Evaluate the relevance of cross-cultural theories in explaining how to Assignment

Evaluate the relevance of cross-cultural theories in explaining how to manage companies in different countries - Assignment Example This, in itself, puts the workforce and the management in a multicultural stance. Universalism as a general theory might help ‘blend the culture’ and improve performance, while on the other hand it does not take into account the essential differences in cultures and particularism has to be followed (Alexandria, VA, 2008). It is pertinent to understand that while setting up a global mind set is productive, not all human resource strategies will fit every culture and situation, hence the need for adaptability (HRMagazine, 2008). Sensitive factors like religion and gender often define whether the host culture is neutral or emotional. Recognizing this has significant advantage in terms of control over the business and workforce itself. For example, ignoring a religious taboo might result in a strong setback for the company if the relevance of cultural differences is ignored (Himmelberg, Michele, 1998). Language barrier, the most common issue, is crucial and requires new communication skills to be dealt with (Carter, L, 2005). When a lingua franca does not already exist, it might be useful to train the local workforce in an international language (Feingold, Jean, 2006) but training the management in the vernacular has its key advantages including elimination of redundancy, direct management and easy understanding of the culture (Carter, L, 2005). These key theories are relevant most of the time even in the internet age, but when companies approach different cultures not only to utilize the workforce but also for marketing, the cultural dimensions take a more significant role. Cultural dimensions such as perceptions of justice, power distance and individualism define the employee behavior resulting in direct influence on turnover and other outcomes directly affecting the company’s ability in the competitive market (Kim et al, 2007, p. 104, 83-95). According to opposing studies, the cultural

Increased Demand For More Resource Intensive Food Economics Essay

Increased Demand For More Resource Intensive Food Economics Essay The increasingly of enhanced productivity and yields of the farm sector have been driving the worldwide food prices falling for the past 25 years. However, this phenomenon came to a sudden change due to the global food prices increased dramatically by 2007, creating a global crisis and causing political and economical instability and social unrest in both poor and developed nations. Increased demand for more resource intensive food The head of the International Food Policy Research Institute stated in 2008 that the gradual change in diet among newly prosperous populations is the most important factor underpinning the rise in global food prices(Wikipedia, 2010), most notably in developing country like China and India. Rising of consumption of meat particularly has resulted in increase demand for grains; One kilogram of beef requires eight kilograms of feed grain, so as the demand for meat surges, consumption of grains by cattle soars, that driving up grain prices. Issue of bio-fuel subsidies Both the United States and European Union have implemented policies by giving the subsidies for ethanol and bio-diesel production to many farmers which have prompted them to switch to production for bio-fuel, even though exactly how effective they are at generating less CO2 emissions and decelerating global warming is actively debated. Ultimately this has diverted the land away from production of corn and soy for food, and reduced the supply of land devoted to growing crops that dont received bio-fuel subsidies, such as wheat. As a result, it generated a huge effect on demand for corn and soy beans. In 2007, for example, the U.S. increase in demand for corn-based ethanol accounted for more than half of the worldwide increase in demand for corn. The problem of imposition of high tariffs From the U.S. and EU markets by high tariffs, which are shutting out manufacturers of alternative products that can be turned into bio-fuels, most remarkably sugar cane, So as a result, the price of imported sugar cane is increased and making it extremely uncompetitive with subsidized corn and soy beans, this is unfortunate as sugar cane is a more environmentally friendly raw material for bio-fuels than corn and soy beans. As matter of fact, the circumstances may get even poorer, in case policy makers have their way. Policies in both U.S. and the EU require increase in the production of bio-fuels, but none of them has permitted decreasing tariff barriers on sugar cane or to remove the trade distorting subsides given to those who generate corn and soy for bio-fuels. 2) Case Discussion Questions 1 Answer Who benefits from government policies to (a) promote production of ethanol and (b) place tariff barriers on imports of sugar cane? Who suffers as a result of these policies? The policies who benefit from the government policies to promote production of ethanol will be the country and its domestic producers. For this case, it will be United States and the domestics producers in United States. Also, it will provide the producers with the chance to expand or increase their export market. For example, Archer Daniels Midland Company is one of the United States domestic company which turn crops into renewable products. At the same time, the tariff barriers on imports of sugar cane would minimize the foreign imports. Most of people believe that the ethanol production provides large benefits to the farmers, but in fact the profits to farmer are minimal. However, most of the domestics producers (like Archer Daniels Midland) are making huge profits from ethanol production which were received the ethanol subsidies. (EV World, 2002) Refer to the attached table from the United States Energy Information Administration: Table 1: In the recent year, the production of ethanol in United States is fully consumption by them and the continuous declined the import of ethanol. This is well obviously the domestics consumption and no import market for the ethanol. In additional, sugar cane, corn and soybeans are mainly used for production of biofuel. Most of the developed countries (e.g. China and India) are usually provided the subsidies, it will make the production of corn, sugar cane increasing faster and the farmers will plant more. These will be also beneficial to the developed countries. The land owners will give the benefit as well as the more ethanol production needed more arable land for crops. On the other hand, the consumers will suffer by paying more for the corn, sugar cane, etc. as the demand for ethanol is increased. In addition, the drivers in United States will suffer a lack of competition as the ethanol prices are higher. Also, the energy and pollution need to be balance of the whole cycle of ethanol production. 