The Joy of Vocabulary Acquisition

The Joy of Vocabulary Acquisition The Joy of Vocabulary Acquisition The Joy of Vocabulary Acquisition By Mark Nichol As a word nerd, I find it pleasurable to discover words I had not heretofore known about. Being introduced to utilitarian technical and scientific terminology generally doesn’t do much for me, but almost invariably, stumbling on a word that is new to me brings a smile to my face. The most recent joyful addition to my word-hoard is anagnorisis, adopted into English from Greek by way of Latin. The word means â€Å"recognition,† but with the sense of one’s dramatic discovery of one’s own character, identity, or nature, or that of someone else. Its use in literary criticism dates back to Aristotle, and the concept of anagnorisis is often associated with catharsis, the purging or purifying of one’s emotions or one’s renewal or restoration resulting in an abrupt change in emotion- catharsis is a favorite word of mine, too- as well as with peripeteia (another new word for me) which means â€Å"turning point.† How many words do I know now, after adding anagnorisis and peripeteia to my trove? I have no idea, but I can estimate. The active vocabulary of the average adult native speaker of English- that is, the number of words a person actually uses- is said to be about 20,000. (The average passive vocabulary- the number of words a person recognizes and knows the meaning of but does not use- is about twice that.) However, according to one source, a mere 25 words constitute about a third of our everyday writing, 100 words account for half of it, and 1,000 words constitutes nearly 90 percent of our writing vocabulary; our normal reading diet of journalistic and conversational written content may consist of as few as 3,000 words. Considering that I’m an editor and writer who enjoys studying etymology and reading the dictionary, I probably know several times that many words, but my total is likely still in the five-figure range. But why would anyone want to know that many words? I’ve never set out to learn about more words for the sake of achieving a vocabulary word count, but I appreciate being able to summon a specific term when a generic one just won’t do. But why would I ever use anagnorisis? In the context of discussing a literary work- whether one of the Great Classics or a comic book- I wouldn’t be satisfied with recognition, because it doesn’t quite capture the potency of self-discovery or of a cathartic peripetic moment in which one realizes that, for example, a supposed hero is a villain or (more intriguingly) vice-versa. English is replete with words we don’t use every day but we can summon to express a nuanced thought or to communicate an idea that otherwise must be explained in a phrase or with an entire sentence. (That is the great value of German words such as zeitgeist and weltanshauung.) Having such terms at hand is of great benefit when one attempts to write coherently and concisely. But, you might argue, most people don’t know what anagnorisis means, so hasn’t one failed to communicate when one uses such highfalutin vocabulary? My response: I’d most likely gloss, or briefly define, the word the first time I used it, and once I did, my readers would have an addition to their own word-hoard. In the same way, I benefit from reading content that may feature challenging wordcraft. There’s no shame in using basic vocabulary; many of the morphemic building blocks of this post and my others consist of one-syllable words any child knows, and it’s an interesting exercise to try to write a piece of content using only one-syllable words (though, if you want to emerge emotionally unscathed, start out with a two-syllable limit and work your way down). But finding just the right word for the job is a worthy goal for writers. (There has to be a word for that.) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:7 Types of Narrative ConflictHow Long Should a Paragraph Be?Dealing With A Character's Internal Thoughts

Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson in the Napoleonic Wars

Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson in the Napoleonic Wars Horatio Nelson - Birth: Horatio Nelson was born at Burnham Thorpe, England on September 29, 1758, to Reverend Edmund Nelson and Catherine Nelson. He was the sixth of eleven children. Horatio Nelson - Rank Titles: At his death in 1805, Nelson held the rank of Vice Admiral of the White in the Royal Navy, as well as the titles of 1st Viscount Nelson of the Nile (English peerage) and Duke of Bronte (Neapolitan peerage). Horatio Nelson - Personal Life: Nelson married Frances Nisbet in 1787, while stationed in the Caribbean. The two did not produce any children and the relationship cooled. In 1799, Nelson met Emma Hamilton, the wife of the British ambassador to Naples. The two fell in love and, despite the scandal, lived openly together for the remainder of Nelsons life. They had one child, a daughter named Horatia. Horatio Nelson - Career: Entering the Royal Navy in 1771, Nelson swiftly rose through the ranks achieving the rank of captain by the time he was twenty. In 1797, he won great acclaim for his performance at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent where his audacious disobeying of orders led to a stunning British victory over the French.   Following the battle, Nelson was knighted and promoted to rear admiral. Later that year, he participated in an attack on Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands and was wounded in the right arm, forcing its amputation. In 1798, Nelson, now a rear admiral, was given a fleet of fifteen ships and sent to destroy the French fleet supporting Napoleons invasion of Egypt. After weeks of searching, he found the French at anchor in Aboukir Bay near Alexandria. Sailing into uncharted waters at night, Nelsons squadron attacked and annihilated the French fleet, destroying all but two of their ships. This success followed by a promotion to vice admiral in January 1801.   A short time later, in April, Nelson decisively defeated the Danish fleet at the Battle of Copenhagen. This victory broke up the French-leaning League of Armed Neutrality (Denmark, Russia, Prussia, Sweden) and ensured that a continuous supply of naval stores would reach Britain. After this triumph, Nelson sailed for the Mediterranean where he over saw the blockade of the French coast. In 1805, after a brief rest ashore, Nelson returned to sea after hearing that the French and Spanish fleets were concentrating at Cdiz. On October 21, the combined French and Spanish fleet was spotted off Cape Trafalgar. Using revolutionary new tactics that he had devised, the Nelsons fleet engaged the enemy and was in the process of achieving his greatest triumph when he was shot by a French marine. The bullet entered his left shoulder and pierced the lung, before lodging against his spine. Four hours later, the admiral died, just as his fleet was completing the victory. Horatio Nelson - Legacy: Nelson’s victories ensured that the British controlled the seas for the duration of the Napoleonic Wars and prevented the French from ever attempting to invade Britain. His strategic vision and tactical flexibility set him apart from his contemporaries and have been emulated in the centuries since his death. Nelson possessed an innate ability to inspire his men to achieve beyond what they thought possible. This â€Å"Nelson Touch† was a hallmark of his command style and has been sought by subsequent leaders.

