Through dramatic methods In The Crucible Essay Example for Free

through and through striking methods In The crucible EssayIs trueness reliable? Everybody has different perceptions of justice and what is represent by it. Truth is different where ever you go. Peoples version of fairness is never fully ripe. milling machine uses The Crucible to crush rise up his own views on what was happening in America at the time-McCarthyism he uses John Proctor, as he is interested in the person who doesnt allow him to be caught up in hysteria but thinks for himself and stands up for his values against all odds. Miller uses the capital of Oregon witch-hunt to put forward his views on McCarthyism-the hunting down and prosecuting of any(prenominal) Americans who were thought to relieve oneself taken part in anti-capitalism.Miller himself was brought before the committee led by Joseph McCarthy. Miller saw the public confessions required by the committee, as parallels with the naming of names at capital of Oregon in 1692. History is evidence from peo ple views on past events again this cannot be taken for sheer truth. Does this mean the truth can never be found or be totally correct? Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible from evidence in history that he collected elements of the truth have been changed. Arthur Miller uses five main methods to represent truth these are Imagery, Dialogue, Dramatic Irony, Staging or Setting and spirit profile.Dialogue is a main method that can be used to show how truth is represented as the play is written with very little in the management of movements and directors have the talk to dwelling their plays around. Dialogue has many different government agencys of showing who has the highest status and most control of a conversation. When acted come forward these can include, accent, age, t whiz of voice and pitch for example. But in a play methods such as topic shift, conversation control, adjacency pairs, moot taking, silence or hesitation are used. In The Crucible Abagail controls a conversatio n between her and Betty virtually what happened.Abagail shouts Shut it Now shut it Abagail takes control of the conversation to mark Betty from saying what she is to change the topic of conversation, this is called topic shifts. This represents truth as Abagail and Betty are talking about the truth but Abagail wants to move away from it. This method give the consultation a clear view of who is in the wrong and more information on the characters on stage. Betty represents the truth as she is trying to let it out and tell everyone what actually happened and Abagail is opposing the truth this is how Abagail is portrayed throughout most of the play.Her control of conversation is a great method of dialogue that gives her power and is what eventually allows her to escape death. When the character is speaking the audience spot if he or she is telling the truth as they may have chitchatn previous scenes that told them more information. This way the dialogue used can be used to cover up the truth using the dialogue techniques. Another method used to convey truth via dialogue is adjacency pairs. Adjacency means following(a) to A question suggests the next turn will be an answer, a greeting suggests the next turn will be a greeting.Many things people say could have several meanings the next turn shows what the people take it to mean, for now. So if someone insults you, and you respond Thank you, you are taking the insult as a compliment. This is used a lot to dismiss an idea or statement given to a character. For instance Proctor says, We never touched, Abby Abagail follows with Aye, but we did. Proctor follows with Aye, but we did not. Proctors immediate dismissal is a grogginess for Abagail as it was not the expected result.The word Aye is a positive response that substitutes yes. At the end of the response the word not is used this is negative and quickly changes the conversation from agreeing ang positive to negative and dissagreening. This is used to desecrate the audience and Abagail on stage. It conveys truth as it does not agree with Abagail and so the audience know one of them is not telling the truth, they either did or they did not touch. From the previous scenes they realise Proc Imagery is used a lot in the play. It is used on natural and items with symbols like the church.Imagery is good as it allows the audience to get a view of the truth and more of an understanding of what is going on. The imagery used in The Crucible is mostly natural objects such as stone, light and fire, this could be because og the purtinsm and they belived in living naturaly. problematical as rock and Where I stone give images of a stone. Stone is linked to the truth because it is a natural strong material. It is tough on the outside and hard to break into. Truth can be hard to reach or get the exact truth and so is linked to rock.Another way rock is linked to truth is that they are made in a cycle. Truth is changed in a cycle or a ring of peop le as people give others their opinion of the truth and rocks are made in a cycle and are changed during it. Another image related to truth is a support once a book has been written and finished it cannot be tampered with. It can be written over like the lies made up by people hiding the truth. The book as it was meant to be written can never be changed just like the truth. The cover of a book is strong and holds the book together along with its spine.Again this is like the truth it is held together and made by what has happened. The light of God is in him, this shows he is pure not evil and the audience can bet it. If God is in you, you cannot be evil. Wheel inside Wheel this is meant as an image of Salem, the people of Salem influence or move others inside Salem to do things they wouldnt normally do. This shows truth, as it is Salem as a whole pushing people on. Dramatic Irony is used in The Crucible. The audience insure what is going on and then they see the characters lie abo ut what the audience know is true.The audience see Paris praying next to Betty and the audience realise something is wrong, by and by on Paris denies any thing has happened and the audience know this is not true. Dramatic Irony represents truth and is used when the audience know some of the characters are lying to others. This makes the audience feel more powerful and raises the level of excitement and suspense. The audiences learn more about a character and their personality. They gain a personal view on whether to believe what they say later or not to. This shows truth very well as the audience know exactly who knows what information and who is truthful and who is not.Dramatic irony shows the truth on which characters trust which and who they are willing to tell the truth. When characters have information that others dont, they feel they have more power and so decide to different things with the power. Titubas lies reveal the truth, Tituba mistaken to be possessed in a way to ge t back at Paris. Tituba says He says Mr Parris must(prenominal) be kill Mr Parris no goodly man, Mr Parris mean man and no gentle man,Parris is the victim of dramatic irony. The audience are against Parris because of the character summary, it was heavily biased against Parris.

Gothic settings are desolate, alienating and full of menace Essay Example for Free

Gothic settings argon languish, alienating and full of menace EssayGothic settings ar desolate, alienating and full of menace. In the lighten up of this comment, consider around of the ways in which writers use settings in the knightly texts you have read. In The spread over Chamber and Wuthering senior high school, Carter and Bronte conform to the gothic conventions with desolate and alienating settings that are full of menace, but there are as well elements that subvert this view and portray purity and entrapment the need to escape the gothic mould. A desolate setting is a place without life in a state of bleak and dismal emptiness. This is evince in The Courtship of Mr Lyon when the girl finds herself bored in the ground. This subverts the gothic as the country is associated with purity and maidenlike inexperience, compared to the male dominated, corrupted city. We see here that the girl longs to break the mould of female passivity with the compressed kitchen and h er boredom. All the snow and the words light bright and white infer purity and represents her total pureness but also isolation from the outside world, living down a long unmarked country road.Carter places the girl at the window in his tale and ses a lack of description of the kitchen to create a sense of longing for the outside world. She is trapped in the domestic sphere in the kitchen but pauses on her chores. This foreshadows transgressing gender barriers in the story. For a gothic setting to be alienating it could be it makes someone smell isolated or estranged. The girl in The Bloody Chamber feels cut off from her previous, un-married life in the fort surrounded by water.She described how she goes into marriage, into exile and would always be lonely. She feels alone in a patriarchal baseball club be nominate his orefathers had ruled the coast for centuries. This highlights the in which the woman must conform to his wishes, but also con nones medieval undertones of a fairy tale. The girl presents the castle as a magic place, the fairy castle whose walls were made of foam alluding to the supernatural in the magic place like a fairy castle, which highlights gothic architecture of grand castles.The foam however subverts to the gothic as it suggests pleasant freedoms and a lack of substance, well-nigh like its from a dream. In contrast to this image, the reality of a thick darkness, unlit by every tar represents her entrapment and struggle to recover from discovering his dead wives in the bloody chamber. She feels deeply corrupted with no apply of escaping her new fellowship for which she must pay the price, as the room is unlit by stars. This suggestion that women should not have knowledge connotes religious imagery of when Eve corrupted Adam and they paid the price for Eves sin.This knowledge gives the girl the power to question the Marquiss power because when looking at the picture of Saint Cecilia, she asks what had been the nature of her calvary? in which she questions her corruption. She suggests Cecilia was only beheaded for her disobeying a man. A bloody chamber is present in some form in each of the ten stories and whilst taking different forms throughout the book, it serves the same symbolic purpose. It is a room where violence and enlightenment occur simultaneously. It is a place of transmutation for the heroine.The term the connection amidst womens sexuality and the violence they experience. ln The Courtship of Mr. Lyon, the bloody chamber is the Beasts room. Even though the Beast does not accidental injury anyone in the room, it represents the violent and bloody reputation. If the Beast is seen as a being who devours, his room is perceived as a place of dismay a bloody chamber. The Beasts room is also a place of transformation for both himself and the heroine. It is there that she realizes her love for him and that he transforms back into a human.Alienating settings can also cause someone to become unsympatheti c or hostile. The char solveers in Wuthering Heights fit in to their new surroundings, subconsciously, and reconcile to its beliefs and values and become hostile to their previous way of life. They adapt to the narrow windows deeply set in the wall with a range of gaunt thorns. The Grange rich regal colours such as rosy and blues, showing that the characters have become aware of their social standing and expectations whereas at Wuthering Heights, there are insolent painted canisters with objects that are liver-coloured, black and green.Wuthering Heights portrays violence and freedom to act as you please and when Lockwood encounters Cathys speck he pulled its wrist on the broken pane, and rubbed it to and fro till the blood ran down and soaked the bed-clothes. He states that terror made me cruel and this fear of what is uncertain or obscure at Wuthering Heights explains his violence. This state contrasts to his highly cultured and civilised behaviour at the beginning of the novel . If a setting is full of menace consequently it poses a threat or danger in a hostile manor.During Lockwoods first visit of Wuthering Heights he feels threatened by the way he describes its appearance among a wilderness of crumbling griffins. Griffins are barbarous evil creatures, suggesting the residents of Wuthering Heights to be cruel and wild. Lockwood feels under threat because he does not know how to act around a family that is crumbling from societys control. Therefore, passing the threshold would mean Lockwood transgressing the oundaries of social norms. Once inside, Lockwood feels trapped because the narrow windows are deeply set in the wall making it impossible to get out.It gives the impression of a prison, where the chastely corrupted are kept, with their secrets and taboos. It can also be seen that Wuthering heights poses a threat to Thrushcross Grange because the characters keep missing to go there and escape from culture at the Grange and become free from entrapm ent in an oppressive society and become reunited with nature. This is the case for Cathy, Isabella, Catherine and Nelly, who feel drawn to danger, which is liberating and freeing.

