Critial Vocab, English Lit a Level

Critical Vocabulary Builder A Abjure – To renounce or retract esp formally or under oath, or solemnly. Abduration – The act of renouncing. Ablation – The surgical removal of an organ, structure, or part. Ablate. Ablution –   The ritual washing of a priest’s hands. Abnegate (abnegation) – To deny to oneself; renounce privileges, pleasure, etc. Abstergent – Of cleaning or scouring Abstruse – Not easy to understand; recondite; esoteric. Acalculia – psycol. An inability to make simple mathematical calculations. Acumen – Quickness of perception or discernment; shrewdness shown by keen insight.Adherents – Follower, or supporter of. Adjacent – Being near or close, esp. having a common boundary. ; adjoining; contiguous. Adjuvant – Aiding or assisting. Aesopian – Conveying meaning by hint, euphemism, innuendo or the like. 2) Pertaining to, or characteristic of Aesop or his fables. Aesthetic â⠂¬â€œ Broadly speaking, something pleasing, or the study of beauty. Aesthetic distance –  degree of emotional involvement in a work of art. The most obvious example of aesthetic distance (also referred to simply as distance) occurs with paintings.Some paintings require us to stand back to see the design of the whole painting; standing close, we see the technique of the painting, say the brush strokes, but not the whole. Other paintings require us to stand close to see the whole; their design and any figures become less clear as we move back from the painting. Similarly, fiction, drama, and poetry involve the reader emotionally to different degrees. Emotional distance, or the lack of it, can be seen with children watching a TV program or a movie; it becomes real for them.Writers like Faulkner, the Bronte sisters, or Faulkner pull the reader into their work; the reader identifies closely with the characters and is fully involved with the happenings. Hemingway, on the other ha nd, maintains a greater distance from the reader. Affective Fallacy – The error of evaluating a poem by its effects—especially its emotional effects—upon the reader. As a result the poem itself, as an object of specifically critical judgement, tends to disappear. Alacrity – Liveliness or briskness. Alalia – Complete inability to speak; mutism.Allegory – A narrative where characters, actions and sometimes setting are consistently symbolic of something else (often philosophical or moral abstractions). Alliteration – the use, especially in poetry, of the same sound or sounds, especially consonants, at the beginning of several words that are close together Ambiguity – Ambiguity is the quality of having more than one meaning; does   Ameliorate – To make or become better; improve. Amelioration. Amorphous – Lacking a definite shape; formless. 2 – Of no recognisable character or shape.Anachronisms – Flash backs, jumps forwards. Analogy – a comparison between things which have similar features, often used to help explain a principle or idea Analepis – A flash-back Anathema – A detested person or thing ‘he is anathema to me! ’ 2 A formal ecclesiastical curse of excommunication. Antonym – An antonym is a word opposite in meaning to another word but similar to it in most other respects. For example, tall and short are opposite in meaning but both are the same parts of speech (adjectives) and would take the same position in a sentence.Aporia – An impassable moment or point in a narrative, a hole or opening that produces a hermeneutic analysis. Arbitrarily – Founded on or subject to personal whims, prejudices, etc. ; capricious. 2 – Having only relative application. 3 – Of a government or ruler despotic or dictatorial. Arcane – Requiring secret knowledge to be understood; mysterious; esoteric. Arrhythmic / Arrhythm ia – Any variation from the normal rhythm of the heart beat. Arriere-pensee – An unrevealed thought or intention. Arriviste – A person who is unscrupulously ambitious. Assiduous – Hard-working; persevering.Assignation – A secret or forbidden arrangement to meet esp. between lovers. Attest – To affirm the correctness or truth of. Auric – Of or containing gold in the trivalent state. Autodidact – One who is self-taught. Avarice – The getting and keeping of money, possessions etc as a purpose to live for. B Ballad –  relatively short narrative poem, written to be sung, with a simple and dramatic action. The ballads tell of love, death, the supernatural, or a combination of these. Two characteristics of the ballad are incremental repetition and the ballad stanza.Incremental repetition repeats one or more lines with small but significant variations that advance the action. The ballad stanza is four lines; commonly, t he first and third lines contain four feet or accents, the second and fourth lines contain three feet. Ballads often open abruptly, present brief descriptions, and use concise dialogue. Baroque – A term applied by art-historians (at first derogatorily, but now merely descriptively) to a style of architecture, sculpture, and painting that developed in Italy at the beginning of the seventeenth century and then spread to Germany and other European countries.The style employs the classical forms of the renaissance, but breaks them up and intermingles them to achieve elaborate, grandiose, energetic, and highly dramatic effects. In Literature, it may signify magniloquent style in verse or prose. Beatitude – Supreme blessedness or happiness. Benefactor – A person who supports or helps a person (Beneficiary), institution etc. , esp. by giving money; patron. Bilious – Bad tempered. 2. Hideously green. Blank verse – Blank verse is a form based on unrhymed li nes of iambic pentameter.The verse parts of Shakespeare's plays are blank verse (with exceptions, such as the witches' recipe), as is Milton's Paradise Lost. The form is one that is close to normal speech (indeed, â€Å"the form is one that's close to normal speech† is itself an iambic pentameter) so it gives a subtle pulse to a poem, rather than an obvious shaping as a limerick might. However, there is a tendency in contemporary poetry to use shorter lines, so the form can also sound stately or slow to a modern ear.? Bowyer – Person or makes or sells archery bows. Bumptious – Offensively self-assertive or conceited.C Cadence – (Poetry) A fall, in tone, in pitch etc. Catalectic – (Poetry) – of a line, missing one or more beats. Catechism – Instruction by a series of questions and answers esp a book containing such instruction on the religious doctrine of the Christian church. 2 Rigorous and persistent questioning, as in a test or inte rview. Character – Characters may be classified as round (three-dimensional, fully developed) or as flat (having only a few traits or only enough traits to fulfil their function in the work); as developing (dynamic) characters or as static characters.Caesura – a strong pause within a line, and is often found alongside enjambment. If all the pauses in the sense of the poem were to occur at the line breaks, this could become dull; moving the pauses so they occur within the line creates a musical interest. Chivalric Romance – Developed in 12th Century France, spread and displaced epic and heroic forms. Climax – The height of tensions or suspense in a story's plot where conflict comes to a peak. Coetaneous – Of the same age or period. Coeval – Of belonging to the same age or generation. 2) A contemporary.Collocate – To group or place together in some system or order. Collusion – Secret agreement for a fraudulent purpose; connivance ; conspiracy. Conceit – The Metaphysical poets of the seventeenth century enjoyed creating particularly audacious metaphors and similes to compare very unlike things, and drawing attention to how skilfully they could sustain this comparison; this became known as the conceit. The classic example is probably Donne's ‘The Flea', in which a flea-bite is compared to a marriage, and like most conceits, the extended comparison is more notable for its invention than its believability.Concomitant – Existing or occurring together; associative. Concord – Agreement or harmony between people or nations; amity. Confabulate – To talk together, to communicate. Confiteor – A prayer consisting of a general confession of sinfulness and an entreaty for forgiveness. Conflagration – A large destructive fire. Conflagration – A large destructive fire. Conflate / Conflation – To combine or blend, esp two versions of a text, so as to form a whole. Conflict – The part of the plot that establishes an opposition that becomes a point of interest.Can ve an opposition between characters, between character and environment, between elements in a character's personality etc. Conglomerate – A thing composed heterogeneous elements. Conjecture – The formation of conclusions from incomplete evidence; a guess. Consonance – Consonance is the effect of similar speech-sounds being near each other. Some forms of consonance can be singled out, which are: alliteration, where initial sounds matter; sibilance, where ‘s' and ‘z' sounds are enhanced; and assonance, where the vowel-sounds of words are in concert.Contiguous – Touching along the side or boundary; in contact. Convivial – Sociable, jovial or festive. Corpulent – Physically bulky; fat. Coterie – A small exclusive group of friends with common interests; clique. Coterminous – Enclosed within a common boundary. Coter minous – Having a common boundary. Couplet – A couplet is a stanza (or even a poem) consisting of two lines. These need not rhyme, nor be the same length, but can be. If there is no enjambment at the end of the second line, it can be called a closed couplet (the opposite being an open couplet), especially if this is a recurring pattern.A closed rhyming couplet in iambic pentameter, especially one which forms a unit of sense, is called a heroic couplet; many of these can be found in Pope's ‘Essay on Man'. It is also possible to find a longer poem whose lines are rhymed in pairs – aabbcc etc – described as being in rhyming couplets, even if the stanzas are longer than two lines. D Daltonism – Colour blindness: the inability to distinguish green from red. Damocles – Imminent danger in midst of prosperity/ Greek who feasted with sword hung by a hair above his head. De Facto – In fact. 2 – Existing in fact.De haut en bas †“ In condescending or superior manner. De’ I gra’tia – By God’s grace. Deambulation – Walking. Debacle – Break-up of ice on a river/ confused rush or stampede/ collapse, downfall esp of a government. Debouch – (esp. of troops) – To move into a more open space, as from a narrow or concealed place. Declarativist – Want to show a mystery resolved – transparent – form has no effect over the shaping of events. Declivous – Sloping down. Decrescent – Waning, decreasing usually of the moon. Deference – Submission to or compliance with the will, wishes, etc. of another. Deleterious – Noxious physically or morally injurious. Demarcate – To mark, fix, or draw the boundaries, limits etc. (Demarcation) – the act of establishing limits, boundaries etc. Denouement – French for untying, it is the final element of the conflict in a plot similar to a resolution, usually very emotional. Devilment – Mischief, wild spirits: Devilish or strange phenomenon. Dextrous – Variant spelling of dexterous – Possessing or done with dexterity. Diatribe – A bitter or violent criticism or attack; denunciation.Dichotomy – a difference between two completely opposite ideas or things Dramatic monologue – A dramatic monologue is a poem that shares many features with a speech from a play: one person speaks, and in that speech there are clues to his/her character, the character of the implied person or people that s/he is speaking to, the situation in which it is spoken and the story that has led to this situation. Ian Duhig's ‘Fundamentals', for example, gives plenty of information about the character of the hapless missionary, about the tone of the meeting, and the colonial violence that underpins what is on face value a message of religion.The effect is one of a small poem seeming to leave you with the experience of having s een the whole film that was packed tightly into it. Dystaxia – Lack of muscular co-ordination resulting in shaky limb movements and unsteady