Urban Alienation

How have three of the texts you have studied provided insight into the individual's relationships to the urban landscape? The three texts; T. S Elite's The Preludes poem, Jennifer Strauss' Migrant Woman on a Melbourne Tram poem and the short story The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury, provide an insight into each individual's relationship with the urban landscape through the underlying motif of urban alienation. The writers explore the alienating effect of city life as people are forced to suppress and hide their individual identity by conforming to societal expectations, as well as theIdea of examining the universal nature of human despair and Isolation through their depiction off soulless, disconnected and oppressive society. T. S Eliot shows the alienating and disconnection with the urban landscape which Is explored In The Preludes as people are forced to suppress and hide their Individual Identity by conforming to societal expectations wealth city life. Eliot who was a modernist poet, revolted against traditional literary forms and subjects. About the decay of modern salvation, he shared the Ideas of pessimism, disillusionment and futility.As a action to World War l, Eliot describes the metropolis as a place where people physically live, not emotionally live. Throughout the poem there is use of enjambment to render the contemporary disorder and lack of coherence of people's daily lives in the modern city. Alliteration is skillfully used creating emphasis on the imagery of gusty and grimy and the harshness of the rain being described as ;beat on broken blinds'. The city itself is a metaphor or reflection of people's daily lives and inner psyches as they become consumed within the landscape.The second prelude deals tit the personal pain that is so well hidden which is metaphorically presented through the idea of a ‘masquerade'. This pain is shown to be an effect and common lifestyle of this broken city which is shared ‘in a thousand furnished rooms'. In Preludes three and four look at false pretences. Eliot uses the repetition of the conjunction ‘and' to further emphasis the drabness of routine and the endless cycle of existence. There is a sense of prediction and pace through the times four and five and six o' clock' as if trapped in this mechanical routine.People are in the deceitful inform of ‘certain certainties' contained in monotonous activities like ‘fingers of stuffing pipes'. It ends with a sense of emptiness and a sense of searching. The Preludes addresses the need to break the â€Å"chains† or cycle of a personal fixation within the isolation as well as frustration of city life in order to create a stronger relationship with the urban environment. Similarly, â€Å"The Pedestrian† explores alienating effects of city life as people are forced to suppress and hide their Individual Identity by conforming to societal expectations, where the Individual lacks feeling of longing and connectivity. The Pedestrian† Is set AD 2053 In the dyspepsia future. Leonard Mean is the individual whoso Is at odds with his society as he who recognizes the world as soulless and. HIS world has no delve order and Is a futile, anarchic place – where the protagonists name Is also very average and ordinary. There Is a recurring motif of the dead. People are metaphorically described as deadened and zombie-Like or associated with the negative connotation of ;grey phantoms' living In a monotonous and emotionless world.People are trapped and locked inside tomb-like monotony attached with urban living as Leonard goes about his routine he says What's up tonight on Channel 4, Channel 7 and Channel 9? Due to advances in technology, the city dwellers' ability to think for themselves is lost as they become brainwashed and confined to their living rooms watching television, into a dehumidified state. The onomatopoeia and emotive terms Whispering†¦ Murmurs' are both associated with spying or secrets. This suggests Leonard is not conforming to the laws of his society.The harshness and sterility of the robot's ‘metallic' voice idiotically repeats the questions directed to Leonard, asking Walking where? For what? As well the inability to understand his ‘profession' shows an emotionless and artificial world taken over by ever developing technology. This is Juxtaposed between Lemonade's warmth and humor where he replies with a smile ‘nobody wanted me'. Similarly with T. S Elite's The Preludes, in The Pedestrian there are feelings of isolation and being misunderstood by the changing urban society where the world is isolating in cultural and individual identity through the suppressive and conformity.Following the concept of the individual being psychologically â€Å"chained†, the Migrant Woman on a Melbourne Tram reflects Jennifer Strauss' relationship with the urban landscape examined through the portrayal of an illegal alien, where she experiences displacement and anonymity in a foreign urban metropolis. The migrant woman is portrayed as one who ‘hunches' while being described as ‘sweltering with twists in sweating hands'. Further embodying a sense of discomfort is through the rash alliteration of ‘s'.We see the woman as being caught between two cultures; she becomes consumed by the city and forlorn in foreign words and voices'. The effective use of alliteration has a solemn tone which evokes a sense of hopelessness as they ‘echo'. Furthermore; there is a sense of desperation to understand situation. The migrant woman has to break through the language barrier to overcome a loss and lack of cultural identity. There is a threatening and uneasy tone established through the repetition of ‘Impossibly black†¦ Luminosity obscure†¦ Luminosity dark†¦ Possibly departed'. This accumulates and creates an unsettled atmosphere while reflecting the individual's confusion and isolation. This also relates to the women's attire, standing out while being Juxtaposed with the sexualities nature of the ‘impudence of summer thighs/long arms and painted toenails'. This synecdoche may act as a mean to create emphasis on the two contrasting cultures and expose the reader through the notion of the feelings of displacement and complete alienation, which is what the migrant woman would be experiencing.Strauss makes an allusion to Greek hydrology through her reference to the story of Theses and the Minotaur. The migrant woman's almost ‘daunting' and foreboding' feat of making her navigation through an unknown culture alludes to Theses being sent and fed to the Minotaur. The migrant woman is ‘sacrificing herself to this newfound culture and leaving behind her past. The ‘blind beast' may perhaps also signify the industrialized and modern-aged city, ‘devouring or consuming the newly arrived immigrants which correlates with the metaphor of ‘eating up men'. The Preludes and The Pedestrian respond to the ideas shown in the Migrant Woman on a Melbourne Tram in providing an insight to Jennifer Strauss' soulless, disconnected and oppressive relationship with the urban landscape. In the three texts, the readers are provided underlying motif of urban alienation. The ideas explored are when people are forced to suppress and hide their individual identity by conforming to societal expectations, as well as the idea of examining the universal nature of human despair and isolation through their depiction of a soulless, disconnected and oppressive society.

