The Scarlet Letter Themes Essay Essay Example

The Scarlet Letter Themes Essay Essay Example The Scarlet Letter Themes Essay Paper The Scarlet Letter Themes Essay Paper Essay Topic: The Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter is a novel that describes the psychological torment of two rule characters. Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimondale. They are both enduring under. while trying to come to footings with. their common wickedness of criminal conversation in a rigorous Puritan society. As critics instantly recognized upon publication of the novel in 1850. one of its chief subjects involved struggle between the person and society. Hawthorne represents the austere and baleful force of Puritan society in the first sentence of the first chapter. where he describes a â€Å"throng of bearded work forces. in sad-colored garments and grey. † who stand before the prison door â€Å"which was to a great extent timbered with oak. and studded with Fe spikes. † and behind which was Hester Public Guilt V. Private Guilt Possibly the foremost intent of The Scarlet Letter is to exemplify the difference between dishonoring person in public and leting him or her to endure the effects of an unfair act in private. Harmonizing to the legal legislative acts at the clip and the prevalent sentiment of maintaining in conformity with a rigorous reading of the Bible. criminal conversation was a capital wickedness that required the executing of both fornicator and adulteress–or at the really least. terrible public bodily penalty. Indeed. even if the hubby wanted to maintain his married woman alive after she committed criminal conversation. the jurisprudence insisted that she would hold to decease for it. It is in this environment that Hester commits criminal conversation with Dimmesdale. but we come to see that the public shaming can non get down to account for all the complexnesss of the illicit relationship–or the context of it. What Hawthorne sets out to portray. so. is how the private ideas. the private anguish and guilt and emotional devastation of the people involved in the matter. are more than adequate penalty for the offense. We wonder whether the province or society has any right to enforce jurisprudence in private affairs between citizens. Does adultery truly hold no impact upon the lives of others? If non. it should non be seen as a offense against the small town. A more charitable reading of the Bible would come subsequently in contemplations on the New Testament reading of criminal conversation jurisprudence. viz. . that the public need non step in to penalize a offense when we ourselves have our ain wickednesss to be judged. Each individual suffers enough already for his or her ain wickednesss. Punishment vs. Forgiveness One of the more compelling subjects of the novel is embodied by Chillingworth. who seems the supreme authority of moral judgement in the narrative. since Dimmesdale–the curate and the supposed purveyor of righteousness–is himself tainted as a party to the offense. Chillingworth is surprisingly forgiving of Hester’s offense. We sense that he understands why she would abandon him. After all. he is deformed. he is older. he has non been nearby. while she is beautiful and passionate. Indeed. we get the feeling that Chillingworth’s self-loathing allows him to forgive Hester. but this property besides increases the inexorability and fury with which he goes after Dimmesdale. In Dimmesdale. he sees the energy and passion which Hester desires and which he himself does non possess. Like a bloodsucker. he’s out to suck Dimmesdale of his life force. non merely to penalize the curate for the offense of fornicating with his married woman. but besides to symbolically appropriate Dimmesdale’s virility. And as the novel continues. Chillingworth seems to turn stronger while Dimmesdale seems to weaken. That form continues until Dimmesdale dies in an act of rebelliousness. his public presentation of guilt. which basically leaves Chillingworth stripped bare of his power to penalize or forgive. The Scarlet Letter The vermilion missive is symbolic in a figure of different ways. but possibly most in the ways that the evildoers choose to have on it. Hawthorne’s productive image for the novel was that of a adult female charged with criminal conversation and forced to have on the missive A upon her apparels. but upon have oning it. decided to add fancy embellishment as if to allow the missive as a point of pride. Hawthorne read about this pick in an existent instance in 1844. recorded it in his diary. and therefore The Scarlet Letter was born as Hester Prynne’s narrative. Hester. a knitter by trade. sees the missive as a load laid on by society. an act of community-enforced guilt that she is forced to bear. even though it seems to do small difference for her private ideas. Dimmesdale. nevertheless. as the town curate. wears his ain vermilion A burned upon his flesh. since it is the community’s fury he fears the most. Therefore we see the difference between a adult female who has made peace with the offense. publically