James Joyces Araby - Character, Structure and Style in...

Character, Structure and Style in Araby According to Hazel Edwards, â€Å"A good story writer needs to be a craftsman, for the construction is tighter than that required for most novels. Usually a short story concentrates on a few characters- rarely more than three major ones. The story revolves around a single, dramatic incident which typifies the characters’ reactions. Length varies from 1,000 to about 5,000 words.† With these characteristics in mind, then we are going to examine James Joyce’s short story Araby in terms of depiction of character, the story structure and the style. Araby was one of the short stories from James Joyce’s short story collection called Dubliners first published in 1907. As James Joyce was†¦show more content†¦This realistic setting of time and place enables the reader to identify with the characters of the story . Moreover the point of view used by James Joyce also enhances this authenticity. Araby was written from the â€Å"I’ point of view or what we call first person viewpoint . This enables the reader to identify more readily with the feelings of the major character. The â€Å"I’ in the story is not James Joyce himself but it is the â€Å"persona’ he assumed for telling the story . In this case he did not use the viewpoint of his own as an adult but the persona’ s view point as a child. For this story, the â€Å"I â€Å" viewpoint is deliberately chosen as this story is about a boy who secretly admired a girl living nearby. Without the omniscient viewpoint, reader can have no understanding of the girl’s impression or feelings about the boy. Readers only know what the boy thinks of the girl but not vice versa. In this way, the readers may find it more interesting as they can identify themselves more with the boy and it may help them to recall their own experience of admiring somebody secretly. James Joyce depicted the protagonist- the boy mainly through what he does, what he says,as well as, what he doesn’t do and say. The timid character of the boy which is shared by most secret admirers,Show MoreRelatedEssay on James Joyce1722 Words   |  7 Pages James Joyce nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;James Joyce, an Irish novelist and poet, grew up near Dublin. James Joyce is one of the most influential novelists of the 20th century. In each of his prose works he used symbols to experience what he called an quot;epiphanyquot;, the revelation of certain revealing qualities about himself. His early writings reveal individual moods and characters and the plight of Ireland and the Irish artist in the 1900s. Later works, reveal a man in all hisRead More James Joyces Ulysses - Balancing Information in Ithaca Essay3248 Words   |  13 PagesJames Joyces Ulysses - Balancing Information in Ithaca I hold this book [Ulysses] to be the most important expression which the present age has found; it is a book to which we are all indebted, and from which none of us can escape. T.S. Elliot In the midst of Ithaca, the climactic second to last episode of Ulysses, James Joyce provides the necessary information for calculating how much excrement, in pounds, is produced annually by the entire population of Ireland (p. 718). The typeRead MoreEssay on James Joyces Dubliners: Two Gallants2403 Words   |  10 Pagessixth short story in the Dubliners collection, James Joyce is especially careful and crafty in his opening paragraph. Even the most cursory of readings exposes repetition, alliteration, and a clear structure within just these nine lines. The question remains, though, as to what the beginning of Two Gallants contributes to the meaning and impact of Joyces work, both for the isolated story itself and for Dubliners as a whole. The construction, style, and word choice of this opening, in the contextRead MoreANALIZ TEXT INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS28843 Words   |  116 Pagessequence of interrelated events that constitute the basic narrative structure of a novel or a s hort story. Events of any kind, of course, inevitably involve people, and for this reason it is virtually impossible to discuss plot in isolation from character. Character and plot are, in fact, intimately and reciprocally related, especially in modern fiction. A major function of plot can be said to be the representation of characters in action, though as we will see the action involved can be internal

Graduation Speech School Dress Codes - 790 Words

Dear American Education System, School dress codes. The very thing students hate dealing with at school, but yet it is the most enforced school policies. Everyone has a very solid idea about what students should and should not be aloud to wear to school. They have opinions on what is too short, what is too long, what is too tight, and what is too loose. A student could be sent home for breaking the dress code in turn missing out on important lessons and information they need to know in order to succeed. Unfortunately the focus is more on what students are wearing instead of how to improve education and help them succeed in the future. There are very specific rules on what females in particular can and cannot wear. For example, â€Å"Shorts must reach â…” of the way from the top of the hip bone to the center of the knee.† Does that mean students are only allowed to wear shorts that are long? Long shorts sound like an oxymoron. They should just say students should only be a llowed to wear pants. Pants keep students from being distracted by knees and calves and more focused on their assignments. â€Å"Tops should have a minimum of 3 inch wide straps on the shoulder.† The administration is very smart to not allow students to show their shoulders because it could get out of hand quickly. Students might get the wrong ideas from one another if their shoulders are exposed. If females came to school with even a hint of exposed shoulders it could make male students think inappropriate thoughtsShow MoreRelatedSchool Uniform Policies Around The World905 Words   |  4 Pages High school students are seen walking down their school’s hallways wearing baggy sweat pants, tight revealing clothing, or outrageous piercings and hair colors. Would you feel confident in your student’s principle wore fitted tank tops and joggers whenever he or she pleased? Approximately one in five schools enforce a dress code, becoming common in America in the mid -1990s (â€Å"School Uniforms.†). Regulating what is acceptable for students to wear is a growing issue, because of the new society basedRead MoreSchool Uniforms And Its Effects On People And Their Behavior1537 Words   |  7 Pagesconsider. What students choose to wear to school every single day impacts their lives more than most realize for example, in school. What students choose to wear to school can affect how well they are able to participate and focus on their studies. The clothing that students choose to put on their backs affects their self-esteem, what class level their classmates perceive them as, and their behavior. Implementing a school uniforms in public school can benefit the school and the students academically in theirRead MoreStudents Who Wear Uniforms Benefit More Essay619 Words   |  3 PagesStudents Who Wear Uniforms Benefit More Than Students at Schools without Such Codes School uniforms are used in many schools to provide an atmosphere of uniformity among the students. Wearing school uniforms also makes the atmosphere more businesslike by giving a better approach to learning. The uniforms give fewer distractions, and save a lot of money for parents. Wearing uniforms provides equality among students by â€Å"eliminating class distinctions and placing the poor on equal footingRead MoreHow Clothing Has A Impact On People And Their Behavior1718 Words   |  7 Pagesmajority people would like to consider. For example, school. School, in which students are surrounded by teachers and peers. Peers who will make fun of others if the clothing is not from a specific store or if it does not parallel the â€Å"in† style. These hurtful comments can drag down self-esteem and confidence and affect how well they are able to participate and focus on their studies. Implementing a school uniforms in public school can benefit the school and the students academically in their grades, behaviorRead MoreDress Code2029 Words   |  9 PagesEvery weekday morning during the school year, I wake up in order to get ready for school. I eat breakfast, board the bus, and hope my day will be a good one. Once I exit the bus and enter the school, I a m unpleasantly greeted by girls hanging out of their shirts along with boys behinds falling out of their pants. Immediately, my hopefulness evaporates and is replaced with disgust. As I get past those crude sights, I witness a fight due to one student bullying another based on the unfashionable andRead MoreSchool Dress Codes Are Taking Away American Students2117 Words   |  9 PagesIn fact, school dress codes are taking away American students’ self expression, infringing on their freedom of speech, and enforcing sexist discrimination all over the country. A recent case, that occurred at Tottenville High School in Staten Island, New York, blatantly displays the negative effects dress codes are having on students, especially females. In the first couple of days of the semester, this high school managed to give 200 detentions to students for violating the dress code. IronicallyRead MoreThe Use Of A Breathalyzer On Student s Privacy1346 Words   |  6 PagesDistrict does not c onsider the use of a breathalyzer as constituting a search; therefore, the issue of trespass or intrusion into student’s privacy is not a factor on the use of this device.† For years, schools nationally have explored ways to discourage students attending school events under the influence of alcohol while avoiding legal challenges. Although blanket screening of students in the absence of reasonable suspicion may be unconstitutional, when implemented where all invested partiesRead MoreDress Code And Dress Codes1822 Words   |  8 Pages Do you go to a school with dress code? If not, would you want a dress code? How does a dress code make you feel? Those are questions that can rise because of a uniform/dress code in school. Dress code has been around for such a long time and it has changed a lot. Dress codes are present in many schools while some students enjoy it, some hate it, and some students don’t care, the hatred can lead to not being able to express yourselves, while the enjoyment can be because of everyone being alike soRead MoreSchool Uniforms, Stay Or Leave?1546 Words   |  7 Pages School Uniforms, Stay or Leave? Having school uniforms or dress codes, has both positives and negatives. Some people would like to believe that they help and play a role in students academic performance and behavior at school. However, others counter that, with it does not help, it only creates a bigger problem by enforcing the rules of a school dress code. According to School Uniforms: An Overview, the definition of dress code means, rules designed by school districts or individual schoolsRead MoreDress for Success2268 Words   |  10 PagesDress for Success As much as we all wish to deny it, the way we dress has a big impact on our success in life. One way to acknowledge this idea is through the use of school uniforms. Over time, schools have become aware of the importance of uniforms: In 2007–08, about 18 percent of public school principals reported that their school required students to wear uniforms. In 1999–2000, the percentage of principals who reported that their school required students to wear uniforms was 12 percent (â€Å"Fast

