Systemic-Functional Grammar

Systemic-Functional Grammar News is a special approach to report or comment the latest and important facts. Its purpose is to influence the Mass Public Opinion. The definition of the news demonstrates that news is the fact, different from the fabrication of literature. Besides the general characteristics of news, broadcasting news has its own distinct features. This paper analyzes the English broadcasting news from the choice of the process types and the transitivity of the clause by using the transitivity theory for the purpose of discovering the distribution law of the process types of the English broadcasting news text and its genre characteristicsï ¼Å½ Introduction In the 1960s, Halliday, the Professor of linguistics, developed a systematic and comprehensive theory of language, called â€Å"Systemic-Functional Grammar (SFG)†, and published his book An Introduction to Functional Grammar in 1985 and 1994. Many scholars also published a number of books and papers on systemic grammar. The research of Systemic Functional Grammar began in 1970s and became popular in the late 1980s. In Hallidays book An Introduction to Functional Grammar, he says â€Å"the theory on which this description is based, systemic theory follows in the European functional tradition. It is largely based on Firths system-structure theory, but derives more abstract principles from Hjelmslev and owes many ideas to Prague School. The organizing concept is that of the â€Å"system†, which is used essentially in Firths sense of a functional Paradigm but developed into the formal construct of a ‘system network.† (Halliday, 2000:52) SFG has two components: systemic grammar and functional grammar. In Hu Zhuanglins book Linguistics. A course Book, he holds that â€Å"Systemic grammar aims to explain the internal relations in language as a system network, or meaning potential. And this network consists of subsystem from which language users make choices. Functional grammar aims to reveal that language is a means of social interaction, based on the position that language system and the forms that make it up are inescapably determined by the uses or functions which they serve.† (Hu Zhuanglin 2001:409) â€Å"In a functional grammar, on the other hand, the direction is reversed. A language is interpreted as a System of meanings can be realized.† Halliday(1985) â€Å"Functional Grammar aims to reveal that language is a mean of social interaction, based on the position that language system and the forms that make it up are inescapably determined by the uses or functions which they serve.† Hu Zhuanglin(2001) The functions of language are the most important things in Functional Grammar. As the tool of human beings communication, language possesses many different kinds of functions. Halliday divided the functions of language into three types. They are ideational metafunction, interpersonal metafunction, and textual metafunction. In this paper, the emphasis is on ideational metafunction. The ideational metafunction is to organize the speaker or writers experience of the real or imaginary world. It includes experiential function and logical function. The meaning of experiential function is that language expresses peoples experiences in external world (things, events qualities, etc) and internal world (thoughts, beliefs, feelings, etc). What logical function refers to is that language expresses the logical relationship between two or more than two meaning units. Experiential function is chiefly embodied by transitivity and voice. â€Å"†¦ Parallel with its evolution in the function of mood, expressing the active, interpersonal aspect of meaning, the clause evolved simultaneously in another grammatical function expressing the reflective, experiential aspect of meaning. This later is the system of transitivity. Transitivity specifies the different types of process that are recognized in the language, and the structures by which they are expressed.† (Halliday,1985) Transitivity is a semantic system. Its purpose is to divide something around people into several processes involving participants and circumstantial elements. Halliday contents that transitivity includes six processes: (a) Material process. (b) Mental process. (c) Relational process. (d) Behavioral process. (e) Verbal process. (f) Existential process. (a) Material Process: process of doing Material process is a process of doing. The process usually consists of verb, actor (logical subject) and goal (noun or pronoun). Material Processes express the notion that some entity ‘does something- which may be done ‘to some other entity (Halliday, 1985) For example, A fungus destroyed the coffee plant leaves Actor Process Goal (b) Mental Process: process of thinking Mental process is a process of thinking involving perception (see, look), reaction (like, fear) and cognition (knowing, believing, and understanding) and so on. Mental process has two participants: sensor and phenomenon. Sensor refers to the person who perceives and phenomenon is the something that is perceived by the sensor. Phenomenon includes concrete person or objects, abstract things, happened events and so on. For example, He saw the whole room. Sensor Process Phenomenon (c) Relational Process: process of being Relational process is a process of being. Actually, relational process is a very complex type of process, which covers the many different ways that ‘being is expressed (Eggins 1994). However, in this analysis, we only refer two simple types, they are attributive process and identifying process. In the attributive process, the participants are attribute and carrier. For example, Her face was a bloated spotty mask. Carrier Process Attribute In the identifying process, the participants are identified and identifier. This car is hers. Identified Process Identifier (d) Behavioral Process: process of behaving Behavioral process is a process of