mix to 3249. We calculate this by $450,000 fixed costs divided by the lower weighed average contribution margin 138.50. This continues to affect numbers as we calculate sales units and sales dollars. Titanium bikes sales units are 450 units divided by 700 total units, multiplied by the weighted average 3249 for 2089 units. CarbonLite bike sales units are 250 units divided by the 700 total units, multiplied by the weighted average 3249, totaling 1160 sales. Sales dollars are calculated as Titanium bikes 2089 units * $900 = $1,880,100 and CarbonLite bikes as 1160 units * $1495 = $1,734,200 for a total $3,614,300. The breakeven point is now increased. Sales for Titanium bikes is now up to 2089 units, or $1,880,100 and CarbonLite bikes up to 1160 units, or $1,734,200. By raising direct costs 10% and fixed costs 13%, Competition Bikes now has to sell 674 more Titanium bikes, and 374 CarbonLite bikes to break even. That’s a 48% increase. Based on this analysis, it would be in Competition Bikes best interest to try to keep costs low. Variable and fixed costs show that a small increase can significantly impact the company’s breakeven point. Variable costs have a higher impact than fixed costs. Direct costs per unit should be specifically addressed in reducing costs as well as increasing sales.

Education Philosophy Essay -- Educating Educational Teacher Teaching E

Education Philosophy The purpose of public education is to enable students to be contributing members of society. Without it, the world would not be as we know it today in a very intelligent and complex society. Education is important in very many ways, probably too many to be listed. But I believe that among all other things that it allows students, by being educated, to live their lives in a way in which they can be successful in whatever they do. By learning about the trials and errors of those who came before us permits students to make well thought out decisions later on in their life. I personally hope to be able to better my students' lives by educating them about the overall curriculum and standards brought about today and also relating the curriculum to real life situations that they might one day take part in. I hope that my students will understand that it is necessary to complete their assignments and get an education in order to have a happy and successful life. Because using the same routine day after day can cause a loss of interest in students, I will be flexible in my ways of teaching. I will try to use many different types of learning techniques such as group work. As far as discipline in the classroom I plan on being a teacher that when a student breaks the rules he/she will be punished for it accordingly. I believe that by doing this it will help them once they are in the real world. Hopefully I will be able to install that there...

Respiratory System Mechanics Essay

1.) When you forcefully exhale your entire expiratory reserve volume, any air remaining in your lungs is called the residual volume (RV). Why is it impossible to further exhale the RV (that is, where is this air volume trapped, and why is it trapped?) This â€Å"dead space† of air needs to stay in your lungs constantly; otherwise the lung will completely deflate. If the lung has every bit of air sucked out of it, it will collapse and need to be re-inflated. 2.) How do you measure a person’s RV in a laboratory? By the air remaining in the lung 3.) Draw a spirogram that depicts a person’s volumes and capacities before and during a significant cough. Additional Questions for Activity 1. The following questions refer to Activity 1: Measuring Respiratory Volumes and Calculating Capacitates 1.) What would be an example of an everyday respiratory event the ERV button Stimulates? forced expiration 2.) What additional skeletal muscles are utilized in an ERV activity? abdominal-wall muscles and the internal intercostal muscles contract 3.) What was the FEV1 (%) at the initial radius of 5.00 mm? 73.9% 4.) What happened to the FEV1 (%) as the radius of the airways decreased? How well did the results compare with your prediction? FEV1 (%) decreased proportionally with the radius 5.) Explain why the results from the experiment suggest that there is an obstructive, rather than a restrictive, pulmonary problem. The FEV1 (%) decreased proportionally as the radius decreased, characteristic of an obstructive pulmonary problem Activity 2 Comparative Spriometry Chart 2: Spirometery Results Patient Type TV (ml) ERV (ml) IRV (ml) RV (ml) FVC (ml) TLC (ml) FEV1 (ml) FEV1 (%) Normal 500 1500 3000 1000 5000 6000 4000 80% Emphysema 500 750 2000 2750 3250 6000 1625 50% Acute asthma attack 300 750 2700 2250 3750 6000 1500 40% Plus inhaler 500 1500 2800 1200 4800 6000 3840 80% Moderate exercise 1875 1125 2000 1000 ND 6000 ND ND Heavy exercise 3650 750 600 1000 ND 6000 ND ND 1.) Why is residual volume (RV) above normal in a patient with emphysema? The lungs empty slower than normal. 2.) Why did the asthmatic patient’s inhaler medication fail to return all volumes and capacities to normal values right away? The smooth muscle in the bronchioles didn’t return to normal plus mucus still blocks the airway. 3.) Looking at the spirograms generated in this activity, state an easy way to determine whether a person’s exercising effort is moderate or heavy. The more rapid the lines the more heavier the exercise. Additional Questions for Activity 2. The following questions refer to Activity 2 Comparative Spirometry 1.) What lung values changed (From those of the normal patient) in the spirogram when the patient with emphysema was selected? Why did these values change as they did? How well did the results compare with your prediction? ERV, IRV, RV, FVC, FEV, and FEV1 (%) all changed; these are due to the loss of elastic recoil 2.) Which of these two parameters changed more for the patient with emphysema, the FVC or the FEV1? FEV1 decreased significantly more 3.) What lung values changed (from those of the normal patient) in the spirogram when the patient experiencing an acute asthma attack was selected? Why did these values change as they did? How well did the results compare with your prediction? TV, ERV, IRV, RV, FVC, FEV1, and FEV1 (%) all changed; due to restriction of the airways 4.) How is having an acute asthma attack similar to having emphysema? How is it different? Similar because obstructive diseases characterized by increased airway resistance; Different because more difficult to exhale with emphysema that with asthma 5.) Describe the effect that the inhaler medication had on the asthmatic patient. Did all the spirogram values return to â€Å"normal†? Why do you think some values did not return all the way to normal? How well did the results compare with your prediction? Returned to normal were TV, ERV, FEV1 (%); smooth muscles in the bronchioles didn’t return to normal blue mucus still blocks the airway 6.) How much of an increase in FEV1 do you think is required to be considered significantly improved by the medication? 10-15% improvement 7.) With moderate aerobic exercise, which changed more from normal breathing, the ERV or the IRV? How well did the results compare with your prediction? IRV changed more with moderate activity 8.) Compare the breathing rates during normal breathing, moderate exercise, and heavy exercise. TV increased over normal breathing with both moderate and heavy exercise. Activity 3. Effect of Surfactant and Intrapleural Pressure on Respiration Chart 3: Effect of Surfactant and Intrapleural Pressure on Respiration Surfactant Intrapleural pressure left (atm) Intrapleural pressure right (atm) Airflow left (ml.min) Airflow right (ml/min) Total Airflow (ml/min) 0 -4 -4 49.69 49.69 99.38 2 -4 -4 69.56 69.56 139.13 4 -4 -4 89.44 89.44 178.88 0 -4 -4 49.64 49.64 99.38 0 0.00 -4 0.00 49.64 49.69 0 0.00 -4 0.00 49.69 49.69 0 -4 -4 49.69 49.69 99.38 1.) Why is normal quiet breathing so difficult for premature infants? They don’t have much surfactant. 2.) Why does a pneumothorax frequently lad to atelectasis? If the lungs are broken down mechanically, then the chances of developing increased. Additional Questions for Activity 3 The following questions refer to Activity 3: Effect of Surfactant and Intrapleural Pressure on Respiration 1.) What effect does the addition of surfactant have on the airflow? How well did the results compare with your prediction? AIrflow increases because resistance is reduced 2.) Why does surfactant affect airflow in this manner? It decreases surface tension in the alveoli making it easier for the alveoli to increase surface area for gas exchange. 3.) What effect did opening the valve on the left lung? Why does this happen? The lung collapses because the pressure in the pleural cavity was less than the intrapulmonary pressure; air flows from the lungs, causing it to collapse 4.) What effect on the collapsed lung in the left side of the glass bell jar did you observe when you closed the valve? How well did the results compare with your prediction? It caused the lung to collapse because the pressure in the pleural cavity is less than the intrapulmonary pressure. Air flows from the lungs causing the collapse of the lung. 5.) What emergency medical condition does opening the left valve simulate? A collapsed lung (pneumothorax) is a buildup of air in the space between the lung and the chest wall (pleural space). As the amount of air in this space increases, the pressure against the lung causes the lung to collapse 6.) In the last part of the activity, you clicked the Reset button to draw the air out of the intrapleural space and return the lung to its normal resting condition. What emergency procedure would be used to achieve this result if these were the lungs in a living person? A chest by insertion of tube to draw air out of pleural cavity and restore the pressure gradient 7.) What do you think would happen when the valve is opened if the two lungs were in a single large cavity rather than separate cavities? If both lung were in a single large cavity rather than separate cavity when valve was open the entire lung will collapse and there will be no extra lung to breath with and death would occur much sooner.

