The Origin Of Gypsies English Language Essay

The Origin Of Gypsies English Language Essay This report will explore the origin of Gypsies, their traditions, culture, and discrimination associated with them. By the end of this report the unique traditions and general culture of the Romani, generally known as Gypsies will be evident. Throughout the centuries, Roma (Gypsies) have been misunderstood by society. Due to their unique and indifferent culture, traditions, and lifestyle. Other cultures have become suspicious and fearful of them. This led to furious speculation, stereotypes and judgment of these misunderstood people. In general, most Europeans presume that Gypsies originate from Romania and although this is not the case, the image of the Romanian people has been maligned for decades. Background Roma (Gypsies) do not originate in Romania or Egypt as is the common belief. The Romas are a nomadic tribe originating in India. In the second half of the 18th century evidence from scholars shows that Gypsies come from northern India. Professor Lub Kalaydjieva of the University of Western Australia and his team did a DNA study of eight to ten million people in Europe known as Gypsies. They have ten years experience studying Romani genetics. They discovered that Romani (Gypsies) originate from India. Another indication that Gypsies come from India are the similarities between Indian language, Sanskrit and the language spoken by the Roma. Language, numerals, kinships terms, names of body parts, music and similarities exist between Indian and Roma. Tradition Traditionally, each Romani family or clan has a trade or profession which is followed and passed on from generation to generation. One of the things Romani are known for are of their skilled trades. Horse dealers and horse breeders are one of them. They could diagnose the illnesses of horses and find ways to heal them. They also are known for their ability to change horse shoes. The Roma also established a good name for themselves by being very skilled blacksmiths. This was one of the oldest and the mainstay of Romani trades. Today not many Romani are committed to blacksmithing but rather making candle holders, mountings, latticework and many other artistic objects. Another well established profession for the Roma is that of a coppersmith. They are well known for their master craftsmanship and currently make pots and tin caldrons. In Romania, Hungary and other Balkan countries they still practice the wood carving profession they brought with them from India. Carving utensils like spoons and troughs for people that are in need of them. A spoon maker in Romania and the Balkans is called Lingurar. Croatia and Hungary they have a different name for a spoon maker, called Bejas. Among other trades such as; leather workers, bear and snake trainers, sharpening knives, making unfired bricks from clay, musician, farmers and other trades they had to master to make a living. It seems surprising to some that some Romani are educated and in highly regarded positions. There are some among us today that have established careers for themselves such as; doctors, lawyers, car mechanics, computer programmers and so on. Culture Engagement One of the Romani traditions is to get married at the age fifteen. To distinguish between non married and married women is to notice that married women have their head covered with a cloth called Batic. The Batic (head-kerchief) represents the symbol of married women. The first step to get married is for the boys parents to send a messenger to the girls parents house with all kinds of gifts. Typically, the girls parents receive wine and money. Once the messenger arrives at the house he confronts the girls father and lets him know who he was sent by. The messenger asks the father if he approves of his daughters marriage. Once he approves the wedding, than he informs Council. The Council is the older man in the community. The girls father asks the council if they approve as well. If they do, than the messenger has to offer to buy all the people in the community drinks. To settle the wedding day the boys parents and relatives go the girls house, except the groom. In the Roma community t here are some strict rules that it must be followed for the marriage to go on. If the father of the bride is not wealthy, he has right to demand money for his daughter. It all depends on the beauty of the bride. If his quantity is not met, than he has the right to call off the wedding. If the father of the bride is wealthy, he doesnt have the right to inquire for any money. Normally upscale people stick with their own kind. They wed their kids with a wealthy family. On no account a poor man will ever ask for bori (daughter in law) from a well-off man. In some cases the mans poor daughter gets married with a wealthy man only if the boy finds her very attractive. The future in-laws negotiate the girls contributions before the completion of the engagement. The following are the normal gifts that the girl gets from the future in-laws: 50 skirts of 5 m long each 50 aprons of 2 m long each skirts of 3 m long each 50 handkerchiefs 50 shirts Three large pillows of 1m stuffed with goose feathers A big necklace with gold coins The smallest necklace has ten golden coins on it. Gradually the necklace gets bigger with gold coins depending of the wealth of the brides father. Usually a necklace will never reach 100 golden coins. Other contributions may be presented such as; various cooking pots, plates, carpets furniture. It is the obligation of the mother of the bride to give her daughter everything that is needed for her new home. The Wedding day For the first day of the wedding, one woman from the brides side and one from grooms side are to help dress the bride with her white dress. Not just any woman can be picked from any sides. They had to have the following criterias; not to be married more the