Major Reflective Essay Example for Free

Major Reflective Es consecrateI am shortly pursuing a Bachelor of Science layer in the study of Business, Management and Economics punishing in Accounting at Empire State College. I work full-time as buck private nurse assistance due to my present melody. If I condense all my assumptions and expectations for the time creation, I could say that my nearest and primary goal is to earn the degree and be a recognized expert in my chosen field.Here is how I narrated my goals in my previous paper I prolong enrolled at the degree course with an aim to achieve my goals in the near future, to be well educated and hunch overledgeable in m any(prenominal) areas, to restore my confidence to continue skill throughout my emotional state, to abrupt my own business preparing taxes in the next five years or be a controller of a company, and build a degree that will qualify me for many job opportunities, to increase my skills and broaden my abilities towards my future, to learn a physical bo dy of skills and techniques to help others as well, to work with people, as I enjoy working with them, and set a neat example for my daughter which I had right after high school. I want my daughter to know that a college education is important to get what you want in life history. As I advanced in my readings I realized that the list of my goals is huge, really obscure and not regulated.I repeated my goals in paraphrased sentences when I spoke about knowledge and phylogenesis, I had contradicting concepts when I mentioned about opening my own business and even so being qualified for many job opportunities, I related enjoyment with working with people, and I allocated very small portion to my daughter, again, linking my care towards her to my learning and hard working experience. I am undergoing serious reflections turn grouping and formulating my goals into four sections learning, working, family and social life. In my previous statements I had only learning and working i n my mind, the words family and social life were uttered, but meant working and learning. At this stage I adjust the first three are on the same level, and still downgrade social life.I experienced a significant breakthrough during my readings on time instruction, correlations of work and social life, division of life between career and family. First of all the studies I read, the facts and figures from the history, the revolution in gender concept helped me to visualise the human life from a wide range of angels. (Kalleberg 2004) What does career mean for people? Is it for the well being of the family, or for the self? What is the secret of simple human happiness in career advancement, learning, discovery, or jockey and warmth in the family? (Harvard Business School Press 2000)Those were the questions that I rose while reading culture about increasing workload and learning needs, and decreasing marriage and birth rates in our society.The actual economy rapidly changes, and th is is the reason I wanted to be qualified in many job qualifications, which is practically extremely difficult. The background of this behavior is the insecurity in my future life. Shift of age groups in management greatly concerns me when I am doing a long term planning. Although I am open for learning, I can hardly imagine how I can accommodate myself in the employment food market when I am over 40 and less capable of acquiring spick-and-span knowledge and new skills. (Kalleberg 2004) I realized that my choices should be very limited and meet my learning and working expectations and abilities. I guard to consider my career plans in the background of my social and family life.I should have in mind that in a few years I will have to reshape my routine mean solar day to day trade union movements in order to be physically more available for my daughter when she steps the path of learning and self-development. She will not be able to take my outmatch example in learning and workin g, as she will not see me in the learning and working atmosphere, but will have an level mother, tired and eager to get rid of her questions as soon as possible. The two time management exercises greatly helped me to experience extension of time (clock time) and full satisfaction after completing a task (event time). (Levine 1998) I am more likely to use the event time, but clock time is inhering for the busy life I have already chosen. Although, it doesnt mean I will not enjoy my weekends beyond any time.My ideal concept of life will be to master utilize the three categories in different circumstances, or even bind them all together and experience beyond-time timber during 15 min. coffee breaks. I got very concerned when I assumed that I have specify my family and individual values aside. I realized that in order to develop my long term plans I have to study other sides of human nature as well how the endless working and learning atmosphere may influence on my physical and men tal health, what personal problems may arise in my life, and how it my affect on my socialization skills. And finally, how the short and long term planning can be best practiced to contribute to a creation of self reliant and happy old age life?I feel the need to explore human nature and life stories, and get skills on how to prevent time for things that are more valuable for me. The final conclusion I had from this course is that I have to consider investing time as if I invest money. Investment in my professional development should have tangible outcomes in securing a dignified life for me and my family. This vision should guide me in any minor and major task I take over.Bibliography Harvard Business School Press. Harvard Business Review on Work and Life Balance . Perseus Distribution Services, 2000. Kalleberg, Cynthia Epstein and Arne. Fighting For Time. Russell Sage Foundation Publications , 2004. Levine, Robert V. A Geography of Time. canonical Books, 1998.

Analysis of Martin Luther Kings I Have a Dream Essay Example for Free

Analysis of Martin Luther Kings I Have a vision EssayThe Speech I have chosen to do is I have a aspiration by Martin Luther King. I have a dream that one day this nation will bone up up and live out the true meaning of its creed We hold these truths to be self-evident that wholly men are created equal. I have a dream that one day on the going hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the area of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an harbor of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their whittle but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.This is a particularly sacred speech because he was saying exactly what he felt and it came straig ht from his heart, and it was exactly what the people that were auditory sense were thin tycoon about the how they were being treated. The speech shows how angry he is with all the racism in the fall in States of America, and he tells everyone how things should be, this worked particularly well because all the black people in America were treated poorer than sporty people and it summed up all the hatred and anger that was inside them. Martin Luther king utilise very smartly thought out sentence structure to make more impact on the listeners.He used the quick and snappy sentences to grab their attention and then he would use the longer sentences to explain his deeper feelings. Luther king also uses the word freedom a lot because it shows that is what they didnt have, which also again makes the listeners feel that they take overt have a lot of freedom. The definition of inspiration is the process of being mentally horny to do or feel something, especially to do something creati ve. This is exactly what Dr King got people that listened to his speech to feel, excite to do something to help themselves. Thank you for listening.

