Expanding the Horizons of Beauty Through Fiction, Poetry, and Drama Ess

Expanding the Horizons of Beauty Through Fiction, Poetry, and Drama In the short story Everyday Use, Alice Walker employs symbolism to enhance the message of the story and the value of the genre. As she narrates the relationships between Mama and her daughters Dee and Maggie, Walker uses the quilts as the main symbol to support the meaning of heritage and bond between generations of African American women. It is thanks to this symbolic meaning that we are able to reflect on the conflict of the story as Walker presents the contrasting ideas of Dee and Maggie about appreciating family traditions. Maggie knows how to keep her heritage alive as she learned to quilt herself, whereas Dee would hang the quilts as decoration and thus holds a rather superficial view of honoring one’s tradition. Symbolism in fiction, therefore, opens a door to understand the characters in a deeper dimension, identify the conflict in a better way, and help the author develop the plot in an interesting ma nner In addition, symbolism works as an aesthetic glass through which the reader can perceive the beauty and universal appeal of the story. In every culture, heirlooms are a bonding element among family members. Thus, the symbolic meaning of the quilts allows the reader to connect personally with the story, help him reflect on his own family and, possibly, appreciate how past generations have contributed in his or her life. Furthermore, symbolism becomes even more relevant to the African American community. The fire in the Johnsons’ house is an important event that symbolizes the flame of oppression in society before blacks were granted civil rights. Maggie’s scars, therefore, become a symbol of the marks that slavery and abuse left in the hearts of African A... ...read their works, we are encouraged to explore life in a profound way and understand the struggles, fears, and hopes that are part of the human experience. And so, as they skillfully use each key element in their works, these African American writers remind us that the power of creativity and beauty goes beyond the color of one’s skin, that literature is a universal art. Works Cited Walker, Alice. â€Å"Everyday Use.† English 120. (Professor Theresa Sweeney). Fontbonne University. 2012. Handout. Hayden, Robert. "Those Winter Sundays." The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing. Ed. Michael Meyer. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2012. 551. Print. Wilson, August. "Fences." The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing. Ed. Michael Meyer. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2012. 1517-1566. Print.

