Telegraph to Twitter

Introduction The practice or the science of transmitting information from one party to the next especially through an electronic means is called communication. Communication is inevitable. It takes place in everyday life whether the people involved in the process are close to one another or far away from each other.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Telegraph to Twitter specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Also, it takes place consciously or unconsciously. Communication can be verbal or non-verbal. Long distance made it difficult for individuals to communicate. This, as a result, led to the invention of technology that would enable messages to be relayed over long distances. Twitter as form of communication is more appealing than telegraphy (Fang, 2012). Differences Electric telegraph is an ancient system of communication that has since been obsolete whereas twitter is a current micro blogging and a networking social system of communication service. Electric telegraphs and signals were conveyed from one locality to the next using wire as a medium of transmission (Robert, 2013). It is this signals that were translated into meaningful messages. The electric telegraph came after the non-electric telegraph which Claude Chappe invented in 1749. The non electric telegraph used sophomore which is a flagbased alphabet. The system was visual and relied heavily on a line of sight to communicate (Loretta, 2008). Samuel, F.B. Morse invented the electronic telegraph. In order to convey the message, he initially used thirty five wires containing gold electrodes. He plunged the wires into water transmitting the message on the receiving end via electrolysis. The message was enabled by the amount of gas that that came as a result of electrolysis. Morse later investigated with electromagnetic indicators in the mid nineteenth century. He got funds from a congress that saw him through with the telegraph ide a (Mary, 2013). Characters sent via a twitter message are called tweets. This was an invention from an undergraduate student at the University of New York, Jack Dorsey. His first idea was using a short text message to communicate to a small group of individuals. He created twitter in March of the year 2006 and was launched in July the same year (Vasellaro, 2008). While telegraphic information is retrieved in the form of writing in a paper, twitter is a type of communication that takes place in the internet. For one to send telegraphic information, they must have a telegraphic machine. The message is written by the sender of the message in a paper after which it is telegraphed to the receiver who also must be able to access the machine.Advertising Looking for research paper on communication strategies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Twitter, on the other hand, relies on the internet. One is only required to log into their twee ting account to view ‘tweets’ form their followers. This can be done on a computer or via an internet enabled mobile phone (Robert, 2013). While twitter requires membership, sending a telegraph does not require one to be a registered member. Telegraphic means of communication does not require one sign up for an account in order to send or receive information. With a telegraphic machine, one is able to send information to anyone so long as they have the telegraphic machine. One can also read information sent to them without being a registered member Twitter on the other hand requires one to register as a member for one to view or post messages for others to view (Mary, 2013). Telegraphic form of communication was not flexible and convenient as compared to twitter which is flexible and convenient. Telegraphic machines are not found everywhere. One has to get them from a designated location like in a post office. This makes the process time consuming and less efficient. Tw itter, on the other hand, is faster as internet is easily accessible. One can ‘twit’ via their mobile phone, tablet or a cyber cafà ©. One can ‘twit’ while travelling, having dinner, when they are about to sleep, first thing in the morning when they wake up and even in the toilet (Robert, 2013). Such flexibility was impossible with the telegraph. Telegraphic form of communication is conventional and less attractive unlike twitter which is attractive and easy to understand. Telegraphic information is written on a paper in black and white. It is less attractive and can prove to be difficult to understand sometimes because it has no illustrations in the form of a video or photographs. Twitter, on the other hand, uses motion pictures and photographs as well as videos that keep the readers entertained. These attributes enhance the comprehension of the message. Twitter also offers its users the option of sending messages in different formats, styles and lengths. The telegraph was more restricted (Mary, 2013).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Telegraph to Twitter specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Whereas twitter information transfer takes place instantly, telegraphic information does not take place instantly. When using the telegraphic form of communication, one does not get a feed back as soon as they send the information (Tom, 2009). This is because a process must take place before the receiver of the message corresponds to the message. Further, the long distance that one has to travel to access the machine also delays information. Using twitter on the other hand is an instant means of communication. A click of a button and the information is read by the receiver and replied instantly for as long as both the receiver and the sender are on the same site (Neil 1985). While telegraphic means of communication can be used to relay any amount of written information w ithout limitation twitter has a limit to the number of characters that can be sent. In the telegraphic means of communication, one can write as much information as they please and the information will reach the receiver just as sent. It gives the sender of the message a chance to express themselves in writing without