International bussiness performance appraisal Essay

International bussiness performance appraisal - Essay Example The elements of benchmarking notably considered are time, quality and cost (Schiffauerova and Thomson, 2006, pg. 650). Benchmarking involves a methodology whereby the management of a firm identifies the leading companies in the industry then compares and contrasts their processes with those of their own. Benchmarking employs several methods, but all of them are geared to enabling the company achieve a competitive advantage over its rivals. In evaluating how benchmarking can be used in measuring the performance of the organisation, there are three key aspects and issues that relate to benchmarking. This includes why organisations should engage in benchmarking, the scope and limitations of benchmarking and the possible solutions. In tackling these key aspects, a business will know whether to use benchmarking and how to use it best (Goetsch and Davis, 2014, pg. 9). Benchmarking as an appraisal mechanism offers various advantages to the firm executing the approach. One of the key benefits that accrue to a firm when benchmarking is the performance improvement. Benchmarking sets the basis of performance development intended for facilitating competitiveness. In the quest for finding ways to outperform competitors, benchmarking ensures the fundamental survival of any business. Moreover, Camp (2003, pg. 29) suggests that benchmarking identifies best practices in the industry then establishes what comprises better-quality performance. The process of also benchmarking enumerates the gap between the actual performance and the anticipated performance thereby instituting real objective facts about the business. Consequently, this provides the business entity with what improvement entails and the rationale to improve (Dragolea and Cotirlea, 2009, pg. 820). Benchmarking also helps organisations to focus on transformation and presents the direction for the transformation process. Organisational

Study Two University at the Same Time Essay Example for Free

Study Two University at the Same Time Essay Since study only one university is not attractive anymore, because it is too simple and provides less benefit too. So these day, almost all undergraduate students or just graduated from high school are ambitious by choose to attend two universities at the same time, because they think they could hold two bachelor degrees at the same time after they graduate. In hindrance, this may not provides any benefit but just bad influences to their health, time, education and money. Especially, it would provides them â€Å"Stress†, that could badly affects their study. Moreover, participating in two colleges at the same time will face health issue, because most students will not eat punctually as they used to, and sometimes they might have ate some unhealthy food or fast food or could be junk food outside, that could cause them a serious health problem. Theoretically, students would face up to busy and critically hard assignments from both universities. Unfortunately, sometimes the deadline of the assignments might be the same, and for sure, that will make them feel stress and couldn’t pay attention or absorb the education well during class. In brief, taking two universities at the same time is not an option for those who are unhealthy and unable to manage their time probably. But if they are stubborn and really want to participate in it, they should balanced it equally beforehand.

The History of Video Games Essay -- Video Games

The History of Video Games 1972, the year the first home video game system, named Odyssey, is released by Magnavox. This main games featured on this system were a light gun game and a tennis game. During the same time, a game by the name of Pong is a success in the public. It is because people wanted to play Pong in the comfort of their own homes, that they bought Odyssey. The system only sold around 100,000 units since Magnavox only sold the game system from their own stores, making consumers believe that the game system would only work on Magnavox TV sets. Things stay quiet until 1976. With the success of Atari (the makers of Pong), many game companies arise and try to release their own gaming systems. Due to the sudden high demands for electronics parts, many companies did not receive their products on time. During this time, Fairchild Camera and Instruments releases their game system, titled the Video Entertainment System, later renamed as Channel F. This is the first home system to have programmable video games via game cartridges. Users can now change games with by swapping in and out a game cartridge (which is about the size of a 8 track tape). 1977, Atari opens Pizza Time Theatre, a restaurant with coin operated arcade games and dancing and singing mechanical animals. Interestingly enough, the mascot of Pizza Time was a giant rat by the name of Chuck E. Cheese. Seeing the success they had with software, Atari decided they would debut their own cartridge based video game console, known as the Atari 2600. A year later, Midway games imports arcade game Space Invader by Japanese developer Taito, to the US. The game was a ... ...s project and ended its contract with Nintendo. It own focus on a next generation CD only gaming system aimed at defeating Nintendo. This Sony system later became the Sony Playstation (32bit) released in 1995. Along with the Playstation, other companies such as Nintendo and Sega releases their own 32bit system. In the end the Sony machine comes out on top. Meanwhile, Nintendo sticks with their cartridge based design and releases the 64bit Nintendo 64 gaming system. Unfortunately, due to high cost and limiting factor of cartridge systems, not many developers hopped on board. Fast forward to today, we have three major players in the field, Nintendo’s Gamecube, Sony’s Playstation 2 and the new comer, Microsoft’s XBOX. Sony still remains on top while XBOX and Gamecube fighting fiercely for number 2. Source Cited Gamespot.com. The History of Video Games Essay -- Video Games The History of Video Games 1972, the year the first home video game system, named Odyssey, is released by Magnavox. This main games featured on this system were a light gun game and a tennis game. During the same time, a game by the name of Pong is a success in the public. It is because people wanted to play Pong in the comfort of their own homes, that they bought Odyssey. The system only sold around 100,000 units since Magnavox only sold the game system from their own stores, making consumers believe that the game system would only work on Magnavox TV sets. Things stay quiet until 1976. With the success of Atari (the makers of Pong), many game companies arise and try to release their own gaming systems. Due to the sudden high demands for electronics parts, many companies did not receive their products on time. During this time, Fairchild Camera and Instruments releases their game system, titled the Video Entertainment System, later renamed as Channel F. This is the first home system to have programmable video games via game cartridges. Users can now change games with by swapping in and out a game cartridge (which is about the size of a 8 track tape). 1977, Atari opens Pizza Time Theatre, a restaurant with coin operated arcade games and dancing and singing mechanical animals. Interestingly enough, the mascot of Pizza Time was a giant rat by the name of Chuck E. Cheese. Seeing the success they had with software, Atari decided they would debut their own cartridge based video game console, known as the Atari 2600. A year later, Midway games imports arcade game Space Invader by Japanese developer Taito, to the US. The game was a ... ...s project and ended its contract with Nintendo. It own focus on a next generation CD only gaming system aimed at defeating Nintendo. This Sony system later became the Sony Playstation (32bit) released in 1995. Along with the Playstation, other companies such as Nintendo and Sega releases their own 32bit system. In the end the Sony machine comes out on top. Meanwhile, Nintendo sticks with their cartridge based design and releases the 64bit Nintendo 64 gaming system. Unfortunately, due to high cost and limiting factor of cartridge systems, not many developers hopped on board. Fast forward to today, we have three major players in the field, Nintendo’s Gamecube, Sony’s Playstation 2 and the new comer, Microsoft’s XBOX. Sony still remains on top while XBOX and Gamecube fighting fiercely for number 2. Source Cited Gamespot.com.

Disneyland Profile

Profile What does the â€Å"happiest place on earth,† also know as Disneyland, have to offer on a regular basis? It was a bright sunny day in Anaheim California, and my friends Ruben, Sassan and I were just arriving at the theme park. We were all so excited to spend the day messing around between parks; especially considering the fact that we got in for free! Ruben’s mom works at Disneyland, which is how we were able to get in for free. Disneyland is only one theme park, but there are so many different things going on throughout the whole park it is hard to grasp.Throughout the entire theme park, it is divided between handfuls of different sections. Main Street, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Toon town, Adventureland, Frontierland are all very unique from each other; giving you a different experience each time. Main Street U. S. A is just at the entrance of Disneyland and it is a replica dedicated to early 20th century America. Main Street is filled with people anxious to e xplore the rest of the park and full of smiles to start their day. Next we arrive to Fantasyland, a land based on classic Disney films and Disney characters walking around.I noticed every child going crazy to meet their favorite character and take pictures with each of them. Then we cruise to Tomorrowland, which has a futuristic design to it and all of the attractions are based on outer space. Space Mountain, Buzz Light-year and Star Wars are all popular rides in Tomorrowland. Toon town is a whole land devoted to Mickey Mouse and friends, who obviously are the more popular characters in Disneyland. Toon town is pretty much self-explanatory, everything in there looks like a cartoon.Adventureland is very much like a jungle it is hard to remember where you really are; there are tall trees around every corner, bushes everywhere, animal sounds screeching throughout the land and about each building is made of rough wood. Last is Frontierland and it portrays the Wild West. Each land gave m e a different feeling of each setting and felt like I was at different parts of the world. Since there are so many people in the park I could not stop noticing the different noises I heard. Everywhere I went was filled with laughter from children enjoying the happiest place on earth.Different music was echoing within each land in order to fit the setting. Roller coasters were screeching across the park full of kids yelling, either from intimidation or excitement. Trains were whistling and carrying several people, all-blabbering at once. All of this plus the routine fireworks blowing and crackling one by one as everyone watched. It was almost too much to handle, but each sound contributed to everyone’s joy. As the clock began to reach noon we were all filled with hunger, it was time to eat. Throughout the day the park was filled with salty and sweet stenches from snacks like popcorn and churros.There were so many different odors it was hard to decide where to go. As we stepped foot on the food court the room was filled with a variety of aromas, from fresh baked breads to grilled chicken and rich flavor pizzas and barbeque. We each decided to get different foods and share; Ruben got the pizza, Sassan ordered the chicken and I got the barbeque myself. Grouping back together the table was filled with a mixture of divine scents as we eat. With this in mind we still had room for dessert, or at least something sweet to satisfy our sweet tooth. We spotted a cotton candy stand and the surrounding area was crammed with a fruity sweet scent.After all of that we were pretty much good on food for the rest of the day. (add taste to this paragraph as well) With every appearance, and each sound and odor all going on at once it was a lot to handle. Switching from each land section to parades and loud roaring of coasters, children and fireworks and also different food odors everywhere we went was quite an experience. Everyone was exhausted from walking and everything tha t went on in the park. Never going to experience that much action at once anywhere else(last sentence or got home and slept real quick)

Alcoholic Beverage and Quantum Software Essay

Quantum Software does indeed have a problem involving a disagreement in the appropriateness of a company sponsored social activity. This weekly gathering is offered by Quantum’s management as a reward for their productiveness displayed throughout the week. While the get-together appears to be very popular among employees and managers alike, there is at least one party (Bill, the corporate attorney) who voices objection to the weekly festivity (Brown & Harvey, 1995). The problems can be defined in terms of macro; issues having to do with leadership, resources, and the surrounding infrastructure, and micro, which include internal issues such as employee training, empowerment and organizational processes. (Packard 2005). The macro issue is that there is a difference in opinion on whether or not the â€Å"beer bust† is an appropriate means of rewarding the company’s employees. Stan and Erin, the founders of Quantum Software, feel that this time is beneficial because it provides an opportunity to â€Å"encourage the team concept† (Brown & Harvey, 1995). Bill however, after witnessing an employee stumbling as a result of his drinking, questions the company’s liability of providing alcohol during the workday. The micro issue, although not specifically stated in the study, is that coworkers are subject to seeing each other as well as members of management in an intoxicated state; creating a situation where professional integrity could be compromised. The cause for the conflict is the fact that the company is offering its employees alcohol during work hours, creating a situation where Quantum would be held liable should an accident occur at work or as the employees were leaving the office. Additional concerns are warranted in considering that not all employees (based on statistically studies of drinking in the workplace) will be included in an event where drinking alcohol is involved (NZMA, 2006). Additionally, studies show that organizations that encourage drinking at work have a higher rate of employees with drinking problems; which can greatly affect worker performance (National Institute On Alcohol Abuse And Alcoholism, 2006). Alternative opportunities should be offered to the employees that would achieve the goals that Stan and Erin have set of creating an atmosphere where workers can â€Å"blow off a little steam† without providing alcohol (Brown & Harvey, 1995). Recognizing that the workers are adults and have the ability to make responsible decisions in regards to drinking, perhaps a social committee could provide an alternate experience to the â€Å"beer bust† that does not conflict with the interest of Quantum Software. There are two recommendations that I would offer to the management team of Quantum Software. First, the monies dedicated to offering the current â€Å"beer bust† should be redirected to an offering that includes all employees, including those that do not drink. This will provide an inclusive atmosphere where all employees can participate. Second, an off-property location should be established by a social committee (not management) where employees have the opportunity to â€Å"socialize over a beer without the pressure of work† (Brown & Harvey, 1995). This way the employees are on their own time and are responsible for their own actions; relieving Quantum Software of any responsibility for its employee’s actions. References Brown, D. & Harvey D. (2006). An experimental approach to organization and development. Upper Saddle River: Pearson National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. (2008). Alcohol and the workplace Retrieved March 23, 2008 from http://alcoholism. about. com/od/work/l/blnaa44. htm NZMA (2006). Alcohol consumption. Retrieved March 23, 2008 from http://www. nzma. org. nz/journal/116-1184/645/Figures%20and%20tables. pdf Packard,T. (1995). TQM and organizational change and development. Retrieved March 23, 2008 from http://www. improve. org/tqm. html#Exhibit%20I:%20A%20Force%20Field %20.

