An analysis of variations in style in comparison to Standard English Essay

1. Introduction As in every language there are many different dialect in British English. It has always been and continues to be a language of dialects. Wherever one goes in England there are very obvious differences between the ways in which people speak in different places. This is often a big shock for people who have been learning Standard English which is the variety of English that is held to be ‘correct’ in the sense that it shows none of the regional or other variations that are considered by some to be ungrammatical, or non-standard English. Non-English school-kids learn SE at school and expect to understand every English person once they enter the country. But the English they learn at school differs from the language which is being spoken in Britain. Of course, SE is used in the media and by public figures, and therefore it has prestige status and is regarded by many as the most desirable form of the language.1 But the English do not speak like that – linguistic reality is different. Not only the words which are being used sometimes differ from Standard English even the grammatical structures vary at times. This work tries to present the differences between Standard English which is being taught at German schools and the dialects which are spoken in England. Altogether these factors might lead to confusing situations at times. German school-kids could hear words in England which they were told not to pronounce in that way when they were learning English at school. Hughes and Trudgill2 speak of two ways of dealing with the problem of native Britons not being able to speak their own language correctly. They point out that for learners it is not relevant weather their hear correct English or not. The problem which their are confronted with is to understand what they hear from the native speakers and which language-features they can adapt into their own speech. The second point they speak of is if that â€Å"the notion of ‘correctness’ is not really useful or appropriate in describing the language of native speakers.†3 To find those differences I will analyse German English books from a Orientierungsstufe4, literature about dialects in Britain as well as private sources. I will try to analyse the gap between German school English an find possible solutions for that problem. 11 At the beginning of my approach I will be presenting a selection of different accents regarding their regional usage. In the following point I will analyse Standard English which is being taught in German schools and compare these results with the accents mentioned beforehand. After that I will summarize my approaches and try to find explanations as well as possible solutions. 2. The main dialects I want to start off with the presentation of the main dialects of the English language. For this I will adapt the Dialectology of Baugh5 who differentiates between Northern, West Midlands, East Midlands and Southern. In Old English they were divided into Northumbrian, Mercian, West Saxon and Kentish6. Of course there are far more divisions of accents but this would exceed the length of this piece of work. Additionally, I will conclude Cockney7 in my analysis. 2.1. Northern English This dialect is also knows as Geordie8. The Northeast area contains the urban centres of Newcastle, Sunderland, Middlesborough and neighboring areas. Trudgill9 defines some of the best-known characteristics of the modern Northeast pronunciation which include the following. According to him the accent, as we have seen, does not have the diphthongal pronunciations of the long ‘a’ vowel in made, gate, face that are more typical of the south of England, and the same is true of long ‘o’ as in boat, road, load. It can be defined as a certain kind of simplification. Instead of the Standard English Combination of two vowels in boat [bà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ut] only one vowel is being used: [oo] The same phenomenon can be found within the pronunciation of words like made, which are not being pronounced [mà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½id] but simplified [mehd]. Trudgill also points out that words that have al in the spelling are pronounced with a vowel of the type ‘ah’, so that all is ‘ahl’ and walk is ‘wahk’. A Geordie-joke makes this difference clear in a funny way: A non-Geordie doctor who asks his patient if he is able to walk makes the patient interprets as a query about work ans replies â€Å"Wawk! I cannot even wahk yet!† 11 The second part of the Northern area, the Lower North and Central North, covers, according to Trudgill, a large area stretching down from Carlisle to Sheffield and covering Cumbria, most of Yorkshire and parts of Lancashire. He points out that this dialect differs from the Northeast by not having ‘ee’ in very. 10 Another remarkable factor he mentions is that he Central North also contains a sub-area in which an interesting type of consonantal change takes place in certain conditions. What happens is that the voiced consonants ‘b’, ‘d’, ‘g’, ‘v’, ‘z’ and ‘j’ change to their voiceless counterpart ‘p’, ‘t’, ‘k’, ‘f’, ‘s’, and ‘ch’ if they occur immediately before any of these same voiceless consonants.11 The examples â€Å"E wood goh† (â€Å"He would go†) and â€Å"E woot coom† (â€Å"He would comeà ¢â‚¬ ). They would pronounce the expression â€Å"I don’t know† like â€Å"I doont noo†. Another point is that this dialect is quite similar to the accent Indians or Pakistanis have when they talk English. Many of these dialectal features also appear in their accent. These shared features could be analysed in future for the Asian community in Britain is increasing steadily is growing. Which words, expressions are being brought into English through them would be interesting to find out. 2.2. West Midlands The central town for this accent is Liverpool. for the accent is very distinctive for this area called Merseyside. It has been mainly influenced by Irish immigrants during the nineteenth century. Hughes/Trudgill12 describe the Liverpool accent defining several features of which I will be mentioning a few. 1. a) There is no contrast between pairs of words like put and putt, both being pronounced [put]. b) [à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½] occurs in words like dance, daft etc. [†¦] c) Words like book and cook have the vowel [u:] 2. Unlike in other northern urban accents (but in common with Newcastle), the final vowels of words like city and seedy is [i:] 3. A relative infrequency of glottal stop occurs. 4. [h] is usually absent, but is sometimes present (him an her) 5. The suffix -ing is [in] 11 2.3. East Midlands Based on own experience I can say that one of the clearest markers for the East Midland accent can be defined as a kind of parallelism to German which also appear in the Liverpool accent at times. The word bus, for instance, is not being pronounced [bas] but [bus]. Here, the vowel [u] is being pronounced the same way as in German. The same phenomenon can be found in words like. Another marker for East Midland accent is the pronunciation of the vowel combination [oe] like in shoes, where it is being changed to [à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½] – [shà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½z]. Speakers in this area may even have short ‘e’ at the end of words like coffeh13. Trudgill mentions a diagnostic sentence for this area: â€Å"Veri few cahs mayd it up the long ill.†14 2.4. Southern English Some of these dialectal features of Southern English are similar to the welsh accent. Trudgill states that the Bristol speech is famous for the presence in this accent of a phenomenon called the â€Å"Bristol I†. He explains that in the Bristol area, words such as America, India, Diana, Gloria are pronounced with a final ‘I’. Undoubtedly, foreigners would be quite confused hearing words like Americal, Indial and Dianal. This feature might be a result of hypercorrection, according to Trudgill.15 In the South the glottal stop is very common as a pronunciation of ‘t’ which can be found in words like better, water, bet and what. This feature can also be found in Cockney or Midland areas. Trudgill mentions the diagnostic feature of the South are the lack of ‘y’ in few, which differentiates it from all other English regions except the Northeast, although today ‘h’ is rapidly being lost.16 He also notes that it a typical factor for East Anglia is â€Å"the lack of distinction between the vowels of here and there, so that peer sounds like pair, here like hair and deer like dare.†17 2.5. Cockney Cockney can be counted as a very special dialect because it can only be found amongst people who live in and around the London area. Let alone the name for this accent is special because it does not refer directly to the region. 11 The term Cockney originally stems from the middles ages where it was applied to an effeminate person, simpleton or a particularly weak man from a town as opposed to a countryman who was regarded as tougher. In the 17th century the term changed and came to mean specifically a Londoner. The six most striking features of Cockney are18: 1. r is pronounced only when followed immediately by a vowel-sound. So, in the demonstration below, no r is pronounced in flowers. (Some New England accents and Southern U.S. accents have this same feature.) 2. h is usually omitted (home in the demonstration words); in self-conscious speech it’s articulated very strongly. 3. l is pronounced only when a vowel-sound follows (so no l is pronounced in hole, etc.). 4. Voiceless th is often, but not always, pronounced as f (breath, etc.). 5. Voiced th is likewise often but not always pronounced as v (breathe, etc.) This feature is also found in Southern U.S. lower social class speech. 6. The long vowels are all diphthongs, as one can hear from the demonstration words. Notice especially the difference between force etc. (spelled with r followed by a consonant, though the r is not pronounced) and poor etc. (spelled with r not followed by a consonant, though again the r is not pronounced). More examples for this would be: price [proià ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½] mother [mawa] little [li’ou] –> with a glottal stop in the middle note [no’] –> with a glottal stop at the end bowl [bao] Cockney has another speciality. It consists of a special vocabulary which is called Cockney rhyming slang. It has been evolving in the East End of London since the sixteenth century. It is thought to have originated from the seamen and soldiers who used the London docks, from the Gypsies who arrived in the fifteen hundreds, from the Irish residents and the Jewish faction and from all the other ethnic minorities which have made up the population of the city.19 11 It is said to have started as a way for costermongers20 to communicate without letting their customers know what they were saying. The slang usually consists of two words, e.g. butcher’s hook = look but sometimes only the first word is used in conversation. For example, someone might say â€Å"I had a butchers at her barnet and her titfer† meaning I had a look at her hair (barnet fair) and her hat (tit for tat). One has to know, though, when to use the whole phrase and when to abbreviate. Another example: â€Å"Would you Adam and Eve it? I was on me Jack Jones when I saw me old china half inching a whistle from the market. Well, I ain’t no grass and he’s borassic, so I kept me north and south shut.