The Merchant of Venice Coursework Essay Shylock; Victim or Villain Example For Students

The Merchant of Venice Coursework Essay Shylock; Victim or Villain On the first reading of Shakespeares play, The Merchant of Venice, the character of Shylock the Jew seemed to me to be that of a villain. Because it is a play, an audience in Shakespeares time may well have thought the same and, indeed, may have been expected to do so. The reason for this is that Elizabethan audiences expected to be shown stereotypes and it is down to the skill of the dramatist to keep them guessing. As the play unfolds, the character of Shylock develops so that he can also be seen, by more discerning audiences, as a victim. Exploring this contrast between the two views is something I find very interesting. We will write a custom essay on The Merchant of Venice Coursework Shylock; Victim or Villain specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Throughout that part of the play in which he features, Shylock gives us many opportunities to see different aspects of the character that Shakespeare portrays, as I intend to show. Three thousand ducats. From Shylocks first words, Shakespeare shows him to be focussed on his job as a moneylender, which was one of the very few professions that Jewish men could have had in a Christian city. From the very beginning, an Elizabethan audience would have seen Shylock as a business man, driven by the unwavering desire for profit at the expense of the Christians whom he despises. When Bassanio comes to take out a loan in Antonios name, Shylock shows immediately that he will grant it I think I will take his bond. , but not for the reasons he gives to Bassanio. Although the Jew pretends friendship to the pair, I would be friends with you, and have your love, he is all the while plotting some way of ridding himself of Antonio, who, besides being a Christian, is a personal enemy of Shylock, How like a fawning publican he looks! I hate him for he is a Christian. This hatred, however, is not without a past. Shylock tells the audience how, by Antonios actions, his profits as a moneylender have been damaged, He lends out money gratis, and brings down the rate of usance. , and of how he has suffered on account of Antonios harsh words, You call me a misbeliever, cut-throat dog, and spit upon my Jewish gabardine. So even though Shylocks villainous side is on view, his hatred is not entirely without reason and with a thirst for vengeance such as his, you can see why he would feel the need for revenge. Shylocks apparent good humour lulls the two gentlemen into a false sense of security, so that when he insists on charging no interest, Antonio at least is not suspicious. Instead Shylock jokes with the pair saying that If you repay me not on such a day .. let the forfeit be nominated for an equal pound of your fair flesh. Even though his blood-thirsty bond shows Shylock to be both cruel and vindictive, I think that Antonios past actions are some justification for Shylocks attitude. Before Shylock leaves his house to attend Bassanios dinner party, he seems ill at ease. He calls for his daughter, Jessica, with strict instructions over her duties and her behaviour during his absence. Shylock seems unsure whether he should attend the supper, for he fears that in his absence something awful will happen, There is some ill a-brewing towards my rest, for I did dream of money bags tonight. , nevertheless he decides to go. The situation is made worse when Lancelot, who has recently left his job as Shylocks servant and has no reason to be afraid of him anymore, starts teasing the Jew about his premonitions and his wariness about leaving the house. It seems to me that Shylock leaving the house of an evening is a rare occurrence. Hear you me Jessica, lock up my doors. Shylocks obsession over every single detail shows his protectiveness of both his money and his daughter. Although this makes him seem very miserly, his reasons are understandable. As without his money he has no security nor any means of maintaining his social status. Shylocks attitude towards Jessica can be seen as either cruelty or over-protectiveness. I think it is the latter, mainly because in those days, it would be normal for a Jewish father with a daughter of marriageable age. On reading the play we can assume, because Jessica is the one managing the house and the fact that there is no reference to her mother being there, that she has had only her fathers attitude to relate to. In his turn Shylock would have had only the role-model of a traditional Jewish father to guide him. When he hears about the masque, Shylock immediately instructs Jessica to Stop my houses ears .. let not the sound of shallow foppery enter and not to thrust your head into the public street to gaze on Christian fools demonstrating his knowledge of how drunken young men might behave. Shylocks concerns however, are wasted on Jessica, who later that night plans to elope with Lorenzo, taking most of Shylocks money with her O Lorenzo .. I shall end this strife, become a Christian and thy loving wife. This dramatic irony may have proved entertaining to an Elizabethan audience, but it is really one of the worst things to happen to Shylock. To my mind, Act 2 Scene 8, where Shylock realises that Jessica has not only eloped, but taken a great deal of his money as well, seems to be one of the most tragic scenes in the play. This, however, is not its main purpose. In this scene the plot is moved forward, and the device used is two unimportant people, like a Greek chorus, telling us what has happened. The famous speech, My daughter! O my ducats! that is reported by Salarino and Solanio, serves to deflate Shylocks character, that had dominated the play before. Shylock had become hysterical. I never heard a passion so confused. As a result he has been made a public figure of fun, taunted by the boys of Venice as he wanders the streets, searching for his daughter. The way it is reported to the audience, is one that reinforces the Jewish stereotype: that he