Luxury brands Essay

Whenever you switch on the television, or flip through the pages of magazines, you are bombarded with celebrity news and reality shows that touch your inner needs to feel beautiful, important and recognized. Those gorgeous people in advertisements tell you that their lifestyle and material possessions like clothes and accessories can make you beautiful as well, and help you to be part of their world. All you need to do is to buy the right fashion brands by the right designers. Then you start to crave for the Louis Vuitton bag or the Chanel glasses. Soon you are hooked by the luxury. Fashion has always played a significant role in the history of the great civilizations. With the clear differences between social classes the consumption of luxury was limited to the elite classes. The nineteenth century marked the beginning of the luxury goods sector and the start of many of the highly valuable luxury brands that we know today, e. g. Gucci, Hermes, Cartier and Louis Vuitton in France, Burberry in England and Bvlgare in Italy. Nowadays, the luxury fashion sector is the fourth largest revenue generator in France, and one of the most remarkable sectors in Italy, Spain, the USA and the emerging markets of China, Russia and India. The luxury industry has increased impressively having a huge growth in demand. The luxury consumer is powerful. Consumers have much choice in products, shopping channels and pricing of luxury goods. The aim of this study is to examine young people’s attitudes, i. e. their beliefs, feelings and purchase intentions, towards luxury brands. The author tries to find out what â€Å"luxury† means to young people, what influences their consumer decision-making, and on a small scale, young adults luxury brand awareness. 3 defining factors of luxury: Luxury is nonessential: Luxury is desired, not needed. In luxury you are at your best. It makes your life richer and more worth living. Luxury is â€Å"hard to get†: Its availability is restricted by high price, by small series, by exclusiveness. If you are allowed at all to try and get it, it demands an effort, a sacrifice. Luxury is superb, inspiring feelings of wonder and excitement: It represents an outstanding achievement, it is a divine experience. You cannot but admire the people that created it. You are so charged up that you must share your experience with others. What is Brand? A distinguishing symbol, mark, logo, name, word, sentence or a combination of these items that companies use to distinguish their product from others in the market. Once a brand has created positive sentiment among its target audience, the firm is said to have built brand equity. Levels of brands:- Signature brands – These are the most expensive brands in their category. They are personal creations, one of a kind, signed by a highly acclaimed authority or by an artist of supreme status (an outfit created by Tom Ford) Supreme brands – These are products that are produced in limited series, often hand crafted (a Rolls Royce Phantom 101EX car, the service at Tiffany & Co. , or a night at the Ritz Hotel in Paris). High End brands – High quality mass production (from a BeoCenter2 music system by Bang & Olufsen to G Collection chocolate pieces by Godiva). 6 P’s of luxury brand marketing. Performance:- Performance refers to the delivery of superior experience of a luxury brand at two levels – first, at a product level which must satisfy the functional and utilitarian characteristic as well as deliver on its practical physical attributes and, second, at an experiential level i-e the emotional value of the brand the consumers buy into – beyond what the product is to what it represents. Pedigree:- Many luxury brands have a rich pedigree and extraordinary history that turn into an inseparable part of the brand’s mystique which isbuilt around the exceptional legendary founder character of the past. Paucity:- over distribution of luxury brands can cause dilution of luxury character. Hence, many brands try to maintain the perception that the goods are scarce. paucity is more promotional in nature such as the limited editions or the special series to generate artificial desire and demand. Public figures:- Public figures or celebrities have traditionally been employed as one of the marketing mix in luxury brand advertising and they still continue to grab attention, credibility and impact. This strategy attempts to remove the appearance of â€Å"selling† while still promoting the product by making it seem as a part of the celebrity’s lives, thereby positively affecting the consumer’s attitudes, brand value and purchase intention. Public relations:- plays an enormous role in image proliferation of the brand, thereby subtly influencing public opinion. PR is used to generate buzz and convey brand news. Pricing:- Consciously or subconsciously, consumers tend to generate a mental luxury stature or image with the price range that the brand operates. it is important for luxury brands to price themselves right as setting the price lower than consumer expectation and willingness to pay can potentially harm the brand value. Five steps to build a luxury brands Identifying a niche segment:- Luxury brands are built on the premise of offering high symbolic value to a very selective segment of consumers who are more focused on high status associations than the underlying price. As luxury brands are substantively different from other brands. Positioning based on high levels of differentiation:- As global brands strategize their competitive moves, they are likely to either follow a cost leadership strategy or a differentiation strategy. luxury brands should aggressively differentiate their brand experience. luxury brands are characterized by high levels of customer loyalty, that define their identity and powerful associations. Emphasizing symbolic value:- The most important element is the brand’s ability to create and communicate symbolic value for its customers. Symbolic value means the extent to which the brand is perceived by the customers. Creating perceptions of exclusivity:- All luxury brands strive to create a sense of exclusivity for their customers. Perceptions of exclusivity can be created by unattainable price, limited geographic availability, barriers to possession, or even limited supply. It enables the brand to sustain its positioning in the face of extreme external shocks such as heightened competition, regulatory shocks or even recession. Uncompromising delivery on superior brand promise:- Successful brands are those that create supportive organizational and operational structures that facilitate the implementation of strategies to deliver on promises which involves multiple dimensions in the case of luxury brands. they also will need to project consistency and continuity at every possible touch point. Objectives of the study:- To examine consumer’s motives for buying luxury brands. To identify the factors influencing the consumer’s at the time of purchasing luxury brands. To measure the level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction among the people with their preferred luxury brands. To examine consumer’s preferences towards celebrity endorsed brands in comparison to premium brands. Need of the study:- It has been observed the growth of Luxury market is growing by leaps and bounds. The world has become a very small place in terms of geographies and global distance is getting shorter and shorter every day. Modes of communication have increased considerably and hence people have exposure to varying products available at a premium cadre across the globe. Hence it becomes imperative to design and market. Luxury brands that have a universal appeal and can take on the needs and aspirations of people across the globe. Review of Literature:- (Hansen & Wanke, 2011) Luxury is highly desirable, but affordable only to a few. Luxury is often described as something being of excellent quality, which means that the ingredients or components of a luxury product are exceptional and superior to what is found in ordinary products. (Dubois & Kapferer, 2010) were among the first to recognize the importance of international luxury products and brands in academic literature. (Dijk, 2009) Luxury brands is the kind of goods for which demand increases as income rises, and goods that have a high income elasticity of demand. (Silverstein & Fiske, 2008) Brands are important when creating an individual style, especially when talking about shoes, clothing, watches, fashion accessories, spirits and cars. Brands send messages to friends, lovers and potential employers about who a person is or would like to be. (Danziger, 2005) Luxuries are the extras in life that make it more fulfilling, more rewarding, more comfortable, more enjoyable†. She further suggests a definition for the concept, which states that luxury is â€Å"that which nobody needs but desires†. (Vickers, 2003) It has been remarked that luxury goods are higher in the psychological, social and symbolic dimension, while non luxury goods score higher in the functional value. (Dubois & Czellar, 2002) have also explored the relationship between the concepts of â€Å"luxury and â€Å"prestige† as applied to brands by means of an interpretative analysis of in-depth consumer interviews. The results indicated that prestige can be achieved independently of luxury in many categories. At a symbolic level, consumers can interpret luxury as the symbol of brand prestige. (Dubois, Laurent & Sandor Czellar, 2001) published a consumer report analyzing complex and ambivalent attitudes to luxury. Again they conducted two studies. The first study was a consumer-based exploratory analysis with usual qualitative interviewing methods. Research Methodology:- Research is an intensive study in a particular field to achieve at a better conclusion of a problem. Research Methodology is a systematic way of solving the problem. 1) Research Type:- Type of research used is Descriptive Research. The purpose of using the descriptive research method is to acquire accurate, factual, systematic data that can provide you with an actual picture of the data set that you are reviewing. 2) Research Design:- The research design is the basic framework or a plan for a study that guides the collection of data and analysis of data. It includes how data is to be collected, what instruments will be employed, how the instruments will be used and the intended means for analyzing data collected. 3) Data collection method:- a) Primary data:- Questionnaire: These are designed to collect information which consists of relevant questions about the respondent’s attitude and consumer preferences. It is semi-structured, has a combination of close and open ended questions. A sample of 100 will be chosen. The survey will aim at young people under the age 20-30 in Ludhiana. b) Secondary data:- Information that has been previously gathered for some purpose other than the current research project. Information gathered from research journals, books, internet and articles. 3)Sampling:- When some of the elements are selected with the intention of finding out something about the population from which they are taken, that group of elements is referred as a sample, and the process of selection is called Sampling. 4) Sampling Unit:- A single section selected to research and gather statistics of the whole. Limitations:- A major limitation of the project is that it lacks broader exploration on consumer perception and purchasing of luxury products and its relationship with local products. This study has a homogeneous sample and its analyses and tests can only be applied to present luxury consumers. The sample size for both, quantitative and qualitative research might be seen as a further limitation of this research impacting the extent of generalization and should be increased in future research. This would also allow for a better differentiations to gender, age and/or income groups and for higher levels of R-square explanation. The positive relationships between purchasing of luxury goods and the need of uniqueness, symbolic/status consumption and identity indicate that most of the people want to avoid similarity, but, at the same time, they want to possess the status symbols that are consumed to symbolize personal and social identity.

Empathy in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ Essay

In the novel ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee, learning to â€Å"walk about in someone’s skin† is a main theme, particularly as two of the main protagonists Jem and Scout learn to do this as they grow up throughout the book along with the reader. Atticus, the children’s father, educates the children on how to treat and comprehend other people. As Jem and Scout grow older in the novel, they begin to understand this lesson and act upon it both knowingly and sub-consciously. Scout empathises with Walter Cunningham during school at the beginning of the book. When her teacher, Miss Caroline offers Walter a quarter because he has no lunch (Walter’s family can not afford it and so he says he’s forgotten it) and refuses it, Miss Caroline can not see why and so continues to offer it with growing impatience. Scout empathises with how Walter is feeling at the time and so on his behalf explains why he has no lunch and why he will not accept her offer; â€Å"The Cunninghams never took anything they can’t pay back – no church baskets and no scrip stamps. They never took anything off of anybody, they get along on what they have. They don’t have much but they get along on it.† She did this to spare his embarrassment. Scout goes on to say, â€Å"You’re shamin’ him, Miss Caroline.† This shows her understanding of Walter’s perspective at that time and also how she tries to spare him by explaining to t he teacher. Early on in the book, Jem can already step into someone else’s shoes and empathise with them to see their perspective. The reader knows this when Jem confronts Scout after she beats up Walter Cunningham at school and he says, â€Å"Come on home to dinner with us Walter.† This shows Jem’s maturity and ability to empathise with those around him as he knows that what Scout did to Walter was wrong and he was able to see this by looking at it from Walter’s perspective. He also defends Walter when Scout wants to fight him. Scout says, â€Å"I stomped at him to chase him away, but Jem put out his hand and stopped me†. By also having a sense of initiative and good morals, Jem knows to invite Walter back to the house with them for dinner to apologise and show courtesy towards him. Also, Jem knows that Walter will have no dinner that day and that the Cunninghams would not accept anything they couldn’t pay back. He also knows that his family couldn’t afford to eat as  well as the Finches. By empathising with Walter, he sees how hungry he must be and so invites him to eat with them. Scout shows empathy for Jem by voluntarily accompanying him to read to Mrs Dubose when he is made to do so after destroying her flowers because she said horrible things about Atticus. For Scout, Mrs Dubose is a distressing object who then becomes the power over her afternoons forcing her and Jem to read to her. Scout decides to go with Jem a she knew he didn’t want to do it as Jem says, â€Å"Atticus, it’s all right on the sidewalk but inside it’s – it’s all dark and creepy. There’s shadows and things on the ceiling†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She goes with him even though she doesn’t like Mrs Dubose because she knows that Jem wouldn’t want to be alone reading to her and so Scout thinks it would be better if she goes along. Scout also sympathises and shows empathy for Mrs Dubose, despite her feelings toward her. She says, â€Å"I felt sorry for her. She was lying under a pile of quilts and looked almost friendly.† This shows Scout empathising with Mrs Dubose as she sees that she is ill, and can see how much pain she must be in. However, it’s not until after she dies that both Scout and Jem fully understand how Mrs Dubose must have been feeling: Mrs Dubose was a morphine addict who was determined to kick the habit before she died and so enlisted Jem and Scout to help keep her off of the morphine for longer and longer periods of time (without them knowing). Atticus wants them to empathise with her so they can see how much courage she had and learn â€Å"what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand.† They both begin to understand why she was the way she was and see that she was actually a â€Å"great lady†, â€Å"had her own views about things† and died â€Å"beholden to nothing and nobody.† The reader sees that Jem in particular empathises with her at the very end of the chapter when Scout says, â€Å"He picked up the camellia, and when I went off to bed I saw him fingering the wide petals.† This shows that Jem was now beginning to understand and think about Mrs Dubose in a new light and he could now see her perspective. She was not just a bitter old lady. She was a courageous woman who stuck to her opinions right to the end and was determined to be rid of her morphine addiction before she died. Later in the novel when both the children have matured since the beginning, Scout has found herself involved in the ladies meeting by Aunt Alexandra and realises what it is like to be a lady. After hearing the horrid announcement of Tom Robinson’s death, Scout sees how affected by the news Aunt Alexandra is she till retains her lady-like manners as she has company. Scout thinks, â€Å"After all, if Aunty could be a lady at a time like this, so could I.† Scout allows herself to place others’ problems and emotions into her own perspective and as a result enhances her own actions with those who were affected. Jem not only learns to empathise with people throughout the novel but also other living beings. When Scout is about to kill a roly-poly (an insect), Jem says, â€Å"Don’t do that, Scout. Set him out on the back steps.† He does this because â€Å"they don’t bother you† so Jem knows that they are no harm and killing them would be wrong. This shows that his understanding of empathy has deepened. Finally, Scout empathises with Boo Radley by the end of the novel. Even before Boo Radley saves them, Scout begins feeling guilty about the way they had treated Boo Radley in the past summers; â€Å"I sometimes felt a twinge of remorse when passing by the old Radley place, at ever having taken part in what must have been sheer torment to Arthur Radley – what reasonable recluse wants children peeping in through his shutters, delivering greetings at the end of a fishing pole, wandering in his collards at night.† She understands how Boo Radley feels. After being rescued, she begins to start empathising with Boo without even realising; â€Å"Feeling slightly unreal, I led him to the chair farthest from Atticus and Mr. Tate. It was in a deep shadow. Boo would feel more comfortable in the dark.† She is thinking about what Boo Radley would like and feel more comfortable with, rather than thinking about things just from her view. After standing on Boo Radley’s porch after walking him home, Scout mentally imagines what Boo had seen all these years through the window. She realises she understands that â€Å"Atticus was right. One time he said, you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough.† Boo Radley’s  world was everything outside his four walls. With this final insight of human nature, Scout has learnt what Atticus had been teaching her throughout the novel. Harper Lee’s novel ‘To kill a Mockingbird’ illustrates how to â€Å"walk about in someone’s skin† through the protagonists Scout and Jem as they learn this lesson along with the reader. As their understanding grows – in particular Scout’s as she is the narrator – the reader’s understanding also grows as when the children learn and understand something, we also do. If we could get more people to empathise with others like both Scout and Jem in the novel, we could eliminate the prejudice that still exists in the modern world. Having Jem and Scout grow up during the book make them characters that we can empathise with and so helps enforce the lesson that Harper Lee wanted to communicate to the reader. If everybody did finally â€Å"climb into his skin and walk around in it† then maybe we could understand that we have more in common with all types of people regardless of race, nationality, gender etc. Referring to what Atticus says at the end of the book, most people are nice â€Å"when you finally see them†.

