Introduction to Linguistics Essay Example for Free

Introduction to Linguistics EssayWhat is meant by the field of philology? This introductory chapter concerns some dimensions of philology, which give us a general cerebration of what philology is, including the history of lingual, grammar, and other disciplines of philology sphere. What does grammar consist of and what ar the relationship mingled with unmatched and a nonher? How many lyric poems do kind-hearted beings eat the efficacy to acquire? What other studies ar made in recent centuries? Each of these aspects ar clearly described, and other chapters will go into further details. While in this chapter we will provide some little detailed data on the various aspects of philology mentioned so far. 1. 1 Defining Linguistics thither is nought that burn down be said by mathematical symbols and relations which put up non also be said by delivery. The converse, however, is false. Much that place be and is said by words stopnot successfully be put into equations, because it is nonsense. C. Truesdell Linguistics is a involve to describe and explain the gracious faculty of address. There is no doubt that philology has changed by means of human development. 1. 1. 1 History of linguisticsSee more how to write an introductionThe history of linguistics can be divided into trio periods antiquity, middle ages and modern linguistics. 1. 1. 1. 1 Antiquity Dating back to earlier period of linguistics, linguistics is often associated with a need to disambiguate discourse, especially for ritual texts or in arguments. Ancient Indians made a big contribution to linguistics development. Similarly, ancient Chinese played a key role in improving linguistics development. Around the same season as the Indian developed, ancient Greek philosophers were also debating the nature and origins of wrangle.During this period, syntax and the use of particles developed fast. In increment, scholars proposed that word meanings are derived from sentential usage. 1. 1. 1. 2 Middle Ages In Middle East, in name of expanding Islam in 8th century, a large number of the great unwashed hold Arabic. Because of this, the earliest grammar came to being gradually. At the same time, Siba instructionh, a famous scholar, wrote a book to distinguish phonetics from phonology. In the 13th century, Europeans introduced the notion of universal grammar. 1. 1. 1. 3 Modern Linguistics Modern linguistics beginning can date back to the late 18th century.With time passing by, the train of linguistics contains increase contents. Mean spell, it is utilise in other fields, computer, e. g. , has set about to be called computational linguistics. The depicted object of applications (as the recovery of speech ability) is generally known as applied linguistics. But in a narrower sense, applied linguistics refers to the application of linguistic principles and theories of lecture teaching and information, especially the teaching of foreign and gage wording. Other related branches include anthropological linguistics, neurological linguistics, mathematical linguistics, and computational linguistics.However, linguistics is unless a part of a much larger academic discipline, semiotics. It is the scientific study of language. It studies not erect one single language of any one society, just similar Chinese or French, but the language of all human beings. A linguist, though, does not return to know and use a large number of languages, but to investigate how each language is constructed. In short, linguistics studies the general principles whereupon all human languages are constructed and operated as systems of intercourse in their societies or communities. 1. 1. 2 An Interesting Comparison.Linguistics is a broad field to study, therefore, a linguist sometimes is only if up to(p) to deal with one aspect of language at a time, and thus various branches arise phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, applied linguistics, pragmatic s, psycholinguistics, lexicology, lexicography, etymology and so on. Suppose that the study of linguistics can be considered to be a computer, so linguistics is equal to the CPU, which supports all the other parts. Moreover, sound card would stand for phonetics and phonology, and then morphology and semantics are like the memory of the computer.Whats more, syntax plays as an important role to translate single words to a whole execration which is full of meaning, just like a graphics card, which uses picture to make up sense of the idea of memory stick. Finally, everything is ready, it s time to use computer and the same goes for language accomplishment. Very interestingly, the properties of computer are amazingly similar to human language. from www. iflytek. com/english/Research-Introduction%20to%20TTS. htm Above all, linguistics is concerned with the study of verbal language incidently speech and written language.Whats more, language is a system and there is a set of options of which one must be chosen depending on the purpose and context. (Marie E. John P. , 1991, p. 64). 1. 2 The broad study of language run-in is a highly complex system of communication, so it sometimes will be called a system of systems. It is used to construct, exchange, express, and record information and ideas. It performs these functions effectively because it is based upon systems that are understood by those using the language. In this chapter, foursome topics will be concerned.They are phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. In this section, some overall definitions and fundamental interactions among the four parts will be talked approximately. 1. 2. 1 Phonology In tramp to assist learners at the early stages of literacy, it is very important to understand the relationship mingled with sounds and letters. The sounds of speech are studied in phonetics and phonology. (Marie E. John P, 1991) 1. 2. 1. 1 Definitions of phonology and phonetics Phonology is the study of so und systems- the invention of distinctive speech sounds that occurs in a language and the patterns wherein they fall.In other words, we study the abstract side of the sounds of language, a related but different subject that we call phonology (Peter, 2000). In short, it is about patterns and roots. On the other hand, it is more strict linguistics. Phonetics is the science which studies the characteristics of human sound-making, especially sounds used in speech, and provides methods for their description, classification and transcription. In common, speech sound is used everywhere, and it can be divided into three parts articulatory phonetics, auditory phonetics, and acoustic phonetics.1. 2. 1. 2 The difference between phonology and phonetics It seems that phonology and phonetics are similar. That is why both of them make learners confused. In fact, they progress to great difference. Phonology pays attention to how speech sounds of a language pattern are put together according to co nstant rules. On the contrary, phonetics focuses mainly on description of how speech sounds are made. For instance, if someone says we should get our two lips close together and then push them open with a strong air, that means he or she is relevant to phonetics field.Another example is no words should begin with the ng/N/ sound, the sound only occurs at the end of words, and this concerns phonology area. Plenty of terms are used to describe different patterns of letters and sounds. Some of the common used terms are blend, digraph, schwa, syllable and phonics, which are widely and frequently applied. 1. 2. 2 Morphology Morphology has been regarded as a necessarily synchronic discipline. That means the rules focusing on the study of word coordinate instead of the development of words (Katamba, 1993, p.3).It is the basic element used in a language, and the concept of morphemes is one of the main aspects in the study of morphology (Yule, 2006, p. 66). Basically, it is the branch of li nguistics that studies the internal structure of words. In morphology, morphemes are the minimal units that have semantic meaning. It is the linguistic term for the most elemental units of grammatical form (Fromkin, Rodman, Hyams, 2006, p. 77). 1. 2. 2. 1 The classification of morphemes Morphemes are composed of free and bound morphemes.Free morphemes are the morphemes that can stand by themselves as single words, while bound morphemes are those that can not normally stand alone, but that can be attached to affixes (Yule, 2000, p. 75). Free morphemes contain lexical and functional morphemes. The initiative category, free morphemes, is the set of ordinary nouns, adjectives, adverbs and verbs which carry the content of the conveyed messages (Yule, 2000, p. 76), and most English words refer to this category. The functional morphemes consist largely of the functional words, including conjunctions, prepositions, articles and pronouns (Yule, 2000).Bound morphemes can also be divided in to two categories. They are derivational and inflectional morphemes. Derivational morphemes are those which make new words in the language and make words of a different grammatical category from the stem (Yule, 2000, p. 76), which means that it can change the meaning or the word class, whereas the inflectional morphemes are used to indicate aspects of the grammatical function of a word (Yule, 2000, p. 77). 1. 2. 2. 2 The interaction with other aspects Morphology has interactions with phonology.The selection of the form that manifests given morpheme may be abnormal by the sounds that realize neighboring morphemes (Katamba, 1993). For example, prefixes and suffixes will normally affect the stress. Meanwhile, there is interaction between morphology and syntax. The form of words may be influenced by the syntactic construction in which the word is used (Katamba, 1993, p. 13). 1. 2. 3 Syntax So far in our study of language, we have made studies of phonetics, phonology and morphology. We have analyzed the structure of sounds and words. Therefore, we have been trim backd on the level of small units of language.After our analysis of words, we move to the consideration of larger structural units of language phrases and sentences. If we concentrate on the structure and ordering of components within a sentence, we are studying what is technically known as the syntax of a language (Yule, 2000, p. 100). Syntax can be simply defined as the scientific study of sentence structure. According to Geoffrey (2005), syntax is a term used for the study of the rules governing the way words are combined to form sentences. The origin of this word is from Greek and it means a setting out together or arrangement (Yule, 2000).In the sentence The boy hits the door, we can discover that the words are related to each other in this order that it only has one meaning. If we change the order of the words The door hits the boy, the sentences meaning has totally changed and it is nonsense. The r eason is that the parts of the sentence are structurally related to each other, and this structure is reflected in the word order. In English, the word order is very necessary and important for the meaning of the sentence according to linguistic rules. In some languages, word order plays a less important role.The meaning of the sentence depends more on the form of the words themselves. In such cases, it is possible for sentences with totally different word order to have the same meaning. English used to be one of these languages. The following examples are taken from Old English Se cyning metech thone biscop-The king meets the bishop Thone biscop meteth se cyning-The king meets the bishop Although the words are arranged otherwise, they still mean the same. However, nowadays, the word order is very crucial for meaning. As a consequence, there is a great need for us to search syntax.Some important concepts are included in the study of syntax. 