Using Contests as Door Openers

Using Contests as Door Openers In a world where its near impossible to land an agent or publisher, and indie publishing appears to be a monstrosity of complexities, it might be time to consider contests. And dont talk about how most of them are scams, either. There are more publishing scams out there than contests, my friend. Why focus on contests when your goal is publishing? Because contests are a roundabout way to open a door to getting published. And you get to toy around with submitting more than that book youve obsessed over. You can also submit novellas, short stories, flash fiction, and poetry. Suggestions on entering contests to aid your career: 1) Stick to contests that result in publication. Whether its a website, a journal, or a publishing house, getting publication credits in your portfolio matters. You need credibility. 2) Extract from your book-length work and create a short piece or two. There are way more short story competitions than novels contests. Take the gist of your longer piece and turn it into a short submission. The point is to make people realize you can write. If you win, THEN tell them you also write novels. 3) Choose reputable contests, not something cutesy and cheap, so that when you win you are respected, not chuckled at. Show that even when you enter contests, you are a professional. 4) Be willing to pay entry fees. They fund the publishing, the judging, and the prize money. Better to pay $25 to enter and win $1,000 than pay $0 and win $50. The latter doesnt look as good on a resume or pitch letter. 5) Consider those contests that offer feedback. Those critiques might right some wrongs in your work. 6) Choose contests where the judges are agents, publishers, or editors. Even if you dont win, you might catch someones eye. Some authors enter contests regularly while still pursuing publication. Theres no point in passing up this sort of opportunity. Especially during a time that writers are a dime-a-dozen and landing attention is like screaming into the wind. While youre planning your query letters or indie promotion, make time for a contest or two each month. It might be the catalyst to take that stalling writing career to a higher level.

The Human Brain Essays - Neuroanatomy, Central Nervous System

The Human Brain Essays - Neuroanatomy, Central Nervous System The Human Brain THE HUMAN BRAIN The human body is divided into many different parts called organs. All of the parts are controlled by an organ called the brain, which is located in the head. The brain weighs about 2.75 pounds, and has a whitish-pink appearance. The brain is made up of many cells, and is the control center of the body. The brain flashes messages out to all the other parts of the body. The messages travel in very fine threads called nerves. The nerves and the brain make up a system somewhat like telephone poles carrying wires across the city. This is called the nervous system. The nerves in the body don't just send messages from the brain to the organs, but also send messages from the eyes, ears, skin and other organs back to your brain. Some nerves are linked directly to the brain. Others have to reach the brain through a sort of power line down the back, called the spinal cord. The brain and spinal cord make up the central nervous system. The brain doesn't just control your organs, but also can thi nk and remember. That part of the brain is called the mind. Twenty-eight bones make up the skull. Eight of these bones are interlocking plates. These plates form the cranium. The cranium provides maximum protection with minimum weight, the ideal combination. The other twenty bones make up the face, jaw and other parts of the skull. Another way the brain keeps it self safe is by keeping itself in liquid. Nearly one fifth of the blood pumped by the heart is sent to the brain. The brain then sends the blood through an intricate network of blood vessels to where the blood is needed. Specialized blood vessels called choroid plexuses produce a protective cerebrospinal fluid. This fluid is what the brain literally floats in. A third protective measure taken by the brain is called the blood brain barrier. This barrier consists of a network of unique capillaries. These capillaries are filters for harmful chemicals carried by the blood, but do allow oxygen, water and glucose to enter the brain. The brain is divided into three main sections. The area at the front of the brain is the largest. Most of it is known as the cerebrum. It controls all of the movements that you have to think about, thought and memory. The cerebrum is split in two different sections, the right half and the left half. The outer layer of the cerebrum is called the cortex. It is mainly made up of cell bodies of neurons called grey matter. Most of the work the brain does is done in the cortex. It is very wrinkled and has many folds. The wrinkles and folds give the cortex a large surface area, even though it is squeezed up to fit in the skull. The extra surface area gives the cerebrum more area to work. Inside the cortex, the cerebrum is largely made up of white matter. White matter is tissue made only of nerve fibres. The middle region is deep inside the brain. It's chief purpose is to connect the front and the back of the brain together. The back area of the brain is divided into three different parts. T he cerebellum sees to it that all the parts of your body work as a team. It also makes sure you keep your balance. The thalamus is located in between above the lower brain and under the two hemispheres. THE DIFFERENT SECTIONS OF THE BRAIN: Most of the above mentioned parts of the brain were produced early in evolution but the higher mammals, especially humans went on to produce a sort of thinking cap on top of these parts. This thinking cap was divided into two different parts, the left hemisphere and the right hemisphere. If the left side of your brain is more developed like most people's are, you are right handed. On the other hand if the right side of your brain is more developed, then you will be left handed. The right side of your brain is more artistic and emotional while the left side of your brain is your common sense and practical side, such

Veronica Roth Fiction and Movie List

Veronica Roth Fiction and Movie List Veronica Roth wrote the first of the books that would become the best-selling Divergent series when she was still in college, earning a degree in creative writing. She wrote Divergent during winter break before her graduation in 2010 and sold the book the same year. It debuted at No. 6 on The New York Times best-seller list. It captured the imagination of the public, and two more books in the series followed: Insurgent and Allegiant. In the three young-adult science fiction novels, she told a coming-of-age story set in post-apocalyptic Chicago. Following the release of several Divergent series companion novellas and short stories, Roth began what may become a second series with the release of Carve the Mark in 2017. Books and Short Fiction by Veronica Roth 2011 -  Divergent  is the first book in a young-adult dystopian trilogy that takes place in a future Chicago. The story is told from the perspective of Tris, a 16-year-old. This future society is split into five factions based on the virtue they cultivate- Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful)  and Erudite (the intelligent). Every 16-year-old must choose which faction they will devote their lives to and then undergo a rigorous initiation into the group. Beatrice, or Tris, must choose between her family and who she truly is.2012 -  Insurgent, the second book in the  Divergent  trilogy, deals with the fallout of Tris choice and a looming war between factions.2012 -  Free Four  - This  short story  retells the knife throwing scene from Divergent  from Tobias perspective.2013 -  Shards Ashes  - This anthology of short stories included a selection from  Veronica Roth.2013 -  Allegiant  - The last book i n the  Divergent  trilogy reveals the secrets of the dystopian world that captivated millions of readers in Divergent and Insurgent. 2013 - Four: The Transfer is a  novella that examines the world of the Divergent series through the eyes of Tobias Eaton.2014- The Initiate - Tobias  initiation into Dauntless, his first tattoo, and his interest in training new initiates are all covered in this novella.2014 - Four: The Son - This novella explores Tobias  struggles with the Dauntless hierarchy as he learns a secret about his past that could affect his future.2014 - Four: The Traitor  - The novella runs parallel with the early events in Divergent and includes the first meeting of Tobias and Tris Prior.2014 -  Four: A Divergent Story Collection is a  companion volume to the Divergent series that is told from the perspective of Tobias. It includes The Transfer, The Initiate, The Son and The Traitor, all of which were originally published separately.2017 - Carve the Mark  is a science fiction fantasy set on a planet where violence rules and every person receives a currentgift, a unique power meant to shape t he future. The currentgift given to Cyra and Akos, two characters from separate tribes, make them vulnerable to the control of others. When the enmity between their factions and families seems insurmountable, they decide to help each other to survive. 2017  - We Can Be Mended is a short story epilogue that takes place five years after Allegiant. It focuses on the character Four. Movies Made From Roth Books Four big-screen movies have been made from the three books of the Divergent series: Divergent (2014)Insurgent (2015)The Divergent Series: Allegiant (2016)The Divergent Series: Ascendent (2017)

Business Policy and Strategic Management Research Paper

Business Policy and Strategic Management - Research Paper Example The author of the paper states that growth is the way of life. Almost all organizations plan to expand. This is why expansion strategies are the most popular corporate strategies. Companies aim for sustainable growth. A growing economy, burgeoning markets, customers seeking new ways of need satisfaction, and emerging technologies offer ample opportunities for companies to seek expansion. Apart from competitive strategies, competition could coexist with cooperation. Corporate strategies could take into account the possibility of mutual cooperation with competitors while competing with them at the same time so that the market potential could expand. Cooperative strategies could be of the following types: 1. Mergers 2. Takeovers (or Acquisitions). 3. Joint Ventures & 4. Strategic Alliances.  Merger and takeover (or acquisition) strategies essentially involve the external approach to expansion. Basically two, or occasionally more than two, entities are involved. There is not much diffe rence in the three terms used for such types of strategies and they are frequently used synonymously. But a subtle distinction can be made. While mergers take place when the objectives of the buyer firm and the seller firm are matched to a large extent, takeover or acquisitions usually are based on the strong motivation of the buyer firm to acquire. The takeover is a common way for acquisition and maybe defining as "the attempt (often spring as a surprise) of one firm to acquire ownership or control over another firm against the wishes of the later management (and perhaps some of its stockholders). Joint ventures occur when an independent firm is created by at least two firms. In an era of globalization, joint ventures have proved to be invaluable strategies for companies looking for expansion opportunities globally. Strategic alliances are partnerships between firms' whereby their resources, capabilities, and core competencies are combined to pursue mutual interests to develop, man ufacture or distribute goods or services. Organizations follow the growth paths can be pursued via external expansion and mergers are the most popular measures. In this case (Merger) the business does not create the productive facilities itself, but purchases existing production. A merger is a situation in which, as a result of the mutual agreement two firms decide to bring together their business operations. A merger is distinct from a take over in so far as a takeover involves one firm bidding for another's shares. One firm thereby acquires another. A merger implies that managers through negotiation have reached an agreement acceptable to both sides. Mergers provide a much quicker means to growth than internal expansion. Not only does the firm acquire new capacity, but also it acquires additional consumer demand. Building up this level of consumer demand by internal expansion might have taken a considerable length of time.  

Falsfication of medical records Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Falsfication of medical records - Assignment Example Falsifying patient’s medical records is a case of negligence and it can result in the deterioration of a patient’s health and in some cases the death of the patients. Lundstrom further explains that there are cases where costly medical law suits drive hospital administrators to recreate medical records. This serves as a desperate measure to cover up their neglectful care (Lundstrom, 2013). Lundstrom looks at the various patterns in falsification of medical records. Dressenhaul and Peabody (2002) explain that recording false positives leads to overestimation of the quality care in critical areas such as physical examination. According to Lundstrom, medical practitioners falsify medical records to cover up neglect or unprofessional acts that result in the death of a patient. In such cases, the nursing home administrators rewrite the records to minimize liability. There are other cases where staff members fill in blank patient charts without confirming whether treatment ha s taken place and there has been accuracy of the information. The pharmacy department also experiences cases of medical record falsification when medications are cleared off from the pharmacy, but later discrepancies in the pharmacy records are reported or boxes of medication are found unopened. There are other cases where nurses falsify consent forms to enable them to sedate patients. In some cases, nursing home staff alter dates in medical records to cover up acts of negligence during an audit (Lundstrom, 2013). Pozgar (2009) points out that falsifying of medical records is a professional misconduct. Patients expect from health practitioners to keep accurate and adequate records that show their medical history. Accurate and adequate medical records facilitate effective communication of health requirements between practitioners and patients. Inaccurate documentation jeopardizes a patient’s health. Falsified documents shatter a practitioner’s credibility (Pozgar, 2009) . According to Pozgar, a health practitioner has a duty towards the patient to maintain the accuracy, truth, integrity and reliability of the medical records. Pozgar explains that inaccurate, misleading or false information in a medical record prejudices the patients care. When a practitioner falsifies a patient’s medical information for his own interests, it is regarded as a gross medical malpractice for this endangers the patients’ health. Daniels (2004) explains that falsifying of medical records constitutes unprofessional conduct. Falsifying medical records is a breach of duty. Such negligence by medical practitioners goes against professional ethics. Medical record falsification can cost a health practitioner their license to practice (Daniels, 2004). Falsification of medical documents goes against certain principles in nursing practice. Whitehead, Weiss, and Tappen describe the principle of nonmaleficence, which requires that a nurse should not do any harm either deliberately or unintentionally to a patient. The principle requires that nurses protect patients, especially those who are unable to protect themselves, like mentally challenged patients or physically challenges patients. Falsifying medical documents endangers a patient’s health (Whitehead, Weiss and Tappen, 2007). Medical records falsification breaches the principle of fidelity that requires nurses to fulfil their responsibilities as nursing practices state. Nurses

Juvenile Offenders with Life Sentences Research Paper

Juvenile Offenders with Life Sentences - Research Paper Example Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that to take a life through a forced confinement for the period of that life is as cruel and unusual for someone who cannot form mature intent as it is to forfeit that life. A proposed study of the effects of this sentence on these offenders will allow for a better understanding of the effects of the imposed consequence of their criminal actions. A review of secondary research provides overwhelming evidence that a moratorium on life sentences without parole is reasonable, Constitutional, and globally supported. As well, the effects on both the offender and on the community create support for this end to life without parole for these offenders. The proposed study would allow for offenders who have experienced adult prisons with no hope for release to come forward and share their stories with a researcher so that a better understanding of the real-life consequences can be studied and analyzed. The study of children who have been given life sentences within the United States brings to light a great need for further work to be done to realize the full impact of this practice. There is a glaring gap in the literature concerning juvenile delinquency about the effects of lifelong incarceration on children. The psychological differences between that of an adolescent mind and that of a mature adult have been disregarded where these instances are concerned and heinous consequences have been levied against children due to mandatory minimums and blind justice laws. Because of this neglect, penal institutions are ill-equipped to handle the special needs of an adolescent within the adult prison system, depriving these children of proper care and resources that are necessary for growth. In creating a study that looks at the experiences of children who have been sentenced to life without parole, the support for the abolition of this practice can be established through real-life experiences. On the other hand, the experiences might also show that life in an adult prison for these offenders is no crueler than it is for those who as adults are sentenced to life without parole. The secondary research supports the abolishment of this practice, however, and it is hoped that further study of the situation from an experiential point of view will support the hypothesis. In discovering the real-life stories of these children who grow into adulthood behind bars, researchers can better determine how to recommend change and growth within the juvenile justice system.