Institutions of American Government Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Institutions of American Government - Essay Example In my opinion, however, it may be more accurate to say that media is a contest terrain of both the American and world politics. Out of America’s democratic tradition, American media is known as the fourth branch of government. Democratic thinkers argue that although formally, there are three branches of government (or the executive, legislative, and the judicial branches of government), media adds to the first three categories. Actually, media is outside of formal ambit of government. However, if it wishes to, the state can have effective control of the media. State control on the media is feasible via restrictions and regulations. It is also feasible to control media via technology. The military is well known to have the capability to scramble radios, disrupt media transmission lines, and shut down electronically media’s operations. The American government and the military have even the capability to shut down or censor the internet if they want to. They can even use à ¢â‚¬Å"ethical† hacking to bring down a website. Yet, at the same time, there is no need for America’s elite to shut down or censor the internet. Shutting down or imposing censorship in the internet will be to the disadvantage of America’s elite because shutting down or censoring the internet can also mean crippling or slowing down business operations. Other than this, shutting down or censoring the internet too much will mean losing the political vantage that America enjoys over her enemies. Democracy and freedom are America’s fighting slogans against communist and Islamic fundamentalism. Shutting down or censoring the internet will be costly politically for American to win the political, military, and moral war over perceived enemies. Elite dominance over the media has not been formal anyway. It is not as if government directly threatened media

Communications Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Communications - Coursework Example The movement of structuralism is closely connected to the study of signs and symbols and how individuals created meanings of these signs and symbols. The movement of structuralism is said to have been originated in the theories of Ferdinand de Saussure during the early period of the 1900s (Berger, 2006, p.20). Saussure was the one who developed signs and symbols and believed that all languages constitute of difficult system of symbols and these symbols help in expressing ideas and there are certain regulations that are governing the way these symbols are used. He asserted that any particular symbol is a matter of chance and a link does not exist between a word and the meaning attached to it. For example: the word â€Å"dog† does not signify an image of an animal. Structuralism even states that a literary piece of work has zero origin and the individual authoring a piece of literary work simply occupies an already existing language which assists him/her in created sentences for his/her story. 2. Culler states that society is a primary reality, by this statement he is entering into an argument against Ferdinand de Saussure who is of the idea that human beings are the ones who have created society and the society itself was not created first (Berger, 2006, p.14). Basically, Culler is entering into a chicken and egg debate in which the issue is whether chicken created eggs or the eggs created chicken. Culler is arguing that it was not the humans who created the society, and society preceded human beings. Culler states that the society is not an outcome of behaviors conducted by human beings and is not demonstration of the human mind. Culler even stated that if an individual wants to conduct a study on human behavior and wants to analyze human behavior, he/she should first study the society and he even added that meanings are derived when an individual interacts with the society and thus they should be explained in the context of the society. Culler has raise d a significant debate against the assumptions of structuralism, this is because if the society would not have existed human beings would not have learned how to interpret the meaning of a specific sign or object and this is because the meaning of science do not evolve out of nowhere, they are created by the society. The society is very important for the development of communication as due to its existence, humans learn how to speak and write and learn meanings of different signs and symbols. 3. The patterns in which stories and speeches are narrated and told are a huge field of study and one of the greatest theorists who contributed to this study was William Labov during 1972 (Berger, 2006, p.40). According to Labov there are six steps if story telling starting from abstract in which an overview of the story is provided. For example: In a recent speech on animal behavior I attended, the speaker started by proving an overview of what he is going to talk about. Next comes the orienta tion in which the speaker informed us about which animals he is going to talk about, their behaviors at under different situations and the reasons for exhibiting that behavior. Next is the complicating action in which the speaker informed us about the events in which he will narrate the entire topic starting off with a background, concentrating on theorists and application of theories and in the end he concludes. Next he provided an evaluation of the events

Looking at Films Anew Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Looking at Films Anew - Essay Example This is seen in the fight between the couple, Lucius, and Cookie over the empire. It also portrays the common female concern of having a complete family so that the woman tries to forgive her husband despite his many atrocities toward her. As a long-playing drama, the film also deals with the issue of the use of the female as a material not only in the movie but in real life situations. For instance, in trying to get back to Lucius, his son, Hakeem develops a sexual relationship with his father’s former fiancà ©e, Anika. In this scene, Lucius finds Hakeem and Anika in an intimate situation. Knowing that Lucius was there, looking at them, Anika pulls Hakeem who slowly turns his face from his father to Anika’s breasts. The scenes are shown in close-up shots, capturing the facial expressions of the characters and also letting the viewers focus on the sexual implications of the scenes. The aforementioned scenes bring Laura Mulvey’s theory of the Male Gaze to mind. T he close-up shot on Anika does keep the male viewer’s focus on her as a sexual material and not just concentrate on what was going on in the story. The series also covers the issue of sexuality through the person of Jamal. Even during these days, homosexuality is still strongly opposed by many people regardless of race. Lucius was not happy about his son’s sexuality and this affected his treatment toward his son. Because of his health issues, the older man is forced to choose the next manager of his empire from his three sons.

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT - Essay Example This usually happens when the organization is not in a position to manage the human resources or due to the worse business condition or depression in the economy. The termination of the employees from the organization is an emotional event for all the employees who are thrown out of the organization and who are still working in the organization. This is a major problem faced by the people in the economy as due to the worse economic recession. Many reputed firms were forced to put their talent employees due to this reason. This made the employees to lose their trust on the organization and this lead to low productivity in the organization. This also led to the decrease in employee morale. The important measure that has to be taken for this is to make employees aware about the reason for what they are being moved out from the organization. The â€Å"guidelines will help companies handle layoffs in a way that affords dignity to those let go and reassures survivors that the downsizing decision wasnt made arbitrarily† (Robbins, 2009, para.2). This will help in creating a positive attitude among the employees towards the organization. This will create an optimistic approach among the employees and will increase the overall productivity if the employees. Special care has to be given on those employees who still have a fear in their mind that they might lose their job. This fear will decrease the productivity of the employees. It is the responsibility of the organization to remove the fear and make the employees to be productive at his best. Manager should often communicate with the employees regarding the work performance and necessary instructions have to be given for increasing their productivity. â€Å"Discussing and acknowledging the companys position is the first step to keeping people involved — and co mmitted to solving problems they understand† (Robbins, 2009, para.3). When the company realizes that the layoff is important then prior

The Development of the Post-Painterly Paradigm Research Paper

The Development of the Post-Painterly Paradigm - Research Paper Example In the Autumn Rhythm, the effects of the utilization of state ks and other materials are evident. Additionally, inflexion is perceptible, owing to the use of dissimilar colour paints that include black and white. Inflexion is also visible in the force of pouring and dripping on the canvas, thereby producing a significant piece of artwork. Besides, the web-like curves within the artwork critically depict a key inflexion in the Autumn Rhythm. Another significant work is the artwork of Robert Rauschenberg, Dirt Painting in 1953. The object, (dirt on the mould), portrayed was dirt and the d mould embedded in the wooden frame measuring 39 by 41 by 6 cm in dimension (Halasz, 309). The work comprised of dirt placed on a wooden frame and dirt growing on it. Another work is the Automobile Tire Paint, by the same artist, Robert Rauschenberg. The work consisted of twenty sheets of drawing paper. He then inked the rear tire of a car driven by the cage, thereby making the e imprints on the papers . The Automobile Tire Paint depicted significant inflexions in the line thicknesses of the imprints that formed on the paper sheets. Besides, owing to the weight of the automobile, the paints on the paper sheets were heavily imprinted on the sheets, thereby highlighting the zigzag markings. Additionally, the works showed a critical inflexion, owing to the faint imprint from the front tire of the wheel, and the rear tire deposited a succulent black tread blot that extends in a retreating procession, the length of the laid-down paper sheets.