† Translation: â€Å"Would you believe it? I was on my own when I saw my old mate (friend) pinching (stealing) a suit from the market. Well, I’m not a nark (informer) and he’s skint (got no money, hard up) so I kept my mouth shut.† In the Internet a whole dictionary can be found consisting of old and new Rhyming-Slang. The freshest contribution was the expression â€Å"Becks and Posh† for food. Food is also called nosh which rhymes with the nicknames of the famous David and Victoria Beckham, nationwide known as â€Å"Becks and Posh†21. This last example makes it clear that the rhyming slang does not have and economical reasons behind. It is more or less result of playing with words which the English are very fond of (for example in newspaper headlines). Additionally it is of course, the sense of togetherness, a kind of linguistic fellowship by defining a secret language as a code of London residents whereas this point, regarding the high population rate, refers more to small groups of people. 3. Standard English – English-teaching in lower-saxony English has the status of a global language – nearly everybody applying for a good job needs to prove his or her English skills. The competition is getting harder and harder. This is one of the factors leading to the current discussion whether to introduce English to schoolchildren at an even earlier age then 10. Some primary schools offer this already. Another interesting fact is that more and more schools offer bilingual teaching. The Ricarda-Huch-Schule in Braunschweig, for instance, offers several subjects being taught in English to make the children learn both, biology and English, at once. 11 Like this English finds its way into our life in more and more ways. But coming back to education a problem arises. Of course, children cannot learn every single accent being spoken in England, so that is why there are set forms for the learning process. They are identical to the language understood by the term of Standard English. Different then in Germany there cannot be found any accent-free regions in England. In comparison to that you can find unofficial figures which tell us that Hanover is most likely to be accent-free. Standard English, on the other hand, is more of an indicator for an upper social status, it can be seen as a class-dialect, owing it’s origin in the main not to geographical but to socio-economic causes. At the end it is quite a thin border between the English which is being taught at foreign schools and the English which is meant to represent â€Å"poshness†. Wakelin22 marks â€Å"that a distinction must be made between Standard English, which is a dialect in use by educated speakers of English throughout the world, and ‘Received Pronunciation, which is the accent of English usually associated with a higher social or academic background, with the BBC and the professions, and that most commonly taught to students learning English as a foreign language.†23 So one has to clearly differentiate between Received Pronunciation (RP) and Standard English (SE). So, why is Standard English so different from the other accents then? Wakelin defines that â€Å"Standard English is the sort of language used when communicating beyond the family, close friends and acquaintances, whereas dialect is nowadays often kept for intimate circles.†24 So it can be seen as the most relevant English accent which can be understood everywhere and is compatible to every region in England. This type of English as being called â€Å"normal English† by Randolph Quirk25 is being taught children and adults all around the world. The following graphic tries to illustrate the violation which arises when both Standard English and regional accents clash. 11 People with different mother tongues learn English as their first or as another foreign language. They all refer to the same Vocabulary, use the same grammar and expressions which have been set by the Standard English-norm. 3.1. Comparison to English accents The chapter of â€Å"English Sounds† prepares the learning schoolchildren with the explanation that English words are often being pronounced differently than they are written and defines some words by using the phonetical alphabet.26 I want to show the differences of Standard English and English accents by directly comparing several words to each other. Referring to the pronunciation I want to compare the word but which is being pronounced with a short [u] in South England and with a long [oo] in Northern England27 whereas schoolchildren learn to pronounce the word but with an [28? There is one area of England where the ‘y’ sound has been lost as a result of a historical process. This can be found in words like beauty [booty], music [moosic] and few [foo]29 and is probably going to spread more with the years. 11 Whereas in foreign schools it is still being taught that music should be pronounced [‘mju:zik]30 and beautiful [‘bju:t?f?l]31. The pronunciation of milk also differs. â€Å"Camden Market† teaches the children to pronounce it [mà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½lk]32 but the pronunciation according to the modern dialectology says that â€Å"in a large area of southeastern England this consonant has aquired a short ‘oo’-like vowel in fron of it, or, especially in London itself, has disappeared altogether, leaving only the ‘oo’ behind.†33 So in this case the word milk is being pronounced [mioolk] which is being defined as a quite a recent change but spreading rapidly through the country. Now shifting over to the less problematical field of lexical variations it can be said that there are several words with the same meaning – but regionally fixed. Words like the Standard English term gymshoe are known as the general term but in England they have more expressions for that. In the southern region they are called plimsolls, in middle English they are called pumps and people living in and around Newcastle talk about sandshoes.34 The word ear has also has different regional variations. In the North they talk about lugs and around Nottinghamshire one can also hear them talking about tabs. The Eastern part of England also might use lug. Standard English, of course, only teaches ear. 4. Summary On the whole it there is a big gap to be found between the English which is being taught in schools and the English which is being spoken in England. My analysis makes it quite clear that several difficulties occur when a person who has been learning English for five years and thinks he is now prepared for the linguistic challenge in England. The reality is different, as my paper shows. There is nearly nobody who speaks accent-free English but on the other hand Standard English mixes into the accents more and more. The loss of pure dialects is being mourned about in the whole country. The dialects are no longer ‘pure’, if they ever were, but contain a large admixture of Standard English or pseudo-Standard forms, as Wakelin35 mentions. The main reason for this development might be the result of the following problem: 11 In England is that people often get discriminated because of their language. The dialect is a clear social marker these days. Many countries have problem with racism, but in England people sometimes get discriminated against if they sound different. For example: A Scouse accent refers to a very rough area and there are chances are that the speaker is a thief A Posh accent: If people talk like this then they are supposedly educated, and can be trusted. Others would think your a rich person, and that your stuck up and you went to a boarding school. A Brummie accent: If a person speaks like this, then chances are that people think he is stupid. A Geordie accent: For some reason, the geordie accent is more comforting to southerners in England out of all the northern accents. Even though a Geordie can live in just as much a rough area, than a scouser if not rougher. A Yorkshire accent: There is a saying about this dialect called â€Å"Yorkshire born, yorkshire bread, thick in the arm and thick in the head?† A Cornish accent: If somebody talks like this most people think they are a farmer. The significance of accents and their cultural and social associations is well represented in films and on television in Britain. The critically acclaimed 1964 file â€Å"My fair Lady† based on George Bernard Shaw’s 1912 play, Pygmalion is often referenced in linguistic discussions as a example of how social class and accent were, and are still, inextricably linked in Britain. Over the past years, numerous television series have also provided viewers with a glimpse of the lives and accents of the Cockney population of London. The Cockney English section talks more about the current, very popular long running television series â€Å"EastEnders†. This opposes my supposition that Standard English might not be the right form to teach people English or should only form the basis of the linguistic education. The fact that the dialects are slowly dying and Standard English is spreading all over the world questions this. Additionally, more and more immigrants from mainly the Asian region bring in a new Standard English which I have been mentioning in point 2.1. At the end, I would say that English language teaching should be more concerned about real life and the real speech avoiding throwing the young learners into a cold pool when they enter the country. 11 A possible solution for this could be to strengthen the bonds of international relations between schools. Pen-friendships and school-exchanges could provide the basis of a more reality-based teaching which would undoubtedly also have the effect of arousing the children’s enthusiasm of learning English. 5. Literature Baugh, A.C.: A History of the English Language, p. 235 Davis, Lawrence M.: English Dialectology. Alabama/USA: 1983, p. 8 Edelhoff, Christoph (Hrg.): Camden Market. Hannover: 1998, p. 146 Hughes, Arthur and Trudgill, Peter: English Accents and Dialects, London: 1996. p. 1 Trudgill, Peter: The dialects of England. Oxford: 1990, p. 51 Wakelin, Martyn F.: English Dialects. An Introduction. London: 1977, p. 5 Quirk, Randolph: The Use of English. London: 1962, p. 95 Internet: http://www.cockneyrhymingslang.co.uk/ http://www.derek.co.uk/cockney.htm http://www.geordie.org.uk/ http://www.phespirit.info/cockney/ http://www.usingenglish.com/glossary/standard-english.html 1http://www.usingenglish.com/glossary/standard-english.html 2Hughes, Arthur and Trudgill, Peter: English Accents and Dialects. London: 1996, p. 1 3s. a. 4Orientierungsstufe Westhagen/Wolfsburg 5Baugh, A.C.: A History of the English Language, p. 235 6Davis, Lawrence M.: English Dialectology. Alabama/USA: 1983, p. 8 7Most common accent in and around London 8http://www.geordie.org.uk/ 9Trudgill, Peter: The dialects of England. Oxford: 1990, p. 67 10Trudgill, Peter: The dialects of England. Oxford: 1990, p. 67 11see above 12Hughes, Arthur and Trudgill, Peter: English Accents and Dialects. New York (1996), p. 92 13Trudgill, Peter: The dialects of England. Oxford: 1990, p. 71 14see above, p. 72 15see above, p. 73 16see above, p. 72 17see above, p. 74 18http://www.derek.co.uk/cockney.htm 19http://www.phespirit.info/cockney/ 20= street and market sellers 21http://www.cockneyrhymingslang.co.uk/ 22Wakelin, Martyn F.: English Dialects. An Introduction. London: 1977 23Wakelin, Martyn F.: English Dialects. An Introduction. London: 1977, p. 5 24Wakelin, Martyn F.: English Dialects. An Introduction. London: 1977, p. 5 25Quirk, Randolph: The Use of English. London: 1962, p. 95 26Edelhoff, Christoph (Hrg.): Camden Market. Hannover: 1998, p. 146 27Trudgill, Peter: The dialects of England. Oxford: 1990, p. 51 28Edelhoff, Christoph (Hrg.): Camden Market. Hannover: 1998, p. 146 29Trudgill, Peter: The dialects of England. Oxford: 1990, p. 57 30Edelhoff, Christoph (Hrg.): Camden Market. Hannover: 1998, p. 179 31see above, p. 173 32see above, p. 178 33Trudgill, Peter: The dialects of England. Oxford: 1990, p. 60 34see above, p. 102 35Wakelin, Martyn F.: English Dialects. An Introduction. London: 1977, p. 5

