How and why do women and men speak differently?

How and why do women and men speak differently? Task: How and why do women and men speak differently? What explanations do different approaches in Sociolinguistics provide for the differences in language use by them? Which of these approaches do you agree with and why? In recent years, the assertion that women and men typically employ different speech style is pursued in a wide range of studies. Also, different sociolinguistics approaches such as variationist sociolinguistic, interactional sociolinguistic and ethnography of communication have put forward different explanations regarding this issue. Following by that, three approaches of language and gender have been also proposed by Jennifer Coates in her book â€Å"Women, Men and Language† (1986), which are the deficit approach, the dominance approach and the cultural difference approach to clarify this issue. Firstly,variationist sociolinguistics explains that different social conditions, for example different ages, genders, social classes and identities of interlocutors may discover different patterns of speech style. In this manner, it is suggested that the deficit approach which is proposed by Coates (1986) has followed the variationist sociolinguistic approach as deficit approach explains that the social status and identities of women have affected their speech style. According to Coates (1986), deficit is an approach established by Lakoff (1975). Robin Lakoffs (1975) influential exploratory essay, Language and Womans Place, about the ways womens speech differs from mens suggests that women are disadvantaged relative to men by a commonly inferior, less forceful â€Å"womens language† which they learn through socialisation. Also, she emphasises various female forms and styles conveying weakness, uncertainty, and unimportance. For instance, Lakoff argues that tag questions (1975: 16) and hedges (1975:54) are always used by women where they were unwilling to state a proposition directly. Indeed, her claims have been proven through a research carried out by Michael et. al. (2010) which determines the differences in conversational styles of men and women in Malaysia. The research points up that Malaysian women used more questions and hedges in their speech than men in order to keep the conversation going (Fishman, 1980; cited in Michael et. al., 2010). In this way, a psychological explanation given by Lakoff (1975) to womens usage of questions and hedges is due to the nature of womens secondary status, which is their sense of inferiority. She states that women feel unsecure of themselves because they have been taught to express themselves in â€Å"womens language†, which abounds in markers of uncertainty. Correspondingly, in Penelope Browns study of mens and womens speech patterns in a Mayan community in Mexico (1980), she found that a frequent correlation between higher status and the male sex affects the speech of men from that of women. She established that women in the Mayan community used the extremes of politeness, while men spoke more ‘matter-of-factly (Brown, 1980). Therefore, Brown (1980) relates these findings to the powerlessness social position of women in Mayan community as well, such as their vulnerability in relation to men and their need to protect their reputations. Hence, it seems reasonable to predict that women in general will speak more formally and more politely, since women are culturally referred to a secondary status relative to men and a higher level of politeness is expected from inferiors to superiors. Regarding to the same issue, other variationist explanations are given through Trudgills and Labovs researches. Trudgill claims that women typically hypercorrect where they speak more formally, using a higher proportion of prestige forms than men do in order to strive for social advancements. Likewise, Labov (1966; 312-495) found that at each socioeconomic level, except the very lowest, employ the same pattern. For example, in the description of Labovs investigations in New York City (1966), English speakers in New York sometimes pronounce the /r/ sound in words like ‘car, ‘floor and ‘fourth, and at other times they omit it. Beyond the finding that all speakers fluctuate between the inclusion and omission of /r/, Labov shows that speakers from a high socioeconomic level tend to pronounce /r/ relatively often. However, /r/ inclusion is more frequent in the speech of lower middle class women where they pay much careful attention in their speech. They use the upper mid dle class or the upper class as their reference as their accent has higher prestige and their own vernacular forms do not appear as often in casual speech (Labov, 1966). Besides, Labov (1966) suggests that the more formal a context of speech becomes, the more will the lower middle class women adopt the features of the higher class and will even overtake the rate of the upper class in the most formal style. Furthermore, Fischer (1958; cited in Angle Hesse-Biber, 1981) also found that women were more probable than men to prefer the standard gerundive suffix -ing to the more informal -in. In relation to Labov (1966), hypercorrection of the middle class women is associated with a relatively high level of linguistic insecurity as their extreme attention to external standards can be coupled with the weaker economic base of women, their relative powerlessness, and the oppressive nature of social stratification. In contrast, the tendency of men to actually lower the status level of their s peech is seen as evidence that men have a covert norm of prestige that runs contrary to that assigning prestige to the standard forms. Secondly, ethnography of communication approach which is used as a mean to study the interactions among members of a particular speech community which has a specific culture could be used to explain the differences in speech style of men and women as well. This is because speech communities create and establish their own speaking codes or norms (Philipsen, 1975). Essentially, the dominance approach with is suggested by Coates (1986) could be associated with ethnography of communication as well, as male dominance is always one of the factors or cultures of some speech communities that affects mens and womens speech style. One of the examples from which dominance approach is applied is in Korea, which the country social structure