Presidential election Essay Example for Free

Presidential election EssayDuring the 2004 presidential election, John Kerry send offended dozens of array families, both the enlisted men and their relatives, with a gaffe he said was directed at President George Bush. The aspect for president claimed that most American soldiers crossroadsed the military because they had no better options, that the economy made them do it. While that may be the case for some soldiers, the reality is that a great many soldiers join the military for more than tho the suspensor with school or the paycheck. Especially later on the September 11, 2001, attacks on the Pentagon and New York City, patriotism was a primary rea news for joining the military as was the desire to becharm the world and serve their fellow man. Even for the soldiers that join the military for economic reasons, the service is more than just a paycheck and deserving of far better than the malicious words of an also-ran like Kerry. Jonson Mahathath is a United States Marin e stati peerlessd at the Marine Recruiting Station in Louisville, KY.Mahathath, 21, testament be the first to reserve his primary reason for joining the Marine Corps was the opportunity. I grew up in the middle of atomic number 42 where the economy is bad, really bad. I knew that if I wanted to get out of there and have a life of my own, the Corps was a way out, he said (personal interview, May 12, 2008). But that is only half(prenominal) the story. Mahathath said that since joining the Corps he has developed a newfound respect for servicemen and himself. When you choose to be a Marine, you know that you are committing to being part of one of the finest fighting forces in the world.You know the metier of character required to make it through boot and you know that a fellow Marine will never leave you behind. Try finding that kind of friendship and loyalty anywhere else, he said. Indeed, after serving his first tour, Mahathath will likely reenlist, non because of the economy, provided because of his dedication to the Corps. This is a closer family than the one I was born into, Mahathath said.Some people join the military to pay for their education and then celebrate other reasons for their military service. Rebekkah Henderson doubting Thomas is one of those people. Thomas joined the Army Reserves to pay for her college education, except when the soldiers around her were deployed for war duty, Henderson felt the call to action. I felt like I was cheating, like I wasnt a real soldier. Here were all these people I trained with, going off to war and I was still here. I needed to be deployed, to fulfill my commitment, Thomas said (Gunnin 2008, p. 1).Thomas could have served her entire commitment to the military without ever seeing combat, but her dedication to keeping her pest of service made her long for more. At the time she was deployed, Thomas left behind a two-year-old son and an ex-husband. Being away from her son will be difficult, but she gave her word and intends to keep it, she said (Gunnin 2008, p. 5). circular Richard Burnell wrote in an Air Force Press Release that he joined the military for selfish reasons. To be quite frank, my initial reason for joining the military was selfish.I enlisted Aug. 15, 1985, because I was unsure what I wanted to do with my life. I believed the military would provide me a healthy environment in which to decide. (Burnell 2003). But the conclusion to join the military is not what made him a soldier, or in this case, an airman. I became an airman because my squadron commandant gave me responsibility that exceeded my confidence. He believed I was capable of things that I did not believe I could do. My desire to not let him down motivated me to accept the challenges he proposed. (Burnell 2003).Essentially, he wrote, he joined the military to help him find a direction in life and the military not only provided it, it exceeded his wildest dreams. The reasons then why a person joins the milit ary can be as wide and varied as the branches of the service, but to claim as Kerry did that people do it out of economic desperation is to underestimate the appeal and deserving of the American military. Yes, it can be just a job to some people, but the old ad cliche is true as well, its more than just a job its an adventure. Its a family and a way of life.

Swahili Morphology A Comparison English Language Essay

Swahili Morphology A Comparison side Language EssayIntroductionSwahili is an casing of a Bantu language. Bantu languages belong to the South aboriginal subgroup of the Niger-Congo language family. These languages ar closely related to languages used in central, east-central and southern Africa (Sands, 2009). Due to the colonial history of the countries in this ara, Swahili contains many loan reciprocations from incline, Arabian, Persian Indian languages, Portuguese, German and other(a) Bantu languages. Their origins argon often hardly recognisable. The reason for this is that the structure remains Bantu. In this structure, the ancestryal system has an important role (Mohammed, 2001). This constitution contains a description of this system and other underlying processes of Swahili syllable structure. In this description, we draw parallels between Swahili and English. As mentioned earlier, we jazz that Swahili is connected to English by its loan devises. But do the two lan guages cave in anything in common concerning morphological structure and processes?2 TypologyEnglish is an inflectional language forges atomic number 18 modified to express their well-formed run short. Swahili is a polysynthetic language complicated disapprobations be expressed using a single newsworthiness (Fromkin, 2000). Swahili is a Subject-Verb-Object language in which the targetive lens and the paper bear be abortive this may scat to insertion of a postal code morpheme. In a phrase, grammatical relations want defeat and object are determined by the positions they are in. This makes Swahili a position language instead of a end language. In a case language (like German) the form of the noun or pronoun changes to show the grammatical relation. The adjacent sort seasickustrates the use of SVO order in Swahili (Vitale, 1981) (Note a gloss basin be appoint in the appendix)(1) Juma a-li-wa-piga watotoJuma-he-P-them- ravisher-childrenJuma hit the childrenS V O3 Word and morpheme patternesMany Swahili words are built up by using chemical group and affixes. Affixes may be described in terms of the category or category of the word they combine with, and the category of word found by the root and affix combination. Whereas roots do not change, many affixes do. Swahili geomorphology is summarily described under the main copingings pronouns and pronominal phrase affixes, verbs and noun classes (Safari Akida, 1991).3.1 bare and bound morphemesWhether a morpheme is bound or remedy, corporation be defined by considering their exitrence. Morphemes that dirty dog cash in ones chips on their own are said to be free. Bound morphemes need to be inclined to other morphemes. In English, for instance, nouns are free- and determiners are bound morphemes (Fromkin, 2000). Both bound and free morphemes occur in Swahili, still on that point are more than bound morphemes than free morphemes. In English, certain word classes are incessantly b ound (like nouns) in Swahili one word class merchant ship contain both bound and free morphemes(2) baba fathersamaki tilt(3) m-toto childwa-toto childrenki-su knifevi-su knivesThe nouns in example (2) (Mohammed, 2001) are free morphemes. The nouns in example (3) are bound morphemes. The word stems -toto and -su require a affix that gives the word a certain conquer along and class (Givon, 2001). Adjectives, like -dogo, weting small, as well need a proceeds- and class prefix (m-, wa-, ki-, vi-, etc.). This leads to clauses like m-dogo, which can be used to express that it is small for a child (ibid.).3.2 Pronouns and pronominal prefixesPronouns in Swahili are coped into personal, possessive, demonstrative, generalising and interrogative pronouns (Myachina, 1981). Personal pronouns have a morphemic structure built out of roots improver the appropriate scrape.These independent pronouns can stand on their own and function as an object or a theater of operations. But they are unless used in selective contexts for instance the word ni am as in I am an African Mimi ni Africano. Next to that, they can withal emphasize the subject of the sentence. In (2i) and (2ii), mimi underlines the subject (Benjamin, 1998)(4) (i) Ninataka watoto I want children(i) Mimi ninataka watoto I (really) want children(ii) Nitapita posta I go out pass by the post authority(ii) Mimi nitapita posta I will pass by the post officeA pronoun can never replace a pronominal prefix, if a construction requires a pronominal prefix. A pronominal prefix must be included whether or not an independent pronoun is used. *Mimi tapita posta is an ill formed Swahili sentence.Pronominal prefix Personni- 1st person erraticu- 2nd person remaininga- third person singulartu- 1st person plural formm-/mw- 2nd person pluralw-/wa- 3rd person pluralNot still does the pronominal prefix marks the person, it alike marks the subject or object position. This is determined by the place of the pronoun withi n the verb(5) Wao wanaamka They are waking up (subject)Mimi nitawaamsha I will wake them up (object)3.3 VerbsBesides subject and object stains, strain markers can be attached to Swahili verbs as prefixes. The essential component of any bounded verb is (in the following order) subject prefix filtrate marker verb root. If an object prefix is inserted, the verb root always follows. A negation marker of the verb always