Effect of Violent Video Games on Self-Perception

Effect of Violent Video Games on Self-Perception In their 50th  volume, the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology published an article named â€Å"Intense acts of violence during video game play make daily life aggression appear innocuous: A new mechanism why violent video games increase aggression† in which scientists examined the effects of violent video game play on perception of aggression regarding both the actions of one’s self as well as the actions of others, and how these altered perceptions of aggression can then lead to increased aggression in the subjects. In the first experiment the subjects played either a neutral or a violent video game and then were asked to answer questions regarding theoretical aggressive actions taken by the subject or another person. These questions gauged how seriously and how aggressive the subjects considered certain actions, such as shouting or shoving, to be when performed by others or themselves. The second experiment aimed to both reaffirm the findings of the first and further prove that decreased sensitivity to aggressive actions can directly result in an increased level of aggression in the subjects who played violent video games. The subjects again played either a violent or neutral video game, but after the video game, they were asked to decide how much chili sauce another participant would have to consume in a separate experiment. The subjects were told that there was a separate experiment and that the scientist could not choose how much chili to give the subjects in order to prevent bias. The subjects of the original experiment were informed that the subjects of the other, â€Å"fake† study did not like spice, and that they would likely not enjoy the chili. Experiment one proved to be a relative success, but also provided more questions than answers when it was shown that violent video games affect self-perception significantly harder than perception of others. As predicted, subjects who played violent video games rated behaviors as less aggressive than the control group, furthermore playing the violent video game also led to more negative mood scores. Interestingly enough, playing the violent video game did not have a statistically significant impact on the perceived aggression of theoretical actions performed by people other than themselves. In other words, playing violent video games caused subjects to perceive less aggression in their own actions but not in the actions of others. In the second experiment, the hypothesis was again supported as those who had previously played the violent video game chose to administer higher quantities of chili to who they thought were study participants that did not like spice. Essentially it was sho wn that playing a violent video game led to decreased scrutiny regarding the aggressiveness of one’s own actions and as a result led to the subjects subconsciously choosing to cause more discomfort to another person than they might have if they hadn’t played a violent video game. All in all the experiments proved to be a success, the first experiment provided sound reason to believe that playing violent video games leads to a decrease in the self-perceived aggression of our own actions, and the second experiment provided proof that a decrease in self-perceived aggression could translate into an unconscious increase in the aggression of our own actions. It seems that violent video games may have an adverse effect after all, as this study stands as evidence that playing violent video games can influence a person to regard their own aggression with less gravity and in turn act with more aggression towards other, whether they are aware of it or not.

Basic Syntactic Notions

S Y N T A X LECTURE 6 BASIC SYNTACTIC NOTIONS 1. Some approaches to the study of syntactic units. The central role of syntax within theoretical linguistics became clear only in the 20th century, which some scholars call the â€Å"century of syntactic theory† as far as linguistics is concerned. Nowadays theoretical approaches to the discipline of syntax are numerous and extremely diverse. One school of thought treats syntax as a branch of biology, since it conceives of syntax as the study of linguistic knowledge as embodied in the human mind.Other linguists regard syntax to be the study of an abstract formal system. Yet others consider syntax to be a taxonomical device to reach broad generalizations across languages. One more school of thought approaches syntactic phenomena from the philosophical point of view proceeding from the idea that reality consists of things, their qualities and relationships. Hence, the subdivision of words by the parts of speech and the treatment of s yntactic problems as philisophic processes. The hypothesis of generative grammar is that language is a structure of the human mind.The goal of generative grammar is to make a complete model of this inner language (known as i-language). This model could be used to describe all human language and to predict the grammaticality of any given utterance (that is, to predict whether the utterance would sound correct to native speakers of the language). This approach to language was pioneered by Noam Comsky. Most generative theories (although not all of them) assume that syntax is based upon the constituent structure of sentences. Generative grammars are among the theories that focus primarily on the form of a sentence, rather than its communicative function.Among the many generative theories of linguistics, the Chomskyan theories are: Transformational Grammar (TG) (Original theory of generative syntax laid out by Chomsky in Syntactic Structures in 1957 ; Government and binding theory (GB) ( revised theory in the tradition of TG developed mainly by Chomsky in the 1970s and 1980s); Minimalist program (MP) (a reworking of the theory out of the GB framework published by Chomsky in 1995) Categorial grammar is an approach that attributes the syntactic structure not to rules of grammar, but to the properties of the syntactic categories themselves.For example, rather than asserting that sentences are constructed by a rule that combines a noun phrase (NP) and a verb phrase (VP) (e. g. the phrase structure rule S > NP VP), in categorial grammar, such principles are embedded in the category of the head word itself. So the syntactic category for an intransitive verb is a complex formula representing the fact that the verb acts as a functor which requires an NP as an input and produces a sentence level structure as an output. This complex category is regarded as † a category that searches to the left for a NP (the element on the left) and outputs a sentence (the element on th e right)†.The category of transitive verb is defined as an element that requires two NPs (its subject and its direct object) to form a sentence. Dependency grammar regards structure as determined by the relations (such as grammatical relations) between a word (a head) and its dependents, rather than being based in constituent structure. For example, syntactic structure is described in terms of whether a particular noun is the subject or agent of the verb, rather than describing the relations in terms of phrases. Stochastic/probabilistic grammars/network theories These are theoretical approaches to syntax based upon probability theory.They are known as stochastic grammars. One common implementation of such an approach makes use of a neural network or connectionism. Some theories based within this approach are: Optimality theory and Stochastic context-free grammar. Functionalist grammars are functionalist theories, which (though focused upon form) are driven by explanation based upon the function of a sentence (i. e. its communicative function). Some typical functionalist theories include: Funtionalist grammar; Prague Linguistic Circle; Systemic functional grammar; Cognitive grammar; Construction grammar; Role and reference