Subodh Bhattarai (English & Communication Notes - BBA/BBS/BBBS/BHM/BIM/BMS/MBA/MBS & +2)

Chapter 15: Reasoning About Causation In many situations, causes are correlated with their effects.  An event C is said to be positively correlated with E when the presence of C increases the probability that E will also occur.  C is said to be negatively correlated with E when C decreases the probability of E .  If C has no effect on the probability of E , then C is not correlated with E , or C is independent of E . So for example, the appearance of lightning is positively correlated with thunder, negatively correlated with a clear sky, and presumably not at all correlated with the day of the week.  Correlation is about how often two things are associated with each other, so there is no thunder without lightning. This is 100% or a perfect correlation.  Smoking is positively correlated with lung cancer, but obviously, not all smokers will get cancer.  A low correlation between two types of events does not rule out causation in particular instances. A hunter might fa

Chapter 5: Stylistic Applications to Drama Introduction  A play exists in two ways— on the page , and on the stage ; this presents something of a dilemma for the literary critic since the two manifestations are quite different and need different analytic approaches. When stylistics has focused on drama , it has almost invariably been concerned with the text, rather than the performance. The text, after all, is static and unchanging , (although different editions of a play might contain textual variations). The stylistician may easily turn back the pages to a previous scene, and make comparisons between speeches in different parts of the play, or even reach for another book, and make comparisons between different plays.   The (live) performance of a play , on the other hand, is transient (short-lived). A speech only partially heard through inattention cannot be heard again on that occasion.   Actors may differ in their performances from one night to the next, and a half-empty house mi