Understanding Diacritical Marks in French

There are four French accents for vowels and one accent for a consonant. Understanding each of these accents is vital because they actually change the pronunciation of the letters that they modify, essentially creating completely different letters for the French language.   Vowel Accents The accent aigu  ´ (acute accent) can only be on an E. At the beginning of a word, it often indicates that an S used to follow that vowel, e.g., à ©tudiant (student).The accent grave (grave accent) can be found on an A, E, or U. On the A and U, it usually serves to distinguish between words that would otherwise be homographs; e.g., ou (or) vs oà ¹ (where).The accent circonflexe ˆ (circumflex) can be on an A, E, I, O, or U. The circumflex usually indicates that an S used to follow that vowel, e.g., forà ªt (forest). It also serves to distinguish between homographs; e.g., du (contraction of de le) vs dà » (past participle of devoir).The accent trà ©ma  ¨ (dieresis or umlaut) can be on an E, I, or U. It is used when two vowels are next to each other and both must be pronounced, e.g., naà ¯ve, Saà ¼l. Consonant Accent The cà ©dille  ¸ (cedilla) is found only on the letter C. It changes a hard C sound (like K) into a soft C sound (like S), e.g., garà §on. The cedilla is never placed in front of E or I, because C always sounds like an S in front of these vowels. Capital Letters It is essential to put accents in their proper places; an incorrect or missing accent is a spelling mistake just as an incorrect or missing letter would be. The only exception to this is capital letters, which are often left unaccented.

A Brief History of the African Nation of Tunisia

Modern Tunisians are the descendants of indigenous Berbers and of people from numerous civilizations that have invaded, migrated to, and been assimilated into the population over the millennia. Recorded history in Tunisia begins with the arrival of Phoenicians, who founded Carthage and other North African settlements in the 8th century B.C. Carthage became a major sea power, clashing with Rome for control of the Mediterranean until it was defeated and captured by the Romans in 146 B.C. Muslim Conquest The Romans ruled and settled in North Africa until the 5th century, when the Roman Empire fell and Tunisia was invaded by European tribes, including the Vandals. The Muslim conquest in the 7th century transformed Tunisia and the make-up of its population, with subsequent waves of migration from around the Arab and Ottoman world, including significant numbers of Spanish Muslims and Jews at the end of the 15th century. From Arab Center to French Protectorate Tunisia became a center of Arab culture and learning and was assimilated into the Turkish Ottoman Empire in the 16th century. It was a French protectorate from 1881 until independence in 1956, and retains close political, economic, and cultural ties with France. Independence for Tunisia Tunisias independence from France in 1956 ended the protectorate established in 1881. President Habib Ali Bourguiba, who had been the leader of the independence movement, declared Tunisia a republic in 1957, ending the nominal rule of the Ottoman Beys. In June 1959, Tunisia adopted a constitution modeled on the French system, which established the basic outline of the highly centralized presidential system that continues today. The military was given a defined defensive role, which excluded participation in politics. A Strong and Healthy Beginning Starting from independence, President Bourguiba placed strong emphasis on economic and social development, especially education, the status of women, and the creation of jobs, policies that continued under Zine El Abidine Ben Alis administration. The result was strong social progress – high literacy and school attendance rates, low population growth rates, and relatively low poverty rates – and generally steady economic growth. These pragmatic policies have contributed to social and political stability. Bourguiba,  President for Life Progress toward full democracy has been slow. Over the years, President Bourguiba stood unopposed for re-election several times and was named President for Life in 1974 by a constitutional amendment. At the time of independence, the Neo-Destourian Party (later the Parti Socialiste Destourien, PSD or Socialist Destourian Party)—enjoying broad support because of its role at the forefront of the independence movement—became the sole legal party. Opposition parties were banned until 1981. Democratic change Under Ben Ali​ When President Ben Ali came to power in 1987, he promised greater democratic openness and respect for human rights, signing a national pact with opposition parties. He oversaw constitutional and legal changes, including abolishing the concept of President for life, the establishment of presidential term limits, and provision for greater opposition party participation in political life. But the ruling party renamed the Rassemblement Constitutionel Dà ©mocratique (RCD or Democratic Constitutional Rally), dominated the political scene due to its historic popularity and the advantage it enjoyed as the ruling party. Survival of a Strong Political Party Ben Ali ran for re-election unopposed in 1989 and 1994. In the multiparty era, he won 99.44% of the vote in 1999 and 94.49% of the vote in 2004. In both elections he faced weak opponents. The RCD won all seats in the Chamber of Deputies in 1989, and won all of the directly elected seats in the 1994, 1999, and 2004 elections. However, constitutional amendments provided for the distribution of additional seats to the opposition parties by 1999 and 2004. Effectively Becoming President for Life A May 2002 referendum approved constitutional changes proposed by Ben Ali that allowed him to run for a fourth term in 2004 (and a fifth, his final, because of age, in 2009), and provided judicial immunity during and after his presidency. The referendum also created a second parliamentary chamber, and provided for other changes. SourcePublic Domain material, US Department of State  Background Notes.

