ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
In the modern, commercial world, propaganda has undoubtedly infiltrated the mass media in phenomenal leaps that are reminiscent of the cold war era where the technique was employed by the US and Russia to neutralize each others’ political, military and economic influence. Today, more than ever before, propaganda is increasingly been used in the public arena to settle a multiplicity of competing and conflicting factors and aspirations (Barsamian & Chomsky 32). Governments continue to use mass media to peddle propaganda in times of conflicts with other governments, and politicians continue to bankroll media personalities and outlets during electioneering period to peddle political propaganda. In the same vein, companies and media houses continue to heavily rely on propaganda to gain an upper hand over their competitors through subjective marketing and advertising strategies. It is the purpose of this essay to evaluate the obstacles faced by a propagandist and conditions that allow a propagandist to thrive successfully. According to Linebarger, “propaganda consists of the planned use of any form of public or mass-produced communication designed to affect the minds and emotions of a given group for a specific purpose, whether military, economic, or political” (39). Propaganda in mass media occurs when information is systematically biased, distorted, exaggerated, fabricated, or subjectively and inaccurately reported with the aim of receiving support, goodwill and a sense of legitimacy from the target audience (Shah para. 1). Propaganda is used to rally individuals behind a cause by exaggerating, misdirecting, cheating or misrepresenting the actual issues to garner support. In mass media, propaganda is exhibited when agents charged with the responsibility of objectively reporting information use selective stories and partial facts to present the information (Barsamian & Chomsky 18). Also, propaganda in mass media takes place when the agents use one-sided sources of information, demonize the perceived enemy, use narrow range of discourse or engage in pre-emptive assumptions, false balances and framings (Shah para. 2). The propagandist undergoes a multiplicity of obstacles and challenges to ensure that the message is received by the target audience. The first obstacle is to comprehensively understand the nature of the target audience that the propagandist wants to modify through the use of propaganda (Ellul 26). It is the function of the propagandist to learn the social, cultural, economic, and psychological orientations of the target audience, a scenario that can present some challenges. A good knowledge of these orientations will assist the propagandist to
Argument In the chapter “Hemispheres Colliding,” Jared Diamond argues that Europeans reached and conquered Native American lands due to several factors, such as the domestication of large animals, well-established agricultural practices, advanced civilization, technological developments, and resistance to diseases. Europeans used these advantages over Native Americans to access and conquer parts of the New World and ultimately colonize the natives. Evidence/Summary The author argues that differences in food production between Eurasia and Native Americans contributed significantly to the ultimate colonization of the latter by Europeans. Diamond notes that the capacity to produce enough food determined the size of populations and the complexity of societies as the major causal factors of conquest and colonization. Eurasians had domesticated large mammal species, which, apart from being a good source of meat and milk, were indispensable tools of warfare and a reliable mode of land transport. Additionally, they were a chief source of industrial power for operating water lifts and turning grindstones, which could not be accomplished using human muscle power. On the contrary, Native Americans had the Llamas/alpaca as the only domesticated large mammal species, and they were confined to the Andes and the Peruvian coast. While these animals provided a good source of meat, they did not produce milk, “never bore a rider, never pulled a cart or a plow, and never served as a power source or vehicle of warfare” (Diamond 2). This lack of large domesticated animals meant that Native American societies could not develop genetic defenses against diseases, which proved lethal when European settlement commenced. Another advantage that Eurasians had over Native Americans was that agriculture was not common in the New World, specifically due to geographic prerequisites and the lack of large domesticated animals and crops themselves. In places where Native Americans practiced agriculture, they had five main disadvantages. First, they depended on protein-poor corn as opposed to Eurasians’ protein-rich cereals. Additionally, they relied on hand planting instead of broadcasting seeds, which meant that one person could only cultivate a
