Analysis of Zora Neale Hurston’s Spunk Essay

Zora Neale Hurston’s use of language in her short story Spunk allows the reader to become part of the community in which this story takes place. The story is told from the point of view of the characters, and Hurston writes the dialogue in their broken English dialect. Although the language is somewhat difficult to understand initially, it adds to the mystique of the story. Spunk is a story about a man that steals another man’s wife, kills the woman’s husband and then he ends up dying from an accident at the saw mill. Spunk believed that it was Lena’s husband, Joe Kanty, who shoved him into the circular saw, and the people in the village agreed that Joe Kanty had come back to get revenge. The language used by the characters helps to establish the setting of the story and gives the reader an understanding of why voodoo is a plausible explanation for the outcome. â€Å"Looka theah folkses!† is what Elijah Mosley states to the others in the store. This is the first indication that the characters in this short story are not the most educated, and are probably from some small backwoods town. We quickly get confirmation of this when we learn that he is alerting them that Spunk Banks, a giant, brown-skinned man, â€Å"who aint skeered of nothin’ on God’s green footstool†, is sauntering up the one street in the village, with a small pretty woman clinging lovingly to his arm. Clearly, the store is where people hang out, and everyone knows that the woman with Spunk is Lena Kanty, Joe’s wife. Coming from a large city, I would not expect everyone to know each other, so seeing a couple walking down the street would not be significant to me. In this context however, I understand that something is not right and trouble is coming. When Joe walked in to the store, the talking ceased; the men looked at each other and winked. â€Å"Say, Joe, how’s everything up yo’ way? How’s yo’ wife?† asked Elijah. Spoken like a friend, but it is clear that he is trying to start some mess. â€Å"Aw â€Å"Lige, you oughtn’t to do nothin’ like that† Walter grumbled. This dialogue makes the conflict between Spunk and Joe very clear. Not only does Joe know that his wife is going out with Spunk, but everybody in the town knows. This is a brilliant way to draw the reader into the story; we feel bad for Joe. His pride is at stake and he has no alternative but to take some action against Spunk. Joe knows that his razor is no match for Spunk’s gun, but his back is against the wall. He is the laughing stock of the town because Spunk has made a fool of him. â€Å"Well,† Spunk announced calmly, â€Å"Joe come out there wid  a meatax an’ made me kill him.† The men glared at Elijah, accusingly. His words had pushed Joe to do something and Spunk had killed him. Now that Joe was dead, the expectation would be for Spunk and Lena to move forward with their relationship. â€Å"Joe’s death was a clear case of self defense, the trial was a short one, and Spunk walked out of the court house to freedom again†. Spunk was free, but now the excitement begins. Zora Neale Hurston uses symbolism to introduce the reader to the world of voodoo. Hurston had visited Haiti and Jamaica in the 1930s and had become very interested in the practice of voodoo. Elijah tells us in the story that Spunk sees a black bob-cat that â€Å"looked him in the eye, an’ howled right at him†. The thing got Spunk so nervoused up he couldn’t shoot. Spunk says it was Joe done sneaked back from Hell!† Later in the story, Elijah tells us that Spunk dies from being cut by the saw and Spunk believed that Joe had pushed him in the back. Elijah believed it too. Revenge is a powerful emotion and in this story, it is the best explanation for Spunk’s death. Based on the dynamics of the town, everyone believed it to be possible that Joe caused Spunk’s death. Because they believed it, I believed it. It is their world. Zora Neal Hurston was criticized by other African American writers for her use of dialect and folk speech. Richard Wright was one of her harshest critics and likened Hurston’s technique â€Å"to that of a minstrel show designed to appease a white audience† (www.pbs.org).Given the time frame, the Harlem Renaissance, it is understandable that Zora Neale Hurston may be criticized. The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement which redefined how America, and the world, viewed African Americans, so her folk speech could be seen as perpetuating main stream society’s view of African Americans as ignorant and incapable of speaking in complete sentences. However, others, such as philosopher and critic Alain Locke, praised her. He considered Hurston’s â€Å"gift for poetic phrase and rare dialect, a welcome replacement for so much faulty local color fiction about Negroes† (www.pbs.org). The language in this short story allowed the reader to enter this community and gain an understanding of their world.

