Vernacular Languages vs. Latin The Fall of the Babel

Vernacular Languages vs. Latin The Fall of the Babel Abstract Throughout the centuries, Latin has been the language of the educated. Only knowing Latin, people could read and take part in the scientific, cultural and religious life of the country. As a result, Latin turned into the language of the nobility.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Vernacular Languages vs. Latin: The Fall of the Babel specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The access to the literature was thus restricted by the cultural border. Unless one learned Latin, there was no other way to read the literature that interested the given person. At some point people started arguing about this state of affairs. Mostly because of the idea that books might reveal for them something new that they had never been told before, people started taking interest in their mother tongue crawling into the field of literature and science, making the issues of those more understood for the population. Vernacular Languages vs. Latin : The Fall of the Babel Because of the fact that most Middle Age literature was presented in Latin, while education was something that not all people could afford in those times, more and more people became preoccupied with the idea that there must be some way to present the literature in the language that they speak and understand. The problem grew bigger as rime passed, and the people grew weary of the Latin sermons that they could not understand and the books in Latin that watched them with mocking secrecy. Indeed, as Disraeli (1841) put it, â€Å"The performance of the Latin language, during many centuries, retarded the cultivation of the vernacular dialects of Europe.† (106). The situation became complicated as people started expressing their protests against the foreign language as the main one in the state. Finally, the time of the great change came. It began not with a revolt, but with a subtle change that was almost impossible to detect. The phenomenon was called lat er the Vulgar Latin. Watered with the Celtic words stylized as the Latin ones, with the specific endings and conjugations, these words became the basis of the future vernacular languages to develop. The process was rather long and complicated, but the results were most fruitful and convincing. people have started winning the small areas of the language and they could finally hear something recognizable.Advertising Looking for essay on linguistics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The day of triumph came when even the names of the geographic objects were transformed into the national languages of the people (Wellesley 2000, 14). This was something that no one could believe in several decades before. The idea that the books will be available to every single literate person was close to the revolution, and the first to protest such course of affairs was the clergy. However, there was a long way to go before this triumph would come. The first steps were made as the tenth century came. The overall atmosphere of being captured by writing and speaking in the native language had to find its place in the literature as well, both the scientific and the spiritual. As Le Goff (2006) marks it, Medieval Europe spoke and wrote Latin, and when Latin retreated in the face of the vernacular languages in the tenth century, the so-called Romance tongues (French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese) perpetuated that linguistic heritage. (10) As it can be seen from the abovementioned, it was not that the new languages simply took the place of the Latin language and started reigning in the sphere of literature and science. On the contrary, the new languages took the best of their mother tongue and represented a kind of pidgin – the language that was a mixture of the Celtic and the Latin taken together. The structure was foreign, but the word stock was taken from the Latin language, its idea preserved together with the words that came into the newly created languages. It would be reasonable to emphasize the impact of the vernacular poetry that has done its job on pushing the Latin language off its throne and taking the place of the leading language. As the new languages grew and became fuller and fuller with the lexis, the new poets started trying their luck in making verses and creating the literature of the new epoch. Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Vernacular Languages vs. Latin: The Fall of the Babel specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More That was the thing that made the Latin language completely out of fashion even among the crà ¨me of society. That is what Mantello (1996) says on the topic: Old English writing also developed early. Vernacular poetry written by Aldhelm (d. 704/10) is attested but lost. Nonetheless an extensive Latin-Old-English glossary dating from the seventh century can be reconstructed from the evidence o f the glossaries found I the libraries of Epinal and Erfurt. Old High German followed next. (123) The importance of these languages developing was immense. Indeed, they helped the nations to be recognized further on as the peoples of their own culture and traditions, with a solid literature and art basis in addition. In fact, the church was arguing a lot in opposition to the new languages appearing, claiming that Bible as the Holy Word cannot be translated into any other languages – which was further on proved wrong y Martin Luther – and did its best to hold Latin as the main language of the state and religion as long as it could. The reasons were quite easy to understand, with all the power that the church beheld over the people with help of the language under their control and the sphere of arts staying still in its development, while the church dogmas and rules were piling up. To sum up, the influence that the new languages development had on the people, the states and the cultures of the world was indescribable. It was only after Latin was left for good when the states started developing their fundament for the cultural heritage to pass to the descendants.Advertising Looking for essay on linguistics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In spite of the fact that the importance of the Latin culture is beyond any reasonable doubt and that even now the dead language has found some use in the spheres of medicine, pharmacy and jurisprudence, it is still clear that the new languages formed after the fall of the Latin â€Å"reign† are the very essence of the modern civilization in general and its every state in particular. Without the vernacular languages, the world would have stayed in the stage of the Medieval times. Meanwhile, people must not forget that they owe their culture to the language of the Ancient Rome. References Disraeli I. (1841) Amenities of Literature: Consisting of Sketches and Characters of English Literature. New York, NY: J. H. G. Langley. Le Goff J., Lloyd, J. (2006) The Birth of Europe: 400-1500. New york, NY: Wiley-Blackwell. Mantello F. A. C., Rigg A. G. (1996) Medieval Latin: an Introduction and Bibliographical Guide. Cambridge: CUA Press. Wellesley K. (2000) The Year of the Four Empero rs. Oxford: Routledge.

