Femail Trafficking Who Are Trafficked for Sexual Exploitation Research Paper

Femail Trafficking Who Are Trafficked for Sexual Exploitation - Research Paper Example As all such extreme crimes, the incidence of human trafficking is significantly high in the world, in both developed and developing countries. This exploitation of human beings, done by the powerful human beings to the comparatively weak and helpless people, occurs in many forms throughout the world, with thousands of victims falling prey to it every year. These forms include, â€Å"prostitution, sexual exploitation, slavery, child labor, organ transplant and other types of involuntary servitude† (UNODC, 2009). Human trafficking also includes the abduction of people and making them work under false promises of money, employment or other such benefits. The victims include men, women, as well as children, who find themselves victims of this crime both in their homelands as well as in foreign countries. Human trafficking bears a striking resemblance with the illegal practice of slavery, due to the conditions and exploitation that are subjected to its victims. One specific type of trafficking is sex trafficking of females, which is one of the most commonly found forms of this crime. Exploiters force women into prostitut ion due to debt-bonded agreements in this crime, and this has currently come to be the face of ‘modern slavery’, and a severe violation of human rights. Female trafficking is a practice, which leads to the compelling of the victimized female to perform sexually, for the exploiter’s financial gain (Hart, 2009). It is a growing business because of two reasons: it is profitable and it uses people who are not difficult to trap. The profitability of this crime is because there is a large market for the illegal trade of sex; a demand that female trafficking satisfies with its low prices and exploitation of helpless women. The helpless women are usually those from poor communities, who have been tricked into taking debts that they cannot afford to repay. They also include those women from families and communities, which are minorities in a country,

Analysing the various Management Principles and Applications

Analysing the various Management Principles and Applications The need for professional management came along with large scale businesses from the industrial revolution. This is generally understood to cover the period from around 1760 to 1850 in this time there was a major economic growth. The division of labour, combined with technological advances provided the economic need for a factory system. The factory system however, brought new problems for owners managers. There are various pioneers who contributed to the development of management, these include: F.W. Taylor (1856-1915) he was known as father of scientific management, was a professional engineer. H.L. Gantt (1861- 1919) his main interest was human beings in industry he wanted to establish democratic societies in factories. Abraham Maslow was a behavioural psychologist who worked in academia and industry. He wrote various books on human relations. The first book was on Motivation and Personality set out the needs of a human being these are still hugely important factors today. Definitions of Management There is no generally accepted definition of management, however, the best definition is said to be that of Henri Fayol (1841-1925) who was a French Engineer, as even today the principles remain the same. To manage is to forecast and plan, to organise, to command, to coordinate and to control. H. Fayol (1916) Henri Fayols definition of management is based upon his initial idea that forecasting planning was about looking to the future coming up with a plan of action to allow objectives to be met. Organising was seen in structural terms while commanding was said to refer to maintaining activity amongst personnel. Coordinating is a unifying activity which effectively allows all parts of an activity to work in harmony finally controlling meant, ensuring things are done in accordance with established specifications policies etc. Henri Fayol therefore is responsible for identifying the principles of management which are listed below are further detailed in task 2 of this assignment. Forecasting Planning Organisation Command (Motivating) Controlling Co-ordinating and communicating Another definition is that of Edward Brech the last of the management pioneers. He believed that management was for the good of society and integrity was its cornerstone. He collated ideas, added his own developed training programmes textbooks Management is a social process the process consists of planning, control, coordination and motivation. EFL Brech (1957) Another definition is that of Harold Koontz Cyril ODonnell, both professors of business management at the University of California. Management is an operational process initially best dissected by analysing the managerial functions The five essential managerial functions (are): planning, organising, staffing, directing and leading and controlling. Koontz ODonnell (1984) The definitions of Brech Koontz ODonnell are based upon that of Henri Fayol however they have made some small changes, for example Henri Fayols term command is changes to motivation by Brech directing or leading by Koontz ODonnell. P2 Explain the principles and processes of management. A managers job consists of planning, organising, directing controlling a companys resources which include the workforce, equipment, finances, facilities materials etc. Management also includes the recording storing of facts information for later use or for the use of others within the organisation to assist them with their own objectives. Management is not only limited to managers supervisors as every member or employee is responsible to some extent for managing their own functions as part of their job. The main principles of management described by Fayol are as follows: Forecasting Planning Organisation Motivating Controlling Co-ordinating and communicating Within any company or organization a manager has many roles responsibilities there job requires that they have the all of these skills to fulfill the role of manager. Forecasting Forecasting is concerned with the future economics of a company or organisation. This involves decisions being made to steer the company or organisation in the right direction these decisions will be based upon forecasts by the management. These may include financial forecasts such as the annual turnover of the company the requirements of funding to allow the company to fund