3) Case Discussion Questions 2 Answer One estimate suggests that if food prices rise by one-third, they will reduce living standards in rich countries by about 3%, but in very poor ones by about 20%. According to the international food policy research institute, unless policies change, cereal prices will rise by 10% to 20% by 2015, and the expansion of bio-fuel production could reduce calorie intake by 2% To 8% by 2020 in many of the worlds poorest nations. Should rich countries do anything about this potential problem? If so, what Yes we do, from the perspective of ethics the rich nations should provide helps hence these nations is already very well developed and they have more resources or extra resources to reallocate to the poor nations by providing helps to save life. Double approach To tackle the current situation of high food prices by providing emergency assistance to the poorest countries is needed. By revitalizing rural communities and re-launching agriculture are the key elements to reduce hunger and ensure an improved world food situation. Protecting the people who suffers hunger in rural and urban areas would require direct food distribution, food subsidies, cash donation and nutritional programs, such as school feeding. Enhance social protection is also very important for vulnerable groups, including pregnant women, elderly and the children. For short-term action, local food production should be the first prioritize. Subsides program should include the distribution to local farmers of fertilizers, seeds, animal feed or other input. Support should focus on agricultural research serving the needs of poor farmers, many of whom farm in increasingly marginal areas; poor farmers should have better access to factors of production, namely land, water and inputs. If this program worked effectively, such program would enhance the supply response in poor countries and improve food availability, during the increase of the income with small producers and it might also reduce price increases in local markets as well. For mid and long term actions, high food prices also represent an opportunity for increase investments in agriculture by both the private and public sectors to stimulate production and enhance productivity. Invite private firm for investment into long neglected areas such as agricultural research, extension for infrastructure, on the other hand production and trade policies on bio fuels may also need to be re-examined for their possible effects on food markets and food security, especially in those vulnerable countries. If all the short and long terms projects which works effectively, the food prices should decline dramatically because the supply of food increase and it could save millions of peoples who dont have to suffers of hungers and diseases, It may stop the wars between the poor countries which competes again for access to resources. 4) Case Discussion Questions 3 Answer The argument for giving subsides to ethanol producer rests upon the assumption that ethanol results in lower CO2 emission than gasoline and therefore benefits the environment. If we accept that global warming is a serious problem in itself, should we not be encouraging government to increase such subsides? What are the arguments for and against doing so? On balance, what do you think is the best policy? Biofuel as E85 is an ethanol fuel that typically contains a blend of up to 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. E85 is commonly used in the United States and Europe. Ethanol is one of the best tools to address environmental issues such as reduction in greenhouse effect and exhaust pipe emissions. Because ethanol is made from renewable, plant-based feedstock such as corn or sugar cane. The CO2 released during a vehicle in motion is recycled during the growth of ethanol feedstock. In 2007, U.S. governments have given subsidies to farmers caused that corn production increased to 85 million tons from around 15 million tons in 2000. Also subsidies amount to between $0.29 and $0.36 per liter of ethanol. In Europe the subsidies are as more as $1 a liter. The greenhouse effect is an essential environmental prerequisite for life on Earth. The problem is human activities destroy and accelerate the process by creating more greenhouse gases which include carbon dioxide, emitted by fossil fuel combustion and deforestation etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Global warming is produced mainly by the growth of greenhouse effect and emission of carbon dioxide. The Earths average surface temperature rose by 0.74 ±0.18  °C over the period 1906-2005. The carbon dioxide emission is estimated some 80 % rise in the economic growth of China. In the meantime the US and EU managed to reduce emissions slightly. It seems that global warming is a serious problem. The initial purpose of the subsidy was to help a nascent biofuels industry, hope to reduce Americas petroleum dependence. However, the ethanol is an effective way to break our petroleum addiction but not be the best of tools to improve the environmental and economic. In case we still encouraging government to increase the subsidies in the ethanol. It can be improved cellulosic technologies for energy efficient, reduce reliance on petroleum or displacement if possible. on the other hand, it may be developed an agriculturally-based rural energy workforce and help domestic producers to earn more revenue and advance economic growth because as the government policy to compete against low-cost foreign imports, gain export markets and improve the environmental better. In turn, Eliminating or not increasing ethanol subsidies will lower your grocery bill, saving $30 billion in wasteful spending and increasing edible maize by 14%. Because subsidies caused high demand for corn and soy beans turn into ethanol, then reduce the supply of land devoted to growing crops, that its existence increases the price of corn, and that food prices rising. On balance, I think the best policy is ethanol has helped in the development of the biofuel infrastructure. The subsidies still carry on but should be set up expiry dates and limit budget, also able to increase subsidies directed towards a broader range of approaches. From the technological and economic benefits, ethanol production still has little potential upside left in process cost reduction. Some subsidies should be used to introduce new competition to markets or support other new technologies to get higher revenue. 