A Study of Musical Theatre’s Gilbert and Sullivan Essay

Theatre, as we know it, always aims to provoke its audience through emotions, by invoking the muses of comedy and tragedy, and everything else in between. Many names are synonymous to the history and success of theatre, but none comes close to the iconic contributions of Britain’s most illustrious duo, collectively known as Gilbert and Sullivan. Sharp, clever wit and brilliant rhyme have found their rightful places in the theatrical masterpieces composed by renowned playwright William S. Gilbert, and his equally-profound partner, composer Arthur Sullivan. The 1870s marked the beginning of a new ideology in musical theatre, as the partnership brought to the fore previously unheard-of standards that were identified by a mix of intelligence in satire and silliness, as well as melodic instrumentations that complement the passion and creativity of the written word. Such was the success of the outcome that Gilbert and Sullivan managed to pioneer and influence generations of theatre innovations, and eventually, become a solid pillar in both British and American popular culture. Musical comedy writers, Broadway lyricists, literary authors and composers—and even important names in politics and government—are just some of those who have credited Gilbert and Sullivan for a number of their works. Through the excellent vision of production genius Richard D’Oyly Carte, the impressive collaborations of Gilbert and Sullivan were set to stage. The Savoy Theatre in London, Carte’s headquarters, became the setting for many of the duo’s memorable musicals. Innovative from the beginning, The Savoy was the first theatre in the world to utilize electricity, and summoned theatre-goers all over to sample this taste of technology as well as the brilliance of Gilbert and Sullivan’s works, which were later aptly named â€Å"Savoy Operas† (Kenrick, 2000-2003). The Gilbert and Sullivan era spanned from 1871 to 1896, and between them they were able to create fourteen critically-acclaimed and hugely popular masterpieces—counting The Mikado, Pirates of Penzance, and H. M. S. Pinafore as the most widely-received. II. William Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, The Beginning The young William Gilbert (1836-1911) was the son of a naval surgeon by profession, and a writer by interest. He jumpstarted his son’s juvenile career by allowing the boy to accompany his articles with illustrations; William soon found his own talent for writing, and came up with his own compositions. These writings, called Bab Ballads, would later find their way into some of Gilbert and Sullivan’s most acclaimed musicals. Gilbert’s Bab Ballads were known for their unique use of humor played out through logic (Classic Gilbert and Sullivan). Mike Leigh, English film and theatre director, concludes this style to be decidedly one that had Gilbert’s signature, where the establishment of the strange, absurd, and otherwise unacceptable concept would be expertly formed into perfect examples of reason and truth—all done with a bite of silliness metamorphosing into deadpan prose. On the other hand, the musical inclinations of Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900) also had strong parental influences—his father was a bandmaster with the military, and the then 8-year-old Arthur had already become expert in all the band instruments. In 1856, after concluding his initial attempts of composing songs and anthems in school, Arthur proceeded to claim the first Mendelssohn Prize, and took further studies in composition and conducting at the Royal Academy of Music, as well as in Leipzig. He performed his 1861 graduation piece, an ode to William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, at the Crystal Palace; this earned him the prestige of being heralded as the country’s most promising young composer. Among Sullivan’s applauded works early in his career were The Masque at Kenilworth (1842), The Prodigal Son (1869), On Shore and Sea (1871), and a ballet entitled L’lle Enchantee (1864) (Classic Gilbert and Sullivan). William Gilbert’s and Arthur Sullivan’s paths crossed as they attended a rehearsal of the play Ages Ago, where the composer Frederic Clay made introductions. A couple of years after that, Gilbert and Sullivan made their first foray as co-creators of what would be a uniquely wonderful style admired by the whole world. III. Gilbert and Sullivan and the Comic Opera A staple of English theatre during the Edwardian era, the comic opera’s origins come from 18th-century Naples, in Italy. Known as intermezzi, short comic routines were used to end the bigger acts, and enjoyed much popularity that they were later written to exist on their own. The final output was the comic opera, the concept of which was soon transported to Paris, where it easily claimed the approval of French dramatists and audiences. However, the same could not be said upon its arrival on English territory, for theatre professionals and enthusiasts at the time were still more interested in evolving the popular Ballad Opera and the newer form of Music Hall; the latter was introduced to fill the need for a lighter, less serious entertainment style. Finally, in 1871, the comic opera was launched in London’s Gaiety Theatre, through the production of Thespis; or the Gods Grown Old. This not only marked a new chapter in British theatre, but also the first entry of the long-running collaboration of musical theatre’s most prestigious partnership—Gilbert and Sullivan. It all started with the efforts of John Hollingshead, then manager of the Gaiety Theatre, who employed Gilbert’s expertise to write the libretto of his theatre’s 1871 Christmas musical. They had worked together once before, on the burlesque Robert the Devil which also ran in Gaiety. To complete the requirement for the musical, Hollingshead contacted Sullivan, who was then still inexperienced in stage production. This first encounter produced Thespis, but was initially given much criticism and low confidence in the team. Four years later, the producer Carte would bring them back together to create Trial By Jury; the resulting 300 performances declared it a resounding success, as well as a much-awaited approval of the partnership. Perhaps the foremost appeal of Gilbert and Sullivan’s works had much to do with their ability to poke fun and humor at establishment, as well as current social and political issues. This was a high time for patriotism in Britain, and the British audience’s validation of the comic operas sealed the career success of the duo. Much of the credit would also have to go to the newness of concept and execution of each piece, that even foreign audiences understood and appreciated the essence of every performance. To this day, comic opera will always be defined by Gilbert and Sullivan—they truly made it their niche, and those that attempted to surpass or equal their achievements failed to do so (Gillan, 2007). Of the fourteen collaborative works of the famed partnership, many were lauded as icons of comic opera. These were the celebrated productions of Thespis: or the Gods Grown Old, Trial By Jury (1975), The Sorcerer (1877), and of course, the previously-mentioned The Mikado, Pirates of Penzance, and H. M. S. Pinafore. Thespis: or the Gods Grown Old, being Gilbert and Sullivan’s first collaboration, had no real indications of the phenomenal future awaiting its two creators. Yet the classic Gilbert and Sullivan format was already applied in the work, by setting the opera in the mythical Mount Olympus. In the story, the gods have all grown old and the celestial buildings were all in a state of ruin. Then a group of actors and their leader named Thespis went up the mountain to have a picnic, and noticed the sad condition of the place. Thespis gets into a deal with Jupiter, agreeing that his group would take on the work of the tired gods, provided that Mercury would remain to brief them of their duties. But things do not go as planned, and Mercury only noted all complaints. When the gods on break finally return, they discover the unsatisfactory results and banish the group back to earth. 1875’s Trial By Jury made use of an old legal procedure as the main idea, specifically a ‘breach of promise’ trial. This often took place in earlier times, when a man could be summoned to court and sued for taking back a marriage proposal. The characters included a dashing, worldly bachelor and the woman who called for the hearing, a maiden dressed in wedding attire. An all-male jury and an unscrupulous judge round up the cast, with the woman directing her flirtations toward the jury but would end up receiving a proposal from the judge himself—as a way to resolve the case. The storyline established prevailing comic themes that would later be present in most of Gilbert and Sullivan’s works: (1) true and undying love may come from and end in unexpected sources and directions; (2) the existence of politicians who achieved their public status by charming and lying their way through, and (3) aversion for mature women, specifically those over 40—which is, in truth, a nod to patriarchy and sexism. Two years later, Gilbert and Sullivan produced The Sorcerer, which featured a man of magic who brings chaos and confusion to a tiny English village by creating a love potion. In many ways, The Sorcerer made a satire of class distinction and social propriety, which were standard elements in Victorian society. Yet in true Gilbert and Sullivan style, the output was of inimitable wit and class that the references were not declared offensive at all—so much was its success that aside from its own numerous showings, The Sorcerer was staged even as far as America, albeit unauthorized. And while the opera’s theme could have been translated by the French through a multitude of sexual innuendos and references played out by unreal, fantastic characters, Gilbert and Sullivan designed The Sorcerer with roles that were utterly believable and credible—the kind of people that actually exist in everyday life, that the British audience could identify. The penchant for poking fun at British social conventions became Gilbert and Sullivan’s running objective, and in 1878 they again succeeded in producing a successful show that audiences celebrated. H. M. S. Pinafore once again uses love as a theme, but a deeper reading would reveal that the opera tackles the discussion of England’s class society. With the narrative centering on the daughter of a naval captain’s rejection of the Secretary of the Navy—the highest-ranking man of uniform—for the affections of a common sailor, H. M. S. Pinafore showcases the reality of a person born into a particular class, and the availability of options based on this system. It is also a criticism of their society’s double standard on the issue of