Ethnic Culture and Culture of Poverty the Gypsy/Roma Essay

Peter Szuhay asked in Constructing a Gypsy National Culture whether the Gypsies are an ethnic culture or a culture of poverty. I would like to argue that the Gypsy identity is a product of traditional ethnic culture as well as the product of a marginalized social stratum. There are many aspects of gypsy ethnic culture to which can be contributed to the result of marginalization and sometimes those same ethnic cultural traits become stereotypes to which society justifies their stigmatization and poverty. Thus emerges a pattern of both ethnic and social traits being interdependent, intertwined and self-perpetuated. The intersection of the two conflicting cultures can be seen in the following statement made by many and is commonly†¦show more content†¦Often Romany families who are poor will avoid the schools, and if they do send the children to school they have trouble going regularly as well as being socially accepted by the teacher and his classmates. (Sigler 7) A majori ty of these children are not able to advance further in their education because they fail to neither pass biased exams nor be fluent enough in the language of the state. Thus they are either held back or send to a special school and later end up at a trade school. In this case, the distinct language that distinguishes their ethnic culture also serves as a handicap to the children, perpetuating their social immobility and continues to stigmatize into a culture of poverty. In Miriam Lee Kaprows study of the Gitanos in Spain she found that the only cultural characteristic to which she can distinguish a Gypsy from a local is through something she call the essence of the Gypsy. This essence is their flair and the sheer energy with which they embarked on everything. (Willems 5) Agnes Daroczi describes the Gypsies knack for living from day to day and value of feeling good is the same characterization for an ideal ethnic cultural trait that is unique and shared among the diverse Gypsy communities all across EuropeShow MoreRelatedGypsies : A Orthodox Christian And Muslim1520 Words   |  7 Pageslikely thinking about the image of a Gypsy. Gypsies live a way of life that is not common to the regular masses. The loud music, partying through the nights, and moving whole families across countries at the blink of an eye is not a common practice for the average human, unless the human is a Gypsies. This ethnic group is thought to have originated from India and wa s considered travelers of the world, practicing a religion of sorts called Paganism. When a Gypsy family would move to another area inRead MoreThe History and Circumstances of the People from Rome Essay807 Words   |  4 PagesThe Roma people of Europe have descended from India about 1,000 years ago and arrived in the European Union in the 14th Century .The history and circumstances of the Roma population today is influenced due to the ideas that surround migration and nomadism. The Roma have been associated with â€Å"nomadism† because some Roma groups are still wandering groups predominantly in Romania (Cahn Guild, 2010). The Roma are the biggest ethnic minority in the European Union and it is estimated that there areRead MoreThe Lifestyle Of Romanian Gypsies As An Indigenous Group1144 Words   |  5 Pagesunderstand the lifestyle of Romanian Gypsies as an indigenous group, this paper will provide insight toward their distinctive subculture, survival means, ability to w ithstand racial discrimination and unethical living conditions. 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Most cities and nations do not treat Gypsies as equals and have a history of sufferingRead MoreEssay on Discrimination Against the Gypsies435 2 Words   |  18 Pagesone of the victories of human spirit over the blows of fate. Today the Roms revive their culture and are looking for their identity. On the other hand, they integrate into the societies in which they live. If they are understood by their fellow citizens in their new homelands, their culture will enrich the societys atmosphere with the color and charm of spontaneity (Ghandi). The word Gypsy is used to describe a particular nomadic group of people who originated in Northern IndiaRead MoreGypsies in the Czech Republic Essay2615 Words   |  11 PagesGypsies in the Czech Republic The Gypsies of the former Czechoslovakia have suffered ethnic marginalization dating back to their arrival in Eastern Europe over 700 years ago. The collapse of communism in Czechoslovakia, and other Eastern Europe countries created the necessary conditions for the ethnic mobilization of the Gypsies and other minorities. During communism minorities presence in Eastern Europe was not officially recognized. The transition from the socialist system to democracyRead MoreThe Roma People, A Peripatetic And Indigenously Indo European Ethnic Group962 Words   |  4 