affirmative action Essay - 1839 Words

nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Affirmative action is an attempt by the United States to amend a long history of racial discrimination and injustice. Our school textbook defines affirmative action as â€Å"a program established that attempts to improve the chances of minority applicants for educational or employment purposes, although they may have the same qualifications, by giving them leverage so that they can attain a level that is equal to caucasian applicants† (Berman 522). There are people that support and oppose this issue. Opponents of affirmative action have many reasons for opposing this issue, one of them being that the battle for equal rights is over, and that this advantage made for people of color discriminates against people that†¦show more content†¦Congress also passed a number of civil rights laws barring discrimination against blacks in hotels, theaters, and other places. However, the South reacted by passing the quot;Black Codes, quot; which severely lim ited the rights of the newly freed slaves, preventing them in most states from testifying in courts against whites, and limiting their opportunities to find work. Even though blacks were given suffrage, the white Americans from the south found ways to stop them from voting. These laws were called grandfather laws, which meant that if your relatives could vote prior to 1867, you were permitted to vote. Moreover, this excluded all recently freed slaves (Berman 510). nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;In 1896, the Plessy v. Ferguson case, a man who is one eighth black, and seven eighths white, decides to sit in the front of a train, but is not allowed because he of the fact that he is one eighth black. He felt that although only an eighth of his blood was black, that overall he should have been considered white. When taken to court, it was declared that the state of Louisiana had the right to segregate their races in every public facility. Thus began the quot;Jim Crowquot; legislation. Jim Crow laws were made to have â€Å"separate, but equal† facilities for people of color. Not until about sixty years later, in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, the Supreme Court judge ruled that â€Å"separate, but equal† was unconstitutional. This decision created racial tensionsShow MoreRelatedThe Affirmative Of Affirmative Action Essay1389 Words   |  6 Pages Many affirmative action efforts have been made since the end of the Civil War in order to remedy the results of hundreds of years of slavery, segregation and denial of opportunity for groups that face discrimination. Many African Americans such as President Barack Obama, Senator Cory Booker, the writer Toni Morrison, the literary scholar Henry Louis Gates, media star Oprah Winfrey, and rap star Jay-Z have achieved positions of power and influence in the wider society (Giddens, Duneier, AppelbaumRead MoreAffirmative Action1160 Words   |  5 PagesAffirmative Action Marlene S. Smith MGT/434 October 28, 2013 Thomas Affirmative Action Affirmative action is an action that was purposefully designed to provide full and equal opportunities for employment and education for women, minorities, and other individuals belonging to disadvantaged groups. This paper will assess the rudiments of Affirmative Action as it applies to public and private sector employers. The paper will also evaluate what employers are subject to affirmative actionRead MoreAffirmative Action1559 Words   |  7 PagesRESEARCH PAPER AFFIRMATIVE ACTION INTRODUCTION Affirmative Action is an employment legislation protection system that is intended to address the systemized discrimination faced by women and minorities. It achieves this by enforcing diversity through operational intrusions into recruitment, selection, and other personnel functions and practices in America. Originally, Affirmative Action arose because of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s desire to integrate society on educationalRead MoreAffirmative Action1571 Words   |  7 PagesName Professor Name Management 11th November 2011 Affirmative Action Thesis: Affirmative Action has helped many women and minorities in entering the job market. Although there has been a lot of hue and cry regarding the benefits of the affirmative action and the suitability of candidates selected thorough affirmative action; research has shown that affirmative action is beneficial and the candidates of affirmative action perform as well as those who are selected through theRead MoreAffirmative Actions1078 Words   |  5 PagesRunning Head: AFFERMATIVE ACTION Affirmative Actions Affirmative action is an action taken by an organization to select on the basis of race, gender, or ethnicity by giving due preferences to minorities like women and races being not adequately represented under the existing employment. To make the presentation of all these compositions almost equal in proportion to do away the injustice done in the past. The Supreme Company need to design an affirmative action program in the light ofRead MoreAffirmative Action1759 Words   |  8 PagesAffirmative Action Right? Affirmative action has been around for decades. Some believe it isn’t fair but others do. Those who believe and agree with affirmative action tend to say, â€Å"The principle of affirmative action is to promote societal equality through the preferential treatment of socioeconomically disadvantaged people† (Bidmead, Andrew pg 3). Others that disagree with it and find it unfair simply see it as another form of discrimination, giving one group extra advantages based upon nothingRead MoreAffirmative Action And Its Effects On Affirmative1263 Words   |  6 PagesThroughout America there are many different views on the effects of affirmative action. Many see it as a negative policy which gives an unnecessary advantage to minorities in America. In a 2009 Pew Poll, â€Å"58% of African Americans agree† and only â€Å"22% whites agree† that there should be â€Å"preferential treatment to improve the position of blacks and other minorities† (Public Backs Affirmative Action†). Today affirmative action and other racial injustices tend to be in the spotlight quite often, suchRead MoreAffirmative Action774 Words   |  4 PagesAffirmative action is a practice that is intended to promote opportunities for the â€Å"protected class† which includes minorities, woman, and people with disabilities or any disadvantaged group for that matter. With affirmative action in place people of this protected class are given an even playing field in terms of hiring, promotion, as well as compensation. Historically, affirmative action is only known to have protected African Americans and woman; however that is not the case. Affirmative actionRead MoreAffirmative Action : Gender Action Essay970 Words   |  4 PagesAffirmative Action (ADD PROPER INTRO) Affirmative action, in its broadest sense, are attempts to help create labor and educational opportunities for groups that have been disadvantaged in the past. (Miriam Webster). Evidence has shown that throughout history, many groups have been discriminated against, and because of past (discriminations?), they continue to experience obstacles in areas of hiring, promotion, renting, buying, gaining education, and everyday economic activities. Thus, affirmativeRead MoreAffirmative Action Is An Action Or Policy? Essay1774 Words   |  8 Pages Affirmative Action remains one of the more complicated and controversial topics dealt with in American society. Affirmative Action is an action or policy designed to protect specific groups who suffer from discrimination, and provide them with programs and special opportunities. These government or private programs were designed to set right historical injustices towards the members of these groups who have suffered things like employment and e ducational disadvantages from racial discrimination

Gender Roles And Roles Of William Shakespeare s The...