Crime And Victimization

She tastes that all individuals in a community have the potential of turning to crime in cases where destructive social relationships are upheld. The theory emphasizes that the socio-psychology interaction with various institutions is a renowned contributing factor to crime. It is evident that offenders turn to crime because of peer pressure and other legal involvements that tend to advocate for the criminal behaviors. This emphasizes on the point that any individual can be a criminal. Currently, there are diverse cases that describe of incidents where the youths have indulged in violence and crime and the effect it has on their families.A research conducted on the issues states that there is a connection of the childhood involvements that the individuals have and their behaviors. In most cases children exposed to domestic violence have been described as the most vulnerable to the situation and they portray poor social interactions and uncouth behaviors (Curran and Reinvent, 2001). I t is evident that if individual's criminal aspects are encouraged from their close relatives, they rarely make the right decisions and this usually results to crime.In this case, children are supposed to be taught on how to behave and the issues that are acceptable in the community since they learn most from what they see. The theory emphasizes that no individual is born with the attributes of a criminal, instead they are influenced to commit crime by the people they grow looking up to (Dressier, 2002). 2. Discuss one (1 ) real-life scenario involving criminal activity, identifying the federal, state, and / or local agency (sees) with jurisdiction. Explain why the agency (sees) that took the case was the appropriate one for the particular circumstances.Late last year, Claire Davis, a 1 7-year old student was shot and killed by Karl Pierson at Arapaho High School in Colorado. Karl was said to have been on a revenge mission against a librarian who he did not find and decided to turn h is anger towards his schoolmates (Arapaho High School shooting victim dies CNN. Com). He fired randomly in the hallways with his pump action shot gun which he later used to kill himself. The state police were the first to arrive and were fully in charge of the investigations from the beginning.This case was zestfully handled by the state police since violent and gun crimes fall under their jurisdiction. 3. Describe a recent incidence of crime that occurred within your community. Suggest how implementing at least one (1 ) of the changes that SST. Evans had discussed and another change of your recommendation would have changed the circumstances of the crime that you selected. Recently in my neighborhood, an elderly woman was ambushed by three young men and robbed of cash and personal belongings at knife point. She had come from doing her grocery shopping at the local store which is open till ate.She was attacked as she was walking to her car in the dimly lit car park which is in a sec luded place away from other businesses. This is one of the incidents that have been reported to have occurred around the area and many individuals have turned out to avoid the local stores. However, the local store is usually opened till late hours and it is convenient for many shoppers since the surrounding stores usually close earlier. This has contributed to the place being an easy attack spot for the thugs who are usually heavily harmed.The region is secluded making it hard for shoppers to get help even after raising alarm. There are minimal occupants around the homes surrounding the local store and the street lights along the store have been broken. The local store car park is also dimly lit and this has made it easier for the thugs to target and attack the shoppers. According to SST. Evans, he recommends that individuals should avoid going to the shopping center alone. This will minimize the chances of the shoppers being attacked by the thugs. It is important that individuals consider their safety and visit the stores early. Crime And Victimization These individuals take the time to think out a plan for the rime from start to finish and consider only an easy self-centered profit motive. There is no regard or consideration for victims or their respective feelings. (Siegel/ World, 2013). The most serious crime that can result from this thought process is capital murder. Consider the recent real-life crime scenario involving the death of William Rounder, â€Å"Bill† Deviate, 55, and the visualization of his wife outside Marvin United Methodist Church, Columbia County, Georgia.Daniel Nelson Robinson, a Florida man committed these heinous crimes for the purpose of obtaining monetary gains in the form of cash. Additionally he appeared in need of a vehicle to leave the area to travel to his home area of Jacksonville, Florida. The grand jury charged Robinson age 21, with felony murder, armed robbery, motor vehicle theft, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. The District Attorney of Columbia County, Georgia, Ashley Wright is seeking the death penalty for Daniel Nelson Robinson.Robinsons felony criminal behavior reflects Rational Choice Theory because Robinson was seeking expediency in his criminal behavior to obtain easy cash and immediate escape in Davit's SUB toward Jacksonville, Florida, ( Rowel, 2014). Many Criminologists would argue that Robinson is a psychopath because of the recurring theme of his criminal behavior. He was on parole. This criminal offender demonstrated total disregard toward human life and lacking a moral arm since this also occurred on Church property.Psychodrama Theory suggests that his psychopathology' reflects a lack of conscience and disregard toward helpless females since he did assault Davit's spouse. It would appear that Robinson was a delinquent, (records sealed,) and was placed on parole after a life Of youthful criminal behavior if not delinquent behavior. Another example of a criminal visualization is the national and sensational criminal case of the serial killer from the State of Indiana, Adrian Eden Van.This week Van pleaded not guilty though he confessed earlier to investigators killing prostitutes and disposing their lifeless bodies in abandon, run down houses in Gary, Indiana. Reportedly he admitted to the brutal murders of seven women. Many more women may have been sealed by Van. He is a former Marine who has a history of sexual assaults, victimizing women in the State of Texas and the State of Indiana. Investigators suspect many other jurisdictions ND municipalities are looking into their unsolved murder cases. Complex as these serial sexual homicides appear, investigations are at this time incomplete.State Police in Indiana and the Texas Rangers are sharing forensic data and trace evidence. In addition due to Van's comments about visiting the dead bodies of the women who were abandon in unoccupied houses, Federal Investigators are directing resources to assist local, county and State law enforcement to complete what wil l be an extremely lengthy and exhaustive criminal investigation. Adrian Eden Van was married sixteen years and had a biological son, (NBC News, 2014). Both spouse and son were never victimized by Van's penchant for violent, sadistic sexual behavior.Law enforcement officials from various jurisdictions are attempting to piece together Van's elusive past and apparent psychopathology history of disdain toward women, especially prostitutes and the disadvantaged. Perhaps no other case of extreme visualization in recent years parallels that of the brutal assault and battery of a young couple on the River Front, at Augusta, Georgia. The beatings were so severe that Kevin D. Richardson was charged with two counts of attempted murder. Robbery Moses, 21 and Kevin D. Richardson attacked two young people sitting on a bench on the River Walk near Fort Discovery, Augusta, Georgia.Richardson uses a metal baseball bat. Moss, his accomplice assisted without provocation. Both defendants, although sepa rated after the cruel behavior of visualization, were caught. Moss was apprehended in Newbury, SC. Richardson caught much later and appeared to have a criminal history. Richardson was reportedly involved in another assault in Downtown August the previous evening. The beating was so severe that Wesley Spires requires months of hospitalizing. He received broken hand and facial fractures requiring reconstructive surgery.Local business provided a ten thousand dollars reward for information and for the apprehension of these criminal suspects. River Walk Augusta at the Fort Discovery landing is a rather secluded poorly lit area on a sparsely travel or visited walkway on the Savannah River during evening hours. Police patrols are more recurring at the upper area on the River Front. Sergeant Evans' noted Problem Oriented Policing attempts to react proactively. Considering this brutal criminal behavior, proper lighting and cameras may have been an effective deterrent.Strategic location of ca meras along the River Front Augusta, Georgia, advertising camera locations and monitoring devices, as well as signage indicating routine police patrols may have abated, if not eliminated this criminal element, and social deviates from downtown Augusta, Georgia. This senseless criminal act of assault and battery with intent to cause serious injury indicates that criminals are impulsive and adept at finding opportunity preying on weak and at times the infirm. Curfews or area closings would be entirely appropriate within this area on the River Front t the Savannah Rivers edge.