gait. E Eclectic – Selecting or made up of what seems best of varied sources. Effervesce – To give off bubbles of gas. Egalitarian – of relating to, or upholding the doctrine of the equality of mankind and the desirability of political, social, and economic equality. Egregious – Outstandingly bad; flagrant. Egress – (also called egression) – the act of going or coming out; emergence.Electorate – The body of all qualified voters Elegy – An elegy is a poem of mourning; this is often the poet mourning one person, but the definition also includes Thomas Gray's ‘Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard', which mourns all the occupants of that churchyard, and looks into the future to mourn the poet's own death. The difference between an elegy and a eulogy is that the latter is a speech given to honour someone's best qualities, often (but not necessarily) after their death. Endemic – Present within or localised area or peculiar to persons in such an area.Enjambement – Enjambment is the continuation of a sentence or clause over a line-break. If a poet allows all the sentences of a poem to end in the same place as regular line-breaks, a kind of deadening can happen in the ear, and in the brain too, as all the thoughts can end up being the same length. Enjambment is one way of creating audible interest; others include caesurae, or having variable line-lengths. Enlightenment – The name applied to an intellectual movement and cultural ambiance which developed in Western Europe during the 17th Century, reaching its height in the 18th century.The common element was a trust in human reason as adequate to solve the crucial problems and to establish the essential norms in life, together with a belief that the application of reason was rapidly dissipatin g the darkness of superstition, prejudice, and barbarity, was freeing humanity from its earlier reliance on mere authority and unexamined tradition, and had opened the prospect of progress toward a life in this world of universal peace and happiness. See Descartes, Locke, Voltaire, Godwin, Diderot, Franklin, Jefferson.Ephemeral – Lasting only for a short time; transitory; short-lived. Epigone – An inferior follower or imitator Epigram – An epigram is a short, succinct poem, often with witty (or even vicious) content. Coleridge wrote an epigram to define an epigram: â€Å"What is an epigram? A dwarfish whole, / Its body brevity and wit its soul. † It is worth noting that this is a stricter definition than epigrams seem to have had in classical Greece and Rome, where the form originates; it is probably the eighteenth-century fondness for a smart wit and the epigrams of Martial that tightened the definition thus.The preference in contemporary poetry for expl oring an issue rather than summing it up means epigrams are not as popular as they were then, but Anne Stevenson's ‘On Going Deaf', with its wit, rhyme and definite opinion, is probably the closest example within the Archive. Epigraph – An epigraph is a brief bit of text, usually borrowed from another writer, found before a poem, but after the title. (You may also find one at the start of a book, before the poems, but after the title page. ) It gives a reader, or listener, something else to hold in mind as the poem is read.Neither part of the poem, nor wholly separate from it, an epigraph can be used for various purposes; it can be necessary information to understand a poem, for example, or it can be something with which the poem disagrees. Epistemophilia – The reader’s desire to know. Ergo – Therefore; hence. Esoteric – Restricted to or intended for an enlightened or initiated minority, esp. because of abstruseness or obscurity: an esoteric cult. 2 – Difficult to understand; abstruse: an esoteric statement. 3 – Not openly admitted; private: esoteric aims. Espouse – To adopt or give support to.Espy – To catch sight of or perceive. Eugenics – The study of improving the quality of the human race esp. by selective breeding. Evanescent – Passing out of sight; fading away; vanishing. Evangelism – The practice of spreading the Christian gospel. 2 – Ardent or missionary zeal for a cause Exegesis – Explanation or critical interpretation of a text, esp. of the Bible Exhaustivistic – A book must be complete; to be reliable is to be complete therefore Realistic novels have more detail and description per square inch than any other literary form.Expectorant – Promoting the secretion, liquefaction, or expulsion of sputum from the respiratory passages. Expediency – Appropriateness; suitability. 2) The use or inclination towards methods that are advant ageous rather than fair. Exposition – Provides background on characters, setting, plot. Extant – Still existing; not yet destroyed, lost or extinct. F Fabula – Order of events recounted by the narrative, the real order of the chronological events. Facetious – joking or jesting often inappropriately / meant to be humorous or funny : not serious.Falsetto – A form of vocal production used by male singers to extend their range upwards beyond its natural compass by limiting the vibration of the vocal cords. Fatuous –Complacently or inanely foolish. Feminine – of an ending (poetry) of one or more unstressed beats. Fervour – Great intensity of feeling or belief. Figurative Language – Language used in a way to achieve some effect beyond literal meaning. See hyperbole, metaphor, personification, simile and synecdoche. Flambeau – A burning torch, as used in night processions.Foil – A foil is a secondary character who contrasts with a major character; in Hamlet, Laertes and Fortinbras, whose fathers have been killed, are foils for Hamlet. Foot – A foot is a unit of metre, consisting of a combination of stressed and unstressed syllables. If stressed syllables are marked â€Å"/† and unstressed â€Å"u†, the main types can be shown thus:? Iamb: [ u / ], such as â€Å"delight†. (The adjective is â€Å"iambic†. ) Trochee: [ / u ], such as â€Å"badger† (Trochaic)? Anapest, or anapaest: [ u u / ], such as â€Å"unaware† (Anapestic / anapaestic)?Dactyl: [ / u u ], such as â€Å"multiple† (Dactylic) and, more rarely: Spondee: [ / / ], such as â€Å"tooth-ache†? Pyrrhic: [ u u ], such as â€Å"such as† was until it was put in quotation marks. It is important to remember that feet and words need not coincide. The feet in John Heath-Stubbs' line, â€Å"A caterpillar among those mulberry leaves†, from ‘The Mulberry Tree' app ear thus: | a CAT | er PILL | ar a MONG | those MUL | berry LEAVES |? | u / | u / | u u / | u / | u / |That one word â€Å"caterpillar† is scattered across three feet in this five-foot line – the first two are iambs, then after a single anapaest there are two further iambs (or one iamb and one more anapaest, depending on whether you say mul-ber-ry or mul-bree). Also note that, although there is an anapaest in the centre of this line, this is still a predominantly iambic line (especially as it is within a predominantly iambic poem) – varying the feet like this can keep a line from getting metrically dull. The process of working out where the stresses fall is called scanning, or scansion.It's easiest to do it on poems where the rhythms are pronounced; on the other hand, it can be near-impossible, or simply unhelpful, to scan free verse. The poems suggested below have strongly accented feet, and the links to metre and form go into more detail on how poets use feet. Foregrounding – Giving unusual providence to one element or property of a text, relative to other less noticeable aspects. Form – Form, in poetry, can be understood as the physical structure of the poem: the length of the lines, their rhythms, their system of rhymes and repetition.In this sense, it is normally reserved for the type of poem where these features have been shaped into a pattern, especially a familiar pattern. Another sense of â€Å"form† is to refer to these familiar patterns – these can be simple and open-ended forms, such as blank verse, or can be a complex system of rhymes, rhythms and repeated lines within a fixed number of lines, as a sonnet or villanelle is. (This is similar to the word â€Å"shape†; asked to think about â€Å"a shape†, you would expect a triangle or a circle, but Alaska too has a shape. ) The difference s visible in Sebastian Barker's poem ‘Holy The Heart On Which We Hang Our Hope': the form of t his poem shares aspects with another form, the villanelle, but also differs from it in interesting ways, just as its content shares in some aspects of organised faith but not in others. ACROSTIC ? An acrostic poem is one that uses the first letters of each line to spell out a word or phrase. More uncommonly, you can find a word or phrase through the centre of a poem (when it is called a mesostich) or at the end of the lines (which makes it a telestich).If the poem is written so that the first letters and last letters both write out a message, it is known as a double acrostic. CENTO? A poem consisting only of lines from other poems. This, from the Italian word for patchwork, is almost a technique rather than a form, especially as it can be of any length, and any metre, and need not rhyme; however, as the finished poem is referred to as a cento, just as a sonnet is called a sonnet, it is a form. CLERIHEW?Named after its inventor, this is a four-line poem rhymed aabb; its first line i s the name of the subject of the poem, it often breaks into two sentences at the end of the second line, and the rhythm tends to be entertainingly irregular. DOUBLE-DACTYL? This one is normally reserved for nonsense verse. 8 lines, all consisting of two dactyls (hence the name). Line 1 is a nonsense word (such as â€Å"higgledy-piggledy†), line 2 is someone's name, line 6 is a single six-syllable word, and lines 4 and 8 rhyme. OTTAVA RIMA?A stanza form often used for longer poems, most famously in Byron's ‘Don Juan', consisting of eight lines, usually in iambic pentameter, rhymed abababcc. PANTOUM? This can be of any length; it is a poem of four-line stanzas, in which the second and fourth lines of one stanza become the first and third of the next. The last stanza's second and fourth lines can be the first and third of the first stanza, either reversed or not, which locks the poem into a circle of repetitions or, as the poet Marilyn Hacker says, â€Å"until it ends u p with its tail in its mouth†. ? SPENSERIAN STANZA? 8 lines of iambic pentameter, followed by 1 iambic hexameter (or alexandrine); rhyme scheme ababbcbccc. This is the stanza invented by Spenser in The Faerie Queene. TERZA RIMA? A poem in which each stanza is rhymed aba, with the inner rhyme from one stanza providing the outer rhymes for either the previous or subsequent stanza: aba bcb cdc†¦ or aba cac dcd†¦. The form can end in a single-line stanza, a couplet, or by referring back to the as-yet-unused rhyme from the first stanza.Free Verse –   What free verse claims to be free from is the constraints of regular metre and fixed forms. This makes the poem free to find its own shape according to what the poet – or the poem – wants to say, but still allows him or her to use rhyme, alliteration, rhythms or cadences (etc) to achieve the effects that s/he feels are appropriate. There is an implicit constraint, however, to resist a regular metre in f ree verse – a run of a regular metre will stand out awkwardly in an otherwise free poem.Sometimes known as vers libre, free verse has a long pedigree and is very common in contemporary poetry. Yet there are still voices that claim poetry is only poetry when it is formal verse, and would agree with Robert Frost who, when asked about free verse, said â€Å"I'd just as soon play tennis with the net down†. Fans of free verse can counter with T S Eliot's insistence that â€Å"no vers is libre for the man who wants to do a good job† – the net may be down, but this allows a poet (of either gender) to play to different rules.Simon Armitage's ‘You're Beautiful', for example, creates for himself a set of rules that includes repeated words at the starts of phrases, rather than a structure of repeated sounds at the end of lines. G Garish – Gay or colourful in a crude or vulgar manner. Garner – To gather or store in or as if in a granary Gendarme à ¢â‚¬â€œ A member of the police force of France