How Feature Writers Use Delayed Ledes

How Feature Writers Use Delayed Ledes A lede, usually used in feature stories, that can take several paragraphs to begin to tell a story, as opposed to hard-news ledes, which must summarize a storys main points in the first paragraph. Delayed ledes can use description, anecdotes, scene-setting or background information to pull the reader into the story. How Delayed Ledes Work A delayed lede, also called a feature lede, is used on feature stories and allows you to break free of the standard hard-news lede, which must have the who, what, where, when, why, and how and outline the main point of the story in the very first sentence. A delayed lede allows the writer to take a more creative approach by setting a scene, describing a person or place or telling a short story or anecdote. If that sounds familiar, it should. A delayed lede is much like the opening of a short story or novel. Obviously, a reporter writing a feature story doesnt have the luxury of making things up the way a novelist does, but the idea is much the same: Create an opening to your story that will make the reader want to read more. The length of a delayed lede varies depending on the kind of article and whether you are writing for a newspaper or magazine. Delayed ledes for newspaper feature articles generally last no more than three or four paragraphs, while ones in magazines can go on much longer. The delayed lede is generally followed by whats called the nutgraph, which is where the writer explains what the story is all about. In fact, thats where the delayed lede gets its name; instead of the main point of the story being outlined in the very first sentence, it comes several paragraphs later. Example Heres an example of a delayed lede from the Philadelphia Inquirer: After several days in solitary confinement, Mohamed Rifaey finally found relief in pain. He would wrap his head in a towel and whack it against the cinder-block wall. Over and over. Im going to lose my mind, Rifaey recalls thinking. I begged them: Charge me with something, with anything! Just let me out to be with people. The illegal alien from Egypt, now finishing his fourth month in custody in York County, Pa., is among hundreds of people caught on the wrong side of the domestic war on terrorism. In interviews with The Inquirer inside and out of jail, several men described long detentions on minimal or no charges, unusually stiff bond orders, and no allegations of terrorism. Their tales have worried civil libertarians and immigration advocates. As you can see, the first two paragraphs of this story constitute the delayed lede. They describe the inmates anguish without explicitly stating what the story is about. But in the third and fourth paragraphs, the angle of the story is made clear. You can imagine how might have been written using a straight-news lede: Civil libertarians say many illegal aliens have recently been jailed recently as part of the domestic war on terrorism, despite the fact that many have not been charged with any crime. That certainly sums up the main point of the story, but of course, its not nearly as compelling as the image of the inmate banging his head against the wall of his cell. Thats why journalists use delayed ledes - to grab a readers attention, and never let go.

Data and Information System Models Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Data and Information System Models - Assignment Example Quinn draws attention to several requirements that must be put into consideration in the design phase of a healthcare system for a successful clinical transformation. Among the highlighted requirements presented by Quinn are; accessibility, reliability, security, flexibility, presentation-interface integration, portability and response time. All the presented factors are fundamental and should be looked into when designing healthcare system, however, much focus should be placed on four major factors namely security, accessibility, response to time and reliability (Quinn, 203). Healthcare system is to provide and aid in the management of information with the purpose of implementing clinical transformation. The data and information of patients as well as the doctors and the clinical employees are sensitive and therefore much focus should be place on security of the information entrusted to the system. The system should be designed in a manner that the information stored in it is easily accessible while maintaining integrity of the same information by restricting the access to only thee authorized party. Also, reliability is another factor that should not be overlooked in the design phase given that it is paramount for the success of the system. The designed system should be reliable. Speed is another key factor given that the system should be able to respond fast to the requests by various users since time is a paramount factor in a clinical setting (Quinn, 205). All these factors are critical in strong and appropriate management of information which is in turn imperative in the successful implementation of clinical transformation. At the top of this list is security. The sensitivity of information flowing through clinical and healthcare setting and the need for privacy makes security an imperative factor to consider when designing a healthcare system meant for clinical transformation. Quinn states that it is essential to balance between security and access to in formation in order to successfully secure the system as well as ensuring accessibility to information. Security is ensured within an organization by employing various mechanisms in order to maintain privacy policies. Security plan is composed of both technology components and policy. In order to ensure security and maintain privacy of the information within the system, it is imperative to adopt all-inclusive procedures, policies in addition to educational processes. The technology components of security that should be adopted include access control such as encryption, password/ username, antimalware programs, backup and recovery plans besides physical locks on doors to implement restriction. A secure system ensures that the information stored in the system is reliable, trustworthy and has integrity. Quinn highlights accessibility as another paramount factor to be considered in the successful design of healthcare system for clinical transformation. As much as security is implemented, the same information should be easily available and accessible to the right party at the required time. The users should be able to easily access applications and data within the system in a manner that it does not flout on the security policies of the system. Maintaining the balance between accessibility and security is complicated given that the two factors works against each other in a way. Accessibility works towards

Code of Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Code of Ethics - Essay Example To attain continuous patronage from our customers, the supermarket has to meet the level of expectations of our customers. One of the more critical elements required to improve the services of a Supermarket is to implement a set of code of ethics which will be adhered to by all personnel group from top to bottom. What is this set of code of ethics? A Code of ethics is a set of standard rules, procedures, guidelines and policies disseminated, understood and imposed by top management to all the people who work at the Supermarket. They are all to comply with this code of ethics. These are standard policies and standard procedures that will â€Å"guide the organization to steer conduct, both for the organization itself and its employees, in all their internal and external business activities† (Code of Ethics, 2005). This is healthy in the system of any organization as it would â€Å"signal to the suppliers, patrons, bankers, traders, government, among others the supermarket's exp ectation from them and vice versa. This would also be a good strategy to enhance the supermarket’s reputation and achieve excellent culture that would strengthen public confidence in the organization† (Code of Business Ethics, 2010). Finally, the monitoring of operations, security and accountability become more effective with the adoption of a code of ethics.