The Truth Without All The Facts

The main problem with A Doomsday Reader: Prophets, Predictors, and Hucksters of Salvation, edited by Ted Daniels, is that this work is intended as a guidebook or compendium of sorts for a reader concerned with prophecy and Christian salvation. However, Daniels consigns his work to the inferior status of the lofty dissertation, or more accurately, an extensive annotated bibliography for a term paper, of this contentious subject by his choice of style and configuration.This main hindrance, which appears to actually have been purposeful, comes from the format for which Daniels chooses to present information to his reader and openly excludes any contradictory statements to further support or refute his assembled facts.To begin with, Daniels constructs Doomsday as a three-parter, with Part One highlighting the religious and political philosophies behind secular enlightenment, Part Two illustrating the evil lurking within those political and religious realms, and Part Three relating the tr agic results, all well-known and controversial events, and how chaos originated by the all-consuming, apocalyptic movement known as the Revelation.In the Introduction, Daniels spends a few discerning pages explaining his definition, literally and figuratively, for the critical terms a reader might come across when researching Christian prophecy and Revelation. Then, after a short explanation of his theory â€Å"that apocalypticism†¦is inherently political and that [a reader] might come to understand it better by taking that aspect of it fully into account† (Daniels 15), the book begins with his collection of essays and carefully constructed footnotes on his topics.However, Daniels’ theory is more or less left behind as the reader becomes disoriented by the essays and assembled information. His thesis, which he shrewdly never states in its entirety has a fundamental problem that he attempts to ignore by presenting his information as pure fact, with nothing to dispu te, deny, or, for that matter, confirm. And, because he offers no further insight into his claim, it can only be accepted as is, as fact, and while his chapters do provide a focus on his theory, they do nothing to prove anything other than to illustrate that he is more than adept in compiling facts to suit his purpose.For example, in Part One, Daniels highlights two main examples of leaders, Karl Marx and Adolf Hitler, who politically enforced their ideals for secular millenarianism, or, as Daniels has chosen to refer to it, the apocalyptic movement. Daniels uses Marxism to show how â€Å"like earlier apocalyptic ideologies†¦the interaction of opposing forces—in this case, labor and capital—drives events in the world† (56).It is a deceitful method of relating the truth, because apocalyptic ideologies, which he defines in his Introduction as â€Å"a struggle between the forces of good and evil† (4) focus on spirituality and redemption, not jobs and mo ney, but he is clever not to mention this again because Marxism would then have nothing to do with his point at this moment. Now, the facts cannot be denied that Hitler was indeed a bad man, but in truth, his position was one of purification, of ridding the world of the tainted race, the â€Å"ape-men† (65) and was not about religious enlightenment.Daniels gets around this fact by offering that â€Å"Hitler’s program combined two related elements common to many apocalyptic movements: revenge and purity† (70). With that said, a reader can be led to believe, because of Daniels’ previous definition for apocalypse as basically anything or any movement that has the potential to destroy the world, that Hitler could be very much an averted anti-Christ. With no other testimony or evidence contrary to this, a reader is forced to accept Daniels’ claim as fact.Now, the biggest problem with his thesis comes from his claim that the apocalyptic nature inherent i n all people is caused or, more succinctly, manufactured, by politics. By saying this, Daniels is expunging the reality and responsibility from people who knowingly commit suicide thinking that their salvation is at hand if they choose to follow the best salesman. To follow, dumbly and blindly without question because someone believes glory comes with a sacrifice like suicide (which is ironically the greatest of all sins, according to Christian religion) is not something that can be placed in the broad category of political maneuvering.It can be orchestrated by a political mastermind, yes; but that political mastermind is also very nearly as blind and dumb as the herd of sheep they lead to slaughter because they too believe, without question, that their own redemption or whatever freedom they are seeking comes from controlling the lives of others, and how well they manage at the task. While this can be defined as apocalyptic nature, because it is utterly destructive, it is not inher ently political—it is inherently human.But to say that the apocalypse and the movement that will one day revolutionize the world is inherently human is perhaps too extreme for a book of this sort to delve into. Daniels is most certainly aware of the controversial nature of his subject and understands, too, how people read and react to this subject when taken as a whole. If he focused on the problem and the ultimate destruction of the world as originating from being human, a large segment of his audience would close the book in disgust because they are, instinctively, because of the nature of the topic, seeking answers.And, with an efficiency to be admired, Daniels is cleverly able to grant those answers—even if it means skipping a measure of the truth. But, with any decent argument or frankly, any decent production of information, the fact and the fiction of the accumulated information need to be presented side by side so that the fact, if it truly is fact, will stand on its own because, by its nature, fact has more power and authority than any fabrication ever will. With this method, information can be highlighted and validated at the same time.While this may work in the Encyclopedia Britannica, Daniels, is not an authorized authority on the subject and therefore requires room in his work, or at the very least, acknowledgement, for such interpretation. Otherwise, the reader is being led into the exact trap that Daniels expresses is responsible for sending cults off to commit suicide for a holy comet in Part Three. In this way, Daniels actually forbids a reader to consider their options, and instead, ironically commits the very same sin that he compiled Doomsday Reader to argue about: herding the people with cunningly used portions of fact.And, with his choice of format, Daniels also neatly removes himself from any sort of literary or spiritual criticism because he assigns himself as the editor of this work, and does not hold the mantle of the au thor. Moreover, as is his way, every chapter ends with a â€Å"Notes† section in which all sources and facts gleaned from weblogs, news, and the Bible are posted in the standard APA citation style. While this is not unusual in a reference book of this sort, it becomes a bit disconcerting when every chapter ends with two pages of sources to review.At that point, a reader is left to wonder how much, if any, of the information came from Daniels. Or, more importantly, why he chose the facts he did to illustrate whatever version of the truth he hopes to prove. But with a topic this controversial and completely emotional and sacred for a great deal of the religious community, fact needs to be presented with disconcerting arguments as well, or at least offer in his extensive Works Cited, since he took the time to make it happen, authors or websites that offer some form of skepticism.In this manner, Daniels is able to present all of the related information on this subject without eve r being forced to declare his position or specify an exact opinion. But, more importantly, Daniels never offers any information to refute his truths either, so for that reason alone, Daniels is removing himself and his information from interpretation because the method he uses presents everything as fact. His sources, as they are quoted, are to be accepted and believed as fact, no questions asked, no tokens granted.Overall, while Daniels attempted to compile a compendium of information for the reader interested in prophecy or the Revelation, his theories and ideas are hardly presented at all, unless a reader gives the same weight to the slightly audacious Introduction, which offers his brief, indeterminate premise for creating and organizing his work. And, by choosing so specific a format for assembling his work, his information can be taken no other way, especially because every chapter, and very nearly every paragraph, ends with a footnote, and not an opinion.It is his chosen form at that lends to an attitude of distrust from a reader because Daniels cannot be taken fully and with complete authority on such a controversial theme. If anything, Doomsday Reader serves more as a tidy and eloquent annotated bibliography for a term paper than as the foremost guidebook for understanding prophecy and the terms required by the Bible for Christian salvation. Works Cited. Daniels, Ted, Ed. A Doomsday Reader: Prophets, Predictors, and Hucksters of Salvation. New York: New York UP, 1999.

