ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction: Standing at the Beginning One of the most touching novels ever, the story of a young woman entering the world of different cultures, the world so splendid that it is almost blinding her, and her guide to this beautiful universe, the Turkish lover, offers a plenty of food for thoughts. Considering the development of the lead character, the young woman, and watching her growing from a young inexperienced girl into a sophisticated woman is truly delightful. Obviously, the lead character has a long way to go before changing from a faceless Chiquita into proud and self-assured Esmeralda, yet the latter flush into such an organic sequence that it becomes rather complicated to see the specifics of the young woman’s evolution. It is evident that the lead character crosses certain barriers, yet pointing out each and tracing the hard way that Esmeralda has to go, as well as the changes she suffers is essential for understanding the character. The New Vision of Life: Mirrors Broken Obviously, the way a has-been Chiquita used to view the life and understand it changes completely in the course of her relationships with her Turkish lover. Once taking the decisions step towards the unknown, the lead character changes her attitude towards the whole idea of living completely. As Esmeralda told herself, “I entered the car smiling, certain that there would be more missed trains in my life, more closed doors in my face, but there would always be another train rumbling down the tracks in my direction” (343). From this time on, Esmeralda’s point of living is learning the new and getting used to the lifestyle that she has never experienced before – she is entering the splendid society of the new world that is too far from her traditional Latin environment. The Family Portrait: A Shoulder to Cry on One of the most unbelievable things about Esmeralda Santiago – both the real woman and the character in the book – is the fact that the woman lived between two languages and two cultures – the Puerto-Rican one and the one of the USA. In The Turkish Lover, however, the third – the Turkish one – is added to the whole whirlpool of traditions and customs that the character is completely tangled in. It must be admitted that Esmeralda soon starts understanding how miserable and cheap is the life she used to live in her Puerto-Rican environment: “If you teach a man to fish, he will eventually grow tired of mackerel and want lobster” (218). However, as soon as Esmeralda learns the ins and outs of the new world she enters, the character realizes that her family, with all its Puerto-Rican simplicity and being absolutely unsophisticated is not something to be ashamed of, but, on the contrary, the greatest treasure that she has ever had in her life. Against the Cultural Norms: An Effort to Take Even though Esmerald
The style of talking significantly reveals one’s gender as well as his/her degree of courtesy. Over the years, many researchers have carried out various researches concerning gender and politeness. There seems to exist a specific style of speech or rather terminologies that people associate to either men or women. Such terminologies further define one’s level of politeness. According to Mills (2000, p.20) “politeness in gender involves the evaluations, which people engage in through their conversations.” Gender is one of the variables that influence interpretations and some production of linguistic politeness. A person exhibits the level of politeness through the language he/she employs. For instance, the linguistic symbols of a person significantly illustrate his/her levels of courtesy. Mills (2000, p.34) argues that “politeness cannot be understood from mere utterances of the person or any choices or options made by a single individual but rather as a complex process involving strategies and sets of practice that communities practices.” These strategies are contested, affirmed and individuals within these communities must be engaged in order to know their own positions and behaviors within their various groups. As the paper unfolds, there exist a strong positive correlation between one’s language and his/her level of courtesy, which further varies based on gender. Language and Politeness The level to which a woman portrays courtesy differs significantly when compared to that of men. Language formulation/production and interpretation is also an important aspect when it comes to gender and politeness (Bergvall 1996, p.21). The way society engages in socialization and their language plays a greater part in the question of politeness. Therefore, circumstances and situations in which people are, to a greater extent play a function in the way they become. Their utterances and their actions towards their fellow colleagues will automatically depict or rather borrow from their way of upbringing. For instance, as person who was brought up in a family or background where people heckled to each other, this behavior will be cultivated in him or her hence impacting on his/her behaviors and more specifically to his/her politeness. Interactions and nature of talk in the society also has an effect on the level of politeness. Brown and Levinson’s model on politeness has provided a base line in the study of politeness over the years. In this model, the speaker in any interaction need to uphold to certain standards in his utterances in order to deal with any forces or potential threats in the ‘face’ of his hearers. Brown and Levinson meaning or implication of “face”, a word coined by Goffman means self image of a person. Therefore, in any interaction speakers employs or uses words or language that would promote his self-image in the eyes of his hearers. Labov (1973, p.66) argues that ‘face’ shoul
