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38 Letters of the Alphabet

38 Letters of the Alphabet 38 Letters of the Alphabet 38 Letters of the Alphabet By Maeve Maddox Daniel’s post on the letter Z certainly had the readership hopping on April 1! Most readers quickly got the joke and joined in on the April foolery, but a few seemed to be really annoyed with us. The comments are still coming in and make enjoyable reading. A â€Å"perfect† alphabet would have one letter for every speech sound. As everybody knows, and nearly everybody loves to point out, English does not enjoy a perfect alphabet. Of the 26 letters in the English alphabet, only 14 stand for a single speech sound: b, d, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, t, v, w, z If we want to think about getting rid of â€Å"unnecessary† letters, the best candidate is not z, but c. C has no sound of its own, but is an alternate spelling for the sounds /k/ and /s/ as in camp and cent. The next least necessary letter is q. Alone it represents the sound /k/. With a u it stands for the sound /kw/: Iraq, queen. Of the five remaining consonant letters, f, g, s, x, and y, four represent distinct sounds of their own, but can also represent consonant sounds already represented by other letters: f: fun, of g: go, giraffe s: sin, miser x: fox, xylophone The letter y can stand for either a consonant or a vowel: y: yellow, gym As for the vowel letters a, e, i, o, and u, the sounds they represent number at least 12 (In American speech, the vowel sounds of father and on are the same): a: at, ape, father e: Ed, be i: in, ice o: on, no, to u: up, uke, put That takes care of the 26 letters of the English alphabet, but that’s not the end of the story. Much of the confusion regarding English spelling comes from pretending that English is spelled with the 26 single letters of the alphabet. The truth is, we use letter combinations as extra letters to represent speech sounds that are not represented by any of the single letters. Here are 12 combinations that represent distinct speech sounds: ow: cow oi: oil aw: law ar: car or: for er: her sh: ship wh: wheel ch: church th: thin, this ng: sing si; vision Any way you cut it, English spelling is complicated, but knowing about the combinations that represent sounds not in the alphabet can clear up a lot of the confusion. As for getting rid of any of the letters, the Defense of Z on April 1 shows how popular that idea would be! NOTE: Alternate spellings exist for the sounds /ow/, /oi/, /aw/, /er/, and /sh/. Alternate spellings also exist for many of the sounds represented by the single letters. The subject of alternate spellings is best reserved for another post. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Spelling category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:7 Classes and Types of Phrases8 Writing Tips for BeginnersSupervise vs. Monitor

Tragic Dramas of Oedipus Rex and Antigone Essay

Tragic Dramas of Oedipus Rex and Antigone - Essay Example It was up to the playwrights to teach the people how to behave and the rules of society within the metropolis. While many of the plays were comedies, demonstrating the more ridiculous consequences that could be experienced if individuals did not abide by the established codes of conduct, others were dramas, revealing much more serious potentialities that could affect more than just the average citizen. As they were presented, these dramas demonstrated the degree to which the entire culture could be disrupted if someone in power chose to break the rules. Some of these dramas have survived into the modern day because they had such a profound effect on their audiences and told stories about mythological or legendary characters and events. Dramas such as Oedipus Rex and Antigone are good examples of this kind of tragic drama. To qualify as a tragic drama, Aristotle identified three main factors that were present in every tragic drama and which were essential to the plot development. Thes e factors were referred to as hamartia, anagnorisis and peripeteia. The term hamartia commonly refers the idea of a tragic flaw (Aristotle, 1282). It is the concept that a noble person will fail due to some inherent flawed portion of his character which causes him to engage in a specific behavior pattern or make an error in judgment rather than due to the manipulations of a vengeful god or as a result of violating the gods' laws. Although the audience might see it, even they are not necessarily supposed to recognize the hero's mistake or misbehavior at the time he commits it, but it will eventually become clear through the action of the play that without this mistake, the tragedy would not have happened. This eventual realization of the initial mistake on the part of the character is what is referred to as anagnorisis (Aristotle, 1283). In Aristotelian terms, this word essentially means recognition. In most cases, this realization occurs suddenly for the character in a kind of epiph any moment when the hero finally understands that they brought this fate on themselves. This epiphany can also shed light on the true nature of all the characters within the play, sometimes something much different than what was expected or assumed. The anagnorisis leads naturally into the third element, that of peripeteia. This term refers to a sudden reversal in action or position based upon logic and intellect (Aristotle, 1283). In tragic drama, it refers to the reversal of the character's fortunes - everything they had is lost. This reversal of fortunes flows naturally as a part of the story, but it usually takes the audience, and the character, by surprise. Although this idea can be traced as a part of the hero’s character, it was more typically used to refer to the external circumstances surrounding the event and the character. Understanding these key elements of a tragic drama helps modern day students characterize these plays simply by looking to see if they adhere to the concepts. In Oedipus the King, for example, the action opens as Oedipus addresses his people, who have come to him hoping he will cure their city of a plague. Rather than encourage them to pray to the gods, Oedipus ridicules them for their prayers and tells them they should have come to him first: â€Å"What means this reek of incense everywhere, / From others, and am hither come, myself, / I