Behavioural based safety strategy

Abstract Behavioural Based Safety, or BBS, has become a topic of substantial debate as the issue has been linked to performance.This dissertation examines the modern development of the BBS philosophy in order to determine the strengths and weaknesses inherent in the concept. The evidence presented illustrates 1 Introduction1.1 BackgroundEmployee injuries have significant impact on organisations as a whole; for example, reputation, stakeholder expectations, financial implications and legislative (Orr, 2008). Organisations therefore have to look increasingly at more effective measures to control or eradicate such events. To this end historically many organisations have looked to the development and implementation of formal safety management systems in order to address this issue. Safety management systems are a formal and prescribed means of managing organisational safety and improving performance (Agnew et al, 2012). The safety management systems currently implemented within organisations generally are centred on policies, procedures, objectives, processes such as risk assessment, hazard identification the use of various safety tools such as JSA’s and the wearing of personal protective equipment, or PPE, and focus on measuring compliance against key targets and objectives. This diss ertation examines how Behaviour Based Safety, or BBS, aids in the drive to prevent accidents and boost overall employee development (Lebbon, Sigurdsson and Austin, 2012). Qatar holds the position of second smallest country in the Arabian Peninsula after the island state of Bahrain. Qatar’s population currently stands at 2.04 million of Development Planning and Statistics, 94 per cent of which are foreign nationals (Qsa.gov.qa., 2014). Of this 94 per cent the majority is low-paid migrant workers. This number is expected to rise significantly in the coming years primarily due to the coming 2020 World Cup and the need for an influx of foreign labour for the booming construction requirement associated with it (Qsa.gov.qa., 2014). These migrant workers will primarily work on critical construction projects, drastically increasing the need for an effective safety program to be in place. The country has grown in a record breaking manner in the last ten years, to become the world†™s highest per capita GDP National (Fromherz, 2013). This achievement is primarily based on the vast resources of oil and gas discovered in the country. As a consequence of this discovery, construction of mega production plants has been the main focus of development in the country. This level of construction indicates an influx of safety challenges requiring an up to date and efficient method of implementation. These projects have historically required vast numbers of multi-cultural and diverse workforces, coming from different parts of the world (Orr, 2008). This being the case there are many challenges and great difficulties in bringing about a consciousness of safe work practices and in instilling a positive safety culture (Fromherz, 2013). The recognition of the need for workplace safety publicly materialized in the work of Mr Heinrich, an Assistant Superintendent of the Engineering and Inspection Division of Travellers Insurance Company during the 1930’s and 1940â€⠄¢s (Heinrich, 1959). His position required an investigation into the high and rising rate of supervisor accident reports during the period .This report revolutionized the working world by concluding that 88% of industrial accidents were primarily caused by unsafe, possibly preventable acts (Heinrich, 1959). This transformative moment in safety strategy motivated an entire industry to introduce reform (Fogarty and Shaw, 2010). Prior to these period witnessed steadily decreasing standards of working conditions that led to the need to reform the system. Heinrich (1959) subsequently published his first book in 1931; Industrial Accident Prevention: A Scientific Approach, laying out a more systematic approach to the study of accident data. This indication of a willingness to embrace change was tempered by the overwhelming capacity that big business interests had to keep costs low, creating a volatile safety environment. The modern era has maintained that safety is significant concern for companies, often requiring a considerable fraction of their overall revenue stream (Fromherz, 2013). This drive to increase performance and reduce injury has resulted in many companies showing excellent improvement in the area of safety performance, thereby reducing cost and increasing productivity. The rationale for this research rests on assessing the potential for improvement of HSE performance in the Oil and Gas sector, specifically in the Middle East; through a means of behavioural based safety. The intention of the study is to establish the appropriateness of this hypothesis, whether as a process to be used as a standalone mechanism, or additionally, for the augmentation of an existing HSE management system. Behaviour based safety concept, or BBS, has been considered in industry worldwide for around a decade as a means to achieve a positive safety culture and an improved organizational safety performance (Mohr, 2011). An organisation’s culture can be as influential in achieving good safety results as a safety management system. The positive or negative safety culture of an organisation is directly linked to human factors and the positive behaviour of its workforce (Mohr, 2011). According to Books (1999), the largest influences on safety culture are; 1) the style and management commitment; 2) the involvement of employees; 3)training and competence; 4)ability to communicate at all levels; 5) compliance with procedures; and 6)organisational learning. The current research has affiliation with an earlier study conducted as part of the Post Graduate Diploma award (Turner, 2013). The subject of the previous research was â€Å"Safety Culture or Climate: An Appraisal of Perceptions and Scale†. This research sought to measure the health and safety, culture and climate of the researcher’s employer organisation. In this case the researcher determined that there was evidence of a positive safety culture within the XXXX Group of companies. Howeve r, this research also illustrated that this positive safety culture has not entirely achieved the expected and desired outcome of zero harm to people. All these factors in themselves do not prevent injuries from continuing to occur within the organisation. The previous study and current research focuses on the Middle East region. In particular to the varying needs and challenges faced by operations based in the region; specifically those that require the engagement of personnel from a vast array of differing backgrounds and cultures and how the principles of behavioural based safety may effectively be used to influence this specific workgroup. To facilitate understanding, it is also important to outline the distinctiveness of the location, (Qatar), the demographics of the workgroup, and the difficulties and challenges related to the management of such a work group within a safe work environment. Based on the above reasoning this affords the researcher the ideal incentive to both add ress the topic as an area of research for the required dissertation element in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Postgraduate MSc Degree in Health, Safety & Risk Management and to make recommendations that will enable XXXX Group to continue its safety culture development journey; that is, towards a more safety aware, proactive and empowered workforce; ultimately leading to an overall improvement in the safety performance results attained1.2 Aims & ObjectivesThis dissertation research focuses on the potential for improvement of HSE performance in the Oil and Gas sector, specifically in the Middle East; through a means of behavioural based safety. It is evident from recent research that traditional methods of safety management, such as safety management systems and risk assessments, do not wholly protect employees from incidents and injuries, as such organisations are looking for an alternative approach to improve performance and eradicate injury from the workplace, there fore the aim of this project is The following aim has been developed in order to meet this goal of this research: Critically evaluate existing research into behavioural based health and safety strategies, programmes and model with a view to identify a best practice model for future implementation. Objectives: The objectives of the research are as follows: 1) To critically analyse available literature and research studies pertaining to behavioural based health and safety. 2) To ascertain employee perceptions. 3) To identify best practices and success rates of behavioural based safety programmes. 4) To evaluate performance improvement. 5) Determine an appropriate behavioural approach for Labour safety in Qatar. 1.3 Research Questions In order to fully develop this dissertation the following questions will be considered by this research: 1) What is behavioural based safety and how does it impact Qatar? 2) Which elements of the behavioural based safety process are suited for Qatar? 3) What is the best method of behavioural based safety implementation for Qatar? 4) How to assess behavioural based safety effectiveness in the workplace?1.4 Scope of this researchThis research examines safety perception and behavioural application from 2000 until 2014 in order to ascertain the best possible elemen ts for future implementation. With a national focus on Qatar this research incorporates studies conducted in similar environments and conditions internationally in order to gain insight for these research objectives.1.5 Structure of the DissertationThis dissertation will consist of an Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology and Analysis, followed by Discussion/Conclusion. 2 Literature review 2.1 Overview â€Å"BBS is about everyone’s behaviour, not just the frontline† (Agnew & Ashworth, 2012:1). 3 Methodology / Analysis 4 Discussion/Conclusion 5 References Agnew, J. 2012. Behaviour based Safety. Performance management magazine, 1 (1), p. 1. Books, H. 2009. Reducing error and influencing behaviour. New York, NY. Fogarty, G. J. and Shaw, A. 2010. Safety climate and the Theory of Planned Behaviour: Towards the prediction of unsafe behaviour. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 42 (5), pp. 1455–1459. Fromherz, A. J. 2013. Qatar: Politics and the Challenges of Development by Matthew Gray (review). The Middle East Journal, 67 (4), pp. 649–651. Greene-Roesel, R., Washington, S., Weir, M., Bhatia, R., Hague, M., Wimple, B. 2013. Benefit cost analysis applied to behavioural and engineering safety countermeasures in San Francisco, California. Heinrich, H. W. 1959. Industrial accident prevention. New York: McGraw-Hill. Santos-Reyes, J. and Beard, A. N. 2002. Assessing safety management systems. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 15 (2), pp. 77–95. Lebbon, A., Sigurdsson, S. O. and Austin, J. 2012. Behavioural Safety in the Food Services Industry: Challenges and Outcomes. Journal of Organizational Behaviour Management, 32 (1), pp. 44–57. Mehta, RK. & Agnew, MJ. 2013. Exertion-dependent effects of physical and mental workload on physiological outcomes and task performance. The IIE Transactions on Occupational Ergonomics and Human Factors, 1(1), 3-5. Mohr, D. P. 2011. Fostering sustainable behaviour. Gabriola, B.C.: New Society Publishers. Orr, T. 2008. Qatar. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark. Qsa.gov.qa. 2014. . Welcome to Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics-Statistics sector website :.. [online] Available at: http://www.qsa.gov.qa/eng/index.htm [Accessed: 27 Mar 2014].

