The Effectiveness Of Election Campaigns

The Effectiveness Of Election Campaigns If there is one specific topic that has generated the most resounding growing political research in the study of voter behavoiur and election outcome, then it must be Do campaign matter? Decades of voting researches have explored this topic either as a co-relation between the effects of campaign on election outcome in new political perspectives or as a critique to the earliest voting behavoiur studies, whatever the rationale for investigation may be, it has ushered the emergence of a new political phenomenon. This essay would be explored from a typical two sided scholarly perspectives either to argue for or against the significances of election campaign in any political entity. Although this style of discussion would offer in-depth and broader academic resources for clearer understanding but may not be able to sufficiently examine the dimension and dynamics of campaigns in political phenomenon because of the limited time constraint. Also this study intends to draw a clearer picture between the importance and irrelevance of campaigns in cognizance of its relationship with some other socio cultural influences providing the liberty of the readers to take academic position on the argument SUPPORT OF CAMPAIGN Even though the literature of campaigning is unlikely minimal among the academic players, entirety of campaign have been eulogized as a key influence on election outcome and voting behavoiur amongst political actors. This view is supported by Holbrook (1996) as he argues that campaign enjoys continuous recognition from other political actors (voters, candidates and parties) but the scholarly community have shown less interest in campaign effects rather concentrated on the sociological and partisan identification, incumbency and its performances, candidate popularity as the essential factors which influence election outcome creating the emergence of the minimal effects of campaign by the earliest political scientist such as Berelson, Lazarsfeld and McPhee, 1954; Campbell et al., 1960 This position of argument influenced series of subsequent campaign researches which tend to primarily define the minimal effect of campaign as it merely activates voters prevailing partisan sentiments, thereby necessarily ignores a variety of other highly relevant campaign effects. Ironically, It is interesting to know how this minimal effects of campaign could create marginal changes in the voter participation can upturn the election outcome Considering the continuous transformation of the political institution, some political scientists ( Iyengar and Simon 2000) have argued that election outcome in any political environment are always shaped by interplay of many factors in which they may not be individually measured. Thus, they argue that assessing election outcome through the singular premise of campaign is unjustified because campaigns are part of the political processes which are traditionally focused on influencing voting decision by conveying certain impression about candidate or political parties In relation to this position, Ornstein and Mann 2000 in his descriptive analysis of the behavioral attitudes of campaigning defined it as a self centered, continual and persuasive political activity that gives the much needed relevance to the retrospective loyalties of the voter which reactivates them to make voter decision, Quite interestingly, he eulogized campaign as a key political instrument used to make a voter make a psychological purchase in correlation with his reasoning. However, such persuasion is achieved through aggressive media channels by engaging the voters feelings in a preferred direction. Because the political contests are predominantly competitive for elective position, the adversarial nature of campaign has reinforcement effect to maximize the voters loyalties in order to win the election is highly commendable. However, it is likely that campaign effects are heterogeneous across individuals and countries. These are the following reasons why campaign do matters; ENLIGHTENMENT EFFECT Recent researches have confirmed that there is a gradual decline of partisanship which given credibility to the significance of campaigns to influence the voter decision. The strength of retrospective evaluation upon the voter choice has been undermined by this decline which provides the fertile grounds for campaign messages to convert their perceived intention by enlightening their political knowledge. Shaw, 1999 and Salmore etal 1989 claim that political parties have failed in its primary duty to provide powerful information about the candidate during election causing a declining level of party identification in the electorate. In similar view ,Ornstein and Mann 2000 argues that there is a gradual decline in voter identification to the ideals of their political parties This is owing to that fact that the sudden change in party policies and in excesses of election primaries has weakened the allegiance of candidate to their political parties. These declining factors have given premises for campaign to persuade the voters intention for voting decision .However; this growing body of research has provided evidence that campaigns can influence voter preferences. This is evident in the study by Trent and Friedenberg (2000). Although voter behaviour are not only persuaded into new converts for opposing parties during campaigns, campaigning events are designed to reactivate pre-existing partisan loyalties of the voters for voter decision. To support this view, Ansolabehere 2006 further argues on the reinforcing model of the campaign effects on voter behavior as product of interplay of private and public information. This is within the premise that people use their cognitive properties (private information) with the campaign communication (public information to make voting decision showing the campaign reactivates their private supposition. VOTER MOBILIZATION AND PARTICIPATION Recent voting research has proved that campaign messages convert pre- voting intention into voting participation during election periods. Most evidently, Holbrook 1996 argues that findings have proved that there is fluctuation of opinions during campaign events which are due to its high content. This exercise tends to encourage public support which in turn influences voter behaviors. Because campaign exercise consists of several events, activities and processes, voter still respond differently to campaign events based on their individuals demographic and political ideals. The effect of these campaign events is that perceptions and opinions about the candidate and political parties are changed by the aggressive media communication which would propel voter participation. This is because researchers have shown that voting intention have been influenced by campaign communication which have strengthen voter participation in the election. Such participation would adversely enhance election outcome. (Kosmidis and Xezonakis. 