Stylistic analysis of Stop All The Clocks, W H Auden
STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF POETRY 'STOP ALL THE CLOCKS', W.H. AUDEN BA (HONS) ENGLISH LANGUAGE WORD COUNT:1022 Stop All The Clocks', W. H. Auden The monosyllabic title of this poem is an imperative command and by its syntactic form (imperative verb-predeterminer-determiner-noun) connotations of urgency are foregrounded. The poem's tone is elegiac and lamentable and is written in a formal diction befitting of such a solemn occasion. Thematically it looks at time, death, love and grief. Auden was a homosexual and it was claimed that this poem was written on the death of his lover, (Hamilton,1994:22). It could be said it is a poem about the pain and grief the narrator is experiencing following the death of his partner. He is bereft and according to Engler, 'as there is no specific indication that the speaker is not the author, we tend to read the text as a personal statement of the author, almost autobiographical', (cited in Verdonk, 1993:167). This poem, whose metre is an iambic pentameter has a sombre beat which is paralleled with the implied sound of the 'muffled drum'. It has a regular rhyme scheme of a/a/b/b and has four quatrains, each quatrain comprising of two rhyming heroic couplets, helping to create and maintain a steady, almost melodic rhythm. The first verb clause which uses an imperative form, 'Stop all the clocks'
Bilingual language aquisition
First language acquisition Natalie S. Nilssen & Julie A. Brandsnes, Sept./Oct. 2011 Bilingual language acquisition We devide between two types of bilingualism. Sequential and simultaneous. When a child learns two different languages from their date of birth, it is a form of bilingualism which is called simultaneous bilingualism. The learning prosess of both the languages needs to take place before the age of two, and until the final learning stage is reached. This in order for it to be called simultaneous bilingualism. Both languages are considered as first languages. At least according to Annick De Houwer. A common misunderstanding when we are talking about bilingualism is the idea that bilingular children will have "language handicaps" in comparison to monolingual children. The early research from the beginnning of the last century that prooved the connection between bilingualism and a lower intelligence level, contained several flaws. The children in the different language groups also came from different social classes. The bilingular children in this research often came from immigrant families who were less educated. This is in strong contrast to recent research. Now, linguistic researchers have found evidence supporting the opposite allegation. Simultaneous bilinguals have an advantege over the one native language-speaking, in many linguistic areas. Whether to
'Discuss the role of media studies in making sense of political, economic and cultural meaning of everyday life.'
COM 1010 Media Studies First Essay - 1500w 'Discuss the role of media studies in making sense of political, economic and cultural meaning of everyday life.' The role of media studies when attempting to make sense of political, economic and cultural meaning in everyday life is not only most significant, but is the centerpiece of such aspects. To fully understand the true meaning and worth of media studies, the origins and complexity of the subject must be explored. Media studies has been described as a 'controversial, unstable and yet hugely important field'1, and while the unpredictability of the subject may cause concerns of controversy and instability for some, it is this very aspect that makes the subject so unique and valuable. Media studies' political and economic meaning of everyday life results in our cultural understanding of Australia. The direct link to everyday life is what makes studying media so attractive. This is seen in the case of exploring the field of children's computer games, and answering many relevant questions to this topic. The popularity, exemplification and notoriety of a text have the power to form a strong argument for or against studying one text over another. Many will argue that media studies does not possess the rock-hard grounding that Shakespeare provides to an English subject, and there is no doubt that when compared to English, media
Analysis of a passage from John Le Carr, "Single and Single". This opening passage begins with Mr Winser being confronted with an automatic pistol being aimed at him, and we immediately see the events portrayed through Mr Winsers point of view, despi
Table of Contents Initial Impressions 2 Thought and Speech Presentation 2 Deictic sub-worlds 3 Viewpoint Effects 4 Deviation and Foregrounding 5 Semantic Deviation 5 Graphalogical Deviation 6 Parallelism and Grammatical Deviation 6 Lexis 7 Elegant Variation 7 Context and Tone 8 Conclusion 8 Appendix 9 Bibliography 10 Initial Impressions This opening passage begins with Mr Winser being confronted with an automatic pistol being aimed at him, and we immediately see the events portrayed through Mr Winser's point of view, despite the majority of the passage being written in 3rd person. This effect is achieved through the use of thought presentation, such as direct thought, for example in the opening sentence "this gun is not a gun" (which is foregrounded throughout the passage). There are also other devices used throughout the passage to help the reader see the scene from Mr Winser's perspective such as deixis, the use of the definite article, possessives and adjectives. There is grammatical, semantic, and graphological deviation throughout the text, which helps us understand Mr Winser's thought patterns and rationalisation to add to the pace of the novel, appropriate for this genre. The tone of the passage, despite the severity of the situation is tense, but not too serious, and is almost quirky and slightly eccentric due to slightly unusual characteristics in
What are syllables, and what is their internal structure?
What are syllables, and what is their internal structure? (Trinity 2006) In the field of phonological studies, syllables are still considered quite elusive units of speech and without satisfactory definition. Traditionally, attempts to explicate the syllable concept have proceeded either from the phonetic direction, in terms of muscular movements associated with the respiratory apparatus, or of peaks and troughs of stress or aperture or 'prominence', or from the phonological direction, as that type of phoneme sequence in terms of which the phonotactics of a given language can be described with the greatest generality. {199-200, Sommerstein}. This paper will therefore explore, given the research into syllables so far, what syllables actually are, as well as the minutiae of their internal structure. Speech sounds, or segments, are not produced in human speech as individual units, but rather produced as part of larger units - that is to say, syllables. Syllables seem to have obligatory vowels, but optional consonants, and most people can count them and identify differences in stress {Davenport and Hannahs, 14-15}. All languages have syllables, and all segment inventories can be broken up into consonants and vowels. All consonant inventories include voiceless plosives - that is, all languages have at least two of the following three consonants [p,t,k] {Gussenhoven & Jakobs, 26}.
