Feministic justice and revenge upon patriarchal misogynists Essay

Feministic justice and revenge upon patriarchal misogynists - Essay Example This essay demonstrates that in GDT and BQ acts of feministic revenge are conducted as a means of claiming justice and reclamation of power from patriarchal characters who have abused their position of power. Conversely, in EH justice is only found through the legal system. Also, in GDT and BQ the heroines escape/are free at the end of the films, this implies, either rightly or wrongly that their actions were justified in the eyes of their respective societies and cultures. In EH, however, two of the main characters are killed by males, one by a boy and justice was only served for Yeter’s death in Germany. The films all demonstrate recognition of patriarchal ills conducted against women in each of the societies, and the women’s rights to seek justice. They do this in different manners, however, according to the cultural norms of the films’ characters. In GDT the woman is equal in all ways and can seek a violent revenge for herself. In BQ she can be strong and vio lent but still requires the support of men; she is not entirely equal. In EH women only have equality in the eyes of the law.  This essay demonstrates that in GDT and BQ acts of feministic revenge are conducted as a means of claiming justice and reclamation of power from patriarchal characters who have abused their position of power. Conversely, in EH justice is only found through the legal system. Also, in GDT and BQ the heroines escape/are free at the end of the films, this implies, either rightly or wrongly that their actions were justified in the eyes of their respective societies and cultures. In EH, however, two of the main characters are killed by males, one by a boy and justice was only served for Yeter’s death in Germany. The films all demonstrate recognition of patriarchal ills conducted against women in each of the societies, and the women’s rights to seek justice. They do this in different manners, however, according to the cultural norms of the filmsâ₠¬â„¢ characters. In GDT the woman is equal in all ways and can seek a violent revenge for herself. In BQ she can be strong and violent but still requires the support of men; she is not entirely equal. In EH women only have equality in the eyes of the law.   The feministic themes of revenge in GDT and BQ do not, however, serve to progress any culture.   There is no message that violence is not an acceptable cultural practice in any of the respective countries and the means of justice portrayed in these two films is not a common one in the real world. The actions of the real-life â€Å"Bandit Queen† are an exception rather than the norm. Justice through legal action in EH is a more accurate portrayal. In spite of this, it is apparent that the cold murder and lack of justice for Lotte and the abilities of men to threaten and control Yeter show that Turkish cultural attitudes to gender equality remain far behind those of European societies. In a world of increasing gender equ ality, however, the portrayal of gender violence against men as opposed to women is merely a dramatized portrayal of gender equality.

International Rugby Board and Rugby Football Essay Example for Free

International Rugby Board and Rugby Football Essay Rugby football (also known as rugby) is either of two current sports, either rugby league or rugby union, or any of a number of sports through history descended from a common form of football developed in different areas of the United Kingdom. Rugby union, or simply Rugby, is a full contact team sport, a form of football which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. It is played with an oval-shaped ball, outdoors on a level field, usually with a grass surface, up to 100 metres (330 ft) long and 70 metres (230 ft) wide. On each goal line are H-shaped goal posts. The origin of rugby football is reputed to be an incident during a game of English school football at Rugby School in 1823 when William Webb-Ellis is said to have picked up the ball and run with it. Although this tale is apocryphal, the Rugby World Cup trophy is named after him. Rugby football stems from the form of game played at Rugby School, which old pupils initially took to university; Old Rugbeian Albert Pell, a student at Cambridge, is credited with having formed the first football team. During this early period different schools used different rules, with former pupils from Rugby and Eton attempting to carry their preferred rules through to their universities. Significant events in the early development of rugby football were the production of the first set of written laws at Rugby School in 1845, the Blackheath Clubs decision to leave the Football Association in 1863 and the formation of the Rugby Football Union in 1871. The code was originally known simply as rugby football; it was not until after a schism in 1895, which resulted in the separate code of rugby league, that the name rugby union came to be used for the game itself. Supporters of both codes will frequently refer to theirs as merely rugby or rugby football, unless they are differentiating between the two. The first rugby football international took place on 27 March 1871, played between England and Scotland. By 1881 both Ireland and Wales had representative teams, and in 1883 the first international competition, the Home Nations Championship had begun. 1883 also saw the first rugby sevens tournament at Melrose called the Melrose Sevens, which is still held annually. Five years later two important overseas tours took place; a British Isles team visited Australia and New Zealand—although a private venture, it laid the foundations for future British and Irish Lions tours; and the 1888 New Zealand Native team brought the first overseas team to British spectators. From 1905 through to 1907, all three major Southern Hemisphere rugby countries sent their first touring teams to the Northern Hemisphere; Dave Gallahers New Zealand in 1905, followed by Paul Roos South Africa in 1906 and then Herbert Morans Australia. All three teams brought new styles of play, fitness levels and tactics, and were far more successful than critics at first believed. 1905 also saw the first French internationals. The years during the First World War saw an end of international rugby union games and union-sponsored club matches, but competitions continued with service teams such as the New Zealand Army team. The Second World War saw an end of international matches from most countries, though Italy, Germany and Romania played a limited number of games, and Cambridge and Oxford continued their annual University Match. In 1973 the first officially sanctioned international sevens tournament took place at Murrayfield, as part of the Scottish Rugby Union centenary celebrations. In 1987 the first Rugby World Cup was held in New Zealand and Australia, and the inaugural winners were New Zealand. The first World Cup Sevens tournament was held at Murrayfield in 1993. Rugby union was an amateur sport until the IRB declared the game open in 1995, removing restrictions on payments to players. However, the pre-1995 period of rugby union was marked by frequent accusations of shamateurism, including an investigation in Britain by a House of Commons Select committee. [pic] The only known portrait of William Webb Ellis Rugby union differs from association football (soccer) in that the hands can be employed to move the ball. However, a player can only pass the ball backwards or laterally (i. e. not forward) to another player, or kick it. This means that the majority of progress made by an attacking team occurs through a leap frog cycle of passing the ball, running to make ground, being tackled and repeating this process. Each of these cycles (greatly simplified) is called a phase of play. Rugby union includes the concept of advantage (not to be confused with the advantage line). If one team commits an infraction of the Laws, the referee will not stop play if the opposing team is in a position to gain a territorial or tactical advantage from the mistake. Instead, he calls advantage and allows play to continue until he judges that adequate advantage has accrued, when he calls advantage over, and play continues as if the original infraction had not occurred. If he deems that no advantage can accrue, the referee will stop play and award a scrum, free kick or penalty, as appropriate, at the site of the original infraction. The question of what is advantage and how long play should be allowed to continue to see if any advantage is gained, is a moot point: the referee is the sole judge of what constitutes advantage and different referees can and do take different approaches to this question. But in general, if in subsequent advantage play a team has the chance to do what they could have done if the referee had stopped play for the infraction, then advantage has been gained and the referee will call advantage over. So, for instance, suppose a team commits an infraction that would result in their opponents being awarded a scrum. If their opponents are able to take clean possession of the ball and advance it following the infraction, then they have done what they would have been able to do from a scrum — advantage is thus over. If on the other hand their possession is messy or closely contested then there is no advantage, and the referee will (or should) award the original scrum. Advantage play automatically ends if the team seeking advantage commits an infringement itself: normally, they would then be awarded the consequences of the original infringement, but if they commit an act of foul play, then they will (or should) be penalised directly themselves.

