Thursday, December 26, 2019

The San Francisco Earthquake Of 1906 - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1277 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2019/08/08 Category Science Essay Level High school Tags: Earthquake Essay Did you like this example? Its 5:12 AM, April 18, 1906. Extremely loud low pitched rumbling wakes many people up from their sleep. This rumbling sound was caused by the Pacific and American Tectonic plates scraping along each other at the San Andreas fault. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The San Francisco Earthquake Of 1906" essay for you Create order A shock suddenly hits San Francisco, and it shakes the ground for 45 seconds. Another tremblor 8.3 on the Richter Scale 0 hits for another 25 seconds. Chaos reigned the streets of San Francisco. Later,   4.7 square miles would be destroyed, 225,000 people would go homeless, over 3,000 people died, and 28,000 buildings were destroyed(The San Francisco Earthquake and Fire,1). While the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 destroyed thousands of buildings and was one of the greatest tragedies of the United States, it affected the world positively through a social and technological change while tragically destroying a whole city and its economy. Because the San Francisco earthquake affected the city economically by damaging many things to make rebuilding cost a lot, technologically by inspiring new building codes and causing a newly built, better San Francisco, and socially by making much of the population come together and help each other through the people lost almost everything they ha d.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In 1906, San Francisco was built mostly on fill dirt dumped into the bay, which was extremely unstable. Terrible building codes and wooden buildings caused the fire to spread rapidly and kill many people trapped in buildings. Tectonic plates rubbing against each other caused the San Andreas Fault to rupture for 280 miles. This rupture started 200 miles north of the city and sped along south at the speed of 2 miles per second, and the land at the fault moved as much as twelve feet.   Based on information known about the 1906 earthquake, today, scientists have rated it an intensity of IX on the Mercalli scale, developed by Giuseppe Mercalli in the early 20th century, around the time of the earthquake. On the Richter scale, created by Seismologist Dr. Charles Richter Proposed a scale that measures the earths magnitude, or how much energy something releases, the earthquake was rated at 8.3(Chippendale, 31).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 had a significant impact socially by bringing people to work together. Because of many people becoming homeless and being killed, the population of San Francisco had to work together to improve conditions. Dan Kurzman shows what conditions were like and how people interacted when he says talks about over how 200,000 people became homeless, living in tents, and cooking meals with grass. He explains that the refugees would get food that was provided by relief groups, and these lines for blocks. Everybody shared food, utensils, stoves, pots, pans, and many other essential items(223). Even though the people were in a bad situation, they came together to create a better environment aside from all the devastation. Though the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 was helpful in making teamwork happen, still many people lost everything they had. The San Francisco Chronicle reports from a day afterward how badly the earthquake impac ted the people socially when it talks about thousands of people making their way to Golden Gate Park to find refuge from the fire. Many people also went back to the city to salvage what they could from the remains of the city. Lastly, it reports how at least 500 people were dead at the time, and that Confusion Reigned(Earthquake and Fire; San Francisco in Ruins 1). Many people were impacted negatively by the earthquake, being killed and losing everything they had. The San Francisco Earthquake impact the people socially by devastating them, but also by bringing them together to improve conditions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 impacted the world technologically by improving building methods. For example, Louise Chipley shows this when she says, A [new] 74-mile long water-main system was redesigned to make it easier to shut off water to earthquake damaged parts of the city(105). The downfall of the city made other earthquakes much safer and influenced other cities. Many new building codes were created after the earthquake to prevent such a disaster from happening. Mitchell Earth Sciences talks generally about this when they state, At the time of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, many California municipalities had building codes, but none considered seismic effects. Not surprisingly, the 1906 earthquake sparked discussion of improving earthquake engineering design and incorporating those improvements in regulatory codes. Professional organizations, particularly the Seismological Society of America, which formed in 1906, and later, the Structu ral Engineers Association of California, were persistent advocates of code provisions for earthquake-resistant construction(1). The earthquake helped a lot of people to create new building codes to influence the world and make San Francisco much safer from before. Through these actions after the earthquake, San Francisco influenced many other cities to have much better protection against earthquakes with a great impact technologically.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 was very significant economically tragically but with lots of help from other cities, countries, and people, San Francisco rose from the ashes to become a greater city than ever before. The earthquake had a huge impact economically on people losing everything they had and having to recover. For example, Sydney Tyler explains this well when she talked about many people, rich or poor, lost almost everything. H.W. Crocker, President of Crocker National Bank lost 7.5 million dollars to the earthquake and its intensity. Also, insurance wouldnt cover peoples losses because they themselves also lost a lot of money(299). The earthquake caused so much devastation that many people lost everything they had which made a lot of chaos and turmoil throughout the city. The rebuilding cost a lot, but many people and organizations supported the rebuilding. For example, Chippendale proves how the government helped a lot of banks, and the city when she states, The U.S. Mint provided a steady source of cash until the banks could recover, and mechanisms for receiving goods were in places(187). Though many people were destroyed, economically, the city of San Francisco came back better than ever.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Some may think that instead of this disaster coming out at the end as a triumph, the disaster stayed as a huge tragedy and people back then didnt learn their lesson. This may be true because in some instances, such as filling the bay with fill dirt which is unstable ground that collapses easily made with dirt, and after 1906, rubble, were repeated to make the 1989 earthquake have the same effects as before. This may be true, but there are many more triumphs with people helping each other and rebuilding still many things better, than the tragedies of the economy or some hurried building of the city.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Though the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 was one of the greatest tragedies of the United States when tragically destroying a whole city and its economy by making rebuilding cost a lot, it affected the world positively socially by making the population come together and technologically through inspiring a newly built better San Francisco. The earthquakes short term impact was killing thousands, making many people homeless, and destroying 504 blocks of San Francisco. Though tragic, these events set up a triumph in the long term impact. Within days, San Francisco was up and running, with new buildings being created and rubble being cleared as quickly as possible. Also new fire training was deployed, and new building codes were created. This all added up to San Francisco back up as one of the greatest cities in the west yet again. These events also lessened the effect of the 1989 earthquake Loma Prieta, though there were still some lessons not learned. Tho ugh the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 was a great tragedy, at the end, however, it resulted in a triumph by improving the city so it would become one of the leading cities of the west.