The Situation of Palestinian Refugees Research Paper

The Situation of Palestinian Refugees - Research Paper Example The state of the Palestinian refugees has been extremely politically charged with no nation ever giving them citizenship and has therefore resulted in a second generation of refugees. As seen below the solution to this fifty-year problem is not a simple one. The history of Palestinian refugees can be traced back to 1948 during the period of the Israel–Arab war. The nation of Israel had been approved by the United Nation through a vote but was strongly voted against by the Arab community. This resulted in the Arab Israeli war which Israel won and thus expelled the majority Arab community that had lived in the area resulting in the original refugees. The Israel government has however never accepted that they expelled any Arabs insisting instead that they voluntarily fled the areas. This discrepancy in the origin story of the refugees is one of the problems that they face as no government has accepted responsibility over their plight (Morris 20). There is however documented proof that Muslims were expelled from the area however they were allowed to take their property as they left. Villagers in areas such as Samara and Nuqeib were pushed to move out of their villages through marginalization by the police and were also encouraged through economic incentives to move to Syria (Morris 513). The United Nation Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) began to focus on the plight of the Palestine refugees from 1950 estimating the refugees to be seven hundred thousand when they were expelled from Israel. Their attempts in the beginning were towards a possible reintegration of the refugees in other parts of the Arab world including Lebanon and Egypt. This however failed as the governments and the locals did not support the move. UNRWA thus focused on improving the living standards of refugees in Palestine and offered basic education and sanitation services. The UN was the only body that did put effort in improving the refugee situation with middle eastern nations stating tha t the refugees should go back to reintegrate with modern Israel (Milagny 80). The nation of Egypt was a prosperous nation in the 1940s – 1950s the nation had opened the Suez Canal and benefitted from the cotton trade to become one of the more prosperous nations in Africa. The wealthy Palestinians who arrived first were able to get themselves good housing in the more serene areas of Egypt through both legal and illegal means but the poor Palestines had to contend with living in the camps. Egypt was itself struggling with its overpopulation problem and so decided it would be better if a portion of the population would remain in Gaza which Egypt controlled and with themselves financing its upkeep (Oroub 40). The Egyptian government did not however respond positively to the new immigrants and enacted policies that prevented them from getting jobs and also prevented them from working altogether. The prevention from sources of income meant that even the wealthy Palestinians were so on unable to have a source of income and lost whatever savings they had. Egypt ensured that the Gaza strip was constantly under strict military rule while Jordan did the same with West Bank where it assisted with security. It wasn’t until in 1967 when Israel took control of the Gaza strip that the situation in it improved considerably (Oroub 41). These policies led to increased crime committed in Egypt by Palestinians for economic reasons and just as many were jailed for these atrocities. The hostility shown by the Syrian government towards the refugees and the hostility that the Arab world has shown to the Jewish