Training and developing an age diverse workforce in SMEs Assignment

Training and developing an age diverse workforce in SMEs - Assignment Example so offers important clarifications in regard to T&D plans developed in SMEs, especially in regard to the differences between these plans and those used in large firms. At a first level, it is noted that the owners of SMEs have to face changes on a continuous basis. Large firms may also have to face such problem but with the following difference: for SMEs failing in coping with change could result to the closure of the business while in large firms funds and time could retrieved easier for managing the particular situation. Another important issue highlighted in the particular article is the following one: in SMEs the success of T&D is strongly depended on the skills and capabilities of owners who are those who will undertake all tasks related to T&D, including the design and monitoring phases of the T&D plan involved (Beaver and Hutchings 2005). In addition, different modes of T&D seem to be preferred in SMEs, compared to the large firms: in SMEs ‘on-the-job training schemesâ⠂¬â„¢ (Beaver and Hutchings 2005, p.593) seem to be preferred while in large firms ‘off-the-job T&D schemes’ (Beaver and Hutchings 2005, p.593) are quite common. Especially in regard to the T&D schemes for diverse workforce, SMEs can be more effective, since the smaller number of employees allows the limitation of time for copying with change. The above characteristic of SMEs is described as their major advantage in regard to the management of diversity, an activity that it is closely related to the identification of effective T&D schemes (Beaver and Hutchings 2005, p.599). Since 2005, the time point to which the article of Beaver and Hutchings refers, a series of changes has introduced in regard to the working environment. These changes vary, covering different areas. The specific phenomenon is reflected in the literature published in this area. Depending on the type of change involved in organizational environment, different initiatives in regard to a firm’s T&D schemes would be

Audience expectations Essay Example for Free

Audience expectations Essay In this essay I will discuss how Arthur Miller set out the first scene of the play, The Crucible to prepare the audience for what the play is about, and how well he did this. I will look at the dramatic devices, language etc.  The play The Crucible has strong links with the USA in the 1950s when communism was a problem. The name of the play creates parallels between Salem 1692 and the USA 1950s. A definition of crucible can be, used to extract impurities this is related Salem 1692 because the judges and townsfolk were trying to purify the village from witches whilst Joseph McCarthy was trying to purify the USA of communists. Peoples views and opinions have not changed since the 1600s and people believe only one way is right, communists and witches are both evil and therefore should be rid of, this is what miller is trying to portray about the world. No-one gets a chance to prove themselves or prove they are good and mean no harm. If you are a witch or a communist you are evil and its not acceptable therefore the only thing to do it get rid of them. This is shown in the play by the fact that lots of people in the village are being accused of witchery, and you die whether you have an excuse or proof that your not a witch, if you admit it you are saved but have to promise you want to come back to the lord but if you are truly faithful to the lord such as goody Proctor, you will not falsely admit to being a witch and therefore will be killed. Miller uses dramatic devices in the play The Crucible, one of these devices is dramatic irony. This is when the audience knows something about a certain character but the other characters dont. They are like secrets no one knows apart from the characters involved. This creates tension as it seems as I everyone is hiding something. Miller uses this technique when the audience knows that Proctor and Abigail had an affair but the other characters are not aware. The audience then gets frustrated because it seems so obvious to them and they want to tell the characters whats going on. He also uses this when the characters dont know that Abigail is lying and the accusations are not real. The audience think it is so simple to realise what is going on because they know there is no such thing a witches. And the audience knows that dramatic irony is a clear device used throughout the play. Exits and entrances are also used in the crucible; this is so the characters can have their private conversations like Abigail and Proctor. This creates confusion between the characters as they all have secrets, this then creates panic of others finding out and this panic can grow like Abigails panic grew for her being found out to be untruthful. This panic grew and grew until she was confessing random names/accusations. I saw goody Sibber with the devil!, I saw Goody Hawkins with the devil!, I saw Goody Bibber with the devil!, I saw Goody Booth with the devil The audience however would know that Abigail and her friends are making it up because there is no such thing as witches. Another technique is the use of offstage action these are events that are not shown but they are mentioned. This is like the affair between Proctor and Abigail, this happens before the play begins. Also the audience doesnt see the dancing in the forest they only hear about it, they dont see it. This is the driving force behind the story; the audience are intrigued by what is going on.  At the beginning of the play there is an overture, Miller begins the play by describing the setting and the scenery in detail, this is so the audience can see what it is like and will help them understand what is going on in the play. A narrow window on the left the detail is important in linking the beginning with the rest of the play, as later on in the play, Betty uses the window, previously described to attempt to jump out of, screaming mama, and this shows hysteria in the play, it is obvious to the audience that introducing themes of witchcraft will cause hysteria. Uncle, themes of witchcraft are all about, all the rumours of witchcraft could have calmed down if Abigail hadnt said Betty had fainted, which is a blatant lie because she didnt know Ruth had apparently fainted as well. We did dance uncle, a bad mistake by Abigail, letting Parris know he was right he was right and therefore giving him more to suspect about witchcraft, and when you leapt out of the bush so suddenly, Betty was frightened and then she fainted.