behaving, such as breathe, dream, smile, laugh, cry, and cough. The basic components of the process are â€Å"behaver† and â€Å"process†. This point is similar to the mental process, but different from the material process. Bloor and Bloor (1995) described behavioral process as the grey area between Material and Mental processes. She cried loudly. Behaver Process Circumstantial (e) Verbal Process: process of saying Verbal process is a process of saying. â€Å"Saying† has to be interpreted in a rather broad sense; it covers any kind of symbolic exchange of meaning. The verbal words are â€Å"tell, say, talk, describe, boast, praise†. The verbalization itself is called the verbiage. The informants told the police everything Sayer Process Receiver Verbiage (f) Existential Process: process of existing Existential process is a process of existing. In every existential process, it must have an â€Å"Existent†. â€Å"There† has no representational function. There are ten of us in the party. Process Existent Circumstance Generally speaking, most of the processes representing descriptive meaning are the relational, existential process and the mental processes. However, most of the processes representing narrative meaning are material processes. â€Å"Voice is the ways in which a language expresses the relationship between a verb and the noun phrases which are associated with it. Two sentences can differ in voice and yet have the same basic meaning. However, there may be a change in emphasis and one type of sentence may be more appropriate.† (Jack C.Richards, John Platt and Heidi Platt, 2000) It is represented commonly by active voice and passive voice. In order to make the structure of the text reasonable and the context consistent, speakers or writers need to do an appropriate choice to the voice. Approach to Analyze the Text According to Huang Guowen, SFG is more suitable for analyzing a text. The reasons for it lie below. First, SFG is a text grammar, which means this kind of grammar can describe how the use of language. In this way, the meaning of the text can be understood clearly. Second, in SFG, functions of language are divided into three metafunction. The description of the systemic network of the three metafunction is quite clear. Thus, the application of the framework of SFG to analyze a text can avoid evaluating at will. Choice of Text The text chosen for analysis is from BBC Broadcasting news on its website on Thursday, 2 July, 2009. This news report can be heard in the air and its transcription is on BBC website after the reporter made an interview with Alain Bouillard, of Frances BEA accident investigation agency. This news is written in English originally, so when I picked it up, I made no translation. Whats more, this piece of news is completely authentic in that it is not edited or used for the purpose of language teaching. Context of Situation Definition of context: It is immediate environment of language activity, which is time, place, talking content, the relation among people related to transfer communicational meanings. Halliday and Hasan (1985) divided context of situation into three parts: field, tenor and mode. (a) Field refers to what is being talked about, what is it that the participants are engaged in, in which the language s as some essential components. This chosen news report is talking about the result of investigation of the France air crash. Most of the contents are from an officer, in this way, the media wants to give the public an authoritative explanation of the investigation process. (b) Tenor refers to the people involved in the communication and the relationship between them. What kinds of role relationships obtain among the participants, including permanent and temporary relationships of one kind or another, both the types of speech role that they are taking on in the dialogue and the whole cluster of socially significant relationships in which they refer to. Here the participants are the news writers or editors and the listeners of the radio or visitors or ‘readers of the websites. (c) Mode refers to how the language is functioning in the interaction, e.g. whether it is written or spoken. As for the chosen news report, its main purpose is to read to the listeners. Therefore, the language usage is rather simple and oral, which is to reduce the burden of listeners. Text Air France jet broke on impact Brazilian military personnel retrieve part of the Air France plane from the Atlantic Ocean (08 June 2009) Search teams recovered 51 bodies from the crash area â‘  French investigators trying to find out why an Air France plane crashed in the Atlantic say they believe it broke up on contact with water, not in the air. â‘ ¡They also found that the planes speed sensors had been a factor but not the cause of the crash. â‘ ¢All 228 people on the plane were killed when it plunged into the ocean en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris on 1 June. â‘ £Teams looking for the planes flight data recorders will continue operations for another 10 days. â‘ ¤Alain Bouillard, of Frances BEA accident investigation agency, said the crash had been an extremely difficult one to understand. â‘ ¥Between the surface of the water and 35,000ft [10,700m], we dont know what happened, Mr Bouillard said. â‘ ¦In the absence of the flight recorders, it is extremely difficult to draw conclusions. Table 2 Type of Transitivity Material Mental Relational Verbal Behavioral Existential Total 3 0 1 3 0 0 Percentage 43% 0 14% 43% 0 0 In the news above, the most processes are verbal and material process, and with only one relational process and zero existential, behavior and mental process. Generally speaking, a certain text usually contains many different kinds of transitivity process, especially material process. Hu Zhuanglin contents that people living in a material world, ‘doormake is the primary and basis, only with this can human beings