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Accusation And Defense Of The Salem Witchcraft Trials

RESEARCH PAPER Accusation and defense in the Salem witchcraft trials Suraj Gamal History 1301-73001-73002 JOE L. MCCAMBRIDGE - HISTORY 1301-1302 One of the most infamous Trial in history took place on March 1, 1692. According, to the Library of Congress, Massachusetts authorities catechized Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and an Indian Slave, Tituba regarding their practice in witchcraft. The trial resulted in more than 150 men and women in and around Salem jailed on charges of practicing Witchcraft and Sorceries. Nineteen of them were men and women who were eventually convicted and hanged on Gallows Hill with additional male suspect pressed to death, while others died in prison. The excerpts of Diary of Samuel Sewall by Samuel Sewall†¦show more content†¦The wonders of the invisible world: Being an account of the tryals of several witches, lately executed in England Published in 1693 by Increase and Cotton Mather, gives the first-hand account of the event. The father and son duo who supported the Salem Witch Trial and were involved in the government of the then colonial Massachusetts bay write on the defense of the trial. The book which was published by Nabu press in 2011. Reiner Smolinski introduced the copyright in 1998. As opposed to the diary of Samuel Sewall, Cotton Mather provides a more in-depth understanding of the contextual background of the trial. The two works are interrelated and co-exist because both Sewall and Mather had their significant role during the preceding the trial. Sewall dairy also highlights the role of Mather as he mentions his and Mather role during the trial. Although, the various court records and documents were put fo rth for the sole purpose of evaluating the testimonies. Mather presents himself as unbiased but the undertone of his oracular observations has proven the temptation of devil during the discourse of the event. This was based on the following context. 1. The Political and social life The Massachusetts government at the time was dominated by puritan Secular leaders, the likes of Increase MatherShow MoreRelatedSalem Witch Hysteria And Trials1620 Words   |  7 PagesSalem Witch Hysteria and Trials Joshua Furman History 121: Early America to the Civil War Dr. Phillip Hamilton November 18, 2015 The Salem Witch Trial consisted of heinous accusations implicated by Cotton Mather which effected society as a hole and gave reasoning to the numerous amount of witch stories we hear today. Cotton Mather was the eldest son of Increase Mather, Massachusetts most influential and well known Puritan minister, and the grandson of John Cotton, Salem’s spiritualRead MoreThe Salem Witch Trials, The World Behind The Hysteria1461 Words   |  6 Pages The Salem Witch Trials From the time of the 1690’s the entirety of Salem, Massachusetts were Puritans. â€Å"The Puritan lifestyle was restrained and rigid: People were expected to work hard and repress their emotions or opinions. Individual differences were frowned upon.† (Salem Witch Trials, The World Behind the Hysteria). These people believed that doing anything sinful would result in punishment from God. Just as much as they believed in God, they also believed in the Devil. Keeping up with theRead MoreSummary : The Crucible Essay964 Words   |  4 PagesSMSU Fine Arts Theatre Note: The performance on Thurs, Oct 15, is free to all SMSU students with a valid student ID. Admission at all other performances is $10. â€Å"The Crucible† is a fictionalized account of events that occurred during the Salem Witch Trials. Salem is a small Puritan town in Massachusetts. When a group of girls mysteriously fell ill in 1692, some people believed that Satan was to blame and he was exercising his power through witches. Although the play (and all characters) is (are) fictionalRead MoreExamining The History And Influence Of Witch Trials1329 Words   |  6 PagesEvery Witch Way: Examining the History and Influence of Witch Trials Witchcraft was a crime no one should want to be charged with. It was something people were afraid of, it was heinous, it was truly evil. In most communities, it was one of the worst crimes you could ever be accused of. Many countries no longer consider witchcraft to be a crime, although some countries such as Saudi Arabia and Uganda still consider it a serious offense even to this day. The focus of this piece, however, is toRead MoreThe Criticism Of George Jacobs880 Words   |  4 Pagesoverwhelming evidence continued to be stacked against George Jacobs, and with spectral evidence being the most riveting. Accusations against George Jacobs included nearly ten names. All ten or so claimed similar things of George Jacobs. If they are not being physically abused or afflicted by his specter, then they see the specter afflicting the others. Other men, predominantly of the Putnam family began to testify to witnessing the specter of George Jacobs afflicting the girls. The primary witnessRe ad MoreThe Salem Witch Trials For The Puritan Community1398 Words   |  6 PagesTexas Tech University A Town Submerged in Hysteria Cornelius Asmerom History To 1877 Professor Corye Beene October 23, 2014 The Salem Witch Trials The Salem Witch Trials were a devastating time period in 1692 for the Puritan community which resulted in 20 innocent people executed. Pilgrims landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts 9 years before the Puritans landed in Massachusetts Bay. Puritans wanted to purify the Church of England and ultimately strive to build a utopian society. John WinthropeRead MoreThe Salem Witch Trials : An Outbreak Of Hysteria1794 Words   |  8 PagesIn 1692, Salem village in Massachusetts saw an outbreak of hysteria, most commonly known today as the Salem witch trials. Over a period of several months, more than 200 people found themselves facing suspicions from those around them of witchcraft, with 19 executed, 14 arrested and many others who pleaded guilty pardoned but made social outcasts. Typically, the majority of those living in Salem were Puritans, who regarded all other activity excluding common Puritan practice as sinful distractionsRead MoreThe Character of John Proctor, Elizabeth and Reverend Hal e in The Crucible647 Words   |  3 PagesThe definition of crucible, or at least one of them, is a severe test or trial. This is definitely a fitting name for the Salem witch trials based play, as dealing with the hysteria and unjust courts of Salem is a severe trial in its self. However, the characters were also tested by their own ability to choose between right, wrong, or the most beneficial actions. From the main characters to all of the town’s people, they must all decide between what is best for them or everyone, living in sorrowRead MoreThe Trials Of The Salem Witch Trials1338 Words   |  6 PagesThe Salem Witch Trials Witchcraft was defined as the act of invoking spiritual powers to accomplish a supernatural task- such as placing a curse upon a neighbor or predicting the future (Goss 1). In the belief of the ancient Israelites, being able to tell the future was limited to the realm of God was considered a form of witchcraft; these were also the beliefs of the puritans. The Puritans were a group of Christians, similar to the Pilgrims, envisioned a reformed Christian society; eventually theyRead MoreThe Salem Witch Trials Of 1692 Essay2205 Words   |  9 Pages The Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692 were a dark time in American history. There were many possible causes of the Salem Witch Trials. A few major causes that led to the Salem Witch Trials were religion, reputations, and lack of laws. Life before the infamous Salem Witchcraft Trials was extremely mundane and normal. Salem villagers led a simple life in the customs of the Puritans. The Salem village and society was based and founded on the Puritan religion. The people had a very set lifestyle with