Paramount Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Paramount - Essay Example Based on the financial statements, the EBITDA, and other indicators the investment in Paramount is a very lucrative investment decision. Refer to Excel Sheet Q1 to Q7. Based on question 5 sheet of the excel file, The merger between Paramount and Viacom will result to total combined sales of $ 6,697. Both companies cater to the same industry like entertainment, networks & broadcasting. The merger will result to cost of sales reduction and expenses of 30%. Please refer to question 5 excel sheet attached for . The only similar business they serve is the networks business. Therefore the estimated cost of sales and expenses reduction will only be an estimated 10% because the other business lines that are disadvantageously unique to one company. These are the entertainment, broadcasting, live entertainment & publishing sectors. The growth rate of Paramount will be increased by the entrance of Viacom because EBITDA will be increased as shown in the excel computations attached. This can be explained by looking at question 12 sheet of the excel file attached. The market value of the combined synergy between Viacom and Paramount is $ 42,105.30( refer to question 9 sheet of the excel file. Whereas, the market value where Paramount is not combined with Viacom is only $ 28,056.30 as computed in excel file question 8 sheet. What would happen to costs & sales growth if Q... Computations are shown in question 5 sheet of the excel file attached. What effect would Viacom have on Paramount's growth rateThe growth rate of Paramount will be increased by the entrance of Viacom because EBITDA will be increased as shown in the excel computations attached. This can be explained by looking at question 12 sheet of the excel file attached. The market value of the combined synergy between Viacom and Paramount is $ 42,105.30( refer to question 9 sheet of the excel file. Whereas, the market value where Paramount is not combined with Viacom is only $ 28,056.30 as computed in excel file question 8 sheet. What would happen to costs & sales growth if QVC bought Paramount The cost and expenses is estimated to decrease by only 10 %. The sales increase is sales will be lesser. This is discussed in question 5 sheet of the excel file. 4. What is Paramount's worth as it is What is its worth to Viacom What about QVC Argue from point of savings / synergies that Viacom would achieve. Paramount is worth is $ 28, 056.30 as shown in Question no. 9 sheet in the excel file below. When Viacom joins Paramount the additional earnings before taxes, deprecation and amortization generated for Viacom is from $134 in 1994 to $223 in 1998. Paramount is worth $7,595.75 when the multiple values are used. Paramount will be very happy when Viacom joins Paramount because now Paramount can use the facilities of Viacom to enter into territories where Viacom is having a good business. Viacom in return can use the facilities of Paramount to enter into territories dominated by Paramount. 5. Should Redstone Continue What price should he offer Should the offer Cash Stock Or combination What should he do about lock out

The Ambiguity of Plato Essay -- Philosophy Essays

The Ambiguity of Plato For hundreds of years, Plato has been admired as a writer, a master rhetorician, an artist, and above all, a philosopher; however, Plato's backlashes against sophistry and art have led to much confusion concerning his ideas and beliefs. John Poulakos says of Plato, "[F]or most rhetoricians Plato has always played the same role he assigned to the sophists--the enemy" (Nienkamp 1). Plato will always appear to be the skilled rhetorician or artist who speaks out against rhetoric and art. In Apology and Phaedrus we see the character of Socrates rail against writing because it can quickly get out of control of the author and just as easily be misinterpreted, yet Plato is known for his skillful dialogical writing. In reference to the Divided Line, Plato informs us that art is one of the lowest forms because it is no more than an illusion, yet Plato uses his artistic ability in "Simile of a Cave" to help us understand the journey to knowledge. This ambiguity within the texts leads to, what a ppears to be, Plato contradicting himself; however, to fully understand these contradictions we must ask ourselves, "Who is the real Plato?" Plato's contradictory nature and overall ambiguity make the lines of distinction between the writer, the rhetorician, the artist, and the philosopher become blurred, so it is difficult for anyone to understand or explain the real Plato. Jean Nienkamp says of Plato, "[He is] the writer who writes that nothing of importance can be conveyed through writing; the word-smith who argues that words are but imitations of imitations at the same time that he insists on precise definitions, divisions... " (1). In Phaedrus, Plato presents some of his more powerful arguments against writing. Most... ...1: 23-44. Plato. Euthyphro. Trans. G.M.A. Grube. Indianapolis: Hacket Publishing Company Inc., 1981: 5-22. Plato. Meno. Trans. G.M.A. Grube. Indianapolis: Hacket Publishing Company Inc., 1981: 57-88. Plato. Phaedo. Trans. G.M.A. Grube. Indianapolis: Hacket Publishing Company Inc., 1981: 89-155. Plato. Phaedrus. Trans. A. Nehamas and P. Woodruff. Amherst: Hermagoras Press, 1999: 165-213. Plato. "Simile of a Cave." The Republic. Trans. Desmond Lee. Boston: Pearson Custom Publishing, 2002: 1-9. Tejera, Victorino. "The Apology and the Phaedo: Plato's Tragic Humor." Plato's Dialogues One by One: A Dialogical Interpretation. Lanham: University Press of America, Inc., 1999. Thesleff, Holger. "In Search of Dialogue." Plato's Dialogues: New Studies and Interpretations. Ed. Gerald A. Press. Lanham: Rowan and Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 1993: 259-266.