1. 2. 3. 1Complex and compound sentence Three sentence types are basic in the syntax. There are candid sentence, compound sentence and complex sentence. A simple sentence includes one word. However, in some situation, the simple sentence contains two words. A compound sentence contains at least two simple sentences. The sentences are linked with a conjunction. A Complex sentence composes of at least one main clause and one subordinate clause. 1. 2. 3. 2 Syntax Analysis The following example is provided for syntax analysis. The football team won the match decision year.S NP VP NP Det N Vt Det N Adv Ext(time) The football team won the match last year. The chart supra is called tree diagram. The letters above each indicate S = sentence, NP = noun phrase, VP = verb phrase, N = noun, V = verb, and so on. The syntacticians use this method to analyze the sentences. 1. 2. 3. 3 Basic Syntactic Structure In English, the structure of sentence depends heavily on word order. The four basic structures are listed as follows SNP + Vc + NP ( NPN, NP Det + N) SNP + VP ( NPN, VPVc + Adj) SNP + VP ( NPN, VPV) SNP + VP (NPN, VPVt + NP, NPDet + N) 1. 2. 3. 4 Basic Syntactic fat Process.There are four basic syntactic generative processes substitution, expansion, extension, transformation. Take the following sentence as an example to clarify these three concepts. consciousness is a policeman. Substitution Ken is a policeman. Tom is a policeman. Expansion Ken is a policeman. Ken is a bad policeman. Extension Ken is a policeman. Ken is a policeman at that time. Transformation Ken is a policeman. Is Ken a policeman? 1. 2. 4 Semantics Semantics, a subfield of linguistics, is the study of literal meaning. It is the recent addition to the English language. (Palmer, 1976, p. 1).According to Matthews (2007), during the early years the study of meaning focused on the lexicon alone. The scope of the study has expended since 1960s to include both semantics and pragmatics (analyzed in 1. 3), which come to the main fields of t he study of linguistic meaning(Katamba, 2000 Matthews, 1997). Semantic meaning is fixed and abstract. It can be understood by surface. However, it is de-contextualized. In another word, it is easily subverted by different gestures or intonations. Semnatics interacts with other aspects of linguistics. For example, when equivalent words are used, they can be understood, so it fits the rule of syntax.However, synonyms are used to describe something similar. In a sentence, a synonym can be substituted by another synonym. However, the meaning of synonyms speaker or writer determines or predicates have different degrees, which indicates the meaning is actually different (Alan, 2004). Thus, it is the interaction between syntax and semantics. As for the interaction with phonology, the term tonic syllable in phonology has three kinds of functions. The freshman one is the accentual function, which is to indicate the focus of the information. The second one is the attitudinal function that i s to indicate the speakers attitude.And the last one is grammatical function. If speakers use these functions, the same sentence will turn out to have various meanings. To conclude, in this section, linguistics is analyzed from the aspects of sounds, word structure, grammatical rules and meaning. Each of them is in charge of a plastered system. Thus linguistics can help people to communicate, to express, and to be understood. 1. 3 Other disciplines Apart from the core subparts of linguistics, which we have demonstrated before, for further reading, we introduce some other exciting aspects in the field of linguistics.There are a lot more to discover than those areas. 1. 3. 1 Sociolinguistics People may know something about you through the way you speak, for example, where you come from, where you spend most of your keep time, your social identity operator and so on. Two people growing up in the same geographical area, at the same time, may speak differently owing to a number of soc ial factors (Yule, 2000). Consequently, its very important to consider the social aspects of language. Its because speech is a form of social identity and is used, consciously or unconsciously (Yule, 2000).The study of the social aspect of language is known as sociolinguistic. Sociolinguistic is concerned with investigation of the relationship between language and society (Ronald, 2006, p. 13). It consists of cultural norms, expectations, and context on the way language is used. The first linguists who studied the social aspect of language are Indian and Japanese in the 1930s. Another person called Gauchat who came from Switzerland had a analysis of this in 1900s as well. However, these three people didnt receive much attention in the West. Until the late nineteenth century, the study of social aspects of language laid its foundation.Sociolinguistics gradually appeared in the 1960s in the West. Linguistics such as William Labov in the US and Basil Bernstein in the UK first brought o ut this concept and explored it. (Wikipedia, 2007, para. 1) 1. 3. 2 Neurolinguistics Though the neural structures of most animal species are very distant from man, there are still resemblances between human and animal languages (Marler, 1981 Nottebohm, 1970), since neurons work in both. Human brain contains billions of neural cells, and so far, the exact number of those so-called neurons is still to be defined (Fabbro, 1999, p. 21).These itty-bitty tiny neurons have close link with the production of language. There can be innate or learnt vocal utterances. Oral language can be the innate property of the human brain, written language, however, is an invention of humankind.Dogs can bark, cats can miaow, and man can cry even after the removal of the midbrain, whereas parrots cannot imitate human sounds, and we cannot produce human language (Fabbro, 1999, p. 21). Therefore, the neural center of our brain is playing an irreplaceable role in the production of language. How does the main cerebral structure suffice the production of humanvocalizations?The study of neurolinguistic rely on the study of neurology and neurophysiology, and in these fields, all parts of the nervous system, each having different functions in generating language, are discovered. Theories are found based on lots of experiments concerning the removals of different sections of the brain. The destruction of different language areas destroys language distinguishingly. 1. 3. 3 Historical linguistics Historical linguistics definitely is not concerned with the history of linguistics, though historical linguistics has played an important role in the development of linguistics.It is the main kind of linguistics practiced in the nineteenth century (Campbell, 1998, p. 5). Historical linguistics concerns the investigation and description of how languages change or maintain their structure in the course of time. Language change can be easily proved by documents written in the same language but at differe nt periods of history. The differences of wording and structure of sentences can reflect the historical development of language. From series of datable documents, Lords Prayer widely recorded the history of mankind, and different versions help us analyze the language of each period (Bynon, 1978, p.7). Meanwhile we can also discover that certain structure rules are still used in rate of flow language. There are some constructs and rule that link the grammars of two different but related languages, which descend from a single original language, sharing a common ancestor. More accurately, historical linguistics deals with the kinds of changes, and the techniques and methods we have use to discover history, rather than the origin of words themselves (Campbell, 1998, p. 5). 1. 3. 4 Anthropological linguistics Anthropological linguistic is the study of relations between language and culture.It is related to human biology, cognition and language. It be enormouss to the field of linguistic anthropology, which is a branch of anthropology that studies human-beings through the language they use(Wikipedia, 2007, para. 1). Some Linguists who explore theanthropological linguistics consider these topics such as chimpanzee communication, pidgins and creoles, structural linguistics,total languages, whorf hypothesis, etc. 1. 3. 5 Pragmatics According to Kate (2000), pragmatics is one of the two main fields in the study of linguistic meaning.Pragmatics deals with natural language, while language is always used in context for an intended purpose. The listeners must try to grasp the meaning implied, enrich the ideas, and eventually make out the opinion that what the speakers meant when talking about a particular expression (Kate, 2000). According to Yule (1996), pragmatics studies the context in which the utterance is produced as well as the intention of language user. That means pragmatic meaning depends on context or situation. Without context, meanings can be vague and may b e misunderstood by people.Two of the branches are speech acts that cover requesting, commanding, questioning and informing, and politeness that shows the awareness of another persons face. In short, sociolinguistics is the analysis of interrelation of language and society. Neurolinguistics is the study of the brain and how it functions in language. Historical linguistics is the consideration of language change and how different languages are related to each other. Anthropological linguistics is the study of language and culture. There are some other disciplines in linguistics. Pragmatics deals with the speakers meaning.The five mentioned above are some main disciplines in linguistics. Different disciplines of linguistics enrich the content of linguistic. The study of linguistics tends to be more and more detailed and completed. 1. 4 Language Acquisition This chapter began with a general introduction to language study. It ends with a consideration of the acquisition of language, con taining first, second and foreign language, which is affected by the relationship between instructor and learner. Some experienced educators advise that it is only through learning to speak a language that you can fully analyze it (Everett 2001).Acquisition is described as occurring in spontaneous language contexts (Krashen, 1982), is subconscious, and leads to conversational fluency. 1. 4. 