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Data Protection and Privacy Law in Facebook- myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about theData Protection and Privacy Law in Facebook. Answer: Introduction Social networking sites such as Facebook is in wide usage in the todays world. It is a wide platform where people say connected to others worldwide (Wang, Wable and Cuervo 2017). It is a platform in which allows the registered people to share and gather information about one another. It also provides a platform where the users can create profiles, send messages, and upload pictures. The sharing of such personal information can be hazardous as they are more vulnerable to attacks. Thus, facebook has implemented various laws and rules to secure the privacy of the individuals. Rules and laws implemented by facebook to obtain data protection and privacy laws Facebook implements a feature known as Privacy Check-up that gives the user the access control of people who can access the about me and post section (Van den Broeck, Poels and Walrave 2015). The facebook privacy basics is designed in way that allows the users to decide completely with whom they want their information to be shared with. Moreover, under the right to be forgotten, facebook provides the account holder to delete any such information that they do not wish to share in the facebook account. In addition to this, facebook also provides educational videos such as to make the users understand the various security issues and the procedure to maintain the security of their account (Lugo-Fagundo et al., 2016). In addition to this, facebook also provides activity log tool which enables the users to manage the content shared using facebook. Data security management in different countries by Facebook The data security and privacy policy implementation in the Facebook does not differ from country to country. It has specific data security implementation techniques and is similar in other countries as well. Users right to remove posts and pictures In addition to security policies, the users have complete rights over the data that they have posted on the account. It is upon their discretion whether they want to retain it or delete it. The users have complete right to delete the informations such as pictures and posts related to them (Gupta 2018). According to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), such data that are no more wanted to be present in the account by the account holder can be removed by requesting the company for doing so. Thus, facebook provides complete control of the data access to the users. Moreover, the facebook implements security laws to safeguard such vital informations of the account holder. Furthermore, facebook gives the freedom to delete an account and thus, deletes the entire details such as pictures and posts on facebook. Conclusion Thus, with the above discussion, it can be concluded that facebook is a wide platform that enable people to stay connected to each other through sharing of information, pictures and text messages. However, the data in the facebook is vulnerable to attack, thus there is great need to maintain the data security. However, facebook implements various data security laws to safeguard the user information and allows the user to remove the information that they are not willing to share with others. References Gupta, I., 2018. User Control Over Personal Information: A Case Study of Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat. InInternet Infidelity(pp. 13-29). Springer, Singapore. Lugo-Fagundo, C., Johnson, M.B., Thomas, R.B., Johnson, P.T. and Fishman, E.K., 2016. New frontiers in education: Facebook as a vehicle for medical information delivery.Journal of the American College of Radiology,13(3), pp.316-319. Van den Broeck, E., Poels, K. and Walrave, M., 2015. Older and wiser? Facebook use, privacy concern, and privacy protection in the life stages of emerging, young, and middle adulthood.Social Media+ Society,1(2), p.2056305115616149. Wang, J., Wable, A. and Cuervo, O.S., Facebook Inc, 2017.Sharing digital content on a social network. U.S. Patent 9,602,605.

