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

Ap History Compare and Contrast Essay: Egypt and Mesopotamia

Ethan Sua 10/16/10 Mr. McGrath AP World History A Compare and Contrast Essay of Egypt and Mesopotamia Egypt and Mesopotamia developed different and similar political and religious civilizations. Mesopotamian civilizations such as the Sumerians, the Akkadian kingdom, the Assyrian empire and the Babylonian city-state, were all too dependent on the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Egypt’s natural isolation and material self-sufficiency fostered a unique culture that for long periods had relatively little to do with other civilizations.Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. In politics, Mesopotamia culture created compact self-governing political units- the city-states. It was due to the geographical barriers of the rivers and rough terrains that made it impossible to unite the many different settled communities under one rule. The Nile River was the total opp osite of the rivers of Mesopotamia. These kings emerged mainly by their military status and role.Through their powers they created mechanisms such as military forces, laws, and taxations. Similarly, in Egypt, the control of wring mean control of knowledge and thus power. It is easy to see where they come to these conclusions. The Pharaoh controlled all political instruments of power and is also the authority in terms of religious beliefs. By the third millennium B. C. E. the concept of king (lugal) developed, quite possibly because of arguments about natural resources. Religious leaders decreased in power, as the power of kings increased. Although the kings subdued the temples, Mesopotamian kings did not have divine power.Political changes occurred in Mesopotamia because of the succession of people that followed the politically dominant Sumerian civilization. By 1750 B. C. E. , the written law code of King Hammurabi (the first ruler of the Old Babylonian state) , was used to maintai n political authority and continuity. In contrast to Mesopotamia, Egypt spent most of its history as a unified monarchy, whereas Mesopotamia seems to have begun as a collection of city-states (under the politically dominate rule of Sumer) and progressed to being dominated by a pair of mutually hostile powers: Assyria and Babylonia.In ancient Egypt, legendary King Menes united Upper and Lower Egypt into one nation that lasted with continuity of culture from 3,100-1070 B. C. E. with thirty dynasties. Unlike Mesopotamian kings, the Egyptian king was represented as Horus and as the son of Re, and fit into the pattern of the dead returning to life and the climatic renewing life of the sun-god. No written law code was developed in Egypt. Egypt was substantially more self-sufficient than Mesopotamia with copper and turquoise. The pharaoh governed the country through a large efficient bureaucracy.In highly urbanized Mesopotamia, central powers, and the use of written records allowed certain groups to obtain mass amounts of wealth. Male domination of the position of a scribe- an administrator or scholar charged by the temple or palace with reading and writing tasks- further complicates efforts to reconstruct the lives of women. Women were able to: own property, maintain control of their dowry, and even engage in trade but men monopolized political life. The females also worked outside the home in textile factories, breweries or as prostitutes, tavern keepers, bakers, or fortune tellers.Inside the home women wove baskets, cooked, cleaned, and collected water. For the most part, their writings reflect elite male activities. Temple leaders and the kings controlled large agricultural estates, and the palace administration collected taxes from subjects. How elite individuals acquired large private holdings is not known, since land was rarely put up for sale. In some cases debtors lost their land to creditors, or soldiers and priests received land in return for their service .The lowest class, the slaves and peasants, of Mesopotamian society worked on the fields and used their strength, when harvest season ended, to build large public works like ziggurats- a multistory, mud-brick, pyramid-shaped tower with ramps or stairs. Women were subordination to men and had no property rights. In Mesopotamia by the second millennium B. C. E. merchants had gained in status and in power through gilds. In the Old Babylonian period, the class of people who were not dependent on the temple or palace grew, the amount of land and other property in private hands increased, and free laborers became more common.Hammurabi’s Code written in the eighteenth century B. C. E. identifies three classes: 1. Free landowning class- royalty, high-ranking officials, warriors, priests, merchants, and some artisans and shopkeepers; 2. The class of dependent farmers and artisans, whose legal attachment to royal or temple, or private estates made them the primary rural work force; and 3. The class of slaves; primarily used in domestic service. Penalties prescribed in the Law Code depended on the class of the offender. The lower orders received the most severe punishments. Slaves were mainly prisoners of war from the mountains.Egyptian class structure was less defined and more pyramid in shape. Compared to Mesopotamia, a far larger percentage of the Egyptian population lived in farming villages and Egypt’s wealth derived from a higher degree from cultivating the land. When not need for agriculture the peasants labored to build the tombs of the pharaoh. Slavery existed on a limited scale and was of limited economic significance. In contrast to Mesopotamia, Egyptian merchants had a low social status. For women subordination to men is evident but they are represented with dignity and affection in tomb paintings.Legal documents show that Egyptian women could own property, inherit from their parents, and will their property to whomever they wished. Marriage, us ually monogamous, arose from a couple’s decision to establish a household together rather than for legal or religious ceremony. Both parties could dissolve the relationship, and women retained rights over her dowry in case of divorce. At certain times, queens and queen-mothers played significant behind-the-scenes roles in the politics of the royal court, and priestesses sometimes supervised the cults of female deities.In general, the limited evidence suggests that women in ancient Egypt enjoyed greater respect and more legal rights and social freedom than women in Mesopotamia and other ancient societies. State-organized religion stands out in Mesopotamia. City-states built temples and showed devotion to the divinity or divinities that protected the community. Priests attended this divine image with rituals that reflected the message of the Babylonian Creation Myth that humankind existed only to serve the gods and  a  priest  would actually read from that text to the god ’s image.Many subsequent activities in the temple reenacted the events of the myth. The Sumerian gods embodied the forces of nature: Anu the sky, Enlil the air, Enki the water, Utu the sun, Nanna the moon. Egyptians also believed in amulets and in magic. Religion was state organized there also. A primary difference in Egyptian belief is that the Egyptians believed in the afterlife. They prepared for a safe passage and a comfortable existence once they arrived. The Egyptian Book of the Dead, present in many excavated tombs, contains rituals and spells to protect them.In Mesopotamia, they felt that their deities were not loving, care-taking beings. They felt that their gods were vengeful, jealous, and malicious. This view developed from the many natural obstacles they were burdened with. Geography and climate did influence different and similar development in the political, and religious systems of both Egypt and Mesopotamia. Quite possibly Egyptian civilization enjoyed greater longevity than that of Mesopotamian because the Mesopotamia culture was started from scratch by the early Sumerians where as Egyptians were able to borrow from Mesopotamia.

