Bloody civil war Essay

The final two chapters of the novel, Ike tries to discover and understand the history of his own family and the way in which they had treated the blacks. He even attempts to make amendments to one of them, by sending some money. The brief chronicle that he finds of his family helps him reconstruct some parts of the history. He remembers for example, the little hut in which all the black people were herded together, and the way in which the whites manufactures bleaching substances for the blacks to use so as to change their color: â€Å"[†¦]the square, galleried, wooden building squatting like a portent above the fields whose laborers it still held in thrall ’65 or no and placarded over with advertisements for snuff and cures for chills and salves and potions manufactured and sold by white men to bleach the pigment and straighten the hair of Negroes that they might resemble the very race which for two hundred years had held them in bondage and from which for another hundred years not even a bloody civil war would have set them completely free[†¦.]†(Faulkner, 245) This forced change of hair color is very significant: the author emphasizes the fact that the whites wanted to transform the black and make them as themselves, a race however quite imperfect since it is the one that invented slavery. Neither the land nor the people can be bought, since they have been left to live free by the creator of the world. Man’s possession of land or of slaves only imaginary, since these primary things cannot be bought: â€Å"’Bought nothing. Because He told in the Book how He created the earth, made it and looked at it and said it was all right, and then He made man. He made the earth first and peopled it with dumb creatures, and then He created man to be His overseer on earth[†¦]Because it was never Ikkemotubbe’s fathers’ fathers’ to bequeath Ikkemotubbe to sell to Grandfather or any man because on the instant when Ikkemotubbe discovered, realised, that he could sell it for money, on that instant it ceased ever to have been his forever, father to father to father, and the man who bought it bought nothing. † (247) In the family’s brief chronicle, Ike discovers many of the iniquities that were common at the time, in what regarded the black people. His grandfather had had sons and daughters of the black slaves, and never acknowledged them. Also, the contracts done between the blacks and the whites were invalid, since the black man had no way to claim his rights or to prove them, since he was usually even unable to read: â€Å"and it would seem to the boy that he could actually see the black man, the slave whom his white owner had forever manumitted by the very act from which the black man could never be free so long as memory lasted, entering the commissary, asking permission perhaps of the white man’s son to see the ledger-page which he could not even read, not even asking for the white man’s word, which he would have had to accept for the reason that there was absolutely no way under the sun for him to test it[†¦]†(256) Ike ironically observes the extent of the injustice done to the children that were not acknowledged because they were black, and the way in which they were usually simply given a sum of money to make amends: â€Å"So I reckon that was cheaper than saying My son to a nigger he thought. Even if My son wasn’t but just two words. † (259) Thus, Faulkner’s novel is centered around the idea of the essential freedom given by nature to any creature. The bear is a symbol for this freedom, and his spirit is akin to that of the blacks and Indians: â€Å"[†¦]an old bear, fierce and ruthless not just to stay alive but ruthless with the fierce pride of liberty and freedom, jealous and proud enough of liberty and freedom to see it threatened not with fear nor even alarm but almost with joy, seeming deliberately to put it into jeopardy in order to savor it and keep his old strong bones and flesh supple and quick to defend and preserve it; an old man, son of a Negro slave and an Indian king, inheritor on the one hand of the long chronicle of a people who had learned humility through suffering and learned pride through the endurance which survived the suffering, and on the other side the chronicle of a people even longer in the land than the first. † (Faulkner, 267) The same ideas appear in the short story called That Evening Sun, but the author here emphasizes the barrier that existed between the blacks and the whites. The story, which has the same characters of the Compson family as The Sound and the Fury, is centered on a black servant called Nancy and on her agony at having been left by her husband and the terror that he might return and kill her. Nancy is terribly beaten by the police when she tries to claim her pay from a white man, and then locked up: â€Å"When you going to pay me, white man? When you going to pay me, white man? It’s been three times now since you paid me a cent-‘ Mr. Stovall knocked her down, but she kept on saying, â€Å"When you going to pay me, white man? It’s been three times now since—‘ until Mr. Stovall kicked her in the mouth with his heel and the marshal caught Mr. Stovall back, and Nancy lying in the street, laughing. She turned her head and spat out some blood and teeth and said, ‘It’s been three times now since he paid me a cent. ’†(Faulkner, 289) The story focuses on the impressive agony of the woman and her loneliness, as the whites refuse to comfort her in any way. The prejudices against the blacks are again obvious: as in The Bear, the villagers remark that a black person would never commit suicide, unless under the power of a drug: â€Å"He said that it was cocaine and not whiskey, because no nigger would try to commit suicide unless he was full of cocaine, because a nigger full of cocaine was not a nigger any longer. †(Faulkner, 291) The idea of the white people is that the black have no feelings and no inner life of their own, and that they live mostly like beasts, therefore could never have the impulse to suicide. The woman tries to cling to the children’s company in her distress and her fear of the husband that she thinks will come after her. The recurrent remark that she makes, saying that she is no more than a nigger is very significant. She underlies the fact that she is actually perceived as only a nigger, and that even she feels like that: â€Å"I ain’t nothing but a nigger,† Nancy said. ‘It ain’t none of my fault. ’† (Faulkner, 296) She cannot escape her race, and, although she feels she has an inner life she does not have an identity to associate it with. The last fragment of the story is of utter importance: Quentin, the storyteller remains listening to the sounds made by Nancy after they live her house, and hints at the barrier between the white and the black. The whites merely live her and her problems, as she is not considered to be important enough for further consideration: â€Å"But we could still hear her. She began as soon as we were out of the house, sitting there above the fire, her long brown hands between her knees. We could still hear her when we had crossed the ditch, Jason high and close and little about father’s head. Then we had crossed the ditch, walking out of Nancy’s life. Then her life was sitting there with the door open and the lamp lit, waiting, and the ditch between us and us going on, dividing the impinged lives of us and Nancy. â€Å"(Faulkner, 300) Thus, Faulkner describes the lives of the black and white people in the Southern world with great insight, emphasizing the essential freedom of man as of nature, and the impossibility to possess or reduce them and limit their importance. Works Cited: Abadie, Ann J. Faulkner in Cultural Context. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1997. Clark, Jim. â€Å"On Faulkner. † The Mississippi Quarterly. http://www. questia. com/app/direct/SM. qst Faulkner, William. Collected Stories of William Faulkner. New York: Random House, 1950. — Three Famous Short Novels. New York, Vintage Books, 1958. Singal, Daniel J. William Faulkner: The Making of the Modernist. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1997. â€Å"William Faulkner†. http://www. kirjasto. sci. fi/faulkner. htm

India’s Transformation

Summary India adopted a democratic system of government and a mixed economy after gaining independence in 1947. However, a large part of their economy was still comprised of state-owned entities. Because of this, the private sector was stifled and any growth came only with hard-won government permission. This was especially true in the auto, chemical, and steel industries. Compounding the issue of strict government control was the fact that various laws made it difficult for businesses in the private sector to flourish. If a business grew to over 100 employees, then it was very difficult to fire a worker.In turn, business owners kept the size of their firm under the threshold. Unfortunately, those businesses did not grow to their full potential and could not reach the size necessary to be competitive in the international market. At this time, due to the rules and regulations, India was not taking advantage of foreign direct investments. Thankfully, the lack of progress and growth led the government to reform the economic system. In 1991, many industries once closed to the private sector, including electricity generation, oil industry, steel production, air transport and telecommunications, were opened.Foreign investments were given automatic approval up to a 51 percent stake in an Indian enterprise and, in some cases, 100 percent investment was granted. Tariffs on imports were dramatically reduced as were income tax rates and corporate tax rates. Each of these measures led to an increased rate of economic progress and tremendous growth within India’s private sector. India’s economy is still in a transition phase. While they have seen growth in private sector enterprise and increased foreign investment, they still have to navigate political barriers and help mitigate risks.Some import tariffs are still in place because the government fears a flood of inexpensive Chinese products. In addition, even though the private sector has proven more efficient than state-owned enterprises, there are still barriers to privatization. For instance, the Indian Supreme Court ruled that the government could not privatize two state-owned oil companies without the consent of parliament. India also continues to work towards a market economy to keep the country attractive to potential investors.There are many benefits to investing early in India: the country has a large market population with the potential for continued high growth that can offer first-mover advantages. However, investors do need to take the risks into consideration: adhering to the local laws could be an unwanted cost as well as working within a legal system that may not provide the necessary protection for contract and property rights violations. As India continues to move toward a free market economy, they will continue to see growth in their private sector enterprises and foreign investment.The government will need to support this growth and continue to reform regulations so b usinesses can grow and become competitive on a greater scale. This will also make the country more attractive to foreign direct investment where investors can take advantage of India’s growing economy. Questions 1. From 1947 to 1990, India operated under a mixed economy system. This economic system is a blend of private ownership and free market enterprise with state ownership and government planning. During this time, the mixed economy in India was dominated by state-owned enterprises, centralized planning and subsidies.This prevented the private sector in India from growing, especially in the auto, chemical and steel production industries which were specifically state-owned enterprises. Today, India is moving toward a market economy where productive activities are primarily privately owned. However, state-owned firms still account for 38 percent of national output in the nonfarm sector. There are several impediments to completing a full transformation to a market economy in India. For example, a reduction in import tariffs has stalled due to political pressure.Politicians fear a flood of inexpensive products from China if the barriers are taken away. Also, it is still very difficult for privatization within the oil industry. The Indian Supreme Court ruled that the government could not privatize two state-owned oil companies without explicit approval from parliament. In addition, there is a disincentive for business owners to grow their firms more than 100 employees. Labor laws make it almost impossible for firms to fire an employee if the business is greater than 100 employees.This does not allow the firm to attain the scale necessary to compete internationally. 2. The economic system constrained the growth of the private sector. Private companies needed permission from the government to expand. It could take years to receive permission and several heavy industry products were reserved for state-owned enterprises. Even though private firms are 30 â₠¬â€œ 40 percent more efficient than state-owned firms, the extensive government regulations prevent the growth of private businesses and creation of new businesses.These factors negatively affected the rate of economic growth in India. While other Southeast Asian nations were enjoying economic growth and progress, India was still struggling with a small economy despite having a population of 950 million. The GDP was $310 and only 2. 3 percent of the population had a household income greater than $2,484. At the time, the World Bank estimated that 40 percent of the world’s desperately poor lived in India. Compounding these issues was the fact that less than half the population could read and very few had access to clean sanitation.Without basic necessities, a population will find it difficult to survive much less grow and flourish. 3. Privatization, deregulation and increased foreign direct investment have positively impacted India’s economy during the post-1990 time per iod. For example, the economy has expanded at an annual rate of 6. 3 percent from 1994 to 2004 and increased to 9 percent from 2005 to 2008. Proving that the Indian market is attractive, foreign investment increased from $150 million in 1991 to $36. 7 billion in 2008. 4.India is strengthening in the areas of technology and pharmaceutical products in part of their attractiveness to foreign investments and the fact that the government was now welcoming foreign investment. Foreign equity stakes in an Indian enterprise up to 51 percent are automatic; 100 percent ownership is allowable under certain circumstances. Industry goods are seeing a freedom of importation and the maximum tariffs have fallen to 35 percent as of 1997. India’s success in these industries will continue to prove the efficiency and growth potential of privatizing business. 5.I believe that India represents an attractive market for foreign multinationals selling consumer products. International firms have the op portunity to engage early in India’s economy. In turn, this will lead to building brand loyalty and gaining experience navigating the country’s business practices. Of course, the international firms must be aware of the risks surrounding unprotected property rights and other political and legal matters. With due diligence, investment into India’s economy could provide high dividends to foreign multinationals as the economy continues to grow.

