History Of Pragmatic Transfer English Language Essay

History Of Pragmatic Transfer English Language Essay Abstract The purpose of this study is to find out whether pragmatic transfer takes place in Saudis compliment responses (particularly males). It also touches the part of language proficiency and its effects on pragmatic competence. Additionally, it shows the differences and the similarities between natives compliments, compliment responses and Saudi males compliments and compliment responses. The subjects were three groups: natives and non-native English teachers and non-native and non-English teachers. I used the discourse completion test to come up with valid various results. It has been found that there are no differences in compliments between Saudi males and native speakers of English. Secondly, when responses to compliments are to be said, differences arise. From the study, it was discovered that Saudi males do not produce target-like compliment responses. Moreover, language proficiency does not play a major role in pragmatic competence. As the I noticed from the responses to compliments that Saudi males whether majoring in English or not, they produce the same responses except that the English teachers group translate the responses literally into English. What does pragmatic transfer mean? And does it have to do with proficiency of language? Is it a fundamental issue in second language acquisition? What do we mean by a compliment? How does compliment responses cause communication breakdown? Pragmatic transfer is defined as the influence of learners pragmatic knowledge of language and culture other than the target language on their comprehension, production, and acquisition of L2 pragmatic information (Rizk 2003, p. 404). Pragmatic competence is absolutely essential in face-to-face interactions in a foreign language. Children acquire pragmatic competence in their native language through interaction with their parents or older children, in other words, engagement in contextualized communicative activities. They receive continuous feedback from parents and peers who form appropriate routines, establish rules, and correct childrens inappropriate behavior. This feedback contributes to the acquisition of the pragmatic skills required to function in their community. In contrast, most adult foreign language learners lack that type of input. Consequently, the classroom becomes the most important, and maybe the only, source of relevant input for the enhancing of their pragmatic competence. Compliments are a kind of speech acts that is said in everyday conversations. In fact, paying different compliments and responding differently is dependent on cultures and situational conversations. Some cultures use a lot of compliments and praises whereas others may find it as a kind of insincerity. Therefore, cross-cultural communications occur and sometimes may cause a kind of insulting to the other partner involved in a conversation. Al-khatib 2 I have never come across any study on the Saudi community in terms of compliment responses which encourages me to conduct such a study. However, many studies were done on several societies that reflect the significance of carrying out such studies. The importance of the present study arises where People think that ESL Learners must learn just grammar rules and writing styles in classrooms whereas other aspects of the language can be acquired through experience or watching T.V. Actually, it can be done this way, however, we do not know how much time will be allocated for it and how well learners would acquire semantic meanings without any guidance to make the situations clearer and more intelligible. Having done this, ESL learners will lack the appropriate ways of communication with native speakers of a particular language or even non-natives in everyday dialogues. In my opinion, linguistic mistakes can be corrected and the person would be considered that he is not grammatically competent. However, semantic or pragmatic mistakes may cause offence to the other person. Additionally, it might lead to miscommunication and misunderstanding which results in communicative breakdown. Basically, communicative breakdown is communicative failure in which conversations halt at this point. When misunderstanding takes place, none of the partners know what to say or how to reply to such expressions. Unawareness of the others culture is the major cause of this problem. Therefore, teaching pragmatics is fundamental in ESL classes to enable the students speak the target language confidently and appropriately. Pragmatic competence is as essential and important as linguistic competence. Being linguistically competent does not necessarily means that you are pragmatically competent. In fact, being able to construct grammatically correct sentences does not mean that theses sentences are pragmatically appropriate or even acceptable. I am going to shed a light on all these early mentioned topics, finding out from the result how pragmatic competence is important for SL learners. Literature review: Intercultural miscommunications often occur when ESL Learners fall back on their L1 in realizing any kind of speech act in L2. In fact, the lacking of the target language expressions and culture forces students to do Al-khatib 3 that. That what is meant by