Would it be conceivable for all nations to agree upon and ratify a Essay

Would it be conceivable for all nations to agree upon and ratify a comprehensive code to govern international trade in the not too distant future Examine all a - Essay Example ed from all countries around the world (with no differentiations suggested) is a quite challenging task; each country within the international community has its own priorities and interests and the satisfaction of all these interests around the world is not feasible. As an example, referring especially to the issue of ethics in businesses worldwide, it has been proved that ‘cultural differences often limit the effectiveness of a uniform international code of ethics because they create a lack of consensus within a profession as to what constitutes acceptable behaviour’ (Vanasco, 1994, 12). In other areas also the development of a text that will be accepted by all participants (referring to the trade transactions globally) is not easy to be achieved. However, intensive efforts have been made by states internationally in order to develop a code of international trade that will be acceptable by all countries around the world (no matter their social, political or cultural cha racteristics). The potential feasibility of the above target is examined in this paper referring to similar efforts made between specific states within the international community. Moreover, the terms of success of these efforts are being examined trying to identify the key elements of applicability of the relevant plans either in the short or the long term. The leaders of states have been proved to have a critical role in the success of these projects; however other criteria, like the position of the countries globally (in political and financial terms) as well as its power to support its policies have been found to have a role in the success of these plans internationally. International trade has many different aspects. Its effects on the economy of each country globally can be significant. For this reason, in the literature and the empirical research the potential chances for success of relevant schemes (based on a code applied internationally) have been extensively examined. In order to

Role of IT in today's business Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Role of IT in today's business - Term Paper Example In addition, by implementing information technology into their business the corporations have better options for managing their business activities. This paper will outline different aspects of information technology. The basic aim of this research is to examine the impacts of information technology on businesses. Role of IT in Today’s Business Improving business efficiency is the term that can be utilized to describe the scope of information technology role in today’s business. Additionally, at the present, competition in the fast growing trade circumstances requires timeline for people to analyze and implement advance distributing information and knowledge which comes in a more rapid manner than ever before. In addition, it is a key fact that technology plays a crucial role in today's business setting. Seeing that a lot of companies at the present significantly rely on computer machines and software that are valuable for them to provide precise information for their b usiness, to mange them properly. Moreover, IT role in business today has become ever more necessary for all businesses to slot in information technology related solutions to manage them in a successful way. In this scenario, one major aspect that several organizations have adopted IT infrastructure on a large scale by implementing the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems in order to carry out their business transaction, business hosting, marketing and data processing requirements (Bae and Ashcroft; Turban, Leidner and McLean). Majority of businesses today seem to be a balanced flow of knowledge that is available for some organizations that implement information technology inside the business. Additionally, the constant up gradation of IT sector is gradually developing and it results in strong impact on business applications that has changed considerably from the time when the IT enabled organizations were often considered as data processing. Today, in several industries, IT pr ovides such services, which are useful for some businesses to make them more eminent than their competitors in local or international market. In addition, successful managers of companies or corporations examine information technology like a strategic business enabler or as a substitute of an expenditure center; furthermore work for maximal competence and effectiveness of their IT operations. As a result, they can focus on their resources on providing worth to the business and quick reaction to today’s environment of swiftly varying business conditions (TechNet; Turban, Leidner and McLean). The Changing Role of IT in Today's Business Climate At the present, business competitors must make sure that no matter whatever funds they allocate and what investments they formulate are paid incrementally. As a result, in this perspective, capitulate from an IT asset or investment desires to be pretty quick. Additionally, the advancements in information technology have allowed the busine ss society to create a passion with the scope of risk management that various IT executives are finding it to be challenging and difficult to adopt devoid of some external help. In this scenario, partnerships with IT services companies would result in better productivity, global competition, organizational network structures, reduction in the expenditure of failures that are expected and healthy growth rates