Determining Causes and Effects Essay Example for Free

Determining Causes and Effects Essay The majority of blood donors are middle aged due to advertising not being effective among youth donors. Young prospective first time donors, with their long-term donation potential, are especially attractive targets for blood agencies. Youth are often underrepresented in donor pools, however; persuading them to give blood may require specifically tailored marketing communication. The first cause of not being effective in advertising towards youth is marketing communication. Blood collection agencies often emphasize altruism. Altruism is the philosophical doctrine that right action is that which provides the greatest benefit to others. Specifically, research demonstrates that established donors who have given blood several times report altruism and awareness of the need for blood as their main reasons for giving (Glynn S.A. 417). In other words, a regular blood donor gives because they want to help others in need, and they act altruistically without expectation of reward. Altruistic ads focus on the altruistic message of a blood recipient thanking individuals for giving blood to save his/her life. An appeal to self-interest may be more effective in heightening blood donation intentions among youthful donors. The second cause of advertising not being effective is not appealing to individual self-interest. Collection agencies often use a communal message strategy that you should donate because someone close to you may need it. A communal ad features blood donors asking others to join them to help save lives. This communal approach, often receives less attention from donors because people value incentives. There has been little academic research conducted in blood recruitment to further these recommendations and actually test the effectiveness of specific message types in relation to the established profiles. Another contributing cause is the selectivity model, attributes sex differences in information processing to traditional gender roles. For instance, the male or agentic gender role is characterized by concern for the self (ex., what helps me or is of interest to me?). It is associated with personality traits such as independence and autonomy. Men, who already attend to self-relevant information because of their presumed agentic gender role, should respond even more favorably to a self-benefit message that also  invokes a higher degree of self-referencing (Hupfer, 1004). The communal female role, which encompasses concern for both self and others (ex., what interests or helps both me and others?). The personality traits associated with the female are independent and giving. The female role is typified by sympathy, understanding, and sensitivity to others’ needs. These traditional role distinctions lead to sex differences in response to information that is self-relevant or other relevant (Hupfer, 1004). Gender roles, therefore, should be an important determinant of reaction to blood campaigns. They should indicate that giving blood helps me which is the agentic benefit (Fig 3). Or giving blood helps someone else which is the communal benefit (Fig 4). When an advertising message elicits attention by reflecting on negative outcomes it appears to be more favorable. When advertising message elicits attention by focusing on the positive outcomes it appears to be less favorable. One effect on the economy is when agencies paid people to donate it decreased the blood supply. Economists were skeptical citing a lack of empirical evidence. Since then new data and models have prompted a sea change in how economists think about incentives. Economists have found that offering to pay women for donating blood decreased the number of donators by half. However, letting society contribute the payment to charity reversed the effect. This psychology here has eluded economists, but it was no surprise to business owners. Rewarding blood donations may backfire; because it suggests that donor is less interested on being altruistic than in making a buck. Incentives affect what our actions signal, whether we’re being self-interested or civic-minded, manipulated or trusted, and they can imply wrongly what motivates the U.S. (Bowles) An increase in unemployment may mean people have more time to give blood, but I doubt it would cause an increase in supply. First, many blood donations are arranged by firms who agree to give employers time off work during the day. Secondly, it is possible that if you are unemployed you are likely to be stressed and don’t feel inspired to give blood. Findings indicate that when donors are eligible to benefit from the day-off incentive (i.e., when they are in paid employment) they make, on average, one extra blood donation per year, a substantial effect that represents a 40% inc rease (Lacetera). The decrease in blood supply affects those who have diseases such as sickle cell. There are more than 80,000 people in the U.S. with Sickle Cell, who require blood  transfusions. It also affects those who have cancer because chemotherapy consists of needing blood; sometimes on a daily basis. Also car accident victims can require as much as 100 pints of blood (American Red Cross). So if there are shortages of blood, there are not enough lives being saved. Hospitals haven’t had enough blood supply to care for patients with leukemia. It also affects newborns that are faced with having open heart surgery. Most patients who are hospitalized for serious complications and require transplants suffer because of the lack of blood supply in the U.S. In conclusion, collection agencies should consider appealing to young non-donors by suggesting that they give blood to make it available for themselves. Those who are capable of donating should do so with no questions asked. You never know when you will have a life-threatening event in which you need a blood transfusion to save your life. Researchers should continue to find theories on advertising to appeal to self-interest so that the blood supply in the U.S. will increase; however, the best approach in advertising is appealing to people’s emotion. If everyone would come together as one as they do in elections for blood drives the outcome would be greater. Fig. 3. Agentic Version of accident scene Fig. 4. Communal version of accident scene. Works Cited American Red Cross (2012). Blood Facts. www. Redcross.org Bowles, Samuel (March 2009). The Magazine; Harvard Business Review Glynn, S.A., Kleinman, (2002). Motivations to donate blood:. Transfusion, 42, 216-225. Hupfer, M.E. (2006). Transfusion 46(6), 996-1005, Visuals, DOI: 10.1111/j.1537- 2995.2006.00834.x Lacetera, Nicola (n.d.), Icentative Research Foundation. Time for Blood Article.