Different cultures Essay

In the past, different cultures have been developing in various ways and in different parts of the world. These cultures have been influencing the living styles of various nations in the world. It is now very important that different countries be grouped according to their cultural beliefs and civilization e. g. European communities will share those cultures which will differentiate them from those people who are coming from China or Africa. It is believed that those cultural differences of people in the world will clash based on where and how an individual was civilized. This is mainly the ‘clash of civilization’, the concept of Harvard professor Samuel Huntington. This is because people from different parts have ways on which they were civilized and they have different views on the way they view about life,the way they relate to one another and on their various religious beliefs. †We have moved into a world in which ‘civilisation’, some seven or eight of them, and defined much as Arnold Toynbee and some other scholars defined them in the first half of this century,are the building blocks of the new world order† Huntington added. Also most people these days are traveling a lot and therefore the interaction between people from different parts of the world and of different civilization is increasing. These interactions of different people from different civilizations has increased the awareness that this kind of difference in culture exists all over the world, Africa immigration will generate hostility when they settle on European or Asian nations. This is typically due to the clash in their culture. A country whose culture is completely different from another has a problem in investing in a foreign land as compared to those other rivals in the same land. This is because most countries fear to give investment license or such countries due to different ways in their cultural beliefs. The process of economic development and socialization has also resulted in the clash on the ways people live. Samuel Huntington once said†,Pattern of trade will be decisively influnced by pattern of culture†. The different religious beliefs in most of the different cultures is an example of this. We find that there are various types of religions in the world today. These are Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam. Another reason which brought about the clash in different culture was the way in which people in different parts of the world viewed about civilization. Many communities found civilization rather hard to adopt because it had other believes and cultures which clashed with their original beliefs. This made different communities to quit the idea of civilization of adopting the western culture and replacing it with their original beliefs. De-westernization has therefore been seen in many non-western countries. ( http://www. bintjbeil. com/articles/en/d-huntington. html). The cultural beliefs of people originating from different parts of the world are very hard to adopt to the same culture unlike other things such as economic and political ones. This is because cultural beliefs of more than two nations are not compatible, rather they are clashing. For example a political system of one country can be adopted by another country but the religious issues are far more complex to be adopted form one country to anothere. g. Muslims are very hard to change and start believing in Christianity but they will be very easily convinced to accept to change and adopt other country’s leadership styles. People of the same civilization have also been known to spur economic growth. This has mostly been witnessed in Europe, East Asia and North America. The development of the nations living in this regions usually is because these people have the same civilization and almost the same beliefs in terms of their culture and their social lifestyles. A country like Japan on the other hand who entirely have different civilization has faced a lot of hurdles in their economic development. Their lifestyles and its cultural beliefs have been known to be clashing with that of its neighbors and therefore making it hard for them to get a business partner with the same interests and beliefs. Thus reducing the rate of their growth. (Ghost, 2003) Yes Huntington’s point of view is supported. This is because there are numerous conflicting issues on people living in different parts of the world today. Huntington described an era in which people everywhere define themselves in cultural terms, ‘ a world in which cultural identities are central’. There is a pre-dominant clash of ideas between the religious communities. This is because there is a split between the western Christianity, Orthodox and the Muslims. These difference are traced to have occurred in the year 1500. There were cultural lines which were traced to have been the source to the different cultural belief of these communities. The people who were living to the west and the north of the line were protestant and others were Catholics. They were economically well of than those who were living to the East. The differences and the conflict of various issues between western and Islamic civilization has been going on for almost 140 years. This was mainly due to the attempt by the westerners to introduce Christianity in the Islamic region which faced a lot of oppositions mainly because various issues regarding the beliefs and norms of Muslims culture were conflicting with those of the Christians. The relationships existing between Japan and America has of late worsened so much. This is mainly due to the culture differences which will result to economic conflicts. The attitudes, and the way people relate to each other between the two societies are very mush different. As compared to the European nations, the economic issue between United States and Japan are very serious. This is because the economic difference in culture between United States and the European nations is far much less as compared to those of Japan civilization. Japanese civilization is very much different because their geographical location is far away as compared to the geographical location dividing America from European nations. This has resulted to a very different type of culture being developed in Japan which on the other hand conflict with that of Americans. ( Edwards, & Glover, 2001). According to Huntington, ‘East Asian economic success has its source in East Asian culture’. Culture and civilization have also influenced economies of various countries. Chinese economy ha been enormously growing within the last 15 years than that of Japan. These growth in the China’s economy has been a result of almost the same culture and civilization china enjoyed with its immediate neighbors. Unlike Japan who did not have some cultural resemblance with other nations, china had almost the same cultural beliefs with most of the developing nations in Asia. These countries include Taiwan-which are very much advanced in technological issues, Hong Kong – which is known for the creativity and marketing strategies, Singapore –which is very rich in communication technology. All these three have the same civilization as that of China and therefore they can understand each other in terms of being trading partners, carrying out investment and also respecting each others religious beliefs. (Murshed, 2002) The increase in population among the various countries in the world has resulted to the migration of people. This has mainly occurred in countries particular those living in the Northern part of Africa. The communities living in these parts are then forced to move to western Europe. This movement has resulted to development of other cultures in these countries. These then leads to instability in the normal social life of the citizens in the country both religiously and culturally. The results might be emergence of racism which might cause violence in the country. Reference: Edwards, Rusalind & Glover Judith. Risk and Citizenship: key issues in welfare. New York. Routledge, 2001. Ghost, B. N. Contemporary issues in Development Economics. New York. Routledge, 2003 The clash of civilizations. Samuel Huntington. September 1993. Bint Jbeil. 22/10/2007.http://www.bintjbeil.com/articles/en/d-huntington.html