grammar; Emergent grammar Constructional Syntax.Constructional analysis of syntactic units was initiated by Prof. G. Pocheptsov (1971). The analysis deals with the constructional significance/insignificance of a part of the sentence for the whole syntactic unit. The theory is based on the obligatory or optional environment of syntactic elements. For example, the element him in the sentence / saw him there yesterday is constructionally significant because it is impossible to omit it. At the same time the elements there and yesterday are constructionally insignificant – they can be omitted without destroying the whole structure.Communicative Syntax. It is primarily concerned with the analysis of utterances from the point of their c ommunicative value and informative structure. It deals with the actual division of the utterance – the theme and rheme analysis. Both the theme and the rheme constitute the informative structure of utterances. Pragmatic approach to the study of syntactic units can briefly be described as the study of the way language is used in particular contexts to achieve particular goals. Speech Act Theory was first introduced by John Austin.The notion of a speech act presupposes that an utterance can be said with different intentions or purposes and therefore can influence the speaker and situation in different ways: I just state the fact; Textlinguistics studies the text as a syntactic unit, its main features and peculiarities, different ways of its analysis. Discourse analysis focuses on the study of language use with reference to the social and psychological factors that influence communication. 2. Some concrete methods of syntactic analysis.The most commonly applied concrete methods of syntactic analysis seem to be the IC and transformational procedures. The method of IC is based on the idea that sentences have a hierarchic structure consisting of a number of layers. It is assumed that parts of a sentence are combined with each other according to strict rules. If we want to know how a sentence is built we must separate its units or constituents. Hence the notion of immediate constituents /IC/. Immediate constituents are those parts of a sentence that we arrive at after dividing it into two (the first step).Those parts or IC may, in their turn, be divided into further parts until the actual place of each word in the structure of the sentence as a whole has been established. (e. g. The old man saw a black dog there. S – sentence P – phrase N- noun V – verb t – article p – preposition A – adjective D – adverb) The method of IC is very helpful in syntactical analysis. But it has certain limitations. Sentences in whic h the relations between words are considerably different despite identical surface structures get in the IC model quite similar interpretations. Compare the sentences: John is eager to please and John is easy to please. In the former the relations between John and eager are of a subjective character, while in the latter John and easy stand in an objective relation to each other. By applying the method of IC we cannot establish formally the existing difference. It is because the structures of these sentences are analyzed separately from the structures of other sentences. The tansformational method is aimed at overcoming the demerits of the method of IC.The Transformational grammar was first suggested by American scholar Zelling Harris as a method of analyzing sentences and was later elaborated by another American scholar Noam Chomsky as a synthetic method of ‘generating’ (constructing) sentenceswhich is why the theory is also called â€Å"generative grammar†. The fundamental ideas underlying this method are as follows. Every language has a very small number of sentence patterns called kernel or basic sentences. All the variety of sentences which can exist in that language are derived or generated from these kernel sentences by derivation rules.Grammarians have made attempts at setting up a list of patterns that could be regarded as kernel sentences. It is interesting to point out that the number of these is essentially different in various books. Transformational grammar makes a fundamental distinction between two types of sentences: kernel sentences and transforms. The latter are derived from the former. Transformational grammar traces the derivational history of a sentence by establishing what is called its â€Å"depth structure†. It thus shows why sentences having similar surface structures convey different structural meanings.The differences in meaning can be formally explained applying the transformational method. Z. Harris set u p the following list of kernel sentences: NV(John came); NVpN (John looked at Mary); NVN(John saw Mary); N is N (John is a teacher); N is p N (/John is in bed); N is D (John is here); N is A (John is angry) The above sentence â€Å"The old man saw a dog there† can be interpreted as the transform of the following three kernel sentences:The man saw a dog there. The man was old. The dog was black. (The man who was old saw a dog that was black. ( The old man saw a black dog there.The ambiguity of the sentence â€Å"Flying planes can be dangerous†, is easily explained by the following transformational procedure: To fly planes is dangerous. He can fly planes. ( Flying planes can be dangerous. Planes can be dangerous. Planes fly. ( Flying planes can be dangerous. Only by transformation can we explain why phrases of the N`sN type denote different relations as in John’s arrival and John’s trial, the former being a transform of the kernel sentence John arrives and the latter having a different derivational history: X triesJohn ( John is tried ( John’s trial.S. Porter reduces the number of kernel sentences to three: â€Å"All simple sentences belong to one of three types: A) The sun warms the earth; B) The sun is a star; C) The sun is bright; As an argument S. Porter adds: â€Å"Word order is changeless in A) and B), but not in C). Even in sober prose a man may say â€Å"Bright is the sun†. The sentences derived fromsuch kernel sentences are words or combination words added to the kernel ones in accordance with their combinability so as to make the communication as complete as the speaker wishes.Thus, the kernel sentence â€Å"Boys play† can be quite independent. But this sentence can be extended by realizing the combinability of the noun â€Å"boys† and the verb â€Å"play† into â€Å"The three noisy boys play boisterous upstairs†. We can develop the sentence into a still more extended one. But one should bear in mind that the rules of combinability have to be observed for the sentence to be valid. It should also be stressed that there are rules of grammatical and lexical combinability as well as stylistic ones.The combination of words will be ungrammatical if we put together â€Å"boys plays†, instead of â€Å"boys play† or â€Å"the fish shouted† instead of â€Å"the boy shouted†. 