Morality Essays -- essays research papers

Plato Republic   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Socrates engages in conversations with people claiming to be experts, usual in ethical matters. By asking simple questions, Socrates gradually reveals that these people were in fact very confused and did not actually know anything about the matters about which they claimed to be an expert. Morality is the ethical matter that is brought up in Plato’s Republic. Socrates argues the response of Cephalus, Polemarchus and Thrasymachus on what morality is.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The question of morality came up when Socrates and Cephalus, who is a rich old man, were having a conversation about money. Socrates asks Cephalus if being rich makes it easier to enjoy old age. At first, Cephalus says no, but he soon admits that there are advantages to being rich. Cephalus says being true and giving things back is what morality is. Socrates gives an example where you can do something good by not giving back. His example was if you borrow a weapon from a friend, and he is sane at the time and at the time you should give it back your friend is insane then you shouldn’t give it back so you can protect him from doing harm, which is also good. Cephalus agreed that Socrates was correct that this was doing something good so Socrates said if that is the case than the definition of morality isn’t to tell the truth and give something back whatever one has borrowed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Polemarchus is the son of Cephalus, and he â€Å"inherits...

Importance of Religious Freedom Essay

â€Å"Religious freedom is the notion that people of religion can freely partake in the practices of their religion without opposition†. To me religious freedom is being able to have our opinions and speak our mind about our beliefs. Religion in general means a clear set of beliefs about a life that surpasses our current human experience. We also have religious freedom; it plays a very important part in our lives. Religious freedom is actually deeper, broader, and more important than most people realize. Religious freedom is the human right to think and act upon. Also, to express what one deeply believes in. Religious freedom allows us to speak our mind about our beliefs and practice what we believe in. I am a catholic and very proud of it. Catholic to me means to practice the New Commandment and it means to follow in Jesus’ footstep as well as his holy ways. I myself: have three theological virtues: faith, hope, and love. Being Catholic above all means to love God completely. I have received Baptism, Reconciliation, Communion, and Confirmation. After receiving every one of these sacraments I felt even closer to God then before. I feel so empowered and happy to be a part of my Catholic community. The importance of religious freedom is very important and helps us to be able to learn about our beliefs. Religions are society made and the group of followers called religious people. To achieve spiritual growth you don’t need any religion and to understand the spirituality and to grow yourself truly. You should look into all religion with an open mind that will help you understand about your religious freedom and its importance. People have an inherent right to think and believe what they choose to believe in. Religious freedom and importance is part of our human rights and what we are allowed to do and will do. Religious freedom is a fundamental human right. Religious freedom benefits everyone- it creates conditions for peace, democratization, development, and other human rights. A lack of religious freedom reduces citizens’ ability to come together and become agents for peaceful change. We always say â€Å"In God We Trust†; we should mean it when we say it. Our religious freedom is amazing to have. The importance of religious freedom is affair as possible to all people, and to be able to fulfill their special customs. These things don’t come without limitations though, as if any component of said religion violates the public good, then it can still be held as a crime regardless of the individual’s religion. The bases for religious freedom all coverage on one point: the human person. Religious freedom underlies the concept of individual freedom. Religious freedom is founded on the notion of the individual as a person being respected simply because they are. Religious freedom says, â€Å"This person is important, even though I don’t agree with them, even though I think they are destined to an eternity separated from God.† Religious freedom values the person in spite of disagreement, something the communal mindset can’t even imagine much less act on. This to me is why religious freedom is so important. We should cherish our freedom and never take anything for granted.

