Sunday, January 26, 2020

Themes Of Fate And Destiny

Themes Of Fate And Destiny Oedipus as a major victim of fate have tried to evade his fate when he realized that he was going to kill his father and sleep with his mother. His shocked and dreadful emotions made him run away from his parents to evade this fate, but he was actually walking right into his fate. It seems that Oedipus overheard this prophecy by accident but we may wonder that all this was planned by the gods so that Oedipuss fate can carry on as planned. This later became a turning point that led the glorious and miserable life that follows Oedipus in his future. Oedipus tried to evade his fate, but for him fate was not easily evaded. In his case fate seemed to be decided from the begging of his life, and from birth his leg was scared leaving three marks, which may foreshadow the choice he had to make at the cross road in future. Through this Sophocles is trying to show the idea that our destiny might not be controlled by ourselves and this shows how powerless humans are. The Shepherd who was ordered by the king to kill Oedipus may seem to be an irrelevant person in the play, but he plays a key role that led to Oedipuss final fate. He saves Oedipus and allowed the prophecy to happen. His sympathy caused Oedipus to curse him in the end when the shepherd reveals the truth about Oedipus, because if Oedipus died as a baby he wouldnt be suffering and have an ending which seemed like a living hell for him. I think we cant blame the shepherd for saving Oedipus. The truth about Oedipus was brought on by himself as he insisted to reveal the truth. This expresses a human behavior of wanting to know the truth that can be related to our daily life. If a friend has some secret which he/she didnt want to share, we would be eager to ask them what it was about since we want to know the truth. The more they refuse to reveal the truth the more we want to know. Oedipus from nature has an unyielding desire to uncover the truth about everything and in this case, he wanted to find the murder of King Laius and also want to uncover the secret mystery of his own birth. This desire then led him to realize what he has done. Many characters such as Tiresias and Jocasta in the play tried to stop Oedipus from revealing the truth, but Oedipus was driven by his fate to uncover everything. This could be seen when Jocasta urged Oedipus that Stop-in the name of god, if you love your own life, call off this search! My suffering is enough.  [1]  She begged Oedipus to leave the mystery unsolved, as at that point she might have realized what was really happening but she didnt want Oedipus to suffer. But Oedipus reply, Listen to you? No more. I must know it all, must see the truth at last.  [2]  This was used by Sophocles to further illustrate the characteristics of Oedipus. His curiosity made him unable to stop pursuing the truth, which was the reason for him to solve the sphinx riddle, so even when his wife was pleading from him to stop, he still insisted on uncovering the mystery that seemed to be a riddle, which ends up to be his final riddle, the riddle of his own life. The quote A stranger you may think, who lives upon you, he soon will be revealed a native of Theban  [3]  Foreshadows that the killer who seemed to a Stranger actually have a long bond with Thebes and at the time Oedipus didnt realize that it was him who had long ties with Thebes. Again this is related with the theme of fate and destiny since this was said by the Tiresias who revealed the prophecy which eventually became true. In the play the Prophet says that, Blind who now has eyes, beggar who now is rich, he will grope his way towards a foreign soil, a sick tapping before his step by step.  [4]  This foreshadows what will happen to Oedipus in the future. Oedipus does really take notice of what the prophet says because he was angry and believed that everything the prophet said was a conspiracy. What he doesnt realize is that this is a significant prophecy the prophet made for him. As we see further in the play on how cruel he blinded himself and how he left Thebes. This relates to the theme of fate, since the prophet actually knows what will happen to Oedipus, which makes us wonder whether god really plans our destiny in advance. In the play the quote, He solved the famous riddle with his brilliance, he rose to power, a man beyond all power. Who could behold his greatness without envy? Now what a black sea of terror has overwhelmed him.  [5]   shows that although Oedipus is a smart and mighty king he could still not reverse his destiny and had to end up living in misery alone. This causes the reader to sympathize with him for why is life so unfair to him, that such a good man ends up with such an ending. Then in the quote Revealed at last, brother and father both to the children he embraces, to his mother son and husband both-he sowed the loins his father sowed, he spilled his fathers blood!  [6]  Sophocles gave the reader a feeling of sorrow for both Oedipus and all the people related to him. Since everyone who is blood related to him will live in misery. Oedipus, no matter what he may try to do to avoid his fate. All his actions were pulling him right back to his final destiny, although revealing the truth surrounding his birth was his wish, but also believed to be the plan of the gods. His curiosity and intelligence which brought him fame and glory have also brought his downfall. Oedipus was too eager to end the suffering of his people, thus sending Creon to bring the prophet that led to the tragedy. I think that even when the prophet hinted that the killer was a stranger to the land and all this might be a plan of fate. It just encouraged him to be more eager to find the killer of King Laius instead of cooling himself done to think about it. If he did he might have realized what was happening. So it all seemed to happen as the fate guided and the gods were manipulating the minds of the man. And it seemed that the people are just chess pieces and are expendable when needed, thus they dont have control over their fate. This all started with a prophecy and the results of it was disastrous. So we ask ourselves are we supposed to know the will of god or should we be ignorant. If the old King of Thebes did not know of the prophecy then he would not have tried to kill Oedipus, then the family would have lived happily together, but due to the prophecy it turned into a disastrous event. This raises the question of whether the prophecies of gods there to help us or to cause problems for us? It is ironic how things could have turned out to be differently. It seems that it is not fair for Oedipus or anyone to have their final destiny decided, without giving them a chance to change it, and for Oedipus his fate was determined to end terribly even at the beginning of his life.