5) Application to Hong Kong Business Environment Governments policy is a critical factor. US and EU government implement Bio-Fuel Subsides and high tariff for sugar cane which is part of reason to rise global food price. There are many similar cases in Hong Kong. MTR Corporation Ltd is a typical example. The MTR Corporation was established in 1975 as the Mass Transit Railway Corporation and the Hong Kong Government was the only sole shareholder. Although the Hong Kong Government sold 23% of its issued share capital to private investors in an Initial Public Offering in 2000, Hong Kong Government is still a main shareholder. Since 90s, Hong Kong Government has adopted a transportation policy Railway as a backbone on the public policy. There are now 10 lines, but the Corporation is still developing and expanding its network. Within the next decade, the Corporation will complete five new strategic rail extensions. They include: West Island Line, Guangzhou Shenzhen Hong Kong Express Rail Link, Shatin to Central Link, Kwun Tong Line Extension and South Island Line (East). The Hong Kong Government supports the MTR Corporation Ltd non-stop network expansion. On the other hand, the Government adopts a tight control to others transportation with direct competition with MTR Corporation Ltd. For Example, franchised public bus KMB, who has been constrained the No. of vehicles, Bus routing expansion / abridgment and so on. Application to Hong Kong Resident Supply and Demand is an important issue. Due to the population growth the demand of meet, so the demand of food relatively increase which cause the global food price rise. Hong Kong residents are also affected by the issue of supply and demand of property. The price of property has been dramatically gone up from 40 to 115 since 2002 up to 2012 according to Centa-City Leading Index. In past, the ex- Chief Executive Donald Tsang did not have any policy to increase the supply of property. This result the supply of property maintains on the low level. However, the population of nubile age is increasing and they have a huge of demand on the property. Government is the main supply of property as it provides lands to property developer before property building and it directly build subsidized houses. However, in the past ten years, the supply of property is relatively low. The stop building of subsidized houses and slow land sold by Land Sale by Application, the supply of property is only around 10 thousand per last few years, but the demand of property is around 25 thousand as the No. of the marriages is over 50 thousand in the recent years. It causes a sharp difference between supply and demand. There is not enough supply to fulfil all demand. 6) Conclusion The global food price increase is one of the signs of the global food crisis. Global food crisis is a profound problem to all the human being. 22 countries have already suffered from this issue and more than 900 million people suffer from not having enough to eat every day according to FAO 2010. Global food crisis is more serious than war and environmental crisis as it would create a lot of social issue and affect social stability. Therefore it is time to take precautions before it is too late, we start! General public can as well reduce the food waste. In addition, the case study of global food price increase also shows the importance of governments policy. Government policy affects the business environment the industrys recession or boom. Government policy affects the living standard of general public. To take necessary precautions, Hong Kong resident should keep an eye on government daily operation.

Albrecht Ritschl Essay examples -- Christian Theology

Introduction Albrecht Ritschl was one of the most pivotal theologians in the history of Christianity. While many charge him with introducing ideas that led to a more liberal theology, his intentions were nevertheless honorable. Ritschl lived in a time where Christianity was no longer considered relevant or feasible, and his reinterpretations were an attempt to keep Christianity applicable to modern society. His defenses, however, often resulted in a corruption of doctrine and left Christianity open to attack. Thus Ritschl was an extremely influential theologian, though many question how positive that influence may have been. Ritschl’s Theology Ritschl’s theology was greatly affected by the philosophers of his time. Immanuel Kant had declared that the mind was incapable of understanding anything more than what could be experienced sensorially or was beyond ordered reason and logic. Similarly, Ritschl was influenced by the Tà ¼bingen school of theology, which he came to firmly oppose. Tà ¼bingen theology was extremely skeptical about Christianity, yet also promoted mysticism. Further, the school disregarded church history.1 Thus Ritschl’s theology would take a less extreme approach. He would reject mysticism on the grounds that theology must be firmly rooted in reality, particularly moral and ethical realities. On this basis he also rejected natural theology.2 Ritschl’s theology agreed with Kant’s philosophy to some extent. He agreed that the mind was limited to its experiences, but believed it could understand moral issues as they affected the individual.3 Thus everything was reduced to judgements of fact or value. Fact judgements could be proven objectively, but value judgements could not. Thus value judgements were left... ... Bibliography Ahern, Annette. â€Å"Social Justice: Now, Later or Never? The Contribution of Albrecht Ritschl and Johannes Weiss to Social Justice Theology.† Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses 32, no. 3 (2003): 281-97. http://sir.sagepub.com/content/32/3/281 (accessed February 18, 2012). Douglas, J. D., Philip Wesley Comfort and Donald Mitchell. Who's Who in Christian History. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1992. Eckman, James P. Exploring Church History. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2002. Geisler, Norman L. and William E. Nix. A General Introduction to the Bible. Rev. and expanded. Chicago: Moody Press, 1996. Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity: The Reformation to the Present Day. 2nd ed. New York City, NY: HarperOne, 2010. Pierard, R.V. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. 2nd ed. Edited by Walter A. Elwell. Grand Rapids, MI.: Baker Academic, 2001.