would value his money more than his daughter. Throughout this part of the scene, Shylock is never referred to by name, merely as the dog Jew or the villain Jew which is dismissive. The scene now looks forward to the parting of Antonio and Bassanio, as the two of them are separated. The reference to how deep the love is between them, and with affection wondrous sensible he wrung Bassanios hand, and so they parted. I think he only loves the world for him. , was added to lighten the mood, and to try to lift the doubt that has been set in the audiences mind after learning that a shipwreck has occurred in the Narrow Seas. This increases the dramatic tension, because if the ship belongs to Antonio then he will not be able to pay for the bond. This is especially worrying, as with Shylock raging for his lost daughter and money, he will have no qualms about exacting the penalty of a pound of flesh. This scene was used, I think, to create more of a contrast between the Jews and the Christians, and to increase the audiences dislike of Shylock. However, although Solanio and Salarino are trying to make Shylock look even more like a villain, the way they make fun of his loss and his grief, make him seem to me more a victim than ever. In Act 3 Scene 1, where Shylock next appears, his true character shows through most clearly. At the beginning, Solanio and Salarino confirm, that it was indeed one of Antonios vessels that was wrecked in the English Channel, and that they are concerned for him. When Shylock enters, the two men immediately begin to taunt and bait him, How now, Shylock, what news among the merchants? . .u6732f70f74d5087701b4df98026eef03 , .u6732f70f74d5087701b4df98026eef03 .postImageUrl , .u6732f70f74d5087701b4df98026eef03 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u6732f70f74d5087701b4df98026eef03 , .u6732f70f74d5087701b4df98026eef03:hover , .u6732f70f74d5087701b4df98026eef03:visited , .u6732f70f74d5087701b4df98026eef03:active { border:0!important; } .u6732f70f74d5087701b4df98026eef03 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u6732f70f74d5087701b4df98026eef03 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u6732f70f74d5087701b4df98026eef03:active , .u6732f70f74d5087701b4df98026eef03:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u6732f70f74d5087701b4df98026eef03 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u6732f70f74d5087701b4df98026eef03 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u6732f70f74d5087701b4df98026eef03 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u6732f70f74d5087701b4df98026eef03 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u6732f70f74d5087701b4df98026eef03:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u6732f70f74d5087701b4df98026eef03 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u6732f70f74d5087701b4df98026eef03 .u6732f70f74d5087701b4df98026eef03-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u6732f70f74d5087701b4df98026eef03:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: How would you direct Act3 Scene 1 of Romeo and Juliet for a contemporary audience at the Globe Theatre EssayFirst they try to get him to react to Jessicas flight, I for my part knew the tailor that made the wings she flew withal,. Then they press him on the fact that he appears to have lost his investment in Antonios ship, not realising that it is really the pound of flesh he desires, It will feed my revenge. . Knowing that Shylock is feeling vulnerable, they persistently harass him until he loses his temper. When Shylock does react, the duo get a lot more than they had bargained for. Beforehand Shylocks obsession with his bond has been showing through, underlining his thi rst for Antonios blood. He says repeatedly, Let him look to his bond. . When Shylock can stand it no longer, he makes one of the most famous speeches in the entire play, beginning I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? It is a speech that, to an Elizabethan audience, would have been years ahead of its time, looking at racism from an almost modern perspective. The effect was that although Solanio and Salarino managed to achieve what they had wanted in provoking Shylock, they actually ended up looking like fools, with Shylock as the more powerful character. When the pair leave, it is the signal for Shylocks associate, Tubal, to enter, bringing yet more bad news. After searching for news of Jessica, Tubal returns with what he has found, I often came where I did hear of her, but cannot find her. The way Shylock reacts to these tidings is to curse Jessica, I would my daughter were dead at my feet, and mourn the loss of his money and jewels, rather than her flight. I think that this is mainly because Shylock is still coming to terms with Jessicas betrayal and his mind is in a state of turmoil. Another reason however, could be that with the blow to his pride and the way he sees money as equal to status, he is covering up the hurt he feels inside by trying to give the impression to his fellow Jews that it is the money that is the greater loss. Tubal is an interesting character because you cannot tell whether he is on Shylocks side or not. Throughout the conversation he appears slightly two-faced, sometimes coming out with a piece of good news, other men have ill luck too. Antonio as I heard , at which Shylock becomes jubilant, I thank thee, good Tubal: good news a ha, and sometimes being very spiteful, Your daughter spent in Genoa, as I heard, one night four score ducats. Which instantly depresses Shylock again, Thou stickst a dagger in me. This scene initially shows Shylock as victim, owing to Salarino and Solanios taunts. This is emphasised by Tubals snide comments, more surprisingly as he is also a Jew. However the villainous aspect of Shylocks character also emerges. His words reveal his deep hatred of Antonio and the reason for them, I will have the heart of him if he forfeit, for were he out of Venice I can make what merchandise I will,. After it is found that all of Antonios ships have been wrecked, taking