Privilege: Racism and Jim Crow Laws Essay

The essay â€Å"White Privilege and Male Privilege† written by Peggy McIntosh was enlightening and controversial. It was enlightening because she shows you how certain groups of people can have privilege over other different groups, and be unaware or in denial over it. Peggy’s story was controversial because it talked about the privilege that very few have the courage to talk about. The white and male privilege and the fact that it is looming over our heads as a society. Throughout history there’s a superior and inferior race and sex. The superior race is the white race, opposed to the African Americans who are considered the inferior. Additionally men are the superior sex opposed to women. Race is a sensitive subject when discussed due to the painful history of our country, most notably the plight of African Americans. African Americans have had a painful background of slavery and inequalities along with unjust rights they had to endure. They were not considered humans, but were property of their white slave owners. Racism has been social constructed for many decades. It is possible that the racial hierarchy can control many aspects of the human life. It can control what kind of jobs you receive, politics, media, insurance, and even your place of residence; this is reminiscent of the Jim Crow laws. Jim Crow laws were not only anti black laws but a way of life predominantly for southern people. The Jim Crow laws were constructed to keep African Americans from climbing higher on the social ladder. Education, transportation and work were kept at a bare minimum for African Americans. Under no means necessary was any African American to act as if they were equal to the white race. It ultimately controlled where they were allowed to go and what they were allowed to do. If for any reason this law was broken, consequences were normally enforced by physical force consequences for challenging whites and their authority. This was a way for the whites to maintain dominance and ensure the African Americans stayed at the bottom of the racial hierarchy. This was the cost for being born black. For being born into a society where your race was the ultimate factor in your social status, and rather than being born into a world of acceptance, you were born into a world of exile. This portrays in the United States the black and white color lines that have been imbedded into our minds and enforced due to the dominance of the white race for so long. Men also have advantages over women, especially politically. Even though times have changed and women are able to vote, men still are the dominating force in politics. Women have to fight longer, harder and be three times more qualified than a man to get some positions or to even qualify for jobs over a man. When some women are appointed higher positions over men they get criticized and sometimes even degraded because of it. Some men don’t even see or recognize when this occurs. Many white people are in denial of preconceived notions that they might have on a certain person or group because of their race. I myself have been a victim of racism at work. People choose to believe the color of your skin indicates your worth. Some expect you to fail and not succeed because of this. They expect you to meet the standard of the person they have seen on TV, in a movie, or on the radio. However, what they don’t realize is that these are stereotypes that the media portray of a certain group and that perception is not always accurate. They also take a bad experience with one individual, and deem an entire race that way. No one knows why we come in so many shades sizes and variations. However, we do know that the social concepts of race deprives from the history that one has come from. Race as well as the sex of a person was once used as a tactic of fear, fear that was instilled in a person to make them powerless and inferior to another race. Although many things have changed for the better in our society, racism and the sex of a person is still a dominate factor.

Edwards’ Sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” Essay

When first reading Jonathan Edwards’ sermon, â€Å"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,† shocked readers how it started right in about the wrath of God and Hell. His diction and images create a tone of alarming immediacy – act now for your own good. â€Å"The bow of God’s wrath is bent†, the arrow ready to pierce the heart of a sinner. Edwards uses this frightening image to compare the power of God to the people. His point is that he wants to persuade sinners to repent. Edwards seems to feel a harsh tone is needed in this to get the point across that they need God to lead them out of the dreadful pit. Edwards’ word choices present a contradiction, saying that people who have a relationship with God can still go to Hell because there is only God’s hand holding us up from Hell. The word â€Å"obligation† implies that the arrow could pierce a sinner’s heart right now, during his sermon. Also, â€Å"everlasting destructionà ¢â‚¬  has a big impact, telling people that they can have life if they follow God, or be swallowed up by Hell. Edwards is didactic and harsh with the information he tries to convey to the congregation, scaring them he hopes, into salvation. He uses these tools to help the tone on the importance of knowing God and how people’s lives can be changed. He does this out of love, trying to tell them how it really is and wanting them to choose the right way. This frightening, bullying tone is a far cry from the 21st century sermons which emphasize God’s love for mankind as in the well known verse John 3:16.