their projects. Forecasts may also be in relation to the companys workload therefore allowing them to forecast the required resources i.e. labour. Planning Planning involves the future co-ordination of projecting controlling of resources. Many decisions made in regarding planning will be based upon the companys forecasts as explained previously; however planning will also be done on each individual project. This involves the making of decisions which will allow the company or organisation to meet the demands of their clients ensure that the objectives of the business are met. The main objective of a typical business is to make profit, therefore each individual project will be planned organised in detail will be closely managed monitored to ensure it is moving in the right direction, thus ensuring that the clients demands are met that the businesss objectives are met. Organisation Organisation involves the arrangement of the company structure while establishing relationships resources which will allow the companys objectives to be met. Any company or organisation will require that all of their individual departments are organized appropriately to allow them to function meet their demands. A managers job will be to define each individual within their department with their own roles responsibilities while ensuring that they all meet their demands in accordance with any specifications timescales while ensuring that they are coordinated with any relevant site based activities. Motivation This is the process to improve the physiological state of morale within the workforce of a company. A companys most important asset is its personnel, therefore it could be said that the motivation of the employees is essential. The identifiable needs of an employee include: To be paid fairly to allow them a comfortable standard of living. To be treated as an individual while being recognized as a crucial part of the team. To have a reasonable sense of security in their job. To be allowed the opportunity to show their ability initiative. Having a socially acceptable job with a sense of belonging and acceptance, allowing a high self esteem. Having the opportunity to progress within the company. An employees motivational needs is what that particular employee needs are in order to help keep them happy in their job, thus allowing them to perform to the best of their ability. Many of these needs may also be more important than others which a manager should have the ability to detect fulfil, for example, an employee might feel that they should be recognised as an important member of the team as this may boost their confidence. Once their confidence is boosted their motivational needs are therefore fulfilled. There are many ways in which companys work towards meeting the motivational needs of their employees as a whole these include the introduction of bonus schemes and provision of good welfare facilities etc. Controlling Controlling refers to the continuous observation of a project to ensure that the work is carried out is continuing as it was initially planned. Should it be noticed that the project is not progressing as per planned corrective action will be taken to rectify this. Controlling is the tactical spear of the management involves checking the current achievement with pre-determined targets. Controlling may comprise of: The control of the projects overall budget. The control of monetary payments for the supply of materials services. Controlling the progress of the project. Co-ordination Coordination is crucial to ensure that each team or department involved in a project works in harmony to ensure that the project is completed with the least possible problems throughout the duration of the project. The coordination of management requires regular communication typically in the form of meetings to integrate ideas into action. Co-ordination is not only crucial between the management employees in any one company, it is crucial that there is co-ordination between all parties involved in a project. This can be difficult particularly in large scale projects where for example the Client, Architect, Quantity Surveyor, Contractor Sub-Contractors etc must all work together to ensure that the project is completed successfully. This is where good management is essential to ensure the co-ordination between all of these parties. Communication Communication is to probably the single most important element within any organisation in particular any construction project as good communication is critical as it ensures the coordination and control of individuals, groups and departments not only within one company or organisation but also within all the other parties who may be involved with a project. Communication ensures control of a companys plans and procedures that any instructions given to staff by the management are clearly understood. Poor communication can lead to ineffective control, poor coordination and inevitably management failure which will ultimately result in a failure to meet a companys objectives i.e. a loss of money. Often, communication can be hindered by simple barriers such as the use of different phrases expressions between parties. Different languages may also pose a problem in international contracts, while modern communication methods such as emails etc may be misrepresented. In the construction industry in particular there is a slight advantage as much of the communication is done by the use of detailed drawings which represent the same to each individual no matter what their language may be. P3 Explain the motivational needs of individuals and groups, leadership styles and concepts of team working. Motivation Motivation is mainly concerned with: The forces that stimulate human behaviour. The factors that channel direct this behaviour. The way in which this behaviour can be maintained or eliminated. Motivation is crucial in all workplaces regardless of the nature of work carried out. Keeping employees highly motivated is the key to a successful workplace. An employee who is happy, satisfied motivated in their job will inevitably be more productive than an employee who has little or no motivation. There have been various motivation theories but all with the same intentions. A highly motivated workforce is ultimately more productive this can help to increase labour outputs therefore decreasing costs which will in turn generate more profit for the business. Motivation not only increases the quantity of work but also the quality, therefore having a large group of highly motivated employees can have a positive effect on any