Post secondary transition plan Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Post secondary transition plan - Term Paper Example In this sense, a post-secondary transition plan is necessary for high school graduates joining the employment sector and those pursuing further studies. In most cases, high school graduates seek employment to find means of becoming self-reliant as they wait to join tertiary education (Miller, O’Mara., & Getzel, 2009). However, there are others who seek employment because their academic credentials disqualify them to pursue further education. Life after high school has many challenges and marks a time when individuals should engage in planning on how to improve their living standards. In order to succeed in life, individuals need to aim higher in every endeavor they decide to take after graduating from high school. In this sense, high school graduates with disability should not look at their disability as the inability and should aim for an interactive and productive life after high school. In this regard, an ideal post-secondary transition setting is one that provides career exposure, is interactive, inclusive and adaptable (Lee, Leon, & Young, 2013). After high school life, the post-secondary setting that is ideal whether at the workplace or residential, for instance, college, should expose individuals to new learning. This is because post-secondary life presents a period when individuals should learn how to deal with challenges that exist in the outside world. Prior to the completion of high school, life tends to be simple and individuals have access to support networks in case they face challenges. However, life after high school marks a period when individuals are left alone and have to engage in self-discovery. Self-discovery in this sense means learning about the new environment and how to survive. As such, an ideal setting for transition from high school should be in an environment that encourages individuals to discover themselves. In the outside

The Sarbanes-Act of 2002 and its Effects on Businesses Essay

The Sarbanes-Act of 2002 and its Effects on Businesses - Essay Example The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was created in order to raise investor confidence in the market. The SOX regulation applies only to publicly traded companies. The act increased the accountability and transparency of the financial information that public companies release. The implementation of SOX was able to reform accounting practices by improving accountability, internal controls, auditor independence, and executive responsibility. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act attended a variety of accounting issues that were of great concern for the investor community. One of the first issues that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act attended was auditor independence. In the Enron scandal, the firm was able to get away with the con due to the fact that its auditor, Author Anderson, was an accomplice in the fraud. In order to deal with a potential situation of conflict of interest between the public firm and the auditors SOX created the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). All companies that perform audi ts on public companies must be registered with the PCAOB (Pcaobox). Auditor independence was achieved by SOX because since its inception accounting firms that perform audits cannot have other accounting contracts with the audited firm. Public firms are mandated to include an independent’s auditors report within the annual report of the company. Another measure that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act created was mandatory rotations of auditing firms. Companies auditing a public company can only realize the job for four years, at that time a new auditor must take over the role. A great measure that the Sarbanes-Oxley mandated was the requirement of public companies to create internal control measures.

Post secondary transition plan Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

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Comparative Literature Translation St Essay Example for Free