How did Bobbie Ann Mason`s upbringing in the rural south influence her writing of Shiloh Essay

Bobbie Ann Mason is considered as one of the great American writers from the South. Her personal background as a Southerner influenced and set a backdrop for most of her fiction stories. From a small country girl who used to read Bobbsey Twins and the Nancy Drew mysteries, Bobbie Ann Mason has become one of the America’s leading fiction writers. In 1980 The New Yorker published her first story. â€Å"It took me a long time to discover my material,† she says. â€Å"It wasn’t a matter of developing writing skills; it was a matter of knowing how to see things. And it took me a very long time to grow up. I’d been writing for a long time, but was never able to see what there was to write about. I always aspired to things away from home, so it took me a long time to look back at home and realize that that’s where the center of my thought was† (Bobbie Ann Mason’s Homepage). This discourse will try to map out the journey that Bobbie Ann Mason has taken from being just a country girl to being one of America’s leading fiction writers as well as how her upbringing has been manifested in her writings, especially â€Å"Shiloh†. Bobbie Ann Mason was born in 1940 in a small town in Mayfield, Kentucky. Growing up in her parents’ dairy farm, she spent most of her childhood days in the typical rural Southern setting and experiencing the Southern way of upbringing. (â€Å"Bobbie Ann Mason,† Wikipedia) The first nine (9) years of her educational life were spent in a rural school. Shortly thereafter Bobbie Ann Mason attended a â€Å"city† school where she stayed until her graduation. It was here where she first experienced living in the city and experiencing the hustle and bustle that was absent from the rural setting that she was accustomed to in Kentucky (Webber). It was her love for literature that prompted her to pursue a degree in journalism from the University of Kentucky and eventually attain a Ph. D. in English from the University of Connecticut. (â€Å"Bobbie Ann Mason,† Wikipedia) This seeming â€Å"duality† of her background, growing up in the Southern Setting and highly educated in a metropolitan setting, is reflected within most of her written works (Hunt). Rothstein describes Mason’s style as a combination of her â€Å"intellectual sophistication† (after all, she had a doctorate degree) and â€Å"the sense of isolated, yearning existence of her rural characters [is] one she has never quite shed herself. † The influence of growing up in the South is clearly shown in most of her characters in her stories yet the theme and feel of the story reveals her intellect and cosmopolitan views as well. A perfect example of how Mason reveals this â€Å"duality† is in Shiloh. In Shiloh, Mason shows this through the challenges that the characters undergo; some of these changes that the characters in experience deal with the nature of human life, the changes brought on by death, the issues on disease and aging; but these changes are not so common, nor as troublesome, in Mason’s stories as the changes brought on by a changing society. These changes, as Edwin T. Arnold correctly observes, are brought about by the fact that the present â€Å"has effectively displaced, transformed, and cheapened the traditional,† and Mason’s characters are depicted as they lose their strengths and beliefs and find nothing substantial to replace them (136) Bobbie Ann Mason’s writings are mostly set in the South. Her version is more realistic and not romanticized; unlike the works of Faulkner or O’Connor (Hunt), she depicts small-town rural Southern living, using dialogue and settings characteristic of the South (Hunt). However, â€Å"southern history and all it represents seems irrelevant to her characters’ lives† (Fine 87). Bobbie Ann Mason occasionally reveals her talent and wit by being able to focus more on her characters and their sense of isolation and their want for something more from their lives and draw the reader towards the characters and make them empathize with the characters. These characters are not simply depicted as typical Southerners, but rather as people â€Å"who are trying desperately to get into the society rather than out of it† (Reed 60). Mason shows the Southern Influence by creating believable characters that are caught in the transition between the old, pastoral, rural world of farms and close-knit communities and the modern, anonymous, suburban world of shopping malls and fast-food restaurants (Shiloh: Themes). In â€Å"Shiloh,† for example, Leroy did not notice the change in his hometown while he was on the road as a trucker. However, now that Leroy has come home to stay, â€Å"he notices how much the town has changed. Subdivisions are spreading across western Kentucky like an oil slick. † Change, a theme often used by Mason in her works, shows just how much Mason is influenced by her upbringing and also reveals how she laments over how people are slow to realize the changes in southern society. In this story, it takes a traumatic event of some kind to make the characters see that the land has changed or that they no longer know who they are. In Leroy’s case, it is his accident and injury in his rig that make him see that the land has changed, that Norma Jean has changed, and that â€Å"in all the years he was on the road he never took time to examine anything. He was always flying past scenery† (2). Several of Mason’s characters react to the changes in their lives by trying, at least momentarily, to go back. Leroy thinks that he can hold onto his wife if he can go back to a simpler time. He decides to accomplish this by building her a log cabin for which he goes so far as to order the blueprints and to build a miniature out of Lincoln Logs. Mabel, Leroy’s mother-in-law, is convinced that if Leroy and Norma Jean will go to Shiloh where she and her husband went on their honeymoon, they can somehow begin their fifteen-year-old marriage anew. So does Leroy. He says to Norma, â€Å"You and me could start all over again. Right back at the beginning† (15). It is ironic, fitting, and symbolic that it is at Shiloh that Norma tells him she wants to leave him. By story’s end, Leroy knows that he cannot go back as â€Å"it occurs to him that building a house of logs is . . . empty — too simple. . . . Now he sees that building a log house is the dumbest idea he could have had. . . . It was a crazy idea† (16). He realizes that â€Å"the real inner workings of a marriage, like most of history, have escaped him† (16). The female characters that Mason brings to life are what set her stories apart from the usual literature which depicts Southern women; their dreams, goals, and their want for progress significantly differs from those of the traditional Southern belle characters such as Scarlett O’Hara and Adie (Hunt). The female characters of Mason embrace change and are not afraid of it (Kincaid 582). This seemingly feminist theme reflects the change in social relationships between men and women; how evolving and rapidly shifting gender roles affect the lives of simple people. Mason also shows how some of her women try to forge new identities in the wake of shifting gender roles and how their efforts often include a blatant shrinking of traditionally feminine behaviors or characteristics; sometimes they seem almost completely to be trading roles with the men in their lives. And since change often causes uncertainty and instability, another aspect is the way these women find some solid ground through connections with other women (Bucher). â€Å"Shiloh† is a story that â€Å"symbolizes the modern woman striving to find her identity† (Cooke 196). In this short story, Bobbie Ann Mason masterfully portrays the lead female character, Norma Jean, as one such woman; strong, determined and confused in a search for her identity. Mason is able to show this to the reader through the acts of Norma Jean as she tries to improve her physical appearance by â€Å"working on her pectorals† (Mason 271), enrolls in a â€Å"variety of classes, from weightlifting to cooking exotic foods to English composition in an attempt to become a new woman† (Thompson 3). These actions of Norma Jean actions reveal more of a strong desire for inner personal transformation, much more than anything else. However, Mason also recognizes that abrupt change in one’s personality has its own dangers (Hunt), as illustrated by Norma Jean and Leroy’s relationship. Norma Jean and Leroy’s relationship is a perfect example of the dangers of an abrupt change as it shows a marriage with serious problem and the effect that change has on it. Leroy and Norma Jean Moffitt, are working-class people living in the modern South, and thus they bring into their marriage all sorts of unspoken expectations of who they should be, which often contrast violently with who they are – even more so with who they are becoming (Bucher). When in a twist of fate, Leroy loses the use of his leg, Norma Jean suddenly assumes the role of being the man in the family and this leads to problems. It is this sort of change that is not only abrupt but also drastic which Mason shows in Shiloh that reveals her Southern influence. She emphasizes the changing role of women in society by using the Southern setting as a backdrop. Mason is a lover of rock and roll music. This passion and preference for rock music and pop culture are frequently reflected throughout her stories as well (Webber). â€Å"Writing is my version of rock-and-roll,† Rothstein quotes her (Webber). This is aptly shown in â€Å"Shiloh,† where the main characters themselves are named after Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe, popular icons of the rock and roll scene and pop culture in the early 1950s. All in all, it can be said that Bobbie Ann Mason’s personal background shows a very consistent influence in the fiction stories that she writes and provides a deeper and different perspective about living in a Southern setting and rural life in general. â€Å"In the country in Kentucky, people are just amazed that anybody in New York wants to read about their lives† (Rothstein). With fiction stories of Bobbie Ann Mason, however, it is not surprising that people will want to read more about Kentucky or the Southern locales of the United States, for that matter, for her stories speak of the universal human experiences that transcend physical and cultural boundaries which people can identify with. WORKS CITED: Arnold, Edwin J. â€Å"Falling Apart and Staying Together. † Appalachian Journal (1985): 135-141Aycock-Simpson, Judy. Bobbie Ann Mason’s Portrayal of Modern Western Kentucky Border States: Journal of the Kentucky-Tennessee American Studies Association, No. 7 (1989) â€Å"Bobbie Ann Mason. † Wikipedia: Free Encyclopedia. August 30, 2006. November 11, 2006 â€Å"Bobbie Ann Mason. † Bobbie Ann Mason’s Homepage. September 17, 2005. November 24, 2006 â€Å"Shiloh: Themes. † Short Stories for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale, 1998. eNotes. com. January 2006. 24 November 2006. Bucher, Tina. â€Å"Changing Roles and Finding Stability: Women in Bobbie Ann Mason’s Shiloh and Other Stories† Border States: Journal of the Kentucky-Tennessee American Studies Association, No. 8 (1991) Cooke, Stewart J. â€Å"Mason’s ‘Shiloh. ‘† The Explicator 51 (1993): 196-197. Fine, Laura. â€Å"Going Nowhere Slow: The Post-South World of Bobbie Ann Mason. † The Southern Literary Journal 32 (1999). Hunt, Kristina. â€Å"Mason’s Transformation of the South. † October 27, 2000. November 11, 2006.