quot;Identifying Misleading Information In An Argumentquot; Coursework

quot;Identifying Misleading Information In An Argumentquot; Coursework Identifying Misleading Information In An Argument – Coursework Example Identifying Misleading Information Affiliation Identifying Misleading Information From the arguments presented, the information and statistics used are accurate. The topic on the effects of drugs on the American society can be researched as the same statistics presented can be emulated. In addition, the statistics are obtained from credible sources. Beins & Beins (2012) assert that the source of statistical data depict the validity and accuracy. Consequently, the arguments presented has effectively persuaded me. This is based on both the structure and argument of the argument. The argument commences with the stating on the dire effects of drug abuse on the society. The argument is then supported by the provision of reliable statistics. The effects of drug abuse are further stated as well statistics supporting the idea provided. This allows for the reader to understand the scope of the argument in an accurate statistical presentation. In my position, the validity of my arguments are determined by my ability to provide statistics to support the ideas. Beins & Beins (2012) are of the assumption that to increase the ability on an audience to positively perceive an argument, the speaker should be able to provide arguments that can be statistical supported. For instance, I was provided with the responsibility of providing argument on the negative ideas of taking prescribed medical drugs. My audience could only agree with the argument provided after the provision of supporting statistics. In addition, from the obtained statistics one is able to develop the research based on the conclusion derived from accurately obtained data.ReferenceBeins, B. & Beins, A. (2012). Effective Writing in Psychology: Papers, Posters and Presentations. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

How to Write a Proposal

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The MCI Project What Message Is Mci Finance Essay MCI would like to enhance Shareholder value by repurchasing outstanding stock, and send a bold signal to market and manager to stimulate the market price per stock to increase. A share buyback (by investing in themselves) instead of paying a cash dividend or, in other words, increasing a regular dividend, could represent an increase in the value of shares still available, this happens in the case that occurs a reduction in the number of shares of stock outstanding. If earnings remain the same but there is less shares outstanding, we can take for granted that the earnings per share might represent a positive NPV, or if the company reduces their number of shares outstanding, then they could increase earnings per share and also can raise the market value of the shares outstanding. However, if the company decides to authorize a repurchase of shares at the price of the book value per share, arguing that the shares are undervalued, then investors could buy those shares at a very low price. What will be the effects of issuing $2 billion of new debt and using the proceeds to repurchase shares on: MCIs shares outstanding? Assumptions: Shares repurchased at $28,92,Æ’Å“ then 69,16 million shares are going to be repurchased back, leaving 611,84 million shares outstanding. Shares repurchased at the current price of $27,75, Æ’Å“then 72,07 million shares can be repurchased and leaves 608,93 million shares outstanding. If there is no repurchase, then shares outstanding remain between 608,93 and 611,84 million (which are the shares outstanding if they were repurchased) as the repurchase price increases from $27,75 to $28,92 (at a Pre or Post repurchase share price). MCIs book value of equity? According to Exhibit 5: Total Current Liabilities = 4870 Long Term Debt = 3444+2000 = 5444 Deferred Taxes and Other = 1385 Stockholders Equity = 9602-2000 = 7602 Repurchase effect on leverage (using D/E ratio as a measurement, and assuming that D refers to Long-Term Debt): Pre D/E = 3444/9602 = 0,359 Post D/E= 5444/7602= 0,716Æ’Å ¸This is the increase of the Debt-Equity ratio to at least twice 36%. We have to remember that Phillips suggested that MCI would need to increase its Debt-Equity ratio from its current level of around 36% to at least twice that, even at that debt level the companys debt-to-cap would be moderate relative to the industry. Supposing that the debt of $2.000 million is Long-Term Debt (LTD); According to Exhibit 2: LTD/ BV (Book Value) of Pre Equity = 0,359 Then: BV of Pre Equity= LTD/0,359 = 3444/0,359 = 9593 BV of Post Equity= 9593* 609/681 = 8579 The price per share of MCI stock? New market Price= (New VOP Old Debt)/Old number of stocks = ($27.537,26 3.944) / 681= 28,8 These is the Data: Old debt 3944,00 new debt 5944,00 NEW VOP $ 23.537,26 oldà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬n# of stock 681,00 new n# of stock 611,49 Old share mkt price $ 27,75 NEW MKT PRICE $ 28,77 old mkt cap. Equity 18897,75 new mkt cap.Equity 17593,26 FREE CASH FLOW 2714,21 Earnings per share? EPS= Net Income/ Shares Outstanding Assuming the EBIT keeps stable in 1996: Using the cost of debt of MCI shown in exhibit 3. Loan interest level BBB1 Phones based on the interest level of obligations of A1 Phones =((6,26+6,46)/2)= 6,36 Post EPS= (EBIT (Interest Expense + Debt* Cost of debt))*(1-Taxes)/Post Number of shares = (1118-(181+2000*6,36))*(1-0,4))/609 =485,88/609 = 0,80 Using Income statement of 1995 to get the interest rate: EPS= (Income before extraordinary item Debt *(Interest expense/Long Term debt)*Taxes)/Post Number of shares EPS= ($573 $2000 * ($181/$3444) *0,4)/609= 0,87 Using the estimated EPS in exhibit 2: EPS= Net Income / Outstanding = (Estimated 1996 Year End EPS * Outstanding debt* i * (1-T))/ A- outstanding = (1,75 * 681 2000 * 6,36% * (1-0,04))/609 = 1,83 What is MCIs current (pre repurchase) weighted average cost of capital (WACC)? MCIS current WACC =11,88% (See Excel Sheets for explanation) What would you expect to happen to MCIs WACC if it issues $2 billion in debt and uses the proceeds to repurchase shares? If MCI issues $2 billion in debt and uses the proceeds to repurchase share, the cost of equity will increase and the WACC is expected to decrease. The higher WACC is due to the higher leverage ratio. In the MCI case, the market value WACC will be decreased from its original 11.88% to 11.53%, it also have higher value of cooperation, the increased value of the firm makes the stock price going higher level. The following table shows the relationship between corporatevalues of the firm versus WACC. Would you recommend that MCI increase its use of debt? If so, by how much? Yes, it is recommended. From the below sensitivity test, we can see that the optimal WACC is about 10.79% which means 42.25% debt ratio and 57.75 equity ratio. The debit required is 6381.83million, and the book value of corporate will be increased to 14213.42million. Therefore I suggest MCI issue 2.437billion dollars to increase its debt/equity level and maximize the value and stock price. By old Book value after debt T 40.00% 40.00% 40.00% 40.00% 40.00% 40.00% 40.00% 40.00% 40.00% RPm 7.00% 7.00% 7.00% 7.00% 7.00% 7.00% 7.00% 7.00% 7.00% Rrf 5.70% 5.70% 5.70% 5.70% 5.70% 5.70% 5.70% 5.70% 5.70% wd 0.00% 17.27% 20.00% 25.00% 29.12% 35.00% 42.25% 44.90% 45.00% ws 100.00% 82.73% 80.00% 75.00% 70.88% 65.00% 57.75% 55.10% 55.00% D/E 0.00% 20.87% 25.00% 33.33% 41.07% 53.85% 73.17% 81.49% 81.82% Rd 6.03% 6.30% 6.30% 6.30% 6.30% 7.09% 7.09% 7.09% 8.26% bU 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 bL 1.00 1.13 1.15 1.20 1.25 1.32 1.44 1.49 1.49 Rs 12.70% 13.57% 13.75% 14.10% 14.42% 14.96% 15.77% 16.12% 16.13% wacc 12.70% 11.88% 11.75% 11.52% 11.32% 11.21% 10.90% 10.79% 11.10% Corporate Value 12080.78 12908.83 13050.45 13317.68 13546.00 13680.91 14067.11 14213.42 13814.48 Debt 0.00 2228.90 2610.09 3329.42 3944.00 4788.32 5944.00 6381.83 6216.51

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Profound Secret and Mystery in A Tale of Two Cities The twists and turns of Charles Dickens's classic novel, A Tale of Two Cities, lead the reader from a quiet beginning to a violently shocking climax, after introducing dozens of complex characters and two very different plots that converge with a sickening crash of La Guillotine. Many of the characters in the story appear to be one-sided in the beginning, but as the plot continues, it reveals that "every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other," as Dickens stated. His characters change and develop over the course of the book as Dickens contrasts what they appear to be and what they really are, revealing that no one can ever be completely understood - maybe not even by himself. Almost everyone has heard that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but one of Dickens's characters in A Tale of Two Cities had obviously never received this advice. When Madame Defarge came after Lucie, little Lucie and Doctor Manette in their temporary home in Paris, she probably expected to get what she wanted easily and quickly. She definitely didn't expect to be met with a great resistance from a single Englishwoman. When Miss Pross stopped Madame Defarge from entering Lucie's room, Madame Defarge discovered that "this was a courage that [she] so little comprehended as to mistake for weakness." Pross was a complete enigma to Madame Defarge - and this proved to be Defarge's downfall. Even though Madame Defarge had been in dozens of bloody skirmishes in the streets of Paris, her life was ironically ended when she underestimated a single desperate and determined English... ...ave Lucie, and finally his true nature shows itself when he says, "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known." Sydney gave up his life for the happiness of someone he loved, after a lifetime of caring for nobody and living in self-contempt. Madame Defarge reveals herself as a ruthless killer, after being portrayed as a silent, harmless knitting-woman. And Miss Pross proves herself an unconquerable force after being introduced as a silly, comic character. These three characters show that nobody can truly be completely understood by another, and sometimes the strongest character traits are brought out under extreme circumstances, whether it is the best of times, the worst of times, the season of Light, or the season of Darkness.

