History of the Phantom of the Opera Essay

In 1911, Gaston Leroux published Le FantÔme de l’Opera, the now famous book that gave birth to the legend of the Phantom.   Leroux had been fascinated by the mystery and design of the Paris Opera House.   As a theatre enthusiast, he had toured all the levels of the Opera House including a visit to the underground lake, cellar and hidden passageways. The mysterious events at the Paris Opera House which ignited Leroux ‘s interest began with Napoleon III’s call for a new opera house to be built in Paris in 1860, after he had survived an assassination attempt one evening when returning from the Opera.   The construction of the Opera House, faced many delays and construction stopped during the Franco Prussian War. After the war, the then unfinished Opera House was occupied by the working class who used it as a warehouse, observation post, communications center, military post and a powder store.   The cellar was once used as a torture chamber.   The new Paris Opera House was finally finished in 1875.   Finally, adding to the mystery, an unfortunate incident occurred in the Paris Opera House in 1896, a counter-weight of six and a half ton chandelier fell from the ceiling, killing a patron. Gaston Leroux always claimed that the ghost in the story was true, based on his investigations and tours of the Opera House.   He is quoted as saying: â€Å"The Opera ghost really existed.   He was not, as was long believed, a creature of the imagination of the artists, the superstition of the managers, or the absurd and impressionable brains of the young ladies of the ballet, their mothers, the box-keepers, the cloak-room attendants, or the concierge.   No, he existed in flesh and blood, though he assumed all the outward characteristics of a real phantom, that is to say, of a ghost.†Ã‚   (Leroux, G, n.d) In 1925, began the chain of events that would give rise to the phenomenon of the Phantom.   Universal Studios made the first film of the book – the silent movie, Phantom of the Opera, which starred Lon Chaney Snr.   A second version of the film, this time with sound and color, starring Claude Raines was produced in 1943.   Followed by a Spanish version in 1962, and a 1974 version starring Herbert Lom and Heather Sears. The Phantom was produced twice on stage in 1935 and 1975, without much success. Then, in 1986, the legend of the Phantom of the Opera would become one of the most famous stories in the world, when Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Musical – Phantom of the Opera hit the stage in London.   In the 21 years since the Musical began, it has broken all theatre records and is now the longest running Broadway Show in History. The success of the musical spurred the movie industries interest again in 2004, with a moderately successful movie called â€Å"Phantom of the Opera† based on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s opera.   Critical acclaim for the movie has been varied. The Phantom has outlived his creator who died in April 1927 and has become iconic to the 20th and 21st Century.    History of the Hit Musical – The Phantom of the Opera   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical The Phantom of the Opera opened in London’s Majesty Theatre on 9 October 1986.   In the original London Cast, â€Å"The Phantom† was played by Michael Crawford, and â€Å"Christine† by Sarah Brightman (then wife of Andrew Lloyd Webber). The original creative team of the Phantom was: Harold Prince  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Director Cameron Mackintosh  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Producer Andrew Lloyd Webber  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Composer, Book, Co-orchestra Maria Bjà ¶rnson   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Production Designer    While Andrew Lloyd Webber had already been phenomenally successful with productions like Evita and the Sound of Music, â€Å"The Phantom† made stars of the actors and creative team members. The musical is still running 21 years later (2007) in London, Broadway (N.Y) and touring worldwide.   The Phantom has won over 50 awards including 3 Olivier, an Evening Standard Award, 7 Tony’s and 3 Outer Critic Circle Awards. At the time of writing, it is estimated that over 80 million people have seen the musical, with total ticket sales of over $3.2 billion.    Reviews of the Phantom of the Opera: The Daily Mirror’s first review of the Phantom of the Opera in 1986: It’s fantastic, fabulous and phantasmagorical! It’s fantastic, fabulous and phantasmagorical! From the eerily flickering lights that greet you outside Her Majesty’s Theatre to the last, glorious curtain call, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s long-awaited new musical, Phantom of the Opera, is a triumph. The special effects are among the most spectacular ever seen in the West End. The music is very bit as memorable as one would expect from the man who wrote Evita, Starlight Express and the rest. But most of all, the show belongs to Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford, who soar and swoop through their hugely demanding roles like eagles. After all the well-publicised false starts and back-biting, Lloyd Webber has created a musical which deserves to be around well into the next decade. The story is based closely on the original novel of 1911 – unlike most of the Phantom of the Opera films which have been made over the years. Michael Carwford’s Phantom hides his hideously disfigured face by skulking in the stage caverns and pools deep beneath the Paris opera. His passion for music is the only thing which gives his life meaning until he becomes obsessed by Sarah Brightman’s Christine – a young opera singer whose beauty is matched only by the purity of her voice. He coaches her in secret while visiting dreadful catastrophes on anyone who refuses to advance her career. A hanged scene shifter is suddenly hideously dropped on to the stage in the middle of a performance. A vast crystal chandelier crashes on to the audience. As the phantom becomes more fiendish so Christine becomes increasingly mixed in her feelings towards him. A dreadful climax is fast approaching. The eerie sets of the unfolding drama – great stages filled with mist and shining candles – are interspersed with all the colour and spectacle of the operas being prepared and presented at the theatre. Despite all the â€Å"ghost train† theatricals the greatest thrills of the show come from Michael Crawford. He not only sings superbly but also captures the torment of the Phantom perfectly. If you only see one show this year, make sure it is this one! (Blake, J, 1986) In 2002, The Times wrote: Long-runners One answer is obvious: Maria Bjà ¶rnson’s stunning designs. The story, based on Gaston Leroux’s novel, begins on the Paris Opera’s stage in 1911. The building is dusty and neglected, the stage festooned with great swags of grey fabric. Old theatrical props are being auctioned off. Then, as the auctioneer announces the final lot — the opera’s enormous chandelier — the dustsheets fall away, the scene seems almost to dissolve and the theatre travels back in time to 1881 before our very eyes. It’s a vision of gaudy grandeur: gas lamps flicker, red velvet glows in the light and plaster nymphs and satyrs frolic on pillars. The opera is dogged by misfortunes that are rumoured to be the work of the Phantom, a malevolent figure who haunts the theatre. This sinister creature has become obsessed with Christine Daaà ©, a pretty chorus girl. But only cadaverous Madame Giry, the formidable ballet mistress, knows the terrible secret that lies behind the mask the Phantom wears. The musical’s best sequence occurs when the Phantom leads Christine through labyrinthine passages to his lair beyond a hidden lake underneath the building. As their boat glides over the misty water, surrounded by flickering candles, the effect is breathtaking. The problem is that this spectacle takes place early on and nothing afterwards can really compete. Harold Prince’s direction is slick and Gillian Lynne’s choreography effective, but Lloyd Webber’s music is often trite and dated. There’s little depth to any of the characters, either, yet the musical’s central relationship intrigues. For while Christine is Beauty to the Phantom’s Beast, she is haunted, not only by the opera ghost, but by the memory of her dead violinist father. This lends a pleasingly perverse Freudian twist to the erotic tension between the two characters, and the performers John Owen-Jones and Celia Graham make the most of it. Not only are they both excellent singers, they are fine actors too. Graham brings both passion and a childlike neediness to her portrayal of Christine. Owen-Jones uses his rich, powerful voice to great effect, crooning one moment, spitting bitterness the next. But the real star of the show is Bjà ¶rnson’s work. The designer died earlier this month, aged 53, and if Phantom has stood the test of time, it’s because of her. It is not the music audiences will remember; it’s the opera’s chandelier swinging crazily over the stalls, or a masked figure crouched menacingly over a gilded angel. And for those images alone, this show is still worth seeing. (Marlowe, S,   2002) The New York Times revisited the Phantom in 2005 and wrote this review: New York Times revisits the Phantom Old and Ghostly but Still a Hoot The paint on the balconies of the Majestic Theater looks chipped and the electronic drum machine sounds like something left over from a music video from the 1980’s. But â€Å"The Phantom of the Opera† really shows its age (17 years and running) when the signature special effect is presented. Musicals have opened and closed in the time it takes that chandelier to lumber to the floor. Looking like one of Ed Wood’s teetering flying saucers, it crashes to the stage with the force of a shopping cart, the biggest, most extravagant anticlimax in town. Seventeen years later: Sandra Joseph and Hugh Panaro are now playing the roles of Christine and the Phantom. Under the fearsome shadow of Hugh Panaro in â€Å"The Phantom of the Opera.† But what do you expect? It was designed during the Reagan administration. For a top-of-the-line chandelier, you will have to wait for the $40 million production of â€Å"Phantom† opening in Las Vegas next spring. But if the technology of the Broadway show seems a bit quaint, the real news is that the rest of the production has grown old gracefully. Judging by sheer invention, emotional punch and onstage talent, the venerable blockbuster still beats out almost all of the whippersnappers currently on Broadway. Maria Bjornson’s flamboyant gothic design and Harold Prince’s fantastical staging still have the gleam of finely polished professionalism. Led by the current Phantom (there have been 10 after Michael Crawford), Hugh Panaro, an up-and-coming musical theater star who finds the right mix of shock and schmaltz, most of the cast retains the freshness of opening night. That does not mean that Andrew Lloyd Webber haters, a large and very grumpy contingent, will be won over. Sorry, â€Å"The Music of the Night† hasn’t changed. Nor has Charles Hart’s bumbling lyrics (â€Å"You have brought me to that moment when words run dry†). But for those sentimental souls looking for a popular entertainment to transport them to a baroque, romantic new world with a powerful smoke machine, â€Å"Phantom,† I’m happy to report, still delivers the goods. Which is especially impressive, given that not long ago, the musical seemed to be on its last legs. By the fall of 2003, its peers â€Å"Miss Saigon,† â€Å"Cats† and â€Å"Les MisÃÆ' ©rables† had faded away. Ticket sales were down and rumors of its demise were common around Broadway. Flash-forward to today: crowds are lined up around the corner to see the show, which regularly sells out. Last week, 99 percent of the seats were filled. In January, barring a strike, disaster or nuclear holocaust, â€Å"Phantom† will eclipse â€Å"Cats† as the longest-running show in Broadway history. What happened? For one thing, it received a boost from Joel Schumacher’s film version of the musical, which opened in December. Even though it wasn’t a smash hit, the movie introduced a new audience to the show (as evidenced by the large number of young girls at the Majestic) and reminded old ones how superior the musical is. In fact, the bombastic film may be the only thing that makes the musical look understated. Mr. Prince, who continues to oversee casting and reportedly checks up on the show every few months, deserves credit for tending to it with care. When the box office dipped, he never panicked and cast a former Backstreet Boy for a short-term boost in sales. Unlike so many long-running shows, â€Å"Phantom† has not resorted to stunt casting. Although don’t be surprised if Mr. Panaro, who has been rumored on theater Web sites as the choice to star in â€Å"Lestat,† Elton John’s vampire musical heading to Broadway next season, becomes a household name someday. A young, charismatic actor, he brings a maniacal energy and Grand Guignol charm to the tortured Phantom. In his hands, the show concentrates more on the horror than the romance; but only once does he turn to the audience and growl – which, considering how scenery chewing this role could be, counts as admirable restraint. Surrounding him is a solid supporting cast who deliver disciplined performances free of the lazy flourishes that sneak into a role when an actor becomes bored by repetition. As the diva Carlotta, Anne Runolfsson flashes a hundred-watt smile and shows off a richly textured voice in the opening song, â€Å"Think of Me.† Jeff Keller and George Lee Andrews, the only actors with major roles who have been with the company since the beginning, are marvelous as the nervous theater managers who made the mistake of buying the Paris Opera House. In 2001, Mr. Prince had them switch roles to keep things fresh. Sandra Joseph (who doesn’t perform Wednesday evenings or Saturday matinees) is perfectly competent as Christine, although in her scenes with the Phantom she can come off as a bit bland. As her other love interest, Raoul, a terribly underwritten role, Tim Martin Gleason provides a strong voice and a stiff performance. In the romantic songs, one’s mind easily wanders to the bitingly funny Lloyd Webber parody in â€Å"Spamalot,† which droned on and on until the stars looked tired of their own voices. Then again, the winking and eyebrow-raising in satirical musical comedies like â€Å"Spamalot† and â€Å"The Producers† are part of what makes the proudly melodramatic and unironic â€Å"Phantom† a nice change of pace. The musical may seem as if it is from a different time, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. (Zinoman, J, 2005) Personal Review:    The Broadway production of The Phantom of the Opera captures your attention right from the start and then you will be you will be drawn into a mysterious world of horror, romance and tragedy. Your journey keeps you spellbound through resonating songs sung by a handpicked cast, Maria Bjornson’s magnificent sets and costumes to both delight and frighten you. Gaston Leroux’s gothic novel comes to life through Andrew Lloyd’s Webbers’ Phantom.   The musical beautifully combines a mixture of genres, performed through opera, leaving the audience entrapped in a tragic tale of love. Whether you are recovering from fright or floating on Phantoms’ songs – this musical will keep, you entertained, wistful and somewhat disturbed leaving you thoughtful as to who should triumph in the end. New fans and old are still being enraptured by the phenomenon of The Phantom.       Works Cited: Blake, J, (1986) It’s fantastic, fabulous and phantasmagorical!, The Daily Mirror U.K. Retrieved 04/18/2007, http://www.thephantomoftheopera.com/poto/news_mediareviews_story.php?id=38 Leroux, G. n.d. Quotation Phantom of the Opera Official Site. Retrieved 04/18/2007, http://www.thephantomoftheopera.com/poto/show/the_show_history_filmography.php Marlowe, S, (2002), Long Runners, The Times, UK.   Retrieved 04/18/2007 http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/article805339.ece Zinoman, J, (2005), New York Times revisits the Phantom: Old and Ghostly but Still a Hoot, The New York Times, USA.   Retrieved 04/18/2007 http://www.thephantomoftheopera.com/poto/news_mediareviews_story.php?id=216    Bibliography: Paris Opera House (n.d.), Music of the 19th Century Paris, Opera. Retrieved 04/18/2007 http://gallery.sjsu.edu/paris/music/opera/opera_house.html The Phantom of the Opera (n.d.), Official Website.   Retrieved 04/17/2007, http://www.thephantomoftheopera.com   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        