Comparative Literature Translation St Essay 452? F 132 Abstract || The link between Comparative Literature and translation creates a new reading framework that challenges the classic approach to translation, and allows the widening of the scope of the translated text. This paper explores this relationship through the analysis of two versions of Charles Baudelaire’s Les ? eurs du mal published in Argentina during the 20th century, stressing the nature of translation as an act of rewriting. Keywords || Comparative literature | Translation | Rewriting | Charles Baudelaire 133 Comparative literature and translation: two Argentinean versions of the Baudelairean spleen Santiago Venturini  452? F. #04 (2011). 131-141. 0. Comparative literature and translation: a reading framework There are at least two ways to conceive the link between comparative literature and translation studies. Exchanging the terms in the framework of an inclusion relationship, it is possible to consider two differentiated series of questions and to assign different scopes to the link. This exchange appears basically related to the two possible answers to the question about the limits of these disciplines, that are traditionally linked: so, it is possible to consider translation studies asâ€Å"one of the traditional areas of comparatism† (Gramuglio,   2006) or to support, as Susan Bassnett did more than a decade ago (1993), the need for a reversal to happen –similar to the one Roland Barthes established between semiology and linguistics–, to make translation studies stop constituting a minor ? eld of comparative literature in order to be the major discipline that shelters it (solution through which Bassnett tried to put an end to what he de? ned as the â€Å"un? nished long debate† on the status of the discipline of comparative literature, empowered by the criticism blow that Rene Wellek gave to the discipline in 1958)1. Beyond this ambiguity, what is important to underline is the existence of this consolidated link between two disciplines, or I should rather say, between the discipline of comparative literature(s) and the phenomenon of translation –which, on the other hand, de? ned itself as the object of a speci? c discipline barely some decades ago–. In this sense, there is a spontaneous way of thinking about the link between comparative literature and translation: the one that de? nes translation as an event and a central practice for comparatism, since it locates itself at the meeting point of different languages, literatures  and cultures. From this point of view, translation is the activity which is â€Å"synthetic† par excellence, the one that operates at the very intersection of languages and poetics, and the one that makes possible, because of its ful? lment, the ful? lment of other analytic approaches to the texts relating to each other. Nevertheless, this has not always been this way. In an article devoted to the vicissitudes of this link, Andre Lefevere pointed out that, in the beginning, comparative literature had to face a double competence: the study of classical literatures and the study of national literatures,  and that it chose to sacri? ce ranslation â€Å"on the altar of academic respectability, as it was de? ned at the moment of its origin†2. And, although translation became necessary for the discipline, it hardly tried to move beyond the comparison between European literatures, all the translations were made, criticized and judged, adopting the inde? nable parameter of â€Å"accuracy†, that â€Å"corresponds to the use made of translation in education, of classical literatures as well as of NOTES 1 | Bassnett asserts that: â€Å"The ? eld of comparative literature has always claimed the studies on translation as a sub? eld, but now, when the  last ones are establishing themselves, for their part, ?rmly as a discipline based on the intercultural study, offering as well a methodology of a certain rigor, both in connection with the theoretical work and with the descriptive one, the moment has come in which comparative literature has not such an appearance to be a discipline on its own, but rather to constitute a branch of something else† (Bassnett, 1998: 101). 2 | â€Å"In order to establish the right to its own academic territory, comparative literature abdicated the study of what it should have been, precisely, an important part of its effort†Ã‚  (Lefevere, 1995: 3). 134 Comparative literature and translation: two Argentinean versions of the Baudelairean spleen Santiago Venturini 452? F. #04 (2011) 131-141. national literatures† (Lefevere, 1995: 4). The critical thinking of the XXth century conferred translation the transcendence it had not had historically and postulated it as a clearly- de? ned object of study. Although this emancipation was achieved already in the second half of the century, it is clear that there are crucial contemporary texts about practices previous to this period. In this sense, the preface by Walter Benjamin to his German translation  of the Tableaux Parisiens by Charles Baudelaire, entitled â€Å"The Task of the Translator† (1923), constitutes an unavoidable contribution that, nevertheless, has not always been appraised. A lot has been said on this text –let’s remind the readings, canonical, by Paul De Man (1983) and by Jacques Derrida (1985)–, whose formulations were decisive for a conceptualization of translation the way it was presented some decades later by post-structuralism. Let’s recover, at least, one of the ideas that organize this document: â€Å"No translation would be possible if its supreme aspiration would be similarity with the original. Because in its survival –that should not be called this way unless it means the evolution and the renovation all living things have to go through– the original is modi? ed† (Benjamin, 2007: 81). Through this proposition, that can seem obvious to the contemporary reader, Benjamin emphasizes, in the twenties, the inevitable inventive nature of any translation and destroys the conception of the translated text as a copy or a reproduction of the original, although without attacking the dichotomical pair original/translation, â€Å"distinction that Benjamin will never renounce nor devote some questions to† (Derrida, 1985). A renunciation that will be carried out, as Lawrence Venuti points out, by the poststructuralist thought –especially deconstruction–,that again raised the question in a radical way of the traditional topics of the theory of translation through the dismantling of the hierarchical relationship between the â€Å"original† and the â€Å"translation† through notions such as â€Å"text†. In the poststructuralist thought â€Å"original† and â€Å"translation† become equals, they hold the same heterogeneous and unstable nature of any text, and they organize themselves from several linguistic and cultural materials that destabilize the work of signi?  cation (Venuti, 1992: 7). From this acknowledgment, we recover a synthetic Derridean formula: â€Å"There is nothing else but original text† (1997: 533). Thus, translation stopped being an operation of transcription in order to be an operation of productive writing, of re-writing in which what is written is not anymore the weight of the foreign text as a monumental structure, but a representation of this text: that is, an invention. It is not anymore a question of transferring a linguistic and cultural con? guration to another one a stable meaning –as happens with the platonic and positivist conceptions of the meaning that,  according to Maria Tymoczko, are still operating in the education and 135 Comparative literature and translation: two Argentinean versions of the Baudelairean spleen Santiago Venturini 452? F. #04 (2011) 131-141. training of translators in the West (Tymoczko, 2008: 287-288)–, but a practice of creation that writes a reading, an ideological practice accomplished not only by the translator –that becomes now an active agent and not a mere â€Å"passer of sense† (Meschonnic, 2007)–, but by a whole machinery of importation that covers outlines, comments, preliminary studies, criticism, etc.  , and in which a variety of ? gures are involved. In these new coordinates, translation can be de? ned as a practice that is â€Å"manipulative†, if it models an image of the authors and of the foreign texts from patterns of their own: â€Å"Translation is, of course, a rewriting of an original text. Any rewriting, whatever its intention, re? ects a particular ideology and particular poetics, and as such, they manipulate literature in order to make it work in a particular society, in a particular way† (Lefevere and Bassnett in Gentlzer, 1993: IX). This quote reproduces the already famous assertion by Theo Hermans: â€Å"From the point of view of the target literature, any translation implies a degree of manipulation of the source text with a particular purpose. Besides, translation represents a crucial example of what happens in the relationship between different linguistic, literary and cultural codes† (1985: 11-12). To assume the status that we have just conferred to translation implies to re-shape the link between this later and comparative literature. Because when it stops being de? ned in the restrictive terms of mediation or transfer of the stable meaning of an â€Å"original† text, and when it attains the autonomy of an act of rewriting of another  text according to an ideology, a series of aesthetic guidelines and of representations on otherness, translation gives up its role of instrumental practice and appears as the privileged practice that condenses a rank of questions and problematic issues related to the articulations greater than what is national and transnational, vernacular and foreign. Translation becomes the event related to contrastive linguistics par excellence; the key practice of what Nicolas Rosa calls the â€Å"comparative semiosis†: La relacion entre lo nacional y lo transnacional, y la implicacion subversiva  entre lo local y lo global pasa por un contacto de lenguas, y por ende, por el fenomeno de la traduccion en sus formas de transliteracion, transcripcion y reformulacion de  «lenguas » y  «estilos ». La traduccion, en todas sus formas, de signo a signo, de las relaciones inter-signos, o de universo de discurso a universo de discurso es el fenomeno mas relevante de lo que podriamos llamar una  «semiosis comparativa » (Rosa, 2006: 60-61). 1. Two Argentinean versions of the spleen by Baudelaire Once the approach to translation that we favour in this work is speci? ed, what we intend now is to re? ect on the particular case of  136 Comparative literature and translation: two Argentinean versions of the Baudelairean spleen Santiago Venturini 452? F. #04 (2011) 131-141. the Argentinean translations of Les ? eurs du mal (1857) by Charles Baudelaire. We will focus on two comprehensive translations of Les ?eurs du mal, and two very different publications: the one that can be de? ned as the inaugural translation of Baudelaire in Argentina, carried out by the female poet Nydia Lamarque –published by the publishing house Losada in 1948 and reprinted numerous times to date–, and the one signed by Americo Cristofalo for the Colihue  Clasica collection from the publishing house Colihue, published originally in 2006, and that appears as the last link of the chain of Argentinean translations. The difference between the date of publication of the translation by Nydia Lamarque –belated, if we take into account that a ? rst translation to Spanish, incomplete, came out in 19053– and the one by Americo Cristofalo, reports the currency of the name of Charles Baudelaire along the lines of translations of French poetry in Argentina; name that, next to the names of Stephane Mallarme and Arthur Rimbaud – the founder triad of modern French poetry– survives through different  decades4. What interests us now is to try out a cross-reading of the poems by Baudelaire and the rewritings by Nydia Lamarque and Americo Cristofalo. We will not use the comparison according to the frequent use that has been given to it in the study of translations, that is, as a method to reveal a collection of translation strategies implemented in each case with the purpose of identifying â€Å"diversions† with regard to the original. As Andre Lefevere has pointed out, to think about a new relationship between comparative literature and translation implies to set aside the approach with regulations, the one that pretends to  differentiate between â€Å"good† translations and â€Å"bad† translations, to concentrate on other questions, such as the search of the reasons that make some translations having been or being very in? uential in the development of certain cultures and literatures (Lefevere, 1995: 9). In this sense, what we intend is to read the sequence of these texts, with the purpose of demonstrating dissimilar ways of articulation with the Baudelairean poetics, two rewritings that take shape as different forms of literary writing in which the vernacular and the foreign are linked, and that are backed up by an ideology. In order to do this, we are going to con? ne our analysis to one of the poems entitled â€Å"Spleen† that is included in one of the ? ve sections that structure Les ? eurs du mal: â€Å"Spleen and Ideal†. Walter Benjamin pointed out that the Baudelairean spleen â€Å"shows life experience in its nakedness. The melancholic sees with terror that the earth relapses into a merely natural state. It does not exhale any halo of prehistory. Nor any aura† (1999: 160). In this sense, the spleen marks the death of the character of idealism â€Å"either of enlightened or NOTES 3 | We are talking about the translation by the Spaniard. Eduardo Marquina, a version marked by modernist aesthetic conventions. As Antonio Bueno Garcia has pointed out, the translation of the works by Charles Baudelaire in Spain is a fact that takes place belatedly, not due to ignorance of the writers of that period –for whom Baudelaire was a recognized in? uence– but for â€Å"the censorship problems of the second half of the XIXth century†. Garcia gets even to declare that, over and above the translation by Marquina at the beginning of the XXth century and two more versions published in the forties, â€Å"the restoration of Baudelaire’s spirit and therefore of his works  does not take place until after the Second World War, and in Spain until well into the seventies† (Bueno Garcia, 1995). 4 | Besides the two translations that we tackle in this work, we can take again the prose translation of Las ? ores del mal signed by Ulises Petit de Murat (1961) and the presence of Baudelaire in anthologies like Poetas franceses contemporaneos (Ediciones Buenos Aires: Librerias Fausto, 1974) or Poesia francesa del siglo XIX: Baudelaire, Mallarme, Rimbaud (Buenos Aires: Centro Editor de America Latina, 1978), both of them prepared by the poet Raul Gustavo Aguirre. 137 Comparative literature and translation: two Argentinean versions of the Baudelairean spleen Santiago Venturini 452? F. #04 (2011) 131-141. lyrical and romantic education† (Cristofalo in Baudelaire, 2005: 15), and exposes him to emptiness. In the framework of Baudelairean poetics, ideal and spleen appear as two values which ubiquity has a profound impact both on the sphere of an ideology of poetry, and on the verbalization and the textual organization –as long as both have a clear linguistic scope–: â€Å"Sometimes he believes, and sometimes he does not; sometimes he rises with the ideal, and sometimes hefalls to piec es into the spleen [†¦] It is easy to observe the poems that come from these two opposite perspectives† (Balakian, 1967: 50). In the chain of the poem, ideal and spleen mark, respectively, the victory of what Bonnefoy calls â€Å"poetic alchemy†, of its dynamics, of its operation, but also the movement of its withdrawal or its retreat, the contradiction of the poetic rhetoric with what is perceived further away: it is the meeting of poetry with nothingness, that happens, nevertheless, inside the corroborated possibility of the poem –there is no material failure of poetry in Baudelaire–. De Campos points  out that: el rasgo estilisticamente revolucionario de esos poemas estaria en el dispositivo de choque engendrado por el uso de la palabra prosaica y urbana [†¦] en ? n, por el desenmascaramiento critico que senala la  «sensacion de modernidad » como perdida de la  «aureola » del poeta,  «disolucion del aura en la vivencia del choque » (De Campos, 2000: 36). So, the usual lyrical vocabulary faces up to unusual â€Å"allegorical† quotes, which burst in the text in the style of an â€Å"act of violence† (2000: 36). Ideal and spleen mark the comparison of the consonant and the dissonance, of the romantic poetical rhetoric, of its power of evocation and transcendence, with a more austere rhetoric, of prosaic nature, that undermines the poetization through the imposition in the text of another movement, negative (the negative is read in terms of the contesting of a consolidated representation of the poetic). A ? rst reading of the translations by Nydia Lamarque and Americo Cristofalo makes it possible to observe that we are talking about writings ruled by two completely different â€Å"poetic rhetorics†5, which in the translation framework are based on a combination of decisions that determine the rewriting of the source-language text. These  rhetorics are assumed and stated explicitly by each of the translators in this paratextual mechanism that is relevant to any translation, set up in order to justify what has been carried out, to try and specify its exact sense, to protect it: the introduction. So, in her introduction, Nydia Lamarque, in order to explain her actions, turns to two masters: Holderlin and Chateaubriand. From the second one –translator of Paradise Lost by Milton into French–, the female translator extracts her translation methodology, that she summarizes in one precise formula: â€Å"To trace Baudelaire’s poems NOTES 5 | As Noe Jitrik points out, the  poem is a place, a material support on which certain operations are carried out that are â€Å"governed by rhetoric, in both a limited sense of rhetoric –strict rules and conventions– as in a wide sense –the obedience to or the subversion to the rules– and even pretentions or attempts of â€Å"non-rhetoric†, which effect, operatively speaking, is, nevertheless, the identi? cation of a text as a poem† (Jitrik, 2008: 63). 138 Comparative literature and translation: two Argentinean versions of the Baudelairean spleen Santiago Venturini 452? F. #04 (2011) 131-141. on a glass† (in Baudelaire, 1947: 39), which implies the search for  an isomorphism between the original and the translation, the lexical, syntactic, metrical isomorphism. More than a half century later, after the pioneering translation by Lamarque, Americo Cristofalo builds an academic reading and develops more complex hypotheses. He maintains that his translation is built up on the basis of two conjectures: the ? rst one, that metrics and rhyme â€Å"are not strictly bearers of sense† (Cristofalo in Baudelaire, 2006: XXVI) and the second one, the exposition of the double con? ict about the Baudelairean rhythms: Del lado del Ideal: la retorica poetizante, los mecanismos prosodicos, la  desustanciacion adjetiva, los hechizos de la lirica. Del lado del Spleen: tension hacia la prosa, aliento sustantivo, una corriente baja, material, de choque critico (2006: XXVII). Taking into account these positions, we can get back the ? rst verses of one of the poems of â€Å"Spleen† to know what we are talking about: 1. J’ai plus de souvenirs que si j’avais mille ans. 2. Un gros meuble a tiroirs encombre de bilans, 3. De vers, de billets doux, de proces, de romances, 4. Avec de lourds cheveux roules dans des quittances, 5. Cache moins de secrets que mon triste cerveau. 6. C’est un pyramide, un immense caveau, 7.  qui contient plus de morts que la fosse commune. (Charles Baudelaire) 1. Yo tengo mas recuerdos que si tuviera mil anos. 2. Un arcon atestado de papeles extranos, 3. de cartas de amor, versos, procesos y romances, 4. con pesados cabellos envueltos en balances, 5. menos secretos guarda que mi triste cabeza. 6. Es como una piramide, como una enorme huesa, 7. con mas muertos que la comun fosa apetece. (Nydia Lamarque) 139 Comparative literature and translation: two Argentinean versions of the Baudelairean spleen Santiago Venturini 452? F. #04 (2011) 131-141. 1. Tengo mas recuerdos que si hubiera vivido mil anos. 2. Un gran mueble con cajones llenos de cuentas, 3. versos, cartitas de amor, procesos, romances, 4. sucios pelos enredados en recibos, 5. guarda menos secretos que mi triste cabeza. 6. Es una piramide, una sepultura inmensa 7. que contiene mas muertos que una fosa comun. (Americo Cristofalo) The comparison allows us to notice the distinctive characteristics of each translation. In the case of Lamarque, the metrical imperative is conditional on all the other choices and has a direct impact on the intelligibility of the verses. The syntax gets more complicated – hyperbatons predominate–, the organization of the sense of the verse is compromised, new lexemes are added and some are suppressed in order to hold the rhyme patterns. We are not trying to cast a shadow on this translation –to which we have to admit its statute of inaugural work–, but we are interested in showing its contradiction, since the translation by Lamarque ends up obtaining quite the opposite of what he enunciated as his mandate: â€Å"Each word has to be respected and reproduced as things that do not belong to us† (Lamarque in Baudelaire, 1947: 39). As far as he is concerned, Americo Cristofalo, who in the introduction to his translation goes through the previous versions –among them is  the translation by Lamarque6–, gives up the rhyme, which allows him to carry out a work of rewriting closer to the French text: the verses are, syntactically, less complex than those in Lamarque version, clearer. Cristofalo builds a poem governed by another rhetoric, stripped of all those â€Å"processes of poetization† that appear in the translation by Lamarque, although someone could wonder if the elimination of rhyme in his translation does not imply, partly, the loss of this tension between ideal and spleen that characterizes Baudelairean poetics. But in order to appreciate what Lamarque and Cristofalo do with the  Baudelairean spleen (tedium, for Cristofalo; weariness, for Lamarque), it is enough to concentrate on only one of the aforementioned verses, the fourth one, which we mention now isolated: †¦Avec de lourds cheveux roules dans des quittances (Baudelaire) †¦con pesados cabellos envueltos en balances (Lamarque) †¦sucios pelos enredados en recibos (Cristofalo) A metonymic verse that with its minimum length shows the best of each translation. The lexical selection displays two completely different records: Lamarque produces a more solemn verse, leant NOTES 6 | Cristofalo maintains that the translation by Nydia Lamarque resembles the one  by Eduardo Marquina, whom she condemns: â€Å"Lamarque [†¦] bitterly complains about the unfaithfulness of Marquina, who chooses symmetrical poetic measures –otherwise he thinks he would not respect the original–, she says she maintains the prosody, the rhyme, she says she is scrupulous about the adjectivation. However, the effect of pomp, of conceit and affectation in the tone is the same, the same dominion of procedures of poetization, and of confused articulation of a meaning† (Cristofalo in Baudelaire, 2006: XXV). 140 Comparative literature and translation: two Argentinean versions of the Baudelairean spleen Santiago Venturini  452? F. #04 (2011) 131-141. on a delicate, subtle image, a verse with a modernist ? avour (â€Å"heavy hair wrapped in accounts†); whereas Cristofalo destroys any effect of poeticity in this direction. He simpli? es the lexical selection (â€Å"dirty hairs† instead of â€Å"heavy hair†) and he builds a harsher image, in a realist style. Both translations strengthen the Baudelairean image, but in opposite directions: Lamarque leads it towards a lyrical intensity, Cristofalo makes it more prosaic. There are other questions that can be appreciated in the cross-reading of these poems, for example the presence of a repeated pattern in the  version by Lamarque, boudoir, (that Cristofalo translates as tocador or dressing table), which expresses a whole attitude towards the foreign language; we see the same contrast in the lexical choices, that apart from being bound to the aesthetic reconstruction of the poem, marks re-elaborations that are different from the Baudelairean images, as in the case of this verse: †¦un granit entoure d’une vague epouvante (Baudelaire) †¦una granito rodeado de un espanto inconsciente (Lamarque) †¦una piedra rodeada por una ola de espanto (Cristofalo) Here, Nydia Lamarque and Americo Cristofalo carry out a grammatical  reading that is different from the alliance â€Å"vague epouvante†: Lamarque inclines herself towards an abstract image (she interprets vague as an adjective of epouvante), whereas the image on which Cristofalo bases himself has something of a maritime snapshot (he interprets vague as a noun: wave), it is more referential. Both these works of rewriting grant to the Baudelairean text a different scope; they assemble two images by Baudelaire that respond to conventions and aesthetic values that are also differentiated. In this way, they do nothing but demonstrating the true nature of the translative act. Even if it is true and undeniable that we are talking, all the time, about the translation of a previous text, pre-existing –of an â€Å"original†Ã¢â‚¬â€œ, it is also true and undeniable that translation is a deeply critical and creative practice, that exceeds the borders of the reproduction of a text –its forms move from appropriation to subversion–, a practice that in the passage of a text to another shows all the thickness of its power. . 141 Comparative literature and translation: two Argentinean versions of the Baudelairean spleen Santiago Venturini 452? F. #04 (2011) 131-141. Works cited BALAKIAN, A.  (1969): El movimiento simbolista. Juicio critico. Trad. de Jose Miguel Velloso, Madrid: Guardarrama. BASSNETT, S. (1998):  «? Que signi? ca Literatura Comparada hoy?  » en Romero Lopez, D. (comp. ), Orientaciones en Literatura Comparada. Trad. de Cistina Naupert, Madrid: Arco, 87- 101. BAUDELAIRE, Ch. (1999): Las ? ores del mal. Trad. de Eduardo Marquina, Madrid: JM ediciones. BAUDELAIRE, Ch. (2006): Las ? ores del mal. Trad. y prologo de Nydia Lamarque, Buenos Aires: Losada. BAUDELAIRE, Ch. (1980): Les ? eurs du mal. Ed. de Vincenette Pichois, Paris: Union Generale d’Editions. BAUDELAIRE, Ch. (2006): Las ?  ores del mal. Trad. , prologo y notas de Americo Cristofalo, Buenos Aires: Colihue. BAUDELAIRE, Ch. (2005): Correspondencia General. Traduccion y notas de Americo Cristofalo y Hugo Savino, Buenos Aires: Paradiso. BENJAMIN, W. (1999): Iluminaciones II. Poesia y capitalismo. Traduccion y prologo de Jesus Aguirre, Madrid: Taurus. BENJAMIN, W. (2007): Conceptos de ? losofia de la historia. Trad. de Hector Murena, La Plata: Terramar. BONNEFOY, Y. (2007): Lugares y destinos de la imagen. Un curso de poetica en el College de France (1981-1993). Trad. de Silvio Mattoni, Buenos Aires: El cuenco de Plata. BUENO GARCIA, A. (1995):  «Les ? eurs du mal de Baudelaire: historia de su traduccion, historia de la estetica », en Lafarga et. al. (coords. ), Actas del III Coloquio de la Asociacion de Profesores de Filologia Francesa de la Universidad Espanola (APFFUE), Barcelona: Promociones y Publicaciones Universitarias: 263-272 DE CAMPOS, H. (2000): De la razon antropofagica (y otros ensayos). Trad. y prologo de Rodolfo Mata, Mexico: Siglo XXI. DERRIDA, J. (1997): La diseminacion. Trad. de Jose Martin Arancibia), Madrid: Espiral. DERRIDA, J. (1985):  «Des tours de Babel », Derrida en castellano, [13/08/2010], http://www. jacquesderrida. com. ar/frances/tours_babel. htm GENTZLER, E. (1993): Contemporary Translation Theories, New York: Routledge. GRAMUGLIO, M. T. (2006):  «Tres problemas para el comparatismo », Orbis Tertius, [04/08/2010], http://www. orbistertius. unlp. edu. ar/numeros/numero-12/2-gramuglio. pdf HERMANS, T. (1985): The Manipulation of Literature, London Sidney: Croom Helm. JITRIK, N. (2008): Conocimiento, retorica, procesos. Campos discursivos, Buenos Aires: Eudeba. LEFEVERE, A. (1995):  «Comparative Literature and Translation », Comparative Literature, 1, vol. XLVII, 1-10 MESCHONNIC, H.(2007): La poetica como critica del sentido. Trad. de Hugo Savino, Buenos Aires: Marmol/Izquierdo. ROSA, N. (2006): Relatos Criticos. Cosas animales discursos, Buenos Aires: Santiago Arcos. TYMOCZKO, M. (2008):  «Translation, ethics and ideology in the age of globalization » en Camps, A. y Zybatow, L. (eds. ), Traduccion e interculturalidad, Bruselas: Peter Lang, 285-302. VENUTI, L. (1992): Rethinking Translation, USA y Canada: Routledge. WILFERT, B.  «Cosmopolis et l’homme invisible. Les importateurs de literature etrangere en France, 1885-1914 », Actes de la Recherche Sociale, 144, 33-46.