Quality Assurance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Quality Assurance - Essay Example Quality assurance is a vital aspect in any organisation that needs to offer unparalleled products or services. Quality assurance is the implementation of all systematic activities that are geared towards provision of quality products and services. All organisations that adhere to quality control are in a position to make a positive impact in the provision of products and services.This is an activity that is directed towards fulfilling the needs of the demand for the services and products. Quality control is mostly inclined towards satisfaction of those in need the services and products. In quality control, an organisation’s interests are not paramount. However, the interests of the consumer reign supreme. Quality Concepts An organisation that needs to apply quality control has to go through various procedures to attain the best. It is not an easy task to implement quality assurance and it will take time and other resources including finance and labour. First, the organisation has to carry out a concrete system analysis. Organisations have to come up with a system that will be operational in the organisation in order to meet the requirements. In this initial step, the organisation has to consult with concerned parties to come up with a functional system. This will involve consultation, meeting with other parties consulting research in making a strong system. This will be followed by development of the system to ensure it will function in the organisation. Analysing and developing a system that is not functional in the organisation will be a waste of time and resources. ... As such, there will be limited instances of conflict of interest. Secondly, there has to be procedures that will be followed in implementation of the system. Following procedures will ensure the system will be implemented in a standardised form. Some procedures will be vital and should be done before taking any other step in the system. Thirdly there will be a need for reference materials. The system should be backed up with materials that will be used in future in ensuring the system is followed appropriately. The last part of applying quality assurance is informing the concerned parties of the system in place. Passing information explicitly will be a benefit to the organisation as all the employees or people in the organisation will be prepared to execute the system. This will be followed by instructing the organisation on the possible measures that will be in place when implementing the system. Lastly, there will be a need to train the staff in ensuring the system is fully execute d. Since the workforce is directly involved, they will have to get ample training and preparation for the system that should be put in place. When considering the application of quality assurance in an organisation, there are several parameters that are considered. First, there is constant training of the concerned parties and employees. The employees are directly involved in ensuring quality standards are maintained. Therefore, constant training of the employees will ensure the quality of products or services are kept in high standards. In many instances, organisations that practice employee training are at the helm of making positive accrual in their line of service or products. Secondly, there is need for constant

Why are the words of the blues so important Essay

Why are the words of the blues so important - Essay Example Blues are normally characteristic of songs that convey the deep struggles of the black people in several aspects of life, particularly the ones that occur to reflect the bitter past on account of their historical and racial conflicts during the times of the Civil War and the War on Independence prior. Through world history, it has become widely known that blacks had a significant number of excruciating encounters of slavery, social injustice, sex and labor abuse, as well as other forms of oppression, being treated as an inferior race and all these, apparently, constitute the lyrical blues quite specific to them. On this ground, the words of the blues acquire profound essence as they collectively embody the nature and identity of the blacks in association to their ordeals, sufferings, adventures, and indifference to the superior race through times. As a concrete instance, when Bill Lucas sings â€Å"I’m just a poor boy; people, I can’t even write my name / Every letter in the alphabet to me they look the same †¦ I just been a poor boy; ain’t caught nothing but hell†, he sings to the true beat of black rhythm that speaks of poverty and lack of academic opportunity due to color discrimination, affecting many black communities including his family whose main wage source comes from farming. 2. Why were work songs important to the slaves and later to African Americans who worked in the fields? Look at the lyrics of Rosie. What do these lyrics say about the African American culture of the time? (6 points) Based on J.T. Titon’s findings, â€Å"the song ‘Rosie’ was used to regulate the axe blows when the workers were felling large trees .. Without work songs, the white and Latino inmates chopped two to a tree – With work songs, the black inmates chopped four, six, eight, or ten to a tree.† This scenario illustrates how the prison workers derive inspiration to do heavy work or duty efficiently through wor k songs. In the song ‘Rosie’, the lines â€Å"Be my woman, gal, I’ll be your man †¦ When she walks she reels and rocks behind† indicate the fondness of African American culture on love and romance, especially the manner in which men express intense devotion to the women they love so that romantic themes in work songs enhance the motivating effect of rhythms. Similarly, in the past, black slaves and African Americans of the later age had sung work songs for the positive influence these songs create on their attitude, becoming disposed to higher level of productivity at work and gaining more sense of solidarity and fulfilment as music brought workmates together toward warm companionship in order to drive away anxieties and accomplish larger amount of tasks. 3. What roles does music play in the religious service described in the first part of the chapter in your text? What is the Deacon’s Devotional? What is whooping? How is this type of religious service connected to African rituals we’ve looked at? (8 points) In the religious service music, as music of worship, functions as a powerful element of devotion and a means to grow further in spiritual faith and loyalty to the church as such music guides and moves the people of the church to solemn thoughts and positive energy levels by which to expel the daily troubles of life. Black churches normally possess the most compelling music of worship out of â€Å"modern gospel quartets, powerful massed choirs, and soloists† whose enthusiastic and emotional singing performance may be observed as highly

A Film Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

A Film Review - Essay Example All the changes that the characters undergo, however slight it may seem, affects their future and shows how they are all connected and how they affect each other though they may not realize it. Each of the three attempts to save Manni ends differently but the ability to go back in time and to repeat her day allow her to reconsider her decisions and to make a better one. Along the way she encounters people that she bumps into in the streets and her actions show that time does not only affect her but also these people whose future is projected after their chance meeting. First is the woman who has a baby in the stroller that she bumps into, then the guy who tries to sell her a bike, then Mr. Meyer coming out of a driveway and the bank employee. The other people she sees along the way also have an effect on how she is able to solve the problem and how they interact in her future. Her father and his mistress is an important part of finally having a different decision. Additionally, the slight differences such as the dog on the stairs, the group of nuns, the bank security guard, the old woman Lola asks for time, the ambulance, and the blind lady who lent Manni the phone card al l have participations in what happens and how their future play out. The first attempt is a failure where Lola dies as she comes too late and Manni had already entered the grocery store declaring robbery. At first she goes to her father who is an executive at a large bank but he refuses to give her money and sends her away. When she finds Manni inside blaming her for being too late, she enters and takes a gun she doesn’t know how to operate and Manni tells her to take off the safety. They made a run for it but the police caught up and one was surprised and fired a gun to Lola and she dies. In this first attempt, the woman with the stroller loses her child to child services and

International Student Issues and Law of Higher Education Research Paper

International Student Issues and Law of Higher Education - Research Paper Example This research highlights that most of the educational institutes have taken special steps to recruit international students by offering them new trips, more staff support and new academic programs. The above mentioned initiatives and steps in the education sector may improve the attendance of the international students, but these steps may not enhance retention of all the international students in colleges or universities.From this paper it is clear that there are several legal issues that international students have been facing in the world. Most of the international students experience problems with the understandings of college rules and regulations initially. New students arriving from different countries need to know essential information after they reach their institutions. The English language requirements, on and off campus employment, immigration policies regarding part time and full time coursework, college terminologies such as assignments, grade, credit etc. Several stude nts are even not aware about the pre-requisite coursework and the procedure for transfer of documents. It has been observed the students belonging from the Asian countries and Middle East suffers due to lack of language proficiency. Since Asian universities and colleges assess students based on examinations wherein they are graded on percentage against their submission instead of letter grade or GPA, students face difficulties in understanding their results.