PagesThe Roma people, a peripatetic and indigenously Indo-European ethnic group, are one of the European continent’s largest and most systematically stigmatized minorities. EU member countries and officials have repressed their culture for centuries and insulated migrants into failing schools, communal city tenements, and disproportionate housing restrictions. The pervading anti-Roma rhetoric in Europe has gone so far a s to elicit violence; leading to an unprecedented spike in ethnically motivated hateRead MoreBorn in 1951 in a Romanian home, Stefan Balcescu’s early life was spent in and around the Atlanta2000 Words   |  8 Pageswhen I lived in Atlanta and after knowing him for quite some time, his music truly enthralled me. Stefan’s father is Romanian and his mother is Romanian Romani, (gypsy ancestry). Stefan works as a middle school history teacher, but in his spare time he is playing gigs and creating a collation of traditional Eastern European and Roma gypsy music from his native Romania. I recently had the chance to speak to with Stefan to discuss the political and social conditions within his life that produced thisRead MoreRoma And Non Roma People2421 Words   |  10 PagesRomani People commonly known as Roma, Gypsies or Travelers account for around 11 million people scattered across Europe today, mostly in the Eastern European states. They have been persecuted and discri minated against due to large cultural differences since their arrival to Europe. The post-1989 transition from communism in Eastern Europe created a huge ethnic underclass of Roma who by many measures such as political, social, and economic, have the lowest status of any ethnic group in Eastern Europe. ThisRead MoreAnalysis Of Concepts Of Health, Disability, Illness And Behavior3120 Words   |  13 Pagesof Travellers and Gypsies and how it has changed over time 1.3 Analysis of legislation, society and culture made available by services for Travellers and Gypsies LO2 2.1 Analysis of the care needs of Travellers and Gypsies 2.2 Explanation of current systems for supporting Travellers and Gypsies 2.3 Evaluation of services available locally for Travellers and Gypsies LO3 3.1 Explanation of the approaches and interventions available, to support Travellers and Gypsies 3.2 Evaluation

Edward Scissorhands Connected with to Kill a Mockingbird

Stage 1 English Specialist Mrs Brindal, 2007 Jacqueline Bonsell, 1101 Word Count: 1,397 Compare the ways in which the authors of two texts explore how society treats people who are different. The texts Edward Scissorhands - directed by Tim Burton - and To Kill a Mockingbird - a controversial novel written by Harper Lee - both explore the ways in which society treats people who are not like them whether it is because they look or act different. Both texts demonstrate how a misunderstood character can be quickly judged through his actions and appearance. Whilst the two texts focus mainly on appearance as an explanation for the way the characters are treated, they also illustrate the death of innocence through critical eyes. Harper Lee and†¦show more content†¦Using Edward as the mockingbird, all his intentions are is to satisfy his loved ones, preferably Kim but when he is arrested due to a failed robbery attempt which was set up by Kim’s boyfriend, Edward is almost entirely loathed by everyone except for the Boggs family. This incident clearly illustrates how society welcomes only those they can take advantage of, and once proven un-useful, they are condemn ed for life. In Edward Scissorhands, each of the characters have their own persona, just as the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird do. Peg and Atticus both have similar personalities concerning the main characters of the stories. When Peg firsts sees Edward, although at first, she is scared by looking at Edward’s scissor hands, she does not at all think he is weird just because he is different. When Atticus is assigned to defend Tom Robinson, he does not complain, instead he supports Tom to the best of his ability. If there are two people who judge Tom and Edward the most, it would be Bob Ewell and Jim respectively. After the trial of Tom Robinson, despite the fact that he was found guilty then shot and killed, Bob Ewell menaces Tom’s widow, tries to break into the judge’s house and spits on Atticus. Jim continuously makes the effort to threaten Edward with violence, even after he is sent back up to his house by the township. Mayella Ewell and

Accounting Information System for Cash Flow System

