Friday, January 24, 2020

Things Fall Apart: An Analysis :: essays research papers

Things Fall Apart: An Analysis The culture of the Umuofia society before the colonial infiltration, may be hard to understand but we are forced by Achebe to realize it has traditions and customs that make it work. Although, looking at it from our Judaeo-Christian point of view we may be appalled by some of their practices. We also have to realize that they have strengths. Things Fall apart is the idea of balance and interdependence, earth and sky, individual and community, man and woman or different perspectives on the same situation. The central image of this balance is contained in the Ibo concept of "chi," which occurs throughout the novel. A persons "chi" is their destiny, his inner self, "you wouldn't challenge your "chi" to a wrestling match," as did Okonkwo when he assisted in the killing of Ikemefuna, whom he loved and who called him father. Okonkwo sins not only against the earth goddess, protector of family relations, but also against his inner most feelings or his "chi." Any bad luck that occurs, people of this culture would say that you have a bad "chi." Okonkwo's destiny is marked by bad luck, one reason may be that he is so driven by the fear of resembling his father that he struggles to repress part of his personality with predictably afflicted results. This was a society where a man was judged by his own achievement and not that of his fathers. Yams were the primary crop of Umuofia. A sign of manliness was if you could farm yams to feed your family. Okonkwo is respected because of his hard work. The complex patterns of Umuofia's economic and social customs materialize throughout this novel as we see Okonkwo compelled to rid himself of any similarities that his father had. Unoka had no titles, was lazy and when he died was greatly in debt. Some may wonder how a society like the Ibo's functioned, how they enforce

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Exploring the Universality and Diversity of Human Language Essay

Chomsky (1975), a noted linguist, believes that we are â€Å"specifically designed† to learn language. As Biehler (1976) puts it, there are â€Å"striking uniformities† in languages of other cultures that follow grammatical patterns (universal grammar). Even Farrel (1978) agrees that there is â€Å"an underlying design original to all languages. † For all of them, language is simply a part of our genetic endowment, or as the evolutionist Haugen (1973) would say it, we have the â€Å"gift of language,† or the â€Å"universal gift of tongues. † Chomsky and other linguists believe that there are system of principles, conditions, and rules that are elements of all human languages. Human languages contain structure, which means they are composed of several words grouped basically by function (verbs, nouns, etc. ) and this is referred to in linguistic literatures as innate universal grammar. â€Å"The human brain is equipped with a learning algorithm, which enables us to learn certain languages. This algorithm can learn each of the existing 6,000 human languages and presumably many more, but it is impossible that algorithm could learn every computable language† (Nowak, Komarova and Niyogi, p. 615). What are the implications of all these? Regardless of cultural background, whatever language we know or use now, we are all innately predisposed to comprehend design in languages and we can easily grasp and work around grammatical rules, however complex or elaborate they are. Although of course, young children are at an advantage in using this gift, as timing in acquiring a language is important as well. Nonetheless, as a general statement, regardless of cultural or ethnic background, man’s remarkable ability to communicate through language, in itself, is already a good proof of the universality of language as a human faculty. As mentioned in the Atlas of Languages (1996), there is no known society or community in the world that is language-less. From the evolutionists’ point of view, language is essentially a human trait and this is a powerful evidence on the universality of language. While animals of the same kind have their own way of communicating, only humans had â€Å"the power of recursion to create an open-ended and limitless system of communication† Hauser, Chomsky and Fitch, 2002, p. 1578). Why and how humans acquired the faculty of language and managed to â€Å"spread from human to human and from culture to culture,† (Knezek, 1997) are often the usual subjects of discussion of scholars. Evolutionists would agree that â€Å"the faculty meditating human communication appears remarkably different from that of other living creatures†¦. that the human faculty of language appears to be organized like the genetic code with respect to its scope of expression. † Animals have been â€Å"designed on the basis of highly conserved developmental systems that read an almost universal language coded in DNA base pairs,† however, â€Å"they lack a common universal code of communication† (Hauser, Chomsky and Fitch, 2002, p. 1569). Diversity of Languages If there are over six thousand (6,ooo) documented human languages in the world while evidences, as earlier discussed, all point to what seem to be universal similarities in mankind’s gift of language, what caused the present diversity of languages? Languages differ in so many ways, and it should be interesting to explore these differences primarily from the genetic and environmental viewpoints. In the 15 August 2002 New York Times language article, Wade mentioned the remarkable theory of Dr. Richard Klein, an archaeologist at Stanford University – â€Å"that the emergence of behaviorally modern humans about 50,000 years ago was set off by a major genetic change, most probably the acquisition of language. † Could it be then, that there is a special gene linked to the innate ability of humans to acquire language? Which genetic change (s) led to changes in the biological make-up of human brain structures that would prove to be relevant for human language? A major feat in the study of cognitive genetics is the â€Å"discovery of the first human gene specifically involved in language† through the efforts of Dr. Svante Paabo and his colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. The gene named FOXP2 â€Å"is known to switch on other genes during the development of the brain† (Wade, 2002) The journal Nature journal published the report of the findings (as cited in Wade, 2002): â€Å"FOXP2 gene has remained largely unaltered during the evolution of mammals, but suddenly changed in humans after the hominid line had split off from the chimpanzee line of descent. The changes in the human gene affect the structure of the protein it specifies at two sites†¦.. One of them slightly alters the protein’s shape; the other gives it a new role in the signaling circuitry of human cells. The changes indicate that the gene has been under strong evolutionary pressure in humans. Also, the human form of the gene, †¦. seems to have become universal in the human population†¦. Humans must already have possessed some rudimentary form of language before the FOXP2 gene gained its two mutations†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦the improved gene may have swept through the population, providing the finishing touch to the acquisition of language. †