Internet and Education: Positive or Negative Aspect?

Internet and Education: Positive or Negative Aspect? The Internet started to boom in the 1990’s and has continued to evolve ever since. Today the concept of what was thought to be one of the greatest inventions has blown this old-time invention out of the water. In order for the Internet to be accessible a computer device is needed. Today on we can carry the Internet in our hands with wireless access; as before it was a fixed machine usually on a desk with multiple cords attached.Noting that the invention of the computer and Internet has only increased in value and quality the rate of use has also increased significantly. This increase use of the Internet has affected and impacted people around the world. People use it at home, work and school for different reasons such as to communicate, shop, and look up information. The question that withholds is whether or not Internet use is beneficial or problematic. A topic that relates to this ongoing question is the effects that Inter net use has on education and academic performance.The Internet is used through a wide variety of spectrums within education; teachers and students use the Internet on a daily basis. Studies have shown positive and negative factors of the Internet appearing in education from both student and instructor views. When looking at the Internet as a positive aspect there are many studies and factors that play a role in helping conclude this acquisition about Internet in an educational setting. The Internet can be very beneficial for students along with teachers and administrators.For example, the adult literacy and basic education (ALBE) classroom teachers have found the Internet to be beneficial for themselves as well their students (Berger, 2010). Jim I. Berger conducted a study using ALBE instructors to better understand their use of the Internet in the classrooms. These ALBE instructors explain they use the Internet to simply look up lesson plans and to communicate with the students on a daily basis (Berger, 2010). Berger (2010) sent a packet of 50 fifty-six-item surveys to every state director of ALBE services; in return he got 219 applications with an 18. % response rate (p. 155). When focusing more on the results and procedure Berger (2010) grouped the 56-item survey into 5 composite scales; (a) reasons for use (the Why scale), (b) ways the Internet was used (the Practice scale), (c) positive consequences (the PosCon scale), (d) negative consequences (the NegCon scale) and (e) reasons they would or could not use the Internet in their classroom (the Barrier Scale). Two specific parts of Berger’s study that helps conclude Internet is a positive aspect in education is the Why scale and the PosCon scale.Berger (2010) asked the respondents to use the Likert-like scale with values not, some, or very to address his survey questions. When reporting the results for the Why scale Berger chose the teachers who answered with very. Majority of the teachers (71. 8%) s aid they felt it was very important to use the Internet in class because students would one day need it in their professional lives, around half (54. 1%) thought the Internet helped students learn basic skills, a little less than half (40. 9%) stated they used it because they enjoyed to, while (31. 3%) of teachers felt the Internet makes them better teachers (Berger, 2010, p. 56). For the PosCon scale Berger (2010) reported the results based on ALBE instructors who agree or strongly agree. His findings concluded that 83. 5% reported that students were more empowered, 82. 4% thought the material was more engaging for the students, 82. 2% felt that students improved their basic skills, and 76. 2% thought they could incorporate higher-level thinking skills in their lessons. Also, a great proportion (70. 2%) stated that classes became more student centered and half (50. 4%) thought the students worked together more often (Berger, 2010, p. 157).To conclude Berger’s study it was fo und that the Internet was beneficial in education when looking at ALBE classrooms in more ways than one. However, a weakness of Berger’s study is the response rate. This is only a small fraction of instructors and teachers around the world. Similar to Berger’s positive findings is a study conducted by Gwo-Jen Hwang, Po-Han Wu and Chi-Chang Chen. Their study addresses the topic of web-based problem-solving activities. According to the Hwang et al. (2012) study online web-based problem-solving games are found to be beneficial in education.In their study an online game was developed for conducting web-based learning activates (Hwang et al. , 2012). Two classes of fifth and sixth graders participated in the study. One group was the experimental group while the other was the control group. The experimental group was guided by an educational computer game that used a Graphical Quiz approach to develop the game-board learning system, while the control group was guided by lear ning sheets and keyword search online (Hwang et al. 2012). Hwang et al. (2012) required both groups to take a pre-test and post-test regarding â€Å"butterfly ecology. In result Hwang et al. (2012) reported the online-education game not only improved the students’ learning achievement and attitudes, but also situated the students’ in a learning state filled with involvement, concentration and enjoyment. The results also show how the approach was effective; the learning activity conducted in this study showed that students were highly motivated in their web-based problem-solving tasks (Hwang et al. , 2012). Hwang et al. (2012) thus concludes that the students were highly engaged in the task due to the intrinsic motivations promoted through the game.Between these two studies it seems safe to say that the Internet is used in multiple ways in education and in general has a positive outcome. While studies like these show positive factors of Internet use in education there are also findings that conclude negative effects of Internet usage. Along with the increased use of the Internet comes increased amount of distractions. Distractions such as social networks, shopping sites, sport networks and YouTube are constantly being streamed from networks around the world. Researchers Jomon Aliyas Paul, Hope M.Baker, Justin Daniel Cochran (2012) believe there is a negative correlation between grades and time spent on laptops, tablets and cell phones during class. They also say it’s very common to see students using their phones during class; this behavior is not only distracting to the one using the mobile device but for others around them as well (Baker et al. , 2012). Noting this is an example of how the Internet in education is misused and often abused in educational settings. Relating back to Berger’s study, he concluded there are also some negative aspects of the Internet in education.Berger (2010), states 54. 4% of the instructors claim that students visited sites unrelated to assignments or class work, 36. 7% of instructors found that their classes split into those that did and those that did not know how to use the Internet, 23. 9% found that students visited inappropriate sites (porn, gambling), 22. 5% of instructors indicated that students copied material from the Internet and used it as their own, and 20. 9% felt that their students relied too heavily on the Internet for information (p. 157).His study shows that students are easily distracted by the endless uses of the Internet. As a college student I struggle with these distractions on a regular basis. Looking at a different spectrum of Internet and education researchers Nejla Canbulat, Sevil Inal, and Meral Kelleci conducted a study looking at the relationship between the Internet and academic performance for a small portion of high school students. To further explain the Canbulat et al. (2012) study, 804 high school students between the ages of 15 and 18 were c hosen randomly from four high schools in Istanbul city.One of the three questions their study asked was â€Å"Do computer and Internet using periods of high school students adversely affect their success at school? † They collected their data through a survey. They founded that the students average computer use periods were 2. 07 ±1. 5 hours daily and their average Internet access periods were 1. 8 ±1. 5 hours daily (Canbulat et al. , 2012, p. 1648). Depending on if the student had Internet access at home or had to access the Internet through a public place, such as a cafe, altered the results of time spent on the computer.In Nejla Canbulat, Sevil Inal, and Meral Kelleci’s (2012) study they restate Berson and Berson’s findings of 92% of 10800 teenagers between the ages of 12 and 18 had access to the Internet and spent most of their time messaging with people, surfing across websites, playing games and only 1% of them use the Internet for making searches and studying (p. 1644). Canbulat et al. (2012) founded that compared to this statement their study proposed that half of the teenager (50. 5%) connected to Internet for searching purposes; however, other reasons were chatting (18. 1%), playing games (12. %), listening to music (9. 7%), sharing content in forum sites (6. 6%) and accessing websites with sexual content (2. 4%) (p. 1649). Even though these percentages seem to correlate with a positive use of the Internet too much time spent searching and using the Internet causes problems in interpersonal relations (Canbulat et al. , 2012). To conclude their findings they state that the more time spent on the Internet adversely affected the student’s success at school. The study also founded that the increased spent time on the Internet decreased the academic success of students.The students that accessed the Internet at home used it less often than the ones who accessed the Internet through a cafe, reckoning that the Internet at hom e is kept under parental control (Canbulat et al. , 2012). This however may not be the case for every student who has a computer at home; this is only a small study that was done with high school students. When comparing Canbulat et al. and Berger’s studies it’s hard to differentiate whether the Internet is a positive or negative aspect within education due to the different views between teachers and tudents. Most teachers argue it’s a good thing for teaching and it also helps students interact with each other. However, some teachers believe that the increased use of Internet distracts students from their daily work by visiting non-related sites. These findings from Berger’s study relate to the Canbulat et al. correlation found between the increased use of the Internet and decreasing academic performances. Students are spending more and more time on these non-related sites affecting their studying habits and overall grades.There have been many studies con ducted about the Internet and the psychological effects it has created; some good while some bad. Certain researchers claim that Internet chatting decreases loneliness and depression, increases the feelings of happiness, and greatly enhances perceptions of social support and self-esteem (PW Kang 2007; Shaw and Gant 2002; Chen 2012). While others believe the increasing use of Internet is effecting face-to-face interactions by reducing time spent with family members and friends, thus creating more and more feelings of loneliness and depression (Kraut et al. 1998; Chen 2012).If the Internet does create these feelings of hopelessness and depression this could affect students not only socially but academically too. In the classroom these feelings of depression can often lead to alienation and feel worthy only when using the Internet. This could reduce the social interaction a student may have in school thus creating low self-esteem. A student may then cover these feelings up by using the Internet, which in turn would reduce the motivation of a student to do homework or study for upcoming exams. Overall the Internet is a positive aspect in the world of education.On the contrary it’s known for it’s devious distractions. Studies and research prove both cases are true among students and teachers. People today rely solely on the Internet as before it was just something to have. Is the Internet and technology the destruction of social interaction and resulting in increased isolation? Some critics argue thus is true while others oppose this idea as a whole. This is yet another issue that’s addressed with the concern of the Internet. Time can only tell. List of Reference Baker H. M. , Cochran, J. D. , & Paul, J. A. (2012).Effect of online social networking on student academic performance. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(6), 2117-2127. Berger, J. I. (2010). Profiles of Internet use among ALBE instructors. Adult Basic Education & Literacy Journal, 4(3) 1 51-160. Canbulat, N. , Inal, S. , & Kelleci, M. (2012). Internet use and its relation with the academic performance for a sample of high school students. HealthMed, 6(5), 1643-1650. Chen, C. , Hwang, G. , & Wu, P. (2012). An online game approach for improving students’ learning performance in web-based problem-solving activities.Computers & Education, 59(4), 1246-1256. Chen, S. (2012). Internet use and psychological well-being among college students: A latent profile approach. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(6), 2219-2226. Bibliography Baker H. M. , Cochran, J. D. , & Paul, J. A. (2012). Effect of online social networking on student academic performance. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(6), 2117-2127. Berger, J. I. (2010). Profiles of Internet use among ALBE instructors. Adult Basic Education & Literacy Journal, 4(3) 151-160. Canbulat, N. , Inal, S. & Kelleci, M. (2012). Internet use and its relation with the academic performance for a sample of high school students. HealthMed , 6(5), 1643-1650. Chen, S. (2012). Internet use and psychological well-being among college students: A latent profile approach. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(6), 2219-2226. Dodd, B. J. , & Antonenko, P. D. (2012). Use of signaling to integrate desktop virtual reality and online learning management systems. Computers & Education, 59(4), 1099-1108. Hwang, G. , Wu, P. , & Chen, C. (2012).An online game approach for improving students’ learning performance in web-based problem-solving activities. Computers & Education, 59(4), 1246-1256. Kiran-Esen, B. , & Korkmaz, M. (2012). The effects of peer-training about secure Internet use on adolescents. Turkish Psychological Counseling & Guidance Journal, 4(38), 180-187. Korkmaz, O. (2012). A validity and reliability study of the online cooperative learning attitude scale (OCLAS). Computers & Education, 59(4), 1162-1169. Otaibi, K. N. A. (2012). Attitudes towards the use of the Internet. Psychology Research, 2(3), 151-159.

The relationship between the foreign direct investment and the growth Dissertation

The relationship between the foreign direct investment and the growth and development of the underdeveloped and developing countries - Dissertation Example According to the study the economy of China has been showing continuous growth and development in previous few years. The economists and analysts acknowledge the dramatic improve in the economy of China with the passage of time as the country has evolved from underdeveloped country to an emerging and developed world economy. Most of the countries and analysts have been looking towards China in order to provide financial support to different underdeveloped and developing countries. In this regard huge emphasis is on the Chinese investment in the African countries. Foreign direct investment has an important role to play in improving the economic condition of the country. Particularly if the country is developing then it could assist in improving and igniting investment in the country and therefore creating more employment and more opportunities for people to earn. In addition to this, foreign direct investment could help in growing the economy and improving the productivity of labour. However there are some disadvantages as well. African countries have been one of the most profitable and lucrative and this is the reason why several countries like United States, European Countries, Japan, China and several others have been making investment in African countries. Therefore this indicates that there are several opportunities in this part of the world. The foreign direct investment inflows of several African countries have been improving and the situation looks positive for this part of the world. With more investment, African developing countries would be able to improve their economies. ... 1.2. Background of the Research Study: China has been making investment in different parts of the world including African countries. Ethiopia and Nigeria are also among the two countries that China has eyed already for investment purpose. In both these countries, China has invested in different projects and some of the projects are regarding the infrastructure of the country and therefore China has already completed and has under process different projects with Nigeria and Ethiopia. In Nigeria, China has invested in different sectors including mining, banking sector, service industries, financial sector, manufacturing sector, real estate sector and several others. In addition to this, with Nigeria Chinese firms have formed joint ventures and together they are identifying, analysing and capitalising on the opportunities in the market. Some of the major projects that China has undergone with Nigerian firms are related to oil and gas exploration, service industry, financial services etc (Oyeranti, Babatunde, and Ogunkola, 2011). In comparison to this, in Ethiopia the Chinese government has helped the African nation in several ways as it has invested and helped them in improving the infrastructure of the country. China has already helped by giving financial support in the form of interest free loan to Ethiopia so that the government is able to develop the infrastructure and provide facilities to the people in the country. Also Chinese firms that have started their venture in Ethiopia have also helped the locals to improve their skills and competencies. China also has invested in different projects related to the infrastructure of Ethiopia in order to improve the situation of the