consists of a royal monarch, a patriarchically dominated family system that emphasises the maintenance of family lines (Cho, 2006). Also, this structure has tended to separate roles of women from those of men. Therefore, Cho claims that Korean women are seen a s the powerless and subordinate group whose difference speech style is resulted from male supremacy. An example of male dominance in Korean society illustrated by Cho (2006) is, a married Korean woman will rarely introduce herself to others with her own name, but habitually calls herself someones mother or wife, even though she has a profession. One might also explain this in terms of the dominance model, where female uses a term that identifies her relationship to husband, either as a mother or a wife, to show her subordination to her husband. Conversely, male uses his own name to offer himself with an individual identity. Next, interactionist sociolinguistics approach is mainly interested in what language use can tell about social processes. Besides, it asserts that environmental factors are more dominant in language acquisition. In other words, interactionist approach places the importance on home and cultural environment in language learning. Thus, this approach is followed by Deborah Tannens (1990, 1992) cultural differences approach when she describes communication between men and women as â€Å"cross-cultural communication†. She (1992:109) asserts that cultural differences between men and women including diverse expectations about the gender role of talk in relationships and how they have to achieve that role. Tannen (1990) outlines, speech styles begin to established in childhood and continue through adulthood. She believes that women and men have dissimilar pass experiences. Boys and girls grow up in different cultural environment. They travel in different worlds and adapt to different c ultures, reinforcing patterns established in childhood. In order to elaborate on speech styles, Tannen (1990:77) depicts that most men are very quiet at home, but will freely talk up in public and participate in discussion groups. Basically, they use a reporting communication style, to preserve independence as well as negotiate and maintain status in a hierarchical social order. Also, men avoid small talk. Conversely, women have a rapport communications establishing connections, negotiating relationships and enjoying private conversations (Tannen, 1990). They do most of the talking in private conversations such as when they are at home. However, when in a public occasions, women are not as comfortable in voicing their views. In this manner, Tannen (1990) asserts that men are more concerned with status and independence whereas women prefer connection and intimacy. She considers that these cultural differences can give women and men a different perception at the same situation and the refore they employ different speech styles. In my viewpoint, I believe that there is a truth in the claim of interactionist approach, and I think that this approach has best described the language and gender issues. As what has been claimed by Tannen (1990), I agree that men and women come from different sociolinguistic subcultures would have different conceptions of friendly conversation, different rules for engaging in it, and different rules for interpreting it. Hence, cultural differences approach which follows interactionist approach has evidently described that cultural differences will truly impose a number of differences in speech style between men and women. Nevertheless, my point here is that cultural differences alone cannot sufficiently clarify the whole pattern of language difference. In fact, deficit approach and dominance approach may make some contribution even though there would be some biasness or stereotypes included in these approaches. This is because there is a clear pattern for language style shown by di fferent linguists over the years, which correlated with men to be that of power and dominance, and that associated with women to be that of powerlessness and submissiveness (e.g. Lakoff, 1975). To summarise, gender different in patterns and styles of communication should be viewed as a complex issue where there are many approaches and factors involved in it. Individuals would not use one form of speech style in all occasions and with all people. They would consider various factors and decide on different communicative strategies to transmit meaning correctly and effectively. Effect of Mineral Deficiency on Plants | Experiment Effect of Mineral Deficiency on Plants | Experiment This will affect both germinating seedlings and growing plants. Different concentrations of CO2 can cause plants to grow at different rates. Plants need CO2 in the air in to respire in the same way, as we need oxygen. Without it they would not be able to create energy so they couldnt grow. The problem with trying to monitor the affects that different amounts of CO2 would have on the cress seed is that it is hard to control the level of CO2. In school we do not have the equipment. Amount of water in the soil (assuming that it is grown in soil): This will affect both germinating seedlings growing plants. Plants need water for the transportation of different molecules such as glucose. It is essential for growth. They do this by osmosis. With out water they would dry out die. Water also makes germination easier because it softens the shell. Amount of light (Intensity, wavelength): Only growing plants need light in order to grow. Seeds dont need light because they are usually under ground when they germinate. Plants need light because this is how they get food. The sunlight gets trapped in the plants leaves by chloroplast cells and turned into energy. The reaction by which this takes place is called photosynthesis. The equation for this reaction is 6CO2 +6 H2O = 6O2 + C6H12O6 Sunlight is not only vital for the plants growth but also vital for us because without light all plants would die meaning no oxygen in the air. Different wavelengths reflect off the leaves, only certain wavelengths get absorbed. Competition: Competition can affect germinating seedlings and growing plants. Competition is caused by a dense population of animals or plants in the same area competing for the same resources. The more competition there is then the less the plants will grow. This is because the minerals, nutrients and sunlight (in