The Cost of Higher Eduction Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Cost of Higher Eduction - Research Paper Example This research will begin with the statement that the cost of the higher education in America has been escalating, and many people are wondering how they will have education for their children. The higher education in U.S is an ultimate optional stage of the formal learning after the secondary education. The educational institutions include the colleges, universities that are both private and public. The cost of higher education is known to be relatively cheaper for the public institutions compared to the private ones. The cost of the higher education has skyrocketed making the college and university education unaffordable. The level of unemployment has also been increasing, and the employed people are not getting any increment of their salaries, but the college tuition fee has been increasing in the public colleges. The cost of the education services from college tuition could be solely attributed to the fault of the institutions of higher learning with the administration being accus ed of the bloat compared to the reduced governmental funding. However, the facilities of higher education have tried to keep the expenditures and the tuition down. Many institutions do not try to inflate the costs of the education deliberately. When the ultimate projection is made the today's cost of the higher education may seem cheaper compared to the future costs. Still, the costs are rising at alarming rates that are faster than the inflation.

P.Sc.1001 term paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

P.Sc.1001 - Term Paper Example Ensuring the public good is no simple task, but nonetheless with good policy it is very possible to work toward a better future. The public good is essentially defined as the safety, liberty, health, and welfare of the United States. Safety is mentioned because it is in the best interest of Americans to be protected from all dangers. Ensuring the public good would therefore include protection from crime, from disease, from inadvertent accidents, from foreign attacks and invasion, from atmospheric and environmental threats, and any risk to health or life that can be minimized or controlled. Health is a similar issue, and in the case of government responsibility calls for sanitation and prevention of exposure to dangerous materials or illnesses. Thus, this calls for clean air, clean water, and even clean streets. In addition, it calls for regulations of food and other consumable items that may cause illness. Liberty and welfare are both part of a much less physical and concrete realm t han safety and health. These two aspects of the public good are largely philosophical, and largely tied to the founding ideals. Americans are familiar with the phrase â€Å"life, liberty and pursuit of happiness†, as well as the similar â€Å"life, liberty and property.† A combination of these two encompasses the overall idea of liberty and welfare. These two can be separated however when taking a paternal view for one and a maternal view for the other. Liberty is generally paternal, and thus is something that the state protects rather than provides. The American government should pursue the concept of an island of constitutionality, where the law applies to small areas here and there within a sea of liberty. A poor alternative to this is having islands of liberty that are afloat upon a sea of legality, where the government regulates almost everything unless specified. The former approach is in the interest of the public good. Welfare is a maternal concept, and involve s the government providing for its citizens. Basically, this encompasses the essential services that must be paid for with tax dollars, to include roads, postal service, and the other agencies that basically ensure health and safety. Welfare also includes, beyond health and safety, the opportunity to pursue happiness, and thus provides for equal protection under the law, prohibition of slander and libel, prohibition of fraud, regulation of work hours, and other laws that don’t protect health or physical safety but more the emotional and mental wellbeing of citizens while ensuring that all business is conducted fairly and with equal opportunity. Welfare is therefore the assurance of social fluidity and fairness, and elimination of discrimination and exploitation. If American society therefore provides for safety at home and abroad, keeps the environment and the population clean and healthy, ensures liberty is granted and protected, and also regulates society to guarantee a fai r and equal field of play, then the public good has been well served. These issues are those that are most important to Americans and that the government is entrusted with addressing. The first issue on which a recommendation is necessary is on health care. The current state of American health care is well summarized in a report by the American College of Physicians, where the group points out what is lacking and what it

Market Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Market - Research Paper Example Other characteristics of free market economy are free trade fairs without subsidies or tariffs from the government. One of the most outstanding free market economies is that the government has very limited powers in a free market economy because marker powers regarding price control are set by buyers and sellers. Since the government lacks direct control of business operations regarding prices, sellers are likely to exhaust buyers through high prices (Chai 24). The government powers are restricted to providing law and order in the market operations and ensuring that only fair competition is charged. The government does not have control over participants’ entry to the market. This means that the government does not stipulate any rules regarding tariffs and subsides. Therefore, it is an economic system whereby only the fittest survive. In such economy, the government does not play any role that may favour or discourage business partners as only the involved parties regulate the transactions and prices. The government is restricted to making possible flow and functioning of the business environment through implementing policies and laws that guarantee people rights and freedoms to property. Therefore, the government is not a competitor or a market player but enhances business operations by creating a suitable business environment (Friedman 19). China is a mixed economy since the government and the private sector have an influence in the economy thus having both characteristics of both free market economies and controlled economy. Majority of mixed economies have strong government regulations as the government provides public goods and government run enterprises. In mixed economies like china, production of goods and services are mainly conducted by the private sector whereby markets are the major controllers and coordinators of economy. The driving forces within mixed markets are profit seeking enterprises and capital accumulation. Unlike pure free market e conomy in china, the government has larger indirect control over the economy by implementing monetary and fiscal policies and regulations. These policies counteract economic challenges and capitalisms’ influence towards financial crisis and challenges towards unemployment. The government has a central place in providing social welfare and making sure that public goods are available to the public (Chai 52). In general, the degree of freedom in a mixed economy against government regulations varies. The government is often responsible for providing environmental protection, maintaining unemployment standards, and controlling competition. China may not fit to be a free market economy since the government has strong control over inflation and rural spending (Friedman 35). China has been successful since its government is vibrant ion deficit funding programs since 1998 as well as endorsement of exports by tax rebates. When public demand is low due to anti-inflation, export promotio ns and monetary policies chip in to create a difference. When public demand is strong, the promotion of external export by government relaxes. Statistics show that the stock market activities are high because households and other enterprises prefer their funds in more liquid forms. Due to inflation surge, the government sets policies and regulations to correct the economic situation. Government policies in

Communications Character Conflict Essay Essay Example for Free

Communications Character Conflict Essay Essay â€Å"I can’t believe you, all your gifts, all your powers, and you.. you squander them for your own personal gain. (Hal Stewart) ‘Yes! (Megamind) ‘No! I’m the villain! † this is the main conflict between characters’ Megamind and Hal Stewart in the hit motion picture Megamind. Megamind defeats the cities beloved super hero â€Å"Metro Man†, they had been enemies since grade school and Megamind has always been the bad guy causing trouble and Metro Man was always saving the day and the people from the evils of Megeminds treachery. But soon after this deafeat Megamind realizes he misses the way things used to be, there was no more excitement and rush of being the villain in an epic good vs. evil battle. So, Megamind has devised a way that he can give any normal human being all the gifts and powers that Metro Man himself possessed. He settles on a young man named Hal Stewart, a cameraman for a news station, which he filmed the news girl who he claimed to be in love with, but everyone thought she was with Metro Man because he was always saving her. So Megamind gives Hal all the super powers, and gives him a new identity of â€Å"Titan†. However, to Megminds Dismay, Hal starts abusing his powers and begins stealing from banks, and using his powers to get equipment, video games etc.. This is a great example of unproductive conflict. Instead of creating a new evil versus good scenario with Hal or â€Å"Titan†, Hal just commandeers the whole city and puts them all at his mercy. It has many negative impacts the two characters, their relationship, and the situation. The aggression between them and the situation in general becomes increases greatly and turns even hostile because of the flaws in their communication. Megamind has certain qualities about the way he communicates that it often gets him into trouble. In fact pretty much every idea he comes up with in the process, he always seems to get either seriously injured, or suffers in some other way, all because of his communicational handicap. Some of the functions of communication Megamind uses, is he begins a relationship with a character named Hal Stewart to achieve a specific goal premeditated so he could accomplish what he wished to have done. What he wanted done was to turn Hal into a super hero and give him all the powers that the late Metro Man possessed, so that he could resume his role as the villain once again, since he defeated the last super hero he longed for the epic battle of â€Å"Good vs. Evil. † First of all, Hal isn’t the brightest pick to turn someone into a super hero, but Megamind is determined he is the perfect pick after a misunderstood first impression of Hal. Megaminds best friend even shows in many ways, he does not approve of Hal as being the one who has the traits of being a good super hero, most of the ways non verbal. Megamind even changes his own identity as Hal’s â€Å"Space Dad†, for the purpose of guiding Hal into fulfilling his destiny as the city’s new found super hero â€Å"Titan†. So Megamind actually is affecting the situation and their relationship as two different important character’s in Hal’s life and will play play big parts in his decisions. Hal Stewart, aka â€Å"Titan† aka â€Å"Cameraman†, is a very interesting character because of how he expresses his own communicational traits, it is entertaining. His perception of what a â€Å"super hero† means, and what sort of privileges or advantages he believes comes with being â€Å"Titan† are affected by the culture he lives in. Some of his expectations, the most important towards the story and the one that makes the most dramatic influence is; the super hero always gets the girl. This thinking of Hal’s is a mindlessness perception and also selective perception of how he sees a super hero. Obviously he does not get the girl he claims he’s in love with, because the thing he is mindlessness about is that just because you can fly and have huge muscles doesn’t mean you will always get girl, its about what’s underneath, not on the surface, which I believe is the lesson â€Å"Life† is trying to teach him. Another misperception he has is what should be accomplished with the incredible new â€Å"gifts† that he has recently required. Instead of catching bad guys, and making sure justice stands within the city and her people, Hal actually robs banks, and other equipment, video games etc.. nd is determined that the powers mean â€Å"get rich, and get rich quick†. These are all things that Megamind does not anticipate before hand and turns into being the exact opposite of what he wanted, all because Hal’s misunderstanding, and the communicational barriers of Megamind. Although, there isn’t a whole lot of competent communicati on going on with Megamind and Hal, in the end he still gets an incredibly large amount accomplished. The things that were bigger then even his beloved epic good vs. evil battles. He grew in more important ways, he grew as a specimen, and became a happier person, which ultimately should be eternal goal of communication and the functions and steps that are not only necessary and basically impossible to accomplish anything without them, competent or incompetent, things still move forward and things get done. In the end Megamind finds his true purpose and a higher purpose, along the way falling in love and discovering a more meaningful life all thanks to communication, and the culture which helps him perceive and judge.