limitation on the information to be sent (Loretta, 2008). As a result, it is appropriate for the formal type of communication. Twitter on the other hand has restriction on the number of character sent to the receiver. The maximum number of characters that the sender can send is 140 only. This limits one in expressing themselves (Standage 1998). Twitter can be used for advertising while the telegraphic means of communication cannot be used to advertise. Telegraphic communication technology uses written information only and has no tools for formatting. This makes it difficult to advertise. Furthermore, telegraphs are intended for few receivers. Twitter, on the other hand, is appropriate for advertising. Many individuals access the internet causing to reach a wider market. The site also provides tools that enable users to reformat their information thereby making it more attractive (Vasellaro, 2008). Telegraphic means of communication is not only used to relay messages but can be put into other uses like the telegraphic money transfers, a feature that twitter does not have. The telegraphic machine was reinvented and is able to perform other functions.Advertising Looking for research paper on communication strategies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Western Union and Money Gram are the largest money transfer organizations which came into operation the same year that telegraphs came into operation-1851 (Tom, 2009). Twitter cannot be used for money transfers because it has not been designed to do so, furthermore, many would not consider it safe as millions of people access the site (Robert, 2013). Similarities In addition, there are a number of similarities between the two. First, both telegraph and twitter are means of communication. In both, there is a sender, a medium of communication, a channel of communication and the receiver. They are both used to relay information. They both have the same format of communication which is written message. The first message transmitted by a telegraph was â€Å"what hath God wrought† while the first message sent via twitter was â€Å"just setting up my twttr† (Loretta, 2008). The two gadgets are unlike phone, which send voice messages. In both means of communication, the sender of the message has to write or post written information which has to be transmitted to the receiver through a medium. The receiver then reads the message, understands, interpret the information then respond back in the form of a written message to the receiver, who was initially a sender (Neil 1985). Both telegraph and twitter are used to relay messages over long or short distances. Telegraphs started in the form of cables that were connected from one city to the next in 1838. Morse demonstrated the gadget by guiding an indicator through wire in Morris town. He later secured funds from a legislative body that assisted him mount a demonstration line in the middle of Baltimore and Washington DC (Tom, 2009). It was unmanageable to hide the wires below the ground and had to hang them from pole to pole. It took a long time before telegraphic cables were put through the Atlantic Ocean to connect the whole world. Twitter also uses internet cables to communicate worldwide. The use of teleg raphs and twitter has made the world a global village. For example, somebody in the United Kingdom can easily communicate with somebody in Africa clearly and easily by twitting or via a telegraph. They were both invented for one basic need-to communicate (Robert, 2013). Both telegraph and twitter started on sketchy grounds before developing into the wide networks in later years. People have come up with better ideas that have seen the technology grow from a frame to a wholesome system that ensures efficient and effective communication. Their introduction got positive responses from people who contributed positively towards their growth. Both can be accessed by any individual who wishes to use them. There are no restrictions as to who can use the technology in terms of social class or age among others (Mary 2013). Both have been used to relay important messages. During the civil war, Associated Press used a telegraph to dispatch information to various relevant offices. AP collected p residential poll results in1848 using a telegraph for the first time that saw Zachary Taylor secure victory in the presidential race. President Abraham Lincoln state union was transmitted via telegraph. The contemporary world today has seen presidential and parliamentary campaigns carried out on twitter among other social networks (Vasellaro, 2008). Technology keeps upgrading from one decade to the next. Twitter is an upgraded form of technology that has made communication easy and enjoyable making it highly preferred to telegraph in the contemporary world (Vasellaro 2008). References Fang, I. (2012). Alphabet to internet: Media in our lives (2nd Ed.). Kansas: Rada Press. Neil,P. (1985). Amusing ourselves to death: Public discourse in the age of show business. Viking: Elisabeth Sifton Books. Standage, T. (1998). The remarkable story of the telegraph and the nineteenth century’s outline pioneers. New York: Walker and Company. Loretta, O. (2008). Peek-A-Boo World. New Jersey: P aulist Press. Tom, S. (2009). The Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century’s On-line Pioneers. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. Vasellaro, J. (2008, October 27). Twitter goes mainstream. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from online,wsj.com/article/SB22461906719455335.html. Mary, B. (2013, March 30). The history of electric telegraphic and telegraphy: The beginning of an electronic communication inventors. History 1800. Retrieved from about.com/od/tstartinventions/a/telegraph.htm. Robert, M. (2013, March 30). The invention of telegraphs changed communication forever: A communication revolution wired the world in the 19th century. History 1800. Retrieved from about.com/od/inventioninnovations/a/telegraph01.htm. This research paper on Telegraph to Twitter was written and submitted by user Jaylen Ochoa 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.