Question: Discuss about the Accounting Information System for Cash Flow System. Answer: Introduction The report explains the risk analysis of cash flow system of JK Saddlery. The risk assessment shows the factors for risk in cash flow system (Li 2014.). The cashiering system in JK Saddlery has to undergo risk management for assessing the risk factor of their commercial operations. According to Chen et al. (2012), the control plan made in the report would help in decreasing the effect of risk in factor. Part A: Systems Documentation Context Level DFD Figure 1: Context Level DFD of JK Saddlery (Source: Created by the author) Explanation of Context Level DFD of JK Saddlery The context DFD of JK Saddlery shows a single process flow. The customers and the cashiers are the main elements of the context diagram. The operations of data flow diagram are, Customer places the sales order Cashier notes down the order details Cashier create receipts/invoices for the sales Customer collects the payment/Invoice receipt Level 0 DFD Figure 2: Level 0 DFD of JK Saddlery (Source: Created by the author) Explanation of Level 0 DFD of JK Saddlery Sales person is responsible for preparing the sales order in the sale process. The cashier collects the sales order. Cashier makes the invoice receipt for the customers. The customers make the payment to the cashier by cash, cheque or credit card. The cahier again is responsible for the collecting the cash from the bank. Process Map of JK Saddlery Figure 3: Process Map for JK Saddlery (Source: Created by the author) Explanation of Process Map for JK Saddlery The process diagram for JK Saddlery has shown that there are three levels of operations. Cashier is responsible for maintainsing all the major operations in the system of JK Saddlery. The operations include Checking and maintaining sales record and emails, payment procedure and invoicing system, and reporting of all the processes. The customer and sales person are also the part of the process system. Part B: Analysis Narrative Risk factors and consequence in JK Saddlery According to Guerron-Quintana (2012), any business operations consist of risk and uncertainty. The cash flow system of JK Saddlery also have various risk factors for information and cash management. According to Schneider et al. (2012), these include theft and misplacing of money, dishonesty of employee, inadequate separation of activities in JK Saddlery, and error of the cash management. Theft or misplace of money: the money collected at the cash counter could be stolen or misplaced or even stolen if proper attention is given (Brushwood et al. 2014). Manual cash system has the major risk factor of cash being misplaced or lost. It has been seen many times that the cash from the locker may get lost. Sometimes, the burglars or thieves get into the shop for stealing the money by force. It is a very common risk factor that has been noticed in the retail shops and stores. Dishonesty of Employee: Since only one employee is responsible for maintaining the cash and credit card transaction there is always a probability for error (Jehn and Scott 2015). The risk factor of dishonesty of employee would have serious offense on the cash flow transaction of the company. JK Saddlery may have to face problems like cash or product lost due to dishonesty of the employee. The employee may take or use some money for personal gain and it would cause negative effect on the business operations of the JK Saddlery. Inadequate separation: The pressure of keeping track of all the information and money may lead to miss of information storage (Tubaldi Barbato and Ghazizadeh 2012). The employee might miss track of any commodity. As the data entry is not automatic, the information has to be stored manually in the operations of JK Saddlery. It would cause storing the information with any error of fault. Hence there is a risk of storage of data and information. The data and information storage would cause in diluting the chances of steady flow because the data is maintained by single authority. Error in cash flow management: The risk factor can affect the data management of the JK Saddlery. The management and maintenance of operations in sales invoicing of the JK Saddlery can be helpful for sorting this error (Shah et al. 2016). The lack of information system can largely effect the process of managing the data and information about cash maintenance. However for JK Saddlery, the information has to be manually maintained, which may result in occurrence of error. The employee and the managers of JK Saddlery would have to manage the situation of faults that may arise from the errors in management of cash flow operations. Control plan for managing the risks of JK Saddlery The control plan for managing the risk factors of JK Saddlery can be managed by the implementation of integrated information system management (Satyadi 2014). It would help in forming a system that would be capable of maintaining the information system in JK Saddlery. It would enhance the system management of sales invoice of JK Saddlery. There are 5 principles that could be implemented for managing the cash handling system of JK Saddlery. Record and document the transactions: the transactions of the JK Saddlery should