Technology Appliance in Saudi Arabic Education Term Paper

Technology Appliance in Saudi Arabic Education - Term Paper Example This finding is relevant for the context in which Kay (1990) and Mackowiak (1989) have found out that cognitive attitude and experience are the best predictors for the commitment to the use of computers. Gardner (1985) has also drawn attention to the importance of attitudes in the learning process. Though the students seem to be greatly excited by the task of making instructional materials, they are found to be more interested in the practical part of it rather than going deep into the wider theoretical aspect which can be attained from sources like books. As this study has been conducted among students of a teacher's college, it has shown that the coming generations of teachers are very much aware of the utility value of instructional technologies which was also been proven by researchers like Brooks and Koop (1990), Hmissat (1997) and Hamdi (1991). Another very interesting finding has been that the students are getting more aware of the importance of instructional technology and co mputers in education, as they move ahead in their academic learning. It has also been shown that the students, in general, have been getting more confident with the use of instructional technology and computers in their learning process and that they are overcoming the fear of the new gadgets involved, very fast. This is evident from the lower mean obtained in the responses to item 33. But the findings have also revealed that a gap exists between realizing the usefulness of instructional technology and really using it in education in Saudi Arabia. This study has thus shown that the application of instructional technology in education has been lagging behind the actual preparedness of the students to use it in education in this country. The lack of any difference in responses of students who own computer and who do not, and students who use the Internet and who do not, cannot be fully explained by the findings of this study alone. This phenomenon has to be analyzed by way of further research. Again, this study has proven that students irrespective of their age and academic specialization area, realize the significance of instructional technology. This finding, again indicates that the student community as a whole is getting all relevant information about instructional technology simultaneously with their attaining a certain age and maturity. In this study, the respondents were students having age between 19 and 29, this inference can be strongly drawn.

Inter-Cultural Development Bank Case Study Essay

Inter-Cultural Development Bank Case Study - Essay Example Other team members wanted to ensure that the right type of relations was created with Ghanaian officials and that the economical considerations were met. Eduardo Caballero was a road-building expert and he was not happy that the road was being constructed through heavy jungles to meet the demands of different tribes and there was a technical role conflict here. Aziz Tanod the economist felt that socializing with locals was essential to develop cordial relations. Bernard Dupre was a financial analyst who did not like the nurturing and hand holding that was required of his role. Raj Mathuri was an economist who believed in getting the job done. Bjorn the mission leader was under intense pressure from Washington and it was felt that he over controlled the project and the mission members. So the actual role requirements were to carry out tasks as required while the implied role, requirements were for socializing and some members did not like this aspect. Bjorn, the Swedish team leader believed in close monitoring of the project and other people did not like this. Bernard Dupre from France believed in carrying out his role of financial analyst and not to take up mentoring and being nice to the Ghanaians. Eduardo Caballero, the Colombian was an easy-going person who enjoyed being with people and got along very well with his Ghanaian counterparts when they met at the hotel for drinks. Aziz Tanod from Indonesia liked to socialize and so did John Anderson, the American specialist in Ghanaian manufacturing and marketing. Raj Mathuri from India also did not like to socialize, Thus it can be seen that while some people believed only in their work and did not like to mix and socialize, others believed that both activities were required. There are two motivational factors here, work oriented and socializing or people oriented. The presumed conflict among

Trade without borders Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Trade without borders - Essay Example It can also be stated that tariffs and trade in the national territories of these two economies have profoundly affected their business activities through various channels of commodity specifications, technology assistances as well as the benefits of influx socio-cultural diversities (Hornok, â€Å" Trade Without Borders: Trade Effect of EU Accession by Central and Eastern European Countries†). The paper intends to discuss on the advantages and disadvantages of trade without borders by analyzing the available relevant information in relation to the trade affairs performed within Canada and the US. The paper also aims to provide recommendations to small business owners in obtaining the complete benefits of trade liberalization. Undoubtedly, in the present day context, international trade activities play a crucial role in determining economic growth through capital inflows. Cross-border trade liberalization has also been considered as strongly influencing in relation to the labor migration activities and business cycles of the economy. From a critical perspective, the initiatives to eradicate borders when liberalizing trade render greater opportunity of growth to the traders in a less risky business environment. This in turn serves as a supportive attribute towards economic growth and sustainability at large (Caporale and Girardi, ‘Business Cycles, International Trade and Capital Flows: Evidence from Latin America’; LSE, ‘International Trade and International Capital Flows: A Theoretical Perspective’). The liberalized trade activities practiced in the developed economic structure of Canada can be illustrated with reference to increasing amount of exports to various regions of the US, especially from the small business sector of the nation. Stating precisely, the survey conducted by Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) also stated that trade practices are mostly performed by small business