Oppressive Qualities of Society Free Essays

The Oppressive Qualities of Society Society’s oppressive nature greatly affects the lives of the people within it, and the expectations society sets for its citizens drive people to strive for acceptance from their peers. In â€Å"A Respectable Woman,† Mrs. Baroda, a young wife, who tries diligently to welcome her husband’s friend Gouvernail into their society, becomes enthralled with him, facing temptation that would be viewed with trepidation. We will write a custom essay sample on Oppressive Qualities of Society or any similar topic only for you Order Now Similarly, in â€Å"A Shameful Affair,† Mildred, a repressed young woman, enticed by a farmhand, faces temptation and forced to fight her personal desires because of society’s restriction based on class hierarchy. In â€Å"The Kiss,† a woman sets aside her personal desire for the image she believes society desires the most in a marriage. In her short stories, Kate Chopin illustrates contrasting imagery and intense and tempting diction to convey that society dictates people’s decisions because people worry about their portrayal in society and are forced to concede their personal desires. Society’s expectations tend to reflect an ideal role, and because of this expectation society’s restrictions bind people because of their fear of an unjust portrayal in it. Society expects women to act as loving and caring mothers devoted to their children while their husband. For example, â€Å"A Respectable Woman,† when Mrs. Baroda welcomes her husband’s friend Gouvernail, she â€Å"imposed her society upon him . . . she persistently sought to penetrate the reserve in which he had unconsciously enveloped himself† (213). Chopin’s use of intense diction such as â€Å"imposed† which denotes a forcibly placed restriction, and â€Å"persistently† which denotes a tenacious behavior despite of initial opposition, suggests society’s strict expectation for woman to gracefully welcome others in their society by imposing those expected ideals on other people. Mrs. Borada’s diligence in welcoming Gouvernail becomes an infatuation when she becomes entranced by his stoic behavior towards her. The heavily stressed importance society places on material objects transferred to the expectations women believe they should strive to. For example, Nathalie coerces Brantain to become her fiance despite her desire for another, because he â€Å"was enormously rich; and she liked . . . the entourage which wealth could give her† (225). Chopin’s use of intense diction such as â€Å"enormous,† which has a denotation of grand, suggests the importance of material objects in society. She reveals how the desire for material objects taints the view of marriage, because of how the status that accompanies them is easily accepted in this materialistic society. These expectations that society sets forth tend to dictate the decisions of women. People’s choices depend on what is acceptable because individuals remain more concerned with the image they portray to society than their personal desires. For example, when Gouvernail goes outside to bring Mrs. Baroda a sweater, she feels drawn to him, but â€Å"the stronger the impulse grew to bring herself near him the further . . . did she draw away† (215). Chopin’s use of passionate diction such as â€Å"impulse,† which contains a denotation of a strong urge, conveys the inner conflict that arises when a woman’s personal desire clashes with what she believes is right according to society. In contrast, when Mildred is fishing with the farmhand, â€Å"his brown hand came down upon Mildred’s white one,† (165). Chopin illustrates the differences between Mildred and the farmhand, with Mildred’s â€Å"white one† conveying that she is pure and innocent, while the farmhand’s remains roughened and tanned by the labor he is forced to perform due to his role in society. Furthermore, Mildred’s withdrawal from something she clearly desires shows how she is forced to choose her image in society over he own desires. Women in society must ignore their impulses because harsh and unfair consequences await them if they do not conform. Lastly, despite the suppression of women’s desires, they are still forced to face consequences for their tempting thoughts. For example, after the farmhand kissed Mildred she realizes that â€Å"the secret must remain her own, a hateful burden to bear alone† (166). Chopin’s use of harsh diction such as â€Å"hateful† and â€Å"burden† conveys society’s negative view on personal desires such as Mildred’s attraction to the â€Å"Offender,† or the farmhand, while â€Å"alone† portrays a tone of alienation to suggest the idea that if she were to pursue her desires, then society would scorn her. Even when people try to ignore their desires in lieu of an image they fight to portray to society, they are still left to suffer. For instance, when Nathalie is married, she expects to receive the wealth and position in society because of her convenient marriage while also having what she truly desires out of society’s view, yet she learns that â€Å"a person can’t have everything in this world† (227). Chopin’s figure of speech, that people can’t have everything, conveys the idea that loss will exist no matter a person’s decision because they cannot have â€Å"everything,† and will be forced to choose between their desires and those of society. No matter how hard a person tries to escape the ridicule of society they still face the pain of loss and suffering because of suppressed desires. Fitting in is a controversial topic within society. No matter the change in era or the region people occupy, the desire to be deemed acceptable lives strong within everybody. In Chopin’s short stories she illustrates contrasting imagery and intense and tempting diction to suggest that society’s strict expectations influence the decisions of women because they are more worried about how they are portrayed to society then complying with their desires. How to cite Oppressive Qualities of Society, Papers