business. People can be motivated in various different ways this will be dependent upon their individual needs requirements. For example, one employee may be more motivated by being given the opportunity to use their own initiative, while another employee may be more motivated by the prospect of bonus schemes. Setting work related goals is another method of motivating employees as they are more likely to be productive if they have a target to work toward whereas If a task has no target it may cause employee to feel dissatisfied therefore they will be less motivated. There have been various pioneers of management theories throughout the years. Amongst them are those by Frederick Herzberg, who believed that the key motivators were achievement, recognition, advancement and job interest. Others include John Adair, Peter Drucker, Elton Mayo Victor Vroom. As was briefly explained in task 1 of this assignment Maslow wrote a book based on human relations. In the book he wrote about the factors which drive or motivate people. Once a group or individuals needs are satisfied, then they will not be motivated by the same benefits as generally humans all ways expect more. Maslows report shows in order to achieve good results from the staff and able to complete our new proposed building successfully we would have to ensure the employees needs are catered for and their problems are being listened to. Maslow defined five orders of needs which are as follows: Physiological- The basic survival requirements of warmth, shelter and food Security- Protection from danger of threat Social- Relations with others, expressed as friendship comradeship or love Self-Respect- Sense of personal worth, respect and autonomy Self-Actualisation- Sense of achieving your full potential A more recent and modern approach was from Sheila Ritchie and Peter Martin who developed a theory in the late 1990s that began under the assumption that it was a managers task to discover what motivates their workforce. They identified twelve motivational drivers including, the human needs for interesting work, a variety in work, achievement, power, self development, creativity, influence, social contact, money and perks, structure and rules, long term relationships good working conditions. The idea was based on having a method of motivation for each employee as it was based on the belief that each individual had different motivators therefore should have their own motivators used with them. For example, if an employee has worked well achieved more when targets are set, then the manager should make the effort to ensure the employee know what was expected of them at all times. However, this method is not always going to be practical many companies simply use incentive schemes which are aimed at all employees. These may include incentives such as extra time off or bonuses in pay for exceeding their targets. Many companys also make use of team building days which are also aimed to increase motivation within the workforce. These days out can range from sporting activities to evening meals all paid for by the employer. Leadership Styles There are various different styles of leadership used in the workplace this will vary dependent upon the workforce in general, for example, if there is a mixture of non-skilled skilled workers, each of these groups may need a different style of leadership to fully motivate them gain the best from them there will of course be a difference upon individuals. The main leadership styles are defined as: Autocratic An autocratic leader can be described as one who simply issues orders to their workforce expects everyone to comply. Democratic A democratic leader manages by consultation with their workforce encourages each individual to participate, therefore developing a team approach in the workplace. There have been various studies in regards to management leadership, for example Rensis Likert (1903-1981) an American psychologist statistician conducted research on human behaviour within different types of organisation during his research he studied different styles of leadership defined four main types of management system as follows. Exploitive / Authoritative System. Decisions are imposed on employees. Employees are motivated by means of threats i.e. the loss of their job. High levels of management have great responsibility. There is no responsibility for low levels of management. Poor communication teamwork. Consultative System The leadership will have some trust in their employees. Motivation is gained by rewards by having involvement in the decision making. There is a varying level of responsibility over all levels of management. There is some communication teamwork. Participative Group System The leadership have full confidence in their employees. Motivation is gained via economic reward earned through joint targets being met. All employees feel that they have a responsibility for the companys targets. Good communication team work tales place. Benevolent / Authoritative System Leadership via master / servant trust. Motivation is gained by the provision of rewards i.e. pay increases. Levels of management have great responsibility. There is no responsibility for low levels of management. Poor communication teamwork. The style a leader adopts depends on their perception of their workers motivation for example, do workers need to be driven autocratically and motivated by wage increases or are they better motivated by being allowed to voice their opinions assist in the decision making. A leadership styles success depends on the circumstances the leader is in, for example if a leader is under pressure it may be more beneficial to use an autocratic style of leadership. How close workers are may also have an influence, for example a team of workers who have worked together for a long time may be more motivated by being involved in the making of decisions. The method of leadership adopted should be carefully considered as leadership styles can also affect employee motivation. Team Working Team working can be beneficial in many circumstances in the workplace. This allows for more ideas to be generated more feedback to be received by the management. Team working also allows for greater coordination of works while allowing individuals to use their strengths in place of other team members weaknesses. Merit Criteria Schools of Management During the late 19th early 20th centuries, management theory was developed was classified as either scientific management or administrative management many of the techniques concepts are still used in modern management.