Love brief a case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Love brief a case - Essay Example The duo purchased recording equipment and recorded conversations with officials with a view to proving harassment and spoke of filing a law suit. It was the constant encounters with the authorities that ultimately gave way to a plan to kill certain officials. After Green informed the detective of his suspicions, he agreed to wear recording equipment in conversations with the appellant. Thereafter, Green turned over a recorded conversation he had with the appellant in which the plans were discussed. The threat was deemed serious and the FBI were brought in. Thereafter the appellant and his girlfriend were under surveillance. Identified victims were informed and some relocated out of fear. Subsequent conversations between Green and the appellant were recorded and the appellant and his girlfriend began purchasing equipment and making plans in furtherance of the plan. As the appellant and his girlfriend at a store purchasing the last of the equipment they were arrested. The appellant gav e his consent to a search of his home and shop in which equipment for making a bomb was discovered. Other equipment was discovered at the appellant’s shop. Although the appellant’s Miranda rights were read to him, he waived the right to remain silent and offered various explanations for the equipment found in his possession. Legal Issues: The appellant raised several issues on appeal. The evidential grounds related to a complaint that the was not enough evidence to convict him on the RICO charge. The appellant also argued that prior bad acts were improperly admitted into evidence and that allowing victim impact evidence deprived him of his right to a fair trial. Legal Reasoning: The Supreme Court of Ohio reasoned that victim impact evidence was properly admitted by the trial judge because it demonstrated the seriousness of the offences. The court also reasoned that the appellant’s claim of insufficient evidence on the RICO count was without

Human Resource Management Strategies and Planning Essay

Human Resource Management Strategies and Planning - Essay Example Keeping all the diversity of present day organizational structure in view, it is evident that the human resource directed towards the achievement of the strategic goals has to be expertly handled to get full dividends. With the present fluid market and competitive environment, it is evident that should not arise a situation in which the organization achieves its strategic objective without incorporating the changes to improve or simply bringing in line with the fluctuating environment. This fact in itself amplifies the HRM concept’s importance. HRM in such case will not only be restricted to selection and realigning of the human resource available. It should have to be closely monitored and implemented with the required changes. If there is any change required in the organization there are some fundamentals which are to be followed. Among them, the most essential are accessibility to knowledge about change by all the effected knowledge of the need for the change, acceptability for the change, resources made available to implement it and discipline in the human resource to implement it. With such a challenging requirement, it is essential that HRM be made effective and prudent enough to address it. With â€Å"change management† in mind, the HRM has to make an effort for managing the human resource in a manner that not only it is competent and fit enough to achieve the objectives but also should be flexible enough to incorporate the changes required.

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using a viral marketing Research Paper

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using a viral marketing strategy and enterprise 2.0 tools - Research Paper Example Moreover there are other enhanced functionalities of Web 2.0 that are comprised of open interaction with a prominence on Web-based community of users. Hence this aspect facilitates the people through more open sharing of information. We can classify this marketing term when we make use of it in  Blogs, wikis, and  Web services  are the entirely seen as part of Web 2.0 (Webopedia, 2011). Web 2.0 Tools and Technologies When we talk about web 2.0 technological aspects, we see a lot of Web 2.0 tools and technologies available in the market. In this scenario various online tools and platforms are available that help us a lot in defining how citizens can share their point of views, ideas, opinions, thoughts, data and information and knowledge. In this scenario, we have various examples of Web 2.0 tools such as weblogs, RSS, video-casting, collective bookmarking, podcasts; multimedia sharing sites and social networking. These tools are helpful for the organizations for attracting more and more people and services. But the most important aspect is that majority of Web 2.0 tools are free of cost and we can use them online. There are numerous Web 2.0 tools such as Blogger, Digg, Word press, Metacafe, Furl, Twitter and YouTube (Scott, 2011). Podcasting If someone wants to play video games, he/she can easily explore a podcast submission Web-site such as www.Podcast.net. By using this site a user might download an auditory review of a competition (game) to use it on their system (Scott, 2011). Blogs Blogs are basically sequential, online diary. We can comment or put forward any suggestion through Blogger or else Word press blog (Scott, 2011). RSS RSS is normally abbreviated as Really Simple Syndication. We can think RSS as a technique for distribution of frequently changing Web contents. However various blogs along with Internet publishers collect their content as an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed to permit people to subscribe it without any difficulty (Scott, 2 011) (Scott, 2011). Social Bookmarking The aspect of social bookmarking facilitates people to visualize and comment on the blog post. In this way a user can carry out this task by distributing it to some blog post to a social bookmarking site. In this scenario there is a well known example that is www. Del.icio.us. Moreover it is a normal viewpoint that social bookmarking sites are Web pages that are helpful in maintaining common lists of user- formed Internet bookmarks for displaying comment related aspects (Scott, 2011). Social Networking Social networking is a famous term that we hear every day in our normal life. Individuals who visit bookmark web-site for these ‘game assessment’ tags are probably used for our bookmark. Thus large number of individuals can easily explore our bookmark as well as make a comment on it of their choice. Consequently we will think ourselves to be a part of a group of persons who have a common interest in video games although we have examp le of an important social networking site like Digg (Scott, 2011). Viral Marketing Definition Viral marketing is a  term that is commonly used to discuss marketing strategy factors. It is also referred as a marketing methodology that allows and support people to pass along a market related message (MarketingTerms, 2011). The idea of viral marketing is a little bit different as it spreads a thought while its distribution actually

Reading journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Reading journal - Essay Example The government sees the covering of face using veil, mask, or any other such thing as a threat to national security. The author has raised two questions for this stance of French government. First question is that whether all French people wearing masks and helmets be punished or restricted the same way as in case of veils? Second question is that will the government force the Arab tourists to bare their faces? When these questions are there, why the government is creating such a fuss for a very less number of face covering women? The answers seem to be the cultural, historical, and political facts. In the French culture, conversations between strangers and eye contact hold a key place but Muslim women do not do this because of which the French values are at risk. Sartorial rejection of French values because of veils is another reason for the government to put a ban on face covering. The author sums up the article by stating the fact that France is a country where uncovered bodies, breasts, and buttocks are cheered and celebrated. Covering the face by veil does just opposite to that because of which the government cannot allow it in any case. The issues that the article summarized above raises for me or my classroom community are personal preference and culture. For example, if I am from a culture where covering the face is essential for a woman when she is in public, then what will I do when the government will not allow me to do so? Similarly, it can be my own choice to cover my face or not. Does not it go against the self-independence or self-freedom? Although such questions can rise in the mind of any person, but the issues associated with veils, such as, threat to security cannot be ignored. Female terrorists have been reported to be using veils and burkas while carrying out the terrorist attacks in different parts of the world. They can hide their identities using veils and can carry out any violent attempt on any one. This article by

Analysis of a Business Narrative Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Analysis of a Business Narrative - Essay Example There is renewed realization of the fact that organizations are continuously seeking a means of communication that synthesizes and not that which analyzes information (Sole & Wilson, 2004). Story telling offers an ideal answer to this quest, which explains the increasing use of narratives by many organizations today. Knowledge by itself serves no purpose to organizations. However it is by application that such knowledge becomes useful to an organization. Therefore, all stories in organizations have the basic intent to share knowledge, which helps in promoting effective actions in the behaviors of all the involved stakeholders or in achieving a specific task within the organization. One importance of narratives in organizations is in informing the clientele â€Å"who we really are† (Dunning, 2005). In this attempt, for the narrative to be effective, executives have to do something that may at first appear uncomfortable, which mostly involves talking about the failures involved and the down times that the company has experienced in coming to being (Dunning, 2005). Self-disclosure in narratives is one of the best ways to accomplish trust and to inspire others. For instance, in the narrative about Baidu invention, though the company does not narrate about their down times and failures, the narrative clearly indicates that the brand was formed with the Chinese people in mind and had specific tools that accommodated the diverse needs of the Chinese users. The company draws its identity from its intention to serve the Chinese clientele and thus was designed with this customer segment in mind. This is portrayed by the fact that the search engine recognizes 38 ways in which a Chinese can say I. Recognizing such user specific features defines a clear identity of the company in relation to its clientele. On the other hand, Google in its invention offers a captivating narrative of the failures and the downtimes that haunted the young company. For instance, BackRub w as discontinued for taking a high bandwidth than necessary, and that the young Google Company had to start from a garage and not an office. Stories that disclose failure and hardships within a company in its years of operations have a paradoxical effect of instilling trust and encourage openness among its audience (Dunning, 2005). Google offers a simple story about its startup, which elicits both humor and confidence in all their operations. Such a story enhances confidence, courage and inspires others within the company and outside to be confident in their operations. Narratives in organizations do share values and norms. The norms and values are passed through different generations within the organization, and are derived from the organization’s past to describe its intended future (Sole & Wilson, 2004). Leadership theories empathize on the need to offer a robust context and vision of a firm. This objective is better accomplished using stories that have more emphasis on the strong qualities of the organization in the past; narratives place organizational qualities in future’s context, while at the same time helping in identifying possible future opportunities in an organization (Sole & Wilson, 2004). For instance, during Baidu’s design and launch, the detailed knowledge of Chinese language and culture was instrumental in