be managed by recording and documenting of the day to day transactions (Rault and Loughman 2013). Hence, the chances of the loss of data by any means could be stopped. The JK Saddlery can manage the transactions by the implementation of information system. Authorization in transaction management: the authorization feature would prevent the theft of cash or information (Ginter et al. 2013). The data and information system of the JK Saddlery can be managed by the use of information system. The problems faced by the theft of information could be easily stopped by implementing the authorization function available in information system. Reviewing the Documents: The reviewing and verification of the documents can be easily implemented by the information system management (Wang et al. 2012). It would be helpful for sorting out the errors in management of invoice system. The billing and invoice system had been managed solely by an employee in JK Saddlery. However, if information system is implemented, the system would be faster and accurate for managing the cash flow system of JK Saddlery. Segregate Duties: The duties and responsibilities of information system management could be managed by implementing the information system over the operations of billing and invoicing of JK Saddlery (Svrakic et al. 2013). The managers and the employees are responsible for managing the information and cash system of JK Saddlery. But being a human they are liable for making mistakes and errors. However, the information system is fault free mechanism and there is no scope for errors. Time Saving: The information system perform all the operations without any errors and faults (Kallhoff and Byrne 2015). The time taken for storing the information on the information system would be comparably less that manual entry. Hence, it would save much time of operations. The JK Saddlery would require less time for forming the information database of the sales invoice and cash flow. Conclusion The report had stated the risk assessment of manual cash system in JK Saddlery. It has resulted in forming the errors by the risk factors like theft and misplacing of money, dishonesty of employee, inadequate separation of activities in JK Saddlery, and error of the cash management. These risk factors have resulted in causing problems and issues in cash flow system of JK Saddlery. However, the five principles such as record and document the transactions, authorization in transaction management, reviewing the documents, segregate duties, and time saving. References Brushwood, J.D., Dhaliwal, D.S., Fairhurst, D.J. and Serfling, M.A., 2014.Property theft and the cost of equity capital. Working Paper, The University of Arizona. Retrieved from https://aaahq. org/AM2014/display. cfm. Chen, C.W., Tseng, C.P., Hsu, W.K. and Chiang, W.L., 2012. A novel strategy to determine the insurance and risk control plan for natural disaster risk management.Natural Hazards,64(2), pp.1391-1403. Ginter, K.L., Shear, V.H., Spahn, F.J. and Van Wie, D.M., Intertrust Technologies Corporation, 2013.System and methods for secure transaction management and electronics rights protection. U.S. Patent 8,543,842. Guerron-Quintana, P., 2012. Risk and uncertainty.Business Review, (Q1), pp.9-18. Jehn, K.A. and Scott, E.D., 2015. Lies in the Sky: Effects of Employee Dishonesty on Organizational Reputation in the Airline Industry.Business and Society Review,120(1), pp.115-136. Kallhoff, K.S. and Byrne, P., 2015. The College and Career Ready System: Time Saving Tool Used to Identify Potential At-Risk Students. Li, W., 2014.Risk assessment of power systems: models, methods, and applications. John Wiley Sons. Rault, D.F. and Loughman, R.P., 2013. The OMPS Limb Profiler environmental data record algorithm theoretical basis document and expected performance.IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing,51(5), pp.2505-2527. Satyadi, C., 2014. Improving Patient Safety: Proficiency Testing Management Utilizing Ishikawa/Fishbone Methodology and Risk Management System (RMS) in Alignment to Internal Quality Control Plan (IQCP).American Journal of Clinical Pathology,142(suppl 1), pp.A142-A142. Schneider, S., Peters, J., Bromberg, U., Brassen, S., Miedl, S.F., Banaschewski, T., Barker, G.J., Conrod, P., Flor, H., Garavan, H. and Heinz, A., 2012. Risk taking and the adolescent reward system: a potential common link to substance abuse.American Journal of Psychiatry. Shah, D., Kumar, V., Kim, K.H. and Choi, J.B., 2016. Linking Customer Behaviors to Cash Flow Level Volatility: Implications for Marketing Practices.Journal of Marketing Research. Svrakic, D.M., Zorumski, C.F., Svrakic, N.M., Zwir, I. and Cloninger, C.R., 2013. Risk architecture of schizophrenia: the role of epigenetics.Current opinion in psychiatry,26(2), pp.188-195. Tubaldi, E., Barbato, M. and Ghazizadeh, S., 2012. A probabilistic performance-based risk assessment approach for seismic pounding with efficient application to linear systems.Structural Safety,36, pp.14-22. Wang, L., Ricart, G., Thompson, C.A., Wishon, K. and Laube, S., Pricewaterhousecoopers Llp, 2012.System and method for comparing and reviewing documents. U.S. Patent 8,196,030