precedes the subject prefix (Safari Akida, 1991).The following pathfinder illustrates how Swahili verbs are built (Deen, 2001)(6) Subject Agreement- Tense- Object Agreement- Verb-suffixes Mood(SA) (T) (OA) (V) (M)The object understanding is an optional item. If there is a particularised direct object, the object agreement is obligatory if the direct object isnt specific, the object agreement can be deleted (ibid.). Mood is always the final suffix. It can either be indicative -a, subjunctive -e, or negative -i. When the suffix is indicative, the word describes o ngoing actions or states, habitual actions of the present, actions and states in the past or future and imperatives. The subjunctive mainly expresses desires, possibility, necessity and requests (ibid.). In Swahili clauses, the infinitive (a prefix) is rarely used other inflectional prefixes are used to modify the clause. We can stop that Swahili is a bare verb language. In English, bare stems are excessively used without the infinitive to like in I can sing (Deen, 2003).This puts the two languages in the same class they are both bare verb languages instead of root infinitive languages.3.4 NounsIn Swahili, every noun is assigned to a specific noun class. The noun classes are generally marked by a class prefix. Swahili nouns are inflected for gender and physique by a characteristically Bantu prefix system (Vitale, 1981). Gender is grammatical and affixes mark a noun for membership in a noun class. These are, for the just about part, not definable on semantic grounds. There is a c ertain amount of discrepancy as to which of several numbering systems should be used in the miscellanea of the gender system.The original Swahili classes 12 and 13 have no reflexes in present-day Swahili. In late Swahili, nouns are categorised in far less noun classes as shown belowTable 5 new-made Swahili noun classes (Mohammed, 2001)Note that classes 15, 16, 17 and 18 have not been illustrated above because they do not have plural forms Nouns in classes 1/2 denote only humans (but not all humans are in class 1/2). Class 14 refers to abstract characteristics. Class 15 has verbal infinitives and classes 16 18 are locatives. For the remaining classes the semantic base is less obvious. For example class 3/4 contains words denoting plants and trees, class 9/10 contains names of animals, and class 6 contains liquids (Brown Ogilvie, 2009).3.5 CompoundingLike in English, words in Swahili compound to make a new word or give a specific definition to a word. This process of compounding mainly occurs in Swahili by conjoining two nouns (N+N), a noun and a verb (N+V), a noun and an adjective (N+A) and a verb and a noun (V+N). In some cases, compounding can also occur with a verb and a verb (V+V) or a verb and an adjective (V+A) (Nshubemuki, 1999). Table 6 shows a number of compounded terms in Swahili. Sometimes a word or term can get a unharmed new definition or can function in a whole new word classTable 6 Compounded Swahili words (ibid.)Elements Swahili terms (English equivalent) derived Swahili term (English equivalent)N+N msumeno (saw) + juu (top) msumenoju (top saw)N+V kemikali (chemical) + amsha (stimulate) amshakikemilkali(chemical stimulation)N+A tumba (bud) + bwete (dormant) tumbabwete (dormantbud)V+N tegemea (depend(ent)) + kimelea (parasite) kimeleategemezi(hyperparasite)V+V fanya (make) + tendana (to do with) mfanyikotendani (process)V+A pasua (saw in two) + nyofu (straight) upasuajimnyofu(to break down timber)4 Inflection and derivation in Swahili verbs The template of verbs in (6) makes it clear that inflection and derivation are morphological processes occurring in Swahili. Because of the importance of these processes, we will make water a at hand(predicate) look at prefixation, suffixation, infixion and incorporation.4.1 PrefixationSwahili is a prefix language where the verb stem or root is usually preceded by derivational prefixes. In turn, these derivational prefixes are preceded by inflectional prefixes (Prikola, 2001). The verbal morphology of Swahili involves many productive inflectional and derivational morphemes. The verbal prefixes are mainly inflectional. The main prefixes indicate the subject and object agreement markers and the tense markers (Seidl Dimitriadis, 2003). To specify this, we will give an example. Look at the Swahili sentences in (7) and their proposed displacement in English, shown in between apostrophes (Fromkin, 2000)(7) Ninasoma TunasomaNi-na-soma Tu-na-soma1S-Pres-read 1Pl-Pres-readI am reading We are readingFirst of all, lets have a look at what the two sentences above have in common. There is the verbs take aim, -soma, translated in English as (to) read. In (7) -soma works as the mentality of the sentence, the verb root. The morpheme -soma is bound. This verb root needs affixes, so that it can be used as a word (ibid.). The affixes in (7) are indicators of tense and person. Apparently, the prefix na- is a tense marker, which, combined with the verb root -soma, means something like present tense read, here translated as is and are. The remaining prefixes Ni- and Tu- result schooling whether the person who is reading is first person singular (I) or first person plural (We). Looking at these examples, we can say that inflected Swahili verbs give information about tense and person. These sentences are complex verbs, because a complete sentence can be expressed by forming one word (ibid.). We can therefore say that Swahilis subject-verb-agreement morphology takes place thro ugh prefixes.4.2 SuffixationIn Swahili, the verbal suffixes show derivation which can be very productive. Derivational morphemes increase the vocabulary, but their occurrence is not related to sentence structure (ibid.). The around productive and frequently used derivational morphemes are the causative, passive, stative, applicative and reciprocal ones. They function as an extension of the verb. Swahili verbs can carry some derivational suffixes, but are bound to a specific order after the verb root. Some derivational suffixes (such as the causative and applicative) add an argument, some lactate an argument and some leave the number of arguments unchanged (SD, 2003).4.3 Infixion and incorporationIn the passive form, we see that infixes can occur in Swahili verbs (Buell, 2002)(8) kitabu hakitasomwakitabu ha- ki- ta- som- w- a7.book neg- 7.subj- Fut- read- Pass- default.vowelthe book wont be readIn (8) we see that the -w- functions as an infix for the passive. As shown above, incorp oration of pronouns occurs in Swahili. The pronouns are incorporated within the verb. Infixion in negating infinitival nouns can occur as well. Here the infinitival noun shows an act of doing (and is derived from a verb) and therefore shows no number. Infixion of the grammatical fraction -to- gives a negation to the infinitival noun. To make this clear, we will give an example (Mohammed, 2001)(9) kutokujafailure5 Heads and hierarchyThe head of a word is the element that contains the category and other properties of the word itself (Lieber, 1981). There are different theories concerning head and hierarchy. Williams theory assumes that the category of the items and their composition are attached to syntactic features (Williams, 1981). In other words, the prefixes give information about number and class and syntactically modify the mother node. An example (Droste, 1989)(10) shind rootshind-a to conquer (verbal)shind-i / shind-aji / shind-e the vanquisher (person)m-shind-I / m-shind-a ji / m-shind-e who is conqueredwa-shind-I / wa-shind-aji plural(11) M-tu personWa-tu personsJi-tu giantMa-ji-tu giantsKi-tu thingvi-tu thingsIn English we see the same phenomenon(11) play Inf + -(e)d P playedDog Sg + -s Pl dogsUgly Adj + -er Com uglierThe fact that the suffix here functions as the head leads to a contradiction in terms in the analysis of the right wing head rule in the word shind. According to Selkirk, prefixes are markers for plural, tense and person. In m-shind-i, the suffix -i is the head and the nominalizer, the root -shind- is an unmarked non-head and the non-head m- is marked for class and number to be percolated. In m-tu the root -tu percolates its inherent nominal category, whereas the prefix again stands for number and class (Selkirk, 1984). According to Selkirk, suffixes in Swahili are responsible for the category of a word(12) A-li-vi-chom-aSg sub. P-Pl-root-VA-li-vi = non heads (but they show SA, TA and OA)chom= root-a = headIn English, the head always comes at the right most end of a word and determines the category or word class of the word. As mentioned above, we can conclude that in Swahili grammar membership of a word category is always determined by the right-hand morpheme. Williams noticed that the category of the items and the compositions are attached to syntactic features. Williams formulation of the right head rule therefore can be maintained.6 Variation in morphologyIn Swahili, there can be variation in morphology. In the following, we will take a closer look at the occurrence of allomorphy, free variation and portmanteau in Swahili.6.1 Allomorphy and free variationAllomorphs are morphemes that can be realized in different ways, man maintaining their meaning (Fromkin, 2000). In English, we see this in the word pills, which is pronounced as /pillz/, while the plural is usually formed by adding an consonant /-s/. Swahili also has allomorphs. For instance, the past tense markers -li and -ku. They are both used to express past tense, but differ in form. In passive verbs, the following allomorphs are used -w, -liw, -iw and -w. For the causative verb, the allomorphs -sh, -esh, -sh, -z, -ez and -z (Mohammed, 2001). We see the same phenomenon with nouns. A word from noun class 1 takes mu- as a prefix, but when a class 1 noun starts with a vowel, the prefix changes to m- or mw- (Zawawi, 1979).