What caused the French revolution Research Paper

What caused the French revolution - Research Paper Example On the other hand, â€Å"the nobility were exempt from taxation; the clergy were entitled to the privilege of taxing themselves, in the form of free gifts†¦ [and all these were for the] benefit of the privileged classes, and to the detriment of the people† (Mignet 4). Such prevailing conditions, which did not change for many generations, created a deep-rooted resentment in the minds of the common people. On 14th July 1789, few people from the working classes and a handful of soldiers took control of the famous prison of Bastille in Paris, which soon changed the entire history of France. A number of underlying factors triggered the seizing of Bastille, of which the chief ones were, persistently increasing taxes (the economic factor), the Old Regime (the social factor), and to a certain extent philosophical inspiration from Enlightenment theories and the American Revolution. However, the more apparent and immediate reasons that triggered the revolution were increasing price s of food items (bread), removal of third estate from the meeting hall and Louis XVI’s ordering of Swiss guards into Paris. Here the most important factors were the economic and social causes related to the Old Regime. France at that time was socially categorized into three different estates. The first estate comprised of high-ranking religious leaders or clergymen, who had the privilege of paying no taxes to the monarchic government. The second estate comprised of nobility that were primarily landowners and paid no direct taxes. The third estate, which comprised of the rest of the population (the urban middle class, the urban lower class, and the farmers), paid all the taxes. Thus, the ones that had the least, paid the maximum taxes (royal taxes, feudal taxes, and even work related taxes) and through this process lost almost half of what they earned as wages (Frey and Frey 2). During this time, France suffered a series of defeats against Britain in various battles, which pla ced a huge burden of debt on France. It caused a fall in public morale and increasing social unrest owing to the increasing economic pressure on the common people (pressure to increase the revenue to service the debt). The third estate that was already paying high taxes was further burdened with more, and with the second estate refusing to pay any form of taxes, the situation turned worse. With expenditure being more than the revenue, King Louis XVI decided to hold all reforms and did nothing to improve the worsening situation (Frey and Frey 3). Another factor that triggered the French revolution was the American Revolution, which showed how absolute monarchy could be overthrown and democracy established. The third important factor was the various philosophical teachings and writings of this era (the era of Enlightenment), such as, writings of John Locke, a philosopher whose works advocated freedom from persecution. An increasing number of French citizens became influenced by notion s of natural rights (humanitarianism, fraternity, liberty, and equality) and the rather ambiguous notions of State based Contract theory, as conceptualized by  Turgot, Diderot, Voltaire, other  social scientists and philosophers of  the Enlightenment era (Peyre, 63-65). The  American Revolution  showed that it was actually possible to use Enlightenment theories to make a government function effectively (Mackey, 57). Some of the American revolutionary leaders, such as,  Benjamin Franklin  had spent a great deal of time in Paris and mixed liberally with the intellectual society in France. Besides this, long-term contact between French army and American revoluti

Survey on Chocolate Essay Example for Free

Survey on Chocolate Essay A delicate tree, cacao is only grown in rain forests in the tropics, usually on large plantations, where it must be protected from wind and intense sunlight. The tree is harvested twice a year. Milk chocolate was invented in 1876 by a Swiss chocolatier, Daniel Peter (1836-1919) of Vevey, Geneva. Daniel Peter successfully combined chocolate with powdered milk to produce the first milk chocolate. Today, the finest chocolate is still made in Switzerland, and the consumption of milk chocolate far outweighs that of plain chocolate. Chocolate was introduced to the United States in 1765 when John Hanan brought cocoa beans from the West Indies into Dorchester, Massachusetts, to refine them with the help of Dr. James Baker. The first chocolate factory in the country was established there. †¢ Chocolate Glossary Unsweetened Chocolate: It is also called baking, plain or bitter chocolate. Since no sugar has been added to the chocolate it has a strong, bitter taste that is used in cooking and baking but is never eaten out of hand. Bittersweet Chocolate: Still dark, but a little sweeter than unsweetened. It is unsweetened chocolate to which sugar, more cocoa butter, lecithin, and vanilla has been added. It has less sugar and more liquor than semisweet chocolate but the two are interchangeable in baking. Bittersweet has become the sophisticated choice of chefs. It contains a high percentage (up to 75%) of cocoa solids, and little (or no) added sugar. Semisweet Chocolate: Slightly sweetened during processing, and most often used in frostings, sauces, fillings, and mousses. They are interchangeable in most recipes. The favorite of most home bakers. It contains a high percentage (up to 75%) of cocoa solids, and little (or no) added sugar. German Chocolate: Dark, but sweeter than semisweet. German chocolate is the predecessor to bittersweet. It has no connection to Germany; it was developed by a man named German. Milk Chocolate or Sweet Chocolate: Candy bar chocolate. Chocolate to which whole and/or skim milk powder has been added. Rarely used in cooking because the protein in the added milk solids interferes with the texture of the baked products. It contains approximately 20 percent cocoa solids. White Chocolate: Many people might argue that white chocolate is not really chocolate. It is made from sweetened cocoa butter mixed with milk solids, sometimes with vanilla added. Since cocoa butter is derived from the cocoa bean, then we can only conclude that real white chocolate is indeed chocolate. Conveture: A term generally used to describe high-quality chocolate used by professional bakers in confectionery and baked products. The word means to cover or to coat. It has more cocoa butter than regular chocolate. Its specially formulated for dipping and coating things like truffles. Chocolate of this quality is often compared to tasting fine wine because subtleties in taste are often apparent, especially when you taste a variety of semisweet and bittersweet couvertures with different percentages of sugar and chocolate liquor. †¢ How Chocolate Is Made Cacao trees are often interplanted with tall shade trees to protect them from direct sunlight. Pods grow on the trunks and larger branches of the trees and take five to six months to ripen. Fruit on the higher branches are harvested with blades on long handles and lower branches are cut with machetes. The pods are cut open with machetes to reveal between 20 to 40 beans each, surrounded by a mass of stickly, white pulp. Traditionally, this was done immediately after harvest; today, pods are sometimes first stored whole for a few days to prime them for fermentation. Fermenting begins when the beans come into contact with the air. Here, a workrt uses a stick to gauge the depth of the mass in a vara, or measuring box, to determine the wage of the harvester, before transferring it to the fermentation bin. During fermentation, the pulp disintegrates, producing steamy heat and a pervasive, yeasty, sour smell. It is at this point that the beans first develop thier complex characteristics. Drying of the beans after fermentation is done on slatted wooden trays in the open air. The beans are spread out evenly and raked periodically so that they dry uniformly. As the beans dry, their colors deepen, turning them into a carpet of sepia, umber, and mocha. Aeration of the dried beans during storage is important to prevent the formation of mold. A worker tosses beans with a shovel to expose them evenly to the air. Grading of the beans is done mechanically at the larger farms; smaller producers do it by hand. From baskets, the dried beans are transferred to burlap bags and transported to local selling stations, where they may be bought by large companies for export. Arriving at the chocolate mills, the beans undergo a thorough cleaning, followed by the roasting which brings out the particular flavor of each variety. Throughout this process, a constant and exact temperature must be maintained. Correct roasting is exceedingly important since under-roasting leaves a raw taste and over-roasting results in a high pungent or even burnt flavor. Now comes the cooling, shelling, and winnowing, from which the cocoa beans emerge cleaned and ready for blending. This important process requires expert knowledge and skill. Not only must the beans be selected which will produce the best chocolate flavor, but uniformity of blend must be preserved year in and year out. After the blending, the cocoa beans are milled or slowly ground between great heated millstones. Under heat and tremendous pressure, the cocoa butter melts and mixes with other parts of the beans forming the ruddy chocolate liquor. The fragrant chocolate odor is now noticeable. The liquor is then treated according to the product to be made. For unsweetened chocolate, the liquor is poured into molds and cooled rapidly in refrigerating rooms. Then the cacao emeres in familiar form, as bars of chocolate, ready to be wrapped and sold. †¢ Storing Chocolate Keep the chocolate in a cool, dry place. Chocolate is best kept at around 68 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit, the temperature of a pantry or dark cabinet. It has a shelf life of approximately one year. The normal air conditioned room provides adequate protection. Freezing chocolate is not recommended; when you freeze it and then thaw it out, it will have a greater tendency to bloom. NOTE: Bloom is the white, filmy reside that can develop on chocolate. This usually happens when the chocolate is stored in a warm place, but can happen when you freeze it. Chapter-IV: Research Methodology A)PRIMERY DATA :- As we are doing the Survey of Chocolate we have found that there many people don’t like to eat Chocolate due to various reasone and there are many people who don’t want to shift to another brand of Chocolate due to there taste. There are also some type of people who has interested in chocolate but they can not effort if bcoz of high price for it but some people for this survey they have suggested to 1. To reduce some price of chocolate 2. To make diet chocolate 3. To make spicy chocolate B)SECONDERY DATA:- Adventages :- †¢ IT makes Refreshment †¢ IT reduces calostrol by eating it 2_3 times a week †¢ IT is often classified as a non –healthy food or normally calledtunk food †¢ Dark chocolate is beneifits to the body by medical and scientific reasearcher †¢ dark chocolate may help to avoid heart disease due to presencer of antioxidants Disadventages. †¢ Chocolate is a calorie rich food with a high sugar and fat content, so regular consumption of chocolate requires reducing the caloric intake of other foods. †¢ Chocolate contains a variety of substances, some of which have addictive properties e. g sugar, theobromine and caffeine which are stimulating and mood elevating and phenethylamine which can cause endorphin releases in the brain †¢ chocolate has been linked to nervous tension as well as migraine headaches because it contains compounds known as vasoactive amines that can dilate brain vessels triggering headaches in susceptible individuals. †¢ It has high levels of arginine which is required in the replication of the herpes virus. Chocolate should be avoided by those with active or recurring herpes infections.