3 The Subject Matter of Syntax Words by themselves do not, as a rule, make up complete units of speech, in order to become such units, they must get combined with one another in the framework of linguistic items of a higher rank. These are the sentence and the phrase. As a whole, they make up the syntactical structure of a language.From the point of view of Structural Grammar syntax is the part of grammar that studies the laws in accordance with which words become phrases, and sentences. Hence, syntax is the part of grammar that investigates the syntactical structure of a language. It treats of both phrases and sentences which, though belonging to different levels of language structure, are closely connected with each other. The traditional definition of syntax was extended by Prof. L. S. Barkhudarov who states that syntax has also to investigate phenomena lying on a still higher level, namely the level on which sentences combine into groups of sentences.Considering the fact that syntax studies the way words and phrases are combined into phrases, sentences and texts some scholars define syntax as the science which studies the types of formal and semantic relations within word combinations, sentences, supra-phrasal unities and texts. The syntactic language level can be described with the help of special linguistic terms and notions: syntactic unit, syntactic form, syntactic meaning, syntactic function, syntactic position, and syntactic relations. Syntactic unit is always a combination that has at least two constituents.The basic syntactic units are a word-group, a clause, a sentence, and a text. Their main features are: they are hierarchical units (the units of a lower level serve the building material for the units of a higher level); as all language units the syntactic units are of two-fold nature (the content side – the syntactic meaning of a syntactic unit- being opposed to the expression side -the syntactic form of a syntactic unit); they are of communicative and non-communicative nature (word-groups and clauses are of non-communicative nature while sentences and texts are of communicative nature.Syntactic meaning is the way in which separate word meanings are combined to produce meaningful word-groups and sentences. Syntactic form may be described as the distributional formula of the unit (pattern). John hits the ball – N1 + V + N2. Syntactic function is the function of a unit on the basis of which it is included to a larger unit: in the word-group a smart student the word ‘smart’ is in subordi nate attributive relations to the head element. In traditional terms it is used to denote syntactic function of a unit within the sentence (subject, predicate, etc. ).Syntactic position is the position of an element. The order of constituents in syntactic units is of principal importance in analytical languages. The syntactic position of an element may determine its relationship with the other elements of the same unit: his broad back, a back district, to go back, to back sm. Syntactic relations are syntagmatic relations observed between syntactic units. They can be of three types -coordination, subordination and predication. 4 The Phrase Level and the Sentence Level Modern linguistics distinguishes between the phrase level and the sentence level.There exist many definitions of phrases, the difference between them being that one group of scholars hold that phrases consist of only notional words while their opponents think that the constituents of a phrase can be function words (prep ositions, conjunctions, etc. ). Most definitions mention some negative feature characteristic of phrases. Prof. B. A. Ilyish, for instance, terms as phrase â€Å"every combination of two or more words which is a grammatical unit but is not an analytical form of some word. † Prof. L.S. Barkhudarov, on the other hand, defines a phrase as â€Å"a group of syntactically connected notional words being part of a sentence but not being the sentence itself. † We have already mentioned how difficult it is to draw a rigid demarcation line between phrases and analytical forms. As to the borderline between phrases and sentences, it is much easier to establish. The most important feature of a sentence as distinct from a phrase is its intonation. The structure of a phrase is of a very wide and abstract character.While singling out particular types of phrases we do not take into account the lexical meanings of the words or their morphological features. (So, for example, all the group s of words, that follow, can be classed as phrases of the V+N type: writes a letter, has seen the friend, has been giving lessons, having completed the work, etc. ) Since phrases are only parts of sentences, we must assume that there exists a higher level with its own peculiar structure. It is called the sentence level.Irrespective of its linear character (a succession in time or space of morphemes, words, phrases), the sentence has a hierarchic structure. That means that the parts of a sentence are not independent, they can exist as such only in their mutual interrelation. The interdependence of the parts of a sentence is not necessarily reflected in their linear succession. 5. Types of Syntactical Relations; Means of Expression The relations between words within phrases and sentences are not uniform.It is one of the most important tasks of syntax to single out and to define the types of syntactical relations. The universally recognized types of syntactic relations are: subordinati on, coordination and predication. Subordination is the type of syntactical relation under which the function of one part of the phrase coincides with the function of the phrase as a whole. The leading part is called the head of the phrase while the part having a function different from that of the head is called the adjunct of the phrase.Apart from the purely semantic criterion it is quite possible to establish which word is the head by applying the formal procedure of substitution (e. g. â€Å" A young man entered the room†. In this sentence the whole group a young man performs the function of the subject. We may replace the group by the word man: â€Å"A man entered the room†. Hence, the word man is the head of the phrase and young – the adjunct. ) While performing the substitution procedure one should not change the syntactical relations within the sentence as a whole(e. g. He is a young man.He is a man. He is young /wrong/). Coordination is the type of synta ctical relation under which he syntactical function of the whole group coincides with that of its parts. Coordination can also be established by applying the substitution test (Thus, in the sentence â€Å"Boys and girls studied at that school†, the group boys and girls performs the function of the subject. The same function can be performed by either of the words making up the group: â€Å"Boys and girls studied at that school†. â€Å"Boys studied at that school†, â€Å"Girls studied at that school†).Coordinative relations are found in phrases with coordinative conjunctions /but, neither†¦nor/ and also in groups like the poet Byron, my brother the teacher(e. g. The poet Byron lived in Greece. – The poet lived in Greece. – Byron lived in Greece; My brother the teacher got married last year. – My brother got married last year. – The teacher got married last year). Predication is the type of syntactical relation under which t he syntactical function of the group as a whole is different from the functions of each of its components /IC/.The most typical predicative relation is that between the subject and the predicate. This is most distinctly seen in complex sentences such as: â€Å"I hate†¦talking loudly†; â€Å"I knew he had come† None of the IC of the subordinate clauses can be replaced by the clause as a whole. It is impossible to say â€Å"I knew he† or â€Å"I knew had come†. The types of syntactic bonds just described are generally recognized, though not all scholars use the terms given above to designate them.However, these types of syntactic bonds can fail to explain the relation between, for instance, the main predication and the inserted elements in the sentences (â€Å"The boy, as it were, left the house†. â€Å" Interestingly and fortunately for him nobody saw him†). That is why some grammarians consider it also necessary to single out other type s of syntactic relation to cover the cases in question. The number and types of syntactic bonds added to the above given ones varies from author to author and we are not going to dwell on them here.Instead, we shall confine ourselves to presenting the system of syntactic bonds worked out by Prof. Smirnitskiy which will serve as an example. According to him there are four types of syntactic relations in English: 1) the attributive bond characterized by A. I. Smirnitskiy as the closest kind of syntactic relations (we deal with the attributive bond in attributive word combinations or between the attributive subordinate clause and its head in the main clause); 2) the completive bond connecting the predicate and all kinds of objects, objective