Christian And Navajo Creation

Christian And Navajo Creation All places, people, cultures and religions have a beginning; something or someone had to create the land, sea, animals and people. The story of creation varies from culture to culture but in some instances you can find similarities between two cultures that were divided by an ocean and thousands of miles. The two creation myths are those of the Christians and the Navajo peoples. These myths have been passed down from generation to generation and never forgotten. The creation myths for these two cultures are the building blocks for their futures. These two cultures werent only divided by an ocean and thousands of miles but by different languages and the time period in which each creation takes place. Despite the difference between these two myths, the similarities that are found are quite remarkable. The creation myths of the Navajo and Christian people contain specific symbolisms that make each unique, from the different characters, to the presence and development of evil and the flo ods that wiped out life or moved life forward, these show that no matter how great the distance there can be similarities and not just differences. Each creation myth will be assessed individually because it is easier to fully understand the relation between the two myths. The Christian creation myth will be addressed first because it is the most well known of the two. In the Christian creation myth there was one God, The Triune God that consists of The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. He was the divine creator in the Christian creation myth that is told in The Book of Genesis. The Lord God of the Christian creation myth has the ability to create anything from nothing. He takes an earth that does not yet have form to it and creates the heavens, the land and all living creatures on it, including man. When God creates the earth it takes him six days to create the world and he rests on the seventh day. He didnt create the earth all at once, he did it in steps. First he created light, then the heavens, then the land and plants, next the sun and moon, then the fish and birds and on the final day he created the animals and man. Th e Lord God, The Divine Creator, is a figure of great power and wisdom that is not always believed to be true later in the bible. If you look past the initial creation of the earth and focus on the sixth day when man was created you will find two characters that started human life on earth. Adam was the first male to be created. He was created from dust and the breathe of god that gave him life and breathe of his own. God created Adam to rule over all the animals and to tend to the Garden of Eden. Adam was also tasked with the job of naming all the birds and animals. God tried to find a helper for Adam so that he didnt have to care for Eden alone, but none of the animals god created was capable of helping Adam. Since God could not find a suitable helper for Adam he put him into a deep sleep and removed one of Adams ribs and used it to create the first woman, Eve. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve could eat whatever plants and fruits they wanted, except the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Eating the fruit was forbidden and they both were told that if they ate it, they would die. This is the part of the story where the first instance of evil is introduced. One day when Eve was working in the garden she was approached by a serpent. This serpent was no normal serpent, it was Satan disguised as one of Gods creatures. As the serpent, Satan tricked Eve into eating and sharing with Adam a fruit from the forbidden tree. When Satan is disguised as the snake, he is seen as a trickster who gets his way through tricking and manipulating the helpless. When God found out what Adam and Eve had done he cursed them, as well as the serpent. The serpent was cursed to forever crawl on his belly and eat dust for the rest of his life. Eve was cursed with severe pains when birthing children and that her husband will always rule over her. Whe n God got to Adam he cursed the ground that he will plant his crops and it will produce inedible foods. All of this pain and suffering was all because of a trickster. After Adam and Eve were banished from Eden for eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they made love and Eve got pregnant. The lord had blessed them with their first son and they named him Cain. Eve looks as her son as a blessing and realizes that the lord had given her Cain and also realized that he is the ultimate source of life. Eve also had another son that was named Abel. Cain worked the land and soil and Abel watched and worked the flocks of sheep or other various animals. When these two men went to bring gifts to God, Cain brought gifts of fruit from the soil and Abel brought gifts of fat portions from the younger part of the flock. The lord favored Abels gift over Cains and this made him angry. The Lord God asked Cain why he was so angry and explained to him that if you allow sin to get a grasp on you it will eventually lead to something terrible. After this talk with God, Cain went to find Abel and asked him to go to the field with him. Once there Cain attacked and killed Abel because he was jealous of how God favored Abels offering over his. When he returned from the field God asked Cain where his brother is and he told him that he didnt know where he was. God knew what had happened to Abel and cursed Cain and told him that the ground will never yield crops to him again. Cain left his home and became a wanderer and said that whoever finds him will kill him. God said that that is not so for whom ever kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over. This is because he wants Cain to live as long as he can so that he will always have the burden of knowing that he killed his brother. Cain and his wife lived in the land of Nod which was east of Eden. Cain eventually married a nd his wife had a child named Enoch. Cain built a city here and named it after his son. Enoch eventually has sons who had sons that. Down the lineage one of the family members of Cain had murdered a young man and he was also cursed like Cain. Adam and Eve were blessed again with another child in place of the slain Abel, his name was Seth. Seth also had a son, he called him Enosh. After Enosh was born the people of the land started to call to the lord and pray to him. The conclusive symbolic event that happens in the Christian creation myth is the flood that destroys all living creatures below the heavens. The flood is brought on by God because he was disgusted by how corrupt and violent life on earth had become. God spoke to a man that he felt would bring balance back to earth after the flood; this mans name was Noah. God instructed Noah to build an Ark made from cypress wood to his exact dimensions. After the Ark was built Noah was told to gather two animals of every kind, one male and one female and put them on the ark to save them from the flood. He was also told to bring seven pair of the clean animals onto the ark. The clean animals were to be used for sacrifice once the flood waters had receded. God also instructed him to bring his wife, all three of his sons and his sons wives onto the ark as well. Noah was given seven days to complete all this before the rain started. Once the rain started it would not stop for 40 days and 40 nights. The water from the rain rose so high that they covered the highest mountains on earth. Eventually the rain stopped, but the water did not recede for one hundred and fifty days, the God sent a wind that started lowering the flood waters. As the flood waters receded the ark found a resting place on the Mountains of Ararat. Noah sent a raven to see if it could find dry land and it returned with nothing. Later he sent a dove out to do the same thing and it too returned with nothing. Seven days after the first dove returned, Noah sent out the dove again and this time it returned with an olive branch. In another seven days he would send the dove out again and this time it would not return. This told Noah that the flood waters receded and it was now safe to leave the ark. After Noah, his family and all the living creatures left the ark; God came to Noah and told him and his family to repopulate the earth. After the flood God vowed never to curse the ground again because of humans, he originally cursed the ground because of Adam and Eves betrayal and it led to the death and de struction of all life on earth. From these symbols, its easy to see how they all, in their own way, affected the creation of earth. Of the different themes in this creation myth the one that defines God as the Divine Creator is the most extensive one because he has the ability to create anything from nothing. At the beginning of the creation myth there is only one being, the divine creator, God. His power of creation is never rivaled during the telling of the Christian creation myth. As he creates the earth and all the creatures, man is created in his likeness. When Adam is living in Eden with Eve another meme is introduced; the division of good by evil. This takes place when Eve is tempted by Satan, as the form of a serpent, to eat an apple from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. She does so and also shares some of it with Adam. When this happens, it divides Adam and Eve from God and he curses them and the serpent. Satan, as the serpent, is pleased because he successfully divided God from man. Eating that apple leads to corruption and violence on Earth. This is when God purges the earth with the flood. It seems that, with the creation of land, water, creatures, or man, evil will be present in some form. You have read about different symbols and themes in the Christian creation myth but the form in which it was originally to be important as well. The story was passed down from person to person through speech. It was an oral tradition for quite a while. It was not recorded in written form until God gave it to Moses on Mt. Sinai. The source of the story is in the Old Testament of the Holy Bible in the Book of Genesis. The book of Genesis is one of five books that comprise the bible. It is felt by many scholars that the language in the Christian creation myth was formally recorded. The bible as it is known today in the United States is a translation of the original bible that was recorded thousands of years ago. When the bible was originally translated from Hebrew to English, it is said that they translated it word for word instead of translated phrases or whole sentences or thought for thought. The story that is heard today is the translation of Hebrew text that was passed down from God. The Christians believed this story of creation when it was first written and they still believe in it and all its characters today. The people to which the Christian creation myth came to was the Hebrew people. The role of women in their culture can be seen as being below man all through the bible. Its starts pretty early when God is cursing Eve for eating the apple and he tells her that she will forever be ruled over by man. This lack of respect for women is found in almost every book of the bible in various ways. Women are treated like lesser beings. This is even true in the Christian religion today. Men are considered the ruler of the house and of the church. In the modern church women dont play any major roles. Women cannot be priests, bishops, cardinals or even the pope. I dont think that will ever change due to the strict beliefs and history towards women in the Christian church. The Navajo creation myth compared to the Christian creation myth is a bit more complicated. The story of the Navajo creation begins in a dark world, on a piece of land that is surrounded on four sides by water. Each side represented a direction and color; white for the East, blue for the South, yellow for the West, and black for the North. On this piece of land were the insect people. No actual god is present at this point but someone or something has to be with the insect people because they are expelled from the first world for arguing too much. Unlike the Christian creation myth, no god or creator is visible at the beginning of the Navajo creation myth. After the insect people leave the first world, they go to the second world where they meet the bird people and not long after are asked to leave because they continued to argue. When they emerged into the third world, they meet the grasshopper people and got along with them for awhile. Eventually, however, they were asked to leave this world, too. They left this world and emerged with four grasshopper people; each colored the same color as one of the directions. In this world there were for mountains, each facing a specific direction. The insect people searched for people to the south, east, and west, and they found nothing. Then they traveled north and came across farming community. Its people, the Pueblos, taught the insect people to farm, along with other necessary skills for survival. At this point in the creation story, the first god appears to the insect people, sometime during the first autumn. The gods name was talking god and with him appeared four other gods called: White Body, Blue Body, Yellow Body, and Black body. The Black Body God spoke and told the insect people to be more god-like or human and less like insects. They were also told to do a thorough self-cleanse and the Gods would return in twelve days. The Gods returned in twelve days with the Blue Body and the Black Body gods each carrying holy buckskins and the White Body and Yellow Body gods each carrying an ear of similarly colored corn. One buckskin was laid down facing east and the ears of corn were placed with eagle feathers on the buckskins and then covered with the other buckskin. By the request of the gods, wind blew between the buckskins, one from the east and one from the west. While the winds were blowing, eight mirage people encircled the mirage four times. When the top skin was removed, a man was where the white corn had been placed and a woman was where the yellow corn had been placed. They were known as the first man and first woman, or the holy people. The men and women did not always get along. Much like in the Christian creation myth there seemed to be a divide between the men and the women. The Navajo people had an argument about the true reason that men hunt. This reason is that the sexual power of the women makes them hunt. The men became angry at this notion. The women felt that men and their abilities were not needed and they left the men. They traveled to the other side of the river where they lived for four years. During this time each side had performed unclean sexual acts. The women masturbated and the men would have sex with dead animal parts such as the liver of a slain deer. These unclean acts lead to the creation of monsters that will later devour and plague the people for some time. Once instance where this happened was during a river crossing with a man, woman and their two young daughters. The man and woman got across but realized their daughters did not. This is when the two people and coyote went in to the river to find the girls and they eventually did in the lair of the water monster. The water monster did not resist when the parents came to take their children back. During this time when everyone was distracted, Coyote stole the water monsters two babies and hid them under his robe. One of the symbols that keep repeating throughout the Navajo creation story is the number four, along with multiples of four. This may be because there are four main directions in the world. However, this is not made clear. Eight years after man was created a archetypal trickster appears in the creation myth. The trickster is a coyote, much like the serpent in the Christian myth. The coyote is a trouble maker and, although he is mischievous, he is not an evil being like the serpent was in the Christian myth. Coyote secretly stole the children of the water monster. This act of thievery is actually helpful in the long run. More than anything, he seemed to make bad situations worse and never seemed to be helpful. In the Navajo creation myth, there is a flood as well. However, it differs from the Christian myth because the Navajo gods did not cause the flood in order to destroy all life on earth. The people were noticing that animals were starting to leave and realized the flood was approaching. They carried with them soil from the sacred mountains and, in that soil; they planted four reeds that combined into one with a hole in the east side. All the people climbed the reed as the flood waters came. The climbed up the reed and emerged into the fifth and final world. They soon realized, however, that water was following them through the hole and they used the stolen water monster children to plug the whole. When everyone emerged into the fifth world, an argument broke out between the Navajo people and the Pueblo people. This causes the Navajo and the Pueblo people to move apart from each other at this time. Later in history, they would meet again and teach each other different skills. After this split between Pueblo and Navajo, the first man and the first woman remade the four mountains with help from the gods; using the soil from the mountains in the fourth world. All the symbols found in the Navajo creation story have a specific role or purpose. The theme of the Navajo creation myth is not a story of a divine creator, such as in the Christian myth, but it is a story of emergence through four worlds that each has their own difficulties. The Navajo emergence story is called the Dine Bahane and is one of the most complex stories to be originally presented orally. It is eventually written down, but for many years it was simply passed on from person to person verbally. It was not until much later that the oral rendition was translated and taken to written form. It is said that when Navajo people want to feel reborn or renewed as a culture, they perform a special ceremony. During this ceremony, they reenact the emergence creation myth. This story is just one of many ways that the creation myth is still remembered today. In conclusion, when comparing the Navajo and Christian creation myths, the symbolism that arise between the two is quite similar considering the distance between these two cultures. The research shows similar archetypes, symbols, and how the myth was first presented and passed down to its audience. The two cultures represented within these distinct creation myths lived thousands of miles apart, and yet still had a few striking similarities within their myths. However, although they had their striking similarities, they also had many dramatic differences between the two that clearly distinguishes one creation story from the other. No matter what creation myth you believe to be true, no one knows for certain how humans came to inhabit the earth.