with them the means to repay Shylock, Antonio is taken to a prison to await trial. By way of the jailor, Antonio has managed to arrange a meeting with Shylock in the street, in the hope of reasoning with him, I pray thee hear me speak. Shylock of course is on the defensive, and as he believes that attack is the best form of defence, he is lashing out at any attempt of Antonios to reason with him, I will not hear thee speak in order to hide the vulnerability that he is feeling inside. In Solanios words, Shylock is an impenetrable cur and will not be moved from his resolution to have his pound of flesh. His reason well I know: I oft delivered from his forfeitures many that have at times made moan to me; therefore he hates me. This scene really sets out, the reasons why Shylock has such a hatred of Antonio. At this point, an Elizabethan audience would really see Antonio as the suffering martyr and would support him for his goodness and his bravery coupled with dry humour in the face of death, These griefs and losses have so baited me that I shall hardly spare a pound of flesh tomorrow to my bloody creditor. The reason that both Shylock and Antonio are so sure that the Jew will win his case is because in Venice, justice comes above even the Doge (or Duke) and that it is not prejudiced towards the many different races that flock to the City. The Duke cannot deny the law since that the trade and profit of the City consisteth of all nations. So even though Shylocks fixation on his bond is outwardly very villainous indeed, he is just trying to carry out the law, and his attitude is due to him being victimised in the past. Set in the courtroom of the Dukes palace in Venice, Act 4 scene 1 is the longest and most complex scene in the play. It brings together all the different characters and stories that have been developing throughout the play. Before Shylock has even entered the court, there is prejudice forming against him from the Duke and the friends of Antonio. Thou art come to answer a stoney adversary, an inhuman wretch. This should not have been allowed to happen as not even the Duke can go against the law and his judgement is supposed to be unbiased. I do oppose my patience with his fury and am armed to suffer with a quietness of spirit. Again Antonio is ingratiating himself with the audience and the people around him, in his portrayal of the goodly Christian. Whether or not he is sincere, it is hard to tell, but I am of the opinion that he is not as virtuous as we are led to believe, trying to get more support for his cause. This means that the people around him, as well as the audience, are bound to see Shylock as even more of a villain than they would in other circumstances. When Shylock does enter the courtroom, the Duke immediately begins to patronize him, I think so too, that thou but leadest this fashion of thy malice to the last hour of act giving the Jew a chance to drop the charges against Antonio, releasing him from the bond. This is the Dukes way of saying, all right Shylock, youve made your point, now let Antonio go and well say no more on the matter but as he had said a moment before, Shylock is Uncapable of pity, void and empty from any dram of mercy and so will not be swayed from his decision, and even if he did, it would be admitting that the Christians have won, which he would never do. The Duke then goes on to say, insensitively, Glancing an eye on his losses that have of late so huddled on his back not sparing a thought for the fact that Shylock too, has recently lost money and jewels. Here, although feeling sorry for Shylock as the victim of the Christians words, I feel repelled by the answer he gives to the Duke, Youll ask me why I rather choose to have a weight of carrion flesh than to receive three thousand ducats. Ill not answer that but say it is my humour. Also, if he just gives in, his pride will be damaged, and it goes against his instincts to just allow the Christians total victory. .u32faf6cce9aed816e45c9e33cf9e651e , .u32faf6cce9aed816e45c9e33cf9e651e .postImageUrl , .u32faf6cce9aed816e45c9e33cf9e651e .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u32faf6cce9aed816e45c9e33cf9e651e , .u32faf6cce9aed816e45c9e33cf9e651e:hover , .u32faf6cce9aed816e45c9e33cf9e651e:visited , .u32faf6cce9aed816e45c9e33cf9e651e:active { border:0!important; } .u32faf6cce9aed816e45c9e33cf9e651e .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u32faf6cce9aed816e45c9e33cf9e651e { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u32faf6cce9aed816e45c9e33cf9e651e:active , .u32faf6cce9aed816e45c9e33cf9e651e:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u32faf6cce9aed816e45c9e33cf9e651e .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u32faf6cce9aed816e45c9e33cf9e651e .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u32faf6cce9aed816e45c9e33cf9e651e .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u32faf6cce9aed816e45c9e33cf9e651e .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u32faf6cce9aed816e45c9e33cf9e651e:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u32faf6cce9aed816e45c9e33cf9e651e .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u32faf6cce9aed816e45c9e33cf9e651e .u32faf6cce9aed816e45c9e33cf9e651e-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u32faf6cce9aed816e45c9e33cf9e651e:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Great Expectations an exciting opening to the story EssayAntonio at this point, has realised that it is fruitless to try and change Shylocks mind, You may as well do anything most hard as seek to soften that . his Jewish heart and does not want to satisfy Shylock by begging. Even when Bassanio offers the Jew six thousand ducats instead of three, Shylock replies that if the six thousand ducats were multiplied by six, he would still have his bond. Shylock also compares his bond with slavery, saying that if he told all those gathered there to Let them be free! Marry them to your heirs! that they would not, saying only that The slaves are ours. . His point is that he has bough t the