or in countries formerly influenced or controlled by France. Germane – describes ideas or information connected with and important to a particular subject or situation e. ‘her remarks could not have been more germane to the discussion. ‘ Ghazal – Mimi Khalvati, whose poem ‘Ghazal' is the only poem so far to use a ghazal form in the Archive, defines it at the start of her reading of it: â€Å"Ghazals are an old Persian form, and they're written in self-contained couplets with a monorhyme, sometimes one- (or two- or three-) word repeated phrase, like a refrain, and the last couplet is a signature couplet, in which the writer has to refer to themselves by name, or pseudonym, or by using some kind of wordplay on their name. In her ghazal, the repeated word is â€Å"me†, the rhyme is on â€Å"through†, â€Å"woo†, â€Å"cue†, â€Å"tattoo† and so on, and the ‘signature ' is in the reference to being â€Å"twice the me†, or ‘Mimi'. ?Like the haiku, the age of the form – the ghazal can be traced back through a millennium – and its translation into the English language mean that the ‘rules' have had significant variations over time. You may find some definitions insist that the subject of a ghazal should be love, and others that let the rhyme move to be earlier in the line than Khalvati's placement of it immediately before the refrain.Some insist that each couplet should be complete in itself, meaning that each stanza ends on a full stop, and can therefore have only a thematic connection to those either side. There are even some that do without the refrain, but these appear rare. The closed couplets, however, appear to be a necessity to the form. Gimcrack – Cheap; shoddy. Grandiloquent – Inflated, pompous or bombastic in style or expression. Grandiose – Pretentiously grand or stately. Imposing in conception or execution. H Haiku – A haiku is a brief Japanese form that has been adapted into English in various ways.Its usual definition is that it is a three-line poem, consisting of seventeen syllables split 5 – 7 – 5. Other criteria (such as a ‘zen mood', a reference to a season, or the poem being divided by a word that implies some form of cutting) may be demanded, and may even replace the strict syllable count. John Stallworthy considers Ezra Pound's ‘In a Station of the Metro' a haiku, as, although it has only two lines and considerably more than 17 syllables, it has the brief and direct presentation of an image that many haiku have.Hermeneutics – The theory of interpretation, concerned with general problems of understanding the meaning of the texts. Heterogeneous – Comprised of unrelated or differing parts or elements. Heteroglossia – To describe the variety of voices and language found within a novel, and multiple refe rences found in a single voice. Hoary – Having grey or white hair. 2 White or whitish in colour. Homunculus – A miniature man; midget. 2 – Early biological theory that a miniature man existed in fully-formed in the spermatozoon or egg.Hyperbole – Figurative language that uses exaggeration for emphasis, like I’m starving when you haven’t eaten in four hours, or I’ve been waiting forever when that’s impossible because you probably were born at some point, and forever was happening a long time before you were born. I Impeccant – Not sinning; free from sin. Iambic pentameter – Iambic pentameter is the name given to a line of verse that consists of five iambs (an iamb being one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed, such as â€Å"before†).It has been a fundamental building block of poetry in English, used in many poems by many poets from the English Renaissance to the present day. ?As with any metre, it i s not necessary that every line should be entirely slavish in following the rhythm; in fact, being so could make the poem sound dull. Swapping, dropping or adding stressed and unstressed syllables will lend variety to a line without changing the underlying rhythm. Poems in iambic pentameter may or may not rhyme.Those that are written in continuous lines of unrhymed iambic pentameter are said to be in blank verse, while rhyming couplets in iambic pentameter may be called â€Å"heroic couplets†, particularly when each couplet closes a thought or sentence on its second line. Iconoclast – Someone who attacks established or traditional concepts, principles, laws etc. 2 Destroyer of religious images or sacred images. Ides – (in the Roman calendar) the 15th day in March, May, July, and October and the 13th day of each other month.Idiolect – The variety or form or form of a language used by an individual. Idiopathy – Any disease of unknown cause. Illusioni st – Everything we need to make things happen, and that cause events are all present in the novel: all the causes and events can be traced. Imagery – Imagery is the name given to the elements in a poem that spark off the senses. Despite â€Å"image† being a synonym for â€Å"picture†, images need not be only visual; any of the five senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell) can respond to what a poet writes.Examples of non-visual imagery can be found in Ken Smith's ‘In Praise of Vodka', where he describes the drink as having â€Å"the taste of air, of wind on fields, / the wind through the long wet forest†, and James Berry's ‘Seashell', which puts the â€Å"ocean sighs† right in a listener's ear. A poet could simply state, say, â€Å"I see a tree†, but it is possible to conjure up much more specific images using techniques such as simile (â€Å"a tree like a spiky rocket†), metaphor (â€Å"a green cloud riding a pole†) or synechdoche (â€Å"bare, black branches†) – each of these suggests a different kind of tree.Techniques, such as these, that can be used to create powerful images are called figurative language, and can also include onomatopoeia, metonymy and personification. One of the great pleasures of poetry is discovering a particularly powerful image; the Imagists of the early 20th century felt it was the most important aspect, so were devoted to finding strong images and presenting them in the clearest language possible. Of course, not every poem is an Imagist poe Immitigable – Unable to be mitigated; relentless; unappeasable.Impasse – A situation in which progress is blocked; an insurmountable difficulty. Impasto – Paint applied thickly, so that brush and palette knife marks are evident. The technique of applying paint in this way. Impecunious – Without money, penniless. Impediments – A hindrance or obstruction. Imprecate â€⠀œ To swear and curse, to blaspheme. In the Middle Ages one hour was equal to 480 ounces of sand, or 22,560 atoms. Inchoate – Just beginning; incipient. 2 – Undeveloped; immature; rudimentary.Incommode – To bother, disturb, or inconvenience. Incommunicado – Deprived of communication with other people, as while in solitary confinement. Incontrovertible – Incapable of being contradicted or disputed; undeniable. Indeterminacy:  Ã‚   The unknowable, undecidable, uncertain, or ambiguous in a text. Indeterminacy is related to gaps in a text, but are less obviously identifiable and are a quality of a reading or interpretation, not just the text. Indign – Undeserving, unworthy.Innocuous – Having little or no adverse or harmful effect; harmless. Innominate – Having no name; nameless. Irony – At its most basic, a difference or gap between the presentation/representation of something and its reality. In other words, when what som ething appears to be and what it is are not the same. Irony can be engaged or detached: Engaged irony uses the gaps between reality and representation to make a point or expose something; detached irony exploits gaps for immediate effect, like humor, satire or surface criticism.Irony can also occur at different levels of a text; for instance, verbal irony would occur at the level of the word or sentence, where double meanings come into play; dramatic irony would occur at the level of the plot, where events and action are   constructed in a way to take the reader in one direction while the reality is something else (a technique often found with 1st person unreliable narrators and 3rd person privileged narrators). Insuperable – Incapable of being overcome. Interlocutor – A person who takes part in a conversation. Internecine – Mutually destructive or ruinous; maiming both or all sides: internecine war.Interpolate – To insert or introduce (a comment, passa ge, etc) into (a conversation, text, etc). 2 To falsify or alter (a text, manuscript etc) by the later addition of spurious or worthless passages. Interpolation – The act of interpolating. Intertextuality:  Ã‚   In a text, implied references to or  implied influences from another text. This concept allows a reader to make links between genres, and to see how themes, plot, etc. may develop or change in relation or in light of that other text. Intractable / Intractability – Difficult to influence or direct; difficult to solve (of problem).Intransigent – Not willing to compromise; obstinate; obstinately maintaining an attitude. Irascible – Prone to anger; easily provoked to anger; hot-tempered. Invidious – Incurring or tending to arouse resentment, unpopularity etc. 2) unfair or offensively discriminating. Inviolable – That must not or cannot be transgressed, dishonoured, or broken; to be kept sacred. Irony: the discrepancy between what is said and what is meant, what is said and what is done, what is expected or intended and what happens, what is meant or said and what others understand.Sometimes irony is classified into types: in situational irony, expectations aroused by a situation are reversed; in cosmic irony or the irony of fate, misfortune is the result of fate, chance, or God; in dramatic irony. the audience knows more than the characters in the play, so that words and action have additional meaning for the audience; Socratic irony is named after Socrates' teaching method, whereby he assumes ignorance and openness to opposing points of view which turn out to be (he shows them to be) foolish. J Joskin – Country bumpkin.Juxtaposition – an act or instance of placing close together or side by side, esp. for comparison or contrast. 2) the state of being close together or side by side   Juxtaposition – when two contrasting ideas, images, phrases, descriptions are placed close together to emph asise their differences. K Kenning – A kenning is a much-compressed form of metaphor, originally used in Anglo-Saxon and Norse poetry. In a kenning, an object is described in a two-word phrase, such as ‘whale-road' for ‘sea'. Some kennings can be more obscure than others, and then grow close to being a riddle.Judith Nicholls' ‘Bluebottle' uses kennings as part of a larger poem, that is itself a riddle; Andrew Fusek Peters and Polly Peters go further, building a pair of poems both consisting entirely of kennings. Kunstlerroman – Development of the artist through a novel similar in some respects to the Bildungsroman. L Lacustrine – Of, growing in or dwelling in lakes. Lagan – Goods or wreckage on the seabed. Langrage – Shot used to damage rigging. Laniferous – Wool bearing. Larceny – A technical word for theft (Larcenous). Larrikin – Rowdy street hooligan.Lepidopterist – A person who collects or studies m oths and butterflies. Lugubrious – Excessively mournful; doleful. Lyric Poetry:a short poem with one speaker (not necessarily the poet) who expresses thought and feeling. Though it is sometimes used only for a brief poem about feeling (like the sonnet). it is more often applied to a poem expressing the complex evolution of thoughts and feeling, such as the elegy, the dramatic monologue, and the ode. The emotion is or seems personal In classical Greece, the lyric was a poem written to be sung, accompanied by a lyre. MMaculation – A pattern of spots as on certain plants and animals. Maelstrom – A large powerful whirlpool 2) Any turbulent confusion. Magniloquent – (of speech) Lofty in style. Malaise – A feeling of unease, mild sickness, or depression. Manumit – To free from slavery, servitude, etc. ; emancipation. Manumission. Manumitter. Maudlin – Foolishly tearful or sentimental, as when drunk. Maunder – To move, talk, or walk a imlessly or idly. Maundy – The ceremony of washing the feet of the poor. (Christianity). Mawkish – Falsely sentimental, esp. in a weak or maudlin way. Melliferous – Forming or producing honey.Meretricious – Superficially or garishly attractive. 