Free Will in Shooting an Elephant and Antigone :: Comparison Compare Contrast Essays

Free Will in Shooting an Elephant and Antigone Free will can be defined as: â€Å"The right, given to humans by God, to make their own decisions.† A mans free will cannot be destroyed by any power other than God. Humans can always exercise their free will when making decisions. However, when their decisions come in conflict with the laws set by a higher power, they might face consequences based on how they choose to use their free will. The more restrictions imposed upon someone’s free will the more restricted their ability to make decisions become. The extent to which someone may exercise their free will can be defined as their â€Å"freedom.† Therefore, the more laws imposed upon someone’s free will the more restricted their freedom. Although no power, save God, can destroy free will, they can limit and even destroy someones freedom. In the essay Shooting an Elephant George Orwell argues that, â€Å"when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys† (Orwell, 704). Fr ee will is indestructible; an example of Orwell’s destruction of freedom but preservation of free will is given in his essay. In Antigone an example of how even though higher powers can limit your decisions they cannot stop you from exercising your free will. According to Orwell his freedom was destroyed when he took on the role of the tyrant. His job was that of a sub-divisional police officer in Lower Burma. A crisis arose in which he was faced with a hard decision to make. An elephant had gone on a rampage in the village and had destroyed countless huts and killed a man. When Orwell came upon the elephant it was clear to him that it had calmed down and that the elephant would cause no more harm to anyone. Orwell was faced with a decision: he could either shoot the beast or wait until his master came to get him. However, this decision was made much more complicated. Orwell was surrounded by two thousand Burmans who, as Orwell said, â€Å"were watching me as they would watch a conjurer about to perform a magic trick.† Although the Burmans were all underneath him and subject to him, he was very concerned about what they thought he should do. He was so concerned in fact he concluded that he had to do as they wished of him.

The law balance out the rights of the victims

To what extent does the law balance out the rights of the victims, offenders and society in the criminal investigation process? The role of the criminal investigation process is to balance the rights of the victims and offenders in society. All individuals' wether victim, offender or member of society have basic rights to which the law attempts to adhere to. While all are individual, the rights will differ for the purpose of maintaining a balance in society. Though upholding the rights of the people is essential in order to ensure that the investigation process is conducted correctly and without abuse.In a criminal investigation case, a victim is usually seeking Justice for an offence against them personally. Victims can be involved in the criminal trial in a number of ways, from reporting a crime and assisting police in testifying at a trial as a witness impact statement. However in certain cases a victim can be of significant value in the criminal investigation process as they may be the only witness to the crime. The victim also has the right to maintain their dignity and to be protected from the accused as they may have access to certain information that may be otherwise confidential.The victims' rights are outlined in the victims' rights act 1996. Victims also have to right to a victim impact statement, being a voluntary statement written by the victim about the impact of the crime had on them. Although this is only allowed in serious offences and to ensure fairness in particular highly sensitive cases the Judge may not allow a victim impact statement, on the grounds to assuring that the emotional content does not persuade the Jury and result in a bias verdict. Case) In NSW, crimes will be investigated by the NSW police force, as they play an important role in the criminal investigation process. The police force is given special legal powers enabling them to carry out their duties effectively. The majority of these powers are found in the law and enforceme nt (powers and responsibilities) act 2002 permitting them to investigate crimes, make arrests, interrogate suspects and gather evidence against the accused.The NSW police force also follows a specific code of behaviour called the code of practice for CRIME (custody, rights, investigation, management and evidence) which sets out the rights of the suspect and the manner in which the investigation should be carried out, it also includes that all citizens must e treated fairly regardless of race, religion, ethnic background and sex. Police are not allowed to detain a person unless they have good reason to do so, if enough evidence and a warrant is issued the police may arrest someone for the crime they are investigating.The accused will be held in police custody for questioning, this is known as interrogation. At the end of the detention period the police will make a unconditionally. If the accused believes that this procedure has not been adhered to appropriately they have the right to report their opinion through a complaints rocedure overseen by the NSW ombudsmen and the police integrity commission. Society have an important role to play in the criminal Justice system by being actively encouraged by community programs to report information about criminal activity.Crimes will usually be reported by a person who has knowledge of the crime, or has witnessed the crime. Citizens have the right to actively participate in the identification of a crime and exercise their right to live in a safe and secured environment. The member of society also has the right to remain anonymous during the criminal investigation process in order to protect their individual security. Citizens can exercise this right directly through the police or through a community program such as crime stoppers. robbed, deceived or cheated.Victims can be involved in a criminal trial process in a number of ways from reporting a crime and assisting police through to testifying at as a witness and submit ting a victim impact statement. In NSW, victims of crime are recognised and guaranteed certain rights under the Victims rights act 1996. The Act contain a charter of victims' rights which requires among a number of things, respect for a victims dignity, victims compensation, protection from the accused, protection of dentity and certain rights to information and assistance during the criminal process.A victim impact statement is a voluntary statement written by the victim about the impact the crime has had on them. It allows the victim an opportunity to participate in the process by letting the court know how the crime has affected them. The statements are only permitted for serious offences involving violence, death of or any physical harm to a person and only if the court approves of it. Victim impact statements can be controversial because they can be very subjective yet have significant effect on sentencing. Supporters argues that they provide an important opportunity for victim s to express themselves in the criminal process. case The area of the criminal process trial that are critiqued by society are the right of police powers against the rights of the suspect. The role of the police in the criminal investigation process is to investigate crimes, make arrests, interrogate suspects and gather evidence against the accused. The police will then present the evidence for judgement to a court on the behalf of the state. The NSW criminal trial process states that the accused has the right to a fair trial as it is stated in the crimes act of 1900