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

HM Pestel - 622 Words

Political*Being a Swedish based company means Hamp;M have to follow Swedish legislation. * Like many other brand stores, Hamp;M’s stock is produced overseas. This is because of minimum wage laws which prevent workers in the UK working for below anything else. Employing workers in less developed countries mean Hamp;M can maximise their profits. *Price of cotton has increased rapidly as supplies are becoming limited. Hamp;M promote basic cotton ranges therefore they use mass amounts of cotton. If cotton prices do not start to fall, Hamp;M will have to increase their prices to maximise profits, which will draw away possible consumers that shop there to take advantage of their inexpensive clothing. | Economical *Hamp;M are known for†¦show more content†¦| Technological*Hamp;M have recently introduced an online shopping website. This is beneficial to those with children at home or who work long hours and do not necessarily have time to go shopping.*Hamp;M is known for fast fashion and averagely takes 12 weeks to get their clothes from the designing stage into their store. Advanced printing machines are used to mass produce yet keep their high quality of clothing.*Hamp;M’s website promotes their company through weekly newsletters and trend blogs. This is appealing to those who want to dress fashionable but are unsure what trends go together. They also advertise events and special offers on their website. This promotes their store to the segment of consumers that shop online and have an email network. | Legal*Like many high street store, Hamp;M have had accusations that they employ underage workers in illegal sweatshop factories. The poor working conditions and small wages put many consumers off of purchasing their clothes as they do not want to promote this work. Hamp;M sponsor charities to help raise awareness of this.*The Sales of Good Act is the only legislation that protects consumers from companies. Hamp;M have a returns policy that is clear and states the consumer is entitled to a full refund or exchange within the allocated time and within a resalable, unless faulty, condition. | Environmental*Hamp;M have an OrganicShow MoreRelatedHM Swot and Pestel2208 Words   |  9 PagesTwitter Table of Contents Executive Summary 3 Description of the Organisation 4 PESTEL-Analysis 6 SWOT-Analysis 7 * Strengths 7 * Weaknesses 9 * Opportunities 9 * Threats 10 Ethical behaviour and corporate social responsibility 11 Conclusion 12 Bibliography 13 Executive Summary HM is a great company in many aspects. It may be Sweden’s most recognised company after IKEA. It all startedRead MorePestel for HM in China5292 Words   |  22 PagesPESTEL China 1. 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On 1964 the first Hennes store outside Sweden open in Norway, on 1978 the first store outside Scandinavia opens in London, in the UK, on 1990s progress continues in Europe with the opening of the first store in France in 1998.Newspapre and magazine advertising is complemented by outdoor advertising featuring famous models .on 2007 the first Asian stores open in Hong Kong and Shanghai. On 2009 the new store in Beijing of HM was finally opened. So far, HM has opened 14