Reflective writing#2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reflective writing#2 - Essay Example During that time, I knew that she wrote the name of her crush at the back of her Bible. It was also during that time that I did something unforgivable to her as her best friend. What I did was I went and opened my big, attention-deficient mouth and told our classmates that my best friend wrote the name of her crush at the back of her Bible. And since we were in elementary then, it was only natural that my classmates would be curious about the identity of that person. They all started borrowing her Bible just to see the name written at the back. At first, she didn't know why people started borrowing her Bible. Eventually, though, she did find out the reason. Needless to say, my best friend got very angry at me, then. It was the first time that a friend, a best friend, of mine got that angry at me. She didn't talk to me for a long time, even after I apologized, and I didn't know what to do since I knew I was the one at fault. But after some time, though, I think she forgave me. We were on speaking terms again, but our relationship was never the same. I had a harder time relating to her because I always thought that she was still mad at me. My guilt, even when I was that young, ate me alive. That memory is one of my most unforgettable ones and, until now, serves as the setting in which I learned two lessons which for me are very important. The first is being careful of what I allow to get out of my mouth and the second is the importance of a best friend. One who reads this might wonder how it is possible for an elementary kid to learn such seemingly grown-up truths. Actually, I would have to admit that I didn't really realize those two until the latter part of my high school years. I'm not saying that it is impossible for a 3rd grader to realize something like that, either. In contrast, I think it is young children that are most able to believe in friendship and its importance. But going back, the first lesson that I learned, which is being careful of the things I say, is something I realized recently that I have to take more seriously again. Sure, ever since that time, I have been careful to keep my mouth shut, especially with secrets. But recently, I noticed that I've been partially going back to my old ways, which is getting attention by giving information. You know, you say things that would interest people so that you can keep their attention. Also, I have started to say semi-mean things to people as a joke. It might not seem to affect them, but I know that such words do have an effect on them. Who knows, they might dismiss the words now, but in the future, when a time comes when they're feeling down or depressed, the words I uttered might come back to haunt them. The mind, after all, is one huge storage database. It is not just an issue of karma which people say goes around, nor is it a case of reaping what one sows, although, now that I think about it, it may be a bit of the latter. But being careful of what I say is one of the ways I can help, build up or destroy the people around me. As I heard somewhere, words are powerful. Actually, the mouth with its words is probably the one most capable of inflicting a wound that would take years to heal. I remember an instance years ago when my father left to go with my mom to her hometown. While he was gone, his brother went by our house to visit. I've already forgotten

Why Video Games Matter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Why Video Games Matter - Essay Example He does this for several days, showing how addicted he is to video games. Nonetheless, in this excerpt, he addresses the relevance of video games, based on his personal experiences. In this excerpt, Blissel specifically talks about the video game Fallout 3 produced by Bethesda in 2008. To show how addictive video games can get, Blissel begins explaining the circumstances around his playing of Fallout 3. In his case, Blissel remembers nostalgically, how he missed to follow the happenings involving one of the most important events in the history of United States. While people were glued on their screens, watching CNN and other authoritative television channels for the election and swearing in of the first black president in the history of United States, Blissel was busy playing Fallout 3. Even though he had planned to play this for only a few hours before he would watch CNN, the game got interesting, and he spent more hours than expected, thus, missing the important historical event (B lissel 349-350). Even though Blissel clearly reveals that video games can be addictive, he goes ahead to defend this art form with a lot of passion. It is true, we are in a generation of gaming, and most people, including children, young people, and even adults will confess their love for video games. Although Blissel tends to criticize video games in this excerpt, he again believes that these can get even better. He thinks of video games as frustrating, in the way one has to kill characters and watch them die: â€Å"I killed his mother, and then everyone else. . .allowing your decisions to establish for your character identity as a skull-crushing monster. . .these pretensions to morality suddenly bored me† (Blissel 358). At the same time, he gives credit to video games, for being dazzling. This is in the way he thinks video games have a storyline. This is what makes him prefer to play video games than watch a film or read a novel. Although a novel has a storyline too, one mi ght not be able to concentrate on it for a few more hours like they can do with video games. Blissel thinks films do not have a storyline in the same way as video games. What makes video games appealing to Blissel is the fact that the player of the game is the one in control; therefore, it can never get boring. Apart from this, Blissel thinks playing video games creates another world for a person. They can escape the real world life, and get into another world, which they create themselves while playing video games. Blissel justifies this with his depressing moments when he would get a break by playing video games. Nonetheless, this excerpt describes in detail, Blissel’s descent into the world of Fallout 3, a video game, which has themes that are a reflection of his own compulsions that are self-destructive (Blissel 353-5). In this excerpt, Blissel generally discusses the relevance and importance of video games in people’s social lives. He as well defends video games f rom those biased against them. However, Blissel’s stand with regard to the importance of video games in the cultural aspect is quite ambivalent. Here, he compares video games to the traditional art forms such as novels and films. Comparison shows both the negative and positive sides of video games. Nonetheless, what comes out is that video games, to a larger extent, show a greater degree of incompatibility with the traditional art forms. Blissel purpose is quite clear in this excerpt. He aims at showing the importance of video games in society. This however, ends up in a two-sided argument, as one cannot establish whether video games are good or

Most Effective Promotional Tools to Attract Customers Essay

Most Effective Promotional Tools to Attract Customers - Essay Example The systematic way of communicating marketing function to the target audience in order to influence their behavior towards a product and taking competitive advantage is known as promotion (Koekemoer 2004). The promotional tools are very important in industries where competition is tough and these tools helps the organizations to maintain their market share by increasing the sales volume (Perreault 2000). In leisure industry, it is very important to determine appropriate promotional tool that can help the organization to increase the customer satisfaction and increase its revenue therefore, this paper will evaluate the promotional tools that are most effective for Virgin holidays. Company Profile â€Å"Virgin holidays† is part of virgin group and this leisure company is one of the largest tour operator companies of UK, established since 1985 (Virgin 2012). Apart from USA and Caribbean, it offers holidays to different parts of the world including Middle East, South Africa, Canad a, Australia, Mauritius, and Far East. On average, the company runs 16 marketing campaigns per year in which different promotions are performed in summer, fall, and winter seasons (Virgin 2012). There are also monthly marketing campaigns in which the company, for increasing the overall revenue targets different segments (Virgin 2012). The promotional tools that Virgin Holidays is using to attract customers are Sales promotion, Advertising and Publicity. Research Objective The purpose of this research is to determine the promotional tool that is most effective to attract customers of Virgin Holiday. Research questions Q1. What types of promotional tools are most effective for attracting customers of Virgin Holidays? Q2. What is the importance of determining appropriate promotional tool for leisure industry? Significance of the Proposed Research Work The proposed research work is significantly important for the organizations of UK because this research will enable organizations to und erstand effectiveness of promotional tools in increasing their overall profitability. In this way, organizations will be able to implement appropriate promotional tools in their marketing strategy, which not only help to improve their profits, but increasing consumer loyalty for the product. In addition to the context of UK organizations, there is lack of research work for the effective of promotional tools in leisure industry. Therefore, this research will serve as important studies towards understanding the effectiveness of promotional tools. Scope of the Proposed Study The scope of this research will be limited to exploring the promotional tools used by Virgin Holidays for marketing, and their effectiveness for the company. No other factors will be explored or tested apart from these in the studies and it is important to mention here that the analysis and discussion in light of the proposed research aim will be limited to the skills and ability of the researcher. Structure of the Report This research report is divided into five chapters, which are as follows: Chapter – 01: Introduction The starting chapter of this report will discuss the background related to the topic and problems that are responsible for conducting this research. Apart from this, the chapter presents the aim, objectives and questions that will be addressed in this