plants case) have to be spread out more thinly or shared out amongst a higher number of plants. In some cases plants will die due to a lack of nutrition. PH: Can also affect both germinating seedlings and growing plants. Cress needs a neutral PH level to grow at their best. Some plants like camellia can grow in acidic soil because they have adapted to the soil over many years. Some plants like herbs benefit from alkaline soil. Different plants grow best in different soils. Minerals/nutrients: Minerals and nutrients are essential because they are needed as energy. They are absorbed with water through the roots by osmosis. They are then transported by the xylem up around the plant. Different nutrients are needed for different uses e.g. Iron for strengthening the stem. The factor that I wish to investigate is how different minerals affect the germination and growth of plants. The aim The aim of my experiment is to see how 3 different solutions lacking 3 different minerals affect the growth and the germination of a plant. The different solutions I am going to use are: Lacking Nitrogen Lacking Sulphur Lacking Magnesium I am also going to have a control test, which has all the nutrients a plant would have in normal soil. This is so I can compare the experiments to it allowing me to see what changes the absence of the minerals has. The Method To do this I am going to have 4 different petri dishes, 1 for each solution. In each dish there will be 4 different sections each containing 5 seedlings. The reason I am doing this is to make it a fair test. By having 4 different sections I am essentially I am repeating the experiment 4 times. Every day I will water the cress seeds using their own solutions. To create the appropriate solutions I did a pre-test using a replicate of my actual experiment and to I watered the 20 cress seeds over a week. I used a normal Sachs solution to water them. Form the experiment I found that 1.5 ml cubed for each section was to little because although the seedlings germinated the plants did not grow very quickly. I decided to use 2ml cubed for each section. The solutions I made were 1/3 Sachs and 2/3s water. This is a diagram of my experiment. It shows the 4 different petri dishes. In order to be able to monitor the cress I will draw up a table. For each day that I water the cress I will observe: How many seeds have germinated, The height of the seedlings, No. Of leaves on seedling, And any other observations. All this will do is make it easier to analyse my results. Prediction I predict that nitrogen is going to have the most devastating effect on the germination and growth of a plant. The reason I think this is because it converts sugars made by photosynthesis into protein. Protein is needed for growth. I think that they will be short and have yellowing leaves due to facts from my research. Research Mineral Used in Deficiency Magnesium Chloroplast Yellow leaves Nitrogen Chlorophyll cells and Amino acids Reduction in growth and yellow leaves Sulphur Amino acids and proteins Reduction in growth and yellowing leaves Fair test To get my results I watered my plants over a period of 2 weeks. An important aspect of my test was getting reliable results. This will help me to me evaluate my experiment fairly. To make my test as fair as possible I made sure all of my petri dishes were in the same conditions as each other. This meant that any effects could only be caused by the factor that I am experimenting with. We watered them all as regularly as each other, placed tem all in the same spot, made sure that they were all in the same temperature, light etc. I must also take into consideration the fact that anomalies could occur in my results or some of the effects could be caused by natural causes. For example the heaters in school could stop running, some seeds may be infertile or there could be an abnormally cold or hot day. Conclusion/evaluation Overall I think that the lack of nitrogen in the solution has not caused much difference to the growth and germination to the seedlings. I expected them not to grow as tall as the any of the others, to have yellow leaves and only a few of them to have germinated. The first thing that I noticed about my results was that they contradicted my prediction. The seedlings lacking Nitrogen were the fastest to germinate (this includes the control). I found this strange because Nitrogen is the most vital nutrient of the three we experimented with. Judging by the results I have collected it seems that plants do not need Nitrogen to germinate but it is needed for growth because the seedlings in the Nitrogen solution are described as yellow leaved and short. I can see this because the seeds that lack nitrogen germinate more quickly than the seeds in the control test. I also noticed that the seedlings in the solution that lacked magnesium ended up with the darkest leaves. My research shows that a sign of a plant with a magnesium deficiency has yellow leaves. The cress seeds in my experiment that are in a solution that lacks magnesium have the darkest leaves. This could be caused because the plants found that the Sulphur in the solution counter acted the effects of the lack of magnesium. Also it seems that the solutions did not effect the growth of the plants, they all seemed to grow to the same height at the same rate. This is proven by the control test also growing to this height. Sulphur had the greatest effect on the plants overall. By the 4th day into the experiment, the solution lacking sulphur was the only solution in which few seeds had germinated and had yellow leaves and short seedlings. I think that it is because sulphur is used in both germination and growth. It is used in proteins and Amino acids (the building blocks of protein). These are both vital nutrients as they are used as energy in the plant. Overall I think that if I had carried out my experiment for longer, the effects would have been greater. I could have also chosen more diverse nutrient/minerals. This would have caused fewer problems with which mineral caused which effect and I would have seen greater effects. I did find out that magnesium causes a decrease in energy due to fewer chloroplast cells. Sulphur causes short term and long term effects in growth and causes yellowing of leaves and Nitrogen does not cause short term effects but I predict will slow growth and cause yellowing of leaves in the long run.