Saturday, January 18, 2020

The Elderly

Growing up , children are taught to respect those who are elder than them , emphasizing parents and grandparents. This is a fine moral value to instill on a child but once that child begins to age , he/she will begin to see the truth behind the lies. As people age their minds deteriorate leading to bad motor skills , forgetfulness and irrational thinking , causing society to view them as a crazy nuisance. Elderly people need some assistance with daily activities and health care from their families. The adult children of this elders often face a difficult challenge in helping their parents make the right choices.The family is one of the most important providers for the elderly. Infact, the majority of caregivers for the elderly are often member of their own family , most often daughter or granddaughter. But sometimes family members of the elderly people ,who generally take care of them , get frustrated or angry and behave harshly with them , beat them. This leads to elderly abuse. Eld erly abuse in our country is growing. Abusers of older adults are both male and female. Usually family members are often the abusers in the domestic surroundings. Researchers estimated two thirds of the elder abuse are family members.The news which comes in the national news paper that elderly parents are being harassed, neglected, and even thrown out of the home, makes a citizen of India shameful and sad. This country was renowned for its good treatment to elderly as well as to the young since ages. The reason was the profound ethical and religious teaching which was prevalent in this country from ages. India being a land of multi lingual and multi religious back ground never one could have thought to see that elderly parents one day could be regarded as unwanted stranger in their own house.But, from a decade or two this unnatural phenomena suddenly appears with such a magnitude that one find himself bewildered how to accept it. Unfortunately this is a real hard fact through which the nation is passing. According to a survey 40% senior citizen living with their families are facing â€Å"emotional and physical abuse. † It is reported that one old grand mother is being thrown out in the garbage by her son and grand son where she ultimately died. India was land where elders were treated with respect and dignity.Mother and father in a house were just like a king and queen where they were treated as a commander of the house not by force but by the way of love and affection which was flourishing in the house. How this sudden change in the attitude of son of the same soil has appeared so abruptly. It is not the soil which has changed but the air and atmosphere of the land has gradually infested with foreign culture and artificial light and glamour as projected through the television and electronic media which has eroded the Indian culture of patience, gratitude and sacrifice. The Elderly Growing up , children are taught to respect those who are elder than them, emphasizing parents and grandparents. This is a fine moral value to instill on a child but once that child begins to age , he/she will begin to see the truth behind the lies. As people age their minds deteriorate leading to bad motor skills , forgetfulness and irrational thinking , causing society to view them as a crazy nuisance. Elderly people need some assistance with daily activities and health care from their families. The adult children of this elders often face a difficult challenge in helping their parents make the right choices.The family is one of the most important providers for the elderly. Infact, the majority of caregivers for the elderly are often member of their own family , most often daughter or granddaughter. But sometimes family members of the elderly people ,who generally take care of them , get frustrated or angry and behave harshly with them , beat them. This leads to elderly abuse. Elde rly abuse in our country is growing. Abusers of older adults are both male and female. Usually family members are often the abusers in the domestic surroundings. Researchers estimated two thirds of the elder abuse are family members.The news which comes in the national news paper that elderly parents are being harassed, neglected, and even thrown out of the home, makes a citizen of India shameful and sad. This country was renowned for its good treatment to elderly as well as to the young since ages. The reason was the profound ethical and religious teaching which was prevalent in this country from ages. India being a land of multi lingual and multi religious back ground never one could have thought to see that elderly parents one day could be regarded as unwanted stranger in their own house.But, from a decade or two this unnatural phenomena suddenly appears with such a magnitude that one find himself bewildered how to accept it. Unfortunately this is a real hard fact through which t he nation is passing. According to a survey 40% senior citizen living with their families are facing â€Å"emotional and physical abuse. † It is reported that one old grand mother is being thrown out in the garbage by her son and grand son where she ultimately died. India was land where elders were treated with respect and dignity.Mother and father in a house were just like a king and queen where they were treated as a commander of the house not by force but by the way of love and affection which was flourishing in the house. How this sudden change in the attitude of son of the same soil has appeared so abruptly. It is not the soil which has changed but the air and atmosphere of the land has gradually infested with foreign culture and artificial light and glamour as projected through the television and electronic media which has eroded the Indian culture of patience, gratitude and sacrifice.