A Linguistic Analysis of Obama’s Inaugural Address

Rhythm and Rhetoric: A Linguistic Analysis of Obama’s Inaugural Address Liilia Batluk Supervisor: Stuart Foster School of Humanities Halmstad University Bachelor’s thesis in English Acknowledgment My appreciations to my supervisor Stuart Foster for very helpful advice during the research. Abstract In this essay I shall analyze Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address, January, 2009 from the perspective of various linguistic techniques. More specifically, I shall propose and focus on the idea that the composition of the speech has an aim to create a unity of the speaker and the audience in order to deliver the message.Moreover, the speaker maintains the atmosphere of unity throughout the speech, so that the speech produces an effect when the audience becomes a co-author of it. My thesis will also discuss some aspects of persuasive strategies employed in the speech from those dating back as long as Ancient Greece to temporal discourses. The aim is to analyze how the use of a number of linguistic approaches creates a speech which senses an agreement and co-operation between the orator and the audience. Table of Contents Acknowledgement Abstract †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. . Introduction †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 1 2. Context: historical, cultural and social circumstances †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 4 2. 1 Social and cultural background †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 5 2. 2 Historical/political context . †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚ ¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 6 3. Methodology †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 4. Rhetorical and linguistic strategies †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 6 7 4. 1. The use of personal deixis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 8 4. 2. Rhythm †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 10 4. 3. Parallelism and foregrounding †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦. .13 4. . 1. Parallelism – syntactic and lexical†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 15 4. 3. 2. Parallelism and alliteration †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 16 4. 4. Rhetoric: lexical chain for the planned changes †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 17 4. 5. Citing other orators †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 19 4. 6. Elements of preaching †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. .20 5. Conclusion †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 21 Works Cited †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 23 Appendix 1. Introduction This essay’s aim is to analyze Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address, January, 2009 applying various linguistic approaches.The linguistic devices used in the speech will be in focus in my research. It is a qualitative research, that is to say, the primary data is a verbal protocol, whose intertextuality – in the aspects of meaning and meaning production – will be analyzed with the help of such approaches as content analysis, critical theory and discourse analysis. I will try to unfold the sophisticated linguistic composition of various techniques lying in fields of semantics and rhetoric, employed by Obama and argue that the coherent use of them produces the desired effect in the delivery of the message.A Presidential Inaugural Address is a ceremonial speech, made by a newly elected president of the USA, marking a new Presidential term. The Oxford Guide to the United States Government states that a speech â€Å"sets the tone for the administration† and that â€Å"presidents usually stress unity and bipartisanship after what is sometimes a divisive and bitter Presidential campaign† (â€Å"inauguration, Presidential†). There are no regulations concerning the length or issues of the speech, it is only language which is specified by the Constitution.The richness of the English language is employed to produce the first Presidential address to the nation and the world, the speech which is in focus of the world-wide mass media. An inauguration ceremony takes place at the Capitol on January, 20 and is usually attended by a large crowd, to which President speaks to. Presidents usually have a prepared text of the speech. Obama seemed to have learned his by heart and often appealed to the audience in the form of life performance interrupted by applause, which is indicated in the transcript.The term performance, introduced by Chomsky, will be used in this paper since it describes â€Å"the way the individual goes about using language† (Mey 5). The term reflexes the issue that I will analyze, that is to say, not only the words used by the speaker as a lexical register, but also the context in which the speech is situated. Having been skillfully coordinated, they create the 1 performance that aims the delivery of the message. I will focus on the structural and functional properties of the language, the combination of which enables the speaker to achieve the goal of the performance.In chapter 2, I will introduce the historical and cultural context in which the speech was made. Context is defined as â€Å"circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or an idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood† (Oxford Diction ary of English, context noun). Defining the term context as dynamic, Mey states that it â€Å"is about understanding what things are for; it is also what gives our utterance their true pragmatic meaning† (41). The context is vital for analysis of any speech, particularly made in public.I will draw attention to the historical, cultural and social circumstances during the election campaign, which preceded the Presidential address. In subchapter 2. 1, the cultural and social background of Obama will be described. During a presidential campaign, any personal details of a candidate may be significant; they indicate the electors’ preferences and, possibly, expectations. A President’s address, in turn, is based on audience’s expectations. That is why, I think, this aspect should be taken into account while analyzing the speech.The historical/political context will be introduced in subchapter 2. 2 and will be devoted to the historical, political, economic and soc ial aspects in American society, the complexity of which made it possible for a colored man to become President of the USA for the first time in the country’s history. This subchapter also provides information about certain features of AfroAmerican traditional sermons, which, arguably, have influenced the president’s address. Chapter 3 describes methodology of this work, that is to say, general approaches in this research. 2Chapter 4 is devoted to the analysis of the speech from rhetorical and linguistic approaches. Since the address is a speech made in public, a rhetoric study, which is tightly linked to the use of linguistic devices, is worth doing. Subchapter 4. 1 is focused on the use of personal deixis in the speech and their role in aiming the delivery of the message. The choice of deixis, I will state, is carefully and skillfully made in order to foreground or background particular objects, so that to consider them appearing in more or less favorable aspects. In subchapter 4. , I will rearrange some extracts from the speech into stanzas – the structure of writing related to poetry – which I find to have strong links in the address. Referring to theories in linguistics dealing with parallelism, didactic poetry, rhythm and metrics I will try to prove the idea that the speaker uses rhythm as a tool for creating an emotionally agreeable atmosphere and an easily memorized message in his performance. In subchapter 4. 3, the role of parallelism and foregrounding in the complex of the linguistic devices employed in the speech will be analyzed.They are the tools which strengthen or weaken objects in the chosen extract, depending on the goal which the speaker sets up. The subchapter is divided into two sub-subchapters, focused on syntactic and lexical forms of parallelism – 4. 3. 1 and the relationship with alliteration – 4. 3. 2. Rhetoric will be in focus in chapter 4. 4, particularly, the lexical register which reflects the intention to introduce forthcoming changes in the new administration’s policy.The attention will be drawn to the choice of words related to the innovative projects, which appear to be as presumable as the change of generations. In his speech, Obama cites other famous orators both directly and indirectly. Chapter 4. 5 draws parallels between some points in the address and speeches of Dr Martin Luther King and Rabbi Joachim Prinz. 3 In the inaugural address, as well as in his other speeches, Obama uses elements of preaching, which have already been noticed in mass media and academic studies.Chapter 4. 