Marijuana: Friend to the Dying :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

Marijuana: Friend to the Dying Peter is an AIDS patient. The violent nausea caused by the handfuls of pills he must take every day prevents anything he eats from staying down. Even the pill to calm the vomiting won't stay in his stomach long enough to take effect. He has lost nearly forty pounds and is unrecognizable, even to himself. He has given up on life, and he dreads each day because of the pain and the sorrow it brings. Now imagine there's a drug that may help Peter, a drug that helps him keep food down or even makes him hungry, a drug that helps him gain weight, a drug that gives him the hope that he will live long enough to see a cure, a drug that helps him accept what's happening to his body. For Peter and many other patients, this drug is marijuana. Marijuana was first outlawed in the 1920's and 30's when tabloid magazines printed distorted reports of violent crimes committed by immigrants using marijuana which led to the "Marihuana Tax Act"("The Facts"). The two hearings held by Congress to debate the dangers of marijuana totaled no more than one hour with the American Medical Association (AMA) acting as the sole opponent to the bill. Arguments by the AMA were ignored, and misinformation and ignorance guided the House of Representatives as they approved the bill that remains today prohibiting the use of marijuana for any reason. Yet smoking marijuana has proved itself again and again through anecdotal evidence to be an effective treatment of extreme nausea in AIDS patients as well as in cancer patients (Conant 150). It also relieves some symptoms associated with glaucoma and multiple sclerosis ("The Facts"). The People of California and Arizona knew this when they voted for Proposition 215, which passed 55 to 45 percent, and Proposition 200, which passed 64 to 36 percent, respectively (Quayle pg 154). These propositions legalized marijuana for medical use in each of the two states. Also, between the years 1978 and 1996, thirty-four states passed laws acknowledging marijuana's medicinal capabilities ("The Facts"). It would seem that many Americans are seeing marijuana as a valuable tool in the medical field and that further research into the medical benefits of marijuana could only be an asset in the fight to ease the pain of the dying. Marijuana: Friend to the Dying :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics Marijuana: Friend to the Dying Peter is an AIDS patient. The violent nausea caused by the handfuls of pills he must take every day prevents anything he eats from staying down. Even the pill to calm the vomiting won't stay in his stomach long enough to take effect. He has lost nearly forty pounds and is unrecognizable, even to himself. He has given up on life, and he dreads each day because of the pain and the sorrow it brings. Now imagine there's a drug that may help Peter, a drug that helps him keep food down or even makes him hungry, a drug that helps him gain weight, a drug that gives him the hope that he will live long enough to see a cure, a drug that helps him accept what's happening to his body. For Peter and many other patients, this drug is marijuana. Marijuana was first outlawed in the 1920's and 30's when tabloid magazines printed distorted reports of violent crimes committed by immigrants using marijuana which led to the "Marihuana Tax Act"("The Facts"). The two hearings held by Congress to debate the dangers of marijuana totaled no more than one hour with the American Medical Association (AMA) acting as the sole opponent to the bill. Arguments by the AMA were ignored, and misinformation and ignorance guided the House of Representatives as they approved the bill that remains today prohibiting the use of marijuana for any reason. Yet smoking marijuana has proved itself again and again through anecdotal evidence to be an effective treatment of extreme nausea in AIDS patients as well as in cancer patients (Conant 150). It also relieves some symptoms associated with glaucoma and multiple sclerosis ("The Facts"). The People of California and Arizona knew this when they voted for Proposition 215, which passed 55 to 45 percent, and Proposition 200, which passed 64 to 36 percent, respectively (Quayle pg 154). These propositions legalized marijuana for medical use in each of the two states. Also, between the years 1978 and 1996, thirty-four states passed laws acknowledging marijuana's medicinal capabilities ("The Facts"). It would seem that many Americans are seeing marijuana as a valuable tool in the medical field and that further research into the medical benefits of marijuana could only be an asset in the fight to ease the pain of the dying.

East of Eden †Anger and Rejection Essay

Rejection and its resultant anger are two pillars around which East of Eden’s plot is built. The story is heavily influenced by these two principles, and they constitute the vast majority of thematic and pivotal plot points in the novel. The overarching theme is illustrated in its majority through Steinbeck’s repeated instances of rejection and anger. Steinbeck illustrates these emotions most clearly in the characters of Charles, Cathy, and Caleb. Their characters are wildly different, but their emotions and reactions are remarkably alike. Charles is the first personification of Cain in the novel, a complete foil to his brother Adam, and unsurprisingly susceptible to rage. The first and most blatant illustration of Charles’s rage is seen in his reaction to losing at peewee to Adam, â€Å"[swinging] at his head and knocking him out, [then] kicking him heavily in the stomach.† (Steinbeck p. 23). With the rejection of his idea of his inherent superiority, Cha rles reacted with savage brutality. This pattern repeats itself later when Charles reacts to Cyrus’s preference of Adam’s gift over his own, accusing Adam of trying to take his father away from him. He reacts with spontaneous violence once more, leaving Adam feeling â€Å"punches on temples, cheeks, eyes, his lip split and tatter over his teeth.† (p. 30). Charles once again illustrates his cold and distant personality, reacting violently toward Adam out of jealousy of his father’s love. Charles’s jealousy continues beyond childhood, and chastised his brother upon returning home from war as well. However, despite his incredible inclination for anger, he was still able to recognize the greater evil in Cathy. Cathy is undeniably the angriest character in the novel. She reacts violently and without remorse toward all those in her way. She is rarely faced with rejection, but, regardless, is virtually always angry. However, when she does face the incredible rarity of rejection, her fury rea ches unprecedented levels. Cathy grows a vehement disrespect for her parents at a young age, and early enough in her life takes action by burning them alive and faking her own death in order to rid herself of the burden that was her family. â€Å"The owner’s house was burned and the owner ostensibly burned with it.† (p. 86). This inherent fury persists just as powerfully throughout the rest of her life. When Adam confronts her in her whorehouse, and refuses to allow himself to be tempted and charmed by her, she explodes in rage at her failure at manipulation. She shrieks at her bodyguard, Ralph, â€Å"I said give him the boots. Break his face!† (p. 323). Facing the painful rejection of her reality of being capable of manipulating anyone and everyone, she defaults to violence as a means of getting what she wants out of Adam. This rejection of her ability to influence occurs again later, in her meeting with Cal. Cal confidently says to her, â€Å"I’m my own. I don’t have to be you.† (p. 462). Shocked and in horror of his insolence, as well as his resistance to her evils, she bellows at him to get out of her room and out of her whorehouse. She feels rage once again, but this time she also feels a new emotion – fear. Where before there was only contempt for humanity there is now envy. Cal had broken the very foundation upon which she based her life and her entire philosophy, and naturally, she felt nothing but contempt for her son. The theme of rejection and anger comes full circle with Cal himself. Cal is not alone in his manifestation of the biblical Cain, but he is certainly the most direct recreation. As a result, his anger at his brother and from the rejection at the hands of his Father is a truly deep and painful wound. Cal expresses his anger in a much more decisive and contained fashion than the more chaotic beings of Charles and Cathy. Cal is first met with rejection in one of his very first appearances of the novel, when he and Adam are introduced to Abra. Abra looked at Adam and felt â€Å"the longing and the itching burn in her chest that is the beginning of love.† (p. 343). Cal identified this immediately, and took it upon himself to tease her when Adam ran away to fetch the rabbit they killed a as a gift for her. Cal deals with his anger and frustration later in his life by taking walks late at night, and in extreme cases, drinking. Cal’s greatest and quintessential rejection is at the hands of his father, Adam, when he offers him the money he earned as a gift. â€Å"Cal doggedly lighted bill after bill until all were burned.† (p. 566). Albeit a definitive act of rage, Cal’s passionate acts of anger are far less cruel-intentioned than those of his uncle and mother. He is a truly kind-hearted person. Rejection and anger are two fundamentally connected themes of East of Eden. The two are inherent components of the parable of Cain and Abel, which is itself a massive theme of the novel. It is difficult to read a chapter without either of the two emotions being a fundamental component of the narrative. Steinbeck masterfully illustrates the human condition through his ceaseless repetition of these two emotions and the personification thereof seen in Charles, Cathy, and Caleb. Works Cited Steinbeck, John. East of Eden. New York: Penguin, 2002. Print.

11 changed america essays

How 9/11 changed america essays September 11th is the most tragic event and unforgettable day to Americans. Nineteen hijackers seized four commercial U.S. jets and crashed them into American symbols of the military and capitalism and shook the entire nation. As soon as it was evident that the massive destruction was an act of terrorists, everyone thought one thing: This Changes Everything. The attacks did change Americans: they became closer, more spiritual, less materialistic, but only for a while. However, lasting changes did occur in the nations economy and security system. In spite of terror and grief, Americans with utmost hope and compassion helped the persons in need. They prayed together and stood together. America fought against terrorists in Afghanistan, liberated the people of Afghanistan and helped in rebuilding their nation. The attacks of September 11th have made some people feel insecure, particularly the ones who lost their loved ones. People cared for their loved ones. Appreciation, gratitude and support to the fire fighters, the army and to the people who protect the country have increased. Prior to 9/11, people took freedom for granted and could not imagine witnessing an attack. Now most people are aware of the price of freedom and the vulnerability of the American way of life. On the whole, the September 11th attacks not only affected people physically, emotionally and spiritually, but also affected the way people view their lives and the world. When a country experiences a catastrophe like the September 11th attacks, one expects everything to change. Americans who were crazy about pop culture have changed. Even the pop songs in TV stopped for few days. Patriotic albums were released, such as The Rising by Springsteen, Freedom by Paul McCartney, and Lets Roll by Neil Young. Some people who were obsessed with who is at the top of music charts and new releases got interest...

