The Meaning, Mechanism, And Evidence Of Bergman’s Rule Essay Example for Free

The Meaning, Mechanism, And Evidence Of Bergman’s Rule Essay The publication of Charles Darwin’s â€Å"Origin of Species† was the turning point for nascent evolution theorists. Basically, he stated that organisms evolved into genotype or specie that breeds progenies which possess attributes of fitness, survivability, and adaptation to their environment over that of another of a related specie. This results to new generations becoming better adapted to their environment and more likely to survive than those that are less adapted, and this difference is not due to chance (Rittner and MacCabe, 2004, p. 241). Christian Bergmann, A contemporary of Darwin published a paper which embodied his Bergmanns rule that correlates latitude with body mass in animals. Broadly it asserts that within a species the body mass increases with latitude and colder climate and decreases with warmer climate. The difference in size makes this a better adaptive strategy in the climatic environs these species are found. The Mechanism of Determining Bergman’s Rule Christopher Ruff of the John Hopkins University has conducted studies on variation of humans in to climate. To make it simple, Ruff views the human body as a cylinder, the diameter of which represents the width of the body, or, more specifically, the width of the pelvis; the length of the cylinder represents trunk length. The link between anatomy and climate relates to thermoregulation, or the balance between heat produced and the ability to dissipate it. This relationship translates to the ratio of the surface area to the volume of the cylinder, or body mass. In hot climates, a high ratio that is, a large surface area relative to body mass, or a slim, long trunk a facilitates heat loss. In cold climates, a low ratio that is, a small surface area relative to body mass, a bulky, short trunk allows heat retention. Differences in body breadth among human populations largely explain differences in body mass, the basis of Bergmann’s rule (Lewin, 2005, p. 69). Ruff’s scientific studies could be summed as follows: on the relationship between body breadth and latitude, Ruff concluded that people living at high latitudes have broad bodies, as measured by the bi-iliac (pelvic) breadth; those residing at low latitudes have narrow bodies; on the relationship between the ratio of surface area to body mass and latitude people living at high latitudes have a low ratio as a consequence of Bergmann’s rule; and an increase in the length of the trunk has no effect on the ratio of surface area to body mass.

Analysis of Semantics and Pragmatics in Two Texts :: Compare Contrast Linguistics

Analysis of Semantics and Pragmatics in Two Texts Linguistics is the science of a language. Linguists depend on the use of certain aspects in order to analyse, describe and explain a human language; these aspects include semantics and pragmatics. Semantics can be defined as the study of "meaning" of lexical words and expressions independently of context. Where pragmatics is the process of recognising the "invisible meaning" of lexical items and expressions; taking into account the speaker's/ addressee's intention, the status of hearer/ receiver and the actual situation. This paper will explain the process we, as humans usually follow to understand a certain text or utterance. This explanation would be achieved through the analysis of two journal articles from semantics and pragmatics perspective, taking into account a range of techniques associated with each of the two concepts including: Semantics Aspects: Synonymy, antonymy, hyponymy, prototypes, homophones and homonyms, polysemy and ambiguity. Pragmatics Aspects: Deixis and Distance, reference and inference, conversational implicature, anaphoric and cataphoric reference, presupposition, entailment, direct and indirect speech acts and speech events, cultural context and cross cultural pragmatics, conversational analysis and background knowledge, denotation and connotation meaning, the four maxims and hedges. Analysing Article One We will begin by observing the semantic and pragmatic features in article 1 being "Men are sulks say surveys" .This article is taken from the hot topics section of the popular msn website. The main topic of this article is a medical concept being flu/cold, where the unspecified writer of this article discusses the reaction of men, compared to women when it comes to having flu. The article also lists a number of readers' comments on the subject topic. As a whole, article one is rich with lexical items that belong to the medical lexical field, such as cold, flu, Panadol, tablets, sick, suffer, diseases, chicken pox, depression, doctor, coughs, headache etc. The extensive use of these terms throughout the article was a necessity since the main topic is about a medical condition. Another lexical field was elaborated in this article being the family relationships such as mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, children etc. Antonymy or the use of two lexical items that represent the opposite meaning appear in this article such as men and women, males and females, wives and husbands, mothers and fathers, vent and defend etc. The use of these terms in this article is more likely for the purpose of comparison. Most of these antonyms are relational opposites; these opposites indicate two ends of a relationship between persons.