Literature is a form of art that not only depicts the phenomena of the objective reality but also allows the authors to express certain hidden or underlying ideas. The latter can concern psychology, daily life, and even morality and law. The two literary works analyzed in this paper present examples of the pieces of writing that skillfully deal with the topics of morality and law. The Apology by Plato is the account of Socrates’ defense in the court of law, while the Plea for Captain John Brown by Henry David Thoreau is the essay defending the captain who rebelled against slavery. Both works display similarities and differences in their literary composition and underlying ideas, and this paper will focus on the comparative analysis of the above-mentioned writings. Thus, the Apology by Plato can be considered a historical document that depicts, from the first person singular, the process of Socrates’ defense in the court of law after the Greek philosopher was accused of trying to persuade people in his unbelievable ideas. The work presents the account of the defense as if written by Socrates himself and this fact adds to the credibility of ideas expressed in it. Thus, Socrates defends himself saying that he never meant to protest against the social values and what he actually wants is to learn the world because “the unexamined life is not worth living for men” (Plato, 2009). Drawing from this, the defense of Socrates in the Apology is based on the considerations of humanity and thirst for education. The person willing to know more than others is tried and executed as a result. In some aspects, the Plea for Captain John Brown by Henry David Thoreau is similar to Plato’s work. Thoreau (2008) presents his work as the expression of his personal opinion, although confronted by the majority of contemporary society, on the deed of the captain of the US Army. The latter, John Brown, dared to rebel against the then state of things and tried to free thousands of slaves doomed to die working for their white masters. However, after the failure of Brown’s attempt the society rejected his bravery and called him an insane person deserving to be hung for treason. What Thoreau asks is “Who is it whose safety requires that Captain Brown be hung?” (Thoreau, 2009), understanding that there are forces at the top of the social hierarchy that wants slavery to exist as their very wellbeing is based on slavery. Thus, in both works considered the underlying legal and moral themes can be observed. Beginning from the legal issues touched by Plato and Thoreau, the clear focus on the drawbacks of the legislation contemporary to the authors can be observed. In the Apology, the very conflict of the work is based on
Written by Kali Fajardo-Anstine, Sabrina & Corina includes a collection of short stories, which regard different topics, from friendship to motherhood. One of the stories is Sugar Babies , which describes the process of completing the eighth-grade project by children. Students are to take responsibility for sugar babies as if they were real infants. In order to fulfill this task, students were also randomly divided into couples. The main character, Sierra, was to care for the sugar baby with Robbie. During their interaction, it is possible to reveal their characters and specialties, which prompts readers to understand the message of the book. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the personalities of Sierra and Robbie and present the major difference, similarity, and connection between them. At first, when the children received their sugar baby and learned about their task, Sierra may have seemed indifferent toward their responsibility comparing to Robbie’s attitude. He began the conversation and asked the girl about the name of her preference. She refuses to give the name to the sugar baby. In addition, her phrase may have been illustrative of her attitude toward the situation: “And you take it home tonight. I’ll watch it tomorrow, but only if I have to”. On the contrary, the boy appeared to be more enthusiastic about caring for a pretend infant and gives it a name after his grandmother – Miranda. He attempts to adhere to all the requirements of the teacher. However, after a while, it may be noticed that Sierra started to treat Miranda with carefulness and diligence. She drew her face and put the sugar baby next to herself during the dinner. When her mother offered the “doll” a plate, Sierra answered: “She’s not a doll. And she’s way too young for solids”. Thus, the girl started to treat her school task with seriousness. In the middle of the story, Sierra’s care for Miranda may have seemed weird to some extent. One day, when she passed the sugar baby to Ribbie, she claimed: “She cried all night. I didn’t get any sleep”. The girl was determined to do her best in the context of her responsibility and imagines a great number of fantasies. Finally, she felt the affection of Miranda and almost believed that the sugar baby was her real child. Such a tendency may be explained by her insults, connected with Sierra’s mother. Since her childhood, her mother regularly left home for long periods, which deprived the girl of the mother’s care. Moreover, when students were supplied with the project, her mother decided to return. Therefore, her affection may appear to be the result of her feelings toward her mother. On