bond, and it belongs to him, so why should their words make him give it up, arguing that If you deny me, fie upon your law I stand for judgement and that to deny him the bond would be breaking the law and going against all Venetian principles. So essentially, Shylock sees the advantages of hiding behind the law, which could be interpreted as the action of both a villain and a victim, but to me it is merely a tactical decision. The Duke decides that, unless a doctor that he has sent for to determine the matter comes, then he will dismiss the court. Nerissa, dressed as a lawyers clerk, then enters, bringing with her letters from Bellario. While the Duke reads these letters, Shylock, so confident of winning his case, is sharpening his knife in anticipation. This is a very threatening gesture, and to do that in the middle of the courtroom, in front of all those people, he must have known that with the law on his side, there was no way that he could lose. Gratiano especially takes great offence at this, and asks in anger and desperation Can no prayers pierce thee? Shylocks calm and collected reply, No, none that thou hast wit enough to make is unpleasant. Portia, in the guise of the lawyer Balthazar, then asks that Shylock be merciful, but is silenced by Shylocks On what compulsion must I? . Her silence however is short-lived and she immediately launches into her famous speech, beginning The quality of mercy is not strained, This speech, for Shylock, is the ultimate test of character and draws heavily on what Portia sees to be the values of Christianity. She tells how Mercy is above this sceptred sway meaning that mercy is a God-given gift, rather than the privilege of kings, and that we are most like God when we are being merciful, It is an attribute to God himself, and earthly power doth then show likest Gods when mercy seasons justice. Although this is a highly compassionate speech, it falls on deaf ears, My deeds upon my head! I crave the law, the penalty and forfeit of my bond, which has an echo of the trial of Jesus Christ. When Shylock says the line, An oath, an oath. I have an oath in heaven! Shall I lay perjury upon my soul? No, not for Venice he is bound to be seen as either victim or villain by different people, as to break an oath to heaven would be perjury, but might also be seen as an excuse. Shylock continues to show the villainous side of his character throughout the scene, saying such things as, By my soul I swear there is no power in the tongue of man to alter me. Also, from the moment Portia has arrived in the courtroom, she has given Shylock the opportunity to be merciful, Have by some surgeon, Shylock, on your charge, to stop his wounds, lest he do bleed to death. but every time Shylock has thrown it back in her face, I cannot find it, tis not in the bond always, completely fixated on the bond. Tarry a little just as Shylocks knife is about to enter Antonios chest, Portia comes out with her master-stroke. In the bond there is no clause that allows, in the taking of the forfeit, the spilling of any of Antonios blood. At this, Shylock suddenly becomes quite afraid as he sees that his case is failing, and we begin to see the stronger side of Portia, and the cruelty with which she intends to thwart Shylock, Thou shalt have justice more than thou desirest. Shylock realises that he must renounce his claim, but Portia uses his own words against him, pushing him so that he loses both his revenge and the money Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture, to be so taken at thy peril, Jew From a gloating man, triumphant in the prospects of revenge, Portia has stripped Shylock of all he hoped to gain, and still she is not satisfied. Finally, Shylock is forced to become a Christian. This is the worst possible thing that could happen to Shylock. Even though Antonios action is supposedly merciful I dont think he realises that he has just destroyed the very essence of who Shylock is. Now, not only his daughter and much of his money have been taken from him, but his religion and his pride. When he utters the words I am content I feel so much sympathy for him as a victim, and he leaves the courtroom humiliated, a broken man. The difference between the views of a 16th century audience and a 21st century audience is that first and foremost, we in the 21st century have had the opportunity to read and study the script, whereas in Elizabethan times, the audience would have been swung first one way then the other as the plot unfolded. Nowadays we also have very different views on how to behave, for example, racial prejudice is recognized and controlled by law, unlike then, where it was acceptable for people to make racist comments. Portia herself openly says of Morocco Let all of his complexion choose me so. From a 16th century audiences point of view, not much would actually be known about other races, therefore Shylock as an outsider, would be seen as more of a villain. Overall I think that Shakespeare intended Shylock to be seen as a villain, because he knew that that was what would please his audience, but he has written a complex character, that is bound to raise questions from the more thoughtful members of any audience, for instance, when Antonio sentences him to become a Christian, he knows that Shylock will no longer belong to the Jewish community, but will never be able to belong to the Christian community either a paper Christian. What is interesting is that those who compel him to conform, in this case Portia and Antonio, are as much paper Christians as he is, for example, in her long speech, Portia talks at length of the quality of mercy, yet when she might have shown mercy to Shylock, she carried on, until she had taken from him all he held dear. In my opinion, I believe that it is impossible to separate victim and villain as they are not opposites. They overlap, and so I cannot define the character of Shylock as one or the other, as there is evidence of both, although I think that is what Shakespeare himself was thinking when he wrote the part.