Language World View and Beliefs
Language, World View and Beliefs The linguistic relativity theory suggests that the language a person speaks will influence the way they perceive the world (Wilson and Keil 2001). This is also known as the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis. The stronger view known as linguistic determinism suggests that "speakers' thoughts and perceptions are determined or conditioned by the categories that their language makes available to them" (Armstrong, 2005). The weaker version suggests that their thoughts are influenced by the language they use, but not necessarily determine the way you perceive the world. This paper will use examples to illustrate the relationship between language, world view and beliefs. Each example will be presented from different cultures, followed by an analysis in light of sociolinguistic concepts. My analysis will take place under these headings: * Language and Political Views - Abortion * Language and the Chinese Culture - Relational Titles * Language and the Ghanaian Culture - "Mom" * Language and the Pirahã Culture Language and Political Views - Abortion Many pro-life supporters use language to reflect their political beliefs, and this has even had an impact on legislation. For example, due to pro-life activists, abortion providers in South Dakota are required by law to refer to a foetus as "the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being" (Dominus,
American Demand for illicit drugs.
Today, most Americans are faced with a problem similar to that confronted by our ancestors 80 years ago. Demand for illicit drugs shows some signs of reduction (Goldstein, 1989; Marriot, 1990; Grinspoon, 1987), but no signs of declining drastically (Inciardi, 1991; Abadinsky, 1993). Furthermore, by reviewing literature, there are considerable reasons to doubt that tougher laws and policing are playing a significant role in reducing consumption. Lately, it comes to us as no surprise that availability for illicit drugs remains high and prices are dropping even as the purity of drugs increases. And the numbers of drug producers, smugglers, and dealers remain considerable, even as jails and prisons fill to overflowing. In order to better figure out the current crisis it is essential to re-examine the history of prohibition laws in the United States and its consequences. Prohibition has in fact has been the cornerstone of the United States national drugs and alcohol policy since the early 1900's (Inciardi, 1991.p.19). Legislators introduced Prohibition mainly for several reasons. First of the arguments used by prohibitionists included the medical aspect with realization that alcohol and cocaine could potentially damage our health and affected our lives. The second argument included economic aspect which focused on those who could not performed the job productively, due to side
Protest Songs of the Vietnam War
Writing Songs of Protest - Assignment One Consider at least four songs associated with the Vietnam War Protest Movement and discuss the qualities and conditions that contribute to its success and effectiveness as a song of social protest. The 20th Century was a significant era of social Protest in the Western world. In this essay, I will focus on the Vietnam War Protest movement and discuss some of the influential protest songs of this period, the people that wrote them as well as those that delivered their messages. I will explore the qualities and the conditions of the songs that made them effective as songs of resistance and protest. 'Blowin' in the wind', by Bob Dylan was releases in 1963 - long before the onset of the Vietnam War. Obviously this song was not written in protest of the Vietnam War (as it was written years before) but it is a song opposing war and oppression in a general sense. This can be seen in lines such as: How many times must the cannon balls fly Before they're forever band? How many years can some people exist Before they're allowed to be free? Thus it became one of the anthems of the Vietnam War Protest Movement (Werner, 2000). The lyrics of this song are not as clear-cut or obvious in their meaning as some of the other protest songs I will examine. For example the main refrain 'The Answer is blowing in the wind' is vague and open to
There are various different techniques that mass media uses to manipulate and shape our attitudes.
We are living today in an age where media not only dominates the coverage of all sorts of information but also affects our disposition towards different political objects and matters and hence affects the way affairs are dealt with and politics is practiced. This paper sheds light at some of the ways in which mass media shapes our attitude. The end of feudal period and creation of nation states, led to a consolidation of a set of common rules that displaced common customs and traditions with uniformity of law. This also led to standardization of social life and privileges like education were no longer restricted to the elite and/or wealthy. Along with mass culture, socialization, urbanization, globalization, one of the most significant contributions to the development of mass culture was made by the emergence of mass communication; the emergence of electronic means of communication such as telegraph, telephone, radio, television, cable and satellite communication and personal computers make us all see the wider world out there in a similar way. There are various different techniques that mass media uses to manipulate and shape our attitudes. A common opinion is that media today is known to present us with "covert opinion" (http://www.aircrash.org/burnelli/med101.htm 1994 ) that is, disguised opinion. There are two types: In the first one, the reporter disguises the source
Global Warming: Fact or Fiction?
Global Warming: Fact or Fiction? Is global warming taking place? Are humans the cause of it? Lately these questions are being asked more and more by people who believe that the earth's climate is growing steadily warmer at an alarming rate. Our planet's ever-changing climate has captured the attention of those who would have us agree that without drastic modification of our behavior, we will ultimately destroy the world in which we live. However, these activists are using scare tactics based upon inadequate information acquired from unreliable sources to promote their agenda, and this theory of human-caused global warming is refuted by science and logic. The popular belief that global warming is the effect of human activity is erroneous and unsupported by scientific evidence. Environmental activists believe that our burning of fossil fuels and increased output of carbon dioxide or "greenhouse" gases have aided the apparently human-provoked global warming process. However, according to the National Center for Policy Analysis, human-produced carbon dioxide could have only played a small role in this warming. H. Sterling Burnett states that the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has only increased twenty-eight percent over the past 150 years, and most of this increase took place before the year 1940, which is prior to most human-emitted carbon dioxide. Burnett goes on