DVDs vs VHS essays

DVDs vs VHS essays For years people have watched videos of their favorite movies and felt disappointed because the movie seemed better in the theater. Now, this is no longer a problem. DVDs have changed the way people feel about watching movies at home. The DVD has only been around for about five years. Last year was the biggest year in the five-year history of DVDs, with some364 million movies, rock concerts, television shows and other entertainment-related products shipped on DVD, up from 182 million the previous year. DVDs have made it possible for people to enjoy home movies like never before. Although it was a very good source of entertainment, VHS is beginning to die out. DVDs far surpass the soon to be obsolete VHS videotapes. The VHS (Video Home System) has been around for roughly 30 years. With the advent of DVD, the bulkier video is rapidly growing obsolete. The Japanese company, Victor, created the VHS videocassette in 1976, about a year after the Sony Betamax video recorder. Miraculously, Victor beat Sony in the long run. However, in the recent past, DVDs have been dominating the movie market. A few features that are becoming common-place on DVD that were a special edition rarity on VHS. Some of these features include: story boards, deleted scenes, bloopers, behind the scenes footage, you will not have to search forever for a certain scene, and interviews, as well as wide screen options. Also, the compact sizes of the discs are essential for great storage. Some computers can play DVDs as well as burn them. People could make their own movies on the computer and then burn it onto DVD. Furthermore, VHS tapes fade over time and then eventually cease to work. True, VHS costs less and is more available to views because not everyone has a DVD player. True, many older movies and classics are not yet on DVD. True, VHS runs a lower risk of being damaged; whereas a DVD can be scrat...

HEALTH SCIENCES AND MEDICINE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

HEALTH SCIENCES AND MEDICINE - Essay Example Based on such a perspective, this paper analyses the extent and impact that the shortage of nurses has caused to Hallways Hospital, and most especially on the stakeholders, with specificity on patients. A number of reasons have been stated to contribute towards the shortage of clinical nurses and other professionals in Hallways Hospital. These include early retirement for the nurses as a majority of them seek to get involved in other activities, considering that the profession is considered t lack profitability by a majority of the professionals. Additionally, poor working conditions have also contributed towards a number of nurses leaving the hospital and seeking for other greener pastures (Huston, 2009). Poor remuneration is also a contributing factor towards the shortage of nurses in the hospital (Buerhaus, Straiger and Auerbach, 2009). The shortage of nurses in Hallways Hospital has significantly had severe consequences on service delivery in the hospital, with the greatest affected stakeholders being the patients who are ideally directly affected by the shortage. Instances in which there is increased shortage of nurses, it is obvious that there is a successive reduction in the quality of service delivery as the few nurses have to perform extra tasks, thereby causing them distress, which then results to poor performances (Cowen, 2011). Motivation is usually a very important element in every profession and in healthcare facilities, one of the best means to motivate nurses and other healthcare professionals is to provide better remuneration in terms of wages and pay. Currently, healthcare facilities are some of the institutions where workers receive the least of wages and pays. These ideally, are a demoralization of the nurses, making them perform poorly in their duties. With increased poor performance, the service delivery in such institutions is likely to depreciate, and as such, Hallways hospital has been greatly

Online Learning VS traditional learning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Online Learning VS traditional learning - Essay Example The benefits of online learning over traditional learning center on the fact that online learning allows for more learner independence (Peppler and Solomou 14), flexibility, reduced costs and increased convenience. While higher education programmes have traditionally been governed by the conventional components of ‘teaching’, recent decades have brought about a re-evaluation of the fundamental premise and function of education (Garrison and Vaughan 4). This has led to a significant shift in focus towards a learner-centred approach where autonomy and the facilitation of independent and lifelong learning has become a primary goal (Somekh 20). As a result of this and prevailing socio-economic factors, distance and online education has become an increasingly popular, accessible and valid form of education (Stacey 288). Though previously serving as an