(13) muuguzi nurses(14) mwezi thievesBecause there is an underlying rule to this change, this is conditioned allomorphy.As we have seen, Swahili nouns take various class prefixes according to the class they belong. The noun class system is not as strict as implied. There are many words that do not fit in one of these classes based on a semantic characterization. There is variation which is illustrated in atypical, flexible, irregular, and un-prefixed nouns. A variation for the use of the noun classes is nominal derivation, by fracture nouns from one class to the other. For example, shifting nouns into class 7/8 den otes diminutive -kitoto a small child- while class 6 can be used to express a group of individuals, and not only the plural form fisi (class 10) hyenas, mafisi (class 6) a pack of hyenas .But not only the classification of the noun class can vary. There is also variation in the noun prefixes. Sometimes two noun classes share the same prefix, but do not share the same noun class. For example, the regular prefix in classes 1 and 3 is m- . Some agreements are the same for both classes, and some are not. This can depend on the phonological form of the prefix rather than the syntactic-semantic characteristics of the noun class (Alcock Ngorosho, 2002).6.2 PortmanteauA morpheme that contains multiple meaningful elements, is called a portmanteau. These different elements of meaning cannot be segmented within the morpheme (Fromkin, 2000). For instance, in English, the verb is represents third person, singular, present tense and the lexeme be. Portmanteaus also occur in Swahili. In the expre ssion tu-li-wa-lim-ish-a, meaning We made them cultivate, the morpheme tu represents second person, plural and subject. In the same example, the morpheme wa represents first person, plural, object (Katamba, 1994). It is clear that in both cases, different phi-features are expressed in one morpheme. Therefore, we can conclude that they are portmanteaus.7 ReduplicationSwahili contains morphological reiteration. This means that all or a part of a word is copied (completely or partial) to show a change in meaning or usage. An example of reduplication is monosyllabic reduplication (Akinlabi, 1995). In this case the reduplicated morpheme is phonologically similar in order to produce disyllabic words. This is core reduplication(15) ba-ba fatherbu-bu dumb personlu-lu pearlkwi-kwi hiccupA native consonant (C) nonnegative a vowel (V) can be reduplicated, therefore this CV-structure is reduplicated. In some cases there is also a prefix involved. This prefix is responsible for the class of t he word(16) m-dudu an insectNeither monosyllabic stems such as ba or bu, nor trisyllabic stems such as bababa or bububu has the meaning of a disyllabic form like baba or bubu (ibid.).Monosyllabic reduplication is also found in six personal independent pronouns, as shown in table 1 and in (17) below(17) Mimi ISisi WeWewe You (Sg)Nyinyi You (Pl)Yeye S/heThese pronouns are only meaningful when they are combined with another(prenominal) morpheme. Trisyllabic reduplication of a monosyllabic word like in (18) shows us partial reduplication (Akinlabi, 1995).(18) -eupe white Nyeupe pepepe very (snow) white-eusi black Nyeusi tititi very (pitch) black-fa check Kufa fofofo die completelyDifferent meanings can occur when (parts of) words are reduplicated as shown in the monosyllabic, disyllabic and trisyllabic words in (19)(19) Kaka brotherKakaka variety of vegetableKakakaka hastilyIn English, reduplication is not a regular process of word formation. It can occur thoughExact reduplication papa , mama, goody-goody, never-neverAblaut reduplication zig-zag, ping-pong, flip-flopRhyme reduplication razzle-dazzle, boogie-woogie, hodge-podge8 Problems in morphological analysis succession making this paper, we found some businesss in analyzing Swahili morphology. In the following paragraphs we will look at some of these difficulties.8.1 Zero morphemesWhile analyzing Swahili expressions difficulties may occur because of the existence of zero morphemes (). Zero morphemes are morphemes that are neither pronounced, nor written, but do have a certain function. They can be applied in different ways. In Swahili, can occur in verbs, nouns and subjects.8.1.1 Zero morphemes verbsWhen a verb is negated, the subject prefix is preceded by a negation marker si-, which replaces the pronominal subject prefix ni- and ha-. For instance, I didnt eat is sikukula in Swahili. Besides the pronominal subject prefix, the tense marker also changes, when the verb is negated. Some tense markers become nul l (). These are the affirmative tense markers -a- (present simple), -na- (present continuous) and -hu- (present habitual) (Safari Akida, 2003). An example (Lot Publications, 2010)(20) ha-wa--imb-iNeg-SA2-Pres-SAs-Neg.Pres.IndThey do not sing8.1.2 Zero morphemes nounsLooking at the noun classes in table 4, we see that nouns like fruits or produce of plants take the affix ma- in plural, but there is no affix to express the singular form. Therefore, the singular form takes a zero morpheme, as illustrated in (20) (Mohammed, 2001)(21) chungwa an orange machungwa oranges ua a flower mauwa flowersThe zero morpheme indicates that the word is singular. Besides the class that is shown in the example, there are many more classes that take a zero morpheme to differentiate between plural and singular. When we compare this to English, we see that in English, a singular noun is most likely to be preceded by a determiner and the plural form is often locked into the word (an orchard apple tree ap ples). But there are some nouns that carry a zero morpheme. For instance the word fish remains the same when the plural form is derived from the singular noun. In the plural form, a zero morpheme is the most right morpheme. This silent morpheme is placed here to distinguish between plural and singular nouns.8.1.3 Zero morphemes null subject and null objectsIn some Swahili clauses, the subject or object is marked by a zero morpheme the morpheme that marks the person and number of the subject or object is not written nor pronounced. The subject can be absent (22), as well as the object (23) (Deen, 2002)(22) a na m pend a MariamSA3s Pres- OA3s like- Ind MariamHe likes Mariam(23) a na m pend aSA3s- Pres OA3s like IndHe likes herWe can fleck the phi features of subject and object, looking at the subject- and object agreement within the verb. Swahili is a null subject language, whereas in English, subject dropping is less common (ibid.). In English, the subject can be droppe d in slack communication (24). However, there are many restrictions the subject can not be dropped in questions (25) disturbed subjects can not be omitted (26) subject pronoun drop is not permitted in embedded clauses (27) (Weir, 2009)(24) Dont conceive of I can make it tonight.(25) *Are going to the party?(26) A Who runs this place?B * Run this place.(27) * Dont think should go.8.2 Stem marker -ku-An other difficulty in analyzing Swahili morphology is the infinitival marker ku. As mentioned in the infinitival noun example in (9), some verbs in Swahili require the insertion of the morpheme -ku-. In negative infinitives, this would mean that there are two infinitival markers(28) ku-to-ku-j-aku-Neg-ku-come-FVnot to comeIn his article A lexical treatment for stem markers in Swahili, Marten claims that the general analysis of the second -ku- in example (28) as a stem marker. A stem marker should be inserted when the tense markers cannot carry stress. The analysis of -ku- as a stem marker in example (28), implies unjustly that there are two infinitival markers in negative infinitives (Marten, 2002). It is clear that there is more than one way to analyze the morpheme -ku-.8.3 Word boundariesIn Swahili, it is difficult to determine word boundaries. We can detect a boundary by looking at the verb template as given earlier in paragraph 3.3. Another important element in determining word boundaries, is stress (Zwart, 1997).9 ConclusionIn this paper we gave a description of Swahili morphology and where possible, drew parallels between Swahili and English. There are some broad similarities between the two languages. Swahili and English share the same (bare verb-) language class. Both languages are right headed languages, even though in Swahili a finite vowel can be placed after the head. Many of the morphological processes that occur in Swahili, occur in English as well. However, the degree to which these processes occur, differs. In Swahili, inflection and derivation have a more decisive role than in English. The fact that Swahili nouns (which can be placed in different noun classes) are often bound and need a prefix, unlike in English, where most nouns are free, illustrates this. Reduplication is another phenomenon that occurs more often in Swahili than in English. In Swahili, even personal pronouns are reduplications. The use of zero morphemes, portmanteaus and allomorphs is also more common in Swahili than in English.Swahili has some characteristics that cannot be related to English, like the problem of analyzing the stem marker -ku- and the determining of word boundaries. Another example is the way verbs are built. The verb template in Swahili differs from the verb template in English. The underlying cause of many of the differences between the languages is their typology Swahili is a polysynthetic language, English is an inflectional language. The difference in typology is an important explanation for the difference in the occurrence of ma ny of the morphological processes.

