Character and Setting in Emma Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Character and Setting in Emma - Essay Example Jane Austin’s novel concentrates on human relationship revolving around the main character Emma and the importance of Highbury setting to the characterization of the Heroine. Relationship between Emma and Harriet With the witty and charming heroin Emma, Jane Austen’s work was flawless with exploration of human relationship. The major subject of Jane Austen’s Emma revolves around the natural power of human relationship. Austen in this novel compares the healthy and unhealthy relationship between Emma and Harriet. The relationship between Emma and Harriet was an epitome of unhealthy relationship where the teacher Emma exploited, manipulated and neglected her student Harriet. Emma took Harriet under her wings and wanted to teach how to adjust with her choices of acquaintances. Emma was more concerned about her own desires rather being concerned about what would be best for Harriet. Chapter seven of the novel lays special reinforcement to the relationship between Emm a and Harriet Smith. Harriet depend upon the decision and suggestion of Emma whether to marry or reject Robert Martin. Though she had some opinion and decisions of her own but could not go by them since Emma’s opinion was more important. This shows how much important role Emma plays in the life of Harriet. They had friendship but between unequal. When Emma advised her to reject Robert Martin, Harriet was disappointed and said â€Å"You think I ought to refuse him, then† (Austen, 44) but did not have the courage to go against Emma’s decision. This clearly reveals that Harriet was totally dependent on Emma’s decision and trusted her blindly. ... Elton developed theme like reason versus thoughts, social responsibility versus selfishness and arrogance. Settings The Novel of Jane Austin, Emma has its setting in a provincial community, which involved the gentry of the region. She chose a small tiny town named Highbury where everybody knew everything about anyone staying over there. This revealed that everyone was aware of the peculiarities and odd habits of each individual in the town. One was unaware of the local’s geography. The closeness of the town Highbury to its estates â€Å"Hartfield, Donwell Abbey and Randalls† were clearly revealed in the novel as the fact that London was sixteen miles away. However the description of the physical aspects of the town was not given except that of the Donwell, which was given with a purpose to portray Emma’s reaction. The presence of â€Å"Richmond road† can be felt from the description that Harriet met the gypsies on the Richmond Road but no other details wer e found. The presence of an embankment over where the companions scuttles was also derived from the description. Emma and Mr. Woodhouse’s house was the geographical center around which the whole novel revolved. The drawing room or something equivalent was the primary setting of the novel. The scene of Box Hill or even the shrubbery walk where George proposed Emma was simply an open-air drawing room. The novel mainly concentrated on the social involvement and human relations. It did not give any clear description of the vegetation or terrain or any connection that leads to the description of the geography of the place. Instead the novel had an evident presence of the description of drawing and dining rooms, rooms for dancing and scenes of carriage and equipment of

Low-cost Leadership Program Essay Example for Free

Low-cost Leadership Program Essay The best way for an organization to implement a low cost leadership-training program is to use a variety of approaches; this will maximize organizations efforts to have well trained employees with a focus on long-term development. In the case of a non-profit organization, the best way to set up a low-cost-leadership-training program would be to set-up a training committee. The committee would be composed of entry-level managers, upper management, and executives. This would allow for entry-level managers to have an input regarding what the employees need training and developing on. Also, with t upper-management and executives being involved and spearheading the committee, it lets employees realize that the organization cares about its employees. Once the training committee has been set up, it can then look into the variety of options they have available to them. It can send committee members to seminars, conferences, and trainings, which in turn would allow them to gather information and then train the organizations employees on the matter at hand. For example, a non-profit that works in family and youth development can send 3 site managers and 1 area director to a BOOST conference, a three-day conference that assists non-profits with ways to fundraise, market, build relationships with school faculty, connecting with members, redirecting negative behavior, etc. The employees that were chosen would then bring back the information they learned and recreate the training for