1 First language acquisition For a child, learning first language is automatic, not after starting school, not in specific circumstance and not by great efforts (Yule, 2006). It requires only basic physical capability of sending and receiving sounds directly or indirectly, and interaction with others using this language. Children are brought up in particular environments, being affected by different surroundings, especially by those people whom they spend most of their time interacting with.Infants start express themselves through some simple utterance, such as some vowel-like sounds. Children g ain change magnitude abilities at different development stages, from producing single-unit utterance to producing speech by communicating through expressions (Yule, 2006), since they are able to understand what others said. This a big step forward, like quitting toddling and being capable of walking steadily, forwards, or backwards. As children are being increasingly exposed to communication and interaction, their language skills are developing rapidly because of the expansion of vocabulary.They are never forced to speak first language and seldom be corrected by others, but they correct themselves through interactions every day. Then children learn to use verbs in different sentences, and how to use different words to form a sentence (Yule, 2006). They gradually learn to ask questions correctly and how to use the word no in their speeches to express negative meanings. The last stage of first language acquisition is the ability of making meaningful sentence (Yule, 2006). There is ma ssive variation in the rate at which features of ones first language are acquired.1. 4. 2 second language acquisitionBeing able to speak first language is one of the basic skills of second language acquisition. Except for the minority of people who are bilingual speakers, most of the learners have no access to a second language until our late childhood.Actually most of the Chinese learners are now learning English as a foreign language, because it is immediately back to Chinese speaking time out of the classroom. But later on they may have the chance of learning it as a foreign language in a native speaking environment, during immersion semesters, when they will acquire this second language in circumstances similar to those of Chinese acquisition.There are obviously differences in foreign language achievement, sometimes related to differences in aptitude (Carroll, 1982), sometimes to affective factors (Gardner Lambert, 1972), sometimes to learner strategies (Naiman, Frohlicn, Ster n Tedesco, 1978), sometimes to environmental factors such as opportunities for language use or instructional conditions (Long, 1982), and sometimes simply to time (Carroll, 1975). Human beings have the ability to learn more than one language all through ones live.Farwell (1963) (cited in Taylor, 1976) reports that a British explorer in the 19th century claimed to have spoken more than 40 languages and dialects. Usually, however, after the age of 10, the acquisition of second language is very different from the way one acquired his first language, which is relatively slower and cannot achieve native-like proficiency. 1. 4. 3 Educational factors Most of us begin learning second language in teenage years, spending only few hours on it every day and for most of the daily activities we use our mother tongue.Accordingly, we will encounter lots of difficulties in learning second language without enough exposure to it. Therefore, the largely distinguished part of acquiring first and second language should be language teachers. In order to learn a second language, we must learn from a teacher, or at least follow their guidance. The classroom is a very powerful instrument of instruction and it can control language learning in a very direct way (Richard, T. Roger,H. ). As language teachers, we should focus on students requirements and follow learner-centered approaches.We should impart cognition in a more practical way so the students can receive easily. Keep the class disciplined and orderly so that students can learn most effectively from the lessons. There are often the situations that the students seldom volunteer answers, and the teacher sometimes has to call on someone and wait for a long time before a response is forthcoming. Why not try breaking away from typical Hong Kong classroom practices in class? Like, students do not have to stand up to greet teachers, and they do not have to raise their hands or stand up when they answer questions.In a relaxed classroom atmosphere, students will feel free to interact. They will not fall silent when the teacher enters the room, then stand up and chant a choral greeting. If the pupils are put in this position in the classroom, they can be more effectively kept in their place in social life. During the class, we teachers should never say like this I am your teacher. By the authority vested in me I have the right to ask you to behave in a certain way, whether you like it or not. And you, in your role have the obligation to obey (Widdowson, H. G. ).Whereas, we should say that in another way Do this because I am the teacher and I know whats best for you, but not Do this because I am telling you and I am the teacher. This difference has the advantage of largely increasing participation in the use and practice of language. 1. 4. 4 Summary Approaches to the acquisition of language account for different backgrounds of learns first language, and different conditions of exposure. In acquiring language, learn ers often go through transitional stages of development, which is at distinguished rates. References Cruse, A. (2004).Meaning in language an introduction to semantics and pragmatics. Oxford, New York, Oxford University Press. Bynon, T. (1983). Historical Linguistics. Cambridge Cambridge University Press. Campbell, L. (1998). Historical Linguistics-An Introduction. Edinburgh Edinburgh University Press. Dechert, H. W. (1990). Current trends in European second language. Great Britain WBC Print, Bristol. Fabbro, F. (1999). The Neurolinguistics of Bilingualism. Psychology Press Ltd. Fromkin, V. , Rodman, R. , Hyams, N. (2006). An introduction to language (8th ed. ). Boston, MA Heinle Heinle. Palmer, F. R.(1976). Semantics a new outline. Cambridge New York Cambridge University Press. Geoffrey, F. (2005). Key Concepts In Language And Linguistics. the States Palgrave Macmillan. Kate, K. (2000). Semantics. Basingstoke, England, Macmillan. Katamba, F. (2006). Morphology. Basingstoke Macm illan Press. Marie E. John P. (1991). Language and Learning. Melbourne Oxford University Press O Mally, J. M. , Chamot, A. U. (1990). Learning strategies in second language acquisition. Cambridge University Press. Matthews, P. H. (1997). Oxford Concise Dictionary of Linguistics. Oxford. University Press, USA.Peter, R. (2000). English Phonetics and Phonology. Cambridge University Press. Ronald, W. (2006). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. USA Blackwell Publishing. Widdowson, H. G. (1990). Aspects of Language Teaching. Oxford University Press. Wikepedia Sociolinguistics (n. d. ). Retrieved 30 October 2007 from http//en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Sociolinguistics Wikepedia Anthropological linguistics (n. d. ). Retrieved 30 October 2007 from http//en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Anthropological_linguistics Yule, G. (2006). The study of language (3rd ed. ). Cambridge, New York Cambridge University Press.

Investigating motion using video processing software Essay Example for Free

Investigating motion using video processing software EssayWe switched on the laptop and connected the mesh cam into the USB. Once this was done we made sure that the web cam was working correctly and as soon as this watched checked we began to set up the practical check of the experiment. We then pressed record on the web cam using the software VISILOG and recorded the ball being thrown in the air coterminous to a vertical ruler (one metre). Once this had been done we stopped the recording and the replayed the video and once we were happy, using the software, we recorded the position of the ball frame by frame. to a lower place are the results for the inaugural part of the experiment Results Time (s) Height (m) Speed (m/s) Acceleration (m/s2)We can then draw a represent using the results and the first graph I have pull (graph one) is of height of coerce ball against sequence taken. Therefore, as we can see from the graph if a tangent is drawn we can front the gradient. The gradient of both sides of the parabola graph is shown on graph one.From the graph we can that as the squash ball is thrown the height of it increases as time increases and as it reaches its rush the ball speed is expected to decrease due to forces acting on (gravity) and therefore the ball drops down again. The gradient of the graph also calculates the speed (which can be seen of the graph) of the ball because of the formula Distance = Speed Time therefore Speed = Distance / Time From these results a reciprocal ohm graph of speed against time can also be made, which is graph deuce. Again from this graph we can draw tangents and then work out the gradient. employ the gradient we can also work out the acceleration due to the formula Acceleration = change in speed / change in time Therefore acceleration = gradient. disrupt Two Method We used the same equipment for the second stage of the experiment but instead of recording the ball thrown in the air we recorded it as a projecti le. To measure the displacement we used metre rules to measure horizontally as well as vertically. at a lower place are the results from the experiment Results See next page From this table we can draw out a lot of information and from this I have produced a graph of horizontal displacement and vertical displacement (graph three).From the graph we can see that as horizontal displacement increases so does vertical displacement until its compass point of 0. 34 m. once the squash ball reaches this height it begins to fall back down due forces acting on it. After the vertical height reaches its peak it starts to decrease but the horizontal displacement continues to increase. From the graph we can also calculate the gradient, which I have done and this can be seen on the graph. Part Three Method We got a step ladder and to the top of it we attached a wooden beam to it using clamps.Then we got three springs and attached them unneurotic and once this was done we attached the springs to the wooden beam using string. We then added a mass to the springs and recorded the oscillations it did using the camera. Below are the results for this Results See next page From the results (which is a rather long set of data) we can produce a graph and this graph is a sine wave. Within the wave, it can be seen that just about 4 oscillations have been made by the spring. The time taken for 1 oscillation is called the period T. In this case the period T for 1 oscillation is about 1. 31 seconds as shown on the graph.The number of oscillations per unit time is the frequency, f = 1 / T. Therefore, using the formula we can calculate the frequency of one oscillation, which is f = 1 / T f = 1 / 1. 31 f = 0. 763358778 f = 0. 76 Hz Furthermore as the weight units on the spring move about on a fixed point it means that the wave can be described as a mavin harmonic motion and the acceleration is proportional to its displacement (see graph four for more details) Conclusion Therefore, in conc lusion I have shown many things in this three part experiment. For each part, I have produced graphs and shown the results table that I have analysed as well.For the first part of the experiment we can see that from the graphs the squash balls speed increases as it let go from the hand and then as it reaches its peak it begins to lose its speed and comes down, which is also due to forces acting upon the graph. Part two of the experiment is similar in respects and the difference is that it was a projectile instead. And the third part shows the spring oscillating from a ladder when a weight is attached to it. For more on these look at the graphs I have produced and the analysis beneath each part of the experiment.