Writing Proficiency course free essay sample

The aim of this essay is to reflect on an incident, which took place in a hospital setting during the first month of my Foundation Degree Assistant Practitioner course. It will explore the importance of communication amongst the health care professionals and how a good nursing documentation is an integral part of nursing. It will also demonstrate how reflection enabled me to make sense of and learn from this experience, as well as identify any further learning developments needed to improve my practice and achieve the level of competency needed for when I qualify as an assistant practitioner. While discussing the knowledge underpinning practice, evidence based literature will be reviewed to support my discussion and for the purpose of reflection the essay will be written in the first person. Spouse, J, et al (2008). Jonhs, C (2009) defined reflection as learning through our every day experiences, towards realising one’s vision of desirable practice as a lived reality. He also added that it is a critical and a flexible process of self inquiry and transformation of being and becoming the practitioner you desire to be. However, Ghaye, T et al. (2000) stated that for the health care professionals to develop a more reflective posture, they must fully embrace both the principles and the practices of reflection. It is about becoming more aware of how we learn and how this affects what we think, feel and do. There are different models for reflection; some are more complex and detailed than others. To help me with my reflection, I have chosen Gibbs (1988) reflective cycle as a guide: The names of the patient, staff members and health care setting will be changed to protect their identity, and to abide by the Nurses and Midwifery Council code of conduct (NMC 2008). Description: Following my two week holiday, I returned to work on an early shift, which started with a handover. It was carried out in a private room to preserve the patient’s confidentiality, as the NHS is committed to the delivery of a first class confidential service. This means ensuring that all patients’ information is processed fairly, lawfully and transparently as possible according to the Department of health (2003). A copy of a handover sheet that contains: the patient’s name, age, consultant’s name, resuscitation statues, reason for admission, past medical history, and plans for discharge was given to all staff members. The nurse, in charge from the previous night, then gave an update of any changes that occurred during her shift and handed over any plans or procedures that needed to be carried out on the day. After the handover, the nurse in charge, who I am going to name Helen, allocated duties to each member of staff. I was given a bay with four female patients to look after and I was responsible for assisting them with their personal care, taking and recording their observation and assisting them with any other needs they may have had. Mrs. Smith was an 88 year old lady who was admitted with a urine tract infection and dehydration. She was bed bound, needed all care and normally lives in a nursing home. It was the first time I had met Mrs Smith, so I introduced myself, asked her how she was feeling and if she wanted to have a bed bath. She was very pleasant and stated that she would appreciate my assistance. After washing my hands, thoroughly, in line with the infection control policy (Buckinghamshire trust 2010), I assembled all the necessary equipments needed for this task and closed the curtains securely to ensure Mrs. Smith’s dignity and privacy in accordance with the NMC (2010). I started washing Mrs Smith, making sure I was talking her through what I was doing step by step; I got to the point where I needed to change the bed linen and Mrs Smith was very cooperative, turning to her side to facilitate the move. I was very close to her brushing her hair, when suddenly she punched me very hard to the right side of my head. Feelings: I was so shocked by Mrs Smith’s action. I stepped back and asked her why she hit me when I was helping her. I went out of the bay and called Helen and told her what had happened. She stated that Mrs Smith was known to have mood changes and be aggressive due to her dementia, which explained why she behaved that way. Mrs Smith suffered from Fronto-Temporal dementia, which is caused by damage to parts of the brain that help control emotional responses and behaviour. Therefore, many of the initial symptoms involve changes in emotion, personality and behaviour. NHS choices (2010). In a way, I felt better that it was nothing personal against me, however I felt angry that I was not warned by Helen, or other staff members that Mrs Smith can be aggressive. When I checked the handover sheet, dementia was written in the Colum for the medical history for Mrs Smith, but checking the  previous entries in medical notes it only stated:†patient confused at times†. According to Alzheimer’s society (2011), it is important that all staffs are aware of the person’s dementia while in hospital. Any additional information that carers and family can give is valuable as it will help staff to see and respond to the person as an individual. The nurse in charge should explain to other members of staff how the person’s dementia can affect their behaviour and communication. Evaluation: After finishing my duties in my bay, I checked Mrs Smith nursing assessment which stated that she is prone to behaviour change and can be aggressive. I went for my lunch break and started reflecting on what had happened. My first reaction was to blame the incident on the lack of communication and a poor handover from the previous shift. Johns, c (2000) suggests that the verbal handover might be considered the most significant form of communication. To reinforce their value within our every day practice, written notes need to be actively utilised when handover of care takes place. By using reflection, I realised that I was to blame just as much for not referring to Mrs Smith’s medical notes and nursing assessment prior to caring for her, and that both communication and a good documentation complement each other. Crawford, P et al (2006) stated that communication in any form: non-verbal, verbal or written is a powerful action that can change people’s lives for better or worse. Whatever our clinical focus, very different results can emerge from process of caring for others depending on how we communicate. Analysis: Trying to make sense of what happened, as Gibbs, G (1988) encourages the reflector to do, I realised that this situation has been a wakeup call for me. Having been a health care assistant for a long time, prior to starting the assistant practitioner course, I was arrogant in thinking my long years experience would allow me to deal with any situation. It has also made think of the importance of paying attention during the handover and reading the patient notes and nursing assessment, even if I already know the patient. According to Taylor, H (2005), a nurse may conduct assessments on both new and existing patients. She added that even when a nurse has been caring for the patient for some time, they will need to obtain information from other  nurses and healthcare workers, because no nurse works 24/7. The effective communication of information is therefore vital if nurses are to be fully informed about their patient and able to make a reliable assessment. Conclusion: Although I felt bad about the situation, the fact remains that this incident and the circumstances surrounding it have since been a learning situation. The good and bad aspect of it remains in the memory. I had since learned that communication and a good documentation are vital in nursing as they are a reflection of the standard of the practitioner’s professional practice. NMC (2004) believe that a good documentation is a mark of the skilled and safe practitioner, whilst careless or incomplete documentation often highlights wider problems with the individual’s practice. Action plan: Following the incident, I discussed what had happened with my mentor and explained that I had identified my mistake and I would like to improve my practice. She set an action plan for me, within my placement, to enable me to be more involved in patients’ nursing assessments and medical notes. Since practice makes perfect, I have been involved in completing and updating the nursing assessment for the new and existing patients with my mentor and associate mentor every time I have a chance to. I also researched communication and documentation in various websites and journals which made me more aware of the implication of inaccurate documentation, and the importance of communicating effectively with my colleagues to ensure the best care for my patients. So now I make sure that any nursing entry I make in the patients’ notes are clearly written, accurately dated, timed and signed and countersigned by the nurse in charge. Conclusion: This essay highlights the importance of reflection as a strategy for learning from previous experiences. In using Gibbs, G (1988) module of reflection I was able to identify my weaknesses in practice, follow an action plan and achieve the required level of competency to ensure a better practice in the future. It has also taught me that I can turn a negative experience into a positive one. My awareness concerning communication and documentation has been enhanced using reflection, furthermore I realised that reflection is an  important tool in practice which I intend to use throughout my career in nursing.

Yevtushenkos Babi Yar Essays - The Holocaust In Ukraine,

Yevtushenko's Babi Yar Babi Yar, a poem written by Yevgeny Yevtushenko, tells the story of the Nazi invasion into a small part of Russia, in which, throughout the duration of World War II, over one-hundred thousand Jews, Gypsies and Russian POW's were brutally murdered. However, what is unique about this particular perspective is that the narrator is not a Jew, but a mere observer who is aghast at the atrocities that took place during the Holocaust. It is through allusions, as well as other literary devices, that Yevtushenko elucidates caustically the absurdities of the hatred that caused the Holocaust, in addition to the narrator's identification with the Jews and their history of oppression. Perhaps, the most effective literary device used in "Babi Yar" is the allusion. The first clear allusion seen in the poem is the one concerning Egypt(line 6). This reference harks back to the Jews' enslavement in Egypt before they become a nation. In line 7, the narrator makes reference to how so many Jews perished on the cross. The reason for these initial allusions in the first section is clear. Yevtushenko is establishing the history of the Jewish people, being one of oppression, prejudice, and innocent victims. The next illusion in the poem is a reference to the Dreyfus Affair, a more modern display of irrational and avid anti-Semitism. It is in the Dreyfus affair that an innocent man is accused of espionage and is sent to jail for more than ten years, notwithezding an overwhelming amount of evidence pointing to his innocence, simply because he is a Jew. Yevtushenko uses these allusions to lead up to his referral to a boy in Bielostok who is murdered by the Russian common-folk. Clearly, The narrator is teaching a lesson with a dual message. Firstly, he is informing the reader of the horrors that took place in Russia during the Holocaust. Perhaps even more of a travesty, however, is the fact that humankind has not learned from the past in light of the fact that this "episode" is merely one link in a long chain of terrors. Yevtushenko goes on to allude to Anne Frank, a young Jewish teenager who left behind a diary of her thoughts and dreams, and how the Nazis strip her of any potential future she has when she is murdered in the death camps. Clearly, the allusion creates images in the mind of the reader that mere descriptions via the use of words could not. Another effective literary device used in the poem is the first person narrative in which the narrator identifies with those victims which he describes. This is seen in the case where the narrator says "I am Dreyfus", or "Anne Frank, I am she." The narrator does not claim to underezd what the feelings and thoughts of these people are, but rather, he is acknowledging the fact that they are feeling, "detested and denounced" and that unlike the rest of the world who turned its head, or the Russians who actually abetted such heinous crimes, this gentile narrator can not empathize, but does sympathize with his Jewish "brethren." Another extremely powerful device used by Yevtushenko is the detail of description and imagery used to describe events and feelings that are in both those whom he identifies with, as well as himself. "I bear the red mark of nails"(line 8) seems to include much of the suffering that the Jews have to endure. The statement is almost one of a reverse crucifixion in which the Jews are crucified and now have to suffer with false accusations, blood libels, and Pogroms for the duration of time. The poet describes very clearly the contempt most people have for the Jewish people and how many of these people aided in the barbarity . In line 13, for example, the poet speaks of "shrieking ladies in fine ruffled gowns" who "brandish their umbrellas in my face." In addition, Yevtushenko also depicts explicitly how the "tavern masters celebrate" at the sight of "(a Jewish boy's)blood spurt and spread over the floor." The contrast of age in "Babi Yar" is also quite effective. In the last three sections, the reader finds out that the narrator is remembering the past, mourning those who have perished.