Reaction Paper Of Jose Rizal Life

One note, this movie is not for the faint of heart. There are graphic depictions of violence and even torture. The opening few scenes depict some episodes from Rizal's novels. In one a Catholic priest rapes a Filipina. I guess I now know where the Mestizo mixed blood class came from in the Philippines. In the other scene a Catholic priest beats a child for alleged stealing. Strong stuff and it made me wonder how the Catholic Church could possibly retain any power in the country, if this is what the national hero thought about it. The movie tells the life story of Jose Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines. A three hour epic movie on the life and struggles of his poet and patriotisms. It covers his life from his childhood to his execution at the hands of the Spanish forces occupying the Philippines in the late 19th century. We are also thrown into the world of Rizal's novels filmed in black and white, so we get a glimpse of how he viewed Filipino society under the Spanish heal. The film also through a series of flashback showing Rizal as a genius, a writer, a doctor, an artist, a lover, a friend, a brother and a son, thus giving a rich texture of Rizal’s character. The movie introduces us to the life of subjugation of the Filipino people under the rule of the Spanish friars. From the execution of three Filipino priests in 1872 for alleged subversion to the harsh and unequal treatment of Filipino students in the schools, this film is a stinging indictment of Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines. I also commend the film for its bravery in showing the evil tyranny of the Catholic Church during that time. Considering that the Philippines is a Catholic nation that is like butchering a sacred cow but alas, Abaya works her magic in depicting the suffering of the Filipinos because of the friars. This is by far the best Filipino movie that I have seen so far. I would urge anyone reading this who likes movies, to either rent it or buy it. I particularly love the last scene of the film when Rizal fell in the ground facing the sky, having his last breath looking at a beautiful sunrise- a metaphor depicting that Rizal did not die in vain. He did not die for nothing. He did not die defeated. Rather he died victorious because his death is the torch that lights Philippine independence, which ignites Philippine Revolution. The movie tells the life story of Jose Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines. It covers his life from his childhood to his execution at the hands of the Spanish forces occupying the Philippines in the late 19th century. We are also thrown into the world of Rizal's novels. So we get a glimpse of how he viewed Filipino society under the Spanish heal. And the movie introduces us to the life of subjugation of the Filipino people under the rule of the Spanish friars. From the execution of three Filipino priests in 1872 for alleged subversion to the harsh and unequal treatment of Filipino students in the schools, this film is a stinging indictment of Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines. We see scenes both from Rizal's actual life but also from his imagination. As a young man, Jose is sent to study in Spain. This is a plan hatched by his brother Paciano. Jose will write and do everything in his power to bring to the attention of the world the abuses of Spanish power in the Philippines, while Paciano will protect the Rizal family at home and keep up the struggle against Spanish rule. Jose excels in his studies as a medical student at Madrid University and eventually earns a degree as an ophthalmic surgeon. Meantime, he becomes involved with a group of radical Filipino students who also seek to end the Spanish abuses in their country.