Whistleblowing Ethics and Policies

Whistleblowing Ethics and PoliciesWhistleblowing occurs when an employee shits avouchation. However, concord to Armstrong, 90 of whistleblowers suffer from dismissal or demotions, 27 approach legal actions, 26 were referred to medical treatment, 17 went homeless, and 8% bankrupted. Whistleblowers may suffer some kind of harassment, lower performance evaluations, punitive transfer or emphasis by their fellow colleagues and/or superiors if they remain operative in the organisation (Dellaportas al., 2005). Therefore, whistleblower security department is important to encourage employees in unc everyplaceing any fraud, and visualise that channels are open for whistleblowing. Supporting effective protection for whistleblowers merchant ship do advantages such as promoting an open organisational culture where employees have confidence in the reporting procedures, preventing and disclosing bribery in commercial transactions, safeguarding integrity, enhancing accountability, and sup porting a clean business environment (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2012).One toilette adopt a prescriptive strategy when facing tough ethical choices as it can help people to evaluate and think carefully so as to prevent them from making irrational decisions. Normative moral philosophy provides several philosophical approaches for making sound ethical decisions and it can be categorized into three parts (a) consequentialist, (b) deontological and (c) virtue guess (Trevino Nelson, 2004).The consequentialist opening focuses attention on the results or consequences of the decision or action (Trevino Nelson, 2004). It includes philosophical approaches like self-assertion and utilitarianism. Egoism promotes an individuals long-term interests while utilitarianism holds ethical actions as those done for the greatest good or to axiomize total utility (Ferrell, Fraedrich, Ferrell, 2000). On the contrary, the deontological theory focuses on the rights of ind ividuals and on the intentions associated with a particular behavior instead than on its consequences (Ferrell, Fraedrich, Ferrell, 2000) and it embraces philosophical approaches like Kantianism and safeice. Kantianism revolve around tariff, non end goals or emotions, and their actions are performed according to some underlying principle or maxim that are entirely protestent from one another (e.g. honesty, fairness and justice), while the philosophical view of justice is rooted in ones belief in clean-living equity and equitable treatment for everyone concerned with a questionable action. Lastly, the virtue ethics approach focuses more on the integrity of the good actor than on the moral act itself (Trevino Nelson, 2004).The above-mentioned normative ethical theories can be applied to decide if employees should have a affair to blow the whistle on unethical/illegal acts or not.From the swellheads point of view, it is rare that employees will face the dilemma of deciding w hether to blow the whistle. Be it due to fear of being investigated by the authorities or fear of being reported to the authorities as a scapegoat for following the policies, employees will seldom face these problems if they adhere to the egoism approach (Clairmont, 2011). According to Clairmont (2011), well-known whistleblowers (e.g. Ellsberg, Manning and Deep Throat) will never even consider whistleblowing if they follow the egoism method of making ethical decisions. This is because the upcoming get to/trouble that they will face after they blow the whistle will deter them from doing so. As such, egoist employees will feel that it is not a vocation but rather a choice to blow the whistle on unethical or illegal acts. They will only blow the whistle if it is within their self-interest and if they are not negatively affected in any way. However, some argue that if one is to take the negative consequences of whistleblowing into consideration, some degree of egoist traits appears t o be acceptable (Clairmont, 2011).From a utilitarian thought, the act of whistleblowing is seen as the calculation results of different foreseen consequences, and the impact of possible consequences on the conflicting loyalties (Padgett, 2009). The availability of alternatives and whether the benefits of whistleblowing outweigh the terms determine the choice of whether or not to blow the whistle. According to Bentham (1996), acts that create the most amount of happiness for the majority should be treated as morally obligatory acts. Moreover, unlike the egoism approach, the utilitarianism approach encourages one to treat others wellbeing as a heavily weighted factor when making an ethical decision. Hence, whistleblowing should be considered as a duty when it is known that the consequences of non-disclosure will result in extremely negative impacts on the public.John Stuart Mills utilitarian perspective can withal be used to discuss whether whistleblowing should be a duty. His uti litarian principle of do no hurt supports the idea that whistleblowing is a duty if a non-disclosure act should cause harm since this principle holds that ones actions should prevent harm to others. Harm in this case can take a variety of forms and it is not just limited to instances of physical injuries. The intensity and amount of harm that the problem can bring also determines whether whistleblowing should be an obligation. Mill also emphasizes that one should be responsible for others if his inaction happen to cause harm to them. If one sees a responsibility to prevent others from being harmed, then blowing the whistle on acts that may cause harm to others will appear to be at least partially justified based on Mills principle of do no harm (Padgett, 2009).From the Kantian perspective, employees should have a duty to blow the whistle on unethical or illegal acts because it is the right thing to do. They are morally responsible to inform the public and/or stakeholders about the wrongdoings because the motive of moral action is more important than the potential consequences of not whistleblowing. Such courage to go against all betting odds and the possibility of punishment from the employer is necessary if those who are privy to immoral business practices are to make a positive contribution to the respect of consumer rights the world over (Masaka, 2007). Kant did not well-definedly state that whistleblowing should be a duty in all circumstances. However, what is clear from him is that he expects truth telling and the good will of the moral agent. Hence, based on these principles, one can will that an employee should blow the whistle if he/she has information of others or the organizations intentional wrongdoings (Padgett, 2009).Ones response to implementing a justice perspective would be identical to using a deontological moral philosophy. From the viewpoint of justice, employees would feel obligated to blow the whistle internally about any unethical or il legal action within the organization as the employers have the rights to know the truth about the misconduct. Hence, it will be unfair to the employers if the involved employees do not disclose the wrongdoings to them. Based on justice approach, whistleblowing externally should also be a duty because it will be unfair to all the stakeholders if the involved employees acquire not to blow the whistle. This is because these parties have the rights to know the truth about any misconduct that affects them.As mentioned above, consequentialism focuses on the consequences (outcomes) of the actions while deontology emphasizes on adhering to ethical duties. Virtue ethics differs in that the emphasis is based on being rather than doing.According to virtue theory, whistleblowing is the right thing to do because it requires one to tell the truth, to speak up/sound out and to emphasize with others, thus promoting positive virtues like honesty, courage and empathy. An employee who upholds any of these virtues will feel obliged to blow the whistle because it can break ones integrity. However, some argue that whistleblowing disregards virtues in different ways. For instance, whistleblowing can be seen as putting peoples lives at risk, publishing stolen data and degrading subjection, privacy and integrity of data (Backhaus Dodig Crnkovic, 2011). Hence, if we look from this point of view, whistleblowing should not be a duty. A common conflict with regards to whistleblowing is between the virtue of loyalty and honesty (Bowden, 2005). Many whistleblowers following this ethical approach will often face the dilemma of being truthful or remaining loyal to their organisation. Therefore, employees should weigh their priorities between these two virtues and choose a side loyalty or honesty.All in all, most of the ethical theories provide substantial grounds for discussing whistleblowing as a moral duty. From the utilitarian perspective, the duty to blow the whistle would follow fro m the principle of doing no harm and recognition of the extent to which our actions or inactions have significant consequences for the lives of others. From the deontological perspective (includes Kantianism and justice), it would consist of a duty to disclose the wrongdoing of another person (or organization) in recognition of the obligation to be truthful (Padgett, 2009). The virtue theory however provides two sides of the story whistleblowing should be a duty based on certain virtues (e.g. honesty) whereas whistleblowing should not be a duty based on other virtues (e.g. loyalty). When comparing honesty and loyalty which are the most crucial virtues with regards to whistleblowing, one can note that honesty will supplant loyalty if there is a conflict between the two, as honesty is considered as the most important part of any honor code (Fraschini, 2007). Hence, based on this, one can deduce that whistleblowing should be a duty from the virtue perspective. Egoism is the only ethica l theory that does not support whistleblowing as a moral duty. If we critically analyse the traits of this theory, one can observe that ethical egoism provides no moral basis for the resolution of conflicts of interest that form the only vindication for a moral code (Baier, 1990). Moreover, according to Rachels (2008), the ethical egoist may object that he cannot admit a construct of morality whose aim is merely to forestall conflicts of interest. As such, the egoism theory cannot be a good measure to determine whether whistleblowing should be a duty. Hence, based on all the above considerations, one can conclude that employees should have a duty to blow the whistle on misconduct.Since whistleblowing should be a duty, it is crucial that whistleblowers are under legal protection and have clear advocate on reporting procedures in Singapore. The provision of whistleblower protection encourages an open organisational culture where employees are not only assured of how to report but al so have the confidence in the reporting procedures. The protection of whistleblowers from retaliation for reporting in good faith suspected acts of corruption and other wrongdoing is therefore integral to efforts to combat corruption, promote public sector integrity and accountability, and support a clean business environment. Whistleblowing protection systems are widely implemented in the western countries. For instance, in Italy, proposed amendments to the Anti-Corruption Bill state that whistleblowers cannot be penalized, fired or submitted to any direct or indirect discrimination, which would have an impact on the working conditions directly or indirectly linked to the report. Protection is also provided under the U.S. law, against less severe disciplinary actions, such as admonishments or reprimands (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2012).On the contrary, whistleblowing legislation in Asia is not as sophisticated or as robust as it is in the US (Lord Col e, 2012). The workplace cultures in Asian differ from those in the West. Family businesses promote a distinct sense of patronage within themselves that are incredibly collective. Foreign companies operating in Asia reveal that the staff is not only loyal to the company, but also to their bosses and line managers (Lord Cole, 2012). These cultural norms hinder whistleblowing to prosper. However in recent years, Asian countries take whistleblowing seriously and are aware of Dodd-Frank, for example.Singapore code of CG expanded the role of the Audit Committee (AC) in Guideline 12.4 of the 2012. There are some changes made to the whistle-blowing provisions in the 2012 companies should disclose in its annual report the existence of a whistle-blowing policy, and the procedures for raising whistle-blower should be publicly disclosed as appropriate (Ernst Young, 2012). These changes align Singapores corporate establishment practice in this area closely with that of the UK and US. Accordin g to a Singapore Institute of Directors survey, 70% of the listed companies have a whistleblower policy compared to 20% quintet years ago. Another 8% said they did not have a policy but intended to introduce one, while 3% reported that they had no plans to introduce whistleblowing (Deloitte, 2011). Koreas ACRC Act also provides protection against financial or administrative disadvantages, such as the cancellation of a permit or license, or the revocation of a contract (Park , 2008).In conclusion, based on the philosophical approaches, employees should have a duty to blow the whistle. Therefore, whistleblowers need to under legal protection and have clear guidance on reporting procedures. Protecting whistleblowers from retaliation can (a) promote public sector accountability, (b) combat corruption, and (c) support a clean business environment. Whistleblowing protection policy has been widely implement in the Western countries. Recently, Asian countries also take whistleblowing serio usly and reinforce their whistleblower policy.

ZARA Clothing Performance Analysis

ZARA Clothing Performance AnalysisZara is the bounteousst division and flagship brand of the Spanish retail group Inditex. It sells up-to-the-minute stylusability at low prices, in stores that argon clearly pore on one particular market (Slack, 2006). The first store opened by accident in 1975 due to a large pyjamas order poopcellation. This typic aloney net be said to be an emergent system as the Zara store today was not an int ratiocinationed strategy.Vertically integrated, Zara controls just about of the processes in the supply chain whereby 50% of the ingatherings be manufactured in Spain, 26% in the rest of Europe and 24% in Asian countries. Zara outsources products of full(prenominal) elbow grease intensive processes but maintains in-house capital intensive processes, protecting knowledge and know-how.It takes less than two weeks for a skirt to get from Zaras formulate team in Spain to a Zara stores in any part of the globe, as much as 12 times faster than the compe tition. And with shorter lead times, Zara can ship fewer pieces, in a greater variety of styles, to a greater extent often and they can more easily cancel lines that dont sell as well, avoiding inventory backlogs. (Thinking Made Easy, 2009)This quick result capacity of Zara is made possible by the 3 main stages that define the competitive edge of the company design, manufacturing and distribution. This strategy is embraced to focus on the operations which can enhance cost efficiency and hence Zaras internalization. Other production activities are completed via a network of about 500 subcontractors in close law of proximity to Zaras operations at La Coruna.Mr. Ortega the CEO of the Inditex, the parent company of Zara, once said that the secret to retail success is to have five fingers touching the manufacturing plant and five touching the customer. (Nigel Slack, 2008)This paper uses the models and frameworks of the Operations Strategy module to describe analyze how Zaras operation s strategy led to a sustainable competitive return in the global apparel industry.What is Operations Strategy?Just as there is no overall agreement about what strategy means, there is no universal agreement on how operations strategy should be described. Four distinct perspectives have emerged on the description as illustrated in Fig. 1 below (Nigel Slack, 2008)Top down vs. Bottom upZara boosted its innovation in a fast changing market by adapting the bottom up perspective of strategy in its operations. This is a pigment driver of competitive advantage through constant innovation to develop pertly-products that provide customers with new perceived benefits.Zara benefits from an organizational nicety that allows information exchange, risk taking, experimentation and learning from failures.Market Requirements vs. Operations ResourceWhatever the operations strategy of an organization, it must in some way echo the requirements of the organizations market. The fashion market is a f ast changing one characterized by quick shifts in consumer demands. As described by Inditex CEO, Jose Maria Castellano, the fashion valet de chambre is in constant flux and is driven not by supply but by customer demand. We need to give consumers what they want, and if I go to due south America or Asia to make clothes, I simply cant move fast enough.How do Zaras operations resources help it to compete in its market?Zara has remained focused on its core philosophy that creativity and quality design together with a rapid response to market demands will yield profitable results. Its argumentation model incorporates the following functional goalsTo develop a system the requires short lead timesTo decrease production quantities and inventoryTo increase variety of styles/choice.We can deduce that operations strategy is concerned with the reconciliation of market requirements and operations resources.Key drivers of this reconciliation are the importance of setting appropriate performan ce objectives and savvy the decision areas that determine resource deployment.Factors affecting Zaras Strategic DecisionsCapacityZara employs a chase demand capacity management in its operations. Spare manufacturing capacity is reflect in the companys storage function, where up to 400 extra staff can be drafted in during busty periods. As new stock delivery schedules are regimented, customers know when new stock is due and traffic in stores is heavier at such times. As a result, the company is able to adjust its resources to match the demands as appropriate. Procurement and production planners make preliminary, but crucial, estimates of manufacturing costs and available capacity. The cross-functional teams can examine prototypes in the hall, choose a design, and commit resources for its production and introduction in a few hours, if necessary. (Ferdows Kasra, 2005)A small change in retail orders, for example, can result in wide fluctuations in factory orders after its ancestral t hrough upstanding sales agreementrs and distributors. In an industry that traditionally allows retailers to change a maximum of 20 percent of their orders once the season has started, Zara lets them adjust 40 percent to 50 percent. In this way, Zara avoids costly overproduction and the subsequent sales and discounting prevalent in the industry.Supply NetworksThe vertical Integration advantage can be seen in Zaras centralized logistics and distribution.Zara designs around 10,000 new models every year and replenishes ranges within every one of its 650 retail stores twice per week, but in strictly limited quantities of stock. This ensures Zaras brand auspicate to customers of exclusivity, and also of design freshness. But it also avoids build-up of large quantities of unpopular stock. Zaras system has to deal with something in the realm of 300,000 new stock-keeping units (SKUs), on average, every year. (Ferdows Kasra, 2005). It outsources less manufacturing (only childbed intensive tasks mainly the sewing) than its competitors hence can react quickly to seasonality and unforeseen demand. Zara avoids building inventories in any part of its supply chain from raw materials to end user.Process TechnologyZaras communication and coordination through high technology information systems is one of Zaras success factors relative to its competitors. Its customized handheld computers support the connection between the retail stores and headquarters. These PDAs transmit all kinds of information (hard data as orders and sales trends and such soft data as