Examining the Mee Essay Topics

Examining the Mee Essay TopicsExamining the Mee Essay Topics can help the students in increasing their marks. One of the common parts in Mee Essay Topics is the Primary Source, which can only be used to establish facts. The main reason why it is important for the school authorities to make sure that students are able to understand the Primary Source, is to ensure that they can explain clearly in what the issue is about in case of any conflict.In UK ability is more about the human qualities and culture and not just academic knowledge. The US ability of the Mee Essay Topic is also called as Meathat is a selection based on real life situations. When discussing the primary source and in Meathat the students have to be clear on the characteristics and nature of the word.A part of the essays in Mee Essay Topics can be critical examination. It is meant to give the readers the feeling that the author had to overcome and develop. In most of the cases, the essay must highlight and make the mes sage clear that there is something wrong in the learning process. If the essay is positive and illuminating, it would be counted as a winner in all times.The essay topics can either be verbal or written. In case of the verbal essay the students should know the basic tools and the information required to solve the problem clearly. In written essay the students should be clear about what should be included in the essay and the data required to make an educated decision.These tools play a very important role in the essays. The first tool is the fact, which is one of the basic parts in UK ability. The next tool in this area is the structured writing, which should be addressed in the Mee Essay Topic.The students should always try to come up with fact, but itmust be observed that they should not include any bias in their attempt. This is the number one rule of Mee Essay Topics, which must be followed at all times. All the student has to do is understand that the data needed should be pres ent and should be factual and transparent.Factual data can be based on any kind of information, as long as it is clear and easily understandable. However, the student has to make sure that all the facts are present and should be checked if there is anything wrong in the fact. The students should know the format for Mee Essay Topics and all the concepts in Mee Essay Topics should be in full view.This will also help them in increasing their writing skills. The students should also make sure that they write down the facts well and always put emphasis on facts. Thus, the students can keep a record of the facts and the data, which are necessary to have a clear understanding of the Mee Essay Topic.

Definition and Examples of Word Boundaries

Definition and Examples of Word Boundaries In writing, word boundaries are conventionally represented by spaces between words. In speech, word boundaries are determined in various ways, as discussed below. Related Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms Assimilation and DissimilationConceptual MeaningConnected SpeechIntonationMetanalysisMondegreenMorpheme and PhonemeOronymsPausePhonetics and PhonologyPhonological WordProsodySegment and SuprasegmentalSlip of the EarSound Change Examples of Word Boundaries When I was very young, my mother scolded me for flatulating by saying, Johnny, who made an odor? I misheard her euphemism as who made a motor? For days I ran around the house amusing myself with those delicious words. (John B. Lee, Building Bicycles in the Dark: A Practical Guide on How to Write. Black Moss Press, 2001I could have sworn I heard on the news that the Chinese were producing new trombones. No, it was neutron bombs. (Doug Stone, quoted by Rosemarie Jarski in Dim Wit: The Funniest, Stupidest Things Ever Said. Ebury, 2008As far as input processing is concerned, we may also recognize slips of the ear, as when we start to hear a particular sequence and then realize that we have misperceived it in some way; e.g. perceiving the ambulance at the start of the yam balanced delicately on the top . . ..  (Michael Garman, Psycholinguistics. Cambridge University Press, 2000 Word Recognition The usual criterion for word recognition is that suggested by the linguist Leonard Bloomfield, who defined a word as a minimal free form. . . .The concept of a word as a minimal free form suggests two important things about words. First, their ability to stand on their own as isolates. This is reflected in the space which surrounds a word in its orthographical form. And secondly, their internal integrity, or cohesion, as units. If we move a word around in a sentence, whether spoken or written, we have to move the whole word or none of itwe cannot move part of a word.(Geoffrey Finch, Linguistic Terms, and Concepts. Palgrave Macmillan, 2000)[T]he great majority of English nouns begins with a stressed syllable. Listeners use this expectation about the structure of English and partition the continuous speech stream employing stressed syllables.(Z.S. Bond, Slips of the Ear. The Handbook of Speech Perception, ed. by David Pisoni and Robert Remez. Wiley-Blackwell, 2005) Tests of Word Identification Potential pause: Say a sentence out loud, and ask someone to repeat it very slowly, with pauses. The pauses will tend to fall between words, and not within words. For example, the / three / little / pigs / went / to / market. . . .Indivisibility:  Say a sentence out loud, and ask someone to add extra words to it. The extra item will be added between the words and not within them. For example, the pig went to market might become the big pig once went straight to the market. . . .Phonetic boundaries:  It is sometimes possible to tell from the sound of a word where it begins or ends. In Welsh, for example, long words generally have their stress on the penultimate syllable . . .. But there are many exceptions to such rules.Semantic units:  In the sentence Dog bites vicar, there are plainly three units of meaning, and each unit corresponds to a word. But language is often not as neat as this. In I switched on the light, the has little clear meaning, and the single action of switchin g on involves two words.