Getting Involved Why people take part in social movements

Getting Involved Why people take part in social movements People who are interested in politics can engage in movements as sympathizers, elders, and contributors. There are several reasons why people take part in social movements.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Getting Involved: Why people take part in social movements specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More For instance, some people advocate for women’s rights and the guidelines protecting consumers as well as environment, urge for the termination of lynching, demand for the right of unions formation among workers, and request for federal minimum salaries and advanced income tax. In other instances, social movements are aimed at demanding for proper housing, health care, work leaves, and appropriate insurance plans (Harper Leicht, 2011). It is worth noting that the politically ambitious people can end up as critical socialists, ultimate dreamers, or unreasonable visionaries. There are several theories regarding social movements, which aim at exploring the key drive towards collective behavior. It is imperative to note that every stratum of the society has social movements. Moreover, people consider the available options and engage in decision making before joining a particular social movement. For joining a successful social movement, there has to be continuous mobilization of resources. Resources include plans, followers, and funds. These resources are extremely important for the social movement to fulfill its goals (Harper Leicht, 2011). Social movements compete for the members for a number of reasons. While competing for the followers, social activists end up competing against each other for finite resources. A successful social movement has strategic ways of acquiring resources and mobilizing the followers. Not once was I requested by a movement organization to donate funds to and engage in advocating for a particular issue. This was common at university where the students engage in a number of social movements. In my opinion, it is imperative for an individual to scrutinize the social movement before joining it. Some social movements have questionable ambitions. Others gather resources for the benefit of their own interests (Harper Leicht, 2011). Consequently, they use a particular voiceless group in the society to push for their agendas. I once joined a movement that was advocating for better care of people residing in slums and having HIV/ AIDS.Advertising Looking for research paper on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This was done after a comprehensive research on that movement to establish that it was genuine. I also attended one of the events and saw the deprived conditions these people were living in. Some movements were appealing. However, there were barriers that contributed to my infrequent attendance. A majority of the people in the society negatively view social movem ents. My friends discouraged me to join that movement since they shared negative opinion about it. Consequently, our friendship suffered as we were always arguing about my involvement in that social movement. Some social movements can be regarded as repulsive if campaigns are turned into movements. Charities play a key role in facilitating the development of campaigns into movements (Harper Leicht, 2011). However, when movements are sincerely driven by its supporters and have a genuine purpose, they do not interfere in society’s activities. Some movements use online activism, which involves using social sites to attract the followers. Using offline activism generates a sense of passion and momentum. Genuine movements should consider the option of using online services for gaining public. However, strategic measures have to be taken to ensure that people do not speculate the movement. Moreover, the movement using social networking services should consider that not everybody u ses Twitter and Facebook. Reference Harper, C.L., Leicht, K.L. (2011).Exploring social change: America and the world (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Passing the Buck Slip

Passing the Buck Slip Passing the Buck Slip Passing the Buck Slip By Maeve Maddox The other day I received a letter that directed me to refer to an enclosed buck slip. Id never heard the expression, but I figured out that what was meant was a printed insert. Apparently this term, along with lift note, is common in the world of direct mailing: theres really very little difference between a buckslip and a lift note except that a lift note is generally written as a mini-letter. Buckslips can be any sort of additional insert. I wondered where the expression got its name. Could it be that the buck slip was called that because it was about the size of a dollar bill? Other questions bubbled up. Why is buck another name for dollar? And why does passing the buck mean avoiding responsibility? Heres where the questions led. The word buck to mean a dollar may come from the use of buckskins as articles of trade. Answer.coms definition of buckslip (spelled as one word), a small insert added to a mailing package; it is usually about the size of a dollar bill implies that the name may derive from the buck/dollar connection. Merriam-Webster, however, favors a different origin, defining buck slip (two words) as 1. a routing slip used especially in military offices to indicate the persons to whom the attached material is to go and usually the kind of action to be taken with such material and 2. an object formerly used in poker to mark the next player to deal or to deal a jackpot, the winner of each jackpot placing the buck in front of him; especially : a buckhorn-handled knife used for this purpose According to J.W. Keller, author of Draw Poker (1887), The buck is any inanimate object, usually knife or pencil, which is thrown into a jack pot and temporarily taken by the winner of the pot. Whenever the deal reaches the holder of the buck, a new jack pot must be made. According to a site called Dutch’s English Language Oddity Clearing House: Some card games use a marker called a buck. Players take turns acting as dealer with the buck marking the current dealer. When the buck is passed to the next player, the responsibility for dealing is passed. The buck slip as routing list explains the expression to pass the buck. Before email, when someone at work wanted everyone to see the same message, one copy of the message was sent around with a list of recipients. Each recipient checked or crossed off his name and passed it on. The person who passed the buck slip on without checking his name could claim he wasnt responsible for knowing what was in the memo. When President Harry S Truman placed a sign that said The Buck Stops Here on his desk in the Oval Office, he was assuring his staff that he would take responsibility for all problems that came to his attention. I dont know that any of that really explains buck slip as a term for a mailing insert, but it was an interesting exploration. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Compared "to" or Compared "with"?Dawned vs. Donned10 Tips to Improve Your Writing Skills

Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 19

Leadership - Essay Example According to a definition cited by Stanley (2005, p.108), a clinical leader is a leader who holds quantifiable medical and scientific skills, knowledge and proficiency in nursing practice and one who employs the use of interpersonal proficiency to facilitate provision of quality care by nurses and other care providers. There are also other factors that are used in explicating nursing leadership. Further explication by Stanley (2005, p.109) asserts that excellence in clinical practice coupled with provision of a conducive or positive environment that empowers nurses are fundamental elements of nursing leadership. Another definition of nursing leadership asserts that a nurse leader is "A nurse directly involved in providing clinical care that continuously improves care through influencing others" (Stanley, 2005, p.109). In extrapolation, this definition of a nurse leader shows that it is not a prerequisite for nurse leaders to be higher-ranking officials in nursing practice. In other w ords, a nurse can be a leader despite the position held. There are a number of leadership theories that in essence categorises leadership. One of these theories is denoted by Curtis, Vries and Sheerin (2011, p.307) to include trait theory. This theory focus primarily on individual characteristics that facilitate leadership. The second theory is referred to as the behaviour approach that expounds leadership in a leaders viewpoint and in fact spotlights on leadership behaviours (Curtis, Vries and Sheerin, 2011, p.307). The third theory is the contingency approach that views leadership in the context of the interface and communication between a leader, existing circumstances and his or her actions (Curtis, Vries and Sheerin, 2011, p.307). Fourthly is the transformational theory that spotlights on the association or connection between a leader and his or her employees (Curtis, Vries and Sheerin, 2011, p.307). Though all the leadership theories and styles

Philosphy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Philosphy - Essay Example The difference must be made between the case of Osma Bin Laden, and a murder case occasioned by an instant passion. Death Penalty should be abandoned. However, the time for the idea to get realized would be decided by healthy social conditions. Theories of Punishment In its Hammurabi’s sense the retribution stands for letting punishment fit the crime as eye for an eye, or hand for a hand, or life for a life. There is no place in this conception for replacing the consequence of crime with any thing other than the nature of committed crime. For Utilitarians, however, punishment should look for consequences resulting through the incurring of punishment. The Utilitarians put forward Deterrent and Reformative punishment theories. Deterrent means to punish others in order to deter from committing crime. It may be expressed in a dictum of a judge, â€Å"you are not punished for stealing sheep, but in order that sheep may not be stolen (Mackenzie 374).† This theory is oppressiv e in nature and considers human being as a thing. The Reformative theory of punishment emphasizes on changing the structure and thought of human being, compulsory volunteer service and social services are the examples of this theory. Retribution as connection between Punishment and Guilt Retributive theory of punishment aims to make a return of a man’s deed upon his own head. For Mackenzie, the aim of Retribution is to make it apparent that the evil consequences of his acts are not merely evils to others, but evils in which he is himself involved. Retributive theory therefore emphasizes upon facing the similar consequences as that of the committed crime. Being different from the other two theories, and often interpreted in its literal meaning, the important meanings of this theory remain hidden. The aim of retribution is to make connection between punishment and guilt, that is, to develop a sense of guilt regarding the crime. Retribution as expression of Moral outrage There i s an aspect and meaning of retribution that becomes operative in certain situation in order to try to answer the question whether some social phenomenon should be punished because it is violating the moral order of the society? Morality works upon the defined and prevailed conception of human being and the owned world-view, this may include religious position. The retributive theory, understood in its literal sense, may operate to curb the increase of a social phenomenon endangering the social moral order, and thus may operate as a utilitarian principle. For example, the increase of the crime rate in juvenile may trigger an operation against such groups to keep control of social moral order. Popular Instinct Retribution may be seen through the upsurge of popular instinct. In this situation, the need to go deep into the reality, and placing event within discursive world, does not play a role. The popular instincts decide retributively the punishment for the crime. For example, a rape of a female in a village may invoke a popular reaction that results into a strict punishment. In this situation, no other shade of retribution will be looked upon. Purely retributive justification It is difficult to understand the concept pure, as it may mean going back directly to Hammurabi’s literal intention and may mean understanding retribution only in the sense of an eye for an eye and