Bumper Stickers to Express Views

Bumper Stickers to Express Views Sticking It to Bumper Stickers Think for a second about how social media has changed the way people interact with one another; websites like Facebook and Twitter have provided a highway of free expression. People can express their views openly and confidently without much concern about what someone with an opposing view might think. As a result, said websites are teeming with opinions. Sure, there are some benefits to having means to express ones values freely and openly, however this becomes problematic when the act of expression closes off the possibility for conversation. When people are flooded with personal opinions, as seen on the likes of Facebook and Twitter, there is no conversation or even a healthy debate. There is only opinion. This phenomenon is not limited, nor began, with social media. Yet, there is another medium for the use of language to convey peoples values and identities: the bumper sticker. As much as social media plays a central role in the lives of many Americans, the bumper sticker has become a vehicle for strong public expression. Almost nowhere else in this society can people show their feelings to such a large audience with so little effort. Partisan politics may have once been the basis of bumper sticker content, especially after World War II and at the height of the Cold War when propaganda was so pertinent. Yet nowadays, just a quick glance at parked cars shows that a broad range of themes exist (Newbagen). Whether it be advice on driving etiquette Brighten my day, get off the road existential commentary A bad day at the beach beats a good day at the office or comments about U.S. foreign policy -, bumper stickers provide a window into a persons political, philosophical, and socioeconomic ideologies. Bumper stickers themselves are not problematic for society. However, similar to social media, bumper stickers dont elicit conversation and instead spark controv ersy, society grows more and more divided. Expressing opinions publicly has become a gauntlet of disaster. Societys problem with public display of opinion is growing because bumper stickers spark controversy and contribute to an argumentative environment. Since the definition of success in this environment is based on one-upmanship and/or criticism, the path to bringing people back together starts with using value in oneself as a means of expression rather than expressing ones values. The controversy created by bumper stickers is rooted in the philosophy behind bumper stickers. First, the motivation behind using bumper stickers must be uncovered. People are always trying to make their beliefs and values known. Somehow, by projecting ones beliefs and values to the outside world an identity crisis is averted. A person needs the world to know what he stands for in order to reach a self-understanding. Bumper stickers allow for this expression. Have a kid on the honor roll? Great! Put on that bumper sticker and tell the world. Fan of sports team X? Perfect! Theres a bumper sticker for that. Voting Democrat in the next election? Might as well use the back of the car to show exactly that. These stickers represent a unique paradox. On the one hand, they are distinctly personal, attached to the owners car for friends to see. On the other hand, they are anonymous. The vast majority of readers are unknown to the bearer of the sticker. This allows for the expression of highly personal opinions about strongly held views to a large audience without any commitment to interact with them. This combination of personal statement and anonymity provides the opportunity for the expression of public emotion not usually available to ordinary people in their daily routine, ultimately giving way to create controversy. Yes, bumper stickers are short, catchy, and seemingly harmless, but because of their nature they contribute to a growing problem in society. This can be seen through the concept known as bumper sticker philosophy, (Haussmen). Basically, the bumper sticker philosophy is that because bumper stickers are such short messages, it is impossible to fit an entire philosophy or ideology on the back of your car. It is simply not possible to tell the entire story. The ideology shown is only superficial. Going along this line of reasoning, this allows bumper stickers to oversimplify social issues. People see them in a hurry and theres no time to digest the argument . Bumper stickers dont bring forth conversation, but rather end the conversation with a cursory position on any given issue. This controversy has created a hostile, argumentative environment which is dividing society more and more. Because the ideology shown on a bumper sticker is superficial, the reaction to seeing a bumper sticker is most likely also superficial. After all, how can an onlooker derive an entire ideology or philosophy from such a short message. The reactions are knee-jerk, pure gut instinct. Take for example a story from Denise Grier. Her son was threatened jail time for not removing a bumper sticker that read Bush sucks. Dick Cheney too (Haynsworth). Clearly, Griers son was expressing his political beliefs and the police had an alternative opinion. There is nothing wrong or problematic with having different viewpoints, especially when it comes to politics. There was no conflict until the bumper sticker evoked a knee-jerk reaction. Because there was only a bumper sticker and a reaction, and no discussion, a conflict was created. People display bumper stickers to either connect to a communi ty or to argue against one, but because there isnt a complete ideology which causes an instinctive violent, judgmental reaction, a connection cant be formed and society slips farther apart. There are, however, benefits to having an argumentative environment; one that fosters conversation and debate. Society needs opposing viewpoints in order to progress. The world was flat until someone questioned it. Furthermore, there is a connection between expression and identity. Hilde Lindemann, in her book Holding and Letting Go: The Social Practice of Personal Identities, articulates, To have livedas a person is to have taken my proper place in the social world that lets us make selves of each other, (159). Lindemann here identifies why being an individual with personal beliefs matters morally, why it deserves closer philosophical attention, and also why it is so dependent on the many interpersonal practices of empathetic recognition through which people can see each other as their own person. Individuality and personhood are not qualities that one can seek and find within a particular human specimen. Instead, personhood is something people reify through actions, attitudes, and attunements toward others. Both socially and morally, people judge others and hold them in certain lights. Identities are maintained through stories about what matters most to a given person; his loves, hates, commitments, and so on. The moral personhood of individuals is then very different from the one envisioned by supporters of the view that personhood is just a collection of qualities or attributes that add up to something more than the sum of their parts; or, as a designation that does not refer to much of anything in particular, other than a desire for moral, social, and political recognition. Lindemann suggests that missing the background conditions of how people become persons is precisely where philosophy has taken a wrong turn. In a non-trivial way, what and who people are is not constituted solely by a collection of reasoned positions or endorsed choices, but by moral communities that work to create, or to undo, themselves and their individual members. Lindemann describe s the personal identity of individuals, To describe a moral practice we engage in constantly, but that has not received much recognition as a moral practice: it is the practice of initiating human beings into personhood and then holding them there, (ix). Lindemann is asserting that the acts of conversing and listening is fundamentally moral work that has the capacity to create the objects of its practices; but perhaps more relevant, also has the power to destroy. The need to criticize or out-preform someone diminishes personal beliefs and values, however people need personal beliefs. Control over the ideas, symbols, and meanings within society are central to the control of society itself. In a scientific study, Charles Case notes, The ruling ideas of each age have been the ideas of its ruling class. This classical analysis of the role of ideology in the struggle for domination over society has evolved into the more recent concept of hegemony. Hegemony theory asserts that the ruling elite control all institutions which disseminate ideas and values. Schools, churches, youth organization, the mass media, among others, all produce false consciousness to facilitate the maintenance of political and economic control by the ruling elite. Attempts are often made to limit or eliminate means for self expression. These attempts are typically met with creative innovations and use of non-conventional vehicles for communication. Jail inmates, for example, w ho are stripped of most normal roles, statues, and means for interaction make heavy an effective use of tattoos to display affiliations, personal uniqueness, perspectives, and philosophies. Modern urban society is characterized by interactions among anonymous strangers and communications received through mass media sources. Within this environment, very few opportunities exist for individuals to contribute to the cultural store of ideas, symbols, and perspectives. This perspective of symbolic interaction describes how the display of symbols and relationships create social and self identity. Through the acquisition and demonstration of desirable roles, values, and qualities, individuals seek to create and maintain an esteemed and acceptable self. Those whose abilities to define themselves are impaired by a predefinition imposed by society and are described as stigmatized. However, as seen in prison tattoos, public personal expression can also be used as a unifying power. The unifying factor of personal beliefs lie in both the motivation behind and in the act of expression. In the modern age of mass communication and urban life, the means and methods available to influence the discourse of ideology and symbols have proliferated. Prison tattoos, underground newspapers, pirate radio stations, and graffiti are examples of opportunities for common citizens to affect their cultural environment. The perspectives of conflict and symbolic interaction suggest that people have a need or desire to communicate symbolic messages to the persons who share the same social environment. The history of human cultural development is intimately tied to the accumulated development of symbols, meanings, and ways to share these symbolic meanings among a growing range of sources and recipients. Therefore, the possibility exists that people use these symbols, such as bumper stickers, to progress society. However, within modern urban environments, most of the symbolic meanings encountered by individuals come from commercial mass-mediated sources (Case). This means face-to-face sources of interactions and ideas such as schools and churches allow relatively little opportunity for individuals to offer their unique perspectives. People are not really expressing their own beliefs, but rather beliefs from a marketplace. The bumper sticker is, after all, a product that is bought and sold. Bumper stickers show the influence of marketing language, with its colloquial, pseudo-informality. Public expression of opinions is thus part of the shifting relationship between culture and commerce that puts the consumer in a seemingly new position. This is where change can occur. Its not possible to find ones own personhood when one is buying his values and beliefs from a marketplace. The conundrum is that people find their identity by expressing their values and their beliefs; however, the values and beliefs that people are currently expressing are not coming from themselves. How does that make sense? How can someone realistically make their own identity from an ideology that is not his own? Quite literally, people are getting value from the wrong place. People have become reflections of what society wants them to be. This is why society is breaking down. A collection of individuals creates society. But when there are no individuals, there isnt much of a society either. Creating more individuals is a step on the path to bringing people back together. Individuality can be formed when people recognize what they themselves believe in, not what something like a bumper sticker tells them to believe in. Therefore, this change must c ome from people. This is an issue about expression and identity. Something like outlawing bumper stickers wouldnt really do much good not to mention its not feasible either. No, this change will start with people looking inward for something to believe in, rather than outward for validation. When people look outward for validation, they are really looking for judgement; to be able to say that they fit in. However, if society was built by people who understand their personhood and believe in their own identity, they would be able to create their own society and thus eliminate the need to fit in. This in turn would stop people from expressing commercialized ideologies and would bring people closer together. The term express yourself might sound clichà ©, but it should be taken seriously. People just need to be themselves and understand who they really are. Creating a society of more individualized people is a solid foundation to start bringing people back together, but change probably wont be realized until people also change how they view others. People can have the same blood, brains, and emotions, but act hostile because they have different thoughts and opinions. People think being an individual means embracing what makes you different from society. While this can be an empowering thought for some, it has created a tear in society. Individuality should really lead to a path of connecting with others, not winning or losing or validation. Real personhood and individuality extends beyond valuing ones own opinions. Society cant come back together unless individuals are allowed to share their opinions without creating controversy. Works Cited Newhagen, John E., and Michael Ancell. The Expression of Emotion and Social Status in the Language of Bumper Stickers. Journal of Language and Social Psychology 14.3 (1995): 312-23. ProQuest. Web. 29 Nov. 2016. Case, Charles E. Bumper Stickers and Car Signs Ideology and Identity. Journal of Popular Culture 26.3 (1992): 107. ProQuest. Web. 29 Nov. 2016. Haussamen, Brock. PUNS, PUBLIC DISCOURSE AND POSTMODERNISM. Visible Language 31.1 (1997): 52. ProQuest. Web. 29 Nov. 2016. Lindemann, Hilde. Holding and Letting Go: The Social Practice of Personal Identities. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2014. Print. Haynsworth, Leslie. My Volvo, My Self: The (Largely Unintended) Existential Implications of Bumper Stickers. Fourth Genre 10.1 (2008): 21,34,200. ProQuest. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