Friday, January 10, 2020

The Feasibility of Chili and Kamias as Mosquito Killer

Background of the Study: This study is done by the researcher to give importance to the chili and kamias fruit. Not just in food, but the researcher wanted to produce a mosquito killer out of them. For all we know that chili has been tested and proven to be the one good ingredient in mosquito killer making and what if it is added by the acidic property of kamias fruit? The researcher wanted to know the effect of the combined property of each fruit. Statement of the Problem: This study aims to determine the effect of the said mosquito killer (chili and kamias).Especially it will answer the following questions: 1) Does the said mosquito killer (chili and kamias) is cheaper than the commercial ones. 2) Will this mosquito killer (chili and kamias) can affect the health/kill the person who accidentally took it. Hypothesis: 1) This mosquito killer (chili and kamias) is cheaper than the commercial ones because the materials/ingredients used to produce this is cheap and are abundant in tropi cal countries like the Philippines. 2) Side effects will occur if accidentally taken by anyone. Significance of the Study:The said mosquito killer (chili and kamias) was made to compete to the commercial ones which were expensive. And help our country, for we have plenty of chili and kamias. Definition of Terms: antiscorbutic-a remedy for scurvy poisonous-toxic or venomous; harmful; having the qualities or effects of poison Scope and Limitations: If this study is already done, not only the poor ones can use it, also the rich ones. Not just because it’s cheaper but also on its effectiveness. Methodology: Materials: ? kilo of kamias fruit 1 ? kilo of chili mortar and pestle ettle gas stove product container Procedure: The researcher collected and prepared all the materials needed. The researcher then pounded the kamias and chili separately and gets their extracts. After pounding the kamias and the chili, the researcher boiled the two extracts separately for 5 minutes. Then the researcher mixed them and poured them inside the container. Review of related literature: In the past chili was used only as spices because of its taste. Later on, it was discovered as a good mosquito killer because of its pesticidal property.While kamias (ginger lily) was also used in food spices before. Later on, it was discovered by Battistelli in 1939 that it has properties such as astringent, stomachic, refrigerant and antiscorbutic. Some of the researchers now are having kamias as wine but in this study the researcher wants to test the properties of the kamias fruit together with the chili. http://techorati. com(chili/ fruit)(kamias fruit) http://news. bbc. co. uk/2%20americas/6367299. stm Bato Balani (ISNN 0117-7079) Vol. 21 No. 3sy www. batobalani. com

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Definition of Chunking in Language Acquisition