Discuss the Notions of Ideology and/or False Consciousnes

â€Å"The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas, i. e. the class which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force. † (K. Marx and F. Engels. (1998) â€Å"Ruling Class and Ruling Ideas†. In J. Storey. (ed. ). Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A Reader Harlow, Essex: Pearson, 191. ) Discuss the notions of ideology and/or false consciousness. Ideology is something that has and will be always in everyone’s life. This is a part of human life.In my essay about ideology I am going to write about Karl Marx ideas about ideology and also Louise Althusser interpretations about ideology. In my opinion they are the two that explain ideology and false consciousness in the best and most understandable way. I am going to start with Karl Marx and write about his thoughts on ideology, false consciousness and how does it fit in to everyday life. Afterwards how Althusser complicated Marx’s ideas and ex plained how ideology works in people’s lives in his own way.The Expression â€Å"Ideology† was created by Cabanis, Destutt de Tracy and their friends, and they defined it as an object the theory of ideas. Afterwards it was picked up by Karl Marx (1818-1883) and few years latter Louis Althusser (1918-1990) started expanding Marx ides on ideology. Main ideas on ideology by Karl Marx appeared in â€Å"The German Ideology†, that he wrote with Frederick Engels. Althusser wrote about Marx’s ides that (2001) â€Å"Ideology itself represents the â€Å"production of ideas, of conceptions, of consciousness,† all that â€Å"men say, imagine, conceive,† and include such things as â€Å"politics, laws, morality, religion, metaphysics, etc. Ideology functions as the superstructure of a civilization: the conventions and culture that make up the dominant ideas of a society. † Ideology is basically ideas of social groups. People think that something has some kind of purpose to serve them, but really it has a different purpose. For example police, everyone thinks that they are here to protect us, but actually their purpose is to keep us under control. The ideology is based on the ruling class and their ideas. Ruling class tries to keep everything running properly and keep people under control.It is said by Althusser â€Å"Since one goal of ideology is to legitimize those forces in a position of hegemony, it tends to obfuscate the violence and exploitation that often keep a disempowered group in its place. † For masses ideology is as a system of illusory beliefs – False Consciousness. False consciousness is a misrepresentation of different social relations between privet and public. Daniel Little (no date) wrote â€Å"â€Å"False consciousness† is a concept derived from Marxist theory of social class. The concept refers to the systematic misrepresentation of dominant social relations in the consciousness of subordinate classes.Marx himself did not use the phrase â€Å"false consciousness,† but he paid extensive attention to the related concepts of ideology and commodity fetishism. † Marx never said in his work that ideology is false consciousness, but ideology in his work can be interpreted as false consciousness in some ways. Ideology is seen as illusionary beliefs, people see things in one way, helping them, their living conditions and different organisations working for people, for example schools, clothing factories, etc. But in reality all this organisations work for ruling classes to keep masses under ruling classes power.Schools educate people to make them able to work for the ruling class in the future and keep the economy going. Clothing factories create clothes for people, and everybody thinks that their made for them to feel better, so they could go out and buy new clothes and feel happy. In reality clothes are produced to lure people to buy them and spend money , give hardly earned money back to the ruling class and most of the clothes are produced to last for a short time, so people would keep coming back and buying more.Looking through people’s point of view, ideology can be interpreted as false consciousness. Andrew Butler (2009) said in our lecture â€Å"Ideology – people doing what they’re doing without knowing what they’re doing or why. † If people are doing what they are doing without knowing, it can be translated as false consciousness. They think that they know what they are doing and why they are doing it, but actually not. Ideology is false beliefs and ideas, false understanding how world works. Louis Althusser, expanded Karl Marx ideas on ideology.Marx separated everything, he thought that superstructure has a relative autonomy with relation to the base, that superstructure is not influenced by base and other way around as well. But Althusser did not reject these ideas but complicates them, he sees superstructure and base working together, he does not separate them from each other. It was said in our lecture by Andrew Butler (2009) â€Å"Whereas classic Marxism sees the economic base as determining the superstructure Althusser sees them as having a Double function. By double function he meant that there is not a separation between public and private, everything is linked together. A good example was brought in our lecture notes by Andrew Butler (2009) â€Å"Imagine a kind of network where everything impacts on everything else. the feminist slogan the personal is political would be a good way of thinking about this. So the family – something that might seem personal or more specifically say breastfeeding might seem private is in fact linked to the economic base and influenced by the superstructure.Breastfeeding could be part of a medical fad or you might do it because of education but doing it or not impacts on when you go back to work or whether you buy formula milks so it is an economic and political decision as well as a private one. † In Althusser’s opinion ideology treats people as subjects, because ideology has a material existence. Ideology always reveals through human actions and participations. For example art, art is produced for people to buy, to give money back to the country, but art is produced through another person, through hard labour and he also gets paid for it, this is a job for him.David Hawkes (1996, p. 122) said â€Å"an ideology always exists in an apparatus, and its practice, or practices. This existence is material† Ideology is an ideal idea of perfect state; it has a material existence that treats humans as subjects. In our lecture