pragmatic transfer according to Rizk(2005). There are two kinds of pragmatic transfer: positive which is considered to be a proof of pragmatic universality among languages, and negative transfer which is being not able to understand the target language which always results in pragmatic failure. Negative pragmatic transfer, as Rizk (2003) explains, takes the form of translating some formulaic expressions/ phrases functioning to express different speech acts in (L1) to express the equivalent speech act in L2. (p.405). El Samaty (2005) mentions one factor that may influence pragmatic transfer and that is learners awareness of what constitutes a language specific or a universal issue (p.342). Learners would not transfer an L1 pragmatic feature to L2 if they know that it is language specific. In fact, language specific refers to the features or expressions of a language which cannot be used in other languages. Pragmatic studies which deal with different speech acts have not been conducted till recently. These studies focused on L1 in most cases, however later, L2 and cross-cultural communications have been introduced. The L2 pragmatic transfer researches have shown that in spite of being linguistically competent in a second language, learners are likely to transfer L1 pragmatic rules in their L2 production (El Samaty, 2005). Takahashi and Beebe (1998) theorized that there is a positive relation between L2 proficiency and pragmatic transfer. They argued that more proficient learners tend to transfer L1 socio-cultural norms more than less proficient learners because they have enough control over L2 to express L1 sentiments at a high pragmatic level. Eslami-Rasekh (2004) backs this claim stating that linguistically competent learners do not necessarily possess comparable pragmatic competence. Even grammatically advanced learners may use language inappropriately and show differences from targe t-language pragmatic norms.   Ã‚   In 1986, Blum-kulka and Olshtain used discourse completion tests to analyze the utterance length of requesting strategies in Hebrew. They collected the data from non-native speakers of Hebrew at three proficiency levels, and they found out that high-intermediate learners produced utterances longer than the utterances of low-intermediate and advanced learners, which was considered by the researchers as pragmatic failure ( Ghawi 2002, p.39). Compliments in both Arabic (Saudi culture) and American cultures: Compliments have been defined by a lot of linguists. Compliments in short are praise that are said to people Al-khatib 4 to make them happy or to encourage and congratulate them on their success they achieve. Every culture has different types of compliments. Moreover, every culture uses various compliments according to variable situations. Therefore, cultures get distinguished from each other. Many people think that they can pay any kind of compliments to people coming from different cultures claiming that we are giving praise, so it is fine. In fact, it is not for several reasons. Firstly, compliments might be rarely used in a particular culture which people might think that it is a kind of being in love or trying to get the other partner to your side. Secondly, some compliments in a specific culture might be considered insults in other cultures. For instance, we cannot compliment on a girl saying you are fat in Arabic or even Malaysian or European cultures whereas the same clause can be understood as a compliment in the African culture. Saudi culture is a part of the Arabic culture except for very few differences in terms of politeness and some other speech acts. In fact, Saudis usually pay compliments on several things such as appearance, traits, and personal skills. It is not something strange that Saudis frequently give complements; Arabs in general like to pay much praise to each other. It seems that it is purposeful in a way that it keeps the relations among friends and relatives more intimate and it can be a tool sometimes to please somebody whom you feel that you upset her/him. English in Saudi Arabia is considered a foreign language. The medium of instruction at school, colleges and universities is Arabic except in English departments where English is applied as the medium of instruction. Culture is carried and delivered through language, however, since the language is still not completely there, so the culture would not be understood. Therefore, very few people speak English fluently and clearly. In fact, e ven the ones who speak fluently, they still have some problems with the western (English) culture. Consequently, pragmatic errors will appear in their speech. Compliments form. Compliment form refers to the kind of language used to express the compliment. The compliments differed in their length, use of metaphor and comparatives, and to some extent, syntactic structure. They were also similar in that both Saudi and American compliments were primarily adjectival in that an adjective was responsible for their positive meaning. The American compliments are short, as in (1) through (3). Al-khatib 5 (1) You look great. (2) Your car is nice. (3) Good job. If we compare the American compliments to the Arabic compliments (Saudi in particular) we will find out that Saudi compliments are longer than the American ones. Consider this example: Eeh alhalawa dee ya wad, 3l3amar doobu tele2, 3rhamna ya sheek ya heelou. What is all this smartness man? The moon has just appeared! We cannot take it! The length of the Saudi compliments appears to be related to two features of Arabic discourse: 1) Repetition of almost the same idea with a change in words and. 2) The use of several adjectives in a series. The use of metaphor in Arabic culture varies from the American culture. In Arabic culture, the moon is the symbol of beauty because it appears at night where the world is full of dark, however, the moon shines up there lighting the landscape. Therefore, Arabs compare good-looking people with the moon. However, as we noticed from the previous examples of compliments by Americans and Saudis, both are using adjectives in their compliments. All these words (in English: great, nice, good) and ( in Arabic: helou, sheek= sweet, gentle) are adjectives. 2 Attributes praised. There is no difference between the American and the Saudi culture when it comes to the kinds of attributes that people tend to compliment upon. Most of the situations where compliments are appropriate to be said and responded to are similar. Basically, Saudis and Americans usually pay compliments on appearance, skills, and traits. Appearance refers to ones look and included haircuts, eyes, and clothing. Skills refers to the quality of something produced or done. Traits refer to personality characteristics such as kindness, politeness and intelligence. Compliment responses Responses to requests or apology can be easy and limited. These two kinds of speech acts might not differ much in most languages. Additionally, the responses can be shortened by saying either yes or no. However, when it comes to compliment responses a lot of things must be considered such as the kind of the Al-khatib 6 said compliment, the relationship between the speaker and the recipient and the culture. Both Americans and Saudis respond totally, differently to compliments. In fact, cultures play a major role in the responses. Usually, Arabs respond to compliments by returning another compliment which is quite strange to people from different cultures especially Americans. One of the compliment responses by Saudis was you are more handsome. Such a response may be problematic to people from another culture. Research questions As I mentioned earlier, the purpose of this study is to examine pragmatic transfer in compliment responses by Arabic learners of English(Saudis in particular). Three related research questions emerged: What are the similarities and differences in compliments and compliments responses between male NSs and Saudi male NNSs of English? When speaking in English, will Saudis males compliment responses be closer to Arabic or English? To what extent language proficiency plays a role in their use of compliment responses? To answer these types of questions we should first collect the data of the study which was done on the subjects. Methodology For more valid and practical results I have chosen 3 groups to conduct my study upon. The subjects are all males and they are in 30s. In fact, the reason behind not choosing females is that the study was done in Saudi Arabia where it is so difficult to approach any woman. Additionally, all academic institutions are separate meaning that each gender (female, male) is in totally separate place and men are not allowed to enter ladies sections. Therefore, it was easier to choose just males. Group1: 10 Americans (native speakers of English) English teachers. Group 2: 10 Saudis (non-natives+ advanced learners, they are level 7) Group 3: 10 Saudis (non-native+ low intermediate, they are level 2) Al-khatib 7 Actually, these learners are students at Direct English institute in Saudi Arabia. In this institute, there are 8 levels starting from 1 till 8. They take 7 classes in English weekly; five classes with bilinguals and two classes with native speakers. In each level students take the same amount of classes and each level lasts for six weeks. The level of proficiency was taken according to this classification. Tool: Discourse Completion Test. The tool consists of 5 scenarios created by the researcher. The subjects are expected to respond to the compliments given in the scenarios. Additionally, observation also has been used to come up with more valid results. First scenario: You are wearing new blue jeans. Your friend complimented you you look handsome, blue is great on you You sayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. Americans responded to the compliment with acceptance saying thanks or you really made my day. Those who responded in Arabic said but you are more handsome/this is because you have a good taste/ really? Swear to God. The third group who responded in English said your eyes are beautiful and they see everything beautiful others responded: I bought it in the sales, it is so cheap. Just one person said: thanks, I like it too Second scenario You have just ended a computer game scoring a very high score that many of your friends could not reach this point. One paid you a compliment you are so skillful and professional in this game You sayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Some Americans respond to the compliment with comment history saying thanks, I played this game hundreds of time. Others