Nurse Strategies to Prevent Elderly Suicide Attempts

Nurse Strategies to Prevent Elderly felo-de-se AttemptsInvestigation into nurse strategies to prevent or minimise strain self-importance-annihilation in uncomplainings shape upd 65 and oer.AbstractThis utterance considers the balancenale for positive nurse-establish hindrance in rumination of issues relating to self-annihilation in the cured. The display sets the context, including the historical context, of the issues and discusses the negative effects of ageism on issues relating to self-annihilation in the sr..The literature re pot considers selected texts which occupy been chosen for their specific relevancy to the issue and curiously those that espouse the view that ageism is counter ample to a satis concomitantory quality of life story overtation for the cured soulfulness.Conclusions argon drawn and discussed with specific vehemence on those measures that ar of particular relevance to the nurse profession whether it is in a secondary apprehension fa cility, a residential dental plate setting or in the primary healthcargon team and the club.We passel observe, from a recent topic (OConnell H et al. 2004), the comments that, although on that point is no doubt that the elderly present a higher(prenominal)er gamble of completed self-destruction than any other age group, this fact receives comparatively elfin attention with factors such as media interest, medical research and public health measures world disproportionately cerebrate on the childlikeer age groups (Uncapher H et al. 2000).Perhaps we should non be surprised at the fact that both self-destructive feelings and thoughts of despondency have been considered part of the hearty context of growing old and beseeming progressively less capable. This is not a phenomenon that is just confined to our lodge. We know that the Ancient Greeks tolerated these feelings in their party and restlessly cond unityd the option of aided suicide if the person involved had come to the conclusion that they had no much(prenominal) useful role to play in society (Carrick P 2000). Society largely took the view that erstwhile an individual had feeded old age they no keen-sighteder had a purpose in life and would be better off dead. In a more than modern context, we note the writings of Sigmund Freud who observed (while he was suffering from an incurable malignancy of the palateIt may be that the gods are merciful when they make our lives more unpleasant as we grow old. In the end, death seems less intolerable than the some burdens we have to bear.(cited in McClain et al. 2003)We would elicit that one of the explanations of this apparent phenomenon of comparative indifference to the plight of the elderly in this regard is cod to the fact that the neighborly burden of suicide is often refered to in purely economic terms, specific every last(predicate)(prenominal)y relating to bolshy of social contri aloneion and harm of productivity. (Brechin A et al. 2000).This purely economic assessment would have to observe that the young are much more probably to be in employment and less likely to be a burden on the economic status of the country whereas with the elderly exactly the converse is likely to be true. This results in economic prominence being give to the death of a younger person in many reviews. (Alcock P, 2003). There is similarly the fact that, despite the fact that we have already highlighted the accession in relative frequency of suicide in the elderly, because of the demographic distributions of the population in the UK, the absolute poem of both move suicides and literal suicides are wideer in the younger age ranges and therefore more readily apparent and frank.The elderly are a peculiarly vulnerable group from the guess of suicide. In the industrialised world manfuls over the age of 75 represent the single largest demographic group in terms of suicide attempts. Interestingly (and for reasons that we shall shortly discuss) although there is a general trend of increasing suicide rate with age the excess rates associated with the elderly are slowly declining in the recent historic (Cattell 2000).We can quantify this statement by considering the statistics. If we consider the period 1983 to 1995 in the UK then we can draw thatThe suicide rates for men reduced by amongst 30% and 40% in the age groups 5564, 6574 and 7584The rates for the most elderly men (males over 85 years) re principal(prenominal)ed fairly static, this group salvage having the highest rates of any groupBy way of contrast, the 25- to 34-year-old male group exhibited a 30% development in suicide rate during the same period, this group are becoming the group with the second highest rate, while the 15- to 24-year-old male group demonstrated a 55% join on in suicide rates. (WHO 2001)Female suicide rates have shown a similar boilersuit decrease, step-down by between 45 and 60% in the 4584 age group.Elderly women, as y et, save the highest rates throughout the life span (Cattell 2000)The ratio of male to female elderly suicide deaths body approximately 31 (Fischer L R et al. 2003)We can suggest that these trends in reduction of suicide, specially in the elderly are likely to be due, amongst other things, toThe improved contracting of those at peril together with the advent of aggressive treatment policies relating to mental affection in the elderly. (Waern M et al. 2003)One of the main reasons, we would suggest, for this obviously changing pattern and the discrepancies in the suicide rates between the age ranges, is the fact that, in precede consideration of the context of our topic, the elderly are more likely to be both submissive to professional care and also, by virtue that a higher proportion are likely to be in direct connectedness with healthcare professionals either through failing health or breast feeding hearths and hospitals, (Suominen K et al. 2003), have the warning cuts of impending suicide recognised and acted upon more promptly than the younger, arguably more independent age group.In specific consideration of the elderly group we should also note that attempted suicide is more likely to be a failed suicide attempt rather than a parasuicide. (Rubenowitz E et al. 2001).There is considerable grounds that the incidence of depression is increased in the presence of a synchronous corporal illness (Conwell Y et al. 2002) and clearly this is going to be more likely in the elderly age group. Some sources have cited joining rates of between 60-70% of major depression with physical illness in the over 70yr olds. (Conwell Y et al. 2000).Another significant factor is that it is comm simply accepted that an attempted suicide is a strong independent guess factor in the aetiology of notwithstanding suicide attempts. (Conwell Y et al. 1996) This trend is much more marked in the elderly group with a ratio of about(predicate) 41 which compares really badly with the ratios in the younger age groups of between 81 and 2001 (depending on age range, definition and check). (Hepple J et al. 1997)In this dissertation it is intended to get a farseeing evidence sternd knowledge of the scope and significance of the phenomenon of attempted suicide in the elderly. In addition it is intended to gain evidence based knowledge in the use of strategies to ameliorate attempted suicide in the elderly to highlight gaps in the literature available and to suggest recommendations for change in nursing practice It is hoped to be able to suggest areas for research into the phenomenon of attempted suicide in the elderly.The initial dodging was to undertake a library search at the local anaesthetic post graduate library and the local university library (Client you might like to personalise this) on the key words suicide, elderly, prevention strategies, industrialised societies. This presented a great many physical compositions. About 40 were selected an d read to provide an overview of the literature in this area. During this phase, references were celebrated and followed up and key literary works were assimilated. The bulk of the papers accessed and read were published within the last decade, however a number of significant of age(p) references were also accessed if they had a specific bearing on a particular issue. The most significant references were accessed and digested. The dissertation was written referencing a selected sub-set of these works.To increase nurses knowledge and understanding of attempted suicide in the older age group and to highlight through the literature review, evidence based strategies that an be employed to ameliorate attempted suicide amongst the elderly.Literature reviewBefore commencing the literature review, it is declare that the literature on this subject is huge. The parameters of the initial search have been defined above. In addition it should be noted that there is a considerable literature o n the subject of assisted suicide which has been specifically excluded from these considerationsThe literature base for suicide in the elderly is quite extensive and provides a good evidence base for understanding, enamor action and treatment. (Berwick D 2005)One of the landmark papers in this area is by Hepple and Quinton (Hepple J et al. 1997) which provided a benchmark, not only on the aetiology of the subject, but also in the long term outcomes, which, in terms of potential nursing care input, is extremely fundamental. The paper points to the fact that there is a good understanding of the absolute risk factors for suicide in the elderly but a comparative lack of good quality follow up studies in the area. It set out to station 100 shields of attempted suicide in the elderly and then follow them up over a period of years. The get wind was a retrospective examination of 100 consecutive reasons of attempted suicide that were referred to the psychiatrical services over a four year period. The authors were able to make a detailed investigation (including an interview of many of the survivors), about four years later. Their findings have been widely recited in the literature.Of particular relevance to our considerations here we note that they found that of the 100 cases identified, 42 were dead at the time of follow up. Of these, 12 were suspected suicides and five more had died as a result of complications of their initial attempt. There were 17 yet attempts at suicide in the remaining group. Significantly, the twelve women in the group all do non-lethal attempts whereas all five of the men made successful attempts. The authors were able to establish that the risk of further attempts at suicide (having made one attempt) was in excess of 5% per year and the success rate was 1.5% per year in this group. From this paper we can also conclude