HIV, homosexuality and poverty Essay

Human lives are rented, thus, for every action there is a consequence that must be paid. At the same time, life should be maximized before death claims its dues. Just like the craft of Jonathan Larson, the musical RENT portrays every character trying to find and create meaning in a life full of cruel realities. Their avant-gardism approach in life revolved on how they struggle to make something out of their skills and talents by drawing out their purpose of their life. The musical is a colorful illustration of how the lives of the struggling artists are interconnected by the issues of HIV, homosexuality, and poverty. In the middle of a highly urbanized New York, the characters are shaped by their eclectic beliefs and plunged into a never-ending search of their lives’ purpose. It is depicted in RENT that the search continues despite of the chaos which encapsulated their ambitions and goals as artists. Their difficulties are further aggravated because they are part of issues which set them apart from the society, making it harder for them to survive in the corporate environment of New York. RENT centralized the characters as part of the marginalized sector of the society. Their lives revolved around coping with sexually transmitted disease, fighting off the taboos of same sex relationships, and the miserable impoverished state of their residence. As the characters battled against these circumstances, the story continues to focus on the bonds of their friendship and unrequited love. The issues of STD, poverty, and homosexuality are central to the plot of the musical and portrayed how the characters revolved around these aspects. Four of the characters namely Roger, Mimi, Tom, and Angel are all HIV positive. Though masked by their lively and merry performances and songs, they’ve been struggling with the illness as its effects are felt by the time it slowly robbed them off their loved-ones’ lives. Based on the film, it gives the impression that HIV is prevalent in the community where they live in. HIV somehow symbolizes the illness that surrounds the characters, their illness to survive and thrive for life’s purpose. The scene of the second Life Support meeting showed other HIV positives, asking how they ought to move on with their life even though their days are numbered. Amidst the experiences of being sick, the Life Support group still holds importance for self-preservation. To pursue a life of dignity despite of the prejudices and judgments that should be dealt with having sexually transmitted disease. They openly expressed their fear of isolation and death itself as the disease slowly eats them up inside. HIV is presented as a disease which penetrates into society as a challenge to preserve their lives and change their meaningless life. Two pairs of characters are engaged in same-sex relationship. The open-mindedness displayed by people in East Side Manhattan as bohemians when they tolerated this relationship despite of it as being considered a taboo in the society, was portrayed in the movie. Homosexuality is being exercised freely in the community where the characters moved around. One can see that the other person within the same-sex relationship portrays a character to become similar with heterosexual relationship more. Such example of this would be the cross-dresser Angel and the lawyer Joanne who dressed in coat and tie. Though affections are openly exchanged in the same-sex relationship, the idea of cross-dressing for a man to look like a woman and vice-versa, is a way they used to blend into the society just like normal couple. The film portrayed that it was easier for the characters of Maureen and Joanne, and Tom and Angel to be homosexual couples when one of them dressed the part. It can be seen how society’s opinions against homosexual have been prevalent and by portraying some of the characters as cross-dressers, it made the homosexual relationships a bit subtle. RENT , first and foremost revolved around the lofty apartment wherein the characters lived in. They faced the danger of having their home being evicted due to the plans of building a digital studio and an extra lot. From the film, the East Side Manhattan is a residence to a lot of people struggling financially, and spiritually. Its impoverished state will be aggravated when Benny announced their eviction and he gave the condition to his friends that the rent will be free if Maureen’s protest will be stopped. As the story progressed revolving on this particular plot, the sceneries in the musical showed a great amount of poverty surrounding the apartment and Maureen knows that building the digital studio entails a displacement of a lot of the residents leaving no place for them to consider as home. It can be said that poverty, in the musical, has been presented as the root cause of the artists’ struggle to hopefully uplift themselves not just from the slums they live in but from the restless lifestyle that they have. Their struggles to carry out their ambitions equates with their impoverished soul that hungers for direction and sense out of life. It presented a gap as well between Mark, Roger, and Benny. Having married the daughter’s landowner, Benny alleviated from the kind of life that he shared with his former roommates. In a scene where all of them are inside Life Cafe, Benny told them to steer their life into purpose by making a move that showed maturity and responsibility, not the same laid-back attitudes that most of the character has. To alleviate from poverty, it is the same as finding direction in life. RENT is definitely a mirror of life itself, for all of us share the same struggles to be as carefree as we can and at the same time, to find our place in this world. The musical touched the realities which every human being may encounter, in a certain way or another. The importance that this film has pointed out is that the rented life that God bestowed should be felt in its full advantage. An individual’s role in the earth may be difficult to achieve because this is not a tangible thing that can be grasped by hand or can be seen by the naked eye. RENT focused on the concept that life can be measured by love. That love can be the very thing that an individual has been searching for all of his or her existence. For love, is one of the things that can not be bought nor rented, it is one of the aspects that can measure the purpose of one’s life.