Gender plays an important role in Shakespeare’s comedies. Cross gender roles and cross dressing are essential not only for the inherent humour of the situation but also for the advancment of the plot. English Renaissance stereotypes of women and men and their various roles and responsibilities in society are reflected in Shakespeare. What sets Shakespeare apart is the fact that he also challenges, and at times even breaks down those stereotypes especially in his comedies. Hamlet may proclaim â€Å"Frailty thy name is woman†, but even the merest of character analyses of Portia in The Merchant of Venice, or Viola in The Twelfth Night conclusively proves that they are anything but. In this paper we begin by examining the prevailing gender†¦show more content†¦Other praised virtues included physical features and beauty. Men naturally had more powerful roles to play both socially as well as politically. In Renaissance society, men were expected to engage in public a ffairs, to be talkers, make decisions, and on the whole be far more active compared to women. They led aggressive, self-satisfying, and (supposedly) duty bound lives. Men controlled the positions of powerful positions ranging from family to the state. Ironically, the monarch was a female, who was the most powerful person of the land. GENDER AND THE TWELFTH NIGHT: Shakespeare’s greatness and enduring popularity cannot be attributed to a single or even a small set of factors. It is undoubtedly the case however that one of Shakespeare’s greatest traits has been to unshackle himself from the limitations of his age. He transcends the stereotypical views of Renaissance society as he portrays women as more than passive vessels. Women are often equal to or sometimes even superior in their intelligence wit and vivacity compared to their male counterparts. Viola, the resourceful and practical female protagonist of The Twelfth Night stands out in this regard. Once she is shipwrecked and alone she quickly calculates that her position as a single lady in a foreign land is a very dangerous one. To counteract that she, with the help of the benevolent captain disguises herself as a man or a eunuch and proceeds to the court of Orsino the duke of Illyria. There, she

Fahrenheit 451 Essay Example For Students

Fahrenheit 451 Essay Fahrenheit 451 Guy Montag has an emotional dilemma whether to go against the system or abide by the law. This law forbids the reading of all books. Guy Montag is a fireman who ironically sets books on fire instead of putting fires out. The decision to betray his fellow firemen is encouraged when a women is killed because she is caught possessing books. She made the empty rooms roar with accusation and shake down a fine dust guilt that was sucked in their nostrils as they plunged about.(37). Ray Bradburys novel Fahrenheit 451 takes place in a futuristic city while a war is taking place. Oddly enough the city has its own problems. The protagonist , Guy Montag, goes against society and steals books to read at home, meets a friend to help him in his brave stand against society but gets discovered, then barely escapes his punishment to join a group of people who attempt to preserve knowledge through memorization. At the beginning of the novel Guy Montag is described as a minstrel man (4). He is a fireman who never questioned the pleasure of watching pages consumed by flames. (Back cover). He is a brave individual who decides to rebel against society. Montag meets a crazy and imaginative seventeen-year old girl named Clarisse McClellan. She tells him of a time when firemen used to put out fires instead of making them. After that, Montag and the other firemen burn a house filled with books and burn its owner. They crashed the front door and grabbed at a women, though she was not running , she was not trying to escape. (38). This incident makes Montag start to think that there is something important and valuable in those books, for a woman to stay and burn with them. Montag then starts to get curious and reads books, betraying the firemen. In the middle of the book, Captain Beatty, the antagonist who is the fire captain, detects that Montag is questioning the law. Captain Beatty tries to explain the law Every fireman sooner or later hits this . They only need understanding, to know how the wheels run. Need to know the history of the profession.(53). Montag disagrees with him and meets an old retired English Professor named Faber who helps him understand the books. The things youre looking for, Montag, are in the world, but the only way an average chap will ever see ninety-nine per cent of them is in a book.(80). In doing this he gets wiser and learns more about famous poets and writers. This changes his out look on life. His secret gets discovered and the firemen burn his house which is where the books are thought to be. The climax is when Montag turns to Captain Beatty with the flame thrower and says We never burned right and then sets him on fire, killing him. Beatty flopped over and over and over, and at last twis ted in on himself like a charred wax doll and lay silent.(119). Montag then barely escapes the fire stations deadly mechanical hound, by jumping in the river and floating down stream, disguising his scent. Then he dressed in Fabers old clothes and shoes. He tossed his own clothing into the river and watched it swept away. Then, holding his suitcase, he walked out in the river until there was no bottom and he was swept away in the dark. (135). Finally, down the river, away from all the excitement, Montag starts to feel lonely because it is just him against every one else in the city. (Down the river) Montag then finds a group of friendly homeless people who are there for the same reason, reading books. This group hopes to preserve knowledge for future generations by memorizing passages from books. They do this so they cannot be caught and it also improves their thinking. All the while a war is going on and all of a sudden planes came swooping down and bombed the city. The city rolled over and fell down dead. The sound of death came after (160). Montag and his group are safe but the city is leveled. Montag and his group then decided to go back to the city and help rebuild hoping that people realize that their ways are wrong. When they ask us what were doing, you can say, Were remembering. Thats where well win out in the long run. And someday well remember so much that well build the biggest goddamn steamshovel in history an d dig the biggest grave of all time and shove war in and cover it up.(164) In conclusion Montag, rebels against society with the help of Faber, gets discovered and kills Captain Beatty, and then escapes the mechanical hound to join a group of homeless people in the same situation. The author suggests that people should stand up for what they believe in and never give up. Even though everyone was against Montags idea of reading books does not mean it was wrong.