hold other physiological feature to proceed other process. In this piece of news, material process takes up 43%, which is quite high in total. According to Halliday, What experiential function is that language expresses peoples experiences in external world (things, events qualities, etc) and internal world (thoughts, beliefs, feelings, etc). News is the record of the fact, is the response to the fact. News without fact is not news, news without fact or truth cannot be good news. The theory of the news writing is objectively reporting and speaking with the fact. In this news, material process takes up such a high proportion, which is just right to obey the rules that news is due to truth or fact. However, one certain process occurs more frequently is one of the factors to form the feature of a text. Halliday classes the Process Material, Mental and Relational as major process and the others as minor. The verbal process that originally belongs to the less important process in this news takes up 43%, which is the highest of all. Verbal process is a process of saying; the saying is to exchange information. Broadcasting news as a tool of media has a responsibility to transmit information to the public. It is not difficult to find out that the transitivity process of this piece of news lays particular stress on verbal process. According to other statistics I find out in another 10 pieces of BBC news show that verbal process occurs quite high in broadcasting texts. In the total 172 sentences, there are 56 verbal process, occupying 32%, only a little lower than material process. In some certain broadcasting news (such as above), verbal process equals even overruns material process. To some extent, the distribution of transitivity of discourse has a regular discipline. Whats more, the discipline has something to do with the genre of the discourse. Now we will have a further study of the news above. There are seven sentences in the news, and they are divided into separated process, each sentence and its belonging process is in the tables below. â‘   Verbal Process French investigators trying to find out why an Air France plane crashed in the Atlantic say they believe it broke up on contact with water, not in the air Sayer Process Verbiage â‘ ¡Material process They also found that the planes speed sensors had been a factor but not the cause of the crash. Actor Process Goal â‘ ¢Material Process All 228 people on the plane were killed when it plunged into the ocean en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris on 1 June Goal Process Circumstance â‘ £ (Material Process) Teams looking for the planes flight data recorders will continue Operations for another 10 days Actor Process Goal Circumstance â‘ ¤ (Verbal Process) Alain Bouillard, of Frances BEA accident investigation agency said the crash had been an extremely difficult one to understand. Sayer Process Reported â‘ ¥ (Verbal Process) â€Å"Between the surface of the water and 35,000ft [10,700m], we dont know what happened† Mr. Bouillard Said Reported Sayer Process â‘ ¦ (Relational Process) In the absence of the flight recorders it Is extremely difficult to draw conclusions Circumstance Identified Process Identifier In the news above, there are four sentences involved in verbal process. The first one as a headline lays essential place in the whole passage. Headline is a conclusion and extract of the main event. In a news report, choosing the words from an authority that responsible for the investigation of the accident is absolutely the best choice. In fact, so did the writer do. Then, to report the process of the investigation, the writer chose to use material process in that Material Process is to narrate the real world. In the second and the forth Material Process sentences, the French investigators (referred to ‘They and ‘the team in the news) are main participants. They found, they continue operations, the using the investigators to be the main participants in the continuous two material process , on one hand can make sure of the continuity of the news report, on the other hand, this news report is mainly to report the situations and opinions from investigators. In this way, pu t the words from the investigators in an essential place can illustrate the most important content of the news in front of the listeners, which is the main responsibility of a successful news report. In the second material process, the writer chose the passive voice to emphasize the victims of this accident. In this material process, these 228 people on the plane had no hope to be survived. When listening to here, we have realized something about the result of the rescue activity. Then the Material Process is finished, and led to Verbal Process. In the following 2 Verbal Materials, the contents of the speech are all from Mr. Bouillard, who is from Frances BEA accident investigation agency. By his words, the writer told the readers that the reason for the airplane accident was still unsolved and it could be a difficult task to find out clearly. The writer chose to quote the words from the investigation agency is to make sure the reliability and the depth of the news report. Whats mor e, it also can tell readers the resource of the news report, which is from the authority. Mr Bouillard, he is an officer from BEA accident investigation agency, is the direct participant of the whole survey, in that way, he could hold one-hand results of the whole search. In most cases, when an accident happens or a research being preceded, a news reporter may not be involved directly or witness at spot. Most of the report resources are due to interview afterwards. If we can contact the direct participants or the direct researchers in a research such as in this case, it will make a more vivid atmosphere for listeners or readers, and adding the reliability as well. News reports usually get the aid from the participants, the