Thursday, July 23, 2020
Sir Gawains code of chivalry essay
Sir Gawains code of chivalry essay Heroism, morality and fearless of Sir Gawain The poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, tells us about exciting adventures of Sir Gawain who was the fearless knight of King Arthur. During reading this poem, we can notice how his character changes. This serious alternation is mostly spiritual, and it goes like a red thread through the entire poem. Sir Gawain acts like a great knight when he takes the challenge to fight with the Green Knight as a part of his chivalry code. He sees how the Green Knight mocks King Arthur, so he is ready to stand up for his uncle to show him his loyalty. Gawain didnt know then that his honor and chivalry code will be tested during his journey to meet with the Green Knight, but later he came to the point that hes just a human and he can make mistakes like all other human. The chivalry code of the knight is his bravery, loyalty, fearlessness, courtesy and courage â" all things that are expected of real knights. During his journey, the knight stayed fearless and courageous, because he knew these are the most important features of the noble knight. Gawain was brave when he took a challenge when no one else did. He cut off the head of Green Knight and kept his word to return in one year. As we can see, he was brave enough to go to the journey alone instead of asking other knights for help. Sir Gawain is brave and courageous, but in the same way he has high moral values, so he is a courteous person. Testing of the knights morality When Sir Gawain arrives to castle where the Green Knight lives, we see the testing of his morality. He and the castles host made an agreement to exchange anything each of them gets when the Green Knight is out for hunt. Gawain agrees this, because he doesnt know the host and the Green Knight are the same person. The hosts wife makes provocative things to seduce Sir Gawain, but he wants to follow the moral code and tries to resist his temptation. Gawain hide the truth about the woman and didnt tell the host about his wifes acting. He also hide the fact about the woman gave him the girdle secretly. Instead, Sir Gawain decided to keep it as a secret and didnt tell to anyone. We can see that he makes a mistake not only by repeating on kisses of the hosts wife, but also being dishonest about all that happened. Though, this man still keeps a part of morality because he didnt sleep with that woman. He wanted to be courteous, thats why it was really hard for him to be rude with a woman, so he accepted her seduction in some way and resulted in treachery. We understand that he could rebuff the woman rudely, and she wouldnt complain to anyone, but he chose the way of courtesy, partly accepting her trick of seduction. We know that the host made a plan with his wife about seducing Sir Gawain. The poet tells us that even the best knights cannot be perfect all time, and their high morals can be damaged. The knight put himself into the actions that would lead to a disaster, so he failed the code of chivalry eventually. In this poem, Gawain goes through different trials for checking his courage, bravery, courtesy, fearlessness, and honor, but after all, he failed his morality test. He is really ashamed about failing the code of chivalry, and he feels repentance about his acting. Thats why the knight was fully forgiven for his infidelity, and he was left with a hope and faith despite all wrong things he did. As a result, Gawain understands that any knight cant be perfect without making any mistakes and failing their strive to uphold the honor.
Friday, May 22, 2020
Analysis of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens Essays
Analysis of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol is a novel written by Charles Dickens (1812-1870) during the Victorian age, an era that took its name from Queen Victoria, England titular ruler from 1819-1901. Under Queen Victoriaââ¬â¢s rule, London reigned the worlds dominate city country and the countryââ¬â¢s incomparable center of commerce, culture and government. At this time Londonââ¬â¢s industrial age contributed to a large share of the manpower and capital that brought the country to a position of world economic dominance. However there was a downside to the industrial age, industrialization had altered the physical, social and cultural landscapes of Great Britain. The rise of the factory system had drawnâ⬠¦show more contentâ⬠¦Some children were deformed or crippled because of working with the machines. The children had no other choice, if their parents were poor; they needed to help bring money into the family. The orphans had no family but they needed the money for themselves. The Poor Law made in 1834 was the Victorian answer to dealing with the poor. The Poor Law created regional workhouses where aid could be applied for. The workhouses were little more than a prison for the poor. Freedom was denied, families were