The Texas Revolution Essay Example

The Texas Revolution Paper The Texas Revolution By Jessica Bouillon Texas History The Texas Revolution was a key point in our nation’s history and in the history of the state of Texas. For, if Texas had not revolted the way that they did, it would probably not have become a state. There are many causes that are speculated on why Texas revolted whether they are political disputes against the Centralist party in Mexico that had primary control at the time of the Revolution. These and more will be explored. Also, there are key battles in the Texas Revolution that decided the final fate of Texas, none more famous than the famous Battle of San Jacinto and The Alamo. The most popular, speculated cause of the Texas Revolution is that Texas was following in the footsteps of America. Most people think that Texas was fighting out of extreme displeasure with an intolerable, tyrannical, and undemocratic government like the Americans fought against the autocratic British. Most people think that Texas fought against Mexico because of the abolishment of the Constitution of 1824. â€Å"The Constitution of 1824, the first of the newly independent Republic of Mexico, was the document under which DeWitt Colonists were invited to emigrate to the Republic, was the one under which they assumed they were protected and the one they swore to defend. It evolved out of the acta constitucional authored by northeastern Mexican statesman, Jose Miguel Ramos Arispe† (http://www. amu. edu/ccbn/dewitt). With the abolishment of the Constitution of 1824 by the Centralist PARTY IN Mexico, tensions between Mexico and Texas quickly rose. Of course, there are always â€Å"conspiracy theories†, one of which holds the belief that the slaveholders wanted control of Texas which would have turned a great profit. The slave trade going on throughout the world at the time of the Revolution was a very successful, and profitable business to be involved in. f the slaveholder s had gotten a hold of Texas, Texas would [probably have become on e of the major slave-trade posts in the entire country. During the time before the revolution the world slave-trade was still very big and slaves were still very important â€Å"items† in the typical household being as the revolution was some 25 years or so before the United States started their Civil War and President Lincoln abolished slavery. Still another speculated cause for the revolution in Texas was economics. There were many land speculators that were also U. We will write a custom essay sample on The Texas Revolution specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Texas Revolution specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Texas Revolution specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer S. migrants to Texas that were intent on making money from selling land. They had speculators in Texas, and Coahuila and financial centers in New York and Philadelphia. The speculators would speculate how much a piece of land was worth then sell it and turn the profits over to a financial center and make a tremendous profit from it. Yet another reason why Texans might have revolted was that they were trying to preserve and maintain the political values and economic gain while under the Constitution of 1824. It gave Texas a steady population flow of American migrants moving onto Texas soil. It also gave them political liberty, freedom to own slaves and a steady economic progression. But Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, president of Mexico, wished to impose a stricter rule which could also explain why Texas felt the need to separate from Mexico. Another speculated cause was that the Anglo-Americans that lived there refused to conform to the Mexican rules and laws. Most were protestant and therefore refused to convert to Catholicism. They also refused to pay their duties to the government and did not support troop increases for the Mexican army but had their own militias. They also viewed the Mexican form of government as politically and culturally inferior. There was also ethnocentrism or racism as a key factor and guiding force as most of the people who lived in Texas viewed the people of Mexico and racially inferior in politics, culture, and color. Things like this would definitely cause a lot of tension between Mexico and the Anglo-Americans of Texas. The revolution officially begun on October ninth of 1835 with the Battle of Goliad. This was the first offensive of the war for Texas’ independence. At first the Mexican army overwhelmed Texas. But, Goliad is where a local colonel and militia captured the fort and town of Goliad. Then on December twentieth of 1835 the town of Goliad signed the first declaration of Texas independence. It was on this day that the first official flag of Texas was hoisted. Although Texas was overwhelmed by Mexico in the beginning they were able to capture the Crossroads at San Antonio de Bexar and seize the garrison known as the Alamo by December of 1835. The Alamo is the most well-known and famous battle in the Texas revolution. There are a few major names associated with the defense of the Alamo. David Crockett, Jim Bowie, and William Barrett Travis were among those who fought and died for Texas independence. After Texas captured the Alamo Mexico fought and recaptured it and wound up killing every man defending it. After the massacre at the Alamo Texans were reported to have yelled â€Å"Remember the Alamo† at every battle ensuing including the final Battle of San Jacinto which took place on April twenty-first of 1836. It was between Sam Houston and 910 pioneers versus the Mexican army. The battle itself only lasted around twenty minutes. After the battle was over the Texans went on a search for Santa Anna and once found him captured him forcing Mexico to surrender. Upon his capture they forced Santa Anna to sign an order to evacuate Mexican troops from Texas territory. They also forced Mexico to sign many treaties declaring Texas an independent republic free of Mexico. In conclusion, the war for Texas independence was very short lasting a less than a year. But the tension leading up to it had been brewing since the abolishment of the Constitution of 1824. Although there is still speculation as to the true cause of the Texas Revolution most that are listed here can be considered somewhat valid. Works Cited http://www. lone-star. net/mall/texasinfo/txrevolution. htm http://www. tamu. edu/ccbn/dewitt/batsanjacinto. htm

Subjectivity and Aspects of Contemporary Identity