customer reactions and the buzz around a new style). The constant flow of up meshd data mitigates the so-called bullwhip effect-the tendency of supply chains (and all open-loop information systems) to amplify small disturbances.Development and OrganizationThis fast fashion system depends on a constant exchange of information throughout every part of Zaras supply chain-from customers to store managers, from store managers t o market specialists and designers, from designers to production staff, from buyers to subcontractors, from store managers to distributors, and so on Zaras organization, operational procedures, performance measures, and even its office layouts are all designed to make information transfer easy.By having operations in close- proximity to its headquarters allowed for better and faster communication between functional areas for faster decision making.Key success objectives for Zaras PerformanceSpeed Speed and reactivity to Market, Zara has changed the way clothing industry works where deigning, production and delivery to the retailers requires period of six months. The design and distribution cycle of the company takes just 10-15days in the whole process. Zaras speed to market in product development exceeds the capabilities of its competitors. This in itself provides additional value to stakeholders, customers, and stores in producing quality clothing at affordable prices. The proxim ity of their manufacturing and operational processes allows Zara to maintain the flexibility necessary to design and produce over 12000 new items annually. This capability allows Zara to achieve their strategy of expedited response to consumer demand. The process of obtaining market information and relaying it to design and production teams expedites product development by shortening the throughput time of their products from design to store.Dependability Due to Zaras ownership and control of production, they ensure timely delivery and service. Although about of their stores run out of stock, signifying that they have low dependability in terms of product availability, another perspective of dependability in terms of keeping to date with fashion is achieved.Quality Zara brand is synonymous with the cutting edge of fashion at affordable prices. Another Quality advantage is the added sense of quality to the product as the tags would be labelled with made in Europe rather than made in China due to Zaras trade-off between Low labour costs in Asia and operational efficiency.Flexibility Designers (of average age 26) draw the design sketches then discuss it with market specials and planning procurement staff illustrating a flexibility of ideas generation and on the other hand the huge number of designs reflects the ability to meet almost all the fashion requirements by customers of all ages (up to 55). This adaptive model rather than traditional merchandising is very different from its competitors. Many competitors rely on a small elite design team that plans both design and production needs well in advance. Stores have little autonomy in deciding which products to display or put on sale because Headquarters plans accordingly and ships quantities as forecasted.Zara owned many of the fabric dying, processing and cutting equipment that provided Zara added control and flexibility to adopt new trends on demand. The added flexibility helped Zara on two fronts shorter le ad times and fewer inventories. (OPPapers.com, 2010)Cost Zara produces most of its products in Europe. Compared to their competitors, they outsource very little to Asia. Though the cost of production in Spain is 17-20% more expensive than Asia, Zara does have a competitive advantage over its competitors in regards to operations. Though there is a cost advantage in their approach in regards to labour, the lack of flexibility in changing orders based on current trends hinders their operational efficiencies. Inventory costs are higher for competitors because orders are placed for a whole season well in advance and then held in distribution facilities until periodic shipment to stores. Lower inventory cost is a key sustainable advantage as it enables Zara to manufacture and sell its products at cheaper prices.ConclusionThe smooth integration between Zara business organization strategy and it is operation strategy as illustrated in the strategic matrix below brought about a promotion of innovativeness through a blending of its performance objectives and decision areas. This aligned Zara operations with its business strategy, ensuring comprehensiveness, correspondence and coherence to achieve its mark in the garment industry as a world leader today.Zara has demonstrated that market flexibility and lead inventories may be even more important than cheap labour, an insight that just might reverse the and its success is based on controlling all the steps of manufacturing clothes from design to fabric to manufacturing, distribution and sales in order to cut costs and make huge gains in speed and flexibility. In the fashion industry, where trends change daily, Getting a good strategic mix in operations is key to a retailers survival.

Rise And Fall Of Joseph Stalin

Rise And F alone Of Joseph StalinJoseph Stalin, a man of great ambition and power, played a signifi hindquarterst role in the transformation of Russia throughout the twentieth century and up until his death in 1953. Joseph Stalin was a coldblooded leader, capable of provoking revolutionary loyalty in his followers. Nikita Khrushchev, who followed Stalin to power, described Stalins guidance as creating a fad of personality. What gave Stalin such power? Was it because he could persuade people on his behalf? Was it his rise to power along with the rise of industrialization? Or did he simply perform a cult? Stalins success likely derived from a combination of all trine. Its undeniable however that Stalins leadinghip played a massive role in the pre decease portrayal of Russia. By the 1930s, he managed to lead Russia into the industrial age and at the same time alter the Soviet people into a obstinate and modern nation able to counter the Western powers. Stalin was without a doubt an aggressive yet remarkable leader, and it would be tested when World warfare cardinal broke out in Europe in 1941. He characteristically differentiateed vigorous attacks and was willing to take risks with the lives of his soldiers, and urged the Central Committee to discharge commanders that proven futile. Stalins sort during the civil war anticipated exactly the role he would play as Leading Commander throughout World War Two. However, it was this behavior and his fear of losing power that would haunt him until his death in 1953.Born into a dysfunctional family in the mountains of Georgia in 1879, Joseph Stalin from childhood embraced his strong proclivity for magnificence and respect. Joseph was a devout Orthodox, and often involved himself in sermons. Due to an early outbreak of smallpox and a deformed arm as a child, Stalin matte inferior to many intellectuals and from that point on he would distrust many of the people hed meet in his future. Because Stalin grew up in a dangerous colony where blood feud persisted, he learned to crush any individuals that would attempt to harm him.Georgian popular culture had a broad emphasis on honour. This involved loyalty to family, friends and clients. Joseph by contrast felt no lasting obligation to anybody. He was later to execute in-laws, veteran fellow leaders and unit groups of communists whose patron he had been. On the surface he was a good Georgian. He hosted lavish dinner partieshe dand guide children on his knee. But his sense of traditional honour was non-existent (Service 27).Through a traumatic childhood event, where he witnessed the hanging of two local Georgian men, Joseph learned that say power was an essential performer in any society, and that if changes in government were to ever happen, force would be a key component to go against the status quo. Prior to his engagement in school education, Joseph loved Georgian literature including thirteenth century epic poetry such as The Patricide by A lexander Qazbegi, a story about the great resistance against Russian Imperial power in the 19th century. When he began attending school, he was soon to be recognise as a competent student that was well-be hold ind and quick to learn. By the end summer in 1894, Joseph had completed his term at the Board of the Gori Spiritual School, and was recommended to attend the capital of Georgia Spiritual Seminary. The school itself followed many rules, which ranged from prohibiting students to just spending up to an hour a day in the city, to only being allowed to speak and write Russian. Inevitably, Josephs desire for more power and intellect led him to join the rebel students. Through his rebellious acts, he acquired texts by Marx, Darwin, Plekhanov and Lenin. During his attendance, Marxism was on the rise and he would non vary to learn in its tenets. By the end of his term at Tiflis Spiritual Seminary, Stalin lost interest in poetry and religion, and began to focus on his case of soci alism, Marxism, stintings and politics. During the Revolution in 1905, Stalin along with other Marxist and Bolshevik organizations across Russia were involved in a series of thefts from banks to help fund their party. Lenin and Stalin, who were immobile supporters of Bolshevism, demanded for money to help sustain the party. By the end of 1906, Stalin was well-recognized in Georgia as The next Lenin.In 1913, Stalin, along with other Bolshevik leaders were sent to exile in northeast Siberia. Their planned term of life in exile was cut short however, when in March of 1917, news came to Stalin that Nicholas II of Russia abdicated his localize as ruler, thus ending the reign. A Provisional Government was formed on March 3rd, with Prime pastor Prince Lvov, cabinet members made up of Constitutional-Democrats, and Minister Alexander Kerenski. Immediately, Stalin and Kamenev were demanding a revolutionary democratic dictatorship. On their journey back to Petrograd, both Kamenev and Stalin agreed that they would seize function of the Bolshevik Central Committee in the capital. The Central Committee was