once, she had to be a virgin on her wedding, be wealthy, hard worker, have kids and have unity in her family. The wedding lasts minimum of 3 days to a week eating, drinking and dancing. In this day and age, some Roma enclose their weddings at restaurant having two hundred to three hundred guests. All the wedding guests give gifts to the newly-weds. Once the wedding is finished the bride has to cover her head with a scarf. The only person she is permitted to show her hair to is her husband. These traditions are practiced within many Roma communities, but unfortunately in big towns and cities these traditions are slowly disappearing. Baptism Another Roma tradition is baptism. Once a woman knows she is pregnant she informs her husband and other women in her clan. She becomes isolated and taken care of only by the women. Normally, the pregnancy takes place in someone elses tent, trailer or house so their own home doesnt become sinful. After two weeks or three the baptism takes place. The child is purified by the water at the baptism. Only after the ceremony, people then are allowed to say the childs name and take any pictures of the child. Romani Holocaust Isnt it extraordinary that the majority of us never heard of the Romani Holocaust? Is it because it was not brought to our attention like the Jewish Holocaust? Maybe the education in school has a small part to do with it or the mass media. We all know about the Jewish Holocaust one way or another. The Holocaust started between 1933 to 1945 when Adolf Hitler was in power, and annihilating of more than six million Jews. Jews were the main target but besides them another 5.5 millions of others such as Romani, Sinti, homosexuals, and others that were against Nazi regime, were mass murdered. History shows that Gypsies were hated and persecuted as much as the Jews. In 1935 a new Law came into effect called Nuremberg Law. This Law was created to forbid any Gypsy marriages with white people. In January 1940 at Buchenwald a concentration camp was established. A tragic month, were two hundred and fifty Romani kids are used as experiment the cyanide gas crystal. August 2nd and 3rd of 1944, it w as one of the horrifying days of the Romani history, were several thousand Romani were massacred at the Zigeunerlager in Auschwtiz-Birkenau concentration camp. The number of Romani massacres is unknown due to lack of documentation. Scholars estimated to be between 250,000 to 500,000 thousand, but it could be more. Not many survived as prisoners of war. If they wouldnt die from starvation, they passed away from diseases or brutality. If not killed from the medical experiments they were submitted to, they would die from poisonous gas or execution. Nazis developed a system to speed up the process of the mass elimination. They made six more extermination centers by which they could mass murder people by gas and body disposal threw cremating their bodies. It is sad to say, that 70% to 80% of the Romani population had been annihilated by the Nazi regime by the end of the war in 1945. Population There are more than twelve million Roma located in many countries around the world. Unfortunately, it is hard know the exact numbers of Roma population in the world. Due to the discrimination people fear to disclose their true identity as Romani. Discrimination Romani people have been discriminated throughout history and still nowadays their situation it has not gotten any better than before. They are not given the equal opportunity to advance in our society. Most of us do not know very much about Romani traditions, culture, and history. Therefore, most of the stereotypes come from the stories and the mass media. The discrimination that is still happening all around the world but mostly in Europe is as strong as ever. This has stopped Romani people to get access to jobs, social security systems, services and housing. One incident that occurred in the Czech Republic was highly publicized on CBC News. A young man at 17 year of age, walking home was confronted by prejudiced group of skinheads. Threaten him by saying today he will die. He was thrown on the ground and insolated and beaten so badly that he had to be hospitalized for a week. Now 24 year of age and living in Hamilton, Ontario the victim is happy not to worry that someone will jump him when walking down the street due to his nationality. Discrimination continues to occur in Europe like Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Slovakia and others countries through segregation. There are established separate schools only for Romani children. In other words, they are branded as Gypsy schools. Where there is low standard of teaching and poor material conditions. Governments around Europe need to change policy to end educational segregation of the Romani people. Romani children need to receive equal opportunities in education as the non Romani students so they can achieve the same or better goals in life. Without the right education, they are not able to succeed in our society. With a good education they will be able to succeed through better careers and opportunities, thereby being able to support themselves and their families. Conclusion I believe no race or human being should be discriminated against. We all deserve the right of freedom and equal rights. We should all take some time to read and explore and understand about one another culture and traditions. Lets not be judgmental and jump to conclusions of what we hear in our mass media these days. We are all humans, and we all make mistakes one way or another. Some more than others and some less. If some people from the same nationality like Romani make mistakes and break the law by stealing, mugging, or other acts of violence. We should not stereotype and conclude that all the Romani people are the same. They deserve a chance to show that they are better than what they are exploited by others.