2010 Personal canvassing, media communication and debates possess a more engaging interactive power to motivate voter participation in electoral processes. All retrospective alliance to his/her partisan party of the voter must be motivated by campaigning platform in order to encourage massive voting decision. However, the specific political act that can provide the engaging platform is campaigning. Certain political researches have not able to specifically measure the turn out effect of campaign on the voter behaviors but considerable evidence provided that voter participation increased during campaign activities. Evidently, in the field experiment by Gerber and Green 2000 on the effect on personal canvassing in the American 1998 Election In relation to the increased voter mobilization as a campaign effect, Bratton 2008 and Schaffer, 2007 collectively suggests that African election campaigns are mainly moments for politicians to engage in mass mobilization and the manipulation of electoral rules in order to increase voter turnout. Specifically in the case of Nigerias general elections of April 2007, Bratton (2008) claims that vote buying and political intimidation are characteristic dimensions of Nigerian election campaigns and are targeted at rural communities. Furthermore, Fournier etal 2004 argued that time-of-voting decision has been suggested as a key mediating variable for campaign effects. In other words, campaign messages tend to convert voting indecision to positive decision, or from one candidate choice to another thereby making the voter open to campaign persuasion. The media coverage and debates during the campaign influenced the voter intention drawing a co- relation between time of decision and the persuasion of campaign messages. In their researches, they confirmed that late deciders are responsive to campaign events in Canadian elections VOTER LEARNING Every voter needs information to make any type of voting decision either to reinforce his existing partisan loyalties or to make new voting decision. However, campaign is the most appropriate electoral process to provide such function. Because of the vast information- generating nature of Campaign, it provide the avenue for voter learning- the acquisition of information about the candidates and issues .During campaigns the political awareness are enlarged and fundamental voter preferences are being enlightened (Gelman and King, 1993), while the campaign learning process informs voters party positions and issue stances (Peterson, 2009). Campaign occupies the prestigious role as an educational academy for political learning through its information communication about the electoral system which enables the voter to understand the ideologies of the candidate, thereby offering them an enlightened voting decision. To support this stance, Iyengar and Simon 2000 describes campaigns as multifaceted and information-rich events which encompasses the candidates chances of winning, their personal and political ideologies giving campaign events (debates, candidate advertising) the opportunity to expose the voter knowledge to the personality of the candidate by boosting citizens political information, which may increase their likelihood of supporting the particular candidate Evidently, Hillgus and Jackman 2002 in the examination of the campaign effects in the presidential election 2000 in America party argue that conventions and presidential debates affected vote preference. They explored their research using the transition model to individual-level campaign data and concluded the effect of a campaign event based on the voters, campaigning timing, candidate Similarly, the effect of campaign for voter learning were evidently backed by Survey Researches such Brians Wattenberg 1996 and Zhao Chaffee 1996 as they found out that exposure to candidate marketing through the lens of campaign enhance voter learning which would encourage their voting participation Campaign communications increases the voters political understanding, thereby reducing uncertainty around the voting decision. Most recently, Kosmidis and Xezonakis 2009 executed an exploratory research on the undecided voters in the 2005 British general election; their finding confirmed that specific campaign messages formulated the choice preference of undecided voting behaviours. Agenda Control Traditionally, it is believed that voters choose whatever political interest based on their consideration of importance; ironically, campaign communication determines this consideration because of the cycle of appearance in media. Campaign messages surround its themes around those key interests and communicate them strategically in the media to set the agenda for relevance. Dalton etal 1995 suggests that because candidates are the principal sources of news during campaigns, they are in an advantageous position to simultaneously influence the media and public, for instance, candidates are motivated to introduce and pursue issues on which they enjoy a comparative advantage. The candidate closer to the student voter on an issue like fee reform would want to address that topic, as opposed to discussing issues which is not relevant to the student. Agenda control remains a key determinant of campaign effects because the candidate determines the principal yardsticks in which he/ she would be evaluated by the electorate as this are achieved through media communication. An extension in investigation of agenda control during campaign, Johnston et al 1992 argues that rhetoric also plays a special role by directing voters towards a specific agenda and considerations surrounding that agenda. This is achieved by the interplay of the acquisition of information and agenda control which provoke their voting decision. The evidence can be seen in their study of Canadian election 1988 which shows how free trade agreement between Canada and the United States, as a result of the candidates and parties rhetorical posturing came to the forefront of the public issue agenda To conclude the support for campaign, Kavanagh 1995 argues that the essence of campaign lies within itself, campaign is a means of choosing government and promoting political learning and citizenship, thereby contributing to the quality of representative democracy. This is because the interests of politics are heightened during campaigns through media communication about the candidate and party policies which are designed to attract the voting inclination for election participation. AGAINST CAMPAIGNS Examining the other view which argues that campaign do not matter, for the sake of clear understanding of the essay, the argument against campaign would be explored from the macro context factor of elections and their influence on voting behavoiur. As earlier stated, scholarly study on political science have argued the macro context of factors of elections both at the individual and aggregate level s strongly affect voting behavoiur and further posited that the macro context of election provides the wide platform in which any electoral campaign can function presenting a strong weakening interdependence characteristic of campaign. PARTISAN INDENTIFICATION Most predominantly stance of their argument is the influence of party identification on election outcome based on its psychological characteristics; their research argues that voting behavoiur and choices