the employees in the organization. Financially, this would be a great way for the organization to save money, while still managing to train employees. The training committee would also set up site visits to other highly productive companies and organizations. By doing so, the committee can send non-committee members as well as committee officials to do site visits to observe the work culture and environment of such company. The committee would have to brief the employees on what the purpose of the visit will be; therefore, allowing the employees to prepare questions that can be tailored to extract information pertinent to their needs. For example, the Boys and Girls Club doing a site visit to the YMCA. Finally, managers can find themselves overwhelmed by the amount of people they oversee and allotting enough time to each employee. Employees have a myriad  of concerns and issues that they might want to address with their supervisors. However, many times these issues are minimal but time consuming. Therefore, in order to minimize distractions and optimize productivity from lone employees and managers, setting up a mentor program within the organization would be a highly effective addition to training and developing program. Long-standing company employees would be mentors to new employees. This would allow for new employees to have a person to resort to in case they have any doubts or questions. The pros of setting up a training committee are low financial costs. It also allows for employees from all categories to interact and join efforts in the overall improvement of the organization. Also, if the organizations overall production increases and the organization sees sufficient growth, this committee can become its own department in the long run. It is important to keep in mind that regardless of the benefits this may provide a company, it undoubtedly will also come its consequences. In order for the company to ensure that the committee is successful, it will have to ensure that the committee members are effective communicators, great planners, and have plenty of public speaking skills. Otherwise, this will be detrimental to the committee but more importantly to the employees who will be receiving training from them. Also, trainings must be composed of material that will be useful to employees, and has to incorporate active learning techniques, case analysis, and hands on interaction in order to involve and stimulate the employees. The mentor program might also face its problems, so when pairing up employees, upper management must ensure that personalities are compatible and that the mentor is qualified to be one.

Radioiodine Therapy for Hyperthyroidism

Radioiodine Therapy for Hyperthyroidism RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Radioiodine therapy is now a day increasingly used for treatment for hyperthyroidism. The response to this treatment is unpredictable and the factors postulated to predict outcome have not generally proven clinically useful or is not widely accepted in clinical practice. So this retrospective study was carried out to determine whether the demographic, clinical and laboratory characteristics at presentation had any influence on the recurrence and the success of the radioiodine therapy. This study was carried out in the Nuclear Medicine Department of Kovai Medical Center And Hospital during the inclusive period of Jan 2014 to July 2014. At the beginning of the study 70 patients were included, but only 62 completed follow up. In this study, the records of 70 hyperthyroid patients were reviewed. Among those 70 patients, 23 (32.9%) males and 47 (67.1%) females were enrolled. The female to male ratio was 2.1:1, showing a higher incidence of hyperthyroidism in females than in males. Even though females are more prone to hyperthyroidism, this had no influence on the outcome of therapy (p=0.2330). Similar studies conducted by Antony Lewis et al also could not find any association between gender and outcome of therapy. (Table: 1 Graph: 1) As hyperthyroidism is relatively more common in adult population, for convenient analysis patients were categorized based on the age limit into 2 groups i.e. less than 35 years and above 35 years . The mean age of study patients was found to be 42.56Â ±13.44 years (range 15 to 72 years). 21 patients came under the category of less than 35 years with females and males with mean age of 27.42Â ±5.81 and 26.57Â ±7.45 years respectively. The remaining 49 patients comes under the age limit of above 35 years, the mean age of male patients was 49.06Â ±9.05 and 49.21Â ±10.21 years in females. This indicated a higher incidence of hyperthyroid conditions in subjects above 35 years. According to this study, there was no significant tendency for proportion cured to change with age (p=0.899). Studies done by Robert A.Nordyke et al also could not find any association with age and cure rate and also the mean age of the study population was also similar.