A Narrative Structure The Eyes to Someone Elses Life :: essays papers

A Narrative Structure The Eyes to Someone Elses Life There are many literary means, available to an author, which offer insight into a realm, which is unknown to the target audience. For an author, deciding the vehicle of expression and description is perhaps the most significant factor in the success of a literary work. Narrating allows a writer to provide personal account and persuade the reader without the use of outside facts or incidence. In â€Å"Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of an Eurasian,† Sui Sin Far utilizes the technique of first person narrative, in the form of flashbacks, in order to establish credibility and to invoke an emotional response from her readers. Truly, this decision offers support to the themes Far wishes to convey. By incorporating stories from her own personal experiences, Far appeals to the desire for individuality and personal identity, which we all harbor. The first words written by Far display an imagery of looking back into her past at the moments that seem to dominate her memories. She begins the narrative with a vision of herself at the age of four. At this young age, Far remembers â€Å"the day on which [she] first learned that [she] was something different and apart from other children† (Sui Sin Far, 833). Even at this young age the word ‘â€Å"Chinese†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Far, 833) appears to have negative connotations, regardless of the true meaning. For the first time, but not for the last, Far has been made to see herself as less of a person than those who do not have Chinese in their blood lines. Young children are easily influenced and tend to be filled with an immense amount of curiosity. For Far, the idea of being Chinese meant nothing until her surroundings began to develop around her nationality alone. Far manages to amplify emotions by illustrating them in a heightened sense. The use of childhood flashbacks allows the audience to experience the detrimental effects of racism and ignorance through the innocent and uniformed eyes of a young child. Adults have grown up in a cynical world and have been cultured in a society of inequality and injustice. If Far had chosen to speak of experiences of racial injustice suffered in her adult life, then the work would have far less emotional appeal on the audience.