not pleased with the arrival of Kamenev, when they discover which side he, Stalin, and Muranov were taking in the political debate. The Committee members were determined to avoid giving the three of them high ranks. Over the next few months, Stalin, who did not adopt all of Lenins policies which demanded state ownership of the land, argued that it would alienate peasants who wished to control the countryside. Stalin and Kamenev both agreed that in stray for their Bolshevik party to grow, they had to convince everyone that they were the only party in Russia that could bring peace. Inevitably, the Provisional Government ran into difficulties, mainly due to the prolongation of the war with Germany and the dislocation of the economy. victuals supplies fell. Factories faced closures as metal, oil and other raw materials failed to be delivered. Banks ceased to bail out i ndustrial enterprises. The civilian administrative system, which was already creaking under wartime strains, started to collapse. catch and communication became unreliableWorkers called for higher pay and secure employment. Soldiers in the garrisons supported a peace policy they were horrified by the possibility of being transferred to the crusade line (Service 128).By 1918, Civil war broke out between the Red and White groups. Slowly overtime, Stalin and other Bolshevik groups begin to seize control. It was not until 1922, when Stalin was appointed to General Secretary of the Communist Partys Central Committee. Stalin understood his power, and used it against the committee, and it was not until much later that the organization came to a realization of what he was planning. The only person who could challenge Stalin, was Lenin, who was near death after a series of strokes. In due course, Stalin became the leader of the country up until Mikhail Gorbachev. After Lenins death in 1924 , Stalin went about destroying the ally commanders. At first, hed remove them from their posts and exiled abroad. Stalin was still not satisfied, however, when he culminated a series of show trials in the 1930s against the founding fathers of the Soviet junction. Stalin successfully managed to manipulate the public of Russia that these revolutionaries were enemies of the people. Driven by his own sense of inferiority, Trotsky along with any other intellectual professionals were liquidated or sent into exile. The First Moscow tribulation incriminate Grigory Zinoviev and Lev Kamenev, two prominent party leaders, of attempted assassination of Stalin. The two were sentenced to death. The Second Moscow Trial involved Karl Radek, Yuri Piatakov, Leon Trotsky and Grigory Sokolnikov, in which they were said to have conspired with national socialist Germany. Most were either sentenced to death or exile. The third and closing trial, known as The Trial of the Twenty-One involved Nikolai Buk harin, Alexei Rykov, Nikolai Krestinsky, Christian Rakovsky, and Genrikh Yagoda. The twenty-one members were accused of be to the Bloc of Rightists and Trotskyites. All the leading defendants were executed except Rakovsky and two others. Through a series of purges in 1936-38, Stalin became the sole intellectual force of Russia, and began to pursue an economic policy which would mobilize the entire country to achieve rapid industrialization, so that he may stand alongside with other Capitalist leaders.To this end, he forcefully collectivized agriculture, instituted the Five-Year Plans to coordinate all investment and production in the country, and undertook a massive program of building heavy industry. Although the Soviet Union boasted that its economy was go while the Capitalist world was experiencing the Great Depression, and its industrialization drive did succeed in rapidly creating an industrial infrastructure where there once had been none, the fact is that all this was done at exorbitant cost in human livesand the discovery of a source of cheap labor through the arrest of millions of innocent citizens led to countless millions of deaths from the worst man-made famine in human history and in the camps of the Gulag (Abamedia 1).Inevitably, Stalin managed to make Russia a world power, only to the demise of millions of innocent people.In the early hours of August 24, 1939 Stalin came to agreements with Hitler a ten-year non-aggression pact. The agreement, which took place in Molotovs office in Kremlin, ended six years of mutual discrepancy between the Soviet Union and the Third Reich. Stalin, who was greatly pleased and signed the treaty which ultimately divided the northern regions of Eastern Europe into two areas. Stalin believed that he and Hitler had a truce, thus he refused to listen to any warnings in 1941 that Hitler was planning a massive attack. On May 5, 1941, Stalin addressed a speech in Moscow which declaredWar with Germany is inevitable. If c omrade Molotov can manage to postpone the war for two or three months through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that will be our good stackUntil now we have conducted a peaceful, justificatory policy and weve also educated our army in this sprit. But now the situation essential be changed. We have a strong and well-arm army. A good defense signifies the need to attack. Attack is the best form of defenseWe must now conduct a peaceful, antitank policy with attack (Service 407).As Hitler began to take over France, Stalin realized it was only a matter of time before Germany would attempt to takeover Russia. If the Soviet state would fail to defeat the German armed forces, it would mean the end of the communist party. On the 23rd of June, Stalin worked with the members of the Supreme Command to plan for war. Over the next few days, the members would vote on Supreme Commander. It was not until the 10th of July, that Stalin was appointed the position. As the three million German forces crept closer to Moscow, panic began to pervade all of USSR. Because the forces had been removed of its best commanders in the 1930s, it took much time for the Soviets to reorganize. owing to Stalins purges the army was to all intents and purposes leaderless. In this respect Hitler was right in declaring that the Red Army was a headless giant, and in hurrying to invade the Soviet Union while its head had still not regrown (Wegner 381). Stalin ordered that armament production be boosted, along with labor discipline be tightened and food supplies be secured from villages. Stalin encouraged enhancing the Soviet defensive position along the USSRs western borderlands. Hence the takeover of the Baltic States and the move into Romania (Roberts 122). Unfortunately, the lack of military experience by Stalin was detrimental to their early success. After the battle for Minsk came to a close, Stalin lost more than 400,000 Red Army parade to German forces. The Soviet air force had been destroye d, and the areas of transport and communications throughout USSR had been shattered.In October of 1941 the German forces, having lunged across the plains and marshes to the east of the River Bug, were massing outside Moscow for a final thrust at the USSRs capital. Critical decisions needed to be taken in the Kremlin. The initial plan was for the entire government to be evacuated to Kuibyshev on the Volga. Stalin was set to blank out by train and Lenins embalmed corpse, was prepared for the journey to Tyumen in west Siberia. Moscow appeared likely to fall to the invader before winterand Stalin, could scarcely expect that Hitler would hand him his life in the event of the increasingly probable German victory (Service 420).From 1941 to 1945, the forces under the command of Stalin ordered approximately 50 different strategic operations, nearly a quarter of which were defensive. Because of Stalins lack of military knowledge, he was not able to forecast any future attacks by Hitler. then many of the battles were spontaneous defensive battles, which was mainly due to the lack of preparation in long-term strategy for the whole USSR. As military leader, Stalin attempted to maintain morale of his forces through performer of Stalinist methods and propaganda. He would pay less attention to strengthening the roles of his commanders and political commissars, and focus more on violence and punishment. It was not until Zhukov, one of Stalins assisting commanders, concluded that they must abandon the Ukrainian capital in order to conserve resources and human lives. Stalin, who did not agree with Zhukov, followed through with the plan. charm Zhukov worked on a campaign, Stalin promoted the expansion of the armed forces. Miraculously, Stalins war slogan Everything for the Front helped provide a massive economic boost. In the second half of 1942, Stalin managed to have the USSR produce 15,000 aircrafts and 13,000 tanks. However as a result, farms fell out of production and a deeper impoverishment of the countryside. By November, Stalin and Zhukov arranged a new operation called Uranus. Operation Uranus consisted of a series of telegrams, in which Stalin would order a series of attacks to crush the enemy. Thus Hitler would order his fellow general to break into Stalingrad, which had been prepared with Russian army groups. The battle persisted until February 2, 1943, when German resistance finally ceased. Stalingrad was a Soviet city again. Following the war, Stalin met in the Teheran, Yalta, and Potsdam Conferences and ordered for the Soviet Union to directly seize property from conquered nations. Stalin managed to successfully negotiate with the other leaders and secured three seats for Russia at the UN, and took control the Baltic States, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania. Communist governments were installed in the newly controlled territories, and many people began to leave. The Soviet Union was now a recognized superpower wo rldwide, having its own permanent seat with the Security Council, giving Stalin the respect hed been dreaming his whole life.The strains of the Second World War on Stalin were great, by this time he was old, a long-term smoker and drinker, and was inevitably driving him to an earlier death. After the suicide of his wife, Stalin and his family began to lead odd lives. While Stalin lived, however, his policies remained