separated and human dignity was destroyed. The true poor often went to great lengths to avoid this relief. Charles Dickens applied his unique power of observation to the city, in which are expressed in his novels. His description of 19th century London, allow readers to experience the sights, sounds and smells of the old city. The story I am studying is A Christmas Carol. A Christmas Carol is a song sung during a Christian celebration - Christmas. A Christmas Carol is structured using 5 stares (chapters). It begins in the past, informing the reader of a man named Marley, and his death. Then in the present we are introduced to Ebenezer Scrooge who is a business man. Unfortunately that is all he cares about. He thinks Christmas is a humbug and that if the poor donââ¬â¢t want to go to prison or to the workhouses, they had better die and decrease the surplus population. On this Christmas Eve, Scrooge was visited by his very cheerful nephew whoShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of A Christmas Carol By Charles Dickens1395 Words à |à 6 PagesMore than Just a Novel for the Christmas Season Christmas, the most joyous season of the year for many Christians. Yet, in the early Victorian era many industry and business leaders started to emerge as people who lacked the spirit of giving of kindness, particularly around Christmas. Charles Dickens, in eighteen forty-three penned a novel that to this day is one of the most beloved books of the Christmas season. Many view the book only as a seasonal novel to read as a young child or even an adultRead MoreA Christmas Carol By Charles Dickens1293 Words à |à 6 PagesCharles Dickens presents many short stories and novels. He is greatly known for his short fiction and later theater play, ââ¬Å"A Christmas Carolâ⬠. In one short story, a reader could describe it as Charles ââ¬Å"otherâ⬠Christmas story, an elderly narrator reminisce of holiday past. There is a range of appeal in the story itself from comforting memories of loved toys to leaving the reader with an eerie feeling of various childhood haunts. The readerâ⬠â¢s analysis of Dickens use of vivid detail together with hisRead More Critique of Christmas Time in Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol2831 Words à |à 12 PagesCritique of Christmas Time in Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol An audience members gleeful first-hand account of Charles Dickenss public reading of A Christmas Carol unwittingly exposes an often overlooked contradiction in the storys climax: Finally, there is Scrooge, no longer a miser, but a human being, screaming at the conversational boy in Sunday clothes, to buy him the prize turkey that never could have stood upon his legs, that bird (96). Perhaps he is no longer a miserRead MoreAnalysis of The Hanged Mans Bride, The Trial for Murder and Confession Found in a Prison2347 Words à |à 10 PagesAnalysis of The Hanged Mans Bride, The Trial for Murder and Confession Found in a Prison Introduction Based on my study of Charles Dickens, I have decided to focus upon three short stories to write about in detail. These are: The Hanged Mans Bride, written in 1860, The Trial For Murder, written in 1865 and Confession Found in a Prison, written in 1842. To enable me to understand the stories better and also Dickens interests and motivations, I have carried out necessaryRead MoreCharles Dickens s A Christmas Carol1923 Words à |à 8 PagesEnglish author Charles Dickens has written many well known novels such as Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol, of which both have a recurring theme: the expectations of society. During the Victorian Era, England was over populated and had terrible living conditions, with an enormous gap between the rich and the poor. Generally, people during the Victorian Era were not allowed to talk about things such as sex and crime, and had to live by strict social rules set by society. With the social disparitiesRead MoreCharles Dickens : A Social Critic And English Writer Essay2210 Words à |à 9 PagesCharles Dickens (1812-1870) was a social critic and English writer. Dickens generated some of globeââ¬â¢s most renowned fictional characters. He is viewed as the most remarkable writer of the Victorian period. Dickensââ¬â¢ works, during his life, enjoyed exceptional popularity. By 20th century, scholars and critics called him a literary genius. Dickensââ¬â¢ short stories and novels continue to be popular. Dickens was born in Portsmouth in England. He was forced to drop out of school following his fatherââ¬â¢s imprisonmentRead MoreApplying Motivation and Emotion Theories2483 Words à |à 10 PagesApplying Motivation and Emotion Theories in an Analysis of Scrooge s Behaviour Motivation and Emotion Theories 2 In the past many theories have been put forth in an attempt to understand the motivations of an individuals behaviour and the emotions involved. According to Reber Reber (2001) emotional states tend to have motivational properties and the elements of a motivation will often have emotional ties. In addition, theorists have identified that physiological structures usuallyRead MoreAnalysis Of Charles Dickens Great Expectations3684 Words à |à 15 PagesOlivia Smith Mr. Oravec AP Literature and Composition 27 January 2014 Analysis Charles Dickensââ¬â¢ Great Expectations ââ¬Å"And as to the condition on which you hold your advancement in lifeââ¬ânamely, that you are not to inquire or discuss to whom you owe itââ¬âyou may be very sure that it will never be encroached upon, or even approached by me, or by any one belonging to me.