alternative to conventional education, the past decade has seen increasing levels of convergences in distance and conventional education, and it appears to be a natural evolution of educational approaches (Tait and Mills 10). Traditional education cannot allow for such accessibility and convenience on the part of the learner. The rapid development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT’s) in the late 20th century created new and exciting conditions for online courses, such as providing almost unlimited resources for research and information, enabling interactive learning and significantly reducing the cost of tutor-student communications (Leach 41). In fact, these technologies have affected education as a whole, irrespective of the descriptor of ‘distance’ or ‘conventional’ (Somekh 37). These technologies offer much more resources and diverse methods compared to traditional learning environments which take place in a classroom and use usually only printed material. The financial benefits of online learning are also significant both for learner and institution. It provides cost savings benefits

Sociological Theories of Language and Power

Sociological Theories of Language and Power Given that sociological theories are just that- theories, it is impossible to say that they can sufficiently explain or define any aspect of our lives. However, sociological theories can help us to understand the way in we interact with each other and society thereby broadening our knowledge and perspectives. In the following discussion we will look briefly at some of the main sociological perspectives. We will then look at language as a means of communication and social interaction. Finally we will examine the relationship between language and power by exploring mass communication and its effect on social life. Sociology is concerned with society, with individuals in society, with institutions and with its norms and values. As Bilton et al state, social life is a puzzle and sociologists spend their professional lives trying to make sense of it. (2002 p4) Within sociology, there are several different influences which affect how theorists explain or attempt to explain social phenomena. These include functionalism, conflict theory and Marxism among others. Functionalism views the various parts of society as interrelated parts of a complete system. It sees behaviour as being structured and social relationships as being patterned and recurrent. It also emphasizes the role of value consensus within society. For example from a functionalist perspective, the family structure as a recurring social unit plays an important role in society. The family is the main socialising agency for young people and acts as a stabilising influence in society by propagating the shared norms and values of society (Har alambos and Holborn 1995, p8-9). In direct contrast, conflict theory is concerned with social structure as a cause and reflection of social inequality. Wallace and Wolf outline three basic assumptions of conflict theory. Firstly it assumes all people have basic common interests. Secondly that power is central to all relationships and thirdly it assumes that values and ideas are seen as weapons used by groups in their own interests rather than a way of defining society as a whole (1999, p68). It is similar to the Marxist perspective of society as operating through the fundamental conflicts of interests between the social groups involved in the production process (1995, p12). Another sociological perspective is structuralism, which was strongly influenced by the work of Sauserre in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Sauserre developed the study of linguistics by looking at language as it is structured. According to Sauserre, analysing the structures of language means looking for the rules which underlie our speech. He argued that the meaning of words is derived from the structures of language, not the objects to which they refer. In this way, meaning is created by the differences between related concepts which the rules of a language recognise (Giddens 1989, p698-699). The field of semiotics is largely derived from Sauserres work on linguistics. The semiotic approach that meaning is located in the sign, has important consequences for how we view culture and language and through these, power. Sauserre described semiotics as a science that studies the life of signs within a society. It is concerned with meaning as something which is socially produced and proposes that the decoding process of communication is as important as the encoding process. In semiotics, meaning is derived from signs through their structural organisation. Sauserre conceived of signs as being made up of the sound image, termed the signifier and the mental concept, termed the signified. In this way signs can differ between individuals. For example when one person in a group refers to a car, everyone would conceptualise a car but each persons car would be very different. According