marriage; they patronize literature’s ideals about love conquering all, while in real life they disapprove of unions between people of different social classes. This time, audiences were not as forgiving as they were with The Sorcerer—the prevailing adherence and respect for the British class system caused low ticket sales. That, as well as the unrelenting hot weather pulled Gilbert and Sullivan’s celebrity down—for a moment. During Sullivan’s summer concerts, he came up with the smart strategy to include several medleys of his Pinafore score; the result was a revived interest in the opera, and eventually sales and attendance reached phenomenal heights. Such was the success of the opera that it encouraged Carte to involve Gilbert and Sullivan in the actual business, dividing all production expenses and sales profits among the three of them. From this point on, Gilbert and Sullivan were given decision-making authority in all their productions. However, because of the opera’s impact on the British audiences, many unauthorized production of Pinafore were staged, particularly in the United States, where international copyright laws were not yet in place. To assert ownership, Carte brought the production overseas where it enjoyed a brief yet successful run in Broadway, and made sure that Gilbert and Sullivan’s works were covered by copyright laws in the country. Carte had this foremost on his mind when Gilbert and Sullivan came up with yet another opera destined for iconic status, 1880’s Pirates of Penzance. This time, Carte protected the production rights both in Britain and New York, which established the legal precedents still observed today. The move has benefited playwrights and writers all over the world, with this initial case on intellectual property rights. Love as an ideal is again the running theme in Penzance, as the story explores the adventures of a young man named Frederick who, by no choice of his own, worked under the tutelage of a group of pirates. As luck would have it, he falls for the daughter of a Major General—a momentous experience that drove him to make up for his previous deeds by eliminating the pirates he used to be associated with. The pirates in question actually turned out to be noblemen who made the wrong choices in life; in the end, they, including Frederick, all take the Major’s many daughters as their wives. There was no stopping the success of Gilbert and Sullivan, and they forged on to firmly claim their place in popular culture. Several productions were created, among them Patience (1881), which told of the poet’s charm and magnetism, a surefire way to get his way with the women, except for the one he wants—who is but a simple milkmaid. Written as a comedy, Patience ultimately focused on aestheticism, which referred to an artist’s or writer’s obsession with beauty. Carte employed a brilliant marketing strategy to promote the production, with the assistance of famed writer Oscar Wilde. The writer was tasked to do the lecture circuit around the United States, to provide a full background on this new ideology, and to ensure public awareness of the opera. Not surprisingly, this tactic resulted in positive financial reaction. With Patience, Gilbert and Sullivan introduced another innovation, this time with the characters of the opera narrative and the songs assigned to them. In their previous works, the duo’s main goal to put a message across was met; the technical level of the story itself remained the way it was from their early projects. Not the kinds to stay within their comfort zones, Gilbert and Sullivan expanded their competencies as playwrights by integrating the characters with music—producing songs and personalities that were exclusive to each other, and the situations they were in. Comic opera was what people called the Gilbert and Sullivan theatre style; in reality, it was the birth of the integrated musical. The partnership, while perfect on an intellectual realm, was slowly revealing its cracks caused by the personal differences of the two artists. Gilbert was apparently so taken with the love potion plot—which he successfully delivered in The Sorcerer—and wanted to create another opera using the same idea. This was not taken positively by Sullivan, who soon decided, on impulse, to focus more on serious projects. Of course, Gilbert did not take this well either, and the beginning of what would be a personal feud between the two took its place. Carte tried to remedy the situation by staging a rerun of The Sorcerer, only as a stopgap measure for further rifts that may damage company existence and operations. Fate once again played a major role in the succeeding events, because the partnership was saved by a mundane object—a Japanese sword. It fell from the wall of Gilbert’s study and almost hit him, but instead of dismissing the incident, Gilbert took inspiration from it. This set the tone and plot for Gilbert and Sullivan’s most popular opera to date. The Mikado, staged in 1885, carried the same elements that had made the duo famous: love, and social commentary; with a generous helping of humor and wit. The plot itself was hilarious—it was a scenario questioning what would happen when the Emperor of Japan, know as the Mikado, passes a decree declaring flirting as illegal, and punishable by law. The townsfolk of Titipu refused to follow the new ruling, and consequently appointed Koko, a condemned tailor, as Lord High Executioner. Strangely, the condition for this appointment was for Koko to be beheaded, as he was proven guilty of violating the new law, unless he finds someone to behead first. Koko manages to find someone to execute, and that was the traveling minstrel named Nanki-Poo, who actually agrees with Koko only if he is allowed to marry the beautiful Yum-Yum—Koko’s fiance. Nanki-Poo was given a month to enjoy the wedded life before he was beheaded and Koko can finally marry Yum-Yum. But soon an old woman named Katisha appears, a representative of the royal court, and announces that Nanki-Poo is really the crown prince—guilty of the crime, as he had flirted with her and tried to escape execution by hiding in the small town. Eventually, the Mikado himself arrives and declares that his goal for decreeing such an inane ruling was to let the punishment fit the crime. More misunderstandings and deceptions came afterwards, but in the end everyone lives happily ever after. Gilbert and Sullivan decided to use Japan as a setting to create a satire about the British penchant for all things Japanese, during the 1880s. And because it was brilliantly written and the references to British pretensions and petty customs subtle and discreet, audiences failed to make any negative observations and promptly applauded the performance. Exporting The Mikado to the United States was the right thing to do, for it replicated the success of H. M. S. Pinafore and drove Americans into a Japanese frenzy. The Mikado is the sole musical by Gilbert and Sullivan that had been performed in a variety of languages, and is also their only work that spawned a diplomatic controversy. In 1907, the Crown Prince of Japan came over for a state visit, and immediately the British government ordered a ban on The Mikado; only to discover that one of the Prince’s objectives in visiting Britain was to watch the musical. To this day, The Mikado is still widely produced and staged worldwide. However, the problem with having a major success in one’s name is the pressure to produce another one of equal or greater impact. In 1887, Gilbert and Sullivan staged Ruddigore, which entailed more melodrama than their previous collaborations. It truly was an accomplished piece, but audiences kept comparing it with The Mikado. Once more, Sullivan was disheartened by this turn of events and threatened to leave the industry altogether and focus on classical compositions instead. Gilbert tried to change his mind with a new libretto, one that was not an echo of their old work. With The Yeomen of the Guard, an operetta set during the reign of Henry VIII, romance was played out within the constraints of political controversies, as well as the possibility of execution. Sullivan, satisfied with the proposition, proceeded to create a score punctuated with melodrama and emotion, while Gilbert reinvented himself and his style by veering from his usual whimsical comic dialogue. Serious was the best word to use to describe Yeoman, and this became a personal favorite of Sullivan. The monarchy did not escape the sharp wit of the two, either. In 1889, Gilbert and Sullivan resurrected their signature comic style with the staging of The Gondoliers. A story of a couple of anti-royalist gondoliers from Venice who ironically discover that they have suddenly become kings of a country in the midst of a revolution, Gilbert and Sullivan once again mixed fun and comedy to discuss the idiosyncrasies of the royals and the issues of democracy. The Gondoliers became an instant international hit. No less than the public-shy Queen Victoria requested for several private performances of The Gondoliers, which validated the immense contribution of Gilbert and Sullivan to musical theatre. But the personal differences between the two icons continued to get in the way of their professional relationship. Some were serious concerns, yet some were downright trivial—such as the argument over the cost of newly-installed carpets in the Savoy Theatre. Carte and his wife ultimately chose to take Sullivan’s side, which resulted in their production of Ivanhoe, Sullivan’s grand opera. However, this project failed to achieve any semblance of financial success; which was a mirror of Gilbert’s own experience when he went back to writing his own plays. Several years later, the three business partners tried to put everything aside and reconcile, but sadly, they were never able to bring back their glory days. Still, they managed to produce Utopia Limited (1893), another satire of Britain’s unsuccessful efforts in its dealings with other countries; and The Grand Duke (1896), featuring a theatre group’s attempts to claim power in a problematic Germany. Both productions were of the same make and quality as their previous ones, but neither enjoyed substantial performance durations because of expensive production costs. More than that, it was already apparent that Gilbert and Sullivan no longer had the fresh and intriguing style and creativity that had earned them the respect of audiences worldwide (Kenrick, 2000-2003). IV. Reviews Interesting to note are the reviews made for each of Gilbert and Sullivan’s operas, as made by many critics and journalists during the time. Some of the takes of these writers were documented and used as reference, in order to validate the creative contribution given by the duo. One review for Thespis on its opening night in 1871 commended