Educational achievement Essay

Educational institutions have two basic functions. On the one hand, they act as agencies of socialisation, transmitting social rules, norms and values; on the other hand, they are mechanisms of allocation, channels for selecting and training people to fill the many occupations of industrial economies. This dual function of socialisation and allocation is fulfilled to some degree by all educational systems. However, in a society with a complex division of labour there is often a contradiction between the two functions of socialisation and allocation. This essay will use both Marxist and Functionalist perspectives to question the educational system. Educational policies after the Second World War were primarily concerned with facilitating greater, and more equal, access to educational qualifications. This was attempted in R A Butlers 1944 Educational Act which sought to make entry to selective schools and universities meritocratic, that is dependent on ability rather than social status or wealth. The Act proposed a system in which children would be transferred at the age of eleven to grammar, secondary modern, or technical schools according to their ‘age, aptitude and ability’. Grammar schools continued to be seen as superior and biased towards middle class males due to the academic subjects, Mathematics (traditionally a male subject) and English being the key indicators used to measure the students. Since we have simple tests of discovering children’s natures (and there are luckily two varieties of these) we can perfectly easily tailor the schooling they get to suit these natures. Such a position accords a pretty self fulfilling and pessimistic function to education, and the fact this process of division has always produced a high correlation with the division between middle class and working class children simply serves to confirm the appropriateness of the division in the first place. ( Miller, 1992 pg. 15 ). The above quotation highlights how the commonly held attitudes towards the working class only reinforced the class distinction. Talcott Parsons stated in his writing on education its † Functions to allocate these human resources within the role structure of adult society†, (Haralambos and Holborn, Sociology Themes and Perspectives 1995 pg. 729). Perhaps if the government had built a larger quantity of technical colleges then the education system would have been more successful in allocating individuals into work roles that match their abilities. By its very nature the eleven plus looked at student’s academic skills completely ignoring student’s personal abilities. Whereas in the education systems of Germany and Japan, in the same period, the majority of students took a vocational path in order to secure educational success. Perhaps this is why their societies achieved greater industrial and economic accomplishment (Abercrombie, Warde Contemporary British Society 1994 pg. 350). Equally, successful entry to a grammar school was not guaranteed if the student had passed their eleven plus exam, this was due to the limited number of places. If we compare the number of grammar schools in Surrey, (which is known for its large percentage of upper and middle class), to the number in the industrial Midlands (with its high population of working class), there is proportionally less number of places for students, therefore making the educational system largely a postcode lottery. It is sighted in Plummer’s ‘Failing Working Class Girls’, that not only did grammar schools have better teachers but also superior buildings and resources- An overwhelming proportion of working class children were being educated in elementary schools. Their inferior buildings and resources, lack of graduate teachers and limited curriculum, compared badly with the better resourced secondary grammar and fee paying schools, attended mostly by children from middle class backgrounds. (Plummer 2000 pg. 15). From the 1960’s onwards, education was increasingly measured in terms of economics i. e. as an institution of national interests rather than personal fulfilment. During this period racial and ethnic minority groups entered the debates, due to immigration becoming more prevalent. It was assumed that children coming from these backgrounds needed to become like the white populous as quickly as possible therefore little genuine progress was made (Finch, 1984). Perhaps this is due to the nature of the curriculum for example, history lessons concentrating on white European perspective with often-fanciful representations of ethnic cultures. Equally teachers and local authorities did not understand their growing presence in schools and it emerged that in some schools, Head teachers were refusing to admit more black pupils (Donald and Rattansi, ‘Race’, Culture and Difference, 1992 pg. 14). Professor John Rex, a leading figure in British Race Relations Research, accused ‘black youth’ of being â€Å"arrogant, rumbustious and contempurious† and having â€Å"†¦ a certain fascination for violence†. (Rex, New Debates in Black Politics 1990 pg. 18 and 33). It’s hardly surprising that these students felt marginalised. In addition under achievement of ethnic groups appeared to be over looked- †¦ many of the teachers indicated they had never considered seriously the apparent failure or under achievement of working class or black children in the education system. (Lee, Pride and Prejudice; Teachers, Class and an Inner City Infants School, 1987 pg. 108). Girls coming from an ethnic minority are not the only group held back from achieving their full potential – equally white girls coming from middle class backgrounds feel this. Even today, the dominant (arguably unconscious) ideologies to reinforce cultural norms of gender behaviour (Walker and Barton, 1983); both pupils and staff give these norms in schools. Girls are not expected to do as well, are not brought up to be assertive to the same level as their male counterparts, and therefore tend to underachieve and blame themselves for it (Light and Dwek, 1987). Staff praise different qualities. Until very recently girls choices in curriculum activities were limited, they were encouraged to veer away from scientific or technical subjects; Deem 1978 sights girls examination result successes tend to be in art subjects, which have limited value for entry into employment and therefore lead females down a different route in further education. The format of exams themselves and other measures of curricular achievement are biased towards males e. g. multiple choice tests are geared towards ‘male logic’ than ‘female’ abilities. Issues such as these highlight the importance that moves are made to alter prejudice expectations and the way assessments are undertaken; including educating teachers to understand their own biases, promoting a change in the expectations of girls so they can achieve what is really within their interests and capabilities. Another area in which the education system is failing today is the treatment of those to be deemed as special needs. The 1988 Education Act defined this by ‘learning difficulty that calls for special educational provision to be made’. This definition obviously makes some comparison with a ‘norm’, this norm is not specified and different education authorities have different averages. Although steps are being taken to move away from labelling since the 1983 Warnock Report many such pupils are still educated separately within schools themselves or special schools together, this again becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Barton and Tomlinson (1981) ask, ‘ at which point does caring become controlling? ‘ this is due to current attitudes that problems are psychological, rather than social and pupils are categorised. Despite the promises of the 1940’s Act and the many worthwhile reports that have been commissioned (and largely ignored), still the education system in Britain is riddled with inequalities as set out above. The education system has lost its focus on personal fulfilment. Arguably the pupil has become a homogenised asset to be utilised in the interest of economic progress. If the child does not meet this criteria then they are virtually excluded to protect the accepted norms that society seeks to reinforce on tomorrow’s world. In the ideal situation school children will learn a variety of skills throughout their schooling, to aid his or hers development to achieve their full potential. By the time a young person leaves school at whatever age suits their abilities and aspirations, they should be a self confident and fulfilled individual. Each individual should have gained a wealth of knowledge, motivation for further development, life skills and exam success, which realistically reflects their capabilities. Equally a pupil should have had the opportunity to form friendships with peers and to have built relationships with teaching staff, thus providing a positive image of society at all levels. Everyone should have been exposed to new ideas and activities. This is an ideal; how many people having experienced the British Education system would relate their own schooling to this statement? For many this statement is totally alien to their experiences due to the inherent prejudices the institution reinforces such as the class structure, racism, sexism, beaurocracy and commercialism of schools. It is evident that British schooling has changed considerably since 1945, in many ways there has been great improvement for the majority of pupils. However still today there are a significant group covering ethnic minorities, girls and Special Educational Needs pupils who have largely been over looked so far. If Britain is to make the most from its human resources it is vital that attitudes change so that the individuals’ potential, which is currently ignored, may be fulfilled. Bibliography Miller, J. , 1992, More Has Meant Women: The Feminisation of Schooling, Institute of Education and London: Tufnell PressParsons, T. , 1995, Haralambos, M & Holborn, M. , Sociology Themes and Perspectives. Fourth edition. London: Collins Educational Abercrombie, N & Warde, A. , 1994, Contemporary British Society. Second Edition. Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers. Plummer, G, 2000, Failing Working Class Girls. Stoke-On-Trent, Trentham Books. Finch J. , 1984,’Its Great To Have Someone To Talk To’: The Ethics and Politics of Interviewing Women’, in C. Bell and Robert (eds) Social Researching: Politics, Problems, Practice, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Donald J. , Rattansi A,.1992, ‘Race’ Culture & Difference, London, Sage Publications. Rex J. , 1990, Debates in Black Politics, Warwick, Warwick University. Lee, J. , 1987, Pride and Prejudice: Teachers, Class and an Inner City Infants School, in m. Lawn and G. Grace (eds) Teachers: The Cultural and Politics of Work, Lewes: Falmer Press O’Donnell G. , 1985, Mastering Sociology, Basingstoke, The Macmillan Press. Pugh, M,. 1994, State & Society A Social and Political History of Britain 1870-1997, London, Arnold Publishers. Other Sources: Campaign for Real Education web-site – www. cre. org. uk Word Count 1,691.