Morpheus Wisdom Quotes From The Matrix

Morpheus Wisdom Quotes From The Matrix For some, The Matrix is just another sci-fi movie, a slick production from Hollywoods dream factory, but for those who appreciate the philosophy of The Matrix, it is a wake-up call. The movie is considered to be ahead of its time. It challenges our understanding of perspective, reality, illusion and many other intriguing concepts. These Matrix quotes are words of wisdom from Morpheus, Neos spiritual leader and guide. Morpheus Quotes About the Matrix The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when youre inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inert, so hopelessly dependent on the system that they will fight to protect it. Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself. The Matrix is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth. The Matrix is a computer-generated dream world, built to keep us under control in order to change a human being into this. [holding a copper-top D cell battery] Morpheus on Reality and Illusion What is real? How do you define real? This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill- the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill- you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes. Im trying to free your mind, Neo. But I can only show you the door. Youre the one that has to walk through it. Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream, Neo? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world? What you know you cant explain, but you feel it. Youve felt it your entire life, that theres something wrong with the world. You dont know what it is, but its there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. If real is what you can feel, smell, taste and see, then real is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain. Random Musings There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path. Throughout human history, we have been dependent on machines to survive. Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony. We dont know who struck first, us or them. But we do know it was us that scorched the sky. At the time, they were dependent on solar power. It was believed they would be unable to survive without an energy source as abundant as the sun.

Abortion Pro

Abortion Pro At present it is evident that the topic that elicits endless and hot debates is the topic of abortion. As a result there are two groups, pro-choice movement and pro-life movement supporting and opposing abortion respectively. Although there are various definitions for abortion, I will define abortion as a safe medical procedure aimed at early termination of pregnancy (Thomson 6).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Abortion: Pro-choice and Pro-life Movement specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Statistics show that more and more women are carrying out abortion; in those countries where it is not legalized, women are forced to hide the fact of abortion (Boonin 92). They are compelled to do it in hospitals that do not have qualified personnel and necessary equipment. This ultimately results in serious health complications. Based on the arguments of Mills who brought forth the concept of utilitarianism and greatest good for the greatest number of people, abortion should be considered to be right in certain circumstances. For instance, if a woman from a given community is raped and gets pregnant, it is worth noting that the woman and the unborn child will be called names and scolded; this ultimately depicts a bad picture of that society (Boonin 34). Since there is no one who wishes to be called bad names, it would be rational to support abortion in this case since it will bring happiness not only to the woman but also the entire community. It has been shown that women who get pregnant from illegal acts such as rape, incest more often than not undergo serious psychological harm as compared to their victims particularly when they continue carrying the pregnancy and later in life when the child is born (Thomson 17). The question arises whether a woman should give birth when indeed she is living in extreme poverty. In my humble opinion, a decision to medically terminate the pregnancy is a lesser evil compared t o bringing the child into this world where he or she will not be provided with enough food, clothing, education, parental care and medical care. This can be exemplified by the happening in developing countries where there is increasing number of street children and street families. This could not be the case if these women had an option of legally terminating the pregnancy (Thomson 22). On the same line of reasoning, ethics and laws of the land advocate for personal freedom and privacy. This is where an individual is allowed to decide the course of his or her life. This is very important in terms of human civil rights. For this reason a pregnant woman is the one who knows what is happening in her body. If she concludes that she is not capable of bearing the stresses associated with pregnancy, then she needs to have a choice of either carrying the pregnancy or terminating it. When the law does not allow her to procure an abortion this amounts to serious violation of her right to basi c freedom (Boonin 23).Advertising Looking for essay on health medicine? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More As suggested by Thomson 12 another scenario is when doctors have shown that the unborn child is suffering from serious health complications and he or she will not lead a normal life. In this situation, it would amount to subjecting the mother and family to serious financial burden as well as stress in paying medical bills for the rest of the child’s life. In my view, it would be better to terminate such a pregnancy. Abortion should be legalized since there is increased a number of unsafe abortion which put the lives of women in danger. Boonin, David. 2003. A Defense of Abortion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Print. Thomson, Jarvis. A Defense of Abortion. Philosophy and Public Affairs, 1.1 (1971): 47-66. Print.

Holcim Italia S.p.A Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6250 words

Holcim Italia S.p.A - Essay Example While the company's sales continue to grow, Holcim loses its market share as the market develops more rapidly. In order to solve this problem the case study fulfils the following objectives: The case study is divided into two main sections: situation analysis and presentation of possible solutions. The situation analysis starts with drawing the general picture of Holcim's market environment. Further on main competitors of the company are introduced. Then the market analysis by segments proceeds. The situation analysis ends with interim summary of the information acquired. The next section, alternative solution is divided into five subsections discussing what changes can be made in order to affect the whole cement market and each of its segments. Conclusion sums up the information acquired from the case study. Italian cement market has experienced decline and recovery of the demand in the past decade. The volume of national demand was 34.868 million tons in 1994. Then in two years it fell down by 2.95% to 33.623 million tons. In 1998 national demand has almost recovered from the downfall getting back to the volume of 1994: 34.685 million tons. The next two years marked a significant increase of demand: 36.147 million tons in 1999 and 38.338 million tons in 2000. ... The changes in volumes of demand were conditioned with changes in the building industry. Its recession in the first half of 1990s caused the decline of cement demand volumes. Then this setback stopped and cement market resumed its growth. In the meantime, some qualitative changes occurred in purchasing processes during these years. While personal relations between sellers and buyers of cement were important in the past, their value has recently declined along with the increase of importance of technical requirements and information exchange. The demand has become more sophisticated, and purchasing process has become more professional in the cement industry. Introduction to main players in Northwestern region Unlike other European countries, Italian cement industry consists of large number of independent manufacturers, competing fiercely with each other. The scope of our case study requires us to look not on the competition on the whole national market but only on its Northwestern region. Therefore it is important to add that, while the behaviour of the demand in Northwestern region is almost the same as in the whole country, the latter regional increase of demand in 1999-2000 was even higher: 10.9 million tons in 2000 against 8.717 million tons in 1994, which means a 25% increase. Thus, the regional cement market of the Northwestern Italy grows faster than the whole national market. Holcim Italia S.p.A., which is a "main character" of our case study, has 3 factories in the Northwestern region and a market share of 23% in 2000. It is a multi-regional company with long and proud history, and it is perceived by customers as a solid and prestigious cement manufacturer. The advantages of the company are: high-tech machinery and sophisticated

How to write a dissertation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

How to write a dissertation - Assignment Example A Dissertation is a cumulative effort representative of the entirety of the educational experience. The importance of a dissertation in the educational experience of a student can never be underestimated. A dissertation should report the empirical conclusion of a study as well as provide an over view of current literature and current findings on the subject. It should interpret these facts based on a comparative reading of the sources relative to the experimental outcome. The descriptive study must analyse the "trends in attitudes, events, and facts in terms of their commonality and potential for prediction" (Smith, 1997, p. 34), In this dissertation, ontological and epistemological assumptions will be discussed in relation to positivist and interpretivist approaches to business research. Moreover, two methods of collecting and analyzing qualitative data will be critically compared and contrasted.Part B : Ontological belief and epistemological assumptions are always expected to be at complete dissention with each other and influence the positivist and interpretivist approaches to business research. Ontology is the department of metaphysics concerned with the nature of being. Ontological assumptions will therefore be completely influenced by faith. Such assumptions quite naturally form the basis of positivism and positivist approaches to business research. Positivism is the philosophical system recognizing only positive facts and observable phenomena. It naturally accepts. Epistemology is the theory of knowledge or grounds of knowledge. Thus, epistemological assumptions form the basis of interpretivist approach to business research. Epistemological assumptions will challenge every ontological belief and will want to question every positivist approach of business research. While ontological assumptions will naturally believe in the goodness of a product or process, epistemological assumptions will want to interpret every aspect of the same. Ontological assumptions will not question the theoretical basis of a concept or a product or even a research process. The basis of such assumptions is good faith or a simple faith in the goodness of the product per say, based on face value or usage. This represents a microcosm of ontological assumptions. People tend to assume a certain fact to be true just good or proper. It can be so either by means of rote' or by way of peer pressure. Large scale acceptance of a certain product or concept or idea will influence this acceptance aspect of business research. There is no theory attached to a wide spread acceptance - just the mere fact of acceptance. Epistemological assumptions will want to get to the bottom of the matter and will raise questions about the theoretical basis of the assumption. Epistemological assumptions begin with an inherent suspicion of the knowledge basis of the concept or product. They want to understand and interpret everything in a framework of methodology Conventional science is based on 'rational positivist' thought. This includes the presumptions that there is a 'real world'. Data can be gathered by observing it This data is factual. It is truthful and unambiguous. The 'post-positivist', 'interpretivist' philosophy, on the other hand, asserts that these assumptions are unwarranted, According to this philosophy 'facts' and 'truth' are a wild supposition and 'objective' observation is impossible, and that the act of observation-and- interpretation is dependent on the perspective adopted by the observer. Interpretivists criticise even the physical scientists for the narrowness of their assumptions. Their criticisms hold some truth particularly strongly in the social sciences, where the objects of study are influenced by so many factors. These factors are extremely difficult to isolate and control in experimental laboratory settings. The interpretivist ap