Delusional Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Delusional - Essay Example They have done series of tests in laboratories and published reports about their findings. They have also been done in the field of medicine. Under the field of medicine, psychiatry lies there wherein reports, experiments and thorough studies are conducted to help patients with mental disabilities and illnesses. Usually the ones used to help patients with undesirable mental conditions rely on chemical drugs to ease the pain or correct certain imbalances in their brains. Chemicals are used to alter their behavior especially when the patients are behaving outside the norms like being in a catatonic state. The use of drugs like for depressed people may have side effects. Side effects may affect the patients negatively. Drugs may cure the patients and help with their mental conditions but other illnesses may arise because of side effects. Other organs may possibly be negatively affected as the drugs may serve as toxins to those organs like heart, liver, kidney and stomach. The use of dru gs on health mental patients have been the subject of the book made by Robert Whitaker. Robert Whitaker is a renowned writer in the field of science especially with the medical field. He even became an editor for the publications of the medical school of Harvard. He published other books prior to the one where talked about delusions. He had been an award-winning author and writer and a controversial one. His book entitled Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America is a controversial book by Robert Whitaker where he tackled delusion as the cause of the mental illness growth in USA. Various issues can be connected to delusion and the growing rate of mental illness patients and all of them would be discussed on the paper. Delusion has been defined many times by many sources from textbooks to dictionaries as the term pertains to the false belief or state of resistance to the reality as the person does not accept logica l explanations. It can be used in various contexts but it is commonly linked with psychiatric conditions like schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorders. The aforementioned psychiatric conditions are illnesses which the medical field has combated through the years using techniques and formulations created based on years of studies via experimentations. Scientists, doctors and psychiatrists in particular have relied upon those observations and analyses recorded via published scientific reports and journals to verify the efficacies of the methods to cure the psychiatric conditions. Whitaker had debated about those methods especially with the use of chemical drugs. Chemical drugs are formulated in laboratories and manufactured in bulk by licensed pharmaceutical companies as those are dangerous if no regulations are made. Those manufacturers have the right to create those products based on the formulations recommended by the experts who studied particular cases. Despite of their re ported efficacies, they pose hazards or risks to the patients. They have side-effects that can advertently affect other parts of the body. Patients may suffer other diseases or weakened immunity or particular organs may become damaged because of those synthetic substances being taken in for their psychiatric conditions. Whitaker has been concerned with the growing mentality of people about drugs and how those can cure the conditions of psychiatric patients considered to

Short answers for questions ( no topic) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Short answers for questions ( no topic) - Essay Example Their similarity is they both value education but differ in what makes education valuable. In the case of Jensen, education is merely a step for getting a job while for Wallace, education s real purpose is to allow people to live real lives by being simply aware of things around them. 2. The walking journeys of Cheryl Strayed (â€Å"Wild†) and Andrew Forstaffle (in â€Å"Walking Across America: Advice for a Young Man†) are both epic travels in themselves and are not easily imitated because of the tremendous distances and challenges involved. But Strayed made her journey to redeem and find out herself after her mothers death while the journey made by Forstaffle (sometimes spelled as Forsthoefel) is to find out what Americans think of themselves and of the country in general, sort of a walking survey or questionnaire by interviewing people he met along the way, by listening to them. 3. In the case of Cheryl Strayed, the word â€Å"wild† meant both definitions as she was clear to be addicted to sex and having sex with strangers she met in the trail camps without even knowing them intimately (Wheeler para. 7) and â€Å"wild† for her also meant beyond normal or conventional bounds because she undertook that dangerous journey all by herself, knowing all the risks she is taking because it is a trail less traveled. But Robert Bly has a different meaning intended for the word â€Å"wild† which for him is to allow all men to be wild even at least once in their lives, especially during the critical transition period into adulthood as sort of a rite-of-passage into manhood valued by societies all over the world regardless of ethnicity, what is termed as a cultural universal. In his view, to be wild can be considered as a useful experience for a man, even moral itself. 4. Kenneth Koch in his poem â€Å"You want a social life, with friends† meant any person can have a lively social life and also a romantic social life but never attain any meaningful type of work output because

Ethics Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Ethics Report - Essay Example Correspondingly, this paper entails the conduct of interview with a management trainee belonging to Commonwealth Bank and a Human Resource manager of Bank of America Corporation in order to understand the impact of code of conducts on their behavior and career development. Introduction In the current business environment, it can be viewed that most of the leading companies throughout the globe are widely embracing the functions relating to human resource (HR). The HR managers or the HR professionals performing various sorts of HR functions are often considered to be planned change agents, proven leaders and trusted member within a particular organization. It can be admitted that HR functions over the years have dramatically changed from transactional towards more strategic due to changing business environment. At the same time, it can be firmly argued that without skillful abilities, it is quite hard for HR managers to perform various roles and HR functions efficiently (Rocca & Morro w, 2008). Correspondingly, two professions have been identified for the research purpose that includes a HR management trainee from Commonwealth Bank and a HR manager from Bank of America Corporation. ... Similarly, The Bank of America Corporation is an American based multinational financial service provider which is regarded as the second largest banking company in the US in terms of assets. The bank is committed to provide valuable service to its customers through delivering various financial and non-financial services such as employment, lending and investing. The interview was conducted through e-mail conversation and thus questions have been framed duly prior to the interview. The interview questions were designed to address various relevant aspects associated with HR (Bank of America Corporation, 2013). The primary rationale of conducting the interview was to acquire considerable understanding about code of conducts and their impacts on the behavior of individuals during the course of career development. Interview Reflection The interviewees warmly responded to the first question (refer to Appendix) and asserted that while devising and enforcing professional/organizational code of conduct, various aspects are taken into concern. Accordingly, it was apparently observed that management support, consultation with staffs, explicitly defined terms and policies are crucial while devising the organizational policies. It was emphasized that the devised policies should be directed towards the welfare of the organizations and should be fair as well as free from any kind of biasness. It was also stressed that the policies devised should be regularly evaluated and monitored in order to ensure the efficiency of the policy enforced. Based on the interview, the management trainee of Commonwealth Bank emphasized the functions and the responsibilities to be the critical factors for ensuring smooth functioning of

Truth is bitter but better Essay Example for Free

Truth is bitter but better Essay Truth is the only weapon which can make a person win a battle. It is a pen that can write anything without anyones terror; it is a game in which who follows its one golden rule can never lose it; it is a tree that never loses its leaves; it is a river that cannot get filthy and dry in any season. Overall it can create heaven or else if not followed properly can ruin the whole world. It is said that to hide one lie we have to speak hundred more lies and thats true. A lie spoken intentionally means we need to speak several more lies to cover up that lie. And then also the truth comes out itself automatically. Everything has two sides, positive as well as negative. A coin has positive side of triumph and negative side of disaster also. If a person wins then he may also lose someday. If happiness is there then sadness is obvious. If a tree bear leaves then it also shed them. If one can stand then one can also fall. Taken as a whole, one can get to face anything in this whole world. Gandhiji said: Lying is the mother of violence. And it is true. In our daily life, as an instance, we meet our relatives and if they hide anything from us by telling anything which is not true and later we come to know then we turn violent and more aggressive. It leads to disrespect to the person. Truth was the only mother, father, son, daughter of the most widely known leader of the world- Gandhiji. He believed in truthfulness and he promoted its principle. And also it was obvious that for this single reason he was known worldwide. With this extraordinary weapon, he threw out the brutal and atrocious Britishers out of our country. He believed in the principle of Satyagraha which proved to be the most influential and imperative movement of the period. Gandhiji said:- I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and non- violence are as old as the hills. And this is true as truth and lie are not the new concepts that the world has. It is as old as even more then hills and mountains. No one can teach the world the art of speaking truth and plus of the lies. They come out from within our heart. According to me, Nelson Mandela can also undertaken as a person who followed truth and won the whole world the price of peace, equality and oneness. He being a black became the president of ANC (African National Congress) and  also he won the Nobel Prize for his greatest achievement. He promoted equality among all the people on his principle that everyone is equal in the eyes of God. He was true in his outline as everyone is equal and equality in itself is also a truth. Also an example from our daily life, we are becoming more scientific these days but there are many people who still believe in superstitions. There are many misleading people who in the name of God hypnotize people in such a way that neither anyone comes to know about such thing nor the hypnotized is able to tell. But this is a bitter truth that those who follow anyone blindly have to face problems later in life. Even the person doing such illegal and superfluous acts are always caught and they can’t make fool of people for long. A recent example is of the person who was called as guruji in Punjab- Sarasa. He was popularly known all around the world. He had separated salokas which had very less verses praising God and more of praising himself. But the problem was that whatever he was doing was wrong, whatever he was saying was lie, whatever acts he was committing were illegal! And surprisingly a member from his own crew told the media that something was wrong going on at his place. Shockingly he used not to allow any of his disciple to talk to anyone because if they would do so then by chance if anyone else would hear it, then his acts would be held naked in the world and now this has happened, his popularity is decreasing also he is being disliked by the people now. This has not been the case in the present world but also during satyug (according to Hindu mythology) when Lord Rama were existing. He killed Ravana and placed truth over evil. He was cruel and so he did not win this battle of truth and evilness in spite of being so knowledgeable. This shows that truth wins and lies or evil faces disaster and fails. But this is a fact that this yug is kalyug and in this yug is lies or evilness is given the same importance as it is given to truth. They are considered one and the same. For example in the case of Jessica Lal, it was first being kept aside and with false statements it was tried to conclude. False statements and evil methods were adopted to sole this matter quickly and quietly. But unfortunately this could not happen. Truth may be kept behind for years and years but one day itself it would come up and the liar will have to face problem for his mistake. At last I would like to conclude that whatever be the case whether this or that we must not leave the path of truthfulness as this is the only way that would  lead us to place which is as beautiful as heaven and the other way would lead us to a place like hell. It depends on us which way we opt. Finally by analysis of the history and of the present world we come to know that we cannot hide truth for long and cannot follow fakeness for long. Thus, truths always triumph! Satya Meva Jayati! As we say that slow and steady wins the race we can say that Truthful and honest wins the race.