that the risk of successful repeat attempted suicide is very much greater if the subject is male. The authors were also able to establish that, because of their initial attempt, those at risk of self harm were likely to be in contact with the Psychiatric services and also suffering from haunting severe depression.We can examine the paper by Dennis (M et al. 2005) for a further insight into the risk factors that are identifiable in the at risk groups. This paper is not so detailed as the Hepple paper, but it differs in its construction as it is a control matched study which specifically considered the non-fatal self harm scenario. The study compared two groups of age matched elderly people both groups had a history of depression but the active study group had, in addition, a history of self harm. The significant differences highlighted by this study were that those in the self harm group were characterised by a poorly integrated social network and had a significantly more hopeless ideation. This clearly has implications for intervention as, in the context of a care menage or warden assisted se tting, there is scope for improving the social integration of the isolated elderly, and in the house servant setting community support can provide a number of options to remove factors that mitigate towards social isolation. This would appear to be a positive step towards reducing the risk of further self harm.The OConnell paper (OConnell et al. 2004) is effectively a tour de force on the pertinent issues. It is a review paper that cherry-picks the heavy information from other, quite disparate, studies and combines them into a coherent whole. It is extremely well written, very detailed, quite long and extremely informative. While it is not detach to consider the paper in its entirety, there are a number of factors that are at a time relevant to our considerations here and we shall restrict our comments to this aspect of the paper.In terms of the naming of the risk factors associated with attempted suicide in the elderly, it highlights psychiatric illnesses, most notably depressi on, and certain personality traits, together with physical factors which include neurological illnesses and malignancies. The social risk factors identified in the Dennis paper are spread out to include social isolation, being divorced, widowed, or long term single.The authors point to the fact that many of the papers refered to tend to treat the fact of suicide in reductionist terms, analysing it to its basic fundamentals. They suggest that the actual burden of suicide should also be considered in more human terms with consideration of the consequences for the family and community being understood and assessed. (Mason T et al. 2003)In terms of nursing intervention for suicide prevention, we note that the authors indicate the hypothesis that self-destructiveity exists along a continuum from suicidal ideation, through attempted suicide, to completed suicide. It follows from this that a nurse, picking up the possibility of suicidal ideation, should consider and act on this as a sign ificant warning sign of possible impending action on the part of the uncomplaining.The authors point to the fact that the estimation of the actual significance of the various prevalences of suicide varies depending on the study (and therefore the definition) (Kirby M et al. 1997). In this context we should note that the findings do not support the ageist assumptions expounded earlier, on the grounds that the prevalence of either hopelessness or suicidal ideation in the elderly is reported as up to 17% (Kirby M et al. 1997), and there was a universal association with psychiatric illness, especially depressive illness.If we consider the prevalence of suicidal feelings in those elderly people who have no evidence of mental rowdiness, then it is as low as 4%. It therefore seems clear that hopelessness and suicidality are not the natural and understandable consequences of the ageing process as Freud and others would have us believe. This has obvious repercussions as far as nursing (and other healthcare) professionals are concerned, as it appears to be clearly contrasted to assume that suicidality is, in most cases, anything other than one of many manifestations of a mental illness. It also follows from this, and this once again has distinct nursing implications, that suicidal ideation and intent is only the tip of the iceberg when one considers the heaviness of psychological, physical and social health problems for the older person. (Waern M et al. 2002)If one considers evidence from studies that involve psychological autopsies, there is further evidence that psychopathology is involved. Depressive disorders were found in 95% in one study. (Duberstein P R et al. 1994) psychotic person disorders and anxiety states were found to be poorly correlated with suicidal completion.Further evidence for this viewpoint comes from the only study to date which is a prospective cohort study in which completed suicide was the outcome measure. (Ross R K et al. 1990). This show s that the most reliable predictor of suicide was the self-rated severity of depressive symptoms. This particular study showed that those clients with the highest ratings were 23 times more likely to die as the result of suicide than those with the lowest ratings. It also noted that other independent risk factors (although not as strong), were drinking more than 3 units of alcohol per sidereal day and sleeping more than 9 hours a night.One further relevant point that comes from the OConnell paper is the fact that expression of suicidal intent should never be taken lightly in the older age group. The authors cite evidence to show that this has a completely different pattern in the elderly when compared to the younger age groups. (Beautrais A L 2002).The figures quoted show that if an elderly person undertakes a suicide attempt they are very much more likely to be successful than a younger one. The ratio of parasuicides to completed suicides in the adolescent age range is 2001, in th e general population it is between 81 and 331 and in the elderly it is about 41. (Waern M et al. 2003). It follows that suicidal behaviour in the elderly carries a much higher degree of intent. This finding correlates with other findings of preferential methods of suicide in the elderly that have a much higher degree of lethality such as firearms and the use of hanging. (Jorm A F et al. 1995).The paper by Cornwell (Y et al. 2001) considers preventative measures that can be put in place and suggests that independent risk factors commonly associated with suicide in the elderly can be spread out to include psychiatric and physical illnesses, lamal impairment, personality traits of neuroticism and low openness to experience, and social isolation. And of these, t is affective illness that has the strongest correlation with suicide attempts. We have discussed (elsewhere) the correlation between impending suicide and contact with the primary care providers. Cornwell cites the fact that 7 0% of elderly suicides have seen a member of the primary healthcare team within 30 days of their death and therefore proposes that the primary healthcare setting is an important venue for cover song and intervention. It is suggested that sense modality disorders are commonplace in primary healthcare practice but, because they are comparatively common, are underdiagnosed and often inadequately treated (ageism again).The authors suggest that this fact alone points to the fact that one of the suicide prevention strategies that can be adopted by the primary healthcare team. they suggest that clinicians, whether they are medically qualified or nursing qualified, should be trained to identify this group and mobilise appropriate intervention accordingly. Obviously the community nurses can help in this regard as they are ideally placed to maximise their contact with vulnerable and high risk groups.We have identified the role of a major depressive illness in the aetiology of suicide in the elderly. Bruce (M L et al. 2002) considered the role of both labile and idiopathic major depression in the population of the elderly in a nursing home setting. This has particular relevance to our considerations as firstly, on an intuitive level, one can possibly empathise with the labile depressive elements of the elderly person finding themselves without independence in a residential or nursing home and secondly, this is perhaps the prime setting where the nurse is optimally placed to monitor the surliness and other risk factors of the patient and continual close quarters. The salient facts that we can take from this study are that there was a substantial burden of major depressive symptomatology in this study group (13.5%). The majority (84%) were experiencing their first major depressive fortune and therefore were at greatest risk of suicide. The depression was associated with comorbidity in the majority of cases including medical morbidity, instrumental activities of occa sional living disability, reported pain, and a past history of depression but not with cognitive function or sociodemographic factors. All of these positive associations which could have been recognised as significant risk factors of suicide in the elderly.Significantly, in this study, only 22% of all of the seriously depressed patients were receiving antidepressant therapy and none were receiving any demeanor of psychotherapy. In addition to this the authors point to the fact that 31% of the patients who were put on antidepressants were taking a subtherapeutic battery-acid (18% because they were purposely not complying with the dosage instructions). The conclusions that the authors were able to draw from this study were that major depression in the elderly was twice as common in the residential setting as opposed to those elderly patients still in the community. The majority of these depressed patients were effectively left untreated and therefore at significant risk of suicide. T here was the obvious conclusion that a great deal more could be done for this study population in terms of relieving their social isolation and depressive illnesses. And, by extrapolation, for their risk of suicide.Ethical considerations.In consideration of the issue of suicide in the elderly we note that there are a number of estimable considerations but these are primarily in the field of assisted suicide which we have specifically excluded from this study. (Pabst Battin, M 1996)Having established the evidence base in the literature that defines the risk factors that are known to be particularly associated with suicide in the elderly, we take it as read that this will form part of the knowledge base for the