Top 10 Online Tools for Book Authors

Top 10 Online Tools for Book Authors Top 10 Online Tools for Book Authors Top 10 Online Tools for Book Authors By Ali Hale Writing and publishing a book is a huge (and wonderful) undertaking – and you’ll want all the help you can get. There are loads of great downloadable tools out there for book authors, like Scrivener (for writing), Calibre (for producing ebooks) and KDP Rocket (for finding good keywords to use on Amazon). But in this post, I want to focus on online tools – ones that you can use through your web browser. Here are ten of the best, for different stages of your author journey: Tools for Writing and Editing Your Manuscript I’ve already taken a look at some useful tools to help you focus and get your writing done in Top 10 Online Tools for Writers – so here, I want to focus on a couple of tools that will help you edit your book manuscript: #1: Visuwords (free) Do you ever struggle to find the right word? If a traditional thesaurus isn’t helping, try using Visuwords, which shows you the links between different words (including opposites, related topics, and words that derive from your original word). It might just help you find the perfect word or phrase when you’re struggling. The map above shows the word â€Å"anarchy† and related terms. Tip: By running your cursor over a word, you can view a definition – and you can double-click a word to see its related words on your map, too. #2: WordCounter (free), Steven Morgan Friedman It can be tricky to spot which words come up just a little too often in your own writing – but if you keep using the same ones again and again, readers will start to notice. That’s fine if you want to repeat a particular word for effect, but problematic if it’s unintentional. Once you’ve got your list of potentially over-used words, you can do a â€Å"Find† in your document to check each instance and see whether you want to vary it. Here’s a list from my novella-in-progress: (I’m happy with many of those – Flint, Jonathan, Corwin and Ruth are all character names, so it’s perfectly normal that they appear a lot. I suspect I’m using â€Å"go† and â€Å"just† a bit too often, though!) Wordcounter is quite bare-bones, and I found that while it ignores punctuation like commas and periods, it includes quotation marks and apostrophe, meaning that some words will get listed twice, and also occasionally lists some odd words (I apparently have 60 instances of the word â€Å"ey† in my novella, which I haven’t ever used!) Tip: There’s also a WordPress plugin version of the tool, which you might want to use if you’re writing blog posts – either to check for words that you overuse, or to check if you’ve included keywords as much as you wanted to. Tools for Publishing Your Book I’m going to assume here that you want to self-publish your book – so if you’re planning to seek an agent and publisher, you’ll want to skip this section. (However your book is published, though, you’ll find the â€Å"Tools for Marketing Your Book† list useful.) #3: Smashwords (free), Smashwords, Inc Smashwords is a tool for self-publishers to format and distribute their ebook(s) to readers through a variety of different platforms (such as through Apple’s iBooks stores and through the Kobo store.) They offer loads of advice on self-publishing, too, particularly through the Smart Author Podcast. You can also sell books through – and indeed buy books from – Smashwords itself. Most authors, though, use it primarily as an easy way to get their ebook into lots of different online stores. The one big exception is Amazon: you can’t easily get your book onto Amazon through Smashwords. That’s not too much of a problem, though, because Amazon’s own system (KDP – Kindle Direct Publishing) is straightforward and easy to work with. We’re going to cover that in a moment. It’s completely free to create an ebook through Smashwords, but Smashwords will take a small commission on each ebook you sell – and the stores you sell through will also take a cut. Tip: You need to format your manuscript carefully according to theSmashwords Style Guide. If you don’t, it’ll either be rejected, or you’ll find that it comes out looking a bit weird! #4: Amazon KDP (free), Amazon Amazon is the biggest ebook retailer there is and they make it pretty straightforward to add your own ebook to their vast catalogue. You can sign up for KDP using your existing Amazon account (or you can create a new Amazon account). The KDP dashboard allows you to publish (or update) your ebooks and to see reports on your ebook sales. While it’s free to use Amazon’s KDP to publish your work, Amazon will take a fairly hefty cut of everything you sell – paying you â€Å"royalties† out of your book’s cover price. If you price your ebook between $0.99 and $2.98, or above $9.99, you’ll get 35% royalties; if you price between $2.99 and $9.99, you’ll get 70% royalties. (You can’t price an ebook lower than $0.99.) Tip: Before Amazon can pay you, you’ll need to enter your tax information. You don’t need to have this to hand to start selling your ebook(s), though. #5: CreateSpace (free), Amazon While it’s possible to publish a paperback version of your ebook through KDP, CreateSpace is a more established option. (KDP’s paperback publishing is becoming better all the time, though, and you might want to check out this article by Dave Chesson for a side-by-side comparison of KDP Paperback and Createspace.) As with KDP, you can use your existing Amazon details for CreateSpace. You don’t need to pay anything upfront to publish a book through CreateSpace – but you’ll find that the printing costs eat up a fair percentage of the cover price. The paperback version of my novel Lycopolis, for instance, is priced at $12.99 in the US; I get a royalty of $3.32 on each copy sold. Tip: Although CreateSpace offers a â€Å"cover creator† so you can design your own ebook cover, it’s not the greatest tool to work with. If you just want to publish a print version for your personal use, or perhaps to give to a few friends, it’ll do – but I’d avoid using it for a professional-looking book. Tools for Marketing Your Book Once your book is up for sale, the hard work really begins! Marketing a book, whether fiction or non-fiction, is a huge task but these online tools can give you a helping hand. #6: A-FWD (â€Å"Link Globalizer for Amazon Affiliates And Authors†), Woboq If you haven’t already signed up to Amazon’s Affiliate scheme, I highly recommend doing so. You can earn a little extra on books you sell via your affiliate links (and you’ll be able to track how many sales you’re making through your own website, tweets, etc – as opposed to sales you’re getting through other channels). Unless your book is very specific to a particular country, you’ll probably be selling it worldwide, on different versions of Amazon’s site. Ideally, you want potential new readers to land on their version of Amazon. That means using a special link that can direct readers based on their location. And that’s where A-FWD comes in. Just paste in your affiliate link – the full version, not the short one – from your local Amazon, and you’ll get a single link that should direct readers to their Amazon (regardless of whether you have an affiliate account there or not). Tip: If you have affiliate accounts for more than one version of Amazon, make sure you paste those in under â€Å"Tracking IDs† (or you may find that your affiliate sales don’t get counted). #7: WordPress (free), WordPress Foundation At some stage in your author journey, you’re going to want to have a website or a blog. WordPress is a great way to build either. You can opt for WordPress.com aka â€Å"hosted WordPress† (which is easier and cheaper to get started with, but more limited) or WordPress.org aka â€Å"self-hosted WordPress† (which offers lots of flexibility and full control, but has a slightly steeper learning curve and means paying for a domain and hosting up-front). There’s a handy summary of the differences on the WPBeginner.com blog. Keep in mind that you don’t have to blog as an author – you might simply want to use WordPress to create a straightforward websites that showcases your books. Tip: You can set up a completely free blog using WordPress.com, so if you’re feeling a bit daunted by the idea of blogging (or having a website), why not create a â€Å"practice† one so you can try it out? #8: MailChimp, The Rocket Science Group If you read any blogs aimed at book authors, one key piece of advice you’ll come across is to â€Å"create a mailing list†. This allows you to email interested readers who’ve signed up to receive updates from you. You might think you could simply email readers through your regular email account – but this is a really bad idea. First, it means collating email addresses manually, which is an administrative headache. Second, and most importantly, it could easily see you falling foul of laws like CAN-SPAM (in the US) and GDPR (in the UK). There are plenty of online tools, though, that you can use to create an email list: readers can sign up and get added to the list at any time of the day or night, and you can create nicely formatted emails to send them. I’ve chosen MailChimp here as it’s free up to the 2,000 subscriber point but there are plenty of other good options, like Aweber and Constant Contact. Tip: Email marketing, like blogging, can seem very daunting at first. Do give it a try: you can always set up a small mailing list with just yourself (and maybe a couple of willing family members or friends) on it, so you can test out your emails before sending them to readers. #9: Canva (free), Canva You can use Canva to create almost anything that involves images and graphics – from book covers to posters, leaflets, and designs for Facebook, Instagram and other social networks. If you’re not yet at the stage of your author career where you can afford a professional designer, Canva could be a great option for you. There are lots of premade templates that you can use and thousands upon thousands of images – creating the perfect Facebook cover or business card could be just a few clicks away. Note that not but all images are free: you’ll need to pay $1 in order to use some of them. Plus, some of Canva’s features (like being able to use your previous designs as a template) are only available at the premium, paid-for level. Tip: While Canva is a great way to create promotional materials, it’s still a very good idea to go with a professional designer for your book cover itself (unless you’re an artist/designer and know what you’re doing). #10: NovelRank (free), NovelRank LLC NovelRank lets you track your sales across different Amazon sites (.com, co.uk, .fr, etc). It tells you where your book ranks in the charts, estimates sales made, and more. It’s free to use at the basic level – in fact, you don’t even need to create an account if you only want to track one book. Note that NovelRank can only show your sales from the point at which you set it up, as Amazon doesn’t provide historical data. Tip: As well as NovelRank, there are plenty of other tools that offer similar services, like BookCore (which is more basic, but works across multiple platforms). #11: DesignWizard (free with paid features) DesignWizard is another tool you can use to create the graphical assets of your book, including its cover and related marketing material. You will find that it offers virtually all the features of competing solutions while charging a lower price for the premium plans, so it is worth to check it out. I hope you’ll find the above tools helpful in your own journey to publication. Don’t feel that you have to use or even try all of them: pick and choose based on what you need right now, and take things step by step. Best of luck with your book! 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 Fiction Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Whimsical Words"Certified" and "Certificated"How often is "bimonthly"?