â⬠(Dickens, 177). This excerpt foretells the main theme of the novel, Pipââ¬â¢s journey of self-improvement. The main theme of the novelRead MoreA Days Wait1204 Words à |à 5 PagesA DAYââ¬â¢S WAIT LITERARY ANALYSIS Author: Ernest Hemingway, an American writer. His writing celebrates heroes and explores the nature of courage in this story. In much of his writing he dramatizes the importance of bravery in the face of death and of lifeââ¬â¢s everyday problems. This story deals with the quiet courage needed to face fear. Looking at Hemingwayà ´s biography we can find parallels between the story A Dayà ´s Wait and the authorà ´s real life. When Hemingway took part in World War I heRead MoreNarrative techniques of Charles Dickens in Oliver Twist and David Copperfield6299 Words à |à 26 Pages Diploma thesis Charles Dickensââ¬â¢s ââ¬Å"Oliver Twistâ⬠and ââ¬Å"David Copperfieldâ⬠: Two novels compared (Narrative techniques) Mentor: Student: Dr. Muhamet Hamiti Arbnesha Kusari Table of Contents 1. Introductionâ⬠¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦3 2. Biography of Charles Dickensâ⬠¦.â⬠¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦..â⬠¦Ã¢â¬ ¦....4 3. Oliver Twistâ⬠¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦
Thursday, May 7, 2020
Economics - Mcost Essay - 713 Words
A retail dry cleaning store cleans two-piece suits for $12 each. Its patrons are individual walk-ins. There are several similar dry cleaners in the city and this firm offers no special services. The firm can clean up to 1,000 suits per week. It has fixed costs of $3,500 per week (amortization on its equipment, rent, taxes, and salaries) plus a cost of $4 per suit for chemicals, packaging materials, order processing, and incidentals. Volume per week has been fairly constant at 600 suits. A firm that operates three hotels in the city is asking the store to clean 150 two-piece staff uniforms per week at a price of $6.75 per suit. The process would be the same as the store uses on suits. Because there are several dry cleaning storesâ⬠¦show more contentâ⬠¦Why or why not? The special job still should be accepted even if the hotel chain is only willing to pay $4.25 per uniform. As mentioned previously, the price at $4.25 is still greater than the Marginal Cost at $4.00 and therefore it is still profitable for the firm to continue and make the uniform. The increase in revenue would be $637.50 ($4.25*150), whereas the increase in costs would only be $600 ($400*150). Therefore, even though the $4.25 is far below the $12.00 market price and the average total cost of $8.67, it is still a profitable order. Calculation below: =$4.25 =$4.00 =$8.67 3. Suppose the hotel chain is willing to negotiate the price. When you enter the negotiations, what is the lowest price you are willing to accept (i.e., your reservation price)? (Of course, you will not announce this price to the other party.) Since this firm is in a perfectly competitive market, they must charge the same price in the industry to be competitive. Since they have excessive capacity of up to 400 suits above their normal sales, the incremental job allows them to negotiate a price anywhere revenue is greater than the variable cost per shirt. The lowest price that the dry cleaning service should accept is the point where the Market Price=Marginal Cost =Marginal Revenue, which is $4.00 per uniform. This is only the case because the dry cleaning service has the excess capacity and
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
The problems and fall of the Tsarist Regime in Russia c 1900-1917 Free Essays
Some of the main causes took a long to develop into revolution, as peasants, industrial workers and the general public were very patient and downtrodden. The views of these groups all interlocked with each other. These include long and short term causes including the spark which signals when people had had enough. We will write a custom essay sample on The problems and fall of the Tsarist Regime in Russia c 1900-1917 or any similar topic only for you Order Now Conditions for the poor had worsened since 1891 when famine swept through the southern region of Russia and forced millions of peasants to leave their families and village communities to search for work in towns. Most of the industrial workers who worked in the factories were peasants and women. Women filled the textile factories in St Petersburg and Moscow, which was the poorest