said do you want me to help you? Al-khatib 8 The second group who responded in Arabic said: stop making fun of me The third group who responded in English said: are you serious? I do not think so. You are just complimenting me. Third scenario You always come by time whenever there is a meeting or a party; one gave you a compliment you are very punctual You say à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Americans responded to the compliment with comment acceptance saying thanks, it is my favorite habit The first group who responded in Arabic said thanks, so are you . Those who responded in English said but you are more punctual/ I think you are the symbol of punctuality. Forth scenario: Your friends are in your house. And then you served them tea. One of your friends complimented on it saying the tea is very sweet and delicious you sayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Americans responded to compliments with acceptance saying thank you some responded with acceptance offering the recipe: would you like the recipe? Those who responded in Arabic said:that is because your taste is sweet and you taste everything sweet/ your taste is distinct in that you know which is delicious and which is nasty., Those who responded in English said: I dipped my sweet finger in it that is why it is sweet. others responded: but you are much sweeter than the tea. Fifth scenario: You solved a very tough equation in the class that no one could do it. Your professor was impressed with you. When you left, your friend paid you a compliment you are excellent, man Al-khatib 9 You sayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Americans responded with comment acceptance: thanks, but I was studying hard last night and others offered their help do you want me to help you? Those who responded in Arabic said do you really think so? I know you are just complimenting me. Those who responded in English translate literally from Arabic saying but you are better Sixth scenario: You redecorated your house in a very eye-catching way. Some visitors came over and paid you a very wonderful compliment saying: what a beautiful decoration!! You are very tasteful. You sayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. Americans simply responded with comment acceptance saying: thanks a lot, you really made my day others responded this way: actually it took me too long The second group who responded in Arabic said: thanks, you are very tasteful as well. The third group who simply translated from Arabic into English responded I do not think so. Do you really mean it or just complimenting? others said please no compliments, speak the truth; is it beautiful or not? Results and findings Based on the data collected from all the subjects and from observation, I have found out the following results: There are similarities in compliments between American and Saudi males in that both compliment on the same attributes which are: traits, appearance, skills. Moreover, from my observation I found out that several other cultures such as Malaysian and Indians compliment on the same attributes which refer to positive pragmatic transfer shared by several cultures. There are many differences when it comes to compliment responses between American and Saudi Al-khatib 10 males in which Saudi males do not produce target-like compliment responses. Alternatively, they bring about some expressions from their L1, which is Arabic, into English. In fact, this is exactly what negative pragmatic transfer means. People from different cultures will not understand what is meant by such responses; so they tend to translate it literally. Consequently, they find it very insulting because they do not understand the speakers cultural purpose behind it. Eventually, this will lead them to communicative breakdown. Being linguistically competent does not mean you are pragmatically competent. In fact, proficiency in L2 does not necessarily lead to pragmatic competence in the target language as we noticed this from the responses. Advanced learners and low intermediate learners responded identically except that the advance learners translated the expressions from Arabic into English whereas the low intermediate learners responded in Arabic because they still have not got the ability to make grammatically correct sentences. Al-khatib 11 Conclusion Pragmatic competence is very crucial in learning any language. In my opinion, it is as important as linguistic competence. EFL/ESL teachers and curriculum designers should equally focus on enriching learners with cultural aspects of the language as well as the linguistic aspects. Learners have to be aware of the target language culture in order to comprehend the language better and to be able to produce pragmatically correct sentences. Consequently, communicative breakdown will gradually disappear in their speech. Culture is a fundamental factor in learning languages because it is responsible for the different speech acts produced by its native speakers. Basically, it is the bottom line for those who want to master the target language. Additionally, EFL teachers should expose their students and encourage them to expose themselves as much as possible to the target language through TV programs, shows, movies, and news. It enhances the ability of mastering the target language. Limitations of the study The study aimed to find out whether Saudis produce target-like compliment responses or not. In fact, it asserts that there is a problem in terms of responding to compliments. However, it did not state some solutions to such a problematic issue. Therefore, I would suggest a research area for the future to find out some practical solutions to this problem. Moreover, there is another area of research as well which is can we teach pragmatic competence to SL learners as well as we are teaching linguistic competence? Is it possible? How would it be successful to the level of learners? What are the good methods that can be applied to teach pragmatic competence? Al-khatib 12