Marker Secularisation free essay sample

Druthers believes, when clan members worship their totemic minimal, they are in reality worshipping society, even though they themselves are not aware of this fact. The Collective Conscience In Deuteriums view, the sacred symbols represent society collective conscience The collective conscience is the shared norms, values, beliefs and knowledge that make social life and cooperation between individuals possible. Regular shared religious rituals reinforce the collective conscience and maintain social integration. Participating in rituals binds individuals together, reminding them they are part of a community. Cognitive Functions of ReligionDruthers sees religion not only as the source of social solidarity, but also of our intellectual or cognitive capacities- our ability to reason and think conceptually. In Deuteriums view, religion is the origin of the concepts and categories we need for reasoning, understanding the world and communicating Druthers and Amass argue that religion provides basic categories such as time, space and causation- for example, with ideas about a creator bringing the world into being at the beginning of time. We will write a custom essay sample on Marker Secularisation or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page CRITICISMS Wordlessly notes that there is no sharp division between the sacred and the refine, and that different clans share the same totems.Deuteriums theory may apply better to small scale societies with a single religion. It is harder to apply it to large scale societies , where two or more religious communities may be in conflict. His theory may explain social integration within communities but not conflicts between them. Postmodernists such as Mesenteric argue that Deuteriums ideas cannot be applied to contemporary socio ¶y, because increasing diversity has fragmented the collective conscience, so there is no longer a single shared value system for religion to reinforce.Psychological Functions Mammalians agrees with Druthers that religion promotes solidarity. However, in his view, it does so by performing psychological functions for individuals. Mammalians identifies two types of situations in which religion performs this role: 1 . Where the outcome is important but is uncontrollable and thus uncertain. Mammalians contrasts fishing in the lagoon and fishing in the ocean: Lagoon fishing is safe and uses the predictable and successful method of poisoning.When the islanders fish there is no ritual Ocean fishing is dangerous and uncertain, always accompanied by canoe magic- rituals to ensure a safe and successful trip. 2. At times of life crisis Events such as birth, puberty, marriage and especially death, mark major and disruptive changes in social groups. For example, the funeral rituals reinforce a feeling of solidarity among the survivors, while the notion of immortality gives comfort to the bereaved by denying the fact of death. Mammalians argues that death is the main reason for the existence of religious belief.Parsons: Values and Meaning Parsons identifies two other essential functions of religion in modern society: It creates and legitimates society basic norms and values by scrawling hem. This promotes value consensus and social stability It provides a source of meaning, answering the ultimate questions about life, e. G. Why good people suffer. These may undermine our commitment to societys values. By answering such questions, religion helps people to adjust to adverse events and maintains stability.CIVIL RELIGION Bella argues that religion unifies society, especially a multi faith society like America. What unifies American society us an overarching civil religion- a belief system that attaches sacred qualities to society itself. Civil religion is a that in the American way of life Civil religion integrates society in a way that individual religions cannot. American civil religion involves loyalty to the nation State and belief in God, both Of which are equated with being true American.It is expressed in various rituals, symbols and beliefs, e. G. The pledge of allegiance to the flag. It sacrifices the American way of life and binds together Americans from many different ethnic and religious backgrounds EVALUATION OF FUNCTIONALISM Functionalism emphasizes the social nature of religion and the positive functions it performs, but it neglects negative aspects such as religion as a resource of oppression. It ignores religion as a source of division and conflict, especially in complex modern societies where there is more than one religion.