2 – Insincere: meretricious praise. Metafictional – Fiction about fiction; or more esp a kind of fiction that openly comments on its own fictional status. Metaphor – An expression which describes a person or object in a literary way by referring to something that is considered to have similar characteristics to the person or object you are trying to describe. (Noun) Metre – Metre is from the Greek word for measuring; at its most basic, metre is a system of describing what we can measure about the audible features of a poem.The systems that have been used in history to structure metres are: the number of syllables (syllabic); the duration of syllables (quantitative); the number of stresse d syllables, or accents (accentual); and combinations of the above. English is not a language that works easily in quantitative metre (although this has not stopped people trying), and it has developed an accentual-syllabic metre for its formal verse. This means that, in a formal poem, the poet will be counting the syllables, the stresses, and keeping them to a pattern.To describe the pattern, the stressed and unstressed syllables are gathered into groups known as feet, and the number of feet to a line gives a name thus: 1 foot: monometer? 2 feet: dimeter? 3 feet: trimeter? 4 feet: tetrameter? 5 feet: pentameter? 6 feet: hexameter? 7 feet: heptameter? 8 feet: octameter Lines of less than 3 or more than 6 feet are rare in formal poems. The pattern of the syllables within a foot is also noted. A foot that is one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one, for example, is an iamb; three of these in a row would be an iambic trimeter, while five make the famous iambic pentameter.All the common feet are outlined under ‘Foot' in the glossary. Like the rhythm in a piece of music, the metre is an underlying structure. Poets often slip in extra feet, or remove them, or change stress patterns around to prevent monotony, like playing rubato. (Sometimes a poem seems to be exploring how far a line can be pushed without losing all connection with the underlying metre. ) This means that the discovery of a foot other than an iamb in the middle of what is otherwise iambic, say, does not stop the poem from being ambic; rather the attention ends up lingering at that point, so the word on the different foot ends up more powerful as it has the attention longer. An example of this can be found in Peter Dale's ‘Half-Light'; he writes â€Å"I'm trying not to give another glance. / Lit window thirty years back up that path. † The first line is a perfectly regular iambic pentameter, but the second introduces an extra stress on â€Å"Lit†, so that what the s peaker's trying not to be drawn to seems more powerful, perhaps helping us empathise with him when he does look back and â€Å"catch her eye an instant†.Metonymy – where one term is used in place of something else that it is related to or often associated with; like saying the White House for the president, or Hollywood for the American film industry. Mimetic – Mimics the real world; the text behaves formally in a way to report the world outside. You look at objects and describe how the physical senses receive them. Mithridate – A substance believed to be an antidote to every poison and a cure for every disease. Mitigated – To make or become less severe or harsh.Mobius Strip – A one sided continuous surface, made by twisting a long narrow rectangular strip of material through 180 ° and joining the ends. Mobocracy – Rule or domination by a mob. Modernism – Loosely, a term referring to experimental and avant- garde trends in li terature and other arts in the early 20th century, which resulted from conscious rejections of traditional 19th century artistic conventions like realism and traditional verse forms. Some of the experimental forms include symbolism, expressionism, and surrealism, and some narrative innovations include stream-of-consciousness and multiple points of view.A problematic term, since we are always already in the modern moment. Morass – Swamp; something that entangles, impedes or confuses. Moribund – Near-death, stagnant, without force or vitality. Moribundity, moribundly. Munificent – Very liberal in giving or bestowing; very generous; lavish. Myopia / Myopic – Inability to see distant objects clearly because images are focused in front of the retina. N Nacreous – Relating to or consisting of mother-of-pearl. 2) Having the lustre of mother-of-pearl. Naturalism – Is sometimes claimed to give a more accurate depiction of life than realism.It is a mo de of fiction that was developed by a school of writers in accordance with a particular philosophical thesis. The thesis, a product of post-Darwinian biology in the nineteenth century, held that human beings exist entirely in the order of nature and does not have a soul nor any mode of participating in a religious or spiritual world beyond the natural world; and therefore, that such a being is merely a higher-order animal whose character and behaviour are entirely determined by two kinds of forces, heredity and environment.A person inherits compulsive instincts – especially hunger, and the drive to accumulate possessions, and sexuality – and is then subject to the social and economic forces in the family, the class, and the milieu into which that person is born. The novel is organized in a mode of a scientific experiment on the behaviour of the characters it depicts. Naturalist writers try to present their subjects with scientific objectivity and with elaborate documen tation, sometimes including an almost medical frankness about activities and bodily functions usually unmentioned in earlier literature.They tend to choose characters that exhibit a strong animalistic drive towards greed and sexual desire and who are helpless victims both of glandular excretions and of sociological pressures without. The end is usually tragic, not in the Elizabethan sense, but of a losing struggle of the individual mind and will against gods, enemies, and circumstances. Instead the protagonist is a pawn to multiple compulsions, and usually disintegrates or is wiped out. OObdurately/ Obdurate – Not easily moved by feelings or supplication; hard-hearted, impervious to persuasion, esp moral persuasion. Objectivist – Humans are treated as objects – subjects should be treated as objects. Occlude – To block up or stop up (a passage or opening). Ode – An ode is a lyric poem, usually addressing a particular person or thing. It originated i n Ancient Greece, and the Pindaric ode (so-called because it was written by the Theban poet Pindar, 518 ? 442 BC) was based on a pattern of three stanzas called the strophe, antistrophe and epode.It was performed by a chorus, which walked along one side of the orchestra chanting the strophe and down the other side chanting the antistrophe, then came to a standstill before the audience and chanted the epode. This performance was repeated with each set of three stanzas. The Horatian ode (invented by the Latin poet Horace in about 65 BC) was adopted in the early 19th century by John Keats for one of his most famous poems, ‘Ode to a Nightingale'. Many modern odes, however, are irregular in form, such as ‘Intimations of Immortality' from ‘Recollections of Early Childhood' by William Wordsworth.While the ode does not necessarily have a regular metre or fixed rhyme scheme, Kit Wright's tongue-in-cheek Ode to Didcot Power Station uses both – as well as a repertoire of old-fashioned language – to parody the lofty style traditionally associated with this form. As Wright says in his introduction, â€Å"if you're going to have an ode, why not go the whole hog? † Oeuvre – A work of art, literature, music etc. Oligarchy – Government by a small group of people. Olivaceous – Of an olive colour. Onomatopoeia – Onomatopoeia is the forming and use of words and phrases to mitate or suggest the sounds they describe, such as bang, whisper, cuckoo, splash and fizz. Onomatopoeia is one of the resources of language more often used by poets than prose writers; this is because poetry is made for the ear as well as the eye, and depends more heavily than prose does on sound-effects. Spike Milligan's ‘On the Ning Nang Nong' makes heavy use of onomatopoeia, but it can play a role in classic poetry too – an example is the use of â€Å"Crash'd† to describe the noise of battle in Tennyson's ‘The Charge of the Heavy Brigade'.Opulence – Having or indicating wealth. Abundant or plentiful. Overslaugh – To pass over or disregard (a person) by giving a promotion, position, etc, to another instead. Oxymoron – Oxymoron is a figure of speech in which two terms appear to contradict each other. Some examples have become so familiar that we hardly notice the contradiction, eg deafening silence. The word comes from the Greek: oxus (‘sharp') and moros (‘foolish'). P Paladins – One of the legendary twelve peers of Charlemagne’s court. 2) A knightly champion.Parody – Parody is the imitation of the style of another work, writer or genre, which relies on deliberate exaggeration to achieve comic or satirical effect. It is usually necessary to be familiar with the original in order to appreciate the parody, though some parodies have become better known than the poems they imitate. Pastiche – A work of art that mixes styles, materials etc. 2) A work of art that imitates the style of another artist or period. Pathos – Pathos is part of a poem or other work of art which makes the reader or audience feel sorrow or pity.The Greek word pathos means ‘suffering'. Pathos is a key skill for any writer, and a highly effective feature of many poems, often in those cases where it is somewhat restrained or understated. Poetry has a special reputation for being able to move us. On the other hand, a clumsy or exaggerated attempt at pathos can result instead in bathos or over-sentimentality or make the reader feel manipulated. Pedant – A person who relies too much on academic learning or who is concerned chiefly with insignificant detail. Pedantry – The habit or an instance of being a pedant, esp. in the display of useless knowledge or minute observance of petty rules or details. Peregrinate – To travel or wander about from place to place. Peripatetic – Of or relating to the teachings of Arist otle (384-322B. C. ), Greek philosopher who used to teach whilst walking about. Peripeteia, Peripetia – (esp. in drama) an abrupt turn of events or reversal. Persona – A persona is a fictional character. Sometimes the term means the mask or alter-ego of the author; it is often used for first person works and lyric poems, to distinguish the writer of the work from the character in the work.Personification – in which a concept, idea, object or animal is given human qualities (think of every Bugs Bunny cartoon you ever saw). Perspicuity – The quality of being perspicuous. Perspicuous – (of speech or writing) – easily understood; lucid. Pertinacious – Doggedly resolute in purpose or belief; unyielding. Planchette – A heart-shaped board on wheels with a pencil attached that writes messages under supposed spirit guidance. Platitude – A trite, dull or obvious remark or statement; common place. 2 Staleness or insipidity of thoug ht or language; triteness.Pogroms – An organised persecution or extermination of an ethnic group, esp of Jews. Polemic – Of or involving dispute or controversy. Politburo – The executive and policy-making committee of a communist party. Politic – Artful or shrewd; ingenious: a politic manager. Pollard – An animal, such as a sheep or deer, that has either shed its horns or antlers or has had them removed. Polled – (of animals) having the horns cut off or being naturally hornless. Pollinosis – Technical name for hay fever. Polymath – A person of great and varied learning.Posit – To assume or put forward as fact or the factual basis for an argument; postulate. Postmodernism – Involves not only the continuation, sometimes carried to an extreme, of the countertraditional experiments of modernism, but also attempts to break away form the modernist forms which had, inevitably, become conventional, as well as to overthrow the elitism of modernist â€Å"high art† by recourse to the models of â€Å"mass culture† in film, television, newspaper cartoons, and popular music. Prescience – nowledge of events before they take place; foresight. Presentiment – A sense of something about to happen.Probabilistic – Gives us a sample that seems most probable; it gives us a slice of life; it makes sure we feel this is a typical representation of the world therefore when they do something out of the norm it is significant. (Humanist tradition = man is the measure of all things). Realism creates situations where humans control everything; otherwise it exceeds the realms of probability. Prolepses – Slowing down/ speeding up of events and other distortions of the linear sequence. Prolix – Wordy, extending to great length. 