Looking At The Issues Surrounding Adoption Social Work Essay

Looking At The Issues Surrounding Adoption Social Work Essay This short study concerns my experiences in dealing with an adopted service user who wishes to establish contact with her birth mother. The essay takes up the case of J, a 46 year old divorced lady who finds out about her history of adoption after the death of her adopted parents. J tries to directly establish contact with her biological mother, who refuses to meet her, leaving J traumatised and emotionally devastated. The case scenario is provided in the appendix to this essay and is considered as read. This reflective and analytical account concerns (a) my experiences in dealing with Js problems and needs, (b) my thoughts and theoretical knowledge of social work theory and practice with regard to children who are put up for adoption at birth, (c) their various emotional and physical challenges, and (d) the desire that is sometimes manifested by them during various stages of their lives to establish contact with their biological parents. It makes use of established social work theories like the attachment theory and the separation anxiety theory. I also take up the growing prevalence of the use of social networking sites by adopted children to establish contact with their long separated birth parents, and the social work mechanisms available in the UK to facilitate meetings between adopted children and their birth parents. The Challenges of Adoption J was put up for adoption at birth and was adopted by foster parents. She grew up in her foster home in the company of her siblings, who were the birth children of her adoptive parents. The fact of her adoption was however concealed from her by her adopters. J grew up with some feelings of unease between her and her siblings and adoptive parents and suffered from low self esteem when she was young. She also displayed some behavioural problems and found it difficult to establish friendships with other children. Adoption is undoubtedly an important and beneficial social process. It serves the critical needs of different individuals (Howe and Feast, 2000, p 34). It relieves natural parents of the onerous responsibilities of bringing up children when their circumstances make it impossible for them to do so, on account of social and economic reasons. It ensures safety, security, physical and emotional nourishment, education and improved life chances for unwanted, orphaned or abandoned children (Howe and Feast, 2000, p 34). It also fulfils the needs of childless couples, single people, and families for a child. Whilst adoption is undoubtedly an important social process, it brings along with it different types of social, economic and emotional challenges for all involved people, the child placed for adoption, the birth parents and the adopters (Howe and Feast, 2000, p 34). Adopted children, numerous studies have revealed, are prone to the adverse consequences of attachment disorders and separation anxiety (Cassidy Shaver, 1999, p 11). John Bowlby, well known for his advancement of the attachment theory, explains the critical importance for infants to develop secure attachments to their primary care givers. Bowlby states that attachment processes between infants and caregivers are biologically based, chosen by evolution to maximise survival chances, and aim to provide infants with feelings of security (Cassidy Shaver, 1999, p 11). Such security provides infants with the foundations required to explore their environments, with the full knowledge that their caregivers will be able and available to provide them with protection in the face of adversity or stress (Cassidy Shaver, 1999, p 11). The separation of children from their primary caregivers often results in feelings of separation anxiety and the development of attachment disorders if their attachment needs are not met or resolved effectively (Blum, 2004, p 538). Studies on adopted children show that positively formed attachments between children and caregivers improve chances of well adjusted lives, irrespective of the biological relationships of attachment figures with children (Blum, 2004, p 538). Whilst it is known that J was put up for adoption at birth, the exact age at which she was adopted is not clear. Research shows that that children adopted after 6 months of age are at greater risk for development of attachment disorders (Blum, 2004, p 538). Such attachment disorders can lead to emotional disturbance, eating disorders, bedwetting, lack of performance at school, difficulty in development of positive relationships, withdrawal from society and poor life outcomes (Blum, 2004, p 538). The adoptive parents need to take special care to ensure good adjustment of their adopted children. It is important for them parents to meet the needs of infants for love and nurturing on a consistent basis (Brisch, 1999, p 79). Adoption requires an active role from adoptive parents who assume the role of caregivers. As adopted infants explore their new and alien environment, adoptive parents must provide the required guidance, supervision and structure to ensure their safety (Brisch, 1999, p 79). Caregivers must also have the capacity and ability to provide levels of stimulation that do not overwhelm or stifle the infants developmental level. They must be attentive to the internal world of infants by being emotionally available to help them during periods of frustration, rejoice in their achievements and share their joy of exploration (Brisch, 1999, p 79). Secure attachments create positive feelings in children that relationships can be helpful, fulfilling, and valuable and provide adequate protection in an occasionally overwhelming world (Blum, 2004, p 545). Whilst secure attachments do not secure immunity from subsequent psychopathology, childhood security is certainly related to (a) increased capacities for stress management and ability to rebound after periods of psychological disturbance, (b) capacity to manage family stressors, (c) increased self-esteem, (d) good peer relationships, and (e) good psychological adjustment (Blum, 2004, p 545). Contemporary psychiatric theory states that adopted children often need therapeutic parenting, rather than normal domestic environments. Such parenting should be based on principles like sensitivity, responsiveness, following the lead of the child, the sharing of congruent and inter-subjective experiences and the creation of an environment of safety and security (Goldsmith, et al, 2004, p 2). Parents, in order to engage in such therapeutic parenting, require to be committed to adopted children, have reflective abilities, good insightfulness and secured mental states with respect to attachment (Goldsmith, et al, 2004, p 2). With J showing evidence of emotional disturbance and behavioural problems during her childhood, it is possible that her parents, whilst providing her with a normal and secure domestic environment, did not place great emphasis in responding to her specific emotional needs. Their concealment of her adopted status is possibly an indicator of their concern for the child and their desire to protect her emotions and feelings. Contemporary psychological and social theories however recommend that children be informed of their adopted status (Hollingsworth, 1998, p 303). Such information, when provided with sensitivity and in appropriate circumstances and environmental surroundings, prevents adopted children from experiencing emotional traumatisation when they otherwise inevitably come to know of their history of adoption and helps them in adjusting to their new homes (Hollingsworth, 1998, p 303). Knowledge of birth parents is also important, both for the adoptive parents and the adopted chil dren, in order to effectively cope with possible medical problems (Hollingsworth, 1998, p 303). J came to know about her adopted status by accident when she was 42, after the death of her adoptive parents. The knowledge left her emotionally traumatised and brought back memories of her childhood and of feelings of strain in her relationships with her adoptive parents and their birth children. It is however but fair to realise that Js parents very possibly had her best interests at heart and were also unaware of the future impact of not informing her of her adopted status. Reunion of Adopted Children with Birth Parents J, on knowing of her adopted status and the name of her birth mother, became emotionally disturbed because was not informed of the facts of her adoption, or about her birth parents. Adopted children, as they grow older, often become curious about their birth parents, especially so in situations of little or no contact (Adoption UK, 2010, p 1). Studies by Adoption UK, a national charity operated by adopters, reveals that all adopted children do not wish to know or contact their birth parents. Such desires are essentially personal, with some adoptees wishing to know more and others having little interest (Adoption UK, 2010, p 1). It is however also true that people who are not interested in contacting their birth parents when they are young, change when they become older, especially after they become parents and experience desires of knowing, contacting and establishing relationships with their own birth parents (Adoption UK, 2010, p 1). The emergence of social networking sites like Facebook and My Space have made it far easier for adopted children, who wish to know more about their parents, to establish contact with their birth families (Fursland, 2010, p 1). Such accessibility has introduced significant complexities in the social relationships of adopted children with their adopted and birth parents and is creating difficult challenges for social workers when they are asked for assistance by individuals in need (Fursland, 2010, p 1). Establishment of contact between adopted children and birth parents is an extremely sensitive issue and needs to be handled with care and sensitivity (Adoption UK, 2010, p 2). Adoption reunion can be a truly enriching and joyful experience, full of anticipation, twists and turns, joy, confusion, excitement, and fear. However reunion, like adoption, is not simple and can turn out to be a difficult, complex and sometimes saddening event (Adoption UK, 2010, p 2). Reconnecting with birth parents and children is rarely seamless and easy. It requires dedication, motivation, and a leap of faith (Adoption UK, 2010, p 2). Adoption reunions often give rise to complicated issues that have been dormant for decades and have to now be dealt with and resolved. Many birth parents may have never have shared their childs adoption with anybody else (Howe and Feast, 2000, p 57). Some birth mothers protect their secret because they are afraid of how others might or will react. For some mothers it is a matter of shame and they are instructed not to reveal their secrets to others (Howe and Feast, 2000, p 57). The National Adoption Standards for England, (Department of Health, 2001), along with the Adoption and Children Act 2002, provided birth parents in England and Wales entitlement to a support worker, apart from the childs social worker, from the point of identification of the adoption plan for the child (Goldsmith, et al, 2004, p 4). The Standards state that birth parents (a) should be able to access different types of support services, including counselling, advice and information before and after adoption, which recognise the long term implications of adoption, and (b) should be treated with transparency, fairness and regard during the adoption process (Goldsmith, et al, 2004, p 4). Most adopted children now have plans for direct or indirect post-adoption contact with birth relatives. Agencies are required to identify contact arrangements in adoption plans and consider post-adoption support requirements of all concerned (Goldsmith, et al, 2004, p 4). Existing regulations like The Adoption Support Services Regulations entitle adopted children, adoptive parents, and birth relatives for need assessment regarding contact arrangements and mandate agencies to maintain services to help such contact arrangements (Adoption UK, 2010, p 2). Helping J J contacted us for support on making contact with her birth parents. The Adoption and Children Act of 2002 has established a framework that provides adopted people, who are more than 18 years old and their birth relatives, rights to request for intermediary services if they wish to make such contacts. Such intermediaries are provided by registered adoption agencies, (either voluntary or local authority), or registered adoption support agencies and act as mediators between adopted people and their birth relatives. It is recommended that people wishing to make contact with birth relatives do so through intermediaries. J was informed about the intermediary process and services that could be provided by me in mediating with her birth mother but decided to contact her directly. When J contacted our agency and the case was assigned to me to help her with her emotional challenges and her desire to establish her birth mother, I engaged her in a long discussion in order to assess her emotional status, her views about her adopted childhood and her desire to meet her birth mother. I met her at her home on two occasions after taking prior appointments in order to ensure that she was prepared for the meeting and would be able to convey her thoughts better in familiar surroundings. I took care to adopt the person centred approach and deliberately avoided all judgemental feelings about her background as a relinquished and adopted child. The adoption of a person centred approach is necessary for the true implementation of anti-oppressive and anti-discriminatory approaches and I was able to understand Js emotional and mental condition with greater clarity and empathy (Mearns and Thorne, 2007, p 9). Whilst my choice of open and close ended questions did help her in opening up and in shedding her inhibitions and reservations, I found her to be disturbed about her adopted status. She appeared to be disturbed with her adoptive parents for their concealment of information about her birth, her birth parents and her adoption, and kept talking of small incidents of her childhood about her parents and siblings. She also spoke about her behavioural problems, her disturbed sleep and her difficulties in making friends at school. J was however determined to establish contact with her mother and decided to contact her as soon as she found out her contact details. I offered to act as intermediary and contact her mother in order to assess (a) her views on the relinquishment of her birth child, (b) her current emotional status and (c) her attitude towards establishing contact with J. The lady (J) was however unwilling to wait even for a few days and was convinced that her mother would like to meet her as much as she did. I did mildly explain to her that her mother could have different opinions on the issue and even offered to expedite the process. Whilst J did provide some indication of being ready for my help at the closure of our second meeting, she subsequently changed her mind and established direct contact with her birth mother. Her birth mother, from what J told me later, was absolutely surprised at receiving the call and was taken aback by the development. She responded to Js introductory communication wit h brusqueness and asperity, informing her that she did not wish to respond to her overture or to establish contact. I do feel that J acted with great haste and the result of the initiative could well have been very different with the use of an intermediary. I would have telephoned Js mother and asked for a personal meeting. I would have again adopted a person centred approach, refrained from being judgemental, and would have engaged her in discussions about her reasons for relinquishing her birth child. I would have then gently brought up the matter of J, her adopted childhood, the concealment of information about her adopted status, and her current emotionally disturbed condition. I do feel that such an approach would have yielded a better response from her mother than Js arbitrary method of establishing contact. Conclusions This reflective account details my experiences of dealing with an adopted service user, who tried to unsuccessfully establish contact with her birth mother. Modern day theory on social work and psychology stresses upon the complexity of adoption and the various challenges that the process brings up for the adopted children, the adopters and the birth relatives. Adopters have particularly significant responsibilities in ensuring, possibly through the use of therapeutic parenting methods, that their adopted children do not suffer from separation anxieties and do not develop attachment disorders. It is important for social workers to understand the emotional implications of these complexities and consider the emotional needs of all involved people with empathy and understanding. It is also important, as my experience with J reveals, for adoption reunion processes between adopted individuals and their birth relatives to be handled with great care and thought. I do feel that I should have been more persuasive and possibly more forthright, without being judgemental, with J on (a) the possibly very different perceptions of her birth mother towards the meeting, (b) the compulsions that forced her to relinquish her birth child for adoption and (c) her current emotional condition and social environment. Such an action would have possibly produced better results at the end. My knowledge of social work theory and practice has been significantly enhanced by my experience with J and will help me to deal with such situations much better in future. Word Count: 2625, without citations and bibliography Bibliography Adoption UK, 2010, Wanting to know more or not, Available at: www.adoptionuk.org/information/217131/wanting_to_know_more/ (accessed January 30, 2011). Blum, H. P., 2004, Separation-Individuation Theory and Attachment Theory, Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association,  (52): 535-553. Bowlby, J., Parkes, C. M., 1970, Separation and loss within the family, In E. J. Anthony C. Koupernik (Eds.), The child in his family: International Yearbook of Child Psychiatry and Allied Professions, pp. 197-216, New York: Wiley. Bowlby, J., 1973, Attachment and loss, Vol. 2: Separation, New York: Basic Books. Brisch, K. H., 1999, Treating attachment disorders, New York: Guilford Press. Cassidy, J., Shaver, P. R., 1999, Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications. New York: Guilford. Feast, J., Howe, D., 1997, Adopted adults who search for background information and contact with birth relatives, Adoption Fostering 21:2, pp 8-15. Fursland, E., 2010, Facebook has changed adoption forever, www.guardian.co.uk, Available at: www.guardian.co.uk//19/facebook-adoption-tracing-birth-mother (accessed January 30, 2011). Goldsmith, F. D., Oppenheim, D., Wanlass, J., 2004, Separation and Reunification: Using Attachment Theory and Research to Inform Decisions Affecting the Placements of Children in Foster Care, Juvenile and Family Court Journal, pp. 1-12. Hollingsworth, L., 1998, Adoptee dissimilarity from the adoptive family: clinical practice and research implications, Child Adolescent Social Work Journal 15, (4): pp 303-19. Howe, D., Feast, J., 2000, Adoption, Search and Reunion: The long-term experience of adopted adults, London: The Childrens Society. Mearns, D., Thorne, B., 2007, Person-Centred Counselling in Action, 3rd edition, London: Sage Publications. Levant, F. R., Shlien, M. J., 1987, Client-Centered Therapy and the Person-Centered Approach: New Directions in Theory, Research, and Practice, USA: Praeger Paperback. Appendices

