The Simpsons Movie Essay Example

The Simpsons Movie Paper In The Simpsons Movie, director David Silverman and his team of producers: James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, Al Jean, Mike Scully and Richard Sakai use humour to incorporate other relevant messages into the film. Three of the most important factors are environment, government and family relationships. At the beginning of the Simpsons Movie, David Silverman uses GreenDay to make the audience aware of the social issues surrounding the environment; not only because of their famous songs, but because the band name itself promotes the environment. When the band is shown singing off a barge on Lake Springfield, their main singer is just singing from a script saying Da Da again and again. David Silvermans use of humour sends a message mocking singers for singing off scripts and also implies crowds are easily pleased. However, the musical sensation is suddenly put off when he says: We have been playing for 3 and a half hours, now wed like to say something about the environment! ~Billy Joe Armstrong, GreenDay lead singer, the Simpsons Movie We will write a custom essay sample on The Simpsons Movie specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Simpsons Movie specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Simpsons Movie specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The crowd is then suddenly put off by the message and turns to violence. This is a cleverly made scene, due to the crowd reacting in the opposite way by throwing rubbish and pollutants at them; this makes it easier for the audience to see the contrast between both groups of society. The band then picks up violins and re-enacts the final moments of the Titanic before the barge corrodes and sinks; this humour is focused on nowadays ignorance to the environment, and makes the audience aware of not only the acidic water that is made by waste, but by the lives lost to the mistreated environment. The United States produces approximately 547 thousands of metric tonnes of household waste per annum. That is 22.2% of the worlds total emission of household waste per annum. Using the history of Titanic, the audience is also reminded of the icebergs and icecaps which are being melted due to pollution. Silverman used this scene to make the audience aware of the ignorance in American society for the environment considering the sad history of the Titanic and the terrible household waste statistics produced by America. In my opinion, this scene would have never been successful without the use of Greenday and the acidic lake, due to all the clever subconscious messages sent through the humour. Later in the movie, Lake Springfield gets so polluted that Lisa Simpson decides to take action. She runs a meeting at the town hall, where all adult members of society turn up. When she tries to describe the seriousness of the situation, people always brought up other things. Am I getting through to anyone? ~Lisa Simpson, the Simpsons Movie But someone in the audience suggests that a new scissor lift should be bought, and a vote is passed by the mayor. Silverman uses the humour in this scene to show how easily distracted society can be to the real problems. However, the mayor takes this seriously and makes everyone in the town clean up the lake. Initiate code black Mayor of Springfield, the Simpsons Movie Silverman uses the seriousness of the situation to add some humour into the scene: Black..thats the worst colour there isno offence Carl! Lenny, the Simpsons Movie This humour not only expresses the dreadful state of the environmental situation, it makes the audience aware of racism and the common use of it in everyday life, despite how sensitive the issue is not only in America, but worldwide. Using Carls cheerful attitude, Silverman turns the racism into a joke therefore not having a bad impact on the audience as it couldve. However hard the towns efforts are to restore the cleanliness of the lake, Homer Simpson dumps a silo of his pets waste in the lake in hurry for free donuts. Soon the government gets involved, and Springfield alerts the EPAs attention (environmental protection agency). Silverman uses this plot to introduce the main evil character in the Simpsons Movie. I have made you 5 easy choices ~Russ Kargel, the Simpsons Movie I pick number 3 ~President Schwarzenegger, the Simpsons Movie You dont even want to read them sir? ~Russ Kargel, the Simpsons Movie I was elected to lead, not to read ~President Schwarzenegger, the Simpsons Movie In this conversation, Arnold Schwarzenegger shows he knows a lot about being a president; however he makes the wrong choice. Choice number three results in Springfield being sealed into a dome, and all the people who live there trapped. Silverman uses this ridiculous idea of being sealed into a dome as a governmental plot. This use of comedy makes the audience think of life being trapped in 1 area, and subconsciously makes the audience grateful to be able to explore around the world. In my opinion this scene is 1 of the main climaxes of the movie due to the whole of Springfield being trapped. This also makes the audience more aware of the evil governmental plots going on around the world. This scene made me think of all the attacks on other countries such as Iraq, and