6 draws attention to the use of words from the Bible, Afro-American traditional sermon and the role of transcendental theme in political rhetoric in the USA. In chapter 5, I will connect the discussed issues on the linguistic devices employed in the speech, which aim to maximize the effectiveness of the delivery of the message. The discussion on this subject will be presented here. Chapter 6 is the conclusion, where the analyzed aspects of various linguistic discourses will be summarized.I will conclude that their combination makes a significant contribution to the success of the speech made in public. 2. Context: the historical, cultural and social circumstances The social and historical context plays a significant role in understanding the message of the speech and analyzing it. The term context is defined as: those parts of a text preceding and following any particular passage, giving it a meaning fuller or more identifiable that if it were read in isolation. The context of any statement may be understood to comprise . . . he biographical, social, cultural, and historical circumstances in which it is made (including the intended audience or reader). (The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms, context) In the following chapter I will describe the social and cultural aspects of the context preceding the performing of the Inaugural Address. 4 2. 1 Social and cultural background In November 2008, Barack Obama became the first African American president in the history of the United States. His electoral victory was considered to be a breakthrough in the social and political aspects of the American society.He embodied the dream of millions of his fellow citizens to come true, including Martin Luther King Jr. , with whom Obama is often compared and whose principles he maintains. BBC News stated that â€Å"for many . . . Barack Obama’s presidency will be the culmination of Dr King’s dream† (1). The day before the inauguration, Obama drew attention to the resemblance when he â€Å"helped to decorate a community project in Washington in memory of Dr King† and used his idea for a deeper alikeness by saying that â€Å"we resolve that as we walk, we must walk together.And as we go forward in the work of renewing the promise of this nation, let’s remember King’s lesson – that out separate dream s are really one†. (BBC News, 1) It is remarkable that, besides the fact that Obama is biracial, religion is said not to have played any particular role in his childhood, since his father had no particular influence on him and his mother was â€Å"an agnostic humanist†, while â€Å"the grandparents who helped to raise him were not religious† (F. I. Greenstein, 209). The President represents a large number of the Americans in the sense of his ethnic and social background.Being dark skinned, he was brought up by his white maternal grandparents apart from a few years when he lived and attended primary school in Indonesia. Obama later wrote that, during his youth he experienced â€Å"a variety of cultures in a climate of mutual respect† (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 2007). Here could be mentioned the role of his wife, Michelle, a genuine representative of the African American population in the electoral campaign, but further discussion of this is beyond the remit o f this essay. 5 2. 2.Historical / political context The presidency of an African American person would probably not have been possible a few decades ago; many people claimed that they would never have dreamed that they would see a dark skinned man becoming a president of the United States. Obama realizes this, having said that he is a son of a man who â€Å"less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant† (Obama, 5). A new generation has grown up since Martin Luther King Jr. gathered millions of people for peaceful marching to Washington in order to campaign for the identical rights for all races.The political situation is also an important aspect of Obama’s victory. The former president’s administration involved the country in a wearisome war with Iraq, an unpopular war from which the country seems unable to extricate itself. Along with a military mission in Afghanistan, it has cost an enormous amount of money to the tax payers. On to p of that, the deep recession in the economy, which started at the time of the election debates and which is said to be the worst one since the Great Depression, in a general understanding, damaged the popularity of the Republicans.A new, â€Å"fresh face† of a relatively young candidate appeared on the political stage at this moment, who â€Å"promise[d] healing† instead of fighting. Not only did he promise changes, but he also spoke a language of young people, which associates with ability, opportunity and making new crucial decisions (Capone, 2972). The candidate, Barack Obama, made a â€Å"meteoric rise to national prominence† (Greenstein, 206). 3. Methodology This essay’s research is qualitative and the speech will be analyzed by employing a number of theoretical approaches in the fields of semantics, pragmatics and rhetorical criticism.The use of various linguistic devices employed in the speech, which contribute to the aim of any 6 speech and, part icularly, a public one held by a politician, will be examined. Thus, the aim is to analyze the complexity of the devices in the context and the intertextuality, which means that â€Å"all texts are . . . composed of other (pre-existing) texts . . . held together in a state of constant interaction . . . [hence] all text exist in a state of partiality and inter-dependency with other texts† (A Dictionary of Critical Theory, â€Å"intertextuality†).The format of C-essay does not present the opportunity to examine the whole speech from all possible approaches, hence, I will first analyze some excerpts from it in a framework of singular notions related to the theoretical basis of the above mentioned fields and then I will draw parallels between the notions. Roderick P. Hart’s conceptions on modern rhetorical criticism and Jacob L. Mey’s on pragmatics issues will be widely considered while completing the work on this paper. I will also refer to a study on Barack Obama’s South Carolina speech by A. Capone.The prepared text of President-elect Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address, as provided by the Presidential Inaugural Committee, is in the Appendix and referred to according to its numbered pages. 4. Rhetorical and Linguistic Strategies In his performance, Obama employs a complex of rhetorical and linguistic strategies, which allow the speaker to introduce and deliver the message in favorable context. Analyzing rhetoric, Hart says that â€Å"human history has been written by great persons authoring great orations for social betterment. Often, these great statements have seemed more poetic than pragmatic, as satisfying to the heart as to the head†(4).In order to distinguish a poem from a narrative story or any other type of message, I will try to highlight rhythm by employing a number of linguistic devices including metre and parallelism. Simpson defines metre as â€Å"an organized pattern of strong and weak syllables† and 7 its â€Å"repetition into a regular phrasing across a line of verse† (15). Stanza is a product of correspondence of and â€Å"the length, metrical scheme and rhythmical pattern [of the verse lines] with those of at least one other such group of verse lines in a poem† (The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature, â€Å"stanza†).An extensive use of pronouns ‘we’, ‘our’ and ‘us’ in combination with a particular lexical register aims to foreground the desired effect of unity and communion the speaker and the audience. 4. 1. The use of personal deixis Deictic expressions, known as deixis, can be interpreted only in the context in which they are used. The word deictic derives from the Greek language and is used for pointing a subject. I will focus on the use of deixis employed in the speech which, I will argue, creates an effect of unity on one side and â€Å"outsiders† on the other.In his analysis of Obamaà ¢â‚¬â„¢s electoral speech, Capone indicates that â€Å"a speaker is responsible for the positions or opinions advanced, but need not necessarily be the animator or even the author† (2967). He refers to Goffman for definitions of â€Å"a principal in the legalistic sense†, which involves imposing â€Å"self-identification† as we not I. (2967). By doing so, the speaker â€Å"become[s] a representative of the people† (2967). This pattern of seemingly speaking on behalf of the audience is focused upon in the present chapter.The use of person deixis in the speech, in these circumstances, is worth investigating. Unlike his previous public performances, where Obama aimed to convince the audience that he was the right candidate for the position of a congressman or, later, a president, here he is a victor and addressing his message from a position of Head of State. He, probably, does not need to put his personality in focus any longer, but rather needs the support for his future challenges. In this case the pronoun I, which was used generously in Obama’s previous 8 peeches, emerges only three times in his inaugural address in its beginning: â€Å"I stand here today . . . I thank President Bush . . . Today I say to you . . . â€Å" (Obama 1). The first person pronoun â€Å"I† does not appear any more in the performance. Obama favors the third person plural pronouns we, us and our(s) in the rest of the speech the pronouns which play their significant role in creating a sense of unity of the speaker with the audience. We, us and our(s) are employed 61, 20 and 65 times respectively and are, probably, the most often used words of the speech.The speaker does not distance himself from the American people; instead, everything the president proclaims further seems to be issued by us – the people of America. According to Capone, â€Å"a political speech