The Book of the Duchess, the Parliament of Fowls, and the House of Fame

The Book of the Duchess, the Parliament of Fowls, and the House of Fame The Parliament of Fowls and the House of Fame are closely related to each other and to the Book of the Duchess, as all three of the poetry share several similar themes. Written between 1368 and 1380 they are some of Chaucer’s earliest works in which aspects of some of the great writers of his time are evident. There are three major themes intertwined within the three works, which Chaucer has added to the Dream Vision genre. The first work, possibly written from 1368-1372, the Book of the Duchess begins with the love-sick narrator finally falling asleep as he reads the sad love story of Seys and Alcyone (originally written by Ovid). He dreams that he is in bed early in the morning, then out hunting in the forest. He follows a dog down a path and finds a knight dressed in black who laments the loss of his lady. The narrator forces the knight to tell him about her, eventually learning that she is dead. The other hunters reappear, a bell strikes, and the narrator awakes. Written in the late 1370’s, the House of Fame consists of three books, and unfortunately is incomplete. A short prologue on dreams and an invocation to sleep precedes book one, which tells of the narrator’s visit to the Temple of Glass where he finds images, suggested by book four and other parts of Virgil’s Aeneid. Seized by a chatty golden eagle at the start of book two, he is carried up into the House of Fame, which is located in the heavens. There he sees, during book three, images of famous writers; in particular he sees how arbitrary Fame is. Beside the House of Fame he sees the Labyrinth, representing all the complexity of human existence. â€Å"A man of gret auctorite† (H... ...ay. Through the use of several references to famous texts, Chaucer helped explain his poetry to his audience at the time and to us now. Sources Cited Anthony. â€Å"http://www.sogang.ac.kr/~anthony/books/Med4.htm†http://www.sogang.ac.kr/~anthony/books/Med4.htm (3 May, 2003) Boitani, Piero. The Cambridge Chaucer Companion. ed. Boitani, Piero & Mann, Jill. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Psonak, Kevin. â€Å"The Geoffrey Chaucer Website Homepage† Mar 5, 2003. http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/ (3 May, 2003) Robinson, F.N., ed. The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1961. Stanbury, Sarah. â€Å"Prior† http://www.holycross.edu/departments/english/sstanbur/Prior.htm (3 May, 2003) Thundy, Zacharias P.. â€Å"THE BOOK OF THE DUCHESS: AN ELEGY OR ATEDEUM?† http://www.nd.edu/~zthundy/BD.html (3 May, 2003) Lohr 1 The Book of the Duchess, the Parliament of Fowls, and the House of Fame The Book of the Duchess, the Parliament of Fowls, and the House of Fame The Parliament of Fowls and the House of Fame are closely related to each other and to the Book of the Duchess, as all three of the poetry share several similar themes. Written between 1368 and 1380 they are some of Chaucer’s earliest works in which aspects of some of the great writers of his time are evident. There are three major themes intertwined within the three works, which Chaucer has added to the Dream Vision genre. The first work, possibly written from 1368-1372, the Book of the Duchess begins with the love-sick narrator finally falling asleep as he reads the sad love story of Seys and Alcyone (originally written by Ovid). He dreams that he is in bed early in the morning, then out hunting in the forest. He follows a dog down a path and finds a knight dressed in black who laments the loss of his lady. The narrator forces the knight to tell him about her, eventually learning that she is dead. The other hunters reappear, a bell strikes, and the narrator awakes. Written in the late 1370’s, the House of Fame consists of three books, and unfortunately is incomplete. A short prologue on dreams and an invocation to sleep precedes book one, which tells of the narrator’s visit to the Temple of Glass where he finds images, suggested by book four and other parts of Virgil’s Aeneid. Seized by a chatty golden eagle at the start of book two, he is carried up into the House of Fame, which is located in the heavens. There he sees, during book three, images of famous writers; in particular he sees how arbitrary Fame is. Beside the House of Fame he sees the Labyrinth, representing all the complexity of human existence. â€Å"A man of gret auctorite† (H... ...ay. Through the use of several references to famous texts, Chaucer helped explain his poetry to his audience at the time and to us now. Sources Cited Anthony. â€Å"http://www.sogang.ac.kr/~anthony/books/Med4.htm†http://www.sogang.ac.kr/~anthony/books/Med4.htm (3 May, 2003) Boitani, Piero. The Cambridge Chaucer Companion. ed. Boitani, Piero & Mann, Jill. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Psonak, Kevin. â€Å"The Geoffrey Chaucer Website Homepage† Mar 5, 2003. http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/ (3 May, 2003) Robinson, F.N., ed. The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1961. Stanbury, Sarah. â€Å"Prior† http://www.holycross.edu/departments/english/sstanbur/Prior.htm (3 May, 2003) Thundy, Zacharias P.. â€Å"THE BOOK OF THE DUCHESS: AN ELEGY OR ATEDEUM?† http://www.nd.edu/~zthundy/BD.html (3 May, 2003) Lohr 1