that maybe they were cover-ups and misunderstandings. We pay every resident $1000 so the government can ravage our states natural beauty ~ Man who greets the Simpsons into Alaska, the Simpsons Movie In this quote, the audience is reminded of this present time; the US government says it will offer exploration right for oil and gas in a north-western region of Alaska, but environmental groups fear the effects on wildlife in the region, including the polar bear population. In my opinion, this scene works well to inform the audience well and make them more aware of the events going on in Alaska. No Lisa, its not like the government is listening to our conversation ~Marge Simpson, the Simpsons Movie Silverman cleverly uses humour, when Lisa warns her mother to talk quietly because the government may be listening looking for them. This ends up being true; the train conductor is a robot that listens in to their conversation and a government employee in the NSA (National Security Agency) tracks them down. The government actually found someone! ~NSA employee, the Simpsons Movie This statement mocks the US government for their inadequacy of being unable to find people they are looking for. Silverman cunningly uses this humour to imply that the government is spying on everyones conversation. This is makes the audience more aware of the government tapping in on conversations. I think this scene adds great humour to the movie, and is a vital part of the movie to show the evil governmental schemes. It takes real courage and leadership to make choices without knowing them ~Russ Kargel, the Simpsons Movie In this quote, Silverman uses Russ Kargel to show how persuasion is easily used politically by fusing it with pride. However, president Schwarzenegger picks number 3 again. But Russ Kargel makes the president pick Number 4 by manipulating his answer. Silverman uses humour here to show how easy the presidents words can be manipulated. Soon after the plot to destroy Springfield is confirmed, the government hires Tom Hanks to create propaganda on TV so the people of the US support the government. The US ran out of credibility, so they borrowed mine ~Tom Hanks, the Simpsons Movie In this quote Tom Hanks admits that the government are just using him as propaganda. A boy then asks Tom hanks to tussle his hair. Silverman uses this humour to show how easily pleased people are. Silverman also shows the audience how corrupt the government can make society, just by using popular figures to their advantage. I think this scene is very important in telling the audience not to always trust political figures and famous people. While all these things in the movie are going on, Silverman uses humour to show family problems and relationships with modern Americans. The Simpsons family represents an average modern American family. And during the movie, Silverman makes the family go through hard times. At the start of the movie, the Simpsons are late for church and Homer starts saying things not knowing people inside are listening: Those pious morons probably arent listening anyway ~Homer Simpson, the Simpsons Movie Silverman always makes the opposite things happen to create humour. When inside the church Homer says praise Jeebus instead of Jesus. This humour is cleverly used to show how American families go to church but arent actually religious. Inside the church, Bart Simpson starts to play a handheld game, but Maggie takes it away from him. This furthermore stresses the point through humour that American families only believe in their religion for show. Then when his neighbour Ned Flanders wants to confess, Homer crosses his fingers hoping that he is gay. This shows that the relationship between American families is very bad, and that neighbours are always saying bad things behind each others backs. This humour implies that American families dont always have good relationships. This makes the audience more aware of the life of an American family. I think this scene is very important in the film, for Bart starts to take more of a liking to Flanders than his own father. Later when Homer is doing his chores, Silverman shows Homers relationship for Flanders, when he is told to dispose of a bee hive, he jams it into Flanderss mailbox. Although Flanders is a good hearted religious neighbour, Homer doesnt like him, and always tries to cause trouble for Flanders. Silverman tries to give off the message that Americans are always trying to cause trouble with their neighbours. In my opinion, this scene is also quite important to furthermore show Homers disaffection for Flanders. When Bart and Homer have a daring contest, Homer dares Bart to skate to Krustys burger bar and back naked. This results in him being handcuffed to a pole outside the shop by police officers while they went inside and ate. Silverman shows the American police officers dont care about the fugitives, and would rather have their lunch break. The audience is made aware of these dirty police officers, and they are subconsciously made more aware of this situation in America. We all dont want to wear our clothes sometimes ~Police officer outside Krustys Burger Bar, the Simpsons Movie A police officer says this to Bart to convince him to put his clothes back on. However the officer doesnt realise that Homer dared Bart to do this. Using