Vice Versa and Vis-à-Vis

Vice Versa and VisVis Vice Versa and VisVis Vice Versa and VisVis By Maeve Maddox The following quotation appeared in a newspaper article about a school where parents are encouraged to visit their children’s classroom: the more parent visitors we have, the more they trust us and visvis.   I think the principal intended to say, â€Å"the more parent visitors we have, the more they trust us and vice versa.† The only thing the two expressions have in common is that they alliterate. English vis-a-vis [vee-zuh-vee] is from French visvis, â€Å"face to face.† It can be used as noun, preposition, or adverb. As a noun, visvis can refer to: 1. a person or a thing situated opposite another. Example: At the table, my vis-a-vis was a woman dressed all in black and wearing a veil. 2. one’s opposite number or counterpart. Example: At the international conference of editors, my Russian vis-a-vis was a short, chubby man with a cheerful countenance and a ready laugh. 3. a meeting. Example: Reggie’s first vis-a-vis with the new commander left him shaking. As a preposition, visvis can be used to mean literally â€Å"face to face with,† or in the sense of â€Å"in relation to†: At the town meeting, a farmer sat visvis the Mayor. The citizens had called the meeting visvis a proposed redistricting. As an adverb, visvis means â€Å"opposite, so as to face each other.† Example: On the mantelpiece the actor’s two Oscars stood visvis. The other expression, vice versa [vahys-vur-suh] or [vahy-suh vur-suh], came into English directly from Latin from a word meaning â€Å"turn.† It’s used as an adverb meaning â€Å"with a reversal or transposition of the main items in the statement just made.† It can be used with or without a restatement of the previous item: the constellations do shift, so that what you see during the summer is overhead during the day in the winter and vice versa, the constellations you saw in winter, are overhead in the summer. or, the constellations do shift, so that what you see during the summer is overhead during the day in the winter and vice versa. Some bloggers ridicule speakers who pronounce vice versa with four syllables, but they are mean-spirited and uninformed. The OED puts the three-syllable pronunciation first, but acknowledges the four-syllable pronunciation as an alternate. Merriam-Webster puts the four-syllable pronunciation first. As a blogger named ClarE has pointed out, if we want to get picky, maybe we should reject both English efforts and try to pronounce it like classical Latin: [wee-kay wer-sah]. The important thing is not to say vice versa when what you mean is visvis–and vice versa. 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 Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:20 Words with More Than One SpellingYay, Hooray, Woo-hoo and Other Acclamations20 Clipped Forms and Their Place (If Any) in Formal Writing