Applied international macroeconomics projet between 1956 1986 Essay

Applied international macroeconomics projet between 1956 1986 - Essay Example Tunisia, officially known as the Tunisian Republic, is a country situated on the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, bordering with Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast. Tunisia got its independence from the French colonialism in March 20, 1956 and Habib Bourguib became the president of new state. He established a strict one-party political system with a strong hold on economy and state resources and their allocation. One of Tunisia’s outstanding characteristics is its remarkable economic development, sustained over many decades and currently driven by a process of market liberalization and integration into world markets (Country Cooperation Strategy for WHO and Tunisia 2005–2009, 2006, p. 7).Historically, Tunisian economy has gone through fluctuating periods of growth and instability. Its has gone through a transition period of a centrally planned to a more privately managed economy and stabilization and later as a structural reform programs.The purpose of f ollowing paper is to briefly highlight the important aspects of Tunisian economy during1956 to 1986 period. The paper discusses important economical during this era by splitting it into two sub-periods; namely;- Transition period of a centrally planned to a more privately managed economy and the stabilization (1956- 1970), and - An era of structural reform programs (1971- 1986).Tunisia, officially known as the Tunisian Republic, is situated on the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, bordering with Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast. ... crisis and instability. Its has gone through a transition periods of a centrally planned economy to a more privately managed economy and the stabilization (since 1956 to 1970) , and structural reform programs 1986-87. W can divide this entire period of economic developments into two sub- periods namely; - Transition period of a centrally planned to a more privately managed economy and the stabilization (1956- 1970), and - An era of structural reform programs (1971- 1986). Transition Period of a Centrally Planned to a more Privately Managed Economy and the Stabilization ;1956- 1970. At the time of independence in 1956, Tunisia was facing a crippling economic position mainly because of the huge transfer of money abroad by the wealthy Europeans, who had left the country. Yet the country and its leadership were quite optimistic and had strong determination in their potential and progress. They set their targets mainly focusing on education, modernization agriculture and infrastructure and industrialization and heavily invested in these sectors. Although these were fine priorities, yet unfortunately in sixties, they could not reap enough of the benefits to the masses because of their long term investment requirements and strict government policy control over theses sectors. During this period per capita income could not increase with an increase in investment. Government strict policy control over economy resulted a rapid increase of money supply and aggregate demands. These factors considerable increased the inflation rate and above all raised foreign payment imbalance. More than 70% of investment was public. More than half of total investment was based on

Human resource mgt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Human resource mgt - Essay Example In a research paper (Geary, 1992) was critical of these assumptions. He found that management's reliance on temporary employees gave rise to a number of contradictions and tensions, and in the end was considered to be disadvantageous. A major advantage of flexible human resource practices is the low cost of labor as cited by (Smith, 1998) in his article. In his study he concluded that a larger proportion of foreign-owned companies had lower labor costs as a result of the greater use of flexible work practices. The application of the most flexible work life balance policy not only increases the loyalty of employee but also increase the fame of the company as best places for employment. (Dex and Scheibl, 2001) Mostly women do not find it compatible to work in the technical field due to their care taking duty towards their family in this way a huge amount of talent is drop out of the talent pool. Due to the flexible environment by the firm a broader recruitment pool can be made available. (Center for Ethical Business Cultures, 1997; Evans, 2001) With providing the employees with the facilities of flexible working hours the firm can also get the benefit by offering increased service hours for the customers. Since in this age of competition and increased customer pressure in order to achieve a cutting edge in the business it is important for a firm to provide 24/7 service (Evans, 2001; Human Resources Development Canada, 2002). The provisions of service for longer hour's will not only improve the corporate image but will provide the firm with increased market share (Dex and Scheibl, 1999; Center for Ethical Business Cultures, 1997; Evans, 2001). With undertaking the flexible work practices there are also some areas which should be addressed by the management in order to effectively undertake human resource practices. Studies of some of the best United States and Australian organizations (Gray, 1992) also suggest that the cement which binds skilled and motivated employees to their organization, who are thus more enthusiastic, more committed and potentially more productive than their competitors' employees, is clear and ongoing communication between organization managers and their employees. The management of the SFL should also take the advantage of the communication process in order achieve the higher level of performance from the employees. A modern and a more permanent approach to motivation are through job enrichment (Wright, 2004). This involves putting meaning into jobs. In other words, it is putting Herzberg's two-factor theory into effect by building motivators into the job. These motivators include achievement, growth, responsibility, advancement and recognition. This approach can also work for SFL staff. According to the approach the organization should plan to change the job contents of the employees in order to motivate them as explained by Ross (1998) in his article A practical

Summary of an article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Summary of an article - Essay Example Students use their computer systems to copy music files and download movies and similarly they think that copying and pasting other writers’ work is the same non-serious task. Gabriel mentions a survey which shows that 40% of students admit plagiarizing, and the number of students who consider plagiarism as a serious act is declining with every passing year. Students going to libraries for research work are very few today and since everything is virtual online, thus they do not think that there is any harm in using words that do not belong to them. Students get motivated to use other works through TV shows that copy other shows and music that contains others’ lyrics. They just need a grade to pass the exam and do not mind plagiarizing for this purpose which makes their work unoriginal and unauthentic. Students mix their work with others which keeps them from bringing up new and innovative ideas. However, Gabriel quotes Ms. Wilensky who states that still there are many s cholars who are producing original pieces of work. She asserts that students should be taught to reproduce ideas in their own words right from the start so that they do not plagiarize when they go to

Mutual Funds Articles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Mutual Funds Articles - Essay Example In many cases, it is seen there has been a change in investing styles. Suppose, suddenly a fund manager leaves a company and joins another company and two new fund managers takes his place. It is quite obvious they would change some things or make some moves to make the working pattern according to their style. It can be quite possible that some of their initial moves may backfire. Many companies keep bench strength by keeping upcoming managers as trainees so that they can tackle emergency situations. At the Pioneer (TAHYX) High Yield fund, the managers are hopeful. Outflows have slowed, and when no manager expects a quick turnaround to the credit crisis, they also note that junk bond investors are being paid for taking on risk. Fund manager transitions can often be a little shaky or rough, especially if the previous manager had achieved great results. The main lesson for investors must be that they should not flee when a star manager moves on but they must make a more informed decision by being aware of challenges a new manager might face. The firms can bench strength of upcoming managers to avoid the transition phase problem, or create terms of managers. Even a planned transition can go wrong but that must not mean that the companies would stop planning about the transition phase well in advance. The article â€Å"Equities In Disguise?† by Greg Miller says that the main component of convertible security is coverable bonds. Other components may include preferred stocks and other hybrid convertible securities. The word â€Å"bond† mainly refers to safety, security, stability, and income. Most of today`s bonds are not true bond funds neither are they return focused. The term â€Å"absolute return† refers to positive returns through both bull and bear markets. Similarly, many convertible funds are not bond funds either. There are many examples that can be cited to prove the validity of this statement. For example, one can take a look at the top

Human resource mgt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Human resource mgt - Essay Example In a research paper (Geary, 1992) was critical of these assumptions. He found that management's reliance on temporary employees gave rise to a number of contradictions and tensions, and in the end was considered to be disadvantageous. A major advantage of flexible human resource practices is the low cost of labor as cited by (Smith, 1998) in his article. In his study he concluded that a larger proportion of foreign-owned companies had lower labor costs as a result of the greater use of flexible work practices. The application of the most flexible work life balance policy not only increases the loyalty of employee but also increase the fame of the company as best places for employment. (Dex and Scheibl, 2001) Mostly women do not find it compatible to work in the technical field due to their care taking duty towards their family in this way a huge amount of talent is drop out of the talent pool. Due to the flexible environment by the firm a broader recruitment pool can be made available. (Center for Ethical Business Cultures, 1997; Evans, 2001) With providing the employees with the facilities of flexible working hours the firm can also get the benefit by offering increased service hours for the customers. Since in this age of competition and increased customer pressure in order to achieve a cutting edge in the business it is important for a firm to provide 24/7 service (Evans, 2001; Human Resources Development Canada, 2002). The provisions of service for longer hour's will not only improve the corporate image but will provide the firm with increased market share (Dex and Scheibl, 1999; Center for Ethical Business Cultures, 1997; Evans, 2001). With undertaking the flexible work practices there are also some areas which should be addressed by the management in order to effectively undertake human resource practices. Studies of some of the best United States and Australian organizations (Gray, 1992) also suggest that the cement which binds skilled and motivated employees to their organization, who are thus more enthusiastic, more committed and potentially more productive than their competitors' employees, is clear and ongoing communication between organization managers and their employees. The management of the SFL should also take the advantage of the communication process in order achieve the higher level of performance from the employees. A modern and a more permanent approach to motivation are through job enrichment (Wright, 2004). This involves putting meaning into jobs. In other words, it is putting Herzberg's two-factor theory into effect by building motivators into the job. These motivators include achievement, growth, responsibility, advancement and recognition. This approach can also work for SFL staff. According to the approach the organization should plan to change the job contents of the employees in order to motivate them as explained by Ross (1998) in his article A practical

Mutual Funds Articles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Mutual Funds Articles - Essay Example In many cases, it is seen there has been a change in investing styles. Suppose, suddenly a fund manager leaves a company and joins another company and two new fund managers takes his place. It is quite obvious they would change some things or make some moves to make the working pattern according to their style. It can be quite possible that some of their initial moves may backfire. Many companies keep bench strength by keeping upcoming managers as trainees so that they can tackle emergency situations. At the Pioneer (TAHYX) High Yield fund, the managers are hopeful. Outflows have slowed, and when no manager expects a quick turnaround to the credit crisis, they also note that junk bond investors are being paid for taking on risk. Fund manager transitions can often be a little shaky or rough, especially if the previous manager had achieved great results. The main lesson for investors must be that they should not flee when a star manager moves on but they must make a more informed decision by being aware of challenges a new manager might face. The firms can bench strength of upcoming managers to avoid the transition phase problem, or create terms of managers. Even a planned transition can go wrong but that must not mean that the companies would stop planning about the transition phase well in advance. The article â€Å"Equities In Disguise?† by Greg Miller says that the main component of convertible security is coverable bonds. Other components may include preferred stocks and other hybrid convertible securities. The word â€Å"bond† mainly refers to safety, security, stability, and income. Most of today`s bonds are not true bond funds neither are they return focused. The term â€Å"absolute return† refers to positive returns through both bull and bear markets. Similarly, many convertible funds are not bond funds either. There are many examples that can be cited to prove the validity of this statement. For example, one can take a look at the top