​(Adapted from The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, 3rd ed., by David Crystal. Cambridge University Press, 2010) Explicit Segmentation [E]xperiments in English have suggested that listeners segment speech at strong syllable onsets. For example, finding a real word in a spoken nonsense sequence is hard if the word is spread over two strong syllables (e.g., mint in [mÇ€ntef]) but easier if the word is spread over a strong and a following weak syllable (e.g., mint in [mÇ€ntÉ™f]; Cutler Norris, 1988).The proposed explanation for this is that listeners divide the former sequence at the onset of the second strong syllable, so that detecting the embedded word requires recombination of speech material across a segmentation point, while the latter sequence offers no such obstacles to embedded word detection as the non-initial syllable is weak and so the sequence is simply not divided.Similarly, when English speakers make slips of the ear that involve mistakes in word boundary placement, they tend most often to insert boundaries before strong syllables (e.g., hearing by loose analogy as by Luce and Allergy) or delet e boundaries before weak syllables (e.g., hearing how big is it? as how bigoted?; Cutler Butterfield, 1992).These findings prompted the proposal of the Metrical Segmentation Strategy for English (Cutler Norris, 1988; Cutler, 1990), whereby listeners are assumed to segment speech at strong syllable onsets because they operate on the assumption, justified by distributional patterns in the input, that strong syllables are highly likely to signal the onset of lexical words. . . .Explicit segmentation has the strong theoretical advantage that it offers a solution to the word boundary problem both for the adult and for the infant listener. . . .Together these strands of evidence motivate the claim that the explicit segmentation procedures used by adult listeners may in fact have their origin in the infants exploitation ofrhythmic structure to solve the initial word boundary problem.​(Anne Cutler, Prosody and the Word Boundary Problem. Signal to Syntax: Bootstrapping from Speech t o Grammar in Early Acquisition, ed. by James L. Morgan and Katherine Demuth. Lawrence Erlbaum, 1996)

Special courts Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Special courts - Research Paper Example The establishment of special courts aims at handling certain matters, which cannot be handled by other courts. With the establishment of special courts, there is provision of expertise in the matter under consideration since such courts have specialized knowledge on certain matters (Goodnow, 2005). An example of a special court One significant example of a special court discussed by Champion and others is the United States tax Court, which refers to a special court that deals with tax cases involving the federal government. The judges of this court include specialists who have specialized knowledge in tax law. This gives them the advantage of better understanding unique issues, which may relate to law that focuses on taxes. In the United States, the Tax Court can be regarded as a national court, and the headquarters of this court can be found in Washington, D.C. This court has the jurisdiction to handle all cases, which deal with tax issues all over the United States. The judges of t he Tax Court make visits to various parts of the United States and avail themselves to hear cases, which relate to tax issues all over the country (Okwuosah, 2008). The Congress established this court under Article I of the Constitution of the United States. ... The U.S. constitution gives this court the powers to award people who reveal tax discrepancies referred as whistleblowers, as well as establish the methods that will be used to classify employees working in various positions within the country (Champion et. al., 2012). In order for this court to hear a case, there ought to be a petition submitted by the taxpayer within ninety days. Taxpayers do not have the mandate to request the Tax Court to conduct jury trials. The court has to hear a case before the taxpayer is ordered to pay any amount, which may be disputed. The judges of the Tax Court comprise of 19 members who have been appointed by the president. With the various decisions issued by the court, the court can be regarded as effective in its ruling. The decisions issued by the court can either be memorandum or regular decision. This ensures that no party is favored at the expense of the other; as the judges have to evaluate the unique situation surrounding a certain case before giving a ruling. This court also enhances efficiency since it has a division dealing with small cases, which is known as Small Cases Division. As such, cases can be ruled within a short period since delays can be avoided and the formal procedures, which may accompany cases, can also be exempted from the court process. Since this court provides specialized services to all citizens without any fear or favor, it has turned out to be one of the best courts that hear cases related to tax evasion. The court has emerged as effective and instrumental since it conducts a thorough investigation before coming up with a ruling. As a result of this court, tax issues in the U. S. can be addressed with a lot

Sustainability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 2

Sustainability - Essay Example The multidimensional perspectives of a business should therefore encompass several environmental and ecological issues and factors. In other words, in any analysis of a business’ performance, the social, cultural, health-related and monetary/financial aspects of its operations must be integrated. Thus, the idea of sustainability surpasses sustained business yields of welfare, resources and profit and touches on social and communal effects (Farley & Daly, 2004). This paper explores the benefits that Janssen UK, a medium-sized leading transnational research-based pharmaceutical company with its headquarters in High Wycombe might enjoy from sustainability, the leadership initiatives by which the company may become a leader in sustainability and how the organisation’s leadership might effect the sustainability change. The Benefits of Sustainability The big question that many people, especially company managers and CEOs ask is whether sustainability really