Gilbert and the magnificent storyline he created, as well as the audience’s superb reception of the play. Credits were specifically given to the talent showcased (Perry, 2001). A Trial By Jury review was not truly exciting—while the critic commended the acting and singing done by the performers, it was the â€Å"lateness of the hour† that possibly accounted for the audience’s lackluster reaction (Perry, 2001). H. F. Frost reviewed The Sorcerer in 1877, and emphasized the effective combination of literary merit and dramatic consistency as created by Gilbert and Sullivan, except that their attempts to subtly mix burlesque and opera was not entirely acceptable. Points were given to the theme of exploring human nature’s weaknesses and imperfections (Perry, 2000). It is evident that H. M. S. Pinafore was a huge crowd favorite, as revealed by a review published in 1878. Pinafore was commended for the use of burlesque but had more humor and charm over Trial By Jury and The Sorcerer. The satire and libretto were both noted, and gave Gilbert and Sullivan credit for managing to pull it off without great offense to the public. The actors were also adjudged suited to their roles, and the musical one that will remain in the bills for a long time (Perry, 2001). A review made in 1880 of Pirates of Penzance saw it as having several allusions to H. M. S. Pinafore, particularly in the similarities of some of the characters. But the audience was not put off by that observation, and still applauded the cynicism and wit of Gilbert’s words as well as the charm of Sullivan’s music (Perry, 2000). V. The Final Years Though they never really regained their old camaraderie, Gilbert and Sullivan remained civil to each other until the end. In 1888, Sullivan was granted knighthood, and the former colleagues shared the same stage once more during revivals of their old classics were produced. Later, Sullivan collaborated with other writers to produce several critically-acclaimed operas, including The Emerald Isle in 1900. Sullivan finally passed away at the age of 58, due to a bout of severe bronchitis. Gilbert, on the other hand, got his second wind at the dawn of the new century, with a notable output of librettos and plays. He eventually received his knighthood in 1907, which was long overdue, but allowed him to experience being touted as a British national living treasure. At age 74, while saving a girl from drowning in his own estate, Gilbert was struck by a fatal heart attack. This happened in late May 1911. The great producer Carte succumbed to the permanent effects of illness in 1901, but his opera company was continued by Helen, his wife, and their son Rupert and his wife. They revived the most acclaimed works of Gilbert and Sullivan throughout the years, until the company closed in 1983 due to financial problems. But Bridget, Rupert’s wife, left a considerable amount of money to allow a new group of theatre producers to form a new company, which still stages revivals of the famous musicals of Gilbert and Sullivan to this day. VI. The Gilbert and Sullivan Legacy The achievements of Gilbert and Sullivan were nothing less than national milestones, particularly in the reality of class-conscious Britain. The brilliant wit, humor, and music created by the duo gained popularity with all class levels of society, which was a feat it itself. Apart from that, the team’s theatre philosophy transformed the standard musical preferences to be more attune to popular music, and less concentration on the obscure and exclusive. However, Carte’s company refused to grant performers and directors the freedom to modify each production—every staging had to adhere to the set guidelines of the original team. Critics and audiences could only imagine how fresh eyes and new voices would be able to interpret the tried-and-tested pieces (Wren, 2001). Britain respected the legacy of Gilbert and Sullivan, and their standards of musical theatre bore into all productions made in the late 1800s. George Edwardes, a producer of comic operas, proved to be the duo’s strongest competitor. He started with the success of Dorothy in 1886, which included a ballad entitled â€Å"Queen of My Heart†, that broke all records—even running longer than any of Gilbert and Sullivan’s musicals. But what made Edwardes a respected name was his discovery of a new technique with his production of The Gaiety Girls, a musical named after the famous London theatre. This musical comedy featured many of Gilbert and Sullivan’s standard elements, making it a manifestation of the partnership’s influence on the art. The Gaiety Girls, like most of Gilbert and Sullivan’s operas, carried a theme of love gained and lost. But these musicals only had two general narratives—a poor girl in love with a rich man, and wins him in the end, even in the presence of adversities; and a poor girl who attempts to get out of a marriage she did not want, prompting her to involve other characters on a chase. The music and titles of these musicals all had the same essence, which were really just variations on a theme. Interestingly, the seeming monotony of these musicals were greatly appreciated by the audiences and critics, who preferred them exactly as they were. But these productions could never stand up against the works of Gilbert and Sullivan, particularly those that had traveled to the United States. This fact awakened the British audience from their stupor, as they had to acknowledge the international receipt of their own culture (Morley, 1987). Needless to say, the Gilbert and Sullivan operas consistently received much acclaim from their American audiences; the staging of H. M. S. Pinafore started a nationwide craze aptly called â€Å"Pinafore-mania†. Typical of Americans, the music and songs of Pinafore quickly entered the realm of popular culture, and were included in regular talk. The classic line â€Å"What never? Well, hardly ever! † from Pinafore became standard replies of people all over, and the phrase â€Å"short, sharp stock† that was used in The Mikado to mean â€Å"of severe punishment† was borrowed by various writers, artists, commentators and bands. Perhaps the most celebrated American production of a Gilbert and Sullivan original was Pirates of Penzance, which found its way to Broadway in 1981 and enjoyed a run that broke production and staging records. Gilbert, in particular, would often be cited by popular American writers, such as Johnny Mercer, Larry Hart, Alan Jay Lerner, and Stephen Sondheim. Mercer was even quoted as saying, â€Å"We all come from Gilbert†, and Sondheim made a tribute to the famous librettist in â€Å"Please Hello† from his work Pacific Overtures (1976). It is probably not far-fetched to assume that Gilbert and Sullivan’s work lent sophistication and class to the existing brand of musicals then; soon after, new generations of musical talents appeared, putting the USA on top of the list. The Boston Ideal Opera Company, more popularly known as The Bostonians, made the rounds of theatres all over the country, and were received well for their outstanding performances. They included in the repertoire several original American musicals, but were known for their productions of Gilbert and Sullivan works. A listing of American originals that took after the Gilbert and Sullivan tradition is as follows: El Capitan (1896) by John Philip Sousa The Begum (1887) and Robin Hood (1891) by librettist Harry B, Smith and composer Reginald DeKoven The Highwayman (1897), again by Reginald DeKoven (Gillan, 2007). VII. The Gilbert and Sullivan Influence The influence of Gilbert and Sullivan extended all the way to other forms of art ad communication, which included literary works of famous writers. References to their collaborations are found in the work of writer Isaac Asimov, who wrote a number of stories centered on the puzzles and mysteries of the duo’s operas. One such story was of time travel, where one had to go back in the 1800s to rescue the score to Gilbert and Sullivan’s Thespis (Asimov, 1978). â€Å"The Year of the Action† engaged a debate over the actual date of the action in Pirates of Penzance. A story in Asimov’s famous I, Robot, â€Å"Runaround†, had a character singing parts of songs from Ruddigore, Patience, and Pinafore. Cleverly, Asimov concluded his homage to the duo with his story â€Å"The Up-To-Date Sorcerer†, which was obviously a parody of The Sorcerer. Legendary British author P. G. Wodehouse was also known to cite Gilbert and Sullivan in his writings, and more often exclusively referred to Gilbert. His novels and short stories included numerous allusions to the team’s work, many to Gilbert’s early Bab Ballads (Robinson, 2006). The film industry also found the works of Gilbert and Sullivan great material for a wealth of movies. Many of their musicals were adapted into films, including the actors who originally performed in the theatre versions. The Mikado was adapted into a movie in 1939, in full color, for which it won several awards. Also, many films made use of scores composed for a number of Gilbert and Sullivan musicals, including The Matchmaker (1958), I Could Go On Singing (1963), The Naughty Victorians (1975), The Bad News Bears Go To Japan (1978), Chariots of Fire (1981), The Adventures of Milo and Otis (1989), The Browning Version (1994), and The Hand That Rocks The Cradle (1992). Television is also another medium that has embraced the Gilbert and Sullivan talent. From The Simpsons to Frasier, from Angel to The West Wing, the duo’s music has been showcased in a variety of scenes and episodes. There was even a show dedicated to spoofs of Gilbert and Sullivan musicals, entitled The Star of Christmas. Video games such as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas also had visual references of Gilbert and Sullivan’s works, particularly of Pirates of Penzance. Outside of media, many personalities in politics also found good material in the team’s celebrated works to promote their platforms and ideologies. A â€Å"short, sharp stock† remains to be a popular mainstay in many manifestos and debates. VIII. On A Personal Level Though their professional partnership was truly accomplished and proven time and again, it was the personal relationship of Gilbert and Sullivan that had suffered the most. Collaborations may or may not be successful if the participants are friends; however, artists like Gilbert and Sullivan probably see no boundaries between who they are and what they do. Sullivan was not rich, and as he grew up he mad it a point to mingle with the rich and influential. He met Gilbert, and immediately discovered the parallels in drive and talent in both of them. However, he also saw something else—that Gilbert’s friendship could be the means for him to make his career flourish. Sullivan had many other powerful friends, including Queen Victoria, who advi