In studies of language acquisition, the term chunk refers to several words that are customarily used together in a fixed expression, such as in my opinion, to make a long story short, How are you? or Know what I mean?  Also known as  language chunk, lexical chunk, praxon, formulated speech, formulaic phrase, formulaic speech, lexical bundle, lexical phrase, and collocation. Chunk and chunking were introduced as cognitive terms by psychologist George A. Miller in his paper The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information (1956). See Examples and Observations  below. Also, see: Lexical ApproachBinomialClichà ©Ã‚  and PlatitudeCompound NounIdiomLanguage AcquisitionListemePet PhrasePhrasePhrasal VerbSnowclone Examples and Observations Here is one that got away, and lived to tell the tale.(Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1983, 2009)Oh, by the way, hows the Florence Henderson look working for you?(Matthew Morrison as Will Schuester, The Power of Madonna. Glee, 2010)Once upon a time, there was a lovely princess. But she had an enchantment upon her of a fearful sort, which could only be broken by loves first kiss.(Shrek, 2001)The only thing Junior Singleton reads cover to cover is a matchbook.(The Red Green Show, 1991)It may be that across the immensity of space the Martians have watched the fate of these pioneers of theirs and learned their lesson, and that on the planet Venus they have found a securer settlement. Be that as it may, for many years yet there will certainly be no relaxation of the eager scrutiny of the Martian disk, and those fiery darts of the sky, the shooting stars, will bring with them as they fall an unavoidable apprehension.(H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, 1898)Do you know the phrase water shed moment, buddy?I nodded. You didnt have to be an English teacher to know that one; you didnt even have to be literate. It was one of those annoying linguistic shortcuts that show up on cable TV news shows, day in and day out. Others include connect the dots and at this point in time. The most annoying of all (I have inveighed against it to my clearly bored students time and time and time again) is the totally meaningless some people say, or many people believe.(Stephen King, 11/22/63. Scribner, 2011)Uses of Prefabricated Chunks- It seems that in the initial stages of first language acquisition and natural second language acquisition we acquire unanalysed chunks, but that these gradually get broken down into smaller components . . .The prefabricated chunks are utilised in fluent output, which, as many researchers from different traditions have noted, largely depends on automatic processing of stored units. According to Erman and Warrens (2000) count, about half of running text is covered by such recurrent units.(J. M. Sinclair and A. Mauranen, Linear Unit Grammar: Integrating Speech and Writing. John Benjamins, 2006)- If I find an especially felicitous way of expressing an idea, I may store up that turn of phrase so that the next time I need it it will come forth as a prefabricated chunk, even though to my hearer it may not be distinguishable from newly generated speech. This . . . kind of expression, then, not only is completely analyzable by the grammar of the language but as a result of its transparency has a dual status for the speaker: It can be handled either as a single unit or as a complex construction with internal structure (e.g., words can be inserted into or deleted from the phrase, or the grammatical structure can be changed as needed).(Ann M. Peters, The Units of Language Acquisition. Cambridge University  Press, 1983)Formulaic Phrases vs. Literal Expressions[T]he formulaic phrase has unique properties: it is cohesive and unitary in structur e (sometimes with aberrant grammatical form), often nonliteral or deviant in meaning properties, and usually contains a nuanced meaning that transcends the sum of its (lexical) parts. The canonical form of the expression (formuleme) is known to native speakers. This is to say that a formulaic expression functions differently in form, meaning, and use from a matched, literal, novel, or propositional expression (Lounsbury, 1963). It broke the ice, for example, as a formula, differs regarding meaning representation, exploitation of lexical items, status in language memory, and range of possible usages, when compared to the exact same sequence of words as a novel expression.(Diana Van Lancker Sidtis, Formulaic and Novel Language in a Dual Process Model of Language Competence. Formulaic Language, Vol. 2., ed. by Roberta Corrigan et al. John Benjamins, 2009)Criticism of the Lexical-Chunk ApproachMichael Swan, a British writer on language pedagogy, has emerged as a prominent critic of the lexical-chunk approach. Though he acknowledges, as he told me in an e-mail, that high-priority chunks need to be taught, he worries that the new toy effect can mean that formulaic expressions get more attention than they deserve, and other aspects of language--ordinary vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and skills--get sidelined.Swan also finds it unrealistic to expect that teaching chunks will produce nativelike proficiency in language learners. Native English speakers have tens or hundreds of thousands--estimates vary--of these formulae at their command, he says. A student could learn 10 a day for years and still not approach native-speaker competence.(Ben Zimmer, On Language: Chunking. The New York Times Magazine, Sep. 19, 2010)