Intercultural communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Intercultural communication - Essay Example 465). Hall’s High and Low Context Cultural Taxonomy - is a cultural framework by Edward Hall that focuses how an individual attributes meaning to their manner of communication. Low-context communication is putting ideas into words, while high-context communication is implicitly placing meaning to words (Clausen 53). Hofstede’s Cultural Taxonomy - is composed of five dimensions, which include power distance, individualism/collectivism, masculinity/femininity, uncertainty avoidance, and Confucian dynamism. These dimensions are reflected by cultures which are also represented in the business environment. Power distance is considered as high in Latin America, wherein those who are less powerful accept the decisions of those in power (â€Å"National Cultures†). Schwartz’s Cultural Taxonomy - is composed of seven cultural values that can account for culture; these are conservation, hierarchy, intellectual autonomy, affective autonomy, competency, harmony, and egalitarian compromise. For example, in the light of intellectual autonomy, a person is given the full privileged and freedom in order to pursue or achieve his or her intellectual goals (Gouveia and Ros 26). The GLOBE Cultural Taxonomy - is a global project that uses nine cultural variables, in order to encapsulate the relationship between effective leadership and organizational cultures. The cultural variables are power distance, in-group collectivism, institutional collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, future orientation, gender egalitarianism assertiveness, humane orientation, and performance orientation (Javidan, et al. 62). Globalization has paved its way in influencing the economic, political, and social aspect of a state. With this, the establishment and maintenance of the identity of an individual has also been influenced by globalization. Also, identity is

Should the War on Drugs end Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Should the War on Drugs end - Essay Example They consider that the usage of drugs should be legalized in order to reduce the ratio of drug employment by the masses of America. According to William F. Buckley in his essay about the failure of war on drugs, drug taking is a gregarious activity. Buckley informs that there is no involvement of medical proceedings and medical evaluation in order to check the amount of consumption of drugs because of its being illegal (Buckley 1996). Because of illegality of drugs, medical evaluation is not possible. The war on drugs has failed because more people die because of the war on drugs in place of overdosing (Buckley 1996). According to Buckley, because of drug usage being illicit, people are involved in doing crimes such as robbery and killing. People who are desperate to take drugs have to take money from any illegal means to take hold of illegal drugs (Buckley 1996). Buckley adds that government has to appoint many thousands of policemen to chase the people taking and selling drugs illegally and they are involved in pursing the criminals of drugs business. A large number of policemen can do other constructive tasks in place of doing their cat and mouse game with the drug users and sellers (Buckley 1996). Buckley opts for the establishment of federal drugstores with no extra profit that is involved in illegal trafficking of drugs (Buckley 1996). The drug users because if illegal access to drugs are forced to do other crimes illegally. According to Buckley, the jails are full with illegal drug users due to which, the government has to endure a large amount of expenses on those drug criminals. He further informs that medical treatment for drug usage is far cheaper as compared to this cost that is involved in keeping drug criminals in jails. War on drugs has failed because the government is unable to control the usage of drugs by all their measures (Buckley

Education - One of the Most Powerful Social Institutions Assignment

Education - One of the Most Powerful Social Institutions - Assignment Example It equips an individual with skills and experience needed for the maintenance of the society through self-enhancement and upward social mobility. Conflict perspective suggests that education creates social barriers between individuals, which sustains social inequality. Instead of looking at things in a societal level, symbolic interaction perspective zeroes in on classroom and school dynamics, which influences the individual’s outlook in life. From a functionalist perspective, education is seen as the primary agent of shared values and norms. Education is not responsible for just teaching academic knowledge but it should also develop an individual’s identity that corresponds to what is accepted by the society. Functionalism studies social events and institutions by looking at its manifest and latent functions. With education, it’s manifest or obvious function is teaching academic knowledge, as well as, developing the social skills of the individual. As an agent of development and stability, it is responsible for the transmission of culture by instilling shared values and norms corresponding to that of the larger society. And lastly, equipping an individual with knowledge, values and social skills, it creates an opportunity for upward social mobility through employment. The educational institution is primarily responsible for developing individuals as contributing members of the society. Latent or hidden funct ions of the institution are to create a safe and practical place for parents to leave their children behind as they make a living and become contributing members of the society. Education also serves to control the entry of individuals in the labour force. Lastly, it creates and establishes social networks through friendships, partnerships and relationships between individuals essential as they grow and mature. Conflict perspective views education very differently from the functional perspective.     