works. In other wo rds, are there real benefits of sustainability? For Janssen UK, the general and simplest response to this question is yes. This answer is supported by the fact that other top-ranking small-, medium- and large-sized organisations in the world are either practicing or introducing sustainability to their operations and practices. In addition, more workers now choose organisations or employers based on their environmental credentials, friendliness and corporate citizenship (Hawken & Lovins, 1999). Nonetheless, owners, CEOs and managers continue to question the costs and financial benefits even as they enjoy the benefits of sustainability. It is however generally supported that businesses that seek to reduce the amount of resources or materials used in the production of the same amount of goods and services or that seek to reduce cases of sick leave while improving staff retention rates definitely enjoy the financial benefits of sustainability (Von Weizsacker, 1998). That sustainability has immense personal and professional benefits is evidenced by the reports of organisations that successfully implement sustainability programs. The benefits of sustainability for Janssen UK may be largely categorised as financial, brand and reputation, human resources and employee engagement and environmental benefits. Under the financial benefits, Janssen UK may enjoy reduced energy and water usage, hence reduced production costs (Daly & Cobb, 1999). In addition, Janssen UK could enjoy reduced paper, waste and associated costs as well as reduced use of production materials. In some cases, the company may receive grants due to its improved sustainability practices. The other likely financial benefit of sustainability to Janssen UK is visibility of business performance as a result of mandatory reporting. As mentioned earlier, businesses that implement sustainability programs have numerous human resources and employee engagement benefits. For Janssen UK, these benefits include but ar e not limited to improved working conditions, increase productivity, improved attraction and retention of labourers, increased staff loyalty and lowered costs associated with improved human resource outcomes (Jackson et al., 2008). The third category of the benefits of sustainability, the brand and reputation benefits include better corporate social responsibility performance, lowered liability and risk management, improved competitiveness and market positioning and increased

The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurty Essay Example for Free

The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurty Essay The Last Picture Show is a story of isolation and dysfunction. Death is also a prevailing theme – death of a town, of friendships, of marriages and of friends. It is a story full of characters that can seem larger than life one moment and inconsequential the next moment. As different as they all appear to be, they all share traits in common and these are that they all feel separated from the rest of the world, they all seem to want more out of life than they currently have, and most feel an emptiness that loneliness and desire do not quite give full explanation or understanding of. The story covers a time span of one year in the town of small Thalia, Texas in the 1950s, a dusty and desolate place where everybody knows not only everybody else in town, but everybody knows everybody else’s business and secrets may not always be exposed, but also they are almost always known. Thalia is a place where the undersized population appears to have settled into their unsatisfactory existences even while they often make blundering mistakes in efforts to burst out of their current lives. McMurty’s story has an unusually large cast. Sonny Crawford, a high school senior and football player, is the story’s protagonist. An all-American genuinely nice young man full of deep sadness and quiet thoughts, Sonny lives in a rooming house with his best friend Dwayne, also a high school senior and football player. Duane, a main character, is a little rougher around the edges than Sonny. He is quicker to lose his temper and though he appears as unsatisfied as other characters he does not acknowledge his feelings as profoundly as others. Jacy Farrow is another main character. The beautiful rich girl of Thalia, Jacy is a young woman whose unhappiness with her life, her family, and her fear of the future feeds the fuel of her wild side and unleashes her inhibitions.   The town of Thalia itself is also main character and an absolutely vital part of the story. Thalia, which in the beginning of the story is an old town clinging to life with its unchanging reliability, undergoes metamorphosis’s which parallel and oppose the lives of the characters within it. As the story progresses The Last Picture Show highlights Thalia’s own slow death with the changes it must face. There are many lesser characters, which the story relies on to bring it depth and reinforce and are intricate to the themes of McMurty’s tale. These additional characters also allow the author to show very personal aspects of the main characters as they intermingle with each other. The story centers on these three young adults as they search for something beyond their own existence. The reader follows them through their ordinary lives as they date, dream, and push against internal and external barriers. The story exposes these characters weaknesses as they journey through monotonous days of loneliness where they end up betraying each other and themselves to varying degrees. The story also shows human strength in continuing on during the bleakest of times. Family dysfunction is a constant theme of this story. Sonny’s mother is dead and his relationship with is father is strained and shallow. His real family is Sam, a local businessman who runs the pool hall that is Sonny’s second home, and a handicapped boy, Billy, with no family of his own. Sonny lives in a rooming house with his best friend while his father lives in a hotel in town. Sonny does not like his own girlfriend and he covets his best friend’s girl. Without planning, Sonny because the lover of his coaches’ wife. The coach is hinted to be a closet homosexual with a mean streak a mile wide. Ruth, his