Vocational Education Vs. Standardized Testing Essay -- Vocational Cour

Plenty of schools focus on the scores that come from standardized testing. Though standardized testing is not going to help a student get to where they need to be in order to gain their career. In fact, standardized tests are mainly being used to measure a teacher’s ability to teach (Manalo 1). Why are schools basing their curriculum on standardized test scores rather than teaching vocational education courses that will help students later on in their lives? There are many different vocational courses which include; nursing, food ethics, computer solving, office management, and even cosmetology. Give high school students vocational classes or let the school system crumble. Vocational courses better prepare students for the years to come. Vocational courses prepare and teach and create leaders and are well rounded. Every student deserves to have an opportunity at success and vocational classes will organize them in the manner they need to be prepared. These classes narrow oneâ €™s focus so they are able to discover what they want to pursue for a living. (Ziliak 1). Vocational classes open up â€Å"doors of opportunity.† Cannot use the excuse that teaching vocational education in schools would lower the chances of getting into college because college credits can be earned through these courses. In 2012 students engaging in the Kokomo career center earned 834 credits from Ivy Tech Community College (Ziliak 2). Apparently vocational classes prepare students for real life situations and put them on the right track towards their dream career. As many schools use standardized testing to measure their student’s growth they do not realize that standardized tests do not reflect the character of children which will definitely not encourage succe... ...re a type of authentic learning. Vocational education adds: variety, relevance, and purpose. â€Æ' Works Cited James, Howlett. "Industrial Arts: Call It What You Want, the Need Still Exists." Industrial Arts: Call It What You Want, the Need Still Exists. N.p., Mar. 2008. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. Manalo, Taylor. "Civic Issues." Civic Issues Site Wide Activity RSS. Civic Issues, 1 Apr. 2013. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. Watkins, Bill. "Do Standardized Tests Raise Dropout Rates?" Newgeography.com. New Geography, 16 Nov. 2011. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. Jorgenson, Olaf. â€Å"What We Lose In Winning The Test Score Race.† Principal 91.5 (2012): 12-15. Education Research Complete. Web. 7 Feb. 2014. Ziliak, Lindsey. â€Å"In Vocational Courses, Ind. Students Get Early Glimpse Of Careers.† Community College Week 25.14 (2013): 11. Education Research Complete. Web. 7 Feb. 2014.