notes by Andrew Butler (2009) Althusser asked â€Å"why subjects are obedient, why people follow the laws and why isn't there a revolt/revolution against capitalism IF IT IS NOT IN THE INTERESTS OF THE LOWER CLASSES† and he explained this through complicating Marx’s ideas by bringing in Repressive State Apparatuses and Ideological State Apparatuses.Repressive State Apparatuses can control people by force so everybody would behave in the way as the ruling class wants; it includes organizations like the police, prisons, security, etc. Ideological State Apparatuses include institutions that create ideologies on what people can act and believe, for example schools, churches, legal systems, radio, press, television, etc. ISAs acts through ideology, they tell people how to think and influence people mentally, not like RSA, which acts through violence. In conclusion I would say that Ideology is a set of ideas of social groups.People think that something has some kind of purpose to serve them, but really it has a different purpose – false consciousness. For masses ideology is as a system of illusory beliefs – False Consciousness. Though Marx never said in his work that ideology is false consciousness, but ideology in his wor k can be interpreted as false consciousness in some ways. Louis Althusser was another ideology theorist and he expanded Karl Marx ideas on ideology. Where Marxism saw the economic base as determining the superstructure Althusser saw them as having a Double function.That they work together, superstructure determines economic base and economic base determines superstructure. He explained this by expanding Marx’s ideas by bringing in Repressive State Apparatuses and Ideological State Apparatuses. That people are seen as subject and state has different associations to keep people under control by force, violence and also by giving people ideas how everything works and it is all meant to be for people, to make their lives better and more organised. Ideology is meant to keep people under ruling class power and order.In my opinion the ideology is working just fine, it keeps the world organised and together. Only it does it through false consciousness, lies. †¢ Hawkes, D. (1996) Ideology. reprint edition. Routledge †¢ Althusser, L. (2001) Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays. Trans. Ben Brewster. New York: Monthly Review P. Available at: http://www. cla. purdue. edu/English/theory/marxism/modules/marxideology. html (Accessed: 21 April 2009) †¢ Althusser, L. (2001) Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays. Trans. Ben Brewster. New York: Monthly Review P.Available at: http://www. cla. purdue. edu/English/theory/marxism/modules/marxideology. html (Accessed: 21 April 2009) †¢ Althusser, L. (2001) Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays. Trans. Ben Brewster. New York: Monthly Review P. Available at: http://www. cla. purdue. edu/English/theory/marxism/modules/marxideology. html (Accessed: 21 April 2009) †¢ Little, D. (no date) False Consciousness, University of Michigan-Dearborn, Available at: http://www-personal. umd. umich. edu/~delittle/iess%20false%20consciousness%20V2. htm (Accessed: 21 April 2009)

Mozart’s “Clarinet Quintet” and Mahler’s Symphony no.1 in D major “Titan” Essay

The Music of the classical and Romantic era is a period of time where it shows the development and different styles of music. This can be shown through the manipulation of musical elements, (dynamics, pitch, tempo, rhythm, texture, meter, tonality, structure, melody, harmony, instrument) while contrasting them, but it can also be shown through the composers of the music, the size of the orchestra, musical directions, emotional content, and non-musical developments through that period of time. After the Renaissance and the Baroque era, the Classical era soon followed at around the 1720-1820’s. During these times in Europe, there were many non musical developments, ideas of the enlightenment, political issues, scientific discoveries and the reexamination of established ideas, including the existence of God. Many of these ideas and has got huge impact on the heavy Monumental baroque style and later developed with a more intimate rococo style, with its light colors, curved lines, and graceful ornaments, which greatly resembles the classical period. Shortly after the Classical period, the Romantic era appeared during the 1820-1900’s. At these times, non-musical developments such as cultural movements strongly expressed emotion, imagination, and individuality. People such as Romantic painters and writer often emphasized the freedom of expression; they often saw political revolution as a reflection of their own struggles for artistic freedom. This had made a huge i mpact on Romantic music, because the emotional subjectivity turned into a basic quality of Romanticism. Comparing the musical elements of Classical era and Romantic era, we would notice the many differences, and hence we can identify and recognize the music of both periods. The first musical element that I will discuss is rhythm. As we can see, the rhythm of the Classical era tends to be less complex and quite repetitive. Classical style usually includes unexpected pauses, syncopations, and frequent changes from long notes to shorter notes, and the change from one pattern of note lengths to another may be either sudden or gradual. As we can see in the Finale of Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet, we can see that during each of those variations, the rhythms are not very complex and quite repetitive, for example, the first 3 – 8 bars of the introduction in Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet show a somewhat consistent rhythm  consisted 4 of crotchets each bar, the 2nd variation show a consistent rhythm of 4 sets of triplets between the 2nd violin and viola, the 3rd variation shows a consistent rhythm of 4 sets of semi-quavers in each bar, with the clarinet normally. Through what I have described just now, one could see that the pattern of note lengths have gradually changed to shorter and shorter, in this case, from 4 crotchets to 4 triplets to 4 semi-quavers. Also, in variations like Mozart’s clarinet quintet, triplets and syncopations can be found frequently. In contrast, romantic music tends to not emphasize that much on simple and consistent rhythms. There are often changes in the number of beats in a measure, cross-rhythms, syncopations, etc. For example in Mahler’s Symphony no.1 in D major