Internet Censorship & Libraries Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Essa

  Ã‚   Libaries across the nation are in a dilemma, should they filter what information is available to it's visitors via the Internet? This scenario is being debated all across the United States. Many states are arguing over whether or not the library has the authority to limit what information is accessible via the Internet computers at the library. The argument is over the First Amendment right of Free Speech. There are family groups who are actually in favor of allowing unfiltered access on the Internet, not what one would think. These groups also support the notion of parents being with their children while they are on the Internet, not something that all parents have the luxury of being able to do. Other groups want the public Internet access points to be filtered, making the claim that any child at anytime can be harmfully exposed to Internet information that they may incorrectly understand. I will be showing options on what the local library should do, and expl aining how I think the issue should be addressed from a topology standpoint as well as a technical one.       Public Libraries    Libraries in the United States have been battling censorship since the American Library Association issued its first Library Bill of Rights in 1939. This document proclaimed the American Library Association's policy on intellectual freedom. With this bill libraries have been successful in defending their collections against censorship and supporting their right to provide unrestricted access to information for all users. Now the battleground has shifted from books to electronic information, mainly the Internet. Censorship of books has decreased, and has in turn shifted and gained much more attention in ... ... Unknown. (1998). City Officials to consider filtering Internet at public libraries. [Online]. Available: http://texnews.com/1998/texas/new1115.html. [1998, Nov.15]. Wallace, Jonathon. (1997). Labelling, rating and filtering systems on the Internet. [Online]. Available: http://www.spectacle.org/cda/rate.html. [1997, Sep. 02]. Wallace, Jonathon. "Purchasing of Blocking Software by Public Libraries in Unconstitutional: A Briefing Paper," available at http://www.spectacle.org/cs/library.html Michels, Spencer. "Easy Access? Should on-line porn be available at local libraries?" Transcript available at http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/cyberspace/July-dec97/library_8-7.html [Aug 7, 1997].    Libraries struggle to control public Internet terminals. [Online]. Available: http://cnn.com/TECH/computing/9901/25/library.porn.ap/ [1999, Jan, 25].   