subordinate clauses.Adverbial subordinate clauses are also said to be connected with the main clause with the help of this kind of bond; 3) the copulative bond connecting homogeneous parts of a sentence, or independent clauses in a compound sentenc e. Parenthesis(or insertions) of all kinds are also regarded as syntactic phenomena introduced into the sentence with the help of this kind of syntactic bond; 4) the predicative bond, which is described as the loosest of all syntactic bonds, establishes the relations between the subject and the predicate.Every language has its peculiar grammatical means that signal different syntactical relations. Like morphemes indicating various forms of words, these may be called syntactical forms for they express syntactical relations. The relations between words in a phrase or a sentence are diverse and multiple. In syntactical analyses we normally avoid mentioning relations which can be ascribed to the lexical meanings of the words (e. g. In the phrases his singing and his hat the semantic relations between the words are different (doer- process, possession) but syntactically we have one and the same relation (subordination).Modern English makes use of the following syntactical means of expres sing syntagmatic relations: Word-order. It is with the help of word-order that we make out the syntactical relations between the words in the following groups: a young man; to read a book; stone wall; Peter sees Mary; etc. Word order may indicate not only that the words stand in some kind of relation to one another but also what kind of relation it is. The forms of the words. This linguistic device has more than often been underestimated by scholars writing on the grammar of English.In the opinion of Prof. A. I. Smirnitskiy, it is just due to their scarcity that the forms of the words acquire an important role in the structure of the sentence or phrase. The importance of the morphological forms can be clearly seen if we compare the following two groups of which only the former is a sentence: He likes them – Him like they. Function words. By these we mean prepositions and conjunctions which show different relations between words (e. g. the poet Byron – the poet after By ron; a poor man – poor and proud). Intonation.Intonation may perform different functions: it helps to distinguish between a phrase and a sentence, it may also indicate different relations between words. LECTURE 7 THE PHRASE 1. Syntactical Classification of Phrases In accordance with the character of syntactic relations existing between the parts of a phrase, these are divided into three large classes: subordinative phrases, coordinative phrases, predicative phrases. This division is based on the definition under which a phrase is understood as a combination of two. or more notional words standing in some syntactical relation to one another' and being . art of a sentence. 2. Formal Relations within a Phrase. The inner relations between the parts of a phrase are expressed formally in some way or other. No uniform classification of these formal devices has not been established so far. Still, the following types of formal syntactical means have been outlined so far: Agreement by which grammarians understand the phenomenon of two or more words having similar morphological forms due to their being connected syntactically. As a rule, the subordinate element adapts its form to that of the word it is subordinated to.Agreement is found in noun phrases with demonstrative pronouns: (this book – these books that house – those houses. ) As to the agreement between the subject and the predicate, it is of a less formal character (e. g. The United States is a country situated in North America. Our group are fond of sports. ) In this respect English is less formal than, say, Russian. In English the subject and the predicate agree with each other semantically rather than formally. This type of connection is called correspondence. Government by which grammarians understand he phenomenon of one of the words in a phrase having some grammatical form conditioned by the word it is subordinate to Government is very common in Russian where even prepositions can requ ire that the nouns following them should stand in a certain case form. As a syntactical device government is rather rare in Modern English. We find it in combinations of the V+In type in which the verb requires that the personal pronoun should have the form of the objective case. The same can be said of p + In and p + whom (see him, invite us, to me, about whom, etc). Adjoining and enclosure.The absence of both agreement and government, termed adjoining, is the most characteristic feature of the syntactical structure of Modern English. Adverbs, for example, are said to be adjoined to verbs and adjectives. Strictly speaking it is not only the actual position of the adjective that helps the hearer or reader to understand what word is modified by the adverb, but in many cases some semantic features have also to be taken into account, for the adverb may be considerably far from the word it is connected with. Modern English makes extensive use of another means of expressing syntactical r elations.It is called en enclosure. A very illustrative example of enclosure is found in word groups like a. fine day, where the article is separated from the noun permitting other words to become syntactically connected with the noun. In this way any word, word group and even whole sentences may become adjuncts of the noun (e. g. The above statement; a big-circulation newspaper; a take-it-or-leave-it tone). 3. 0. Jespersen ‘s Theory of Ranks A very interesting syntactical theory, known as the theory of three ranks. was elaborated by O. Jespersen.According to this theory, there is a certain analogy between the distribution of words into parts of speech and their interrelations in actual speech. Analysing the word group extremely hot weather 0. Jespersen points out that the chief word is defined by another word which in its turn may be defined by a third word, etc. â€Å"We are thus†, he writes, â€Å"led to establish different â€Å"ranks† of words according to their mutual relations as defined defining. † In his example weather is called_the primary, hot – the secondary, extremely – the tertiary In this way one can establish the rank of a word in respect of the other words it is connected with. . Subordinative phrases: noun phrases; verb phrases; adjective phrases; adverb phrases; pronoun phrases. .Subordinative phrases are distinctly different from co-ordinative and predicative phrases. In these phrases we always find parts winch are unequal as regards their syntactical status. The word whose function coincides with the function of the whole_phrase is called the head, and the dependent or subordinate word is called the adjunct. Unlike coordinative phrases subordinative phrases are always binary in structure.That means that irrespective of the actual number of words making up a subordinative phrase it always falls into two immediate constituents. So, for example, the phrase continued to refuse to meet demands for highe r wages, at the initial stage of division into I? falls into two parts: continued and to refuse to meet demands for higher wages. What was the adjunct during the first division, in its turn, falls into the next I?: to refuse and to meet demands for higher wages; the latter also consists of two parts: to meet and demands for higher wages, and so on.The principles of classification of subordinative phrases may be various. They may be classified depending on the part of speech the head of the phrase belongs to. Under this classification the following types of phrases are distinguished: noun phrases, verb phrases, adjective phrases, adverb phrases, pronoun phrases. The second classification takes into account whether the I? of the phrase consist of one or more than one. notional words. If each I? of the phrase has only one notional_word, the phrase is