to Mulholland (1991, p17), language is the instrument by which meaning is realised and by which effective social interaction can be created and sustained. She adds, language is not a neutral toolwhenever one encodes something of the world into language one is fitting it into a systematic code which works to produce meaning both paradigmatically (by choice of one item from a similar set of items) and syntygmatically (by arranging choices into sentence patterns).This can influence how it works to represent both propositional content (the happenings of the world when they become the subject matter of speech) and interpersonal content (the attitudes, role, tone and so on of relationships) (Mulholland 1991, p18). Therefore language is much more than a set of words and phrases which we use to communicate. And aside from spoken or written language, communication is also achieved through body language, a look or a gesture can say all that needs to be said. Much of our communication is based on shared codes and cultures. Day to day conversations are based on a knowledge of ourselves and the people we are communicating with. However, there are many factors which influence how we communicate. For example, our audience, the context, the desired outcomes of the communication and shared terms of reference. For example teenagers may be comfortable talking together about the latest rap artists and may even adopt some of their lingo whilst their parents may have no idea what they are talking about. This is because the parents are not familiar with the context (rap) of the conversation. Another factor which affects communication is the power and relative status of the speakers. Consider for example being told to step aside on a pavement by a police officer. Most people would comply with the request since the police (generally speaking) have an authority bestowed on them by their uniform. Similarly, we are inclined to give credibility to news broadcasts because we believe that the newsreader has authority and therefore what he or she is telling us must be true. Although Eldridge (1993) and others have argued that news is just a social construction anyway and as such cannot be considered unique or impartial, it is not reality which is constructed but a semblance of it. (1993 p33) However many argue that the media and the language it uses is manipulated by those who are in power in order to reinforce and legitimate that power. According to Adorno and Horkheimer (1979) the media is a technological system which is grounded in economic power. They argue that through the m edia, power and social systems are reproduced which in turn reproduce forms of social inequality in which political and economic spheres are inextricably mixed (cited Eldridge 1993, p34). They argue that news as such is just the result of what is considered important or proper between a select and unrepresentative group of business people, reporters and officials. In contrast to this a pluralist conception of mass communication is that there is such an enormous flow of messages and images that we can choose among them which to believe and which to discard. The Marxist response to this is that whilst it is true that the media occupies a contested space which has economic, cultural and political constraints as well as commercial pressures, these merely lead to different patterns of domination and agenda setting. (Eldridge, p36) For example, Williams has stated the commercial character of television has then to be seen at several levels: as the making of programmes for profit in a known market; as a channel for advertising; and as a cultural and political form directly shaped by and dependent on the norms of a capitalist society, selling both consumer goods and a way of life based on them in an ethos that is at once locally generated, by domestic capital interests and authorities and internationally organised by the dominant capitalist power. (ci ted in Fairclough 1995, p43) Mass communication is frequently discussed in terms of its effect on listeners/ viewers/ readers. In this way, it can be said to be a powerful force in our everyday lives. Therefore the language it employs also has a certain power. The formal language of the newsreader for example implies knowledge and authority and we are inclined to trust this voice. Likewise, the more commercial an image becomes, the less we are likely to trust it. Conclusion Sociological theories such as structuralism are very useful in enhancing our understanding of language and power in society. By comparing differing theories of language and of power we may not come up with definitive answers but we are certainly more knowledgeable about the processes. Power is exerted through many different means and language is just one of these. However it is potentially a very influential source of power and one which is exploited wherever possible. This can be seen in many facets of social life from politics, economics even religion and popular culture.