GRENDEL THE SAVAGE :: essays papers

GRENDEL THE SAVAGE Portraying adolescents as false tragic heroes has been a theme explored in literature throughout the twentieth century. In John Gardner’s Grendel, the protagonist Grendel, portrayed as a parentless adolescent seeking guidance, finds happiness in violence. Grendel continually commits the ultimate act of evilness, murder on Hrothgar’s mead hall. Gardner creates a character and an environment in, which the reader must feel sorrow for Grendel, in order to have fulfillment by the end of the resolution. However, Gardner uses Grendel and writing in general as tool to communicate his liberal philosophies to a wider audience making it difficult to weep over Grendel’s death. Grendel is not a misguided youth; he is a monster who willingly takes part in his death by indulging himself in violence. In Grendel, the protagonist spends his ephemeral life attacking Hrothgar’s mead hall, and Grendel takes the lives of Hrothgar’s men during the raids. When Grendel encounters the dragon, Grendel turns into a barbaric machine, after his self-realization. After the dragon, Grendel begins his contentious â€Å"war† with Hrothgar. The attacks on Hrothgar are essentially a deranged pastime for Grendel. After the attacks, Grendel feels some remorse, although this could merely be a biological reaction to the tyranny. Even if Grendel feels remorse, it is still no excuse to slaughter. If Grendel’s attacks are means of survival, then he must surely realize his death is necessary. Grendel returns to the mead hall repeatedly, even after the scenes of sick compassion. Grendel’s regrets only last long enough for the reader to see another side of him. The side of remorse and regret quickly disappears as he feels the hunger of death again. Grendel is a three – dimensional character. At the same time, Grendel can lose his confused frivolous existence and become a bloodthirsty killer. Grendel reflects modern troubled youth. He is lost in a corrupt world and consequently the use of violence is a means of short-term escape. Although we want to see Grendel saved, it is impossible to aid all adolescents in troubled. In addition, if we say Grendel’s acts are justifiable because he lives in terrible world, we are also saying it is justifiable for a drug dealer to deal out drugs. In order to maintain balance in civilization, we must have equal shares of compassion and common sense. Common sense tells us children are not products of their environment.

Buisness Letter Order

Hi. How are you? I don’t think you remember me. I am a your niece [Your name] thrice removed. I am Evelyn’s little girl. You visited us last Christmas. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you how much fun I had that Christmas getting to know you all over again. I hoped to keep in touch with you after Christmas. Remember when I told you about the business venture I have with Christie? You remember Christie? she’s your other neice, my cousin. You also met her at Christmas.Christie is the girl with the long dark hair and dark eyes. She’s is the most  friendly person you could ever meet. Well, you saw that when you met her at Christmas. She’s a graphic artist and graduated valedictorian. Christie receives so many job offers from major companies, even DISNEY! She’s married now with a baby. The baby is adorable. Her husband is a really nice guy. The baby is one year old, and her name is Isabel. As for me, I am a graphic artist too and also a computer e xpert. I graduated just this year. Christie and I have invested in a space for a store we want to open at the huge mall at Rockaway in New Jersey where we live.It is a custom designed gift basket store for all occasions. Though the huge Rockaway mall stores are varied, they are lacking a store, which provides something more personal to the public. There are too many stores, which consist of cold impersonal items such as electronics, Order#31114685 Pg. 2 clothes, music, on the first floor. Books, videos games, furniture, on the second floor, food, toys, shoes on the third, computer disks, thimbles, exotic furniture, movies, bed clothes, on the fourth. Desks, paper products and hair brushes etc on the fifth.Appliances on the sixth, hair cutters and fur coats on the seventh. I know these items can seem personal, however not as personal as a customized gift basket. Our idea is to open a store in the mall as well as a virtual storefront on the Internet. Christie and I have already accumu lated 100,000 in seed money between us however; we’re going to need a little more to make our dream a reality. But let me first tell you about our little store before I ask you for the money. Christie and I are thinking of a huge friendly store designed for people to enter andleisurely choose inside colorful bins filled with personal items such as stuffed bears, pretty personalized stationary, candy, pretty colored pens and pencils, plastic jewelry (The kind you would find in a bubble gum machine) and all scents of perfume oil; all forare low price. The design for our store is openly friendly. Tall walls painted a sunny yellow color, greet the customers are greeted as they arrive. The concept is for people to be able to enter our store and freely look over our inventory inside the bins to choose what they want to have fortheir gift basket. The customers then will arrive at the cashier, pay for the items and choose what customized gift basket you want. Our customers will choos e from a large portfolio of different types of gift baskets for all occasions, painted with rich bright colors, custom-made by Christie. Her specialty is a yellow and brown celophane wrapped gift basket in the shape of Spongebob Squarepants. She paints the straw baskets and stuffs them for the customers herself. Order#31114685 Pg. 3 The competition as I said before Aunt Betty, is non-existentThey are all cold and impersonal electronics, and we think boring. We see that they have a normal amount of customers streaming in and out of these stores, however it will definitely not be as much as there will be coming into our stores. Like I said before, our gift baskets are for all occasions and are already in demand. We have orders for Birthdays, holidays, weddings, christenings and anniversaries. The list is very long and is getting longer as word gets out since finishing our website. Our virtual store on the Internet is expertly done, if I shouldsay so myself with colorful pictures of th e assortment of the many gift baskets we can create and Christie and myself. I also included our history as computer graphic designers and has generated over 200 orders already with over 100 orders in backorders. We have money already, over $200. 00 however we need some more to keep this dream going. We can save you money, legally as a small business tax exemption that will make you a lot more money in future, Aunt Betty. Socially, we will be famous as we make more money for you globally as well as nationally.The truth is people today would rather give a gift that is personal instead of something cold and impersonal like an electronic something which needs batteries every two weeks. I hope to hear from you soon, after you receive this letter, Aunt Betty and see you this coming Christmas. Maybe then you can see the space we have rented out in the mall for our store. I am sure you will like it. Best wishes. Sincerely, [Your signature] [Your name] -Works Cited- The Little, Brown Handbo ok fourth Edition H. Ramsey Fowler Jane E. Aaron; Copyright ? 1989 by Scott, Foresman and Company.