called simple.If at least one of the I? has_two or more notional_words, the phrase is called complex. We can also distinguish, in this co nnection, between complex phrases with an expanded head and complex phrases with an expanded adjunct , and, finally, there may be phrases in which both the head and the adjunct are expanded. (e. g. The reception of the delegation by the President (a complex phrase with an expanded head) Saw the father of the youth (a complex phrase with an expanded adjunct); The reception of the delegation by the President of the state (a complex phrase in which both the head and the adjunct are expanded).Subordinative phrases may additionally be divided into continuous and discontinuous. This division takes into account the fact whether the I? of the phrase are found in succession or whether they are separated by some word which does not belong to this phrase. (e. g. Slowly, Old Jolyon got up out of the chair – a discontinuous phrase). a. Noun Phrases Noun_phrases are subordinatiye phrases in which the,head is a noun. As regards the mutual positions of the head and its adjunct linguists dist inguish noun phrases with preposed adjuncts and noun phrases with postposed adjuncts.In noun phrases with preposed adjuncts the latter can be expressed by the following classes of words: adjectives, pronouns, numerals, verbs in the form of participle I or participle II, nouns having the ‘s morpheme or without it. To use symbols, these phrases have the following structures: AN (white snow; thick books); laN (this room; his friend); QN (three windows; the second lesson); V-ingN (shouting boys; melting ice); V-enN (written works; corrected mistakes); N'sN (Mary's book; a week's delay); NN (window glass; university team).In noun phrases with postposed adjuncts the following units may be the adjuncts: prepositional groups; adjectives and adjective phrases; verbs in the form of participles and verb phrases in which participles are the heads; verbs in the form of the infinitive and verb phrases in which the infinitive is the head; infinitival and gerundial predicative phrases; noun p hrases; conjunctional groups; adverbs; numerals;subordinate clauses.The patterns noun phrases with postposed adjuncts are: NpN (the title of the book); NpNP (the title of the new book); NpIn (the saving of him); NpV-ing (my reason for coming); NpV-ingP (my reason for coming here). In principle any preposition can be part of a postposed adjunct. Special investigations have shown, however, that the preposition of covers 70% of all occurrences. Postposed adjuncts with adjectives are relatively rare, in this position the occurrence of adjective phrases is much more common: NA (the people present); NAP (a country rich in coal).It should be stressed here that only a limited number of adjectives can be used as postposed adjuncts. They are: the adjective present; adjectives with the suffixes -ible, -able, some adjectives with the prefix a- (afraid, alive). Postposed adjuncts with verbs in various forms are represented by the following types: NV-en (the person addressed); NV-ing (the childre n shouting); NV-enP (the work done by him); NV-ingP (the children shouting in the yard); NtoV (the work to do); NtoVD (the work to do quickly).Postposed adjuncts consisting of predicative phrases are of two kinds: they may have as a head either the infinitive or the ing-form. As a rule, they are introduced by the preposition for (the so-called for-phrases). Here are some of the most frequent patterns: NforNtoV (a book for Tom to read); NforN'sV-ing or NforNV-ing (the reason for Tom's coming; the reason for Tom coming). Each part of the adjunct may get considerably expanded (the reason for poor Tom's coming late;a poem for this little boy to learn by heart).Postposed adjuncts in which nouns are the heads or introduced by the conjunction as are not very frequent in Modern English. They are: NNP (a child the same age); NasN (his life as an artist); NasNP (his life as an opera singer). Postposed adjuncts with adverbs are rarely used: ND (Jim’s speech yesterday). Postposed adjunct s with numerals are confined in English only to quantitative numerals (page three, room ten). b. Verb PhrasesVerb phrases take a central position among all types of phrases in Modern English. They display a great variety of structure and are capable of combining with one another.Therefore they make up syntactical constructions of considerable depth, and complexity. Prof. L. S. Barkhudarov suggested that verb phrases should be classified according to the lexico-grammatical nature of the verb being the head of the phrase. As is known, all English verbs fall into two large classes: transitive and intransitive verbs. It is also known that many verbs can be used in either meaning but this is quite irrelevant for syntax because in any given sentence one and the same verb is either transitive or intransitive.Under the classification suggested by Prof. L. S. Barkhudarov English verb phrases fall into the following main classes: phrases the head of which is either a transitive or an intransi tive verb; phrases the head of which necessarily belongs to a definite subclass of verbs (transitive or intransitive). The adjuncts in verb phrases, accordingly, fall into two types: adjuncts capable of combining with verbs of either class called extensions; adjuncts capable of combining with verbs of only a definite class (transitive or intransitive) called complements.The adjuncts of a transitive verb are called object complements, those of an intransitive verb qualifying complements. The following adjuncts can be found in verb phrases with extensions: adverbs and adverb phrases; adjectives and adjective phrases; prepositional groups; noun phrases without prepositions; pronouns; verbs in the form of the infinitive; participle I and participle II;conjunctional groups; predicative phrases;subordinate clauses: VD (runs quickly); VDP (runs very quickly); VA (stood, angry); VAP (stood, red with anger); VpN (returns to the country);VNP arrived last week); VIa (lives there); VIself. wash ing himself); VtoT (came to help); VtoVP (came to help me); VV-ing (came laughing); VV-en (came, frightened); VbN (acting as judge); VbA (speaking whenever possible); Vb toV (rising so as to see); VforNtoV (stood for John to pass); VpN'sV-ing (left without John's, noticing). (For verb phrases with complements see: ?. ?. . , p? 89 -110) ?.Adjective Phrases Adjective phrases have a comparatively low frequency of occurrence, if the head of the phrase is an adjective in the positive degree, the adjunct may be: an adverb; a prepositional group; a noun; a noun phrase; a verb in the form of the gerund or the infinitive; a predicative phrase and a subordinate clause: DA (incredibly beautiful); ApNP (good for young children); AN (worth the trouble); AV-ingP (busy doing sums); AtoV (ready to go); AforNtoV (easy for John to read).Things are somewhat different with adjectives in the comparative and superlative degrees. Adjectives in the comparative degree usually combine with adjuncts intr oduced by the conjunction than (Tom is older than George). They also combine with adverbs and adverbial pronouns, such as far, still, much (far greater, much better, still greater). Adjectives in the superlative degree may have a proposed adjunct like by far or a postposed adjunct – a prepositional group introduced by the prepositions of and in. d.Adverb Phrases In adverb phrases the adjuncts may stand both in preposition and in postposition. Proposed adjuncts are adverbs and adverbial pronouns (except enough), and with the adverbs before, later, earlier, ago nouns or noun phrases. Postposed adjuncts are the pro-adverb enough, prepositional groups (p+N,etc. ), nouns and noun phrases: DD (rather well); IdD (so nicely); ND (years later); NPD (six days ago); D+enough (well enough); DpN (high in the air). e. Pronoun PhrasesOnly indefinite, negative and demonstrative pronouns can be heads of pronoun phrases.They take the following adjuncts: prepositional groups (p+N; p+In, p+NP); adjectives or adjective phrases; verbs in the form of the infinitive or verb phrases with the infinitive as the head;infinitival predicative phrases and subordinate clauses. The adjunct is always placed in postposition: In pN (some of the workers); In pIn (some of us); InA (something strange); IntoV (nothing to do); In forNtoV (Nobody for Tom to see). 