Ecological Interaction Of Humans And Reptiles Environmental Sciences Essay

Ecological interaction is the relation between species that live together in a community ; specifically, the consequence an person of one species may exercise on an person of another species. Reptiles and amphibious vehicles seems non to play a really important function in the sustainability of human life on Earth but deeper research into the functions of these beings indicates that they are of importance. There are assorted ecological menaces which can impact reptilians. Habitat loss and devastation is a major ecological issue impacting reptilian species. Habitat loss is widely recognized as the taking menace to planetary biodiversity. While hard to specifically categorise, habitat loss take topographic points on an overlapping scope from small-scale to large-scale and from absolute devastation to subtle debasement. There are many factors which contribute to this phenomena. Activities such as excavation, logging, switching cultivation and glade of secret plans of land can present menace to the natural home grounds of many herpes. This promotes migration of species from one country to another therefore cut downing the diverseness of the country. Climate alteration is another deduction which can act upon the lives of herpes and reptilians. Climate alteration responses will be influenced by a figure of factors: ( 1 ) expected alterations and incompatibility in local environmental and habitat conditions ; ( 2 ) the phenology ( clocking ) of life-requisite activities ; ( 3 ) interactions with emerging pathogens and invasive species ; and ( 4 ) interactions with other environmental stressors ( e.g. , chemicals ) . Over the short term ( e.g. , yearly ) , the interaction of these factors will find generative success rates and endurance to metabolism. Over the long term, the regularity and extent of utmost temperature and precipitation events will probably act upon the continuity of local populations, distribution capablenesss and therefore the construction of meta-populations on the landscape. Alternation in air and H2O temperature, precipitation, and the hydro period ( Carey and Alexander 2003 ) tends to impact amphibious and reptilian species since they are extremely sensitive to and react strongly to these alterations. This is due to them being poikilotherms ; their organic structure temperature depends on most favourable environmental status. Amphibians require aquatic and damp home ground for puting egg and larval development and station metamorphous life phases severally. Amphibians are more likely to see lower endurance rate to metabolism as the temperature warms and variableness of H2O proceed. Speciess related with passing Waterss, such as low pools and jumping watercourses may be preponderantly susceptible to altered precipitation forms. Temperatures outside of their thermic optima will besides do physiological emphasiss. Some reptile species exhibit temperature-dependent sex finding during egg incubation that could be influenced by alterations and variableness in planetary climate.Because of their affinities to aquatic home grounds and their little size, amphibious vehicles typically have comparatively little place scopes and low dispersion rates. Reptiles are more nomadic and have a greater ability to defy the expected drier and warmer conditions. However, because cardinal home grounds and species scopes have already been altered and fragmented by human usage and development, the physical tracts to link animate beings with suited home grounds ( e.g. , upwards in latitude or lift ) may non be. Direct ecological interactions between herpes includes: niche differenciation ( resource breakdown ) , predation and competition. Niche differenciationrefers to the procedure by which natural choice thrusts viing species into different forms of resource usage or different niches. This causes one coinage to partition resource with another so that one does non wholly out compete the other, accordingly coexistence is achieved through the distinction of their realized ecological niches. Niche partitioning may non happen if there is sufficient geographic and ecological infinite for beings to spread out into. A typical illustration of resource breakdown is shown by the Anolis lizards in the tropical rain forest. Although they portion common nutrient demands – chiefly insect, they evade competition by shacking in different parts of the rain forest. Some live on the foliage litter floor while others live on fly-by-night subdivisions, thereby avoiding competition over nutrient in those subdivisions of the forest. Resourse breakdown is a type of niche distinction. Resource partitioning occurs when biological species require different parts of the same resource.Human interactions with amphibious populations.Human existences have impacted about on every life animal on Earth both straight and indirectly. Worlds have interacted with amphibious vehicles since antiquity. Some of these exchanges are direct and easy understood while other connexions are more hard to spot. Human activity has caused the disappearing of many carnal species, the deceases and diseases of others and as a consequence, pose major a menace to the Earth ‘s biodiversity. Due to human interactions, many at that place has been dramatic diminutions in amphibious populations, including population clangs and mass localised extinctions, have been noted since the 1980s from locations all over the universe. These diminutions are perceived as one of the most critical menaces to planetary biodiversity, and several causes are believed to be involved, including, over exploiataion, pollution and chemical usage, habitat devastation and alteration, clime alteration, and increased ultraviolet-B radiation ( UV-B ) . Human interactions can be direct and indirect. Direct interactions with amphibious vehicles: this involves straight taking species of amphibious vehicles which includes toads, frogs, salamanders, triton and utilizing them for commercial and economic intents. One direct human interaction is over development. As with many other resources that worlds consume and over exploit, Amphibious species are no exclusion. Frogs are commercially of import for their nutrient value. The legs of some Rana catesbeiana species are in heavy demand in China, Europe ( particularly France ) and in parts of the United States, particularly Louisiana. The worldwide crop is an estimated 200 million Rana catesbeianas ( about 10,000 metric dozenss ) yearly. Major Rana catesbeiana providers include Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, and Japan, with about 80 million collected each twelvemonth from rice Fieldss in Bangladesh entirely. As a consequence, populations have fallen drastically from inordinate development ( Economic and Ecologic Importance of Amphibians: Investigating the Connections Between Amphibians and Humans ) hypertext transfer protocol: //www.suite101.com/content/amphibianhuman-interactions-a179036 # ixzz15aCfnKk6 ) In add-on, many amphibious species are removed from the natural state to be used as pets, and to provide biological markets. This development of species has besides lead to mass diminution of amphibious populations. Indirect human interactions: these include all the activities that human existences do to change the environment, which intern affects all carnal populations and planetary biodiversity. The current planetary loss of species is a procedure generated by the activities of worlds. As we modify our environment for our ain terminals, it is clear that the devastation of the home grounds of other species leads straight to their disappearing. Indirect human interactions, that has lead to mass diminution includes: Water quality factors ( chiefly caused by pollution and chemical usage ) : Many H2O ways are polluted by human activities particularly agricultural and industrial activities. These pollutants contaminate the H2O ways that many amphibious vehicles use as home grounds and since amphibious vehicles have permeable, open tegument and eggs that may readily absorb toxic substances from the environment. Their eggs are laid in H2O or in damp countries, and their larvae ( polliwogs ) are aquatic. Because amphibious vehicles are closely tied to an aquatic environment, the quality of the H2O in which they live can impact their growing, development, and endurance. Because pollutants, waterborne pathogens, and planetary environmental alterations can all affect H2O quality, these factors can in bend affect amphibious vehicles. Conversely, amphibious vehicles are of import indexs of H2O quality, and are considered a lookout species, intending that what affects amphibious vehicles soon may impact other carnal species in the hereafter. Acidification. A figure of surveies have shown that acidification of fresh H2O ( that is, a decrease in pH to acidic degrees ) via acid rain, acid snowmelt, or other manners of pollution are harmful to amphibious growing and development. Some species are more tolerant of acid conditions than others. Therefore, depending on the species, the sum of sourness, and other environmental variables, amphibious vehicles may see developmental malformations and increased mortality due to acidification. Acidification potentially affects amphibious populations and the communities in which amphibious vehicles live. For illustration, some populations of frogs in Britain have likely been reduced by H2O acidification. Salamander populations in Colorado seem to hold declined because of increased acidification during snowmelt. Several surveies have shown that acidification of the H2O can impact competition and predation between amphibious vehicles. Therefore, the larvae of some frog species may hold increased survival rates under acerb conditions because their salamander marauders show reduced predation at low pH. Nitrates and Nitrites. Many chemical merchandises used in agribusiness and industry pollute aquatic home grounds, doing potentially terrible harm to ecosystems. For illustration, the addition in concentration of nitrate in surface H2O on agricultural land due to legion beginnings may be risky to many species of fish, Toxic Substances. Merely as amphibious species display fluctuation in sensitiveness to nitrate-related compounds, they besides show fluctuation in tolerance to other toxic substances that may be found in H2O. Insecticides such as organophosphates, carbonates, and man-made pyrethroids, which are used chiefly in harvest production, have a broad array of effects on amphibious vehicles. Depending on the concentrations used and the species involved, some of these substances may be deadly, may impact growing and development, or may impact metabolism. Habitat alteration change and atomization. Habitat alteration or devastation includes the building of substructure and roads, excavation and logging activities etc. and is one of the most dramatic issues impacting amphibious species worldwide. As amphibious vehicles by and large need aquatic and tellurian home grounds to last, menaces to either home ground can impact populations. Hence, amphibious vehicles may be more vulnerable to habitat alteration than beings that merely necessitate one home ground type. Large scale clime alterations may farther be modifying aquatic home grounds, forestalling amphibious vehicles from engendering wholly. Climate alteration Anthropogenic planetary heating has unambiguously exerted a major consequence on amphibious diminutions. For illustration, in the Monteverde Cloud Forest, a series of remarkably warm old ages led to the mass disappearings of the Monteverde Harlequin toad and the Golden Toad. ( decline_in_amphibian _populations.com ) . An increased degree of cloud screen, which has warmed the darks and cooled down daytime temperatures in an effort to command planetary heating, has been blamed for easing the growing and proliferation of the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis ( the causative agent of the fungous infection chytridiomycosis. Chytridiomycosis or Chytrid Fungus is an epizootic and a major subscriber to the diminution of amphibious populations around the universe, endangering many species with extinction. This fungus is a planetary emerging amphibious pathogen which is turn outing to be one of the worst craniate infective diseases found so far. It is doing a immense sum of extinction and disease within amphibious populations. More than 100 species of amphibious vehicles are known to be affected by the chytrid fungus ( Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis ) . Some are really susceptible and die rapidly while others which are more immune are bearers of the pathogen. This disease is already credited with pass overing out toads and frogs in big Numberss in Australia and South America. ( decline_in_amphibian _populations.com ) The increased temperature caused by planetary heating has besides caused the disappearing of many species from progressively hot home grounds. The rise in sea degrees which causes attendant implosion therapy and devastation of home ground has besides lead to extinction of some species. Ultra violet radiation Degrees of UV-B radiation in the ambiance have risen significantly over the past few decennaries, due to stratospheric ozone depletion and clime alteration. Research workers have found that UV-B radiation can kill amphibious vehicles straight, cause sublethal effects such as slowed growing rates and immune disfunction. The sum of harm depends upon the life phase, the species type and other environmental parametric quantities. Salamanders and toads that produce less photolyase, an enzyme that counteracts DNA harm from UVB, are more susceptible to the effects of loss of the ozone bed. Exposure to ultraviolet radiation may non kill a peculiar species or life phase but may do terrible harm to it.

Final Exam Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Final Exam - Assignment Example Three sexuality areas of interest in cross cultural research are the focus of sexual prohibitions or taboos. These three are women’s sexuality, children’s sexuality, and male homosexuality. The sexual prohibitions generally revolve around these three issues. Piotrowski (2009) suggests that gender roles revolve around economics. A male that supports the family and a woman the takes care of the children in some cultures. The evolving gender roles in Western countries are due to women becoming more involved in working to support their families. Another factor Piotrowski (2009) suggests that impact gender roles across cultures is the birth of a child. Power is the ability to influence others to do your bidding with or without resistance. Authority is the right to settle problems among others. Power is an influence, while authority is more of a right. Both rites of passage and rites of intensification are similar because they mark a specific event. Although a rite of passage only happens once, rites of intensification can happen more than once. A Baptism is a rite of passage. This normally only happens once. However, marriage is a rite of intensification because it can happen more than once. A function of a revitalization cult is to bring life back to a society that has been dominated or changed rapidly. They want to maintain a part of the original culture. The function is also to provide food, clothing, and so forth to a society that has been deprived due to war, foreign occupation, and other causes. Religion is defined differently by different cultures. For example, Christianity is not defined the same in Russia as it is by a Southern Baptist in the United States. Religious practices are often culturally intertwined with a specific region. Thus defining all Christians as believing a certain religion can be difficult. One hypothesis that explains the purpose of prehistoric cave art is the images are records. These records are history of animal

The Geographic Information System Program Research Paper

The Geographic Information System Program - Research Paper Example In essence, information about specific places on the earth’s surface influences economic, social, and political activities with society opting for hospitable regions. This is facilitated by the availability of geographical information that distinguishes regions by physical principles, which necessary for effective planning and development in modern society. Such information is derived from maps and satellite images, which then analyzed and presented in accordance with the desired parameters such as terrain, population, among other analytes. Over the years, specialized computer systems have employed to process geographical information such as digitization of raw data, storage, automated analysis of the data, and predict outcomes of various scenarios. Such sophisticated computations are made possible by geographical information systems (GIS), which illustrate the computer-based capacity to manipulate geographical data. These systems include not include basic computer hardware an d software, but also special input and output devices to create map products. GIS also includes a communication system that allows linking of various stations for comprehensive data collection. The system functions to acquire, verify, compile, store, manage, analyze, and present geographical data on demand in various formats as per the study requirements. In light of this, the information presented is vital for researchers to map, study, and understand trends and patterns affecting the society. As such, GIS plays a critical role in planning and management of various aspects that could otherwise impact the society negatively. The application of the geographical information system is preceded by the art of making maps where GIS sought to modernize the trade. Past civilizations are credited for their role in shaping descriptive illustration of their surroundings, which fuelled advancements in the area. Cartography dates back to ancient civilizations where scholars and explorers passion ately expressed their view of the world, as they perceived it, similar concepts were adopted with technological advances to generate digitized models of desired regions of the earth. This can be attributed to the quest towards improved geo-referenced information at the height of photozincography, which enabled layering in maps. This involved cumbersome tasks of drawing different versions of a single map to demonstrate layers such as vegetation, terrain, and infrastructure. The upsurge of computer hardware development in the 1960s saw mainframe computers support the earliest of geographical information systems. The first operational GIS was developed by Dr. Roger Tomlinson with aim of studying rural Canada, which allowed researchers evaluate the land’s capability to host agriculture, wildlife, as well as support the society.1 Technological advances produced minicomputers during the 1970s to support GIS applications, which operated in a timesharing mode to ensure functionality. 2 Moreover, the invention of personal computers revolutionized the geographical information software, as it was readily available for these machines. This marked the beginning of a promising GIS hardware market that would see the invention of increasingly powerful computers with increased capability to be networked together.