Critics on Cooperative Principle Essay

As phrased by Paul Grice, who introduced it, it states, â€Å"Make your contribution such as it is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged. â€Å"[1] Though phrased as a prescriptive command, the principle is intended as a description of how people normally behave in conversation. Speakers and listeners involved in conversation are generally cooperating with each other. For reference to be successful, it was proposed that collaboration was a necessary factor. In accepting speaker’s presuppositions, listeners normally have to assume that a speaker who says his something really does have that which is mentioned and isn’t trying to mislead the listener. This sense of cooperation is simply one in which people having a conversation are not normally assumed to be trying to confuse, trick, or withhold relevant information from each other. In most circumstances, this kind of cooperation is only the starting point for making sense of what is said. Since conversations between people are not always straight forward, the linguistic philosopher H. P. Grice attempted to explain how a hearer gets from what is said to what is meant, from the level of literally expressed meaning to the level of implied meaning and he termed the implied meaning conversational implicature in his theory. Grice suggests that there is a general principle guiding conversation what he calls the Cooperative Principle (CP for short), and communicators observe the general conversational maxims of truthfulness, informativeness, relevance and clarity within the CP, according to the four main maxims of Quantity, Quality, Relation and Maner. When the listener hears the expression, he has to assume that the speaker is being cooperative and intends to communicate something. That something must be more than just what the words mean. It is an additional conveyed meaning, which is an implicature. People who obey the cooperative principle in their language use will make sure that what they say in a conversation furthers the purpose of that conversation. Obviously, the requirements of different types of conversations will be different. The cooperative principle goes both ways: speakers (generally) observe the cooperative principle, and listeners (generally) assume that speakers are observing it. This allows for the possibility of implicatures, which are meanings that are not explicitly conveyed in what is said, but that can nonetheless be inferred. For example, if Alice points out that Bill is not present, and Carol replies that Bill has a cold, then there is an implicature that the cold is the reason, or at least a possible reason, for Bill’s absence; this is because Carol’s comment is not cooperative — does not contribute to the conversation — unless her point is that Bill’s cold is or might be the reason for his absence. (This is covered specifically by the Maxim of Relevance). We assume that people are normally going to provide an appropriate amount of information. We assume that they are telling the truth, being relevant, and trying to be as clear as they can. Listeners and speakers must speak cooperatively and mutually accept one another to be understood in a particular way. The cooperative principle describes how effective communication in conversation is achieved in common social situations. However, there are some circumstances where speakers may not follow the expectation of the cooperative principle. In courtrooms and classrooms, witnesses and students are often called upon to tell people things which are already well known to those people, thereby violating the quantity maxim. Such specialized institutional talk is clearly different from conversation. However, even in conversation, a speaker may opt out of the maxim expectations by using expressions like ‘No comment’ or of such expressions is that, although they are typically not â€Å"as informative as is required† in the context, they are naturally interpreted as communicating more than is said. For example, the speaker knows the answer. It is speakers who communicate meaning via implicatures and it is listeners who recognize those communicated meanings via inference. The inferences selected are those which will preserve assumption of cooperation. In the theory of conversational implicature, Grice proposes that in an exchange of conversation, there is an underlying principle that determines the way in which language is used maximally effectively and efficiently to achieve rational interaction. He calls this governing dictum the co-operative principle and subdivides it into nine maxims classified into four categories. The co-operative principle: Make your conversational contribution such as is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged. He suggests that there is an accepted way of speaking which we all accept as standard behaviour. When we produce, or hear, an utterance, we assume that it will generally be true, have the right amount of information, be relevant, and will be couched in understandable terms. If an utterance does not appear to conform to this model (e. g. B’s utterance in (1) above), then we do not assume that the utterance is nonsense; rather, we assume that an appropriate meaning is there to be inferred. In Grice’s terms, a maxim has been flouted, and an implicature generated. Without such an assumption, it would not be worth a co-interactant investing the effort needed to interpret an indirect speech act. This is the standard basic explication of the CP, maxims and implicatures1. At this point, many descriptions immediately turn to detailed explanations of the many ways in which the operation of the CP can be tracked