Utopia-Religon

Thomas More wrote Utopia a few years before the Protestant Reformation, during a period rife with religious instability. Not everyone trusted the corrupt Roman Catholic Church, and many Europeans looked elsewhere for their religious inspiration. Though the Utopian religion has some similarities with Catholicism and Protestantism, it is an entirely unique belief system uninfluenced by the numerous European faiths of the period. The main thing the sets the utopian religion apart Is its complete religious tolerance.While all the utopian religions are monotheistic and all their god by a general Utopian term of Matthias, they disagree on who exactly Matthias is. The only belief that is not allowed is atheism. Utopians feel that if an individual does not think that he Is responsible for his actions, and that there Is one Supreme Being who controls the world, then there is nothing to stop him from breaking laws and causing disorder. The Utopians don't believe in predestination like many sec ts of Protestantism does.All the religions meet at one church and serve under the same priest. In church one is not allowed to say anything that's offensive to another religion because of on early Utopian law saying that no one should suffer or be made uncomfortable due to his religion. A Utopian can try to convert others to their religion if they are able to present their argument calmly and reasonably. All this is very deferent from any of the European religions, who were constantly going to war with each other In the name of god.Catholic kings would go on crusades against the Muslims; Jews during the Spanish Inquisition were kicked at of their homes and persecuted for believing differently, and after the protestant reformation Catholics ND Protestants had years of bloody warfare. Even the religious leaders themselves would start war, such as when Luther declared war on the Jews and the peasants. Religious tolerance was something that didn't come to Europe until much later. Anothe r thing that shows the uniqueness of the utopian religion is the way they elect and serve their priests. Priests are chosen by the people in a secret election.Unlike Catholics and Protestants who have numerous corrupt priests, utopians have very few, because of difficulty finding someone moral enough for the Job. The Priest Is also he highest power in the land. This is very opposite of Protestants, who believe in a â€Å"priesthood of all Believers† that the priest is equal to the parishioner. Priests, similar to Lutheran are allowed to marry, and their wives are treated like high members of society. Priest also cannot be punished for crime, utopians believe that someone who dedicated himself to god can only be punished by god himself and not through human hands.A widowed elderly woman is also allowed to become priest which is something that's not allowed by any other religion. The priest also went to war with he utopians for the purpose of Inspiring the troops, preventing ex cess killing, and pacifying the enemy's vengeance. The utopians worship their god in a very unique way. In church they do not sacrifice any animals because they do not think that a merciful god would enjoy senseless bloodshed. This shows how the Utopians would not have approved of the flagellant movement In the fourteenth century.The flagellants were groups of clerics that would go from town to town and whip their bare skin to inspire public repentance. If the Utopians wouldn't even draw an 1 OFF animal's b tort no reason they would never nave approved to hurting oneself tort a oddly purpose. The Utopians do burn incense, because they feel that the scent somehow raises people's thoughts. They do not burn them for god because they know he has no use for such things. Similar to the Protestants the Utopians don't focus on acts of devotion. The Utopians, unlike the Catholics, have no visual representations of god anywhere. They also don't believe in omens and fortune telling.Their calen dar, like the Catholic one, is based on a solar year divided into lunar months. The Utopian religion has a confusing stance on female equality. On the one hand they allow woman to become priests which is something that's unheard of in any of the European religions, but they also make woman confess all there wrong doings to their husbands before any holiday. They give woman a chance at equality, but then also show them how they are inferior to their husbands. While this does seem paradoxical, it does offer more gender equality than any other religion. The Utopians are also hypocritical with their religious punishments.They have a law eying a priest cannot punish a sinner because that is the Job of the government. The most drastic punishment they allow the priest to give is excommunication. Yet if the excommunicated one does not convince the priest that he is reformed, he is arrested and punished by the counsel for sinfulness. So the priest technically has the power to punish in a ver y roundabout but powerful way. He can decide who is reformed or not and through that he is given the power to imprison. If a counsel