in elections are not merely a short term decision as similar the limited influencing experience campaign offers rather it is a conglomerate of certain long term political dispositions and ethnics in the social fabric of the electorate in which there is no room for campaign to change minds or influence behavoiur . An early voting research by Campell et al (1960) in their seminal book, The American Voter described the influence of party identification as a sustained psychological orientation to political parties which is a key determinant for attitude formation and political behaviour. Thus, electorates most often cast their votes based on their emotional affiliation with the electoral parties affirming their strong spirit of political devotion rather than the short persuasiveness of campaign propaganda. In the extensive study of the psychology of party identification and its influences of voting choice, a key realization is the existence of retrospective voting attitudes in the electorate. Fiorina(1981) explored the dynamics of retrospective voting and its direct impact of voting behavoiur as he argues that electorates associate their policy preferences with the policies of the party and make voting decision based on their retrospective evaluation of the performance of party in contrast to the mere make believe of campaigns. Much recent research points to the powerful electoral effects of incumbent performance evaluations which is termed the referendum model of presidential elections (Erikson 1989; Fiorina 1981) The recent studies such as Rice 1992 have evidently confirmed that election outcomes are easily explored without recognizing the mechanism of campaigning with their forecasting model. This simply means that elections outcome can be accurately predictive based on circumstantial factors before any campaign exercise. POWER OF INCUMBENCY Power of the incumbency is another factor that mitigates campaign effects. This particularly means that a party may enjoy a long term advantage in elections over its contemporaries because of its present governing authority. This long advantage may be due to the performance of the incumbency or possession of extensive resources to win the election. In this case, no matter the persuasiveness and aggressiveness of media fireworks in the campaign exercise, the ruling party would outage such approach. In all cases, every incumbency would strategically utilize all significant resources to ensure positive election outcome, they benefit from their ruling capacity in transforming media and economy to their advantage. In extreme cases, they use existing political institutions for election malpractices. A typical case is the Nigerias general elections of April 2007, Bratton (2008) which was characterized with rigging due to the power of incumbency by the ruling party (People Democratic Party) Trent and Friedenberg (2000) argue that the incumbency creates a special advantage for the candidate because of the political resources attached to the office of incumbency. Such advantage may be measured in them of the performance of the incumbency which may initiate retrospective loyalties during voting decision. In such power of incumbency, campaign may not necessarily affect the election outcome as voters would align their voting power t o the incumbency that have performed positively that an aspiring candidate of a new party STATE OF ECONOMY State of the Economy remains another significant factor subverts the effect of campaigns. Holbrook 1996 argues that the national economic context of political activities influences the voting behaviors, that is the economic performance of the incumbency largely influence voting behavoiur as voters are mostly inclined to vote for the ruling party in good economic times (High Gross Domestic Product, Infrastructural development)and more willing to change party in power in bad economic times(unemployment, inflation, high banking rate, poor exchange rate) . This position challenges the rhetoric of campaigns as it present comparison between the realistic experiences of the economy of the state and the fictitious gimmicks of campaigns. Thus, an aggressive campaign cannot influence the election outcome in occurrence of bad economic state A practical example cited by Holbrook 1996, was the American election of 1992, the winning of Clinton of the incumbent president George Bush was not due to his strong content of this campaign, it was purely because of poor economic situation of Bushs administration. No Bush campaign would have influence the voting behavior to change the experience of the realities o f the economy WEAKNESS OF CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES Even though it is believed that the power of campaign lies in its events of activities, it have been characterized with several shortfalls ranging from its irrelevant key themes, ambiguous message and inappropriate media channel. Kavanagh 1995 also argues that the shortfalls of campaigns lies in itself as, campaign are mostly surveyed based on the content of output(advertisement, flyers) not by its output (election result).The lack of defined measurement system for campaign effect devalued its significance because election outcome is a product of several interplay of key factor and campaigns is least . Also he identified the ineffectiveness of campaign in various factors are wrong timing , conflict of electoral goals(election winning) versus other political goals(party values),Disagreement on campaign strategy and tactics ,Lack of party actors for implementation of campaign strategies, Lack of guaranteed knowledge about election winning. CONCLUSION Evaluating the two ideological perspectives on campaign, it may difficult to take a decisive position considering the continuous transformation of political environment. However, it is true that voters are open to myriad of political information designed to influence their voting decision but tend to make their voting choice based on their sociological experience, campaign seems to be one major political process that creates a platform of series of effects ranging from the reinforcement of the retrospective values, education of the voters political knowledge and influencing the voting behavoiur. The main paradox is the word matter in the question because relevance of campaign may be related to different objectives, context and ideologies. In order, campaign effects can be from different studies use different approaches to aim specific objectives. Therefore, it may be devaluing to adjudge a political act to be irrelevant if it does not achieve the entire expected objective. It is important to say that no political scholar can specifically say that a particular political activity guarantee the Election winning because Election outcome is a series of interplay of macro cultural actives, therefore campaign may matter but not necessarily to all voters

Cultural Misunderstandings Essay