Aspects Of British Colonialism In Uganda And Kenya History Essay

Aspects Of British Colonialism In Uganda And Kenya History Essay Uganda and Kenya as British protectorates were founded in 1894. Colonization of Africa employed a number of methods. The main ones were the use of the gun the Bible or religion. Buganda was colonized by the gun, Bible and koran. The Bible and koran teachings became effective ways of establishing a fanatical following which eventually played a crucial role in the political landscape of buganda. By 1867 islam was established in buganda and Mutesa I was already observing the ramadhan and learning to read the koran. Mutesa I pages at his courts fully converted though Mutesa I never converted fully to islam. The Christian Missionary Society (CMS) arrived in buganda in June 1877. After two years the roman catholic white fathers arrived in buganda. The arrival of these two groups not only ignited a rivalry between them but confused the buganda (EnterUganda). Just as Uganda, Kenya had its share of missionary activity which sprang up from the coastal part of the region. Missionaries first landed at the coastal town which had been previously explored and dominated by the arab traders who came in with the koran. However the factional fights that were characteristic of the buganda were not with Kenya mainly because of the ethnic set up diversity that existed in Kenya. Later on the establishment of colonial boundaries would greatly affect these more than 40 different communities who were now brought together into one territory. In the case of the buganda and on a broader scale there was rivalry between the French who were catholic inclined and the English who were protestant inclined. In this rivalry was also a scramble for products and cheap raw materials source. On the other hand the earliest foreign expeditions in Kenya were mainly missionary expeditions and were mainly to open up the inland for the sake of the gospel. The scramble for raw materials would however come later as a secondary factor. The coming of the missionaries caused religion to spread rapidly throughout the entire east African region. For Kenya the spread advanced from the coastal region into the interior, whereas for Uganda the kabaka hosted the missionaries whose activities fanned out from the palace into the entire region. The Imperial British East Africa chose to move in and establish British sphere influence. Sending FJ Jackson who spearheaded this mission. Jackson sought to sign a treaty with Mwanga who was enjoying catholic backing after Karl Peters a German favoured by the catholics arrived in buganda. The Germany influence and interest over buganda was curtailed by the signing of the Heligoland treaty of July 1890. In this treaty buganda was officially recognized as a British sphere of influence in return for Heligoland island in the north sea to the Germans (EnterUganda) In Kenya it all began at the 1884 to 1885 Berlin Conference which was the basis on which was set the rules of colonial occupation. Combining with the 1886 Anglo-German Agreement and other inter- European territorial arrangements, the Berlin conference was instrumental in not only erecting artificial boundaries around Kenya but also in removing diplomatic initiative from Kenyan people. This was just a precursor of the demarcation of the Kenyan territory that would follow in the year 1894. Imperial British East Africa now had a firm grip on the two east African states Kenya and Uganda. However in order to further protect their interests in Uganda the Imperial British East Africa later send Captain Fredrick Lugard to counter the threat posed by Emin Kasha in Sudan who was planning to annex buganda and bunyoro to Turkey. Charles Stoke a missionary turned arms dealer who was also plotting to arm Kabalega needed to be dealt with because kabalega being unfriendly to the British would be a r isk if he was armed.. Captain Lugard successfully forestalled their plans. However the coming of Captain Lugard was viewed by Mwanga and the catholic backed regime as a triumph for the protestant. Lugard signed a treaty with Mwanga and fought alongside him to defeat the muslim invasion. Captain Lugard also entered an agreement with Ntare V to stop arms from reaching Kabalega. Inter religious hostilities flared once again and this time Captain Lugard armed the protestant faction. Mwanga fled to Budda but a kingdom without a kabaka was weakened so Lugard reinstated Mwanga in 1892 after signing a treaty. Buganda land according to the agreement was divided among the religious factions with a total of 20 in number, 12 for the protestant, 8 for the catholic and 2 for the muslim. The catholic were less privileged politically. Mwanga again attempted an escape and a revolt. He chose to unite with the ankole, busoga and lango and kabalega but their resistance was subdued by the British. Both men were captured and exiled to the Seychelles (EnterUganda). This paved way for the 1900 buganda agreement signed by the missionaries on behalf of Mwangas infant son. This agreement covered administrative structure, finance and recognition of the kabaka and his government on condition that their loyalty was to the British governor. The native courts were brought under the protectorate courts and kabaka was forbidden from maintaining an army. Buganda therefore lost her independence through this treaty. Kenyas boundaries were demarcated without the consultation of Kenyas people. It can be conceded that the colonial boundaries led to the establishment of a large territorial entity (Waweru) The fact that the administrative and ethnic boundaries were coterminous nurtured negative ethnicity as different communities competed for colonial resources. Inter-ethnic competition would characterize the post-1945 nationalist struggles and post-colonial politics. British colonial economic policy in Kenya included the following the isolation of land for European settlers ,African taxation African migrant/forced labour and the development of a settler dominated and peasant agricultural commodity production, export production, rail and road transport, education and health (Waweru) Similarly Sir Harry Johnston was sent by Britain to Uganda to implement a plan for the new colony that included an overhaul of the monetary system and land tenure. The introduction of hut tax caused the kingdom to forfeit all traditional forms of exchange and work on the land, produce crop and share in taxes with the government. The new monetary system in place ensured that Ugandans would be able to use cash to buy imported goods. Control was always established through signing of agreements that subordinated the kingdom areas of the buganda kingdom to British imperialism (EnterUganda). For Kenya the fact that the ethnic and administrative boundaries were coterminous gave rise to negative ethnicity because the different communities began to compete for colonial resources. This inter-ethnic competition would eventually lead to the post-1945 nationalist struggles and post-colonial politics. Some of the examples of these struggles included attempts by so-called minority Luyia, Kalenjin and coastal communities to establish quasi-federalism as a counterpoise to Kikuyu-Luo domination in independent Kenya. In Kenya British indirect rule often led to recruitment of British collaborative agents and porters into leadership positions. Chiefs councils, native tribunals and local native councils were often used but were actually a mockery of democracy. These councils were often chaired by colonial district officers and acted as legal and administrative avenues that were to keep Africans in their subordinate positions. The Europeans dominated these executive and legislative councils and unilaterally formulated policies and made budgets in Nairobi the Kenyan capital city with the approval of London. Africans were mostly excluded from these councils, which were chaired by the Governor until and after the Second World War. In Kenya and Uganda the earliest schools were built by missionaries. Both colonial and post colonial education was not geared to impart productive skills and this affected the middle class. Whereas formal education was not in place until 1925 in Uganda prior to which schools were conspicuously factional with catholics and Protestants having their own schools Kenya was altogether different, settler schools were established and schooling was based on race with the best schools absorbing the European and the average ones for the African. In Uganda muslims had lost out in terms of sponsorship on schooling because of Turkeys defeat in the world war and so they ended up taking less formal jobs compared to their counterparts in the protestant and catholic caliber. In Kenya colonial education fostered the emergence of semi skilled elites. They served the colonial state and economy.Some of them like Johana Owalo, Harry Thuku, Jomo Kenyatta, Dedan Kimathi, Oginga Odinga and Tom Mboya made atte mpts at establishing organized nationalism. This nationalism was based on primordial ethnicity and colonial administration. It was only after the establishment of the Kenya African Union that the nationalists attempted territory-wide mobilization of Kenyans. The colonial state carefully chose the leaders of the independent regime as it laid the grounds for neo-colonialism. In Uganda political parties were born which were based on this factional approach with ideologies based on religious differences. Uganda and Kenya had similarities in the local government system which was based on tribal entities each being treated independently but under a common British governor. The separation of these districts here was meant to hinder national consciousness and the emergence of national political parties. Colonial resistance took many forms in both Kenya and Uganda. In Uganda the nyangive- abaganda rebellion was one of the earliest of these by the bunyoro and ankole directed against the baganda chiefs who the colonialists deployed after the fall of kabalega. Later other resistance movements like the nyabingi cult which was trying to overturn the colonial administrative legacy was also started. Other resistance movements such as native civil servants association and the bataka movement were formed agitating for better conditions of service and regaining of land control respectively. It was mostly the semi educated elites who came up with organizations to fight suppression, exploitation and discrimination by the colonialist. Other organizations agitated for markets for their food products whereas some agitated against Indian domination in the trade sector. For Kenya agitation of the 1950s was based on the land tenure, the mau mau uprising became the most formidable resistance against the british mounted by the Agikuyu community. Colonial military expeditions led to genocide and forced migrations of people among the Agikuyu, Abagusii, the Nandi, Ababukusu, Giriama and all the others who met colonial force with force.

Private Foreign Capital in India :: essays research papers

"Private Foreign Capital in India"-Macro Economics Problem: Has Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) contributed to the growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India? Null Hypothesis (Ho): There is no significant increase in growth of GDP due to FDI inflow in India. Alternative Hypothesis (H1): There is significant increase in growth of GDP due to FDI inflow in India. Project Prà ©cis: Definition: FDI: The acquisition abroad of physical assets such as plant and equipment, with operating control residing in the parent corporation. GDP: The sum total of all final goods and services produced within a country in a specified period of time. Foreign direct investment is an important source of capital, complements domestic private investment, and is usually associated with new job opportunities, enhancement of technology and boosts economic growth in host countries. Therefore foreign direct investment flows are increasingly looked as a panacea for all the development needs of developing countries. So, there is an increasingly intense competition among countries to attract FDI inflows so much so that governments see the magnitudes of FDI received as indicators of their success. Preliminary Literature Survey: Recent literature has shown that some may bring valuable benefits to their host economies, others may crowd-out domestic enterprises and actually reduce host country welfare. Studies have also shown that host government policies such as screening mechanisms, performance requirements, incentives and pro-active promotion play an important role in determining the quality of FDI inflows. Although FDI inflows into India have increased considerably since1991, its share would appear too small, especially if it is compared with that of other countries in the region such as China. India has been receiving FDI inflows of about $3 to 4 billion a year that represent a marginal under 2 per cent of total inflows attracted by developing countries. In contrast, China has been receiving over $45 billion of inflows representing nearly a quarter of total developing country FDI inflows. Particulars China India FDI Confidence Index score*(January 2000) 1.45 1.14 FDI Inflow (US $ billions, 1998) 45.5 2.3 FDI Stock (US $ billions, 1998) 261.1 13.2 GDP (nominal US $ billions, 1999 estimate) 993 468.4 * The FDI confidence index tracks the impact of likely political, economic and regulatory changes on the foreign direct investment intentions and preferences of the leaders of some of the world’s leading companies. Two parameters i.e. Attractiveness and Current are considered for probable FDI inflow. From the diagram it is evident that India is average on Attractiveness and average on Current too. India scores well above countries like Indonesia, Thailand etc in terms of the parameters.