Black People and Civil War Essay Example for Free

Black People and Civil War Essay ?Introduction: In this essay I am going to compose a piece of text which will involve the tension of Segregation. In the 1930s, although 50% of the population of Southern towns were black, they had no vote and could not marry whites. Also in the 1930’s, many black people lived in the southern states. During that time, racism reached its highest point. For instance, the whites treated the blacks very poorly because they thought that the blacks were lower than them. Therefore, the blacks had to fight for the right to be treated equally. As a result, black people had to face the Jim Crow Laws and the Ku Klux Klan. In my own opinion I think that the 1930 was a turbulent time for race relations in America. Paragraph 1: The first racism incident that I have spotted out and chosen to write about in my essay is when the Wallace’s’ poured kerosene over Mr Berry and his nephews and lit them on fire. One of the nephews died, the other one is alive but has the same condition as Mr Berry. The reason why the Wallace’s poured kerosene over the Berry’s was because they caught them flirting with a white woman which wasn’t allowed back then. In fact, it was not even true! The Berry’s didn’t even flirt with her. They lied about it. The quote that goes with this event was when mama (Cassies’ mum) said to her kids, â€Å"The Wallaces did that, children. They poured kerosene over Mr Berry and his nephews and lit them afire. † â€Å"Everyone knows they did it, and the Wallaces even laugh about it, but nothing was ever done. † At this right moment I feel disgusted and baffled that people could actually do this in the 1930s. The sympathy for the Wallace’s has decreased because setting fire to someone is arson and that makes Mr Wallace and his clique an arsonist. Also it makes us feel that the Wallaces are black-hearted and atrocious people, because who would want to set a person on fire? Then laugh about it. The sympathy for the Berrys has definitely increased because of what happened to both Mr Berry and his two nephews is utterly excruciating and the fact that there is no reason behind why the Wallaces did it, makes the reader feel more sorrowful for them. On the other hand in the book it says, â€Å"Disfigured man lying in the darkness† In that quote you can see how dreadful his injuries were. He was even camouflaging with the darkness; see that is real bad? Paragraph 2: The second racism incident that I found very crucial was when Cassie bumped into Lillian Jean Simms by accident but Lillian Jean still DEMANDED for a sorry and for Cassie to get on her knees instantly. As well as this was racism, it was also bullying in some kind of way because Cassie didn’t want to get on her Knees but she still got forced. â€Å"Kicking at the sidewalk, my head bowed. It was then that I bumped into Lillian Jean Simms. † Cassie really didn’t mean to bump into Lillian Jean at all but she took it over the top reacted to the bump by saying, â€Å"why don’t you watch were you’re going? † â€Å"Well apologize† â€Å"That ain’t enough. Get down in the road† This right here is what you call racism. Cassie didn’t intend to bump into Lillian Jean, it was just an accident but because Cassie is black they didn’t care at all. Cassie even got pushed around by Mr Simms. Mr Simms was even sticking up for his daughter even though she was in the wrong. Lillian Jeans’ father was saying to Cassie that when Lillian tells you that you should get off the sidewalk, you get off it. The sympathy towards Lillian Jean Simms has totally decreased because what she did was just too dramatic and it was just a ‘bump’. In my opinion Cassie did not have to go on her knees because she didn’t deliberately bump into her; all that should have been done was an apology to Lillian. My sympathy towards Cassie has increased more. The reason why I said this was because she was intimidated and forced to get on her knees even though she had already shed a tear; they didn’t care, they just wanted an apology from her. Conclusion: To sum up I think that Racism is totally unacceptable and utterly inglorious. In this novel I think that Taylor was trying to put across the fact of what the black people had to go through in the 1930s every day of their lives, and how their wouldn’t even be an us our even a peaceful world if racism was still occurring. I also think that Taylor is trying to compare today’s life to the 1930s and too see how much the black people suffered.