Reflective Social Work Practice Social Work Essay

Reflective Social Work Practice Social Work Essay Social workers are knowledgeable about and apply the principles of critical thinking and reasoned discernment. They identify, distinguish, evaluate and integrate multiple sources of knowledge and evidence. These include practice evidence, their own practice experience, service user and carer experience together with research-based, organisational, policy and legal knowledge. They use critical thinking augmented by creativity and curiosity. I will critically examine this extract based on my own practice experience and evaluate the use of theories, tools and techniques of reflective practice to see if it supports the statement. I will begin by providing a description of a case study drawn from my previous placement to draw on the practice experience gained and how this may illustrate my learning so far. It is based on a 14 year old young girl who has been attending a horse-riding charity to help promote her well-being, self-esteem and social skills. For the purpose of this assignment she will be referred to as A. In this particular example, it is A and myself who have met as I have been given the task by my manager to talk to her about her personal hygiene. My manager felt this would also help in meeting the criteria required to handle complex situations (National Occupational Standards, Key role 6). Other young girls in her group have been seen talking behind As back about her and have not wanted to participate in group work with her because of this. I felt apprehensive about the meeting as I had not yet encountered anything like this previously. Though I was reassured by my manager that I would have the opportunity to go through the best approach with her before I met with A. Unfortunately due to time constraints and my manager having to deal with a crisis she was unable to assist me. Prior to the initial meeting with A I began to research on how best to deal with the situation and plan ahead on how best to communicate with her. I wanted to do this without hurting her feelings as she was a young and impressionable young person. This is also known as second order skills when employing planning strategies in what I as a worker am doing, being aware and observing interactions, being able to feedback what has happened (Kaprowska, 2005). Still feeling unsure on how to lead onto this particular topic due to my lack of experience, I realised that if my nervousness is apparent to A this may only escalate her worries as well. As a result I tried to keep my anxiety at bay. I asked if she had access to shower/bath facilities as a lot of the children who attended the organisation came from areas of deprivation. At this point I realised I felt out of my depth in having this conversation, and on reflection later felt it conflicted with my own personal beliefs. I did not believe her to have any hygiene issues when I had worked with A in the past. This may have shown when I eventually got to the topic at hand and told her the truth. She may have observed that I did not feel happy explaining why I am asking these questions when I myself did not share the same view as my colleagues and others. I came away from the meeting with my confidence shaken, it was made worse when I learned from my manager that A was upset and her mother h ad in fact complained about me the next day. I felt a great deal of empathy for this young girl, as a professional I had made a commitment to ensure her well-being. I was trying to achieve a fine balance between trying to support her whilst also trying to bring about social change. A reason for this I realised was that A and I had a few similarities which may have affected how I worked with her, the way I perceived her and also in the way I related to her. I recognised that we both had experienced bullying at similar ages. Upon reflection I realised I had assumed her to be more vulnerable in my eyes because of my own experiences which may have impacted on the working relationship I had built with her (Ojala and Nesdale, 2004). Both A and her mother were disappointed in me and felt strongly enough to complain. I felt terrible that I had caused A such distress. Trust is a primary feature in conducting person-centred work. Originally developed in the field of psychology by Carl Rogers (1951) where he outlined the person centred therapy. If I was disclosing information to A about her poor hygiene which was not something I wholly agreed with, then being transparent and honest became difficult. A may have observed my unease with her in the meeting, and may have lost faith in me and my work. I realise afterwards that I wanted this to change, and so actively researched how I could engage in positive work with A. Person centred work also involves being able to discover the clients wishes and feelings and taking this forward in a positive manner. The theory proposes that both the worker and the client are equal, it also challenges the notion of the worker being seen as an expert of knowledge, and that the expert knows best. In the meeting with A I had not really questioned her thoughts and feelings on the situation, and therefore had made the power dynamics between A and myself unbalanced and less in her favour. I had not taken her identity as a service user into full account and consequently may have oppressed her unknowingly by not trying to understand her views and opinions. In the next meeting with A, I actively researched and utilised the person centred approach to help her feel valued and considered in the process. In achieving this I had learnt the gaps in my learning experience and attempted to further my knowledge to benefit my work with A. This can be seen that I am applying the key elements of critical thinking as mentioned in Domain 6 of the Professional Capabilties Framework (2012). When talking with A about her riding ability and work with the group, I realised that her wishes, thoughts and feelings had perhaps been neglected when providing this service. Once I reached this conclusion I also began to see that the organisation that I was based in, it may have been the case that a person centred approach was taken initially to begin with. However, when trying to implement the approach fully into practice it seemed as if the people working with A may have forgotten that the planning is not fixed and irreversible. Mansell and Beadle-Brown (2004a) have stated that this is may be the reason why there is a decrease and collapse in being able to take plans forward. Furthermore similar to Carl Rogers (1951) and his humanistic view for individualism within person centred practice, Yelloly and Henkel (1995) suggested uniqueness as central for effective social work practice. With reference to As identity which I had not originally considered, I had come to understand that I needed to make some self-disclosures about my understanding of how I viewed her. I achieved this by communicating honestly my thoughts on how I had assumed that she would not be resilient enough to understand the first meeting. I had labelled her as a victim of bullying in my mind when this is not how she saw herself. Perhaps if I had realised this early on I would not have meandered through the conversation of hygiene with no direction, and stated the facts in a much direct and open manner. I made my apologies known to A and explored more about her thoughts on bullying and its impact. This allowed me to remain consciously focused on her as an individual and aware of my own valu es about addressing individuals. Funding and organisational issues within the social care sector have meant that resources and number of staff available to attend to service users has meant there is an uphill struggle to meet the needs of the users (Routledge and Gitsham, 2004). These have also had a substantial effect on the voluntary sector where I was based. My interactions with A were largely unsupervised to begin with because of a shortage of qualified staff and resources. This meant the amount of time and resources I was able to spend with any of the young people attending the service has to be made the most of. This may be why having highly skilled practitioners is vital in the face of the current political context. In the face of a double dip recession means having to economise now also extends to social workers as well (Sanderson et al., 2002). Having enough staff members to begin with would be helpful in providing one to one work usually required for person-centred planning. Even when facing such hardships , it may be crucial to have a positive attitude and have a good team to work within to feel that the work you are producing is not only of a high standard but also done collaboratively. Kydd (2004) also affirms that the solution may not always lie in having enough resources but positive together to develop conducive and appropriate working environments. This may go some way to explain how my manager supported me in this particular incident and was able to provide valuable insight into how to improve our working relationship, by being present in future work with A. It is also in line with the organisations working policy (Appendix A). Transparency is crucial to completing positive work with people in social work. Congruence is an imperative aspect of this where the worker and the service user have openness within themselves and with one another to foster trustworthiness (Platt, 2007). Though this can only happen if there is a genuine desire to be honest with one another. That the professional will not hold up a faà §ade and will be able to attend to what the service user is saying by staying in the present and remaining transparent. This may have seemed like a natural concept but was quite difficult to apply when working with A. I did not want to undermine her experience of being bullied by her peers by bringing my own personal experiences into the forefront. Yet I thought if I told her she may not feel quite so isolated which is a common feeling in teenagers with complex lives (Metzing-Blau and Schnepp, 2008). Ultimately I realised my confidence had been shattered to the point where I began to question almost ev ery piece of work I undertook with A, convinced that I would disappoint her and her mother. This led me to consider other approaches or skills I could better use with A later in my work with her. I came across cognitive-behavioural therapy which is an amalgamation of both behavioural and cognitive disciplines which emerged as a fascinating new concept in 1970s (Rachman, 1997). It addresses the thinking and emotional aspects together, and believes that behaviours can be unlearned. In this way I hoped to be able to view how A conceptualises particular events in her life. Through this I recognised the way A may view herself as she often expressed feeling low, and lack of self-esteem and self-worth. A also had a persistent habit to turn a seemingly positive situation into something negative. This enabled me to understand her experiences from a different point of view and continuous reflection helped me see how she may have needed empowering. A strengths-based approach was also researched and utilised in my work with A, which has become favourable in both direct and indirect work with service users (Rapp, 1997). This approach appealed to me as it is more service-user led, and helps them see how their strengths play a significant role in the face of their problems or crisis that they may be facing. It is quite different to other approaches in that it acknowledges a persons suffering and impairment as the result of systemic rather than just psychological drawbacks. In using this approach, this helped A to understand her ability to cope well despite the harshness of her surrounding environment and daily routine of caring for her mother. She was able to see her positive attributes, how others also recognised these which provided for a more balanced view of herself. This is also in line with social work values which places emphasis on helping the user feel empowered and in control (Value B, Topps, 2002). Since the incident I have had ample time to reflect on my work with A and how I feel about it. Different techniques and tools are used to enable reflection within the field of social work, which can help the way we relate to work, home, culture, and supported networks. Winter (1988) states that experience is not something that we store as we would on a computer, rather we story it. Similarly keeping a reflective journal is a useful technique in proactively encouraging critical reflection if done correctly (Kam-shing, 2005). This was a requirement whilst on the course, which I was not keen on at the beginning. I felt it was quite a daunting experience expressing my thoughts and feelings and could not see the benefits of this. For the duration of the placement, as my ability and knowledge of reflection improved with the help of my educator, I was able to understand how this would help me in becoming an effective practitioner. It helped to formalise my ideas, trail of thoughts and bring about a heightened sense of awareness on my own practice. This technique can be seen as embedded within a theory of reflection developed by Schà ¶n (1991). He called this reflection in action (whilst the event is occurring) and reflection on action (after the event has occurred). The journals or learning logs were primarily used after an event had occurred to understand our learning. This tool is available to evaluate the work I have undertaken and how my knowing-in-action may have had an impact on the end outcome. Thus will be able to improve on my skills and ability to reflect-in-action and recognise if there is something more to be done to help the service user. In my interactions with A and other users, I have also recognised that reflection on action is beneficial in evaluating my own practice and reflection in action to implement those lessons learnt actively. To be able to detect my own mistakes and correct these involves uncovering deeper learning. Argryis and Schà ¶n (1974) proposed that when we as people and practitioners simply only operationalize our goals rather than question them we are only applying single-loop learning. When this incident with A occurred, I looked at the different aspects such as theories, As behaviour, the organisations policies that had influenced my thoughts and perceptions and brought me to look at myself and the situation with close scrutiny and query the governing variables to enforce social change be that within myself, the organisation or A or all of these. Kolb (1984) and his reflective cycle helped me examine the structures to my reflection. He developed four stages to his cycle. These include concrete experiences, reflective observation, followed by abstract conceptualisation which includes drawing conclusions from incidents encountered and active experimentation. Active experimentation is the ability to learn from past situations and try a new approach. I think this is where I feel I continued my work with A from the very first incident in trying to utilise different approaches to help her. Using this approach also made me realise that perhaps even if the event itself may have hurt As feelings it may have raised awareness about her hygiene and brought about independence. This is also in line with Value B of the GSCC codes of practice (Topps, 2002) and with Domain 6 (Professional Capabilities Framework 2012). Group studying has been known to develop enhanced learning and reflection. Bold (2008) suggests that having a supportive group to talk through your knowledge and experience gained can generate deeper learning and increase reflective competence. In using group reflection I found that having a group to talk through my morals, beliefs and assumptions that direct my work very useful in a public and collaborative setting. It provided the opportunity to look back at a past experience from multiples perspectives and raise questions. I had not realised the grave nature of discussing ones hygiene would be so difficult, with the help of the group I was more aware of my hidden assumptions on this and how it could affect my practice. Research by Dahlgren et al. (2006) highlights the importance of group reflection and the role of a critical friend to promote empowerment to both students and teachers. This may be because it allows for the students work in an informal setting and therefore have more of a balanced working dynamics. This kind of democratic environment aids reflective learning by advancing self-knowledge. In my group learning set I came away learning more about my own assumptions about A being a carer to her mother with mental health issues meant that she may not have had facilities to aid good hygiene. The group also helped me look at other explanations for what had happened. I came to understand that whilst the issues of A smelling might have been genuine, it could have also been exacerbated by other staff and children through their own assumptions about her learning disability, and status as a young carer to a parent with mental health problems. Their behaviour and assumptions daily may have impacte d the way I saw A even though I did not agree with their views. I failed to raise this further with my manager when handed the task of telling A, as I may have also assumed here that she would know best. Much later I was introduced to the critical incident technique developed by Tripp (1993). To analyse incidents that have had a strong emotional impact on ourselves as practitioners. It entails learning to look beyond just describing to gain deeper reflection. I began to understand that my underestimation in what I had to tell A, was my own failure. This underlying assumption I later realised arose from my supervision with my manager who had assured me that disclosing this information to A would benefit her. The feedback given from my group has helped me identify areas of my reflection where there may perhaps be gaps and how I could improve on these. I felt the feedback was accurate and enriching, it helped for me to understand how they saw my situation with A and were able to offer alternative explanations for the outcomes that I had not yet explored further. Overall this assignment has aimed to demonstrate that there are a number of factors involved in practicing good social work. This is highlighted by being able to demonstrate an awareness of my own values and philosophies, how my knowledge in terms of theories can be applied to inform my own practice. I have learnt that utilising and evaluating theories have furthered my practice by eliciting my understanding and learning over time. I have gained additional skills together with multiple sources of knowledge and techniques to better help the people I have worked with. This kind of creativity is what can bring about social change and empowerment. Reflection is an integral part of social work practice and different tools like journals can augment deep learning and improve future practice. What I may have learnt from a situation initially does not mean that these are the only recommendations to take forward. Through continual reflection and critical thinking, it can help to question our j udgements and that of others and see if more can be done to change the face of social work practice.