Introduction The use of Porter’s five forces in analyzing the business plans is something that is today almost synonymous to the process of strategic marketing planning. These five forces, advanced by the renowned macroeconomist and Harvard scholar; Michael E. Porter in 1979, essentially help in guiding business planners on what to expect in their new business ventures and how they should handle their challenges as well as opportunities. These forces are: Threat of New Entrants, Bargaining Power of Suppliers, Bargaining Power of Buyers, Rivalry among Existing Competitors, and Threat of Substitute Products or Services as summarised in the diagram below. A circumspective analysis of these forces, in relations to the proposed Car2go project in Osaka, Japan, is succinctly done below. Main Discussion Threat of New Entrants In essence, the arena of transportation (both public and private) is flooded with constant entry of new entrants based on the ever increasing need for people to move from one place to another. As a result, there is always a ready market for new entrants. Osaka, Japan being a reportedly business hubbub, entry of new competitors is bound to happen and we therefore have to be ready and prepared to deal with that. To deal with the above challenge, Car2go plans to widen the scope of its businesses such that the entry of new competitors will not have much effect to their business endeavors. Pilot programs of these new diversifications are already underway in the current branch in terms of their products and services. By the time we move into Osaka, Japan, the company will have already known the relevant and fitting plans to put in place while also being aware of the ones to be ignored. Bargaining Power of Suppliers In assessing the aspect of dealing with the bargaining power of suppliers, we have to chiefly consider the elements of cost and time to be utilized in the project. Given the fact that Car2go already has working system of suppliers that get to internationally supply the company in countries and regions like U.S.A, U.K, Canada, Germany, France, Austria and Netherlands; the company intends to use the same suppliers for purposes of cost and time efficacy. However, there are instances that there may be complications like delays by the suppliers or even jurisdictional restriction by traffic laws thus limiting some transportations (Watanabe 4-7). In times like these, new suppliers will be required so that the co
It is necessary to understand the issues that surround strategies used by businesses to improve their sales. An organization must have objectives it aims to achieve within specified periods (Youngman 2009). It is necessary to explain that businesses cannot measure their performance if they do not have objectives. Therefore, it is important to set objectives that can be achieved to ensure the operations of a business are relevant. A strategy is like an umbrella that covers a lot of aspects that work together or in isolation to ensure a business achieves its targets. A common strategy employed in most businesses is organizational purpose. All businesses need to identify their purposes because this will help them to achieve their targets (Grant 2013). For instance, the purpose of the Coca-Cola Company is to offer quality drinks to its customers. Therefore, this company will ensure its strategies are focused on providing quality products to consumers. This means that an organizational purpose directs the strategies used by a company to promote its sales. It is necessary to explain that organizational purposes ensure companies do not just focus on making profits and ignore the need to produce high-quality products. PepsiCo: Profit and Responsibility The beverage industry is not controlled by many players because it is only coca-cola and PepsiCo that operate beyond many international boundaries. This means that these companies enjoy a monopoly in supplying their products to almost all countries in the world (Connrills 2011). However, Coca-cola seems to enjoy and dominate most markets compared to PepsiCo that keeps struggling to gain ground. It is important to explain that PepsiCo has employed different strategies to try to salvage its operations, but things seem to be getting harder when this company thinks it is achieving its targets (Yazijian 2010). Indra Nooyi (Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo) embarked on a growth strategy that ensured this company produced healthy and environment-friendly products. She helped this company to merge and acquire Quaker Oats and Tropicana respectively. This company tried to strengthen its market
Introduction In its simplest sense, hedging refers to inversion of harsh statements involving sentiments, critics or strong voices of commands to sound polite to the hearers while still maintaining the desired massage to be conveyed at the right bandwidth just like Ayodabo (1997, p.257) notes that, “hedging involves the qualification and toning-down of utterances or statements.” Utilization of hedges in speeches reduces the hostility of expressions that contains commitment, rigidity in speaker’s opinions and acute precision. Hedges increase the acceptability of utterances originating from a speaker in virtually every phenomenon. Virtually all linguists advocate for incorporation of hedging not only in verbal communication but also in writing. Though people incorporate the use of hedging in every language across the universe, various discrepancies exist for example in the case of Nigerian people, where shouting of children to the seniors signifies a lack of respect unless in situations involving danger where the other way round is acceptable. Reframing of both verbal and written statements forms of communication to make them sound less assertive increases the magnitude of respect towards an addressee. Language scholars endorse use of hedges and therefore have particular interest in determining the factors that foster usage of hedges in speech and written materials among various groups of people.One of the ways of investigating variability of hedging use is looking at manner in which differing groups of gender, social classes and age use them. Once segregated this way, the various differences in use of hedging during the communication process can be established and analyzed. A Scrutiny of the usage of deferring types of hedges on the bases of genders exposes amicable differences. Analysis of gender and hedges The position held by many language scholars about the existence of the differences in the usage of hedges based on the gender lured Dixon and Foster to carry out a study to establish the nature of the differences. “…Gender differences cause prejudice in the way people communicate which is further replicated in other aspects of life such as politics (Dixon & Foster 1996, p.89)
