The Mexican Revolution and the Middle Class Research Paper

The Mexican Revolution and the Middle Class - Research Paper Example The Mexican revolution remains one of the most important revolutions that took place in Latin America. It is marked with political celebrations in Mexico, and this is because it is an important political event. The most important players during this revolution were the middle class. The middle class played a great role in ensuring that the revolutionaries won the war, against President Diaz. These people provided money and soldiers for purposes of advancing the agenda of the revolutionaries. The army was under General Carranza, and it engaged the government in urban centers. The middle-class army also provided support to the armies of General Pancho Villa in the North, and General Zapata in the South.This support was essential in breaking the various sieges that the government army had laid against these two Generals. By concentrating in urban areas, the government’s army was also limited on how it could advance its troops for purposes of quelling the rebellion in the rural ar eas of Mexico. Furthermore, after the rebellion, it is the Middle Class who took over power and began initiating a sequence of policies aimed at changing promoting good governance in Mexico. Immediately after the end of this revolution, President Obregon took over the leadership of Mexico and introduced a series of changes aimed at making Mexico a democratic state.People who argue against the recognition of these revolutions denote that they are bloody and violent, and hence they lead to the loss of lives.

Soviet Dissidents Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Soviet Dissidents - Essay Example During the cold war , the dissidents by their sheer presence were able to bring out the hollowness of Soviet claims that theirs was also a form of democracy and they had the unanimous support of people behind them. Thus historically, the dissidents have played a very important part in how the Western countries have viewed Soviet Union as a country. Because of the oppressive nature in which these dissidents were handled, the democratic faade of Soviet Union crashed and the differences between East and West became hugely apparent. The dissidents managed to reveal the actual manner of political repression in Soviet Union. Those who disagreed with the government's policies were arrested and sent to labor camps. Rather than acting as a deterrent to others, such actions prompted other dissidents to publicize these arrests using western media. When the government tried to arrest more people, more information started coming out from these camps - the stories about labor camps and psychiatric hospitals where prisoners were treated inhumanly and subjected to mental and physical torture. All this information caused a huge uproar against the government both within and outside the Soviet Union. By gathering and circulating information, they were able to draw attention to the plights of Jews and other minorities, non-Russians seeking to emigrate, and many others-whose situation had been little noticed. In 1965, two young writes -- Andrei Sinyavsky and Yuli Daniel were sentenced to long labor camp sentences for publishing their works abroad. The international reaction was immediate and harsh and this seriously damaged the image of the Soviet Union. But government refused to budge and both Sinyavsky and Daniel had to serve their labor camp terms, but the Soviet Union never again imprisoned a writer for his writing. Later other dissident writers such as Alexander Solzhenitsyn were forcibly exiled while Vladimir Voinovich, Vasily Aksyonov, and Georgy Vladimov emigrated under pressure. But by then, these dissidents had been fairly successful in bring out in open the conflict in the Russian society. Their efforts also gained them some relief such as freedom of expression ( to a certain extent), allowing of mass emigration from Soviet Union. Before the 1970s, it was virtually impossible to leave the Soviet Union legally. Finally the decision was made to allow Jews to emigrate under a formula - that they were returning to their "historic homeland". And finally, they influenced the government's treatment of dissenters themselves. Earlier, one of the dissidents -- Yuri Galanskov died while serving his sentence in a Soviet labor camp. But later on, Soviet authorities kept the well-known dissidents alive. They could afford to let them die because of fear of reprisal from western countries. They also star ted reducing and avoiding the arrests of prominent dissidents and allowed them to continue their activities. Of course, they were kept under tight surveillance. Although some section of western media thinks that soviet dissidents were paid more than the due attention, but the fact remains that had these people not made their voices heard, the Soviet Union we see today having more liberal attitude would not have emerged. Let us take a look at some of the dissidents and how they helped in influencing the government attitudes. One of the main dissidents Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn was a prominent novelist and