Briefly Describe The Long March and explain why it is an important event in Chinese History

In the summer of 1934, after suffering a string of defeats, the communist party and the Read Army decided to flee their southern bases and retreat. This retreat became known as the Long march. On the march the group endured 368 days of extreme hardship before they finally reached the caves of Yenan in Northern China. The Long March is recalled fondly with great idealism as a time when thousands of Chinese peasants selflessly volunteered to join the fight. The Long March is considered an important event in Chinese history for many reasons. It was very important for the CCP and Red army because communism survived and they found a new base.This new base was remote enough for the GMD to be unable to attack it, and was also safe from attack by the Japanese. This helped to increase the CCP’s standing in China even further. Another key impact of the Long March was that Moa Zedong was re-established as the unchallenged leader of the CCP. The cowardliness of his guerrilla tactics durin g the extermination campaigns had meant that he was replaced for a short time by Otto Braun. However Braun allowed the communists to carry too much equipment, and led the retreat in a straight line, making them slower and easier to attack.He was blamed for their huge losses, and leadership was soon handed back to Mao. After the success of the march, his tactics were forgotten and he was hailed as a great hero. The march also allowed many Chinese people to see the CCP as great heroes, and therefore increased support for them. The long march became part of Chinese Communist mythology. Many paintings were produced showing Mao marching at the head of the column over the mountains of Western China. This opinion really boosted support for communism and many people began to agree with their policies over those of Chaing’s and the GMD’s.During the Long March, Support for Communism was also increased by the good behaviour of the Red Army in the provinces they crossed. Their pos itive attitudes and fair morals impressed many local people, especially peasants, who were more inclined to support the CCP. Their rules to speak politely, pay fairly, not to hit or swear, not to take liberties with woman and not to ill-treat prisoners greatly contrasted with the brutal and cruel treatment of the locals by the GMD armies, who captured, starved and murdered anyone who had any connection to communism.The Long march was not at all as idealistic as it seemed in reality, thousands of communists were wounded, killed, starved or froze to death. However, today it is not seen as a failure for the CCP, but is instead hailed as an important event in the survival and establishment of the communist government, leadership and support in China and a key event in Chinese History.

Calculate Your Average Sentence Length

Calculate Your Average Sentence Length Calculate Your Average Sentence Length Calculate Your Average Sentence Length By Mark Nichol Variety of sentence length is an important factor in good writing attending to the number of words in each sentence enhances the rhythm of your composition but careful writers occasionally monitor average sentence length, too. There’s no reason to obsess about either factor, but check your numbers now and then. Although variety of sentence length occurs naturally, it’s a good idea, when it’s feasible, to recite your writing aloud to ensure that stacks of sentences of repetitively equal or nearly equal length aren’t slipping through. Note, however, that though striving for variety of length and attending to average length may seem contradictory practices, average length has nothing to do with consistent length. And what’s the ideal average sentence length? It depends on the formality of your writing, and on your writing audience. Roughly, for a general audience, an ASL of less than 15 words is considered easy, 15 to 20 words is moderate, and more than 20 words is difficult. I measured my posts from last week and discovered that they ranged in ASL score from 20.7 words to 33.9; the others were spaced fairly evenly within this range. I frequently employ colons to signal additional statements, and I didn’t count what follows the colons as separate sentences, but even if I did, the ASL for most of my posts would still likely be in the 20s. However, as I noted in my post about reading level, I assume that many Daily Writing Tips readers are above the norm in reading comprehension (though a sizeable number are English-language learners). When I read about a study of ASL published in 1985, I learned that the ASL figures for leading American newspapers and magazines are comparable to the numbers for my posts. (Or they were comparable: The ASL for the best periodicals has probably declined in the last quarter-century.) But if I were writing for more modest general-interest publications, I would make an effort to reduce ASL to the low 20s or even the high teens. Here’s a more complicated index called the fog factor: After determining the ASL, divide the number of words of three or more syllables by the total number of words. Add that number to the ASL. Multiply the sum by 0.4. The number corresponds to reading-comprehension level corresponding to the number of years of education. For general-interest publications, the ideal total is between 7 and 9. The total for this post is over 14. Again, considering that it’s published on a blog about writing, that’s not excessive. However, if it inched any higher, or if the ASLs for my posts were routinely hitting in the upper 20s, I’d strive to simplify. Clarity, construction, and correctness are the most important elements of good writing, of course, but conciseness is also a virtue. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:What Is Irony? (With Examples)Do you "orient" yourself, or "orientate" yourself?Words That Begin with Q