Monday, December 2, 2019

Should All Genetically Modified Foods Be Labeled

Introduction Genetically modified food has become a controversial topic in the current society. According to Marchant (75), the world has been experiencing changes in weather patterns due to issues of global warming. As a result of this, agriculture has been massively affected. On the other hand, the world population is constantly on the rise.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Should All Genetically Modified Foods Be Labeled? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The number of those who practice agriculture is also decreasing. This is because people move to towns to get employed in large manufacturing companies or the retailers. This means that there is an increased pressure on the farmers to come up with a solution for this challenging situation. According to Sateesh (87), the solution that farmers were looking form came at last with the help of advanced technology. Genetically modified organisms were proven to be more productive than natural products. Genetically modified plants were more resistant to drought and could produce more than the natural plants. Genetically modified animals took much shorter time to mature, and those that produce milk would be yielding more milk when the breed is genetically modified. This was a breakthrough discovery in the field of agriculture. Farmers were given a solution to the problem of increasing productivity of their crops. The society welcomed the breakthrough for it was convinced of having a reliable source of food throughout the year at affordable prices. Many members of the society considered this invention as the best way through which the food security would be assured. This was till it was discovered that genetically modified food could have a negative effect on the human being when consumed. According to Weiss (46), genetically modified foods may have an effect on the genetics of a human being. The effect may not be exhibited immediately. It may take years of regular consumption of genetically modified food for the effect to be seen. In some instances, the effect may be witnessed on the children of the regular consumers of genetically modified food. People consuming this product should, therefore, be aware of these consequences. They should be informed every time they purchase genetically modified food, that the product is not natural. Arguments against Labeling of Genetically Modified Food There has been a strong argument against labeling of the genetically modified foods. There is a section of the society that has come out strongly to oppose any move that would compel manufacturers to label their products. The leading defenders of lack of labeling genetically products are the manufacturers. Manufacturers have come out to reject the clarion call that all the genetically products should be clearly labeled before they are put on sale. These manufacturers have cited the cost of the labeling process as being high. These manufacture rs believe that labeling genetically modified food would force the prices to increase their prices as a way of passing the cost to the customer. According to Davida (34), this argument has always been supported by some members of the public who are the consumers. According to this scholar, members of the public are always comfortable with the idea of not labeling the genetically modified food.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More They share the idea of the producers that such processes would always increase the cost of the product which they are not ready to pay. It is a fact that through genetically modified foods, the price of food has gone down considerably. The consumers have come to appreciate the positive impact that genetically modified food has brought into their lives ever since it was discovered. A section of the society still believes that genetically modified foods ar e as safe as other naturally grown products. According to Weiss (124), some scientists have been advocating for the use of genetically modified food not only because it is cheap to produce, but also because it is a safe product. This argument has seen a section of society reject the idea of labeling genetically modified food. They argue that labeling of the genetically modified food would raise unnecessary concern within the society. As such, they believe that the products should not be labeled. Sateesh (87) says that labeling of the genetically modified foods will be like condemning these products in the market for no good reason. This scholar says that the move will not act as an attraction of customers towards the product but a repellant. This scholar says that the tag will act as a warning that is given to the customers saying that they should be duly informed that the product they are purchasing is not a normal product. The message will be saying that the product has abnormal g enes that may have a direct negative impact on their lives. Customers will always shy away from such products. They will consider them unfit for consumption. The producers of such products will, therefore, be driven out of the market. This comes with serious consequences to the technological inventions and innovations in the market. The scientists who were involved in this technology will be forced to stop further exploration in this field because of public rejection. With the current trend, those who are opposed to labeling of this product say that the world population will be double the current population. This will have a massive consequence on food production. With this huge population, these people argue that it is only genetically modified foods that can sustain them. When genetically modified foods are discriminated against, and the technology is brought to its knees, there will emerge a serious food problem in the society in the near future. These people, therefore, insists that the society should learn to appreciate the importance of this technology in food production. Such unnecessary and discriminatory policies as labeling of the genetically modified foods should be stopped in order to help advance this technology and assure the population of constant and reliable food production.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Should All Genetically Modified Foods Be Labeled? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Arguments in Support of Labeling of Genetically Modified Food Labeling of the genetically modified food should not be an issue that raises controversy the way it does. The society has lived in a transparent manner in terms of what we eat ever since the modernization age. When one walks into a hotel, one would order a simple meal like beans and rice for lunch. This individual would not expect to be given meat pie and rice, or any other product that is not paid for. According to Food, Drug a nd Cosmetics Act of 1938, all food substances should be labeled (Nelson 76). This Act demands that all food substances should have all the ingredients labeled so that the consumers would know what they are purchasing before they can consume the product. This Act is supported by the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 which demands of labeling of all food ingredients. These are laws observed within the United States of America. These laws have not been changed. Genetically modified foods have a different genetic modification from the normal products. This is a substantial reason that should make them be labeled differently from other products. The law should not be applied selectively, and neither should it be undermined. When a manufacturer of bread adds eggs to his or her bread and fails to indicate that the bread has eggs as one of the ingredients, such a person would be liable for prosecution. The courts would send him or her to prison for several years for contravening the law. Those who produce genetically modified food should also be subjected to the same law because they are committing the same crime. The law should be fairly administered. A section of the scientists has reported that genetically modified food have negative consequences that are still unknown to them. These scientists argue that genetically modified foods contain some genes which have some serious negative consequences on the health of consumers. These scientists have embarked on a massive research to try and unearth some of the consequences of genetically modified foods on people. While these researchers are still working on this issue, the society should be given a choice to decide on whether they will consume genetically modified food or not. The choice can also be made when the products are labeled. Labeling of the products helps ensure that a consumer will be aware that a given food substance is genetically produced while others are not. Although it has been difficult to d etermine the effect of genetically modified food, recent research of the effect of genetically modified food has shown a worrying trend that this food have on animals. The study, which was conducted on rats, showed that the genetically modified foods cause sterility on rats after three generations. This shows that when the first generation consumes genetically modified food, they are not affected by it and, therefore, shall reproduce normally.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The second generation will also be safe. In the third generation, reproduction will be impossible because the genetics of this organization in the third generation shall have been massively affected. Genetically modified foods were introduced about 20 years ago. This means that the current population is still in the first generation. They may not feel the effect of genetically modified food. Their children who will be the second generation may also not have problems with reproduction. The problem will start in the third generation, when we are to base the reasoning on the results that these scientists have given (Okumu 78). This is enough reason to inform consumers that the product they are consuming is genetically modified. If the consumer is to base his or her reasoning on the recent research reports, then he or she would try avoiding these products. This can only be possible if the products are clearly labeled. One of the main reasons why consumers like their food labeled is beca use of the nutrition they get from these foods. There are consumers who are under medication. Such consumers would have prescribed nutrients that should be gotten from some foods. Such individuals would always rely on labeling of the ingredients in order to ascertain the quality of food eaten. This can only be possible if they are given all the ingredients of their food on the label. Failure to do this will be condemning them. This may affect them negatively. This will be contravening the law which demands that all the genetically modified foods should be labeled. Research has also shown that genetically modified foods come with an allergy to the animals. They attribute this to the introduction of foreign proteins in the genetically modified food. This may explain the constant rise in allergy problems among the American populace. The recent rise in immune disorders can possibly be attributed to consumption of genetically modified foods. For the purpose of clarity, it would be import ant to label these genetically modified foods so that the consumer can choose whether to purchase these products or not. According to Sateesh (92), it is a fact that the use of pesticide has increased with the introduction of the genetically modified foods. According to this scholar, scientists have proven beyond any doubt that when using genetically modified crops, there should be an increase in the use of pesticides in order to protect the crops. This is because these crops are prone to some forms of pests. In order to avoid pest destruction, there has to be a constant use of pest. The pesticides are not only necessary when the crop is at the farm. The pesticide should also be in use when the crop is in the store waiting for the delivery to the consumer. This means that a consumer will be buying a product that has a heavy presence of pesticide. Pesticides are chemicals meant to kill pests. In its simplest definition, pesticides are poisons. When a consumer buys such a poisonous pr oduct, it needs no scientific genius to know that the effect will be massively destructive. The consumer may not realize this instantly (Rudisill 220). This is because he or she will be consuming small quantities of the poison every time he eats the product. When one takes the poison in small quantities consistently, and for a long time, it will bring out its effect. In most of the cases, it is always too late to help such an individual. The poison shall have taken its toll on him or her. Most of the European countries have genetically modified crops in their countries. They cite the negative impact that genetically modified crops have on the health of consumers. France for instance, has banned growing of genetically modified crops because of the possible cross pollination. The genetically modified crops would cross pollinate with the non-GMO plants. This will make the final product have the effects of the GMO. For this reason, the governments of most of the European countries have banned the use of genetically modified crops. In the United States, the treatment is very different. The government has not issued an official ban on the sale of, or growing the genetically modified crops. This is because of the democracy that the government feels that the farmers should be allowed. However, this genetically modified food should be clearly labeled so that one would be aware. If these European countries could issue a total ban on genetically modified crops, and their sale, then the citizens of the United States should have at least some right to know the products that are genetically produced. This would give them the freedom to make the choice of either consuming the products or not. The involvement of Monsanto Company in the opposition to the move to label the genetically modified foods leaves a lot to be desired. According to Nelson (87), this company is known for its self interest and the need to reap maximally from the public without giving any attention to the demands of the public. This scholar reports that Monsanto was on the front line trying to fight farmers who were not willing to move the GMO way. This was because they were the leading sellers of the genetically modified seeds to the farmers. To them, those farmers that were reluctant in adopting the new technology were dragging food production in this country. In essence, this company was fighting these farmers because of its own selfish interests. This scholar also brings back the memory of this firm assuring the public of the safety of Agent Orange and DDT as safe products that could be used as household items (Lenaola 46). Given the fact that at that time it had won the trust of the public, the American public was convinced that these products were safe for use domestically. Monsanto was then considered as one of the companies that were determined to transform the society positively through innovation and inventions in the field of agriculture. This trust did eliminate any doubt that the public could have on the use of the two products which then became common household items. After a long period of over one year, scientists would later discover that these products were not safe for domestic use. This was after the public had been massively affected, and there was an increase in issues related to health among the heaviest users of this product. This was an unethical behavior exhibited by this firm. There was no direct heavy consequence that the government laid on this firm even after it was confirmed that it had misled the public and caused health complications on some. Lastly, ethics demands that when in the market, transparency is of utmost importance. It is important to ensure that all the products sold to the public are of known ingredients and from known sources. When selling food substance to the public, Weirich (114) says that one should realize the fact that this food will have a direct effect on his or her health. The government may not have banne d the sale of genetically modified crops in this country. However, there are some individuals who strongly believe that they cannot consume genetically modified foods. It would be fair to inform such individuals through labeling, that these are genetically modified products. Such an individual would make a personal decision on whether to consume this product or not. It is also intriguing why the producers of genetically modified crops are strongly opposing the need to label their products, while at the same time insisting that they are safe. If they are safe as they proclaim, then let them be labeled. Conclusion There has been a massive debate as to whether or not genetically modified foods should be labeled or not. The proponents and opponents of this move have given their reasons with equal force. However, the world of today demands that ethics should be maintained. Revealing the ingredients of food products is one such ethical requirement. Before one eats a given food, he or she should know all the ingredients. For this reason, all the genetically modified foods should be labeled clearly. Works Cited Davida, Kenneth. What Can Nanotechnology Learn from Biotechnology? Social and Ethical Lessons for Nanoscience from the Debate Over Agrifood Biotechnology and Gmos. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2008. Print. Lenaola, Valorie. â€Å"The Need to Label Genetically Modified Food.† The Journal of Nutrition 35.1 (2008): 37-56. Print. Marchant, Gary. Thwarting Consumer Choice: The Case against Mandatory Labeling for Genetically Modified Foods. Washington: AEI Press, 2010. Print. Nelson, Gerald. Genetically Modified Organisms in Agriculture: Economics and Politics. San Diego: Academic Press, 2001. Print. Okumu, Paul. â€Å"Labeling Genetically Modified Food.† The Philosophical and Legal Debate. 56.2 (2007): 26-79. Print. Rudisill, Careen. â€Å"Are Feelings of Genetically Modified Food Politically Driven?† Risk Management Attitudes and Behaviour 10.3 (2008): 218-234. Print. Sateesh, Macbeth. Bioethics and Biosafety. New Delhi: I.K International Pub. House, 2008. Print. Weirich, Paul. Labeling Genetically Modified Food: The Philosophical and Legal Debate. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. Print. Weiss, Edith. Reconciling Environment and Trade. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2008. Print. This essay on Should All Genetically Modified Foods Be Labeled? was written and submitted by user S1lh0uette to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Free Essays on Monkeys Paw