Australias forward defence policy free essay sample

?Interact with History Question: The Australian policy of forward defence was based on the notion that it was better to fight potential enemies in Asia rather than wait and have to fight them on Australian soil. Write a letter to the Sydney Morning Herald in which you either support or oppose the concept of forward defence'. Dear Sydney Morning Herald, Im writing to you today in order to discuss the main reasons in which I support the concept of forward defence. During the 1950s and 1960s the fear of communism remained the political issue that gripped Australia. The governments defence policy was dominated by the idea that sending troops overseas to fight against possible enemies was the best way to prevent a war from being fought on Australian soil and I agree with this idea. Like the war in Korea, the outbreak of war in Vietnam was seen as the result of communist aggression. We will write a custom essay sample on Australias forward defence policy or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Australia extremely feared the domino effect which was believed to mean that if one nation fell under communist domination, its neighbours would fall like a line of dominos. So the decision to send Australian troops to fight in Vietnam war was at the time a smart strategic idea and not at all surprising given the belief that the takeover of South Vietnam would be a direct military threat to Australia. On April 19th 1965 Prime Minister Robert Menzies announced Australian involvement in Vietnam and stated We do not and must not overlook the point that our alliances, as well as providing guarantees and assuring for our security, make demands upon us. I believe Australia needed to continue the fight against Communism far from our soil because it would connote the most disastrous defeats abroad and the most incredible difficulties for its friends and allies desiring to help them. Defence alliances were so important because with Australias vast territory and small population it would not of been able to survive a surging communist challenge abroad without the cooperation of powerful friends including in particular U. K and U. S. A. The forward defence policy was a brilliant policy, Australia showed a sign of loyalty to a powerful ally the U. S. A which was a diplomatic gesture aimed at ensuring that Australia could call on her allies for protection in the event of a Communist attack on Australian soil. This strategy was based on the belief that Australia could be most effectively defended if any threat was met and fought before it reached Australian shores. I support this policy one hundred percent and am glad Australia ensured it.