t Laughed, I Would Have Cried

I was indestructible. I was ruthless. I broke out, hurling a flurry of precise, mastered and skilful kicks. Each kick grew in supremacy, as I glared at my opponent’s face: grief stricken and glazed with unmistakable distress. Each kick neared her towards tasting the bitterness of a palpable defeat. Rhapsody enticed my face as I smirked mercilessly. I emerged from under the bedclothes and encountered the mottled morning light. Today was the day my dreams would become reality. I had always harboured a competitive streak but I was not always good at actually realising it. This was to be my first Taekwondo competition and the desire to win was overwhelming. I affectionately selected my loose white uniform that hung alongside my green school dress. Each Sunday morning for the past twelve months I had religiously swapped the academic rigidity of school for the physical rigidity of Taekwondo and noticed that even now, the whiteness of my uniform was a little dulled and the threads slightly frayed, revealing the chronic blows that it had suffered. Two badges were sewn onto the front by unorthodox and jagged black threads, visibly overlapping the stark whiteness of my uniform. Each badge bore the fist of a martial artist and was intended to highlight strength, skill and indomitable spirit. However, despite the air of sophistication emitted by the badges, my clumsy Year 10 stitching defeated their purpose as being signs of professionalism. My transformation was almost complete. I picked up my belt and placed it around my waist, cautious to avoid any untidy overlapping. Tying a taut knot, the two remaining straps were left to suspend freely, yet, their presence did nothing except weigh heavily on my pride. I was a yellow belt, a mere novice, and felt demeaned by such a lowly status. Nevertheless I managed to reassure myself, this was to be the final day I would have to endure the humiliation of this sallow shade. I surveyed my ref... 't Laughed, I Would Have Cried Free Essays on If I Hadn\'t Laughed, I Would Have Cried I was indestructible. I was ruthless. I broke out, hurling a flurry of precise, mastered and skilful kicks. Each kick grew in supremacy, as I glared at my opponent’s face: grief stricken and glazed with unmistakable distress. Each kick neared her towards tasting the bitterness of a palpable defeat. Rhapsody enticed my face as I smirked mercilessly. I emerged from under the bedclothes and encountered the mottled morning light. Today was the day my dreams would become reality. I had always harboured a competitive streak but I was not always good at actually realising it. This was to be my first Taekwondo competition and the desire to win was overwhelming. I affectionately selected my loose white uniform that hung alongside my green school dress. Each Sunday morning for the past twelve months I had religiously swapped the academic rigidity of school for the physical rigidity of Taekwondo and noticed that even now, the whiteness of my uniform was a little dulled and the threads slightly frayed, revealing the chronic blows that it had suffered. Two badges were sewn onto the front by unorthodox and jagged black threads, visibly overlapping the stark whiteness of my uniform. Each badge bore the fist of a martial artist and was intended to highlight strength, skill and indomitable spirit. However, despite the air of sophistication emitted by the badges, my clumsy Year 10 stitching defeated their purpose as being signs of professionalism. My transformation was almost complete. I picked up my belt and placed it around my waist, cautious to avoid any untidy overlapping. Tying a taut knot, the two remaining straps were left to suspend freely, yet, their presence did nothing except weigh heavily on my pride. I was a yellow belt, a mere novice, and felt demeaned by such a lowly status. Nevertheless I managed to reassure myself, this was to be the final day I would have to endure the humiliation of this sallow shade. I surveyed my ref...