John Brown, the abolitionist Essay Example for Free

John Brown, the abolitionist Essay John Brown was one abolitionists of the 19th century who became known for using the instigation of anger and unrest among slaves as a means to destroy the institution of slavery. Born May 9, 1800 to Owen Brown and Ruth Mills, John Brown was a native of Connecticut. He was the fourth of eight children. When Brown was 16, he enrolled in a preparatory program in Massachusetts and transferred to Morris Academy in Connecticut soon after. Financial and physical hurdles prevented him from continuing his education in the academy and he soon returned to Ohio. Upon his return to Ohio, he worked in his father’s tannery. Soon, with his adopted brother, he was able to open his own tannery. Brown married Dianthe Lusk in 1820 and had a son with her 13 months later. They moved to Pennsylvania where he bought 81 hectares of land. This piece of land became the new venue of his tannery where he had 15 workers. He also grew cattle in this land and also earned extra by being a surveyor. But his prosperous life came to an almost abrupt end when he fell ill. His tannery and other businesses began to suffer, leaving him in debt. His wife, Dianthe died and on June 14, 1833, Brown was married to Mary Ann Day. Brown had a total of 20 children, 13 children from Mary Ann, and 7 from Dianthe. He and his family moved back to Ohio where they hoped to start anew. He bought land once again and opened a new tannery. He suffered more losses given the economic conditions of that time. He incurred a lot of debt and he explored different business ventures to pay them off. In 1842, Brown was declared bankrupt by the court. His expertise in raising sheep and getting fine wool built for him a name. He built a wide base of relationships with farmers in his area. He began to gain popularity by appearing in agricultural writings and published material. He and Simon Perkins set up a wool commission operation in Massachusetts in the effort to quell the market control of English wool manufacturers. Brown realized that English manufacturers did this to keep US wools cheap. Brown travelled to England in the hope of starting a negotiation to change the situation and for higher prices. But he failed, and lost a great deal of money instead.

Psychological Theories for OCD

Psychological Theories for OCD Sana Akram PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES FOR THE ANALYSIS OF OCD Psychological Perspective Key characteristics of the perspective used to explain the cause of obsessive compulsive disorder Analysis of the Perspective to effectively explain the cause of obsessive compulsive disorder 1. Psychodynamic perspective Freud’s theory: The inner self (the consciousness, level-headed personality) of patients with OCD is disturbed by their obsessions and impulses, and this leads them to utilize conscience guard components including fixing, and response development. Freud contended that OCD is connected to the anal-centric phase of an individual’s development, which happens at around 2 years old, on the grounds that amid this stage youngsters are toilet prepared. Defence psychological responses, isolation: Any connection between potty training and OCD is only that, an affiliation, so we cant build up causation and we cant say that latrine preparing causes OCD. Rather there could be different elements, for example personality trait, that influence both potty training and OCD. A noteworthy clash inside of the kid between needing to soil his or her garments and needing to hold dung can happen if parents are excessively cruel and make the kid feel grimy and embarrassed. The infant might intentionally soil his or her clothes as a demonstration of defiance. This debate over cleanliness can prompt OCD. Freud (1949, see A2 Level Psychology page 530) 2. Biological perspective Abnormal brain functioning: There is some kind of irregularity in the neurotransmitter serotonin, among other understandable mental or instinctive anomalies; then again, it is conceivable that this movement is the cerebrums reaction to OCD, and not its cause. Serotonin is thought to have a part in controlling uneasiness; This neurotransmitter goes starting with one nerve cell then onto the next through neural connections. With a specific end goal to send compound messages, serotonin must tie to the receptor locales situated on the nerve cell. It is theorized that OCD sufferers may have blocked or harmed receptor locales that keep serotonin from working to its maximum capacity. Abnormalities in brain areas: Various studies have shown irregular cerebrum working in people with OCD (Saxena, Brody, Schawtrz Lewis, 1998). These studies have recognized over activity in the limbic framework. The basal ganglia set the bodys gauge excitement and smother regulation of engine development. Over activity around there is related with the physical impressions of tension, shirking propensities and tics. 3. Behavioural Perspective Classic conditioning, operant conditioning: As per the behavioural clarification, fear in people with fixations and impulses is activated by apprehension connected with boosts (e.g. unwashed hands, obsessional contemplations) that are unrealistic to bring about genuine mischief. The habitual ceremonies (e.g. hand washing) diminish trepidation thus this conduct is strengthened or remunerated by apprehension diminishment. Face and investigative legitimacy: The hypothesis that the enthusiastic ceremonies decrease tension divines well (face legitimacy) and is reinforced by confirmation (exploratory legitimacy). Nature versus sustain: Behavioural clarifications represent support, as per these, conduct is exclusively a result of adapting as we are conceived as a clear slate. They disregard nature, which is a critical shortcoming as the developmental clarification recommends certain boosts are more inclined to be adapted than others. 4. Cognitive Perspective Impaired information process, irrational fear: As indicated by the intellectual viewpoint, OCD patients have an expanded feeling of moral obligation thus get a handle on they must convey their urgent ceremonies to maintain a strategic distance from unfriendly results, and this is their key psychological mistake. Salkovskis (1996, see A2 Level Psychology page 532) clarifies the impulses are in light of intellectual intervals. The need to be free of distress and anxiety by performing same task again and again Face and exploratory acceptability: Patients with OCD do have the flawed discernments regularly encompassing their feeling of moral obligation so this clarification bodes well (face legitimacy). It is likewise upheld by exact proof and in this manner has exploratory legitimacy. The completing of the enthusiastic events imply that OCD patients never get the chance to test out their flawed thinking and acknowledge there is not a critical outcome in the event that they commit an error. Psychological Perspective Brief description of study(I.es) offered to support the perspectives explanation for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Evaluation of the methods of data gathering used by each perspective 1. Behavioural Perspective Hypothesis provided by Mowrer which was backed by Rachman and Hodgson Mowrer (1947, see A2 Level Psychology page 531) added to a two-procedure hypothesis: the first process includes traditional moulding whereby an unbiased traumas gets to be connected with devastating cogitations or encounters and this prompts the improvement of nervousness, e.g. partner shaking hands with contamination. The other process includes operant moulding whereby the individual finds that the uneasiness is lessened by certain behaviour, thus this turns into the compulsion. Rachman and Hodgson 1980 A2 Level Psychology page 531) give backing to Mowrers hypothesis. They found that when patients with OCD were presented to circumstances setting off their fixations this did result in an abnormal state of anxiety and nervousness and when they performed their enthusiastic customs, this diminished their tension. Naturalistic research approach: The research methodology taken place is naturalistic, the scientists compare the subject’s behaviour pattern with the general population, and the tools used were keen observation then were given a form of hypothesis. (Shaughnessy, J. J., Zechmeister, E. B. (1985).Research methods in psychology. Alfred) 2. Cognitive Perspective Researches done by Buttolph and Holland: Buttolph and Holland (1990) found that 69% of female patients with obsessive compulsiveness had the onset or intensifying of side effects amid pregnancy or labour, which is steady with the expanded feeling of identity hypothesis on the grounds that unmistakably the conception of a kid is a huge obligation regarding the prosperity of their youngster. Neziroglu et al (1992, see A2 Level Psychology page 532) found that 39% of female patients with over the top impulsive issue with youngsters reported an onset of the issue amid pregnancy. Tallis (1995 A2 Level Psychology page 532) discusses the feeling of moral obligation clarification in light of the fact that, if this was the main variable included in obsessive compulsive issue, numerous more individuals would experience the ill effects of it. Abramowitzs audit 2006 A2 Level Psychology page 532) of the flawed comprehensions demonstrated by obsessive compulsions additionally underpins the misrepresented feeling of moral obligation clarification on the grounds that such intellectual lapses incorporate the conviction that musings can help to bring about occasions called thought–action combination. Quantitative research methodology along with case studies/ cases history: The research methodologies used in the theories and hypothesis were case studies, mostly among female patients going through pregnancy, the hypothesis were made on the grounds that for new mothers children are a huge responsibility which can be a trigger for OCD in those patients. These case studies were done among several pregnant females and the percentage was taken out. The other research method applied was Experimental research method in which one is a dependent and other is an independent variable. INTRODUCTION In this case study, we need to assess the psychological perspectives and evaluate the influence of such perspectives on the subject. The subject who is now recovered, seems to have a terrible experience from this disorder, the psychological perspectives may be behavioural perspective, cognitive, psychodynamic or even biological. In this essay, we will discuss the contributing factors from a psychological point of view. There are certain theories that evaluate the main causes of OCD, but the fact that the reasons vary from person to person make it difficult to be diagnosed and treated. From the biological perspective, it is easier for the disorder to be subsided, but that is not a successful solution in all cases. DISCUSSION OCD is likely a heterogeneous disorder, and different modalities of treatment have been discovered to be successful in enhancing OCD indications to differing degree. These incorporate pharmacotherapy, subjective conduct treatment, electro-convulsive treatment, and psychosurgery. By and large psychotherapy alone is not powerful, but rather mental backing for the OCD patient and his family is critical. (American Psychiatric Association 2000). Individual components of OCD may have imperative ramifications for treatment arranging as far as consistence, reaction to treatment and elements that fuel or diminish indications (AACAP, 1998). Mellow fixations or impulses that are not the wellspring of significant trouble or weakness may warrant observing over the long haul without the start of particular treatment (AACAP). In the event that such fixations or impulses are identified with outer or formative stressors, psychotherapy or other psychosocial mediations focused to these stressors may be valuable. In this case, the patient has mentioned about the Cognitive treatment, and that she felt better with it means it was progressive; however, the cognitive treatment is a kind of talking treatment, in which the thoughts, behaviour, thinking can affect the power of dealing with certain problems. Since, the patient showed improvement with CBT that makes it a reason of one of the causing factors of the patient’s OCD. The patient here complains about having horrendous thoughts of killing her children that had led her to the compulsiveness of sealing the bag which contained cords that can be used to strangle her own children, so the cognition here is affected, leading to behavioural problems, the CBT is different than the conventional talking session with the psychiatrist because the professionals can utilize a wide range of tools to improve the condition of the patient, these tools may include motivating and helping the patient to identify the wrong and right practices and suppressio n of the wrong thoughts, moreover, the psychiatrist may help the patient to learn about different relaxation techniques that can help her to relax when such thoughts arise. Diane further adds that she doesn’t have the traditional OCD symptom i.e. she was not a cleanliness freak, but her OCD did take an evil approach when her cognition, her thoughts pattern started to derail and she feared herself that she might be dangerous for her children, we can conclude that the thoughts she experienced might be a result of her early pregnancy when she was anxious that she is going to be a parent which is going to be a highly responsible job, this might have led her to the derailment of rational thoughts. Moreover, Diane also gives detail of her early experience that she used to fear the fact that if she didn’t follow her daily ritual something bad might happen to her parents, this tells about her behavioural pattern, and the theories of punishment and rewards apply here. The biological perspective also plays an important role here; Diane explains that she was under anti-depressants which had made her calm and easy. So the theory of biological perspective applies here, we can conclude that she must be going through the misbalance of chemical neurotransmitters. Kobak, K., Taylor, L., Bystritsky, A., Kohlenberg, C., Greist, J., Tucker, P., et al. (2005) Her details reflect that she was prescribed sedative hypnotics to calm her down and help her sleep, which is also a muscle relaxant. Other than sedatives, SSRIs (Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) (Abramowitz, 1997) are the most widely used anti-depressants must have been given to her for her complete therapy. Furthermore, for the treatment of her delusive thoughts and psychosis, she must have been kept under haloperidol, which is a highly effective drug. Buttolph and Holland (1990) The theories suggest that the OCD and other mental disorders are inherited; here Diane explains that her eldest child is also under the same practice as his/her mother, this explains the biological and genetic perspective of OCD. (Barrett, P. Shortt, A. Healy 2002) The eldest child of the subject who is showing few symptoms of OCD, this can be related to another psychodynamic perspective, the child may have been attached to the mother, as a result of which the child must have received the same habits as her. Sigmund Freud psychoanalysis suggests that the first stage of OCD is the outcome of behaviour of the parents that brings the sense of guilt and punishment if the particular task is not done. There are various causes of OCD and various therapies that should be kept in mind when dealing with such patient, till date, no accurate therapy has come to existence that would eradicate this disorder. The treatment of OCD varies from person to person; the psychological perspectives play a vital role in diagnosis and give a clue about how it should be treated. CONCLUSION In spite of the fact that the examination to date has tended to numerous basic issues in the treatment of OCD, critical points still require further study. Case in point, a treatment program that incorporates preparing relatives about OCD, its treatment, and how to adequately help with a friend or family members treatment would be valuable, given the high predominance of social issues in families of OCD patients. Inspiration to start treatment, particularly given the uneasiness bringing out nature of ERP, is regularly an issue. In these way availability programs, in which patients read case histories or examine treatment with previous patients, may diminish refusal rates and build treatment consistence. From the clinicians viewpoint, giving effective ERP can be a test, and not very many focuses offer the preparation expected to wind up capable in these strategies. Hence, improvement of projects for brain science and psychiatry students may likewise enhance access to this powerful tre atment. REFERENCES Abramowitz, J. S. (1997). Effectiveness of psychological and pharmacological treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder: a quantitative review of the controlled treatment literature. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 65, 44–52. Abramowitz, J. S., Moore, K. M., Carmine, C., Wiegartz, P., Purdon, C. (2001). Obsessive compulsive disorder in males following childbirth. Psychosomatics, 42, 429–431. American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 35 (3), 333-342. American Psychiatric Association (APA). (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th Barrett, P., Shortt, A., Healy, L. (2002). Do parent and child behaviors differentiate families whose children have obsessive-compulsive disorder from other clinic and non-clinic families? Journal of Child Broocks, A., Briggs, N. C., Piggott, T. A., Hill, J. L., Canter, S. K., Tolliver, T. J., Murphy, D. L. (1997). Behavioural, physiological and neuroendocrine responses in healthy volunteers to m-chlorophenylpiperazine (m-CPP) with and without ondansetron pre-treatment.  Psychopharmacology,130(2), 91-103. Kobak, K., Taylor, L., Bystritsky, A., Kohlberg, C., Greist, J., Tucker, P., et al. (2005) March, J., Mulle, K., Herbel, B. (1994). Behavioral psychotherapy for children and adolescents with Miller, D., Slater, D. (2000). The internet: An ethnographic approach. New York:Berg. Neziroglu, F., McKay, D., Yaryura-Tobias, J. A. (2000). Overlapping and distinctive features of hypochondriasis and obsessive–compulsive disorder. Journal of anxiety disorders,14(6), 603-614. Rode, S., Salkovskis, P. M., Jack, T. (2001). An experimental study of attention, labelling and memory in people suffering from chronic pain.  Pain, 94(2), 193-203. Saxena, S., Brody, A. L., Schwartz, J. M., Baxter, L. R. (1998). Neuroimaging and frontal-subcortical circuitry in obsessive-compulsive disorder.  The British Journal of Psychiatry. Shaughnessy, J. J., Zechmeister, E. B. (1985).  Research methods in psychology. Alfred A. Knopf.