confesses. and endures the enduring the community imposes. and a adult male who imposes his ain penalty because he can non bear to uncover the offense to the community. Civilization vs. Wilderness Pearl embodies the subject of wilderness over against civilisation. After all. she is a sort of incarnation of the vermilion missive: natural state. passionate. and wholly unmindful to the regulations. mores. and legal legislative acts of the clip. Pearl is artlessness. in a manner. an individualistic passionate artlessness. So long as Dimmesdale is alive. Pearl seems to be a magnet that attracts Hester and Dimmesdale. about demanding their rapprochement or some kind of energetic rapprochement. But every bit shortly as Dimmesdale dies. Pearl seems to lose her energy and becomes a normal miss. able to get married and absorb into society. The deduction is therefore that Pearl genuinely was a kid of lecherousness or love. a merchandise of activity outside the boundaries imposed by rigorous Puritan society. Once the fire of love is extinguished. she can decently absorb. The Town vs. the Woods In the town. Hester normally is confronted with the legal and moral effects of her offense. Governor Bellingham comes to take her kid off. Chillingworth reminds her of her title. and she faces Dimmesdale in the context of evildoer ( his repute remains stainless despite his function in the matter ) . But whenever Hester leaves the town and enters the forests. a traditional symbol of unchecked passion without boundaries. she is free to rediscover herself. The forests besides traditionally emblematize darkness. In the darkness of dark. Hester is free to run into Dimmesdale. to squeal her scruples. and to populate apart from the torture and loads of the guilt enforced by the community. Dimmesdale excessively is free at dark to expose his guilt on the scaffold and reconcile with Hester. Memories vs. the Present Hester Prynne’s discourtesy against society occurred seven old ages earlier. but she remains punished for it. Hester learned to forgive herself for her criminal conversation. but society continues to contemn her for it. One might retrieve Jean Valjean’s lasting individuality as condemnable after a individual minor offense in Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables. ) Indeed. Hester reaches peace with her matter and in that peace comes to see the town as insufficiently forgiving in its ideas and attitudes. Pearl is adequate of a reminder of the wild picks in her yesteryear. and as Pearl grows up. Hester continues to popul ate in the present instead than in the yesteryear. Reverend Dimmesdale. interim. is haunted in the present by wickednesss past and seems to reflect ( along with Chillingworth ) the town’s inclination to penalize long after the discourtesy. In stamp downing his ain confession. Dimmesdale remains focused on coming to footings with a iniquitous past alternatively of looking forthrightly at the jobs of the present. Many of the major subjects of The Scarlet Letter are introduced in the gap scene. Some of these subjects were sin. nature’s kindness to the condemned and the drab life style of puritan society. The first chapter has small action but it sets up these major subjects. The tone of the whole narrative was set in this chapter. The opening scene of The Scarlet Letter. many major subjects were introduced. Sin Sin is a portion of mundane life. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel. The Scarlet Letter. revolves around the subject of wickedness and the effects it has on the head. organic structure. and soul A wickedness was committed by three of the chief characters in the novel and throughout the fresh Hawthorne attempts to indicate out that wickedness. no affair how fiddling or how significant. is still sin. There have been arguments on precisely who is the biggest evildoer. but in Hawthorne’s instance. I think he believes that the wickednesss were equal and throughout the novel he develops each of them. seeking to acquire the reader to understand is concluding. Adultery. which was the wickedness environing two of the chief characters. Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale. was the wickedness in which the novel was based on. Hester committed criminal conversation with Dimmesdale. a Puritan curate. and had a kid ( Pearl ) as life cogent evidence of her wickedness. She confessed her wickedness and was looked down upon by the citizens populating in the town. â€Å"She would go the general symbol at which the sermonizer and moralist might indicate. and in which they might animate and incarnate their images of woman’s infirmity and iniquitous passion. Basically. she was an illustration of what cipher should go The wickedness of criminal conversation was confessed by one of the two. but Arthur Dimmesdale decided to maintain it a secret. which in clip torus him apart. Bing a curate. he was afraid of the effects that would ensue from his confession. so for seven long old ages he and Hester kept it a secret. and were neer seen together in public Roger Chillingworth. Hester’s hubby. and