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E-Marketing analyzing websites - Term Paper Example The company was established in the year 1999 by Jack Ma. His aim was to make internet accessible, beneficial and trustworthy for every individual of the society (Alibaba, n.d.). The company is presently headquartered at Hangzhou, China. The primary business of the company is to facilitate online selling and buying from anywhere in the world. Also for the B2B segment it connects organizations with manufacturers and suppliers all over the world. It employs around 24,000 people and has operation in 70 countries of the world. The company claims that as of March 2012, it had 79 million registered online users who are spread across 240 countries of the world (Chinadaily, 2012). ... also sells internet infrastructure services, business management software, export related services, and offers educational services to develop e-commerce and enterprise management professional. The major competitors of the company are eBay Inc., DHgate.com, Bikudo.com, Global Sources Ltd., and HC360.com among others (Crunchbase, 2012). Situation Analysis (SWOT) Strength The company has strong market position Balanced business Model Less exposure to international trade environment The company is earning more revenues from the value added services. Integration of e-commerce Weakness The company finds difficulty in to contradict the selling of forged products. Opportunities Robust growth of Chinese economy Opportunity to foray into the Indian market The company should continue to expand value added service offerings (Marketline, 2011). Threats The biggest threat of the company comes in the form of internet fraud. Problems related to litigation Intense competition Segmentation Targeting Differentiation Segmentation is a major part of marketing. It is about sub-dividing the heterogeneous market into groups of homogenous segments (Allen, Macy and Hutchison, 2009, p.21). Segmentation helps companies to effectively target the customers (Croft, 1994, p.1). Among the available forms of segmentation i.e. psychographic segmentation, geographic segmentation, and behavioural segmentation, alibaba.com segments its market on the basis of demographics. They offer wide range of products and services so that every age group, gender, and occupation gets satisfied. The company targets its customers through the help of its existing customers. It depends heavily on the word of mouth promotion. In addition, customers are also targeted by means of promoting products through popular media.

