The Confederate Flag Controversy.

The Confederate Flag Controversy By: Chris Barfield Living in this diversified country, the one thing that everyone has in common is the fact that we all live under the American Flag. It symbolizes that this is the land of the free, and represents a part of this country's history just as the Confederate Flag does. The Confederate flag for some people is a symbol of racism and oppression. For others it remains a nostalgic source of pride. Still for others, it's simple design grants testament to that turbulent era in American history, where American stood against American, glared one another in the eye, and attacked with barely a thought as to why. Is history destined to repeat itself? Are we as Americans prepared to divide ourselves again over the Confederate flag? Will there ever be a day when at last man can sit back; taking with him one thing that has escaped unscathed from controversy? I think not! I fear we live in a restless society where issues like the Confederate flag will always be a problem. What symbol is so important that we spend years debating over, we waste lives fighting for, our best minds quarrelling over, and precious manpower defending? The answer is quite simple "The Flag." This simple but complex piece of material holds many different meanings for many different people. Since its conception in late 1861, the Confederate flag was designed to

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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"How far is the Christian view of Sex and relationships an unfortunate product of it's time?"

20/09/2005 "How far is the Christian view of Sex and relationships an unfortunate product of it's time?" There are more and more issues facing Christians today surrounding sex and relationships. With social boundaries altering, the Church has become a target for it's strict rules about sexual conduct. In this day and age, the way we perceive sex has changed. Explicit images are used for advertising; sex scenes are commonplace in films and in soap land people swap and change partners as if they were trump cards! And instead of joining the prophets of disaster who see only trouble before us and who demand a return to the "good old days," we should acknowledge the changes and accept responsibility for directing them with all the rationality, foresight and skill of which we are capable. This would require the morphing of currently held Christian traditions. Our culture has compiled a bizarre array of irrational attitudes about sex. These seem to mainly stem from the Christian tradition and idea of sex as part of original sin. Some examples of the irrationalities are: ) Women as subordinate 2) A generally guilty feeling about sex as a pleasurable practice 3) Disapproval of masturbation and other sexual acts 4) The idea that sex should be seen as non-romantic and only for the procreation of children. The concept of original sin is recognised in the temptation story where Eve

  • Word count: 1403
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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We face an important and difficult challenge: getting America to recognize the importance of developing a drug policy that does not rely on force but is consistent with public health, limited government, individual rights, and personal responsibility.

We face an important and difficult challenge: getting America to recognize the importance of developing a drug policy that does not rely on force but is consistent with public health, limited government, individual rights, and personal responsibility. In fact, even the people who wrote the Harrison Act and the Marijuana Tax Act in 1937 agreed that a general prohibition on what people could put into their own bodies was plainly an unconstitutional infringement on personal liberties. For comparison, see the history of the constitutional amendment which was required to prohibit alcohol. There is no logical reasoning for a constitutional amendment that prohibits one chemical and not another. according to conservative U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Alex Kozinski, frequent police perjury and prosecutorial misconduct used to secure convictions is "an open secret long shared by prosecutors, defense attorneys, and judges." Judge Kozinski's remarks were reported by the Los Angeles Times in a recent series of articles about the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) scandal in its Rampart Division. A former Rampart police officer, Rafael A. Perez, sparked the scandal when he told authorities about a host of alleged crimes committed by his fellow officers in the gang-suppression unit. In an attempt to bargain for a light sentence before retrial on charges of stealing three

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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A sociolinguistic study on Singaporean teenagers use of language on Facebook a research on gender as a sociolinguistic variable in teenagers use of English through the social networking platform of Facebook

A sociolinguistic study on Singaporean teenagers' use of language on Facebook a research on gender as a sociolinguistic variable in teenagers' use of English through the social networking platform of Facebook By Team Members: Chow Keng Ji (Leader) Bryan Ang Wei-En Pethuel Ho For Expert mentor: A/P Vincent B Y Ooi, Department of English Language and Literature NUS For Teacher Mentor: Mr. Desmond Lim Raffles Institution Research Education 2011 ii. Acknowledgements Our group would like to thank our teacher mentor Mr Desmond Lim for his continuous guidance throughout the project. We would especially like to thank our expert mentor from NUS, Department of English Language and Literature, A/P Vincent B Y Ooi, for taking time off his schedule to help us and provide valuable insights on our research topic. iii. Abstract iv. Contents Title Page Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii Table of Contents iv Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION.................................................................... 4 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 BACKGROUND READINGS..................................................... METHODOLOGY................................................................... 7 0 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 SURVEY RESULTS................................................................. OBSERVATION PASSAGE RESULTS ........................................ 3 21 Chapter

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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"There is a clear line of descent from Old English to the English of the present day, in sounds, spelling, grammar and vocabulary." How far can this view of the history of the English language be justified?

"There is a clear line of descent from Old English to the English of the present day, in sounds, spelling, grammar and vocabulary." How far can this view of the history of the English language be justified? Old, Middle and Modern English donate time periods that start and end with momentous social, cultural or political events which signal change that in turn helps shape the English Language: Subsequently each time period develops its own phonologic, morphological and syntactic style. I shall try to highlight a broad range of language characteristics when investigating the time line, comparing and contrasting each era's language make up, showing how why and to what extent English changed. The Anglo Saxons' gradual invasion of Britain in the seventh century led to "kingdoms" being established, from which several dialects emerged adapted to suit the Germanic tongue. The West Saxon dialect became the dominant "Old English" including only a few native Celtic words. In writing, some Runic characters were used like þ (thorn), that preceded the modern th cluster, and characters to show sound elongation for example [?] after seo? and the over-score in þa. Crystal's example ("The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of the English Language" 2004 P20), arranged below shows some differences between Old and modern English: The woman saw the man; seo? cwen geseah þone guman. The man saw the