According to Tracy Marafiote, the phrase individual is associated with three terms- self identity, subjectivity and agency- which are expressed as salient aspects of human being (2004, p.2). The degree to which different scholars stress or ignore subjectivity reveals perceptions of the person as an individual and vice versa.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Subjectivity and Aspects of Contemporary Identity specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Self or subjectivity focuses on the level of presence of a consistence, coherent and recognizable quintessence of an individual in all circumstances. The construct of subjectivity on the other hand represents a person’s social and historical status. It is a position that defines the basis of his knowledge and experience. It also usually deduces a positioning of an individual by outer social forces (Marafiote 2004, p.2). A major aspect of contemporary identity and modern vi ews of the individual is the idea of inwardness, the concept of our selves as beings with inner depths, and the connected notion that we are selves (Marafiote 2004, p.3). Linguistic constructionists generally oppose the notion that an individual has a subjective character. According to this school of thought, subjectivity is perceived as an attainment of relationship. Thus, subjectivity is perceived as an action that emanates from the social and historical situations and relations in which an individual (as subject) encounters. In this context, subjectivity is not an expression of some aspects of the person, but is generated via an individual’s social relations that provide signs as to the type of behaviours and actions deemed suitable or anticipated in a given social environment (Salgado and Hermans, 2005, p.5). In nutshell, the notion and apparent existence of the rationality of subjectivity constitutes a social construct (Marafiote 2004, p.4). Subjectivity on the other han d implies describing individuals as mainly influenced by social relations and other discursive actions. With respect to the notion of inter-subjective interdependency, Gergen (1994) attempts to alleviate a prospective situating of individuals as resolute subjects who are scarcely more than the passive aggregation of their interactions (p.215). The concept of subjectivity is borrowed from theories postulated by other scholars such as Mead and Goffman (Gergen 1994, p. 216). Shotter (1993) presents a slightly different idea. His form of alienating from a resolute subjectivity mirrors Gergen’s ideas.Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Shotter defines what emerges as a concession: an individual’s social identity is determined by the position of the subject, for example, a citizen of Chicago, Mary’s son or the local Member of Parliament. These positions generate a se nse of self or an identity and as a result turn in to the foundation of a person’s social individuality- where an individual is recognized in terms of their relations with others (Shotter 1993, p.175). Agency is defined by McNamee and Gergen (1999) as â€Å"the figure of a lone individual whose intentions, plans, understanding and control over actions apparently take place in a world without others† (p.71). McNamee and Gergen thus describe human agency in terms of relational responsibility; one that takes place within relational dialogue and action. It entails behaviours that sustain and promote types of interchange from which beneficial action itself is realized (McNamee and Gergen, 1999, p.18). Thus, what is emphasized here is a definition of agency that gives credence to an individual whose actions and intentions occur in a world where other people are present (Marafiote 2004, p.5). In Balanda: My Year in Arnhem Land, Mary Ellen presents her subjective, personal acc ount of her experience in Arnhem Land. Balanda is a good example of the recent developments in non-fiction work where an outsider, usually journalists, plunges themselves in a situation of which they posses negligible prior knowledge. Other similar works include Helen Garner’s examination of the legal system in Joe Cinque’s Consolation and the First Stone. However, Balanda emerges as the most outstanding non-fictional work. As Ellen stresses in the book’s title, the author’s note and other parts of the book, Balanda is merely a subjective, personal account of her experience living in Aboriginal communities (Review of Balanda 2007, p.1). Balanda is a phrase used by Aboriginals to describe non-Aboriginal people living among them.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Subjectivity and Aspects of Contemporary Identity specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The phrase clearly describes non-natives as outsiders, and Ellen’s decision to use it as the title of her book reflects the general notion of how she and other non-natives she interacted with during her stay in the Aboriginal communities, remained outsiders to that community (Reed n.d., p.3). During her 14 months stay in Arnhem Land, Ellen experienced a strong feeling of otherness in the community. This is mirrored in the way she employs the phrase Balanda as the title of her book. Her sense of alienation is extended to the non-indigenous members of the community. She discovers that several white people in Arnhem Land practise their own sub-cultures. According to her, they belong to diverse tribes and scarcely drift out of them. Due to her relative alienation, Ellen states that she became cautious with everyone, including white people, attempting not to sound too green, too urban and too green. She also did not try to assume too much space of the land of Aboriginal people. Ellen was surprised by the prevalence of middl e-aged white people in the community as guardians of Whitlam self-determination policy. Initially, Ellen anticipated working with social-justice oriented individuals of her own age. She envisaged that the community would have plenty of upright young adults, who like her, were drawn to this place by social ethics. Ellen’s experience with these white guardians offers one of Balanda’s most elementary insights: this trivial establishment had promoted a dependency attitude that sustained their ranks among Aboriginal communities. In particular, she noted that the white members in these communities used training as a tool to validate their existence on the grounds that they would be rendered irrelevant once their jobs were filled by Aboriginal people. As a result, Ellen explains that they protected indigenous people from employment and bureaucratic obligations (Review of Balanda 2007, p.2). As she reflected on her linguistic project, Ellen noted that the involvement of white linguists rendered Aborigine’s self-determination process irrelevant. As a result, a harmful communal dependency grew between Aboriginal people and Balandas. Ellen explains that in spite of these intentions, both cultures experienced negligible crossovers.Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It appeared improbable that indigenous people would ever live like Balandas: become educated; get a 40 hour per week job; and supervise resources the Aboriginal way. Ellen’s subjectivity is depicted when she states that Aboriginals could not behave like Balandas because they were half humans, with no laws, religion, culture or basic understanding of what is important in life (Review of Balanda 2007, p.3). Ellen depicts the manner in which this dependency attitude is eked in the minds of Aboriginal people. She states that the natives made white settlers indispensable and had no plans to replace them from their administrative responsibilities. As she mounts her case, Ellen directs her attention on social issues such as alcohol abuse, over reliance on CDEP and domestic violence. The storyline trajectory she uses to describe these social issues stems from her life experience in Arnhem Land and the transformation in her attitude (subjectivity) on Aboriginal issues that takes place as a result. The strong and weak points of this book are illustrated by Ellen’s narrative strategy. At one point, she employs a subjective approach to drag readers along her down the rabbit hole encounters in Arnhem Land, although one can easily get bored as Ellen gives a detailed chronology of her daily activities in Arts Centre. To some degree, Ellen’s narrative approach enables her-as a relative stranger- to give a personal account on a number of social issues she comes across. There are also cases where she reveals her naivety regarding the same issues. For instance, when she visits Alice Springs on a field research trip, she is astonished to discover that some indigenous people are hired in influential positions in local organizations. This act reveals her lack of knowledge about the topography of Aboriginal affairs (Review of Balanda 2007, p.4). One of the painful points of Ellen’s experience in Arnhem Land occurs when she is scorned at for her outlooks a s a young woman, a southerner, and a foreigner. Ellen complains that her opinions are ignored although she had spent nearly one year in the community. She sarcastically describes the political system used in Aboriginal community, particularly on a person’s right to express his views. One other major observation about Ellen’s experience in Arnhem Land is the relational dimension that entails working with indigenous people. Normally, it requires dedication and time to create a relationship with Aboriginal people to be able to address social issues in the community. Ellen claims that she decided to leave Arnhem Land due to a sense of dejection regarding social issues such as domestic violence and alcohol abuse, in addition to the inability of the white community to take appropriate actions to improve Aboriginal lives. She connects her decision to leave the community to her criticism of the ability of the Balandas to maintain itself. Her subjectivity is manifested when she feels dejected by being unable to solve problems facing Aboriginals. She fails to realize that it is impossible for anyone, even her, to improve the wellbeing of the natives in less than one year (Review of Balanda 2007, p.6). Ultimately, Ellen employs caution while she explores the current status quo in Arnhem Land. She aspires to make both political and moral issues in rural Aboriginal communities more reachable to readers from a similar environment to herself. She is extremely cautious in foregrounding her subjective processes to avoid disparaging or romanticising the Aboriginal people she comes across. The main weakness in Balanda is Ellen’s lack of affinity with majority of indigenous and non-indigenous people in the community (Review of Balanda 2007, p.8). The major impression derived from this book is Ellen’s attempt to try to understand the community into which she encroaches and depicts herself as a well-meaning and socially dedicated Balanda from the south. However, only flickers of understanding materialize: to some levels, Ellen seems to acknowledge that she cannot make any lasting contribution. Her readers are also Balandas by implication because very little evidence exists to suggest that Ellen’s book is written for readers different from herself. Therefore, while Ellen recognizes her own opportunity and those enjoyed by other Balandas she interacts with in the community; this knowledge stays partials and does not include the question about her esteemed speaking position vis-à  -vis that of Balanda and the natives. She also fails to rise above the long-established Eurocentric perception that we need to help native people (Reed n.d., p.5). Ellen’s book is also quite suggestive at times; the title of her book Balanda is used to literally refer to the non-natives people in the community. The title is also used to describe Ellen and her encounters in the community as out of place, on a territory that she describes as Abo riginal. It also describes Ellen as a non-native because she is out of place, far away from Melbourne where she usually engages her friends in discourses about Aboriginal issues. Ellen’s position as a Balanda among the natives enables her to investigate the personal and philosophical issues that append to this position, as she discovers what it implies to be a Balanda. Ellen protracts the custom of positioning natives as being up north. This is shameful since her investigation of the exact connotation of being Balanda in Aboriginal community brought about some fascinating issues for discussions on cross cultural engagements (Reed n.d., p.6). Ellen is able to provide critical insights on self determination and her role (and white workers) which she describes as present day missionaries. However, she appears to have an affinity to extrapolate from her personal experiences, to a complete investigation of self-determination as unfeasible. This is a sweeping statement that differs from the experiences of scores of other Balandas living among native communities. Ellen fails to account the role of native people in successful implementation of self-determination programs among the indigenous communities. Therefore, self-determination is depicted as the dilemma, a dangerous sweeping statement in this ever rising conservative epoch. Ellen connects it to present discourses on welfare dependency and appears to regard the linkage as adequate in itself, devoid of any cross-examination of the utility of the Aboriginal dilemma (Reed n.d., p.7). Ellen describes social problems that are present in Aboriginal communities. These include domestic violence towards