The Properties Of Foreigner Talk

The Properties Of Foreigner Talk Describe the properties of â€Å"foreigner talk† and discuss its role in L2 learning. In your discussion, be sure to include supporting examples for foreigner talk and discuss them in light of Krashens Input Hypothesis (1985) and Longs Interaction Hypothesis (1981, 1983a, 1996). Particular over the past two decades, related work on input comprehensibility has focused on the nature of the linguistic environment available to learners and its relationship to Second Language Acquisition (SLA). Recent work has taken as basic the notion that conversational interaction in a second language (L2) forms the basis for L2 development rather than being only a forum for practice of specific language features (Wagner-Gouch Hatch, 1975; cited in Schorkhuber, 2007). In fact, some contemporary studies have shifted the focus to an examination of the learners linguistic environment which is the target language available to the learner and how it affects the learning process. It has been observed that native speakers (NSs) adjust their speech in conversation with non-native speakers (NNSs) in multiple ways. This modified register has been termed ‘foreigner talk (FT) by Charles Ferguson (1975). He (1975) asserts that foreigner talk is the reduced and simplified version of a language that native speakers use to address other speakers for whom the language is not a native one, especially speakers who do not know the language at all. Due to the similarities between this type of speech and the speech that is usually directed at children, it is also sometimes called baby talk (e.g., Ferguson 1971). According to him, foreigner talk is the basis of the emergence of pidgin and Creole. It is also suggested that foreigner talk promotes learning as well as communication with the learner. In general, foreigner talk adjustments reveal speech patterns that would not ordinarily be used in conversations with NSs (Gass Selinker, 2001:261). Instead, Gass and Selinker (2001) claim that foreigner talk shares features in common with young children speech. According to Ferguson (1975), in phonology, it is characterise by a slow rate of delivery, loudness, clear articulation, pauses, emphatic stress and exaggerated pronunciation. In lexis, it is characterised by occasional use of words from other languages, substitutions of items by synonyms, or paraphrases, use of high frequency words and few idioms (Chaudron, 1979; cited in Tarone, 1980 ). In syntax, modification is presented through repetitions, elaborations, omissions and fill in the blank for learners incomplete utterances. In discourse, foreigner talk involves restating wh-questions as yes-no or or-choice questions, and so on (Hatch, 1979; cited in Tarone, 1980). Examples (1) and (2) show some of the characteristics of fo reigner talk: (1) NNS: How have increasing food costs changed your eating habits? NS : Well, we dont eat as much beef as we used to. We eat more chicken, and uh, pork and uh, fish, things like that. NNS: Pardon me? NS : We dont eat as much beef as we used to. We eat more chicken and uh, uh pork and fishWe dont eat beef very often. We dont have steak like weused to. NNS: Oh, okay. (2) NS : What classes are you taking at 10 oclock? NNS: Sorry? 10 clock? NS : What classes at 10 oclock? NNS: 10 oclock, classes, uhScience. From the examples above, the functions of foreigner talk can be detected quite effortlessly where in example (1), NS repeated and elaborated more fully the statement once the NNS indicated a lack of understanding in order to provide the NNS a comprehensible input. Likewise, NS practiced repetition in example (2) but in a more simplified form. Moreover, clue was provided to the NNS that 10 clock supposedly should be said as 10 oclock. Therefore, the comprehension of the NNS was again aided. Essentially, input is seen as a highly important factor in acquisition in many approaches to SLA. Krashens Input Hypothesis, which largely predated Universal Grammar approaches to SLA research, continues to make the strongest claim about the role of the linguistic environment in SLA. It states that L2 input must both be comprehensible and be at a stage slightly beyond the learners previously acquired linguistic competence (i+1) in order to be acquired (Krashen, 1982; cited in Schorkhuber, 2007). In brief, within Krashens framework, if input is understood, the necessary grammar is automatically provided; however, if input is not comprehensible, it cannot serve acquisition at all. That is to say, comprehensible input that occurred in the examples above, delivered in affective filter situation, is held to be not only a necessary condition for acquisition, but actually causing acquisition to the NNS. On top of that, the line of research that focuses on interactional structure of conversation, such as foreigner talk was developed in many years by several researchers (e.g., Gass and Varonis, 