The power of language Essay Example for Free

The power of language Essay Although Susanne Langer did a study on humans and animals to show signs vs. symbols in understanding language, Helen Keller and Malcolm X took different paths on discovering the power of language. Langer brings up how there is a difference between symbols and signs, which most people consider them one in the same. For Keller she was deaf and blind from the age of 19 months, where she had difficulty learning how to communicate and understand language. In Malcolm X’s case, he was a street hustler who didn’t get proper education and was frustrated when he couldn’t get his point across through his letters he wrote. In â€Å"Language and thought† it was said, â€Å"A sign is anything that announces the existence or the imminence of some event, the presence of a thing or a person, or a change in the state of affairs† (Langer, Pg. 28). Where both humans and animals use signs all the time. For both of us sounds, smells, and motions could be signs of food, danger, the presence of others around us, or of a storm approaching. For animals they use signs for defense, to call out for others, signs of feelings or intentions to be reckoned with or just to let them in. Humans use signs way more than animals in their everyday life. We answer calls, read other peoples expressions, watch the sky or animals for coming storms, cross streets when there’s a walk man, or wait when it says, stop at red lights and go at green. â€Å"In every case a sign is closely bound up with something to be noted or expected in experience† (Langer, Pg. 28). â€Å"A symbol differs from a sign in that it does not announce the presence of the object, the being, condition, or whatnot, which is its meaning, but merely brings this thing to mind. † (Langer, Pg. 28). The difference between sign and symbol is that a sign generates us â€Å"to think or act in the face of the thing signified†, and a symbol is people’s concept of the thing symbolized. There are many things that are considered symbols, including words, pictures and memories. For example a heart is a symbol of love and a picture of a smiley face is a symbol of happiness. There are symbols everywhere with great significance or little value. But, according to Langer â€Å"The essence of language is symbolic, not signific. † (Langer, Pg. 31) Since Helen Keller was deaf and blind from a very young age, she didn’t know how to communicate her wants, needs and connect with the people around her. So finally at the age of seven her parents reached out to a teacher familiar with teaching the blind and deaf. Her teachers name was Miss Sullivan who taught her how to communicate by writing the words in Helens hand and letting her feel or touch the object to grasp exactly what it was. It started of with small inanimate objects like doll, hat and cup. Each time they would progress to more difficult words like sit, stand, walk and water. They went from words to sentences to trying to figure out how to explain the word love. Once she understood miss Sullivan’s definition of love, Keller â€Å"felt that there were invisible lines stretched between her spirit and the spirits of others† (Keller Pg. 68) She came to the realization that the deaf and blind have a more difficult time acquiring the amenities of conversation, which she accepts and understands. Malcolm X grew up in the hustler kind of environment, where he never had a good education and didn’t have to really communicate properly. Soon after Malcolm got arrested for burglary and was in jail, he became obsessed with the written word and books. He would send letters to people he had known in the hustling world, the mayor of Boston, the Governor of Massachusetts and harry S. Truman. Not one of them would write back, which made Malcolm more and more frustrated. He started off trying to read books to gain knowledge but it was useless because Malcolm didn’t understand most of the words in the books. So he decided the best thing was for him to read a dictionary, to study and learn more adequate words to add to his vocabulary. It started by copying and handwriting every word into his tablet, with every punctuation mark. After he wrote the words he would read them over and over, aloud and wake up thinking about those words. This continued until Malcolm copied the whole dictionary and knew almost every word he could. When he was done he picked up a book and could now understand what it was about. Malcolm said â€Å"I never had been so truly free in my life† (Malcolm Pg. 64). From signs and symbols having different meanings in life to finding enlightenment through a dictionary. All three of these authors have come a long way on their paths of discovering and understanding the power of language and communication. With curiosity, research, self-determination, persistence and keeping an open mind, the world of language can be explored to great measures into understanding its meaning and value.

Affirmative Action Essay -- essays research papers

Pros on Affirmative Action Affirmative action refers to a variety of programs and policies that are race, gender, national origin, and ethnicity conscious. Such programs are targeting women and minorities that had suffered discrimination in the past. History tells us that women and minorities suffered severe discriminations until the middle of 20th century. Women and minorities were treated as inferiors and subordinate status. According to Gilroy, "women were not allowed to enter entire areas of employment such as mining, fire fighting, law, and medicine." They were not even allowed to vote until the early 1920s. The racial segregation in one form or another forced American Indians, African Americans and Latinos into low-wage, dead-end jobs. No one can deny this historical truth, not even opponents of affirmative action reluctantly admit this (Gilroy 79). Critics of affirmative action have argued that because of affirmative action, white males are discriminated against as a group. They call this a "reverse discrimination." This argument sounds somewhat believable but it is simply wrong if we look at the facts. Women and minorities today are still significantly underrated in spite of the enforcement of affirmative action programs. 'According to a 1995 government report, white males hold 95 percent of senior management positions although they make up only 29 percent of the workforce. White males are still, by a great margin, over represented in most high st...