women, substance abuse by teenagers, illicit brews (grog) and institutionalized male aggression toward women. Readers are unable to understand how Aboriginal women in Australia struggle to define and present their personal responses to these issues. Ellen appears ignorant of the level to which the issue of speaking positions and domestic aggression towards Aboriginal women has been cross-examined. Also, the manner in which Balandas drink their illegal but secretly endorsed wines and spirits, which are delivered by the Darwin barge, reveals duplicity that encloses their being permitted. The consumption of grog by Balandas is exhibited as benign. This emphasize Ellen’s focus on drinking problem by Aborigines, which is utterly generalized, considering her fleeting denial of the typecast of the drunken no-hoper Aborigine as presented in the pages of her book (Reed n.d., p.8). Ellen feels literary out of place in indigenous communities. She later encounters a sexually threatening episode from Rodney, an Aboriginal man who demands sexual favours from her. Reader learn about this encounter when Ellen talks to Alice, one of her Balanda friends, about two Aboriginal men jailed, one for murdering his wife and the other for raping her own daughter. Ellen employs a subjective approach as she recou nts her encounter with Rodney. On one hand, she reveals her fear of every Aboriginal man she came across (because they all resembled Rodney). On the other hand, she feels embarrassed by her racist feeling. The book does not dwell further on Ellen’s fear of all Aboriginal male and what the encounter with Rodney reveals about her racist views. We learn later that Ellen experienced violence from her father which made her live in utter fear. However, she portrays her father’s violence as an isolated case while the Rodney’s case is perceived as a widespread problem connected to community-based hostility (Reed n.d., p.8). Ellen and her Balanda friends were invited to see an Aboriginal dancing ceremony. She saw some Aboriginal children taking drinks from bottles of Coke as they chatted in their language. Later on, she perceived this scene as a demonstration of all the problems experienced by the natives, the coke now seen as an emblem of the high prevalence of heart ai lments and diabetes, and drug abuse, resulting in premature deaths. The diverse analysis of this generalized scene mirrors the numerous ways in which Ellen’s views portrayed in Balanda stay quite dual, maybe as a result of the prevailing customs in Aboriginal communities where there is a clear line segregating Balandas and natives. Ellen states that segregation was brought about by foreignness because of the numerous dissimilarities between the natives and Balanda. This is aptly captured by Stuart Hall (1996) who notes that â€Å"identities are never unified and, in modern times, are increasingly fragmented and fractured† (p.4). As the book comes to an end, Ellen states that her one-year stay in Arnhem Land had altered her perception about the native. She explains further that she eventually viewed Aboriginals as human beings contrary to her earlier stereotypes of the spirituals perception. As she was departing, Ellen claims paradoxically that the Arnhem Land had made her feel at home because she turned into a better person living there. Ellen’s claims are nonetheless subjective because she was unable to find an apt way to summarize her stay in the community. Most of Ellen’s recounts are subjective and emerge from her personal point of view (Reed n.d., p.9). Reference Gergen, K. J. (1994) Realities and relationships: Soundings in social construction. Cambridge, Harvard University Press. Hall, S. (1996) Who needs ‘identity’? Questions of cultural identity. London, Sage Publishers. Marafiote, T. (2004) Selves, Subjects, and Agents: (Re) Positioning Agency with Self Identity and Subjectivity. Rocky Mountain Communication Review, 2, 1-17. McNamee, S., and Gergen, K. J. (1999) Relational responsibility: Resources for sustainable dialogue. London, Sage. Reed, L. (n.d.) Out of Place.  Retrieved from web Review of Balanda. (2007) Mary Ellen Jordan: My Year in Arnhem Land, Allen and Sydney, 2005. Available at:  https://elsew here.typepad.com/ . Salgado, J., and Hermans, J.M. (2005) The Return of Subjectivity: From a Multiplicity of Selves to the Dialogical Self. E-Journal of Applied Psychology, 1-13. Shotter, J. (1993) Cultural politics of everyday life: Social constructionism, rhetoric and knowing of the third kind. Toronto, University of Toronto Press. This essay on Subjectivity and Aspects of Contemporary Identity was written and submitted by user Bella M. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Writing Techniques To Improve Reading Comprehension

Writing Techniques To Improve Reading Comprehension Periodically, I watch episodes of the TV show â€Å"Numb3rs† on Netflix just to pretend that I’m a math genius. My friend and I have made an inside joke about one particular writing technique the show has used to help dull audience members like myself understand the math technique they are about to use. We mouth â€Å"It’s like†¦.† to each other whenever a character mentions some obscure math approach, and then we wait for the characters to launch into the illustration. Moving past the hilarity of that particular video on so many other levels, you can see how the writers of that show made the math geniuses spout off the math technique they were going to use and then follow immediately with a more understandable example the lay person could grasp. I appreciate these more understandable illustrations. How To Discover Awesome Writing Techniques That Will Improve Reading ComprehensionBranching Your Ideas The â€Å"what if† and â€Å"it’s like† writing techniques  are a kind of â€Å"branching† approach to both idea generation and reader understanding. Following an idea down a singular path is a way to get things done, but it’s not a way to generate future ideas or think creatively. For example, when I set out to write about content marketing game theory  for this blog (and was hopelessly out of my element, believe me), I decided to branch out in a couple of directions so that I could better understand the topic as a writer and, perhaps, better explain the topic to the reader. By branching my idea and asking â€Å"what if†, I managed to come up with two examples (â€Å"it’s like†) for readers. Only by branching and traveling down various paths to see where they might take me was I able to do this. Writers' block? Branch your ideas with 'what if' and 'it's like' #writing techniques.Some content marketers prefer to have one idea and shoot straight for the finish line; that’s perfectly acceptable. But others, like myself, enjoy the happy accidents that occur when you allow your ideas to branch. Don’t be afraid to branch out; you won’t be left out on a limb. (rimshot) Recommended Posts  To Improve Reading Comprehension: 5 Teaching Theories That Will Improve Your Educational Content Marketing How To Use The Best Content Types To Boost Reader Learning How To Communicate Effectively With Your Blog Readers To Keep Them Reading Using â€Å"What If† To Generate Ideas The â€Å"what if† writing technique is usually something used by fiction writers to help them develop characters and plot, but it can still be helpful in a slightly different version for content marketers. Let’s use that game theory post of mine as an example. As I researched the topic more and more, the idea of a tree came to mind. What if I approached this as if it were a tree?  