paying industry in Russia. The industrial workers were angry at the poor living and working conditions. Living space was at a premium so workers had to occupy accommodation provided by the employers. There were ten to a room and a single sheet separated bedrooms. There was no privacy and famine easily spread. Also there were no regulations on safety or hours of work, so some people died or were badly injured and had to work 12-15 hours per day. In addition they received extremely poor wages. The peasants had to pay very high taxes on grain and also on items such as alcohol and salt. The peasant farmers not working in the factories suffered two very poor harvests and it came to a point when they could barely survive. This proved too much for the peasants and they had enough. Russiaââ¬â¢s population in 1900 was about 120 million; at least eighty percent were peasants, so they formed a big unhappy majority. Some peasants wanted land to be divided out fairly and taken off the middle class. The Social Revolutionary party also agreed with the peasants and wanted them to start a Revolution. The middle class shared the view that there needed to be a change but unlike the other groups in Russia they didnââ¬â¢t feel the need to start a revolution. The middle class who came from well-educated backgrounds wanted the Tsar to share his power, so the Russian people could benefit from the freedom and rights that people in Britain enjoy. Due to working and living conditions worsening and wages remaining low, there was less call for trade and jobs and so many were left without income. This included widespread famine and hunger, which had dramatically increased. Agriculture was going downhill and Russia wanted to change its fortunes to develop itââ¬â¢s industry and remain an important military power. As Russia felt the need to improve her industry she had to borrow money from other countries, though the main source of money came from the people of Russia. Wages were kept low so money could be spent on industryââ¬â¢ and after a few years people would be better off. Industry grew rapidly at first due to the success in iron, steel and the railways. In 1902 depression hit Russia and there was an industrial slump and thousands of people lost their jobs. Demonstrations and strikes were a regular occurrence and many peasants were starving. There were many violent acts and landlordââ¬â¢s houses were even burned down. To make matters worse there was a war with Japan. The Tsar Nicolas the 2nd thought it would be a good idea to have a war because after a victory people would stop criticizing the government. But Japan ended as easy winners and made conditions worse in Russia. Prices rose and the war caused shortage of food. The Tsar was humiliated as Japan defeated Russia with ease even though Russia was such a big country in comparison to the small size of Japan. This brought more protests about the ineffectiveness of the Tsar and his government. There were very many causes but the spark of the revolution was ââ¬Å"Bloody Sundayâ⬠. Conditions in St Petersburg were appalling and tension was at an all time high. As trade unions were banned and strikes illegal the Russian public decided to turn to a march. There were a crowd of 200,000 protesters and they marched to the Winter Palace to give a petition to the Tsar. The Tsar was not there and the Cossacks charged and the soldiers opened fire. It was a big day as the Russian public had lost respect for the Tsar. All theses causes contributed towards the Revolution. However, none is important enough to cause a revolution by itself. When these causes were combined together it only took one small short term event to provoke the people of Russia to revolt. How to cite The problems and fall of the Tsarist Regime in Russia c 1900-1917, Papers
Monday, April 27, 2020
Topic Selection Worksheet free essay sample
Date Completed: Instructions: Work through the following worksheet steps in sequence. Every time a question is asked (indicated by the letter ââ¬Å"Qâ⬠), think through your best answer and then handwrite or type your answer in the blank space below the question. You will print out the completed assignment and turn it in the next time we meet, which will be the week of Oct. 29. Step 1: Personal Q: Which of my personal passions relate to a cause, movement, problem, need, and/or issue anywhere in the world? Q: What have I done (actions) to prove my support, interest, and/or passions in any of the above areas? Q: Which of the above passions do I think the audience might relate to and/or care about the most? Why? Q: Which of the above passions do I think the audience might be willing to support in an active way? Why? What do I think they might be willing to do? What do I think they might not be willing to do? Q: Am I hesitant about using any of my passions as my persuasive topic? Why? Q: Do I want to continue brainstorming topics with the hope that I will find another idea? Step 2: Research Now, consult 2 or 3 of