the other evildoer in this novel. sought retaliation on whoever the male parent to Pearl was. He oon suspected Dimmesdale. and would non rest until got retaliation on him. Chillingworth pretended to be a physician and was to take attention of Dimmesdale. but at the same clip he was easy poisoning him and penalizing him physically and mentally. As you can see wickedness was apparent in all three of these characters’ lives. Hawthorne non merely dealt with merely the wickedness. but how sin can impact a individual if non professed To travel even deeper into the first subject. Hawthorne. throughout the novel. explains how unconfessed wickedness can eat off at the scruples and destruct the psyche. Hester. who had confessed her wickedness of criminal conversation. wore the vermilion A as a symbol of her faithless wickedness and through most of the novel lived as a societal castaway in the Puritan society. She was looked at as an illustration of what non to be. Pearl. Hester’s lively. unmanageable girl is the populating consequence of Hester’s wickedness. and for the most portion the two lived together in shame and guilt. In the terminal. as a consequence of Hester’s confession. the wickedness does non destruct her. but alternatively makes her stronger and braver and she flourishes in malice of the symbol on her thorax. Dimmesdale. who committed criminal conversation with Hester. delaies until the wickedness wholly destroys him before he confesses. Throughout the narrative. while Hester was being put through the shame of her wickedness. Dimmesdale hides his wickedness. neglecting to call himself the other fornicator or claim Pearl as his girl. His alleviation shortly comes in the tragic stoping. as Dimmesdale confesses his criminal conversation and stands openly with Hester and Pearl. As he eventually admits his wickedness. his guilty scruples is lifted and he frees himself from Chillingworth’s appreciation. which allows him to eventually decease. free of guilt. Sin was. without a uncertainty. a major portion of these three characters’ lives. and Hawthorne does a great occupation of uncovering that to his readers. He points out the immorality in each character. and explained how wickedness haunted Arthur Dimmesdale until he volitionally confessed it. Through his thorough account of each of the three characters and their functions in the novel. he decidedly proves that wickedness is every bit awful no affair how unlogical it may look. Nature’s kindness The prison was really black and worn down and old. It was really unforgiving for the captives. The lone mark of hope was a rosebush that grew near the prison. But on one side of the orifice land rooted about on the threshhold. was a wild rosebush. covered. in this month of June. with its delicate Jaish-i-Mohammeds. which might be imagined to offer their aroma and delicate beauty to the captive as he went in. and to the condemned felon as he came away to his day of reckoning. † Nature was the lone thing sort to the condemned. This subject was really of import later in the book when Dimmesdale. Hester and Pearl met in the wood. A major them in The Scarlet Letter was nature’s kindness to the condomned Revenge Revenge is a dish best served cold. ( And with a side of french friess. But isn’t everything best served with a side of french friess? ) Roger Chillingworth seems to hold. as you can no uncertainty state by the highly frigid sham name that he chooses. He spends seven old ages psychologically tormenting Hester’s lover Dimmesdale. maintaining him alive merely so he can squash out just†¦ a†¦ little†¦ . more retribution. Unfortunately. retaliation in The Scarlet Letter is besides served with an unexpected side: the loss of humanity. It turns out that God is the lone 1 who gets to make the revenging around these parts. and he’s got a small surprise for our anti-hero Justice and Judgment Some Torahs can straddle the religious/secular divide reasonably comfy. Stealing? We’re reasonably certain God wouldn’t want you to make that. Murder? Decidedly non. But what about driving without your licence? Or making some minor imbibing ( which Shmoop firmly disapproves of ) ? Does God care about those Torahs? If you lived in Puritan America as represented by The Scarlet Letter. the reply would be yes: there’s no difference between God’s jurisprudence and man’s jurisprudence. Breaking colonial jurisprudence is the same as interrupting God’s jurisprudence. On the one manus. great: at least there’s lucidity. right? On the other manus. the conflation of God’s jurisprudence with man’s jurisprudence creates an intolerant. autocratic society with no room for human errors. Not excessively cool The Forest and the Wilderness To the townsfolk. the wood is the unknown. It’s outside of the town. it’s full of American Indians and chilling animals and worst of all. and it’s utterly lawless. The town is ruled by jurisprudence and faith ; the forest a topographic point of passion and emotion. We see this when the storyteller compares Hester’s castaway province to a wood: â€Å"She had wandered. without regulation or