Human Rights Violations :: Human Rights Essays

Human Rights Violations in Afghanistan Since the departure of the Soviets from Afghanistan basic human rights of the Afghanistanis have not just been trampled on but summarily done away with. After the widespread destruction of the power struggle, the ruling party, the Taliban, have committed atrocities against the people of Afghanistan that few would believe still exist in the world today. Especially targeted are the Shiite minority and the women of Afghanistan. Despite every effort of the Taliban to limit reporters and documentation of the crimes being committed, there is tremendous information being made public worldwide. The violations present a unique situation in the world and command reaction from the world at large. http://www.tabloid.net/1999/01/21/taliban_990121.html : Tabloid news services - Kabul, Afghanistan What has become norm these to Afghanis are straight out of a horror movie for most of the civilized world. The Taliban regime has enacted their own form of justice under the banner of Islam. This news piece from the capital tells of a typical day of sentencing, severed hands and feet of thieves hanging in the busiest part of the town to serve as a warning to others. One of the most unique punishments is for the sodomists. The presumed guilty stands in front of a wall, which is bulldozed on him while a crowd watches. **http://my.rawa.org/rawa.html Rawa, the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, was started under the Soviet rule. These women campaigned against the atrocities of the Soviets and brought to public view their heinous crimes. Since their departure this group has enlarged its scope to include resistance to the fundamentalists as well as the mistreatment of the women and girls of Afghanistan. The Taliban have been especially cruel towards women since they believe women should not be allowed to work or go to school. Women and girl who still pursue these goals are frequently stopped by the morality police and beaten or worse. The Rawa org. is doing an incredible job exposing these violation under their harsh circumstances. http://www.rawa.org/herat-p.htm In May of 1999, the Taliban suppressed a coup by the Iran backed Hezb-e-Wahdat(shiite group). After the confrontation, they thought it would be prudent to seek out all of the Hazaras Shiite minority living in Herat. The Taliban went on an armed house-to-house search of the entire town.

lord of the flies :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  How a person changes when he or she is confronted by danger or tremendous stress can reveal alot abou thier character. Do they spring into action or do they bow thier head in defeat? In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding contains a character named Jack that under goes a drastic change because of the danger and stress that is around him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Lord of the Flies a plane evacuating a group of English boys from Britain is shot down over a deserted tropical island. Marooned the boys choose leaders. Jack is chosen to lead the hunters while another boy named Ralph ios named the groups supreme leader. This is where Jack’s change begins. The fact that he is not elected the leader of the whole group angers him due to the fact that he is older than Ralph. When Ralph, Simon, and Jack go out to explore the island they stumble upon a wild pig. Jack, being the leader of the hunters, tries to kill it but is unsucessful. This furthers Jack change as his anger rises closer to the surface. Later open hostility shows up between Ralph and Jack because Ralph blaims Jack of avoiding work. The same night Jack loses his temper with Piggy and strikes him across the face. At this point his change reaches its half way point. After this the degree of Jack’s change is displayed througth the amount of teasing that he directs towards Piggy. Jack shows signs of reverting back to his original state when him and Ralph begin to reastablish thier bond while searching for a monster that two of the boys claimed to have seen. This does not last long however. Jack begins to question Ralph’s leadership and bravery and calls him a coward. When the other boys stick with Ralph, Jack becomes enraged. This begins Jack’s final change. The peak of this final change comes when Jack begins to address a dead sow’s head as The Lord of the Flies. From this point on Jack as lost all of his humanity and become no more than an animal. In his new animal state Jack is responsible for the deaths of Piggy, Simon, and