Are you drinking plenty of fluids? Patient thoughts: I wonder why he is asking me that, what it is with these people and water I don’t like the water here. It’s too cold. I don’t know what’s wrong with people here that they drink that. Really And what happens when you drink the cold water? Patients thoughts: What does he mean, what happens? Everyone knows that drinking cold water is not good for you. Maybe I should see a different doctor. I hate cold water; I put it in the microwave to heat it up before I can drink it. In this case, the cultural misunderstanding occurred when the doctor failed to understand that some cultures learn and believe from an early age that drinking cold water can be detrimental to the body and they are discouraged from drinking it (Fauzi, 2008). This resulted in the patient becoming dehydrated because he was hesitant to drink the tap water as it was much cooler that they were used to. The patient found it inconvenient or impossible to heat water up at work or at school where there was no access to a microwave, so he just didn’t drink at all. Even without this knowledge, the doctor could go on to make suggestions of other liquids besides cold water that he could substitute to keep him well hydrated. However, knowing this information could have prevented him from making the patient feel awkward or uncomfortable. These misunderstandings cross over into the psychotherapeutic process as well. Misunderstandings happen from many reasons including but not limited to a lack of cultural knowledge, and inability or desire to see and understand differences in others as well as in ourselves. Specific clinicians, known as Universalist clinicians tackle these issues under the pretense that these cultural differences should remain out of the spotlight when it comes to psychotherapy. They believe in highlighting similarities rather than differences and feel that if general factors are present, therapy will have a positive outcome regardless of ethnicity, context or race. They basically choose to overlook the cultural differences. One the other side of the fence we have Particularist clinicians , which in sharp contrast to the universalists believe that cultural differences have a significant impact on individual experiences. They feel that these factors strongly determine how people define themselves as well as how they relate to others (Marcos, 1979). They view these differences as insurmountable obstacles and recommend that clients seek out therapists of their own cultural background in order to be successful in treatment. The type of clinician, known as the trancendist clinician, recognizes the importance of bringing cultural differences to the forefront and developing specific plans of action to do so. From their perspective it is felt that these differences can be â€Å"transcended†, or simply put, that clinicians can develop cultural competencies allowing them to effectively provide treatment strategies to clients from many different backgrounds other than their own (Angelou, 2012). It’s pretty clear that psychotherapy today adheres to a more trancendist perspective when developing and working through treatment plans for clients with diverse cultural backgrounds. There are several recommendations on how to effectively address culturally diverse clients. First , clinicians and professionals should view cultural differences as dynamic, complex, and subjective There are some very obvious characteristics such as accents , color of skin, or socioeconomic status that can be immediately categorized as culturally different, but the how they are interpreted or what these  differences mean are subjective. Beyond this , cultural differences are very complex , including a multitude of variables ( age , gender, language, religion, education level ) and it is crucial to consider all these factors when determining how they come together to define someone’s identity. Finally, perceptions of the therapist as well as the client are what constitute cultural differences as dynamic as opposed to static. As therapist and client progress through treatment what was once considered a cultural difference may fade into the background as other issues and factors come to the surface (Angelou, 2012). In this respect , therapist are encouraged to constantly explore how meanings can change , rather than operate on the pretense that once the cultural difference is defined and understood , that it is no longer necessary to explore. Another way to reduce cultural misunderstandings is to address similarities before discussing cultural differences. Clients and therapist may not only differ on many cultural attributes, but may also share some of those cultural characteristics. A helpful approach would be to identify commonalities before delving into the differences. This could be extremely beneficial to the client, and the therapist’s knowledge of similarities may help reduce a client anxiety or ambivalence. It also serves to build rapport, making the client feel more secure and accepting about sharing information and getting to the root of underlying issues. Cultural differences should be addressed as assets. Unfortunately many people from culturally diverse backgrounds have experienced how the majority misconstrues their differences as deficits. In the U.S. alone , members of a non dominant groups , such as anything but Caucasian, homosexual, disabled, non Christian, and female to cite a few, are often viewed as deficient, whereas male heterosexual white Christians are viewed in a more favorable light. Whenever possible, clinicians should make attempts to study how these differences relate to the client’s strengths, rather than perceiving them as weaknesses. Many of us value differences and consider them assets; however this is sometimes a harder message to convey during therapy considering the way that people view differences from dominant groups as a problem. Although there are many different ways to address the issue of reducing cultural misunderstandings, the last one I will identify may be the most important. It is imperative to have a well versed, culturally competent therapist. There are three common dimensions to this. First and most obvious, the therapist attitude and beliefs about cultural different individuals set the stage for the success of the psychotherapy. Clinicians should deeply explore their feelings about prejudices and cultural biases before attempting to move forward with the treatment of a culturally diverse client. There are many different avenues a therapist can take to become more culturally competent such as reading and education, seeking out advice or supervision from more culturally competent colleagues, attending cultural events and exposing one’s self to people of different cultures. A willingness as well as a genuine desire to learn about different cultures is important as well as the understanding tha t this learning can be a lifelong process. References Angelou, M. (2012). Addressing cultural differences in the psychotheraputic process . Retrieved from http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/50449_ch_4.pdf Fauzi, S. (2008). Doctor meets patient: The effect of cultural memory on the medical interview. Retrieved from http://www.uta.edu/modl/cultural-constructions/200705/html/fauzi.html Marcos, L. R. (1979). Effects of interpreters on the evaluation of psychotherapy in non-English-speaking patients. American Journal of Psychiatry, 136, 171-174.