The International Context For Healthcare Policy Social Work Essay

The International Context For Healthcare Policy Social Work Essay This assignment is done to explore the international context for healthcare policy and orgs of healthcare. It also helps us to understand contemporary issues and promotion of healthcare. The political, cultural and social issues that help to determine healthcare policy are also analyzed in this assignment. Our 1st task is to analyze approaches to healthcare policy formation in some international context and here the National Drug Preference Alliance organization is chosen for assessment. The goal of this organization is to save the addicted ones and to promote effective policies, preventing, giving education and knowledge regarding the drugs consumption and its problems caused in society. This organizations track contains how to approach the study of health care organizations from different angles of theoretical perspectives, levels of analysis, and methods. Organizational theory tries to create a healthier nation and is seen as involving the whole of the community, basically it is a n interdisciplinary course of study. Rooted in sociology and social psychology, these healthcare policy approaches developed different variety of theories and methods for the study of organizations. Considering approaches, social and political science provides theories to analyze power relations and decision-making in all kinds of organizations that are held in United Kingdom. Next task is to assess the influence of funding on policy formation in NDPA organization. Within any of the health policy field, there are chances for formation of healthcare policy. Without creation of a policy, the organization is not worthy enough for the society. A growing literature is trying to understand the various responses of policy makers to research; they explain why certain research findings pave their way into policy and why some others are effectively ignored. It is necessary to fund the policy formation. Else the formation of policy will simply be a dream or just in theoretical papers. The members of the organization must be ready to fund the policy formation. They have to get the help of politicians, social workers, the public, technicians, etc. and they must have some members among themselves who are able to fund for the policy formation. They can also provide fund from the public, can take loans, charity funds, etc. for the formation of healthcare policy. The gover nment is always interested in funding for NDPA organization as it has taken a great role in saving the society from drug addicts and NDPA organization has become a crucial organization for the both the society and the government. Next task is to evaluate healthcare policy in NDPA organization. With the awareness spread by NDPA organization, the government of the country has made drugs as illegal. It has been declared that the use of drugs is illegal and can lead to the imprisonment of the user along with penalty.it has been estimated that 22% of passengers and 18% of drivers who have been involved in fatal accidents have taken illegal drugs. This statistics shows the importance and urgency that is required for the formation of policy in England. The police in the nation are always engaged in testing policies. It is also declared by the government that drug takers harm no one but themselves. The legislature is spending much part of their time for freeing the nation from the addicts. They have led the focus of government towards drugs. In todays life the impression is that everyone is into drugs. Nowadays drugs have been considered as a style of living and Britain is leading in this style. It is considered as t odays style accessory. The government has taken many policies to reduce the consumption of drugs. Many awareness programs have been conducted in each and every part of the country. Retreat centers are open throughout the nation for helping the drug victims. In this assignment next we have to assess the impact of culture on healthcare. Culture can be defined is the way people live. It is natural that culture affects everything we think and do, from how we look after our elders, to whom we are allowing to be a healer, and to what we do when our children are not feeling well. Culture plays an important role in our lives. Like our genes shape our health, so does culture does. The way we define ourselves culturally influences what we will do for others health. So it can be understood that a good health care provider recognizes all these facts and tries to learn about the different cultures of his or her patients. It is not possible to summarize the cultural behavior of patients. It varies from one patient to other. Culture is a vast area. There is a variation that exists among individual members of a cultural group. Learning about general health beliefs and customs of an area would prove to be good while dealing with the patients of that are a. It also provides the health cares with experience. Next is assessing the impact of society with healthcare. Society and healthcare are related deeply together. Any society with ill people wont lead to development of society. If the society consists of healthy people, then they can lead the society and their nation towards development. Even though Britain is one of the greatest developed nations in the world, it is now the biggest drug user in Europe. Due to this addiction towards drugs different kinds of social and economic disaster can happen. For those drugs which no remedial measures were taken. Reducing its effect requires commitment from the area such as social, political, and economic across industries and governments and also through unique public-private partnerships. These three above mentioned factors force the governing and relevant non-governmental authorities on stream of continual decisions. Not depending on if the need for decisions is adequately there or addressed, unnecessary issues can promote the growth of drug add icts. Nowadays strategies were developed with regard to the research and development that is for preservations of pathogens and how they preserved. To the enhancement of preservation the wellbeing of researchers and the peoples around them these steps were taken and also to ensure the integrity of the surrounding environment. Next we have to analyze the attitudes towards healthcare. The organization also deals with other important aspects like providing care for older patients, teamwork in teaching process and making awareness and giving training to new comers in the organization. They provide motivation to the drug addicts to live in a normal way and they motivate them to join the organization and save other victims of the drug. To determine the attitudes of healthcare and healthcare workers baseline surveys are conducted. As a result they obtain attitudes of public towards healthcare and they can assess and analyze the progress of their work. Most students in each group of the organization profession agreed that the disciplinary teamwork approach benefits patients and tries to effectively utilize the time for any productive purpose. Several studies conducted have estimated that physicians attitudes towards prevention, cure and barriers to the delivery of preventive health strategies are effective. All t hat they require is the cooperation of the people, so that they can change the face of the drowning world. A standard can be considered as a level of quality against which performance can be measured. These are essential in healthcare sector to ensure safe and effective practice. Developing and maintaining the quality of services provided by the organization is a major objective for those involved in the planning, provision, delivery and review of health and social care services since there exists unacceptable variation in the quality of services provided, including timeliness of delivery and the ease of access. Next we have to evaluate the cultural and social impacts on and attitudes towards healthcare in NDPA organization. The organization is highly influenced by cultural impacts. They study the different cultures that exist in the current society and work accordingly to save the society from the hands of drugs. Learning about general health beliefs and customs of an area would prove to be good while dealing with the patients of that area. It also provides the health cares with experience. In case of social impacts we have to consider a variety of facts. Drug addiction the cause for most of the economic and social disruption or disaster. Factors such as political, social and economic make governments and relevant non-governmental authorities upon continuous stream of decisions. NDPA organization has held a great attitude towards healthcare sector. They have taken the initiative to save the people of the nation from dying. They have always held appositive attitude towards healthcare. Depend ing upon the interest of public that makes some way into social organization and decision policy are made. All that they require is the cooperation of the people, so that they can change the face of the drowning world. Net we have to analyze how healthcare policy is translated into practice in the organization. Translating the healthcare policy clinical practice is a valuable initiative for services for health so that the care given to the patient is efficient, cost-effective, and improves patient satisfaction. The studies show that on implementing and disseminating protocols, clinical practice guidelines. The objective is to identify the factors that influence healthcare and to present key international studies on them. Existing system for healthcare was examined to the formation of a plan for the research in future. As a result, various methods of healthcare policy translation are described like clinical pathways, clinical practice guidelines and protocols, a model for incorporating research based on normal and usual questions, partnerships between organizations, and implementation strategies that allow the translation of policies to practice. A lot of fund is required in translating policies to practice which are acquired by the organization in various ways as discussed above. Future research is needed on translating health care policy in the different areas like the best theoretical approaches, barriers, good strategies for nurses , the quality of empowerment approaches, the consequences of international collaboration, the mentors value etc. Next task is to analyze the organizations involved in health care in a national and international context. One of such an organization is the NDPA organization. Finance needed for the health care in developing countries is created by the countries themselves. International health organizations in the developed countries only provide less than 5% of the total needs for healthcare in the developing world. It is important to find that the percentage of costs needed for the healthcare donated by the developed world is greater than the 5% average in the countries which are very poorer. Local health professionals are getting expert technical advice and training from international health organizations. These organizations produce the major documents in tropical health they also produce the most important guidelines for health care workers. Other international organizations in healthcare sector are World Health Organization (WHO) which is the premier international organization for health. Th e Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) works as the regional field office for WHO. The World Bank is the next major intergovernmental agency related to the UN related to healthcare. The United Nation Childrens Fund (UNICEF) spends the most of its program budget on health care. The United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) allocated $141 million, out of a total budget for field expenditures of $1 billion, to health, education, employment. Its major health concerns are AIDS, maternal and child nutrition, and excessive maternal mortality. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) gives health aid to war and natural disaster victims. Next task is to analyze the structure of healthcare delivery in NDPA organization. How health care is organized and delivered in a national context is dealt with the structural delivery of healthcare system. It includes many practical barriers like accessibility in terms of social and transport issues, funding issues, private health insurance cost, cost of treatment, safety issues, for example, in war, conflict or natural disaster areas. The organization has a chief member or director who controls all the functioning of the organization. He will be having subordinate that control sub organizations. All together they function effectively in a practical manner to achieve their goals. It exists within all levels of healthcare organizations. Beyond directives importance is given to improving health status. Next task is to assess the practical barriers that are found in any health organization like NDPA for their health care policy. Healthcare delivery systems are filled with barriers to health communication in all the levels. Linguistic and language barriers in health communication sectors must be overcome. It exists within all levels of healthcare organizations. Language barriers influences mostly while access within a healthcare delivery system that is access, quality of care, health outcomes and self-efficiency especially. Studies that try to create standards and methods for developing information of the patients which is usable by most patients are needed. The studies must address both the written information and the simplification so that it can match the reading skills of patients and also its cross-cultural application. The major health communication loophole in the structure of care as it feels to patients lies in what is incorrectly termed linguistic appropriateness which alwa ys takes into consideration translation of language and other elements of health communication are not taken. There are mainly cultural barriers that include health beliefs and behaviors and practitioners beliefs and behaviors. Next are geographic barriers that include rural health professional shortage areas. Then comes organizational barriers. Another barrier is socioeconomic barriers that include poor education, lack of health insurance, inability to pay money out of pocket. The national and international socio political issues that are always present in promotion of health care is discussed here. They are considered as crucial issues, since sometimes they oppose the functioning of healthcare organization. Political factors deal with public health access and allocation of resources, prevention programs access, treatment related topmost-exposure interventions and prophylaxis. Impact is made by international political factors in including some educational programs to detection of support, evaluation and response, also limited to information technology and telecommunications infrastructure to create links with highly risky places of the world. Migrations of people, increased trade and travel, food consumption patterns, sexual practices, new medical practices, human conflict, and the deliberate use of pathogens for hostile purposes includes the social factors, these are behavioral activities. Economic factors arise from lack of financial investment in resear ch and development of processes; produce certain tasks such as training, procedures, technology etc. . Factors that related to economy constitute lack of support for a large number of programs that are beneficial such as public-private partnerships, market incentives to development of interventions. Next task is to asss impact of international campaigns and national policies on the demand for healthcare. Various international campaigns are conducted in United Kingdom to secure the creation of a universal health care system. Campaign organizers used a framework to organize thousands of people in support of universal health care. In response to this effort, the state legislature passed health care legislation that incorporates human rights principles. It provides a framework for universal health care. By forming international campaigns it is possible to make people aware about the international issues that are possible in health care area. International campaigns and national policies allow the natives to understand the importance of health care and they make people work against the activities that affect the health of people. The organization has adopted international human rights policy for the betterment of the people. It has been the main topic of their campaign. They also ana lyses the health care reform bill. Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign (HCHR) was a campaign conducted in association with the organization. By framing health care as a human right, the center organized thousands of states that had no prior involvement with political campaigning. This led the center making it possible to change the political environment and force the state legislature to enact rules that will lead to universal health care. Next task is to evaluate the role of health promotion in determining healthcare service demand in a national setting. Health care industry takes the nations major financial resources. For facilitating evidence of quality controls and improvements it has come under immense pressure. Current health care consumer is now better educated and the best informed with increased knowledge. Impact of patient perception is the one aspect of health care quality that is mostly being recognized. Even though it depends more on healthcares service aspects it also correlates very well with health care quality objective measures. Ultimately delivered quality of health care can be dependent on ability of the health care organization to satisfy demand of the customer for convenience and information. The health care service sector is complex with multiple faces and different phases of organization. Health care system management has been relatively not sufficient before, making customers on the outside of the design of the product, incoherent and supply driven, development and also the delivery process. Many physicians think that the current emphasis on quality is not really aimed at improving health of the patient. Nowadays there is a change to an organization model in which the customer has importance and they influences every function and managers must look forward and make use of it and be instrumental in establishing a change within the entire system to focus on the quality. Next task is identifying contemporary issues in health care of the organization. Nowadays whooping cough cases rises in England. As ministers pass the buck and applications for taking children into care continue to rise, councils problems just keep growing. There were volunteers translating health messages from English into local languages and thus providing a vital service for Non-Government Organizations and freeing up thousands of extra dollars to be used for medical aid. There are many policy issues that are contemporary in the financing and delivery of health care services. The role of bureaucratic agencies, legislative committees, interest groups and major health care policies are analyzed for obtaining information such as how to deal with the issues of the health care sector. Problems that related to quality of death and life gets its importance. This is broadly classified to include infant mortality, AIDS policy, occupational safety, government regulation of consumer products , and fiscal issues such as national health insurance, prospective payment, and the rationing of health care. More attention will be given to the legislative and political aspects of these various policy areas, ethical issues will also be considered because they are unavoidable. Next task is evaluating the impact of these issues on national and international policy discussed above. There are growing dependence between security, health policy and foreign policy so that with developments in these fields having much importance for health in the United Kingdom and globally. The major issue in foreign policy was always health so as its prominence increases, the need of assessment is important if it is appropriately prioritised and how on the national basis the government interacts with business and civil society. Efforts to improve preparedness for acting against all the activities that affects the health of society and policies for tobacco control provides examples where health is highly mixed with high politics. Since 1th September 2001, health and development agenda has also been widely linked with the international policy priorities of preventing state failure and improving global security. The main security issue was become the health and foreign policy for a range of actors both inside and outside government. Policy-makers before think that rather distant fields of security, health and foreign policy must try to consider each others work as they are met by the play of issues at the global level. Implications of globalisation for health now are considered as the international issue. Next task is to evaluate practical responses to contemporary issues that are discussed above. The main method to avoid all the issues is to create public awareness among people. They must be aware of the hazards that might occur due to activities that lead to lesser health of people in society. They must try to make other people aware about the problems that might occur due to careless living of their lives. Health care policy managements must be created in every area of the nation to administer the health aspects in those areas. Current international and national healthcare issues are identified and they must be treated accordingly for the betterment of the society. The current health care consumer is now better educated and the best informed with increased knowledge. International political factors can have an Impact made by international political factors includes limited or non-existent educational activities to support identification and verification, detection, and response. In this assignment a research related to the organization in health care sector is conducted. The political, social and cultural issues are identified. Analyzed the importance of health care policy. It helped to critically assess the policies and aspects of the organization.