is in itself an interpretation of the audience’s feelings and needsà ¢â‚¬  that allow â€Å"the audience to build its own intentionality† while a politician reflexes them (2969) . The above mentioned pronouncements are employed as the inclusive ones throughout the text.The speaker, in this case, is a member of the society to which he speaks. Whether he speaks of the previous achievements or the future plans, the orator claims them to be a commonality, which means that he shares responsibility for everything being said with the audience. As a result, the audience seems to become a co-author of the speech, providing that they approve of it, and they do so by frequent applause. Thus, the president speaks on behalf of the American people: â€Å"On this day we gather . . . we come to proclaim . . †. The addresser has a message to his opponents, and the pronouns they, their, those and some are served as if to indicate a distance between the American people, of whose behalf Obama speaks , and those â€Å"who question the scale of our [the Am ericans] ambitions† (Obama 3) . The victory in the election, presumably, allows the new president to associate himself with the majority of the nation and to look down at â€Å"the cynics [who] fail to understand [is] that the ground has shifted beneath them† (Obama 3).By carefully chosen pronouns, the speaker foregrounds the Americans, whose ideas he articulates and backgrounds the rest, who â€Å"have 9 forgotten what this country has already done† (Obama 3). Having repeated by then we and our dozens of times and created a panoramic picture of the nation’s achievements, the present state and the future challenges, Obama has little difficulty opposing and disparaging â€Å"those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame† ( Obama 2). 4. 2. Rhythm Among the complex of the devices that Obama operates in the speech, I will argue in the following sub-chapter, the rhythm plays a significant role. Rhythm contributes to de livering the message in a most effective and agreeable way. Ancient Greeks used didactic poetry, not as a literary genre but, rather, to give instructions applying to it â€Å"as being more easily remembered than prose† (The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature, â€Å"didactic poetry†). Moreover, poetry brings sentimental feelings which either thrusts disturbing thoughts or stresses them, depending on the context of the text.Words often have double meaning and can be interpreted differently. In poetry one can â€Å"play† with words employing their phonetic features, metaphors and sonic effect. In the following excerpt from the speech, the first line in the first four stanzas (the fourth one, however, has a conjunction â€Å"and†, which neither disturbs the rhythm nor change the meaning) starts with the same phrase â€Å"we will† followed by a verb phrase. The other three lines follow the main idea expressed in the first one. They are si milar both rhythmically and metrically.The last stanza is different in the structure and introverted, since â€Å"the thought veers from the main theme and then returns thereto† (Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), â€Å"Parallelism†, 2/4). Instead of starting, it finishes with the same construction â€Å"we will† followed by a verb phrase. In the speech, a vestige of a poem emerges from time to time, both in terms of rhythm and lyrical contexts of the word related to nature (as the Romantic poets would do) for describing 10 practical, moreover, technological purposes.I will try to rearrange an extract into stanzas, where each one (except the last one) consists of four lines and is, therefore, called quatrain (The Concise Oxford, â€Å"stanza†). The last stanza brings a conclusion; and the last verse in the stanza sounds as if it were a final chord in a piece of music: We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our comme rce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost.We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools, and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. 11 All this we can do. And all this we will do. (Obama 2) The sun and winds are invoked to symbolise man’s need for the energy necessary to drive the economy. Obama does not speak a ‘dry’ language of economists; he prefers the language of poets. Hart compares an orator – a persuader – with a poet being â€Å"artistically creative.Both work with symbols to breathe life into ideas† and use â€Å"their imaginations to engage their audiences imaginations† (10). The meaning of every sentence rests beyond the bare words – it is metaphorical. Analysing arguments, Hart refers to Toulmi n’s work, applying to the term major claims as: a) the broadest, most encompassing, statements made by the speaker, b) lie at the level of abstraction higher than all other statements the speaker makes, c) represent what the speaker hopes will become the â€Å"residual message† in listeners minds (i. . , the main thoughts remembered when the details of the message have been forgotten), and d) are frequently repeated or restated in the message† (Hart 98). In the extract above, every sentence contains a major claim, according to its definition. The message does not consist of specific words having definitive meaning of the work planned; they are, rather, â€Å"the broadest, most encompassing†. What seems to strengthen the message is its rhythmical construction and repetition.Unlike the ‘prosaic’ parts of the speech, where the listener does not need to employ their imagination, the poetical ones require it in order to fill the gap in the meanings between â€Å"the sun and the winds†, which should â€Å"fuel our cars†, or work out the way â€Å"to wield technology’s wonders† (Obama 2). The structures of these stanzas follow the rules of synthetic parallelism, where â€Å"the theme is worked up by the building of thought upon similar thought† (Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), â€Å"Parallelism†, 2/4).These linguistic tools contribute to the speaker’s foregrounding of the idea of forthcoming changes by repeating the same or similar syntactic structures along with the 12 same phrase â€Å"we will†. Lexically, the stanzas also correspond. The theme of building and reconstruction the country’s economy progresses throughout the block with a final ‘chord’ where Obama seems to have changed his pre-presidential slogan â€Å"yes, we can† to â€Å"yes, we will†. 4. 3.Parallelism and foregrounding Parallelism is a product of â€Å"balanced arrangemen t achieved through repetition of the same syntactic form† (The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms, â€Å"parallelism†). Analyzing the text, one can find both syntactic and lexical parallels. Lexical parallelism is an effect of repetition of the same words or certain relationships between words, mostly belonging to the same word group, such as verbs or nouns. Giving examples of parallelism, scholars often refer to poetry and rhetoric.It seems that what they have in common is their appeal to the listener’s emotions rather than pragmatism. Foregrounding is based on â€Å"giving unusual prominence to one element or property of the text† (The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms, â€Å"foregrounding†). The devices such as repetition and giving a favorable syntactic position are commonly employed for creating a foreground effect. The background is, hence, a weaker and significantly less important component in the text is used as a tool for stressing foreg rounding.I would like to suggest that the following piece of speech consists of lexical parallels. To start with, the nouns ‘strength’ and ‘weakness’ are antonyms; by putting them in the same line the speaker creates the effect of parallelism based on contradiction. He continuously contrasts and contradicts the rights and wrongs in the text until ‘goodness’ eventually prevails over ‘evil’. For we know that our patchwork heritage is strength, not a weakness. 13 We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus – and non-believers.We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from the dark chapter stronger and united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itsel f; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace. (Obama 4) It is interesting that by contradicting and drawing parallels, the speaker achieves the effect of foregrounding.Before pointing out the goal, the speaker explains the reason for it and, hence, prepares the ground for the challenge, which seems achievable afterwards. Lexical and syntactic repetitions strengthen both the background and foreground of the text. Speaking about the diversity of the country, Obama uses the effect of antithesis making contrasts when mentioning the religious groups. The diversity of religions evolves from being simply contrastive, which might in other contexts be interpreted as divisive and, therefore, a problematic issue, to cohesion and solidarity of the purpose.Those elements, which rest on the side of ‘meanness’, fade away under the pressure of ‘goodness’. The following compounds of phrases seem predictable then: â€Å"hatreds – pass . . . tribe – dissolve . . . humanity – reveal† (Obama 4). 14 4. 3. 