Edgar Germain Hilaire Degas’ “Waiting”

Among the most interesting work of modern art on display in the J. Paul Getty Museum is Edgar Germain Hilaire Degas’ â€Å"Waiting,† a pastel painting done around 1882. In this work, Degas captures the picture of a young ballerina and an older woman sitting on a bench, apparently waiting for something to happen or someone to arrive. The painting is a study of the sharp contrast between youth and old age, which is illustrated in the play of colors, light, and shadows that the painter carefully preserved in his work.The young ballerina is painted in soft colors of gold, blue, and cream which reflect the light while the older woman is garbed in black. In the same manner, the younger subject is painted to suggest motion, energy and restlessness; here she is massaging her feet, apparently waiting for a performance to begin. The woman, on the other hand, is immobile, devoid of light movement and comes across to be waiting for the action to end so she can rest.Degas’ â €Å"Waiting† is displayed in a small dark room located on the left side of the museum entrance. Exhibited along with it are German painter Joseph Vivien’s â€Å"Portrait of a Man† and Swiss painter Jean-Étienne Liotard’s â€Å"Maria Frederike van Reede-Athlone at Seven.† The darkness of the room brings out the sharp contrast in colors and the use of light in the pastels. Likewise, its small size is clearly meant to convey a sense of intimacy wherein the viewer feels a sense of privilege at catching a glimpse of so personal a thing as an individual’s portrait.The arrangement of the paintings depicts the various influences of artists according to their respective periods. In particular, the works show the progression of portraiture and the use of pastel as a medium since Vivien’s â€Å"Portrait of a Man† in 1725 to Degas’ â€Å"Waiting† a century and a half later. It is clear that Degas’ work is a huge de parture from the conventional concept of painting people’s portraits. Vivien’s portrait is carefully composed according to the artistic conventions of balance and color; its subject is self-consciously positioned at the center of the canvass, capturing the face, and his figure appears to come out of the shadows.Vivien’s colors are austere and sombre, which reflects the prevailing style at that time. Liotard’s â€Å"Maria Frederike van Reede-Athlone,† on the other hand, reflects a subtle change in the painter’s pallet from Vivien’s dark, muted colors to bold, albeit cold tones. However, the same rule is applied regarding the subject’s position. Hence, Degas’ â€Å"Waiting† stands out in sharp contrast to the two paintings.First, he clearly circumvents the prevailing concept of portraiture by showing two subjects who assume positions that are not usually accepted in portraiture: the young girl is shown massaging her feet, which makes her face unseen by the audience, while the woman’s face is half-covered by her hat. Degas also draws his subjects from a very different angle and perspective; he is obviously not as interested in showing their facial countenances as in showing their characters through body language. He also abandons the dark tones in favor of bold, bright, and warm colors to create dramatic contrasts in his work.â€Å"Waiting† illustrates Degas’ affinity with the impressionist movement, although he apparently abhorred being called one because of major ideological rifts with prominent impressionist painters. He particularly criticized his self-confessed impressionist contemporaries for their practice of painting in â€Å"plein-air† as he believed that it was tantamount to copying which interfered with the artist’s imagination. (Smith 58) Nevertheless, Degas’ work clearly shares the same impressionist characteristics as shown in his style an d choice of events and people of everyday life as subjects.Like the works of most impressionist painters such as Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, Berthe Morisot, Jean Frederic Bazille, and Camille Pissarro, Degas’ â€Å"Waiting† reflected the belief that â€Å"art should relate to the real world and reflect modern life† as opposed to painting religious and mythological figures that was traditionally favored by connosieurs of high art. (Snider) Its choice of subject, a ballerina and her companion in the process of waiting, captures an aspect of modern French life. Its style undoubtedly mirrors the impressionists’ fascination with capturing light in the most realistic manner, and its colors also carry the impressionist preference for warm, vibrant tones that suggest movement and life.Although Degas’ works and his