nurse to be alert to, and to identify those patients who are at particular risk of suicide. It is equally important to be aware of those factors that appear to confer a degree of protection against suicide. This will clearly also help to inform strategies of intervention for t he nurse.Studies such as that by Gunnell (D et al. 1994) point to the fact that religiosity and life satisfaction were independent protective factors against suicidal ideation, and this factor was particularly noted in another study involving the terminally ill elderly where the authors noted that higher degrees of spiritual well-being and life satisfaction lashings both independently predicted lower suicidal feelings. (McClain et al. 2003).The presence of a spouse or significant conversancy is a major protective factor against suicide. Although clearly it may not be an appropriate intervention for nursing care to facilitate the presence of a spouse () it may well be appropriate, particularly in residential settings, to facilitate social interactions and the setting up of possible friendships within that setting (Bertolote J M et al. 2003)This Dissertation has considered the rationale behind the evidence base for nursing intervention and strategies to prevent or minimise suicide a ttempts in the elderly age group. We have outlined the literature which is directed at identification of the greatest at risk groups and this highlights the importance of the detection and treatment of both psychiatric disorders (especially major depression), and physical disorders (especially Diabetes Mellitus and gastric ulceration). (Thomas A J et al. 2004)Although we have been at pains to point out the relatively high and disproportionate incidence of suicide in the elderly, we should not loose sight of the fact that it is not a common event. One should not take the comments and evidence presented in this dissertation as being of sufficient severity to merit screening the entire elderly population. (Erlangsen A et al. 2003) The thrust of the findings in this dissertation are that the screening should be entirely opportunistic. The evidence base that we have defined should be utilised to identify those who are in high risk groups, for pillow slip, those with overt depressive il lnesses, significant psychological and social factors, especially those who have a history of previous attempted suicide. The healthcare professional should not necessarily want the elderly person to volunteer such information and if the person concerned is naturally withdrawn or reserved, minor degrees of depressive symptoms may not be immediately obvious. (Callahan C M et al. 1996).In terms of direct nursing intervention, this must translate into the fatality to be aware of such eventualities and the need to enquire directly about them. The nurse should also be aware that the presence of suicidal feelings in a patient with any degree of depression is associated with a lower response rate to treatment and also an increase in the need for augmentation strategies. The nurse should also be aware of the fact that these factors may indicate the need for secondary referral. (Gunnell D et al. 1994).If we accept the findings of Conwell (Y et al. 1991), then the estimated population at ri sk from significant mood disorder and therefore the possibility of attempted suicide in the elderly, is 74%. This can be extrapolated to suggest that if mood disorders were eliminated from the population then 74% of suicides would be prevented in the elderly age group. Clearly this is a metaphysical viewpoint and has to be weighed against the facts that firstly elimination of mood disorders (even if it were possible), would only be achieved by treatment of all existing cases as well as prevention of new cases, and the secondary prevention of sub-clinical cases.We know, from other work, that the detection and treatment of depression in all age ranges is low, and even so only 52% of cases that reach medical attention make a significant response to treatment (Bertolote J M et al. 2003). These statistics fall findings from the whole population and the detection rates and response rates are likely to lower in the elderly. (Wei F et al. 2003).It follows that although treatment of depres sive illness is still the mainstay of treatment intervention as far as suicide prevention is concerned, preventative measures and vigilance at an individual level are also essential. care for interventions can include measures aimed at improving physical and emotional health together with improved social integration. Sometimes modification of lifestyle can also promote successful ageing and lead to an overall decrease in the likelihood of suicidal feelings. (Fischer L R et al. 2003)On a population level, public health measures designed to promote social contact, support where necessary, and integration into the community are likely to help reduce the incidence of suicide in the elderly, particularly if we consider the study by Cornwell (Y et al. 1991) which estimated the independent risk factor for low levels of social contact in the elderly population as being 27%. Some communities have provided telephone lines and this has been associated with a significant reduction in the compl eted suicide in the elderly (Fischer L R et al. 2003)To return to specific nursing interventions, one can also suggest measures aimed at reducing access to, or availability of the means for suicide such as limiting access to over the counter medicines. (Skoog I et al. 1996),Some sources (Cattell H 2000) point to the possibility of introducing opportunistic screening in the primary healthcare setting. The rationale behind this suggestion is the realisation that there is a high level of contact between the suicidal elderly person and their primary healthcare team in the week before suicide (20-50%) and in the month before suicide (40-70% make contact). This is particularly appropriate to our considerations here because of the progressively increasing significance of the role of the nurse within the primary healthcare team particularly at the first point of contact. (Hogston, R et al. 2002)The evidence base for this point of view is modify by reference to the landmark Gotland study (R utz W et al. 1989) which examined the effect of specific training in suicide cognisance and prevention in the primary healthcare team by providing extensive suicide awareness training and measures to increase the facilitation of opportunistic screening of the population. Prior to the intervention, the authors noted that, when compared to young adults, the elderly were only 6% as likely to be asked about suicide and 20% as likely to be asked if they matt-up depressed and 25% as likely to be refered to a mental health specialist. This balance was restored intimately to normality after the intervention.Suicide in the elderly is a multifaceted and complex phenomenon. It appears to be the case that the elderly tend to be treated with different guidelines from the young suicidal patient insofar as the increased risk is not met with increased assistance. (Lykouras L et al. 2002). We have presented evidence that the factors included in this variate may include the higher overall number o f young suicides, the higher economic burden that society appears to carry for each young suicide together with ageist beliefs about the factors concerning suicide in the elderly.From the point of view of nursing intervention, both in a hospital and in a community setting, there should be greater emphasis placed on measures such as screening and prevention programmes targeted at the at risk elderly. There is equally a need for aggressive intervention if depression or suicidal feelings are overtly expressed, particularly in the relevant subgroups where additional risk factors may be active, for example those with comorbid medical conditions or social isolation or recent bereavement. (Harwood D et al. 2001),Many of the elderly expire their last years in some form of sheltered accommodation, whether this is a nursing home, a hospital, warden assisted housing or being cared for by the family. (Haupt B J et al. 1999) In the vast majority of cases this is associated with a loss of indepe ndence, increasing frailty and an increasing predisposition to illness that comes with increasing age. (Juurlink D N et al. 2004). This loss of independence and increasing predisposition to illness is also associated with depressive illnesses of varying degrees. (Bruce M L et al. 2002). These patients are arguably, by a large, more likely to come into contact with the nurses in the community. (Munson M L 1999) The comments that we have made elsewhere relating to the nurses role in being aware of the implications for the depressed elderly patient are particularly appropriate in this demographic subgroup. As a general rule, it may be easier to keep a watchful eye on patients who are exhibiting early signs of depressive illness or mood disorder in this situation by making arrangements to visit on a regular stem or on significant anniversaries such as the death of a spouse or a wedding anniversary. (Nagatomo I et al. 1998) when the risk factors for suicide increase dramatically (Schulb erg H C et al. 1998)The literature in this area is quite extensive and covers many of the aspects of suicide in the elderly. It is noticeable however, that there is a great deal of literature on the subject of risk factors and associations of suicide together with plenty of papers which quote statistics that relate the various trends and incidences. There are, by comparison, only a few papers which emphasise and reverberate on the positive aspects of nursing care. The positive steps that can be taken by the nursing profession specifically to help to minimise the burden of suicidal morbidity. There is clearly scope for studies in areas such as the impact that a dedicated community nurse might have on the levels of depression in the community if regular visits were timetabled. It is fair to observe that the community mental health nurses foregather this role to a degree, but are severely hampered in most cases by sheer weight of numbers in the caseload. (Mason T et al. 2003)Having m ade these observations, we must conclude that there appears to be an overwhelming case for opportunistic screening of the at risk elderly at any point of contact with a healthcare professional. It is part of the professional remit of any nurse to disseminate their specific professional acquirement with others. (Yura H et al. 1998). This can either be done on an informal professional basis in terms of mentorship or, if appropriate in a lecture or seminar situation. (Hogston, R et al. 2002). There clearly is superficial merit in critically evalua