I wondered. I was struggling to understand the topic in a way that allowed me to explain it, but the tree idea seemed to have promise. Then I set about to talk about matrices and competitors. What if I used â€Å"The Fugitive† as an example?  It was a popular movie and seemed to fit perfectly. There were a few other â€Å"what if† approaches that led to dead ends, but by the time I finished with these two, I understood much better what I wanted to say in the rest of the post. Here are a few â€Å"what if† approaches you could use when writing blog posts. You can see they are much more than just about finding ideas, but also about the order and structure of the actual post, too. What if (I): Put the conclusion at the beginning? Used a recent hit movie as the foundation for this post? Played the devil’s advocate until the final conclusion? Said the exact opposite of what is expected/I believe? What was true was not true? Used a different search engine/resource? Learned how it was done five years ago? My blog could speak for itself?What if you played the devil's advocate until the final conclusion of your post?Sometimes silly questions lead to fresh ways of thinking about a common thing, even if the answer to the question itself is irrelevant to the branch you ultimately end up on. The â€Å"what if† writing technique is definitely part of your brainstorming toolbox  when it comes to finding ideas. It helps you write beyond the typical boundary and find research you otherwise wouldn’t have considered looking for. Using â€Å"It’s Like† To Explain Ideas Using the â€Å"it’s like† writing technique will help you do three crucial things with your content: Understanding:  Obviously, the â€Å"it’s like† approach helps your reader understand an idea in a different way. It’s a classic method teachers use. Hook:  The â€Å"it’s like† technique can also grab your reader’s attention if you approach this method with a certain level of non-conformity and use comparisons the reader doesn’t expect. Convince:  When you’re selling a new idea or product that is unfamiliar to your audience, there’s a barrier you need to overcome. Using â€Å"it’s like† and explaining it as something familiar helps reduce that barrier  and make it easier for a reader to buy into what you have to say. But first: If there’s one thing you don’t want to do on social media, it’s misuse the words â€Å"metaphor† and â€Å"simile†; the grammar police will correct you. Metaphors simply make a comparison, while similes use the words â€Å"like† or â€Å"as† to compare things. For example: I tend to think of metaphors as all about making a strong statement with language (it’s not  like  something, it is  something), while similes are all about helping readers understand a bit more gently. Using â€Å"it’s like† is the simile approach to explanation, though you are taking it a bit further than a simple simile comparison most of the time. If you’re following the lead of the writers in the show â€Å"Numb3rs†, you are looking for an in-depth explanation that matches ounce for ounce the concept you want your reader to comprehend  in their own terms. You are looking for an analogy. Similes can spice up your copy and create a playful collection of words that pique a reader’s interest, but analogy is the true workhorse of the â€Å"it’s like† writing technique, a kind of extended version of a simile. When creating analogies, remember: Your audience matters.  Analogies work best when you use an example that your audience understands. I could use a variety of farming analogies that I know from growing up on a farm, but most of the readers of this blog aren’t farmers. That kind of analogy won’t help at all. Knowing what experiences your audience will identify with is crucial when choosing a simile or analogy. To make things better.  Not all complicated topics need an analogy; some just need to be clearly discussed. Analogies work best when a topic is so far out of the range of your audience, either through lack of knowledge or because they’ve never experienced it, that the only way to make the concept resonate is to repackage it with the familiar. Sometimes I write analogies and then eventually edit them out and the reader never sees them. Yet by writing that analogy, I helped myself understand the topic better and was able to explain it better without the addition of an analogy. To shed light on the larger concept.  Some topics are better served simply by breaking them down into bite-sized chunks than through analogy. You would better understand the process of changing the oil in a car if I explained the actual process step-by-step rather than me saying, â€Å"It’s like cleaning files off your hard drive.† Analogy is less useful in teaching step-by-step instruction (i.e. how to specifically change the oil in your car) and more useful in teaching the larger idea that those step-by-step instructions make sense in (i.e. you need to change the oil because your engine will be ruined if you don’t). That less is more.  Use one or two analogies, but don’t use too many more. Lots of analogies make things more confusing and actually dampen the power they might have if you used them more sparingly. Consider what you absolutely want your reader to take from your content, which topic is difficult or unfamiliar, and use your analogies for that. You don’t leave your audience with the analogy.  Once you’ve explained a concept through an analogy and your audience understands the underlying fundamentals, you should go back and reiterate what you wanted them to understand in the first place, drawing direct comparisons between the analogy again if needed, so they understand the actual topic and  the analogy. Recommended Posts  To Improve Reading Comprehension: Are You Making These 5 Assumptions About Your Audience? 