Leadership and Change Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Leadership and Change Management - Essay Example To overcome resistance to change, it is shown that Tesco’s management must ensure effective communication and education of employees on the proposed change. The final section focuses on the democratic leadership style as the most appropriate for change management at Tesco. It is thus considered that democratic leadership will see Tesco through a successful change process. The international presence of Tesco is still inadequate. To expand, Tesco will need heavy investment, which might increase the company’s debt. Additionally, some of the countries that Tesco has expanded into may not be highly profitable. For instance, although Tesco expanded into Korea, the consumer spending of this country is low, hence this poses a high risk for Tesco. Opening stores in high risk areas jeopardises the financial health of the company (Tesco 2015). Before expanding, Tesco must evaluate its resources and the risk level of the host country. The industry in which Tesco operates is highly competitive, and this does not guarantee Tesco sustained profitability. The major competitors of Tesco include ASDA Group Ltd, Safeway Inc., ALDI Group, Somerfield, Sainsbury plc and Morrison among others (Appendix 1). These existing competitors challenge Tesco in different areas, including pricing, among others. Tesco must differentiate itself and adopt an effective business model in order to overcome competition. The Sainsbury reduced its prices by 6% while Safeway is focused on lowering its prices as a strategy to continue is recovery process. Similarly, Asda is committed to retaining price leadership in the industry. Tesco is also focused on price leadership, therefore, this implies that the industry experiences price war, and this might influence the profitability of the industry in an adverse manner (Data Monitor 2004). Tesco must adopt an effective pricing strategy to address the price war it is

Writing Today, Ch. 30, pp. 570-72; Chapter 3, pp. 27-37 Essay

Writing Today, Ch. 30, pp. 570-72; Chapter 3, pp. 27-37 - Essay Example In this internship period, I used many computer aided devices to come up with routine calculations and therefore creating perfect project research and development timeline. As I worked on all these, I became more and more familiar with the problems that are experienced in these company and suggested and implemented many ideas to solve these problems. In addition to this experience, I am about to graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Texas Wesleyan University. My concrete knowledge in Computer Science and software design will enable me to give the best services in your company as a forensic digital data analyst. I am looking forward to being invited for an interview in your company to expound on my knowledge and experience and what I will do for your company and further discuss my suitability for this position. You can ore details on me on my attached

Social effects of hurricane Katrina in the Gulf region Essay

Social effects of hurricane Katrina in the Gulf region - Essay Example Social effects of hurricane Katrina in the Gulf region Research suggests Hurricane Katrina negatively impacted the Gulf region because it led to loss of lives, civil disturbances, and property damages. This included the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq in a type of political revenge attack against the terrorist activity led by Osama bin Laden. The hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in one of the worst times for America in Iraq, when the opposition attacks were at their strongest. The failure of the American government to help its own people in the aftermath of the hurricane contrasted sharply with the political rhetoric of the Bush administration, exposing its hypocrisy internationally on truly humanitarian and vital issues of domestic security. From this point on, the Bush administration would lose whatever political authority and respect it retained in America, eventually ending in the election of President Obama in the 2008 election. It is important to recognize how Hurricane Katrina eroded the political authority of the Bush administr ation at a time when it was conducting two unpopular political wars abroad. The symbolic effect of the images broadcast internationally displayed America as no different from the â€Å"Third World† nations that it perennially derides and rejects in building its political myth of superiority. The public, both domestically in America and internationally in civil society, are aware of the duality between the ideals proclaimed by the political leadership in America, and the actual actions taken by authority. For example, in talking about peace and justice, the U.S. administration at the time was practicing torture, extraordinary rendition, and other forms of illegal detention such as in undisclosed, secret prisons and Guantanamo Bay. This is a hypocritical stance in many ways, despite the way that it was posited by the Bush administration under the rhetoric of Homeland Security and public safety. What Katrina did is publicly expose the hypocrisy in this rhetoric to full internati onal view, showing that the Bush administration really was not concerned with people’s safety, health, and welfare at all, especially if they were not in a wealthy, Wall St. constituency. Thus, the first major effect of the Katrina disaster was to erode the public authority of the Bush administration and to associate it publicly with hypocrisy. (Brinkley, 2007). This result is quite important as the theme carried over into the 2008 Presidential election and led to the election of Barrack Obama and a Democratic majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. As a political symbol, Katrina showed the dichotomy between rich and poor in America, and how those in positions of power are more likely to be serving their own interests rather than that of the public good or public need. This is important as it creates a type of despair popularly, a political vacuum of sorts that the â€Å"hope and change† mantra of the Obama administration capitalized on in 2008. F rom this it is legitimate to conclude that Hurricane Katrina caused a major change in political perceptions in America, and that this included a loss of faith in the ability of the government to provide services in an emergency situation. (Brown, 2005) Consider the vast destruction and number of deaths and injuries that took place in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and it is evident that this is precisely a situation where the

Network Design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Network Design - Essay Example In the following section a description of both physical and logical design is given to clearly define the distinction between these two approaches. logical network design refers to the logical addressing used to describe the network or the networks it connects to. A logical network design displays the IP Addresses linked with each component of the network as shown in fig. 2. In most cases, the logical network is a simple Class C network such as 192.168.0.0 with the default subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. This network allows up to 254 hosts to be connected directly to it without the need of any routing. The following are important factors involved in logical network design. Information about client Kinds of Services or Applications Will the Network Offer Choice of LAN Protocol The information and assessment about the work patterns for various clients is an important factor in logical network design. It helps to appropriately place servers, high- bandwidth links, and other such things in the appropriate physical location of the network. For example if any client (either a single work station or a group) contributes a major portion of the network traffic, then it is necessary to provide that client with a large data pipe. The second important point to be considered in network’s logic design is the kinds of services or applications that a can offer. Typical network applications today include FTP, telnet, and, of course, browsing the Web. Since each application has potential security problems, hence logical network design also addresses the potential security risks. The choice of LAN Protocol is also decided in logical network design. Today the de facto protocol of choice has to be TCP/IP.

Portrayal of Marriage in Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice and William Research Paper

Portrayal of Marriage in Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice and William Wycherly's The Country Wife - Research Paper Example Still, there are quite a few works of literature in which the plot involves marriage as one of the salient themes. Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice and William Wycherly’s The Country Wife are two such works. These two works extend an insight into the economic, social, emotional and sexual aspects of marriage in their times. Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice Many 18th century works of literature dealt with issues pertaining to the institution of marriage, delved on what amounted to a proper behavior in a marriage, what criteria ought to be meditated upon while selecting a marriage partner, what an individual could expect from a marriage and what entailed the salient duties and responsibilities of each partner. The primary reason for this trend was that the 18th century Britain was very open to serious meditations and reconsiderations as to what constituted a good marriage and how a marriage needs to be lived (Teachman 53). Yet, the traditional notions of marriage interpreting it as a joining of two families by virtue of a legal and social bond struck between two individuals continued to hold sway (Teachman 53). On the one side the society stressed on the need to perceive marriage as a legal contract, while on the other side the contemporary social and political climate in Jane Austin’s England also extended importance to individual’s emotions and aspirations (Teachman 80). Thus, it goes without saying that the portrayal of marriage in Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice presents a conflict between these two seemingly contradictory views about marriage. In that context, the conventional theme of a suitable and ideal husband for a gentlewoman prominently emerges in Austin’s concept of marriage as elucidated in Pride and Prejudice. The character of Darcy is the closest possible model of the conventional female aspirations of a proper husband. At the same time, Elizabeth Bennet’s prejudices towards Darcy mark th e rise of individual voice and caution in the women of those times. Remarkably, Jane Austin has managed to contrive a wonderful work of literature in which the central characters somehow manage to strike a balance between the needs and constraints of social economics and emotional imperatives (Austen & Kinsley 8). The basis of social relationships in Pride and Prejudice, and above all the relationship of marriage is primarily economic, and Jane Austin has certainly unraveled it with an ironic smile. Mrs. Bennet represents the traditional school of thought, and her one ambition in life is to see her daughters well married to eligible young men, and their eligibility is judged only by one standard that is their social and monetary status. Yet, at the same time, Mrs. Bennet’s obsession with money is used by the writer to present her as a ridiculous character. Elizabeth, though presented as a discerning and sensible woman, is not entirely free from this materialistic bias. At the sight of beautiful and grand Pemberley Park, a sudden impulse to posses it passes through her, and she regrets her rejection of Darcy’s proposal. Ironically enough, she accepts Darcy only after her visit to Pemberley Hall. Austin’s idea of marriage is an attempt on the part of a sensitive and smart 18th century woman to somehow aspire for the best of two worlds, the world of individual liking and preference and the larger socio-economic world where the rules of inheritance and

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 4

Summary - Essay Example Below is the explanation of how the above factor could help curb the security problem. Crime Prevention through environmental design involves a combination of psychological and physical aspects of a security situation and then considering the two simultaneously. Security in areas say public zones, private or semi-private zones are best achieved by use of physical barriers like small fences or well-planned flower beds around them. These barriers along with some other symbolic barriers could also be used around sensitive data rooms to deter the entry of people into these rooms. The architectural designs have shown great efficiency in discouraging acts of crime in facilities. (Mlakar, 1999) Surveillance. Surveillance in any building or facility is very crucial as it help to monitoring people within it. The people may include the employees, visitors who, in this case, are strangers or even the security persons on the ground. Surveillance can assist to closely monitor individuals with a lot of secrecy and thus it’s recommended to install these devices at places where people cannot recognize them easily. This way, acts of crime will be identified easily as the individuals will be caught unawares. Monitoring becomes even most critical with increased number of employees. Monitoring cannot be accomplished in the darkness. Lighting, therefore, becomes another factor that goes hand in hand with surveillance. The brightness, intensity, and the number of lighting devices in and within a facility becomes of critical importance. Well-spaced, and glowing office lighting show good on cameras. Therefore, lighting offers the basis of any security situation in any given place. Outdoor barriers in a facility help to delay, obstruct, and or prevents cases of thefts and other negative security situation. The barriers include fences, perimeter barriers, and gates among other obstacles that prevent access to persons to some given areas. The

Should Disabled Children Be Mainstreamed In Public Schools Essay

Should Disabled Children Be Mainstreamed In Public Schools - Essay Example The supporters of mainstreaming argue that all special children have an equal right to the opportunity of social inclusion. The opponents of mainstreaming do not disagree; no rational minded person can deny the rights of social inclusion of disabled children. But the question is: does mainstreaming ensure social inclusion of the disabled children? The answer is unfortunately, in the negative. In a book titled: ‘Alone in the mainstream: A deaf woman remembers public school’, Olivia shares her experiences as a deaf student in a mainstream environment (Rossetti, 2005). Olivia has shared her experiences of the painful social isolation she felt while being mainstreamed in a school where she was the only deaf child and how the environment and being different from other children made her feel like a solitaire. ‘I was alone among so many people because they were not like me’. The main principle underlying mainstream is social inclusion; what’s the point in it if the mainstreamed children despite being a part of it, remain isolated in the normal environment? The advocators of mainstreaming also claim that disabled children can be taught is regular public classrooms (Williams and Algozzine, 1979). This is also not as simple as it appears. The success of a special child in a regular environment depend upon two main factors, one: the type and extent of disability and second is the attitude of teachers. Children with physical handicaps are usually a bit more accepted by regular children and teachers.