“A land rich in beauty.” This is how a considerable number of people view today’s Asian culture, a region with a booming economy and a scenic view at every turn. It truly is a beautiful place, a beautiful place blocked from the view of factory workers by the soot-covered windows of our modern-day sweatshops. According to Ian Maitland’s article In Defence Of International Sweatshop, in today’s illusion society, the thought that the clothes that we wear, and the products that we use every day are made by hundreds of thousands of people working in less than poor conditions for a payment that would hardly buy the average working man a loaf of bread, never crosses our minds. It has recently been termed today’s slavery (Crossette), but it is as overlooked as a crumb on a kitchen floor. Factory life is hard, but for the workers, they have no choice. This is why it is called slavery because they must work or die from lack of supplies and sustenance for themselves and their entire family. The working conditions are beyond horrid. Anywhere, women from age thirteen work in dark and crowded rooms with dangerous heavy machinery, working feet or even inches from a soon to be severed limb, and just adding to the noise that falls on soon becoming deaf ears. If these women are lucky enough to have children, they are fortunate enough to come to work with their mothers and spend the days in a dank room unattended and sleeping on musty old mattresses. The situation has not changed much since the publication of the writings in Rebecca Harding Davis’ book Life in the Iron Mills. These labour practices still exist and are now constantly in the news. One of the more recent sweatshops incidents was at a factory in Hong Kong that makes giveaway toys for McDonald’s. On February twenty-first, two hundred twenty workers became seriously ill and were forced to stop work due to acetone poisoning and overwork. (AMRC) Twenty-five of the workers collapse, and three were admitted to
O’Donnell’s claims about modern religion are very accurate. In fact modern religion is more a source of identity rather than a source of spiritual nourishment. People no longer practice a religion. Instead, people nowadays belong to a religion. Globally, religion has become an indentifying factor. This can be reflected even in registration procedures where people are always supposed to give out their religious affiliation. This is regardless of whether they practice these religions or not. This was not always the case. In ancient times people used to practice religion in a different manner. Almost everybody who lived in those times practiced a religion that had a god/s and a set of beliefs that one strictly adhered to. However, these beliefs were not part one’s identity. Modern social theorists list religious identity as one of the contentious bits of social identities. This is because even the people themselves have trouble defining their relationships with religion. For instance, people claim to be Muslims, Presbyterians, Catholics, among others. However, if you ask these people to unravel these assumed identities, they will either be shallow or vague about it. Previously when people practiced a religion, they took it upon themselves to learn everything that concerned their respective religions. These religious identities have slowly replaced social, family, geographical, and cultural identities. This according to social theorists is because adapting a religious identity is viewed as an important part of today’s culture. The main claim in this passage is that people nowadays use religion for identification purposes. After religion became a part of people’s identities, a lot other cultural aspects were eroded. For instance in most societies including the European society, religious rituals happen to be part of social events. Those people who are yet to assume a religious identity are often castigated by the rest of the society. For instance, in Christian dominated societies those who fail to associate themselves with a religion are referred to as atheists. This to some is a derogatory term resulting from the fact that one does not have a religious identity. Globalization has also fueled the push to adopt religious identities. This is mostly because it facilitates the portability of religions and their identities. With globalization, people no longer have to worry about adapting to new social or cultural identities. This is what the author of this passage terms as a portable identity (O’Donnell 1). That is why even global policies are made in reference to such identities. The Arab world for example is predominantly Mu
Introduction The way human beings perceive and think of anything is said to be the main determining factor of the outcome. This means that any situation depends on how it is handled. When one has a positive thinking about a given situation then the end result is in most cases doomed to be positive too (Snare, 2001, p.67). On the other hand when one has a negative feeling about something, the outcome ends to be most likely negative. Therefore, what we feel and think today determines the future. This has led to the campaign of moral thinking among individuals. A great philosopher once said that, moral thinking is the way to achieving the happiness we desire. This fact is true as most of the times people in anger will have usually failed to deal with the problem the positive way. In every situation there is always the correct way which despite the route and time usually results into happiness or rather avoids