counsel. in a moral wilderness ; as vast. as intricate and shady. as the wild forest† . In other words. Hester is cast out of the regulations and order of the town. forced to populate in a metaphorical wood: a wilderness of shadowy right and incorrect. Obviously. Hester’s small bungalow is â€Å"on the outskirts of the town†¦ out of the domain of that societal activity which already marked the wonts of the emigrants† . Into the Forests But while the Puritans seem to be sort of terrified of the wood. the storyteller isn’t. In fact. the storyteller associates Nature with kindness and love from the really beginning of this narrative. when the wild rosebush reminds all that â€Å"the deep bosom of Nature could feel for and be sort to him† . It’s non that the forests are all sugariness and visible radiation. They can be unsafe. excessively. Here. the wood seems to stand for possible: that portion of human nature that can’t be squashed and beaten into entry. It’s a topographic point where the psyche can be free. with all its wild passions and brainsick thoughts and secret sorrows ; it’s a topographic point for Hester and Dimmesdale to run into in purdah. and love. and anguish where they â€Å"deeply† can cognize each other If life on the town is all surface and visual aspect and regulations. so life in the wood is all deepness and emotion. And you can’t unrecorded like that- you can’t unrecorded in the forests. But you sure can see every one time in a piece

Entrepreneurship Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Entrepreneurship - Case Study Example Donella Parker, Steve Allen and Reg Price though common in terms of leaving the same company because of their personal frustrations at work had diversified skills to manage the new venture i.e. R Cubed had different profiles in terms of contrasting backgrounds and expertise they brought to the business. Steve had sales and marketing background with analytical abilities and the administrative domain; Reg was a total marketer having relationship oriented skills; whereas, Donella's prime asset was her expertise in research and which was also backed by a considerable amount of experience both in terms of number of years she worked and the client base she had established. The three started of with the 35 old clients and as a part of the financial strategy did not opt for long term debt to leverage profits instead focused on utilizing the bank overdraft facility which they learned from their past experiences. The three divided the work according to the functional proficiency that each possessed. Initially they limited themselves to serving the needs of the business themselves rather than hiring a large amount of the work force because they knew the pressures of growth would lead them to another hassle rather than focusing on their customers' needs well. An important part of business planning was that it was relatively shorter term and was done every four months; a benefit of this type of approach was to focus on the quick changes that were occurring the environment and affecting the business in any of its development. The business was designed and structured to be as customer friendly as possible by making use of available technology by guiding clients, making use of visual summaries, reports etc. The processes employed are quite transparent and employees at all time are welcome to analyze the processes and point out employees' strengths and weaknesses, visit the website for any polls that reflect and critically evaluate the company and the employee potential. The company rewards its employees that are very much compatible with the industry benchmarks and provides them with bonus shares for their above par performance. The evaluation criteria is set on the basis of value addition the employee has made to the company and towards the serving of the customer needs. The company's organogram was structured to foster efficiency and a climate to motivate the people working. As the company moves forward and faces the compounding pressures of growth in size and the changes in the environment, it has to reconsider its strategic direction and align itself with the environment; move into new areas by market development like moving into Australian market and also focus on product development such as moving from tactical level research to helping organizations with their strategic planning also as a part of its growth strategy. Its not only the pressure of business but what matter is successful rebalancing of the family and the business life too. Case 2: Otila Williams: Positive Career Solutions Otila Williams is into the recruitment business which she set up because she was value driven and was motivated by the fact