Im Ok Your Ok Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A simple summary of I’m Ok-You’re Ok will not give the needed credit that the book and its author deserve. It is a book that one must read to fully or even partially understand it’s meaning and the author’s viewpoint of transactional analysis. The author, Thomas A. Harris M.D., explains in this book the vast amount of experiences that affect the way we live our life from the moment we are born to the second we die. He explains the different feelings a child experiences from being taken cared of and attended to and vice versa. These feelings are described as â€Å"I’m not ok-you’re not ok, I’m not ok-you’re ok, I’m ok-you’re ok, and I’m ok-you’re not ok.† The author explains how the interactions between a parent and a child help develop each of these feelings and tells how each one is either healthy or unhealthy. The book talks about the way every human has an â€Å"Adult, Parent and a Childâ⠂¬  in them all interacting with each other to perform certain task and make everyday decisions. It was amazing to read how certain verbal and physical actions can pinpoint which of the three we are using to perform whatever tasks we are doing. This book is a great guideline to understanding one’s own interpersonal behavior and understanding how to find and keep the â€Å"I’m ok-you’re ok† attitude in life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Human development has always puzzled me in that I just don’t understand why everybody is completely different. No two people are alike in their ways of thinking, acting, or even dealing with everyday stress. I still don’t understand all of human development but after reading this book I do understand a great deal more about it. I did not realize that the development of a person’s personality starts from the earliest moments of life. It starts to develop when his or her mother or father holds them for the first time and it and it doesn’t stop developing and can always change. As I have grown up, I have realized that many of my actions are just mimics of what my parents did during my childhood. Just every day simple things such as chewing the inside portion of my lip while watching television, which is what my father has always done. The book explained to me that I saw these things being done by my parents and paired them in my mind as wh at an adult does, therefore I do them now because it is ... ...r word usage. I can usually pick out certain words that trigger the thought a child or parent. I have notice the more stable a person is or the more educated a person is the more their parent potential shows out. The longer or more complex their words are the more likely their adult decisions are parental influenced. I even have noticed myself sometime having a strong child influence. I sometime get mad and even whine a little. I recognized my inner child during a card game when I got beaten by a better hand and I stood up and wanted to quit. Usually I don’t notice these things right from the get go but later when I think about I just laugh because I know I looked like a child. I know I will continue to observe people’s actions as well as my own and hopefully I can learn or teach myself how to control my interpersonal feelings.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This book is a great self help book in my mind. I would definitely tell others to read it but not to get discouraged at it because it does take some time reading it to understand its purpose. We all have interpersonal problems but this book is a wonderful guideline in understanding them and controlling them.

Anthem :: Anthem Essays

Anthem As the novel opens Equality 7-2521 states that what he's doing is a sin. In his society it is a sin to do things that do not involve others, and the words he thinks and writes are for no one eyes to see or hear, but his own. In his society everyone thinks the same, and if you were to be the different one you would be sent to the palace of correction and detention. Equality 7-2521 actually had a mind of his own. As you can see Science fascinated him. For example in chapter 1 while it was dark Equality 7-2521 would sneak into a dark tunnel in which he would spend 3 hours doing scientific research, and experiments. He would also steal manuscripts from the scholars, and every night he would study. This went on for two years. The difference between Equality 7-2521 and his society is that he actually wanted to succeed, while the rest of his society would settle for what they were told to be. The "glass box", can also be referred as a light bulb. After countless nights of experi menting, Equality 7-2521 succeeds in connecting the power of electricity to re-invent the electric light. This invention that he came up with can benefit to society, but he doesn't know how to tell them. Remember, you can't do anything that others can't do. That was the philosophy that the society believed in. He figured that since the council wouldn't appreciate his work, he would rather show his invention to the scholars. When the World Council of Scholars arrives in his city, he will present to them, as his gift, the "glass box with the power of the sky." One night while Equality 7-2521 was working on an experiment in his tunnel, he totally lost track of time. He rushed out, and then the council questioned him on why was he late. Equality 7-2521 refused to answer and therefore he was sent to the palace of correction and detention. He was able to escape and retreat back to the tunnel. He found everything the same way that he had left it. He was then getting prepared f or the arrival of the scholars.

Early Childhood Essay

Discusses the numerous options that students have when it comes to choosing the right school for them. Because every student is different from each other, it is only enough that schools become as diverse as they could be. The schools are not only diverse in terms of their geographical locations but also in terms of the programs they offer, the standards they maintain, and the population. It is important that children and families be given the freedom to choose the school they want to apply to because of the need to grow and learn in a place where the student is most comfortable in. The freedom to choose what school to go to is also vital in contributing to the child’s future because there might be some schools where certain programs that the child need are not available. If the law would not allow families to choose the schools their children should go to, it might limit the children’s development and, ultimately, their overall success in life. However, as with all other things, the freedom to choose also has its own negative effects, and both families and educators should be aware of these effects to be able to provide a better education to the children. Freedom is a good thing, especially if it means success. Still, people should keep in mind that if they abuse the freedom they have in their hands, nothing good would ever come out. In choosing the right school, students should think about what they want to achieve and what they want to become in life. They should also consider practical things like the cost of studying in a particular school. For educators, they should remember to give every student the chance to experience the education of their institution no matter what the student’s status in life may be.