Definition and Examples of Jargon

Definition and Examples of Jargon Jargon refers to the specialized language of a professional or occupational group. While this language is often useful or necessary for those within the group, it is usually meaningless to outsiders. Some professions have so much jargon of their own that it has its own name; for example, lawyers use legalese, while academics use academese. Jargon is also sometimes known as lingo or argot. A passage of text that if full of jargon is said to be jargony. Key Takeaways: Jargon Jargon is the complex language used by experts in a certain discipline or field. This language often helps experts communicate with clarity and precision. Jargon is different from slang, which is the casual language used by a particular group of people. Critics of jargon believe such language does more to obscure than clarify; they argue that most jargon can be replaced with simple, direct language without sacrificing meaning. Supporters of jargon believe such language is necessary for navigating the intricacies of certain professions. In scientific fields, for instance, researchers explore difficult subjects that most laypeople would not be able to understand. The language the researchers use must be precise because they are dealing with complex concepts (molecular biology, for example, or nuclear physics) and simplifying the language might cause confusion or create room for error. In Taboo Language, Keith Allan and Kate Burridge argue that this is the case: Should jargon be censored?  Many people think it should.  However,  close examination of jargon shows that, although some of it is vacuous pretentiousness...its proper use is both necessary and unobjectionable. Critics of jargon, however, say such language is needlessly complicated and in some cases even deliberately designed to exclude outsiders. American poet David Lehman has described jargon as the verbal sleight of hand that makes the old hat seem newly fashionable. He says the language gives an air of novelty and specious profundity to ideas that, if stated directly, would seem superficial, stale, frivolous, or false. In his famous essay Politics and the English Language, George Orwell argues that obscure and complex language is often used to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind. Jargon vs. Slang Jargon should not be confused with slang, which is informal, colloquial language sometimes used by a group (or groups) of people. The main difference is one of register; jargon is formal language unique to a specific discipline or field, while slang is common, informal language that is more likely to be spoken than written. A lawyer discussing an amicus curiae brief is an example of jargon. A teen talking about making dough is an example of slang. List of Jargon Words Jargon can be found in a variety of fields, from law to education to engineering. Some examples of jargon include: Due diligence: A business term, due diligence refers to the research that should be done before making an important business decision.AWOL: Short for absent without leave, AWOL is military jargon used to describe a person whose whereabouts are unknown.Hard copy: A common term in business, academia, and other fields, a hard copy is a physical printout of a document (as opposed to an electronic copy).Cache: In computing, cache refers to a place for shorts of detritivores include earthworms, sea cucumbers, and millipedes. Holistic: Another word for comprehensive or complete, holistic is often used by educational professionals in reference to curriculum that focuses on social and emotional learning in additional to traditional lessons.Magic bullet: This is a term for a simple solution that solves a complex problem. (It is usually used derisively, as in I dont think this plan youve come up with is a magic bullet.)Best practice: In business, a best practice is one that should be adopted because it has proven effectiveness.

Islamic Law and its Hearings and Trials Assignment

Islamic Law and its Hearings and Trials - Assignment Example Basic principles of Sharia are to see the will of God done on earth and the will is meant to bring about compassion, kindness, generosity, justice, fair play, tolerance and care in general. The basic principles of Sharia Law include the right to the protection of life, the right to the protection of the family, the right to the protection of education and the right to the protection of religion. Moreover, the principles include the right to the protection of property and the right to the protection of human dignity (Janin and AndreÃŒ  30-41: 77). Sacred law operates slightly different from the secular law because the sacred law only applies to members of a particular religion, for instance, Islamic religion. However, secular law is superior to the sacred law and is applicable to a wider geographical region and on different people regardless of their religion. Moreover, a sacred law is only enforceable by the people belonging to a particular religion who may handle both civil and criminal cases of a particular religion. Most of the laws are created based on specific religious principles. Sharia Law, for example, is created as per Prophet Mohammed’s teachings and the Quran. The sacred law must always be consistent with the superior secular law. Secular law is made by the judges or created by the legislators and are found in every country worldwide. The judges or makers of the secular law only requires formal education and must not always belong to a certain group of religion. Because the society changes, laws also change to reflect the values of the people it governs. It is apparent that people’s’ values and ways of life change and the law is required to accommodate such kind of changes.  The attitudes and values of should be democratically reflected in the law. However, some laws do not change because they always remain relevant to the society’s way of life and values.

Accomplishments Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Accomplishments - Essay Example It was she who arranged me a music class every Saturday afternoons with the little bucks she obtained from her tailoring shop. As music was my passion, I learned all the lessons that my teacher taught me with great interest and enthusiasm. It took only six months for me to master the primary notes though they were really hard to practice. But still there was a problem; I never had a guitar to practice at home. As for me, a guitar was necessary to practice the long notes and rather difficult codes. For, the time that was available for me in the music class was quite little. Attracted by my enthusiasm my teacher promised me to grant me an old guitar with which he used to practice us. I was excited to hear it from my master because, getting a guitar for my own was a priceless gift for a child like me. I practiced with it earnestly and became a little expert at the age of nine. Until I finished my studies, I never paid much thought to showing my talents to the public.