Intro and conclusion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Intro and conclusion - Essay Example Greece is one of the prominent countries in the European Union. However, unlike many other countries in EU, Greece is currently struggling a lot because of financial problems. EU is doing everything possible to revitalize Greece’s economy. However, the depth of the financial problems facing by Greece seems to be big. However, Greece still offers enough opportunities to foreign direct investments. Greece realized that internal resources are limited to streamline the economic progress in the right path. Currently they are trying hard to attract Foreign Direct Investment as much as possible to escape from the financial problems. New products and existing products have equal opportunities in Greece at present. Because of the blind faith in the abilities of Americans, American products are accepted with both hands by Greeks. Product manufacturers in America can capitalize on such attitudes of Greek people. We have planned to develop a new multipurpose product; alarm clock/ smart phone charger / coffee maker and market it in Greece. This paper is written as a marketing plan for the newly developed alarm clock in Greece. The current population in Greece right now is 10,767,827 (â€Å"Greece Demographics Profile 2013.†). There are currently 4,704,248 people that makes up our products target market, which is roughly 44% of the total current market (â€Å"Greece Demographics Profile 2013.†). Over the past three years, Greece’s economy has been on the decline and with the recently raised income taxes, there has been a decline in disposable income as well (â€Å"Cafes/Bars in Greece.†). For the average adult, the normal work week consists of 40 hours, but during this time, Greeks do not take normal lunch breaks (â€Å"Cafes/Bars in Greece.†). Instead they take multiple shirt breaks throughout the day in which they get coffee or a quick snack (â€Å"Cafes/Bars in Greece.†). Coffee has become apart of Greek culture where its is a daily routine. Greeks

Horror Of War In Two Poems The Dug-Out and Breakfast Essay Example for Free

Horror Of War In Two Poems The Dug-Out and Breakfast Essay Compare the ways on which two poems from this section convey powerful pictures of life in the trenches. Both of the poems The Dug-Out and Breakfast try to convey a message that is the futility and horror of the war. The Dug-Out shows the horror of the war by accentuating the fear of death in the poem. However, Breakfast transfers the meaning of triviality by describing the hardship in the breakfast time in the trenches. The Dug-Out is written as a single stanza with simple structure and sentence. The poet has chosen this structure to convey striking imagery and therefore to reflect the reality of the war. The poem begins with the adverb why to intrigue the reader and also creates a sense of uneasiness with words ungainly huddled. The poet chooses to use the metaphor of a candle to portray the solders dying as the burning out of a candle. The alliteration guttering gold emphasizes the candle imagery and also shares the pain with the reader. You wonder why is in narrative voice shows the rejection putting a sense of hopeless. The last two lines are in italic and this highlights its importance. The metaphor of fall asleep for ever symbolizes the death and this remind[s] the poet of the other dead[s]. The emotive language such as sullen, drowsy states the fact that these soldiers are bordering on insanity as the fear of death has scarred them mentally. Sassoons view therefore becomes clear, that death has become as commonplace as sleep and war creates fear especially the fear of death for every soldier in any mundane condition. The title of the poem Breakfast has been chosen to put a sense of ordinarily and triviality. Gibson chooses to use a simple verse on Breakfast as well as The Dug-out. The poem begins a simple statement: we ate our breakfast lying on our backs. This straightforward account creates a sense of immediacy and also it begins with a second person narrative we to include the reader. Gibson chooses to use imagery of everyday life to represent the terror and horror of the war. In a betting of a rugby game, Ginger is dead because he raised his head. The killing of person in a betting during the breakfast time clearly illustrates the dreadfulness of the life in trenches. The effect of contrast is emphasized by the semi-colon this makes action more dramatic. The poem begins and ends with the same lines emphasizes that war is in everyday life just as the eating of breakfast and the shelling are also linked. Unlike The Dug-Out, there is no melancholy or emotive language in the poem whereas Giblson frequently use the simple word and slang to create a matter-of-fact tone and this generates a more horrific feeling upon the reader. Both poems portray the horror and fear of the war and make their point that war is futile by conveying powerful imagery in trenches. Both of them use the simple stanza and structure to express the feeling of fear and the sense of immediacy in trenches. The Dug-Out is set in a mood of melancholy by using the pathos language such as the guttering gold candle and describing the dankness that is surrounded with. Nevertheless, Breakfast achieves the same level of horror only by simple language as Gibson cleverly connects the war to the eating of breakfast and therefore emphasizes his idea of triviality and fultility.