1Parallelism – syntactic and lexical The following extract is an example of both syntactic and lexical parallelism. The sentences begin with and are stressed by a prepositional phrase â€Å"for us†. It is followed by the noun phrase consisting of the pronoun â€Å"they†, which is followed by two verb phrases joined by a conjunction â€Å"and†.The sentences are not alike in the structures. That is to say, although their first verb phrase is intransitive, in the first two sentences, it is post-modified by a noun phrase and a prepositional phrase respectively. In the third sentence, the same prepositional phrase post-modifies the two intransitive verb phrases â€Å"fought† and â€Å"died†. These verbs have related meaning where fighting causes dying. In the second sentence, the phrases â€Å"toiled in sweatshops† and â€Å"plowed the hard earth† ar e quasi-synonymous as they both mean doing hard work.In addition to the parallelism, the repetition and the heading position of the phrase ‘for us’ produces the effect of foregrounding. The repetition and relationship of the phrases â€Å"they† and â€Å"for us† make the message of the passage more coherent. Everything â€Å"they† did, they did â€Å"for us†. In this case, what â€Å"forebearers† [sic] did, is not signified merely as a list of jobs, but rather as the effort they made for â€Å"a future generation†. The language devices serve as a promoter of the message here. For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and travelled across oceans in search of a new life.For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; 15 endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth. For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sanh. (Obama 2) 4. 3. 2. Parallelism and alliteration The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms defines the term alliteration as â€Å"the repetition of the same sounds – usually initial consonants of words or of stressed syllables – in any sequence of neighboring words†, remarking that in some poetry â€Å"alliteration rather than rhythm is the chief principle of repetition† (â€Å"alliteration†).The following block of supposed poetry contains both of the devices alliteration and parallelism. The adjectives â€Å"less† and â€Å"last† are not only repeated in the same stanza, but they also start with the same consonant â€Å"l†, consist of a single syllable and have similarity in the meaning. They both related to the tendency to minimize something to an unimportant level. Although the two first stanzas begin with the same pronoun â€Å"our†, they differ in the choice of linguistic tools. The effect of parallelism of the following two stanzas rests upon contradiction.Alliter ation is more vaguely expressed in the words starting with consonant â€Å"p† such as â€Å"pat†, â€Å"protecting†, â€Å"putting† and â€Å"passed† in the second stanza, and is absent in the third one. These two stanzas contain verbs and/or verb phrases having opposite meaning; they contradict each other and the parallelism is based on contradiction. Every stanza consists of a single, complex sentence, where intensity is accumulating in the first two lines in stanza 1 and 2 (in the third stanza that is line 1), and accelerating to its climax in the following line 3 and 4 relatively.Calling for action, Obama stresses the last syllables in 16 phrasal verbs – verbs of action pick up and dust off. The choice of these multi-word verbs obviously reflects the desire to emphasize the need for action: up and off associate with impulse and movement. The tension is growing from the first to the last verse with the conclusion coming as a final chord: Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished.But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions – that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America. (Obama 2) 4. 4. Rhetoric: lexical chain for the planned changes Hart defines the word lexicon as â€Å"words that are unique to a group or individual and that have specific rhetorical power . . . [;] by using preferred words a speaker can establish the right 17 to address the audience† (156).Considering the fact that rhetoric is a persuasive use of language, Hart is insistent that â€Å"rhetoric is an art . . . [which] creates a story out of nothing, using symbols to bring to life feelings we had forgotten we had, plans we had not yet considered† (7). He continues: â€Å"t he story rhetoric tells is always a story with a purpose; it is never told for its own sake† (7). In the following chapter, I will draw attention to some rhetorical techniques which contribute to the delivery of the message.More precisely, they are two of five â€Å"basic moves† as Hart define them: â€Å"(2) the speaker must come to be regarded as a helper rather than an exploiter; (3) the speaker must convince the listener that new choices need to be made† (7). In his address, Obama proclaims that the â€Å"time of standing pat . . . has surely passed† and the nation is to â€Å"begin again the work on remaking America† (2). In order to indicate forthcoming changes in various areas and to stress the novelties planned, he parallels them with ‘a new generation’ and ‘a new age’.He makes a specific lexical chain – the choice of vocabulary in order to indicate the expected changes in the society – whose aim is to create the atmosphere of unity and agreement similar to the ideal American family. The theme of ‘unity’ goes throughout the speech, and that is done by a carefully generated lexical chain as well as repetition. The feeling of unity is constructed in the very beginning – in the greeting: â€Å"My fellow citizens†, where the president identifies himself as one belonging to the society, rubbing away the invisible border between the stage and the crowd.The following step is to design the image of the nation as a family, where the ideals and traditions are transmitted from generation to generation- the word which is used quite extensively in the address. Obama creates ‘a solid ground’ for a consensus of the main issues with the Americans from the very beginning by claiming that â€Å"We the People have remained faithful to the ideas of our forebearers [sic], and true to our founding documents† (1). This idea is developed and reused in such a way that it reappears in the very end of the speech, where Obama cites the 8 words of â€Å"our (the Americans) father† â€Å"in the year of America’s birth† calling for unity and commitment. 4. 5. Citing other orators Obama has numerous times been compared with the black American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, and he himself draws attention to such a comparison. The day before the inauguration BBC News reported that â€Å"he reflected that Tuesday’s inauguration ceremony would take place on the same mall where many thousands gathered in 1963 to hear Martin Luther King’s lesson â€Å"I have A Dream† speech† (1).In fact, there was another political leader, who made his speech on the same day just before Dr King did – the national president of the American Jewish Congress Rabbi Joachim Prinz, whose words Obama cites and whose message he reintroduces. â€Å"The time . . . has come† phrase is excerpted from Dr Pri nz’s speech. His thought of â€Å"the time . . . for us to work together, for it is not enough to hope together – for it is not enough to pray togetherâ€Å" is edited and reused in Obama’s speech (Prinz, Civil rights). The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit† is the phrase which not only resembles Dr Prinz’s but proclaims a new â€Å"reaffirming† cycle in American history. Obama’s style of addressing the audience is also resembles Prinz’s. They both start with a rather formal address, changing then to â€Å"direct address . . . , a feature often found in personal correspondence†, such as Prinz’s â€Å"our fathers taught us†, â€Å"our children, yours and mine†, â€Å"we share† and Obama’s â€Å"our forebearers†, â€Å"our Founding Fathers†, â€Å"men and women and children of every race and every faith†, â€Å"we remain†. 9 4. 6. The elements of p reaching According to discourses of cultural criticism, Obama’s rhetorical style may be described as an American one. Hart refers to a number of scholars when stating that â€Å"one of the most distinctive things about American rhetoric is its curious combination of Transcendental and Pragmatic themes† where he continues â€Å"the transcendent strain in discourse gives it an â€Å"elevating† tone, the sort of tone one hears on inauguration day in the United States†(240). On this day, the president might feel inclined to mention â€Å"the words of Scripture†.He avoids favouring one single religion by referring to â€Å"scripture† rather than the Bible, which relates to any religion in the world and, although he cites Bible, the values he mentions are universal: the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that the noble ide a, passed from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness. Obama 2) In that block, one can feel the growing tension, which comes as a climax in poetry and culmination in a traditional, Afro-American sermon. It has elements of Gospel, where rhythm changes its pattern while the main idea is repeated. Obama’s style of public performance has been compared with preaching, particularly that which belongs to â€Å"the tradition of AfroAmerican preaching discourse†. Capone notices that â€Å"among the characteristics which parallel Obama’s speech style with Afro-American religious traditions is rhythmic structure, sensitivity and ‘elevation’ (2970). 0 Hart argues that the Americans are â€Å"a nation that seems to need a Holy Purpose for doing almost anything† (240). Speaking on politics and business, Obama â€Å"strengthens† his states b y referring to the Bible again – â€Å"hatreds shall someday pass . . . the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve . . . our common humanity shall reveal itself â€Å"(4). Transcendental theme supports the pragmatic thoughts, in other words, two themes collaborate so that the message maximizes its efficiency. 