The Good Earth Essay Topics

The Good Earth Essay TopicsEssay topics can be very easily obtained from your local college or universities and even online. There are very many websites that provide these topic options for you to choose from and use in your essay. However, if you are looking for essay topics with actual information that you have firsthand knowledge about, the only thing that is going to be available to you is your own experiences. In that regard, it is going to be necessary for you to really have a good knowledge of what life has been like in areas around you.For example, a situation may be one where you personally have gotten involved in an incident that involves animals that needs to be fixed. You may have helped get someone else to fix it for you but when the job is done, you did not get paid for the work that you have done. You will be able to use this information to bolster your argument for why you are right and the other person that is against you is wrong.It is a good strategy to use your o wn words when you are attempting to do this. You should talk about the time that you went around to get the animal and when you returned it was gone. Then you realize that it would be more valuable if you could help the person that owned the animal so they can get it back home. By telling them what to do, you are helping them and being friendly.Of course, you might have a different perspective and something that the owner might be wanting to say as well. The owner might not want to admit that they were irresponsible in not having the animal back home but it is possible for them to still feel bad about the animal. That is the time when you can put forth a good argument that will help the person feel bad about what they did.Another good thing to do when trying to prove that you are right and that the other person is wrong is to take pictures. This is a great way to document your experience and to give yourself a proof of what you experienced. Pictures that might be taken of you doing the activities that you want to document will help add credibility to your writing.A really good example is that of the dog that you used to have. You were at the dog park and the dog got loose and bit you. Instead of running away you put the collar on and eventually when it became apparent that the dog had rabies that you got the dog to the vet and he treated the dog. After the dog is treated and after all the shots are complete, you try to get it back home but you discover that it is already stolen by a family member.Now, in this case, you ended up having a hard time because the dog ended up getting rabies. You also ended up with the worry of whether or not the dog might be hurt again if you tried to get it back home. However, if you took pictures of you and the dog and that it was on a leash and that you had the leash on, the dog is much less likely to be stolen again.Essay topics with real life examples of your life do not always need to be very long. In fact, you can even go ar ound using pictures to illustrate your points but try to keep it short. Keep in mind that this type of essay topic is going to take a lot of time to write and to edit but the better that you can do with a short outline, the better off you will be.

Analysis of Jill Bolte Tailors Experience through the Prism of Religious Thought

Definition and Examples of Vagueness in Language

Definition and Examples of Vagueness in Language In speech or writing, vagueness is the imprecise or unclear use of language. Contrast this term with clarity and specificity. As an adjective, the word becomes vague. Although vagueness often occurs unintentionally, it may also be employed as a deliberate rhetorical strategy to avoid dealing with an issue or responding directly to a question. Macagno and Walton note that vagueness can also be introduced for the purpose of allowing the speaker to redefine the concept he wishes to use (Emotive Language in Argumentation, 2014). In  Vagueness as a Political Strategy (2013),  Giuseppina Scotto di Carlo observes that vagueness is a pervasive phenomenon in natural language, as it seems to be expressed through nearly all linguistic categories. In short, as philosopher Ludwig  Wittgenstein said, Vagueness is an  essential feature of the language.   