Fighting Malnutrition Essay Example for Free

Fighting Malnutrition Essay Malnutrition has been a serious concern across the world which is caused due to lack of vital vitamins and minerals in the diet where in majority of the impoverished or poor people suffer from micronutrient deficiencies. Tackling malnutrition has indeed been a challenge for the government, donors, and the private sector to give their attention to the developmental effectiveness and providing value for money. Approx. 2 billion people across the globe suffer from anemia which caused due to iron deficiency and iodine deficiency which leads to mental retardation, results in being resistance to the disease, lowering the attention and concentration of children in class rooms, causes death of pregnant mothers, deaths due to diarrhea and million of people go blind each year. As this problem of malnutrition takes away almost 3% of the country’s GDP, companies need to be very much careful of this fact which in turn affects the consumption pattern of the consumers. Companies like Coca-Cola and PG have indeed put much efforts in making their food and beverages rich in vitamins and minerals but the issue in this regards is how firms target the market in terms of the availability of the product, its pricing strategies, the way of promoting and creating awareness among the masses and the convenience of the product. Thus instead of only focusing upon the Product mix, just like Coke and PG have dealt with the problem, the firms should target the other marketing mix elements as well to successfully market their goods. What additional efforts have been taken up by companies to solve this concern of malnutrition, How has the research and development team of the firms focused on their activities to overcome and fight the economic concern has been the questions in most of the organizations watch list. Problems / Issues: Coca-Cola introduced the product named Vitango, which was a powdered drink to be mixed with water and to be consumed as a beverage, the issue was that research did show that there was a huge improvements in certain places where it was introduced but in certain places due to the impurities in the water, it nullified the efforts of the powdered vitango. The firm encountered trouble because of lack of focus in the initial stages of the new product development which it at a later stage went about packaging a ready-to-drink formula for its consumers. PG also came out with their own production of Nutridelight which had an element of vitamin A, iron contents and Growth Plus was the main ingredient. But unfortunately it did not sell well in the market as the prices were non – competitive and it did not meet the present market – going rate of the product’s price. It later came with Nutristar which performed good in the market but it would target only the premium group customers as the product was available at only McDonald’s outlet, and in major instances it is the segment of the poor which actually require the product. Thus again PG had lack of focus in their strategic implementations. In both the cases mentioned above, the firms lacked focus of their marketing mix factors in terms of the product, price, place or promotional strategies. Analysis: Based on the research carried, both over nourished and under nourished leads to malnutrition and hence poverty and lack of food has been an issue under consideration in certain countries which has symptoms of anemia, diarrhea, disorientation, goiter, lack of coordination and loss of reflexes, scaling and cracking of lips and mouth are terrible consequences faced by the people. Companies need to provide fortified foods which have the opportunity of adding value and providing economies of scale by lowering upon the prices, developing quality products to enhance trade and competition and reaching out to newer customers that have not been targeted, there by combating the problem of malnutrition of a huge segment of those suffering. Thus malnutrition is a vicious cycle where in an under-nourished or over-nourished person suffers from various diseases and infections which in turn increases the requirement of energy into the body which needs to be fulfilled. If this demand s not fulfilled it results in malnutrition which further reduces and diminishes the immunity level of the children and elders as well making them more prone to such infections. Recommendations / Solutions to the Problem: To improve the nutritional levels of food, the prior concern should be to increase the income levels where by the quality and the quantitative food intake can be increased. Firms need to focus on consider the following aspects in the formulation of a strategic development in order to combat malnutrition and the poverty line. Companies need to focus upon: ?Creating awareness among the public on nutritional and health issues: This will help the local poor people to understand the value of health and the benefits of having balanced food habits. ?Increase the income levels there by improving the standard of living: If the purchasing power parity of consumers is increased, the consumption level will also increase leading to adoption of the best food eating methods. ?Improve the nutritional and the health status of the society at large, ?Focus on the rural marketing and distribution methods: rural marketing needs focus especially to instill the seriousness of the deaths and weaknesses which result through malnutrition. Making the product available to them at a reasonable price and at their convenient places will create positive sense of belongingness in the minds of the users. ?Organize and develop market surveys to study the general trend of the consumers: Study the market and understand the changing food habits there by promoting the strategies in the manner which clears the issues of resisting and fighting the problem of malnutrition. ?Train the volunteers and create awareness among the rural sectors, ?Setting up production and marketing units to cater to the goals and objectives set by companies there by improvising on the nutrition status of the target village or market taken into consideration. Conclusion: Fighting Malnutrition has been a concern and a serious issue for all the firms whose main objective has been to develop products which are higher in nutrient level with nutritional supplements. The prior focus should be on whether the food or the beverage should be used as a supplement or as a substitute which in turn will help in strategizing the business processes in a manner which suits the target markets requirements and needs. References: Capart. (2008). Promotion of community initiatives to combat malnutrition and provide income generation in the backward regions of India. Retrieved October 3, 2008, from Website: http://209. 85. 175. 104/search? q=cache:PWnXLkls_2sJ:capart. nic. in/scheme/projectm. pdf+marketing+:+malnutritionhl=enct=clnkcd=3gl=in Michael, J. (2007). Fighting Poverty with Markets, Marketing to the malnourished. Retrieved October 3, 2008, from Foreign Policy Website: http://blog. foreignpolicy. com/node/3712