5. ConclusionThe analysis of Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address suggests that the speech was made by a skilful orator, who employed various linguistic and rhetoric devices for the efficiency of the address. They are tightly linked together and, at times, it is hard to separate one from another as they are often multifunctional. I would like to suggest that the high level of education of the speaker was helpful when setting various tools in collaboration, so that the use of them produced the effect of a desirable message, the one which the audience accepted as if it had come from it self.Learning from Ancient Greeks, President uses didactic poetry: persuading, convinci ng and easy-to-be-remembered rhythmic style when addressing to a wide audience of the Americans. Didactic poetry rests upon repetition and parallelism, which are the basic tools for creating an easily memorized message. Parallelism is, in turn, a part of a linguistic field of semantics. Focusing on parallelism employed in the speech, I have found that personal pronouns play a significant role in creating a foregrounding effect, which is an aspect of pragmatics. All these devices positively correlate with a rhetorical style, which the orator chose for the speech.The event took place at a historical mall, where some of the most prominent American orators have spoken to large audiences. In his speech, Obama stresses the strong connections between generations which he, as he states, is to endure, and employs other orators words in order to support the statement. 21 In an attempt to cover the most important values of the American people, Obama appeals to those which rest upon family and religion. He cites the Bible but quite carefully and, having pointed out the diversity of religions represented in the country, applies his words to universal, ‘transcendental truth’.He also creates an emotional atmosphere of a nation as a family, which suggests unity and support, the desire for a better future and a readiness for working hard on it for the next generation’s sake. The lexical register along with the foregrounding help to fulfill the task in a favorable view. The newly elected president needs his people’s support for the forthcoming reforms, which he has planned to carry out. The unity of the Americans, in order to receive their advanced approval, seems to be the aim of the President’s address to the nation. His speech is persuasive, but hardly aggressive.By using linguistic techniques, which have been employed by a number of the nation’s â€Å"Fathers† and which have proved to be successful and appreciated both by the audience present and forthcoming generations, Obama announces his address to his people in a favorable way. That is to say, the extensive use of pronouns ‘we’ and ‘our’ in combinations with the lexical chain discussed above, affects the speech in such a way that the audience, to some extent, might almost be considered to be participants in it and the President performs as a representative of the people.The various linguistic and rhetorical devices suggest that the orator articulates the ideas of the audience and that as a president, he represents the interests of his people. 22 Works Cited —. A Dictionary of Critical Theory by Ian Buchanan. Oxford University Press, 2010. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Hogskolan I Halmstad. Web. 30 Mar. 2011 Akmajian, Adrian, et al. Linguistics: An Introduction to Language and Communication. 5th ed. The USA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2001. Print. Bazzanella, Carla. †Redundancy, re petition, and intensity in discourse. † Language Sciences 33 (2011): 243-254.Web. 03 Feb. 2011. BBC News, â€Å"Obama honours Martin Luther King†, BBC. BBC News, 20 Jan 2009 Web. 29 Mar 2011. Capone, Alessandro. â€Å"Barack Obama’s South Carolina Speech† Journal of Pragmatics. 42 (2010): 2964-2977. Web. Greenstein, Fred I. The Presidential Difference. 3rd ed. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2009. Print. Hart, P. Roderick. Modern Rhetorical Criticism. Upper Saddle River: Allyn&Bacon A Pearson Education Company, 1997. Print. Lash, Scott. Another Modernity. 1998. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 1999. Print. Leanne, Shel. Say It Like Obama: The Power of Speaking with Purpose and Vision.USA: RR Donnelley, 2009. Print. Mey, Jacob L. Pragmatics: An Introduction. 1993. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 2002. Print. Obama, Barack. †Bararack Obama’s Inaugural Address†. The Inaugural Address, Washington, The Capitol, 20 Jan. Th e Washington Post. The Washington Post, 20 Jan. 2009. Web. 10 May 2011. —Oxford Dictionary of English, Ed. Angus Stevenson. Oxford University Press, 2007. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Hogskolan I Halmstad. Web. 17 Feb. 2011 23 Prinz, Joachim. â€Å"I speak to you as an American Jew†, Web. 4 Apr 2011. http://joachimprinz. com/civilrights. htm/. –â€Å"Punahou left lasting impression on Obama. † The Associated Press. Honolulu Star-Bulletin. 2007. Web. 11 Apr 2011. http://archive. starbulletin. com. Simpson, Paul. Stylistics: A resource book for students. London and New York: Routledge, 2002. Print. Tenbrink, Thora. â€Å"Reference frames of space and time in language. † Journal of Pragmatics. 43. 3 (2011) : 704-722. Web. 18 Mar. 2011. —. The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature. Ed. M. C. Howatson and Ian Chilvers. Oxford University Press, 1996. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Hogskolan I Halm stad. Web. 18 Feb. 2011 —.The Concise Oxford Companion to Englishl Literature. Ed. Margaret Drabble and Jenny Stringer. Oxford University Press, 2007. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Hogskolan I Halmstad. Web. 17 Feb. 2011 —. The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Chris Baldick. Oxford University Press, 2008. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Hogskolan I Halmstad. Web. 22Feb. 2011. 24 Appendix Obama's Inaugural Address Remarks as Prepared for Delivery January 20, 2009 My fellow citizens: I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors.I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition. Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the o ath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents. So it has been.So it must be with this generation of Americans. That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less pro found is a sapping of confidence across our land – a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights. Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America – they will be met. On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. 1On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics. We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted – for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risktakers, the doers, the makers of things – some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life. For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth. For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn. Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were ra w so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions – that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America. For everywhere we look, there is work to be done.The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act – not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age.All this we can do. And all this we will do. 2 Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions – who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage. What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them – that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply.The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works – whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account – to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day – because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government. Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill.Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control – and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willi ng heart – not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good. As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we ple ase. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint. We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort – even greater cooperation and understanding between nations.We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you. 3 For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness.W e are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus – and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West – know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it. As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains.They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment – a moment that wil l define a generation – it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all. For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies.It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate. Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends – hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism – these things are old.These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is requir ed of us now is a new era of responsibility – a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.This is the price and the promise of citizenship. This is the source of our confidence – the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny. 4 This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed – why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath. So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled.In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of mo nths, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people: â€Å"Let it be told to the future world†¦ that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive†¦ that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]. America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and deliv ered it safely to future generations. 5