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Organizational Behaviour Case Study Essay Cases: Automation in the Book Store and The Night Owl Answering Service Part 1) The field of Organizational Behavior is one that is very important when it comes to managing people and to make them work effectively. This begins with training. In order to understand these cases it is important to look at both the structure and environment of the company. In the case of the Automation in the Book Store, the company is a medium sized bookstore. Because this company is a bookstore with very few employees there is not a high level of formalization, less specialization and less authority. Therefore, it has an organic structure. Employees dont have a lot procedures and rules that they must abide by while doing their jobs. In fact the initial company policy required employees to stay with the customer they were serving from the time they walked into the store until the sale was made. Also, there was not a great deal of standardization in that there was not a set procedure on how employees did their work, rather it was a freer organization because there were very few employees and this resulted in greater flexibility. Look more:Â  starbuck problem essay These facts all changed once the new computer system was implemented. This system presented employees with some degree of formalization and standardization in their jobs because now there were precise rules and procedures on how to deal with customers. This includes entering an ID number every time a sale was made and closing the store with the system. Also, because this bookstore was not use to high levels of formalization in the past, the implementation of the training program was affected. There were no instructions on how to close at the end of the day in training. The manager had to come in and prepare a hand-written set of instructions about this routine. This is a sign of bad design and implementation. Also, because the company is more centralized than decentralized, the management must follow head offices requests. This is the exact same thing with employees who must listen to the manager even though the employees were apprehensive, particularly the older staff, about new sys tem. Again, the design of the training program, which was quoted as pretty skimpy and patronizing, was another sign of poor design. However, because the structure of the company was somewhat centralized they had to the training according to the way head office and management wanted. The structure of The Night Owl Answering Services was that it was between mechanistic and organic. This call center was more mechanistic because it was more centralized and more specialization where each individual had a specific role. Bob was responsible for technology, sales and marketing. Mary was responsible for training. This type of structure affected the training because of specialization. Nobody else was responsible for training, so when Mary passed away, everyone else specialized in a different area which left training to be an open mess. Only Mary knew the system the best because she specialized in this. This left the company scrambling to recover and in turn designed a training program that proved to be ineffective and poorly implemented. There was only one lady responsible for training. In the case of Automation in the Boo k Store and The Night Owl Answering Service it is important to look at the organizations environment. In these two cases, the organizations both faced environmental uncertainty. Every organization has the potential for environmental uncertainty. This uncertainty created a poor design for training. This was one of the major similarities in both of these cases. This is when management or people of the organization cant really predict what is going to happen. The cases with Automation in the Book Store and The Night Owl Answering Services had faced environmental uncertainty that prove to be frustrating and challenging. However, because both of these companies had static environments, that is a company that remain fairly stable over time and had the least amount of uncertainty, they were sensitive to change. In The Night Owl Answering Service the head of training, Mary, passed away. This was an unpredictable event. It was clearly evident that there was no back up to Mary. Because this company was so used to certainty, it caught them off guard, particularly Bob. In the medium size booksto re the company had followed the same procedures to ring up sales until it introduced its new system. It took one month for the company to adapt. Again, both companies trained employees in such a way that proved to be ineffective. This means these two organizations ability to adapt to environmental change was poor. Its also important to discuss external environmental factors or outside factors that have a direct effect on the company, which in turn affected training. The answering services company had a good reputation for customer service but when the senior operators started leaving they hired new people and trained very quickly to get people on the phone and take calls. Therefore, the external factor here would be the customer. In The Night Owl Answering Services the customer was always the number one priority because they had a prestige reputation on customer service they wanted to continue providing services in a timely manner. This directly affected the training design and implementation because trainers wanted the trainees on the phone as soon as possible to serve the clients of the company because they were short staffed. As a result of this, the trainers wanted to get trainees on the phone quickly which resulted in an implementation and design that proved to be ineffective. Trainees were expected to learn through trial and error style of training. Senior operators were forced to take calls and train at the same time. This resulted in slower operators and higher errors and more complaints to the call center, which lead to clients (external factor) leaving the call center and find business elsewhere. This company was so focused on getting trainees on the phone, they ignored the fact they lacked the basic phone etiquette and computer skills. Senior Management was continuously on the phone, with out breaks. In The Automation in the Book Store the external environment component that should be discussed is technology. Like every other company, it must keep up with technology and accept current business practices. They were entering an era where technology was becoming widespread and they needed a system to calculate the GST. This is a reason why the bookstore decided to take on the new computer system. The organizations employees were reluctant to have it but didnt have a choice and had to keep up with external technological factors. The company was highly sensitive to this environmental change, which was external, but when the system was implemented, it became an internal factor. There was systematic turbulence in this organization. There ability to adapt to systematic change, the new computer system would be considered systematic turbulence. Systematic turbulence looks at how a company deals with a change in the environment change. This is evident is the case with Automation in the Bookstore. . Part 2) Motivational effects are very important aspects of an organization. People have to be motivated to join and remain in organizations. They also have to carry out their basic work reliability in terms of productivity, quality, and services, requirements and should always interact to accomplish their goal. These are some examples that if were missing in an organization, employees and members of the company began to lose interest and be less motivated. This was the case with these two organizations. One of the major similarities was that both companies faced poor training design and implementation. In Automation in the Bookstore the training was boring and ineffective, which had motivational effects. Lisa was an employee who worked in a medium sized bookstore and was completely dissatisfied with the design of the training. Unfortunately, the training was a mandatory requirement to understand the new system. The first two days started off by having to watch two half an hour videos which Lisa found to be boring and insulting. On the third day of training it went downhill. The computer system was not on training mode the way it was suppose to be. Also, there were no instructions on how close at the end of the day. The manager had to come in and prepare handwritten set of instructions. This caused a lot of problems and created frustration for all members of the organization including management and head office, who wanted to assign blame to someone. The operation of the system was not going according to plan and this got the trainees upset and confused about the policies of the system. Some parts of the training were vague and the continuous frustration had negative motivational effects. Similarly, The Night Owl Answering Services faced great training problems when Mary died, that evidently created negative motivational problems. Bob was forced to take over training without much knowledge o f how to do so, which was also a big problem. Senior operators were forced to work extra hard with no breaks, while at the same time train a new person. New operators were poorly trained and did not know how to handle calls. All these factors started showing in the office environment. These factors inevitably caused negative motivational effects. For example, intrinsic motivations were clearly not met in this organization. Intrinsic is defined as the direct relationship between the worker and the task. In the call center the task was frustrating and created anxiety. If these factors werent here there would be more interested in the position. However, because the training was so poorly done, the intrinsic motivation factor was not being met and created less motivation. It is also important to discuss the Maslows Need Theory and how it applies to these two cases. The needs theory states: NEEDS BEHAVIOR INCENTIVE AND GOALS. Both of these organizations both fit the physiological needs, which include the basic human needs. In safety needs it includes freedom from anxiety, and a structured ordered environment. The safety needs were not bei ng met. Both organizations faced stress and anxiety, particularly the call center, which effected motivation. Results of poor motivation create poor quality of work. The training was poor and it would reflect on the quality of work being performed because they are no longer motivated to work with all the stress factors. Hertrzberg theory should be looked at as well. The first factor is the hygene factor. This includes relationship with fellow employees, security and other various factors. In order for employees to not feel less motivated or dissatisfied is if all these factors are in place. If all these factors are in place you will not feel unsatisfied but that doesnt necessarily mean that you will be satisfied. It just means not being unsatisfied. Both companies didnt even get past the hygene factor of just not being unsatisfied. The second factor of Hertzbergs theory talks about is motivation. This is a sense of achievement and recognition, which would play different in each company. This doesnt have a great effect on the bookstore because their situation was short term in compared to the call center. If the company cant even properly trained there is no chance of being recognized or feel a sense of achievement. The cases state that the trainees felt like they were being under attack by the senior staff. That would have a negative affect and create decrease motivation. There is no room for job enrichment that in turn means no enhancement in intrinsic motivation. Overall the similarities with respect to the training and the two companies were that of implementation and design. The training program was poor due to various reasons as stated in the report. One of the major differences to note was that the call center issue was a more complex problem and more of a long-term problem. The bookstore training was more of short-term problem. The problem only lasted about a month. Also another difference to note is that the bookstore had a smaller number of employees, so controlling the problem was a bit easier. In the call center there were various problems that were even more difficult to control because they had to meet client needs. In these two organizations there was lack of leadership. Particularly transformational leadership. This is when a leader makes his/her representative look beyond the task, or in this case the training, by observing the bigger picture or goal. Not doing this would negatively effect motivation because the individual will then began to purse his or her own self-interest. In the case of the The Night Owl Answering Service, when Mary passed away, nobody was able to step up and show leadership. Because this particularity affected training, the person responsible for training should have demonstrated leadership ethics to make them feel more positively motivated. Nobody had the leadership to motivate people to put forth their best efforts. There were no directive and supportive people in these organizations. The coaching was ineffective and the trainees had no proper direction. Automation in the bookstore did not face a great deal of leadership problems because again, it only employed about 6-8 people.