7 Wonders of the World

7 WONDERS OF THE WORLD AIM: Is to apprise the house about 7 Wonders of The World. SEQUENCE: * History * Seven Wonders of the Ancient World * New Seven Wonders of the World * Ongoing Seven wonders of the Nature * Recapitulation * Conclusion HISTORY: The origin of the idea of Seven Wonders of the World dates back to Herodotus (484 BC – 425 BC) and Callimachus (305 BC – 240 BC), who made lists which included 7 famous place of ancient world, and from there the Idea of 7 wonders started. Only the Great Pyramid of Giza is still standing of those ancient wonders.The other six were destroyed by earthquake, fire, or other causes. New Seven Wonders of the World is a project that attempts to revive the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World concept with a list of modern wonders. A popularity poll was being led by Canadian-Swiss Bernard Weber and organized by the Swiss-based, controlled by New7Wonders Foundation, with winners announced on July 7, 2007 in Lisbon, Portugal. Seven Wonders of the Ancient World Great Pyramid of Giza: * The Great Pyramid of Giza Built 2560 BC. * The  Great Pyramid of Giza  is the oldest and largest of the three  pyramids  in the  Giza.This is the only one of the  Seven Wonders of the Ancient World  that survives in the world. *   It is believed the pyramid was built as a tomb for  Fourth dynasty  Egyptian  Pharaoh Khufu and constructed over a 20 year period concluding around 2540 BC. * The Great Pyramid was the  tallest man-made structure  in the world for over 3,800 years. * Originally the Great Pyramid was covered by casing stones that formed a smooth outer surface. * The Great Pyramid of Giza is the main part of a complex setting of buildings that included two  mortuary temples  in honor of Khufu (one close to the pyramid and one near the Nile).Hanging Gardens of Babylon * The  Hanging Gardens of  Babylon are considered to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. They were built by the Chal dean  king  Nebuchadnezzar II  around 600 BC. * He is reported to have constructed the gardens to please his sick wife, who longed for the trees and fragrant plants of her homeland  Persia. * The lush Hanging Gardens are extensively documented by  Greek  historians  such as  Strabo  and  Diodorus Siculus. Through the ages, the location may have been confused with gardens that existed at  Nimrud. The gardens were destroyed by several earthquakes after the 2nd century BC. Statue of Zeus at Olympia * The  Statue of Zeus at Olympia  was made by the Greek sculptor  Phidias, circa 432 BC on the site where it was erected in the  Temple of Zeus, Olympia, Greece. *It was considered to be one of the  Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. * For six hundred years after the death of the sculptor, people from all over the civilized world travelled to view it as it was thought to be a misfortune to die without seeing this work. The seated statue, some 12 meters (39 fe et) tall, occupied the whole width of the aisle of the temple built to house it. â€Å"It seems that if  Zeus  were to stand up,† the geographer  Strabo  noted early in the first century BC, â€Å"he would unroofed the temple. â€Å" Temple of Artemis * The  Temple of Artemis  also known less precisely as  Temple of  Diana, was a  temple dedicated to  Artemis  completed in its most famous phase around 550 BC at  Ephesus  (in present-day  Turkey). * Here were previous temples on its site, where evidence of a sanctuary dates as early as the  Bronze Age. The whole temple was made of marble except for the roof. The Temple of Artemis was located near the ancient city of Ephesus, about 50  km south from a modern port city of  Turkey.Today the site lies on the edge of the modern town of  Selcuk. * The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus was destroyed on July 21, 356 BC in an act of arson committed by  Hero stratus. According to the story, his motivat ion was fame at any cost, thus the term  herostratic fame. * A man was found to plan the burning of the temple of Ephesian Diana so that through the destruction of this most beautiful building his name might be spread through the whole world. The temple was restored after Alexander's death, in 323 BC. * This reconstruction was itself destroyed during a war  in 262. * The Ephesians rebuilt the temple again. * In 401, the temple in its last version was finally destroyed by a mob led by St. John Chrysostom,  and the stones were used in construction of other buildingsMausoleum of Halicarnassus * The  Mausoleum at Halicarnassus was a  tomb  built between 353 and 350 BC in Turkey for  Mausolus, a  satrap  in the  Persian Empire, and  Artemisia II of Caria, his wife and sister. It stood approximately 45 meters (135 ft) in height, and each of the four sides was adorned with  sculptural  reliefs  created by each one of four Greek sculptors  . * The beauty of the Mausoleum was not only in the structure itself, but in the decorations and statues that adorned the outside at different levels on the podium and the roof: statues of people, lions, horses, and other animals in varying scales. The four Greek sculptors who carved the statues were each responsible for one side. * The Mausoleum overlooked the city of Halicarnassus for many years.It was untouched when the city fell to Alexander III of Macedon in 334 BC and still undamaged after attacks by  pirates  in 62 and 58 BC. It stood above the city's ruins for sixteen centuries. Then a series of earthquakes shattered the columns and sent the bronze chariot crashing to the ground. By 1404 AD only the very base of the Mausoleum was still recognizable. Lighthouse of Alexandria * The  Lighthouse of Alexandria  was a tower built in the 3rd century BC (between 285 and 247 BC) on the  island  of Pharos in  Alexandria. With a height variously estimated at between 115 and 135  m (380 and 440  ft) it was identified as one of the  Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. * The lighthouse was completed in the 3rd century BC. * Alexander died unexpectedly at age 32, Ptolemy Soter (Saviour, named so by the inhabitants of Rhodes) made himself king in 305 BC and ordered the construction of the Pharos shortly thereafter. The building was finished during the reign of his son. * The two  earthquakes  in 1303 and 1323 damaged the lighthouse to the extent that the Arab traveler  Ibn Battuta  reported no longer being able to enter the ruin.Even the stubby remnant disappeared in 1480. Colossus of Rhodes * The  Colossus of Rhodes  was a  statue  of the Greek god  Helios, erected in the city of  Rhodes  on the  Greek  island of  Rhodes  by  Chares of Lindros  between 292 and 280 BC. It is considered one of the  Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Before its destruction, the Colossus of Rhodes stood over 30 meters (107  ft) high, making it one of the tallest statues of the ancient world. * The structure as being built with  iron  tie bars to which brass plates were fixed to form the skin.The interior of the structure, which stood on a 15-meter- (50-foot-) high white  marble  pedestal  near the harbor entrance, The statue itself was over 30 meters (107 ft) tall. Much of the iron . * The statue stood for only 56 years until Rhodes was hit by the  226 BC Rhodes earthquake, when significant damage was also done to large portions of the city, including the harbor and commercial buildings, which were destroyed. * The remains lay on the ground as described by  Strabo(  Greek  historian) for over 800 years, and even broken, they were so impressive that many traveled to see them. In 654, an Arab force captured Rhodes, the remains were sold to a Jewish merchant, The buyer had the statue broken down, and transported the bronze scrap on the backs of 900 camels to his home.There is compelling evidence, however, that al l traces of the Colossus had actually disappeared long before the Arab invasion. New Seven Wonders of the World Taj Mahal * The  Taj Mahal   is a  monument  located in  Agra, India, built by Mughal  Emperor  Shah Jahan  in memory of his wife,  Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj Mahal is considered the finest example of  Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian,  Indian, and  Islamic  architectural styles. In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a  UNESCO  World Heritage Site. * In 1631, Shah Jahan, emperor during the  Mughal empire's period of greatest prosperity, was grief-stricken when his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, died during the birth of their fourteenth child. Construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632, one year after her death. The principal construction was completed in 1648. * BY the late 19th century, parts of the buildings had fallen badly into isrepair. During the time of the  Indian rebellion of 1857, It also damaged during British per iod, At the end of the 19th century,  Lord Curzon  ordered a massive restoration project, which was completed in 1908. Great Wall of China * The  Great Wall of China  is a series of stone and earthen  fortifications  in northern  China, built, rebuilt, and maintained between the 5th century BC and the 16th century to protect the northern borders of the  Chinese Empire  from  attacks during various  successive dynasties. Since the 5th century BC, several walls have been built that were referred to as the Great Wall.One of the most famous is the wall built between 220–206 BC by the first  Emperor of China. * Great Wall, with all of its branches, stretches for 8,851. 8  km (5,500. 3  mi). This is made up of 6,259. 6  km (3,889. 5  mi) of sections of actual wall, 359. 7  km (223. 5  mi) of trenches and 2,232. 5  km (1,387. 2  mi) of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers. * At present some portions north of Beijing and near tou rist centers have been preserved and even extensively renovated, in many locations the Wall is in disrepair.Many Parts have been destroyed because the Wall is in the way of construction. More than 60  kilometers (37  mi) of the wall in  Gansu  province may disappear in the next 20 years, due to erosion from  sandstorms. In places, the height of the wall has been reduced from more than five meters (16. 4  ft) to less than two meters. The square lookout towers that characterize the most famous images of the wall have disappeared completely. Many western sections of the wall are  constructed from mud, rather than brick and stone, and thus become more harmful for the building.Roman Coliseum * Roman Coliseum in the center of the city of  Rome,  Italy, the largest ever built in the  Roman Empire. It is one of the greatest works of  Roman architecture. its construction started between 70 and 72 AD under the emperor  Vespasian  and was completed in 80 AD. * Constru ction of the Colosseum began under the rule of the Emperor  Vespasian  in around 70–72AD. The site chosen was a flat area on the floor of a low valley between the Hills, By the 2nd century BC. * In 217, the Colosseum was badly damaged y a major fire (caused by lightning) which destroyed the wooden upper levels of the amphitheatre's interior. It was not fully repaired until about 240, again possibly to repair damage caused by a major earthquake in 443; and again constructed in 484 and 508. * Severe damage was inflicted on the Colosseum by the great earthquake in 1349, also country caused sevear damage by the earthquake. * Much of the tumbled stone was reused to build palaces, churches, hospitals and other buildings elsewhere in Rome. * But again at 19th centaury Roman rebuilt it. The Colosseum is today one of Rome's most popular tourist attractions, receiving millions of visitors annually. * On July 7, 2007, the Colosseum was voted as one of New Open World Corporation's  New Seven Wonders of the World. Petra * Petra  meaning  rock Its in  Jordan, lying on the slope of  Mount  in a  basin  among the mountains which form the eastern flank of Arabah , the large valley running from the  Dead Sea  to the  Gulf of Aqaba. * Petra is also one of the  New Seven Wonders of the World. The constructed it as their capital city around 100 BC. The site suffers from a host of threats, including collapse of ancient structures, erosion due to flooding and improper rainwater drainage, weathering from salt upwelling, improper restoration of ancient structures, and unsustainable tourism. The latter has increased substantially ever since the site was named one of the  New Seven Wonders of the World  in 2007 Machu Picchu * Machu Picchu  located 2,430  meters (8,000  ft) above sea level. It is situated on a mountain ridge above the  Urubamba Valley  in  Peru, Often referred to as â€Å"The Lost City of the Incas†, Machu Picchu is one of the most familiar symbols of the  Inca Empire. The Incas started building it around AD 1430. * Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO  World Heritage Site  in 1983. * Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with polished  dry-stone walls. Its primary buildings are the  Intihuatana, the  Temple of the Sun, and the  Room of the Three Windows. These are located in what is known by archaeologists as the  Sacred District  of Machu Picchu. * Machu Picchu was constructed around 1462, at the height of the Inca Empire.It is likely that most of its inhabitants were wiped out by smallpox  before the  Spanish  conquistadores  arrived in the area, and there is no record of the Spanish having known of the remote city. * An area of 325. 92 square kilometers surrounding Machu Picchu was declared a â€Å"Historical Sanctuary† of Peru in 1971. In addition to the ruins, this sanctuary area includes a large p ortion of adjoining region, rich with  flora  and  fauna. * Machu Picchu was designated as a  World Heritage Site  in 1983 when it was described as â€Å"an absolute masterpiece of architecture and a unique testimony to the Inca civilization† Christ the Redeemer Christ the Redeemer  is a  statue  of  Jesus Christ  in  Rio de Janeiro,  Brazil; considered the largest  art deco (Art Deco  was a popular international art design movement from 1925 until the 1940s)  statue in the world. The statue stands 39. 6  meters (130  ft) tall, including its 9. 5 meter (31 ft) pedestal, and 30  meters (98  ft) wide. It weighs 635 tons (700  short tons), and is located at the peak of the 700  meters (2,300  ft)  Corcovado  mountain. It is one of the tallest of its kind in the world. the statue has become an icon of Rio and Brazil. The idea for erecting a large statue atop Corcovado was first suggested in the mid 1850s, which financing from  Pri ncess Isabel  to build a large religious  monument. The second proposal for a large  landmark  statue on the mountain was made in 1921 by the Catholic Circle of Rio. The group organized an event called  Semana do Monumento  (â€Å"Monument Week†) to attract donations and collect signatures to support the building of the statue. The donations came mostly from  Brazilian Catholics. Chichen Itza *   Chichen Itza  is a large  pre-Columbian  archaeological site  built by the  Maya civilization  located in the northern center of the Mexico.Chichen Itza was a major regional focal point in the northern Maya lowlands from the  Late Classic  through the  Terminal Classic  and into the early portion of the  Early Postclassic  period. The site exhibits a multitude of architectural styles, from what is called â€Å"Mexicanized† * Chichen Itza is maintained by Mexico’s  Ã‚  (National Institute of Anthropology and History, INAH). The l and under the monuments, however, is privately-owned by the Barbican family. * Some  ethnohistoric  sources claim that in about 987 a  Toltec  king   arrived here with his army from central Mexico made Chichen Itza his capital.The art and architecture from this period shows an interesting mix of Maya and Toltec styles. * Chichen Itza was a major economic power in the northern Maya lowlands. * It’s a largest tourist place in Mexico but Over the past several years, INAH, which manages the site, has been closing monuments to public access. While visitors can walk around them, they can no longer climb them or go inside their chambers. The most recent was El Castillo, which was closed after a San Diego, Calif. , woman fell to her death in 2006.