Decreasing Class Size Enhances the Performance in Elementary School Stu

Decreasing Class Size Enhances the Performance in Elementary School Students Decreasing class size enhances the performance in elementary school students. In the studies that SAGE has done, their students appeared to have â€Å"a significant achievement advantage† in all areas (Study confirms, 2001). By the end of third grade, students in smaller classes seem to read more effectively and independently (Class Size Reduction, 2001). The advantages of smaller classes are also shown between races and social backgrounds. Tennessee’s 1970 test revealed that poor and African-American students had the greatest gains in smaller classes. Especially after kindergarten, the gains were usually two times that of whites (Class Size, 2001). Not only do the students and the school benefit from smaller classes, but also so does the entire state. After being in a reduced class of twenty students for three years, California’s research showed that test scores were better than those before the classes were reduced (Viadero, 2001). For the 1996-97 schoo l-year the Walnut Creek, CA school district, reduced its kindergarten classes to twenty students and to a maximum of twenty students in grades one through three. The following is a chart that shows the improvements of the kindergarten students from the first year of being in a reduced classroom. Skills % Mastered June 1996 % Mastered June 1997 Read a Picture Book (with a few repetitive words) 25 43 Identifies Letter Names 74 79 Concepts about Print (how to hold a book) 79 94 Letter Sounds (25-26) unknown 51 Can Read 15-20 words by sight 28 62 Hear and Record 10-14 sounds in words 56 73 (Class Size Reduction, nd). (... ...eek on the Web. Retrieved October9,2001 from http://www.edweek.com/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=32class.h20. The growing case for smaller classes (May/June 2001). American Teacher, 85(8), 2. Retrieved September 30, 2001 from OCLC First Search/Wilson Select. Huston, Deborah & Ogawa, Rodney T. (1999). California’s class reduction initiative: Differences in teacher experience and qualifications across schools. Educational Policy, 13 (5), p. 659. Retrieved December 3, 2001 from Academic Search Premier/EBSCOhost database. Study confirms value of small class size (March 2001). American Teacher, 85(6), 2. Retrieved September 30, 2001 from OCLC First Search/Wilson Select. Zahorik, John A. (September 1999). Reducing class size leads to individual instruction. Educational Leadership, 57(1), 50-3. Retrieved September 30, 2001 from OCLC First Search/Wilson Select.

Phnom Penh

I was born in Kampong Cham Province and I have moved to live in Phnom Penh since I finished my high school. When I first came here in Phnom Penh, I felt very surprise and scare. The building and people were far different from my hometown. I got around Phnom Penh by motorbike for a first few days. I saw many high rise buildings; especially the city's French colonial buildings were beautiful. I saw some different kind of transportation that running on the road such as: modern car, Motorbikes, Motorbike-taxis (motodops), Taxis were available at a few locations, Tuk-tuks, and Cyclos. There transportations were in the great amount if compared to my province and it sometimes caused a very serious traffic jam and accidents. I also went to the Royal Palace which no photography was allowed inside the Silver Pagoda and some of the Palace buildings. You were expected to dress decently (no bare legs or shoulders). Beside this, I went to Wat Phnom. I liked the park there. It was a pleasant green space and a popular gathering place for locals. A few monkeys kept quarters there as well and will helped themselves to any drinks you leave unattended. After that I went to Independence and Liberation memorials. Impressive Buddhist-style Independence Memorial, commemorating the departure of the French in 1953, dominated the centre of the city. Nearby was the very ugly Stalin-style Liberation Memorial, marking the Vietnamese capture of the city in 1979. The area was especially popular on weekend nights with locals when the multi-colored fountains were activated and communal music was played. I took several pictures there and got some rest. I also went to Sorya shopping center which located at the south of the Central Market. It's on a North-South Street on the west side. It is currently Phnom Penh's main Western-style mall. It is air-conditioned and contains a range of cheap fast-food outlets as well as a well-stocked supermarket named Lucky Supermarket. You can do shopping, eating, drinking, playing game and whatsoever. Everything is served here. After I live in Phnom Penh for many years, I feel that it is completely different from my province. Phnom Penh is developing very fast. Many high buildings were built, many companies were established and the whole city’s infrastructures are constructing rapidly. One I feel very anxious about is people here are competing for each other very aggressively. If you are not smart enough and you don’t high education, you will be jobless, isolate and demise from the society.