Emma Larkins Finding George Orwell in Burma Assignment

Emma Larkins Finding George Orwell in Burma - Assignment Example he radical Orwell, if anything they have just copied the difference in the British colonial government regime with that of Burma since it attained its independence because they have embraced the same imperialistic ideas. Going with the writing of Larkin Orwell was a product of the colonial era since his time as a soldier in the British colonial regime; therefore, he had both the taste of British government and that of Burma. According to Larkin, Orwell’s novels â€Å"Animal Firm† and â€Å"1984† were banned so that the ideology of Orwell toward the government were no more since it was a threat to the corrupt government. The policy of burn was commonly used by British when they felt that any idea was not favoring them. In Larkin, text here cords that the leadership of Burma hides the reality from the face of foreigners like the tourist. Tourist can come to the country, enjoy their holiday and go back to their country without knowing that Burma people undergo oppression (Myint-U 37). In a nutshell, Larkin gives an explicit detail on how the leadership of Burma tries to control the thinking and freedom of its citizens just like the British error. The concept of fear has been satisfactory use in the post-colonial government of Burma to exercise amongst its population. The power does not corrupt but rather the fear of losing power as well as those wielding it as well as fear of the plague of power that corrupts those ruled. The Burma governments used the concept of fear on four bases with the most devastating one being Bhaya-gati that stifle and gradually destroy the sense of right and wrong as well the mother of the other concepts of fear.

UNION BARISTAS AT STARBUCKS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

UNION BARISTAS AT STARBUCKS - Essay Example the National Labor Relations Act(NLRA).Thus, the NLRA clearly states that employees shall have the right to organize themselves, forming, joining, or assisting labor organizations so as to have a collective bargain through choosing their own representatives ,engaging in other intensive activities for the goal of collective bargains and it shall be unjust labor practice for an employer to impede, hold back or force workers in exercising of the guaranteed rights. In the formation of a union however, ignorance of the law is always a main issue. A worker should be informed that s/he has a legal right of joining as well as supporting a union in addition to attending meetings during non-work time to discussing issues related to joining a union. A worker is also entitled to speaking about the union any time other non-work talk is permitted, reading and distributing union literature so far as s/he does this in during non-work times like lunch hours, breaks, before or after work and outside the work area. An employee is also entitled to signing a card or petition to showing support for a given union. Lastly an employee can request fellow workers to support the union, sign petitions or cards asking their employer to be aware of as well as bargaining with their union. On the other hand it is illegal for an employer to issue threats of or actually sacking, lying off, disciplining, harassing, transferring, or reassigning workers due to their supporting a union. In addition an employer should not show favoritism to workers who are ag ainst the union over those in support in such aspects as job assignments, promotions, hours, salaries, implementation of rules or any other working condition for that matter. It is also illegal for an employer to close the work station or remove any benefits or privileges workers already enjoy so as to dispirit presumed union activity. An employer should also not make promises to workers’ pay raise, promotion, benefit or unique favor for opposing

CLA L3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

CLA L3 - Essay Example It depicts a desperate means of maintaining the status quo and ensuring that the prophecy does not come to pass (Gervais & Henrich, 2010). Rhea, the wife of Cronus, is very appalled. Therefore, she conceals her sixth pregnancy from Cronus and give birth to Zeus in a secretive manner. She then gave up Zeus for safekeeping by Gae, who hides the baby Zeus in Dicte cave and other god attend to Zeus. Gervais and Henrich (2010) posit that the section shows a conspiracy of the gods, Gae and Rhea, which brings a sharp twist to Cronus plan to maintain power. In the power struggle, there must be a collusion by the trusted people around the ruler to orchestrate the ruler’s fall. Surprisingly, Zeus grew into adulthood with a motive to take revenge on his father for the misdeeds. The first plan Zeus does is to set his siblings at Tartarus as well as three Cyclopes together with other three Hekatoncheires. All the prisoners Cronus had imprisoned come out gun blazing to finish him. The Cyclopes then taught Zeus how to maximize his energy and use it in the battle. Eventually, Zeus and his allies lead a war against the Titans that ends with Zeus becoming the ruler of Olympus after imprisoning most of the male Titans. Clearly, Cronus overthrow happens just as predicted. LaMothe (2009) agrees that the other gods play a very important role in wedging war and effecting the eventual fall of Cronus. LaMothe, R. (2009). The Clash of Gods: Changes in a Patients Use of God Representations. The Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis And Dynamic Psychiatry, 37(1), 73-84.

National Rifle Association Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

National Rifle Association - Essay Example The NRA in modern civil society receives much scrutiny for its stance on guns and people's right to maintain them but the NRA merely advocates correct gun usage as opposed to the implementation of guns in the world as they are perceived by many people to do (Helmut 2004). However, it must be stated that this stance is not one of promoting violence, but one promoting their basic foundation, the implementation of knowledge. Is gun possession for protection a civil liberty Well many people in the current civil society believe that there is enough independence in choice of human conduct. People are increasingly creating awareness that it's the person behind the weapon that commits a crime and not the weapon itself! The founders of national rifle Association believed that people in modern society were responsible enough to control their character even when in possession of a dangerous weapon like a gun (Kant, 2003 p. 33). Although NRA was faced with so much criticisms of controversy, it was one of the most influential lobby groups in the United States. There was growing need to support the second amendment which encouraged responsible gun ownership in the name of self defense. As a result of this, the NRA was formed from the views of two retired army officers who primarily wanted to make the entire human society more knowledgeable about the handling of firearms. Col. William C. Church and Gen. George Wingate started NRA in 1871 to be able to promote a sense of scientific process among all individuals whenever they handle firearms (Anderson p. 186). After the US charter in the State of New York approved the existence of the NRA the First President of the organization, US Senator Gen. Ambrose Burnside, took responsibility of this position (NRA HQ website). Ambrose Burnside as the first president, he tried his best to establish the organization's reputation in the society that they were most involved with. The aim of this body was make the society more responsible in the way of handling guns for self-protection grounds. It is indeed from the primary aims of the founders of the organization that NRA actually started out to affect the modern civil society as a whole. George Washington once said, "Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself." (Wilson 2002) I think that is a simple approach the NRA is taking on the consideration of the Second Amendment and trying to instruct the proper safety of handling a firearm. Hence, through the financial support provided by the Long Island and Creed Farm, the organization was able to establish a practice range that would train numerous individuals, with their own guns, for the purpose of self defense. The Credmor, NRA's first training grounds, was established in 1872. (Anderson p. 20 3) It was the initial venue for the first ever annual shooting matches that happened during those years. Up to this day, the organization aims to educate everyone in the society about the need to be responsible and knowledgeable about the right usage of guns and firearms. In an aim to educate everyon

How can the behavioural, physical and symbolic manifestations of the Essay - 1

How can the behavioural, physical and symbolic manifestations of the cultural web inform the strategic development of organizations - Essay Example Similarly in the same way one thinks Scotland when they hear bagpipes or see a kilt some organizations have specific cultures which are inherently tied to their business practice in the economic and literal sense. Various international companies have distinguished themselves by their organizational culture and in cases when this is well managed; it has proven to be as invaluable as any well though business strategy. A firm like Google is recognized for its easy going operations culture in which the employees have are allowed a free reign to exploit their creativity without the convectional strictness in many similar firms. Others like apple Inc. have also established themselves as creativity hubs with creativity and self-expression being given the forefront, this for this such companies have been ranked among the best places to work and their overall performance proves that their easy going corporate culture can indeed be very profitable. This paper seeks to examine how the behaviora l, physical and symbolic manifestations of the cultural web inform the strategic development of organizations by using Google as an example in the context of which various elements of organizational culture and their perceived impacts will be discoursed on different theoretical grounds. Admittedly, this topic is hardly new and in the past few decades, much as been written about the underlying connection between organization strategy and organization culture, managers have all along being urged to link the gap so as to manage their organizations’ cultural context (Johnson 1992, p.28). Nevertheless, a lot of these discourses have been fundamentally theoretical and while there are elements of reality in them, they are very general and rarely provide practical directions especially in view given the diversity of organization and their