Vaux-le-Vicomte Essay Example for Free

Vaux-le-Vicomte Essay Architecture is the style of art in which spatial configuration is most important. The way in which the body of the building situates itself on the landscape, the way in which the building rises and falls with the horizon and the way in which Vaux-le-Vicomte’s facade and garden is what this essay will seek to explore. The Vaux-le-Vicomte is located in Maincy, was built in 1656-1661, with the intention of housing artists/poets/writers by the parliamentarian/financial secretary of France. The essay will focus on the element of light as it applies to the chateaux as well as how the building can be considered a Baroque masterpiece (Blunt 108). The basis of the Vaux-le-Vicomte’s design was a castle. The building actually an offshoot of a castle which explains its grand design. Three men are attributed to the design of the Chateau, which was purchased by Nicolas Fouquet: The architect Le Vau, the painter/decorator Le Brun, and the landscape artist Le Notre (Vaux-le-Vicomte 2008). The structure of the once castle turned into one of the â€Å"predominant chateau’s of France† (Sitwell 100) begins with the Baroque age architecture. Baroque architecture is known for its lavish nature, its supreme accoutrements to buildlings increasing in size and grandeur and the culmination of which is seen in Vaux-le-Vicomte. The elements which define the Baroque era in art and which are exemplified in Vaux-le-Vicomte are fanciful, extravagant and theatrical, each of which are extremely dominant in the facade of the chateaux with the dome, in the spire/gazebo atop the dome and the high windows with Corinthian columns as a faux facade to the architecture. Baroque art was in opposition to the previous artistic movement of the Renaissance in many ways. The Baroque era was the flowering of the Renaissance in different ways: While the Renaissance was static the Baroque had a certain dynamism or movement in their architecture. The Baroque style and the fact that the castle was redesigned into a grand chateaux had a lot to do with the expansion of France in the 1600’s. This is when colonization was very popular and strong and nationalistic monarchs such as Louis the VIIII were pressed into creating such grand scale items in order to prove their powerful positions. The imprisonment of Nicolas Fouquet in fact had to do with him outshining the king during a royal visit to the chateaux. The focus of the Baroque movement can be found with the scientist Galileo. Galileo changed how people see the world around them and thus their place in the world. Space of universe becomes fascinating aspect of Baroque art. Light becomes just as fascinating and symbolism of light and scientific point of view can be seen through the architecture of Vau-le-Vicomte, in the way the windows are situated in the building to the way in which the sun’s reflection from the rivers and the fountains plays upon the building itself. The theme of Baroque art is sensuality with emotion; thus there must be passion in the architecture (despite the Catholic Church’s resistance to such design avenues). Thus, the chateaux was in defiance of religious points of view (which also attributed to Nicolas’ imprisonment) as well as supporting this new scientific outlook on the world while also encapsulating light/sun as a main architectural element of the building (Wolf 45). The truly beautiful and Baroque encompassing element of the chateaux is it’s wide garden space. This space truly sees Galileo’s philosophy of the scientific point of view and one’s relationship with the outer design of things in the gardens pure geometrical forms made with bushes, fountains, walkways and more. Le Vau designed the house to have a pavilion which is in turn surrounded by wings. The crowning achievement of Le Vau is found with the cupola which is extravagant in itself as it is the highest point of the chateaux and therefore the first symbol anyone sees upon coming up to the once castle (McCarthy 3). As well as the copula there is also a pedimented entranceway found on the front of the chateaux – thus the design aspect of the outside of the house if dichotomized in a relaxed form as well as a formal form. This dichotomized nature, â€Å"This dual personality, severely formal on one side, grandiloquent on the other, was repeated in the treatment of its walls. Originally designed in brick, then altered, presumably at Fouquets request, to Creil stone, a concave recession pulls the visitor inward toward the great entrance vestibule, then thrusts him through the immense airy space of the saloon out to the garden terrace† (Shama paragraph 16). It is from this formal standpoint of the raised threshold that the spectator can see the vibrant and lush design of Le Notre. Le Notre’s design encapsulates everything Baroque: The pattern of the plants (i. e. hedges, shrubs, etc. ) there is a distinct nature of lavishness mixed with formality (as is the Baroque style). The element of water and subsequently light is essential in the portrayal of Baroque in the garden, â€Å"The play of water intersects the view, not with the furious drama of the Versailles fountains, but rather the more modest gushing of cascades and drowsy pools where water trickles from lichen-mottled stone mouths. Indeed, the whole house seems elevated on a platform or pedestal so that it appears to be not so much surrounded by a moat as actually floating on a body of limpid water. † (Shama paragraph 17). Another interesting element of the chateaux’s gardens is how very similar in construction it is to Frank Lloyd Wrights’ Falling Water house in Pennsylvania, and how conscious both landscape architects were to the landscape itself; from the horizon to the way in which the water reflected the sun on the facade of the chateaux; the viewer can tell that there was much thought in the placement of each water pool, and fountain (even with Nicolas’ diversion of the river by 45 degrees in order to have such spectacular natural architecture). The design of the gardens by Le Notre is so very singular in its approach and cohesive because Nicolas gave the landscape architect free rein over the garden. The word cohesion is used appropriately here as the entire estate would not have worked well if several gardeners were employed by Nicolas; the design would have been flawed because not every landscape artist can build with unification along with other designers; thus the design process by one ‘gardener’, Le Notre, is so important to the lasting impression of the chateaux. As has been mentioned the beauty of the landscape was achieved through harmony of the building and nature working as a combined force of Baroque architecture. The three architects of the chateaux, architect Le Vau, the painter/decorator Le Brun, and the landscape artist Le Notre, worked as a combined force of Baroque artistry as described by Shama, The result is a pleasing comedy of the unexpected: the house suddenly appearing in its inverted reflection in a mirror pool; steep escarpments that are abruptly made accessible with hidden flights of steps; teasing games of freedom and captivity made more poignant by the inescapable ghost of Superintendent Fouquet. From the stepped terrace at the back of the house, the frame of the great Oriental rug-garden is delineated by white pathways punctuated with mercilessly pruned conical topiary and statues of lions and tigers, the Graces and various deities. Within those borders, low hedges weave embroidery patterns that echo the curves and angles of the house itself. (Shama paragraph 19). Even the way in which the pathways are cut according to exact geometric measurements is breathtaking. The elements of mythology mix in with the complete design of the garden especially as the visitor goes from the promenade to the central allee and back into the grotto. It is this space in the garden that the nature of mythology and the extravagance that the Baroque period is best-known for come into fruition. The grotto is lorded over by two river god statues who are in a reclining mode carved within two niches. In the actual park, past the two reclining gods the viewer sees other elements of the Baroque mixed in with mythology such as little fountain or ‘water grille’ in which woodland deities romp around. It is at this point in Le Notre’s design that the active viewer begins to see how he had some fun with his design, â€Å"The ground drops sharply away toward a rectangular reflecting pool. Advance farther and another barrier interposes itself: a broad lateral canal, uncrossable, as elegant in form as its name, poele (frying pan), is homely. To reach the river gods requires another walk around the canals perimeter† (Shama paragraph 20). This essay has shown how the unification of landscape with construction has lead to one of the Baroque era’s finest accomplishments in architecture: Vaux-le-Vicomte. The design of the gardens could not have been exemplified as the genius that it is without the facade of the chateaux as well as the partnership between each architect (Wolf 67). The elements of water and light played an important role in the overall design in that they allow the chateaux the illusion of floating on water which adds that element of a fairy tale or otherworldliness which is further emphasized by the architects inclusion of various statues around the grounds of wood nymphs and river gods. Thus, the extravagance of the Baroque era is found in an enormous amount in Nicolas Fouquet’s chateaux. Works Cited Blunt, A. Art and Architecture in France: 1500 – 1700. Penguin Books. 1953.McCarthy, G. The Theatres of Moliaere. Routledge. 2002. Shama, S. Palaces and Pleasures: Vaux-le-Vicomte: A Perfect Chateaux Envied by a King. 20 October 1991. Online. 2 April 2008. http://query. nytimes. com/gst/fullpage. html? res=9D0CE1DB1E3FF933A15753C1A967 58260sec=spon=pagewanted=all Sitwell, S. and Smith, E. Great Houses of Europe. Putnam. 1961. Vaux-le-Vicomte. 2008. Online. 2 April 2008. http://www. vaux-le-vicomte. com/en/vaux images-chateau. php. Wolf, J. Louis the XVI. W. W. Norton. New York. 1968.

The Home and Personal Values Essay -- House Home Environment Essays

The Home The townhouse, a clean, concise, convenient, cookie-cut, carbon copy of society’s solution to the home. In today’s society of â€Å"Big Apples†, â€Å"Windy Cities† and â€Å"Cities of Angels†, the home has been lost under stacks of green paper. The heart of the home is being choked by the fast-paced materialism that pushes the individual into a heart attack of conformity. Society has become a speed addict for production, wanting bigger, more, and faster in the pursuit for the better. This â€Å"better† is often short-lived and quickly replaced. This cycle of replacement needs to end with a solving reinvention that will allow human life to breathe and be comfortable within its own skin. Lives are to be lived not viewed. To do this people need to break the mold that society is mass-producing and live life for themselves and up to their own standards of success and not follow the blue-print of the government’s bureaucratic and aristocra tically favored system and ideals. The home should be a saran wrap covering of comfort, security, peace and enjoyment to be shared by and with loved ones. To often in today’s world the lines between business and personal have almost been blurred into oblivion. These are one of the issues that need to be stopped or altered so as to return the house to a home. The home is the outermost layer of a person’s skin. It breathes, absorbs, settles and changes just as the people that dwell inside of it do. Inside this slowly commercialized dwelling often resides incomplete individuals who attempt to fill this incompleteness; usually with materialistic vices. The biggest of these perpetrators are â€Å"name-brand† overpriced fashion labels whose only use is to deplete the individual’s wealth and morals. People ... ...p well before the age that they should. Children must be raised not watched. Guardians need to take a more active role in their child’s life; for lack of it could be detrimental to the child in the future, i.e. the lack of one. The h.o.m.e, a Humans Originally Made Environment, should be full of comfort, peace, and security. These are the first brick to be laid in any home and should begin every life. For houses to return to the state of homes a shower of truth must wash away all of the superficial and self-blocking things that tend to make people forget the simple things and sometimes the most important things in life. It is time to stand up and break the mold that has crushed and conformed the human spirit into a lifeless robot of things without substance. The latter can never be a substitute for the essentials that are needed for a happy, healthy life.