Teaching ESL Students Essay Example for Free

Teaching ESL Students Essay In the summer of 2008 I worked in a private college for girls in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. ( Due to the college’s policy, I was asked not to reveal the name of the college). This College offers continuing education and extension courses to meet the needs of women in the community for professional development and personal enrichment programs. In summer it offers a 4 week Intensive English Language Program. I was asked to teach two levels; level one and level three. In my level one class, I had a total of 9 students, and they were all Saudi’s: four of them were 15 years old, 2 of them where 11 years old, 2 were 13 years old, and one of them was 24 years old. All of them came from Saudi government schools. I met with them 5 days a week for 2 hours. The books used for the course was interchange level 1. However I also used Word by Word Picture Dictionary. Reading, writing, grammar, listening, speaking, and vocabulary were skills I taught in the program. Puzzle Area Generally, as an ESL teacher, I never use Arabic in class in order to expose students to the new language. However, I very quickly realized that the students were not responding well to my use of English only. I could see that the students felt insecure and confused. Even the simplest question â€Å"What’s your name? † was answered with head nodding or a crooked smile. So I used the Tarzan method, â€Å"I AM JANE†, but it was not effective. This response was a sign to change my method. I remembered the days in Pakistan as a child I tried to fit in while my classmates spoke Urdu and I felt like an alien lost and confused listening to gibberish from my perspective or rather trying to solve secret codes and guess what is being said. My focus automatically shifted not to learn the words but to try and understand body language. And this is what I saw in my students’ eyes i. e. they lost track of words and focused on my facial expressions and body language to try and understand what was going on. The look on their faces always seemed to say â€Å"What an earth is she saying † Thus, I puzzled over how I could best meet the needs of these very low level learners and whether or not I should use Arabic in class or not. Exploring the Puzzle Area I decided to experiment with using Arabic minimally to encourage learning English and to especially create a comfortable atmosphere for the beginners to express themselves. For instance when I introduced the vocabulary words, I allowed them to use Arabic. It was more or less a co-operative learning strategy. I gave them the word and defined it in English and some students said it out loud in Arabic helping each other understand the new words fully. Moreover, I felt the need to use Arabic myself when it came to teaching abstract vocabulary because I wanted to ensure induced errors would be avoided. I would ask my students to tell me what the word means in Arabic. Saying the word in Arabic myself was my last resort for I did it to spot check on the students and to further avoid their frustration. In grammar it was a different issue. I decided not to use Arabic, but eventually I realized it was big mistake and a waste of time. Explaining the grammar rules only in English was causing lots of problems with understanding the lesson, due to the low level of my students. I repeated the lesson many times speaking slowly with the simplest words believing that they at least understood something from the lesson. But my efforts were in vain because once I asked the class to start practicing the exercises orally, no one responded. Whereas when I used a bit of Arabic as well as English in the same lesson, it was more effective. For example, Arabic generally follows the verb- subject structure. In English, however, the general structure is subject-verb-object. So pinpointing such basic factors and presenting model sentences in both languages clarified their misuse of a simple sentence in English. Thus, the passivity in the beginning changed; the students suddenly got interested and active, and started to work in groups to combine many sentences on their own. I realized that using L1 for beginners was beneficial grammar because students could understand grammatical structures and practice their application gradually as their level improves. Teaching reading was basically an individual effort that depended on the students’ efforts. To improve their reading skills they were asked to read aloud simple passages to improve their reading and pronunciation of words. However, for critical thinking skills, I asked them to silently read paragraphs and then asked questions about the part they read to check their perception and understanding of the topic. In reading, I allowed them to use Arabic to express their thoughts about a topic, because if I depended on English alone the class would be unresponsive. Gradually, in two weeks time the class began to open up and feel comfortable with using English in their responses. For example, in a reading lesson after silently reading the passage, one of the students knew she understood the topic but admitted that she was shy and afraid to answer the questions in English. This phobia is a general problem in Saudi students especially beginners. There is a fear of being wrong or feeling embarrassed. So, the fact that she was allowed to start in Arabic and include some English was a comforting experience. A student for instance would respond with broken sentences: â€Å"exercise it about exercise†¦ † and form discussions with their classmates in Arabic and ask the teacher for the correct form of answering, mimic it, and in turn learn it. Hence, they initially began with participating in L1 but grew to use L2 too after a while. The most difficult part of L2 learning that many beginners face is writing. In the first writing class I started with the basics, such as brainstorming then classifying their ideas. The problem that arose was the students’ limited vocabulary. They were able to participate using L1 and began asking the words meanings and jotting them down. It was not an effective process because the class turned out to be a vocabulary lesson. So I had to change plans. The next class I assigned them to read short paragraphs and focus on the structure, sentence order, words meanings and punctuation. Then in class we worked on a similar paragraph but with mistakes and edited it together. The students enjoyed this activity and used L1 to tell me the mistakes and why it is wrong. Gradually, I encouraged them to copy the forms they took but with a different topic. For example, they took a paragraph about fishing, and I asked them to write about swimming. The students copied the exact paragraph with a few changes. They got to learn a lot gradually when they wrote a paragraph on their own. L1 was used minimally just as a comfort zone for discussing topics and explaining rules, and they did learn the basics of writing in L2 at the end. Students don’t ask each other about particular words and structures and get it much easier. In upper-intermediate group we talk in English and that’s not a problem we don’t have to explain vocabulary or grammar in Arabic. So it’s the matter of the language advancement in English. This way of teaching is much more efficient. Conclusion Whether to use native language when teaching ESL students is a matter of constant debate and when choosing education method the teacher should consider students’ background, their primary knowledge and their abilities to learning. It is known that the more differences between languages the most difficulties students are faced with. The same situation is observed with Arabic and English as languages are completely different. Nevertheless, from the very beginning I was against using Arabic in teaching English as, in such a way, I hoped to achieve the higher level of commitment and I expected students to learn faster. But education process showed that it is normal to use Arabic when teaching students with low level of English because many students simply didn’t respond to my speech and efforts to explain some rules. I see students were confused as they couldn’t understand what I expected from them. The method to focus on facial expression, not on learning words failed as well. When I decided to use Arabic minimally I saw that such encouragement appeared to be more effective in creating more comfortable atmosphere for students to express their ideas. Therefore-, I concluded that co-operative learning strategy is the best method of learning beginners. Native language can be used when explaining abstract vocabulary, explaining new grammar and ensuring that all rules are understandable.