witness of the event or the people from authorities to give a hint or proclaim the resource of the news. Nevertheless, we could also see that in a news report there exists report from a reporter, which in another way explains the reason why there are more verbal processes in a news report. We can have a further look of the verbal material 1,5,7. In these three verbal material, the writer chose say, said, said, all of which are variations from say. They are very simple and oral. This is because in a broadcasting news report, the main method is to make audience listen. Broadcasting should transmit the most information in a limited period of time, so that the words chosen from broadcasting news report should be simple and near to daily life, avoiding adding burden to listeners. In fact, in this broadcasting news report, the sentence structure used are quite simple, the words chosen are rather succinct, and without many complex clauses. When it comes to the tenses used in this news report, we can find out there are not any complex tenses, just simple past and simple in turn. In the whole news report, the material process states the main fact, and the verbal process proclaims the resource of the news, and to move forward to supply and illustrate the main event. In this news report, the material process and the verbal process occur in turn, and hold different duties each other. The structure of this news report makes it active and filled with variations. The words from the authority from different ways can explain the reason why they still cannot find out the reason for the airplane accident immediately. In a word, it is a successful news report to tell audience the process of the investigation of the air crush. Conclusion In this paper, Hallidays transitivity theory and the types of transitivity have been used to analyze a piece of news report from BBC. It is found that there is a distribution law of the process types in the English broadcasting news text; Verbal Process is one of the features that form the news text. It is also illustrated that broadcasting news has its own characteristics; such as the tendency to be oral, most of sentences are short, the roughly narration that can be easy to read aloud, etc. This analysis proves that the application of functional grammar in discourse analysis is practical and operable. By the transitivity theory to analysis a discourse, it can help to seize the essence and features of a text. In addition, it can also promote to understand the connotation of a discourse. Bibliography Bloor. T and M. Bloor. 1995. The Functional Analysis of English: A Hallidayan Approach. London: Arnold Eggins, S. 1994. An Introduction to Systemic Functional Linguistics. London: Pinter Publishers Halliday, M.A.K. and R. Hasan. 1976. Cohesion in English. London: Longman. Halliday M.A.K. 1985. An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Edward Arnold. Halliday,M.K.A. 2000 An Introduction to Functional Grammar, Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. Hu Zhuanglin 2001 Linguistics, A course Book Beijing: Beijing University Huang Guowen 2002 Discourse and Language Functions Beijing: FLTRP Thompson, G. 1996. Introducing Functional Grammar. London: Arnold

Sex as a Means of Agency Essay -- Aristophanes Female Women Essays

Sex as a Means of Agency â€Å"A woman’s harder to conquer than any beast, than fire, and no panther is quite so ferocious.† (Aristophanes 1058) Life for an Athenian woman was marked by her daily occupation to the household and its occupants. This was the sphere of life where she was able to exert the most power and maintain a certain degree of agency. Her domestic duties included attendance to her husband, and his sexual needs. In the comic portrayal of women in Lysistrata, Aristophanes exploits this domestic power to create a scenario where â€Å"the harsh and intractable realities of life, politics and international aggression are transformed so that wives manage to overcome husbands, love conquers war, insignificant citizens manage to discredit powerful ones† (Henderson 36). Aristophanes manipulates the Athenian reality by operating on common stereotypes of women, adding to the comic element but also highlighting the gaping gender division that existed in everyday life. In this comic utopian ideal, women are able to overcome their lack of agency in the public sphere by juxtaposing their domestic (primarily sex ual) power with the general polis. It is important to note that in ancient literary portrayals of women, men depict women according to their perceptions and the common social stereotypes. Although this may, in some cases, create a certain amount of discrepancy between the depiction of women and their actual life, it can still be a beneficial tool to understand their attitudes and struggles. As Henderson writes, â€Å"†¦even by itself the male view is interesting: it enables us to study the rules and roles that men created for women and to glimpse the desires and fears that prompted their enforcement† (20). In Atheni... ...ikely that one of women’s foremost complaints would be their invisibility in the public sphere. Therefore, although this comedic piece is clearly an exaggeration of reality, it is a useful tool in understanding the lives of women in the Athenian period. Aristophanes mirrors and manipulates Athenian reality as he portrays women and men through the comedic lens. In the case of Lysistrata, he incorporates common stereotypes and current institutions of power into a plot that not only puts women in a position of power, but also delineates them as the protagonists in forming a well-functioning polis. As this reflects the women’s role in maintaining a respectable household, he manifests their domestic agency on a higher level as a collective â€Å"mothering† of Athenian society where the entire polis is analogous to a household managed by competent and sensible women.