Training and Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Training and Development - Essay Example Re-training is crucial for baby boomers, because it will help to avoid labour market crisis and slow growth. Following Dohm, "The current tight labor market situation could be exacerbated, hindering prospects for economic growth and putting a greater burden on those remaining in the workforce, perhaps forcing them to work longer hours" (Dohm, 2000, p. 17). There is, therefore, a continual need for the process of staff development, and training fulfils an important part of this process. Retraining should be viewed, therefore, as an integral pan of the process of social policy. Critics point out that many unions are recognising the importance of training in relevant skills for baby boomers to sustaining the job security of their members. As a result they are seeking to bring training more centrally into the collective bargaining arena, with the setting up of joint training agreements. For some employers this may be an important route to developing a joint approach to managing change. Among the recommendations is that public and private sectors should develop the line managers' contribution to training. Without re-training an... Training and development activities are important to both public and private sectors, but which may not arise as a development need because public and private sectors have been attending to it rather well. The need for re-training might only show up in the assessments if organizations stopped doing it. These may be in part things that individuals believe are desirable for the development of their own careers, routine things which line managers see as important to improve an individual's performance, and in some cases perceptions of needs which do not really exist, because of a change in the situation that neither the individual nor the line manager knew about. Today, the main task of federal agencies is to identify the gap in training and technological changes, to classify it by level and category, and to attach estimates of the numbers of people involved. Categories might include: Immediate requirements driven by organizational needs; Longer-term organizational needs (including such things as induction initiatives); Short-term remedial needs of individuals; Career development needs of individuals; Things individuals would like to do, but which have no direct corporate benefit. It is predicted that: "there will also be an increased need for employment-related services by persons between the ages of 45 and 54, below the SCSEP age level of 55" (Poulos, Nightingale, 2005). These suggestions can help to identify some of the issues that should be considered by public and private sectors when making their own policies. Economists mention that it is difficult to provide and develop a universal solution which will immediately fit every organization, but re-training policies is the best way to overcome labour shortage

Nonel Peace prize ( Martin Luther King and The Dalai Lama) Research Paper

Nonel Peace prize ( Martin Luther King and The Dalai Lama) - Research Paper Example This international award administered by Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden has till date reached to people of distinguished honor from every part of the world. Till the year 2012, 862 Laureates has been bestowed with the award. This has included 21 unique organizations as well. In recognition of their contributions in peace building and maintaining social order, 93 Nobel prizes has been given away in the field of peace. Respect for peace builders has been a prime vision of Alfred Nobel, the visionary behind the introduction of Nobel Prize. As per his will a portion of the award is dedicated for â€Å"the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses". Thus, it is very clear that peace has been an area of focus for the Nobel Prizes. In 1964, this award was given away to the legendary advocate of social equity and peace, Martin Luther King Jr. His struggles in attaining racial equity were recognized here. Further in 1989, the 14th Dalai Lama received the Nobel Prize being honored for his universal responsibility of peace. Though these leaders belonged to two different cultural, social and political spaces, their contribution to humanity and the world were characterized by similar values. Though the lives and challenges were different, the values and their goals in a holistic perspective were very similar. The biographical analysis of Martin Luther King Jr. and the 14th Dalai Lama indicates large contrasts in their backgrounds. The political and sociological backgrounds that they belonged to, in their childhood differed entirely. Martin Luther King was born on 15 January 1929, in Atlanta, United States. (The Official Website of the Nobel Prize, n. p.). His family had a pastoral background as his father and Grandfather were pastors with Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Even Martin Luther used to serve the church as a co-pastor helping his father. He did his schooling in Georgia and later did his graduation from Morehouse College. It has to be noted here that this college had a black background and had a distinguished placement within the Diaspora of Afro Americans. Dalai Lama was born in Tibet to parents who were peasants. Till the age of two, he had a very normal as any little boy in the Tibetan neighborhood. In the age of two his holiness was identified and he was declared the next Dalai Lama (The Official Website of the Nobel Prize, n. p.). He had thus got into his life mission early in his childhood. Comparing this with Martin Luther King, it can be found that both of them, early in the childhood had exposure to philosophical and spiritual values. However, these philosophies differed a lot especially in terms of the religious affiliations. When Dalia Lama was brought up in the Buddhist religious system, Martin Luther King had a Protestant Christian Background. However, it is worth nothing here that both these religious are based on the philosophy of peace and both religions had peace of the world as a holistic agenda. For instance, when the philosophy of Buddhism is based on non-violence, Christ taught lessons of compassion and forgives. Thus the mission of peace was imbibed on both of them in their early childhoods. Thus one can draw two conclusions by comparing the childhood of Dalai Lama and Martin Luther King Jr. First is that their social, cultural, re ligious and geographical backgrounds differed a lot. Second is that despite these