in language use: flouts, violations, infringing and opting out. However, in this mass of detail, Grice’s underlying ideas are too often lost. Taylor & Cameron (1987:83) stand alone in making this point: â€Å"Few commentators pause to consider Grice’s avowed motive for introducing the CP. Instead they rush on to consider the various maxims which are subordinate to it. † All the examples of flouts, violations and opting out are there to further illustrate the distinction between saying and meaning: an interest which has been evident in the Gricean program since Grice (1957), and to show that there is a pattern in the way we interact. There is a relationship between the conventional meaning of an utterance and any implicit meaning it might have, and it is calculable. What Grice (1975) does not say is that interaction is ‘cooperative’ in the sense which is found in the dictionary. In fact, as we have suggested in Davies (1997), it could be argued that the existence of this pattern of behaviour enables the speaker to make the task of the hearer more difficult. Speakers can convey their intentions by a limitless number of utterances, it is up to the hearer to calculate the utterer’s intention. It would seem from this that the CP is not about making the task of the Hearer straightforward; potentially, it is quite the reverse. It allows the speaker to make their utterance harder, rather than easier, to interpret: we can omit information or present a non-literal utterance, and expect the Hearer to do the extra work necessary to interpret it. We would suggest that there is a conflict between the way we interpret the CP’s position in the Gricean program, and the way it is often represented in the linguistic literature. Grice suggests that conversational implicatures- roughly, a set of non-logical inferences that contains conveyed messages which are meant without being said in the strict sense – can arise from either strictly and directly observing or deliberately and ostentatiously flouting the maxims. Furthermore, he distinguishes between those conversational implicatures which arise without requiring any particular contextual conditions and those which do require such conditions. He calls the first kind generalised conversational implicatures and the second kind particularised conversational implicatures. Grice also points out that conversational implicatures are characterised by a number of distinctive properties, notably (i) cancellability, or defeasibility (conversational implicatures can simply evaporate in certain linguistic or non-linguistic contexts), (ii) non-detachability (any linguistic expression with the same semantic content tends to carry the same conversational implicature (a principled exception is those conversational implicatures that arise via the maxim of Manner)), (iii) calculability (conversational implicatures are calculable via the co-operative principle and its attendant axims), (iv) non-conventionality (conversational implicatures, though dependent on what is coded, are non-coded in nature), (v) reinforceability (conversational implicatures can be made explicit without producing too much redundancy) (Sadock 1978), and (vi) universality (conversational implicatures tend to be universal, being motivated rather than arbitrary) (see Sadock 1978 for a critique and Nunburg 1981 for a defense). Recent advances on the classic Gricean theory of conversational implicature include Atlas & Levinson (1981), Leech (1981, 1983), Sperber & Wilson (1982, 1986), Levinson (1983, 1987a, b, 1991), Horn (1984, 1988, 1989, 1992) and Atlas (1989). 2 In these new developments, the original Gricean programme has been revised in somewhat different ways. Sperber and Wilson, for example, in an attempt to make a paradigm change’ (Kuhn 1970) in pragmatics, propose that the entire Gricean apparatus be subsumed within a single cognitive principle, namely the principle of Relevance. On this Relevance theory, which is essentially a modification of the Fodorian theory of cognitive modularity (Fodor 1983),3 it is assumed that the human central cognitive mechanism works in such a way as to maximise Relevance with respect to communication, that is, ‘communicated information comes with a guarantee of [R]elevance’ (Sperber & Wilson 1986: vii). Thus, the principle of Relevance is claimed to be responsible for the recovery of both the explicit and implicit content of an utterance. In other words, on Sperber and Wilson’s view, in interpreting an utterance, one is always maximizing the informational value of contextual stimuli to interpret the utterance in a way which is most consistent with the principle of Relevance. Horn suggests a less reductionist, bipartite model. In Horn’s view, all of Grice’s maxims (except the maxim of Quality) can be replaced with two fundamental and antithetical principles: the Quantity principle and the Relation principle. These maxims may be better understood as describing the assumptions listeners normally make about the way speakers will talk, rather than prescriptions for how one ought to talk. Philosopher Kent Bach writes: We need first to get clear on the character of Grice’s maxims. They are not sociological generalizations about speech, nor are they moral prescriptions or proscriptions on what to say or communicate. Although Grice presented them in the form of guidelines for how to communicate successfully, I think they are better construed as presumptions about utterances, presumptions hat we as listeners rely on and as speakers exploit. (Bach 2005). Gricean Maxims generate implicatures. If the overt, surface meaning of a sentence does not seem to be consistent with the Gricean maxims, and yet the