Pickle Jarred

The concept behind my capstone project was to creative a narrative in which a seemingly apathetic, appropriately disgruntled, teenager is propelled to social activity which will not only benefit himself personally, but his overall community. In order to do so, I set to develop a short-story narrative, entitled “The Pickle Jar,” and then adapt it into a screenplay. In writing the short story, I set to narrate the drama and provide insight into Neil’s psyche through first-person dialogue. Neil would narrate the drama while allowing the reader to hear his inner-thoughts and opinions throughout the process. The plot would follow Neil throughout the course of a very unusual day. Half-way through a regular day at school, Neil is given the dreadful news that his grandfather had passed away and his mother would be coming to school to pick him up. With his emotions racing, Neil decided to leave school and run to his grandfather’s house for closure and an opportunity to escape, to be alone and think. While there, he discovers a cryptic note which tells him he is to discover what his grandfather intends him to inherit once he finds a particular item, hidden in a place very special to his grandfather. With no general direction, Neil searches the locations where he spent the most time with his grandfather growing up, but fins nothing. Upon returning home, he is presented with a collection of sympathy cards from a group of ill-fated children at the Parkway Children’s hospital. Following the cards, he goes to the hospital where he is presented with a pickle jar. As it turns out, his grandfather had been volunteering at the children’s ward, and wants Neil to take over his position. The pickle jar was intended to symbolize Neil’s bitter nature and pressurized environment he is currently living in. Initially, the screenplay paralleled the short-story narrative. Upon presenting the first draft to my reader and advisor, we determined it best to rework the story and truly discover the intended message of my creation. What I determined was my capstone should represent my ideology toward bitterness in our society. Basically, it’s come down to this- Being sour, or cynical, throughout life appears to be a brutally painful way of living. I argue though that the bitterness is wonderful and a necessary step toward progress. The aggravated nature of the protagonist, through his unconventional insights on various situations, becomes a positive characteristic as we learn his internal struggles with seemingly trite activities are rooted with compassion toward all forms of life. This is ultimately what “The Pickle Jar” story needs to convey. The restructured outline would have Neil making a promise to his grandfather the night he passes away. Just before dying, his grandfather would ask Neil to visit the 6th floor of the Parkway Hospital and find a nurse named Myra, the following morning. Although this conflicts with his grandfather’s funeral, Neil disobeys his parents in order to fulfill the promise he made to his grandfather the night before. As it stands now, the project accomplishes the manifestation of my original sentiments in an open-ended and unconventional narrative structure. If produced, the short film would work best if paired with follow-up activities in which ideas about taking initiative toward giving back to one’s community would be discussed and put into action

Nothing is Free: A Screenplay

Film has been an invaluable part of American society for nearly a century. From having political significance, to solely entertaining purposes, this versatile medium has only garnered more and more cultural investment each year of its existence. While it may not always be a vital component to a completed project, it is within the script writing process that ideas, themes, and messages are negotiated and developed. The real meaning of a story is encoded within the words. The script can be considered provocative, emotional, informative, and may incite a unique effect for each of its readers. While no reader is identical, the producers’ goal often is: get the most consumers, at whatever cost it takes. This idea proved to be my motivation in writing Nothing is Free. In a world dominated by reality television and horrifying news stories, it seems like some person, group or institution is being exploited everyday at the expense of a successful, and profitable story. Simultaneously, it is scandal, sex and violence that prove time and time again to be most lucrative and dominate the media world. This is, what I consider, a flawed cultural trend that, with time, only continues to worsen. People often seem to forget the adverse effects of this exploitation. Nothing is Free serves as a severe reminder of just why these things always need to be considered. This story is not to be taken lightly. Even though I had always envisioned the script to be completely fictional, I always intended for the story to be considered a real possibility. I thought the script would be more realistic if I stayed true to what I know. While the issue at hand can arise in a number of situations and environments, I didn’t want to place the story in a context I wasn’t familiar with. Therefore, the story takes place in a high school environment, in which I could most truthfully write dialogue. While I did not want to use such a dramatic device as a murder in Nothing is Free, I think the story’s climax is more of an inevitable reality of the circumstances created by this theme. The script, without a doubt, serves to deliver an emotional message. This isn’t the first successful script to have an unfortunate climax in attempts to shed light on a problem or injustice. This script definitely seems to bear elements prevalent in several other effective stories. Characters, themes, and even scenes may strike resonance from works such as American History X, Crash, and Hardball. This script also proves to give a peak into the high school journalism scene and the nature of the writing process. If you have ever been interested in journalism, this script is worth a read. However, its understanding requires no journalistic prowess, and can appeal to a more general audience as well, delving into everyday, national problems and the personal decision making process. If you are looking for a happy ending, this is not the script for you. The conclusion rather leaves the audience with some important questions to speculate. When is it fair to censor a journalist? When is a job more important than morals? Protagonist Thomas Harper’s story only proves to highlight why these questions are so controversial

Language endangerment and language documentation in Africa

Non peer reviewe

African Linguistics in Central and Eastern Europe, and in the Nordic Countries

Non peer reviewe

The limits of Cushitic

Gegenstände der Untersuchung sind genetische Gliederung und historische Rekonstruktion im Kuschitischen. Nach dem Kriterium gemeinsamer sprachlicher Innovationen sind folgende Schlüsse möglich: (1) Ik ist keine kuschitische, nicht einmal eine afroasiatische Sprache. (2) Es ist durchaus nicht sicher, daß die Burji-Sidamo-Gruppe (Rift-Valley-Kuschitisch) mit dem Tieflandkuschitischen einen genetischen Zweig - das Ostkuschitische - bildet. Die Burji-Sidamo-Gruppe kannte am engsten mit dem Agaw verwandt sein und mit ihm einen anderen genetischen Zweig - das Hochlandkuschitische - bilden. (3) Die Iraqw-Gruppe - und mit ihr vermutlich das gesamte Südkuschitische - gehört zum Tieflandkuschitischen und bildet keinen selbständigen Zweig des Kuschitischen. (4) Obwohl das Beja zweifellos eine afroasiatische Sprache ist, ist jedoch nicht zuverlässig bewiesen, daß es zum Kuschitischen gehört. Seine genaue Stellung zum Kuschitischen (dem Kuschitischen nächstverwandter Zweig oder nicht einmal dies?) bleibt noch zu klären. Die Erörterung und Beweisführung beruht auf Rekonstruktionen des Verbalsystems und der Kasus, auf einem Systemvergleich der Determinationselemente und der Genitivmorpheme sowie auf anderen syntaktischen und morphologischen Merkmalen. Auch einige Prinzipien der linguistischen Typologie wurden herangezogen. Es handelt sich um vorläufige Ergebnisse