Life with Brother Phil

One never realizes how easy life is when you are a child. Of course your â€Å"job† is to go to school and it seems as if life is hard; the responsibility of getting up and going to school, getting good grades, getting along with friends, parents, and siblings. However, as you get older, you realize how safe and protected you were.Summers actually meant free time and for me it meant true fun and games with my brother Phillip. Philip was the type of boy even the adults trusted. When something happened and adults needed to get to the â€Å"bottom† of the story, they turned to Philip knowing he’d tell them the truth despite any consequences.During this particular summer, Philip had invented a game similar to tag but which had us running through each other yards instead. The object of the game was to tag each other and then send them to the â€Å"nuthouse† set up in our yard. Ahhh, the memories of that summer and of the crazy games Philip dreamed up will give me pleasant dreams for life. Now, years later as we have grown up, some of that innocence has become lost. As I search Phillip’s eyes today, I no longer see the little boy of yesteryear with his eyes all aglow.Today Phillip is in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba as a photographer. One would think that this creative little boy could use that imagination and creativity through the lens of the camera, but that is not the case where he lives. His pictures tell the story of the landscape; a landscape awash with dirt, broken coral and a quiet, discontent shoreline. And a story of a big brother who grew up from a bright starry eyed child into an adult who sees the real world as ugly as it truly is behind the eyes of a camera.