(Table:2,3 Graph 2,3) The patients in this study received a fixed dose of 10 mCi for Graves’ disease and relatively higher doses for toxic multinodular goiters based on the size of thyroid gland determined by physical examination and thyroid uptake scan. Of the total of 70 patients who received radioactive iodine 52 (74.3%) patients were treated with an average dose of 5 mCi, range (0-10 mCi) and 18 patients received an average dose of 15 mCi, range (11-20 mCi) of radioactive iodine. The optimal method for determining the appropriate iodine-131 treatment dose remains controversial. Techniques vary from fixed dose to more elaborate calculations based on the gland size and iodine uptake. In calculated dose method, a dose of RAI is administered which is proportional to the size of the gland, this theoretically increases the chances of cure. But studies done by satzal-Mazer et al and Y.Khalid et al have failed to demonstrate any improvement in cure rate with calculated dose compared to fixed dose regim en. In this study ,a good result was seen in 90.9% of patient who received a dose of RAI in the range of 0-10 mCi and 83.3% of patients receiving a dose of 11-20 mCi, but this correlation was not significant.(p=0.403)(Table :4 Figure:4) Studies done by Funda Utsun et al revealed that majority of the patients was treated for Graves’ disease followed by toxic multinodular goiter. In this study also among the patients who received radioactive iodine, the largest group was diagnosed with Graves’ disease (54 patients, 77.2%), followed by toxic multinodular goiter (11 patients, 15.7%). The relatively smaller groups include those with thyrotoxicosis (4 patients, 5.7%) and solitary thyroid nodule (1patient, 1.4%). (Table: 5 Figure: 5) Clinical Graves’ ophthalmopathy was noted in 8 patients (11.4%) in which except one all others were female. 62 patients (88.6%) were free from ophthalmopathy. Of the 8 patients who had ophthalmopathy, 5 patients was treated successfully and hence there was no significant correlation between ophthalmopathy and outcome of the treatment in this study (p=1.00). Studies done by Wisam.K.Ghadban et al found out that there was no significant worsening or new development of ophthalmopathy post RAI treatment. In contrast, a systematic review done by Shamasunder H.Acharya et al concluded that radioiodine therapy is associated with increased risk of progression of ophthalmopathy compared with antithyroid drugs and hence pretreatment with steroids is necessary.(Table:6 Figure: 6) Presence of goiter was assessed clinically by endocrinologists and was documented as either present or absent at the time of radioiodine administration. About 58 patients (82.9%) showed the presence of goiter and in 12 patients (17.1%) the signs of goiter were not present. No significant association was seen in this study on goiter and treatment success. (p=0.326). In contrast, previous studies done by Anthony Lewis et al revealed that patients with small or no goiter were more likely to be successfully treated by a single dose.(Table: 7 Figure: 7) Prior use of antithyroid medication occurred in 63 patients (90%). Of these, 68.57% (48 patients) received treatment for more than one year whereas 21.43% (15) of patients received for a period of less than one year.10% (7) of patients had no pre-treatment with antithyroid medication before RAI administration. Previous studies done by Joyce S Y Yau et al demonstrated that there was no significant association between anti-thyroid medication and radioiodine treatment within one year. (Table: 8 Figure: 8) Among the study subjects who received pre-treatment, majority of the patients were treated with carbimazole (40%, 28 patients), followed by neomercazole (19 patients, 27.2%) and methimazole (15 patients, 21.4%). Only 1 patient among the 63 patients was treated with propylthiouracil (1.4%). All were advised to stop the drugs 7 days before radioiodine administration. A significant correlation was not observed between pretreatment with antithyroid drugs and treatment success (1.00). In a prior study done by Edward Prinat et al ,treatment success was obtained in patients with no pre-treatment and those who have stopped ATD seven days before 131I admnistration, while in the group of patients who received MMI until 131I application,success was significantly lower.(Table: 9 Figure:9) The primary objective of radioactive iodine therapy is to eliminate hyperthyroidism, but what is important to patients is the quickness of therapeutic effect. Graph 10 shows change in mean concentrations of TSH and T4 before and after I131 administration. The result revealed an increase in TSH concentration after the RAI treatment whereas the T4 levels showed a decrease in the concentration which indicates that therapeutic effect is achieved in the hyperthyroid patients. Piotr Szumowski et al came up with a study which showed similar results. (Table: 10 Graph: 10). Thyroid hormone concentrations before and after administration of radioiodine was analysed. A significant difference was found in the concentration of TSH and T4 before and after radioiodine therapy in patients who