5. Coordinative phrases. Co-ordinate phrases are characterized by the following features: all its members have a similar function in the sentence; their structure is not binary.As to the morphological peculiarities of the constituents of a coordinate phrase, it should be stressed here that this point is of no relevance for syntax. (So, for example, in the sentence – Celia was pretty and a good companion – pretty and a good companion are the constituents of one and the same coordinate phrase irrespective of their being essentially different as regards their morphological nature: pretty is an adjective, good companion is a noun phrase. ) Coordinate phrases fall into two groups: 1)Syndetic coordinate phrases.The syntactical connection between the I? is expressed with the help of conjunctions. If the conjunction is continuous, the coordinate phrase is said to be simple. If the conjunction is discontinuous, the phrase is said to be correlative (E. g. It was the sound of a gramophone, harsh and loud, He has both luck and talent. ) 2)Asyndetic coordinate phrases. The syntactical connection between the parts of the phrase is expressed only with the help of intonation. (E. g. He was hot, dusty, tired out. The good lady her mother now interposed. ) 6.Predicative phrases Predicative phrases fall into three groups: infinitival predicative phrases (for John to come); gerundial predicative phrases (John's coming); absolute predicative phrases (all things considered). Predicative phrases have a binary structure, they are made up of only two I?. They have much in common with sentences, but the I? of a predicative p hrase should not be termed subject and predicate. It should be noted here that the subjectival member of a predicative phrase and the subject of a sentence always refer to different persons or things. (E. g.He stood up for me to sit down. He is proud of his friend having won a prize. The lesson being over, we went home. ) Infinitival predicative phrasesThe subjectival member of an infinitival predicative phrase is a noun. a noun phrase or a pronoun, the latter in the form of the objective case. The predicatival member of an infinitival predicative phrase is any form of the infinitive with or without words subordinate to it. The phrase is preceded by the preposition for: forN/P/toV/P/ (for John to go there); forI toV/P/ (for something to happen); forI toV/?/ (for him to come late).Gerundial predicative phrasesThe subjectival member of a gerundial predicative phrase is a noun or a noun phrase with or without the morpheme ‘s; a possessive pronoun in the conjoint form or a persona l pronoun in the objective case form and other pronouns. The predicatival member of a gerundial predicative phrase is any form of the gerund with or without words subordinate to it: NP'sV-ingP (young John's coming late); NPV-ing P: (young John coming late); I'sV-ingP (his coming late); ImV-ing P (him coming late).Absolute predicative phrasesThe subjectival member of an absolute predicative phrase is a noun or a noun phrase, a personal pronoun in the nominative case or another type of pro-noun. The predicatival member of an absolute predicative phrase is a verb in the form of the participle or the infinitive, or a verb phrase with these forms as a head, or non-verbal parts of speech: adjectives, adverbs, prepositional groups:NPV-ingP (his voice trembling with excitement); InV-ingP (it rising slowly); NPV-enP ( his thirst gone);NPtoV? (the expenses to be paid); In toVP (each to be defined); NPAP (his face very pale); NPD (breakfast over); NPpNP (hat in hand); NPpIm (her back to him); NPNP (his shot a failure). Instances are not few when absolute predicative phrases are introduced by the prepositions with or without. (He looked at Mr. Micawber attentively, with his whole face breathing short and quick in every feature. I left the room without anybody noticing it)

AIDS Article

The article is written by a gay man, who lost his first partner to AIDS and dedicated himself to spreading information about HIV prevention and campaigning for governmental attention to the problem in order to save ‘other gay and bisexual men from losing the ones they love’ (Williams, 2006, para. 6).Clark Williams also served as the interim executive director of the Billy DeFrank LGBT Community Center at the moment of the article’s release and as a manager of county’s HIV prevention, counseling, and testing initiatves in 2001-2003.The article reports the LGBT community of Santa Clara County joining other concerned citizens at a meeting where the county’s Board of Supervisors Chair promised to attract additional financial resources to strengthen public health system in the face of accelerating rate of HIV transmission.The focus of the effort should be prevention and early diagnosis. The article recalls the start of HIV/AIDS epidemic that was first reg arded as a rare form of cancer endangering gay and bisexual male New Yorkers. In 2006, the number of Americans who died from AIDS reached 550,000 and continued to grow. Approximately 40,000 citizens are getting infected with HIV every year.Santa Clara County, for its part, has lost 2,000 residents to the disease. More than 2,500 were living with HIV/AIDS; this number might have been considerably higher because one in three citizens having HIV remains undiagnosed. 80 percent of new infections with the virus in Santa Clara County were among gay and bisexual males.Santa Clara County is reported as being ‘near the heart of our nation's HIV/AIDS epidemic’ (Williams, 2006, para. 5). Apart from focusing on the human tragedy of living with HIV diagnosis or loosing a friend, a family member, a colleague, or a neighbor to the disease, the article discusses the problem of HIV/AIDS through the prism of financial burden on the county’s social security system.Lifetime cost of HIV treatment is estimated to be as high as $155,000 per patient. These costs are much higher if the disease is not diagnosed at early stages, which is often the case in Santa Clara County, where patients learn about their HIV status in an emergency room.However, the author notes several positive developments in the field of public health, such as risk reduction counseling to people living with HIV/AIDS and public HIV test counseling locations. Santa Clara County is compared with San Francisco, where HIV test counseling facilities are abundant. In Santa Clara County, there is only one public testing facility, despite the fact that the number of LGBT is over 100,000 in the area.The Billy DeFrank LGBT Community Center is deemed as the most appropriate place to establish another full-time test counseling facility, since it is known for its excellence in providing HIV prevention to at-risk population.One additional testing facility will not solve the problem in the county. It is not onl y LGBT population that is especially affected by the spread of HIV/AIDS. Other vulnerable groups include ethnic minorities, homeless and runaway youth, and drug addicts. Therefore, five part-time testing centers should be opened across Santa Clara County.One of the main strengths of the article is the fact that it is written from an insider’s perspective. Rapport between the author and readers is immediately established when Clark Williams shares his personal tragedy of loosing his loved once to AIDS.However, emotional pathos is not the main component of the writer’s credibility: Williams is a leader of Santa Clara County’s LGBT community, knowledgeable of the actual Status Quo with regard to HIV/AIDS prevention and counseling.