Thomas Jefferson Biography

Biography of Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, is recognized for his many accomplishments during the 18th century. Not only was he a president, but Jefferson was the author of The Declaration of Independence, a founding father of the United States, and the founder of the University of Virginia. Jefferson was a brilliant political writer who used his writing skills to separate the United States of America from Great Britain and to protect the rights of man.Jefferson addresses these rights in the declaration when he says, â€Å"All men are created equal and there are certain unalienable rights that governments should never violate. These rights include the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,† (Jefferson, 1. ) These words are popular and have historical meaning. On April 13th, 1734 in Shadwell, Virginia, Thomas Jefferson was born to the parents Jane and Peter Jefferson. Shadwell is a town just outside of Charlottesville . His mother, Jane Randolph Jefferson, was from a family that claimed to be descended from English and Scottish royalty (â€Å"Thomas Jefferson†).His father, Peter Jefferson, was a skilled surveyor and cartographer, which meant that he studied and practiced making maps as well as accurately determined the three-dimensional position of points. Peter produced the first accurate map of the province of Virginia. Perhaps young Jefferson got inspiration from his father. Jefferson had five siblings. He had two older sisters, two younger sisters, and one younger brother. He lived in a very busy household. As a child, Jefferson spent his free time practicing the violin and reading books. At the age of twenty four, Jefferson married Martha Jefferson.They were both from plantation families and it is believed that they were introduced to each other by mutual friends. Thomas fell for the young American girl’s education and interest in music (â€Å"Thomas Jefferson†). Togethe r they had six children, but only two lived to be adults. After many wonderful years married, illness fell upon Martha and she passed away on September 6th, 1782. Jefferson made a promise to her that he would never remarry. After her death, he spent three weeks mourning in his library. In a period of seclusion, Jefferson explained in his autobiography that he felt like a part of him had died after she passed (Jefferson, 42).Later on in life, Jefferson had an affair with slave-girl Sally Hemings. There isn’t much information on this story, but there was DNA proof that he fathered her child. (â€Å"Jefferson – Hemings†). Thomas Jefferson began his education at a very young age. At the age of five, his father placed him in an English school and he was attending Latin school by age nine. The Latin school was conducted by Reverend William Douglas (Beran, 78). In 1758, Jefferson attended the school of Reverend James Maury. He described Reverend Maury as â€Å"a corre ct, classical scholar† (Jefferson, 29. He later attended the College of William and Mary at the age of seventeen in Williamsburg. It was there that Jefferson began his law studies with George Wythe. Jefferson received and unofficial political and cultural education from him. For two years, Jefferson studied primarily with George Wythe and Dr. William Small. He said that Dr. Small taught him a vast majority what he knew about politics. Over the seven years of study spent at Williamsburg, Jefferson culminated in the practice of law, but without any degree. Thomas Jefferson was also strongly influenced by the political philosophy of the Enlightenment and also from John Locke.Thomas Jefferson was not a good public speaker, but that didn’t stop him from expressing his opinions of politics. In his early writing years, Jefferson mostly wrote political letters (Skarmeas, 66). His earliest published work is The Declaration of Independence. He began drafting The Declaration of In dependence after British troops had attempted to confiscate American ammunition stores and capture patriot leaders in these towns (â€Å"Reasons for the Declaration†). The continental congress met in September of 1774 to pick a committee responsible for drafting it. Jefferson was the delegate chosen to write the important document.The Declaration of Independence was written as a letter to King George III hoping for reconciliation. The committee met several time to discuss ideas and think of what they wanted to be addressed in the document. Like most people who write something, he had to first make a rough draft (â€Å"The Declaration of Independence†). Jefferson, by himself, drafted a rough copy of the declaration. He worked on it for two and a half weeks. Only minor changes were made to his draft before it was finalized. The Declaration of Independence became Jefferson’s most popular work.This was such an important document because it formally declared that the thirteen colonies of North America were free and independent from British control (â€Å"Reasons for the Declaration†). It served as the basis for the American Revolution. It began the formation of the federal government and a new United States of America. The Declaration of Independence was released to the public on July 4th, 1776. As time went by, the ideas of Jefferson’s words â€Å"all men are created equal† grew in importance. Northern states used them to free slaves in their states. Abraham Lincoln used equal rights to justify the Civil War (Bernstein, 156).He soon became the governor of Virginia. Jefferson also because the vice President of the United States. To occupy his times during his four years as vice president, Jefferson authored A Manual of Parliamentary. This was one of the most useful guides to legislative proceedings ever written, and served as the president of the American Philosophical Society. After Jefferson’s time as vice presiden t, he became the third President of the United States. As president, Jefferson accomplished many things, including the