are on thyoxine replacement therapy after RAI administration (p=0.000 p=0.003 resp.). Whereas on comparing the concentration of TSH and T4 prior and post therapy on who were not on drugs, there was no significant difference (p=0.533 0.057) (Table: 14). As the time after radioiodine administration elapses,the percentage of hypothyroid patients increases. The incidence of hypothyroidism was 38.5 %( 27) in first trimester, 12.8 %( 9) in second trimester and 2.8 %( 2) in the third trimester. A prior study done by Ajith S Shinto et al also similar incidence of hypothyroidism after therapy. (Table: 12 Graph: 12) The assessment of overall efficacy of treatment at one year after I131 administration showed that a euthyroid status was achieved in 24.3% (17) of patients, hypothyroidism was observed in 54.3% (38 patients), while persistence or recurrence of hyperthyroidism was seen in 10% of patients , which revealed that a second dose of radioiodine is required in these patients. This outcome meant that 75.7% of patients require further treatment. In that 38 patients requires further hormone replacement therapy and 7 patients requires a second dose of radioactive iodine. The achievement of euthyroid and hypothyroid status is considered as good result. Studies done by Mosako Tsuruta et al and Sirianong Namwongprom et al also showed similar results.(Table:11 Graph 11)

Definition of Science Fiction Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Perhaps one of the most versatile genres in films, television, books, artwork and any number of things today is science fiction. Many times I have seen a sci-fi movie filed under comedy or drama. That is one of the major things that has led to my love for science fiction, the simple fact that it can be so much more than just science fiction. I would like to present a definition of what science fiction is in this paper. My definition will not be exact, because so many people have a different idea of what counts as sci-fi and, not only that, but we may have found yet another venue for science fiction by the time this paper is complete. In order to define what science fiction is and to support my definition, I am going to give some examples of stories that I think fall into this genre first and then give a semi-solid definition of what I think science fiction is. The first example of science fiction I’d like to take a look at is Alien. A prime example of straightforward science fiction would be this movie. Space miners (or merchants†¦something like that) are awakened from their cryogenic sleep-state much earlier than was originally planned. A distress/warning beacon on an unfamiliar planet caused their ship to awaken them so that help could be dispatched. Of course, it turns out to be a ship that was taken over by the Aliens and the Earthlings’ ship was soon to be infested. No questions about this one; it is most definitely science fiction. Humans meeting up with aliens and, of course, space travel, instantly places this film into the science fiction category. Another example of science fiction, and one that proves science-fiction’s elusive nature, is Tarzan. This is a fantastic example of a popular story that nobody would normally think of as being sci-fi. Everyone knows the story: A baby is lost in the jungle, raised by apes, and then is discovered years later by some jungle-adventurers. It sounds sort of questionable as to whether this should be considered science fiction, but it remains a fact that this story takes place on Earth and involves a character that has adopted ape-like qualities. One could argue that this is just a fictional story or even fantasy, but it still retains an element of science and, therefore, falls into the category of science fiction. Time travel: is it really science fiction? Some people would not agre... ... is. Science fiction (adj.) [sy-ens fik-shun]: †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some fictional event that was brought about using logical, scientific methods or caused by logical, scientific events. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sentence use: I watched this science fiction movie the other day that scared the heebie-jeebies out of me! Needless to say, science fiction is a wonderful genre that encompasses a vast number of stories, even ones that we don’t really think of as sci-fi at first. As I have illustrated in these examples, science fiction can be the major genre of a story or it can be merely a piece within a story. Such a debatable concept as this one can be extremely difficult to completely define. For now, we’ll have to settle for a general definition such as the one I have written above, but perhaps in the future someone will define science fiction more clearly. Of course, if we limit the term science fiction to a clear-cut definition, will science fiction have such wonderful stories as it does now or will they end up being bland, repetitive stories? I believe that science fiction will never have a single definition because that just happens to be the nature of the genre.

