The Blind Men and The Elephant

The Blind Men and The Elephant A long time ago in the valley of the Brahmaputra River in India there lived six men who were much inclined to boast of their wit and lore. Though they were no longer young and had all been blind since birth, they would compete with each other to see who could tell the tallest story.One day, however, they fell to arguing. The object of their dispute was the elephant. Now, since each was blind, none had ever seen that mighty beast of whom so many tales are told. So, to satisfy their minds and settle the dispute, they decided to go and seek out an elephant.Having hired a young guide, Dookiram by name, they set out early one morning in single file along the forest track, each placing his hands on the back of the man in front. It was not long before they came to a forest clearing where a huge bull elephant, quite tame, was standing contemplating his menu for the day. The six blind men became quite excited; at last they would satisfy their minds. Thus it was that the men took turns to inv estigate the elephants shape and form.As all six men were blind, neither of them could see the whole elephant and approached the elephant from different directions. After encountering the elephant, each man proclaimed in turn:O my brothers, the first man at once cried out, it is as sure as I am wise that this elephant is like a great mud wall baked hard in the sun.Now, my brothers, the second man exclaimed with a cry of dawning recognition, I can tell you what shape this elephant is he is exactly like a spear.The others smiled in disbelief.Why, dear brothers, do you not see, said the third man, this elephant is very much like a rope, he shouted.Ha, I thought as much, the fourth man declared excitedly, this elephant much resembles a serpent.The others snorted their contempt.Good gracious, brothers, the fifth man called out, even a blind man can see what shape the elephant resembles most. Why hes mightily like a fan.At last, it was the turn of the sixth old fellow and he proclaimed,  This sturdy pillar, brothers, mine, feels exactly like the trunk of a great areca palm tree.Of course, no one believed him.Their curiosity satisfied, they all linked hands and followed the guide, Dookiram, back to the village. Once there, seated beneath a waving palm, the six blind men began disputing loud and long. Each now had his own opinion, firmly based on his own experience, of what an elephant is really like. For after all, each had felt the elephant for himself and knew that he was right!And so indeed he was. For depending on how the elephant is seen, each blind man was partly right, though all were in the wrong.Submitted by Camilia Riordan, 1986, pp. 30-33An ancient and well known fable from India. What do the blind men have to teach us?The 6 Blind Men and The Elephant