obsession with the figures of women, particularly dancers, in his paintings have often invited varied int erpretation from art critics and academicians, it is clear that his middle-class background and upbringing has tremendous influence in shaping his choice of subjects. (Theodore 145) Reff Theodore infers that Degas’ passion for painting movement arose from his early exposure to the ballet which was â€Å"a familiar part of the contemporary scene† in nineteenth century Paris. (145)The impact of Degas’ background is also seen in his being â€Å"deeply concerned with truth for its own sake, in probing life beneath the crust of good manners† (Nicolson 172) in his depiction of Parisian modern life. In â€Å"Waiting,† Degas honestly portrays the differences between his subjects, in effect making a statement about the sad truth that the young ballerina, with all her vibrancy and beauty, will soon pass into the life of her companion, drained and weary of the world.It is suggested that Degas’ and other impressionists’ ideas were largely influen ced by the rapid technological and social developments of their time. Indeed, impressionism drew much of its ideas from innovations, techniques, and concepts in photography. (Snider) Clearly, Degas and his contemporaries were so impressed by the ability of photographs to capture the exact effect of light on its subjects that they sought to recreate this ability in their paintings. Other painters, like Monet, even tried to copy the photographic effects of varying shutter speeds in his work. (Snider)Degas’ background as an artist produced and molded by extraordinary and tumultous changes in his time that was brought about by the rapid industrialization of France and all of Europe, his pastel work â€Å"Waiting† could be displayed in another gallery together with Claude Monet’s â€Å"Gare Saint-Lazare,† a painting which shows the Saint-Lazare train station. This painting would give a contemporary audience an idea of â€Å"Waiting’s† background as the train is a ubiquitous symbol of the industrial revolution which gripped not only the economic but also cultural life of Europe in Degas’ time. Hence, Monet’s work sets the mood for Degas’ curious study of youth and old age in the age of modernity, where everything passes quickly.Other works that could be exhibited alongside Degas’ â€Å"Waiting† is Auguste Renoir’s painting â€Å"The Dance at the Moulin Delagalette† and Degas’ own work â€Å"The Millinery Shop† which shows the social activities of the French middle class and the activities of working-class women, respectively. The two paintings would also highlight the contrast that Degas sought to portray in his subjects, wherein Renoir’s middle-class subjects, painted as they socialize in a party, is compared with a lone woman while making hats that are ostensibly worn by those who can afford it. Likewise, Andy Warhol’s â€Å"Campbell Soup Cansâ⠂¬  would also be a fitting touch to the gallery as it signifies the advent of mass production. Although Warhol’s work is at odds with the impressionist theme of Degas’ work, it nevertheless echoes the â€Å"ordinariness† and repetitive pattern of modern life that Degas captures in his painting.Works Cited:Nicolson, Benedict. â€Å"Degas’ Monotypes.† The Burlington Magazine 100.662 (May 1958):172-175Reff, Theodore. â€Å"Edgar Degas and the Dance.† Arts Magazine 53.3(November 1978):145-149.Smith, George E. â€Å"James, Degas, and the Modern View.† NOVEL: A Forum on Fiction 21.1 (Autumn 1987): 56-72Snider, Lindsay. â€Å"A Lasting Impression: French Painters Revolutionize the Art World.† The History Teacher, 25.1(November 2001). 5 May 2008. http://historycooperative.org/

Whats Really Happening with Essay on General Topics

What's Really Happening with Essay on General Topics If you wish to go personal and pick a relative, be certain to get a memorable and distinctive reason. The country cannot afford elections annually. Every family needs to have a pure disaster survival program. On the flip side, some argue that the price of college leaves students with crippling debt they'll never have the ability to repay. Thus, to compose a great essay you've got to brainstorm all thoughts concerning your life experiences. So, it's a significant foundation for assorted epic stories! So you don't actually need to get a topic! The topic may be more difficult to produce. In choosing your topic, it's frequently a good idea to start out with a subject which you already have some familiarity with. Make certain you give clear explanations of the things on your list also. Pick a distinctive topic that others may not think of, and whatever you select, make certain you know a lot about it! In case you decide you need to chat about one of the cliche essay topics mentioned previously, a superior method to tell a more prevalent story is to concentrate on one specific moment and build from that point. Trust me, it'll be well worth it. On the flip side, in case you made a very good choice, focus on what influenced you to make that decision and the way it has changed you. Use transition words to produce your text coherent and simple to read. Possibly a philosophical text really elucidates your existing paradigm. Make sure you have included everything that you wish to be incorporated into your paper. When you decide to get assistance from our cheap