1985, 1989; Long, 1981, 1983; Pica, 1987, 1988; cited in Gass, 2007:234). The emphasis is on the role which negotiated interaction between NSs and NSSs and between two NNSs plays in the development of L2. According to Gass (2007:234), conversational interaction in a L2 like foreigner talk discourse also forms the foundation for the development of L2 rather than being only a platform for practice of particular language features, more specifically when it comes to the negotiation of meaning. In fact, this claim has been proposed by Michael Long (1996: 451-2) as the Interaction Hypothesis. In the similar situation like which Long (1996: 451-2) has stated, foreigner talk posits interaction between NNSs and NSs, creates a naturalistic Second Language Acquisition environment where the NNSs learn through negotiation of meaning and attention is focussed (Mackey, 1999; cited in Gass, 2007) on gaps in their target language knowledge. Therefore, the acquisition of L2 could be facilitated well because foreigner talk connects input, internal learner capacities, particularly selective attention, and output in productive ways (Long, 1996). One of the examples of conversation of foreigner talk is as follow: (3) NS : Theres.. theres a drinking bottle on the table. NNS: A what? NS : Bottle, drinking bottle to drink water? NNS: Boar? NS : You drink water from it, if you are thirsty. Drinking bottle. NNS: Ahh, ahh, bottle to drink, you say drinking bottle! NS : Yes. Throughout the conversation of foreigner talk, the NNS acknowledges the fact that the new word drinking bottle came from the interaction and especially as a consequence of the negotiation work. The Interaction Hypothesis has been proven where it establishes that when a learner or NNS is attempting to negotiate conversation in the target language, the gaps in his/her abilities are revealed to him/herself. Generally, these abilities include pronunciation, syntax, grammar and vocabulary. Subsequently, the Interaction Hypothesis concludes that this self-realisation, brought about by authentic interaction, will encourage the NNS to produce target language output to negotiate meaning and seek out the knowledge they lack. Also, the interaction between the learner who is a NNS and other NNSs or NSs, results in language acquisition on the part of him/herself, meaning he/she has internalised and modified that chunk of language and will be able to produce correct output later when necessary. In the meantime, Interaction Hypothesis reveals that checks are the key to the SLA process (Long, 1983b; cited in Brulhart, 1986). One way the learner realises the gaps in their knowledge is by checking with the person they are having a conversation with during foreigner talk. The simplest of which are known as modification checks. There are several different types of interaction modification checks that take place during a natural conversation which assist the learner advance in the target language. The first one is clarification requests which the learner recognises a word that they are strange with and they ask for clarification. In general, clarification requests are formed by questions but may consist of wh- or yes-no questions, as well as tag questions. For example, â€Å"What did u mean?† After this, the interlocutor (NS) is required either to furnish new information or to recode information previously given. Secondly, it is confirmation check which the learner reacts t o a sentence uttered by the other speaker and uses the L2 to confirm that they understood correctly. They always involve repetition of all part of the interlocutors preceding utterance (Long, 1980: 81-2, cited in Hasan, 2008: 41). The example is as below: (4) NNS : Do you want to come over and study tonight? NS : Sorry, I have to do my landry. NNS : Your..laundry? (comfirmation check) NS : Yeah, my laundry. My clothes dirty. The third modification check is comprehension check (Long, 1980; cited in Hasan, 2008). The learner asks a question to the other person in the conversation to confirm that they understood the meaning of the learners sentences. For instance, â€Å"Do you understand?† In effect, this production of checks could provide the learner with opportunities, builds positive affective feelings of confidence and learning opportunities. Also, conversational breakdown could also be avoided. In conclusion, foreigner talk has meant a focus on the linguistic and discourse structure of the NSs input to the learner (NNS), with a view to eventually determining the influence of that structure on L2 learning. Besides, the modification checks which are carried out during foreigner talk could assure that comprehension of the learners is checked explicitly, and utterances which are unclear are clarified and understood. Therefore, as Foster (1998; cited in Hasan, 2008: 42) claims that checking and clarifying problem utterances (negotiating for meaning) ensures the learners receive comprehensible input and generate comprehensible output, it should be noted that foreigner talk is truly helpful and crucial to SLA.