4 Lessons From Psychology That Will Help You Grow Your Blog Analogies are all about helping your audience experience a moment of Gestalt, where they finally â€Å"get† the bigger picture of something that was confusing before. So, how do you find the perfect analogy? Figure out what the main point is.  Ask yourself what the most important thing is that you want your reader to understand about your topic. There is a lot they could understand, but what is the most important concept that you need them to take away in order to understand the rest of what you have to say? You could probably compare just about anything to everything, but you need to find something that gets a specific point across. Life is like a box of chocolate, is like a beach, is like an oyster, is like anything at all- but what is it you’re trying to say about life? Keep it mostly (but not too) familiar. As I mentioned above, your audience has to be familiar with the analogy you are about to use or they won’t understand it, either. However, by choosing or using a scenario that is slightly surprising, you’ll keep them interested in reading. We’re all pretty used to the â€Å"life is like a box of chocolates† saying by now, but when it first came out with the movie â€Å"Forrest Gump†, it was very novel and new. People wondered â€Å"how in the world could life be like candy?† and it made them read on. In the book Surfaces and Essences: Analogy as the Fuel and Fire of Thinking, author Douglas Hofstadter referred to boring analogies as â€Å"banalogies.† Generally, the first analogy you come up with is not the one. Go nuts and think of two or three or ten or twenty, and then choose from your list. Turn the distasteful into something good.  A great analogy not only explains a concept to help your reader understand, but it can also help them understand something differently. An idea that isn’t appealing from one angle can, with the help of an analogy, look a lot better from a different angle. For example, I’ve gone on record  stating that I’m not much of a salesperson. A few years back, though, I was reading a book on selling art which used an analogy to help me see sales differently. Instead of it being an exchange of money for goods or services (which it is, technically, and which seems tawdry at times), the author illustrated how sales is also problem solving (for the customer), an exercise in creativity (finding a market that fits the product), and so on. Through analogy, I was able to see things from a different viewpoint. Maintain your desired focus.  Analogies can get out of control. If you use sailing as an analogy, for an example, remember what your main point is and keep to it. Avoid veering off into using every aspect of sailing- ropes! knots! wind! boom! tacking!- and stick to just the parts of the analogy that will sell your main point the best. An analogy isn’t an anecdote; it’s a highly persuasive tool that can make the unfamiliar into something familiar. Maintain focus if you want the tool to work. Don’t forget the visual.  Depending on the content you are creating (e.g. written vs. spoken), you may find a visual helpful as your analogy, or alongside your analogy. In the â€Å"Numb3rs† clip, the imagery of the boats helps illustrate what the actress is saying. We visual learners appreciate it! For Fun:Which of the following similes would you love to see expanded into analogy? Why do some stand out for you and not others? Which ones make you curious enough to keep reading? Which could be used to clarify a particular aspect of content marketing? Run with them in the comments if you’d like to take a crack at it.Content marketing is†¦ Like a box of old pencils. A  camera without film. Like a movie without credits. Like a buoy in the Pacific Ocean. What happens when polar bears meet penguins. Superman with an extra cape. Superman without a cape.

Basic Water Conservation in California and discover a way conserving Essay

Basic Water Conservation in California and discover a way conserving water can save energy - Essay Example Its primary aim is to educate the people about various ways of saving this natural resource; only with little alterations in lifestyle, this goal can easily be achieved. (CALIFORNIA'S WATER: A CRISIS WE CAN'T IGNORE, September 2007) Water supply in California has been severely reduced in recent years thus affecting the common people and business farms in Central, Northern and Southern California. In August 2007, water supplies from two large water delivery systems were cut in order to protect endangered fish species. Delta, the natural estuary, which waters about 2.5 million acres of farmland and 25 million Californians, is experiencing ecological crisis, thereby threatening the environment as well as the people of the state. Already, the growing water uncertainties and reduced water supplies are forcing the farmers to stop cultivation in some prime agricultural lands in the state; in turn, it is affecting the important industries of the state. Moreover, there is a possibility that the aging of Delta levees might also cripple the water deliveries in California for a long period. Rapid growth of California's population is a threat, as there has been no significant improvement in the delivery system as well as th e water storage system of the state. The water reserves of the state are relatively low and might not be able to meet up to the public demand, if there is disruption in the water delivery system of the state. Climatic changes in this zone are also an important factor for the growing concern of water conservation. The state has experienced severe drought conditions over the years and the year 2007 has been a record dry year in some of the regions in California. The changes in the climatic condition are also reducing mountain snow pack, which is an important source of natural water storage. Due to this condition, Californians might experience severe floods and long droughts in future. (CALIFORNIA'S WATER: A CRISIS WE CAN'T IGNORE, September 2007) Water Conservation Techniques (Tommy Foley, n.d.) Irrigated Agriculture of California Owing to the Mediterranean climate and unique geographical features, California has become a productive agricultural region in whole world. Sierra Nevada mountain range situated at the eastern border of California captures and stores the winter rainfall that can be used for irrigation during summer months. This water storage along with Mediterranean climate is favorable for the growth of a large variety of crops. Growing awareness of the environmental requirements of water along with population growth has compelled California agriculture to use water efficiently so that more amount of water is available for environmental and urban uses. Several management strategies and