Boston Matrix - Refresher Essay Example for Free

Boston Matrix Refresher Essay According to those two figures and based on some sales figure from Unilevers marketing department, it is clear that most of its products are in the maturity stage and Cash-Cow products except for some new products which are undergoing the introduction stage or growth stage because there are many similar new products which are developed in China and focusing on Chinese consumer. The annual sales figure appear that, in personal care sector, its products have been kept in a slightly increase or decrease lever and tend to grow to a stable maximum level. However, because of in the huge market, the amount of sales normally is significant. This situation, therefore, could be effective for Unilever China run and maintain its business owing to the enormous cashflow. It also contributed to launching Unilevers sixth Research and Development (R D) Laboratory in China, 2000 in order to meet the everyday needs of the Chinese consumer and develop more products for the Chinese market. Facing the pressure form not only another large firm P G but also a lot of local booming manufactures, Unilever China has adopted a lot of effective measures in order to compete with them. For instance, frequent products promotion with the purpose of offering more profits to the customers and keeping the lower price. In addition, in order to maintain the awareness of brands, Unilever launches a lot of brilliant advertisements by using many famous pop stars in every season. Commentary on the three underlying systems: Technical, People, Economic (including: Organisational use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) A. Technical When I was working in ChinadotCom corporation Shanghai branch, I had had a lot of opportunities of communicating with IT staff of Unilever China. According to the information which I have gained form them, it is clear that if there was no supporting from Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), possibly, all of its business and management would be out of control. ICT plays a significant role of management in lots of successful western firms as well as in Unilever. Thus, when Unilever re-entered China in 1990, it also brought some advanced management systems especially Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software which it had already operated in most of its subsidiaries into Unilever China. Throughout six years development, based on original ERP system, Unilever China has been building a brand-new Management Information System (MIS) which is different between the common MIS during current years. This new MIS concentrates in generating and analysing date source which forwards to provide efficient reports rather than the function of information communication. Unilever China has launched a number of separated information systems such as Dealer Management System (DMS), Sales Information System (SIS) and Supplier Management System as well. All of them have integrated with MIS through ERP in order to offer standard data source. Moreover, it has planned to launch a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system owing to maintain high proportion of royalty among its consumers. As we know, most multinational companies adopt single united globe standard for their IT equipments including hardware and software as well as Unilever. It should be easy and effective for the companies to manage and maintain the whole systems for example, once any engineer of Unilever turns on any PC of Unilever, there would be the same operation system and application software in the PC. However, for Unilever China, this situation could lead to some problems when it would like to merge other companies. It also has cost Unilever China much money and labour to integrate all the different systems which the fourteen joint ventures had been used, when it was carrying out the two revolutions. B. People In a world where technologies and markets are speedily changing, as well as in China, both local knowledge and globe proficiency have been required to deeply understand and meet the complex needs of the 150 million customers who choose Unilevers products everyday. It is very important, therefore, for Unilever China to make its employees localising as possible as it could. At its beginning stage, Unilever China had employed more one hundred foreign staffs including managers and professionals. Although they had more working experience and good management approaches, there still had been some disadvantages of this state. Firstly, it had led to the high cost of labour because Unilever should pay nearly six times more than employing local people. Secondly, most of foreign staffs, they had not had enough knowledge of Chinese economy environment. This might provide some wrong decisions in both marketing and manufacture areas. Finally, because they had been so proud of their characters and positions, they tended to be difficult to communicate with local people. All in all, thus, Unilever China has modified its mind to reduce the number of foreign staffs and offer more opportunities to local employees. (Unilever China, 2001) In every recent year, Unilever China has sent numbers of its local managers abroad to practise for senior positions in their own countries. Its target of 95 percent local management in China includes five percent of local managers who are also working overseas at any given time. On the other hand, in purpose of reducing the cost of workforce, Unilever China decided to cut down the number of workforce in Shanghai which is in the highest level of working payment in China, and move its manufactures to the lower cost place. C. Economic Inside Unilever China, the significant motive of two revolutions is to decrease their working expenditures and utilise all the business resource efficiently. The production lines of most its products such as shampoo and shower are quite similar including the raw material as well. There had been several same production lines among the fourteen joint ventures, before Unilever China re-structured them. In addition, the waste also happened to the IT departments, administration department and supporting department. Once Unilever China had held a new joint venture, it had had to build an individual business system for it. It seems to be more efficient and having more abilities of competition, when the two revolutions have been accomplished. Furthermore, the changes also facilitate Unilever to concentrate its brands in order to meet the needs of different markets. For instance, in Shanghai which is the huge developed city in China, its key products are in the personal care and wash area including Lux, Dove, Hazeline and Ponds. Due to the changing of Chinese government economy policy, China is going to be more open for the foreign companies. As a result that China has joint World Trade Organisation (WTO), more foeign companies will enter China. Most local manufactures tend to become stronger because they will have more chance to gain the advanced management approaches and learn the business skills by competing with more foreign companies. They also could the big challenge to the Unilever China. Another purpose of its changes, thus, is to maintain its leader position in China. Since these changes, Unilever China becomes more flexibility because it clearly to allocate its business targets to three groups. Every group has its own responsibility of manufacturing and selling particular products. Thus, both of them could be the professional in their own economical environment. Discussion of management activities and approaches (including typical errors) Until this section, it seems that there has been no obvious evidence which could show that Unilever China has made some clear mistakes of management so far. However, there might be no completely perfect result once you have accomplished some changes. In the short-term, we could regard it as more positive than negative but no one could image the future. Also, before the two revolutions happened, there had been some typical management errors which Unilever China had made. Inside most of joint ventures in China, there are two different manager teams: one group of them are assigned straight by foreign companies; another are the people who have already worked in the companies which are going to co-operate with the foreign companies. However, both of them have the responsibilities of managing the new companies which we exactly classify as Chinese-foreign joint ventures in China. Thus, because of different working background in different economics system, these two manager teams provide two different management styles. For the managers who have been worked in Unilever world group for a period of time, because of underlying the western developed management theory, their management approach could be considered as Proactive Positive. The management approaches have been argued and developed by a lot of western researchers for a long time. Those effective management approaches, such as team work, business culture and management information system, have been widely utilised in Unilever. This also could contribute good forecast of marketing and sales, efficient decision making and powerful capability of competition. Those advantages could be clearly embodied in the two revolution of Unilever China. In particular, in order to avoid more waste of resource, Unilever China terminated some business in 2002 in Shanghai and transferred them to the low cost place which was in HeFei. During this process, certainly, it should deal with the loss of re-investment and high risk of changing. Nevertheless, due to some typical management errors which it had made at the beginning of re-entering China, it has had to change its temporal situation. The typical mistakes could be Market Share wars and The big project. The evidences of these errors could be discovered by some investigation in its process of growth. For instance, only in a decade, it had constructed fourteen joint ventures in China to take the leader position of Chinese market and compete with P G. Following its step, P G China also carried out some measures which might beat its challenge. Finally, that lead to both of these two firms had to reduce their products price in order to obtain more market share. Those fourteen joint ventures had caused numerous waste of fix assets, labour and operation cost.