A Rhetorical Analysis of the Stem Cell Research Debate Essays -- Genet

Stem cell research has been a heated and highly controversial debate for over a decade, which explains why there have been so many articles on the issue. Like all debates, the issue is based on two different arguments: the scientific evolution and the political war against that evolution. The debate proves itself to be so controversial that is both supported and opposed by many different people, organizations, and religions. There are many â€Å"emotional images [that] have been wielded† in an attempt to persuade one side to convert to the other (Hirsen). The stem cell research debate, accompanied by different rhetoric used to argue dissimilar points, comes to life in two articles and a speech: â€Å"Should Human Cloning Be Allowed? Yes, Don’t Impede Medical Progress† by Virginia Postrel; â€Å"Should Human Cloning Be Allowed? No, It’s a Moral Monstrosity† by Eric Cohen and William Kristol; and â€Å"Remarks by Ron Reagan, Jr., to the 2004 Demo cratic National Convention† by Ron Reagan, Jr. Ethos, pathos, and logos are the main categories differentiating the two arguments. The audience for whom those works were written for explains a great deal about the syntax and the diction, and as stated in Dynamic Argument, provides â€Å"different strokes for different folks† (Lamm and Everett 11). When Ron Reagan was delivering his remarks to the Democratic National Convention, he took into account that he needed to paint a picture for his audience â€Å"while still doing justice to the incredible science involve [involved]† (qtd in Lamm and Everett 428). The fact that he was trying to convince his audience to vote for embryonic stem-cell research showed that he needed to explain exactly how the procedure worked. His story about the thirteen-year-old young woma... ... a Moral Monstrosity.† In Dynamic Argument. Ed. Robert Lamm and Justin Everett. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2007. 425-26. Hirsen, James L. â€Å"Who’s the Victor on the Stem Cell Debate?† 7 Aug. 2001. 24 Sept. 2007 . â€Å"How to Write a Rhetorical Analysis.† 5 Aug. 2005. 23 Sept. 2007 . Lamm, Robert, and Justin Everett. Dynamic Argument. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2007. Postrel, Virginia. â€Å"Should Human Cloning Be Allowed? Yes, Don’t Impede Medical Progress.† In Dynamic Argument. Ed. Robert Lamm and Justin Everett. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2007. 420-23. Reagan, Ron Jr. â€Å"Remarks by Ron Reagan, Jr., to the 2004 Democratic National Convention.† In Dynamic Argument. Ed Robert Lamm and Justin Everett. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2007. 428-30.