2) Tending to speak or write at excessive length.Propitious – Presenting favourable circumstances or conditions. 2) Favourably inclinded; gracio us; benevolent. Prose poetry – A prose poem is a poem that does not use line breaks. This still allows the poet to use alliteration, metaphor, ambiguity, personification, and many other poetic techniques, but it can still be strange to see a poem that goes all the way to the right-hand margin. One thing that may differentiate a prose poem from a very short story is that the latter will have a stronger preference for narrative than the former, but this is very much debatable.John Ashbery's ‘For John Clare' is a good example, one that explores the contrast between openness and containment; as John Clare was a poet who was devoted to nature, but locked in an asylum, it could be suggested that it is very appropriate to see the subject explored without the containment that line-endings would give. Prosody – The study and notation of metre. Protagonist – The protagonist is the main character, who is not necessarily a hero or a heroine. The antagonist is the oppo nent; the antagonist may be society, nature, a person, or an aspect of the protagonist.The antihero, a recent type, lacks or seems to lack heroic traits. Providence – Is the idea that good can come out of evil. Purulent – Of relating to, or containing pus. Q R Raucous – (of voices or cries) Harshly or hoarsely load. Reactionary – Reactionist – of relating to or characterised by reaction, esp against radical political or social change. Realism – Realistic fiction is said to oppose Romanticism. The romance is said to present life as we would have it be – more picturesque, fantastic, adventurous, or heroic than actuality; realism is said to present life as it really is.Realistic fiction is written to give the effect that it represents real life and the social world as it appears to the common reader, evoking the sense that the characters actually exist, and that such things might actually happen. Techniques used include the use of the â €˜commonplace everyday setting,’ represented in minute detail. Events, whether ordinary or extraordinary are all rendered in the same matter-of-fact, circumstantial and seemingly unselective way. Recondite – Difficult to understand; abstruse. ) concerned with obscure subject matter. Refrain – A refrain is a repeated part of a poem, particularly when it comes either at the end of a stanza or between two stanzas. Sebastian Barker's ‘The Uncut Stone' has a traditional refrain, consisting of two rhymed sentences that never change at the end of each stanza; James Fenton uses a slightly looser type of refrain in ‘In Paris With You', where the title returns at the end of almost every stanza, but with slight additions so that it continues the sentence of which it is a part.Some forms, such as villanelles, demand a refrain as part of their definitions. With every line repeated, a pantoum might be said to be made entirely of refrains, but this would be an u nusual usage, as refrains tend to be thought of as a moment of repetition within an otherwise flowing poem. Regicidal – The person who kills a king. Regicide – The killing of a king. Requiem – A mass celebrated for the dead – 2 – Any piece of music composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person or persons.Rhyme – Rhyme is the repetition of the end-sounds of words. Examples include Valerie Bloom's use of â€Å"tramp† and â€Å"camp† in ‘The River', Roger McGough's use of â€Å"breath† and â€Å"death† in ‘Oxygen', and Peter Porter's rhyme of a single-syllable word with a polysyllable, â€Å"stars† with â€Å"particulars†, in ‘So, Francis, Where's the Sun? ‘. Each of these is an example of end-rhyme, which means the rhyme occurs at the end of a line, but rhyme can also happen within a line, where it is known as internal rhyme.A rhyme on a stressed syllable, as in the examp les above, is sometimes referred to as ‘masculine rhyme'; its counterpart, feminine rhyme, is made up of a stressed syllable followed by one or more unstressed syllables, such as â€Å"fishes† and â€Å"wishes† in Charles Causley's ‘At the British War Cemetery, Bayeux'. These near-exact repetitions of end-sounds are known as full rhyme (sometimes as perfect, true or exact rhyme).There are also various forms of near-rhymes (half-rhymes, slant-rhymes, pararhymes), which are not exact repetitions, but are close enough to resonate, as David Harsent's use of â€Å"supper† and â€Å"blubber† as rhymes in ‘Marriage: XVI', or P J Kavanagh's â€Å"happy† / â€Å"Cavafy† in ‘Perfection Isn't Like A Perfect Story'. Further types of rhyme include eye-rhyme, which looks like it should rhyme but doesn't (e. g. through / although), and rime riche, in which the words that rhyme sound identical (e. g. hare / hair).Rhyme can be used pu rely for its own sake, because it sounds good, but there may also be further reasons; for example, the form of terza rima has overlapping rhymes that give the poem forward motion, as in George Szirtes' ‘Preston North End', each stanza's middle line giving the rhyme for the outer two lines of the next stanza. The â€Å"breath† / â€Å"death† rhyme, noted above, is not only nice in the ears but resonates because these two concepts are linked, as they are in the poem. Ribald / Ribaldry – Coarse, obscene, or licentious, usually in a humorous or mocking way†¦ SSacrosanct – Very sacred or holy; inviolable. Sadomasochism – The combination of sadistic and masochistic elements in one person, characterised by both aggressive and submissive periods in relationships with others. Sagittal – Resembling an arrow; straight. Sagittate – Shaped like the head of an arrow (esp. , of leaves). Salacious – Lustful, lecherous. Salient †“ Prominent, conspicuous, or a striking salient feature. Sallow – (human skin) – Of an unhealthy yellow. Salutary – Salubrious (healthy) – producing good effects; beneficial. Saprozoic – (of animals or plants) – feeding on dead organic matter.Sardonic – Characterised by satire, mockery, or derision (sardonically). Sasquatch – (In Canadian folklore) – In British Columbia, a hairy beast or manlike monster said to leave huge footprints. Scansion – The individual metrical pattern of a particular line or poem. Schism – The division of a group into opposing factions. 3 Division within or separation from an established church especially the Roman Catholic Church, not necessarily involving differences in doctrine. Self-reflexive – A term applied to literary works that openly reflect upon their own processes of artful composition; how they are written put together.Senescence / senescent – 1) Growing Old 2) Characteristic of old age. Sententious – Characterised or full of aphorisms, terse, pithy sayings, or axioms, tending to indulge in pompous moralising. Sentient / Sentience – Having power of sense perception or sensation, conscious. Sestina – A sestina is a form that uses six six-line stanzas, each using the same six words at the end of its lines in different orders, followed by an envoi of three lines using two of those words to each line. They tend to be written in iambic pentameter, and without rhyme.Later sestinas sometimes allow homophones – such as ‘hare' and ‘hair' – for the repeat words, or even looser interpretations. Simile – (The use of) an expression comparing one thing with another, always including the words ‘as' or ‘like'. (noun) Sjuzhet – How the events are arranged and related to the narrative sequence. Solecism – The non-standard use of a grammatical construction. 2) A violation of good manners. Solipsism / solipsist / solipsistic – Philosophy – the extreme form of scepticism which denies the possibility of any knowledge other than one’s own existence. onnet – A sonnet, in English poetry, is a poem of fourteen lines, usually in iambic pentameter, that has one of two regular rhyme schemes – although there are a couple of exceptions, and years of experimentation that have loosened this definition. One of these schemes is known as the Petrarchan, after the Italian poet Petrarch; it consists of a group of eight lines, rhymed abbaabba, followed by a group of six lines with different rhymes. The distribution of these rhymes can vary, including cdcede, cdecde, cdedce, or even cdcdcd.Often, at the point where the eight-line section, known as the octave, turns into the six-line section, or sestet, there is a volta, from the Italian for ‘turn' – this is a shift in the poem's tone, subject or logic that gains power from (or demands? ) the matching shift in its structure. The Shakespearean sonnet breaks into three quatrains, followed by a couplet, rhymed abab cdcd efef gg – as the name suggests, this is the form Shakespeare used for his sonnets, although he did not invent it. In Shakespeare's usage, the three quatrains tend to make an argument in three stages, which the couplet will sum up or comment on.The main exceptions are the curtal sonnet, a form invented by Gerard Manley Hopkins that roughly maintains the 8:6 ratio over a ten-and-a-half line poem, and the Meredithian sonnet of 16 lines. The fact that these are still referred to as a curtal and a Meredithian sonnet, however, shows that they are not (yet? ) considered sonnets per se. There are also innumerable individual exceptions to the form – a poet may refer to a poem as a sonnet because it meets some of the descriptions above, or even just because s/he says so.This means that calling a poem a sonnet is not necessarily to defi ne it strictly, but to say that it stands in relation to the long tradition of sonnets. Specious – Apparently correct or true, but actually wrong or false. 2 Deceptively attractive in appearance. Spelunker – A person whose hobby is the exploration of caves. Spurious – Not genuine or real. 2 Having the appearance of another part but differing from it in origin (of plants). Stanza – A stanza is a group of lines within a poem; the blank line between stanzas is known as a stanza break.Like lines, there is no set length to a stanza or an insistence that all stanzas within a poem need be the same length. However, there are names for stanzas of certain lengths: two-line stanzas are couplets; three-lines, tercets; four-lines, quatrains. (Rarer terms, like sixains and quatorzains, are very rarely used. ) Whether regular or not, the visual effect and, sometimes, the aural effect is one of uniting the sense of the stanza into one group, so poets can either let their sentences fit neatly within these groups, or create flow and tension by enjambing across the stanza breaks.Stentorian – (of the voice) uncommonly loud. Stress – Stress is the emphasis that falls on certain syllables and not others; the arrangement of stresses within a poem is the foundation of poetic rhythm. The process of working out which syllables in a poem are stressed is known as scansion; once a metrical poem has been scanned, it should be possible to see the metre. By way of example, the word â€Å"produce† can be pronounced with the stress on either syllable – a farmer may proDUCE carrots, which a greengrocer will sell as PRODuce.Similarly, the differently placed stress is what separates the English and American pronunciations of â€Å"defence†. Longer words may have more than one stress – â€Å"photography†, for example, is stressed on both ‘-tog-‘ and ‘-phy'. In some places, including the Oxford English Di ctionary, a difference is drawn between