Louisianna Purchase (Beran, 73). This greatly expanded the size of the country.After his presidency, Jefferson settled down. His tone of writing remained the same as before though. He was still straight forward political writer who expressed his opinions through letters and documents. Jefferson did, however, write an autobiography describing his accomplishments and life journeys. He began writing this is 1821. The last thing that was written by Thomas Jefferson was a letter addressed to Roger C (â€Å"Thomas Jefferson†). In this letter, Jefferson thanks him for inviting him to the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of The Declaration of Independence.He said that he was happy and hopes that the celebration serves as a reminder of the rights he had originally written about. At the end of the letter, Jefferson apologized for having to reject his invitation because of his health conditions. Thomas Jefferson lived a very eventful and successful life. In 1818, his health began rapidly declining. He was diagnosed with kidney failure and many other age related diseases (â€Å"Thomas Jefferson, a Brief Biography†). His death was mainly caused by a combination of a few things. One thing that contributed to his death was exhaustion from diarrhea. Another contributor was toxemia from a kidney infection.Uremia from kidney damage and orthostatic old-age pneumonia also added to Jefferson’s declining health. He was bed-ridden and eventually died on July 4th, 1826 in Charlottesville, Virginia. The date of his death is ironic because it was the same day as the anniversary of The Declaration of Independence. Jefferson might have lived longer under modern medical care (Bernstein, 187). Jefferson leaves behind a legacy that will always be talked about. He will forever be revered as one of the great American Founding Fathers. He was a spok esman of liberty, but had also been viewed as a racist slave owner.He was a president who expanded government authority beyond the wildest visions of his predecessors. Jefferson is a symbol for the nation he helped create. After he died, he was buried in the family cemetery at Monticello. The cemetery is located in Virginia and Jefferson’s grave is surrounded by metal fences. Beran, Michael Knox. Jefferson’s Semons: Portrait of a Restless Mind. New York City: Free Press, 2003. Print. Bernstein, R. B. Thomas Jefferson. Oxford: University Press, 2003. Print. Skarmeas, Nancy. Thomas Jefferson. Nashville: Ideals Publications Incorporated, 1998. Print. Jefferson, Thomas.Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson. New York City: Dover Publications, 2007. Print. â€Å"Thomas Jefferson. † International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. New York City: Macmillan Library Reference, 2008. Print. â€Å"Thomas Jefferson. † The Biography Channel Online. n. p. n. d. Web. 17 Ma y. 2009. â€Å"Thomas Jefferson, a Brief Biography. † Monticello Online. n. p. n. d. Web. 7 September. 1993. â€Å"Reasons for the Declaration. † History King. n. p. n. d. Web. 14 March. 1999. â€Å"The Declaration of Independence. † America’s Library. n. p. n. d. Web. 24 April. 2000. â€Å"Jefferson – Hemings. † Monticello Online. n. p. n. d. Web. 4 August. 1993.Related Photo This is a picture of the sign at the Monticello Graveyard located in Virginia. The photo relates to Thomas Jefferson because the Monticello Graveyard is also known as the Jefferson Cemetery. The cemetery sits behind and slightly down the mountain, hidden from the plantation's daily life. Something of a disappointment was the fact that the locked wrought iron fence prohibited visitors from paying homage to the great man and his family. Somehow it felt as if we were being banned from his world. Thomas Jefferson was buried in this cemetery along with many other members of the Jefferson family. Literary InterpretationOne of the most recognized and most popular documents in American history is The Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson and adopted by the Second Continental Congress, was the start of a new beginning for the United States of America. The declaration is a letter to the King of Great Britain, George III. The declaration states the reasons for the British colonies wanting independence. It explains why the colonies have overthrown their ruler. Thomas Jefferson addresses specific details for their reasoning as well as expressing his opinions of the governmental structure.Jefferson uses his strong political writing skills and his knowledge on politics to the colonies’ problems with other nations of the world. Thomas Jefferson’s purpose for writing The Declaration of Independence was to express his ideas for a better society and to help the colonies become free at the same time. â€Å"But  when a  long train  of  abuses  and  usurpations,  pursuing invariably  the  same Object evinces  a  design  to  reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is  their right, it is  their duty, to  throw off such Government, and to  provide new Guards  for their future security,† (Jefferson 1).This sentence of The Declaration of Independence shows Jefferson expressing how he feels about being treated wrong. Thomas Jefferson and other members of the Second Continental Congress wanted to use the declaration to expose the abuses to the other nations of the world. They wanted to justify the action of congress by blaming the rapture on King George III. The abuses that Jefferson is discussing are the abuses that King George III has applied to the colonies of Northern America. The abuses were a result of the king’s desire of creating a tyrannical government in America.The foundation of representative government is the power of the pe ople to make laws for the public good (â€Å"Reasons for the Declaration†). King George III interfered with that process by rejecting legislation proposed by the colonies, dissolving colonial bodies or representation, replacing colonial governments with his appointed