circumstances lead us to think that the speaker is nonetheless obeying the cooperative principle, we tend to look for other meanings that could be implied by the sentence. Grice did not, howev er, assume that all people should constantly follow these maxims. Instead, he found it interesting when these were not respected, namely either â€Å"flouted† (with the listener being expected to be able to understand the message) or â€Å"violated† (with the listener being expected to not note this). Flouting would imply some other, hidden meaning. The importance was in what was not said. For example: Answering It’s raining to someone who has suggested playing a game of tennis only disrespects the maxim of relation on the surface, the reasoning behind this ‘fragment’ sentence is normally clear to the interlocutor (the maxim is just â€Å"flouted†). Criticism Grice’s theory is often disputed by arguing that cooperative conversation, as with most social behavior, is culturally determined, and therefore the Gricean Maxims and the Cooperative Principle cannot be universally applied due to intercultural differences. Keenan claims that the Malagasy, for example, follow a completely opposite Cooperative Principle in order to achieve conversational cooperation. In their culture, speakers are reluctant to share information and flout the Maxim of Quantity by evading direct questions and replying on incomplete answers because of the risk of losing face by committing oneself to the truth of the information, as well as the fact that having information is a form of prestige. [3] However, Harnish points out[4] that Grice only claims his maxims hold in conversations where his Cooperative Principle is in effect. The Malagasy speakers choose not to be cooperative, valuing the prestige of information ownership more highly. It could also be said in this case that this is a less cooperative communication system, since less information is shared) Another criticism is that the Gricean Maxims can easily be misinterpreted to be a guideline for etiquette, instructing speakers on how to be moral, polite conversationalists. However, the Gricean Maxims, despite their wording, are only meant to describe the commonly accepted traits of successful cooperative comm unication. Geoffrey Leech created the Politeness maxims: tact, generosity, approbation, modesty, agreement, and sympathy. Flouting the Maxims Without cooperation, human interaction would be far more difficult and counterproductive. Therefore, the Cooperative Principle and the Gricean Maxims are not specific to conversation but to verbal interactions in general. For example, it would not make sense to reply to a question about the weather with an answer about groceries because it would violate the Maxim of Relevance. Likewise, responding to a question with a long monologue would violate the Maxim of Quantity. However, it is possible to flout a maxim intentionally or unconsciously and thereby convey a different meaning than what is literally spoken. Many times in conversation, this flouting is manipulated by a speaker to produce a negative pragmatic effect, as with sarcasm or irony. One can flout the Maxim of Quality to tell a clumsy friend who has just taken a bad fall that her gracefulness is impressive and obviously intend to mean the complete opposite. The Gricean Maxims are therefore often purposefully flouted by comedians and writers, who may hide the complete truth and manipulate their words for the effect of the story and the sake of the reader’s experience. Speakers who deliberately flout the maxims usually intend for their listener to understand their underlying implication. In the case of the clumsy friend, she will most likely understand that the speaker is not truly offering a compliment. Therefore, cooperation is still taking place, but no longer on the literal level. Conversationalists can assume that when speakers intentionally flout a maxim, they still do so with the aim of expressing some thought. Thus, the Gricean Maxims serve a purpose both when they are followed and when they are flouted.

Blair Witch Project

â€Å"The Blair Witch Project† After the release and authentic content in the â€Å"Blair Witch Project† it has become a major addition to the horror film collection and has brought unwanted public attention to the small town in Maryland (Burkittsville). This movie was not only a success in theatres, there was also much gained economically and promotionally due to the fame of â€Å"The Blair Witch Project. † While it is obivious that this film has become a popular horror film due to it’s darks theme, what is the story behind the film? How does â€Å"The Blair Witch Project† affect the Burkittsville towns people and the image of the town?And how does it relate to Danielewski’s House of Leaves. While all of the questions are important to answer, it would be beneficial to talk about this documentary turned film, as if it was just a form of motion pictures. This film was made by two directors, Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez. â€Å"The Blair W itch Project† is a spooky film made up of suspenseful film footage found years after the death of the three students featured in the movie. â€Å"Montgomery College students Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, and Michael Williams arrive in Burkittsville to interview locals about the legend of the Blair Witch for a class project.Heather interviews Mary Brown an old and quite insane woman who has lived in the area all her life. Mary claims to have seen the Blair Witch one day near Tappy Creek in the form of a hairy, half-human, half-animal beast. † Montgomery College students Heather Donohue, Michael