Search results for 'tag:Literature' matching tag 'Literature'

Re: What is the meaning of "any evidence to the contrary"?

Thomas_Anderson — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 23:25:30 GMT

jamesglick
The dark and brooding monastery is suggestive of something unpeaceful, but it is just a suggestion. By adding any evidence to the contrary, it makes it crystal clear that the monastery is in fact a peaceful place. There is no evidence, nothing that can be seen, heard, or felt to indicate that there anything other than peacefulness associated with the monastery.

Thanks a lot.

I got it that "any evidence to the contrary" is used here to put stress on the peacefulness of monastery.

But what does "any evidence to the contrary" itself means?

"any evidence to the contrary", but contrary to what?
contrary to the peacefulness? or contrary to the frightful building?

In which conditions or situations we can use "any evidence to the contrary"?
Do you have some other examples of "any evidence to the contrary" from literature?
Still some what confused!

Re: Causative verb with passive form

Cool Breeze — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:45:24 GMT

Zerox
Gerund would suggest that someone saw a part of his walking and the walking is still happening, whereas the infinite suggests that someone saw the whole event and the walking is stopped now.

I know that view has been expressed by quite a few grammarians. In my view they are just trying to make English more exact than it really is. If I see one of these sentences:

He was seen to walk in the street, or:

He was seen walking in the street,

there really is no knowing if the person saw saw part of the walking or all of it. I know many grammarians agree with me - we'll just have to disagree, I think. Anyone versed in English literature and conversational English will have noticed that even though in some cases what you say is true, there are countless examples to the contrary. I'm not blaming English here, though, because no distinction can be made in many other languages either.

Re: Stressed and unstressed syllables

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 06:47:58 GMT

Hey I'm taking british literature and I was able to understand your explanation better than my teachers!

THANKS!

Re: COMMAS

Clive — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 23:06:45 GMT

Hi,
Why ~~aren't~~ isn't there a comma after "withal" and "with the true outlook of the poet"??

He was a wide reader, one who, from natural bent, dipped into the curious and out-of-the-way corners of literature, as will be noticed in his references to other works in the course of the lectures, particularly to Rowbotham's picturesque and fascinating story of the formative period of music. Withal he was always in touch with contemporary affairs. With the true outlook of the poet he was fearless, individual, and even radical in his views. This spirit, as indicated before, he carried into his lectures, for he demanded of his pupils that above all they should be prepared to do their own thinking and reach their own conclusions. He was accustomed to say that we need in the United States, a public that shall be independent in its judgment on art and art products, that shall not be tied down to verdicts based on tradition and convention, but shall be prepared to reach conclusions through knowledge and sincerity.

I would put them, but the author apparently decided that a pause at those points was not necessary. Such comma usage can often be subjective.
It's nevertheless true that there are some common conventions for comma usage, but these can vary somewhat from era to era. I don't think this is a modern text ('withal' is a pretty archaic word), so the comma conventions may well have been different at the time it was written.

Best wishes, Clive

COMMAS

wholegrain — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 22:01:53 GMT

Why aren't there a comma after "withal" and "with the true outlook of the poet"??

He was a wide reader, one who, from natural bent, dipped into the curious and out-of-the-way corners of literature, as will be noticed in his references to other works in the course of the lectures, particularly to Rowbotham's picturesque and fascinating story of the formative period of music. Withal he was always in touch with contemporary affairs. With the true outlook of the poet he was fearless, individual, and even radical in his views. This spirit, as indicated before, he carried into his lectures, for he demanded of his pupils that above all they should be prepared to do their own thinking and reach their own conclusions. He was accustomed to say that we need in the United States, a public that shall be independent in its judgment on art and art products, that shall not be tied down to verdicts based on tradition and convention, but shall be prepared to reach conclusions through knowledge and sincerity.

Re: Advice wanted on a piece of translation

Clive — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 14:59:41 GMT

Hi,

I translated a sentence this afternoon, from Chinese, by the way. I display it here, see if you guys can uderstand what I'm saying. And I want your opinions. Thanks.

The concept and methods of research in Literature and Art and those of research in Aesthetics are becoming integrated. This integration, with its changes and developments, is the result of the being constantly widened research in (the?) aesthetics of literature and art in this new century, and is inevitable, both historically and logically.

The meaning of the underlined part is not totally unclear to me.

The phrase 'the being constantly widened research' is extremely cumbersome. You might say something like
. . . is the result of research ,that is constantly being widened, in the aesthetics of literature and art in this new century . . .

In the first part, you are keeping Literature and Art and Aesthetics separate, but later you are speaking of the aesthetics of literature and art without capitals. I don't know if that was intentional or not.

Overall, my advice is to reword the second sentence.

Best wishes, Clive

Advice wanted on a piece of translation

Longforest — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 13:09:35 GMT

I translated a sentence this afternoon, from Chinese, by the way. I display it here, see if you guys can uderstand what I'm saying. And I want your opinions. Thanks.

The concept and methods of research in Literature and Art and those of research in Aesthetics are becoming integrated. This integration, with its changes and developments, is the result of the being constantly widened research in aesthetics of literature and art in new century, and is inevitable, both historically and logically.

Re: Come and see what is the topic?!!

Prez1dent — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 15:33:12 GMT

PP, there is a similar topic on the forum, just try to look for it. There you will find lots of interesting posts about literature

Help with Erasmus Motivation Statement.