Economic Equilibrium Essay

In economic equilibrium, quantity demanded and quantity supplied are equal. For example, the amount of goods or serivices set by buyers is equal to the amount of goods or services produced by sellers. This is what we call as equilibrium price and this will definitely not change unless demand or supply changes. Based on the lecture, due to scarcity we sometimes consider trade-offs. For example as what was stated in the lecture, supposedly that you have only six hours left to study for your test in economics and to complete your assignment in graphic design, you have to balance your time or spend more time in either economics or graphic design. You also have to consider the resources that you can maximize in accomplishing both things. Having a fixed quantity and quality of available resources means that you have a fixed supply of materials such as textbooks, notes, design software, etc. , to use in the time you have left. Scarcity triggers the society to make choices and that’s why there are trade-offs. I agree that economic equilibrium is the state wherein you don’t get any benefits at all in making trade-offs because there is no tendency to change or you alreay chose the best possible alternative which means that you have maximized already your limited resources. Reference Economics Basics: Demand and Supply. ( 2010 ). Retrieved July 15, 2010 from

Literary Analysis of Romeo and Juliet Essay

The essay is a literary analysis of the play Romeo and Juliet. The format is Point, Proof and Explanation. The question was â€Å"What factors and/or characters lead to the eventual demise of Romeo and Juliet† I used Lady and Lord Capulet, Juliets Nurse, and Friar Laurence. There are direct quotes from the play as well that are relevent. It is 929 words in length Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet presents readers with the story of a tragically doomed love. It is the story of two teenagers’ who fall in love and the people and circumstances that prevent them from being together. Four characters in particular, namely Lady and Lord Capulet, Juliet’s nurse, and Friar Laurence, played a significant role in the destruction of the main characters and young lovers, Romeo and Juliet. These characters, through acts of selfishness, betrayal and authority over the young lovers led to their desperate actions and ultimate death. Lady and Lord Capulet, Juliet’s mother and father contributed to the events leading to the demise of Romeo and Juliet right from the beginning of the play.. Juliet’s father, Lord Capulet, creates a faà §ade about how much he loves and cares for his daughter when in reality he demonstrates that he really does not have her best interest at heart. In the beginning of the play, Lord Capulet says to Paris, (the nephew of the prince of Verona, who would bring the Capulet family power and prestige if he marries Juliet): â€Å"My child is yet a stranger in the world, she hath not seen the change of fourteen years; Let two more summers wither in their pride, Ere we may think her ripe to be a bride.† (II, ii, 8-11). This gives the reader the impression of a caring and considerate father, who is concerned about his child’s well being and is concerned that she is too young to be married. Yet, by the end of the play, when Juliet stands up to her father and says she does not want to marry Paris, he becomes angry with her and says â€Å"†¦Disobedient wretch!/I tell thee what, get thee to church o’Thursday [to marry Paris]/Or never after look me in the face†(III, v, 160-163). Lord Capulet is showing his true feelings toward his daughter and shows the reader that his real motives are self-serving. Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother also assists in the destruction of Romeo and Juliet by her shallow and self-centered nature. She believes that Juliet should marry Paris, not for love or happiness, but because Paris is wealthy and handsome and will bring the Capulet family more power and prestige. When Lady Capulet says â€Å"And find delight writ there with beauty’s pen./ Examine every married lineament,/ And see how one another lends content (I, iii, 82-85) she is trying to convince Juliet that Paris would make a good husband because of his good looks. Her advise to her daughter demonstrates that she is only concerned about image without consideration of her daughter’s wishes or needs. Both Lord Capulet and Lady Capulet have only their personal motives and values in mind when they make the decision about their daughter’s future. This contributes to the helplessness and isolation that Juliet feels which eventually leads Juliet to her death. Another