`` Brave New World `` By Aldous Huxley - 1355 Words

As human beings existing in an unpredictable world, we often attempt to envision ourselves thriving in an unrealistic or utopian lifestyle. Commonly, while placed within situations that are rather troublesome, citizens succumb to ailments such as materialistic things or drugs in efforts to escape from their problems for a while. Thus, making it seem as if people would rather be surrounded with the fabrication of happiness rather than accepting the truth and facing one’s problems. Incidentally, consumerism has been defined as, â€Å"the perpetuated idea that you cannot be happy unless you surround yourself with things†. The human tendency of succumbing to consumerism and ignoring reality in order to preserve industrialized happiness has been shown throughout literature. In fact, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, entrails a society where brainwashed citizens turn to ailments such as soma in order to ignore the inevitable pains of life. Though, it is arguable whether or not taking happiness aids or given forced education against nature and sorts are beneficial to society as one would be living in a fabricated reality. Therefore, through the conditioning, denial of John’s enforced riot, the citizens’ dependency on soma, and the extremes made to preserve artificial happiness, it is made clear that the society revolves around monopolized consumerism which, in turn, ultimately leads citizens to artificial happiness as well as fabricated realities. The conditioning executed in the WorldShow MoreRelatedA Brave New World by Aldous Huxley668 Words   |  3 PagesIn Brave New World, there are similarities that have a deeper meaning that we can understand. There are personal effects in Aldous Huxley life that contribute to what he has written in the book. Aldous Huxley throughout his life have seen, done, and events have happened to him, just like all of us, but he has expressed it in his book. So when Aldous wrote the he had so many ideas. I have read the book; it’s notRead MoreBrave New World by Aldous Huxley811 Words   |  3 Pages Brave New World is based around characters who gave up the right of freedom for happiness; characters who ignored the truth so that they could live in a utopian civilization. The deceiving happiness was a constant reminder throughout the book. Almost every character in Brave New World did whatever they could to avoid facing the truth about their own situations. In this society, happiness is not compatible with the truth because the World State believes that happiness was at the expense of theRead MoreBrave New World By Aldous Huxley1525 Words   |  7 PagesA Brave New Feminist The novel Brave New World written by Aldous Huxley in 1932 is known for its social satire, utopian values, and unusual standpoints on stereotypical gender roles. In this time where futuristic technology has completely taken over, and men and women are given the same opportunities for everything, â€Å"the genders appear equal within the social order; both men and women work at the same jobs, have equal choice in sexual partners, and participate in the same leisure pursuits† (MarchRead MoreA Brave New World by Aldous Huxley664 Words   |  3 Pagesfor the fact being in the future and in the past time has changed and many differences were made. In his Dystopian Society Huxley portrays masses of niches where the government produces clones for specific reasons. Huxley decides throughout Brave New World that cloning humans is unethical. He then becomes in contact with the society’s most powerful Alphas and Betas clones. Huxley suggest in BNW that lower class groups in clo ning humans to act like servants to terrorize them into working hard conditionsRead MoreA Brave New World by Aldous Huxley1189 Words   |  5 Pages In the world of sex, drugs, and baby cloning you are going to be in many situations where you feel like the world we live in should be different. In the story Brave New World, they had sex with multiple partners along with a very bad use of drugs. It is weird that Aldous Huxley wrote this book in 1931 about the world he was living in during that time and how it is similar to the world we live in today. Nowadays, drugs are still being used and people are still engaging in sexual encounters withRead MoreBrave New World By Aldous Huxley968 Words   |  4 PagesAldous Huxley’s utopia in Brave New World foreshadowed and illuminated the complications within modern day society. Upon its release, the narrative became widely banned all over the United States due to the unorthodox thoughts and actions of multiple characters in it. Early readers, as well as modern day audiences, feared and rejected the ideals that Huxley incorporated into his perfect society; however, our society today is heading towards the dark paths the older generations desired to avoid. Read MoreA Brave New World by Aldous Huxley895 Words   |  4 Pagesthe novel Brave New World, Aldous Huxley tells of a society where everyone is the same but, compared to t oday’s society, everything is different. Huxley tells of a world where everything