The Main Problems of Lexicography

The main problems of lexicography The most burning issues of lexicography are connected with the selection of head-words, the arrangement and contents of the vocabulary entry, the principles of sense definitions and the semantic and functional classification of words. In the first place it is the problem of how far a general descriptive dictionary, whether unilingual or bilingual, should admit the historical element. In fact, the term â€Å"current usage† is disconcertingly elastic, it may, for instance, be stretched to include all words and senses used by W.Shakespeare, as he is commonly read, or include only those of the fossilised words that are kept in some set expressions or familiar quotations, e. g. shuffled off this mortal coil (â€Å"Hamlet†), where coil means ‘turmoil’ (of life). For the purpose of a dictionary, which must not be too bulky, selection between scientific and technical terms is also a very important task. It is a debatable point whet her a unilingual explanatory dictionary should strive to cover all the words of the language, including neologisms, nonce-words, slang, etc. nd note with impartial accuracy all the words actually used by English people; or whether, as the great English lexicographer of the 18th century Samuel Johnson used to think, it should be preceptive, and (viewed from the other side) prohibitive. Dictionary-makers should attempt to improve and stabilise the English vocabulary according to the best classical samples and advise the readers on preferable usage. A distinctly modern criterion in selection of entries is the frequency of the words to be included. This is especially important for certain lines of practical work in preparing graded elementary textbooks.When the problem of selection is settled, there is the question as to which of the selected units have the right to a separate entry and which are to be included under one common head-word. These are, in other words, the questions of sepa rateness and sameness of words. The first deals with syntagmatic boundaries of word-units and has to solve such questions as whether each other is a group of two separate words to be treated separately under the head-words each and other, or whether each other is a unit deserving a special entry (compare also: one another).Need such combinations as boiling point, carbon paper, department store, phone box be sub-entered under their constituents? If so, under which of them? Or, perhaps, it will be more convenient for those who use the dictionary if these were placed as separate main entries consisting of a nominal compound or a phrase. As to the sameness, this deals with paradigmatic boundaries. How many entries are justified for hound'? COD has two — one for the noun, and the other for the verb: ‘to chase (as) with hounds’; the verb and the noun are thus treated as homonyms. Chambers’s Twentieth Century Dictionary† combines them under one head-word, i . e. it takes them as variants of the same word (hence the term â€Å"sameness†). The problem is even more complicated with variants belonging to the same part of speech. This problem is best illustrated by the pun that has already been discussed elsewhere in this book: Mind you, I don’t mind minding the children if the children mind me (Understand, I don’t object to taking care of the children if the children obey me). Here the dictionary-maker is confronted with the problem of sameness.Should mind be considered one word with several semantic variants, and take one entry? Or is it more convenient to represent it as several words? The difference in the number of entries for an equal bulk of vocabulary may also depend on a different approach to the regularly formed derivatives, like those with -er, -ing, -ness, and -ly. These are similar to grammatical endings in their combining possibilities and semantic regularity. The derivation is so regular, and the meaning and class of these derivatives are so easily deduced that they are sometimes sidered not worth an entry.That is why the definition of the scope of a dictionary is not quite as simple as it might appear at first sight. There exist almost unsurmountable difficulties to a neat statistical evaluation. Some publishers state the number of entries in a subtitle, others even claim for the total coverage with the exception of very special terms. It must be remembered, however, that without a generally accepted standard for settling the problems of sameness and separateness no meaningful evaluation of the scope of any particular dictionary is possible.Besides in the case of a living language the vocabulary is not stable, and the attitude of lexicographers to archaisms and neologisms varies. The arrangement of the vocabulary entry presents many problems, of which the most important are the differentiation and the sequence of various meanings of a polysemantic word. A historical dictionary (the Oxford Dictionary, for instance) is primarily concerned with the development of the English vocabulary. It arranges various senses chronologically, first comes the etymology, then the earliest meanings marked by the label obs. — obsolete.The etymologies are either comparative or confined to a single language. The development is documented by illustrative quotations, ranging from the oldest to recent appearances of the word in question. A descriptive dictionary dealing with current usage has to face its own specific problems. It has to apply a structural point of view and give precedence to the most important meanings. But how is the most important meaning determined upon? So far each compiler was guided by his own personal preference. An objective procedure would be to obtain data of statistical counts.But counting the frequency of different meanings of the same word is far more difficult than counting the frequency of its forms. It is therefore not by chance that up to now many counts have been undertaken only for word forms, irrespective of meaning. Also, the interdependence of meanings and their relative importance within the semantic structure of the word do not remain the same. They change almost incessantly, so that the task of establishing their relative frequency would have to be repeated very often. The constant revisions necessary would make the publication of dictionaries very expensive.It may also be argued that an arrangement of meanings according to frequency would sometimes conceal the ties and relationship between various elements of the semantic structure. Nevertheless some semantic counts have been achieved and the lexicographers profited by them. Thus, in preparing high-school English dictionaries the staff under chief editor C. L. Barnhart was aided by semantic counts which Dr E. L. Thorndike had made of current standard literature, from children’s books to â€Å"The Encyclopaedia Britannica†. The count according to C. L. Barnhart was of enormous importance in compiling their dictionaries, but the lexicographer admits that counts are only one of the criteria necessary for selecting meanings and entries, and that more dictionary evidence is needed, namely typical quotations for each meaning. Dictionary evidence normally exists in the form of quotation slips constituting raw material for word treatment and filed under their appropriate head-words. In editing new dictionaries the lexicographers cannot depend only on the scholarly editions such as OED.In order to meet the demands of their readers, they have to sample the reading of the public for whom the dictionary is meant. This textual reference has to be scrupulously examined, so as to account for new words and meanings making their way into the language. Here again some quantitative criteria must be established. If a word or meaning occurs in several different sources over a wide range of magazines and books during a considerable period of time, it may be worth including even into a college dictionary.The preface to â€Å"The Concise Oxford Dictionary†, for instance, states that its authors find that sense development cannot be presented in every word, because obsolete words are as a rule omitted. Only occasionally do they place at the beginning a rare but still current sense, if it can throw light on the more common senses that follow, or forms the connecting link with the etymology. The etymologies are given throughout, but otherwise the compilers do not seem to keep to any consistent principle and are guided by what they think is the order of logical connection, familiarity or importance.E. L. Thorndike formulates the following principles: â€Å"Other things being equal, literal uses come before figurative, general uses before special, common uses before rare, and easily understandable uses before difficult, and to sum up: that arrangement is best for any word which helps the learner most. † A synchronic di ctionary should also show the distribution of every word. It has been traditionally done by labelling words as belonging to a certain part of speech, and by noting some special cases of grammatically or lexically bound meanings.Thus, the word spin is labelled in â€Å"The Concise Oxford Dictionary† as v. t. & i. , which gives a general idea of its distribution; its various senses are shown in connection with words that may serve as subject or object, e. g. : â€Å"2. (of spider, silkworm, etc. ) make (web, gossamer, cocoon, or abs. ) by extrusion of fine viscous thread †¦ 10. spun glass (spun when heated into filaments that remain pliant when cold); spun gold, silver (gold, silver thread prepared for weaving †¦ ). † This technique is gradually being improved upon, and compilers strive to provide more detailed information on these points. The Advanced Learner’s Dictionary †¦ † by A. S. Hornby, E. V. Gatenby and H. Wakefield supplies informati on on the syntactical distribution of each verb. In their â€Å"Notes on Syntax† the compilers state that one who is learning English as a foreign language is apt to form sentences by analogy, which at times may lead him into error. For instance, the student must be warned against taking the use of the verb tell in the sentence Please tell me the meaning as a model for the word explain, because *Please, explain me the meaning would be ungrammatical. For his purpose they provide a table of 25 verb patterns and supply the numerical indications in each verb entry. This gives the student the necessary guidance. Indications are also supplied as to which nouns and which semantic varieties of nouns may be used in the plural. This helps the student to avoid mistakes like *interesting informations. Many dictionaries indicate the different stylistic levels to which the words belong: colloquial, technical, poetical, rhetorical, archaic, familiar, vulgar or slang, and their expressive co louring: emphatic, ironical, diminutive, facetious.This is important, because a mere definition does not show these data. There is always a difference in style between the dictionary word and its definition. The word digs is a slang word but its definition ‘lodgings’ is not. Giving these data modern dictionary-makers strive to indicate the nature of the context in which the word may occur. The problem is also relevant for bilingual dictionaries and is carefully presented in the â€Å"New English-Russian Dictionary† edited by I. R. Galperin. A third group of lexicographic problems is the problem of definitions in a unilingual dictionary.The explanation of meaning may be achieved by a group of synonyms which together give a fairly general idea; but one synonym is never sufficient for the purpose, because no absolute synonyms exist. Besides, if synonyms are the only type of explanation used, the reader will be placed in a vicious circle of synonymic references, with not a single word actually explained. Definitions serve the purpose much better. These are of two main types. If they are only concerned with words as speech material, the definition is called linguistic. If they are concerned with things for which the words are names, they are termed encyclopaedic.American dictionaries are for the most part traditionally encyclopaedic, which accounts for so much attention paid to graphic illustration. They furnish their readers with far more information about facts and things than their British counterparts, which are more linguistic and more fundamentally occupied with purely lexical data (as contrasted to r e a 1 i a), with the grammatical properties of words, their components, their stylistic features, etc. Opinions differ upon the optimum proportion of linguistic and encyclopaedic material.Very interesting considerations on this subject are due to Alf Sommerfeldt. He thinks that definitions must be based on the fact that the meanings of words render complex notions which may be analysed (cf. componental analysis) into several elements rendered by other words. He emphasises, for instance, that the word pedestrian is more aptly defined as ‘a person who goes or travels on foot’ than as ‘one who goes or travels on foot’. The remark appears valuable, because a definition of this type shows the lexico-grammatical type to which the word belongs and consequently its distribution.It also helps to reveal the system of the vocabulary. Much too often, however, one sees in dictionaries no attention paid to the difference in distribution between the defined and the defining word. The meaning of the word may be also explained by examples, i. e. contextually. The term and its definition are here fused. For example, diagonal is explained by the following context where only this term can occur: A square has two diagonals, and each of them divides the square into two right-angled isosceles triangles. Very often th is type can be changed into a standard form, i. . A diagonal is one of the two lines †¦ , etc. One more problem is the problem of whether all entries should be defined or whether it is possible to have the so-called â€Å"run-ons† for derivative words in which the root-form is readily recognised (such as absolutely or resolutely). In fact, whereas resolutely may be conveniently given as a -ly run-on after resolute, there is a meaning problem for absolutely. One must take into consideration that in colloquial speech absolutely means ‘quite so’, ‘yes’ which cannot be deduced from the meaning of the corresponding adjective.HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF BRITISH AND AMERICAN LEXICOGRAPHY Although, as we have seen from the preceding paragraph, there is as yet no coherent doctrine in English lexicography, its richness and variety are everywhere admitted and appreciated. Its history is in its way one of the most remarkable developments in linguistics, and i s therefore worthy of special attention. In the following pages a short outline of its various phases is given. A need for a dictionary or glossary has been felt in the cultural growth of many civilised peoples at a fairly early period.The history of dictionary-making for the English language goes as far back as the Old English period where its first traces are found in the form of glosses of religious books with interlinear translation from Latin. Regular bilingual English-Latin dictionaries were already in existence in the 15th century. The unilingual dictionary is a comparatively recent type. The first unilingual English dictionary, explaining words by English equivalents, appeared in 1604. It was meant to explain difficult words occurring in books.Its title was â€Å"A Table Alphabeticall, containing and teaching the true writing and understanding of hard usuall English words borrowed from the Hebrew, Greeke, Latine or French†. The little volume of 120 pages explaining ab out 3000 words was compiled by one Robert Cawdrey, a schoolmaster. Other books followed, each longer than the preceding one. The first attempt at a dictionary including all the words of the language, not only the difficult ones, was made by Nathaniel Bailey who in 1721 published the first edition of his â€Å"Universal Etymological English Dictionary†.He was the first to include pronunciation and etymology. Big explanatory dictionaries were created in France and Italy before they appeared for the English language. Learned academies on the continent had been established to preserve the purity of their respective languages. This was also the purpose of Dr Samuel Johnson’s famous Dictionary published in 1755. 