A Memorable Experience In Photography :: essays research papers fc

A Memorable Experience in Photography To experience photography, one must have a certain style of photographs to really appreciate or admire. Photographs are picturesque images and views that really catch the interest of the photographer. For me to experience and admire photography, it took me only one photographer to really appreciate the power it has his name is Robert Capa. Robert grew up in Hungary he experienced the political unrest and turmoil. He lived under the oppression of Horthy and knew the kind of anarchy that constitutes war(Images of War 8). Robert's work represented 3 categories: 1. Images of battle. 2. Images of the effects of war. 3. Images of calamity(Photographs,Introduction). His work also had a swift understanding and sympathy for the people who suffer from being caught in war. This type of suffering made it impossible for him to ignore the events which affected their lives(Images of War 9). Robert's belief on photography is "If your pictures are not good enough, your not close enough"(Photographs Foreword). Robert's breakthrough in the field of photography came during the Spanish Civil War. His most famous picture was a snapshot of a courageous man in the act of falling(Capa18). His own special talents and course of world happenings, led him into a role as a professional photographer of war(Images of War20). To really admire and understand Capa, you must have a fascination for dramatic and emotional pictures of war. There probably has been thousands who admire the work he does. Well you can include me in that group of thousands. Capa puts into perspective in just one photograph, something my grandfather will never forget. The Bombing of Pearl Harbor. The photograph that brings back these memories is taken somewhere in Europe during World War II. It's a photograph that has the air full of scores of Japanese warplanes. They are flying over war stricken farmland. As an American citizen, this photograph brings a lot of emotions through me and would have brought greater emotions to my grandfather. I used this photograph because it brings back the memory of my grandfather telling me the story of how he survived that tragic day. On December 7, 1941, my grandfather was stationed at Pearl Harbor as a airplane mechanic. It was still early in the morning and he was still sleeping. Then out of nowhere he heard numerous explosions and then the sirens went off._ _He rushed out of bed and ran upstairs to see what was happening. In the sky he saw scores of Japanese airplanes flying and bombing the area. Some of the airplanes would risk their own lives to do more damage to the ships and the

Policies and Procedures Essay

Policy: A person requesting a release of patient information other than him or her self, needs to correctly identify the reasoning for the information and proper legal documents need to be completed, such as an authorization form signed by the patient. Under certain circumstances, the release of information would not need authorization due to certain federal and state statutes; these are explained in the measurement standards. Objective: To protect patient’s individual rights to the privacy, security, and confidentiality of medical information being released to others by recording authorization information into the database with accuracy and in a timely manner. The patient’s specific authorization forms must be filed within 24 hours of admission. Measurements: 1. The patient must disclose their written authorization by completing an authorization form prior to the release of patient information to a health care provider, an individual who assists a health care provider in the delivery of health care, or an agent of the health care provider. 2. If the patient decides to complete an authorization form, we are required to honor that authorization and, if requested, provide a copy of the recorded health information unless the health care provider denies the patient access to health information. 3. To be valid, a disclosure of authorization must be in writing, dated, and signed by the patient. Identify the nature of the information to be disclosed, identify the name and institutional affiliation of the person to whom the information is being disclosed, identify the provider and the patient, and contain an expiration date that relates to the patient. 4. A patient may revoke in writing a disclosure authorization to a health care provider at any t ime unless disclosure is required to effectuate payments for health care that has been provided or other substantial action has been taken in reliance on the authorization. 5. A health care provider or facility may disclose patient health information without the patient’s authorization in the event of the recipient needs to know the information because the provider or facility reasonably believes the person is providing health care to the patient. 6. Disclosure without authorization may also be made to federal, state, or local law enforcement authorities upon receipt of a written or oral request made to a nursing supervisor, administrator, or designated privacy official, in a case in which the patient is being treated or has been treated for a bullet wound gunshot wound, powder burn, or other injury arising from or caused by discharge of a firearm. 7. A health care provider shall maintain a record of existing health care information for at least one year following a receipt of an authorization to disclose that health care information under RCW 70.02.040, and during the pendency of a request for examination and copying under RCW 70.02.080, or a request for correction or amendment under RCW 70.02.100. 8. The authorization must be entered into the database within the first 24 hours of completion; therefore, other staff members in the facility such as providers and other members of the ROI department will know the limits to the release of that patient’s information if requested upon. State and Federal Statutes: RCW70.02.020, RCW 70.02.030, RCW 70.02.040, RCW 70.02.050, RCW 70.02.160.