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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The Power of Language: "Profanity is not Freedom of Speech"

Running head: THE POWER OF LANGUAGE The Power of Language: "Profanity is not Freedom of Speech" English 101 Version I composed this paper exclusively for this class, and it is my original work. When I have used information from other sources, I have provided appropriate in-text citations and a corresponding list of references. I also understand that evidence of plagiarism may result in a failing grade for this course. English 101-01 0/13/2004 The Power of Language Many Americans believe that the use of profanity is a right built into the Constitution of America as part of the Bill of Rights. Freedom of speech was not added to our Bill of Rights to excuse profanity, bad manners, defamation, or outright lying. The constitution does not even mention that we, as a people, have the right to be offensive and vulgar towards others. Children, among all people, should not be exposed to the filth of profanity. Yet profanity is found almost everywhere you go. The Internet is a fascinating place, full of interesting facts and opinions. Many people enjoy visiting chat rooms or message boards in hopes of finding new information. Sometimes they run across other users expressing themselves in the only way they seem to know how - with profanity. Some people are not bothered by this and for others it is merely an annoyance, but for many individuals, it is offensive. They are

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Wheres the Democracy in College Football? The Unfairness of the BCS (Bowl Championship Series) System.

Bartscher Grant Bartscher Professor Barry Pollick WRTG 391 4 NOV 2012 Word Count - 1368 Where’s the Democracy in College Football Imagine, if you will, that your child has just entered the most prestigious spelling bee in the nation. Not only did your child spell every word that he or she was challenged with, but they did it with ease and a sense of confidence that could not be matched by any other. In this so-called tournament of spellers, the final challenge comes down to three children, yours being one of course, and two others. We will name these two Jack and Jill. Jack has also spelled all his words correctly, however Jill misspelled otorhinolaryngological (yes, it is a word) wrong earlier in the day. So the judges meet. They all come to the front of the audience and tell you that Jack and Jill will be competing in the championship. Blasphemy, you say? Well they go on to explain to you that they used a system, which is a computer, to pick the final two based off of multiple factors. This arbitrary system has decided that Jill’s words were all around tougher to spell than your child’s. So, even though your child spelled all of them correctly he or she has to sit and watch the two other children compete in the championship. What kind of world would allow such a horrendous act to take place? Ours! This is exactly how the BCS (Bowl Championship Series) system

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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What makes a new word successful? A response to Metcalfs FUDGE Model

SEL 3025 03784924 What makes a new word successful? A response to Metcalf’s FUDGE Model . Introduction The introduction of new words into our languages is a process which often goes unnoticed and is seemingly overlooked. However it is because of these constant new additions that our language is ever evolving and thus allows us to maintain a concept for an infinite number of situations and occurrences. It is extremely rare that a new word will be deliberately coined from nowhere; the majority of new words come from some form of manipulation of an already existing word (Harely 2006: 91). Work into the production and processes of forming new words does not account for a large field within linguistics. Throughout this essay attention will be paid to a leading model by Allan Metcalf (2004) which aims to form a procedure whereby the success of new words can be predicted and whether this method is a reliable model. In order to do this, an analysis of Metcalf’s model will be undertaken including awareness of its problems and these may affect my results and hence the reliability of the model itself (section 2); a methodology will then be presented outlining how the model will be tested including data collection (section 3). Results will then be displayed (section 4) followed by a discussion and interpretation of the results found (section 5). This essay will conclude with

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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The Power of Naming- Place Names in England

The Power of Naming: Place Names in England Historically speaking toponymy – the study of place-names – has focused on etymology as opposed to power discourse (Cameron 1996; Culpeper 2005; Diaz Vera 1996; Gelling 1995; Gelling 2007; Hough 1997; Kadmon 2004; Paisey & Paisey 2011; Scott 2003). However, in recent years, scholars have turned instead to the consideration of the power relationships implicit in the act of naming a geographic location (Radding & Western 2010; Rose-Redwood, Alderman, & Azaryahu 2010;). Particularly in the case of England, the power of naming becomes a key insight into the history of conquest from foreign powers that the island has experienced in its long life. These conquerors understood the act of naming as the linguistic equivalent of driving a flag into the soil of the vanquished foe’s garden – a means of solidifying and extending the message of their invasion and subsequent occupation throughout time. Such is the power expressed through names and naming processes. As Rose-Redwood, Alderman and Azaryahu (2010, p. 454) note, “the naming of places is one of the primary means of attempting to construct clearly demarcated spatial identities”. For the purpose of the following essay, these spatial identities are to be thought of as political identities as well. “As a place-name becomes opaque and the original meaning is lost over time, the

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Discuss the cultural and political history that led English to become a world language. Give linguistic examples from any community to illustrate your answer

The extent to which the English Language has achieved global significance is phenomenal, in that no other language has ever been able to achieve such a status of linguistic eminence. According to Crystal (1997) a language achieves global status when it develops a special role that is recognised, either culturally or politically, in every country, across every continent of the world. He also signifies that a global language is not affected by the quantity of those who speak the language, but much more concerning who those people are, in that ‘without a strong power base, whether political, military or economic, no language can make progress as an international medium of communication.’ (Crystal, D. 1997:5) Throughout history, an international language becomes so for one principal reason; that being ‘the political power of its people.’ (Crystal, D. 1997:7) It is important to look at the historical significance of English in its ascension to linguistic dominance and its current position as an international language. There are two primary facets in relation to this ascension, them being geographical-historical and socio-cultural aspects. The geographical-historical aspect determines how English reached its position of pre-eminence, whilst the socio-cultural aspect provides an explanation as to why the language remains in this position of power. Speakers of English

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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