Learning Theories Amongst Young Adults

Introduction The concept of ‘learning' has been embedded In each and every one of us from the daddy were born. Since, the beginning of man, learning has been incorporated Into our very nature whether we are conscious of It or not; from learning how to control fire to noticing how that fire provides us with warmth and security to ward of wild animals. Learning as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary is the activity or process of gaining knowledge or skill by studying, practicing, being taught, or experiencing something'.Over the years, psychologists have come up with different theories on how we learn. Marketers have taken these theories and applied them to gain a better understanding of how consumers learn and behave, in order to develop better marketing strategies to satisfy the needs and wants of consumers. This is commonly known today as consumer behavior. The rapid increases of millennial consumers over the years have Intrigued marketers to further understand and analy ses this new breed of consumers. Hence, to understand their behaviors Is to understand how they learn and process Information.There are many ways to learn and along with that, many different learning theories. In this research, I will be focusing on three mall learning theories related to young adult learning and what are the implications of these theories to marketing. Learning Theories of Young Adults & How Marketers Apply Them To analyses how young adults learn, we have to first understand the term young adult'. In actuality, there is no definition to the term; however it is widely used these days to describe an individual who lies within the transition period between the adolescence to adulthood period.The term is also typically used to better categorize his segment of individuals in researches, studies and even marketing. According to Erosion's Stages of Development, the young adult stage ranges between the ages of 18-35 years (Erikson, 1968). Due to the advancements of this ev er-changing society, learning today Is not the same as It was 20-30 years ago. The exposure to technology from an early age has altered the way these ‘dealt natives' think and process information compared to previous generations before them (Presents, 2001 Thus, the towards understanding how young adults' learn. Knowledge is perception – Socrates.Learning is no longer Just a passive assimilation of knowledge (Pigged, 1968), which is passed down from teacher to student. As Benjamin Franklin once said, â€Å"Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn†. The conventional student-teacher or teach me' methods of learning can no longer be applied to the young adults of this generation. Instead, the use of a more active learning method such as cognitive learning is more relevant today. Cognitive learning is a theory that defines learning as a behavioral change based on the acquisition of information bout the environment' (Mossy, 2009).There are three main branches of cognitive learning; the iconic rote learning, vicarious learning and reasoning or analogy learning. Iconic rote learning The first area of cognitive learning we will be looking at is Iconic rote learning. Iconic rote learning is defined as learning the association between two or more concepts in absence of conditioning (Neal, Sequester, Hawkins, 2002). The essence of this concept is repetition, where the intended concept is repeated over again to engage the attention of the intended target.On the surface, this concept might seem similar to hat of the classical conditioning method which also involves repetition. However, this concept differs from classical conditioning because of the absence of a stimulus- response mechanism, a direct reinforcement or reward involved. The aim of iconic learning is Just to boost the attention and promote awareness off concept to associate its key attributes. Young adults today are faced with a â€Å"continuous partial atte ntion† syndrome, where there is an overload of information from the use of technology (Coleman, 2013).It is difficult to teach a young adult today in a classroom, specially with the use of smoothness, laptops and gadgets, while simultaneously trying to receive information from the speaker or teacher. Moreover, young adults have the tendency to be distracted by the thought of needing to check their text messages or notifications from social-media circles. This attachment to technology is the reason why the transfer of an intended information or concept, has to be extensively repeated to obtain the constant attention or awareness of the intended person, in order for learning to occur.Herbert Simon, a Nobel-winning economist rote â€Å"Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention†. Therefore, marketers who understand this theory, apply it to their marketing strategies to attract the attention of young adult consumers. Advertisers use mediums such as televis ion commercials, Youth ads, and print media to create a link between the brand and its key benefits to consumers through iconic rote learning. For example, the extensive repetition and occurrences of a Cataracts advertisement, associates the brand to premium coffee.Once consumers have made the connection between Cataracts and premium coffee, consumers will cognitive processing. The presence of these commercials can even be made on digital platforms such as tablets and smoothness through downloaded APS (applications). Hence, with the right amount of exposure and occurrence, marketers will be able to capitalize on the ‘distraction' of technology to learning and use it to their advantage when marketing young adults through infiltrating popular internet mediums such as Backbone and Youth. Vicarious learning Vicarious learning, also known as observational learning (sometimes called modeling or imitation) is simple learning by observing others and copying their behavior Fletcher and Gorton, 2007). Often used in conjunction with Bandanna's social learning theory, made famous by the ‘Boob doll' experiment; considers that children learn complex social behaviors by copying the behaviors of adults. Later on, Bandeau acknowledged that learners also play an active role in the learning process by only choosing models