paper writing service, you ought not be concerned about the individual who will work on your task. Well, here you'll locate various items for each and every college student. College is an intellectual place so attempt to convince the board that you're the correct person in their opinion. Colleges are not searching for perfect individuals. They are more likely to admit students who can articulate specific reasons why the school is a good fit for them beyond its reputation or ranking on any list. Books never ought to be banned. Your stories aren't debatable. Every American should learn how to speak English. Life, Death and Essay on General Topics Like the death penalty, the thought of marijuana legality was debated and discussed for ages. Select a law and explain why it's so important to you. Many applicants don't make the most of the essaythey choose the incorrect question, write about an inappropriate subject, or merely fail to assemble a compelling essay. If you're applying to a college that doesn't accept the Common App, you will have to answer their particular essay questions. College application essays are often the most difficult portion of the application practice. Writing the college application essay is a difficult gig. Well, if you believe the above mentioned discussion, you know where to acquire essay writing help. Bridget's essay is extremely strong, but there continue to be a couple little things that could be made better. Stephen's essay is rather effective. Now that you're aware that we are the ideal online essay writing service to work with, don't hesitate to stop by our site and order an essay. Don't forget that the objective of a college admissions essay is to assist admissions officers get to know you. An admissions officer is far more likely to try to remember an applicant who has quite a specific essay written in a special and quirky way. Fine, but you must be ready to write whatever you really feel like writing from a college that might not be your first alternative.

Geography Synoptic Essay - 2024 Words

With reference to examples, assess the degree to which the level of economic development of a country affects planning and management in urban areas. The economic development of a country can be defined as the growth of industry, wealth, employment and the level of urbanisation. The planning and management issues that are linked to economic development, are those associated with processes such as urbanisation, suburbanisation and counter-urbanisation of cities. These may include pollution of water, air and noise. Other issues may be the increase in transport and waste, created by people living, travelling through and working in urban areas. These problems need solutions, which often leads to planning and carrying out redevelopment of†¦show more content†¦Despite great publicity only 8000 houses were built, which would on average house 40,000 people (in comparison to the 100,000 living in the favelas.) Improvements have been attempted since, for example in 2000, when investment was put into Santo Andre. The aim was to alleviate poverty by providing work for entrepreneurs, community healthcare workers and literacy programme s. So although this is an LEDC/RIC, it still faces overpopulation problems; it does seem that the planning and management changes are aiding the over-population problem and improving the overall quality of life. In contrast Notting Hill is in the UK, an economically developed country with an average GDP (ppp) per capita of $35,494 in comparison to $11,719 in Brazil (World Bank 2011). Notting Hil is an area of London, an example of re-urbanisation; when people move into the city centre or inner city due to regeneration. Gentrification is what has happened in Notting Hill, as individuals moved into old housing that was formerly in a state of despair and refurbished and improved it. This changed the composition of the whole neighbourhood, because the affluent newcomers displaced the low-income groups that formerly lived there. Often the new comers work in professional or managerial jobs. A positive outcome of this is that more affluent people have been attracted to the area and thereforeShow MoreRelatedTeaching, Learning, And Learning2810 Words   |  12 Pagesunderpinning it, this essay will consider three different learning approaches - behaviourism, constructivism and social constructivism , the change in teaching style from a traditional, didactic manner to an active approach and look at two different pedagogies – cooperative learning and outdoor learning, mainly fieldwork, that can be used to aid and support learning in Geography. Following this, the essay will argue how effective pedagogy can aid the teaching of one key aspect within the Geography curriculumRead MoreNarrative Christology : Luke 17 : 11-193663 Words   |  15 Pagesas the point of access to the kingdom of God for all of the nations. Redactional Issues Before delving into the passage there are three major redactional issues to be addressed: Luke’s inconsistent geography, recognition of the grateful leper’s Samaritan identity, and the conclusion. Geography It seems odd that despite the fact Jesus had turned his face toward Jerusalem seven chapters prior (9:51), he had yet to complete his journey through Galilee and Samaria. Luke states earlier â€Å"he was going