Kite Runner Racism

Racism plays important roles in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner. The author uses racism to describe the characters and the culture represented in the stories. In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini uses prejudice as a tool to tell this story of betrayal and redemption. He pursues his story with prejudice and racism in Afghanistan as well as in the United States. While the author uses individual characters to tell the story, he portrays the general attitudes and history associated with the characters' Hazara and Pashtun ethnic origins and the conflicts that arise in Afghanistan.Throughout history and even while the story was taking place in the 70's the US of A was going through their tough times with racism and prejudice thoughts and acts towards other ethnical groups such as the blacks, Asians and Latino's. Although during this present era these racist acts and thoughts have been cut down and have been limited to just some states in the south as where in Afghanistan these prej udice acts still exist. Ali and Hassan represent the marginalized group in this story. They are considered by the ruling class to be of lesser value due to their ethnic origin, religious beliefs, appearance and social standing.The author gives us a glance of this when Amir reads about the harassment of, and attempted uprising of the Hazara, and how Amir’s people, the Pashtuns had: â€Å"†¦quelled them with unspeakable violence†. The disregard that people have for the Hazara is reinforced when Amir asks his teacher about what he has read and he responds by saying, â€Å"That’s one thing Shi’a people do well, passing themselves as martyrs†. Assef shows how internalized this hostility is when he says to Amir and Hassan, â€Å"Afghanistan is the land of the Pashtuns. It always has been, always will be. We are the true Afghans, the pure Afghans, not this Flat-Nose here†.

Pro-Slavery essays

Pro-Slavery essays Essay Two-Analyze the ways in which supporters of slavery in the nineteenth century used legal, religious, and economic arguments to defend the institution of slavery. Many supporters in the nineteenth century used religious, legal, and economic arguments to keep minorities down. The supporters had a hard time coming up with excuses to keeping the institution of slavery especially when it came to the economy. One man stated that he was convinced that the nature of the climate, and the flat swampy situation of the country, obliged people to cultivate that lands with Negroes, and that with out them the land would soon be desert waste. One would think that it is obvious that his view was based on a selfish desire to avoid menial labor. Not to mention it is ridiculous to think swampy land would become a desert if it was not cultivated. Supporters came up with many off the wall arguments in order to defend slavery. The church also had a supporting part in slavery, although they did look to the biblical text when questioning where they stood. They believed that slave holding was never condemned in the Bible and that the master-slave relationship was superior, and more Christian like, than the employer-employee relationship of the free labor system. Another popular religious argument was the Abrahamic tradition. Abraham was both a great slave holder and Gods favorite patriarch of a household that included his many slaves; God recognized the relation of master and slave, thus slavery couldnt be sinful. The laws at the time were also pro-slavery. White Americans did not consider black slaves to be human and the laws reflected that. Slaves were defined as chattel, tangible movable or immovable pieces of property. By law a slave could be bought, sold, or inherited. They had no rights or individual freedoms; a slave was not able to hold a case in court, ow...