the brainstorming sources recommended in the Persuasive Speech Guidelines. We will write a custom essay sample on Topic Selection Worksheet or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page They are: charity websites, Google, ted. com, and Valencia databases. Please consult these sources even if you think you have already chosen your topic. As you are researching, identify one or more persuasive topics that accomplish all of the following: Interest you and would interest your audience Represent realistic actions that you could ask my audience to take Can be explored during the speech time frame with sufficient support from research Will relate to your audience on the level of emotion (feeling/heart connection) AND on the level of logic (intellect/thought/mind connection) Q: Which topic(s) have you found that meet the above criteria? Q: Which one topic (from Step 1 or Step 2) are you now most interested in for your persuasive speech? Why? Q: From the initial research you just reviewed or that you were already familiar with, which source(s) look like they will be useful for your speech? Write down the source and a brief description of how you could use the source(s) in your speech. Step 3: Thinking Ahead As you move forward in your persuasive speech preparation, you will be required to accomplish certain priorities in order to have a solid speech that influences your audience. Please read through the priorities that are stated on the checklist below and then read the textbook content related to some of these items. This will give you a good overview of the persuasive speech process and what a good speech entails. This should also help you determine if the speech topic youââ¬â¢ve selected is a solid persuasive topic. Note: You do NOT need to write anything in this section. Persusasive Speech Checklist Does My Persuasive Speechâ⬠¦ choice? -current -complete -trustworthy -appropriate -ethical -mythos (if relevant) -ethos -logos (pgs. 376-379) Step 4: Topic Decision Q: Which speech topic do you want to present on for your persuasive speech? Is this your final decision?
Thursday, March 19, 2020
Placoid Scales on Sharks and Rays
Placoid Scales on Sharks and Rays Placoid scales are the tiny tough scales that cover the skin of sharks, rays, and other elasmobranchs. Even though placoid scales are similar to the scales of bony fish, they are modified teeth and are covered with hard enamel. They grow out of the dermis layer and this is why they are called dermal denticles. Placoid scales are packed tightly together, supported by spines, and grow with their tips facing backward. This gives the fishs skin a rough feel. The function of these scales is for protection against predators. In some sharks, they may also have a hydrodynamic function, helping them swim more efficiently and quietly. The placoid scales are shaped such that little vortices form, reducing friction as the shark swims. They also direct the water around the fish. The Structure of Placoid Scales The placoid scales grow out of the dermis, with the flat rectangular base plate embedded in the skin of the fish. Like our teeth, placoid scales have an inner core of pulp made up of connective tissues, blood vessels, and nerves. Like the pulp cavity of a tooth, it is nursed by a layer of odontoblast cells that secrete dentine. This hard, calcified material forms the next layer. The dentine is covered by enamel-like vitrodentine, which is produced by the ectoderm. Once the scale erupts through the epidermis, no more enamel can be deposited on that portion of the scale. Different species have different kinds of spines develop to support the scales. The spines give the scales their rough texture. It is so rough that it has been used as sandpaper by various cultures form many centuries. The species of fish can be identified by the shape of the scales and spines. On some sharks, they are shaped like a duck foot. Scales in bony fish grow as the fish gets larger, but placoid scales stop growing after they reach a certain size, and then more scales are added as the fish grows. Shark Skin Leather The tough nature of the placoid scales makes shark rawhide leather, called shagreen. The scales are ground down so the surface is rough with rounded protrusions. It can take on dye colors or be left white. It was used in Japan to cover sword hilts, where its rough nature was appreciated to help form a good grip. Other Types of Fish Scales Ctenoid scales are another kind of toothed scales, but the teeth are only along the outer edge of the scale. They are found on fish such as perch that have spiny fin rays. Cycloid scales have a smooth texture and they are found on fish with soft fin rays, including salmon and carp. They are rounded and show growth rings as they grow with the animal. Ganoid scales are diamond-shaped and they do not overlap, but they fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. They are seen on gars, bichirs, and reedfishes, and they act like armor plates.