Williams and Joshua Leonard take a trip to the town of Burkittsville, MD to capture some interesting footage on a lady accussed of using witch craft. As a female, Heather Donohue is the leader of the three who is driven and becomes the heart and soul of this project.Heather is the only member out of the group who is willing to continuously to film after they hear spooky noises and notice cries outside. Though she is eager to capture as much film as possible, it is evident both Michael and Joshua become annoyed with Heather. The plot of this film climaxes once Jousha wonders off and comes up missing. This part the movie also sets the tone for the following events, the death of both, Michael and Heather. Since â€Å"The Blair Witch Project† is considered a horror film, one would expect to see witches, monsters, killer and even ghost but this movie includes none of these scarey figures.This film simply captures the fears that three people gain while being stranded in the woods. Most of all this film shows the attempt of three people trying to capture images about a witch and turn into an interesting documentary. Before Heather, Michael and Joshua decided to go out and film a documentary, they heard about the stories of Elly Keward (Blair Witch). In 1785, Elly Keward was accused of convincing kids to come to her home to draw blood and later found guilt y of witchcraft. â€Å"Several children accuse Elly Keward of luring them into her home to draw blood from them.Kedward is found guilty of witchcraft, banished from the village during a particularly harsh winter and presumed dead. By midwinter all of Kedward's accusers along with half of the town's children vanish. Fearing a curse, the townspeople flee Blair and vow never to utter Elly Kedward's name again. † In 1809, The Blair Witch Cult book was published, which is considered a fiction genre that tells a story of a town cursed by a loner witch. It is not until 1824 that Burkittsville is found on the Blair website. â€Å"Starting with Emily Hollands, a total of seven children are abducted from the area surrounding Burkittsville, Maryland.An old hermit named Rustin Parr walks into a local market and tells the people there that he is â€Å"finally finished. † After Police hike for four hours to his secluded house in the woods, they find the bodies of seven missing chil dren in the cellar. Each child has been ritualistically murdered and disemboweled. Parr admits to everything in detail, telling authorities that he did it for â€Å"an old woman ghost† who occupied the woods near his house. He is quickly convicted and hanged. † â€Å"The Blair Witch Project† has so many different themes that all can be summed up as dark.This film was made to be informative about the death of the three students, but was also created to be a scary, horrorful and spooky film. Although there are speculations about this film being false or fake, the scenes and frightful events within this film definitely persuade you to believe that its no fiction film. With the collection of dark shots and the noises included in the film it is easy for one to become scared and horrified while watching this film. The scariest thing about this film is that it takes place in an existing town, Burkittsville, MD.The discovery of Burkittsville, MD on the Blair website and the death of townspeople, brought a new perspective for the small town in Maryland. This connection with Blair gives Burkittsville a spooky and creepy image, which relates to Danielewski’s House of Leaves. Although â€Å"The Blair Witch Project† is a movie and House of leaves is a book they both give off an scary or eerie feeling. While both stories are formed due to an experiment, they both are formed into horror stories. Many people see the connection between the two, especially write Nicholas Rombes, who writes an article comparing the horror film and genre. In many ways, the Blair Witch Project and House of Leaves are flip sides of the same coin, experimental works in the guise of horror stories. If it weren’t for the fact that they were from the lowly horror genre, they might have been nominated for Big Prizes like an Oscar or a National Book Award. † (Nicholas Rombes) The reputation that this town has gained due to Blair, is what led Heather, Michael and Joshua to Burkittsville, MD on October 20, 1994 and what might have been the reason they never returned.While these spectacles about â€Å"The Blair Witch† being true or false still linger, the mysterious deaths of the three students still affect the towns people of Burkittsville. â€Å"If they vote to keep the signs, it won't be because they love â€Å"Blair Witch† lore; they hate â€Å"Blair Witch† lore. It will be because Burkittsville, which looks almost exactly the way it did in the Civil War, never throws anything away†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Town leaders think Burkittsville could make $3,000. That's small compensation for all the trouble caused by a film that grossed $249 million. But it could pay to fix some broken sidewalks. † (By Faye Fiore, Los Angeles Times)Overall â€Å"The Blair Witch Project† is a scary film that displays the experiment of three college students on a mission to findout more about the â€Å"Blair Witch. † Wh ile this movie tells the story of a long lost women who practices witchcraft and kills people, it also gives of a sick and scary vibe. This films theme and structure is what makes it compatible to Danielewski’s House of Leaves. This film has not only brought back the store of â€Å"Blair Witch,† it has also been added to the horror film collection. After watching this film, one should be terrified to visit the woods and graveyards of Burkittsville, Md.