The Problems of British Society

There are many issues the British society is facing, it is not a perfect society. British society just like Chinese society,European society and American society have positive things but also some problems that need to solved. British society is not perfect, it means it has a lot of issues. We need to look at them in order to find out what problems are and also suggest some methods. This essay will discuss three important issues, firstly, we are going to discuss that waves of immigration brings tension and stress to UK.Then, it will states the social crisis from population aging. Finally, it will look at how the monarchy affects British society and presents some arguments for abolishment. â€Å"Immigration is regarded by the public as the biggest problem facing British society, a major new survey taking stock of the state of the country reveals †(Boffey, 2013). Many people think that conflict between settlers and persons born in Britain is the principal reason of division.Boff ey (2013) makes the point that during the past twenty years, both immigration and emigration grew rapidly,the number of people going in Britain is more 100,000 than leaving Britain annually since 1998. According to modood & Sault (2013),â€Å"Large-scale population flows into and out of a nation have many social and economic implications†. Therefore, it gave rise to a set of implications at national and local levels, for example,the allocation of the welfare state, degrees of concentration on health and educational provision, unemployment or skill shortages.In this situation, the speed of control and number of immigrants is necessary, the immigrant restrictionism should be made correctly. There are some suggestions have been provided, such as immigrants must learn to speak English, the governments use BELTS to process immigration and student visa applications . Actually it is a test that checks out your proficiency in English language. Only those people who have sufficient ab ility to pass the test can have quality to stay in UK. Similarity, the welfare state should be open to those born abroad who have contributed to society and play by the rules.In my opinion, it is a good method to relieve stress effectively from immigrants in the UK. Secondly, let us have a look at aging population in the UK. According to the BBC News (2013), â€Å"The UK is ‘woefully underprepared’ for the social and economic challenges presented by an ageing society, a Lords committee has warned†. (BBC, 2013). An ageing population problem is when a country has a high percentage of old generation people. The problem may lead to a series of crises in public service provision.Drabble said: â€Å"From 2010 to 2030 there is expected to be a 50% increase in people aged 65 and over and the UK is by in no position to cope unless significant changes are made, according a special inquiry by the House of Lords†. (Drabble, 2013) The Royal Geographical Society (2013) summaries two megatrends causing these demographic changes, the first reason is low / declining fertility rate. Women have been having fewer children during the past 40years; though birth rates have grown in a bit in the past 20 years. In Britain, women are presently having 1.9 children,the highest figure since 1973,but far lower than 1964. The second reason is rising longevity. Individuals have longer lifetime benefits from improvements in diet, health and preventative health care. In the 20th century, the average life span added up by 30 years. With the elderly being the fastest growing age group in UK, it will create increasingly force in healthcare and social services. According to BBC (2013),†Peers said significant changes in pensions, health care and employment practices were needed to help people ‘sustain a good quality of life’ as they aged†.Thus, the state should assist people in later life was a priority. There are some suggestions has been raisen from Royal geographical society (2013), for example, raise the age of retirement, sustain or increase levels of migration-to help fill labor /skills gaps and improve financial planning for older age by increasing older people’s incomes and reducing costs for older people. Some people argue that spending money on the elderly is a waste of money, it is better to spend on the young who can still contribute to society.However, this is the fact that the elderly ever contributed the nation when they were young. Therefore, the problem of the elderly must not be neglected. In my opinion, these suggestions are effective to solve these social problems? Finally, we will discuss the monarchy in UK. â€Å"Calls for the U. K. to abolish the monarchy and become a republic are ever-present†(Khazan, 2013), this is because there are some problems produce from the monarchy. Firstly, the monarchy is a waste of taxpayers money. According to Buckingham Palace, Ithas been acknowledged that s ustaining the royal family costs Britons 53 pence, or about 81 cents, per person, per year. The total came to about 33. 3 million pounds (about $51. 1 million) for 2012-2013, according to the Palace, up from 32. 4 million pounds the previous year (Khazan, 2013). Therefore, the public are confused to this money is given to them instead of being given to support troop or fund hospitals. And it is enough to pay for thousands of teachers, nurses or polices officers at a time of sweeping public spending cuts.(Smith, 2012) However, it has been argued by Cole that â€Å"Britain’s royal family is an affordable indulgence†. (Cole, 2011) â€Å"Britain’s royal family is worth a staggering ?44 billion as a brand, according to a new study. †(Thornhill,2012) This is no doubt that the monarchy’s quality brings in heaps of tourism revenue, millions of tourists come to England to see the Monarchy per year, and many ships in London thrive on tourism. Although there are some benefits from the monarchy, there are still some suggestions on abolishment exist. Because in the past, the monarchy was the dominant power in UK.Nowadays, all affairs are solved by the British government, and the monarchy has no place in UK anymore. There are other methods have been suggested to solve, such as make a vote too decide whether to abolish the monarchy according to the opinion of the public. In my opinion, it may be not an effective method to solve by soliciting public opinion. In conclusion, it has been discussed which three key problems are influencing the British society. These problems are about immigrants, aging population and monarchy. For immigrants, the method of group of control by setting the level is used to solve the problem.For Aging population, it is inevitable cultural phenomenon with the development of economy and technology, it has been suggested to sustain the elderly quality of life as central concentration by improving financial planning. At last, whether to maintain the royal family has been suggested to decide by making a vote in the public. Among these methods, I think solutions on issues of immigrants and aging population are effective. But for the monarchy, I think the opinion of the public may be not decisive factor to abolish the royal family.

An Analysis of Langston Hughess Poetry

An Analysis of Langston Hughess Poetry Essay Two of Mr.. Hughes poems, l, too and Democracy, one expresses feelings from an African American mans point of view at a time when they werent allowed to have a voice to have a point of view. The other poem basically saying they would never see democracy with the huge cloud of injustice that rises. In Hughes poem l, Too, the speaker is not an individual as the word l implies. In fact, the l represents the African-Americans as a whole living in the United States. Hughes also writes l am he darker brother instead of we are the darker brothers is no accident. The use of the word l as to not using we are words of a lonely individual, who doesnt see a winning chance. The speaker says They send me to eat in the kitchen, enforcing they are the enemies. As used in this poem, the first-person voice highlights the weakness of the African-American people. However, this is not the only way that Hughes uses l in his poetry. The speaker claims that he, too, sings America. He is the darker brother who is sent to eat in the kitchen when there are guests visiting. However, he does laugh and he eats well and grows bigger and stronger. Tomorrow, he will sit at the table when the guests come, and no one will dare to tell him to eat in the kitchen. They will see his beauty and be ashamed, for, as he claims, l, too, am America. The poet is trying to elaborate the feeling of being seen as nothing to taking it day by day, and becoming something to unapproved eyes. Hughes published l, Too, Sing America in 1945, a good ten years or so before the start of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. Racism and prejudice was normal in the US at the beginning of the 20th century much more than they are now and so Hughes poem envisions a day in which whites and blacks will eat at the table together, in which black citizens will be truly classified as equal Americans. In the poem, Democracy Longs expresses that democracy will never come during his time living or ever. He feels that he has as much a right as a citizen to have property just as the next person does. He gets tired of seeing peoples attitudes, such as a whatever happens happens attitude. It is no surprise that democracy in the United States was nonexistent in the early sass and throughout the Jim Crow era, when blacks had no rights. Democracy back then was Just a label not reality and outright biased. Government rule by the people consisted of whites only, excluding all African Americans. In Longs Hughes case, he knows that by birth hes an American citizen. But as a black man in the pre-Civil Rights United States, he sure isnt being treated like one. So somethings got to change. l, Too, Sing America reminisces back to the days of slavery, when African Americans were supposed to be non-visible abort, not actual human beings. The implication of this poem is that not a whole lot has changed since then. In conclusion, Can anyone blame a man for having such a negative view on democracy while living in a racist society? Absolutely not! Thousands of Black Americans had the same feelings. In reality, democracy was one-sided, for blacks were not allowed to be involved with any decision making, voicing of an opinion, etc. Freedom and equality summarize the entire poem, which is what Hughes wanted at the time, to have basic equality for all.

Discuss the relationship between the design of religious architecture Essay - 1

Discuss the relationship between the design of religious architecture and the interests and requirements of the religious tradition associated with it - Essay Example This paper will provide more insight into this analogy through discussing four historical religious architectures: the Altar of Zeus, Egyptian pyramids, Suleymaniye Mosque and St. Peter’s Basilica. The Altar of Zeus was for ancient Greeks, Egyptian pyramids were created by ancient Egyptians, Suleymaniye Mosque was for Muslims and the Basilica was designed by Romans. The Altar of Zeus provides a good Hellenistic Greek sculpture example, which was built between 166 and 156 BCE. The altar is crafted with art and sculpture, which depicts narrations. The Gigantochamy frieze, which adorns the base of the altar, has at least 100 distinct panels that show combats between gods and giants. Here, one connects with the Greek legend where Zaas decided to abandon Gaia’s after the new gods (led by Zeus and in support by Zaas) defeated the old gods (led by Cronus). The East Frieze sculpture, on the other hand, constitutes significant Olympic gods such as Hecate, Artemis, Zeus, Athena and Ares. In the same way, the north, south and west frieze sculptures continue with sculptural and relief narrations of various Greek gods.1 The altar, also known as the Altar of Pergamon, stands at 115 feet in width and 110 feet in depth. The altar was accessible through a stairway, from the west, which led up to a roofed hall extending to the front and sides of the altar . This alter is very important to the people, who regard it highly and its highly respected. It has been in existence for quite a long time and many people have high regard for the alter. Due to this fact, the alter of Pergamon is well preserved or taken care of. Ancient Egyptian pyramids held similar themes in architectural designs. The pyramids were erected on the west bank of the Nile. This was in accordance with Egypt’s religious doctrine which stated that the dead should rest where the sun sets.2 In addition, most pyramids were covered with limestone, which was meant to give them a shiny

Global Warming Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Global Warming - Essay Example His claim is based on the fact that man has the ability to create artificial tropical living conditions through warm clothing and heated offices and homes. The species too are threatened not by the climate change but by the destruction of the habitat such as deforestation. The climate according to this biologist is being used as a scapegoat to divert the attention from other environmental crimes. Warming temperatures promote biodiversity – the warmer the regions is the more diverse its species. The greenhouse effect could help improve biodiversity in the long run. Reichholf explains that biodiversity reached its peak a few million years ago when it was much warmer than it is today. In fact when the ice ages came and the temperatures dropped, species became extinct especially in the north. In warmer climates species receives new habitats. In warmer climates survival is easier. At the same time consensus is growing among scientists, governments and businesses that something must be done to combat the climate change. The nation’s largest utility companies have been forced to ensure that they reduce the emissions of the gas that are believed to be warming the earth as it threatens the economy, the health, the natural resources and the children’s future (Business Week, 2004). The Bush Administration does not believe that the Kyoto protocol and the mandatory curbs would help the situation; it would on the contrary cripple the economy and hence advise new low-carbon technologies. The scientists do not foresee any danger because the planet is only going to be slightly warmer and there is nothing that can avoid it. The scientists claim that carbon dioxide and other gases act like the roof of a greenhouse. Energy from the sun can pass through easily and some of the warmth that would be naturally radiated back remains trapped, thereby warming the plan et. If

Project Postmortem Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Project Postmortem - Essay Example The training session’s goals were effectively completed as per the two day schedule. At the end of the session all the participant had acquired the expected skills and proved to be competitive in their work execution. During the session however, there were some changes that occurred to the schedule in that we had to stop the training session for six ours due to the delay in arrival of some training equipment. We however solved this loss of time by extending the training sessions by some few hours into the night. The two day training session was of high quality as can be seen by the massive improvement in the performance of the trained employees. This has been seen by the large volume of the company’s products that are being produced every day. The number of errors and unintended mistakes by the employees have been greatly reduced. We there recommend for frequent similar training sessions to improve on the productivity of this company (Jackie L,