manipulative, self-serving character is Juliet’s nurse. On the surface, she appears to be a person that Juliet can confide in during difficult situations, yet throughout the play, her actions would demonstrate that she actually contributes to the destruction of Romeo and Juliet. Initially, she played the role of a messenger between the two lovers supporting their relationship by relaying secret messages between the doomed lovers. At the same time she also appeared to be understanding and sympathetic to Juliet’s feelings by lending Juliet a sympathetic ear. Yet when Lord and Lady Capulet thwart Romeo and Juliet’s plans of a life together, the nurse, in order to keep her job, does not try to comfort Juliet, she simply says † [Romeo] is dead -or ’twere as good he were† (III, iv, 235)and tells her â€Å"I think it best you married with [Paris]†(III, iv, 218). This causes Juliet grief because she trusted her nurse, who throughout the years has become more like a mother to her, and now the only one she trusted is betraying her. As a result of this betrayal and feelings of total  hopelessness, Juliet’s thoughts of suicide became prevalent and she turned to friar Laurence for help. In spite of the fact that Friar Laurence played the part of a helpful confidant to Romeo and Juliet, he ultimately helped I their final destruction. In the beginning of the play, when Romeo went to Friar Laurence for help, he believes that the marriage of the two teenagers might end the long running feud between the Capulet’s and the Montague’s. It is apparent that when Friar Laurence says â€Å"In one respect I’ll thy assistant be/ For this alliance may so prove,/ to turn your households’ rancor to pure love†(II, iii, 86-88), all he is think about is a way to end the feud that has caused â€Å"three civil brawls† (I, i, 87), and have caused the needless death of many. Even after Romeo is banished and there seems to be no hope for Romeo and Juliet, all Friar Laurence can think about is â€Å"blaze (announcing) thy marriage† (III, iii, 150). What friar Laurence does not realize is that he is giving false hope to both Romeo and Juliet, allowing them to believe that their lives will eventually be all right. In reality, we as readers know that this can never be, and thus, friar Laurence is setting the stage for Romeo and Juliet’s destruction. In the play, the main characters are teenagers who are forced to deal with extremely complex issues surrounding their simple love for each other. The people, who influence them to do so, are the ones who are responsible for the death and destruction of Romeo and Juliet.

Unit 1 Discussion Board Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 6

Unit 1 Discussion Board - Essay Example Based on recent statistics, for instance, the national health care expenditure amounted to $1,299.5 billion. (Patel, Rushefsky & McFarlane 2005, p. 7) However, the situation today is far from the ideal and that many criticisms were voiced in regard to the decline of the entire public health system. Despite the current extensive coverage by the federal government in many aspects of health care, many programs have failed (such as the short-lived Clinton health care reform) and the national health care performance continues to deteriorate. The argument is that financing is not the problematic area; instead, the problems include the unbalanced appropriation of the funds as well as the inefficient public health infrastructure brought about by organizational turmoil and fractionalized interest. These dilemmas are consequences of a politicized health care system, wherein politicians decide populist policies in order to be elected. According to a report made by the Institute of Medicine in 1988, many health departments suffer problems of health care delivery, financing and quality of personal health services. It cited that public health services have fallen into disarray while the ability of the public health system to take effective actions to deal with continuing and emerging public health threats is questionable. A later report – one that has been published in 2002 - concluded that not a great deal has changed since the previous report, stressing that public health law at all levels of government is outdated and internally inconsistent creating inefficiency and lack of coordination. These developments underscore the role that the political system in the US plays in the public health system of the nation. To illustrate: Instead of prioritizing the goals and objectives of an existing health care program, new directions and policies would be introduced because the tide of public opinion as reflected in the polls