“High Fidelity”- Character anaysis Essay

Rob is a morose person who needs this excuse to always complain. He’s a very pessimistic person, who can’t seem to find a positive outlook in anything. Rob is also a very self-conscious person who is not content with himself. He believes that he lacks in the areas he views as important in his life. He depends on his woman to keep him happy, and judges his life according to the woman he’s with. He simply can’t manage to be happy without one. His unhappiness drives him to be very critical and judgmental to the world around him. He makes a jerky remark to everything he notices. All and all Rob has a weak character which depends on other things rather than himself to be happy. Rob seems to be a very pessimistic person. He sees everything in a negative fashion because he is not content with his life, and assumes it is impossible for things to improve. Once Rob returns home after seeing Marie sing with another man, he feels depressed and turns to his records for some sort of reassuring escape: Is it so wrong, wanting to be home with your record collection? It’s not like collecting records is like collecting stamps, or beermats, or antique thimbles. There’s a whole world in here, a nicer, dirtier, more violent, more peaceful, more colorful, sleazier, more dangerous, more loving world than the world I live in; there is history, and geography, and poetry, and countless other things I should have studied at school, including music. (Hornby, 83) Rob seems to feel as though his records are the only thing he can rely on. Everyone has some sort dependence on certain sentimental things, be it a pet, friend or family member. In Rob’s case, his music is the only constant that will never let him down. He sees a whole different world inside his music, one which doesn’t value the real world’s standards or values. It brings him somewhere else for a bit, somewhere which doesn’t remind him of the depressing things in his life. It seems to me that with those discouraging thoughts it drives him to be very pessimistic. Without even  talking to Marie he assumed right off the bat that she was going to hook up with the man she was singing with. He didn’t even try to show he cared in the least. His pessimism led him to give up on Marie very quickly, without even looking at the possible positive side. These actions show he has a very pessimistic outlook on life which is driven by his low self-esteem. Rob also seems unsatisfied with himself. Too inadequate to be happy in a world where he feels he doesn’t belong. I’m here , in this stupid little flat, on my own, and I’m thirty-five years old, and I own a tiny failing business, and my friends don’t seem to be friends at all but people whose phone numbers I haven’t lost. And if I went back to sleep and slept for forty years and woke up without any teeth to the sound of Melody Radio in an old people’s home, I wouldn’t worry that much, because the worst of life, i.e., the rest of it, would be over. And I wouldn’t even have had to kill myself. (74) Rob looks at every aspect of his life and feels so insufficient that he doesn’t even see the reason for living. He feels like he has no substance in his life. From having no true friends, to a failing job. All the characteristics that he values to be a person worth living, have failed him. I think his mother plays an important role in Rob’s low self -esteem as she even degrades him and offers him no support. She doesn’t even comfort him after the break-up with Laura, yet just criticizes and tells him that she â€Å"would have left [him] to get on with it years ago.† (48) She demeans his job, and adds to his low self-confidence. Parents are supposed to be supportive in times of unhappiness. Parents are the people who are supposed to love unconditionally, but in Rob’s case it seems that they only regard the negative aspects of his life which definitely cannot improve his situation. He feels so inadequate because he has no one to turn to or depend on. He wants to â€Å"run [himself] down, feel sorry for [himself], celebrate [his] inadequacies†. (72) Rob depends on a woman to keep him happy. He believes his woman defines him as a person, and each time he is without one he is miserable. Sometimes it seems as though the only way a man can judge his own niceness, his own decency, is by looking at his relationships with women- or rather, with prospective or current sexual partners. (68) He judges himself according to the woman he’s affiliated with. He doesn’t see himself as a full person without a woman. He believes that â€Å"women are going to save [him], lead [him] through to a better life, that they can change and redeem [him].† (63) Rob is basically willing to be whatever his woman wants of him. Even his relationship with Sarah Kendrew was one of convenience because he had no one else, and wanted to feel equal to his companion. Charlie had made him feel inadequate and less of a person than her, so his relationship with Sarah was one where he had someone to lean on through his time of getting over her. Sarah made it easier for him because she was going through the same situation. They were just staying together to have someone to lean on, and not be alone. He was her moment just as Charlie was mine, and when they split, Sarah had sworn off men for a while, just as I had sworn off women. It made sense to swear off together, to pool our loathing of the opposite sex and get to share a bed with someone at the same time. Our friends were all paired off, our careers seemed to have hardened into permanence, we were frightened of being left alone for the rest of our lives. (29) Rob just couldn’t handle being alone. It was easy for him to make the relationship with Sarah work because she felt the same, and had the same problems he did. His weak character leads him to depend on woman to keep him happy and satisfied. Rob was also a very judgmental and critical person. His views on music could not be challenged, as he also evaluated woman according to their musical interests and favorite movies. His views were a little harsh sometimes, and he believed he was quite educated in certain areas, which therefore lead to his many judgments. I’d say there were millions like me, but there aren’t, really: lots of blokes have impeccable music taste but don’t read, lots of blokes read but are really fat, lots of blokes are sympathetic to feminism but have stupid beards, lots of blokes have a Woody Allen sense of humor but look like Woody Allen. Lots of blokes drink too much, lots of blokes behave stupidly when they drive cars, lots of blokes get into fights, or show off about money, or take drugs. I don’t do any of these things really; if I do OK with women, it’s not because of the virtues I have, but because of the shadows I don’t have. (28) Rob makes a comment on every possible singer, songwriter, actress/actor he can. His critical attitude makes him look like a jerk. He acts above the people he criticizes to make him feel better about himself. He has a judgment on everything. Besides being critical to himself, he’s critical to the world around him because he is miserable. He sees the negative in everything which makes him as opinionated as he is. His frustration makes him angry at everything and everyone around him. All and all, Rob’s depressive, dependent, self-conscious and critical attitudes demonstrate that he has a weak character. His pessimism leads to his depression, as his low self-esteem leads to his criticisms. He has a very miserable life because he doesn’t even live up to his own standards. He depends on a woman to make him happy, which is completely unrealistic. Rob will never manage to be happy because he always manages to criticize and demean everything that’s going on around him.