that happens or takes place is because of one’s own desire and nothing more. The hero in the novel, a â€Å"savage† named John, is Huxley’s main focal point. It is through his eyes and mind that the reader sees what’s going on. Now when I read this novel, I began to think, â€Å"Could this perfect, conformed world actuallyRead MoreA Brave New World by Aldous Huxley1684 Words   |  7 Pagesimperfect world and is usually only a hopeful dream. These types of worlds can greatly be described in detail through the world of science fiction. Aldous Huxley was an English writer who lived during a time when war and chaos were engulfing the world. His works reflect his view and thoughts on a dystopia, which is a false utopia, and describes what could occur in possible governments of the world. The ability to understand and dive into the thoughts of the author is what make s world literatureRead MoreA Brave New World by Aldous Huxley614 Words   |  2 Pagesthem truly happy. What if someone were to tell you that what you thought was true happiness was all an illusion. In a Brave New World by Aldous Huxley people in the world state are conditioned and drugged up by soma to not experience true happiness. In a world that is perfect, human beings do not have to depend on drugs to keep our world in balance. In a Brave New World by Aldous Huxley there is always a perfect drug called soma that keeps everyone happy, which they have based their society on. ThisRead MoreA Brave New World by Aldous Huxley948 Words   |  4 PagesWelcome to a world were â€Å"Brave† is not just a word; It has a true meaning. This is a story were everything as you know it, doesn’t seem to be right and will completely change your way of thinking. When this story was written, life was very harsh for many people†¦.Mostly for the author who wrote â€Å"Brave New World† During this time (1930s) they didn’t have much sexual content Living The Future Of The Past In The Present†¦.. In the air; But Aldous made a future full of sex for them and we are the

Italian Verbs and Expressions Followed by Prepositions

While learning how to conjugate Italian verbs, you have likely noticed that a great many of them are followed by a preposition that links them to their object, a dependent clause, or another action. It is not so different in English: We apologize for something; we forget about something; we agree with someone to do something. The Italian prepositions or preposizioni that most often assist verbs with nouns or pronouns or that link them to other verbs are a,  di, da, per, and su. If you own a good Italian dictionary and if you look up any verb, you will quickly see the uses with the preposition—or sometimes more than one: Tenere a (to care for/to) can be followed by a noun or pronoun or an infinitive. Pregare can be followed by per and a noun or pronoun, or by di and an infinitive. Here are the most used Italian verbs followed by the specific prepositions that they demand (or their articulated versions). You might see a verb included in two lists because of different meanings. Italian Verbs That Demand A The proposition a can link a verb to an object such as a noun or a pronoun, or a verb in the infinitive.. For example: to get used to the weather; to get used to doing something. Connecting to a Noun or Pronoun With A These verbs connect through a to someone or something. Abituarsi a to get used to Ci si abitua a tutto. One gets used to anything. Assistere a to sit in/watch Ho assistito alla sua prova. I sat in on his exam. Assomigliare a to resemble Assomiglia a sua sorella. He resembles his sister. Credere a to believe Non credo alle tue bugie. I don't believe your lies. Dare fastidio a to bother Non dare fastidio al cane. Don't bother the dog. Fare un regalo a to give a gift to Ho fatto un regalo alla maestra. I gave a gift to the teacher. Fermarsi a to stop at Luca non si ferma a nulla. Luca will stop at nothing. Giocare a to play Giochiamo a tennis. Let's play tennis. Insegnare a to teach Lucia ha insegnato a mia figlia. Lucia taught my daughter. Interessarsi a to take an interest in Mi sono interessato alla tua famiglia. I took an interest in your family. Partecipare a to participate in Orazio non partecipa alla gara. Orazio is not participating in the race. Pensare a to think about Franco non pensa mai a nessuno. Franco never thinks about anyone. Ricordare a to remind Ti ricordo che domani andiamo al mare. I remind you that tomorrow we are going to the sea. Rinunciare a to renounce/give up Devo rinunciare a questa casa. I must give up this house. Servire a to serve a purpose Non serve a nulla piangere. It serves no purpose to cry. Spedire a to send to Spedisco il pacco a Carola domani. I will send the package to Carola tomorrow. Tenere a to care about Tengo molto alle mie fotografie. I care very much about my pictures. Connecting to an Infinitive With A These are verbs that use a to connect to another verb: to begin to do something. Abituarsi a to get used to Mi sono abituata a fare da sola. I have gotten used to doing things on my own. Affrettarsi a to hurry to Affrettati a portare il cane fuori. Hurry