Monday, March 2, 2020
Transformational Grammar (TG) Definition and Examples
Transformational Grammar (TG) Definition and Examples Transformational grammar is a theory of grammar that accounts for the constructions of a language by linguistic transformations and phrase structures. Also known asà transformational-generative grammar or T-G or TGG. Following the publication of Noam Chomskys book Syntactic Structures in 1957, transformational grammar dominated the field of linguistics for the next few decades. The era of Transformational-Generative Grammar, as it is called, signifies a sharp break with the linguistic tradition of the first half of the [twentieth] century both in Europe and America because, having as its principal objective the formulation of a finite set of basic and transformational rules that explain how the native speaker of a language can generate and comprehend all its possible grammatical sentences, it focuses mostly on syntax and not on phonology or morphology, as structuralism does (Encyclopedia of Linguistics,à 2005). Observations The new linguistics, which began in 1957 with the publication of Noam Chomskys Syntactic Structures, deserves the label revolutionary. After 1957, the study of grammar would no longer be limited to what is said and how it is interpreted. In fact, the word grammar itself took on a new meaning. The new linguistics defined grammar as our innate, subconscious ability to generate language, an internal system of rules that constitutes our human language capacity. The goal of the new linguistics was to describe this internal grammar.Unlike the structuralists, whose goal was to examine the sentences we actually speak and to describe their systemic nature, the transformationalists wanted to unlock the secrets of language: to build a model of our internal rules, a model that would produce all of the grammatical- and no ungrammatical- sentences. (M. Kolln and R. Funk, Understanding English Grammar. Allyn and Bacon, 1998)[F]rom the word go, it has often been clear that Transformational Grammar w as the best available theory of language structure, while lacking any clear grasp of what distinctive claims the theory made about human language. (Geoffrey Sampson, Empirical Linguistics. Continuum, 2001) Surface Structures and Deep Structures When it comes to syntax, [Noam] Chomsky is famous for proposing that beneath every sentence in the mind of a speaker is an invisible, inaudible deep structure, the interface to the mental lexicon. The deep structure is converted by transformational rules into a surface structure that corresponds more closely to what is pronounced and heard. The rationale is that certain constructions, if they were listed in the mind as surface structures, would have to be multiplied out in thousands of redundant variations that would have to have been learned one by one, whereas if the constructions were listed as deep structures, they would be simple, few in number, and economically learned. (Steven Pinker, Words and Rules. Basic Books, 1999) Transformational Grammar and the Teaching of Writing Though it is certainly true, as many writers have pointed out, that sentence-combining exercises existed before the advent of transformational grammar, it should be evident that the transformational concept of embedding gave sentence combining a theoretical foundation upon which to build. By the time Chomsky and his followers moved away from this concept, sentence combining had enough momentum to sustain itself. (Ronald F. Lunsford, Modern Grammar and Basic Writers. Research in Basic Writing: A Bibliographic Sourcebook, ed. by Michael G. Moran and Martin J. Jacobi. Greenwood Press, 1990) The Transformation of Transformational Grammar Chomsky initially justified replacing phrase-structure grammar by arguing that it was awkward, complex, and incapable of providing adequate accounts of language. Transformational grammar offered a simple and elegant way to understand language, and it offered new insights into the underlying psychological mechanisms.As the grammar matured, however, it lost its simplicity and much of its elegance. In addition, transformational grammar has been plagued by Chomskys ambivalence and ambiguity regarding meaning. . . . Chomsky continued to tinker with transformational grammar, changing the theories and making it more abstract and in many respects more complex, until all but those with specialized training in linguistics were befuddled. . . .[T]he tinkering failed to solve most of the problems because Chomsky refused to abandon the idea of deep structure, which is at the heart of T-G grammar but which also underlies nearly all of its problems. Such complaints have fueled the paradigm shift to cognitive grammar. (James D. Williams, The Teachers Grammar Book. Lawrence Erlbaum, 1999) In the years since transformational grammar was formulated, it has gone through a number of changes. In the most recent version, Chomsky (1995) has eliminated many of the transformational rules in previous versions of the grammar and replaced them with broader rules, such as a rule that moves one constituent from one location to another. It was just this kind of rule on which the trace studies were based. Although newer versions of the theory differ in several respects from the original, at a deeper level they share the idea that syntactic structure is at the heart of our linguistic knowledge. However, this view has been controversial within linguistics. (David W. Carroll, Psychology of Language, 5th ed. Thomson Wadsworth, 2008)
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