Eating Out Vs. Eating In

Eating Out Vs. Eating In Eating out Vs. Eating In Cooking has always been a good hobby for people and part of relaxing and fun entertainment for some category of people. There is always something new to be learnt about cooking and its all about creativity and making a better taste of bland materials. It has been one of the humans interests since the beginning of their creation and has always been improved. Some people argue that cooking will be a thing of the past like many other humans past hobbies which have changed by the change of technology. Cooking at home will never be a thing of the past because many cultures continue their cooking traditions and it is more economical and healthier. Some people prefer eating outside because its easier and more convenient but cooking at home is becoming a hobby for most people. During history nations have created dishes that are special and delicious. Their decedents have learnt these dishes and got so attached to them. This is one big reason why cooking at home wont be a thing of the past. Its exactly like how do people always stick to their lands and they always go back to them no matter how long have they been away, they will always stick to their traditional food and their traditions of cooking at home no matter how much do they eat outside they will always go back to their roots and to the original way of cooking which is at home. For an example, its well known in the Arabic world that the Arabic men will never accept the idea of eating out side the house the whole time and not getting home made food at all. The reason behind this is because all Arabic mothers try to pamper their kids by cooking for them the food at home considering it as the healthiest way and the cleanest way of all. So they are used to a specific standard of food and they also feel like it is a way of care giving. Another example is the Japanese home cooking. In general, the Japanese nation is exceptionally healthy and lives much longer than any other civilization in the humankind. Why is this? Loads of people point it to the way they eat. They cook at home a lot. They use healthy delicious and very useful ingredients from the nature. They like to take advantage of everything god blessed mankind with. They will never give up on their on home cooking because they consider it a source of joy and a way of remaining healthy and a way of living longer. Some cultures look at cooking as an art and at cooks as artists. Once people declare that cooking is a fine art, they are just saying the truth. They dont come across cooking as an odd job, and they seem to see it as a mode of expressing peoples ingenuity. They appear to look at it as a method to state peoples originality. They look at the food they make, as their personal preparation and not only are they taking self-importance in their kitchens, they as well fall in love with the challenge it put forwards.( williamm,22 March 22, 2010) Each culture enjoys its way of cooking, its meals and food in general. For lots of people it is a joy and something they will never leave or stop. People will keep on cooking no matter what because human in their nature they get bored and thats a thing in all cultures. So we cant just eat outside the whole time or eat packed food or prepared food or frozen food. People will always want to eat something they know or to eat something they have cooked even if they are not great cooks but they long for that a lot. The quality of the food greatly affects peoples health. Many people prefer cooking at home because it makes them feel great and have lots of energy. There are few more reasons, why cooking at home has been so important for the health. It helps to have a strong immune system ,so people can stay in   healthy weight and look slim and trim and physically fit. To avoid certain diseases known to be a related to diet and nutrition, particularly cancer, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and obesity, we need safe and clean food. Eating a balance of healthy foods that contain carbohydrate, protein, and fat every day will help blood glucose stay in balance. It is also very important to have full knowledge over the quality of food and utensils. All ingredients, while people cooking, should be fresh and utensils should be the best quality. The World Health Organization predicts that depression will be the second highest cause of the global disease problem by 2020. It is clear, that eating fast food thereby increasing stress and tension and reducing joy and liveliness.   It is a fact that eating vegetables, fruits and well cooked fish helps to prevent depression. What humans eat controls the levels of brain chemicals, which regulate behavior (Gutierrez, 2009). Cooking salads at home is very healthy.   For instance, it is proven that eating just a few ounces of broccoli each day can reduce a humans risk of ulcers and stomach cancer, as well as eating cabbage, kale, mustard seed and rocket, amongst others. Research has also shows, that broccoli and other vegetables may not only prove to play important role in many cancers, it could be effective treatment as well (Adams, 2008). There are many healthy techniques to cook like stir -frying, boiling and steaming.   Stir-frying,   which is very common   in Asia, means cutting food into small pieces, putting them in a pan with very little oil   and cooking them very quickly at a very high heat. Because it is one of the fastest ways to cook, rich of vitamins, such as broccoli and carrots, contain more nutrients, as well as their texture and colour. Also stir-fry recipe requires only two to three tablespoons of oil. This small amount of oil can cook big chicken and any veggies. One of the most popular techniques is boiling. Boiling food involves no fat, so in a sense it is healthy. Therefore, the water that the food is boiled in is actually healthier and it can be used for other purposes, such as using it as stock or for making soup. This water is extremely nutrient rich. Boiling food is a safe way of ensuring that all disease-causing bacteria in the water or the food are destroyed.   Boiling water for a few minutes kills most bacteria, amoeba and other microbial pathogens. It can help prevent illnesses such as cholera, dysentery and other diseases caused by micro-organisms. As for food, boiling makes it is easy to classify. Boiling food on a high flame changes the shape of the food being cooked, while boiling on a low flame helps retain the shape. Some people believe steaming is the best way to go. Steaming preserves the vitamins and minerals in foods. It is also healthy,   because   it is does not   require   any oils or fats. Steam can actually help melt some of the excess fats in foods, which end up in the water that was heated to make the steam. When people using this technique,   it is also less danger of consuming carcinogens that are present in blackened foods. Eating outside is more expensive than eating inside. The cost of the items is different for the same quantity. The statement eating out saves much time and money cannot be convinced (Jeff D Gorman, n.d).   And that makes logical sense; we pay more in fast food restaurants than cooking at home for the same things. People are looking at the quantity. Were spending the same amount of time in both at home and at restaurants. At home, we shop for the ingredients and prepare our food and afterwards we clean the dishes. At restaurants, we either wait for our table to get ready, wait for the food to arrive and afterwards we wait for the restaurant to bring out the check (MetaFilter Network Inc, 1999). In a short term perspective, it may seem that dining out can be cost-effective and convenient. But in a long term perspective, it doesnt matter whether its convenient or not, but itll be very cost-effective (Christian Science Monitor, 2010). Most of the people who cant afford pricey things prefer to eat at home because they know it is cheaper. They wont complain about being mentally tired as long as the saved the money in their wallets. For a restaurant to make profit they need to put all the costs for their expenditure in the meals. They include the rent, employees salaries, and the maintenance bills in the meals. And add a little more to get the profit out of it. Now if someone knew this, how can they explain that its cheaper to eat out when youre paying for things you can do yourself and for things that probably does not concern you, and also for the same amount of time? Buying five pieces of chicken breasts for ten dirhams at a grocery store like Spinneys is much cheaper than ord ering a combo meal of chicken and rice from a fast food outlet for fifteen dirhams. The combo meal will last only for that day while the five pieces for chicken breast will last for three meals if the person is willing to do so. Even if we eat the cheapest food available, such as Chinese takeout, we can feed up to five people with the same amount of money we would spend for the meal to feed ourselves. Even if shopping takes a lot of time comparing when eating at a restaurant, we arent earning or saving any money when we are saving time from shopping. The majority of articles and books and talk about managing your budget when it comes to eating out against eating in would claim that eating out would make your money stretch. Also eating at home would depend all on how you buy your ingredients. It depends on if you buy in a bulk, with coupons, or buying premium meat or standard. It makes logical sense that companies are still selling food ingredients in supermarkets and people are still cooking at home. Dining out is for those going out on a special occasion. One reason to eat outside instead of cooking in the house is because its more convenient and easier to get. specially for that category of people who are lazier and more busy and prefer to not spend their time for cooking and preparing its material as they believe its more time consuming .This category of people believes it is always more convenient to go and get whatever they want and save a lot of time by not cooking. In first sight it may seem that eating outside is more convenient but it is actually more complicated and stressful than it look likes. By considering time people spend standing in the food cues, waiting for their meal and finding an appropriate place to sit and serve their meal will all count part of the time they spend to have a meal outside. In addition, stress and aggressiveness that people may get out of communicating with other people are all part of hassle of eating outside. In conclusion, eating will never be a thing of past because its one of humans life necessities and its more beneficial for human to keep their habit alive as it will be more economical, healthy and cultural.