Journalism, Mass Media and Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Journalism, Mass Media and Communication - Essay Example The occupation of journalism, though, holds a very different perspective about what language is which creates serious concerns for the people that read or watch the news. Most journalists conduct their jobs with hardly any concern being given to the importance of language to the consumer of the news. Most journalists sub-consciously or consciously accept the view of language as a clear channel through which word-ideas are effortlessly sent to a viewer or reader who then experiences reality as the words of the news article depicts them. Even today, references are made about the â€Å"post-9/11† and â€Å"pre-9/11† world. This shows that the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 had an enormous impact on the world as a whole. Following the attack, the then American president, George W. Bush, made use of words that would help in convincing the American public to support the American invasion of Afghanistan. Many of President Bush’s statements like â€Å"Whether we bring our foes to justice or justice to our foes, justice will be done†, were played many times in various news networks, thus allowing Americans to become familiar with this rhetoric (Streissguth, 2006). As has been noted by detractors of the war in previous essays, this ambiguous language permitted the president to frame the attackers as well as Osama bin Laden as both wrongdoers who had to be eliminated through military means, and was a precursor to his unmatched and highly criticized â€Å"War on Terror† (Pyszczynski, Solomon and Greenberg, 2003). ... Following the September 11 terrorist attacks, the American news media began determined to create an adequate response to the supposedly unprovoked attack. In order to comprehend why the American public started to believe that all Arab nations were anti-American, it is vital to evaluate the media tactics of American news outlets around that time. To some extent, American citizens of bygone as well as recent generations have always enjoyed a life of relatively more peace than is enjoyed by the citizens of other nations. Virtually every other nation in the world is well acquainted with the horrors of being invaded by other, more powerful states. While America had its navy bombarded at Pearl Harbour in the Second World War, the last time enemy elements actually invaded American territory in large numbers was in 1814. As such, the memory or threat of invasions is not a part of American myths or thoughts. Its tremendous arsenal of weapons has long allowed America to be able to enjoy peace even when other nations were constantly tested by ruthless neighbours. Instead of prompting a grateful disposition, this quality in the past stimulated self righteousness and self absorption on the part of American citizens. For example, America has in the past assumed the right to â€Å"bring enlightenment† to countries that it perceives as being ‘backwards’ or undeveloped. Even the comparative division of the world in terms of â€Å"first† or â€Å"third† world nations is an American creation. American news correspondents have confessed to being amazed when they compare how much more the rest of the world is aware of current world events to the fact that most Americans are only aware of what happens in America because they deem

The Greater Common Good by Arundhati Roy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Greater Common Good by Arundhati Roy - Essay Example The one conclusion that follows from these texts is that the natural wealth of the third world nations can only be saved by cleansing their political system. This will reduce their dependence on the developed nations and will allow them to use their natural wealth for supporting a long term and inclusive development. The excerpt â€Å"Deficits: Indebtedness and Unfair Trade† from Wangari Maathai’s book The Challenge for Africa and the open online essay The Greater Common Good by Arundhati Roy discuss the continual plundering of the natural wealth of the third world nations by both the exploitative developed nations and the greedy elements in power within these nations. These texts explain as to how the developed nations and the corrupt politicians and policy makers in the developing nations cooperate with each other to benefit from the corrupt exploitation of the natural resources in these countries. Wangari Maathai was a well known environmental activist from Kenya. Sh e started the Green Belt Movement that played an important role in the area of environment, conservation and women empowerment in Africa. Wangari Maathai work was recognized and she was awarded the Noble Peace Prize in 2004. Arundhati Roy is a reputed Indian author who is also associated with political and environmental activism in India. She has been closely associated with the Narmada Dam agitation. Hence, there is no doubt that the views expressed by both these writers regarding the plundering of natural resources.

Hip Hop Genre Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Hip Hop Genre - Essay Example He ventured into other business sectors, primarily in the fashion and media industries and has reaped huge dividends. His efforts o take the music from the streets to the airwaves was a resounding success. His contribution is still felt to date and has caused the immense wealth being displayed by the musicians. His business investment methods have been copied by heavyweights such as Jay Z, P Diddy and 50 Cent (vh1, 2007). Unfortunately, the freedom of expression promoted by hip-hop gave way to a negative expression channel, the use and glorification of violence, sex and drugs in lyrics. The demeaning use of women as sexual objects whose aim is to get pecuniary advantage from the rappers is a main concern. Ayanna (2008) states that: "images are shown to go along with a lot of the explicit lyrics that commonly contain name calling to suggest that women are not worth anything more than money, if that. Women are described as being only good for sexual relations by rappers who describe their life as being that of a pimp." This disrespect of women has had feminists on the rampage for years. Another vice promoted is the violence culture. The prolific growth of popularity of this culture is due to the exploitative use by record labels to make more bucks from their popularity. This phenomenon occurred during the 1990's when hip-hop became a cash cow and "gangsta rap" started. Real life "beef" was used to emotionally attach the listeners to the lyrical content. This was in contrast to the original message of hip hop, to distract youth from rowdy gang like behavior. One of the most famous incidents of violent exchange was the Biggy-Tupac feud, which resulted in both their deaths.... According to the essay "Hip Hop Genre" findings, the freedom of expression promoted by hip-hop gave way to a negative expression channel, the use and glorification of violence, sex and drugs in lyrics. The demeaning use of women as sexual objects whose aim is to get pecuniary advantage from the rappers is the main concern. Ayanna (2008) states that: â€Å"†¦images are shown to go along with a lot of the explicit lyrics that commonly contain name calling to suggest that women are not worth anything more than money if that. Women are described as being only good for sexual relations by rappers who describe their life as being that of a pimp.† This disrespect of women has had feminists on the rampage for years. Another vice promoted is the violence culture. The prolific growth of popularity of this culture is due to the exploitative use by record labels to make more bucks from their popularity. This phenomenon occurred during the 1990’s when hip-hop became a cash cow and â€Å"gangsta rap† started. Real life â€Å"beef† was used to emotionally attach the listeners to the lyrical content. This was in contrast to the original message of hip hop, to distract youth from rowdy gang like behavior. One of the most famous incidents of violent exchange was the Biggy-Tupac feud, which resulted in both their deaths. This lyric sample was taken from Tupac’s song â€Å"We Hit ‘Em Up† shows the extent of the hate that characterized their relationship. In this respect, I think these two; Biggie and Tupac were the most damaging influences in hip-hop.

Locke vs Hobbes Essay Example for Free

Locke vs Hobbes Essay Locke believed that, â€Å"human behavior came from thought which was learned and subject to the influence of reason and observation.† Locke’s main ideas were positive to the human race. He also states that humans know right from wrong, and they are intelligent enough to solve the problems in front of them and realizing what is lawful and unlawful. Locke believed, â€Å"God created man and we were, in effect, God’s property.† John Locke believes that a government should be some form of a social contract, were the people who were being ruled, had some say in the laws. According to him, men are born with the three freedoms of life, liberty, and property. A government is there to protect those rights and improve the state of nature for each individual. An illegitimate government is one who fails to protect these rights, is ruled by a supreme ruler, and does not listen to what the people who are actually being governed have to say. To make a government equal and sufficient for the human race, ideas need to be taken from all kinds of people and applied to the rights each person enjoys every day. Locke believes that an absolute ruler can be over-thrown by the people if the choices they are making neglect the many things people enjoy. Many monarch powers were arising through Europe during this time period, and John Locke was creating the ideas and reasons to downplay the power of these rulers. On the other hand, Thomas Hobbes believed that humans were naturally evil. He thought the only way to control these naturally wicked people were to hold them under a strong government. Hobbes believed in Leviathans that are powerful sea monsters, which can equally resemble the amount of power a ruler, had during this time. Thomas Hobbes fully agreed with the idea of this ruler-centered government. By giving their rights to a supreme power, individuals were believed to gain law and order. This law and order will protect the individuals’ security and benefit their empire or region as a whole. The best government was one â€Å"which could impose order and demand obedience.† So in Thomas Hobbes view, to be a successful individual you need to hand your rights to that supreme ruler of your region and be granted with the simple laws which will govern you through your life.