Importance of deadlines Essay Example for Free

Importance of deadlines Essay I have never worked in any job were it is acceptable to miss deadlines. Deadlines should never be disregarded as they are. I can offer no explanation as to why people routinely complain about instructors who do not return graded tests and papers when promised; faculty routinely complain about colleagues who neglect to complete their work on time; and I have seen administrators that simply plead with faculty, time and again, to complete long-overdue assessments or other important work. I’ll grant that in the current economic circumstances, with many academic units at many colleges, universities and branches underfunded and understaffed, faculty and staff alike are being asked to do more and more work with fewer people, fewer resources, and less time. But if we’re being honest we have to admit that the problem of faculty who are unaccountable to deadlines is an older problem than the current economic crisis; within academe the problem is endemic, systemic, epidemic. Regardless of the cause, when the routine, sometimes mundane business of the university is neglected or even just delayed, complications and stress cascade through the ranks, amplifying the problems that fellow faculty, staff, and even students must then deal with and solve. Even worse, sometimes the most egregious offenders when it comes to blowing off deadlines are senior faculty, who should, frankly, know and behave better. One step toward reducing the stress and work we create for others, and ourselves, might be to take more seriously the deadlines that often accompany our work, but that are sometimes neglected when faculty perceive, often quite wrongly, that there are no negative consequences for missing a deadline. Some deadlines are absolutely rigid, such as the filing dates for theses and dissertations, the sorts of deadlines that must be met if one hopes to graduate on time. These rigid deadlines are the types of bureaucratic  deadlines that we have to navigate routinely in order to complete graduate degrees, apply for grants, or otherwise navigate the complex institutions of the modern academy. Other deadlines are effectively rigid. When your department chair or a fellow faculty member assigns you a task with a due date, it behooves all faculty members to regard those sorts of deadlines as rigid, especially if you don’t have tenure. Such deadlines might be negotiable in some circumstances, but they aren’t to be disregarded altogether. Blowing off your campus bookstore’s deadline for textbook orders, for example, may seem like a trivial lapse. But potentially, missing even such a seemingly small deadline creates additional work for the already-swamped employees placing the orders, and it can result in higher costs for students if books have to be rush-shipped or if the window to order used texts is missed. Even though you are unlikely to suffer personally for missing the deadline, others may suffer. A whole other set of the deadlines that we face in academe are self-imposed, milestones that we set for ourselves in order to complete the nebulous, long-running projects that often comprise research and scholarship. Even though such self-imposed deadlines are soft, in that there is no enforcer that will come forward and punish, chastise, or cajole us if we miss them, I think that it’s generally a bad idea to miss even the deadlines that we set for ourselves. Assuming, and this is a big assumption, that the deadlines we set for ourselves are realistic. These soft deadlines can’t be taken too lightly — the ability, or inability, to set and meet goals without external guidance or enforcement will determine whether or not a tenure-track faculty member is able to meet expectations for scholarly productivity and ultimately win tenure. One of the tricks to managing these soft deadlines is learning to set goals that are both meaningful and realistic. It is much easier said than done, and hopefully an advanced graduate student receives extensive mentorship on how to manage the research workload. Cooperative, self-policing structures like writing groups are one way to formalize soft deadlines and hold ourselves  accountable to ourselves and to others to complete, or at least make progress on, our long-term projects. An important part of managing our work is knowing how to differentiate between soft and rigid deadlines, and how to prioritize deadlines across all of the varieties of work required of faculty. Deadlines matter in our interactions with students as well. My feeling is that if I am going to hold students strictly accountable to a deadline, then I too need to be accountable in similar ways. When I give my students writing assignments, each assignment is accompanied by a specifically articulated series of deadlines for when drafts and peer reviews are due, a deadline for each stage of the writing process, each of which students are expected to meet. But my assignments also include deadlines for myself, essentially promises of when I will return things like graded papers. Holding students strictly to deadlines, but then failing to return work in a timely manner, sends a message of hypocrisy to students that they immediately detect and disdain. I hold myself as accountable to self-imposed deadlines, just as I hold my students accountable. By advertising my own deadlines for tasks like grading, in this case on the writing assignment itself, I create a mechanism that forces me to be accountable. When it comes to interacting with colleagues, I also work hard to meet deadlines. As a junior faculty member, I never want to be the squeaky wheel, never want to be the committee member who fails to turn in work on time and holds up other people and an entire process. My unwillingness to be branded as a shirker is in addition, of course, to the glaringly obvious point that it is simply a common courtesy to meet administrative deadlines. Everyone in the university has work to do, much of it important work, and failing to do our own work in a timely, professional manner unnecessarily delays the work of others. There are certainly times when we realize that we will be unable to meet a deadline. If you foresee missing an externally imposed deadline, it’s both courteous and good policy to let interested parties know, sooner rather than  later, that you may be delayed in delivering your work. Such a warning at least allows others involved in the work to improvise an accommodation. Simply allowing a deadline to pass without a word of warning is discourteous and doesn’t allow others to help ameliorate the effects of your own delays. And missed deadlines are almost always noticed, even when the matter at hand may seem trivial. As you progress in your career, you may be asked to peer-review manuscripts that have been submitted to journals in your subdiscipline. It is especially important to meet an editor’s deadlines when conducting reviews of manuscripts. Some disciplines have a culture of turning reviews around quickly, while other disciplines (particularly in the humanities) are notorious for a tradition of taking months, sometimes even over a year, simply to review manuscripts. As a result of slow turnarounds and senior scholars who can sometimes be cavalierly unconcerned about conducting reviews in a timely manner, junior scholars often suffer. I once had a journal hold onto an article of mine for four months, during which time a staffer sent me a cryptic message implying that the article was undergoing review. After four months had passed, I was notified that the editor had decided not to send out the article for review, and to reject it outright. The editor was well within his rights to reject the article, but to take four months to do so was lazy and unprofessional in the extreme, and borderline unethical. Secondarily, because the article had not been sent out to reviewers, but simply sat on the editor’s desk, I did not even have the benefit of the feedback of reviews. Those four months were time that I could have spent revising the article, or submitting it at a different journal. Unfortunately, such stories are legion, and I have heard much more egregious examples of how editors’ or reviewers’ failures to keep to a reasonable schedule have hurt the publication prospects of junior scholars. Unfortunately, we are often tasked with work that feels trivial or futile. Or meaningful work simply piles up into seemingly unmanageable stacks. Every faculty member I know feels overwhelmed at some point in the semester. Nonetheless, when we neglect to complete work in a timely manner, our  colleagues and students sometimes suffer. Sometimes there isn’t as much accountability in the academy as there should be, which is all the more reason to hold ourselves accountable

Integrating school safety data for the purpose of safe school program evaluation Essay Example for Free