Examining Race-Related Aspects of James Cameron’s Avatar

Examining The Race-Related Aspects Of Avatar While evident that many who saw the film Avatar were more than satisfied with it visually, I found it interesting that I heard little about the plot or characters. After all, as a writer, these elements, to me, are what make or break the outcome. After going to see the critically acclaimed film, I was left with a blatant feeling of injustice regarding the film’s race issues. The problem I had with the film is the concept of a white male entering into a world of ethnic people (in this case, aliens), with the sole intent of using them for his own personal gain.Not only has this all too familiar story been used again and again, but also, the outcome is always the same. While I do not believe that the film endorses racism, I do believe that certain racial ideologies play a major role in the film. Whilst some may argue against that point, by simply breaking down the story, it is simple to make the connections. Regardless of if it was int entional or not, there are some obvious racial undertones in Avatar, and they should not be ignored no matter how impressive the graphics are.In the specific clip I have chosen to analyze, Jake, the human who joins the Na’vi to fight against his own kind, has returned to Pandora after being labeled a traitor and losing the trust of the Na’vi. To gain it back, he immediately tames a Toruk, a red dragon who the natives are very fearful of. The dragon had never been tamed by anyone from the Na’vi clan. The ability and heroism just spewing from Jake makes it seem as though he is the only one with the answers that the Na’vi need to save Pandora. The scene transitions to the clan praying to the Hometree, despite their knowledge of the tree having never â€Å"taken sides†.In the midst of all of this, Jake comes flying down on the red dragon, the sun beaming behind him, illuminating his path. Then comes the very demeaning imagery of Jake dismounting the dr agon in front of the Na’vi, while they practically bow to and worship him as if to say, â€Å"You are superior to us, after all! † Jake certainly assumes as much, because he soon starts yelling about how this is â€Å"our† land, and they need to do what he says to save it. While watching the film, I first began drawing a lot of parallels to class discussions of how Columbus and the Spaniards conquered America. In Avatar, human corporation is mining a valuable mineral on Pandora, an Earth-like moon that is inhabited by the Na’vi, an â€Å"alien† race. In the late 1400’s, despite also having discovered an entire race of people, the Spanish found gold in America and began mining.Once it became difficult for them, they enforced slavery upon the natives of the land, and mercilessly killed them upon resistance. In the article Sex And Conquest: Domination And Desire On Ethnosexual Frontiers, Joane Nagel reminds us of the â€Å"relative powerlessne ss of many native women, and reports that sexual exchanges were often coerced, involving rape, forced prostitution, and slavery. In Avatar, the human scientists uncover that underneath Hometree, the Na’vi clan’s dwelling, lies the richest deposits of the mineral that they value, and by the end of the film, are ready to destroy it and its’ inhabitants. This, to me, is an example of racism in how the humans were willing to treat the Na’vi (kill them) in order to acquire more â€Å"gold†. While elements are different, Columbus’ conquest of America strays not so far from the plot that drives Avatar: a â€Å"civilized† race relentlessly compromises what they deem to be an â€Å"uncivilized† race.It can even relate to how American factories are built in foreign countries to avoid specific labor laws. As Americans, how can we justify that the people working in foreign countries assembling our iPhones are equal to us? If so, wouldnâ₠¬â„¢t we demand that they deserve equal pay? The ideology of the self-righteous, superior race and their ultimate disregard for all others is, sadly, an overused theme present in this film and our audiences should be seeing less of it.Despite all â€Å"humans† being expelled from Pandora in the end, a white male, in this case, Jake, Avatar’s protagonist, gets to be the boss in the end. In exchange, he gives up his body, his culture, and every â€Å"human† aspect about him. The one thing he fails to let go of is his superiority. With the film ending like this, and not allowing one of the original Na’vi to ultimately prevail, a subconscious message is being delivered. Just like in Dances With Wolves, a white male goes native and soon ends up as the great leader.In just three months of immersion in their culture, Jake learns enough about the Na'vi (their folkways, their animal-taming skills, and even the secret to their ultimate test of warrior prowess, some thing no other Na'vi has mastered in five generations) to become their leader in their struggle against genocide by his own former allies. Hometree even answers a prayer of Jake’s, and she had never answered prayers of the natives, her own people, even once before then. An interesting contrast is set up to disguise the fact that Jake’s character is representative of racism.On one side, there are the power-hungry, militaristic humans who show no moral restraint against the Na’vi. Their opposition is Jake and the rest of the humans who want peace with the natives. While the first group is presented as obviously racist, most would draw the conclusion that the second group, the protagonists, must not be. While the characters themselves are not racist, the age-old â€Å"white Messiah† fable is. This story has played out in American race politics several times. Progressive, liberal white males were responsible for Indian â€Å"removal† and â€Å"schooli ng† replacing Indian genocide, and segregation replacing slavery.Each time, it seems that supporters of progressive policies just have to say, â€Å"Look, I’m progressive. I’m not like those old-fashioned racists,† and then they simply cannot be deemed as racist. This is the trend in our society that the outcome of Avatar is glorifying. Forms of racial supremacy have been changed over time, but have never been ended altogether. To be fair to the â€Å"humans† of Avatar, the Na'vi and their entire planet ended up regarding the humans as a disease with which there can be no peaceful existence.Their solution is, simply, the expulsion of humanity from the planet, or in Jake's case, culture transfusion. Forced assimilation with the native culture in Avatar is almost too familiar to how their still exists an ideology in America that â€Å"foreign† residents must assimilate to the â€Å"white† culture. Forgotten is that every white citizen of America is descendant of some foreign culture. America should be a melting pot for all cultures, and if James Cameron, the director, producer and writer of Avatar, had truly agreed, perhaps the outcome of the film would be different.So did James Cameron write and direct this because he is a racist white male? No. But does James Cameron even acknowledge that his film carries racist undertones? No. The casting for the film had his seal of approval, so why were actors of color used to portray the Na’vi people? The Na'vi may be tall, blue aliens, but they seem to resemble the noble savages in older Hollywood movies: they're played by actors of color, they live a primitive lifestyle in harmony with nature, they sport tattoos and dreadlocks and exotic jewelry, and they have courage and athleticism but not necessarily rationality or ambition.Most importantly, why does white Australian Sam Worthington star as the cultural infiltrator? Cameron has more than once stated that Avatar is meant to encourage people to respect each other’s cultures and differences, and while that may be the overt meaning, he fails to touch on the issue of racial superiority. Again, Cameron did not sit down and consciously make a decision to write a racist film. However, he did indirectly use the film to express his white liberal understanding of anti-racism. Really, his views are just a kindler, gentler, more patronizing racism.If not, perhaps the Na’vi would have saved Jake instead of being incapable of saving themselves. Avatar doesn’t ask the moral question of â€Å"Should the natives be conquered? † It asks, â€Å"How should the natives be conquered? † Had the film been written and directed by a person of color instead, there may have been an opportunity to avoid this. Columbia College professor Kristin Pichaske’s excerpt, Historical And Political Framework: Race, Colonialism And African Cinema discusses how most filmmakers are Western whi te males who control the portrayal of Africans, or minorities, in cinema.In addition to holding the purse strings, Western interests controlled the production infrastructure. As recently as 1993, Diawara would write that Africa lacks film-processing laboratories, sound-dubbing and synchronizing studios, and editing facilities, a fact which significantly limits an African director’s ability to complete a film on his own terms, in his own country and within a reasonable span of time (1993: vii).While this is not universally true at this point (the facilities he describes now being available in South Africa and also rendered somewhat obsolete by the development of high-definition video), it is certainly true that most of Africa suffers from a dearth of film infrastructure and that this creates yet another form of dependence on the West. Having to rely on the West for the skills that they cannot afford, the absence of African directors involved in the depiction of their culture i s blatantly apparent.Perhaps James Cameron was not the right person to direct Avatar, as he cannot truly understand the racial ideology that his film is perpetuating. However, if an African director were given the opportunity, a white Western moneylender who demands that he cater the story to white audiences will undoubtedly be funding him. Present day racist ideologies are best understood when comparing them to Magic Eye images: bizarre images concealing a seemingly hidden, 3-D picture.While some people see the 3-D image right away, others have to look for a while before they can find it. Some people never do find it. However, once you know that the 3-D image is there, you end up wondering how you didn’t see it in the first place. The racism depicted in this film is a lot like a Magic Eye image. It is a fantasy story about race told from a white man’s perspective, for white people. I believe this to be true after simply looking at the history of Cameron’s films : Titanic, Aliens, and The Terminator all contained predominantly white casts.Had he intended his films to be seen by a racially diverse audience, I’m sure he would have had enough common sense to diversify his cast of characters. Avatar is also at the end of a very long history of similar films. Avatar’s storyline has been compared to that of Dances With Wolves and Pocahontas. In all three films, white male characters realize they are unhappy with the treatment of the â€Å"others,† but go beyond assimilating and skip to leading the people who they so recently oppressed.Since there have been so many films spanning all genres telling the same story, when will the white directors begin to use the issue of race in a different light? African-American scholar Donald Bogle, who literally wrote the book on how black people have been portrayed throughout Hollywood history (Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies ;amp; Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films) says that while not overtly racist, it is â€Å"a movie that hasn't yet freed itself of old Hollywood traditions, old formulas. If I were to have written a film like Avatar, I would have made the Na’vi completely capable of saving themselves by reversing the power roles of Jake with the clan. It would mean straying from an age-old format, but also, challenging the racial insecurities of the white audience that the film was intended for. Would the film be as popular if the natives of Pandora did not possess traditional, savage-like qualities? The juxtaposition of the film Avatar with historical events such as Columbus onquering America, and also, overused tales of the white protagonist bringing a race of â€Å"savages† to victory predates most steps towards civil rights equality. Filmmakers of minority races are far and few between, and are often funded by white Westerners when directing. With every film in Hollywood being produced by the â€Å"white man†, will our society ever see things from the point of view of a minority race? If no, then Hollywood’s inability to realize that the decision to continue producing the same point of view is interfering with our society’s ability to think outside of racial boundaries. | | | | | |

critical com Essay

critical com Essay critical com Essay CRITICAL COMMUNICATION EVENTS Organizational Communication – BADM 6123 Master in Business Administration Group 127 Southern Nazarene University Kep Keoppel PhD Kouassi Atse Sekedes Christian B.K 11/12/2013 It is hard to focus now on my life since I learned that one should think more about what one can give to others than on how much one can take from them. Similarly, it is even harder to measure one’s human quality using quantitative rationalistic criteria. However, I have intervened for six months in a structure called Orange Telecom France that provides Network Services and where I was in charge of accommodating customers and offering logistic maintenance. Most of my actual skills have been acquired during this intensive work, when I was in charge to identify, evaluate, introduce new carriers and providers which offer services that could be benefit for Orange Telecom and coordinate with internal teams to prepare and submit service orders. After a several amount of time I have been promoted team leader of my group. The issue happened one day when I was doing my work during a meeting. Unfortunately I was left in charge of fixing a computer issue while the responsible for the IT department was not around. I was forced to use my skills of training to fix it or it will mess up the whole meeting. I have been helped with the IT assistants but they did not come up with something new so I came up with a solution and everything start going well over. This was a successful, memorable incident for me to accomplish something so difficult. I was so proud of myself because when the manager came back he was extremely impressed for what I did. The lesson is that when you think something is too much for you to handle, you can always overcome your fears and accomplish your goals. Before I got employed in that company, I have attended so many times to the meetings when the company was showcased the new products and services that