Pearl of the Indian Ocean | An Overview of Sri Lanka

Pearl of the Indian Ocean | An Overview of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka officially known as Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. It is an island country in the northern Indian ocean of the southern cost of Indian subcontinent in south Asia. It is known until 1972 as Ceylon. Sri Lanka documented history spans three thousand years. It geographic location and deep harbors made it of great strategic importance from the time of ancient silk road through to World War II. Sri Lanka is diverse country home to many religions, ethnicities and languages. The Sinhalese people are the majority although there are many ethnic minorities including Tamils, Muslim moors, Burghers, Kaffirs, Malays and the aboriginal vadda people. Sri Lanka has a rich Buddhist heritage and the first knows Buddhist writings were composed on the island. The countrys recent history has been marred by a thirty-year civil war which decisively but controversially ended in a military victory in 2009. Sri Lanka is a republic and a unitary state governed by a presidential system. The capital Sri Jayawardanapura Kotte named by a president after himself, is a suburb of the largest city Colombo. An important producer of tea, coffee, gemstones, coconuts, rubber and the native cinnamon. Sri Lanka has been called The tear drop of Indian ocean because of its shape and location is known as The pearl of the Indian Ocean because of its natural beauty. It is also known as The nations of smiling people. The island contains tropical forests, and diverse landscape with high biodiversity. The country has had a long history of international engagement, being a founding member of SAARC and a member of United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, G7 and Non- Aligned Movement. Etymology In antiquity, Sri Lanka was known to travelers by a variety of names, such as, Lanka, Sinhala, Taprobane, Serandib, Ceilao, Ceylon. As a British crown colony the island was known as Ceylon and achieved independence as the Dominion of Ceylon in 1948. History The pre-history of Sri Lanka dates back over 125 thousand years before present and possibly even as early as 500,000 BP. The era spans the Paleolithic, Mesolithic and early Iron ages. Among the Paleolithic human settlements discovered in Sri Lanka, Pahiyangala, Batadombalena and Belilena are the most important. The remains of Balangoda Man an anatomically modern human found inside these caves suggests that they may have engaged in agriculture and kept domestic dogs for driving game. One of the first written references to the island is found in the Indian epic Ramayana which provides details of a kingdom named lanka that had been created by the divine sculptor vishwakarma, for Kubera the lord of wealth. It is said that Kubera was overthrown by his demon stepbrother Ravana, the powerful emperor who built a mythical flying machine named Dandu Monara. The modern city of wariyapola is described as Ravanas airport. Ancient History According to Mahavasama a chronicle written in Pali language, the ancient period of Sri Lanka begins in 543 BC with the landing of Vijaya, a semi-legendary king who sailed 860 nautical miles on eight ships to Sri Lanka with 700 followers from the southwest coast of what is now the Rarh region of west Bengal. In Sri Lanka there are kingdoms such as, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Dambadeniya, Yapahuwa, Sithawaka, Gampola, Kotte, Kandy and there are some famous kings in that time they are Pandukabaya, Parakramabahu, Dathusena, walagamba, Dutugamunu, Kawanthissa, Mahasen, Vijaya, Dewanampiyathissa, Sri Vikramarajasingha. According to this there are so many religious places in ancient history like Ruwanwali mahasaya, Thuparamaya, Jaya sri maha bodiya, Abayagiriya, Kiriwehera, Sigriya, katharagama, Temple of Tooth Relic, Mihinthale, Seruwavila, Yapahuwa etc. Sri Lankan dynastic history spanned a period of 2359 years, from 543 BC toad 1815 until the land became part of the British Empire. Independence The Soulbury constitution ushered in Dominion status, with independence proclaimed on 4 February 1948. Sir D. S. Senanayake became the first Prime Minister of Ceylon. Prominent Tamil leaders like Ponnambalam and Arunachalam Mahadeva joined his cabinet. The British Royal Navy remained stationed at Trincomalee until 1956. A countrywide popular demonstration against withdrawal of the rice ration, known as Hartal 1953, resulted in the resignation of prime minister Dudley Senanayake. S. W. R. D. Bandaranayke was elected prime minister in 1956. His three-year rule had a profound impact, through his self-proclaimed role of defender of the besieged Sinhalese culture. He introduced the controversial Sinhala Only Act, recognizing Sinhala as the only official language of the government. Although partially reversed in 1958, the bill posed a grave concern for the Tamil community, which perceived in it a threat to their language and culture. The Federal Party (FP) launched a movement of non-violen t resistance (satyagraha) against the bill, which prompted Bandaranayake to reach an agreement (Bandaranayake-Chelvanayakam Pact) with S. J. V. Chelvanayakam, leader of the FP, to resolve the looming ethnic conflict. However the pact proved ineffective in the face of ongoing protests by opposition and the Buddhist clergy. The bill, together with various government colonization schemes, contributed much towards the political rancour between Sinhalese and Tamil political leaders. Bandaranayake was assassinated by an extremist Buddhist monk in 1959. Madam Sirimavo Bandaranayake, the widow of late S. W. R. D. Bandaranayake, took office as prime minister in 1960, and She was the first lady prime minister in the world. During her second term as prime minister, the government instituted socialist economic policies, strengthening ties with the Soviet Union and China, while promoting a policy of non-alignment. In 1971, Ceylon experienced a Marxist insurrection, which was quickly suppressed. In 1972, the country became a republic named Sri Lanka, repudiating its dominion status. From 1983, ethnic tensions were manifested in on-and-off insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Because of this (LTTE) tigers so many bombs were blasted and result of that lots of Political Leaders, Celebrities, and Civilians were dead. In 2009, under the Presidency of Mahinda Rajapaksa the Sri Lanka Armed Forces defeated the LTTE, and re-established control of the entire country by the Sri Lankan Government. Finally Sri Lanka has emerged from its 26-year war to become one of the fastest growing economies of the world. Geography The island consists mostly of flat-to-rolling coastal plains, with mountains rising only in the south-central port. The highest point piduruthalagala, reaching 2,524 meters (8,281 ft) above sea level. The climate is tropical and warm, due to the moderating effect of ocean winds. Mean temperature ranges from 17 Â °C (62.6 Â °F) in the central highlands, where frost may occur for several days in the winter, to a maximum of 33 Â °C (91.4 Â °F) in other low-altitude areas. In Sri Lanka rainfall pattern is influenced by monsoon winds from the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal. The longest of the 103 rivers in the country is Mahaweli River, covering 335 kilometers (208 mi). These waterways give rise to 51 natural waterfalls of 10 meters or more. The highest is Bambarakanda Falls, with a height of 263 meters (863 ft). Sri Lanka inherits 45 estuaries and 40 lagoons too. The island is rich with minerals such as Ilmenite, Feldspar, Graphite, Silica, Kaolin, Mica and Thorium. Flora and Fauna Lying within the Indomalaya ecozone, Sri Lanka is one of 25 biodiversity hotspots in the world. Although the country is relatively small in size, it has the highest biodiversity density in Asia. Remarkably high proportion of the species among its flora and fauna, 27% of the 3,210 flowering plants and 22% of the mammals, are endemic. Sri Lanka has declared 24 wildlife reserves, which are home to a wide range of native species such as Asian elephants, leopards, sloth bears, the unique small lories, a variety of deer, the purple-faced langur, the endangered wild boar, porcupines and anteaters. Among the trees of the dry-land forests are valuable species such as satinwood, ebony, ironwood, mahogany and teak. These are the famous National Parks in Sri Lanka Yala, Wilpaththu, Sinharaja, Udawalawa and Kumana Bird Sanctuary. Politics Sri Lanka