Definition and Examples of Lexicography

Lexicography is the process of writing, editing, and/or compiling a dictionary.  An author or editor of a dictionary is called a lexicographer. The processes involved in the compilation and implementation of digital dictionaries (such as Merriam-Webster Online)  is known as  e-lexicography. The fundamental difference between lexicography and linguistics, says Sven Tarp, is that they have two completely different subject fields: The subject field of linguistics is language, whereas the subject field of lexicography is dictionaries and lexicographic works in general (Beyond Lexicography in  Lexicography at a Crossroads, 2009).In 1971, historical linguist and lexicographer Ladislav Zgusta published the first major international handbook on lexicography, Manual of Lexicography, which remains the standard text in the field. Etymology: From the Greek, word write Pronunciation: LEK-si-KOG-ra-fee Beginnings of English Lexicography The beginnings of English lexicography go back to the Old English period . . .. The language of the Roman Church was Latin; its priests and monks needed to be competent in Latin in order to conduct services and to read the Bible . . .. As English monks studied these Latin manuscripts, they would sometimes write the English translation above (or below) a Latin word in the text, to help their own learning, and as a guide to subsequent readers. These one-word translations, written between the lines of a manuscript, are called interlinear glosses; they are seen as the beginnings of (bilingual) lexicography. (Howard Jackson, Lexicography: An Introduction. Routledge, 2002) Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) and English Lexicography I am not yet so lost in lexicography, as to forget that words are the daughters of earth and that things are the sons of heaven.(Samuel Johnson)[Samuel] Johnson was not only innovative in his use of 114,000 citations to prove his definitions and the usage of words and connotations. He also noted the author who had first used a word or collocation and who had last used an obsolete word. He also took the liberty of adding prescriptive commentaries whenever there was doubt about usage.(Piet Van van Sterkenburg, A Practical Guide to Lexicography. John Benjamins, 2003) English Lexicography in the 20th Century In the English language area, the lexical orientation has long remained historical. The first edition of the Concise Oxford Dictionary, by H.W. and F.G. Fowler, dates from 1911 and leans heavily on [James] Murrays New English Dictionary on Historical Principles [later renamed the Oxford English Dictionary]. It was also due to the fact that the first supplement to the OED was published in 1933 and the second was in preparation from 1950 onwards, to be published in four thick volumes under the general editorship of Robert Burchfield. Incidentally, that supplement did include swear words, sexual terms, colloquial speech etc.Innovations in the English lexicography were to be seen in the dictionaries by Longman and Collins, based on contemporary corpora of electronic texts and anchored entirely in a database structure. . . .In 1988, the first edition of the OED was made available on CD-ROM and the second edition in 1992.(Piet van Sterkenburg, The Dictionary: Definition and History. A Prac tical Guide to Lexicography, edited by Piet Van Sterkenburg. John Benjamins, 2003) Crowdsourcing and Contemporary Lexicography Websites such as those for Urban Dictionary and Wiktionary . . . offer what is known as bottom-up lexicography, placing ordinary speakers and writers at the core of the ways in which the dictionaries in question are to be made. The definition of dictionary-making which such sites present can be particularly telling. Lexicography: The art of making a dictionary. Anyone who adds to urbandictionary.com [sic] is a lexicographer, a post on Urban Dictionary proclaims. (Lynda Mugglestone, Dictionaries: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2011)A small thing in the larger world perhaps but Collins, the dictionary publisher, may have set a revolution going. If so its because they just announced the first instance of a dictionary allowing input not only from the usual suspects--staff lexicographers--but from the public, or to use the pertinent language: the crowd.Crowdsourcing . . . is first recorded in 2004. The philosophy of the more the merrier. And more creative. Now that ta sk could include lexicography. . . .For the last couple of months, Collins has thrown open their files to all-comers. Suggest a word that qualifies for their dictionary and wins a prize! Examples include Twittersphere, sexting, cyberstalking and captcha. . . .Such shout-outs are the antithesis of traditional lexicography. . . . If the dictionary-maker is a humble archivist while the lexicon is being created, they become a deity--or at least a cut-rate Moses--once it appears and becomes a source of supposedly trustworthy information. . . .Letting in the street will end no worlds but will it improve the quality of dictionaries? Form as ever faces off content. The form can be democratic as all hell, but in lexicon-land, surely the content is what matters. . . .Reference should be online. The opportunities for presentation, for breadth of information and for sophisticated searches that would be impossible in a print dictionary are too good to miss. But if reference is to remain useful t hen it cannot become amateur hour. (Jonathon Green, Dictionaries Are Not Democratic. The Observer, September 13, 2012) The Lighter Side of Lexicography LEXICOGRAPHER, n. A pestilent fellow who, under the pretense of recording some particular stage in the development of a language, does what he can to arrest its growth, stiffen its flexibility and mechanize its methods. (Ambrose Bierce, The Devils Dictionary, 1911)

Experiment Reveiw of Piagets Conservation Tasks - 812 Words

Jean Piaget, a Swiss psychologist, made substantial findings in intellectual development. His Cognitive Theory influenced both the fields of education and psychology. Piaget identified four major periods of cognitive development: the sensorimotor stage, the preoperational stage, the concrete operations stage, and the stage of formal operations. The preoperational stage includes children two to four years of age and is characterized by the development and refinement of schemes for symbolic representation. During the preoperational stage lies, what Piaget coined, the intuitive period. This phase occurs during the ages of 4-7 and during this time, the child’s thinking is largely centered on the way things appear to be rather than on†¦show more content†¦The third conversation consisted of two equal balls of clay. I asked Daniel if the balls of checkers were equal or if one ball had more clay in it than the other ball. He looked at them closely but then nod and rep lied that they were both equal. Then I squeezed one ball of clay in front of him into a flattened ball. I asked him if one had more clay or if they were of equal value. He told me that the longer, more flat clay had more clay in it. For the final conversation I placed two sticks of equal length and placed them side by side. I asked him which one was longer and he told me they were the same length. I moved one stick farther up the table and asked him the same question again. This time he told me that the stick that was farther up the table was longer than the other stick. Daniel was obviously in the stage of preoperational because he could not understand the idea that I was not manipulating the amount of objects just changing the appearance. Once Daniel is able to understand this concept he will be able to move into Piaget’s concrete operational stage. In the concrete operational stage the child is now mature enough to use logical thought or operations (i.e. rules) but can only apply logic to physical objects. During this stage Piaget’s law of conservation and reversibility come into play. This means that the child will learn that