Spanish Schools :: Don Quijote Enforex Schools

January, 17 th , 2007 Dear Respected Industry Association, Language School and/or Agent: The recent default by Amerispan Unlimited, Inc. on debts owed by it to language schools, and the related â€Å"seizure† of certain Amerispan assets by Don Quijote USA, Inc., has caused great consternation among language schools, agents and associations in the language travel industry. Although it is not yet certain as to the total amount of money owed to language schools across the globe by Amerispan, preliminary indications are that it exceeds $500,000. Amerispan Unlimited, Inc. has stated, â€Å"We will not be able to pay for any unpaid students who have studied at your school, nor do we have the assets or funds to remit to you on account of your claims against AmeriSpan.† Don Quijote USA, Inc. has stated, â€Å"we are not liable for those students who started their course before January 1, 2007.† Neither AmeriSpan nor Don Quijote has even hinted that they are considering an equitable and fair plan to compensate the schools for their losses. Instead, indications are that a few select schools, perhaps those already part of, or those selected to be part of, the Don Quijote – ENFOREX network, are being offered special terms and agreements, while others have been left wondering if they will receive any compensation at all. We believe this sets a very dangerous precedent for our industry. If this situation is allowed to stand, what will prevent other agencies from defaulting to language schools in the future? What will happen to small language schools with little or no financial resources? If allowed to stand, the current scenario is certain to damage the trust between schools and agents, jeopardizing the bedrock sales channel of our industry. We are writing to inform you that we believe we have a possible solution to this current crisis, one that we believe will prove to be a win-win solution for everyone involved, directly or indirectly, including Don Quijote, USA, Inc. To accomplish this end, we have created AULAS – (Association of Unpaid Language Schools). The mission of this association is to ensure that a fair and equitable solution is arrived at with respect to Amerispan Unlimited's default on its obligations to language schools worldwide. We will reach out to the 40+ language schools that have been adversely affected, and ask each to submit a verified statement as to the total amount owed to them.

William Shakespeares Presentation of the Two Pairs of Lovers in Much A

William Shakespeare's Presentation of the Two Pairs of Lovers in Much Ado About Nothing 'Much Ado About Nothing' would have been pronounced 'Much Ado About Noting' in Shakespeare's time. Noting would infer seeing how things appear on the surface as opposed to how things really are. This provides an immediate clue as to how the play and the presentation of the story of the two pairs of lovers would be received by an audience of the time, living as they did in a patriarchal society which was based on social conventions and appearances. It can also be taken as an initial comment by Shakespeare about that society and its values and moral codes. Modern audiences, however, live in a more sexually egalitarian society. Although appearances are still important, values are more dependent on self-analysis and self-knowledge. It is significant that the story of Hero and Claudio, the first of the pairs of lovers, is one that Elizabethan audiences would have probably been familiar with. Ariosto and also Spenser in the 'Faerie Queene' had presented this love story as a tale of chivalry and high morality. Therefore the audiences of the time would be familiar with the conventional characters of Claudio and Hero. Hero displays all the qualities the Elizabethan audience would have admired in a woman. She knows her place in society. Her father is there to be obeyed, and she herself recognises how she should be punished were the charges against her proved to be true, ' O my father Prove you that any man with me conversed à ¢? ¦Ãƒ ¢? ¦ Refuse me, hate me, torture me to death.' There is an absence of dialogue b... ... upon flouting conventions as discussed. In 'Much Ado About Nothing', one may argue that Shakespeare decided to have two sets of lovers to provide the audience with contrasting perspectives on similar situations. One may also argue that the two contrast between what was expected at the time against the unconventional. In both cases Shakespeare's presentation of the relationships between these two pairs of lovers implies criticism of his shallow society and its conventions. Perhaps he set the story in Italyas he may not have wished to upset his benefactors at home. Modern audiences may only perhaps gain an appreciation of this element in 'Much Ado About Nothing' as a study of Elizabethan society. Their empathy and interest may therefore be based to a greater degree in the characterisation of Benedick and Beatrice.