Mary Osgood Biography

Mary Osgood Biography Known for:  accused of witchcraft, arrested and imprisoned in the 1692  Salem witch trials Age at time of Salem witch trials:  about 55 Dates:  about 1637 to October 27, 1710 Also known as: Mary Clements Osgood, Clements was also written as Clement Before the Salem Witch Trials We have little information other than basic civil records for Mary Osgood before 1692. She was born in in Warwickshire, England and came to Andover, Massachusetts province in about 1652. In 1653, she married John Osgood Sr. who had been born in Hampshire, England and arrived in Massachusetts about 1635.  John Osgood owned considerable land in Andover and was a successful husbandman. They had 13 children together: John Osgood Jr. (1654-1725), Mary Osgood Aslett (1656-1740), Timothy Osgood (1659-1748), Lydia Osgood Frye (1661-1741), Constable Peter Osgood (1663-1753), Samuel Osgood (1664-1717), Sarah Osgood (1667-1667), Mehitable Osgood Poor (1671-1752), Hannah Osgood (1674-1674), Sarah Osgood Perley (1675-1724), Ebenezer Osgood (1678-1680), Clarence Osgood (1678-1680), and Clements Osgood (1680-1680). Accused and Accuser Mary Osgood was one of a group of Andover women arrested in early September, 1692. According to a petition after the trials were over, two of the afflicted girls were summoned to Andover to diagnose an illness of Joseph Ballard and his wife.  Local residents, including Mary Osgood, were blindfolded and then made to lay hands on the afflicted. If the girls fell down in fits, they were arrested.  Mary Osgood, Martha Tyler, Deliverance Dane, Abigail Barker, Sarah Wilson, and Hannah Tyler were taken to Salem Village, immediately examined there, and pressured to confess.  Most did.  Mary Osgood confessed to afflicting Martha Sprague and Rose Foster as well as various other deeds. She implicated others including Goody Tyler (either Martha or Hannah), Deliverance Dane, and Goody Parker.  She also implicated Rev. Francis Dean who was never arrested. Motives for Her Arrest She was accused with a group of women from Andover. They may have been targeted because of their wealth, power, or success in town, or because of association with Rev. Francis Dane (his daughter-in-law Deliverance Dane was in the group arrested and examined together). Fight for Release Her son, Peter Osgood, was a constable who, with Mary’s husband, Captain John Osgood Sr., helped pursue her case and get her released. On October 6, John Osgood Sr. joined with Nathaniel Dane, husband of Deliverance Dane, to pay 500 pounds for the release of two children of Nathaniel’s sister, Abigail Dane Faulkner.  On October 15, John Osgood Sr. and John Bridges paid a bond of 500 pounds for the release of Mary Bridges Jr. In January, John Osgood Jr. joined again with John Bridges, paying a bond of 100 pounds, for release of Mary Bridges Sr. In a petition, undated but probably from January, more than 50 Andover neighbors signed on behalf of Mary Osgood, Eunice Fry, Deliverance Dane, Sarah Wilson Sr., and Abigail Barker, attesting to their likely innocence and their integrity and piety. The petition stressed that their confessions were made under pressure and were not to be trusted. In June of 1703, another petition was entered on behalf of Martha Osgood, Martha Tyler, Deliverance Dane, Abigail Barker, Sarah Wilson, and Hannah Tyler to gain their exoneration. After the Trials In 1702, Mary Osgood’s son, Samuel, married Deliverance Dane’s daughter Hannah. Marty was later released from jail, probably on bond, and died in 1710.

What does 'Freedom Of The Press' Mean To what extent does it exist in Essay

What does 'Freedom Of The Press' Mean To what extent does it exist in Modern Britain - Essay Example ress freedom surveys, made no mention of it in its constitution whilst North Korea, which does, often ranked the last in such surveys (Press Freedom Index 2010; Freedom of the Press 2010). Press freedom is often equated with democratic societies, but Noam Chomsky believes that there are â€Å"two different conceptions of democracy,† each shaping their own brand of press freedom. The first is participatory democracy where citizens are involved in the workings of the state and thus, communication channels are necessarily kept free and open. However, its antithesis – the non-participatory democracy – keeps people off the business of government affairs and thus, information and communication are controlled by the state. Chomsky believes that the second kind is most prevalent today (Chomsky 2002 pp. 6-7). Chomsky points out the US as a perfect example of the second type. President Wilson, for example, created the Creel Commission to oversee the government’s pro paganda machinery and turn a generally pacifist public into a war-hungry, anti-German fanatics so the US government would be free to join the war unopposed. The same technique was used to whip up the public to a state of red scare so that it would be supportive of the government’s programs of eliminating unions and restricting press and political freedoms. An underlying rationale for â€Å"manufacturing consent† was the notion that the average man cannot fully grasp the intricacies of common political and social interests and thus, his thoughts must be directed. Only the intellectual elite can comprehend them and it must act to bring public opinion towards their fulfillment even if it entails deceiving them. In such types of democracies, press freedom becomes a casualty of the manipulative intellectuals (Chomsky...Even the collapsed Soviet Union guaranteed press freedom in its constitution but it was common knowledge that its press published only what the government wa nted the public to read. An even glaring example is the manipulation of public opinion through the use of propaganda machinery by some of the perceived freest countries in the world for the purpose of legitimising their social and political agenda with the least opposition. Moreover, the history of press freedom shows that it always entails a form of struggle between the system and the press. The UK is no exception. The history of press freedom in the country is checkered with the Church and the Crown alternatively suppressing it in the name of religion or the King. Even in contemporary times, when the country is considered one of the freest democracies in the world, the complete exercise of press freedom is hindered by legislations or policies that lean more towards the promotion of other interests. The often underpinning rationale for the obstacles of press freedom is the ever-present contending interests between the private and the public and between the government. Even in the f reest of nations, press freedom surrenders a part of it to conflicting interests that are at play in the social, legal and political make-up of the state. Absolute press freedom, therefore, is almost always non-existent; only diluted and compromised press freedom.

Nestle and Unilever Companies International Marketing Strategies Article - 1

Nestle and Unilever Companies International Marketing Strategies - Article Example The company has, therefore, involved itself in the production of food brands, personal care brands and even home care brands. Also, nestle has specialized has diversified its products as it produces different products that serve different market segments. Both companies have standardized their products in order to fit in the global market. Both companies provide the same quality of products in different parts of the world where they operate. As a result, they are able to create customer loyalty towards the product as the standard of their products is of high. This also plays an important part of being a competitive tool as the features of their products are distinct therefore the products cannot be easily manipulated by the competitors for their malicious gains. Both companies use the latest advertisement strategies to attract new customers to purchase their products and remind their customers of the existence of the products in the market. Some of the latest sites where both of these companies use to communicate to their customers are the social networks. This serves as an important part of enabling the companies to know the changing consumer behaviors and communicates with the customers concerning any issues that might be affecting them e.g. propaganda by the competitors. One of the differences in international marketing of the two companies is how they price their commodities. Nestle prices the commodities depending on the geographical location of the consumers demand of the product in the market and other demographics such as the age of the target customers, and their income. On the other hand, Unilever sets prices according to the level of competition in the market.

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

Energy and Environment - Research Paper Example More than two-thirds of Americans (67%) agree that there is solid evidence that the earth’s temperatures have been increasing over the last decades. Despite a majority of Americans acknowledging the existence of global warming phenomenon, substantial partisan differences over climate change generated along party lines exist. Eighty-four percent of Democrats believe that there is solid evidence of global warming compared with only 46% of Republicans. The Republicans are greatly divided over the issue than Democrats (Pew Research Center 1). Only 25% of Tea Party Republicans agree that there is solid evidence of global warming and only 61% of non-Tea Party Republicans. Among the adults who say that there is solid evidence of the earth warming, 44% intimate that global warming is caused by human activities, 18% believe that the phenomenon is due to natural patterns in the earth’s environment, and 4% do not know. The opinions of Republicans and Republican-leaning parties are divided into four roughly equal quadrants. Twenty-five percent see no solid evidence of global warming and hence are convinced that it just not happening; 23% agree that there is solid evidence of global warming, and it is caused by human activity while 19% say global warming is happening, and it is caused by natural activities in the earth’s environment; 20% believe there is no solid evidence of warming of earth due to possession of minimal knowledge (Pew Research Center 1). Democrats are less divided over global warming as compared to Republicans.