Non-Accounting Majors Free Essays

Various accounting principles plays vital role in the success of efficient management of inventories of any companies. Inventories are important aspect of the company since it is the one the determines the available raw materials for the production of the organization, or it could be that it determine the available stocks of the company on their warehouses to be distributed to the market (Robertson, 1998). So much with the importance of inventory management, let us now pay more attention on the importance of accounting to inventory management. We will write a custom essay sample on Non-Accounting Majors or any similar topic only for you Order Now Well, the idea of check and balance of accounting could be used by managers assigned in inventory management. Inventories must be checked every now and then depending on the need of the company, the demand and supplies of raw materials must be on balance in order not to affect the operation of the business. Moreover, inventory managers having knowledge in accounting would enables them to determine the allowable level of ending inventories by the end of every period so as to make the financial condition as well as the assets to be stable. There are also times that there are inventories that are non-taxable, therefore, the inventory manager must know how to present those non-taxable inventories to the accountant of the company. The inventory manager should know this kind of principles in order not for the company to pay too much tax and for the smooth flow of data transfer from one department to another since the inventory manager has to identify first those non-taxable inventories before presenting the report to the accounting division. With this, even simply knowledge in accounting would give companies chances of working things smoothly. I am not saying that inventory managers have to acquire accounting studies as well. But the mere basic principles of accounting would be just enough for us to perform our responsibilities well and to avoid committing mistakes as to the proper ways of presenting the needed data of various departments of the organization. REFERENCE Robertson, L. (1998). Managing Inventory [Electronic Version], 1. Retrieved 9-20-07 from http://www.asashop.org/autoinc/july98/mech.htm. Â   Â   How to cite Non-Accounting Majors, Essay examples

Referencing Sources

The previous post talks about the importance of researching information for your articles. It is also important to give credit to your sources, especially if the information is not common knowledge. So, what is the proper way to credit sources? You may credit your sources using any style format you prefer – MLA, APA, etc., as long as you maintain a consistent format for all your sources. It is best to use endnotes/works cited/bibliography, rather than footnotes. If you must cite websites, drop the http://www. prefix from the web address. It is best to indicate, via the short summary, that your article contains legitimate references. This can pique buyer’s interest if you show you have researched your article. However, if your references lists is simply a cursory inventory of websites you visited while looking up information to include in your article, refrain using this as a selling point – a customer may feel mislead if the work does not contain specific references to authoritative sources when the author has indicated that references are included.

Authors Choice Leader Member Exchange Model

Authors Choice Leader Member Exchange Model Abstract The essay examines how Abraham Lincoln’s leadership style can be analyzed using Leader Member Exchange model. The essay shows various facets of Lincoln’s character, which score high on LMX. Further, it also shows that his leadership style was transformational in nature.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Author’s Choice: Leader Member Exchange Model specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More History holds account of many great leaders and one of them, undoubtedly, is Abraham Lincoln. This paper will study Abraham Lincoln’s leadership style using the Leader-Member Exchange Theory (LMX). The paper first explains the LMX model, and then demonstrates how the model explains Lincoln’s leadership style. LMX theory follows the basic principle of forming two groups around a leader – the inner group and the outer group. The followers belonging to the inner group of the leader immediately g ain greater responsibility, attention, and rewards. On the other hand, the followers belonging to the outer group receive less attention and rewards. The followers belonging to the inner circle of the leader directly communicate with the leader and the leader allows special treatment for them. In analyzing a leadership style using the LMX, it must be noted that a leader’s relationship with each follower is analyzed using a dyad. Each of the links or relationships will differ in their very nature. For instance, a leader may have poor relation with one of his/her followers, yet enjoy an open and trusting relation with others. Further, LMX leadership model helps in developing transformational leadership, as the model stresses highly on relationship of the leader with his/her followers. Thus, a leader who scores high in LMX model will help in transforming followers and motivate them to assume leadership roles. The leader gets an opportunity to deliver his visions to his close fol lowers. Hence, this helps in developing charismatic leaders. Quality LMX leads to satisfaction of the followers increasing their commitment and performance towards the leader’s goal. Further, a high LMX can transform the whole work-experience of a follower.Advertising Looking for essay on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Abraham Lincoln was open to ideas. He adapted to situations quickly. He listened to his followers and was ready to act on the suggestions of his followers. This shows that Lincoln had positive relationship with his followers. However, in his relationships with his followers one must not forget that Lincoln was a constitutional leader and he, at times, had to work alone, as has been observed in the issue related to the abolition of slavery. Lincoln was criticized by many radical leaders of the time, as they believed that he was a ‘soft’ leader. Many believed that slavery was not abolished immediately because of Lincoln’s tepid decision-making . They believed that Lincoln took soft stance by not adopting emancipation in 1862. The radicals, who evidently belonged to the outer group of Lincoln, believed that Lincoln’s pragmatic decision making was not enough. However, Lincoln’s in-group believed that his decision relied on a broader perspective. Lincoln’s leadership style was that of a military commander who drove his followers to war. Nevertheless, he was not autocratic. Rather, he was a flexible and responsive leader. Further, Lincoln was a transformational leader who did not rely on overpowering his civilian subjects. When some suggested that force should be used to squash a rebellion, Lincoln dismissed the idea, even though it made him appear to be a hardline politician instead of a libertine. According to LMX model, in such a situation Lincoln should have pacified a few of his followers instead of following his individ ual decision. Abraham Lincoln was definitely a great leader. His leadership style was that of a calculative, shrewd politician with a great vision. Maybe he was not successful in delivering his vision to his followers and at times fell short of charisma. Nevertheless, he had a very strong band of followers. References Lunenburg, F. C. (2010). Leader-Member Exchange Theory: Another Perspective on the Leadership Process. International Journal of Management, Business, and Administration, 13 (1), 1-5.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Author’s Choice: Leader Member Exchange Model specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Schneider, T. E. (2007). Lincoln and Leadership. Perspectives on Political Science, 36 (2), 69-72.