The Important of Semantics Knowledge in Teaching English

Speech act theory and the analysis of conversations. Sequencing and interpretation in pragmatic theory Jacques Moeschler Department of Linguistics University of Geneva 1. Introduction Conversation has recently become a focus of interest for speech act theory and several proposals have been formulated concerning the possible extension of speech act theory to the analysis of conversation. This debate (cf. Searle et al. 1992) has to be interpreted as a reactive move rather than as a natural extension of the domain of speech act theory.Nevertheless, this reaction, either sceptical (cf. Searle 1992) or optimistic (cf. Dascal 1992, Vanderveken 1992 and 1994), has brought interesting issues which contrast with the various attempts by linguists at extending speech act theory to the domain of discourse1 . The first purpose of this paper is to explicit the divergence between philosophers and linguists about the possible extension of speech act theory to discourse analysis. This paper has anoth er purpose : it also deals with the possible domain of pragmatic theory with respect to discourse analysis.I shall argue that the main purpose of discourse analysis is the definition of necessary and sufficient 2 MOESCHLER conditions for sequencing and interpretating utterances in discourse. I claim that these two aspects of discourse (sequencing and interpretation) are intrinsically related and cannot be accounted for independently from each other. I claim furthermore that speech act theory cannot give any insight into the sequencing and interpretation problems, because speech act theory is neither a theory of interpretation (it is a theory of meaning) nor a global theory of action.Finally I show how a radical pragmatic theory (in the Gricean sense) accounts for the sequencing and interpretation problems. 2 2. Speech act theory and conversation There is a common sense argument shared by philosophers and linguists in favour of the possible extension of speech act theory to discourse analysis. This argument is the following : Speech acts are not isolated moves in communication : they appear in more global units of communication, defined as conversations or discourses.Vanderveken (1994, 53) gives an explicit version of this thesis when asserting that speakers perform their illocutionary acts within entire conversations where they are most often in verbal interaction with other speakers who reply to them and perform in turn their own speech acts with the same collective intention to pursue with success a certain type of discourse. Thus, above all, the use of language is a social form of linguistic behavior.It consists, in general, of ordered sequences of utterances made by several speakers who tend by their verbal interactions to achieve common discursive goals such as discussing a question, deciding together how to react to a certain situation, negociating, consulting or more simply to exchange greetings and talk for its own sake. For terminological convenience, I will call such ordered sequences of speech acts conversations. SPEECH ACTS AND CONVERSATION 3 The basis of this argument is that conversation is made of sequences of speech acts.This certainly is a plausible theoretical claim3 , but gives rise to a certain number of objections, raised mainly by Searle (1992) in his skeptical argument. These objections concern essentially the possible relations between questions and answers in conversation, and can be stated as follows. First of all, questions are defined in speech acts theory as requests for information, and as such impose representative acts as replies. But this cannot be correct, since a reply may have another illocutionary point (as a promise) if the question is a request for a promise.Secondly, certain questions require a directive as a reply, and not a representative, when the question contains a modal auxiliary verb (cf. the exchange : â€Å"Shall I marry Sally ? † – â€Å"Yes, do†/ â€Å"No, donâ€⠄¢t† / â€Å"*Yes, you shall† / â€Å"*No, you shall not†). The third counter-example is given by indirect reponses, which do not satisfy syntactic conditions, although the answer is pragmatically appropriate. To these three arguments, we could add an even more embarrassing one : answer is not a specific illocutionary force, which could be analysed by the seven components of illocutionary force (cf.Searle & Vanderveken 1985). Answer is a functional discursive qualification, but certainly not the semantic definition of a speech act type. These objections make explicit an important difference between the structure of illocutionary acts and the structure of conversation. In speech act theory, and more precisely in illocutionary logic, illocutionary force is decomposed into seven components, which are all necessary conditions for the successful and non defective accomplishment of illocutionary acts.These components (cf. Searle & Vanderveken 1985, 12-20) are the illoc utionary point, the degree of strength of the illocutionary point, the mode of achievement of the illocutionary point, the propositional content conditions of the illocutionary act, the preparatory conditions of the illocutionary act, the sincerity conditions of the illocutionary act, and finally the degree of strength of the sincerity conditions. That predictions 4 MOESCHLER bout the sequencing in conversation are difficult to come by follows from the fact that the internal structure of illocutionary acts (and more specifically the set of conditions for success) cannot determine the set of possible replies for any type of illocutionary act. By contrast, discourse analysis, while specifying sequential relations in discourse between speech acts, does not constrain sequencing in conversation depending on the set of possible components of illocutionary force. The constraints are not structural, in the sense of speech act theory, they are on the contrary functional.This means that the b asic structures of conversation (exchanges) are made of lower order conversational units (moves) which carry functional properties. If speech act theory has been used so extensively within this paradigm of discourse analysis4 , it is because the functional properties associated with speech acts as units of meaning have been exported to speech acts as units of communication and discourse. This has several consequences for the description of speech acts within discourse analysis. The first consequence is that the structure of conversation is not only based on a hierarchy of constituency, but is also functional.To take a classical discourse model (cf. Sinclair & Coulthard 1975), discourse categories (exchange, move, and act) are defined functionally. For instance, an act of ELICITATION is part of a move of ELICITATION, which governs an exchange of ELICITATION. Thus all discourse constituents receive a communicative function, that is, an interactive meaning. But we are here far from the conventional and semantic-meaning defining speech acts in speech act theory5 . As we have just noticed, discourse analysis supposes principles of constituency which allow interpretive or functional inheritance.If we assume, as above, that an ELICITATION is a two-place predicate relating utterance-units and discourse-units, we must assume too that the functional properties of the smallest discourse units (acts) are inherited by the larger constituents (moves and exchanges). This principle is structurally identical to the projection principle in generative grammar : a phrase is a maximal projection of a lexical head (for SPEECH ACTS AND CONVERSATION 5 instance NP is a maximal projection of a N); in discourse, then, an exchange is thus functionally a maximal projection of an act.The principle of functional projection is not a necessary consequence of discourse analysis. Another classical discourse model, the Geneva hierachicalfunctional model (cf. Roulet et al. 1985, Moeschler 1985, M oeschler 1989a) makes a different claim : functional values do not stand in a one-to-one relationship with discourse structures. In this model, there is a basic difference between rules of discourse formation and principles of functional interpretation. The structural dimension is based on the following rules of formation : R1 Units of type Exchange are made of units of type Move.R1’ Exchanges are composed of at least two Moves. R2 Units of type Move are made of units types Act, Move or Exchange. R2’ Moves composed by a single Act are well-formed. R2†Moves composed by an Act and another discourse-unit type (Move or Exchange) are well-formed. R2†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Moves composed by a single Exchange are ill-formed. Thus, the following discourse structures are well-formed : (1) a. b. c. > where E = exchange, M = move, A = act The structures in (1a-c) are the hierarchical representations corresponding to the following short exchanges in (2)-(4): (2) A B A B A Are you re ady ?We can leave. Are you ready ? Why ? We must leave now. (3) 6 B (4) A B A B A MOESCHLER Okay, but when I am in a hurry, I always forget something. Are you ready ? Because we must leave now. Yes I am Good. Let’s go Let’s go Okay We can represent the bracketting structures given in (1) by the following tree-schemata : (5) (a) E M2 A We can leave. M1 A Are you ready ? (b) E E M2 M M1 M1 M2 M M1 A A A A A A A A A A A A A Are you ready ? Why ? We must leave now. Okay, but when I am in a hurry, I always forget something. (c) M1 E M2 M3 E M2 M3Are you ready ? Because we must leave now. Yes I am Good Let's go Let’s go Okay These structures mean that in (5a) the exchange is made of two moves both composed of a single act, in (5b) the exchange is composed of two moves, the second of which is made of an exchange with two moves, and a move composed by an act and a move, and in (5c) the three-move exchange contains in the first move an exchange made of three moves. SPEEC H ACTS AND CONVERSATION 7 What are the functional counterparts of the structural aspects of conversational discourse ?There are two dimensions of functional properties associated with the structural device : the first dimension is a restricted inheritance principle, and the second, a general procedure for assigning interpretation to discourse constituents. The first principle is a principle of functional composition : Principle of functional composition (i) Constituents of exchanges bear illocutionary functions. (ii) Constituents of moves bear interactive functions. Definitions (i) Illocutionary functions are of three types : initiative, reactive, and reactive-initiative. (ii) Interactive functions are of two types : directive, and subordinate.The first move of an exchange (M1) is always initiative; the final move of an exchange is always reactive. For instance M2 in the exchange is the reactive move, and M1 is the initiative move. An inserted move (for example M2 in the structure ) is a reactive-initiative move. A directive (D) constituent is of the type move or act, and contains the act from which the move receives its illocutionary function; a subordinate (constituent (of rank act, move or exchange) is cancellable, and generally completes, argues for, or justifies the main or directive constituent of the move. We can now ive the complete hierachical-functional structures given in (1) and (5) as (6) and (6’) : (6) a. b. c. 8 MOESCHLER where E = exchange, sE = subordinate exchange, M = move, sM = subordinate move, dM = directive move, sA = subordinate act, dA = directive act (6’) (a) E M2 dA We can leave. M1 dA Are you ready ? (b) E M2 dM sE M1 M1 M 2 dM dA dA dA sA sA dA dA sA dA dA dA dA dA Are you ready ? Why ? We must leave now. Okay, but when I am in a hurry, I always forget something. (c) M1 E M2 M3 sE M1 M2 M3 Are you ready ? Because we must leave now. Yes I am Good Let's go Let’s go OkayThe second functional counterpart of the stu ctural device is a procedure of interpretation assignment. It is not sufficient to have functional values assigned to discourse constituents; required is also to have a procedure governing the assignment of a functional interpretation to each constituent. In other words, the types of structures given in (1), (5) or (6) are syntactic representations of discourse; we need in addition a semantics, which can for instance assign to the hierarchical-functional structures given in (6) the following functional interpretations : SPEECH ACTS AND CONVERSATION 9 (7) a. b.