COMPUTERIZED SYSTEM Essay

Systems techniques are tools used in the analysis, design, and documentation of system and subsystem relationships. They are largely graphical (pictorial) in nature.  Systems techniques are used by accountants who do systems work. Documentation includes the following types of tools: Narratives (written descriptions) Flowcharts Diagrams Other written material For this subject, we only need to discuss two (2) of the most common documentation tools: Data flow diagrams Graphical descriptions of the sources and destinations of data. They show: Where data comes from How it flows The processes performed on it Where it goes Include three types: Document flowcharts describe the flow of documents and information between departments or units. System flowcharts describe the relationship between inputs, processing, and outputs for a system. Program flowcharts describe the sequence of logical operations performed in a computer program DATA FLOW DIAGRAMS A data flow diagram (DFD) graphically describes the flow of data within an organization. It is used to: Document existing systems Plan and design new systems There is no black-and-white approach to developing a DFD. Data sources and destinations Appear as squares Represent organizations or individuals that send or receive data used or produced by the system An item can be both a source and a destination Data flows Appear as arrows Represent the flow of data between sources and destinations, processes, and data stores As you probably surmised(GUESS) from the previous slides, if a data flow is two-way, use a bi-directional arrow.If two data elements flow together, then the use of one data flow line is appropriate.

Role of international Institutions in Mexico's Fiscal Development Case Study

Role of international Institutions in Mexico's Fiscal Development - Case Study Example The main authority on bringing economic change, therefore, lies with the indigenous political government. In the case of Mexico, the national government in the late 1980s was significantly concerned with the economic growth of the country but as the years slipped away, the commitment of the government declined so did the local living standard. Based on the above argument, it can be established that there is no need to change or develop new international trade institutional laws. But, the government is needed to get more attached to the notion of economic development. Still, the power to sponsor economic development of Mexico lies with local government. The attitude of the government is something that is needed to change and there is minimal requirement to modify rules and regulations of the trade associations. Furthermore, international institutions have nothing to do with hindrance or facilitation of growth but the locals are primarily accountable for the prevalent situation.  Ã‚  