Double Possessive

Double Possessive Double Possessive Double Possessive By Maeve Maddox A reader asks, What are your thoughts on double possessives? For example: Friends of Sues   Friends of my aunts Friends of his Friends of hers Friends of theirs Friends of mine You will find the double possessive question and animated discussions of it on hundreds of language sites all over the web. It remains popular because it has no simple answer. First let me say that the reader’s fourth example, â€Å"friends of her’s,† would never be an option for anyone: the pronoun must be spelled either her or hers. The â€Å"double possessive† is so called because the preposition of, the possessive pronouns hers and theirs, and the ’s all signal possession. The construction is also called â€Å"double genitive† and â€Å"post genitive.† The objection to â€Å"friends of Sue’s† and â€Å"friends of mine† is that the of ought to be sufficient. Granted, â€Å"friends of Sue† is a reasonable option, but no native speaker is likely to say â€Å"friends of me.† The intractability of the question lies in the fact that in some contexts the double possessive is idiomatic. As far as a rule can be stated, it is this: Generally, what follows the of in a double possessive will be definite and human. For example, we might say â€Å"friends of Sue’s,† but not â€Å"friends of the university’s.† Another guideline is that what precedes the of will usually be indefinite. For example, â€Å"a friend of Sue’s.† When the preceding word indicates something definite, the second possessive is dropped: â€Å"the best friend of Sue,† â€Å"that friend of Sue.† On the other hand, one might say, with some emotion, â€Å"That dog of Sue’s is a nuisance.† Sometimes the double possessive is needed to avoid ambiguity. Compare: The mansion contains portraits of the owner. The mansion contains portraits of the owner’s. In the first sentence, the portraits are of the owner (i.e., they present a likeness of the owner). In the second, the portraits may be of anyone, but they belong to the owner. The most practical rule for writers is to avoid having two possessives in formal writing. If they occur, rewrite the sentence. As for informal use, the double possessive is idiomatic in English and has been for a very long time. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:7 English Grammar Rules You Should Know40 Synonyms for â€Å"Lie†45 Idioms with "Roll"

Foreign operations Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Foreign operations - Assignment Example This would enable the firm to retain control over its foreign operations and proprietary rights over its technology. In this case, wholly owned subsidiaries may be the ideal mode of entry because it reduces the risks of losing control over the foreign operations. Alternatively, a firm may prefer licensing as a mode of entry in case the technological competence is only transitory. On the other hand, firms enjoying competitive advantage based on managerial knowhow may rely on international trademark regulations to protect trademarked products and services (Nande & Shaila, 2007). Further, these firms experience a lower risk of losing control of management skills, thus making franchising and joint ventures attractive modes of entry. The strategies adopted by a company also determine its mode of entry in foreign markets. For instance, Tesco has assumed a rather unique strategic approach in its global expansion within the grocery industry. Tesco’s strategy entails ignoring highly competitive markets and pursuing markets with high growth potential and low levels of competition (Tesco, 2014). As such, Tesco is able to use its competence in management knowhow to expand within the international markets, without incurring the unnecessary costs of competing in mature and highly competitive markets. Tesco’s global expansion strategy entails identifying underserved markets with strong growth potential, identifying local companies with effective understanding of their markets and with strong distribution systems, entering into joint venture agreements with them, transferring management expertise to these ventures and later acquiring these ventures (Tesco, 2014). The joint venture strategy has proven to be a very effective entry strategy for Tesco within the international market. The company has been able to improve its financial performance and competitive advantage by leveraging its expertise and tapping into the knowledge of the local

Human resources Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Human resources Management - Assignment Example RasGas also supplies LNG at home and in addition to producing LNG for export markets in the amount of 37 million tonnnes each year, RasGas also supplies about 2.0 billion cubic feet of LNG at home. RasGas also ‘manages and operates’ the ‘Hellim 1 and Hellim 2 facilities’ which together produces 1.96 billion cubic feet of liquid hellim annually. RasGas is committed to increase production with a view to meeting energy demands both at home and abroad (RasGas, 2001-2013). †¦develop, produce and sell hydrocarbaons from the world’s largest non-associated gas field in a safe and environmentally responsible manner for the welfare of the State of Qatar and the satisfaction of our customers while maximizing shareholder value (RasGas, 2001-2013A). ..The safe and reliable production and delivery of products to a worldwide portfolio of customers and the superior execution of projects and technical services for our shareholders and stakeholders (RasGas, 2001-2013A). Thus, the overall strategy of RasGas as an organization is to provide high quantity, and high quality LNG in a manner that is environmentally friendly. RasGas also emphasizes efficiency and excellence in customer service, profit maximization for shareholders and satisfaction for a wider class of stakeholders. Sustainability is at the heart of RasGas’ strategy. According to RasGas, sustainability is the key to ‘business success’ (RasGas, 2001-2013B). Sustainability is therefore built on four pillars: performance improvement through competitiveness and innovation, improving relationships with stakeholders and shareholders, maintaining integrity through high operational and business standards and sustainable practices (see Figure 1) (RasGas, 2001-2013B). RasGas’ external labour market consists of operating a ‘fleet of 27 LNG carriers under long term charter agreements with ship owners’ (RasGas, 2001-2013). This fleet of carriers include ‘conventional, Q-Flex and Q-Max