Integrating school safety data for the purpose of safe school program evaluation Essay Abstract This paper addresses the issue of school safety and what should be done to enhance it. The need for all stakeholders; the government, the school administrations and community to facilitate safe school planning and thus essentially enhance school safety are equally taken into consideration. The paper further provides some of the indicators that are considered while implementing an effective safe school plan and how to assess and evaluate the proven programs. This in essence, provides a general picture of promoting school safety so that incidents of crime can be lessened. In addition, the need to create an enhanced safe environment needs to be sensitized in every school since it has a direct impact to the performance of schools. Introduction This paper considers data that will provide the way best practices and proven programs can be used to enhance school safety. Such a program that has been considered is Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block grants (JAIBG). This kind of a program considers the underlying premise that young people who violet the laws need to be held accountable for the offenses if society is to improve the quality of life in the nations’ communities. It is to this effect that the paper goes beyond and evaluates the accountability of the juveniles in relation to the environment they live in and other surrounding factors. Consequences or sanctions that are applied swiftly, surely, and consistently and are graduated to provide appropriate and effective responses to a varying levels offense seriousness and offender chronics work based, in preventing, controlling and reducing further law violations. There is, therefore the need to use best practices and such like proven programs to enhance school safety. Further more, the safe school planning procedures have to involve all the stakeholders including parent, teachers, government and the community and of course the students. Safe Schools and School Planning In most cases statistics and the government reports determine safe schools but this ought not to be an end by itself. Various questions are raised in defining a safe school due to the difficulty that comes along with the definition. A safe school is considered one in which guards patrol the halls, metal detectors protect all entrances and all violent incidents are reported to the police. Creating a safe school goes beyond eliminating knifing, fighting and shootings. Violence is also subtle things such as name calling; fear of being ridiculed; teasing; offensive touching; racial, ethical, cultural, or sexual slurs; and bullying (Hernandez, 2004). This shows that most violence in school does not occur overnight but it develops over a period of time. According to (Stevick and Levinson, 2003), â€Å"violence is the most extreme manifestation of range of behaviors that run contrary to schools’ expectations and purposes† A safe school is the one in which the total climate allows students, teachers, administrators, staff, and visitors to interact in a positive, non-threatening manner that reflects the educational mission of the school while fostering positive relationships and personal growth. In addition a safe school is one, which repeated absenteeism, inadequate performance, or dropouts, withdrawals or transfers due to feeling afraid in school are progressively reduced. Incidences of disruption, crime and violence are progressively reduced too. Safe school planning is a clear and concise plan for creating a safe school climate. This requires collaborative efforts of parents, students, school personnel, and communities. The plan should contain a written conduct and discipline code, and policy for annual building inspections to eliminate barriers to safety and a policy for annual written report regarding learning environment to be submitted to the relevant authorities. These are proactive measures that should be taken to reduce if not eliminating school-based crimes. A comprehensive planning process based on state law, gives a guideline to a school and the community at large in developing a plan that is relevant and effective. Best practice and Proven Programs Best practice is a management ideal, which asserts that there is a technique, method, process, activity incentive, or reward that is more effective at delivering a particular outcome than any other technique, method, process, etc. These are essentially the most efficient and effective ways of accomplishing a task. They are based on repeated procedures that have proven themselves over time for large numbers of people. On the other hand proven programs are those have shown success in their repeated use. Though this is the case, proven programs have to adjust depending on the rising challenges in our society. The proven programs are bound to come up with positive results that are manifested by safety school environment. Purpose of the proven programs is to promote school safety by increasing student accountably for their behavior. This facilitates the development of constructive well-conserved† accountability based programs that work with either juvenile offenders who are referred by law enforcement agents, or which are designed in corporation with law enforcement officials to protect student and school personnel from drug, gang and youth violence. It must be noted, however the accountability based programs operate most effectively when they are part of a comprehensive collaborative approach involving a wide range of partners including students, parents, school faculty, and staff, community residence, members of communities organization, law enforcement justice authorities. Partnership with local juvenile justice systems and schools to establish and maintain accountability based programs, and students’ accountability must work in concert with institutional accountability that addresses the underlying causes of students’ violence and misconduct. School safety programs that emphasis student accountability can be build on the experience of successful community-based delinquency prevention and intervention programs. Comprehensive strategy for serious, violent and chronic juvenile offenders and safe futures program are examples that have proven effective in addressing juvenile delinquency (Wilson, 1993). The comprehensive strategy provides a blue print for establishing a continuum of care to meet the needs of at-risk or delinquent youth while protecting the public from harm. It promotes a systematic approach to prevention and the use of graduate sanctions in dealing with the offenses committed by such individuals and advocates the developments of partnerships between the juvenile court, law enforcement and community. Some of the programmatic strategies derived from the comprehensive strategy and the safe futures programs are applicable to accountability-based school safety initiatives include emphasis on juvenile accountability, develop an expanded and integrated network of social services. In provision of comprehensive strategies there is involvement of law enforcement as a stake holder in community-based efforts to prevent and respond to delinquency. Accountability in a school environment means expecting students to comply with school rules and regulations that reflect community standards or behavior and where necessary, addressing students misconduct with appropriate conduct including school discipline. Programs can take a comprehensive approach to reducing delinquency and misconduct in schools by building student accountability into the school culture. Efforts to enhance school safety should be fully integrated into all aspect of school operation including the learning environment curriculum, administration, staff selection and staff training. Enhancing School Safety through Assessment and Evaluation In enhancing school safety there is the need to understand all the indicators that distinguish a safe school from unsafe schools. One of the indictors that characterize a safe school is the orderliness of the school. This involves a creation of a climate of mutual respect and responsibility. This can be evaluated by the way students relate to others, teachers and staff. Expectations about this amicable relationship are what are accepted and consequences for unacceptable behavior are known and applied where appropriate. Another parameter to measure, evaluate and enhance school safety is to ensure that the school has existing plans, and implement the plans progressively. In addition there should be policies and procedures that address the safety of the school. When these issues are put in place the schools safety is enhance and evaluated. Measures that check the number of trespassers, incident of vandalism, reasons for absenteeism and number of firearms and other weapons have to be taken into account to enhance safety in schools. The environment in which an individual lives in has one to one relationship with the criminal or non-criminal behaviors. In considering the environment there is the need to use Crime Prevention Environment Design to ensure that safety at school is enhanced. This design takes into consideration the relationship between physical environment and the users of that environment. It is equally important to acknowledge that the users of the environment both criminals and honest alike are conscious their environment. They therefore can know and recognize a safe and unsafe environment. In doing so, the environment can be made safe by ensuring that buildings are built in an well-organized way. The doors and windows should not be obstructed. The streets and routes in the school should be well labeled and directions shown. Apart from this these routes and buildings should be under twenty-four hours surveillance to monitor intruders and strangers. Equally important is the lighting system, which should be checked to ensure that criminals do not take advantage of the dark alleys. If all this is taken into account then there is high possibility of enhancing school safety. In this sense there is also need to consider the orderliness of the school by taking measures to ensure this. Taking measures in considering the referrals the school gets and the reasons enhances orderliness of a school. Also the orderliness of a school is reflected by the number of suspensions both in-school and out of school and the performance index of the school. It is inevitable to consider the orderliness of a school because it has one to one relationship with the safety of the school. The more orderly the school is the more safety it tend to be and the vice versa is correct. A caring school also does a lot of good in enhancing its own safety. Schools, which care, are characterized by taking caution of the rate of and reasons for absenteeism in the school. A caring school should consider their staffs turn over-we have had of cases where the students have been incited by their teachers to do crimes for example going on strikes. This can be so when the teachers are against some of the management policies. It is therefore important for schools to care for the se issues and also the rate of students’ transfer. It is when the management put their efforts to enhance the discussed issues that the school safety is realized in the long run. To evaluate a school’s safety assessment, safety concerns of members of the school community should be done through surveys, for example. The information gathered from the survey ought to be used in the creation of the safe school plan so that safety concerns can be addressed. Continuous measurement of safety concerns need to take place so that actions can be adjusted to address concerns. On the hand to evaluate orderliness of a school, assessments of reasons of disorder need to occur. From these assessments, a code of conduct reflecting behavioral expectations can be established as part of the safe school plan. Review of the reasons for disorder should help establish the code of conduct. Adjustments to the code should be made based upon continuous review of the school orderliness. This in essence, the use of the available data will enable the concerned parties to enhance school safety. School Safety Data in the Evaluation of Programs Data is vital in evaluation of the programs that reduce insecurity in school. Data from Indicators of School Crime and Safety 2005 shows that, 17 percent of students in grade 9-12 reported they carried a weapon anywhere and six percent reported they had carried a weapon in school. Though the data show that this is a decline from the previous year, it is still shocking and calls for collective responsibility to all stake holders. The data collected in this report also identified other indicators of unsafe school like drugs availability in school and violent incidents at school. The data found in the Indicator reports for the five consecutive years has been used or integrated in the safety programs for the purpose of enhancing school safety. The data equally highlights reported of other actions which are frequently neglected but have a direct impact to the eventual safety of the school like use of hate-related words. Safety school data collected reported incidents what could be classified or determined if a school is safe or not. The data ranges from possession of weapon, sex offences, use of alcohol and drugs, vandalism, burglary among others. The safety of schools in this case is determined by the rates of transfers, suspensions and expulsions. The data shows that there are no incidents of unsafe schools in this state. All the stakeholders, the teachers, school administration, the community and the state can attribute this to the measures that have been taken. The data used reflected the percentages of students who smoked cigarettes and marijuana in a period of six months. This was considered alongside the strategies for prevention and creating a safe school. The effects of mental health from the use of drugs are equally indispensable. Another source of data was the community. The communities that care survey of student levels of risk and protective factors were also considered. The data used was from survey carried out about students from grade 6-12. The data from the Kansas department of Education was used. The set data includes information regarding the numbers of felonies, expulsions, suspensions, misdemeanors and violent acts on school grounds for various schools. This data was from the year 2000 to 2004. School years were included in this database in order to establish a baseline by which to compare data from the school years in which the safe school initiative will be implemented. Conclusion The issue of safe schools is an issue that should be taken with a lot of seriousness bearing in mind the number of criminal related incidents that occur in the school. It is the obligation of all the stakeholders to ensure that they work towards the betterment of school environment in terms of surveillance- it should be a collective responsibility. Educators should consider physical safety as well as intellectual and emotional safety. To promote truly safe schools, educators must understand the culture of all their students and the communities they serve, and help all the students understand and respect the culture and the climate of the schools they attend. On the other hand, the state and the educational authorities have to come up with policies that the school safety is enhanced. Thorough scrutinisation of these policies will at least ensure that the school and the community do not neglect their roles in enhancing safety in schools. References Aspy, C. (2004) Adolescent violence: The protective effects of youth assets. Journal of counseling and development, 286-277 Hernandez, T (2004) A safe school climate: A systematic approach and the school counselor. Professional school counseling 7 (4): 256-62. Stevick, E. (2003). From noncompliance to Columbine: Capturing student perspectives to Understand Non- compliance and Violence in Public Schools. Urban Review 35 (4) 323-49 Vail K. (2004) Troubling rise in school violence. American School Board Journal 191(1): 9-10 Wilson, R. (1991) Violence Prevention for Young Adolescents: A Survey of the State of Art. New York: Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development. Witt, P. (1996) Public Recreation in High Risk Environments: Programs that Work. Arlington, AV: National Recreation Park.