Should the authors of the Wall Street Collapse be criminalized Research Paper

Should the authors of the Wall Street Collapse be criminalized - Research Paper Example In the economic crisis of the period of 1990-91, global business organizations have been blamed mainly because of the global meltdown of various economic as well as financial variables. During this time, significant level of legal aspects has been raised all across the globe to encounter the financial problem by providing legal punishments to these financial institutions (Anderson and Jackson, 2005, p. 19). Despite all that legal aspects which has been predominant in the country there has now been known regarding the fraud as well as malfeasance most importantly at the core area of the financial crash. These have also been significantly related to the policy responses till date from the point of view of the government which has offered valuable little reform in the legal as well as economic structure of the country. In various editions of â€Å"The Advocate†, researchers have looked more intimately at some of the related enforcement as well as reform attempts taken by the admi nistration. These enforcements and reforms have been implemented for the purpose of providing the people of the country and also the readers with the point of view of what is being completed, what is not, as well as possibly ‘what ought to be’. In these cover stories – â€Å"Government Goes After Insider Trading, but Where are the Financial Crisis Prosecutions?† – BLB&G associate, Mr. Kristin Meister, has discussed the most significant current indictments as well as convictions of several financial executives who have been caught in the wideranging insider trading mesh. However, raises a significant aspect: â€Å"Does this focal point come at the expenditure of aggressive prosecution of the persons behind the deceit at the heart of the financial fall down?† (Meister et al., 2011, p. 3). Researchers, in this respect have opined that, firm associate, Mr. Joseph Goodman, has taken an intense look at the obstructions that have significantly preve nted the entire implementation of the â€Å"Dodd-Frank financial reform act†. This act has been regarded as the promise of greater level of financial reform aimed at by the supporters of the Dodd-Frank has however to be realized. In regard to the corporate governance memorandum, these researchers have been delighted to reprint a current column by â€Å"The New York Times† stating that â€Å"Deal Professor,† Steven Davidoff, professor at Michael E. Moritz College at Law at The Ohio State University — â€Å"Despite Worries, Serving at the Top Carries Little Risk†. In the part, Professor Davidoff has highlighted the fact that beneficiary effects as well as the comparative drawbacks (although these drawbacks have been detected as very few), for the purpose of serving as the director for the public company. Along with this aspect, Mark Lebovitch, the partner of

Strategies Unit-5DB Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Strategies Unit-5DB - Essay Example A virtual retailer must find companies which will supply the necessary commodities that it sells online. Though inventories are significantly lower than that of traditional retailer, internet retailers also need to have its warehouse. Virtual retailers also need to forge partnerships with logistics companies in the delivery of their products. Online operation must also backed by support staffs which are committed in delivering a excellent customer service. In terms of physical resources, online retailers less resources than a brick and mortar which operates on an international level. One virtual store is needed for an international internet retailer to serve all its global customers. A dot-com retailer also requires fewer inventories but it should be noted that companies must heavily invest in computer hardware and software to support processes. Financially, an online operation requires smaller cash outlay to finance physical resources and overhead. It should also be noted that e-commerce necessitates lower levels of working capital and telecommunication costs. In terms of human resource, an international internet retailer needs to deploy more employees who will man order taking and after-sales support. However, the total number of an international internet retailer is significantly lower than its brick and mortar counterpart. According to AC Nielsen, Google, Inc.

Queer Conversation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Queer Conversation - Essay Example This definition obviously draws heavily on the original definition, creating boundaries of normality and criminalizing or stigmatizing anything that falls outside of it. Queer people then moved to reclaim the word, recognizing its power and the power it could give them if it was successfully reclaimed, which it eventually was. Queer then branched out to describe a political, academic and social understanding of non-hegemonic worldviews (in addition to the more popular understanding of queer as a ‘catchall’ for LGBTQ2SAA etc. people). This, definition, probably more than anything else, defines the word queer today. Yet as a word that combats hegemony it is hard to nail down a distinct and individual definition of queer or queerness – as it probably should be. Michael Warner, and Kate Harding, the authors of The Trouble With Normal, and How to Fuck a Fat Girl respectively, never explicitly state definitions of queer, though each implicitly recognizes disruption of h egemonic systems as central to the queerness, individually exploring different aspects of that disruption. Michael Warner’s chapter in The Trouble With Normal provides an incredibly useful framing structure for the rest of the discussion of queerness and queer identity. His article describes the evolution of the â€Å"Gay and Lesbian movement† (45), something that must be clearly separated from the queer movement. Warner describes how early gay and lesbian movements attempted to ingratiate themselves with the traditional power structures in society, â€Å"home, church and state† (48), in order to gain power and acceptance, or at least a little bit less oppression, in society. Such people attempted to argue that a person’s sexual identity is â€Å"irrelevant to [their] ideals, principles, hopes and aspirations† (46). Yet Warner argues that this is not an especially useful way of fighting for dealing with hegemonic society