Two Kinds Paper Amy Tan

Josh A. Robertson Prof. Villarreal 1302 4/8/13 Paper 3 â€Å"Two Kinds† Amy Tan In Amy Tan’s short story â€Å"Two Kinds† Jing-Mei, the story’s main character, takes a stand against her mother. The story opens as she describes her childhood, which was full of pain and resentment caused by never becoming the â€Å"prodigy† that her mother desperately wanted her to be. Despite her best intentions, Jing-Mei always fell short of her mother’s expectations and one night, she made a pact to herself that she would never allow her mother to try to change her.After her mother saw a young Chinese girl play the piano on  a television show she decided that Jing-Mei should take lessons from the neighbor. The neighbor, Mr. Chong, Jing-Mei discovered was deaf, and that she easily could get away with playing the wrong notes. Months later, Mr. Chong and her mother entered Jing-Mei in a talent contest. She believed that her inner prodigy would surface and all ow her to play well, but the performance proved to be an utter disaster. Two days later, while being urged to go to practice an argument of devastating proportions began.Her mother never spoke of piano lessons ever again. Decades later, she received the family’s piano as a present for her thirtieth birthday. Months after her mother’s death, she plays it and realizes the truth about her mother’s intentions. The central idea in Tan’s story is, parents cannot control or dictate their children’s lives but only try to guide them in the right direction. Tan’s main character Jing-Mei was self centered, bratty and very inconsiderate of the effects of her behavior had on the people in her life.She is buried so deep in her ways that it is not until she is an adult that she recognizes how messed up she is. Her mother’s character was forceful and pushy it was only natural that Jing-Mei rebelled against her. If she had only been gentle with her th e results may have been different. To say the least both characters were deeply flawed and made for a catastrophic relationship. â€Å"It was not only the disappointment my mother felt in me. In the years that followed, I failed her so many times, each time asserting my own will, my right to fall short of expectations† (Tan, 48).That regretful rant she went on about her shortcomings in life proves that she remained too stubborn to change her ways and not give her mother the satisfaction of being great at something. The point of view of Jing-Mei is crucial to the central idea of the story. The story is written in first person, told by Jing-Mei as she recounts the events of her child hood. The reader is able to understand from her perspective the relationship between her and her mother and the revelations she had after her mother’s death.The first hand style only allows us to see Jing-Mei;s perspective where as her mother may have recalled her childhood differently. The writing style of omniscient narration from the point of view of the child adds depth to the central idea of the story. The reader experiences first hand it being brought to life through the eyes of the child as the plot progresses. The reader can relate from this view-point and recall their childhood as Jing-Mei narrates her own. The progress of the protagonist seemed to be cut short by her stubborn behavior to remain true to her ways well into her adult life.Jing-Mei doesn’t grasp the meaning of her mother’s intentions until her demise making for an ‘every cloud has a silver lining’ ending, but serves the purpose in putting her in the static character category for the majority of Tan’s story. Had Jing-Mei come to the realization early on in the story, the outcome would have varied differently. Her mother, the antagonist, was only a mere muse for Jing-Mei to have someone to blame for her not trying. Her mother ultimately wanted the best for her daug hter and to surpass her like every other parent would want for their child. â€Å"You have natural talent.You could been genius if you want to. †(Tan, 48) Jing-Mei’s mother’s words were attempts to make peace with her daughter. Jing-Mei’s real enemy was herself who denied her to exceed at everything and finally she came to terms with it. The conflict was external between the heated relationship between Jing-Mei and her mother, which is for the majority of the story. In closing, â€Å"Two Kinds† was a well-written story with meaning and purpose, a great plot and a great alternative ending that the reader doesn’t see coming. The reader feels that the little girl will eventually repair what is broken in her relationship with her mother.Seeing that not happen until her mother’s death is devastating to the reader; even more so Jing-Mei is unable to apologize to all these facts after she realizes what she has done. This cold fate could very well insight feelings of anger within the heart of the reader upon the story’s ending. The central idea remains true through out the story’s entirety only to be confronted, regretted and digested by Jing-Mei. Works Cited Tan, Amy. â€Å"Two Kinds. † Literature Craft & Voice. Vol 1 1st. Cheuse Alan. Ed 40-47. McGraw Hill. New York 2010. Print.