humour Silverman shows that American parents dont accept the consequences in what they tell their children to do. I think this scene is very important, it shows the audience how Bart slowly starts to hate his father. If you know a greasier burger than this, youre in Mexico ~Krusty the clown in advertisement, the Simpsons Movie In this quote, Krusty states that Mexico has the greasiest burgers. America is known as the spiritual home of the super-sized meal, more than 119 million adults or 64.5% of the adult population are either overweight or obese. Silverman cleverly made this scene to make the audience aware of obesity in the US. Later on, Homer grows attached to a pig he rescues, and starts to forget about his family. Silverman uses this stereotype to show how forgetful fathers can be of their own family. As Homers bond with this animal starts to strengthen, he starts to forget about the rest of his family. Silverman uses this humour to tell the audience how parents can start to forget, and favour other children/things more. Come on guys it will be really great fun, and Ive really come to like you guys ~Homer Simpson, the Simpsons Movie In this quote, it shows Homer doesnt take his family serious. In this scene Homer wants to go to Alaska, but Silverman makes it as if Homer has maybe already had a family before this, and doesnt take families serious. Also, in this scene Homer convinces them to come to Alaska by going over their wedding vows. Through this is a funny statement, Silverman informs the audience of fathers in America abandoning there families. Near the end of the movie, Homer apologises to Bart for being a bad father. Bart doesnt want to accept his apology, but when Homer mentions that he could hold the bomb, Bart forgives him. Silverman uses this humour to show how father and son are both simpleminded and alike. What a great mistake you turned out to be Maggie ~Homer Simpson In this quote, Homer confesses that Maggie was a mistake. Silverman uses this humour to show how a lot of families in general are started of as mistakes. In my opinion, this humour was very informative for the audience, but subliminally made them to think about the consequences of sex. At the end of the movie, Homer and Marge kiss in the woods riding on a motorbike. After kissing Marge says that was the best kiss of her life. But after learning many thing in his quest to save Springfield, Homer alters her words to say it was the best kiss of her life so far. Silvermans uses this moment to sum up the movie and show how Homer progresses throughout the movie. This message tells the audience to cherish what they have, and look forward to the future. Using all these different techniques such as subliminal messaging and sarcasm, this is how Silverman of the Simpsons uses humour to incorporate other relevant messages into the film. But did he mean all the messages? Or were some just a coincidence?

Typography and Square Brackets Essay

Typography and Square Brackets Essay Typography and Square Brackets Essay - Harvard Style Referencing 2008 Contents Page No. 1. Why do I need to reference my work? 3 1.1 So tell me briefly how it works 3 2. Referring to an author’s viewpoint in your text 4 2.1 Single and multiple authors – summarising and quoting 4 2.2 Author published 2 items in the same year 5 2.3 Author is an organisation (corporate authors) 5 2.4 Author’s name not given 5 2.5 Secondary referencing (authors quoting other authors) 5 3. Writing your reference list for printed texts - general notes 6 3.1 Books with one or more authors 7 3.2 Works by one author, translated/edited/commented on (etc.) by another 7 3.3 Chapters in edited books 8 3.4 Journal articles 8 3.5 Conference proceedings and single conference papers 9 3.6 Government or other Official Publications 9 3.7 British Standards 10 3.8 Theses 10 3.9 Unpublished (informal) works, including handouts 10 4. Referencing films, illustrations, maps, music and sound 11 4.1 Films and videos 11 4.2 Illustrations – physical and computer generated 11 4.3 Maps 11 4.4 Published music and recorded sound 12 5. Referencing electronic sources - general notes 13 5.1 Home pages on the web 14 5.2 Entire documents or services 14 5.3 Specific parts of documents or services 15 5.4 Contribution to an item within an electronic document or service 16 5.5 Electronic journals – the entire publication run 17 5.6 Electronic journals – whole issues 17 5.7 Electronic journals – articles and other contributions 18 5.8 British Standards 18 5.9 Bulletin boards, discussion lists and messaging systems 19 5.10 Individual electronic messages and phone calls 19 5.11 Television programmes, contributions and advertisements 20 6. Referencing unrecorded sources 22 7. Example of a reference list 23 8. Further help 23 1. Why do I need to reference my work? ï‚ · Good referencing enables readers to find any publication referred to in your document quickly and easily – which gives you credibility. ï‚ · If you don't do it, your work is immediately downgraded in value. ï‚ · If you do it badly, you lose respect (and easy marks). ï‚ · If you intend doing research, you either use a proper referencing system or change careers. ï‚ · In short, it's important - and this guide will help you to get it right. Wolverhampton mainly supports the Harvard referencing system, but other systems do exist. Check with your School for the one they recommend. Whatever style you use, it is important to be clear, consistent and correct, making sure you include all the relevant details. 