Licensure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Licensure - Essay Example According to Guido (2014), the scope of registered nurses is outlined by the Nursing Practice Act (NPA). For this reason, it is necessary for nurses to be aware of various clauses documented in the NPA because they indicate the scope of their activities. Of more importance, the regulations also stipulate factors that determine the working conditions for nurses (Bae, 2012). Nurses should also be aware of the implications of the violating the NPA policies. Like in other professions guided by standard practices, nurses are subjected to varying forms of punishment in the event of violating NPA. According to NCSBN (2011), incidences of malpractices violating the NPA are reported to the Boards of Nursing (BON) in the respective jurisdictions. Investigations into the concerned issues are done, and convicted nurses are subjected to legal prosecution process. Therefore, nurses should be aware that their licensures can be questioned or even revoked following the violations of NPA. Lastly, licensed nurses should be aware that they can perform activities beyond their scope of RN practice. According to Guido (2014), nurses can perform activities beyond their scope based on standards developed by the nursing, medicine and administration. In addition, nurses should be aware that additional factors such as status of healthcare administration can affect their effectiveness in service delivery (Auerbach, Staiger, Muench & Buerhaus, 2012). In conclusion, nurses should be aware of various factors affecting their licensures. In particular, nurses are subjected to various regulations that oversee the quality of their services. In addition, nurses are given additional mandates, such as healthcare administration and performance of activities beyond their usual scope after being licensed. Auerbach, D. I., Staiger, D. O., Muench, U., &

Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc Essay Example for Free

Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc Essay Dr Pepper Snapple group, Inc. is a major integrated brand owner, bottler, and distributer of nonalcoholic beverages in the United States. In 2007 they had net sales of $5.748 billion, 21 manufacturing facilities and approximately 200 distribution centers in the United States. They are the number one Company in carbonated soft drink products in the United States. Their business strategy is to invest most heavily in their key brands to drive profitable and sustainable growth by strengthening consumer awareness, developing innovative products, and brand extensions to take advantage of evolving consumer trends, improving distribution and increasing promotional effectiveness. Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. also wants to focus on driving growth in their business with emerging categories, through brand extensions, new product launches, and selective acquisitions of brands and distribution rights. The company has a future goal of significantly increasing the number of branded coolers and other cold drink equipment over the next few years, which is expected to provide an attractive return on investment. The company also intends to leverage its integrated business model to reduce costs by strategically creating greater geographic manufacturing and distribution coverage and to be more flexible and responsive to the changing needs of large retail customers by coordinating sales, service, distribution, promotions, and product launches. A question came into play of whether or not a profitable market opportunity existed for a new energy beverage brand to be produced, marketed, and distributed by the company in 2008. With the company’s current strengths, business strategy, and positive reputation, it would seem to be a good move. But one must first consider the competition, customer, and if the company itself can successfully introduce a new product to a specific market. The company has several succinct strengths. They have a strong portfolio of leading consumer- preferred brands. This means that they have a diverse portfolio of bottlers, distributors, and retailers with a wide variety of products and provide a foundation for growth and profitability. Their Snapple brand is also a leading ready to drink tea. Overall, in 2007 more than 75 percent of Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. volume was generated by brands that hold either the first or second position in their category. The strength of these key  supporting brands has served as a platform for lunching innovations and brand extensions in the past such as Accelerade RTD, a ready to drink sports drink that launched in late May 2007. The company therefore had experience in what it truly meant to create a new branded energy drink which would serve to be useful, as the strategy would be similar. Entering a new product market. A second strength the company possesses is their Integrated Business Model. This provides opportunities for net sales and profit growth through the alignment of the economic interest of its brand ownership and its bottling and distribution business. Thirdly, they have strong and long standing customer relationships. This is so important for the success of a company. They have a wide range of strong relationships from bottlers and distributors, to national retailers, large food service, and convenience store customers. They also have strong relationships with some of the most important U.S. retailers including Walmart, Safeway, Kroger, and Target. Another strength is their attractive positioning within a large, growing, and profitable market. They hold the number three position in the United St ates, Canada, and Mexico beverage market. The company has a great competitive edge, as they cater to the need for convince and the demand for product with health and wellness benefits more so than any of their competitors. Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. also has a broad geographic manufacturing and distribution coverage. They have 21 manufacturing facilities and approximately 200 distribution centers in the United States. The company has strategically laced their warehouse at or near bottling pants and geographically dispersed them across sales regions to ensure company products are available to meet consumer demand. This enables them to better align their operations with customers, reduce transportation costs, and have greater control over the timing and coordination of new product launches. Another strength is their strong operating margins and significant stable cash flows. The breadth and strength of the Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. product portfolio has enabled the company to generate strong operating margins, which combined with relatively modest capital expenditures, have delivered significant and stable cash flows. This in turn creates stockholder value by enabling the company to consider a var iety of alternatives, such as investing in its business, reducing debt and returning capital to its stockholders. Lastly, they have an experienced executive  management team. They all have an average of more than 20 years of experience in the food and beverage industry. The team has a broad experience in brand ownership, bottling, distribution, and enjoys strong relations both within the industry and with major customers. They also have diverse skills that support operating strategies, including driving organic growth through target and efficient marketing, reducing operating costs, enhancing distribution efficiencies, aligning manufacturing, bottling, distribution interests, and executing strategic acquisitions. Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. realized they had a weakness, as they were the only major nonalcoholic beverage company with no energy drink brand of their own. They also recognized an opportunity, no company had yet positioned themselves as an adult energy drink. Going into the Energy beverage market also seemed to correlate with what their future and current goals were. Industry analysts were projecting an average annual growth rate of 10.5 percent from 2007 to 2011. Also, since their current demographic was more health conscious then the c ompetition, which gives them a competitive competency, they also had another untapped opportunity to market their energy drink by differentiation. Currently, there are five major competitors that dominate the U.S. energy beverage market: Red Bull North America, Hansen Natural Corporation, Pepsi-Cola, Rockstar Inc., and Coca-Cola. Pepsi and Coca-Cola also compete with what Dr Pepper already offers from an industry and market point of view. Sadly, when it comes to advertising funds available, Dr Pepper has some funds available, but not nearly close to what Red Bull has. With that being the case, we feel that an avoidance of the competition, by going the route of a product innovation technique by means of differentiation, would be the best route for Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. to be successful. There are some warning signs in the industry. The energy beverage market has experienced product proliferation and price erosion in recent years. Proliferation resulted from line extensions new packaging and size, and market segmentation. Existing brands also typically offer regular and sugar free verities which have a sizeable share already in the market. Brand position typically emphasizes an energy boost, metal alertness, refreshment, and taste. This is why our product differentiation positioning is so important for the brand to be truly successful. Several opportunities for product differentiation exist. One of which are the ingredients. Specifically, a new brand could augment the energy and mental alertness benefits by increasing the amount of herbs, vitamins, and natural ingredients. Secondly, no brand has positioned itself as an adult energy drink. Adults between the ages of 35 to 54 consumed energy beverages at a rate that was only slightly less than consumers under 24. Thirdly, the packaging. All the energy brands on the market lacked meaningful differentiation. They all looked the same. With the product, they felt it would be smart to introduce a new drink with a re-sealable lid, something that would stand out in the crowd. The current energy beverage consumer typically consists of males between the ages of 18-24. Energy beverages are most often consumed in the afternoon, the second most popular time of day is morning consumption. Convenience stores and supermarkets are the dominant off-premise retail channels for energy beverages. In general, energy beverage manufactures with a broad product line and an extensive distribution network have had the greatest success in gaining shelf space in supermarkets and mass merchandisers for their brand. This would correlate with Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. strength of having great relationships with their vendors. We would recommend that they follow suit with partnerships with the dominate off-premise retail channels, but as a more health conscious beverage. The solution that we came up with for the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group was to incorporate all of these opportunities into a new product called RAM, which stands for Real Alive Micro-Nutrients. The product’s target market will be adults ages 25- 44 both males and females, who are interested in their health. In specific we are targeting the working middle class. Our average consumer would be someone working long hours that need constant energy throughout the day, even after work when they need to go home and take care of their families. They are constantly on the go and busy. When developing a new product you must implement the marketing mix. The first being the product, RAM energy drink. Our product is focused on providing the same alert and energized feeling as traditional energy drinks, without including ingredients that have harmful side effects. Other drinks such as Red Bull can lead to dangers such as cardiac arrest, headaches, insomnia, type two diabetes, and many other health issues (Top 10  Energy Drink Dangers). Our new product RAM, will be replacing ingredients that lead to