Markedness Marked and Unmarked Forms in Language

In many areas of language study, such as structural linguistics,  markedness is  a state in which one linguistic element is more distinctively identified (or  marked) than another (unmarked) element. As Geoffrey Leech observed, Where there is a contrast between two or more members of a category such as a ​number, case, or tense, one of them is called marked if it contains some extra affix, as opposed to the unmarked member which does not. For example, the root verb walk is unmarked, and the past-tense of the verb is walked, which is marked by having the suffix -ed attached to it to indicate that its past tense (also called inflection). Words can also be marked to show their gender. Different Kinds of Markings on Words Root words take on affixes, such as suffixes and prefixes, and are thus this way marked—theres additional meaning attached to the word just by putting the affix onto the root or base word. For example:   Plurality: Plurals are made by adding the suffixes -s or -es onto nouns or changing the spelling, such as in family - families. Tense: Different tenses are shown through suffixes such as -ed or -d to put a root word in the past, as illustrated above.   Case: Nouns show possessive case with the addition of an s or an apostrophe (depending on the style guide followed), as in Lincolns or Jesus.   Gender: If a word shows you the gender of the animal, for example, its marked. Compare lion with lioness or stallion with mare.  Three of the four words in the preceding sentence are considered marked, even though only one has an affix (in this case, -ess, applied to some words to make them the female version). As language becomes more gender neutral, some terms are dropping out of use, such as policewoman being replaced by police officer or stewardess being replaced with flight attendant. Polarity: You can show the opposites of some words by marking them with a prefix. Examine, for example, the difference between consistent and inconsistent—or even the topic of this article, words that are marked or unmarked. The pairs have a marked and an unmarked term; just look for the prefix in these examples. Superlatives: Compare adjectives old,  older,  and oldest.  The marked versions are the superlative older and oldest because they have a suffix. They are less neutral than the term  old, which can be completely neutral in the asking of someones age, to wit, How old are you? The Theory and Its Fields of Study The terms marked and unmarked were introduced by Nikolai Trubetzkoy in his 1931 article on Die phonologischen Systeme. However, Trubetzkoys conception of markedness applied exclusively to phonology, though its not a crystal-clear science in that field of study, as author  Paul V. De Lacy explains:  Ã‚   A great deal of skepticism about  markedness  and the variation in what is considered unmarked seems to be due to three apparent problems: (a) some markedness diagnostics do not work all the time; (b)  marked  elements are  favoured  for some phenomena, and (c) markedness distinctions can be ignored. Sources R.L. Trask, Dictionary of English Grammar. Penguin, 2000 Geoffrey Leech, A Glossary of English Grammar. Edinburgh University Press, 2006 Edwin L. Battistella, Markedness: The Evaluative Superstructure of Language. SUNY Press, 1990 Sylvia Chalker and Edmund Weiner, Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar. Oxford University Press, 1994 Paul V. De Lacy,  Markedness: Reduction And Preservation in Phonology. Cambridge University Press, 2006 William Croft,  Typology and Universals, 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press, 2003