How Nelson Mandela used Rugby to unify South Africa Essay -- Politics,

After spending twenty-seven years in prison, Nelson Mandela was released from prison on February 11, 1990. In 1991, Nelson Mandela was chosen to become president of the African National Congress. In 1993, Mandela and South African President F.W. de Klerk announced an agreement that the African National Congress and the National Party form a transitional government, effectively ending apartheid and opening the political process to all South Africans (Williamson). Mandela was elected President of South Africa in 1994, and de Klerk became his first deputy. However, even with apartheid abolished, South Africa was still a divided country. Mandela’s legal adviser, Nicholas Haysom, said, â€Å"South Africa in 1994 was a country that was split, historically, culturally, racially, and so many other ways.† Within South Africa, there was a vast division between blacks and whites, and Mandela’s job was to bring them together. One way that Nelson Mandela brought South Africa together was through rugby. While this would seem to be an unlikely way to ease the racial tension, rugby was a crucial piece in the unification of South Africa. While Mandela was serving his time in prison, the international community began to put more pressure on South Africa to release him and end apartheid. To make sure their pressure was felt, opposing nations, especially New Zealand, began violently protesting when the Springboks visited to play (30for30). The Springboks, South Africa’s national rugby team, were banned from rugby in 1981. The ban was intended to affect the white South Africans and give the black South Africans leverage to use in negotiations to end apartheid. In 1992, after Mandela was freed, the African National Congress revoked the ban on rugby... ...any, 1994. Print. Mandela, Nelson. Mandela An Illustrated Autobiography. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1994. Print. Sampson, Anthony. Mandela The Authorized Biography. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knoff, 1999. Print. "Nelson Mandela: inauguration speech (1994)." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 30 Aug. 2011. "Nelson Mandela: speech on his release from prison (1990)." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 30 Aug. 2011. Taylor, Paul. "Father of His Country." Washington Post (Washington, DC). Feb. 13 1994: Mag. Sec. 10+. SIRS Researcher. Web. 30 Aug 2011. Williams, Michael W. "Nelson Mandela." Great Lives from History: The Twentieth Century. Ed. Robert F. Gorman. 10 vols. Pasadena, California: Salem Press, 2008. Salem History Web. 30 Aug. 2011. Carlin, John. Playing the Enemy. New York: The Penguin Press, 2008. Print.

“Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin – Character

A dynamic character is a major character in a work of fiction that encounters conflict and is changed by it. In â€Å"The Story of an Hour† by Kate Chopin, the emotional pattern and thought process of Louise Mallard after she is informed of her husband’s death are explored. Over the course of the hour in which the story takes place Louise has a realization about the constraints she feels in her life and in her marriage. By delineating Louise as a flat and dynamic character, Chopin is able to convey her theme that real freedom is found in death.Over the course of the story, all the characters are left as fairly flat and undeveloped. Louise is simply described as a young woman with â€Å"a fair, clam face whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength† (paragraph 8) and that was suffering from a heart condition. When the death of her husband, Brently, is revealed her immediate reaction was that of despair. After weeping suddenly with â€Å"wild abandon ment,† Louise retreated to her room in order to collapse in solitude (paragraph 3 and 4). The tragic realization and emotional exhaustion eventually leads Louise to a realization of freedom.By whispering â€Å"free, free, free! † (paragraph 11) under her breath and not over thinking the feeling she had, Louise was able to embrace the joy with open arms she discovered in her newfound freedom. Although she knew that she would be torn apart at the sight of â€Å"the face that had never looked save with love upon her† (paragraph 12) as a corpse, Louise welcomed the oncoming years spent in devotion to her own desires. This shift in position on death motivates Louise to realize that Brently’s death should not be dwelled on with sorrow. Motivation is a sufficient reason for a character to act the way they do.Louise’s motivation for living a liberated life comes through the open window. Through nature, Chopin provides Louise with purpose. For example, while being described, the upstairs room is left with the simplistic depiction that it has only a single roomy armchair. When her husband is no longer there to restrict her potential, the house, which was once her cage, finally opens up to the outside world. With the â€Å"breath of rain in the air† and the tree tops bursting with life (paragraph four), Louise begins her journey to her conclusion.Even though the visualization of nature, Louise is competent enough to grasp that her love for Brently could not compare to the â€Å"possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being† (paragraph fifteen). Soon enough she had nearly forgotten her departed lover and was â€Å"drinking in an elixir of life through that open window† (paragraph eighteen). After the inhalation of submission, Louise â€Å"carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory† (paragraph twenty) down the stairs.In doing so, the once emotionally unstable and physically ailed woman with â€Å"white slender hands† (paragraph ten) was able to prepare for a life without discretion or restrictions. The development of Louise only seized due to her preexisting medical condition claiming her life. However this motivation is what caused Louise to act in the ways she did and refined the theme. The development of character in â€Å"The Story of an Hour† is left stagnant. Having a flat main character allows the reader to identify with the story on a level of understanding separate from that of any round character.Although the reader is inserted into Louise’s mind, an entirely understood background for her is missing. In doing so a void is made in which the reader can implant themselves into the character’s shoes to further comprehend the exact emotions of Louise during the hour. This further expands the understanding of theme because as Louise remains in front of the window with her arms spread welcoming the years to come, since she is left lacking in detail, the reader can jump into her place; they can shed tears with her or drink the elixir of life with her.The theme that death is the ultimate release from constraint is understood in the story due to Chopin’s development of Louise as a flat and dynamic character. While companionship and love are significantly important aspects of life, Chopin was able to demonstrate that Louise was ecstatic only when she realized the new way she could live her life. After all, the Greek historian Thucydides once said, â€Å"the secret of happiness is freedom. † Works Cited: Kennedy, XJ and Dana Gioia. Literature, An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama and Writing. Seventh edition. Boston: Pearson, 2010. Print.

Selfishness and Comment Shows Rufus

In the book Kindred, there are many characters that are interesting. One reason this is true, is because the book forwards through time very fast and we see many characters go from infantile to grown adult. One character that changed throughout the story was Rufus Weylin. His development was incredibly interesting because the story somewhat revolves around what he does or what is happening to him. We see him as a very young child to a twenty five year old adult. In this story, Rufus is the most interesting because he develops from a young impressionable child, to a selfish man influenced highly by the antebellum South and other things.First off, when we get the first glimpse into Rufus the boy he is burning his drapery to get attention from his father. He then mentions how he had also burned a barn. Here, we can already tell that Rufus likes to be heard, get his way, and when he doesn’t his reaction is way too exaggerated. He also is already influenced by what he sees around h im. He says to Dana, â€Å"You have to say it†¦ young master†¦you’re suppose to. † Dana responds, â€Å"No. † Rufus grips her arm and says, â€Å"Yes! † This reaction Rufus displays to Dana shows his influence of slave owning times and his inability to accept rejection.Although, when Dana says, â€Å"Rufe, don’t burn anything else. † He responds with, â€Å"I wont. † This indicates that he can take direction from another person and someone who is black, and this leads you to think that maybe he can learn to take direction and possibly change his ways. When Dana returns to the Weylin plantation with Kevin Rufus says, â€Å"Does Dana belong to you now?†¦ wife!†¦ niggers can’t marry white people! † This reaction shows that Rufus was indeed fitting into his society’s way of thinking and the mere idea of their marriage was insanity.However, as Dana returns again Rufus was indeed changing. This time he was trying to be with Alice, a black girl he had grown up with. As a child Rufus had this girl as his friend, but Rufus was now turning into his father, trying to take a black woman to bed with him. He had gone from a boy hating his father to a young man becoming him. Alice said, He tried to get Judge Holman to sell Isaac south to keep me from marrying him. † This also shows that Rufus is growing into a selfish young man with rash reactions. Similar to when he was a child.Though a lot of his reactions now hurt the ones he loves. He said to Dana about Alice running away, â€Å"Jail. A good whipping. Then they’ll sell her. † â€Å"She’ll be a slave? † â€Å"Her own fault. † This is a good example of his rash harshness. Even though at many points in the story Rufus seems awful, he still has some humanity in him. When asked if he would ever sell anyone like his father he responds, â€Å"I don’t know. I don’t think so. † Th is one comment shows Rufus may be some things but heartless isn’t one of them. In fact, Rufus seems to constantly yearning for someone’s love.When Alice was being healed Rufus says this time has been great because Alice hasn’t hated him. Although Rufus does hit Alice later when she doesn’t show him love. This shows that Rufus will not be rejected by anyone. His love for Dana even drives him to hold a gun to her and yell, â€Å"You’re not leaving!†¦ Damn you, you’re not leaving me! † Rufus’ need for his way and only his way continues when his father passes away. He says, â€Å"you let him die?†¦ You let him die†¦damn you to hell, you let him die!†¦ you just let him die. † His repetition shows his irrational behavior.He doesn’t take into account that Dana has just saved his life and there was nothing to do for Tom Weylin. Rufus continues to show his selfish behavior mixed with his plantation upbr inging when he sends Dana to the fields to work as punishment. His ultimate step into becoming a plantation owner was with his father passing, and now he was far from the person that said he would never sell a slave. His authority is really noticeable when he says, â€Å"You walk away from me, Dana, you’ll be back in the fields in an hour!†¦ Don’t you ever walk away from me again! At this point his threats aren’t him whining like when he was a child, he meant it. Rufus’ character develops a lot near the end of the book as we realize his feelings toward Dana all to clearly. In the middle of the night he approaches Alice and Dana and says, â€Å"You really are only one woman. Did you know that? † Rufus had Alice for his physical needs and Dana for his emotional. We start to see that Dana wasn’t just his friend; he needed to have her, no matter what. His jealously became clear when he sold the slave Sam for just speaking to Dana.He said, â€Å"He wanted you†¦he wanted you. † He then says to Dana, â€Å"Your so much like her, I can hardly stand it. † Rufus’ relationship with Dana had gone from friendship and understanding to Rufus wanting more and he aimed to have it. When we see that Rufus was allowing his son to call him daddy finally it was reminder of his humanity. We see that in some ways he was still good, and not racked with intense emotions. However, his humane side diminishes slowly with his irrational wants, desires and need for affection.Rufus’ character is interesting because of his development throughout this novel. In some ways it was radical and in others it was not. As a child he seemed to react too strongly in situations, like he does throughout his life. As a child you think he may change and not let his times control the way he thinks, but as he becomes an adult it’s obvious the South and his father have a big effect on him. In the end, Rufus’ selfishn ess, dominance, possession, and jealousy outweigh his sincerity, ultimately leading to his demise.