1.1 So tell me briefly how it works If you summarise, refer to, or quote from an author's work in your document, you must acknowledge your source, otherwise you are guilty of plagiarising (a form of cheating). In Harvard, you do this by putting these brief details before or after your quote: Author's surname, followed by the publication year of the document in round brackets E.g: Stollery (1997) But your readers will need more information if they want to look at that source personally. So you put the extra details in a reference list – usually placed at the end of a chapter, or at the end

Discussion board 2 org dyn Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discussion board 2 org dyn - Essay Example Simms et al. (1994) note that understanding organizational dynamics and human behavior helps to better develop the conceptualization of the organization’s life, which is the main goal of all theorists of organizations. Understanding human behavior within an organizational can help the leader understand the interests of his/her followers and hence effectively position them in the various labor divisions. This leads to increased productivity, besides increasing workers commitment and satisfaction. When workers are allocated in their areas of interest, they work hard leading to increased organizational performance and hence profits. This ensures that the companies are able to survive the tough economic times without major difficulties. This knowledge is also valuable in helping an organization to enjoy a competitive edge as well as well as improve it decision making. According to Shuler (2009), understanding human behavior and organizational dynamics helps a leader to build an enterprise that entails a wide analytical capability which is more important than having laboring professionals who have no sense of direction. Analytical analysis of employees’ talents at all levels provides valuable da ta that leaders can use to make decisions in the organization, thus generating good business results. A business also faces various challenges from its dynamic nature. These include profits, losses, high demand for its products, and few market and product competition among others. Therefore, understanding these dynamics and their cycle in the business can effectively help a leader to predict and plan for such changes in advance. This knowledge can be used by the leader to make decision that will maximize the benefits and minimize losses as much as possible. Such results produce good financial reports for the organization, which it can use to access financial support

How Canadian doing business in China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

How Canadian doing business in China - Essay Example China is the epitome of Eastern culture. Any business communications between two countries must be done with care. Western culture in terms of the spoken language can be characterized as low-context. This means Westerners speak in a direct, frank, and oftentimes blunt manner as their language is precise and specific. In contrast, the Eastern culture is high-context in that besides the spoken word, there are added elements to communications such as a smile, frown, silence, aphorism, metaphor, anecdote, or even a joke to deliver a message (Norales, 2006). Added to these subtleties are the strictly local concepts of guanxi and of â€Å"face.† This paper discusses the enduring values and utility of guanxi and face when in China. Guanxi – this refers to the personalized network of contacts and influences in Chinese society. Basically, this word combines the two concepts of relationships and connections which are very central in how Chinese society functions. It is an all-encompassing idea that links two people in a mutually beneficial relationship although the relationship may not be always between two equals. In guanxi, there is an implicit general understanding (without specific requests or demands) in which people benefit from the social connections they had developed over the years through a cycle of reciprocity in granting favors. In this context, a Canadian businessman should first try to develop his guanxi by joining a club or a business association to gain contacts before asking any direct favors from the Chinese. Other members of the association can evaluate the Canadians sincerity by interacting with him without business in mind. Business can be discussed later only when trust is gained and people know each other better (Reuvid & Li, 2006). Guanxi in its literal meaning is â€Å"pass to a hierarchy† and a successful businessman gains influence and the necessary

Capital One Case Study Essay Example for Free