â€Å"Titan†, consistent notes goes against syncopations, there are accompaniments with skips and staccatos etc. (p.116) Both Classical and Romantic eras have written musical directions, unlike Renaissance and Baroque which does not have any. Moreover, I have noticed that the musical directions of both pieces have extreme differences. As we see in Mahler’s symphony no.1 in D major â€Å"titan† 3rd movement, there are many written musical directions: dynamic, emotional, tempo directions. For example, in the first 20 bars, there are already 7 written musical directions, whereas in Mozart’s clarinet quintet, there are extremely small amounts of written musical directions, only 2 written musical directions in the first 20 bars. This significantly shows that there are differences in the use of written musical directions in the Classical and Romantic era. Classical and Romantic music has differences in melodies and structures too. In classical music, the structures emphasize more the grace of proportion and balance, moderation and control; polished and elegance in character with expressiveness and formal structure held in perfect balance. Furthermore, the forms do not vary as much as the Romantic era, they had forms like sonatas, symphonies etc. The melodic phrases are usually balanced and symmetrical made up of two phrases of the same length. For an example, in Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet, the music is very symmetrical and well balanced, in a variation form. However, in Romantic music, they rather emphasize on the emotional content than trying to sound balanced and symmetrical, and expanded their use of forms and created new forms, like impromptu, ballade,  etude, nocturnes etc,. Moreover, the melodies normally have either really long or short phrases, increased in range, but also increased in chromaticism. For example in Mahler’s symphony no.1 in D major â€Å"Titan†, we can see that except it is in a ABA form, the whole movement was not as symmetrical and well balanced as the Mozart, although it is in a variation form, the melodic phrases have increased in range, are either really long, for example in the first 18 bars, or really short, where the melody can be hardly seen in bar 134-137. Classical and Romantic era are very different in the use of harmonies too. In Classical music, harmonies were formed from the chords. If the chords in a music composition are all major chords, then the harmonies would create emotions that express bright, happy and positive feelings, in contrast, if the chords are all minor chords, then the harmony would express the emotion which is sad and depressed, negative feelings. However, in Romantic music, harmonies are more complex due to the development of the complex chords. For example, a diminished chord that is usually found in Romantic music would create a harmony that is rarely found in Classical music. In general, the use of harmonies is very different in both Classical and Romantic music. Another difference I have noticed between Classical and Romantic music is the range of dynamics used. In the Classical era, the dynamic range normally used was between pp – ff. This range was expanded in the Romantic period, ranging from pppp – ffff. This difference can be evidently proven in Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet, where the range was kept within the range of p – f, a small range of pitch in each part of instruments. However, in Mahler’s symphony no. 1 in D major â€Å"titan†, the range of dynamics increased to pppp – f, with a big range of dynamics in each of the instrumental parts. In general, the range of pitch of Classical and Romantic era varies when the classical as small range of dynamics, whilst the Romantic as a larger range of dynamics. The range of pitch of the Classical and Romantic era is used very differently too. In the classical era, the range pitch is not as big as the Romanic era, as he range of pitch in the Romantic era was expanded, as the composers seek  for more extreme high and low sounds. For example in Finale of Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet as a Classical song, the range of pitch of the whole song was only D2 – C6 with little range of pitch in every instrumental part, but the range of pitch in Mahler’s symphony no. 1 in D major, as a Romantic song, is B1- D6, with a very broad range in every instrumental part. In general, the range of pitch of Classical and Romantic era varies when the classical as small range of pitch, whilst the Romantic as a larger range of pitch. The tempo of classical era and Romantic Era is used very differently too. In the Classical era, the tempo only changed when there are written musical directions to change the mood, but tempo of Romantic music changed the mood constantly with not only the written musical directions, which is often underlined by Accelerando, Ritardando, and subtle variations of pace: but there are many more fluctuations in tempo than there are in Classical music, which they also intensify their emotions by using effect of Rubato. As we can see in Mozart’s clarinet quintet, there are only 3 written musical directions: â€Å"Allegretto con Variationi†, which means a little lively, moderately fast, with variation, â€Å"Adagio† which means at ease: slow, and allegro, which means cheerful or brisk; but commonly interpreted as fast, lively, and there are no written musical directions which guide the tempo within the scores. However, in Mahler’s symphony no. 1 in D major, there are not only main musical directions to guide the tempo, like â€Å"Feierlich und gemessen, ohne zu schleppen†, which means dignified but not too slow, but there are small ones in between the scores which appears constantly, like Zurluckhaltend which means holding back tempo, creating Rubato effect and Poco. Rit etc. These two pieces, Mozart’s clarinet quintet as a Classical music, Mahler’s titan as a Romantic music, clearly shows that there are significant differences in the tempo of the Classical and Romantic era, Classical with a less frequent change of tempo, Romantic with a frequent change of tempo. The texture of Classical and Romantic music can be contrasted. Classical music is basically homophonic; for example in Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet, we can see that the texture is basically homophonic, with a few that is  polyphonic, and the pieces shifted smoothly from one texture to another, like in the changes from variation 1 to variation 3, there is a gradual