The Cask Of Amontillado By Edgar Allan Poe - 997 Words

The cask of Amontillado Edgar Allan Poe is an American author and a poet. He is a major figure in American and world literature, this is primarily based on his ingenious and profound short stories, poems, and critical theories, which established him as a highly influential rationale for the short form in both poetry and fiction. â€Å"The cask of Amontillado† is viewed by most people as one of the most perfect short stories in the world and although Poe uses symbolism to help his audience understand it can also be seen how throughout the story and in almost every line how uses verbal and dramatic irony to build suspense, foreshadow the ending, and to add a touch of horrifying humor from it he wants his audience to understand his closeness to Fortunato. This story is a short tale of horror about Montresor who is the main character revenge for an insult from his friend Fortunato. And although Fortunato believes he has good friendship with Montresor he ends up being chained and walled in to the catacomb s and buried alive. The first Irony that can be seen is verbal irony. Verbal irony is a figure of speech where the speaker intends to be understood as meaning something that contrasts with the literal or usual meaning of what he says. On the title: The word â€Å"cask†, meaning a large barrel like container made of wood used for storing liquids, typically alcoholic drinks like wine, is derived from the same root word used to form casket, meaning coffin. Thus, the cask figurativelyShow MoreRelatedThe Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe888 Words   |  4 PagesThe Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe In ?The Cask of Amontillado?, Edgar Allan Poe takes us on a trip into the mind of a mad man. Poe uses certain elements to convey an emotional impact. He utilizes irony, descriptive detail of setting, and dark character traits to create the search of sinful deceit. Poe also uses first person, where the narrator is the protagonist who is deeply involved. The purpose is to get the reader to no longer be the observer. He wants them to see with MontressorRead MoreThe Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe836 Words   |  3 Pagesqualities in the story. In the story many things are used as symbols such as the actual cask of amontillado, the trowel, the jester costume and the setting in which there is two in the story. Another literary technique used significantly in the story is irony. Irony is the expression of ones meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite. In the short story â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado,† Montresor a very troubled man who plans to seek revenge on another man named FortunatoRead MoreEdgar Allan Poe And The Cask Of Amontillado1384 Words   |  6 PagesWhat makes Edgar Allan Poe work unique? Other than being a strange individual, Poe has become a remarkable literature writer. The Raven, Annabel Lee, and The Cask of Amontillado are just a few of Poe’s work that staples the theme of gothic literature. This essay will allow you to see the gothic elements Edgar Allan Poe uses through his most common poems. Gothic literature has many elements which play into its definition. The actual definition is a style of writing that is characterized by elementsRead MoreThe Cask Of Amontillado By Edgar Allan Poe906 Words   |  4 Pages â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† was written in 1846, by Edgar Allan Poe. Born in 1809, Poe never knew any of his parents. At the age of three, his mother died of tuberculosis, and his father deserted the family before he was born. Taking care of him was his foster parents in Richmond, Virginia. They loved Poe, but were not supportive of his decisions and kept Poe poor. Having debt and not being able to provide food and clothes for himself caused Poe to quit school. Later, heRead MoreThe Cask Of Amontillado By Edgar Allan Poe920 Words   |  4 Pageswhen that trust no longer exists? In â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† written by Edgar Allan Poe, Fortunato is about to find the answer to this question. On the surface, Montresor seems friendly with Fortunato, but deep down he feels nothing but hate for him. Could this hatred have an irrationality that only Montresor understands? In different ways, both of these men are proud and affluent, yet both have downfalls that will l ead to a tragic ending. Edgar Allan Poe’s use of language contributes to the understandingRead MoreThe Cask Of Amontillado By Edgar Allan Poe1555 Words   |  7 PagesIn his writing, Edgar Allan Poe has multiple uses of direct and indirect characterization. In The Cask of Amontillado, Montresor had rules such as â€Å"I must not only punish but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong† (Poe, 2). Poe used indirect characterization to show the reader that Montresor is an unreliable narrator because he justified hisRead MoreThe Cask Of Amontillado By Edgar Allan Poe1303 Words   |  6 PagesIn Edgar Allan Poe’s â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado,† the narrator recalls an extremely significant time in his life, and takes the reader along with him. Throughout the story, one experiences a perfectly planned murder which took place over fifty years ago, and still no one has discovered what truly happened to poor Fortunato as he was chained to a wall in a room that was then closed off, and torched to death due to all the nitre in the walls. As the story goes on, the reader can see some of Poe’s unfortunateRead MoreThe Cask Of Amontillado By Edgar Allan Poe1076 Words   |  5 PagesThe short story, The Cask of Amontillado, written by Edgar Allan Poe is a story of terror and betrayal. Like many of Poe’s literary works, the story has a dark undertone with a theme of terror and depression. More than half a century ago, Marshall McLuhan argued that though Poe was fascinated by evil, the evil that he had in mind was not that of Calvinism, but that of the split man and the split civilization. In general, McLuhan was right, but in this instance Calvinism, and its God, provided a darkRead MoreThe Cask Of Amontillado By Edgar Allan Poe707 Words   |  3 PagesIn the short story of The Ca sk of Amontillado, Edgar Allan Poe writes in first person point of view from the perspective of Montresor who seeks revenge against Fortunato. Montresor began to develop the perfect plan for revenge. During the carnival season, Montresor meets with Fortunato and decides to implement his plan carefully through irony. Poe s story describes the murderer s mind which has lived as a memory of Fortunato s death for fifty years. Poe uses different types of irony and symbolismRead MoreThe Cask Of Amontillado By Edgar Allan Poe985 Words   |  4 PagesEdgar Allen Poe is a well known author of short stories and poetry from the 19th century. He is known especially for his stories of horror and suspense. The Cask of Amontillado is one of his more famous pieces. The story follows the narrator, Montresor, as he exacts revenge on Fortunato. Montressor draws Fortunato into the wine cellar where eventually he chains Fortunato to the wall and encloses him inside it. Throughout the story the narrator continually proves that he is not the most reliable source