Ferdinand de Saussure Essay

Stylistics is the study and interpretation of texts from a linguistic perspective. As a discipline it links literary criticism and linguistics, but has no autonomous domain of its own. [1][2] The preferred object of stylistic studies is literature, but not exclusively â€Å"high literature† but also other forms of written texts such as text from the domains of advertising, pop culture, politics or religion. [3] Stylistics also attempts to establish principles capable of explaining the particular choices made by individuals and social groups in their use of language, such as socialisation, the production and reception of meaning, critical discourse analysis and literary criticism. Other features of stylistics include the use of dialogue, including regional accents and people’s dialects, descriptive language, the use of grammar, such as the active voice or passive voice, the distribution of sentence lengths, the use of particular language registers, etc. In addition, stylistics is a distinctive term that may be used to determine the connections between the form and effects within a particular variety of language. Therefore, stylistics looks at what is ‘going on’ within the language; what the linguistic associations are that the style of language reveals. * | Early twentieth century The analysis of literary style goes back to Classical rhetoric, but modern stylistics has its roots in Russian Formalism,[4] and the related Prague School, in the early twentieth century. In 1909, Charles Bally’s Traite de stylistique francaise had proposed stylistics as a distinct academic discipline to complement Saussurean linguistics. For Bally, Saussure’s linguistics by itself couldn’t fully describe the language of personal expression. [5] Bally’s programme fitted well with the aims of the Prague School. [6] Building on the ideas of the Russian Formalists, the Prague School developed the concept of foregrounding, whereby poetic language stands out from the background of non-literary language by means of deviation (from the norms of everyday language) or parallelism. [7] According to the Prague School, the background language isn’t fixed, and the relationship between poetic and everyday language is always shifting. [8] Late twentieth century Roman Jakobson had been an active member of the Russian Formalists and the Prague School, before emigrating to America in the 1940s. He brought together Russian Formalism and American New Criticism in his Closing Statement at a conference on stylistics at Indiana University in 1958. [9] Published as Linguistics and Poetics in 1960, Jakobson’s lecture is often credited with being the first coherent formulation of stylistics, and his argument was that the study of poetic language should be a sub-branch of linguistics. [10] The poetic function was one of six general functions of language he described in the lecture. Michael Halliday is an important figure in the development of British stylistics. [11] His 1971 study Linguistic Function and Literary Style: An Inquiry into the Language of William Golding’s ‘The Inheritors’ is a key essay. [12] One of Halliday’s contributions has been the use of the term register to explain the connections between language and its context. [13] For Halliday register is distinct from dialect. Dialect refers to the habitual language of a particular user in a specific geographical or social context. Register describes the choices made by the user,[14] choices which depend on three variables: field (â€Å"what the participants†¦ are actually engaged in doing†, for instance, discussing a specific subject or topic),[15] tenor (who is taking part in the exchange) and mode (the use to which the language is being put). Fowler comments that different fields produce different language, most obviously at the level of vocabulary (Fowler. 1996, 192) The linguist David Crystal points out that Halliday’s ‘tenor’ stands as a roughly equivalent term for ‘style’, which is a more specific alternative used by linguists to avoid ambiguity. (Crystal. 1985, 292) Halliday’s third category, mode, is what he refers to as the symbolic organisation of the situation. Downes recognises two distinct aspects within the category of mode and suggests that not only does it describe the relation to the medium: written, spoken, and so on, but also describes the genre of the text. (Downes. 1998, 316) Halliday refers to genre as pre-coded language, language that has not simply been used before, but that predetermines the selection of textual meanings. The linguist William Downes makes the point that the principal characteristic of register, no matter how peculiar or diverse, is that it is obvious and immediately recognisable. (Downes. 1998, 309) Literary stylistics In The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, Crystal observes that, in practice, most stylistic analysis has attempted to deal with the complex and ‘valued’ language within literature, i. e.  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœliterary stylistics’. He goes on to say that in such examination the scope is sometimes narrowed to concentrate on the more striking features of literary language, for instance, its ‘deviant’ and abnormal features, rather than the broader structures that are found in whole texts or discourses. For example, the compact language of poetry is more likely to reveal the secrets of its construction to the stylistician than is the language of plays and novels. (Crystal. 1987, 71). Poetry As well as conventional styles of language there are the unconventional – the most obvious of which is poetry. In Practical Stylistics, HG Widdowson examines the traditional form of the epitaph, as found on headstones in a cemetery. For example: His memory is dear today As in the hour he passed away. (Ernest C. Draper ‘Ern’. Died 4. 1. 38) (Widdowson. 1992, 6) Widdowson makes the point that such sentiments are usually not very interesting and suggests that they may even be dismissed as ‘crude verbal carvings’ and crude verbal disturbance (Widdowson, 3). Nevertheless, Widdowson recognises that they are a very real attempt to convey feelings of human loss and preserve affectionate recollections of a beloved friend or family member. However, what may be seen as poetic in this language is not so much in the formulaic phraseology but in where it appears. The verse may be given undue reverence precisely because of the sombre situation in which it is placed. Widdowson suggests that, unlike words set in stone in a graveyard, poetry is unorthodox language that vibrates with inter-textual implications. (Widdowson. 1992, 4) Two problems with a stylistic analysis of poetry are noted by PM Wetherill in Literary Text: An Examination of Critical Methods. The first is that there may be an over-preoccupation with one particular feature that may well minimise the significance of others that are equally important. (Wetherill. 1974, 133) The second is that any attempt to see a text as simply a collection of stylistic elements will tend to ignore other ways whereby meaning is produced. (Wetherill. 1974, 133) Implicature In ‘Poetic Effects’ from Literary Pragmatics, the linguist Adrian Pilkington analyses the idea of ‘implicature’, as instigated in the previous work of Dan Sperber and Deirdre Wilson. Implicature may be divided into two categories: ‘strong’ and ‘weak’ implicature, yet between the two extremes there are a variety of other alternatives. The strongest implicature is what is emphatically implied by the speaker or writer, while weaker implicatures are the wider possibilities of meaning that the hearer or reader may conclude. Pilkington’s ‘poetic effects’, as he terms the concept, are those that achieve most relevance through a wide array of weak implicatures and not those meanings that are simply ‘read in’ by the hearer or reader. Yet the distinguishing instant at which weak implicatures and the hearer or reader’s conjecture of meaning diverge remains highly subjective. As Pilkington says: ‘there is no clear cut-off point between assumptions which the speaker certainly endorses and assumptions derived purely on the hearer’s responsibility. ’ (Pilkington. 1991, 53) In addition, the stylistic qualities of poetry can be seen as an accompaniment to Pilkington’s poetic effects in understanding a poem’s meaning. Stylistics is a valuable if long-winded approach to criticism, and compels attention to the poem’s details. Two of the three simple exercises performed here show that the poem is deficient in structure, and needs to be radically recast. The third sheds light on its content. Introduction Stylistics applies linguistics to literature in the hope of arriving at analyses which are more broadly based, rigorous and objective. {1} The pioneers were the Prague and Russian schools, but their approaches have been appropriated and extended in recent years by radical theory. Stylistics can be evaluative (i. e.  judge the literary worth on stylistic criteria), but more commonly attempts to simply analyze and describe the workings of texts which have already been selected as noteworthy on other grounds. Analyses can appear objective, detailed and technical, even requiring computer assistance, but some caution is needed. Linguistics is currently a battlefield of contending theories, with no settlement in sight. Many critics have no formal training in linguistics, or even proper reading, and are apt to build on theories (commonly those of Saussure or Jacobson) that are inappropriate and/or no longer accepted. Some of the commonest terms, e. g. deep structure, foregrounding, have little or no experimental support. {2} Linguistics has rather different objectives, moreover: to study languages in their entirety and generality, not their use in art forms. Stylistic excellence — intelligence, originality, density and variety of verbal devices — play their part in literature, but aesthetics has long recognized that other aspects are equally important: fidelity to experience, emotional shaping, significant content. Stylistics may well be popular because it regards literature as simply part of language and therefore (neglecting the aesthetic dimension) without a privileged status, which allows the literary canon to be replaced by one more politically or sociologically acceptable. {3} Why then employ stylistics at all? Because form is important in poetry, and stylistics has the largest armoury of analytical weapons. Moreover, stylistics need not be reductive and simplistic. There is no need to embrace Jacobson’s theory that poetry is characterized by the projection of the paradigmatic axis onto the syntagmatic one. {4} Nor accept Bradford’s theory of a double spiral: {5} literature has too richly varied a history to be fitted into such a straitjacket. Stylistics suggests why certain devices are effective, but does not offer recipes, any more than theories of musical harmony explains away the gifts of individual composers. Some stylistic analysis is to be found in most types of literary criticism, and differences between the traditional, New Criticism and Stylistics approaches are often matters of emphasis. Style is a term of approbation in everyday use (â€Å"that woman has style†, etc.), and may be so for traditional and New Criticism. But where the first would judge a poem by reference to typical work of the period (Jacobean, Romantic, Modernist, etc. ), or according to genre, the New Criticism would probably simply note the conventions, explain what was unclear to a modern audience, and then pass on to a detailed analysis in terms of verbal density, complexity, ambiguity, etc. To the Stylistic critic, however, style means simply how something is expressed, which can be studied in all language, aesthetic and non-aesthetic. {6} Stylistics is a  very technical subject, which hardly makes for engrossing, or indeed uncontentious, {7} reading. The treatment here is very simple: just the bare bones, with some references cited. Under various categories the poem is analyzed in a dry manner, the more salient indications noted, and some recommendations made in Conclusions. Published Examples of Stylistic Literary Criticism G. N. Leech’s A Linguistic Guide to English Poetry (1969) Laura Brown’s Alexander Pope (1985) Roy Lewis’s On Reading French Verse: A Study in Poetic Form (1982) George Wright’s Shakespeare’s Metrical Art. (1988) Richard Bradford’s A Linguistic History of English Poetry (1993) Poem The Architects But, as you’d expect, they are very Impatient, the buildings, having much in them Of the heavy surf of the North Sea, flurrying The grit, lifting the pebbles, flinging them With a hoarse roar against the aggregate They are composed of — the cliffs higher of course, More burdensome, underwritten as It were with past days overcast And glinting, obdurate, part of the Silicate of tough lives, distant and intricate As the whirring bureaucrats let in And settled with coffee in the concrete pallets, Awaiting the post and the department meeting —  Except that these do not know it, at least do not Seem to, being busy, generally. So perhaps it is only on those cloudless, almost Vacuumed afternoons with tier upon tier Of concrete like rib-bones packed above them, And they light-headed with the blue airiness Spinning around, and muzzy, a neuralgia Calling at random like frail relations, a phone Ringing in a distant office they cannot get to, That they become attentive, or we do — these Divisions persisting, indeed what we talk about, We, constructing these webs of buildings which, Caulked like great whales about us, are always. Aware that some trick of the light or weather Will dress them as friends, pleading and flailing — And fill with placid but unbearable melodies Us in deep hinterlands of incurved glass.  © C. John Holcombe 1997 Metre Though apparently iambic, with five stresses to the line, the metre shows many reversals and substitutions. Put at its simplest, with: / representing a strong stress representing a weak stress x representing no stress, and trying to fit lines into a pentameters, we have -| /| x| x| x| /| -| | x| /| x| | But| as| you’d| ex| pect| | they| are| ve| ry| x| /| x| x| /| x| /| x| | x| x|. Im| pat| ient| the| build| ings,| hav| ing| much| in| them| x| x| | x| /| x| x| | /| /| x x| Of| the| heav| y| surf| of| the| North| Sea,| flurr| ying| x| /| -| /| x| x| /| x| /| x| | The| grit,| | lift| ing| the| pebbl| es,| fling| ing| them| | x| /| -| /| x| | x| /| x| | With| a| hoarse| | roar| a| gainst| the| agg| re| gate| x| | x| /| | x| /| /| x| x| /| They| are| com| posed| of,| the| cliffs| high| er| of| course| | /| x| | -| /| x| / | x| | | More| burd| en| some,| | un| der| writ| ten| as| | x| /| x| /| -| /| -| /| x| /| | It| were| with| past| | days| | o| ver| cast| | x| /| x|. | /| x| | -| /| x| x| And | glit| ter| ing,| ob| du| rate,| | part| of| the| -| /| x x x| /| -| /| -| /| x x| /| x x| | Sil| icate of| tough| | lives| | dist| ant and| in| tricate| -| | x| /| x| /| x| | -| /| x| | As| the| whir| ring| bu| reau| crats| | let| in| x| /| x x| /| x| | x| /| x| /| x| And | set| tled with| cof| fee| in| the| con| crete| pal| lets| x| /| x x| /| x| | x| /| x| /| x| A| wait| ing the| post| and| the| de| part| ment| meet| ing| x| | x| /| x | /| x| x| | /| x| Ex| cept| that| these| do not| know| it, | at| least| do| not| -| /| x| /| x| /| x| /| x| | x|. | Seem| to| be| ing| bus| y| gen| ER| all| y| | x| /| x x| /| x| | x| /| x| /| x| So| per| haps| it is| on| ly| on| those| cloud| less| al| most| -| /| x| /| x| | x| /| x x| | /| x| | Vac| uumed| af| ter| noons| with| ti| ER u| pon| ti| ER| x| /| x| | /| /| -| /| x| /| x| | Of| con| Crete| like| rib| bones| | packed| a| bove| them| | x| /| | /| x| | x| /| /| x| | | And | they| light| head| ed,| with| the| blue| air| i| ness| | -| /| x x| /| x| /| x| | x| /| x x| | | Spin| ning a| round| and| muz| zy,| a| neu| ral| gia| | -| /| x x| /| x x| /| x| /| x x| /| |. | Cal| ling at| ran| dom like| frail| re| lat| ions a| phone| | -| /| x x x| /| x| /| x x| /| x| /| x| | Ring| ing in a| dist| ant| of| fice they| can| not| get| to| x| /| x| /| x| /| x x| /| /-| | | That| they| be| come| at| ten| tive, or| we| do| these| | x| /| x x| /| x x| /| | x| /| x| /| Di| vis| ions per| sist| ing, in| deed| what| we| talk| a| bout| -| /| x| /| x x| /| x| /| x| | | | We,| con| struct| ing these| webs| of| build| ings| which| | -| /| x| /| | /| x| /| x x| /| x| | Caulk| Ed | like| great| whales| a| bout| us are| al| ways| x| /| x x| /| x x| /| x| /| x| | |. A| ware| that some| trick| of the| light| or| weath| ER| | | | /| x x| /| -| /| x x| /| x| | | Will| dress| them as| friends| | plead| ing and| flail| ing| | | x| /| x| /| x| | x| /| x x| /| x x| And| fill| with| plac| id| but | UN| bear| able | mel| odies| -| /| x| | -| /| x x x| /| | /| | | Us | in| deep| | hint| erlands of| in| curved| glass| | Poets learn to trust their senses, but even to the experienced writer these (tedious) exercises can pinpoint what the ear suspects is faulty, suggest where improvements lie, and show how the metre is making for variety, broad consistency, shaping of the argument and emotive appeal. Though other scansions are certainly possible in the lines above, the most striking feature will remain their irregularity. Many lines can only roughly be called pentameters; Lines 16 and 17 are strictly hexameters; and lines 27 and 28 are tetrameters. In fact, the lines do not read like blank verse. The rhythm is not iambic in many areas, but trochaic, and indeed insistently dactylic in lines 9 and 10, 21 and 22 and 28. Line 27 is predominantly anapaestic, and line 3 could (just) be scanned: x x| / x| /| x x | /| | /| x x | Of the| heavy| surf| of the North| Sea| | flurr| ying|. Reflective or meditative verse is generally written in the iambic pentameter, and for good reason — the benefit of past examples, readers’ expectations, and because the iambic is the closest to everyday speech: flexible, unemphatic, expressing a wide range of social registers. Blank verse for the stage may be very irregular but this, predominantly, is a quiet poem, with the falling rhythms inducing a mood of reflection if not melancholy. What is being attempted? Suppose we set out the argument (refer to rhetorical and other analyses), tabbing and reverse tabbing as the reflections as they seem more or less private: {8} 1. But, as you’d expect, 2. they are very impatient, the buildings, 3. having much in them of the heavy surf of the North Sea, 4. flurrying the grit, 5. lifting the pebbles, 6. flinging them with a hoarse roar against the aggregate they are composed of — the 7. cliffs higher of course, more 8. burdensome, 9. underwritten as it were with past days 10. overcast and glinting, 11. obdurate, 12. part of the silicate of tough lives, 13. distant and intricate as 14. the whirring bureaucrats 15. Let in and settled with coffee in the concrete pallets, awaiting the post and the department meeting — 16. except that these do not know it,  17. at least do not seem to, being busy, 18. generally. 19. So perhaps it is only on those cloudless, almost vacuumed afternoons with tier upon tier of concrete like rib — bones packed above them, and 20. they light-headed 21. with the blue airiness spinning around, and 22. muzzy, a 23. neuralgia calling at random like 24. frail relations, a 25. phone ringing in a distant office they cannot get to, that 26. They become attentive, 27. or we do — 28. these divisions persisting, 29. indeed what we talk about, 30. we, constructing these webs of buildings which 31. Caulked like great whales about us, are 32.  always aware that some trick of the light or weather will dress them as friends, 33. pleading and flailing — and 34. fill with placid but unbearable melodies 35. us in deep hinterlands of incurved glass. The structure should now be clear. Where Eliot created new forms by stringing together unremarkable pentameters, {8} this poem attempts the reverse: to recast an irregular ode-like structure as pentameters. And not over-successfully: many of the rhythms seemed unduly confined. But once returned to the form of an eighteenth century Pindaric ode, however unfashionable today, the lines regain a structure and integrity. Each starts with a marked stress and then tails away, a feature emphasized by the sound patterns. {9} Sound Patterning To these sound patterns we now turn, adapting the International Phonetic Alphabet to HTML restrictions: 1. But | as | you’d | expect | u | a | U | e e | b t | z | y d | ksp kt | 2. They | are | very | impatient | the | buildings | A | a(r) | e E | i A e | e | i i | th | – | v r | mp sh nt | th | b ld ngz | 3. Having | much | in | them | of | the | heavy | surf | of | the | North | Sea | a i | u | i | e | o | e | e | e(r) | o | e | aw | E | h v ng | m ch | n | th m | v | th | h v | s f | v | th | n th | s |. 4. flurrying | the | grit | u E i | e | i | fl r ng | th | gr t | 5. lifting | the | pebbles | i i | e | e | l ft ng | th | p b lz | 6. flinging | them | with | a | hoarse | roar | against | the | aggregate | they | are | composed | of | i i | e | i | e | aw | aw | e A | e | a E A | A | a(r) | o O | o | fl ng ng | th m | w th | – | h s | r | g nst | th | gr g t | th | – | k MP zd | v | 7. the | cliffs | higher | of | course | more | e | i | I e | o | aw | aw | th | kl fs | h | v | s | m | 8. burdensome | u(r) e e | b d ns m | 9.underwritten | as | it | were | with | past | days | u e i e | a | i | (e)r | i | a(r) | A | nd r t n | z | t | w | w | p st | d z | 10. overcast | and | glinting | O e(r) a(r) | a | i i | v k St | nd | gl NT ng | 11. obdurate | o U A | bd r t | 12. part | of | the | silicate | of | tough | lives | (a)r | o | e | i i A | o | u | I | p t | f | th | s l k t | v | t f | l vz | 13. distant | and | intricate | i a | a | i i e | d St NT | nd | NT r k t | 14. as | the | whirring | bureaucrats | a | e | e(r) i | U O a | z | th | w r ng | b r kr ts | 15. let | in | and | settled | with | coffee | in | the | concrete | pallets | e | i | a | e ie | i | o E | i | e | o E | a e | l t | n | nd | s tl d | w th | k f | n | th | k Kr t | p l Ts | awaiting | the | post | and | the | department | meeting | e A i | e | O | a | e | E e | E i | w t ng | th | p St | nd | th | d p tm NT | m t ng | 16. except | that | these | do | not | know | it | e e | a | E | U | o | O | i | ks pt | th | th z | d | n t | n | t | 17. at | least | do | not | seem | to | being | busy | a | E | U | o | E | U | E i | i E | t | l St | d | n t | s m | t | b ng | b z >/td> | 18. generally | e e a E | j nr l | 19. so | perhaps | it | is | only | on | those | cloudless | almost | vacuumed | afternoons | O | e(r) a | i | i | O | o | O | ou e | aw O | a U | a(r) e oo | s | p h ps | t | z | nl | n | th z | kl dl s | lm St | v k md | ft n nz | with | tier | upon | tier | of | concrete | like | rib | bones | packed | above | them | and | i | E e(r) | e o | E e(r) | o | o E | I | i | O | a | e u | e | a | w th | t | p n | t | v | k nkr t | l k | r b | b nz | p Kt | b v | th m | nd | 20. they | light | headed | A | I | e e | th | l t | h d d | 21.with | the | blue | airiness | spinning | around | and | i | e | U | (A)r i e | i i | e ou | a | w th | th | bl | r n s | sp n ng | r nd | nd | 22. muzzy | a | u E | e | m z | – | 23. neuralgia | calling | at | random | like | U a E a | aw i | a | a o | I | n r lj | k l ng | t | r nd m | l k | 24. frail | relations | a | A | e A e | e | fr l | r l zh nz | – | 25. phone | ringing | in | a | distant | office | they | cannot | get | to | that | O | i i | i | e | i a | o i | A | a o | e | oo | a | | f n | r ng ng | n | – | d St NT | f s | th | k n t | g t | t | th | | 26.they | become | attentive | A | E u | a e i | th | b k m | t NT v | 27. or | we | do | aw | E | oo | – | w | d | 28. these | divisions | persisting | E | i i e | e(r) i i | th z | d v zh nz | p s St ng | 29. indeed | what | we | talk | about | i E | o | E | aw | e ou | in d | wh t | w | t k | b t | 30. we | constructing | these | webs | of | buildings | which | E | o u i | E | e | o | i i | i | w | k nz str Kt ng | th z | w bs | v | b ld ngz | wh Ch | 31. caulked | like | great | whales | about | us | are | aw | I | A | A | e ou | u | a(r) | k kd | l k | gr t | w lz | b t | s | – | 32. always | aware | that | some | trick | of | the | light | or | weather | will | dress | them | as | friends | aw A | e (A)r | a | u | i | o | e | I | aw | e e(r) | i | e | e | a | e | lw z | w | th t | s m | tr k | v | th | l t | – | w th | w l | dr s | th m | z | Fr ndz | 33. pleading | and | flailing | E i | a | A i | pl d ng | nd | fl l ng | 34. will | fill | with | placid | but | unbearable | melodies | i | i | i | a i | u | u A(r) a e | e O E | f l | w th | PL s d | b t | n b r b l | m l d z | | 35. us | in | deep | hinterlands | of | incurved | glass | u | i | E | i e a | o | i e(r) | a(r) | s | n | d p | h NT l ndz | v | nk v d | GL s | Sound in poetry is an immensely complicated and contentious subject. Of the seventeen different employments listed by Masson {10} we consider seven: 1. Structural emphasis All sections are structurally emphasized to some extent, but note the use (in decreasing hardness) of * plosive consonants in sections 1, 5, 6, 7, 10-13, 19, 28-50; 31 and 35. * fricative and aspirate consonants in sections 2, 3, 6, 7, 12, 19, 25, 28, 32, 35. * liquid and nasal consonants in sections 3, 4, 12, 15, 17, 18, 19, 21, 23, 31-35. Also: * predominance of front vowels — in all sections but 6, 7, 11, 16, 17, 19 and 31. * predominance of vowels in intermediate positions — only sections 16 and 17 having several high vowels and section 3 low vowels. 2. Tagging of sections Note sections 1, 7, 13 and 15. 3. Indirect support of argument by related echoes * Widely used, most obviously in sections 3-7, 12-13, and 15. 4. Illustrative mime: mouth movements apes expression * Sections 2, 6, 11-13, 19, 31 and 35. 5. Illustrative painting * Sections 3-6, 10-13, 15, 19 and 33. Most sections are closely patterned in consonants. Those which aren’t (and therefore need attention if consistency is to be maintained) are perhaps 8, 9, 14, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26 and 27. Originally the poem was cast in the form of irregular pentameters. But if this is set aside in favour of the 35 sections listed above, how are these sections to be linked in a self-evident and pleasing form? A little is accomplished by alliteration: * f in sections 3 to 7. * s and t in sections 12 to 15 * w in sections 29 to 32 And also by the predominance of front and intermediate level vowels, but these do not amount to much. Certainly we do not find that the overall shaping of the poem emphasizes the argument or content. Sociolinguistics Language is not a neutral medium but comes with the contexts, ideologies and social intentions of its speakers written in. Words are living entities, things which are constantly being employed and only half taken over: carrying opinions, assertions, beliefs, information, emotions and intentions of others, which we partially accept and modify. In this sense speech is dialogic, has an internal polemic, and Bakhtin’s insights into the multi-layered nature of language (heteroglossia) can be extended to poetry. {11} Much of Postmodernist writing tries to be very unliterary, incorporating the raw material of everyday speech and writing into its creations. This poem seems rather different, a somewhat remote tone and elevated diction applying throughout. Let us see what’s achieved by grouping under the various inflections of the speaking voice. * urgently confidential But, as you’d expect, cliffs higher, of course, that they become attentive or we do * obsessively repetitious flurrying the grit, lifting the pebbles, flinging them†¦ Burdensome, underwritten†¦ overcast and glinting, obdurate * over-clever silicate of tough lives  distant and intricate constructing these webs of buildings distracted and/or light-headed except that these do not know it at least do not seem to with the blue airiness spinning around calling at random like frail relations * melancholic and/or reflective some trick of the light or weather will dress them as friends pleading and flailing and fill with placid but unbearable melodies. The exercise hardly provides revelation. Heteroglossia is an interweaving of voices, moreover, not shifts of tone or reference. And yet there is something very odd about the opening line. Why should we expect the buildings to be very impatient? This is more than the orator’s trick of attracting attention, since the animate nature of buildings and their constituents is referred to throughout the poem. To be more exact, the attitude of the inhabitants — observers, bureaucrats, architects — to the buildings is developed by the poem, and is paralleled by the tone. But why the confidential and repetitious attitude at the beginning. Why should we be buttonholed in this manner? Why the But, which seems to point to an earlier conversation, and the urgency with which that earlier conversation is being refuted or covered up? Because the blame for something is being shifted to the buildings. What error has been committed we do not know, but in mitigation we are shown the effect of the buildings on other inhabitants. Or perhaps we are. In fact the whirring bureaucrats seem to grow out of the fabric of buildings, and we do not really know if the we, constructing these webs of buildings is meant literally or metaphorically. The poem’s title suggests literally, but perhaps these constructions are only of the mind: sections 17, 20-29, 32 and 34 refer to attitudes rather than actions, and there is an ethereal or otherworldly atmosphere to the later section of the poem. So we return to heteroglossia, which is not simply borrowed voices, but involves an internal polemic, {12} that private dialogue we conduct between our private thoughts and their acceptable public expression. The dialogue is surely here between the brute physicality of a nature made overpoweringly real and the fail brevity of human lives. That physicality is threatening and unnerving. If the we of the later section of the poem is indeed architects then that physicality is harnessed to practical ends. If the constructing is purely mental then the treatment is through attitudes, mindsets, philosophies. But in neither case does it emasculate the energy of the physical world. Architects may leave monuments behind them, but they are also imprisoned in those monuments (us in deep hinterlands) and hearing all the time the homesick voice of their constituents. Conclusions: Suggested Improvements The greatest difficulty lies in the poem’s structure. An pentameter form has been used to give a superficial unity, but this wrenches the rhythm, obscures the sound patterns and does nothing for the argument. If recast in sections defined by rhythm and sound pattern the form is too irregular to have artistic autonomy. A return could be made to the eighteenth century Pindaric ode in strict metre and rhyme, but would require extensive and skilful rewriting, and probably appear artificial. A prose poem might be the answer, but the rhythms would need to be more fluid and subtly syncopated. Otherwise, blank verse should be attempted, and the metre adjusted accordingly. The internal polemic is a valuable dimension of the poem, but more could be done to make the voices distinct. http://www. textetc. com/criticism/stylistics. html1. On StylisticsIs cognitive stylistics the future of stylistics? To answer this question in the essay that follows, I will briefly discuss Elena Semino and Jonathan Culpeper’s Cognitive Stylistics (2003), Paul Simpson’s Stylistics (2004), and a recent essay by Michael Burke (2005). However, because questions are like trains – one may hide another – any discussion of the future of stylistics raises intractable questions about stylistics itself. French students of stylistics, for example, will come across definitions of the discipline like the following. According to Brigitte Buffard-Moret, â€Å"si les definitions de †¦ [la stylistique] – que certains refusent de considerer comme une scien