to take the dog out. Aiutare a to help to Ti aiuto a portare la torta alla nonna. I'll help you take the cake to Grandma's. Cominciare a to begin to Oggi comincio a leggere il libro. Today I'll begin reading the book. Continuare a to continue to Marco continua a fare errori nei compiti. Marco continues to make mistakes in his homework. Convincersi a to convince oneself to Mi sono convinta ad andare. I have convinced myself to go. Costringere a to force someone to Non puoi costringermi a stare in casa. You cannot force me to stay home. Decidersi a to make up one's mind to Luca si à ¨ deciso a studiare di pià ¹. Luca has made up his mind to study more. Divertirsi a to have fun doing sth I bambini si divertono a tirare la coda al gatto. The children have fun pulling the cat's tail. Fermarsi a to stop to Mi sono fermata a fare benzina. I stopped to get gas. Insegnare a to teach to La nonna ci ha insegnato a fare i biscotti. Grandma taught us to make cookies. Invitare a to invite to Ti voglio invitare a leggere un brano del tuo libro. I want to invite you to read an excerpt of your book. Mandare a to send to Ho mandato Paolo a prendere il pane. I sent Paolo to get the bread. Mettersi a to set out/begin to Ci siamo messi a guardare un film. We began watching a film. Passare a to stop by to Passo a prendere i bambini tra un ora. I'll stop by to get the children in an hour. Pensare a to take care of Ci penso io ad aggiustare tutto. I'll take care of fixing everything. Prepararsi a to prepare to Ci prepariamo a partire. We are preparing to leave. Provare a to try to Proviamo a parlare con la mamma. Let's try to talk to mom. Rimanere a to remain/stay to Rimani a mangiare? Are you staying to eat? Rinunciare a to give up Dopo la guerra tutti i bambini dovettero rinunciare ad andare a scuola. After the war all the children had to give up going to school. Riprendere a to get back to Luca vuole riprendere a studiare il francese. Luca wants to get back to studying French. Riuscire a to succeed at Voglio riuscire a fare questa torta complicata. I want to succeed at making this complicated cake. Sbrigarsi a to hurry to Sbrigati a lavare i piatti. Hurry up to wash the dishes. Servire a to serve to Questo carrello serve a portare i libri di sotto. This cart serves to take the books downstairs. Tenere a to care to/about Tengo a precisare che la mia posizione non à ¨ cambiata. I care to point out that my position has not changed. Verbs of Movement That Want by A Before Object or Infinitive Verbs of movement use a to connect with a noun or a verb, except for a few that want da: partire da (to leave from), venire/provenire da (to come from), allontanarsi da (to distance oneself from). Andare a to go to 1. Vado a casa. 2. Vado a visitare il museo. 1. I'm going home. 2. I'm going to visit the museum. Correre a to run to 1. Corriamo a cena. 2. Corriamo a vedere il film. 1. We are running to dinner. 2. We are running to see a movie. Fermarsi a to stop to 1. Ci fermiamo al mercato. 2. Ci fermiamo a mangiare. 1. We are stopping at the market. 2. We are stopping to eat. Passare a to stop by to Passo a prendere il cane. I'll stop by to get the dog. Restare a to stay to 1. Restiamo a casa. 2. Restiamo a mangiare. 1. We are staying home. 2. We are staying to eat. Tornare a to return to 1. Torniamo a scuola. 2. Torniamo a prenderti alle due. 1. We are returning to school. 2. We are returning to get you at two. Venire a to come to 1. Venite alla festa? 2. Venite a mangiare all'una. 1. Are you coming to the party? 2. You are coming to eat at one. Italian Verbs That Demand Di The preposition di can link a verb to an object such as a noun or a pronoun, or to another verb in the infinitive (or both, depending on the meaning). Connecting to a Noun or Pronoun With Di Accontentarsi di to make do/be happy with Mi accontento della mia vita. I am happy with my life. Approfittarsi di to take advantage of Voglio approfittare dell'occasione. I want to take advantage of the occasion. Avere bisogno di to need Ho bisogno di acqua. I need water. Avere paura di to be afraid of Ho paura di te. I am scared of you. Dimenticarsi di to forget Dimenticati di lui. Forget him. Fidarsi di to trust Fidati di lui. Trust him. Innamorarsi di to fall in love with Mi sono innamorata di lui. I fell in love with him. Interessarsi di to take an interest in Il prof si interessa dei miei studi. The teacher takes an interest in my studies. Lamentarsi di to complain about Non mi lamento di niente. I am not complaining about anything. Meravigliarsi di to be amazed by Mi meraviglio della bellezza dei colori. I am amazed by the beauty of the colors. Occuparsi di to take care of Giulia si occupa della casa. Giulia takes care of the house. Ricordarsi di to remember Non mi sono ricordata della festa. I did not remember the party. Ringraziare di to thank for Ti ringrazio del regalo. I thank you for the gift. Scusarsi di to apologize for Mi scuso del disturbo. I apologize for my tardiness. Vivere di to live of Vivo di poco. I live of little. Connecting to an Infinitive With Di Accettare di to accept Accetto di dover partire. I