The Monkeys Paw ‘The Monkeys Paw’ is a story based on the fairy tale idea of a man who has three wishes. It is based on very ordinary characters living in a very ordinary house in a mundane setting. In this story there are four main characters. We are not given much description of them, they are pretty ordinary. Mr and Mrs White live in a small house together with their son Herbert. The fourth character is ‘Sergeant Major Morris’, the only detail we find out about him is that he likes a bit of a drink. The tale is about a sergeant major that bought a monkey’s paw in whilst on travelling. It is rumoured that the paw is magical and could grant three men three separate wishes. The sergeant major incites for its incineration but Mr White would not let such an item burn. After being warned of its horrible outcome Mr White still uses it. His 1st wish was for just  £200, not thinking of how he might gain that money. There is great description of Mr + Mrs White’s reaction as they find out of there sons death. But even more when they hear the compensation is identical of that wished. †Two†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ hundred†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ pounds† The 2nd wish was made out of Grief, from greed to grief. Wishing of their son back. Yet again not thinking of how he might look after being mashed in a machine. The 3rd wish was made mainly because of Mrs White. As she was the one who wanted their son back the most. There is dramatic suspense as Mr White strikes a match and lights the candle. Suddenly hearing knocking on the door, growing louder and louder. Mrs White tries un-bolting the door frantically. Whilst Mr White is trying to wish for there son to return to his grave. But then just silence†¦ The writer builds a lot of horror and suspense in ‘The Monkeys Paw’ making you want to read on. Their once was a saying; â€Å"Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it.† Which ‘The Monkeys Paw’ is a good example.... Free Essays on Monkeys Paw Free Essays on Monkeys Paw The Monkeys Paw ‘The Monkeys Paw’ is a story based on the fairy tale idea of a man who has three wishes. It is based on very ordinary characters living in a very ordinary house in a mundane setting. In this story there are four main characters. We are not given much description of them, they are pretty ordinary. Mr and Mrs White live in a small house together with their son Herbert. The fourth character is ‘Sergeant Major Morris’, the only detail we find out about him is that he likes a bit of a drink. The tale is about a sergeant major that bought a monkey’s paw in whilst on travelling. It is rumoured that the paw is magical and could grant three men three separate wishes. The sergeant major incites for its incineration but Mr White would not let such an item burn. After being warned of its horrible outcome Mr White still uses it. His 1st wish was for just  £200, not thinking of how he might gain that money. There is great description of Mr + Mrs White’s reaction as they find out of there sons death. But even more when they hear the compensation is identical of that wished. †Two†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ hundred†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ pounds† The 2nd wish was made out of Grief, from greed to grief. Wishing of their son back. Yet again not thinking of how he might look after being mashed in a machine. The 3rd wish was made mainly because of Mrs White. As she was the one who wanted their son back the most. There is dramatic suspense as Mr White strikes a match and lights the candle. Suddenly hearing knocking on the door, growing louder and louder. Mrs White tries un-bolting the door frantically. Whilst Mr White is trying to wish for there son to return to his grave. But then just silence†¦ The writer builds a lot of horror and suspense in ‘The Monkeys Paw’ making you want to read on. Their once was a saying; â€Å"Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it.† Which ‘The Monkeys Paw’ is a good example....