change from thin texture to thicker texture. In contrast, even though romantic music can be homophonic and polyphonic and most of the time between the two, the texture turns thicker, it has lots of changes in texture, more drastic and frequent, and they use a lot more instruments to exaggerate this thick and emotional content. As we can see in Mahler’s symphony no.1 â€Å"Titan†, the texture is pretty thick in general, due to the size of the orchestra which creates density, and during the bars of 134-137, the whole orchestra is used, which creates the intense and climax moment. In general, although both Classical and Romantic music are mainly homophonic, the thickness of the texture is contrasted significantly. Chromaticism was also used differently in the Classical and Romantic era. In the classical era, melodic chromaticism was used frequently (especially by Mozart) to balance the harmonic plainness. In its simplest form of chromatic scales, it occurs a lot in unaccented passing notes. Melodic chromaticism does not usually affect the harmony; it is mainly used for color-modification of diatonic notes, to add tone color by composers. However, Romantic music generally uses chromaticism to form the music’s harmonies and create chords. This helps the composer to expand the emotional contents and express a few different emotions of the musical piece. In general, chromaticism was used very differently in the Classical and Romantic era. Cadenza chords of Classical and Romantic music is similar, but you can say that cadenza chords of Romantic music are built on top of the cadenza chords structures of Classical music. In Classical music, they generally have a cadenza chord structure of I – V – I. In Mozart’s clarinet quintet, the cadenza chords can easily be recognized as chords I – V – I, as we can see in the first 16 bars. In Mahler’s symphony no.1 in D major â€Å"titan† however, the cadenza consist of only chord I from bar 158 to the end, 11 bars all written in chord I. This type of chord structure is seldom found in Classical music, because Classical music usually ends a piece of music in an authentic cadence, plagal cadence, or deceptive cadence. In Romantic music,  these cadences are still used, but composers like to end their music in their own unique way, just like Mahler’s symphony no. 1 in D major. Another difference that I have noticed between Classical and Romantic music is the size of their orchestra. In a Classical orchestra, there are normally only 20-60 players, which involve strings: 1st & 2nd violins, violas, cellos, double basses. Woodwinds: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons. Brass: 2 French horns, 2 trumpets. Percussion: 2 timpani. However, towards this end of the Romantic era, the orchestra might have included around 100 musicians. The constant expansion of the orchestra reflected composes changing needs as well as the growing size of concert halls and opera houses, due to technological advances. The brass, woodwind and percussion sections of the orchestra took on a more active role, calling for trombones, tubas, and more horns and trumpets. The woodwind took on new tone colors such as contrabassoon, bass clarinet, English horn and piccolo. Orchestral sounds became more brilliant and sensuously appealing through increase uses of cymbals the triangle and the harp. One of the most evident differences between Classical and Romantic music is how composers express their emotion and creating emotional intensity. Composers from the Classical Period tend to focus more on the structure of music, creating music that is structural and compact in form, and captures our attention by the beauty and structure of the music, which usually just expresses one emotion. However, composers from the Romantic Period focused more on depicting their emotions in their music, emphasizing on expression rather then structure, expressing several different emotions. When we compare Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet to Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 in D major â€Å"Titan†, Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet tends to be more focused on perfecting the harmony between the different melodies and also the structure and forms, while Mahler’s Titan emphasized much more on the emotional content. In short, Classical music tends emphasize on the beauty of balanced structures, expressing one emotion, while Romantic music tends to express more emotional contents, expressing several different emotions. In general, the music of Classical and Romantic era are very different in  many ways, in all aspects of the elements, dynamics, pitch, tempo, rhythm, texture, meter, tonality, structure, melody, harmony, instrument, and especially how they express their emotional contents. However, the Classical and Romantic eras are both historical developments of western music, which significantly contributes to the music that we listen to today. References Classical music. (2007, April 11). Retrieved April 15, 2007, from wikipedia Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_musicClassical period (music). (2007, April 13). Retrieved April 14, 2007, from wikipedia Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_music_eraLogan, J., & Swann, J. (n.d.). Classical Music and Romantic Music – Part 1. Retrieved April 7, 2007, from http://trumpet.sdsu.edu/m345/Romantic_Music1.htmlRomantic music. (2007, April 12). Retrieved April 13, 2007, from wikipedia Web site: http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romantic_musicSchmidt-Jones, C. (2006, January 3). The Music of the Romantic Era. Retrieved April 7, 2007, from connexions Web site: http://cnx.org/content/m11606/latest/Sexton, T. (2007, January 17). The Classical and romantic Eras in Music History. Retrieved April 4, 2007, from associatedcontent Web site: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/119869/the_classical_and_romantic_eras_in.html

Definition and Examples of Reduplicatives in English