wife, has almost given up of finding any happiness in life. Sonny feels sorry for Ruth and their relationship develops into more than Sonny can handle. Duane has no family and his father figure is a callous roughneck, Abilene, who sleeps with Duane’s girlfriend and his boss’s wife who happens to also be the love of his best friends’ life. Jacy is showered with material items from her family but is neglected by her parents emotionally and is filled with unfeeling and despondent advise from her mother. Jacy uses her body to get what she wants and uses people with as little thought as well. Her mother is an unsatisfied woman that cheats on her husband whose focus in life is on making money in a town on its last legs. The family dysfunction is critical to the story because it emphasizes the frailty of the characters and explains the needs they face as well as the choices they make. The town and the characters are supposed to inspired by the real life experiences of the author. How close to accurate portrayals The Last Picture Show is to his reality is unknown to this reader, but McMurty was able to create a life within his pages, which felt like it could have been real. He created visual images that really give off one of the main themes of the story, which is isolation. The town is isolated and seem as far removed from the rest of the world even though it is only a short distance to the much larger Fort Worth. Most of the characters are isolated because the dysfunction of their family situations does not easily lead them to trust others or openly show their true feelings. The characters are isolated too because as much as they want change, especially the younger characters, they are fearful of as well. There are some humorous moments in the story and these brief moments provide necessary alleviation of the overall melancholy, but the most memorable moments in the story are the poignant ones. One instance is when the boys return from Mexico, thrilled to be able to boast about their great adventure, but even more excited to be back in Thalia. They were grateful then, for the same things that often despised, the sameness of the town – they were happy then for the monotony of their Thalia. But that happiness was too brief because it is only minutes after their return that that they learn Sam has died during their time away. Another very moving section is at the very end of the book. After Billy’s death Sonny is numb and in a great deal of pain. Duane has left town, Sam is dead, he feels guilty about Billy, and he knows Jacy is not an option for him. Instinctually, Sonny heads to Ruth.   Her own pain is all too obvious as well. And in their pain they are able to comfort each other in a very touching way. The Last Picture Show is a cheerless story. There is no pat happy ending to be had for any of the characters. But, this book is one I would certainly recommend to others because it is an American story which carries a ring of truth to it; life is not always perfect, happy, or fulfilling and fairytale endings are not realist and would not have fit the tone of this story. The realist qualities and the powerfully accurate believability McMurty is able to generate enable the characters to come to life and produces profound feelings in the reader. The reader has become so involved in the lives of the characters that for those characters left at the end of the story the reader possesses intense hope for their future. When an author can bring into being these qualities they present a book incredibly worth reading.

Racism and White Privilege in the Education System Essay -- Finding Fr

Many people in the United States society believe that people of all cultures, races, and ethnicities are now on an even playing field. People with this belief support their logic with the argument that since equal rights for people of color and women have been required by law for some time now, we are all inherently as equal as claimed in the Declaration of Independence. Many believe that race is no longer an issue, a viewpoint frequently referred to as color-blindness. National polling data indicated that a majority of whites now believe discrimination against racial minorities no longer exists. (Gallagher, 96) Color-blindness allows a white person to define himself or herself as politically and racially tolerant and then proclaim their adherence to a belief system that does not see or judge individuals by the â€Å"color of their skin.† (Gallagher, 98) Many Caucasians in particular are of the opinion that because they listen to hip-hop or cheer for their favorite black, prof essional sports player that they are not racist. Still others believe that because they have a black president, we see black people in the commercial of products we consume, or enjoy television shows with black people that they are actually acknowledging race. In order to examine and dismantle this series of misconceptions, we will turn to the work of various scholars of social justice and privilege, including Peggy McIntosh, Patricia Hinchey and Johnathon Kozol as well as the story of Patricia J Williams. Through a careful examination of these works with the support of some key statistics, it is the goal of this paper to demonstrate the existence of a privileged and unprivileged America, despite the color-blindness many may profess to have integrated into their p... ...hools. New York: Crown Pub. McIntosh, P. (1988). White Privilege and Male Privilege. Wellesley College Center for Research on Women: Working Paper No. 189, 1-20. SueN. (2011, Nov 10). Thom Hartmann Program. Retrieved from Transcript: Thom Hartmann: The Big Picture: A "Race Based" Bake Sale? 26 September '11: http://www.thomhartmann.com/blog/2011/11/transcript-thom-hartmann-big-picture-race-based-bake-sale-26-september-11 Wight, V. R., Chau, M., & Aratani, Y. (2010, Jan). National Center for Children in Poverty. Retrieved from Who are America’s Poor Children?: http://www.nccp.org/publications/pub_912.html Williams, P. (2010). Of race and risk. In Race, Class, & Gender: An Anthology (7th ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth. Zinn, H. (2007). Why Students Should Study History. In W. e. Au, Rethinking Our Classrooms, Volume 1 (pp. 179-181). Milwaukee: Rethinking Schools.