Sensory Systems in Animals

Sensory Systems in Animals All animals have some kind of nervous system that can receive and interpret information about its internal and external environment. Sensory organs provide a means for communication from the external environment to the internal. Sensory receptors contain receptor cells that are specialised to respond to specialised stimuli. These sensory organs may be found all over the body or in localised areas. Afferent neurons carry the sensory information from the periphery toward and into the central nervous system while the efferent neurons carry information away from the central nervous system. Sensations arising when signals initiated in sensory receptors are transmitted in certain parts of the brain, producing signals in certain parts of the brain. (Hickman, Roberts, Keen, 2009) Stimulus types possess features that can be distinguished from one another. In the body of an animal the sensory receptor cells are usually modified. For example, certain receptors detect pressure, heat, chemicals, light and even pain. The stimulus for light detection and chemical detection is different and in addition, the same type of stimulus may possess different features. This can be seen, in for example the detection of blue and red light, both being perceived as a stimulus of light. In the first part of this practical the sensory structures of a number of invertebrate organisms were studied and compared to each other. Mainly chemoreception, photoreception and mechanoreception were studied. Chemicals in the animals surrounding is detected by a number of chemoreceptors. Chemoreceptors may be divided into two main categories; olfactory (smell), which respond to airborne molecules and gustatory (taste), responding to dissolved molecules. Mechanoreceptors are made up of undifferentiated nerve endings found in connective tissue on the periphery of the animal such as the skin. More complex accessory structures have accessory structures that transfer mechanical energy to the receptive membrane. These mechanoreceptors are also able to filter the mechanical energy and they may also include the muscle stretch receptors Photoreception consists of transducing photons of light into electrical signals that can be interpreted by the nervous system and photoreceptive organs such as the eyes. These sensory structures in different animals have taken many different shapes and sizes that have been adapted to the particular environment best for them. Although quite different all the sensory structure of particular receptor has the same function of collecting information from the environment and responding in the best way possible to enhance its survival. Apparatus Light Microscope cardboard Stereomicroscope 1g-5g, 10 g, 20 g, 50, 100 g weights Pencil x3 500 mL water bath Pointed forceps heater/Bunsen to heat water Stop watch thermometer X3 5 c coins Method Refer to attached sheet Precautions The plastomounts were placed under a stereomicroscope for better viewing of small body features The same pair of forceps was used to apply the stimulus since different instruments could result in different outcomes. As much as possible the coin was placed in the sample place for all subjects since different area may have a different amount of receptors. The temperature in the water baths was measured before the experiment was conducted. This was done so that the initial temperature of the water for all the subjects would be the same. Thus the results would be more comparable. Sources of Error Due to the clothing worn the experiment of tactile response using the forceps had to be carried out over the clothing. This thus formed an extra layer that could decrease the response of the nerve. Not all the sensory structures of the organisms may have been identified. The experiments on each subject were only carried out once. More accurate results would have been obtained if carried out at least 3 times Results Part A Refer to attached diagrams Thermoreception For all 3 subjects the cold water was almost painful, while the water at 45 degrees was soothing. On placing the hand in the water at room temperature the right hand felt the water warm while the left hand (previously in the warm water) felt the water cold. Discussion Part A: Invertebrates These sensory structures in different animals have taken many different shapes and sizes that have been adapted to the particular environment best for them. These mainly have evolved from simple to more complex sensory organs that enhance the ability of the animal in collecting information from the environment and responding in the best way possible to enhance its survival. The Cnidarian Hydra, has relatively simple sensory cells scattered all over the body among the other epidermal cells, especially the mouth and tentacles. It is of utmost importance for sensory structures to be located all over the body due to the fact that the animal is radially symmetrical and can detect stimuli from all direction, including the detection of predators. The free end of every sensory cell bears a flagellum, which is the sensory receptor for chemical and tactile stimuli. The other end branches into fine processes, which synapse with nerve cells. On the surface of the animal is a modified cilia called a Cnidocil, that when simulated by any mechanical stimulation releases a nematocyst that is toxic to the predator. (Barnes Cawlow, 2002) These sense organs then lead into a diffuse nerve network, forming two interconnected nerve nets. It is of utmost importance for sensory structures to be located all over the body due to the fact that the animal is radially symmetrical and can detect stimuli from all direction, including the detection of predators. (Hickman, Roberts, Keen, 2009) From the radially symmetrical Cnidarian one can move on to the bilaterally symmetrical Platyhelminthes that is represented here by the Planaria. Here the nervous system is organised into two longitudinal nerve chords that end in the anterior of the animal. This forms an anterior head and cephalisation is introduced. (Hickman, Roberts, Keen, 2009) The Planaria, unlike the Hydra are seen to have an eye spot and auricles. The auricles are lobe like and are found on the sides of the head. The auricles act as a means of chemoreception while the eye spot serves as photoreceptor detecting light. Like the Hydra, it may also contain a statocyst for equilibrium and rheoreceptors for sensing water currents. Cephalisation allowed the animal to develop a bilaterally symmetrical shape. The animal moved forward and can detect changes in the environment with the part of the body with the most sensory organs, its anterior region. (Leineschh, 2007) The Pulmonate gastropod, belonging to the class Gastropoda is seen to further develop its sensory in the anterior of the body. In the anterior of the body the animal is seen to have paired eyes that function as photoreceptors, even though they are not capable of forming an image. Also the labial  and  cephalic tentacles  are mechanoreceptors, sensitive to tactile stimuli, and are probably also chemoreceptive.  Ã‚  Ã‚  (Hickman, Roberts, Keen, 2009) The general body surface is also sensitive to chemical and mechanical stimuli.  Ã‚  The gastropod also has a structure that acts as both a mechanical and chemoreceptor. This is seen to be the osphradium  which is located in the inhalant respiratory water current where it monitors water on the way to the gill. A common structure with the previously studied animals is the statocyst which functions as a detector of gravity. (Hickman, Roberts, Keen, 2009) The next three species studied all belong to the phylum Arthropoda, but are found in different classes. The first to be studied was the Tarantula found in the class Arachnida (order Aranea). This animal has hair like receptors called sensory setae that function as mechanoreceptors all over the body of the animal. Also, in addition they have small, extremely sensitive tactile hairs called trichobothria that are sensitive to even airborne vibrations, including sound frequencies. Chemoreception is associated with fine hairs surrounding the mouth, on the pedipalps. (Hickman, Roberts, Keen, 2009) The tarantula also has 8 simple eyes that are made up of a lens, optical rods, and a retina. Even though most only can detect movement like the previously studied animals, some are able to form images. Since the spider is more accustomed to capturing prey within webs, vision is relatively unimportant and thus in most remain simple. (Underwood, 2009) Another member of the phylum Arthropoda is the scorpion, classified in the class Scorpionida. Although they are equipped with venom for defence the scorpion is still seen to be the prey of many other animals, thus they require specialised sensory structures for detection of danger. This animal is seen to possess a unique sensory structure know as a pectine. This is used primarily in detecting vibrations which are used for capturing prey. (Gaoge Smith , 2000) This is seen to be the primary chemosensory organs of scorpions. The pectines are found in the ventral medial part of body and are seen to be paired appendages that brush the substrate as the scorpion walks. Comb-like organ consists of a supportive spine and an array of teeth. Each tooth supports hundreds of setaform sensilla called pegs. The neuronal cell layer within the teeth is seen to be further divided into inner and outer sub-larninae, comprised of chemosensory and mechanosensory neurons. (Melville, 2000) Similar to the arachnids described previously, the scorpion has sensory hairs called setae that function as tactile and chemosensory hairs. These sensory hairs are also found on the pedipalps of the animal to sense air-borne vibrations. Also, thicker setae are found all over the body to detect direct touch. In contrast to the spiders the scorpions possess six pairs of eyes as part of their photoreceptor structure. The last arthropod group to be described is the centipede, classified into the sub-phylum Myiapoda and order Centipedes. These animals are seen to possess one pair of antennae instead of the usual two paid found in other arthropods. The antennae are sensory appendages found in the head of the animal that are sensitive to airborne chemicals and also possibly humidity. Similar to the planaria, Centipedes also bears a pair of simple eyes made up of ocelli. (Barnes Cawlow, 2002) Part B: Sensory function in Mammals Mechanoreception Somatosensory system has a large number of receptrors which vary in location and type. Receptors are located in the superfial skin, dermal, epidermal and depper in dermis, and in subcutaneous tissue. Meissners corpusles are located in the dermal papillae, Merkels receptors in the dermal papillae, and bare nerve endings. Subcuateous receptors, beneath both the previously mentiones layers, possess pacinian and Rufflin corpusles. Pacinian may be both cutaneous and subcutaneous. (Wang , 2007) The Pacinian corpusles are present in the skin, muscles, mesentery, tendons, and joints of mammals that are rapidly adapting. Each Pacinian corpuscle contains a region of receptor membrane that is sensitive to mechanical stimuli and that is surrounded by concentric lamellae of connective tissue structures (Anonymous, 2007) Pressure on the corpuscle transmits mechanically through the layers to the sensitive membrane of the receptor neuron. The receptor membrane normally responds with a brief, transient depolarization at both the onset and the offset of the deformation. The mechanical properties of the intact corpuscle, which preferentially pass rapid changes in pressure, confer on the receptor neuron its normally phasic response. (Randall, Berggren, French, 1997) This behaviour explains why the sensation of the coin was lost after a few seconds. The added coin did not produce enough mechanical force to excite the Pacinian corpustle once again, thus it was not felt. The time taken for the coin to stop being felt varied from person to person. This could be due to the different amount of tissue between the skin and the nerve. The thicker the less the coin is felt and the quicker is sensation is lost. A mechanoreceptors  receptive field  is the area within which a stimulus can excite the cell. If the skin is touched in two separate points within a single receptive field, the subject will be unable to feel the two separate points. If the two points touched span more than a single receptive field then both will be felt. The size of mechanoreceptors receptive fields in a given area determines the degree to which detailed stimuli can be resolved: the smaller and more densely clustered the receptive fields, the higher the resolution. For this reason, the density of the Merkel nerve endings and Meissners corpuscles determine the sensitivity of the particular area. (Wang , 2007) From the results obtained the fingertip is seen to be the most sensitive and thus will have a high density of Merkel nerve endings and Meissners corpuscles. On the other hand the fore arm is seen to be one of the least sensitive and thus will have a small density of the nerves Besides physical contact detected by mechanoreceptors, more complex accessory structures are able to transfer mechanical energy to the receptive membrane. These most complex accessory structure associate with mechanoreceptive cells is the vertebrate middle and inner ear. Hair cells are found in all vertebrate animals including humans, and are extremely sensitive mechanoreceptors. They are responsible for transducing mechanical stimuli to electrical signals. They are found in several locations. For example, in vertebrate fish and amphibians, an external set of receptors are called the lateral line system. This system is based on series of hair cells that detect motion in the surrounding water and when stimulated produces an action potential as in the mammalian ear. This lateral line is, however, not present in mammals. (Hickman, Roberts, Keen, 2009) The ears of vertebrates perform two sensory functions. The organs of equilibrium perform like the statocysts in invertebrates that allow the animal to detect its position with respect to gravity. The organ of hearing provides formation about vibrational stimuli in the environment, thus detecting sound. (Hickman, Roberts, Keen, 2009) Sound waves enter the external ear of a vertebrate aided by the pinna and the tragus. The entire external structure has a function similar to that of a funnel, amplifying and then concentrating sound waves. Vibrations from sound waves cause changes in air pressure, which travel from the external ear, down the auditory canal, and then move the eardrum. The ear converts energy of sound into nerve impulses. The vibration of the eardrum causes the fluid of the cochlea to move. The basilar membrane containing the floor of the cochlea, and the scala media, containing the organ of corti is where these vibrations undergo the conversion to neuronal impulses. The organ of corti contains sensory hair cells, and the waves of fluid in the cochlea press the hair cells against an overhanging tectorial membrane, and then pull them away. These hair cells are just across synapses from sensory neurons, and this action provides a stimulus that opens sodium channels in the sensory cell membranes. This provides for an action potential in the environment of high potassium concentrations that the endolymph has. Auditory nerves located in a spiral ganglion carry the action potential to the brain. (Randall, Berggren, French, 1997) Invertebrates, such as the insects have ears located on their thoracic legs and are associated with respiratory passages, called the trachea. The ear tympanum has an analogous function to the tympanic membrane of the mammalian ear. Similar to a mammal, sound waves stimulate the membrane to vibrate, but in the insect, this directly activates nerve impulses. (Barnes Cawlow, 2002) Some insects also have a related tracheal system that directs information on air pressure changes, inside the insect, to the eardrum. If the right tympanum is stimulated, it will send the signal through the tracheae to the left tympanum. The delay in stimulus between the left and the right ear helps the insect locate the direction from which the sound came. Webers law states that the ratio of the difference threshold to the value of stimulus is constant. According to this relationship, doubling the value of the stimulus will cause a doubling of the difference in the threshold. As seen in the results the just noticeable difference or intensity difference for the 50 g and 100 g was seen to be constant for all the subjects. Chemoreception Vertebrates, including humans detect chemicals using general receptors and two types of specialized receptors, gustatory and olfactory. Many aquatic vertebrates have generalized chemical receptors scattered over their body surface. Vertebrates usually accomplish chemoreception by moving chemically rich air or water into a canal or sac that contains the chemical receptors. Mammals together with other vertebrate have taste receptor cells located in taste buds which are supported by basal cells. Chemoreception is much different in invertebrates than in vertebrates. For example, planarians find food by following chemical gradients in their surroundings. Their simple chemoreceptors are found in pits on their bodies, over which they move water with cilia. Insects have chemoreceptors in their body surface, mouthparts, antennae, forelegs, and, in some cases, the ovipositor. Moths, for example, smell with thousands of sensory hairs on their antennae. (Barnes Cawlow, 2002) Photoreception In vertebrates such as humans, the surface of the eyeball is made up of the sclera, a white connective tissue, and under that a thin pigmented layer called the choroid. The sclera contains the cornea which is transparent, and is where light initially enters the eye, and the choroid contains the iris which contracts and expands to regulate the amount of light entering the hole in its centre, known as the pupil. The rear internal surface of the eye is the retina, which contains the actual photoreception cells. In the retina, there are two types of receptor cells, rods and cones. Rods and cones contain visual pigments made up of light absorbing retinal molecules. (Randall, Berggren, French, 1997) Compound eyes of arthropods are image forming eyes composed of many optic units called ommatidia. These are able to detect a very small fraction of the spectrum of light that the eye as a whole is exposed to; like the rods and cones of the vertebrate eye. In compound eyes, the photoreception cells are called retinular cells, and they surround a single eccentric cell. Because the receptive field of each unit in a compound eye is relatively large, compound eyes have lower visual acuity than vertebrates. (Randall, Berggren, French, 1997) Thermoreception Temperature is an important environmental variable, and many organisms acquire sensory information about temperature from the action of specialized nerve endings known as thermoreceptors, in the skin. Both the external skin and upper surface of the tongue of mammals contain warmth and cold receptors. the warmth receptors detect an increase in temperature in the environment by increasing the firing rate transient. On the contrary cold receptors increase its firing rate transient when a cool environment is detected. (Randall, Berggren, French, 1997) These receptors are quite sensitive. Their firing rate is seen to increase the more the temperature of the external environment varies from the internal body temperature of about 37 OC. when the temperature becomes sufficiently different the patter changes for both types of receptors and the frequency of the action potential is seen to drop. The response of the thermoreceptors consists of a large transient change in firing rate, followed by a longer-lasting, steady-state phase. Other sensory structures that are not present in humans also exist. For example, snakes have thermoreceptors that are able to detect emitted heat energy. This is advantageous for them to detect warm-blooded prey. Also fish are able to use very low frequency electrical signals to communicate in murky water, thus they are able to locate each other. (Hickman, Roberts, Keen, 2009) Conclusion From this experiment it was concluded that different organisms have different sensory structures adapted to their unique modes of life. One could also not that as animals become more complex, their sensory structures are also seen to be more developed. This can be seen from the evolution of the simple eye spot in planaria to the complex eye found in humans. Not only are humans seen to be able to detect movement but also colour. However, one may also note that humans do not always possess the most advanced sensory structures. This can be seen in for example, the ability of reptile snakes to detect infrared radiation. This being absent in humans.