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Badass College Dorm Checklist

Badass College Dorm Checklist Disclaimer: if you’re looking for a more conventional dorm room checklist this isn’t it. We’re going to give you the checklist you would get from a senior (or super-duper senior) instead of a college administrator or your parents. There’s all kinds of those online and the college will send you an orthodox checklist along with your initial paperwork anyways. Nearly all of the stuff we left out you’ll end up getting from the college store/bookstore so it’s not like you need to get them beforehand so you show up with all this crap. Let’s get to it. World-Class Slippers Bath Robe Honestly, these have to be at the top of the list. Dorm life can be a bit dirty, more-so for the guys than the girls but that’s life. Don’t go with a cheap pair of slippers! Invest in a quality pair that will keep your feet safe, comfy, be perfect for lounging around and last for a while. That goes for the robe as well. Robes are awesome. Bathroom robes are stupendous for dorm life, especially when you get a high-brow debonair robe that looks cool when you’re just bumming around going from room to room. The Art Sure, you could be another person with posters on their wall, or nothing at all. Or, you could think ahead to the type of ambience you want your side of the room or your own solo room to project. Is it going to be a room people want to hang out in, or stay out of? What type of personality do you want to project to people? Don’t take dorm room art lightly. The Headphones If you’re going to be sharing the room with one, two or three people then make sure you’ve got a quality pair of headphones that will completely block out background noise. This is an imperative. Headphones are like a sanctuary that can save the day many times over when it counts: cram sessions on weekend nights or when people are doing things in the room you would rather not be aware of. The Bedding Go for high class bedding! It’s likely going to be the only bedding you sleep in for at least the next four to six years. The chances you’ll go out and buy more pillow cases, a comforter, sheets, etc. is pretty small. Make’em extra comfy so that you get quality sleep. Yes sleep, it’s so incredibly important in college it’s not even funny. The Wardrobe Don’t show up in the same clothes you’ve been wearing since middle school. You’ll reek of freshmen from head to toe. Plus, clothing stores in college towns are either really expensive or horrible style-wise. Think ahead. Plan to gain a little weight. Start mind-mapping your wardrobe now so it doesn’t become an issue mid-stream so to speak. The Keep-Sakes Yes, by all means have some nic-naks and keepsakes from home but remember that 90% of the time nothing in a shared dorm room is safe. Stuff can go missing at any time unless it’s literally locked up. If you’re in a single room, then that’s different but there will be times when you forget to lock your door or whatever. Things happen. The Alternative Lighting Lighting. Oh boy. It becomes a dynamic problem with dorm rooms where the default lighting is institutional and you may have boot camp-style bedding arrangements. Again, think ahead. You’re going to need a quality desk lamp that you can move around or point away from roomies. And, you’re going to need a reading light you can hook to your books unless you plan to read everything online. A Godly PC Well, not every major requires a hardcore PC but these days it’s a good idea to come packing a versatile and powerful PC. You can go for either a more mobile product like a notebook or tablet, or you can go old school and have a desktop. Whatever works best for you just make sure it’s a quality piece of equipment that’s going to last, be dependable and be something you can keep safe and secure. The Hygiene Products Listen, you don’t want to rely on the college store or bookstore for your hygiene products. You just don’t. Not typically. Maybe some private universities have a steady supply of the good stuff but most public four year universities sport the cheap stuff. It’s freshmen fodder. Do yourself a favor and bring a good supply of quality product that will last a bit. That way you can order as you need to online. That about sums it up folks. I mean you can add all kinds of stuff. The items on this page are the foundational all-important items. What do you think, did we miss anything?

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Contract Law, The Law of Personal Property Essay

Contract Law, The Law of Personal Property - Essay Example exemption clauses. According to the provisions of this act there are three broad divisions of control: first, is the control over contract terms that exclude or restrict liability for 'negligence', secondly, control over contract terms that exclude or restrict liability for breach of certain terms implied by statute or by common law in contracts of sale of goods, hire-purchase etc. Thirdly, a more general control in consumer contracts and standard form contracts over terms that exclude or restrict liability for breach of contract, or which purport to entitle one of the parties to render a contractual performance different from that expected or to render no performance at all. If the term of the contract comes within the purview of this act then the control regime will take its form in either of the two ways i.e. the restriction or exclusion of liability may be rendered absolutely ineffective or it may be effective only in so far as the term of the contract satisfies the test of reasonableness. ... It can be said that subject to certain exceptions, the Unfair Contract Terms Act,1977 only applies to contract terms 'excluding or restricting' specific types of liability; but they are extended to include terms such as : (a) making the liability or its enforcement subject to restrictive or onerous conditions;(b) excluding or restricting any right or remedy in respect of liability, or subjecting a person to any prejudice in consequence of his pursuing any such right or remedy, (c) excluding or restricting rules of evidence or procedure. The practical difficulty, however, is to distinguish such terms from provisions that prevent a contractual duty from arising or circumscribe its extent, or which merely allocate the responsibilities under the contract between the parties(5) The Courts should determine whether a term in a contract 'excludes or restricts' liability by asking whether it deprives a contracting party of the contractual performance which the parties reasonably expected(6). The Unfair Contract Terms Act,1977 for most part exclude or restrict 'business liability'. It means liability for breach of obligations or duties arising - (a) from things done or to be done by a person in the course of a business.; (b) from the occupation of premises used for business purposes of the occupier. As a general rule, greater protection is afforded by the act to a person who deals as consumer than to one who does not. In order that a party should have dealt as consumer, two conditions must have to be satisfied. First, the party must not have made the contract in the course of a business or held himself or herself out as doing so. Secondly, the other party must have made the contract in the course of a business. 'R.&B

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

What inferences can you draw from this passage What are the Assignment - 1

What inferences can you draw from this passage What are the implications - Assignment Example Job-fit refers to degree of which a particular applicant possesses knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the job he/she has applied for. For example an organization has a vacant position of marketing manager and the organization wants the applicant to have an aggressive approach towards work and the organization expects the incumbent to control his emotions while making any decisions. While hiring the marketing manager, the organization can carry out the Big Five Personality Test. This will help in shortlisting candidates who score high on the trait of conscientiousness and are highly emotionally stable. The organization can select one of the candidates from the shortlisted ones in compliance with the required traits. This will help in ensuring that the marketing manager is ready to work all the time and is ready to accept new challenges and does not make decisions based on emotions and rather make rational

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Resilient Rowers of the 1936 Olympics Essay Example for Free