anger. When one is faced with an issue that requires solutions to be made, the end result is highly correlated to the way of thinking of the individual (Hare, 1991, p.63) l. Also, in the society where there is a larger population than our homes people are bound to say anything at any time. The arising phrases and comments from this are usually the indicator of the morality of the people of that society. Research shows that moral thinking is a composite of acting and ruling or making the final decision (Schwartz, 2010, p.1). Moral thinking involves two levels that is the intuitive level also referred to as the lower level of thinking. During this level of thinking the individual bases their argument on what they have learnt and one’s own intuition. The higher level now involves justification of the decision made (Drai, 2008, p.12). A renowned philosopher once said the highest stage of moral thinking is the post conventional stage. He further explained that it is at this stage that people are able to make concrete decisions that are not based on their own personal gain but are rather concerned about ethics and rights. The incorporation of ethics in our way of thinking is what leads to moral way of thinking. There are many situations that require moral thinking so as to achieve the desired final decision. This paper is an analysis of a contemporary problem that involves moral thinking so as to arrive at the final decision. A case study of moral way of thinking The current global situation has led to many developments among the people of the world (Schwartz, 2010, p.1). It is through globalization that people from different countries have been forced by circumstances to travel all over the world. Some of these reasons include; business, education, family trips, professions like journalism just to mention but a few. This has therefore led to forced interactions among the people. That is, people from different cultures are meant to accept those from non-related cultures. It is because of these interrelationships that moral
The financial obligations of a government entity can be planned through effective capital budgeting (Peterson, 2004, p. 56). Most government entities have adopted capital budgeting as a way of enhancing economic stability and debt planning. The government has been forced to have multiple roles when it comes to capital budgets because of the ever increasing government spending. Government entities are supposed to manage the resources allocated to them in the best way possible by finding a clear definition of capital and current expenditures (Peterson, 2004, p. 58). The net worth of government expenditures can be improved by having the right tools of fiscal policy. Government entities have to implement all the debt strategies of the federal government and ensure a successful execution of all programs (Pecorella, 2006, p. 112). The New York State Government is a local authority that has been struggling with debts for a very long time and will be the centre of discussion in paper. The debt capacity of a government entity determines whether it can borrow money or not. Every government entity has a debt limit that should not be exceeded in any way (Pecorella, 2006, p. 120). Government entities accrue some debt obligations in the course of their operations and their ability to repay debt obligations on time using their own revenues is what referred to as the debt capacity. It is important to note that the debt capacity of a government entity can not be determined if there is any kind of revenue deficit. The amount of debt obligations should not in any way exceed the total government revenues (Pecorella
Outline This paper critically examines the efficacy of the Taxes Act 2003, passed by former President Bush by cutting personal taxes and depreciation rates, in order to create more incomes and thus increase consumer spending, leading to higher GDP and lower unemployment after its passing. By using economic models, it is sought to show that marginal propensity for increased income would be more than marginal imports, thus creating surplus funds for social good. However, the assumption that consumption and imports bear a nexus to disposable income may not be applicable in all cases. While this article has been partly successful in its approach and argument, it has failed to provide robust recommendations on how to address this dilemma. Introduction Did she/he set forth a clear purpose of analysis and the question at issue (that is the problem or dilemma) very clearly? Explain fully why or why not. Yes, to a certain extent, there was a clear purpose of analysis, and this was in terms of critically examining the Taxes Act 2003. The dilemma was in terms of whether after the passing of the Act, the aims and objectives of this Bill had been achieved, especially in areas of higher GDP, lowered unemployment brought about by reduced tax rates, which normally should increase spending and make the economy flush with funds for investments and higher employment rates. It is believed that “savings from the capital gains tax cut would be concentrated among higher-income individuals, and as a result the savings were less likely to be spent and would produce only a small economic stimulus.” (Krawczyk and Wright, 2009, Para 2). The clear purpose however could not be fully determined since the graphs were not consistent and matching with the commentary. Moreover, there are also unexplained definitions and key terms with regard to financial terminologies used. The Concepts: Did she/he give a concise description and definition of the concepts? Explain fully (Please identify the concepts) The main concepts have