The Cultural Homogenisation And Heterogenisation Cultural Studies Essay

The Cultural Homogenisation And Heterogenisation Cultural Studies Essay Taking a unilayered view on culture can easily result in limited equations such as homogenisation does not equal homogenisation, since homogenisation evokes heterogenisation, and both processes are occurring at the same time. Yet, by using Rams concept (2004) of the one-way institutional homogenisation and two-way symbolic heterogenisation level enables us to differentiate where homogenisation and heterogenisation are taking place. Lets consider some examples to grasp this concept. In Rams example, Falafel, Israels national dish, which was on its demise, experienced a renaissance through the arrival of hamburgers. He argues that McDonaldisation represents homogenisation on the institutional level (victory of foreign culture) and the renaissance of falafel represents heterogenisation on the symbolic level (victory of local culture). The examples of the tattoo culture in Japan (Yamada, 2009), and the Toraja culture (Volkman, 1984) exhibit a similar pattern. In the Japanese culture, tat toos have long been appreciated, particularly since earlier beginnings of the mid 18th century, when so called full body suits tattooing started. This culture has been evident in the population groups of lovers, geishas, prostitutes, and criminals. Yet, the Meiji Restauration in 1868 led to Westernisation and changed Japanese attitudes towards tattoos. What was initially viewed as spiritual and stylish suddenly changed to be viewed as abhorrent. Japanese tattoo culture, however, experienced a renaissance through incorporating American one point tattoos. In the case of the Toraja, an ethnic group in Indonesia, lengthy funeral ceremonies experienced a revival. Through improvement in mobility, thousands of Torajans immigrated to Massakar and other places in the 1930s to find jobs. Most of them were open-minded, well-educated young people that had converted into Christianity. When they came back to Toraja they did not try to eradicate traditional funeral practises and replace them with Christian or more cosmopolitan values, in the contrary they were the main promoters to revive the tradition. It is important to understand that the above mentioned revivals did not merely bring back a dying tradition. However, they brought back an old tradition with redefined meanings. This is particularly evident in the case of falafel, which lost its unique taste, is nowadays served indoor, and produced in a standardised manner. Therefore, the feelings attached to buying a falafel are very likely to have changed compared to 50 years ago. Furthermore, one-point tattoos do not bear the same spiritual meaning as full body suits tattoos, and funeral ceremonies in Toraja are nowadays more a practice to attract tourists, and showing off wealth. Put simply, they lost its spiritual meaning and authenticity. Rams concept is a very useful, differentiated concept for understanding the forces that shape cultural homogenisation and heterogenisation. Nevertheless, it is limited in its assumption that homogenisation on the institutional level is a one-way street (Ram, 2004, p. 24). Yet, it is much more a two-way street with different proportions of power as the expressive symbolic level (ibid., p. 23). Polarisation Contemporary scholars such as Appadurai (2006) and Lieber Weisberg (2002) question Samuel Huningtons theory of Clash of Civilisations. Appadurai claims that the theory is flawed since it leaves only geography, instead of emphasising ideology. He therefore suggests renaming the polarisation theory into Clash of Ideocide. Furthermore, Lieber Weisberg argue that the clash is rather within than between cultures. I prefer Appadurais, Lieber, and Weisbergs views, because they shifted the topic from the ethnic to an ideological level and acknowledge deterritorialisation, which will be discussed in the next section. Even though, Huningtons concept is flawed, he might be correct with his notion of polarisation. As an example let us consider Axelrods (1997) experiment in the field of cultural convergence, which contributed to shed some light on this debate. He developed a mathematical model, which he used to find out how many stable homogenised states remain at the end of the experiment (a r un). His model is based on the assumption that the more similar cultures are to each other, the more likely they will eventually homogenise. The number of stable homogenised regions at the end differed depending on the run. His findings indicate amongst others that polarisation increased the more cultural features (cultural dimensions) were used, because of the higher probability of being similar on one of the features. However, the more traits were attached to a feature the more stable homogenised states resulted at the end, meaning less polarisation. For instance, a feature could be the language people speak, and the traits the various alternative languages that might be spoken in that particular state. This model, however, has its limitations like any other model. In my opinion, the model correctly assumes that similar cultures are more likely to become homogenised. But it lacks to consider the inverse effect of heterogenisation, which we could observe in the examples of falafel, Toraja, and tattoo culture. Additionally, his attempt to simulate interconnectedness resulted in regional- rather than global interconnectedness. Nevertheless, the experiment demonstrates that polarisation can take place under certain conditions, and that the outcome of polarisation is ambiguous. This supports the transformalists view that the massive shake out, caused by globalisation, remains uncertain (Giddens, 1996). It is doubtful that cultures become polarised at an ideological level, as individuals have the desire to distinguish themselves from others by nature (Axelrod, 1997). However, it is conceivable that future events, which people associate with religion, could indeed lead to a Clash of Ideocide, leaving two or three clear distinguishable, unharmonisable, and antagonised cultures. Complexity of measuring culture Even though, plenty of research has been done in the field of measuring cultures, e.g. by Trompenaar and Hampden-Turner (2008) or Geert Hofstede (2003), present studies provide us with limited results. To think that we can measure cultures rests on the assumption that there is in any case a definable, lived national culture(Held, 1999, p. 369). Yet, being British or American does not define who you are: It is part of who you are (Legrain, 2003, p. 6). Furthermore, societies do not share values and interests. They are rather contradicting social structures, which are constantly trying to find compromises (Castells, 2009). The phenomenon of deterritorialisation is also particularly making it difficult to determine the trajectory of globalisation. This concept represents the uncoupling of territory and culture through world interconnectedness (Held, 1999). A few clicks suffice to connect with the world and get exposed to the foreign. However, according to Wolfgang Welschs concept of Transculturality (1999) there is nothing absolutely foreign anymore, since everything is within reach. A notion which is in accordance with Appadurais view that there is no distinct we and they anymore (2006). Yet, foreign cultures are not within reach for everyone. There exist huge inequalities between countries and within societies when it comes to internet access (Held, 1999; ITU, 2009). In this context one could ask to which extent the not-haves influence the countrys elite, which is connected to the world? And how much do foreign television programmes and homepages influence a society? To answer this question one could utilise Giulianotti and Robertsons concept regarding migration strategies (2007). It assumes that individuals use strategies to either accept or reject foreign ideas and practices. Taking that as a basis, we can conclude that individuals do not passively absorb foreign cultural traits. They either actively absorb them because of preference or convenience or actively reject them. Lets consider an example to illustrate the complexity of this subject. Think of a Norwegian businessperson who newly drinks coffee at Starbucks in Oslo. Does that tell us how American he has become, if at all? Did the meaning he attaches to coffee change in any way? From this example it should get clear that by only analysing hard facts, such as counting the number of McDonalds, BMWs, Swiss Watches, etc. in a country cannot give us a comprehensive answer of how homogenised cultures are. However, it is beyond doubt that the explicit cultural layer is influencing the implicit one; the question is rather to whi ch extent. To determine the magnitude of this influence is indeed a tough nut to crack. As we discussed earlier in this section, societies are contradicting social structures comprising people with different cultures. Therefore, one can assume that different personalities take different decisions in rejecting and accepting foreign cultural traits. Lets assume an example of a French citizen that regards himself as cosmopolitan, speaks seven languages, travels around the world but is fighting in the front line for rigorous migration policies in his country. In this case he welcomes global cultural flows to France, with the exception of unqualified immigrants and refugees, which make part of the ethnoscape one of Appadurais five cultural flows (Appadurai, 2002). In contrast, another French citizen might feel responsible to help those people in need, however, might reject any foreign ideology that is not in accordance with his religious view. Who in this case is now the cosmopolitan and who is the heartlander (Goh, 1999)? This favouritism towards particular types of global isation flows is also evident in the example of the Israeli businessperson Ezer Weizman. He was a renowned car importer with strong business connections to the US. Yet, he fought at the forefront against the three Ms: McDonalds, Michael Jackson and Madona (Ram, 2004, p. 18). The same particularistic behaviour shows the Indian elite that basically hates American lifestyle, however, sends their children to US universities and tries to pursue the American dream (Appadurai, 2006). In the Middle-East this phenomenon is called Muslim schizophrenia (Lieber Weisberg, 2002). The final example to illustrate my point, uses the case of the Russian youth who welcomes technological advances such as iPods but does not want to emulate the spiritual nature of American lifestyle (Macgregor, 2008). Conclusion This essay demonstrated the complexity of this topic and showed that polarisation, homogenisation, and heterogenisation are simultaneously shaping contemporary society. I therefore support the view of the transformalists who believe that the direction of the shake out, caused by globalisation, remains uncertain. Nevertheless, we might ask which concept is more prevalent in contemporary society. In my opinion it is homogenisation, since the homogenisation process on the structural level is very intense and the heterogenisation process, like Ram stated, rather symbolic. The homogenisation process is mainly driven by communication technology, education, human rights culture, business attempt to eliminate difference, and the desire to increase efficiency through latest technology. It can be expected that those drivers of homogenisation will continue to shape society in the future. Homogenisation, however, will neither reach its pure form nor remain static, as people want to distinguish themselves by nature and will actively reject foreign cultures. At this point, I want to emphasise that the homogenisation trend might shift in some decades towards a dominance of heterogenisation or polarisation. Issues like climate change, wars, shifts in economic and political power, and dramatic events that people associate with religion could have unpredictable outcomes.

Violent Athletes Essay -- Essays Papers

Violent Athletes When Indiana Pacer, Ron Artest, charged into the stands with forty-five seconds remaining in a NBA game, last November, between the Pacers and the Detroit Pistons, the shock waves reverberated immediately. Video clips showed Artest pummeling Pistons fans with his fists. Replays also revealed that it was fans, throwing a cup of beer at Artest, which sent the NBA superstar on his rampage. It was one of the ugliest incidents ever seen in American professional sports. Sports fans and non-sports fans alike witnessed the chaotic outbreak of violence from the serenity of their own living rooms. NBA junkies saw the scene unfold during the game's live broadcast on cable TV. Sports fans caught highlights of the melee on ESPN's SportsCenter. American housewives experienced the outrage as they watched their local ten o'clock evening news. For weeks this basketball brawl was not only headlines news on sports pages but it also became the focus of mainstream American debate. Everyone had an opinion on who was to blame: It was the players' who began the brawl on the court and then took it into the stands. It was the fans who provoked multimillionaire athletes into anger by throwing debris down on them. It was the Palace at Auburn Hills' security who failed to bring the situation under control. It was the NBA for encouraging such thuggish behavior from its players and then allowing their violence to take place on live TV. Opinion makers from all perspectives weighed in on the issue. Newspaper columnists and TV talking heads kept the brawl in the national spotlight. Some condemned the incident; some excused it, and some just wondered what all the fuss was over. In the end five Pacers players and seven Pistons fans were charged... ...at they agree on. Or at least one that they are not so strongly divided over. Hopefully this will help strengthen the debate both in the media and outside of it, as American's try to figure out if athletes really are good role models for our youth. Works Cited BasketBrawl.US. http://www.basketbrawl.us. Limbaugh, Rush. "Time for NBA to Stop Pretending." 8 December 2004. http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/estack/time_for_nba_to_stop_pretending.guest.html Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. Penguin Books, New York: 1986. Simpson, Carole. "Where Are the Role Models?" ABC NEWS. 28 November 2004. http://search.abcnews.go.com/US/id=2800796. Accessed: 10 March 2005. Traudt, Paul J. Media, Audiences, Effects: An Introduction to the study of media content and audience analysis. Pearson Education Inc.: 2005.