these dangers with more vitamins. For example our product will not include ingredients such as Carnitine, Guarnana, Ginseng, and Ginko Biloba. All of which are commonly used in energy beverages but there presence is not clearly reflected on their labels. Inst ead they cover it up by listing them as â€Å"part of a 5000- mg energy blend† these ingredients can be extremely dangerous (Higgens). Instead, we will have ingredients such as Iron, Biotin, Zinc, Omega -3 fatty acids, antioxidants, Vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B9, B12, C, D. All of these attributes to healthy energy levels but are a more natural way of doing so. Another detail of RAM will be lower calories, right now out of the five leading companies in the energy beverage market, not including sugar free products, Monster has the lowest calories being 200 per 16oz can. We want our product RAM to be around 150 calories per bottle, with only about 25 grams of sugar. Compared to Monster, which has 54 grams of sugar. RAM will also only be made up of natural flavors with no added artificial flavors or colors added, whereas the other lead competitors all ad coloring and most admit to adding artificial flavoring when some do not list the specification, which usually means they are trying to hide something. We want our customers to know every little ingredient that makes up RAM and hopefully this will build trust and r elationships in return. Many people are just now starting to notice all of the potential dangers that energy drinks contain, which is why our product will stand out as a healthier choice that offers the same benefits. The look of our product will be completely unlike any other energy drink, which are usually un-sealable cans. RAM will be sold in a 17 ounce recyclable cardboard bottle with a re-sealable screw on cap, similar to those that Vita Coco coconut water uses. This type of bottling will fit better with the target market’s lifestyle because the container will be easier to bring on the go with no spills or messes. They are also able to drink some now and easily save the rest for later. When designing the prototype of the bottle we choose the colors dark blue and black so that they would be gender neutral and attract the more mature market. The label is also clear and easy to read. We suggest that RAM only starts off introducing two flavors and see how they perform and introducing a new flavor wi thin the next 8 months of the campaign. The two flavors to start  with might be RAM berry and citrus, because they are common and consumers might be more willing to try. From there they can extend the product line even further by offering a sugar-free option and even being sold in packs of four or large cases. The next aspect of the marketing mix to look at with RAM is pricing. We think that it is best to price themselves competitively at about $2.15 a bottle. Which is only a few cents cheaper than drinks such as Monster and Amp depending on the location. The third part of the marketing mix is place. Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. has a wide range of strong relationships from bottlers and distributors, to national retailers, large food service, and convenience stores, such as 7-11, and their customers. They also have strong relationships with some of the most important U.S. retailers including Walmart, Safeway, Kroger, and Target. Building on their current strength of market channels, we felt that off premise retailers wo uld represent the best choice for the product to be carried. Lastly, we have to figure out the promotion that will be used for RAM. Since our funds are low compared to competitors, and we are going to avoid any conflict, we will be focusing on giving out samples while the product is being first introduced. We recommend the company hires sales reps to go to local grocery stores, with whom they already are doing business with, to give out samples to customers for them to try the new drink. It would also be a good idea to promote the new brand at events such races, athletic games, and concerts that our target market would be attending. This can be as simple as setting up a tent offering free samples and coupons. We also recommend using social media as a platform because it is extremely cost efficient and we can easily select our target. By means of analyzing the company’s strengths, tactics, opportunities, weaknesses, and threats, we were able to come up with a product that would be successful. Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. vision statement says, â€Å"It is our vision to be the best beverage business in the Americas. Our brands have been synonymous with refreshment, fun, and flavor for generations, and our sales are poised to keep growing into the future.† We feel that by building on their current strengths and marketing a product by means of differentiation through its ingredients, demographic, unisex packaging, and partnerships with loyal vendors, we will have a success with RAM. Real, Alive, Micro-nutrients. Works Cited Higgens, John. Energy Beverage: Content and Safety. (2011). Print. Top 10 Energy Drink Dangers. Caffeine Informer. 24 Apr. 2012. Web.