ministers, and interfering with the naturalization of citizens in new regions. King George III extended his tyrannical control by interfering with the objective judicial processes and the civil rights of the colonies (â€Å"The Declaration of Independence†).Jefferson then uses this to create a list of unalienable rights that should be applied to everyone. â€Å"We hold these truths to be self-evident,  that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,† (Jefferson 1). Jefferson addresses that if any form of government becomes destructive of the ends, it is the right of the people t o alter or to abolish it, laying its foundation in the belief of these rights.Jefferson uses these to lay down a basic structure of the government he want and how the people of this society should be treated. Of the abuses that were mentioned, Jefferson devoted approximately one-fourth of the abuses in his original draft of the  Declaration of Independence  to the topic of slavery. Jefferson held the King accountable for maintaining and protecting slavery as an institution in the colonies. Not surprisingly, the moderate congress, already fearful of being too radical, removed all references to slavery from the document.It remains a source of historical debate why a slave-owning man like Jefferson would have devoted so much intellectual energy to criticizing slavery and to attempting to remove it from the colonies. Jefferson thought that slavery was contrary to the laws of nature, which decreed that everyone had a right to personal liberty. These views were radical in a world wher e unfree labor was the norm. Jefferson spends so much time writing about slavery because he does not approve of it and he does not want to incorporate it in the society and government that he is aiming towards.It is clear that Thomas Jefferson wrote The Declaration of Independence to help the thirteen original colonies to become free from British control. The Declaration of Independence has much deeper meaning than just that, though. Jefferson uses the document to express exactly how he feels about the political structure of a country. From this point on, people should look at The Declaration of Independence as the guidelines and rules to how a country should be run and how the citizens of that country should be treated. Jefferson, Thomas. â€Å"Declaration of Independence,† The American Experience.New York City: Prentice Hall, 2002. Print. â€Å"Reasons for the Declaration. † History King. n. p. n. d. Web. 14 March. 1999. â€Å"The Declaration of Independence. † America’s Library. n. p. n. d. Web. 24 April. 2000. List of Authors Works 1. A Summary View of the Rights of British America 2. Draft of Constitution for Virginia 3. Original Rough Draft of the Declaration of Independence 4. Draft of Kentucky Resolutions of 1798 5. Wall of Separation Letter 6. Manual of Parliamentary Practice 7. Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson Persuasive Essay Thomas Jefferson is an important figure in American history.He was one of the American Founding Fathers, the third president of the United States, and an original American politician. Thomas Jefferson is an important American author and should be taught in an English curriculum. Learning about Thomas Jefferson in an English class can teach students about his influence on early American government structures as well as the history of the thirteen original British colonies. It can also teach students about his progress and developments as an American Founding Father. Thomas Jefferson matters in Americ an literature because he is one of America’s original politicians.Thomas Jefferson is an American forefather. Not only did he write the Declaration of Independence, he was Virginia’s representative to the first Continental Congress, the governor of Virginia and the third president of the United States. As a president, Jefferson accomplished many things. He allowed the Alien and Sedition acts to end without renewal and also had the tax on liquor repealed (â€Å"Thomas Jefferson†). In 1803, Jefferson purchased the Louisiana territory from France for $15 million. This is considered the most important act of his administration.All of these things are important because it teaches the history of our country and Thomas Jefferson contributed to the history. Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence can teach students about how America’s thirteen original British colonies became independent from King George III. If the Declaration of Independence was a ssigned to students, it would teach them the reasons for America wanting to become free from British rule. They would learn how King George III treated the thirteen colonies and what they wanted for their governmental structure.It also teaches the unalienable rights the Jefferson included in the declaration (â€Å"Reasons for the Declaration†). As a champion of civil liberties, Jefferson valued reason above faith. This is much different from other philosophers during his time because they were the complete opposite. Learning about Jefferson’s political beliefs teaches students how he used politics to make his decisions. He was a strong supporter of the ideals of the Enlightenment. Those ideals are reason, liberty and equality (Bernstein, 98). He believed that these ideals should be used to govern nations.He put his beliefs into his writings and into the Declaration of Independence. Many people think that Jefferson should not be taught in an English curriculum because h e favored slavery and was a slave owner himself. But while Jefferson was vocally opposed to slavery, and even passed the Act to Prohibit the Importation of Slaves during his second term as president,  he was a slave owner and believed that black people were inferior to white people. For some, this is cause enough to dismiss Jefferson as someone for whom history has inflated their reputation, but he was a man of his time and was subject to the cultural beliefs of that time.In truth, Jefferson was instrumental in the America of today, the America that values equality and liberty and freedom. Jefferson’s actions and philosophy shaped the  ideals  of America. In fact, for America to revisit the teachings of Jefferson might be wise. In conclusion, Thomas Jefferson should be taught in English classes. Jefferson is important to American history and shaped our country. â€Å"Thomas Jefferson. † International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. New York City: Macmillan L ibrary Reference, 2008. Print. Bernstein, R. B. Thomas Jefferson. Oxford: University Press, 2003. Print. â€Å"Reasons for the Declaration. History King. n. p. n. d. Web. 14 March. 