Required Courses for Law School

Required Courses for Law School Law school applicants should have a variety of courses on their transcripts, including studies in the areas of business, logic, and social studies, among others. While most colleges do not ask students to complete a set of required courses for law school, there are certain classes and majors that can best prepare students for the rigors of this field of study. Business Students who are hoping to practice law in business-related areas, such as corporate law, real estate law, and tax will greatly benefit from early exposure to business studies. Business courses provide students with a strong command of business issues such as contracts, negotiations, and corporate structure. These courses require that students think critically and come up with solutions to intricate problems. This coursework can also be useful for students who expect to practice law in the areas of government regulation, business litigation, and aspects of representing nonprofits. A business major, in particular, covers many subjects that a student will encounter in law school. Courses within this major include reading, writing, contracts, and speaking, all courses that will provide a solid foundation for students ultimately seeking a law degree.  Many business courses also cover basic analytics skills. Relevant courses include accounting, finance, and negotiation. History, Government, and Politics   The legal profession requires basic knowledge of the government, as well as its history and processes. Courses in these subjects are advised so students have some understanding of the topics before beginning law school. These courses covering world history, government, jurisprudence, law and/or taxation are usually reading-intensive, which is also great preparation for law school. Economics Students who study economics will be required to apply logical thinking to their studies, as well as interpret and analyze complex data.  Students might consider taking courses that provide fundamentals of economics, history of economics, and those that tackle law and economics directly. English Literature and Composition A legal education will build on writing and analytical thinking, so courses that showcase a candidates ability to excel in these areas will look good on an undergraduate transcript. Students must show a strong command of the English language through writing, reading, and speaking. While most students will find that their writing styles will definitely change in law school, they still must work to strengthen their skills during the undergraduate years. English courses might include literature studies, logic and reasoning, philosophy, public policy, and writing. Political Science This is one of the more popular degrees for pre-law students. Political science degrees are designed to expose students to the intricate nature of a complex judicial system. Politics and law go hand in hand, and these courses teach students about how our laws are both structured and carried out. As a political science major, the pre-law student will learn how to speak in public. Students will learn about the Constitution and how it developed the foundations for our legal system, and how different courts operate. Along with developing an understanding of politics and law, students will also have the opportunity to write comparative papers on a variety of political issues.  These courses might include public policy, international politics, leadership studies, and even courses related to current events. Public Speaking Students who are not political science majors need to seek out courses that emphasize public speaking skills. While students can enroll in public speaking classes, they should also practice speaking in public or to a large group of people- theres a lot of that in law school. This includes both giving in-class presentations as well as other public speaking endeavors. Writing for speech is also a skill that needs to be honed, not just speaking. Students should consider classes in debate, public speaking, and speech writing. Additional Courses Disciplines that study human behavior can also be useful, including both psychology and sociology. They involve critical thinking and analysis, two valuable legal skills. Many students will also benefit from exploring courses in criminology, anthropology, and even religion. The bottom line is that students who want to prepare for law school should take courses that emphasize reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. Admissions officers look favorably on transcripts that show a student has both practiced these skills and has done well in courses that require them.   Two of the most important components of the law school application are the GPA and LSAT score. Both should be at or above the school’s averages to be a competitive candidate, and students can often distinguish themselves from a pack of applicants with similar testing scores provided they show a range of high-quality classes.