Singapore Assessing the impact of the regionalization strategy

Singapore Assessing the impact of the regionalization strategy Has the regionalization strategy succeeded in sustaining Singapores economic competitiveness in Asia for the period from 1995 to 2010? Explain your answer with supporting evidence. The formulation of national strategies to leverage upon global resources for economic development has always been part and parcel of Singapores drive to engender continued economic growth since independence in 1965, based upon the reallocation of economic resources via the Developmental State Model (Evans, 1995). To this end, the Singapore government engaged in foreign direct investment (FDI)-oriented growth models from the 1960s to the 1990s, investing in education, healthcare, and infrastructure to achieve economic growth and enhance the countrys economic competitiveness through the creation of a secure and pro-business environment. (Yeung, 2001) State investment on infrastructure and human capital was also seen as a means of benefiting from developmental effects such as the generation of employment, earning of foreign currency, and transfer of technological or managerial expertise (Chang, 1999). The subsequent onset of globalisation and advances in information and communication technologies (ICT) from the 1980s onwards led to structural changes among the economies of the developed world, necessitating a shift from labour-intensive, low value-added manufacturing towards high-tech, high value-added industries and financial services. At the same time, several governments in the region, including those of Malaysia and Indonesia, sought to liberalise their economies and capitalise on lower average labour, land, and raw material costs in order to attract foreign investors (Tongzon, 1998), emulating the FDI-oriented strategies adopted previously by the economies of Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. By 1990, rising labour and land costs in Singapore had led many transnational corporations to relocate their lower value-added operations to the regional newly-industrialising economies (NIEs), where overall operating costs were lower by as much as 75%. (Kumar Lee, 1991) The Singapore governments response vis-Ã  -vis this rising competition for capital investment in the industrial and manufacturing sectors was to ensure Singapores continued relevance in the new global marketplace despite her resource constraints and limited domestic market (Singapore Economic Development Board (SEDB), 1995a) by implementing new national strategies for economic development, marking the onset of the regionalisation strategy, aimed at creating an external economy through participation in the dynamic growth opportunities of regional economies in the Asia Pacific. (SEDB, 1995b). This essay aims to demonstrate that the regionalisation strategy has succeeded to a large extent in sustaining Singapores economic competitiveness in Asia for the period from 1995 to 2010, given its central role in facilitating Singapores transition from an export-oriented manufacturing centre to a knowledge-based economy and global business hub in the Asia Pacific, although it should be recognis ed that these regional initiatives do not reduce Singapores external dependence but instead augment her economic vulnerabilities. Regionalisation 2000 To harness external economic space and overcome local supply-side constraints (Regionalisation Forum Proceedings, 1993), the concept of Regionalisation 2000 was introduced in the 1990s to encourage greater investment and business in the Asia Pacific region, rationalised by the liberalisation of foreign investment controls occurring in large Asia Pacific markets such as China, Vietnam, and Indonesia, and by the high growth rates being achieved by these economies. (Okposin, 1999) Explicitly designed to enhance Singapores competitiveness within the regional and global economies (Wong Ng, 1997) given Singapores decreasing comparative advantages in the industrial and manufacturing sector due to its significantly higher labour, land, and raw material costs vis-Ã  -vis the Asian NIEs, Regionalisation 2000 consisted of programmes for creating a knowledge- and service-based economy via four main regional initiatives comprising regional headquartering, regionalisation of local enterprises, r egional investment, and regional industrialisation, with regional investments and regional industrialisation projects constituting the major transnational aspects of Singapores regionalisation drive. According to the Economic Development Board (1995), The strategic intent of the regionalization programme is to build an external economy that is closely linked to and which enhances the domestic economy by participating in the growth of Asia. This programme seeks to form a network of strategic zones in key markets with emphasis on building good linkages between our regional projects and domestic clusters. (SEDB, 1995, p. 8) The regionalisation strategy should therefore be conceptualised as an economic programme explicitly designed to carve out a new economic niche for sustaining Singapores competitiveness and relevance, particularly during a period when its former economic strength in manufacturing was being eroded by rising competition with Asian NIEs and structural changes in the world economy. In this regionalisation drive, as in prior economic development programmes, state intervention and collaboration played an important role, with the governments regional headquartering and regionalisation of local enterprises programmes representing instances of state intervention within national boundaries. Construed as the twin objectives of further internationalizing Singapores indigenous firms and assisting the transnational restructuring and cost-competitive endeavours of hosted foreign TNCs in an adaptive context (xxx), the government aimed to encourage foreign and local enterprises to invest and establish business ventures in the region, using Singapore as a headquarters for high value-added operations such as product development, customer support, and financial services. To this end, the government has invested in institutional infrastructure and the enhancement of local factors of production such as workforce quality (Ho, 2000), offering tax incentives and supporting services in its self-conceived role as stakeholder, facilitator, and partner (Perry Yeoh, 2000) to strengthen the competitive advantages of transnational corporations and domestic enterprises in their outward expansion into the region. To complement regional headquartering and the regionalisation of local enterprises, regional investment and regional industrialisation programmes were introduced to further facilitate Singapores embrace of economic globalisation through investment-driven economic growth (Porter, xxx) and economic restructuring through the relocation of local low value-added industries to Singapore-managed industrial parks in the region. Noting how some transnational corporations had been reluctant to relocate operations from Singapores secure business environment to the emerging NIEs due to a scarcity of high-quality industrial infrastructure and management (Kumar Lee, 1991), the Singapore government sought to build and manage industrial parks across Asia at locations such as Batam in Indonesia, Suzhou and Wuxi in China, at Bangalore in India, and in Thailand and Vietnam, combining Singapores expertise in industrial development with the low cost of regional land, labour, and raw materials, whilst ma ximising the use of savings and state revenue through investment in regional investments to further profit from the economic growth in Asia. Serving as interesting examples of government intervention outside of national boundaries, given their transnational nature, the governments intention to export Singapores expertise in industrial infrastructure development across the region (Perry, 1995) is therefore implicit in the regionalisation strategy, promoting regional economic linkages and the concept of Singapore Incorporated based upon close cooperation between the Singapore government and a wide range of Singapore business entities. Has the regionalization strategy succeeded in sustaining Singapores economic competitiveness in Asia for the period from 1995 to 2010? Explain your answer with supporting evidence. Regionalisation 2000- A Success? According to the Singapore Department of Statistics (2011), the first 15 years of the regionalisation drives implementation from 1995 to 2010 was characterised by overall strong GDP growth, from S$124,581.8m in 1995 to S$284,560.7m in 2010, with Singapore registering double-digit growth in 2010 from the previous year. Negative economic growth, however, occurred in the years 1998, 2001, and 2009, following poor regional or global economic performance, and this is attributable to Singapores vulnerabilities and dependence on external economies for economic growth. In terms of real economic growth, the states economic transition into a knowledge-based economy is evident from Figure 1, given the overall decreasing percentage share of manufacturing in GDP from the years 2000 to 2010, whilst business and financial services together account for approximately 22 percent of GDP as of 2010, on par with the percentage share held by manufacturing alone. FDI in Singapore has grown from strength to strength, pointing to a successful sustenance of foreign investment inflows by the governments regional headquartering strategies aimed at attracting high value-added industries and investment to enhance Singapores niche as a global business hub in the Asia Pacific. From 1995 to 2005, FDI in Singapore more than tripled from S$93b to S$311b, representing an average growth of 13% per annum, with FDI in professional, technical, administrative, and support services gaining importance and increasing from 1.7% to 3.1%. (Singapore Department of Statistics (SingStat), 2007). Europe, Asia, and North America constituted important sources of FDI, accounting for up to 82% of the total, with Asian FDI more than doubling from S$31b to S$74b (SingStat, 2007). Of this FDI, 87% was concentrated in diversified sectors such as financial and insurance services, high value-added manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, electronics, and petrochemicals, wholesale and retail trade, and hotels and restaurants, reflecting Singapores attractiveness to foreign investors as a business hub (SingStat, 2007). It can be surmised, therefore, that Regionalisation 2000 has succeeded in this regard, ensuring Singapores transformation into a regional business hub in the global market, sustaining its economic competitiveness in Asia through the creation of new economic niches in product development, customer support, and financial services for foreign and local enterprises. The other transnational aspect of Singapores regionalisation programme has, however, proved less successful. Direct investment abroad by Singapore has not managed to exceed levels of FDI in Singapore itself (Figure 3), indicating that the regional headquartering programme along with FDI were responsible to a large extent for Singapores economic growth over the past 15 years. The onset of the Asian Financial Crisis in 1998, in particular, significantly negated the regional industrialisation, regionalisation of local enterprises, and regional investment programmes, causing many projects to suffer financial loss due to a severe contraction in demand for industrial products from both consumers and producers in the region. (Henderson, 1999) Still, despite no actual reports of the regional industrialisation programme being profitable (xxx), and the absence of verifiable information on Singapores investment performance by Temasek Holdings and GIC in the long period spanning 1995 to 2010, it can be argued that the regional industrialisation programme was designed to supplement the domestic economy in the long run, since infrastructural projects require large initial investments of capital resources. The regional industrialisation programme brought about positive economic benefits, not least for those companies which relocated their lower value-added operations to the regional industrial parks, facilitating Singapores shift towards a higher-tech and higher value-added economy. In the case of the Batam Industrial Park, most of the enterprises that chose to occupy these it generally established additional units instead of shifting all operations overseas, and also tended to upgrade the remainder of their operations in Singapore (Kumar Lee, 1991) Furthermore, investors located in Singapore-developed industrial parks were reported to be highly satisfied with the operation and management of these industrial parks, especially in terms of cost savings (Kumar Lee, 1991). The regional industrialisation and regionalisation of local enterprises programmes thus served as strategic outlets for transnational and local corporations to reduce operating costs and improve profit margins, sustain ing Singapores economic competitiveness and relevance in the region to a large extent despite the limits of state intervention in transnational business environments. Instead of focusing solely on profits generated, a long-term view of Singapore Inc. indicates that it is built upon strong business fundamentals, as exemplified by the sound infrastructure and superior administration of the regional industrial parks. These offer the potential of future profits for the Singapore government in times of strong manufacturing demand for industrial products, having proven its feasibility based on the high take-up rate of industrial space in Singapore-developed industrial parks prior to the crisis, and growing demand for industrial units after 1999 (xxx). Evaluating Regionalisation 2000- A Success to a Large Extent Singapores regionalisation drive has therefore exposed her external dependence and vulnerabilities with regards to the external economic environment, which most negatively affected the regionalisation programme, rather than failings in the strategy itself. In contrast to the domestic success of the regional headquartering programmes in attracting FDI to Singapore, the experience of Singapores regionalisation strategy overseas has shown that the achievement of national competitiveness in the global economy cannot be brought about by the states policies and support alone, with the external environment and availability of global opportunities playing an equally important role, given the states limitations in economic, political, and social resources, and factors beyond its control in the regional economy and investor confidence. The Suzhou Industrial Park, in particular, has often been alluded to as an example of a foreign venture gone wrong, with the Singapore government divesting its ownership and management of the Park to the Suzhou municipal authorities. Much media attention has also been devoted to the financial losses incurred by Temasek Holdings in foreign investments and acquisitions, and these notable examples further demonstrate that the success of Singapores regionalisation drive does depend to a large extent on international economic cycles. The regionalisation strategy, though, has succeeded to a large extent in sustaining Singapores economic competitiveness in Asia for the years 1995 to 2010, mainly due to its success in ensuring Singapores continued relevance in the global economy by exploiting new economic niches. The overseas regionalisation initiatives hold the promise of success given their strong fundamentals, and possess potential for much greater returns, if not much greater risks, and are instrumental in Singapores embrace of economic globalisation if she desires not to be out-competed by NIEs in the region. Indeed, the main thrust of Singapores economic development since independence has been to thrive in change, and the overall success of the regionalisation programme is reflected in Singapores been ranked the worlds easiest place to do business. Singapore, too, is ranked among the top few when it comes to cities with best investment potential, foreign trade and investment, business legislation and efficiency, quality of human capital, and minimal corruption. (SEDB, 2011) To further sustain and improve its regional economic competitiveness in the years ahead would require Singapore to further improve its attractiveness to foreign FDI, given its success so far, particularly in the services sector, which is still relatively underdeveloped, and regional tourism, which is also seeing success since the opening of the two Integrated Resorts, with overall visitor numbers to Singapore increasing and reaching a peak of approximately 11m in 2010 (SingStats, 2011), indicating its potential. The years from 1995 to 2010 have also afforded the government extensive opportunities to adapt and modify its transnational investment strategies for maximal success in differing socio-political environments, allowing future success. Conclusion Singapore has, over the years, proven itself capable of mobilising economic, social, and political resources to create economic space, despite its resource constraints and small domestic market. Through regionalisation, it has managed to tap into the lower land, labour, and raw material costs of neighbouring NIEs in the region, ensuring its economic dominance through export of the Singapore Inc. concept throughout Asia and the world, making Singapore a top choice for transnational and local enterprises to do business today. The regionalisation strategy has therefore succeeded to a large extent in sustaining Singapores regional economic competitiveness since its onset, despite the cultural and political complexities of external economies diminishing the efficiency and commercial viability of overseas ventures in tandem with the uncontrolled external environment. These difficulties, however, are outweighed by the potential successes these ventures can bring if the Singapore government manages to learn from its errors, successfully creating an external economy which serves as a launching pad for Singapore into the global economy.