Friday, March 20, 2020

Free Essays on Psychology of a Serial Killer

Psychology of a Serial Killer The nineteen-seventies were an incredible decade. It was a decade of change, one of freedom, a time for great music. It was also an incredible decade for shock, fear and serial killers. John Wayne Gacy, an amateur clown, was a pedophiliac homosexual. He tortured and killed thirty three little boys and stored their remains under his house. David Berkowitz, a.k.a. the Son of Sam, stalked New York City from nineteen-sixty-seven to nineteen-seventy-seven. He claimed to have been following a voice from his dog that told him when and where to kill. Ted Bundy, who is believed to have killed at least thirty-four people, was charged for only three under his own defense- and in fact, he was commended by the judge for his own defense. He was put to death. With the combination of a very powerful media and a society fascinated with gruesome, sadistic crimes, modern serial killers have been put in the spotlight. We are enraptured with serial killers so much, that we pay seven dollars to go see a movie where everyone except the bad guys gets strangled, mutilated, or shot- and enjoy it in some sick way. The media goes out of its way to glamorize murder and terrify the public. We support killers like Charles Manson on Death Row with our tax dollars. In fact, we support them with more than that. About two months ago there was an art show in California entitled: The Death Row Art Show III. Pieces sold for thousands of dollars regardless of their aesthetic appeal, because of the identity of the artists. Serial killers are becoming as popular as rock stars. Serial killers are a development of the industrial world; they really didn't "come about" until the late eighteen-hundreds when society was becoming modernized and the threat of the new age sort of displaced some individuals so much they felt they had to kill to get their point across to society. Jack the Ripper is probably the most notorious killer in history becau... Free Essays on Psychology of a Serial Killer Free Essays on Psychology of a Serial Killer Psychology of a Serial Killer The nineteen-seventies were an incredible decade. It was a decade of change, one of freedom, a time for great music. It was also an incredible decade for shock, fear and serial killers. John Wayne Gacy, an amateur clown, was a pedophiliac homosexual. He tortured and killed thirty three little boys and stored their remains under his house. David Berkowitz, a.k.a. the Son of Sam, stalked New York City from nineteen-sixty-seven to nineteen-seventy-seven. He claimed to have been following a voice from his dog that told him when and where to kill. Ted Bundy, who is believed to have killed at least thirty-four people, was charged for only three under his own defense- and in fact, he was commended by the judge for his own defense. He was put to death. With the combination of a very powerful media and a society fascinated with gruesome, sadistic crimes, modern serial killers have been put in the spotlight. We are enraptured with serial killers so much, that we pay seven dollars to go see a movie where everyone except the bad guys gets strangled, mutilated, or shot- and enjoy it in some sick way. The media goes out of its way to glamorize murder and terrify the public. We support killers like Charles Manson on Death Row with our tax dollars. In fact, we support them with more than that. About two months ago there was an art show in California entitled: The Death Row Art Show III. Pieces sold for thousands of dollars regardless of their aesthetic appeal, because of the identity of the artists. Serial killers are becoming as popular as rock stars. Serial killers are a development of the industrial world; they really didn't "come about" until the late eighteen-hundreds when society was becoming modernized and the threat of the new age sort of displaced some individuals so much they felt they had to kill to get their point across to society. Jack the Ripper is probably the most notorious killer in history becau...

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Kernel Sentence Definition and Examples

Kernel Sentence Definition and Examples In transformational grammar, a kernel sentence is a  simple declarative construction with only one verb. A kernel sentence is always active and affirmative. Also known as a basic sentence or a kernel. The concept of the kernel sentence was introduced in 1957 by linguist Z.S. Harris and featured in the early work of linguist Noam Chomsky. Examples and Observations According to writer Shefali Moitra, A kernel sentence does not contain any optional expression and is simple in the sense that it is unmarked in mood, therefore, it is indicative. It is also unmarked in voice, therefore, it is active rather than passive. And, finally, it is unmarked in polarity, therefore, it is a positive rather than a negative sentence. An example of a kernel sentence is The man opened the door, and an example of a non-kernel sentence is The man did not open the door.M.P. Sinha, PhD, scholar and writer, offers more examples: Even a sentence with an adjective, gerund, or infinitive is not a kernel sentence.(i) This is a black cow is made of two kernel sentences.This is a cow and The cow is black.(ii) I saw them crossing the river is made of I saw them and They were crossing the river.(iii) I want to go is made of I want and I go. Chomsky on Kernel Sentences According to American linguist, Noam Chomsky, [E]very sentence of the language will either belong to the kernel or will be derived from the strings underlying one or more kernel sentences by a sequence of one or more transformations. . . . [I]n order to understand a sentence it is necessary to know the kernel sentences from which it originates (more precisely, the terminal strings underlying these kernel sentences) and the phrase structure of each of these elementary components, as well as the transformational history of development of the given sentence from those kernel sentences. The general problem of analyzing the process understanding is thus reduced, in a sense, to the problem of explaining how kernel sentences are understood, these being considered the basic content elements from which the usual, more complex sentences of real life are formed by transformational development. Transformations British linguist P. H. Matthews says, A kernel clause which is both a sentence and a simple sentence, like His engine has stopped or The police have impounded his car, is a kernel sentence. Within this model, the construction of any other sentence, or any other sentence that consists of clauses, will be reduced to that of kernel sentences wherever possible. Thus the following: The police have impounded the car which he left outside the stadium. is a kernel clause, with transforms Have the police impounded the car which he left outside the stadium? and so on. It is not a kernel sentence, as it is not simple. But the relative clause, which he left outside the stadium, is a transform of the kernel sentences He left a car outside the stadium, He left the car outside the stadium, He left a bicycle outside the stadium, and so on. When this modifying clause is set aside, the remainder of the main clause, The police have impounded the car, is itself a kernel sentence. Sources Chomsky, Noam. Syntactic Structures, 1957; rev. ed, Walter de Gruyter, 2002. Matthews, P. H. Syntax. Cambridge University Press, 1981. Moitra, Shefali. Generative Grammar and Logical Form. Logic Identity and Consistency, edited by Pranab Kumar Sen. Allied Publishers, 1998. Sinha, M.P., PhD, Modern Linguistics. Atlantic Publishers, 2005.