Capital One Case Study Essay †¢ What is a case interview? The Case Interview †¢ What specific skills does it assess? †¢ How to prepare for a case interview? †¢ An interactive example. What is a â€Å"Case Interview† anyway? The Case Interview Simulation of a business problem. Similar to what our associates encounter every day. Series of open-ended questions. They’re designed to stimulate your conceptual, quantitative, analytical and – most importantly – creative abilities. The Case Interview There are several types of cases. Each is designed to assess different skills. Classic Case The Case Interview †¢ Should an organization add capacity? †¢ How should an organization react to a new competitor? †¢ Should an organization enter/exit a new/old market? Measures †¢ Your broad functional skills †¢ Your big-picture perspective †¢ Your comfort with detail and analysis Special Case The Case Interview †¢ Why are manhole covers round? †¢ What’s the estimated weight of a Boeing 747? †¢ What will interest rates do next? Measures †¢ Your comfort with ambiguous challenges †¢ Your level of creativity The Case Interview What are we looking for? †¢ Logical skills †¢ Analytical/reasoning skills †¢ Conceptual problem-solving abilities †¢ Critical path thinking †¢ Flexibility What do we mean by†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. . The Case Interview Problem-solving ability? Can you identify the key issues of the case while accurately and methodically reaching the solution? Critical path thinking? Can you use the clues that build on each other while staying on track and focusing on what’s relevant? Flexibility? . Can you adapt your answers to a changing situation? The Case Interview What do you need to bring? Your logical business sense The Case Interview †¢ How do decreasing marginal costs affect profitability? †¢ What effect will fixed costs have on the result? Your mathematical aptitude From basic mathematics to†¦. †¢ Algebra †¢ Probability †¢ Weighted averages †¢ Unit conversion Your strategic interpretation skills The Case Interview Can you†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¢ Interpret your answer’s impact? †¢ Assess alternatives? †¢ Keep a grasp on the â€Å"big picture† as well as the minor details? Your presentation skills Can you†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¢ Clearly state your thoughts and synthesize information? †¢ Explain how your answer changes in the face of changing variables? †¢ Defend your answer? The Case Interview Be prepared! Let’s work through a case together. Background Information The Case Interview †¢ You are a manager at a company that markets various products and services and that is looking to diversify †¢ You receive some information indicating magazine publishing may be interesting †¢ You are considering developing a new magazine but are not sure how profitable it might be What are some of the issues you must consider when evaluating the magazine business? Things to consider The Case Interview †¢ Defining the target market †¢ Competition – # of competitors, fragmentation, brand name †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Build off of core competencies Barriers to entry Business cycle stage Method of measuring viability Opportunity cost Our next step is to understand the economics of the business. What are the profit drivers in the magazine publishing business? The Case Interview Main profit drivers of the publishing business include †¦ Revenue Sources †¢ Subscriptions †¢ Newsstand sales †¢ Advertising †¢ Customer lists †¢ Internet Costs †¢ Printing †¢ Distribution †¢ Content Development †¢ Marketing/promotions The Case Interview Through some initial research you have been able to determine the following †¦ †¢ You can charge  £25 for an annual subscription of 50 issues †¢ You can generate  £1 in advertising revenue per issue for each subscription †¢ Printing and distribution costs are  £1 per copy per issue †¢ Content development costs run  £1 million per year †¢ Let’s ignore newsstand sales for now †¢ Let’s ignore marketing expenses for now How much profit will you  generate a year from one incremental subscription? Let’s figure it out together†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. The Case Interview Subscription revenue per year =  £25 Advertising revenue per year =  £50  £1/issue x 50 issues Yearly production and distribution costs =  £50 Profit from one incremental subscription =  £25  £25 +  £50  £50 How many subscriptions would we need to sell in order to breakeven on this venture? The Case Interview How many subscriptions do we need to sell to break even? Profit (contribution margin) =  £25 per subscription Magazine content development =  £1 million per year Breakeven =  £1 million/ £25 = 40,000 subscriptions Given you need 40,000 subscriptions to breakeven, do you move forward? What about marketing costs? The Case Interview Your company has expertise in direct mail solicitation so you decide to use that method to market your new magazine. Each piece of mail costs  £0.50. You are able to achieve a 2% response rate. How much does it cost you to sign up a subscriber? Cost per subscriber calculation The Case Interview Cost of mailing/response rate = Cost to sign up one subscriber  £0.50/2% =  £25 per subscriber Another way to calculate cost per subscriber: Assume you mail offer to 100 people Costs =  £50 ( £0.50 x 100 people) Responders = 2 (2% of 100) Cost per responder =  £50/2 or  £25 How will this affect your breakeven calculation? New break even calculation The Case Interview Old contribution margin Marketing costs New contribution margin New contribution margin =  £25  £25 =  £0 Ouch! What can we do to make this venture better? Some possible considerations: The Case Interview †¢ Raise subscription prices †¢ Raise advertising rates †¢ Reduce production costs †¢ Increase response rate †¢ Make each response matter more – Consider renewals and multi-year subscriptions The Case Interview Renewals look like an obvious avenue to explore†¦ †¢ In the best case scenario, zero cost to acquire with no drop in revenues How might you encourage renewels? Some possible options: The Case Interview †¢ Price promotion †¢ Competitions †¢ Marketing †¢ Free gifts The Case Interview Some market testing gives you 2 possible options 1) Do nothing: †¢ 50% of existing subscribers will renew each year 2) Offer a free second year subscription †¢ 75% of existing subscribers will renew each year