which are consistent with their own personal beliefs and values which produce desired outcomes (Bandeau, 1989).Androgyny, also known as the study of how adults learn, was made popular by Malcolm Knowles who believed that adults are self-directed, goal-orientated and bring life experiences and knowledge to their learning experience (Knowles, 1989). Hence, it is clear that Bandanna's theory not only applies to only children but to young adults as well because they only model those who align with their own prior beliefs and knowledge, to reach a desired goal or outcome. Thus, marketers who understand these learning theories apply them to their marketin g strategies to reach young adult consumers.For instance, popular Swedish retailers H&M use David Beckman (a famous footballer and celebrity) as their brand ambassador and spokesperson for their clothing line. Young adults who identify and look to Beckman as their role model will tend to imitate him; including what he wears in this case. Analytical or reasoning learning Analytical or reasoning learning can be defined as â€Å"an inference process that allows consumers to use an existing knowledge base to understand a new situation or object† (Hawkins and Motherboards, 2010).In analytical learning, critical reasoning based on existing understanding and knowledge is used together with new information or concepts in the learning process. This is common in young adults as they incorporate life experiences and pre-existent knowledge to their learning experience, as mentioned earlier based on the androgyny study (Knowles, 1989). Simply put, this theory of learning helps young adult s use a pre-existing knowledge of something that they familiar with, to learn something that which they are not familiar with.Typically, high-involvement products involve more reasoning thinking because consumers are motivated to learn about products that they are interested Marketers who understand this theory use it to reach young adult consumers. An example of this is the purchase of high-involvement products such as smoothness. Users in Malaysia were between the ages of 25 to 34 (Enterprise News, 2011), hence falling within the young adult category (Erikson, 1968).The consumer behaviorism model suggests that a typical consumer goes through four stages before purchasing a product; recognition, searching for information, evaluation of alternatives and finally, the purchase decision (Kettle and Keller, 2012). Therefore, in the purchase of a smartened, young adults in Malaysia use analytical or reasoning learning to acquire as much information about the smartened when comparing betw een brands and prices.Hence, marketers in the smartened industry, should market their smoothness based on emphasizing on the unique specifications and restorability of price in order to gain a comparative advantage over competitor brands. If the product attributes align with a previous knowledge or experience, then the young adult will be motivated to learn more about the smartened and eventually decide to purchase it. Conclusion Young adults have become the main target market of marketers. Hence, it is critical to understand how they think, behave and learn.In this assignment I highlighted who young adult are and analyses the different cognitive approaches to learning when it comes to young adults which include; iconic rote, vicarious and analytical learning. These learning theories have a direct impact on the decision-making process of young adult consumers in purchasing items. I have also given real life examples which illustrated and describe the appropriate marketing strategies to not only reach but significantly affect and influence the way young adults purchase products.

How to be Professional at Work

How to be Professional at Work While you don’t want to create a phony professional persona at work that doesn’t make you feel comfortable or like you’re being yourself, there are a few words that should be stricken from your vocabulary- at least at the office, if not beyond.These are words that, fairly or unfairly, can easily undermine your credibility and professionalism. Don’t give anyone an excuse to doubt you.Just say no to:â€Å"Like†Ã¢â‚¬Å"I like pizza† is fine. So are similes: â€Å"that sunset is like a painting.† So is the thing you do on Facebook. What isn’t fine is using this word as conversational filler, or a verbal tic. â€Å"She’s, like, so pretty; it, like, hurts to look at her. I’m like†¦ wow.† Do yourself a favor and try to notice every time you say â€Å"like† in these bad ways for a few hours, or a day. Then try and charge yourself a dollar every time you do it. It’s a tough habit to notice- even toug her to break- but it has to be done.â€Å"Almost†There’s nothing wrong with this one, grammatically. It just implies†¦ well, not getting the job done. In a work environment, when you’re trying to convince peers and superiors of your capabilities and butt-kicking potential, you can find a better way to express yourself than â€Å"almost.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"You know†This is a lazy bit of conversational filler. The person you are talking to either does or doesn’t know what you mean. Try reading their cues to see which is which. If they do know, stop talking; you’ve already made your point. If they don’t, try to explain what you mean more clearly.â€Å"Try†This is like â€Å"almost.† In the immortal words of Yoda: â€Å"Do or do not. There is no try.† There are ways to convey failed, yet valiant attempts without using the word and implying that you’ve given up. Try it!â€Å"Wish†If wishes were horses†¦ Well, you get the picture. Every time you’re tempted to say â€Å"wish,† change it to â€Å"will.† You’ll get a whole lot more done if you’re constantly challenging yourself to put your money where your mouth is. Same goes for â€Å"might!†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Literally†This word has been ruined by overuse. Unless you’re very specifically conveying that you are not exaggerating, strike â€Å"literally† from your vocabulary. Most people use it nowadays when they are, in fact, exaggerating- in an ironic way. If you don’t know exactly what you’re trying to convey when using this word, chances are you’re using it wrong. Better not to use it at all.