How Mainbars and Sidebars Are Used in News Coverage

How Mainbars and Sidebars Are Used in News Coverage Youve probably noticed that when an especially big news story happens, newspapers, and news websites dont just produce one story about it but often many different stories, depending on the magnitude of the event. These different kinds of stories are called mainbars and sidebars.   What Is a Mainbar? A mainbar is the main news story about a big news event. Its the story that includes the main points of the event, and it tends to focus on the hard-news aspects of the story. Remember the five Ws and the H  - who, what, where, when, why and how? Those are the things you generally want to include in the mainbar. What Is a Sidebar? A sidebar is a story that accompanies the mainbar. But instead of including all the main points of the event, the sidebar focuses on one aspect of it. Depending on the magnitude of the news event, the mainbar can be accompanied by just one sidebar or by many. An Example Lets say youre covering a story about the dramatic rescue of a boy who has fallen through the ice of a pond in winter. Your mainbar would include the most newsy aspects of the story - how the child fell and was rescued, what his condition is, his name and age and so on. Your sidebar, on the other hand, might be a  profile of the person who rescues the boy. Or you might write about how the neighborhood where the boy lives comes together to help the family. Or you might do a sidebar on the pond itself - have people fallen through the ice here before? Were appropriate warning signs posted, or was the pond an accident waiting to happen? Again, mainbars tend to be longer, hard-news oriented stories, while sidebars tend to be shorter and often focus on a more feature-y, human-interest side of the event. There are exceptions to this rule. A sidebar on the dangers of the pond would be a very hard-news story. But a profile of the rescuer would probably read more like a feature. Why Do Editors Use Mainbars and Sidebars? Newspaper editors like using mainbars and sidebars because for big news events, theres too much information to cram into one article. Its better to separate the coverage into smaller pieces, rather than having just one endless article.   Editors also feel that using mainbars and sidebars is more reader-friendly. Readers who want to get a general sense of what has happened can scan the mainbar. If they want to read about one particular aspect of the event they can find the relevant story. Without the mainbar-sidebar approach, readers would have to plow through one huge article to try to find the details theyre interested in. In the digital age, when readers have less time, shorter attention spans and more news to digest, thats not likely to happen. An Example From The New York Times On this page, youll find The New York Times main news story on the ditching of a U.S. Airways passenger jet into the Hudson River. Then, on the right side of the page, under the heading Related coverage, youll see a series of sidebars on the accident, including stories on the quickness of the rescue effort, the hazard that birds present to jets, ​and the fast reaction of the jets crew in responding to the accident.

Managing change Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Managing change - Case Study Example This is because these tenets make managing personal change probable. Before commencing an organizational change; individuals should ask questions such as; what is the organization going to achieve with the change? How and why will they discern that the change is successful? Who will be affected by the change, and what will be their reaction? To what extent can the change be effected with help; and in what areas should assistance be sought? These questions guide the individual effecting change since it makes him or her understand what is being done. This paper shall seek to explain the change management effected in a local insurance company; so that it could be saved from imminent collapse after going bankrupt. The eight stages of change management, as well as three tools of needs assessment, will be used to analyze the change management initiative. Since the local insurance company needs a powerful restructuring plan to save it from imminent collapse, it should consider downsizing some of the high level executive positions. Additionally, it should thin down its organizational chart by laying-off some of the employees conducting programs that are no longer aimed at bringing the company back to its feet. Laying-off workers who have stood by the company for the many years is not an easy task; therefore, it should be done with extreme caution. First and foremost, the underperformers and the underachievers should be the ones to face the axe. This is because they add little value to the company and their dismissal would do the company good. Secondly, while downsizing some of the high level executive positions, it should be noted that some roles done by one executive duplicate to another executive. Therefore, such situations should allow the merging up of two different portfolios that perform almost similar roles. In order to make the change management effective, it is necessary to use Kotter’s eight steps of efficacious change