Resilient Rowers of the 1936 Olympics Essay â€Å"In an age when Americans enjoy dozens of cable sports channels, when professional athletes often command salaries in the tens of millions of dollarsit’s hard to fully appreciate how important the rising prominence of the University of Washington’s crew was to the people of Seattle in 1935† (Brown 173). As seen by this quote, America is a much different place than what it was in the 1930s. The times have changed significantly. In today’s day and age we have it all too good. The world we live in is one of leisure and not nearly as much hard work as there used to be. Back in the early 20th century the people had it pretty rough and dealt with many frightening problems of their generation such as World Wars and the Great Depression. The non†fiction novel, Boys in the Boat by Daniel Brown, takes place in this turbulent time period of US history that started around the 1930s. The book is the story of how the University of Washington’s crew won the 1935 Berlin Olympics. The main character, Joe Rantz, and his team start off as an inexperienced freshman crew at the university and worked their way to the top amongst many obstacles. The story is one of great heroism and persistence that takes place during the heart of the US’s struggles. The lives of the great Olympic athletes were affected by this time period in several ways. The Great Depression greatly amplified the athlete’s drive to succeed as well as their great sense of patriotism, and the less complicated technology of the time allowed them to invest wholeheartedly in the handcrafted vessel in which they rowed. The book begins in 1933 in Seattle on a gloomy day. It was the fourth year of the Great Depression and at this point it seemed like it would last forever. â€Å"Nobody could say when, or if, the hard times would ever end† (Brown 9). The time period brought on a bleak, depressing, and failing society. Howard Zinn, in his article called Self†Help in Hard Times, provided a great illustration of what the time was like for people of the US through the quote, â€Å"After the crash, the economy was stunned, barely moving. Over five thousand banks closed and huge numbers of businesses, unable to get money, closed too. Those that continued laid off employees and cut the wages of those who remained, again and again. Industrial production fell by 50 percent, and by 1933 perhaps 15 millionwere out of work† (Zinn). This description by Howard Zinn really  paints a picture of the turmoil that was occurring in the US during the depression. The depression caused people to be afraid of the future because of all the uncertainty that came with it. This was especially true for Joe Rantz. Joe came from an extremely poor family and had been hit hard by the depression. He knew that if he wanted to rise above the depression and the sad life he lived, he would have to make the cut for the University of Washington crew team. Joe knew all too well that â€Å"failing at this rowing business would mean, at best, returning to a small, bleak town on the Olympic Peninsula with nothing ahead of him but the prospect of living alone in a cold, empty, half†built house† (Brown 13). It was this that motivated Joe and it was this that pushed him to succeed. The Great Depression sparked the fear of an uncertain future into Joe, which is demonstrated by Brown in the quote,†Whether you were a banker or a baker, a homemaker or homeless, it was with you night and day†Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â‚¬ a terrible, unrelenting uncertainty about the future, a feeling that the ground could drop out from under you for good at any moment,† (Brown 9). This fear affected his life tremendously and is ultimately what caused Joe’s drive to win an Olympic gold medal. As well as serving as a motivator for the crew team, the Great Depression also sparked much patriotism into the lives of not only the rowers, but the whole nation. Coming off of WWI the US still had a strong sense of nationalism amongst its people. Once the depression hit and hard times came around, the people of the United States instead of losing their sense of nationalism, held on to it tighter and believed that America would recover back into the prospering nation it once was. For the crew team of the University of Washington, times were challenging however they were proud to be living in America because, as demonstrated by the following quote, they knew that other nations didn’t have the freedoms that they had: â€Å"In a few days, he would be sailing under her on his way to a place where as he understood it, liberty was not a given, where it seemed to be under some kind of assault. The realization that was settling on all the boys settled on Joe† (Brown 289). This place they were about to sail off to was Germany. Germany at the time didn’t have any of the freedoms that America did and was under the control of Hitler. The quote, â€Å"They were now representative of something much larger than themselves—a way of life, a shared set of values. Liberty was perhaps the most fundamental of those values. But the things that held them together—  trust in each other, mutual respect, humility, fair play, watching out for one another—those were also a part of what America meant to all of them†, (Brown 289) reveals the crew team’s feelings about their great American nation. It shows the true level of patriotism that the crew possessed and their deep understanding and respect for the values of America. These true feelings of patriotism were brought forth by the Great Depression and affected the lives of the Olympic athletes by motivating them even more to win the gold for their nation. Another effect that the time period had on the lives of the Olympic Athletes was caused by the lack of advanced technology in the row boat industry. The time period in which the story was based was during a time in which many things were still crafted by hand and not by machine. The handcraftsmanship of the era carried over into the rowing industry. George Pocock, an expert boat builder, designed and built the Husky Clipper, the winning Olympic boat. George Pocock’s expertise is illuminated by the quote, â€Å"A large part of Pocock’s genius as a boatbuilder was that he managed to excel both as a maker of machines and as an artist† (Brown 136). Due to his expertise, the boat became something more important than it seemed. The 9 crew members feel in love with the boat and really became a part of it. Joe began to develop a true connection to the boat when he heard George Pocock describe the wood in the following way: â€Å"The wood taught us about survival, about overcoming difficulty, about prevailing over adversity, but it also taught us something about the underlying reason for surviving in the first place. Something about infinite beauty, about underlying grace, about things larger than ourselves. About the reason we were all here† (Brown 214). The values taught to them through the craftsmanship of the boat aided them in victory and taught them to persevere and push through. Joe Rantz and his eight crew members worked relentlessly to achieve a gold medal at the 1935 Berlin Olympics. By all accounts this was a huge accomplishment because rowing is not only physically demanding but also mentally challenging as seen through the quote from the article entitled Me Time, â€Å"On the one hand they (rowers) must possess enormous self†confidence, strong egos, and titanic willpower. And yet, no other sport demands and rewards complete abandonment of the self† (Crosby). Many factors influenced their success including a strong desire to escape the desolate state of poverty brought on by the Great Depression, a heightened sense of  patriotism, and a great appreciation for their rowing vessel that was meticulously handcrafted. They achieved many successes and experienced failure as well, along the road to Olympic victory. However it was not until the last few hundred meters of the race that Joe felt truly at one with his teammates. Joe finally was able to trust his teammates, which is what he was searching for all along. The true prize of his journey, however, wasn’t really the gold olympic medal. It was the friendships he gained along the way. Works Cited Brown, Daniel. The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. New York: Penguin, 2014. Print. Crosby, Josh. â€Å"Me Time.† Rowing Magazine Apr. 2014: 61. Web. Zinn, Howard. â€Å"Self ­Help in Hard Times.† In A People’s History of the United States, 377 ­406. New York : Harper Collins, 2003.

Friday, November 15, 2019

Relationship between stories :: essays research papers

The Relationship between Stories and Their Sources   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Most authors use some type of source when writing a story. The source could be religious, scientific, or something else that is inspiring to them. Even great writers such as Shakespeare had a source in which their stories came from. The source can be used for many different purposes. A certain author may use a source to show different parallels between two stories or to show similarities between events or characters. They may use the source to prove a point or to add meaning to the book. The source could also just be an ambiguous connection that helps complete the story. Whatever the authors reason for picking a certain source it seems to give the story completion and significance. In this class, we read many stories in which the source deals with religion and especially the gospels. In this paper, I will discuss these different stories and how they relate to their religous sources.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first story we read in class was, ?gA Visit of Charity?h by Eudora Welty. In this story, the source that is eluded to is the Genesis story of Adam and Eve. The story begins with Marian, a young campfire girl, who is on her way to an Old Ladies?f Home. Before entering the home she stops by some prickly shrubs. The outside of the home was covered by beautiful shrubbery and the whitewash brick building reflected the sunlight. Yet, the inside of the home was in bad shape. It smelled musky and the linoleum on the floor was bulging up. The details Welty adds are significant because it shows two different worlds. The one world Marian still sees which is beautiful like the Garden of Eden and the world she is slowly stepping into where things are not beautiful and good. The story continues with Marian visiting two old ladies who fought between themselves the whole time she was there. Marian did not want to be at the home and especially dislike visiting these two ladies. Although, the one lady was friendly to Marian she was still scared of both ladies. At the end of the visit the one lady grabs Marian?fs arm and asks her for a penny or a nickel. Marian runs from the old lady without looking back. When she gets outside she grabs the apple she hid in the prickly bushes on her way into the Home. As she jumped onto the bus Marian took a big bite of the apple. This is the most significant part of the story because it shows how Marian knew what she was doing was wrong but she carelessly did it