How Stress Management and Decision Making affect the Hospitality and Essay

How Stress Management and Decision Making affect the Hospitality and Events Industry - Essay Example A combination exhibiting of any of these conditions is normally a good indicator that a person is experiencing stress. In addition to these physical symptoms of stress, over time stress can end up affecting a person’s immune system to the point whereby the person easily gets sick, low fertility, stress can also cause someone to experience lower back, shoulders and neck pain form the constant muscle tension that results from stress. Skin conditions, muscle and lung problems are also greatly worsened by stress (Banyard, 2009). Psychological Effects of Stress In addition to the physical symptoms of stress, there are also some psychological effects of stress that can severely affect a person’s thoughts and emotions. These include tendencies by persons suffering from stress to worry too much about relatively small and unimportant things; the person may also feel tired or even jumpy all the time in addition to finding it to be invariably difficult for them to focus on even si mple mundane tasks. A person will also tend to constantly imagine that bad things are happening or almost happening in addition to their feeling cranky, having a short temper that causes them to keep on yelling at others for no apparent reason which ultimately causes them to feel extremely frustrated (Fink, 2010). Consequences of Stress and Coping Behaviors in the Hospitality and Events Industry There have been a few studies conducted focusing on investigating the consequences of stress in the hospitality industry. Some of these consequences of stress include sleep disorders, annoyance, nervousness, high blood pressure, heart diseases, lack of appetite and smoking among others (Topaloglu and Tuna, 1998). Studies conducted by Bymer et al. (1991) aimed at trying to examine stress and the subsequent coping mechanisms specifically in the hospitality industry among managers working in 23 hotels across the United States indicated that job stressors had a negative impact on how the manager s conducted their managerial duties as well affecting the employee attitudes at the various hotels resulting in high numbers of on-the-job accidents, turnover, sick days, absenteeism low levels of productivity and job satisfaction (Landy and Conte 2010). The Relationship between Stress and Work Performance The Inverted U is one of the oldest and most important stress management ideas used to try and establish the relationship that exists between stress and work performance. When the pressure being exerted on a person

International Law Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

International Law - Assignment Example States may also uphold the principle of international law, even when national interests do not benefit from it, in order to protect universal and common human values. Treaties and their effectiveness can be measured using their success in ensuring all parties abide by the agreement (Chayes & Chayes, 2008). Nations enter into international treaties with other states because of the need. Nation states enter into treaties for political and military alliances, territorial exchanges, international violence control, creation of new states, and peacemaking. Treaties set out the rules  in a clear version, compared to other forms of international law. Nation states also find it to be easier to achieve the consent with treaties, as compared to other international laws. Question # 2 2. With regard to the 2009 military coup in Honduras, it appears that the national Congress, Supreme Court, attorney-general and military supported the detention or removal of an elected leader on constitutional g rounds. In such a case, does the "international community†, or outside States have the right to condemn the coup? How does UN Charter Article 2(7) fit into the picture? No foreign authority or power recognized the coup leader’s presidency. ... Despite the widespread condemnation of the Honduran coup, and suspension of the country from receiving aid from the EU and the US, efforts to reinstate Zelaya to power have failed. President Zelaya’s removal and replacement was an interruption of the country's constitutional democratic order (Halperin, 2011). If this coup were to stand, it would portend a dangerous democratic precedent for other countries. Thus, the international community needed to act to protect themselves from the possibility of a recurrence in their own country. Article 2(7) of the UN charter states that the UN can not intervene in matters within an individual state’s domestic jurisdiction. Since the Honduran coup did not breach chapter Vii of the UN charter, the article stands. Despite the precedent the coup set, the international community could not intervene in the matter. Question # 3 3. What sorts of reservations do signatories insist on in, for example, an agreement such as CEDAW? A reservatio n is a unilateral statement made by a nation state when ratifying or approving a treaty, whereby they purport to vary or exclude certain provisions and their legal effects in that state’s application (Blanchfield, 2009). The reservation must be rejected or accepted by other states for it to be valid. In the case of the reservation's rejection, that the state must first withdraw its reservation to be part of the treaty. Article 19 of the Vienna Convention allows reservations unless the treaty impliedly or expressly prohibits reservations. If the reservations requested are not compatible with the purpose and object of the treaty, then the reservation is invalid. In CEDAW, the United States signed, but did not ratify the multilateral convention. CEDAW defines women discrimination as: Any