Analysis Of Collocations, Phraseology And Idioms

Analysis Of Collocations, Phraseology And Idioms In our life we often meet situations when people use idioms and collocations. We can hear when somebody says: something is dead sure or I have to keep a tight rein on Tom. Young people often think what does it mean? or How can we translate it?. People have huge problems in the translation of phraseology. Grammar problem is common, because there are several constructions of grammar poorly understood. Very often it is not clear how they should be represented, or what rules should be used to describe them. I would like to mention that in English one linguistic form can be used to encode of meaning while in Polish form and meaning usually are conditioned by each other. English speakers usually choose lexemes very broad in meaning to encode a message. Idioms, collocations and phraseology very often are used in business language, for example: to launch a campaign. We should know basic collocations, phraseology and idioms if we want to understand foreign languages. It can really help. On the other hand it is very important to study the relation between English and Polish phraseology and their culture. In the first part, I will present typological classification of bilingual dictionaries, theory of bilingual lexicography, function of bilingual dictionaries, target group or users, translation problems between Polish and English language, phraseology, expression, vallency collocation, loose collocation- basic terms, types of collocations. The second part contains a precise description of the dictionary included in my work. The third part has the character of dictionary and consists of a systemized extract of collocations with their English equivalents. Typological classification of bilingual dictionaries A bilingual dictionary or translation dictionary is a specialized dictionary used to translate words or phrases from one language to another. Bilingual dictionaries can be unidirectional, meaning that they list the meanings of words of one language in another, or can be bidirectional, allowing translation to and from both languages.(Al-Kasimi 1983: 10) Bidirectional bilingual dictionaries usually consist of two sections, each listing words and phrases of one language alphabetically along with their translation. In addition to the translation, a bilingual dictionary usually indicates the part of speech, gender, verb type, declension model and other grammatical clues to help a non-native speaker use the word. ( Hartman 1998: 25) Dictionaries can be classified into various types of the basic of different criteria. To begin with we have to differentiate between dictionary proper and dictionary like works. Zgusta (1971) calls these linguistic and non-linguistic dictionaries respectively. The linguistic dictionaries are concerned with the words or lexical units of languages and they are called word books. The non-linguistic dictionaries are not concerned with words but with realia or denotata (thing)) they are called encyclopedias, or thing books. They are similar to dictionaries only in their alphabetical arrangement of words denoting the realia. Anyhow the aspects of the realia which are called encyclopaedic features such as description, photos, diagrams etc., are given in certain types of dictionaries to add to the utility of the dictionary. Classification of linguistic dictionaries has been attempted by a number of scholars such as Shcherba (1940), Sebok (1962), Malkiel (1959); Cornym (1967), Zgusta (1971), Svensen (1993). (Devapala 2004 : 2) Bilingual dictionaries have become a necessary part of our daily economic, intellectual, and cultural activities. A new system of classifying bilingual dictionaries, help language teachers to select the most appropriate dictionaries for their students. In 1934 Mansion noted that bilingual dictionaries are not scientific in their treatment of words, and have not kept pace with progress in philology.(Al-Kasimi 1983 : 85) There are many kinds of dictionaries such as glossary, concordance, vocabulary, word book, index, linguistic atlas, encyclopaedic dictionary. The classification of bilingual dictionaries: (Al-Kasimi 1983:12-13) Dictionaries for the speakers of the source language vs. dictionaries for the speakers of the target language; Dictionaries for production vs. dictionaries for comprehension; Dictionaries of the literary language vs. dictionaries of the spoken language; Dictionaries for the human user vs. dictionaries for machine translation; Historical dictionaries vv. Descriptive dictionaries; Lexical dictionaries vs. encyclopaedic dictionaries; Genaral dictionaries vs. special dictionaries The classification of bilingual dictionaries that are combined with machine translators on the Language Grid. The dictionaries on the Language Grid can be classified into the following three types: (WawrzyÅ„czyk 1996: 8) Global Dictionaries: This type of dictionary is a Web service that provides the standard interface of a bilingual dictionary. Further, such types of dictionaries are registered on the Language Grid. In addition, Global dictionaries are large-sized bilingual dictionaries either specialized for certain domain or general purpose and are shared between the Language Grid Users (e.g., Online Dictionary of Academic Terms); Local Dictionaries: These are also Web services with a standard interface; however they are not registered on the Language Grid. These are large-sized dictionaries specialized for a certain user and are not open to the other Language Grid users. (e.g A Dictionary for NPO Pangaca) Temporal Dictionaries: These dictionaries unlike the other two types, are not Web services and are only accessiblefrom a users application system. These are typically small-sized dictionaries specialized for a certain user and are not open to the other Language Grid users (e.g. Users Dictionary for Language Grid Playground) (Al-Kasimi 1983: 28). A bilingual dictionary can combine a number of the defining features of these contrasts in accordance with the purpose it is intended to serve. 1.2 Theory of bilingual lexicography This part is concerned with selected problems in bilingual lexicography. Lexicography is divided into two related disciplines: Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. (Fontenelle 2008: 45) Theoretical lexicography is the scholarly discipline of analyzing and describing the semantic, syntagmatic and paradigmatic relationships within the lexicon (vocabulary) of a language, developing theories of dictionary components and structures linking the data in dictionaries, the needs for information by users in specific types of situation, and how users may best access the data incorporated in printed and electronic dictionaries. (WawrzyÅ„czyk 1996 : 36) This is sometimes referred to as metalexicography. General lexicography focuses on the design, compilation, use and evaluation of general dictionaries, i.e. dictionaries that provide a description of the language in general use. Such a dictionary is usually called a general dictionary or LGP dictionary.(Hill 2002: 9) Bilingual lexicography is occasionally given an important place in lexicography. Most lexicographical literature is focused on monolingual dictionaries, and most often monolingual lexicography is considered to be the proper one. (WawrzyÅ„czyk 1996: 42) Practical lexicographic work involves several activities, and the compilation of really crafted dictionaries require careful consideration of all or some of the following aspects: Profiling the intended users (i.e. linguistic and non-linguistic competences) and identifying their needs, Defining the communicative and cognitive functions of the dictionary, Selecting and organizing the components of the dictionary, Choosing the appropriate structures for presenting the data in the dictionary (i.e. frame structure, distribution structure, macro-structure, micro-structure and cross-reference structure), Selecting words and affixes for systematization as entries, Selecting collocations, phrases and examples, Choosing lemma forms for each word or part of word to be lemmatized, Defining words, Organizing definitions, Specifying pronunciations of words, Labeling definitions and pronunciations for register and dialect, where appropriate. (Hartman 1998:29) One important consideration is the status of bilingual lexicography, or the compilation and use of the bilingual dictionary in all its aspects. In spite of a relatively long history of this dictionary type, it is often said to be less developed in a number of respects than its monolingual counterpart, especially in cases where one of the languages involved is not a major language.(WawrzyÅ„czyk 1996: 45) Not all genres of reference works are available in interlingual versions, e.g. LSP, learners and encyclopedic types, although sometimes these challenges produce new subtypes, e.g. semi-bilingual or bilingualised dictionaries like Hornbys (Oxford) Advanced Learners Dictionary English-Chinese, which have been developed by translating existing monolingual dictionaries. 1.3 Functions of bilingual dictionaries Bilingual dictionaries have many functions. They are used for many tasks and by different groups of users: learners, translators, scholars. Bilingual dictionaries are used in order to aquire some knowledge about one or both of the languages, knowledge which is necessary above all for communication. Students need a good bilingual dictionary to help in their reading of simplified materials in the foreign language. A good bilingual dictionary is an indispensable tool for the student in the intermediate stage of foreign language learning. Some scholars argue that bilingual dictionaries are very inadequate and unnatural because they present words out of their natural elements-context, they put together items which hardly ever occur in the same communicative situation. According to A. Hill (2006) the ideal dictionaries are still and will always be, essential not only in a dictionary prepared for pedagogical purposes, but in only other dictionary as well. These five types of information are: the phonemic structure of word, in morphemic structure; the grammatical modification is undergoes, its syntactic habits, and its meanings. (Hill 2006: 20) A good dictionary should be different for foreigner students of the language and for the native speakers. (Al-Kasimi 1983: 55) 1.4 Target groups or users Users belong to different groups such as children, students, teachers, scientists, trainees, technicians etc. Hartman (1195) classifies the needs of the users into two types (Hill 2006:56): Information: It is one of the factors for the users seek to help of a dictionary to check spellings, meaning, synonyms, pronunciation, etymology. Operations: That is, when the user performs tasks as reading, writing and translating.He refers to the dictionary to find words and meanings. From the point of view of types of users and their two types of needs, dictionaries fall into different categories such as dictionaries for children, students, translators, learners, scholars, creatives writes. Categorisation of the dictionaries from the point of view of user, influences the articulation of the work in the collection of material, selection of entries, choice of defining words while constructing the entries etc. Therefore, this is an important factor in dictionary making and the compiler has to clearly decide on the type of the users and their needs. 1.5 Translation problems There are some particular problems in the translation process: problems of ambiguity, problems that originate from structural and lexical differences between languages and multiword units like idioms and collocations. Another problem would be the grammar because there are several constructions of grammar poorly understood, in the sense that it isnt clear how they should be represented, or what rules should be used to describe them. (Schmalstieg 1969: 20) The words that are really hard to translate are frequently the small common words, whose precise meaning depends heavily on context. Besides, some words are untranslatable when one wishes to remain in the same grammatical category. Language problems: (Schmalstieg 1969:45) Idioms terms and neologism, Unsolved acronyms and abbreviations, Proper names of people, organizations, and places, Slang difficult to understand, Respect to punctuation conventions. English speakers usually choose lexemes very broad in meaning to encode a message. In contrast, very broad lexemes do not occur in Polish frequently, i.e. Polish: English: SzyĆ¡ sukienkÄâ„ ¢ make (sew) a dress 1.6 Phraseology and collocations-basic terms Phraseology appeared in the domain of lexicology and undergoes the process of segregating as a separate branch of linguistics. The reason is clear lexicology deals with words and their meanings, whereas phraseology studies such collocations of words (phraseologisms, phraseological units, idioms), where the meaning of the whole collocation is different from the simple sum of literal meanings of the words, comprising a phraseological unit. (Altenberg 1998:17) Phraseological units are (according to Prof. Kunin A.V. 1970) stable word-groups with partially or fully transferred meanings (to kick the bucket, Greek gift, drink till alls blue, drunk as a fiddler (drunk as a lord, as a boiled owl), as mad as a hatter (as a march hare)). (Altenberg 1998: 25) A phraseological unit is a lexicalized, reproducible bilexemic or polylexemic word group in common use, which has relative syntactic and semantic stability, may be idiomatized, may carry connotations, and may have an emphatic or intensifyi ng function in a text. (Cowie 2001: 10) A collocation is two or more words that often go together. These combinations just sound right to native English speakers, who use them all the time. On the other hand, other combinations may be unnatural and just sound wrong. Look at these examples: Natural English Unnatural English a quick shower a fast shower 1.7 Types of Collocation There are several different types of collocation made from combinations of verb, noun, adjective etc. We can distinguish: petrified collocations, vallency collocations and loose collocations. Petrified collocations function in the utterance as single words. They might be replaced by a single word equivalent or by equivalent collocation to fulfil a semantic function. (M.K 2008, 9) Valency collocatons have a considerable degree of cohesion but their components did not submit to lexicalization. Valency characteristic are for example: Polish English WysunĆ¦Ãƒâ€žÃ¢â‚¬ ¡ Ã…Â ¼Ãƒâ€žÃ¢â‚¬ ¦danie put forward a claim (Ã…Â ¼Ãƒâ€žÃ¢â‚¬ ¦daĆ¡) (claim) Loose collocations are formulated only by the concrete necessity of what the speaker intends to say. There are various possibilities for combinating single words to create a loose collocation.(J.B 1993, 19) A phrase in grammar, a phrase is a group of words functioning as a single unit in the syntax of a sentence. For example, the house at the end of the street is a phrase. It acts like a noun. It can further be broken down into two shorter phrases functioning as adjectives: at the end and of the street, a shorter prepositional phrase within the longer prepositional phrase. At the end of the street could be replaced by an adjective such as nearby: the nearby house or even the house nearby. The end of the street could also be replaced by another noun, such as the crossroads to produce the house at the crossroads. Most phrases have a central word defining the type of phrase. This word is called the head of the phrase. Some phrases, however, can be headless. For example, the rich is a noun phrase composed of a determiner and an adjective without a noun. 1.8 Types of phrases Phrases may be classified by the type of head taken by them: Prepositional phrase (PP) with a preposition as head (e.g. in love, over the rainbow). Languages using postpositions instead have postpositional phrases. The two types are sometimes commonly referred to as adpositional phrases(J.B 1993; 14). Noun phrase (NP) with a noun as head (e.g. the black cat, a cat on the mat) Verb phrase (VP) with a verb as head (e.g. eat cheese, jump up and down) Adjectival phrase (AP) with an adjective as head (e.g. full of toys, fraught with guilt) Adverbial phrase (AdvP) with an adverb as head (e.g. very carefully) 2. POLISH ENGLISH PHRASEOLOGICAL DICTIONARY 2.1 THE AIM OF THE DICTIONARY A phraseological dictionary is a special type of dictionary in which all entries function as collocation. Collocation is the way in which some words are often used together or a particular combination of words used in this way.(M.K, 2008, 5) The aim of Polish-English Phraseological Dictionary is to provide a broad range of phraseological vocabulary and give guidance on words which can be used with a headword. The source of Polish collocations is primarily Phraseological Dictionary of Polish Language by Skorupka ( S.S 1985;) and Phraseological Dictionary of Polish Language by Anna Ciesielska, Katarzyna MosioÅ‚ek-KÅ‚osiÅ„ska.(A.C 1990) In Polish phraseology there is a variety of expressions typical only of the Polish language. It is necessary to mention that not all English collocation given in my work reflect the exact meaning of the Polish ones.