MauricioL — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 12:22:48 GMT

Hello there, recently i found a great guide in this forum: http://www.englishforums.com/English/WriteMotivationCoverLetter/bzlmn/post.htm
I used it for writing my motivation letter for the Erasmus programme of computational Mechanics i'm applying for... This is how the registration form asks for it:

Normal 0 21 false false false ES X-NONE X-NONE Please write a motivation statement in the box below. This should not exceed 2 pages. Please include why you are applying for admission to the MSc Computational Mechanics programme, explain your reasons for undertaking graduate work, as well as an explanation of your academic interests, including their relation to your undergraduate study, life and professional goals.

Please note that as lenghty as it looks it doesn't go over 2 pages, with a size 11 typeset.

What do you think of it? Please feel free to point anything out.

Motivation statement:

Normal 0 21 false false false ES X-NONE X-NONE

In the year 2006, a new career path opened for me. I took a three-day course in 3D CAD modeling. The subject wasnât covered in the mechanical engineering programme of my University, at least not at the time, and I didnât have any idea of the development, use and opportunities in computational methods for a mechanical engineer. More than just focusing on developing one skill, it piqued my curiosity into computational mechanics, drove me to investigate about it, and after the course was over, I continued my training by using tutorials provided by the software developer itself. I didnât know it by then, but this small course had a big impact on the career decisions I was about to make.

After taking the advanced course in CAD modeling, I had already decided I would specialize in this subject as much as possible; even though it wasnât a requisite, I used CAD modeling for design-driven projects and assignments during my undergraduate studies. It sped up the process of creating drawings and graphical representations. For some, the time spent on tutorials and problem solving within the software was a waste of time; it was a great opportunity for me, since I was already thinking of the skills I needed to develop to work on this field.

On the same year, I attended a lecture on a research done on the Facultyâs Energy Department. It featured a CFD analysis of a can combustor. Using computational methods for this kind of analysis involving fluid flow and heat transfer was a novel idea for me, and I took note of the lecturerâs final words: âIf you are interested in research involving CFD, just look for us in the Energy Department.â; little did I know he would be the tutor for my upcoming thesis.

Nevertheless, I did not take action immediately after this lecture. It was only around June 2007, when I was presented with an opportunity for developing a thesis project on the design of a sand mixer for a foundry. There was funding, the design was rather simple, and I would work in the project with my best friend. Thatâs when I remembered the lecture, and how there was a chance to work in this subject. I headed to the Facultyâs Energy Department, and asked for a thesis assignment. That was when I started working on the CFD simulation of a cooling tower, and declined the offer of the sand mixer design. Besides showing my background, this sheds some light on how far I will go to stand by my goals and long-term decisions.

My internship was on PDV, Venezuelaâs Largest oil company; Sadly, it was unrelated to my field and I worked in the maintenance department of an Oil field in another city. Even still, I had a good performance, and I found out there were opportunities for me to work on a thesis project, which would surely end up in a job placement; By that time my thesis with the Energy Department was already approved and the Cooling tower geometry and mesh was almost done. Then again, I chose to stick to my goals. I still believe it was the best decision.

During my project I spent a lot of time reading scientific papers, Literature and tutorials on the CFD code used by the department (ANSYS CFX) and talking to Post-grade students and teachers. It was then I decided I would pursue a career on Computational Fluid Dynamics and computational mechanics in general by starting a post-graduate course as soon as I obtained my first degree.

This Erasmus Course opens up a lot of doors for me. After if obtain this Master degree, I plan to engage in research by applying for a PhD studentship right away; Swansea University has some research on Fluid-Structure Integration modeling (FSI), which is one of the non-compulsory courses I plan to take if I receive the scholarship. Since this course and my choice of institutions are not focused only in Fluid Dynamics, but has structural / material mechanics as well, it gives students a great knowledge base for engaging in research for this topic. The UPC University in Barcelona also has a doctoral degree in thermal engineering that covers many subjects of my interest. There are also more choices, such as Cranfieldâs PhD studentship in CFD for Compressible Flows. It might be hasteful to list some examples of topics I would be interested for a doctoral degree, but I like to be systematical and plan things ahead. I even have plans for what kind of short or post grade courses part-time I could take after I have obtained my doctoral degree.

Iâm interested in getting work experience in this field, and developing team-work and communication skills; this will be probably until I can obtain funds to take on a Doctoral degree course, or after it. That influences my choice, because CIMNEâS Computational Mechanics course with the Erasmus Scholarship might be the best preparation I could get in the world for working in this field at the moment; The Erasmus Programmes are recognized worldwide, and so is the quality of the Universities involved in them.

To summarize, I can state that I am sure of how much I want to pursue this career, and this Erasmus Course is a great start. The subjects are challenging, but that is the same way I felt about my thesis project at the beginning. I am also aware of the competition for obtaining the Erasmus scholarship is fierce, but I believe my background, experience with Computational Mechanics and CFD software goals, preparation and motivation are more than enough for applying.

... And that's it. I was thinking of basiclly slaugther that paragraph about my internship... what do you think? Thanks in advance, guys.

Re: (Teachers Wanted)-Guangzhou, China-Hiring English Teachers

Anonymous — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 23:41:28 GMT

i am currently tgeaching at shuzhou university esl courses - i wish to travel to guangzhou this summer and am interested in employment your fine establishment - i have a current work visa and foreign expert status - am also a college graduate and have 1 year graduate studies in literature with emphasis in research writing and teaching college composition - please reply with more information as to how to proceed with process of employment -

<E-mail address removed by mod. If you register, your contact details can be added to your profile.>
<Please also note that the announcement that you are responding to was posted 4 years ago.>