Antonio Gramscis Theory of Hegemony

Antonio Gramscis Theory of Hegemony Hegemony is the processes by which dominant culture maintains its dominant position: for example, the use of institutions to formalize power; the employment of a bureaucracy to make power seem abstract (and, therefore, not attached to any one individual); the inculcation of the populace in the ideals of the hegomonic group through education, advertising, publication, etc.; the mobilization of a police force as well as military personnel to subdue opposition. In international relations, there is a consolidated tradition that associates hegemony and world order. Nevertheless, the relation between the two variables, their interpretation, and the direction of the causal link between them, is still a matter of scholarly debate. The definition of hegemony and an empire has been hotly debated over the past few decades. Some believe hegemony is a tactic to avoid the word empire and the negative connotations that are associated with it. Others believe that a hegemony is a more technical, well thought out form of an empire. Some believe it is a lesser form of imperialism. Although one thing that is not disputed is the fact that hegemony very well is a form of dominance over a smaller, weaker nation, and no matter what one may call it, or how it may be approached, dominance will continue to flourish through the ages. Referring to the organization of the international system after the Second World War, Kindleberger argued that stensibly, the system was organized by rules and international institutions. In reality, it was led by the United States In this essay, Antonio Gramscis hegemony approach will be deeply analysed and examined and also compared and contrasted with the others approaches. GRAMSCIS THEORY OF HEGEMONY In order to understand Gramsci and the concept of hegemony, one has to look briefly at the work of Karl Marx. Marxism viewed everything in life as determined by capital. (Williams, R. 1977) The flow of money affects our relations with other people and the world surrounding us. Marx stated that everything around us, our activities and way of life is determined by economic content. According to Marxism, men find themselves born in a process independent of their will, they cannot control it, they can seek only to understand it and guide their actions accordingly. (Williams, R. 1977) The class struggle was an important part of Marxism. Marxism stated that society can only be understood in terms of a system where the dominant ideas are formulated by the ruling class to secure its control over the working class. (Williams, R. 1977) Due to exploitation, the working class will eventually try and change this situation through revolution producing its own ideas as well as its own industrial and political organization. Marxs work is highly influenced by economic reasoning. He divides this economic reasoning into two levels, being the base and superstructure. The base is composed by the material production, money, objects, the relations of production and the stage of development of productive forces. (Williams, R. 1977) The superstructure is where we find the political and ideological institutions, our social relations, set of ideas; our cultures, hopes, dreams and spirit. (Williams, R. 1977) Both the base and superstructure are shaped by capital. While one could say that Marx was primarily concerned with the base and economic issues, Gramscis work seeks to focus on the superstructure and ideologies. For Gramsci, the class struggle must always involve ideas and ideologies. These ideas would lead to a revolution and to change. Gramsci tried to build a theory which recognized the autonomy, independence and importance of culture and ideology. (Ransome, P. 1992) Gramsci took the superstructure a step further when he divided it into institutions that were coercive and those that were not. The coercive ones, were basically the public institutions such as the government, police, armed forces and the legal system which he regarded as the state or political society and the non-coercive ones were the others such as the churches, the schools, trade unions, political parties, cultural associations, clubs and family, which he regarded as civil society. (Boggs, C. 1976) So for Gramsci, society was made up of the relations of production as w ell as the state or political society and civil society. Gramsci accepted the analysis of capitalism put forward by Marx and accepted that the struggle between the ruling class and the subordinate working class was the driving force that moved society forward. (Boggs, C. 1976) Gramsci did not agree with the notion put forward by Marx that the ruling class stayed in power solely because they had economic power. He thus introduced his own concept using ideology. Ideology is the shared ideas or beliefs which serve to justify the interests of dominant groups. (Boggs, C. 1976) Gramsci felt that ideological power kept the ruling class in power because it allowed them to brainwash and manipulate the rest of society. Ideology is the cohesive force which binds people together. Ideology, like hegemony must not only express the class interests of the capitalist or working class. Gramsci insists that ideology has a material nature in the social lives of individuals, as ideologies are embedded in communal modes of living and acting. (R. Simon, 1992) This means that ideologies are embodied in the social practices of individuals and in the institutions and organizations within which these social practices take place. Ideology provides people with the rules of practical conduct and moral behavior. Ideological power stems from norms or shared understandings of how people should act morally in their relations with each other. (R. Simon, 1992) Those who monopolize ideological power have authority over others. Subordinate groups tend to accept the ideas and values of the dominant group without physical or mental influence because they know no better or there are not other alternatives. (Ransome, P. 1992) From Gramscis view, the bourgeoisie gained and maintained power due to economic domination and intellectual and moral leadership. Here, Gramsci introduced a new concept which he called hegemony. Hegemony is a set of ideas by means of which dominant groups strive to secure the consent of subordinate groups to their leadership. (Ransome, P. 1992) It occurs when dominant classes in society maintain their dominance persuading the other classes of society to accept their moral, political and cultural values. This means that the majority in a population give consent to policies and ideologies implemented by those in power. One must not assume that this consent is always willing. Those in power may combine physical force or coercion with intellectual, moral and cultural persuasion. (Ransome, P. 1 992) The dominant ideology is thus accepted, practiced and spread. Hegemony emerges out of social and class struggles and serves to shape and influence people. According to Gramsci, hegemony never disappears but is constantly changed. He describes two forms of social control. The first type is coercive control which is achieved through the use of direct force or threat of force. (Simon, R. 1992) The second type is consensual control which arises when individuals voluntarily adopt the worldview of the dominant group. (Simon, R. 1992) Gramsci says that within civil society, the dominant group exercises hegemony which is intellectual domination over the subordinate group or consensual control, whereas in political society, domination is exercised through state or juridical government or coercive control. (Gramsci, A. 1971) These functions are very much interlinked in the sense that intellectual domination is usually preceded by political domination. Social hegemony and political government are enforced historically in which the dominant group enjoys its position because of its function in the world of production and legally by state coercive power which enforces discipline on groups that do not consent. (Gramsci, A. 1971) This gives rise to a division of labor or specialization and to a whole hierarchy of qualifications. Gramsci stated that the only way the working class can achieve hegemony is if it takes into account the interests of other groups and social forces and finds ways of combining them with its own interests. (Ransome, P. 1992) In other words, the working class will need to build alliances with social minorities, taking into account their struggles against the capital class, thus strengthening the position of the working class. The labour process was at the center of the class struggle but it was the ideological struggle that had to be addressed if the mass of the people were to come to a realization that allowed them to question their political and economic rulers right to rule. Hegemony is exercised in civil society which is a tangle of class struggles and democratic struggles. (Simon, R. 1992) Hegemony in civil society must achieve leadership in the sphere of production taken up by the bourgeoisie, controlling the productive process and achieving state power. Those who have economic power have a strong link to political power and vice versa. Those who monopolize control over economic production, distribution, exchange and consumption is the dominant class which has the most power. A change in hegemony may occur when the dominant class begins to break up, creating an opportunity for the subordinate classes to merge and build up a movement capable of challenging the weakened dominant class and achieving hegemony. But, if this opportunity is not taken, then the dominant class has the opportunity to reorganize new alliances and reestablish hegemony. Hegemony goes beyond culture which is the whole social process in which people define and shape their lives. It is bases in ideology which is a system of meanings and values that expresses a particular class interest. (Simon, R. 1992) In order to create a class strong enough to have hegemony, one has to first instill a solid ideology based on specific interests that will dominate the rest of society, using the influence of capitalist relations. Gramsci felt that in order to have hegemony, ideologies have to be instilled by certain people or leaders. Gramsci identified intellectuals as leaders in society. He identified two types of intellectuals. The first is traditional intellectuals who are people that regard themselves as independent of the dominant social group and are regarded as such by the majority of the population. (Gramsci, A. 1971) The second type is the organic intellectual. This is the group that grows organically with the ruling class, and is their thinking and organizing element. (Gramsci, A. 1971) They were produced by the educational system to perform a function for the dominant social group in society. It is through this group that the ruling class maintains its hegemony over the rest of society.

Expectations versus Reality in Richs Living in Sin :: Rich Living in Sin

Expectations versus Reality in Rich's Living in Sin Relationships end for a variety of reasons, the most common being that people enter relationships with certain expectations which, when unmet, start and fuel the domino effect which eventually leads to the end of the relationship. How one perceives a relationship is altered by various conditions such as age, experience, and personal background. Differentiating between what is real and what is imagined in a relationship is also tailored by these experiences in life. In her poem "Living In Sin," Adrienne Rich examines how one woman's perceptions of her physical environment, her motive for entering the relationship, and the tone of the relationship are altered when she differentiates between the relationship she expected and the relationship as it actually is. In her idealistic relationship, the speaker's physical environment is free of daily domestic responsibilities. There is no need to dust or wash the windows because, as she expects in her fantasy life, the studio will "keep itself." There are definitely no leaky or noisy faucets in need of repair. And in the dream relationship, there are no creeping insects, just a "picturesque" mouse found attractive by a cat. In actuality, however, the speaker's physical environment needs cleaning; she battles dust on the furniture and grime on the windows. A noisy, leaky faucet in the studio needs repair. She also spots an insect in the kitchen that acts as the representative from the "village" behind the moldings. Her dream world is infested, probably with roaches. The narrator's motive in the relationship was initially the romantic desire to live with the man she loves, but eventually her motive is simply to bear the routine and break the now boring nature of the actual relationship. She wanted in the beginning to escape from restrictive religious beliefs and live with her musician boyfriend in his studio. As the title suggests, the narrator believed the relationship was a sinful one. Living with her boyfriend implies a daring departure from behavior normally expected of her, either by herself, her parents, or society. Still, the light of each day reveals just how dull and routine her life has become. The stairs shake each morning at five o'clock with the arrival of the milkman; each day she has to make the bed, dust the furniture, and look out dirty windows while listening to the leaky faucet. Expectations versus Reality in Rich's Living in Sin :: Rich Living in Sin Expectations versus Reality in Rich's Living in Sin Relationships end for a variety of reasons, the most common being that people enter relationships with certain expectations which, when unmet, start and fuel the domino effect which eventually leads to the end of the relationship. How one perceives a relationship is altered by various conditions such as age, experience, and personal background. Differentiating between what is real and what is imagined in a relationship is also tailored by these experiences in life. In her poem "Living In Sin," Adrienne Rich examines how one woman's perceptions of her physical environment, her motive for entering the relationship, and the tone of the relationship are altered when she differentiates between the relationship she expected and the relationship as it actually is. In her idealistic relationship, the speaker's physical environment is free of daily domestic responsibilities. There is no need to dust or wash the windows because, as she expects in her fantasy life, the studio will "keep itself." There are definitely no leaky or noisy faucets in need of repair. And in the dream relationship, there are no creeping insects, just a "picturesque" mouse found attractive by a cat. In actuality, however, the speaker's physical environment needs cleaning; she battles dust on the furniture and grime on the windows. A noisy, leaky faucet in the studio needs repair. She also spots an insect in the kitchen that acts as the representative from the "village" behind the moldings. Her dream world is infested, probably with roaches. The narrator's motive in the relationship was initially the romantic desire to live with the man she loves, but eventually her motive is simply to bear the routine and break the now boring nature of the actual relationship. She wanted in the beginning to escape from restrictive religious beliefs and live with her musician boyfriend in his studio. As the title suggests, the narrator believed the relationship was a sinful one. Living with her boyfriend implies a daring departure from behavior normally expected of her, either by herself, her parents, or society. Still, the light of each day reveals just how dull and routine her life has become. The stairs shake each morning at five o'clock with the arrival of the milkman; each day she has to make the bed, dust the furniture, and look out dirty windows while listening to the leaky faucet.