unchallengeable. He was not abruptly inflexible and most war-related decisions were kept in policy. While many of the churches had been reopened due to the war thrived, Stalin consented to act as unofficial ambassador for the peace policy of the USSR government. Thus the Russian Orthodox Church began to occupy previously recognized Christian buildings. Cultural expression became as wide as the war, where the level of material cooking for Soviet citizens maintained the Stalinist mindset. While Stalin did not play for an economy of shortage, he still aimed to expand the supply of food and industrial products through the retail trade. Stalin agreed that in order to stimulate the production and distribution of consumer goods, he would have to cease wartime inflation. As a result, in December of 1947, Stalin declared the devaluation of the ruble, bring down its value to a tenth of what it had been valued at.At the end of January in 1953, Stalins physician Miron Vovsi was arrested in relation to The Doctors Plot. This plot was an alleged conspiracy made by Stalin, which would nearly bring purges again to Russia. The conspiracy would eliminate the leadership of the Soviet Union by means of highly regarded Jewish doctors. Khrushchev, along with others, suggested that Stalin had long held prejudicious attitudes towards Jews that had manifested prior to the 1917 Russian Revolution. Further suspicions of Stalins crudeness towards Jews were seen through the elimination of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee in 194 and his campaign referred to as rootless co smopolitans. The Soviet dictator accused nine doctors plotting to poison and kill the Soviet leadership. The convicted men were arrested, and at Stalins order, were tortured until they confessed. Within days of the doctors arrest, however, Stalin who was in terrible health was rapidly deteriorating. His high-blood pressure, along with his unhealthy lifestyle, led to his eventual coma. Four days later, Stalin briefly regained consciousness, and demanded the leading members of the party be brought for a conference. As a last sign of life, Joseph Stalin raised his left hand arm, only to die moments later. He remained a hero to the people of Russia until Nikita Krushchev, the new leader of the Soviet Union, made a prominent speech to the Party congress in 1956. The speech attacked the policies of Stalin and revealed how Stalin was responsible for the execution of thousands of loyal communists during the purges.In the months following Krushchevs speech, thousands of the imprisoned und er Stalins order were released. Attempts were further made to completely erase Stalins cypher from the Soviet Union. Public statues and portraits of the leader were removed, and parks and streets were renamed after being originally named after Stalin. Stalingrad, which had been associated with Stalin during both the Civil War and World War Two, was renamed Volgagrad. Finally, Stalins ashes were removed from the Kremlin Wall. While images and names of the leader were removed from the public domain, the system which Stalin had worked for still remained. The state which protected Soviet leaders was to stay unchanged for the next thirty years, until Mikhail Gorbachev took control in the 1980s. The Cold War continued, gulags remained operational, and the totalitarian government remained. The world was finally permitted to access the records of Stalin and his crimes after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the conclusion of the Cold War, and the final end of the Soviet Union in 1991-92. While most of the contemporaries working under Stalin managed to hide the corruption behind Stalins past, many people still managed to acquire some information against the cruel dictator.In the end, just as we may never gain full knowledge of his past crimes, we may never seize an exacting understanding of his motivations and personality. For decades, Stalin and his committee members managed to justify their deeds by saying that their goal, the building of a utopia, necessitated the sacrifice of any number of lives. In order to make a life which would better the whole, lives must be surrendered. While Stalin believed he never reached a complete Communist society, he did prove that his tactics such as collectivization and the Five-Year Plan guided toward an ideology that focused on Totalitarian control. While the world continues to suffer, it is important to realize Stalins unbridled desire for power can devastate millions of lives. His egocentric personality not only was detrimental to t he Russian people, but to countries across the globe. While he may be revered as a man who greatly contributed to Russias success as a world superpower, it is undeniable that it was at the cost of something much more important. While he was a political genius, it was his paranoid loss of power which led to his demise. Joseph Stalin will always be remembered as a ruthless leader of Russia, and while he may have been erased from the public streets, he will always remain in the thoughts and prayers of the people in Russia and across the globe.

Buy Essay Online: Dishonest Odysseus of Homers Odyssey -- Odyssey ess

The Dishonest Odysseus of Odyssey Once he returns to Ithaca, Odysseus displays dishonest behavior and does not once tell a person who he actually is when first meeting him. Odysseus hides his identity at first, whether by actively lying or passively not correcting their erroneous beliefs. He tells Pallas Athena, first, that he is from Crete, had killed a man there, and had gotten a ride with some Phoenicians to Ithaca. He tells Eumaios that he grew up in Crete, went to Troy for the Trojan War, returned to Crete afterward and traveled to raid Egypt, where he was captured by Egyptians. Odysseus (as the beggar) says that he grew wealthy in Egypt, but was taken in by a man who meant to sell him as a slave. He tells that he fly, and found refuge in Thesprotia. Then on his way back home to Crete, people tried to make him a slave again, he escaped again (although in a different fashion), and he ended up in Ithaca. Except for the fact that its the story of a hard life, this bears absolute ly no relation to the actual story of Odysseus. He tells everyone (or lets them believe) nearly the same tale to everyone else that he meets in Ithaca before he kills the suitors. There be a few noticeable differences that we will get to, but one must be consistent in ones lies, after all, in enemy-held territory. subsequently killing the suitors, he tells Laertes a completely different lie, mostly centering around him (Odysseus as the stranger) having seen Odysseus alive after the Trojan War. Odysseus lies to his enemies for obvious reasons he doesnt want them to know that Odysseus has returned. He starts off lying to his allies and friends for similar reasons. The only people who he can allow to know his identity are those he has te... ...and has to fight down his emotions, so we can relate to him. Ultimately, though, he keeps his self-control and wins out in the end, making him a true hero and a fine character. Works Cited and Consulted Bloom, Harold , Homers Odyssey Edited an d with an Introduction, NY, Chelsea House 1988Crane, Gregory , Calypso Backgrounds and Conventions of the Odyssey, Frankfurt, Athenaeum 1988 Heubeck, Alfred, J.B. Hainsworth, et al. A commentary on Homers Odyssey. 3 Vols. Oxford PA4167 .H4813 1988 Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. New York Vintage Books, 1989. Rengakos, Antonios. Homertext und die Hellenistichen Dichter. Hermes. Einzelschriften, Heft 64. Stuttgart, F. Steiner, 1993. Tracy, Stephen V. ,The news report of the Odyssey Princeton UP 1990 Van der Valk, Marchinus. Textual Criticism of the Odyssey. Leiden A.W. Sijthoff, 1949.

Earthquakes :: essays research papers

Earthquakes Earthquakes occur almost everyday all over the world. Most of the time temblors atomic number 18 not strong enough to be felt by people, but the shaking caused by an earthquake can be recorded by a seismometer. These machines are located all over the world to ensure detection of earthquakes of all strengths. Only occasionally will a larger magnitude earthquake strike and cause damage to the region. There are many faults around the world and depending on where these faults are plays a study factor in find where an earthquake will occur. It is these faults that are the reason for earthquakes. The information seismologists know about past earthquakes and earthquakes in general give them a limited ability to primarily predict when and where earthquakes are going to occur. An earthquake is the shaking of Earths surface caused by rapid movement of the earths rocky outmost layer. Earthquakes occur when tension stored in rocks suddenly releases (Vogt 12). Faults occur at t hese places where rocks on either attitude of the crack have moved. Oceans are very common places for major tectonic plates to shift. When two plates separate, new oceanic crust is made near the fault as magma rises and eventually sets on the sea floor. If the plates on either side of the fault continue to spread then the ocean slowly becomes larger in width. This is called seafloor spreading. Mid-ocean ridges are characterized by a crack like valley at the fault. This crack like valley is caused by the tension pulling the plates apart, causing normal faulting to occur a number of times in the divergent boundary. Shevchik 2The most common type of fault is a normal or dip-slip fault. These occur when two blocks of earth are thrust toward each other, causing cardinal to ride up over the other (Britt 1). The dangling wall moves downward relative to the footwall (Tarbuck 244). A reverse fault is the opposite of a normal fault. The hanging wall moves upward relative to the footwall (Ta rbuck 244). A very powerful type of fault is the strike-slip fault that occurs when two plates slide past one another. The San Andreas Fault in California is a very good example of this type of fault. A great deal of damage is done when any type of fault shakes the basis under structures in a low-lying, waterlogged areas, causing liquefaction. Liquefaction occurs when an earthquake shakes the wet, sandy soil near a body of water.