Racism as defined by mass media Essay

Oscar H. Gandy Jr. defines racism as, â€Å"the process of exercising power or seeking to exercise power with regard to people defined by identifying them as a member of a particular race.†1 Racism and race stem from the identity one puts onto certain groups of individuals based on their colour. The identity that one forms is acquired from a number of places including parents, religion, school, government and, on today’s youth, mainly mass media such as television and music. In this essay one will focus on the influence that mass media has on our identity position of race. It is obvious that all forms of print and electronic media, from news media to books, films, television, radio, and all other forms of media collectively represent our image of ourselves. 2 The focus for the purpose of this essay will be on news media, television and music, being the most influential forms of media, while focusing on the youth of today, being the easiest to influence. News media has great power in influencing how people identify themselves by how they are represented on the. The stereotypes that television has shown, are viewed by many young individuals of colour, and are portraying how their race is viewed upon among society. Music has the greatest influence on young African-Americans, which view their idols as those shown in music videos. Mass media in a collective form, although may represent individuals of colour, influence the viewers of colour, how they should distinguish themselves.3 Mass media reflects what we think we are and influences what we think we should be. Beginning with the news from a nation wide news station to a local newspaper or news program. News media has the ability to stereotype and categorize people of colour, by using words such as minority. Never are minorities not called minorities even when they take up one third of Canada’s population. Along with categorizing people of colour with the use of minority, they include words like crime, poverty and others that stereotype people of colour.4 This is viewed by young non-whites, which make them believe that this how things are and how they should be. The media now have the capability to alter our perceptions of ourselves, and change the way we live our lives. Young African-Americans, who view the news and see how their race is being represented, may possibly alter their perceptions of their lives and view themselves as criminals, when the news relates their race to criminal acts. The rarity of recognition a person of colour receives in the scholastic proceedings, is viewed among the youth of today. Of course there must be someone, somewhere of colour, â€Å"writing or saying something that should be listened to, or producing art that should be seen, heard, approached with intellectual seriousness.†5 This failure to recognize individuals of colour will influence youth not to pursue intellectual readings and to learn educational subjects, which are not represented by their race. In â€Å"Postmodern Blackness† by Bell Hooks, its states, â€Å"This discourse created the idea of the ‘primitive’ and promoted the notion of an ‘authentic’ experience, seeing as ‘natural’ those expressions of black life, which conformed to a pre-existing pattern or stereotype.†6 In the news when we see a person of colour committing a crime of some sort, we look at it as being a normal act and this how things are in our society. Whites and non-whites alike look upon the news and make assumptions about how they should act, what their values should be, and how they live their daily lives. The youth of today will be the first generation to come of age in a North America where racial minorities are the numeric majority. The future of diversity will depend upon a child’s perception on the position of racial identities. The youth of all races will have to expand their conception of race and race relations in ways their parents never knew. Is it important for children to see people of their own race on television? Children of colour are most likely to think so. Caucasian and African-American children can say they see characters of their race on television while Latino and Asian children are much less likely to see their race represented.7 It is the way they are represented which will affect the influence television will have on children. While some television stations do show diversification in their programming such as OMNI, they are not providing a realistic viewpoint. When a Caucasian character on television is poor, lazy and unintelligent, the show is considered to be comical, such as ‘The Simpson’s’ or ‘Married with Children’, and not taken as realistic. Whereas, when they are successful, rich and intellectual, the show is considered to be dramatic and viewed as being realistic. African-American characters are rarely presented as being poor, lazy and unintelligent, but always rich and successful, such as ‘The Cosby Show’ and ‘Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’, and are always meant to be comical, but never taken seriously or realistically. Shows like these influence African-American children that their race is not taken seriously and are viewed as being humorous. This would affect a young African-American’s thinking is a sense that he is suppose to be a comedian. Many television shows give minority actors, minority roles. Taxi drives in most sitcoms are always non-white, grocery store workers and gas station attendants are always non-white, in shows such as ‘Seinfeld’. Although these sitcoms are not suppose to be taken realistic, young individuals of all races are more likely to associate positive characteristics with Caucasian characters and negative characteristics with minority characters. Sitcoms and other television shows have the ability to alter these perceptions, but continue to stereotype minorities. Still focusing upon the children of today, because they have great faith in the media’s power and it’s potential to influence them. Media can teach children that people of their race are important.8 If television had shows, which evenly distributed the role of characters to all races featuring equality and diversification, they can accomplish sending a message of the importance of all races. Children look to the media for role models and imitate their favourite character. From the way they dress, talk, style their hair to following the messages sent by their characters. From the haircuts of the women on ‘Friends’ to the baggy fashions of the hip-hop scene, the influence of media on today’s children can be seen everywhere. Beyond superficial messages about style and appearance, children are getting more formative messages from the media. The characters they admire and the news stories they watch send both subtle and explicit signals about their values, their families and their race.9 This shows the importance of the messages being sent out by mass media and the importance of different characters and the characteristics they portray. Many African-American children will look to African-American characters for idols and will portray them. In â€Å"The New Cultural Politics of Difference,† Cornel West states, The widespread modern European denial of the intelligence, ability, beauty, and character of people of colour puts a tremendous burden on critics and artists of colour to ‘prove’ themselves in light of norms and models set by White elites whose own heritage devalued and dehumanized them. In short, in the court of criticism and art – or any matters regarding the life of the mind – people of colour are guilty (i.e., not expected to meet standards of intellectual achievement) until ‘proven’ innocent (i.e., acceptable to ‘us’).10 The image that people of colour are guilty until proven innocent illustrates to young individuals of all colours that because of this, people of colour are not as intellectual as Caucasians. In â€Å"Postmodern Blackness,† Bell Hooks states, It is no accident that â€Å"rap† has usurped the primary position of rhythm and blues music among young black folks as the most desired sound or that it began as a form of â€Å"testimony† for the underclass. It has enabled underclass black youth to develop a critical voice as a group of young black men told me, a â€Å"common literacy.† Rap projects a critical voice, explaining, demanding, urging.11 To all young African-Americans, this message is saying that their only voice, their only outlet, is through entertainment in the way of music. They are not enough African-American writers to allow them to consider an outlet that is scholarly. They feel they have to portray the image that is being sent to them through rappers and musicians alike to dress, talk, walk and act the way these rappers ‘say they do,’ in drinking, smoking and heading for drugs. Young African-American men that watch rap videos, sports, movies and may see many men of their race in this forms of media, but the image they represent is that if you cannot make it as a rapper, actor or athlete, you’ll never become wealthy and successful. Rarely are there images on news media about wealthy African-American businessmen unless it’s criminal; rarely are business shows on television shown where black businessmen are the portrayal of the show. They may be a rarity, but should not be and ought to be discussed in business matters. Looking at music for influences, from Stanford, Kathleen O’Toole puts in best, Music alters and intensifies their moods, furnishes much of their slang, dominates their conversations and provides the ambiance at their social gatherings. Music styles define the crowds and cliques they run in. Music personalities provide models for how they act and dress.12 This states that music alters our perception of ourselves and what we should be and how we should act. Our identity is affected and changed according to music videos. Rap videos show African-American singers as doing drinking, smoking, having naked women around them and treating them inappropriately and this is how African-American youth thinks they should act, instead musicians need to send an suitable message out to the youth of today. Also, other races will feel that this is how African-Americans act and will treat them accordingly. Many African-American rappers have lyrics, which are against authority and this influences others alike to perceive the same thoughts. Everyone of every race has an identity they’d like to call their own. But this identity is usually not their own and influenced by many sources, especially mass media. From music to television to news media, the influence these have on the children of today is immense. Music, television and news media, collectively with other mass medium, have the ability to alter one’s perceptions of oneself and the characteristics of others. Race has always been a touchy subject because of its sensitivity and although I am a person of colour, I may have made some stereotypical comments of both whites and non-whites, but I did so only with the intent of making my point. Mass media reflects what we think we are and influences what we think we should be.    Bibliography Colorado State University Cooperative Extension. â€Å"I’m Looking for Me: Children’s Perception of Race and Class in the Media.† Family Matters Newsletter. October 2002. (20 Nov. 2003). Gandy, Jr., Oscar H. â€Å"On Race and the Political Economy of Communication.† Art & Survival: An Internet Review. Issue 2, Volume 1. (23 Nov. 2003). Hall, Stuart. â€Å"Cultural Identity and Diaspora.† Colonial Discourse and Post-Colonial Theory. Patrick William & Laura Chrisman, eds., Pp. 392-403, (c) Columbia University, 1994. Hooks, Bell. â€Å"Postmodern Blackness.† Yearning: Race, Gender, and Cultural Politics, Pp. 23-31, (c) Between the Lines, 1990. Lauder, Matthew. â€Å"News Media Perpetuation of Racism in a Democratic Society.† Cancon: Articles. (21 Nov. 2003). O’Toole, Kathleen. â€Å"Rock & Roll: Does it Influence Teens’ Behavior?† Stanford Report [Online]. 1997. (20 Nov. 2003). Third Way Cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½. â€Å"Children and Race in the Media.† Racism: The Public Face. Beyond the News. (21 Nov. 2003). West, Cornel. â€Å"The New Cultural Politics of Difference.† The Cultural Reader. 2nded. Simon during, ed., Pp. 256-267, (c) Routledge, 1999. 1 Gandy, Jr., Oscar H. â€Å"On Race and the Political Economy of Communication.† Art & Survival: An Internet Review. Issue 2, Volume 1. (23 Nov. 2003). 2 Third Way Cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½. â€Å"Children and Race in the Media.† Racism: The Public Face. Beyond the News. (21 Nov. 2003). 3 Colorado State University Cooperative Extension. â€Å"I’m Looking for Me: Children’s Perception of Race and Class in the Media.† Family Matters Newsletter. October 2002. (20 Nov. 2003). 4 Lauder, Matthew. â€Å"News Media Perpetuation of Racism in a Democratic Society.† Cancon: Articles. (21 Nov. 2003). 5 Hooks, Bell. â€Å"Postmodern Blackness.† Yearning: Race, Gender, and Cultural Politics, Pp. 24, (c) Between the Lines, 1990. 6 Ibid. 26. 7 Colorado State University Cooperative Extension. â€Å"I’m Looking for Me: Children’s Perception of Race and Class in the Media.† Family Matters Newsletter. October 2002. (20 Nov. 2003). 8 Third Way Cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½. 9 Ibid 10 West, Cornel. â€Å"The New Cultural Politics of Difference.† The Cultural Reader. 2nded. Simon during, ed., Pp. 256-267, (c) Routledge, 1999. 11 Hooks, Bell. 27. 12 O’Toole, Kathleen. â€Å"Rock & Roll: Does it Influence Teens’ Behavior?† Stanford Report [Online]. 1997. (20 Nov. 2003).