Mark Twain and the Lost Manuscript of The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin

Mark Twain and the Lost Manuscript of Huckleberry Finn      Ã‚  Ã‚   On November 30, 1835, Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born in the town of Florida, Missouri.   He had four siblings, three were older than him and one was younger.   When Clemens was four, his family moved to the town of Hannibal, Missouri.   Hannibal was a town located on the Mississippi river and would later become the setting for most of his stories ("Twain").   In 1847, when Clemens was twelve his father died.   Clemens grew up in an educated family (Works of Twain: Biographical Sketch).   At age twelve he was apprenticed to a printer and at age sixteen he worked under his brother, Orion who was a newspaper publisher in Hannibal.   Clemens made an early attempt at writing by sending comical travel letters to the Keokuk Saturday Post in Iowa under the pen name Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass.   These letters contained purposely inserted errors typical of Clemen's later work. When he was twenty-two he fulfilled a childhood dream by becoming apprenticed to a riverboat pilot named, Horace Bixby.   After his apprenticeship, he worked as a river boat pilot for four years.      The Civil War stopped riverboat traffic in 1861.   Clemens was out of work for several weeks before he traveled with his brother Orion to Nevada.   Orion had aspirations of becoming Territorial Secretary of Nevada.   Clemens became a reporter and later a feature editor for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, a Nevada newspaper.   During his reporting of the Nevada Constitutional Convention, Samuel Langhorne Clemens officially adopted for himself the pen name "Mark Twain" (Works of Twain: Brief Account).... ...   Simon and Schuster, Inc., 1990.    Outline    Thesis Statement:   An original draft of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn exists containing material excluded from the first printing of the book.    I.   Twain's biographical information   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A.   Childhood   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   B.   Education   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   C.   Professional life   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1.   Jobs   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2.   Literary works   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   3.   Financial conditions   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   D.   Personal life   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1.   Life style   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2.   Family life II.   Original manuscript of The Adventures   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   of Huckleberry Finn   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A.   General information   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1.   Discovery information   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2.   How the manuscript was lost   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   B.   Legal battle for printing rights   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   C.   Difference from the first publishing III.   Conclusion

Division of Labor According to Gender in Virginia Woolfs A Room of One

Division of Labor According to Gender in Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own Virginia Woolf, in her treatise A Room of One's Own, identified a gendered division of labor. For her, men work in the market place and make the money while the women, the upper class women at least, attend to the social pleasantries and household management. While she lamented this state of affairs, she did not present, as Gilman did, a model for existence that would allow men and women to operate on the same level. However, a direct comparison to Gilman is somewhat unfair as she was not focused on the status of women in the economy so much as the status of women as writers. Like Gilman, Woolf saw this division between a man's work and a woman's work as a socially constructed conceit. Unlike Gilman, Woolf advocated a further break between the world of men and women. Woolf saw the status of women as a socially constructed situation. She certainly does blame the patriarchy for this, however, blame also falls on the women. "At the thought of all those women working year after year and finding it hard to get two thousand pounds together...we burst out in scorn at the reprehensible poverty of our sex" (Woolf 21). It is not that Woolf pitied the situation of British women, she scorned it. She declared that women were responsible for their own "reprehensible" state (21). She lamented: "If only Mrs. Seton and her mother and her mother before her had learnt the great art of making money and had left their money...to the use of their own sex...we might have looked forward...to a pleasant and honourable lifetime spent in the shelter of one of the liberally endowed professions" (21). The fact that it was "their fathers and their grandfathers bef... ...the broader situation of the implicit implications of the sexual divisions of labor. While certainly women in academic positions will mitigate the misogyny of Professor von X, it proposes little to change women's attitude towards making money for their own descendants. We are left to assume that a change in the intellectual elite will percolate down into the ranks of the working class. Whatever the problematic implications, Woolf called for a new era where "[women] have the habit of freedom and the courage to write exactly what [they] think" (Woolf 113). She closed her treatise on a comment pointed at the female writers of her age: "I maintain that she [Shakespeare's sister] would come if we worked for her, and that so to work, even in poverty and obscurity, is worth while" (114). References Woolf, V. A Room of One's Own. London: Harcourt, 1929. 1

Boston Massacre Propaganda

The events of March 5, 1770, dubbed as â€Å"The Boston Massacre†, was a tragedy in which 5 Bostonian civilians lost their lives at the hands of British Redcoats. Although the Redcoats, terribly at fault, shot into the masses, the rebellious Bostonians played a role in the shooting as well. Although they were quite justified in doing so, the townspeople of Boston severely over exaggerated the events of that day in order to gain public sympathy and pit more colonists against the British regime. Within three weeks of the event in March 1770, an engraving by Paul Revere began circulating throughout the colony. His depiction of the shooting contained not a clash of brawlers, but instead innocent citizens, whom the British had no foreseeable reason to shoot at. Revere's intention was to convince viewers of the indisputable justice of the colonial cause. The public, enraged over the killings, began joining the Separatist cause, and revolts became very frequent. Revere's engraving, however, was mere propaganda used to oppose the British, for his depiction did not correctly display the unfolding of events. The British shot, not at innocent civilians posing no threat, but at rebellious colonists, many of whom were taunting the soldiers and throwing snowballs and rocks in their vicinity. Although the outrageous behavior of the Bostonians bore no reason for the Redcoats to open fire, it certainly changes the complexity of the situation. Both sides were in some degree to blame for the mass shooting. In an interview printed by the Nova Scotia Chronicle following the shooting, an anonymous Bostonian recounted the events of the aforesaid day. His account of the situation, while correct in many senses, was aimed to gain public sympathy for the townspeople of Boston. He claims that â€Å"the [British] soldiery aimed to draw and provoke the townsmen† in order to â€Å"make use of†¦ weapons† (Nova Scotia Chronicle 1). The colonist essentially claims that the Redcoats are guilty of premeditated murder, contradicting previous reports of the event. Multiple sources, from either side of the conflict, reported that the townspeople, many of whom were drunken, wielded clubs, and some even went as far as to attack sentry towers in the area. Angered over the recent death of a ten-year-old boy, shot during a protest against a merchant who had defied the colonial boycott of British goods, colonists felt that the Redcoats were to blame and that they deserved this treatment. The soldiers, uneasy and provoked by the mob, heard someone yell â€Å"fire†, and believing the voice to be that of their commander, shot into the jeering crowd. The article depicts the colonists affected by this event as harmless and innocent, displaying the article's inability to print the entire story. In this regard, the colonists used The Boston Massacre to encourage the spread of outrage among the colonies against the British. The Boston Massacre still stands today as one of the most tragic events in United States history. However, in the subsequent weeks and months, reports and depictions of the event were, for the most part, one-sided, in favor of the colonists. The colonists used The Boston Massacre in a multitude of ways to gain public sympathy and spread anger directed toward the British all across the American colonies.