A religious or moral issue Essay

Analyse and explain the way in which a religious or moral issue of concern to Christians has been dealt with in a television soap opera The moral issue that I have chosen to follow is adultery, which is when a married person has voluntary sexual intercourse with other married or not married people, rather than his or her spouse. The reason I have chosen this moral issue is because it is part of everyday life, many people are doing it and are not taking notice of the hurt and pain they are causing. I have chosen Eastenders for my soap opera, because it is a popular soap and the moral issue adultery is shown, through Natalie and Ricky’s affair. Christians have a strong view on adultery, they believe that you should keep sexual intercourse for marriage because it makes it part of a religious or spiritual contact and it makes it dependant on a commitment to spend the rest of your life with someone, also â€Å"Do not commit adultery† is one of the ten commandments, so Christians are totally against adultery. The main characters involved were Ricky, Natalie, Pat and Barry. The storyline begins with, Ricky and his son Liam coming back to the square after a few years away. After a few weeks Ricky is starting to settle down and he is renting a flat with Sam Mitchell his ex-wife, Natalie and Ricky are friends at this point. After a while Natalie realizes she still loves Ricky, her first love, and starts meeting up with him secretly and has sexual intercourse with him. Natalie makes up excuses saying that she’s working overtime and during her lunch breaks when she’s really meeting up with Ricky. One night Pat sees Ricky picking up Natalie from round the corner from their house. The next morning Pat confronts Natalie about what she saw and tells her to end it but Natalie starts crying and says that she still loves Ricky, but Pat tells Natalie about her own love life and that she would be making a big mistake by seeing Ricky. Natalie is still confused and not sure whom she wants to be with. On Ricky’s birthday Natalie stays home and looks after Jack and Liam, Ricky’s son. So Barry, Pat and Roy can go to Ricky’s party soon after they arrive Barry persuades Roy and Pat to go home and baby-sit so Natalie can come to the party. When Natalie arrives she gives Ricky his card and on the back of the envelope Natalie wrote meet me outside the back where she tells him that she is going to leave Barry. Pat and Natalie talk again and Pat shows Natalie the secret tape, which Barry has recorded for Natalie’s birthday it is a really special tape because Barry says how much he loves her, how important she is to him and how happy she makes him feel, after seeing the video Natalie realises that she is doing wrong and tells Ricky it’s over. Natalie realises she can’t forget Ricky and soon their affair is back on and they plan to move away from the square and start afresh. They plan to leave on Natalie’s birthday, Natalie doesn’t even care about the preparations that Barry made for her birthday party in the Vic. They are ready to head off but Ricky’s car has broken down so they have to take the car that Barry bought for Natalie. Barry is still in the Vic waiting for the guest of honour to arrive but Janine knows about Ricky and Natalie and tells Barry. Barry runs outside and sees Natalie driving off but he stops them. Natalie then tells Barry she’s leaving him, Barry takes her into the Vic and shows her what he has organised for her, Natalie runs off to the toilets Barry runs after her and tries o make her change her mind but her minds already made up. Natalie is ready to leave but then Janine tells Natalie that Ricky slept with Sam, Natalie leaves the square only taking her son with her. Barry is left heartbroken, he then finds out that Pat knew about Ricky and Natalie, Pat and Roy end up having an argument about it, Roy has a heart attack and dies. The issue seen was dealt sensitively because the different characters feelings were expressed, although it was Natalie who was having the affair, you could see that not only was it the innocent partner that was confused but the partner which was committing adultery was even more confused, Natalie wasn’t sure who she wanted to be with at some points and was getting very upset over it. Pat tried to help her make the right decision but Natalie didn’t care. This soap opera made the moral issue less appealing, I think that it made people think more about what they are doing is totally wrong. The reason it did not make it more appealing is because it showed all the different circumstances people were left in, Natalie ended it with Ricky because he slept with Sam, Barry was left with no son and no wife, the baby was left with no father, Pat was left as the enemy and homeless because Roy dies and leaves the house to Barry, so the issue was shown well balanced because all the main characters feelings and circumstances were shown, many of the characters were feeling hurt. Overall I think this soap opera has shown adultery to be unpleasant because it shows just how many peoples lives are ruined not just the adultery committers, but people who try to help them understand what they are doing is wrong, but are then given the evil for not telling the truthful partner. So this teaches most viewers that adultery is not a good thing. I don’t think that soap opera’s might affect people’s behaviour because mostly they deal with issues to express the circumstances of good and bad. This issue would not cause offence because although it is an issue, which is happening in everyday life it is not based on particular people.