Background and Products Offered by Chevrolet Company a) Origin Chevrolet Company is an automobile manufacturing company established in the year 1911 through a partnership between Louis Chevrolet and William Durant in Detroit (General Motors Corporation, 2006). Throughout its operations since the year 1911, the company has expanded its operations to the global automotive market by opening new branches in various parts of Europe, Asia and Australia. b) Trend Chevrolet Company was acquired by General Motors Company in the year 1918 to facilitate competitiveness in the companies through shared management c) Purpose The purpose of the company is to establish unique combination of outstanding qualities to enable the company to stand the test of time in the highly competitive automotive market. d) Products The main motor vehicle products offered in Chevrolet Company include Chevy cars, Crossovers/SUVs, Trucks, and Vans. Some of the models are Cadillac and LS Hatchback among others. By having wide variety of motor vehicles, the company has bee able to capture wide customer base Overview of financial performance of Chevrolet Company Though the company has been facing stiff competition in the automotive market, it has managed to be the best-selling marquee in America i) Average income It is estimated that the company has an average annual income of $ 50 to $ 100 million. However, the company experienced the worst financial performance in the year 1980, during the time of great depression in the US and the world at large. The revenues of the company reduced by 42% from the year 1975 where annual revenues were $ 74 million, to $ 43 million in the year 1981 (General Motors Corporation, 2006) ii) The worst Time for Chevrolet Company The financial performance of the company worsened during the 2007/09 financial crisis, as its host company, GM was declared bankrupt, which led the company to incur a loss of $ 37 million. SWOT Analysis of Chevrolet Company The SWOT analysis of the company indicates that, the company’s overall performance is still good. A) Strengths   * The brand image of Chevrolet is dependable and long-lasting in the American automobile industry, placing the company at the verge of competing successfully in the automotive markets (Chevrolet, 1998)   * The company’s products diversity in terms of various target groups has enhanced high utility of its products in the markets. As a result, the company has good strong-hold of performing well in the automotive industry. B) Weaknesses   * One of the company’s weaknesses can be attributed to its inability to provide luxury vehicles in the car market (General Motors Corporation, 2006). As a result, the company lacks the capacity to compete successfully with well known brands like Mercedes Benz and BMW among others.   * The design of t
Introduction Although being based on rather rigid principles of business interactions, the economy depends significantly on the technological innovations introduced into its environment. Therefore, building a comprehensive and all-embracive knowledge system is critical for organizations since it defines the opportunities that they can select during decision-making (Miao, ‎Benneworth & Phelps 2015). The change mentioned above is especially significant for the organizations that are struggling to integrate the latest and the most innovative tools into their corporate design in order to cement their position in the selected market as innovators and pioneers in the chosen area. For this reason, the principles of KBE have become very popular in developed markets, the UAE economic environment being one of the prime examples of the phenomenon. However, the specified innovation requires additional management since it has also entailed several challenges that the UAE organizations will need to address. As a rule, the concept of KBE largely implies the use of the available technological tools, which involve information technologies at present primarily. Świątek et al. (2016) define the subject matter as the economy that is founded directly on the “production, distribution, and using the knowledge and the information” (p. 164). However, Świątek et al. (2016) also point to the underlying ambiguity of the specified definition, explaining that numerous features are attributed to the phenomenon of the knowledge-based economy, neither of the sets being viewed as the definitive one (Świątek et al., 2016). Nonetheless, the specified approach toward determining the concept of KBE seems legitimate since it allows recognizing the impact that innovative and disruptive technologies have on the economy and its development. The phenomenon of KBE has permeated the economic setting of the UAE, affecting the way in which financial transactions and business operations take place in the specified setting. The current economic vision of the UAE can be described as KBE (Hvidt 2016). Indeed, according to Parcero and Ryan (2017), the UAE follows the principles of KBE rather precisely in its choice of economic activities. Specifically, the recent transitioning to the innovation-driven stage of the state economic development oc