can arrest and try an individual for impiety, doesn't that mean a person is suffering because of their elision.This proves that although the Utopians say they offer complete religious freedom, a person can still suffer because of his beliefs. The truly devout Utopians do one of two things. The holier ones take vows of chastity similar to the Catholics, and eat a very strict diet consisting of no meat. The less holy yet more admired ones take upon themselves heavy labor that will benefit the community. It is more admired in Utopia to do heavy work for the community then to live a life of chastity. This is very different from the Catholic mentality.Catholics admire priests as holy and serve them only because the priest was able to devote his life purely to god and give up human desires. The peasants who spend the whole day doing backbreaking labor are vi ewed as the lowest of society even though what they do greatly benefits everyone else. Thomas More would not have though the Utopian religion was ideal. More himself was a devote Catholic who even died for his faith. He played an integral role as Lord Chancellor in persecuting the Protestants after the reformation. He would not have proved of the complete religious toleration of the Utopians.Also the Utopian laws allowing euthanasia, divorce, and married and female priests are completely against the teachings of the Catholic Church. He wrote Utopia as a way of criticizing the Catholic Church for all of its corruptions not as a blueprint for a new religion. At the end of the book More says that while Hathaway was speaking he kept thinking how some of the Utopian laws were Just bizarre. He says â€Å"quite apart from such things as their military tactics, religions, and forms of worship, there was a grand absurdity on which their whole society is based, communism without money. (Utop ia 113) This quote proves how Mores intention in writing Utopia was not to create a new way of life, but to criticize the fraudulent doings of contemporary European society. Although Utopia is championed as the ideal place to live there has yet to be a country that NAS tried to mimic its way to elite. Even More himself would nave rejected its unique religion. But regardless of its desirability, the Utopian religion has proven to be a completely unique belief system uninfluenced by contemporary religious beliefs.

Generative Grammar

FOUNDATIONS IN GENERATIVE GRAMMARAny native speaker of a language can be said to know the grammar of his/her own language, they know how to form and interpret any expression. However, this grammatical knowledge is subconscious. Native speaker have grammatical competence in their native language. This means that they have tacit knowledge of the grammar of their own lang. We have to make a difference between competence (the fluent native speaker's tacit knowledge of his lang) and performance (what people actually say and understand, the use of the language). Criteria of adequacyBasically, the criteria of adequacy are 2: descriptive adequacy (universality) and explanatory adequacy. 1. A grammar is descriptively adequate if it correctly describes whether a sequence of words is or isn't grammatical and also correctly describes what interpretation(s) this sequence has. 1. 1. The goal of a descriptive linguist is to devise particular grammars of particular languages, while that of a theoret ical linguist is to devise a theory of grammar. This is a set of hypotheses about the nature of possible and impossible grammars of natural languages and about the inherent properties that natural langs do and don't possess.An adequate theory of grammar must satisfy the criterion of adequacy known as universality. This means that a theory of grammar must enable us to devise a descriptively adequate grammar for every natural lang. The main goal of Generative Grammar is to build a theory of Universal Grammar. 2. This theory of UG will not only list the universal properties of natural lang grammars, but also explain the relevant properties –i. e. why grammar have the properties they do. This requirement is referred to as explanatory adequacy. Language FacultyAccording to Chomsky, the most plausible explanation for uniformity and rapidity lies in that the course of acquisition is determined by a biologically endowed innate language faculty within the brain, which provides childre n with a genetically transmitted set of procedures for developing a grammar on the basis of their linguistic experience (the speech input they receive). The hypothesis that the course of lang acquisition is determined by an innate language faculty is known as the innateness hypothesis. The major tenets of this hypothesis are: 1. The innate language faculty is unique to humans. . All humans possess this ability of lang acquisition. 3. The uniformity character suggests that children have a genetic guidance in the task of building a grammar of their native lang. 4. Despite performance errors in the input, children acquire a competence grammar, which again points to the fact that the acquisition ability must be genetically determined. 