Elizabeth Johnson-Revisonist Method of Theology Essay

Elizabeth Johnson is perhaps one of the most preeminent Catholic theologians of the new millennium. The fact that she is a woman religious who writes from a feminist perspective adds to her unique and distinguished career. This paper will examine the revisionist method espoused by Elizabeth Johnson, in an effort to understand her approach to Christian feminism. An overview of revisionist methodology will be presented so as to understand the framework in which Johnson works. References to some of Johnson! s writings will then be presented in an effort to illustrate her revisionist method. Finally a survey of various critics will then be presented in an effort to determine what has made her method, approach and style groundbreaking in the area of feminist theology. In its simplest form, revisionist methodology involves looking back at one! s tradition in an effort to gain new insights into the situation at hand or to uncover what has been lost. In a more elaborate definition, David Tracey states that, †In its briefest expression, the revisionist model holds that a contemporary fundamental Christian theology can best be described as philosophical reflection upon meanings present in common human experience and language, and upon the meanings present in the Christian fact. †1 Tracy then outlines five theses that are intended to explicate this particular model: The first thesis defends the proposition that there are two sources for theology, common human experience and language, and Christian texts. The second thesis argues for the necessity of correlating the results of the investigations of these two sources. The third and fourth theses attempt to specify the most helpful methods of investigation employed for studying these two sources 1 David Tracy, Blessed Rage for Order: The New Pluralism in Theology (New York: The Seabury Press, 1975) 43. 1 (methods include phenomenology of religious dimension for human experience and language and historical and hermeneutical investigations for Christian texts). The fifth and final thesis further specifies the final mode of critical correlation of these investigations as an explicitly metaphysically and transcendental one. 2 If we apply the aforementioned description to our area of interest, then revisionist Christian feminism can be seen as seeking,†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦to mutually and critically correlate the central and liberating themes of biblical and Christian tradition with the experience of women in the contemporary situation. 3 In one of her most noted works, She Who Is, Johnson captures the essence of her revisionist Christian feminism in the metaphor of a braided footbridge,†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦between the ledges of classical and feminist Christian tradition. Throwing a hermeneutical span from side to side may enable some to cross over to the paradigm of women! s coequal humanity without leaving behind all the riches of the tradition that had been their intellectual and spiritual home. †4 It clear already from this brief introduction, that Johnson employs the revisionist model of theology. Tradition is key to anyone employing the revisionist model and Johnson is no exception to this. Tradition is important for Johnson, but not necessarily in the sense that one should mindlessly adhere to every aspect of what we inherit. On the other hand, we cannot put our heads the sand and deny the existence of tradition or avoid learning about it. We are all part of a tradition and it becomes part of our shared history and allows us ,†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦to see far thanks to the stature of those who have handed on the 2 3 Tracy, Blessed Rage for Order: The New Pluralism in Theology , 43. Shannon Schrein, Quilting and Braiding: The Feminist Christologies of Sallie McFague and Elizabeth Johnson in Conversation (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1998) 2. 4 Elizabeth Johnson, She Who Is: The Mystery of God in Feminist Theological Discourse (New York: Crossroad Publishing, 1992) 12. 2 tradition to us. †5 Johnson is respectful of tradition, with the understanding that it often needs to be analyzed to determine if is contributing to pain and suffering. In her book, Consider Jesus, the emphasis is not just on tradition, but on a â€Å"living tradition†.

Swot Analysis Joint Venture - 1430 Words

Assessment Task 2 †¢ Analysis of opportunities available include: Joint ventures, Franchises, Licensing, Exports and Strategic Partnerships. †¢ Cost-benefit analysis and Return on Investment (RoI) to determine financial viability of the opportunity. †¢ Which opportunity is better suited according to business goals and capabilities and its impact on current business and customer base. †¢ Compare the risks associated in both opportunities in terms of business and financial viability. †¢ SWOT analysis of potential and existing customers. †¢ Using the assessment of viability, impact and contribution to the business, rank the selected opportunities and recommend one for the business to pursue. Available Marketing Opportunities Joint Venture: By†¦show more content†¦Rank: 3 Franchises: Given the nature of the import business Zie are looking to undertake, a franchise structure is very unlikely to yield any great returns. Given that Zie do not plan to sell directly to the public, they would have no need for franchise retail outlets. Similarly, given they are a producer of a set product, the franchise structure is unlikely to be suited to them, they are more likely to see more benefit from either a joint venture with a local producer, or by forming strategic partnerships with local importers, distributors and retailers. Costs o Increased production volume costs ie staffing, running and maintenance etc. o Labelling, Bottling and packaging costs. o Import taxes, tariffs and alcohol sale duties etc. o Increased transportation costs etc to deliver product to franchises. o Local Marketing costs. Benefits o Ability to directly retail or distribute within country. o Given franchise base in country, likely to obtain tax benefits etc. o Annual royalty payments and share of profits from franchisees. o Larger footprint within network whilst divested risk. 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