1 The idea of purity involved a tendency to oppose change, and S. Johnson’s Dictionary was meant to establish the English language in its classical form, to preserve it in all its glory as used by J. Dryden, A.Pope, J. Addison and their contemporaries. In conf ormity with the social order of his time, S. Johnson attempted to â€Å"fix† and regulate English. This was the period of much discussion about the necessity of â€Å"purifying† and â€Å"fixing† English, and S. Johnson wrote that every change was undesirable, even a change for the best. When his work was accomplished, however, he had to admit he had been wrong and confessed in his preface that â€Å"no dictionary of a living tongue can ever be perfect, since while it is hastening to publication, some words are budding and some falling away†.The most important innovation of S. Johnson’s Dictionary was the introduction of illustrations of the meanings of the words â€Å"by examples from the best writers†, as had been done before him in the dictionary of the French Academy. Since then such illustrations have become a â€Å"sine qua non† in lexicography; S. Johnson, however, only mentioned the authors and never gave any specific referenc es for his quotations. Most probably he reproduced some of his quotations from memory, not always very exactly, which would have been unthinkable in modern lexicology.The definitions he gave were often very ingenious. He was called â€Å"a skilful definer†, but sometimes he preferred to give way to sarcasm or humour and did not hesitate to be partial in his definitions. The epithet he gave to lexicographer, for instance, is famous even in our time: a lexicographer was ‘a writer of dictionaries, a harmless drudge †¦ ’. The dictionary dealt with separate words only, almost no set expressions were entered. Pronunciation was not marked, because S.Johnson was keenly aware of the wide variety of the English pronunciation and thought it impossible to set up a standard there; he paid attention only to those aspects of vocabulary where he believed he could improve linguistic usage. S. Johnson’s influence was tremendous. He remained the unquestionable authority on style and diction for more than 75 years. The result was a lofty bookish style which received the name of â€Å"Johnsonian† or â€Å"Johnsonese†. As to pronunciation, attention was turned to it somewhat later. A pronouncing dictionary that must be mentioned first was published in 1780 by Thomas Sheridan, grandfather of the great dramatist.In 1791 appeared â€Å"The Critical Pronouncing Dictionary and Expositor of the English Language† by John Walker, an actor. The vogue of this second dictionary was very great, and in later publications Walker’s pronunciations were inserted into S. Johnson’s text — a further step to a unilingual dictionary in its present-day form. The Golden Age of English lexicography began in the last quarter of the 19th century when the English Philological Society started work on compiling what is now known as â€Å"The Oxford English Dictionary† (OED), but was originally named â€Å"New English Dictionary on Historical Principles†.It is still occasionally referred to as NED. The purpose of this monumental work is to trace the development of English words from their form in Old English, and if they were not found in Old English, to show when they were introduced into the language, and also to show the development of each meaning and its historical relation to other meanings of the same word. For words and meanings which have become obsolete the date of the latest occurrence is given. All this is done by means of dated quotations ranging from the oldest to recent appearances of the words in question.The English of G. Chaucer, of the â€Å"Bible† and of W. Shakespeare is given as much attention as that of the most modern authors. The dictionary includes spellings, pronunciations and detailed etymologies. The completion of the work required more than 75 years. The result is a kind of encyclopaedia of language used not only for reference purposes but also as a basis for lexicol ogical research. The lexicographic concept here is very different from the prescriptive tradition of Dr S. Johnson: the lexicographer is the objective recorder of the language.The purpose of OED, as stated by its editors, has nothing to do with prescription or proscription of any kind. The conception of this new type of dictionary was born in a discussion at the English Philological Society. It was suggested by Frederick Furnivall, later its second titular editor, to Richard Trench, the author of the first book on lexicology of the English language. Richard Trench read before the society his paper â€Å"On Some Deficiencies in our English Dictionaries†, and that was how the big enterprise was started.At once the Philological Society set to work to gather the material, volunteers offered to help by collecting quotations. Dictionary-making became a sort of national enterprise. A special committee prepared a list of books to be read and assigned them to the volunteers, sending t hem also special standard slips for quotations. By 1881 the number of readers was 800, and they sent in many thousands of slips. The tremendous amount of work done by these volunteers testifies to the keen interest the English take in their language.The first part of the Dictionary appeared in 1884 and the last in 1928. Later it was issued in twelve volumes and in order to accommodate new words a three volume Supplement was issued in 1933. These volumes were revised in the seventies. Nearly all the material of the original Supplement was retained and a large body of the most recent accessions to the English language added. The principles, structure and scope of â€Å"The Oxford English Dictionary†, its merits and demerits are discussed in the most comprehensive treaty by L. V. Malakhovsky. Its prestige is enormous.It is considered superior to corresponding major dictionaries for other languages. The Oxford University Press published different abridged versions. â€Å"The Sho rter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles† formerly appeared in two volumes, now printed on thinner paper it is bound in one volume of 2,538 pages. It differs from the complete edition in that it contains a smaller number of quotations. It keeps to all the main principles of historical presentation and covers not only the current literary and colloquial English but also its previous stages.Words are defined and illustrated with key quotations. â€Å"The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English† was first published in 1911, i. e. before the work on the main version was completed. It is not a historical dictionary but one of current usage. A still shorter form is â€Å"The Pocket Oxford Dictionary†. Another big dictionary, also created by joined effort of enthusiasts, is Joseph Wright’s â€Å"English Dialect Dictionary†. Before this dictionary could be started upon, a thorough study of English dialects had to be completed.With this a im in view W. W. Skeat, famous for his â€Å"Etymological English Dictionary† founded the English Dialect Society as far back as 1873. Dialects are of great importance for the historical study of the language. In the 19th century they were very pronounced though now they are almost disappearing. The Society existed till 1896 and issued 80 publications, mostly monographs. Curiously enough, the first American dictionary of the English language was compiled by a man whose name was also Samuel Johnson. Samuel Johnson Jr. a Connecticut schoolmaster, published in 1798 a small book entitled â€Å"A School Dictionary†. This book was followed in 1800 by another dictionary by the same author, which showed already some signs of Americanisation. It included, for instance, words like tomahawk and wampum, borrowed into English from the Indian languages. It was Noah Webster, universally considered to be the father of American lexicography, who emphatically broke away from English idi om, and embodied in his book the specifically American usage of his time.His great work, â€Å"The American Dictionary of the English Language†, appeared in two volumes in 1828 and later sustained numerous revised and enlarged editions. In many respects N. Webster follows the lead of Dr S. Johnson (the British lexicographer). But he has also improved and corrected many of S. Johnson’s etymologies and his definitions are often more exact. N. Webster attempted to simplify the spelling and pronunciation that were current in the USA of the period. He devoted many years to the collection of words and the preparation of more accurate definitions. N.Webster realised the importance of language for the development of a nation, and devoted his energy to giving the American English the status of an independent language, distinct from British English. At that time the idea was progressive as it helped the unification of separate states into one federation. The tendency became reac tionary later on, when some modern linguists like H. Mencken shaped it into the theory of a separate American language, not only different from British English, but surpassing it in efficiency and therefore deserving to dominate and supersede all the languages of the world.Even if we keep within purely linguistic or purely lexical concepts, we shall readily see that the difference is not so great as to warrant American English the rank of a separate language, not a variant of English (see p. 265). The set of morphemes is the same. Some words have acquired a new meaning on American soil and this meaning has or has not penetrated into British English. Other words kept their earlier meanings that are obsolete and not used in Great Britain. As civilisation progressed different names were given to new inventions on either side of the Atlantic. Words were borrowed from different Indian languages and from Spanish.All these had to be recorded in a dictionary and so accounted for the existen ce of specific American lexicography. The world of today with its ever-growing efficiency and intensity of communication and personal contacts, with its press, radio and television creates conditions which tend to foster not an isolation of dialects and variants but, on the contrary, their mutual penetration and integration. Later on, the title â€Å"International Dictionary of the English Language† was adopted, and in the latest edition not Americanisms but words not used in America (Britishisms) are marked off.N. Webster’s dictionary enjoyed great popularity from its first editions. This popularity was due not only to the accuracy and clarity of definitions but also to the richness of additional information of encyclopaedic character, which had become a tradition in American lexicography. As a dictionary N. Webster’s book aims to treat the entire vocabulary of the language providing definitions, pronunciation and etymology. As an encyclopaedia it gives explana tions about things named, including scientific and technical subjects.It does so more concisely than a full-scale encyclopaedia, but it is worthy of note that the definitions are as a rule up-to-date and rigorous scientifically. Soon after N. Webster’s death two printers and booksellers of Massachusetts, George and Charles Merriam, secured the rights of his dictionary from his family and started the publication of revised single volume editions under the name â€Å"Merriam-Webster†. The staff working for the modern editions is a big institution numbering hundreds of specialists in different branches of human activity.It is important to note that the name â€Å"Webster† may be attached for publicity’s sake by anyone to any dictionary. Many publishers concerned with their profits have taken this opportunity to issue dictionaries called â€Å"Webster’s†. Some of the books so named are cheaply-made reprints of old editions, others are said to be entirely new works. The practice of advertising by coupling N. Webster’s name to a dictionary which has no connection with him, continues up to the present day. A complete revision of N. Webster’s dictionary is achieved with a certain degree of regularity.The recent â€Å"Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language† has called forth much comment, both favourable and unfavourable. It has been greatly changed as compared with the previous edition, in word selection as well as in other matters. The emphasis is on the present-day state of the language. The number of illustrative quotations is increased. To accommodate the great number of new words and meanings without increasing the bulk of the volume, the editors excluded much encyclopaedic material.The other great American dictionaries are the â€Å"Century Dictionary†, first completed in 1891; â€Å"Funk and Wagnalls New Standard Dictionary†, first completed in 1895; the â€Å"Random House Dictionary of the English Language†, completed in 1967; â€Å"The Heritage Illustrated Dictionary of the English Language†, first published in 1969, and C. L. Barnhart’s et al. â€Å"The World Book Dictionary† presenting a synchronic review of the language in the 20th century. The first three continue to appear in variously named subsequent editions including abridged versions.Many small handy popular dictionaries for office, school and home use are prepared to meet the demand in reference books on spelling, pronunciation, meaning and usage. An adequate idea of the dictionaries cannot be formed from a mere description and it is no substitute for actually using them. To conclude we would like to mention that for a specialist in linguistics and a teacher of foreign languages systematic work with a good dictionary in conjunction with his reading is an absolute necessity.