English Society in the Nineteenth Century in Conan Doyles Works :: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Silver Band Essays

English Society in the Nineteenth Century in Conan Doyle's Works For my essay I have decided to study Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "Speckled Band", "Silver Blaze" and "Final Problem". Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories were first published in the London magazine "The Strand" in 1892. All the stories were kept relatively short because they had to be published in the magazine. When the Sherlock Holmes story "The Final Problem" there was a large public out cry of shock and horror to the death of the character they had got very attached to over the last 5 - 7 years. His stories were of a detective genre. The Victorian period was mainly built on a class system almost pyramid like. At the very bottom there was the people who could not support themselves, e.g. Beggars etc. Further up there was the lower class that worked in the factories and could just about support them. On the same level of the lower class were the servants. The next level up was the Labourers who worked for/with the working class and upper classes. The Working class were the next ones up they were the Doctors etc, e.g. Dr Watson. The next class up was the middle class; they lived off inheritance and owned factories. Upper class owned a lot of land and factories they lived in the country. Next up were the Aristocrats, lords, ladies etc these people did not need to work, they were the ones one step down from the King or queen. Women and children of higher classes did not have to work, the children received a good education and the women stayed at home. But the lower classed women and children had to work in factories to support their families. Industrial revolution gave the lower classes a source of money in the cities, most people left the country life to live in the cities and make more money. They lived in poor housing conditions called slums and made little money, some even resorted to crime. When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote Sherlock Holmes a lot of people had lost faith in the London police, as there was a lot of corruption, Sherlock shows this by showing that he is a lot cleverer than the police force. He really does show the police up to no extent. The stories are written in first person by Dr.Watson who uses his notes and memory to write them. All the stories are based on detective genre with a very big twist in the end and clues that only Sherlock picks up on. Sherlock Holmes' character fits perfectly in his class as

Vague and Ambiguous

One main task of critical thinking is to identify these linguistic pitfalls. Let us start with the first major pitfall – obscurity. â€Å"Obscurity† here refers to unclear meaning. A concept or a linguistic expression can be unclear for various reasons. One reason is that it might be  ambiguous, i. e. having more than one meaning. The other reason is that it might be  vague. A term is said to be vague if there are borderline cases where it is indeterminate as to whether it applies or not.Finally, a term might also have an unclear meaning in that its meaning is  incomplete. Let us look at these cases one by one.  § M08. 1 Ambiguity There are actually different kinds of ambiguity: Lexical ambiguity This is a single word or term having more than one meaning in the language. For example, the word â€Å"deep† can mean profoundity (â€Å"What you have said is very deep. â€Å"), or it can be used to describe physical depth (â€Å"This hole is very deep†). Similarly for words like â€Å"young† (inexperienced or young of age), â€Å"bank† (river bank or financial institution), etc. Referential ambiguity It is not clear which thing or group is being referred to.This often arises when the context does not make it clear what a pronoun or quantifier is referring to. â€Å"Ally hit Georgia and then she started bleeding. † Who is hurt? Ally or Georgia? â€Å"Everybody is coming to the party. † Certainly â€Å"everybody† does not refer to every human being in the whole world. But then which group of people are we talking about? Of course in normal situations the speaker usually has some specific group of people in mind. Many people like to make very general statements, such as â€Å"All politicians are corrupt†. Literally, this statement implies that there is no politician who is not corrupted.But of course we can think of many counterexamples to such a claim. So the person who makes the statement might say â€Å"I don't really mean each and every politician. † But then who exactly are the people referred to? Syntactic ambiguity This means having more than one meaning because there is more than one way to interpret the grammatical structure. This can happen even when it is clear what the meanings of the individual words are. â€Å"We shall be discussing violence on TV. † – It might mean the discussion will be conducted during a television programme, or it might mean  violence on TV  is the topic to be discussed.When dealing with ambiguous language the thing to do is of course to clarify the meaning of the expression, for example by listing out all the different possible interpretations. This process of removing ambiguity is call â€Å"disambiguation†.  § M08. 2 Vagueness An term is  vague  if it has an imprecise boundary. This means that there are cases where it is indeterminate whether the term applies or not. For example, a small but c losed room with no windows or doors and no light inside is certain dark. If we switch on a 100W lightbulbs inside it will become bright.But we turn on the dimmer for the light and dim the light slowly until it goes out, then the room will gradually change from a bright room to a dark one. But there is no precise point at which the room suddenly ceases to be bright. Similarly, there is no precise point at which the room suddenly becomes dark. The terms â€Å"dark† and â€Å"bright† do not have clear boundaries of applications in this situation, and we say that these terms are vague. The term â€Å"a tall person† is also vague in that there are certain cases where it is hard to say whether a person is tall or not, but this indecision is not due to lack of knowledge about that person's height.You might know exactly how tall that person is, but still you don't know whether he is tall or not. This is because the meaning of the term is not precise enough. Other exampl es of vague terms : â€Å"heavy†, â€Å"dark†, â€Å"mountain†, â€Å"clever†, â€Å"cheap†. Notice that  we should make a distinction between vagueness and ambiguity. A word can be vague even though it is not ambiguous, and an ambiguous term having more than one meaning would not be said to be vague if the different meanings it has are very precise. Vague terms can be useful in everyday life  because often we do not have to be too precise.How precise we should be depends of course on the context. A form of (bad) argument about vagueness which we often encounter : â€Å"There is really no difference between X and Y because it is often quite unclear whether something is X or Y. † Example : â€Å"There is really no such thing as objective truth or falsity. Whether something is true or false is often hard to say. † This is a bad argument because even though a distinction might have borderline cases, it does not follow that the distin ction is not real. For example, it might sometimes be unclear whether a room is dark or bright.But (a) there is still a real distinction between dark and bright rooms, and (b) there can be clear cases where we have one but not the other. Vagueness should be avoided when we want to speak precisely, as vagueness decreases the informational content of a claim. For example, compare these sentences : â€Å"He is quite old, actually exactly eighty years old. † â€Å"He is quite old, actually about eighty years old. † â€Å"He is quite old. † Many students often like to ask questions such as : â€Å"Is there going to be a lot of homework for this course? † â€Å"Is the final exam going to be difficult? â€Å"But of course words like â€Å"difficult† and â€Å"a lot† are vague. Vague terms can make a claim vague and impossible to confirm or disprove. Horoscope predictions for example : â€Å"Be prepared for a change of direction this week as some thing crops up. † – SCMP Sunday Post Magazine. â€Å"This piece of news is going to affect the market somewhat. † But of course one might try to use vagueness to one's advantage in order to be non-committal or imprecise. â€Å"As a minister I agree that to some extent I am responsible. † â€Å"The government will deal with this problem in an appropriate manner when the right time comes. †  § M08. Incomplete Meaning A term has an  incomplete meaning  if the property or relation it expresses depends on some further parameter to be specified by the context, either explicitly or implicitly. This includes terms such as â€Å"useful†, â€Å"important†, â€Å"similar† and â€Å"better†. Practically all objects are useful and important only in some respects but not others. For example, is love more important than money? Well, it depends. If you are starving to death, then money is more important. But if you are trying to de termine which of the two contributes more to a happy and fulfilling life, then the answer might be different.So just saying that something is useful or important is empty unless it is made clear in what way it is so. This is also necessary if we want to evaluate whether what is said is true or not. â€Å"The education director shall visit Scotland to study their educational system because it is similar to the one in Hong Kong. † â€Å"Will this year's final exam be similar to the one last year? † â€Å"It is better to be beautiful than to be good. But . . . it is better to be good than to be ugly. † –   Oscar Wilde (1854 – 1900) â€Å"Art never improves, but . . . the material of art is never quite the same. † –   T. S. Eliot (1888 – 1965)