Definition and Examples of Reduplicatives in English A reduplicative is a word or lexeme (such as mama) that contains two identical or very similar parts. Words such as these are also called  tautonyms.  The morphological and phonological process of forming a compound word by repeating all or part of it is known as reduplication. The repeated element is called a reduplicant. David Crystal wrote in the second edition of The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language: Items with identical spoken constituents, such as  goody-goody  and  din-din, are rare. What is normal is for a single  vowel  or  consonant  to change between the first constituent and the second, such as  see-saw  and  walkie-talkie.Reduplicatives are used in a variety of ways. Some simply imitate sounds:  ding-dong, bow-wow. Some suggest alternative movements:  flip-flop, ping-pong. Some are disparaging:  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹dilly-dally, wishy-washy. And some intensify meaning:  teeny-weeny, tip-top. Reduplication is not a major means of creating lexemes in English, but it is perhaps the most unusual one.(Cambridge Univ. Press, 2003) Characteristics Reduplicatives can rhyme  but arent required to. They likely have a  figure of sound  represented in them, as alliteration (repetition of consonants) and assonance (repetition of vowel sounds) would be common in a word or phrase that doesnt change much among its parts, such as in this by Patrick B. Oliphant, Correct me if Im wrong: the gizmo is connected to the flingflang connected to the watzis, watzis connected to the doo-dad connected to the ding dong.† According to Gift of the Gob: Morsels of English Language History by Kate Burridge: The majority of...reduplicated forms involve a play on the rhyme of words. The result can be a combination of two existing words, like  flower-power  and  culture-vulture, but more usually one of the elements is meaningless, as in  superduper, or both, as in  namby-pamby. Now, it struck me the other day that a large number of these nonsense jingles begin with h. Think of  hoity-toity, higgledy-piggledy, hanky-panky, hokey-pokey, hob-nob, heebie-jeebies, hocus-pocus, hugger-mugger, hurly-burly, hodge-podge, hurdy-gurdy, hubbub, hullabaloo,  harumscarum, helter-skelter, hurry-scurry, hooley-dooley  and dont forget  Humpty Dumpty. And these are just a few!(HarperCollins Australia, 2011) Reduplicatives differ from  echo words in that there are fewer rules in forming reduplicatives. Borrowed Reduplicatives The history of reduplicatives in English starts in the Early Modern English (EMnE) era, which was about the end of the 15th century. In the third edition of A Biography of the English Language,  C.M. Millward and Mary Hayes noted:   Reduplicated words do not appear at all until the EMnE period. When they do appear, they are usually direct borrowings from some other language, such as Portuguese dodo (1628), Spanish grugru (1796) and motmot (1651), French haha ditch (1712), and Maori kaka (1774). Even the nursery words mama and papa were borrowed from French in the 17th century. So-so is probably the sole native formation from the EMnE period; it is first recorded in 1530.(Wadsworth, 2012) Morphological and Phonological Sharon Inkelas wrote in Studies on Reduplication that there are two separate methods, producing two different types or subsets of reduplication: phonological duplication and morphological reduplication. Below we list some criteria for determining when a copying effect is reduplication and when it is phonological duplication. (1) Phonological duplication serves a phonological purpose; morphological reduplication serves a morphological process (either by being a word-formation process itself or by enabling another word-formation process to take place...).(2) Phonological duplication involves a single phonological segment...; morphological reduplication involves an entire morphological constituent (affix, root, stem, word), potentially truncated to a prosodic constituent (mora, syllable, foot).(3) Phonological duplication involves, by definition, phonological identity, while morphological reduplication involves semantic, not necessarily phonological, identity.(4) Phonological duplication is local (a copied consonant is a copy of the closest consonant, for example), while morphological reduplication is not necessarily local.​  (Morphological Doubling Theory: Evidence for Morphological Doubling in Reduplication. ed. by Bernhard Hurch. Walter de Gruyter, 2005)

Krystynas Story Essay Example

Krystynas Story Essay Example Krystynas Story Essay Krystynas Story Essay In the thought provoking novel ‘Krystyna’s Story’ by Helina Ogonowska-Coates, Krystyna underwent a dramatic change from her beautiful loving home in Poland to the harsh inhumane conditions of the Siberian Labour camp – Camp Niechodnile. This change is important as it makes Krystyna a better person and helps others to realise the brutality of war. Before the Russians invaded Krystyna’s home, she had a happy and loving family that loved and cared for her, ‘I remember learning to walk in the warmth of the kitchen with mama leading my footsteps’ Krystyna had an innocent naive childhood, she lived in the moment with no worries crowding her thoughts ‘I loved to play in the orchard, climbing the apple trees or just lying in the shade listening to the birds’. Krystyna’s life had a simple regularity. Then suddenly everything changed. It happened without warning and dragged us along with it’ The Russians stripped Krystyna’s family and home apart, transporting them to a Siberian labour camp called Camp Niechodaile. Krystyna’s living conditions changed significantly, there was no comfort or luxury, everyday was long and hardworking ‘those who do not work do not eat’. Months passed and people were going insane, committing suicide as ‘living had lost its meani ng’. Krystyna’s family were slowly losing hope, losing Krystyna and losing life itself. Yet Krystyna never gave up hope and was determined that she would survive. This change was important because it made Krystyna grow as a person; she gained maturity, courage and determination ‘now I needed to be an adult too’. She constantly assured herself and others that everything was going to be okay even though she had little/almost no knowledge of what was going to happen â€Å"Don’t worry mama, we must concentrate on keeping together†. This change was also important because it changed Krystyna as well as my outlook on life, showing that we must value our family, friends, home and life because you never know what tomorrow could bring ‘living each day had become a chore’. From this novel we see that Krystyna had a wonderful and carefree life until the Russians ripped away their family, friends and every treasured possession. This change caused Krystyna to grow and become a stronger character. The inhumane conditions of the Siberian labour camp made me realise just how precious life is and that we should appreciate every second.