Rifle Poem :: Poetry Poems

Rifle There's a crack in the air, and I'm split by the sound the moment deadly still until it's broken by another crack. A long sinuous echo hangs in the air, so physical I might try to wave it away like smoke. Then a third and fourth crack, and I'm on my feet, even though shots aren't unheard of in hunting season, these rural woods overfull with deer. But instead of this, I think of the uneven unpolished grain in the stock of my first rifle, the weight of it on the shoulder, the trigger worn dull with use. That first sighting with the left eye looking out. wandering through the sights; the feel of the bolt in the hand as it snapped back, slid forward in its path and locked, readying the cartridge as it lifts into the chamber, secured, prepared. A second snap and it's released, out into the world where only a second before there was nothing, not even stillness. And then the flood of world returns.

Margaret Atwood Essay

I came across the quote â€Å"Context is all; or is it ripeness? One or the other†[1] when reading Margaret Atwood’s novel â€Å"The Handmaid’s Tale† for English. I didn’t give it much attention, because since I was 12, I had come to the conclusion that there was no such thing as a â€Å"fact† and every thought depended on other factors for it to be true. However in this essay I’m going to see if my original assumption was true or if there is a way to reach a truth through different branches of knowledge. I’m going to take the definition of â€Å"truth† from the dictionary, solely to have a base for which to compare the rest of the essay to; â€Å"A verified or indisputable fact, proposition, principle†[2].Which means that that there are facts that are backed by evidence, such as; it is 14:24 (at the time of writing). However in this case we can apply Atwood’s ‘context is all’, and change it to â€Å"context is location†, as this scenario isn’t necessarily true, seeing that in Sydney the time is 22:25, therefore the truth can be considered relative. Relativism is a doctrine where there is no absolute truth; that truth is always relative to some particular frame of reference, such as a language or a culture[3]. Which brings up a paradox as if someone were to say â€Å"context is irrelevant† meaning the truth would remain a truth in every situation, it would contradict themselves, as that statement would be relative depending on the context. Francis Bacon’s Empiricism or otherwise known perception, is the process of arriving at the truth through sense experience.[4] People use their five senses to arrive at a truth, however depending on the context, the exact same senses can make that truth false. An example that happens to me frequently is; when I look at a shirt, to me it looks black, but then when I put it under a stronger light and look at it carefully it often turns out to be dark blue. It doesn’t mean the senses are â€Å"faulty† or can’t be trusted, but the observation; truth, arrived from the use of perception, isn’t congruent when the context is changed. Another very bizarre example that happened to me last year when I bought my new phone; is before purchasing it, I didn’t know of anybody that had one, but as soon as I had it in my pocket I started realising that a lot of people around me had it as well. Language is the use of characters, symbols, images and sounds as a means of communicating a message.[5] We assume that language is a truth, as we have a general consensus of the different characters, symbols, images and sounds in language. However once again the truth is challenged with the â€Å"context is all† axiom, where in certain cases the truth behind language doesn’t stand. My father told me the following example; when Vice-President Richard Nixon, at the end of the 1950’s was visiting Colombia, he used the commonly known â€Å"OK† hand sign, denoted with a circle formed by the thumb and the first finger, with the remaining three fingers outstretched, to which the Colombian people, thought they were being called assholes. Rene Descartes’ Rationalism is the use of reason, be it inductive or deductive to logically arrive at the truth.[6] Descartes used reason to arrive at his famous; ‘Cogito Ergo Sum’, I think therefore I am.[7] He was asking the question â€Å"How do I know I exist ?† and he deduced by no more than reason that it all boiled down to; I doubt that I exist, therefore I think, ergo I am.  When I first heard this deduction, it seemed to me that it was flawless. However I remember looking around the room I was in at the time; I realised that objects such as the chairs, tables and even trees to an extent, couldn’t deduce their existence like Descartes did, therefore according to his deduction they wouldn’t exist. Once again I came to the conclusion that context will undermine truth.