been the economic concepts which state that Total income = Consumption (as a function of disposable income) + investments (function of Interest r) + exogenous government exports + exogenous imports – Imports (as a function of disposable income). (The 2003 Tax Cuts and the Economy: The underlying Concepts). It is believed that when income increases, consumption also increases, since this report assumes that income is linked with consumption and imports, but the additional inclination to consume is higher than additional inclination to import. Analysis: Did she/he employ comprehensive thinking to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate the facts, concepts, and values that together form the case with a view to testing somebody or bodies of principles, proposals, or procedures…? Explain fully The author has taken recourse to diagrammatical representation to anal
Toward the end of the novel, Bulawayo brings Darling, the protagonist, to the realization that America is not and can never be her home. Darling, however, does not have another choice but to stay in America. She is an illegal immigrant, and she feels that America is a home she has to endure because she cannot return to Zimbabwe. Darling experiences alienation because she finds it difficult to fit in with Americans, and she struggles to maintain connections with her friends back at home. Although America satisfies her hunger, it presents other challenges to Darling. Bulawayo creates a clear description of the experiences of illegal immigrants. They encounter culture shock, struggle to fit in the new environment, feel entrapped in the new country, and tend to have difficulties in forgetting their past memories. Bulawayo creates a scene where Darling has an edgy chat with her friend Chipo. Chipo remains alone at home while other friends in their childhood gang scatter to different parts of the world such as Dubai, South Africa, and America. Chipo criticizes Darling and other emigrants for neglecting her country when it is on fire and expecting others to put it out. Chipo feels that it is not appropriate for Darling to run away from the country that needs her. Bulawayo ends on a heavy note to show that emigration does not usually result in a happy ending as her protagonist, Darling, had naively imagined. Darling, her uncle, and aunt thought that they would find a wonderful life in America. Contrary to their imaginations, they get stuck in America. Darling discovers that America has its own problems just as Zimbabwe. Darling and other immigrants find that the American dream is not accessible to them. Furthermore, their home countries do not offer any solution. The immigrants in the novel experience mixed feelings of guilt and happiness in America about their loss of touch with cultural and family ties and gaining opportunities. Bulawayo suggests that life should go on despite the challenges presented to the characters. Bulawayo is trying to relay to the readers the fact that emigration does not solve all problems. Bulawayo’s novel seeks to give hope to victims of Zimbabwe’s hellish decay. Darling witnesses the universal problems of loss, hunger, and poverty. Through Dar
Introduction The role of women in our world is great indeed: they influence the development of all spheres of life, they support their men and bring up children, they participate in numerous political events, and they try to improve this world by means of different methods. The events of September 11 touched so many people and took so many lives away that this day became one of the most tragic days in the history of the United States. We have already heard a lot of opinions as to the reasons, aftermath, and possible averting of those accidents. The article written by Jenifer Hyndman is one of those which analyzes the events of September 11 in order not to blame someone but find out the mistakes and correct them. Feminist Geopolitics and September 11 is the article that presents the evaluation of the events on September 11 from the perspective inherent mostly to women; it is not about male criticism and their evident mistakes; it underlines the importance of improving the security of the United States and analyzes the violence that is so peculiar to human beings. Summary of the Reading In Feminist Geopolitics and September 11 , Hyndman is not a simple analysis of the events which happened on September 11. This article aims to clear up the understanding of security and to explain them in a more feministic. (Hyndman 565) The author argues that nothing in the world can ever justify the killing of absolutely innocent people, children above all. It concerns either the attacks of September 11 or any other event that causes such death. No one has the right to decide who should die and who should live without having enough persuasive reasons. Hyndman offers feministic geopolitics as a more reliable idea to analyze the interlacing of power and space. She relies on the ideas of such writers as Eleonore Kofman and Barchetta. To my mind, one of the interesting issues, which are raised in this article, is the role of Afghanistan women. During the attacks on Afghanistan of 2001 in response to the attacks of September 11, all women were invisible. No one wanted to concentrate on their roles and even their lives. In their turn, Mr. and Mrs. Bush underlined the importance of providing Afghanistan women and children with the necessary help, as it is inherent to all humans. The report on the number of deaths after those attacks was filtered for several times, and the results were depressive. Such kind of violence cannot be even justified by any patriotic value. It is too cruel,