Colonialism and Malay masculinity: Malay satire as observed in the novel Kawin-Kawin

This article evaluates the novel Kawin-Kawin as a satire, and as a mode for forming social criticism on Malay society. An assessment of such a genre must consider the target audience and the Islamic cultural context of the novel. The discussion seeks to identify male domination that through legal frameworks such as the mut’ah, and reduces women to objects of male sexual pleasure. The reading of cultural domination includes what may perhaps be considered a postcolonial analysis of notions of hegemonic masculinity, and of colonialism pertaining to Malay writings. Both notions share similarities in their functions and effects on marginalized groups and are debated under the categories of Islam and women. The discussion concludes with an evaluation of the literariness of Malay writings and the need for their detachment from Western literary frameworks if they are to break away from lingering aspects of colonialis

The Role of Emoticons in Sarcasm Comprehension in Younger and Older Adults: Evidence from an Eye-Tracking Experiment

We present an eye-tracking experiment examining moment-to-moment processes underlying the comprehension of emoticons. Younger (18-30) and older (65+) participants had their eye movements recorded whilst reading scenarios containing comments that were ambiguous between literal or sarcastic interpretations (e.g., But you’re so quick though). Comments were accompanied by wink emoticons or full stops. Results showed that participants read earlier parts of the wink scenarios faster than those with full stops, but then spent more time reading the text surrounding the emoticon. Thus, readers moved more quickly to the end of the text when there was a device that may aid interpretation, but then spent more time processing the conflict between the superficially positive nature of the comment and the tone implied by the emoticon. Interestingly, the wink increased the likelihood of a sarcastic interpretation in younger adults only, suggesting that perceiver-related factors play an important role in emoticon interpretation

The Ethics Of Meaning

This dissertation develops an ethics of meaning. In the first chapter, I offer an account of meaning that comprehends its many varieties—natural, cultural, linguistic, literary, and ethical meaning, for example—by appeal to the structural role meaning plays in the practice of interpretation. In Chapter 2, I develop a distinctive account of the concept of ethical meaning (“meaning” as it’s used in the phrase “the meaning of life”). In Chapter 3, I develop a new account of irony on the basis of the comprehensive-interpretive account of meaning introduced in Chapter 1

The Effectiveness of Teaching Romeo and Juliet to Ninth Graders First from an Aesthetic Stance and Then from an Efferent Stance

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of teaching William Shakespeare\u27s Romeo and Juliet first from a predominately aesthetic stance and then from a predominately efferent stance. The subjects were eighteen ninth-grade students from a co-ed, heterogenous, rural high school. Two assessments for each stance were given and analyzed, as well as post-talk interviews completed by fifteen of the subjects. The results proved to me what the research emphasized, namely, with fiction, approach the piece first from an aesthetic stance, and then go back and analyze it in an efferent manner if needed. Such a method engages the students and then asks them to think deeply in various ways about the piece. Additionally, it helps instill a love of literature and as a side bonus, prepares them for the Regents exam

The Effectiveness of Teaching Romeo and Juliet to Ninth Graders First from an Aesthetic Stance and Then from an Efferent Stance

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of teaching William Shakespeare\u27s Romeo and Juliet first from a predominately aesthetic stance and then from a predominately efferent stance. The subjects were eighteen ninth-grade students from a co-ed, heterogenous, rural high school. Two assessments for each stance were given and analyzed, as well as post-talk interviews completed by fifteen of the subjects. The results proved to me what the research emphasized, namely, with fiction, approach the piece first from an aesthetic stance, and then go back and analyze it in an efferent manner if needed. Such a method engages the students and then asks them to think deeply in various ways about the piece. Additionally, it helps instill a love of literature and as a side bonus, prepares them for the Regents exam

Variables, Generality and Existence: considerations on the notion of a concept-script

A defense of the Frege / Russell idea of logic as a 'concept=script' or 'ideal language', and a discussion of the relationship of this project to the formalisation of mass nouns or non-count noun

Comparing Grounded Theory and Topic Modeling: Extreme Divergence or Unlikely Convergence?

Researchers in information science and related areas have developed various methods for analyzing textual data, such as survey responses. This article describes the application of analysis methods from two distinct fields, one method from interpretive social science and one method from statistical machine learning, to the same survey data. The results show that the two analyses produce some similar and some complementary insights about the phenomenon of interest, in this case, nonuse of social media. We compare both the processes of conducting these analyses and the results they produce to derive insights about each method\u27s unique advantages and drawbacks, as well as the broader roles that these methods play in the respective fields where they are often used. These insights allow us to make more informed decisions about the tradeoffs in choosing different methods for analyzing textual data. Furthermore, this comparison suggests ways that such methods might be combined in novel and compelling ways

The Return of the Rogue

The “rogue trader”—a famed figure of the 1990s—recently has returned to prominence due largely to two phenomena. First, recent U.S. mortgage market volatility spilled over into stock, commodity, and derivative markets worldwide, causing large financial institution losses and revealing previously hidden unauthorized positions. Second, the rogue trader has gained importance as banks around the world have focused more attention on operational risk in response to regulatory changes prompted by the Basel II Capital Accord. This Article contends that of the many regulatory options available to the Basel Committee for addressing operational risk it arguably chose the worst: an enforced selfregulatory regime unlikely to substantially alter financial institutions’ ability to successfully manage operational risk. That regime also poses the danger of high costs, a false sense of security, and perverse incentives. Particularly with respect to the low-frequency, high-impact events—including rogue trading—that may be the greatest threat to bank stability and soundness, attempts at enforced self-regulation are unlikely to significantly reduce operational risk, because those financial institutions with the highest operational risk are the least likely to credibly assess that risk and set aside adequate capital under a regime of enforced self-regulation