Lookin for love

The first personal ad I f und on craigslist had to do with the equity theory â€Å"Country guy looking for a good woman (PAIWV) First off I want to be straight up I'm not looking to rush into anything serious. That's what I would like eventually but only with the right one. With that said a little about me I'm a young looking 30yo white, no kids, 6†² with fit/slender build. I'm a mountain boy thru and thru but not your typical one. I don't listen to country, chew tobacco, drive a truck etc. But I do like my guns collecting/shooting, bein in the woods or on the lake, rock climbing, on and on.I also like working in my shop, my cars, woodworking etc. I'm educated so I can hold my own talking about pretty much any topic. Also have a descent Job, nice house in the mountain and financially responsible. I dont want to ramble so I'll save it for getting to know each other. What I'm looking for is a mature honest woman that has her stuff together. Drama free, no crazy ex boyfriends or a nything like that. Anywhere between 21-35, must be fit/inshape and take care of yourself. Just a descent woman that has a good head on her shoulders and looking for the same.If interested drop e a line anytime(l). † The equity theory is the idea that people are the happiest with relationships in which the rewards and costs experienced and the contributions made by both parties are roughly equal (pg. 300). This ad reflects this theory because the man who wrote this clearly states that he is looking for an equal partner. He wishes for her to be independent not have to rely on him to support her financially. If a women had written this ad then things might have been written differently.A women would emphasize his needing to be financially independent but ould also put more of an emphasis on how he looks, where he lives and what type of Job does he have. The second personal ad has more to do with the social exchange theory. â€Å"I am a white man, 6ft, 185, very clean, d;d free. I am searching for a white lady that has sexual relationships with black men but would like to have a white man that would support ; spoil her. I would never Judge her, she would be treated like a queen. Age and size is not a factor. Please get in touch, I am very real, it suppose to me very nice this week.I would like to hear from you and we can exchange pics and chat and possibly meet. Please put queen of spades in subject when responding. (2)† The social exchange theory is the idea that people's feelings about a relationship depends on their perceptions of the rewards and costs of the relationship, the kind of relationship they deserve and their chances for having a better relationship with someone else (pg. 299). This ad reflects this theory because the man is offering to not only support her financial but promises to spoil her if she meets his equirements.If a women were to be writing an ad like this she would be more subtle in her writing, for one should would not come o ut and admit her past relationship experiences but she may try to allude to it. However if she was actively looking for someone to take care of her financially she would most likely openly state that in her ad. Sex differences in attraction exist but each individual person is looking for something different. What attracts you to one person may be a complete turn off to someone else. lookin for love.

Globalisation of Tesco Free Essay Example, 1500 words

Globalization Of Tesco Globalization of Tesco It is very necessary for any company to set marketing strategies in such a way that the business gets a broader customer base, i.e. a large clientele, from all walks of life. Marketing trends are wholly based on the wants and needs of customers. To make business profitable and expandable it is essential to keep up with the demands of customers and cater to them properly. Britain’s famous retailers Tesco and the French retailer Carrefour are competitors and have been vying for the best spot (second in this case) for a long time. Both of these brand names have not only established a broad customer base in their homelands, but are also well established in other regions around the world. If we analyze the spread of Tesco and that of Carrefour, we can see that Carrefour has indeed taken a lead when it comes to establishing a global presence. The consideration of the marketing strategies of Tesco and Carrefour is very important to analy ze the impact that they have upon their customers. By conducting an analysis of the retail marketing it was identified that the only reason Tesco was able to pull a large clientele was because of its effective and flexible marketing strategies, which were designed by specifically defining customer’s needs and making the customer’s choice a preference. We will write a custom essay sample on Globalisation of Tesco or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now The strategy employed by Tesco involves the use of many different deals and schemes, which gives customers a lot of options to choose from, and therefore keep the customers happy. In retail business, a happy and satisfied clientele means a lot of customers coming back again for business and this is what is happening with Tesco. They are earning profits at a growing rate and they are capitalizing on the growing profits by global expansion of their business (Zoratti & Gallagher, 2012). When it comes to the world market it can be observed that both of these retailers are big contenders eyeing for the first place in retail category. Although there are giants present in the market in the likes of Wal-Mart, for instance, but then again they are yet to expand globally. The only country they are operating in besides the US is Canada (Lal, Quelch & Rangan, 2005). The start of Tesco as a retailing business was not a glamorous one. They had started as a chain of market stalls, and then expanded by opening shops. Currently they are the biggest retailing store in England as they now consists of extra stores, hyper markets, metros, home plus and Tesco Express.