History of 1924 Olympic Games in Paris

History of 1924 Olympic Games in Paris As an honor to the retiring IOC founder and president Pierre de Coubertin (and at his request) the 1924 Olympic Games were held in Paris. The 1924 Olympics, also known as the VIII Olympiad, were held from May 4 to July 27, 1924. These Olympics saw the introduction of the first Olympic Village and the first Closing Ceremony. Official Who Opened the Games: President Gaston DoumerguePerson Who Lit the Olympic Flame (This was not a tradition until the  1928 Olympic Games)Number of Athletes:  3,089 (2,954 men and 135 women)Number of Countries: 44Number of Events: 126 First Closing Ceremony Seeing the three flags raised at the end of the Olympics is one of the more memorable traditions of the Olympic Games and it started in 1924. The three flags are the official flag of the Olympic Games, the flag of the hosting country, and the flag of the country chosen to host the next Games. Paavo Nurmi Paavo Nurmi, the Flying Finn, dominated nearly all the running races at the 1924 Olympics. Often, called a superman, Nurmi won five gold medals at this Olympics, including in the 1,500-meter (set an Olympic record) and the 5,000-meter (set an Olympic record), which were only about an hour apart on that very hot July 10. Nurmi also won gold in the 10,000-meter cross-country run and as a member of the winning Finnish teams on the 3,000-meter relay and the 10,000-meter relay. Nurmi, known for keeping a very even pace (which he clocked on a stopwatch) and his seriousness, went on to win nine gold medals and three silver while competing in the 1920, 1924, and 1928 Olympics. Over his lifetime, he set 25 world records.   Remaining a popular figure in Finland, Nurmi was given the honor of lighting the Olympic flame at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki and, from 1986 to 2002, appeared on the Finnish 10 markkaa banknote. Tarzan, the Swimmer Its pretty obvious that the public liked to see American swimmer Johnny Weissmuller with his shirt off. At the 1924 Olympics, Weissmuller won three gold medals: in the 100-meter freestyle, 400-meter freestyle, and the 4 x 200-meter relay. And a bronze medal as well as part of the water polo team.   Again at the 1928 Olympics, Weissmuller won two gold medals in swimming. However, what Johnny Weissmuller is most famous for is playing Tarzan in 12 different movies, made from 1932 to 1948. Chariots of Fire In 1981, the film Chariots of Fire  was released. Having one of the most recognizable theme songs in the history of film and winning four Academy Awards,  Chariots of Fire  told the story of two runners who raced during the 1924 Olympic Games. Scottish runner Eric Liddell was a focus of the film. Liddell, a devout Christian caused a stir when he refused to compete in any events held on a Sunday, which were some of his best events. That left only two events for him the 200-meter and 400-meter races, which he won bronze and gold in respectively. Interestingly, after the Olympics, he went back to North China to continue his familys missionary work, which ultimately led to his death in 1945 in a Japanese internment camp. Liddells Jewish teammate, Harold Abrahams was the other runner in the  Chariots of Fire  film. Abrahams, who had focused more on the long jump in the 1920 Olympics, decided to put his energy into training for the 100-meter dash. After hiring a professional coach, Sam Mussabini, and training hard, Abrahams won gold in the 100-meter sprint. A year later, Abrahams suffered a leg injury, ending his athletic career. Tennis The 1924 Olympics were the last to see tennis as an event until it was brought back in 1988.

Realigning Elections in American History

Realigning Elections in American History Since the stunning victory by Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 United States Presidential election, the discourse around words and phrases such as â€Å"political realignment† and â€Å"critical elections† have  become more commonplace not only among  political analysts but also in mainstream media. Political Realignments A political realignment occurs when a particular group or class of voters changes or in other words realigns with a political party or candidate who they vote for in a particular election – known as a critical election or this realignment may be spread out over a number of elections. On the other hand, â€Å"dealignment† occurs when a voter becomes disenfranchised with his or her current political party and either chooses not to vote or becomes an independent. These political realignments take place in elections involving the U.S. Presidency and the U.S. Congress and are signified by power changes of the Republican and Democratic parties that constitute ideological changes both issues and party leaders.  Other important factors are legislative changes which affect campaign financing rules and voter eligibility. Central to realignment is that there is a change in voter’s behavior. 2016 Election Results In the 2016 election, although Trump is winning at the time of this writing the Electoral College by a margin of 290 to 228 votes; Clinton is winning the overall popular vote by more than 600,000 votes. In addition, in this election, American voters gave the Republican Party a clean power sweep – the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives. One key to the Trump victory was that he won the  popular vote in three of the so-called â€Å"Blue Wall† States: Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan.  Blue Wall States are those who have solidly supported the Democratic Party over past ten or so presidential elections. With respect to the electoral votes:  Pennsylvania has 20, Wisconsin has 10, and Michigan has 16.  Although these states were essential in propelling Trump to victory, it is important to note that his margin of victory from these three states totaled approximated 112,000 votes. If Clinton had won these three States, she would be the President-elect instead of Trump.   In the ten Presidential elections prior to 2016, Wisconsin had only voted Republican on two occasions – 1980 and 1984; Michigan voters had voted Democrat in six straight Presidential elections prior to 2016; and as well, in the ten Presidential elections prior to 2016, Pennsylvania had only voted Republican on three occasions – 1980, 1984 and 1988. V. O. Key, Jr. and Realigning Elections American political scientist  V.O. Key, Jr. is most well-known for his contributions to behavioral  political science, with his major impact being on election studies.  In his 1955 article A Theory of Critical Elections, Key explained how the Republican Party became dominant between 1860 and 1932; and then how this dominance shifted to the Democratic Party  after 1932 by using empirical evidence to identify a number of election which Key termed as â€Å"critical,† or â€Å"realigning† which resulted in American voters changing their political party affiliations. While Key specifically starts with 1860 which was the year that Abraham Lincoln was elected, other scholars and political scientists have identified and/or recognized that there have been systematic patterns or cycles which have regularly taken place in the U.S. national elections.  