is the oldest democracy in South Asia. The Donoughmore Constitution, drafted by the Donoughmore Commission in 1931 enabled general elections with adult universal suffrage (universal adult franchise) in the country. It was the first time a non-Caucasian country within the empires of Western Europe was given one man, one vote and the power to control domestic affairs. The first election under the universal adult franchise, held in June 1931, was for the Ceylon State Council. Sir D. B. Jayatilaka was elected as the Leader of the House. In 1944, the Soulbury Commission was appointed to draft a new constitution. During this time, struggle for Independence was fought on constitutionalist lines under the leadership of D. S. Senanayake. The draft constitution was enacted in the same year and Senanayake was appointed as the Prime Minister from the parliamentary election in 1947. The Soulbury constitution ushered in Dominion status and Independence to Sri Lanka in 1948. Current politics in Sri Lanka is a contest between two rival coalitions led by the centre-leftist and progressivity United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA), an offspring of Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), and the comparatively right-wing and pro-capitalist United National Party (UNP). Sri Lanka is essentially a multi-party democracy with many smaller Buddhist, socialist and Tamil nationalist political parties. Rest of other parties are Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK), Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress. Government National Symbols of Sri Lanka Flag Lion Flag Emblem- Gold Lion Passant Anthem- Sri Lanka Matha Butterfly- Troides darsius Bird- Sri Lanka Jungle fowl Flower- Red and Blue Water Lily Tree- Ceylon Ironwood (Na) Sport- Volleyball Sri Lanka is a democratic republic and a unitary state which is governed by a semi-presidential system, with a mixture of a presidential system and a parliamentary system. It constitutes a parliamentary system governed under the constitution. Most provisions of the constitution can be amended by a two-thirds majority in parliament. However, the amendment of certain basic features such as the clauses on language, religion, and reference to Sri Lanka as a unitary state require both two-thirds majority and approval at a nation-wide referendum. Economy According to the International Monetary Fund, Sri Lanka has a yearly gross domestic output of US$59 billion as of 2010. It has a GDP of US$116 billion in terms of purchasing power parity. Sri Lanka is next only to Maldives in the South Asian region in terms of per capita income, with a nominal value of US$2,877 and PPP value of US$5,673. It recorded a GDP growth of 8.3% in 2011. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Sri Lanka became a plantation economy, famous for its production and export of cinnamon, rubber and Ceylon tea, which remains a trademark national export. The development of modern ports under British rule raised the strategic importance of the island as a centre of trade. From 1948 to 1977 socialism strongly influenced the governments economic policies. Colonial plantations were dismantled, industries were nationalized and a welfare state established. In 1977 the free market economy was introduced to the country, incorporating privatization, deregulation and the promotion of private enterprise. While the production and export of tea, rubber, coffee, sugar and other commodities remain important, industrialization has increased the importance of food processing, textiles, telecommunications and finance. Main economic sectors of the country are tourism, tea export, clothing, rice production and other agricultural products. In addition to these economic sectors, overseas employment contributes highly in foreign exchange, most of them from the Middle East. The Global Competitiveness Report published by the World Economic Forum has listed Sri Lanka as a transitive economy, from factor-driven stage to efficiency-driven stage, ranking 52nd in the global competitiveness. It also ranked 45th in health and primary education, 32nd in business sophistication, 42nd in innovation and 41st in goods market efficiency out of the 142 countries surveyed. Education With a literacy rate of 92.5%, Sri Lanka has one of the most literate populations amongst developing nations. Its youth literacy rate stands at 98%, computer literacy rate at 35%, and primary school enrolment rate at over 99%. An education system which dictates 9 years of compulsory schooling for every child is in place. The free education system established in 1945 is a result of the initiative of C. W. W. Kannangara (Father of Free Education) and A. Ratnayake. It is one of the few countries in the world that provide universal free education from primary to tertiary stage. Brief Information about Performing Arts in Sri Lanka Cinema of Sri Lanka- Kadawunu Poronduwa (The Broken Promise) heralded the coming of Sri Lankan cinema in 1947. Ranmuthu Duwa (Island of treasures, 1962) marked the transition cinema from black-and-white to colour. The Music in Sri Lanka-it came from theatrical performances such as Sokari, Kolam and Nadagam. Traditional Music instruments such as Bera, Thammattama, Daula, Rabana, Thalampata and etc. The Dancing in Sri Lanka- There are three main styles of Sri Lankan classical dance such as Kandyan Dancing (Hill country), Pahatharata (Low country), and Sabaragamu. The history of Sri Lankan painting and sculpture can be traced as far back as to the 2nd or 3rd century BC. The earliest mention about the art of painting on Mahavasama is to the drawing of a palace on cloth using cinnabar in the 2nd century BC. The chronicles have description of various paintings in relic-chambers of Buddhist stupas, and in monastic residence. Culture, Food and Festivals Culture The culture of Sri Lanka dates back over 2500 years. It is influenced primarily by Buddhism and Hinduism. Ancient Sri Lanka is marked for its genius in hydraulic engineering and architecture. The rich cultural traditions shared by all Sri Lankan cultures is the basis of the countrys long life expectancy, advanced health standards and high literacy rate. Food Sri Lankans staple food is Rice but in every special movement, Sri Lankans make Kiri Bath (Milk Rice) and Lunumiris. There are so many delicious dishes in this country such as rice and curry, pittu, whole meat Roti, hoppers,String hoppers, wattalapam (special pudding), koththu and Jackfruit. Traditionally food is served on a plantain leaf. Moors special dish is Biriyani, Catholics-Christmas Cake, Hindus- Specially Veg meal. Festivals In April, Sri Lankans celebrate the Buddhist and Hindu New Year festival. In addition, Esala Perahera, a symbolic Buddhist festival consisting of dances and richly decorated elephants, is held in Kandy, during the month of August. Fire-dances, whip-dances, Kandian dances and various other cultural dances are integral parts of the festival. Tamils celebrate Thai Pongal, Maha Shivaratri, Catholics celebrate Christmas, Good Friday and Muslims celebrate Hajj, Ramadan in their respective days of the year. Media Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (formerly Radio Ceylon) is the oldest-running radio station in Asia, established in 1923 by Edward Harper just three years after broadcasting began in Europe. The station broadcasts services in Sinhalese, Tamil, English and Hindi. Since the 1980s, a large number of private radio stations have also been introduced. Broadcast television was introduced to the country in 1979 when the Independent Television Network was launched. Initially all Television stations were state controlled, but private television networks began broadcasts in 1992. As of 2010, 51 newspapers (30 Sinhala, 10 Tamil, 11 English) are published and 34 TV stations and 52 radio stations are in operation. Sports While the national sport in Sri Lanka is Volleyball by far the most popular sport in the country is cricket. Rugby union also enjoys extensive popularity. As do athletics, Football (soccer) and Tennis. Sri Lanka national cricket world cup won 1996. Former Sri Lankan off spinner Muththaiah Muralitharan been rated as greatest Test Match Cricketers Almanac. Sri Lanka also wins so many medals in Olympic Games. Aquatic sports such as Boating, Surfing, Swimming, kite surfing and Scuba-diving on the coastal, the beaches and backwaters attract a large number of Sir Lanka and foreign tourists. There are two styles of martial arts native to Sri Lanka, Cheena di and Angampora.