Crash Film Critique

Mark Zelayaran English Honors 1A Mrs. Breckheimer. Crash a film critique The film â€Å"Crash† produced and directed by Paul Haggis is a compilation of clever vignettes all throughout the film and for most they undergo some change; however, for the change to occur the film shows the human side of certain characters. The film is a compilation of lives of various characters in a course of a day in the city of Los Angeles. Although racism, discrimination and prejudice is constantly used all throughout the film, Haggis does this bring the message across that â€Å"Stretches the boundaries†¦ becomes intensely moving†¦acknowledges..The intolerant are human†¦ rage fuels itself and redoubles† (Denby). Scott makes the argument that Crash is â€Å"full of heart and devoid of life†; however, Denby’s claims that Crash â€Å"Stretches the boundaries†¦ becomes intensely moving† and â€Å"acknowledges.. The intolerant are human†¦ rage fue ls itself and redoubles† are evident all throughout the film. The film starts off with two white police officers- Officer John Ryan and Officer Tom Hansen. Haggis has built the character Officer Ryan as an intolerant and angry individual who takes his rage out on others.A fine example of Officer Ryan’s rage fueling itself and redoubling would be when he called his father’s HMO, â€Å"I keep telling you my father is in pain†¦ What does my father do about sleeping tonight? I don’t know I’m not a doctor. I wanna talk to your supervisor. I am my supervisor. Yeah, what's your name? Shaniqua Johnson. Shaniqua, Big fucking surprise that is! † Shortly after, he pulls over an African American couple, Cameron Thayer and Christine Thayer, and proceeds to search them, knowing that their car isn’t the one that’s been stolen.He proceeds to search the couple especially the wife in a crude manner. It’s clear to see in that scene tha t he has no regard for the people whom he holds his anger against. It is evident that what denby claims that â€Å"anger fuels itself and redoubles†. As Denby goes on to say, â€Å"The intolerant are also human, taking this in mind, this ideology can apply to Officer Ryan when his previous supervisor said â€Å"I’m anxious to understand how an obvious bigot could’ve through the department for seventeen years.Eleven of which he was under my personal supervision†, it is not beyond a reasonable doubt that officer Ryan experienced a moment of weakness and the need to take his rage upon others. On the other hand In the case of Officer Hansen, he is portrayed as a young police officer starting out his career in the force and following the lead of his senior officer; however, Officer Hansen tries to not become like his fellow officer Ryan. Boundaries are stretched and become intensely moving in the belief that Officer Hansen tries to hold to be true.A fine scen e to prove that â€Å"boundaries are stretched and becomes intensely moving† would be in when Officer Hansen lets Cameron Thayer off with a â€Å"harsh warning† even when Cameron Thayer was held at gun point and making threatening gestures towards the police officers. Haggis gives an insight of how the police department functions; therefore, he balances the film by giving the perspective of civilians. The film begins to transition to the black couple that was pulled over, Cameron Thayer and Christine Thayer, were harassed by Officer Ryan.Cameron and Christine are victims of the rage from a police officer. Cameron is mostly affected by the harassment from Officer Ryan and as Christine would put it â€Å"When that man was putting his hands on me†¦ I can’t believe you let him do that, baby†¦ I was humiliated for you†¦I just couldn’t stand to see that man take away your dignity†. Cameron has been deeply affected by her words and begins l oathe himself and challenges the police to defend his dignity, and the only way Cameron can do this act is through rage being fueled within him and doubling.Cameron is chased by the Los Angeles police department, an act a man of his socioeconomic stature would never dream of doing, and after being cornered Cameron demands Anthony to leave his car and Anthony replies, â€Å"if you’re so brave why don’t you leave?! †. As Cameron steps out the car and faces the police officers he begins to say insults such as â€Å"Yeah that’s what you look like a fucking joke†. It is evident in this turn of events that Cameron’s rage for himself doubles and begins to take it out on others.The boundaries of law and order are stretched are when Officer Hansen lets him go with a â€Å"harsh warning†, and not turning over Anthony to the police when he had an opportunity to. Towards the end when Cameron tells Anthony â€Å"you embarrass me, you embarrass yo urself†, Cameron realizes that although Anthony tried to car jack him, Anthony is still human and is living a life that is a mistake. Although Cameron’s rage for himself doubled and was only fueled by itself, at the end Cameron choose to stretch the boundaries and proving that intolerant indeed are human through his actions of letting go of Anthony.The film tries to show a somewhat humorous side of the racism, prejudice, and stereotypes that Haggis creates, and it’s done through Anthony. Anthony blames his position in society due to the upper class keeping him there, while Peter simply tries to laugh it off and doesn’t see it that way. The issue between these two characters is the issue of anger. Because once again Denby proves that â€Å"rage fuels itself and redoubles†, when Anthony and Peter are walking down the street and see a white couple [Rick Cabot and Jean Cabot] and as soon as Jean notices both Anthony and peter [his partner in crime], she grabs her husband’s arm.Of course Anthony would notice this and begins to complain, â€Å"Look around! You couldn't find a whiter, safer or better lit part of this city. But this white woman sees two black guys, who look like UCLA students, strolling down the sidewalk and her reaction is blind fear. I mean, look at us! Are we dressed like gang-bangers? Huh? No. Do we look threatening? No. Fact, if anybody should be scared around here, it's us: We're the only two black faces surrounded by a sea of over-caffeinated white people, patrolled by the triggerhappy LAPD.So you tell me, why aren't we scared? â€Å" Anthony’s claim is justified in his eyes and begins to use that same hate against society towards the white couple. The rage and contempt Anthony has for society is taken out on this white couple who represent everything Anthony hates and wishes to overcome. Anthony is filled with rage because of his position in society and he stretches boundaries because of this. A fine example of Anthony stretching boundaries and being intensely moving would be when Anthony encounters Cameron.Anthony even claimed he would never rob from another black man, but he went back on his word thus stretching his own boundary when he attempted to rob him. When the Cameron tells Anthony â€Å"you embarrass me, you embarrass yourself†, in this moving statement Anthony finally takes the bus shortly afterwards once again stretching his own boundaries again, even after claiming he would never take a bus. Haggis puts not only Anthony but other characters through extremes to show the human side of these characters and make them beyond the typecast that some would assume them to be.Haggis puts certain characters through an extreme ordeal and once that character overcomes that ordeal, he or she therefore goes through a transformation. Scott would claim these transformations are â€Å"full heart and devoid of life†; however, the transformations certain characters go through is a necessity to show that the characters are real people. Such as the case of Officer Ryan, his transformation or rather his realization occurred when he saved Christine from a car that was about to explode. As Christine screamed â€Å" Get away from me! Stay away from me!†¦ Don’t touch me!Somebody anybody else, Not you! † it is clear on Officer Ryan’s face that he realizes what he did was on a larger scale than he previously thought. Or even in the case of Anthony after he refused all throughout the film to even take a bus, needless to say, Anthony did end up taking the bus back home after Cameron gave him those intense words. Even in the case of Cameron when he had to challenge the Los Angeles police department to prove himself and attempted to gain back his dignity through means of rage; however, it wasn’t until after he realized his actions and gave those words to Anthony.All in all, transformations, some more extreme than others, a re a necessity in Crash because it shows a human side to the intolerant. All throughout the film it shows characters that are full of emotion and personality; however, to claim to be â€Å"full of heart and devoid of life†(Scott) is a shortcoming, at best. The film is compiled in a way that the lives of twelve characters or so are compiled into one day of interactions and obstacles. To be full of heart means to be full of tugs at heartstrings or other words dramatic, and to be devoid of life is the characters do not portray real people.Scotts claim is presumptuous because if one were to look at the film closely it jumps around characters. Crash takes place in a period of one day in Los Angeles and it is not beyond a reasonable doubt that prejudice, racism, and discrimination all take place every day. Also, one must also take into consideration that Crash contains characters with real and moving personalities and is intensely moving, and without characters to connect to the fi lm would not be moving. As Officer Ryan, Anthony, and Cameron all show the trials and tribulations some may face. In reality, what Scott claims to be â€Å"full of eart and devoid of life† is invalid because he is making a quick judgment of how the characters face the obstacles and never takes into consideration of how much time has passed. In conclusion, Denby’s claims are evident because it shows a human side to the intolerant in the film and also proving that rage only fuels itself and doubles. Haggis uses typecasts to his advantage in proving Denby correct that Crash â€Å"Stretches the boundaries†¦ becomes intensely moving† and â€Å"acknowledges.. The intolerant are human†¦ rage fuels itself and redoubles†. The characters may fall into typecasts but don’t completely succumb to them.As in the case for Officer Ryan, Cameron, and Anthony all go through transformations of extreme means proving that the intolerant are human and rage does fuel itself and doubles. However, this transformation can only be done by stretching boundaries and becoming intensely moving. Scott is disproven because of the fact that all these twelve or so characters are put together through a course of one day; therefore, extreme sides of each are seen one or twice a day. All in all, Crash is a film of racism, transformation, prejudice, stretching boundaries, and acknowledging that the intolerant are human.

Stick and Stones

†Sticks and Stones† by Trezza Azzopardi (2006) In the short story, we follow a man named Lewis. Lewis is the main character, who keeps dreaming about the same thing over and over. He dreams about him at the strand. He used to have a terrible experience there. He moved to the core of England, to escape from the terrible trauma. But now he has returned to his mother’s house, where he gets clear images in his mind. Lewis is a teacher, in the text it says, â€Å"The second envelope contains a note from the Headmaster†¦come in and discuss matters† This quote supports the statement about Lewis being a teacher.He seems to be a person who wants to change the way things are, but he has been taught by his mother, that he needs to blend in, and she also says â€Å"it’s the survival of the fittest†. The environment he has been raised in has stopped him from doing the things, which he wanted to do. That is expressed in the text where it says, â€Å"So metimes he imagines he’s the kind of person that challenges teachers like Stott and Walker, the kind that the Headmaster takes seriously. † He is not the kind of person who stands out. He was probably bullied in school when he was younger, because Lewis gets to identify himself in a boy called Paul Fry.Paul Fry is a boy who gets bullied by some boys. Lewis always feels the need to help him. No one had helped Lewis, back in the days; he also stopped telling about his problems to his mother, because he felt it was hopeless. She had told him that he just should fit in. In the text it says, â€Å"But he took her words literally, became expert at running away†¦ † He doesn’t face his problem, because that is the way he is raised. The author has used flashbacks in the text. The use of flashbacks makes the reader more informed. By using flashbacks, the story becomes more interesting and dynamic.The flashbacks also give the story a timeline and they widen the time. The story begins with a flashback about Lewis’ bad experience. This flashback is about him committing suicide. He is falling from the dunes at the strand. Another flashback is where he sees Paul Fry getting bullied, by some guys. The flashback affects the story. They give the story a meaning and reveal information about the character as well. By reading the flashbacks, we get to know Lewis better. His past tells us about why he is the way he is now, it defines him. E. g. Lewis wants to help Paul Fry, because Lewis once where victim like Paul Fry. In the ending of the story there is a quote, â€Å"Lewis puts his stones in his pocket. He will stop running he thinks. He has survived after all† This quote indicates that he is now ready to let go of his pebbles that he used to lick. He also comes to the strand when things are difficult as it says in the text, â€Å"When things were difficult, he would go to the strand and find his mother a new piece of quartz† He has now stopped is previous behaviour and he is changing. The themes in the short story is bullying and facing serious problems.The bullying part is because both Lewis and Paul Fry get bullied, and it ends up with them wanting to commit suicide. This is a serious problem, which Lewis is trying to escape from. He keeps running away from his problem. That has become his nature, because of the way his mother brought him up. That was the only solution he knew, but in the end of the story he comes to the conclusion that he must accept things and face them. By doing that he can move on. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. pg. 2 ll. 36-37 [ 2 ]. pg. 3 ll. 67 [ 3 ]. pg. 2-3 ll. 61-62 [ 4 ]. pg. 5 ll. 126-127 [ 5 ]. pg. 3 ll. 91-92