accept having to leave. Accontentarsi di to make do/be happy with Ci accontentiamo di avere questa casa. We make do with this house. Accorgersi di to notice Ci siamo accorti di essere in ritardo. We noticed we were late. Ammettere di to admit to Il ladro ha ammesso di avere rubato la macchina. The thief admitted having stolen the car. Aspettare di to wait for Aspetto di vedere cosa succede. I'll wait to see what happens. Augurarsi di to wish for Ti auguro di guarire presto. I wish/hope you get better soon. Avere bisogno di to need Ho bisogno di vedere un dottore. I need to see a doctor. Cercare di to try to Cerco di capirti. I try to understand you. Chiedere di to ask Ho chiesto di poter uscire. I asked to be allowed out. Confessare di to confess Il ladro ha confessato di avere rubato la macchina. The thief confessed to stealing the car. Consigliare di to advise Ti consiglio di aspettare. I advise you to wait. Contare di to count on Contiamo di poter venire. We are counting on coming. Credere di to believe that Credo di avere capito. I think I have understood. Dispiacere di to be sorry for Mi dispiace di averti ferito. I am sorry to have hurt you. Dimenticarsi di to forget to Vi siete dimenticati di portare il pane. You forgot to bring the bread. Decidere di to decide to Ho deciso di andare a Berlino. I decided to go to Berlin. Dire di to tell/say Ho detto a Carlo di venire. I told Carlo to come. Evitare di to avoid Ho evitato di andare addosso al muro. I avoided hitting the wall. Fingere di to pretend that Andrea ha finto di sentirsi male. Andrea pretended to be sick. Finire di to finish Abbiamo finito di studiare. We finished studying. Lamentarsi di to complain about Non mi lamento di essere qui. I don't complain for being here. Occuparsi di to take care of Ci siamo occupati di aggiustare tutto. We took care of fixing everything. Parere di to seem to Mi pare di aver fatto il possibile. It seems to me to have done what was possible. Pensare di to think Penso di venire oggi. I think I'll come today. Pregare di to pray Prego di avere la pazienza per aspettare. I pray to have the patience to wait. Proibire di to forbid Ti proibisco di uscire! I forbid you to go out! Promettere di to promise Ti prometto di aspettare. I promise to wait. Ricordarsi di to remember Ti ricordi di prendere il vino? Will you remember to get the wine? Ringraziare di to thank for Ti ringrazio di averci aiutati. I thank you for having helped us. Scusarsi di to apologize for Mi scuso di averti offeso. I apologize for having offended you. Sembrare di to seem to Il cane sembra voler uscire. The dog seems to want to go out. Smettere di to quit Ho smesso di fumare. I quit smoking. Sperare di to hope Spero di vederti. I hope to see you. Suggerire di to suggest Ti suggerisco di aspettare. I advise you to wait. Tentare di to attempt to Tentiamo di parlare con Vanessa. We'll attempt to speak to Vanessa. Italian Verbs That Demand Su These verbs use su to connect to a noun or pronoun: Contare su to count on Conto su di te. I am counting on you. Giurare su to swear on Giuro sulla mia vita. I swear on my life. Leggere su to read in L'ho letto sul giornale. I read it in the paper. Riflettere su to reflect on Ho riflettutto sul problema. I have reflected upon the problem. Soffermarsi su to linger on Il professore si à ¨ soffermato sulla sua teoria. The teacher lingered on his theory. Italian Verbs That Want Per These verbs use per to connect to a noun or pronoun or another verb. Dispiacere per to be sorry for 1. Mi dispiace per la tua sofferenza. 2. Mi dispiace per averti ferito. 1. I am sorry for your suffering. 2. I am sorry for having hurt you. Finire per to end up Luca à ¨ finito per andare a scuola. Luca ended up going to school. Prepararsi per to prepare for Mi sono preparato per il tuo arrivo. I prepared for your arrival. Ringraziare per to thank for 1. Ti ringrazio per la tua comprensione. 2. Ti ringrazio per avermi capita. 1. I thank you for your understanding. 2. I thank you for having understood me. Scusarsi per to apologize for 1. Mi scuso per il disturbo. 2. Mi scuso per averti disturbato. 1. I am sorry for the bother. 2. I am sorry for having bothered you. Servire per to need for Non mi serve il tavolo per insegnare. I don't need the table to teach. Verbs Without Preposition Before Another Verb Of course, you know that helping verbs dovere, potere, and volere do not need any preposition to connect to another verb: Devo andare (I must go); non posso parlare (I cannot speak). There are others: amare to love Amo parlare di te. I love to talk about you. desiderare to desire Desidero vedere Roma. I desire to see Rome. fare (fare) to make someone do sth Oggi ti faccio lavorare. Today I am going to make you work. lasciare to work Domani ti lascio dormire. Tomorrow I will let you sleep. odiare to hate Odio lasciarti. I hate to leave you. piacere to like Mi piace guardare il paesaggio. I like to look at the countryside. preferire to prefer Preferisco ballare che studiare. I prefer to dance than to study. sapere to know Maria sa parlare il francese. Maria knows how to speak French.