5. Although no special care is taken to teach them, children acquire languages successfully, which again supports the genetic character of lang acquisition. Principles We have claimed that children have a genetically endowed language faculty.If so, what ar e the defining properties of the language faculty? The lang faculty must include a set of principles of Universal Grammar, in the sense that the lang faculty must be such as to allow the child to develop a grammar of any natural lang on the basis of a sufficient speech input. If these principles are universal their application in one language should reveal evidence of their application in other langs. The underlying rule to construct a particular structure in one language will be part of a general principle of UG. (1) a. Mary will tell me the truth. b. Will Mary tell me the truth? Move the second word in a sentence in front of the first word) (2) a. The girl in the corner will tell me the truth. b. *Girl the in the corner†¦.? | | |STRUCTURE DEPENDENCE PRINCIPLE | |All grammatical operations are structure-dependent. | To explain grammaticality and ungrammaticality we should rely on general principles such as the Structure Dependence Principle, although in each language this prin ciple will be turned into something more concrete:Move an auxiliary in front of a preceding noun expression which functions as its subject. This rule makes use of structural information which is subconsciously available to all humans, although people don't know what an auxiliary is. Also this rule accounts for the contrast in (3): (3) a. Mary told me the truth. b. *Told Mary the truth? as we have applied inversion to a non-auxiliary. A theory of grammar which posits that the internal structure of words, phrases and clauses in natural lang is determined by innate UG principles minimizes the burden of grammatical learning imposed on the child.This is quite important given the learnability criterion of adequacy for any theory of grammar. The UG theory accounts for the rapidity of the child's grammatical development by positing that there is a universal set of innately endowed grammatical principles which determine the nature of grammatical structure and the range of grammatical operati ons found in natural lang. Since these UG principles don't have to be learned, the UG theory minimizes the learning load placed on the child and as a consequence maximizes the learnability of natural language grammars. ParametersAlthough the lang faculty involves a set of UG principles, all aspects of the grammatical structure of language are not determined by innate gramm. principles. Otherwise all languages would have the same structure and there would not be any structural learning in lang acquisition. So although there are universal principles which control the overall structure of a lang, there are also language-particular aspects of grammatical struct which children have to learn as part of acquiring their native lang. Acquisition involves structural learning, which is limited to a set of parameters.Parameters are those aspects of grammatical structure which are subject to lang-particular variation. Examples of parameters: 1. Null subject parameter: languages which permit omis sion of the subject of a finite verb and langs that do not. (4) a. Maria come pasta. b. Come pasta. (5) a. Mary eats pasta. b. *Eats pasta. 2. Wh-parameter: languages which permit fronting of the wh-phrase or not. (6) a What do you think he will say? b. ?Que piensas que el dira? c. Ni xiangxin ta hui shuo shenme you think he will say whatEnglish and Spanish Wh-phrases move to the beginning of the interrogative clause, but Chinese Wh-phrase remains in situ. 3. Head position parameter: the relative positioning of heads with respect to their complements. Head-first languages and Head-last langs. (7) a. Close the door b. Moonul dadala. door close (8) a. desire for change. b. byunhwa-eadaehan kalmang change-for desire 4. Discourse/Agreement Prominence: Miyagawa (2005) claims that languages can be classified according to whether they are focus or agreement prominent.On the basis of his classification, there are languages which overtly instantiate the notion of topic (Korean or Japanese), there are also languages which put a special emphasis on agreement marking (English), but additionally there are languages which show both (Spanish). >>> Jimenez (2008, 2009) 9) a. Taroo-ga hon-o katta. Taro-NOM book-ACC bought ‘Taro bought a book’. b. Hon-o Taroo-ga katta. Book-ACC Taro-NOM bought ‘A book, Taro bought’. 10) a. Mary likes syntax. b. *Syntax Mary likes. (11) a.Susana corto los tulipanes. (S-V-O) Susana cutpast3sg the tulips ‘Susana cut the tulips. ’ b. Los tulipanes(,) los corto Susana. (O-cl-V-S) The tulips, CL3pl,masc cut Susana ‘The tulips, Susana cut’. Parameter-setting Parameters involve binary choices, so structural variation between langs is constrained. The only structural learning that children have to face is the task of setting the appropriate value for each of the relevant structural parameters >>>>> Metaphor of the switch in the up or down position.