Ã‚  While these scholars are not in agreement as to the duration of these patterns: periods that range from every 30 to 36 years as opposed to 50 to 60 years; it does appear that the patterns have some relationship with generational change. Election of 1800 The earliest election which scholars have identified as realigning was in 1800 when Thomas Jefferson defeated the incumbent John Adams. This election transferred power from George Washington and Alexander Hamilton’s Federalist Party to the Democratic-Republican Party which was led by Jefferson. Although some argue that this was the birth of the Democratic Party, in reality, the party was established in 1828 with the election of Andrew Jackson. Jackson defeated the incumbent, John Quincy Adams and resulted in the Southern States taking power from the original New England colonies. Election of 1860 As stated above, Key explained how the Republican Party became dominant starting in 1860 with the election of Lincoln. Although Lincoln was a member of the Whig Party during his early political career, as President he led the U.S. to abolish slavery as a member of the Republic Party. In addition, Lincoln and the Republic Party brought nationalism to the United States on the eve of what would become the American Civil War. Election of 1896 The overbuilding of railroads caused several of them, including the Reading Railroad, to go into receivership which caused hundreds of banks to fail; resulting in what was the first U.S. economic depression and is known as the Panic of 1893. This depression caused soup lines and public ire towards the present administration and made the Populist Party the favorite to take power in the 1896 Presidential election. In the 1896 Presidential election, William McKinley defeated William Jennings Bryan and while this election was not a true realignment or did it even meet the definition of a critical election; it did set the stage for how candidates would campaign for office in subsequent years. Bryan had been nominated by both the Populist and Democratic parties. He was opposed by the Republican McKinley who was backed by a very wealthy individual who used that wealth to conduct a campaign that was intended to make the populace fearful of what would happen if Bryan won. On the other hand, Bryan used the railroad to make a whistle-stop  tour giving twenty to thirty speeches daily.  These campaign methods have evolved into the modern day. Election of 1932 The 1932 election is widely considered as the most well-known realignment election in U.S. history. The country was in the middle of the Great Depression as a result of the 1929 Wall Street Crash. Democratic candidate Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his New Deal policies overwhelmingly defeated incumbent Herbert Hoover by a margin of 472 to 59 Electoral Vote. This critical election was the underpinnings of a massive overhaul of American politics.  In addition, it changed the face of the Democratic Party.   Election of 1980 The next critical election occurred in 1980 when Republican challenger Ronald Reagan defeated the Democratic incumbent Jimmy Carter by the tremendous margin of 489 to 49 Electoral Votes. At the time, approximately 60 American’s had been held hostage since November 4, 1979, after the U.S. Embassy in Tehran had been overrun by Iranian students. The Reagan election also marked a realignment of the Republican Party to being more conservative than ever before and also brought about Reaganomics which was designed to fix severe economic issues that confronted the country.  In 1980, the Republicans also took control of the Senate, which marked the first time since 1954 that they had control of either house of Congress. (It would not be until 1994 before the Republican Party would have control of both the Senate and the House simultaneously.) Election of 2016 – Realigning Election? The real question with respect as to whether the 2016 election victory by Trump is a â€Å"political realignment† and/or a â€Å"critical election† is not easy to answer a week after the election.  The United States is not experiencing internal financial distress or facing negative economic indicators such as high unemployment, inflation, or increasing interest rates. The country is not at war, although there are threats of foreign terrorism and social unrest due to racial issues.  However, it does not appear that these were major issues or concerns during this election process.   Instead, one could argue that neither Clinton or Trump were viewed by voters as being â€Å"Presidential† due to their own ethical and moral issues.  In addition, since lack of honesty was a major hurdle which Clinton attempted to overcome throughout the campaign, it is quite plausible that out of fear of what Clinton would do if elected, voters chose to give the Republicans control of both houses of Congress.

Global City Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Global City - Essay Example It was in the 1960s that the world saw crucial changes in the organization of economic activity (Sassen 2001). These changes manifested in the economy of the world, as well as in different forms specific to particular regions. Some of these changes are recognizable even after half a century in the modern world. These include the loss of the power and authority of the industrial centres set up in the US, UK and in Japan as well. Other changes that can be recognized include the rapid increase in the industrialization process of many developing countries and the fast pace of the financial industry in taking on, and making its own, the extensive structure of transactions spread all over the world (Sassen 2001).Sassen (2001) observes that all of these changes had an impact on the connection between the cities and the global economy. In the years immediately after the Second World War, the world saw a dominance of the US over various aspects of the global economy. However, a few decades la ter, the trend started to change, and the early 1970s were witness to dissolution of the control that the US held. With the fall of the central power of the US, a chasm was created in the global economic activity, which was quickly filled by US transnational industrial firms and banks. During the time period after the fall of the transnational elements, the reins and the subsequent nature of the activities of global economy were in the hands of the US transnational firms and banks. However, within the space of a few years, the Third World debt crisis shattered the control of these US firms and banks, resulting in huge losses for them. The international economy was not broken into splinters by the debt crisis; its survival transformed it into a complicated hybrid of duality: â€Å"a spatially dispersed, yet globally integrated organization of economic activity† (Sassen 2001). The creation of spatial dispersal, coupled with global integration, has

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 106

Summary - Essay Example For instance, in order to justify its allegations, Russia argues that men in masks attacked and opened fire on peaceful demonstrators in the city of Kharkiv injuring some people. The statement said that some Russian journalists had been arrested and detained in the city of Dnipropetrovsk, which implies that Western countries and the new government in Ukraine were not committed to media freedom (Reuters, n.p). Despite the outcry from the Russian government, Ukrainian foreign ministry refuted the allegations asserting that they were irrational and unfounded (Reuters, n.p). It refuted that law officers have fired shots on peaceful demonstrators and no demonstrator had been injured in the Eastern City of Kharkiv. In addition, the statement confirmed that no journalist or media personnel had been arrested and detained as alleged by the Russian government. Russia has been accused of attacking Ukraine in an attempt to guard Russians living there. For example, eyewitnesses in Easter Ukraine who watch media freedom argued that after visiting Crimea, they realized that Russia orchestrated violence in the region in order to justify their reasons for invading