Etymology From the Latin, wandering Examples and Observations Use details. Dont be vague. -Adrienne Dowhan et al., Essays That Will Get You into College, 3rd ed. Barrons, 2009 Vague Words and Phrases Vagueness arises from the use of terms that are inherently vague. The cabinet minister who says, My officials are monitoring this situation very closely, and I can promise that we shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that the situation is resolved in a way that is fair to all the parties involved. should be challenged on grounds of vagueness. Despite the appearance of having promised to do something specific, the minster has not really promised to do anything at all. What are appropriate measures? They could be anything or nothing. What does fair to all the parties mean? We have no clear idea. Such phrases are inherently vague and can mean almost anything. People who use them should be challenged to say more precisely what they mean. -Willam Hughes and Jonathan Lavery, Critical Thinking: An Introduction to the Basic Skills, 5th ed. Broadview Press, 2008 Vagueness Versus Specificity Vague or abstract words can create wrong or confusing meanings in your receivers mind. They state a general idea but leave the precise meaning to the receivers interpretation...The following examples show vague or abstract words and ways to make them specific and precise: many - 1,000 or 500 to 1,000early - 5 a.m.hot - 100 degrees Fahrenheitmost - 89.9 percentothers - business administration studentspoor student - has a 1.6 grade point average (4.0 A)very rich - a millionairesoon - 7 p.m., Tuesdayfurniture - an oak desk Notice in the preceding examples how adding a few words makes the meaning precise. Varieties of Vagueness One characteristic of vagueness...is that it is related to the degree of formality, or rather informality, of the situation; the less formal the situation the more vagueness there will be... Vagueness in Oratory [T]he need in oratory of the specific example, either in place of or immediately following the general statement, cannot be too strongly urged. Generalizations alone have no persuasive value. And yet this truth is constantly overlooked by public speakers. How often do we hear the common criticism of the typically weak, impressionless address: Platitudes and glittering generalities. In one of George Ades Forty Modern Fables a man has certain stock phrases which he uniformly uses in all discussions pertaining to art, literature, and music; and the moral is, For parlor use, the vague generality is a life-saver. But for the public speaker, generalizations are useless for either imparting or impressing his thought; a single concrete example has far more convincing and persuasive force. Vagueness in Survey Questions Vague words are very common on surveys. A word is vague when it is not obvious to a respondent what referents (e.g., instances, cases, examples) fall under the umbrella of the words intended meaning...For example, consider the question, How many members of your household work? This question has several vague words, most of which would be missed by the vast majority of respondents. It could be argued that members, household, and work are all vague words. Who counts as being a member of the household?...What falls under the category of household?... What counts as someone working?...Vagueness is ubiquitous in most survey questions. Ambiguity Versus Vagueness The difference between ambiguity and vagueness is a matter of whether two or more meanings associated with a given phonological form are distinct (ambiguous), or united as non-distinguished subcases of a single, more general meaning (vague). A standard example of ambiguity is bank financial institution vs. bank land at rivers edge, where the meanings are intuitively quite separate; in aunt fathers sister vs. aunt mothers sister, however, the meanings are intuitively united into one, parents sister. Thus ambiguity corresponds to separation, and vagueness to unity, of different meanings. Vagueness in Sentences and Words The primary application of vague is to sentences, not to words. But the vagueness of a sentence does not imply that vagueness of every constituent word. One vague word is enough. It may be essentially doubtful whether this is a red shape because it is essentially doubtful whether this is red, although beyond doubt that it is a shape. The vagueness of This is a red shape does not imply the vagueness of This is a shape. Sources A. C. Krizan, Patricia Merrier, Joyce Logan, and Karen Williams,  Business Communication, 8th ed. South-Western, Cengage Learning, 2011(Anna-Brita Stenstrà ¶m, Gisle Andersen, and Ingrid Kristine Hasund,  Trends in Teenage Talk: Corpus Compilation, Analysis, and Findings. John Benjamins, 2002)Edwin Du Bois Shurter,  The Rhetoric of Oratory. Macmillan, 1911Arthur C. Graesser, Question Interpretation.  Polling America: An Encyclopedia of Public Opinion, ed. by Samuel J. Best and Benjamin Radcliff. Greenwood Press, 2005David Tuggy, Ambiguity, Polysemy, and Vagueness.  Cognitive Linguistics: Basic Readings, ed. by Dirk Geeraerts. Mouton de Gruyter, 2006Timothy Williamson,  Vagueness. Routledge, 1994