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Home vs. Alone Lfe

The college years are a time of growing independence for every college student. Freshman’s have to make decisions that will change the person they are now and mold them to be the person that they will become after college. During college, students learn to manage their time and practice different methods that make their lives easier. They realize that their decisions can make them suffer because of limitations. This is why some college students have a difficult time deciding whether they want to stay at home with parents or alone.Most students choose to move out so that they can develop their independence and responsibility by being alone in an apartment. Other students select to stay home because the cost of living at home is less expensive for them than the cost of staying alone renting an apartment. Therefore it may seem like staying alone in an apartment has more benefits at first, but in the long run, living at home can have more advantages. The most common reason for stu dents choosing to stay at home is that the cost of living in an apartment is too expensive to handle for someone who has a job that cannot cover the rent.Staying at home gives the student a better opportunity to save more money because a student that stays at home during college has less financial responsibilities. The most major responsibility students in apartments deal with is rent when conversely students that stay at home do not have to pay rent unless their parents ask for it. Even if the students’ parents ask for rent, there is a high chance that the amount that the parents ask for is cheaper than what the student would spend renting their own apartment.Not having to pay a high amount for rent can take a burden off of the student because some students that live alone in an apartment struggle to pay rent. Some students that choose stay in the apartments may first have to pay an expensive security deposit to acquire the apartment. After paying for the security deposit, r ent, and utilities, the student also might also have to pay for cable and Internet access because apartment living does not afford these same luxuries.Students are in charge when they live at their own apartment so they have to be responsible when paying these new bills in their apartment because these bills can help or hurt the student’s credit. For example, when students do not pay their rent and utility bills on time, they can suffer from penalty charges or eviction. Each time the student pays bills on time, they build credit which over time gives them a strong credit rating that can help them to get approved for an auto loan, a house or another purchase they may want to make.Unless the student has bills placed in their name, they do not build credit as much when they live with their parents. Additionally, students generally must sign a lease with their landlord before they rent an apartment. Not only must they pay rent by a certain date, they must also adhere to other ite ms outlined in the lease agreement. For example, if they have a pet, the student is responsible for cleaning up after the pet and ensuring it does not disturb neighbors.Students that live at home also have responsibilities but if they do not complete them due to illness or time constraints, another family member might complete them for the student. For example, if that student is responsible for mowing the lawn and they get ill with the influenza; their parents might mow the lawn for them. When they live in an apartment, they must complete their responsibilities regardless of how they feel or have to work out an alternate arrangement with your landlord.Students living in a house with their parents stress less about food, clothes, and toiletries because the parents may provide these necessities with shelter. Students that stay in apartments most likely have to run errands such as buying clothes, groceries and toiletries for themselves. The student at home also has the benefit of avoi ding the expense of buying furniture, linens and other household items. It is also easier for stay-at-home students to save more when it comes to laundry because students that live in an apartment may have to pay laundry fees to use washing machines and dryers.Unlike stay at home students that have a washer and dryer at home, the students in the apartment may have to travel to a laundry mat every week spending more money just to keep their clothes clean. Students staying at home can save more money also because these students generally do not have to worry about these expenses. Even if the parents do not provide these needs for the student staying with them, there is a better chance that they will help because the student is closer.Living alone may teach students to be more responsible but living at home gives students a better support network from their parents. When living at home the family ensures that the student’s basic need for shelter and security is met. Living alone means that you have more freedom but also that you will have to deal with troubles more by yourself. For example, after a long exhausting day of working, a student can come back home and realize all most everything in their apartment is gone because of forgetting to lock the door.This is horrible thought but this could have been prevented more if the student stayed home. This is less likely to happen for students living with their family because the students’ parents are actually going to be there to remember the student to lock the door or lock the door for them. Living at home with parents, the rule the student lives by is â€Å"As long as you live under my roof, you follow my rules†, so is the advantage of security but disadvantages of less freedom and more rules. When it comes to living at home the student might not get to put their own design style in every room.For instance, over the years, one or more of the parents have probably picked out furniture, carpet an d other decor to suit their tastes. Although the student might have gotten a chance to offer input when it came to choosing a new living room or bedroom suite, their parents likely had the final say. Apartment living allows the student to decorate their living space with furniture that appeals to them. Some apartments also let renters paint so living in their own apartment gives the student the chance to get creative and express themselves in their home.Having their own apartment, the rule the student lives by is â€Å"You pay the cost to be the boss†, so the student can come and go as they please because they make the rules of the house. There is generally no one to tell the student what time to go to bed, get up in the morning or when to clean your home. Their friends can stay over late and the students can choose the forms of entertainment they engage in. For example, they can go out overnight and enjoy pleasant time with companions when they stay alone and that seems to b e tough when living with family.If they were living at home, they would have to ask their parents if friends can come over and stay late. Depending on the parents, the student also might have to arrive home at a certain time of the evening. . Even though living at home with parents mitigates the benefits, such as more independence and responsibilities that students receive when staying alone, it is more beneficial because it helps them transition from high school to college more easy. It is easier for the student to concentrate on our lessons if they are at home because their parents motivate them more.Imagine how the student is disturbed by a group of friends while trying focusing on studies at their own department. It would take a lot more time to have a talk with these friends then the student has to spend hours on concentrating again. The consequence of learning will descend gradually if the student is distracted. In conclusion, besides similarities such as being a stable place to stay, there are thousands of considerable discrepancies between the boundaries of living alone and living with family.I have distinguished which one satisfies the student most in certain periods of time. The choice the student picks will affect every detail of their life, right down to the way you talk, the foods you eat, and how much money you can spend. It will also determine how often the students’ friends visit and how much freedom the student will have. For example, while living under the rule of the parents, the student will have to leave the house in order to socialize and the communication will be short periods of time. Living alone, however, yields much more room for fun because of freedom.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

The Main Problems of Lexicography

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