1999. Annotated Bibliography Beran, Michael Knox. Jefferson’s Semons: Portrait of a Restless Mind. New York City: Free Press, 2003. Print. From this source, I got information about Thomas Jefferson’s education and about his life after becoming a president. I used this information in my biography essay and cited in twice. I found this book to be very helpful and it provided a vast amount of information. Bernstein, R. B. Thomas Jefferson. Oxford: University Press, 2003. Print. From this book, I got information about Thomas Jefferson’s work on The Declaration of Independence and on his death.I used this information in both my biography essay and in my persuasive essay. It provided a lot of information that I was able to use and I feel like it was a very reliable source. Skarmeas, Nancy. Thomas Jefferson. Nashville: Ideals Publications Incorporated, 1998. Print. From this book, I got information on Jefferson’s early political letters and writing. This book provided examples of his political letters and details explaining them. I used this information on the Early Writing Career portion of the biography essay. This source was very helpful. Jefferson, Thomas.Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson. New York City: Dover Publications, 2007. Print. From this autobiography, I got information on every aspect of Jefferson’s life. I used this information in all three essays. This source provided the most accurate and reliable information since it was written by Thomas Jefferson himself. â€Å"Thomas Jefferson. † International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. New York City: Macmillan Library Reference, 2008. Print. From this online encyclopedia, I obtained information on Jefferson’s early life. I used this information in my biography essay.There was n’t that much information from this source, but what I found was very reliable. â€Å"Thomas Jefferson. † The Biography Channel Online. n. p. n. d. Web. 17 May. 2009. From this source, I found a lot of information on Thomas Jefferson’s early life and his writing of The Declaration of Independence. I used this information in all three essays. This source offered a lot of information that I didn’t find anywhere else. â€Å"Thomas Jefferson, a Brief Biography. † Monticello Online. n. p. n. d. Web. 7 September. 1993. From this source, I got information of Thomas Jefferson’s death.I used this information in my biography essay. This source offered very little information. â€Å"Reasons for the Declaration. † History King. n. p. n. d. Web. 14 March. 1999. This source offered information about why The Declaration of Independence was written. I found use of this source in all three of my essays. This source offered a lot of detailed a lot of d etailed information. It was a very reliable source. â€Å"The Declaration of Independence. † America’s Library. n. p. n. d. Web. 24 April. 2000. This source offered information about the Declaration of Independence.I used the information from this source on the literary interpretation and biography essays. This source offered very straight forward facts and information that I found to be quite helpful. â€Å"Jefferson – Hemings. † Monticello Online. n. p. n. d. Web. 4 August. 1993. This source gave me information about Thomas Jefferson’s affair with slave-girl Sally Hemings. I used this information on my biography essay when I talked about the affair. This source had the most information about the affair. I found this source to be very useful. Jefferson, Thomas. â€Å"Declaration of Independence,† The American Experience. New York City:Prentice Hall, 2002. Print. This source is what I did my literary interpretation on. I found it to be very easy to interpret and it also provided some information that I could’ve used in my persuasive essay. â€Å"Thomas Jefferson Family Cemetery. † Carol House Online. n. p. n. d. 17 February. 2007. This source is where I got the cemetery picture from. All I got from this source was the picture. It was a good source. â€Å"Thomas Jefferson on Politics and Government. † Faculty Online. n. p. n. d. 7 May. 1996. This source is where I got the cover picture from. All I got from this source was the picture. It was a good source.

The Natural And Humanistic Concepts - 944 Words

Speculations of identities have been contemplated for decades. The natural and humanistic methodologies to personality have each one gotten to be infamous in discovering the science behind demeanor. Abraham Maslow created the chain of command of goals as an issue of he didn t accept that the procurement hypotheses sufficiently depicted the nature of human conduct. In breaking down every the organic and humanistic speculations, one will see wherever Maslow could are right in this supposition. the crucial impression of humanistic and organic hypotheses change extensively. There region unit some fundamental ideas driving humanistic exploratory order. Humanists have practical experience in this as opposed to survey the past or at the long run. Well individuals should assume liability for themself; regardless of the activities and every individual have characteristic cost. Indeed antagonistic activities don t refute the value of the individual. 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