Speech And Language Disorders In Children Young People Essay

Speech And Language Disorders In Children Young People Essay An amazing experience in every parents life is hearing their child speak for the first time. The first utter of dada or ma-ma is remarkable. This is the first step in a childs life to be able to verbalize with the world and explain his or her needs. The extraordinary part is how fast a child grasps language and the grammar that goes along with it. The normal age for children to start using words in the correct context is 12 months. Then there is an exponential growth in vocabulary and by 24 months children are stringing three or four words together to create sentences. By the age of three, children have the ability to ask questions, answer questions, and express themselves. This of course is for a normal developing child. For children with a delay in speech capability these milestones take a much longer time to reach and make it difficult for children to communicate their needs. This becomes problem if it goes untreated because of difficulties with school and social situations, the c hild also has difficulty asking for what he or she needs. There are many explanations to why this happens, hearing loss, bodily trauma such as traumatic brain injury, and apraxia are just a few of the multitude of reasons a child can be delayed in speech. Having an evaluation by a speech pathologist is the best way to see if a child has a speech delay or a learning disability because some of the same symptoms can mean either or both. The sooner the speech delay is recognized the better because the best treatment can be assessed and the delay can be monitored, and evaluated to see if treatment is necessary. If treatment is necessary the speech pathologist can decide the best method for the child depending on the severity and age of the child. This gives the child the best opportunity to recover from this either speech delay or speech impairment. Statement of the Problem Being able to understand young children can be challenging because their language skills have not fully developed. This is difficult, but what is more difficult is when a child has a delay in language and speech development. This is frustrating for the speaker and for the listener to understand what the speakers needs and wants are. This makes learning difficult and if these language problems are not eradicated many children go into special education because of their inabilities to use their language skills correctly. McCormack. McLeod, McAllister, and Harrison (2010), found that both the young people and their significant others acknowledged the importance of appropriately understanding and responding to communication needs in order to create a positive QOL (p. 386). The children are aware that their speech impairments or disorders can affect how they live their lives and the opportunities that they can lose it their speech issues go unattended as well. The methods used to correct s peech issues usually include working with a speech pathologist and doing different exercises to help with the speech issues. Parents or teachers are the first to take notice that the child needs to be tested for speech and language delays. McCormack, et al. (2010) state, The decision to seek and receive intervention for young children with speech impairment typically is made by parents or teachers on behalf of the children, as opposed to adults with communication impairment who make this decision of their own accord (p. 381). These children are not necessarily aware they need help, but they are aware that they speak differently and this can create issues with making friends and being able to communicate needs successfully to people that are not close to them. Without help these children can grow up without having the same opportunities as children with normal speaking patterns. The earlier these problems are addressed the sooner therapy can begin and the more likely these children w ill grow up having a regular life with normal prospects at school and at jobs. Beginning list of Terms Apraxia- The inability to perform complex movement like those used for speech, this usually occurs following a brain trauma or damage. Morphology- The use and understanding of minimal units of meaning. Phonology- Language manipulation of sound according to the rules of the particular language being spoken. Semantics- The study of language meaning with the use of words and phrases. Specific Language Impairment (SLI)- is a diagnosis when a childs speech is delayed because of no other apparent physical or mental reason. Speech Pathologists- Someone who specializes in speech and language disorders. Syntax- The principles, grammar, and rules for assembling sentences in language. Telegraphic Speech- The use of one verb and one noun that toddlers sometimes use to ask for things they want. This speech pattern begins around age two. Limitation of Study In recent years there has been many studies done on speech delays and speech abnormality in children. Before the 1970s there was not much information on were speech impairments came from. There were many theories on hearing loss and substandard parenting but not much on genetics at the time (bishop, 2006). Currently the studies on speech impairment are limited to studies that are updated after a few years to see progress. The advancements on speech therapies and modern techniques are not old enough to do studies on children that have gone through these sessions and become adults to see if these therapies are life changing or if some symptoms return with age and if sessions are stopped. This information will only become available with time to see if any of the problems arise with age. Theoretical Foundation Two theorists that have studied how children discover speech are Albert Bandura and Noam Chomsky. These men did not study delays in speech but they did theorize how children learn to speak so these theories can be applied to how delays and impairments can happen in children. Chomsky felt when children are in-between two and three, they start putting three words together, creating simple sentences. While it is true that children learn rules of adult language, they often over generalize language at first. If they hear something is plural, such as cats, then they are likely to put s on other words were it is not appropriate to make it plural, like moose or fish. With children with speech impairments these overgeneralizations with language do not always disappear like they do with children with normal language skills. After three and between six children have a language transformation (Crain, 2005). They start rearranging the sentences almost perfectly. At about the age of seven children start to understand the use of passive voice (Crain, 2005). With a child with a speech impairment of delay this transformation can take much longer to accomplish, or not at all without the proper treatment. Bandura theorized that children learned through observation. They model after what they hear their parents say. They cannot model identically but usually the language rules that go along with the language they are immersed in are mimicked and learned (Crain, 2005). This can be a cause of speech impairment such as a stutter if their parent stuttered. If Banduras theory was solely then only true theory about speech the only children that would be impaired in speech would be those with parents that were impaired in speech. Speech impairment can also influences cognitive behaviors. This can create anger and embarrassment if the speech impairment is not corrected as the child gets older and becomes more aware that they way they speak is different then those around them. The psychological distress that children can go through when they have speech impairment can be seen when they have problems socializing. Speech impairments make it difficult for children to socialize with other children because children with normal speech can be unaware of the delicacy of the situation. They can say things that can be hurtful and this can make it tough to build relationships. It can also be difficult for these children to go to school because they usually need speech therapy and this can be embarrassing for some. Having a speech impairment or delay as a child can be mentally difficult because it affects not only verbal but also emotional parts of their life. Literature Review Definition of speech and language delay The most basic definition of speech and language delay is when children do not start speaking and using language skills the approximate age of the majority of other children. Without treatment by a speech pathologist or therapist the symptoms can continue or become worse. This can lead to difficulties in learning and cognitive development as the child ages. These speech and language delays can be attributed to a number of different causes which include, hearing loss, brain injury or retardation, and commonly specific language impairment when no other issue can be found with the childs other physical or mental capacities. Symptoms of speech delays The symptoms of speech and language delays are vast and can vary from child to child. While one child can have difficulties with sentence structure and omitting words, another child can have a problem with deleting letters from single words in sentences spoken. Deletion

James Joyces Ulysses :: James Joyce Ulysses Poem Essays

James Joyce's Ulysses "There's five fathoms out there.... A sail veering about the blank bay waiting for a swollen bundle to bob up, roll over to the sun a puffy face, saltwhite. Here I am" (18). If "Old Father Ocean" (42) is Proteus (Gifford 46), god of "primal matter" (32) corresponding with a viridian tinge of primal soup as well as the tide that washes in the ruined flotsam and jetsam of man's voyages, it makes some kind of sense that there is no corresponding symbolic organ to this episode. We are in the protean realm of the non-organic, or rather unorganized and de-organized matter. The aforementioned bobbing corpse is of course more than a homicide case in Joyce's symbology. The corpse lost to sea's rot and "bladderwrack" is the body of Proteus manifest in a disturbing (dead) human form, bloated and dissolving. It is there to intimately remind us of our eventual return to unformed matter, to entropy at its extreme. This disintegration will lead to a chaotic reintegration with the Ocean, unfathomabl e body of energy, crusher of bodies washed to shore, carried to the sandflats of Dublin via "Cock Lake." Proteus harbingers the "seachange" (42) of all organisms, all matter; the corpse also manifests the "Seadeath, mildest of all deaths" (42), "soft as the hand of mist" (Book XI of The Odyssey). "Full fathom five thy father lies" (41): Father Ocean or Proteus as the drowned, absent father, hidden body of "coral" and "pearls" (The Tempest), always in the "sea change... rich and strange" (ibid.). This macabre dance of matter and energy is witnessed in the undead movement of the corpse "driving before it a drift of rubble" (41), an indeterminate mass of preterite matter. He will rise again "sunk though he be beneath the watery floor" (41). He is a "bag of corpsegas," porous, "a spongy titbit." In his undead, coral-like growth, matter transforms according to unpredictable, heretical logic, which Dedalus is compelled to read as he does "signatures of all things... seaspawn and seawrack, the nearing tide, that rusty boot" (31). This logic only a poet could follow, or perhaps it is simply poetic creation: "God becomes man becomes fish becomes barnacle goose becomes featherbed mountain" (41-2). This fabulation of the chain of being is certainly profane, or at least outside the accepted, predictable logic of any catechism. Ocean is God as an immanent storm and flux; the abstract, ethereal God of Christendom is more ascetic, barren, removed.

Gladiator Essay -- Film Movie Gladiator Sports Essays

Gladiator There have been many sports movies made over the years. Some have been good, while others have been flops. Many sports movies have not been considered overall good movies simply because they were sports movies. I feel that one of the best and most overlooked sports movies of all time is the movie Gladiator. Gladiator is not only a good sports movie, but it is an all around good movie. Before we can call an all around movie a "good" movie, we must first define what a good movie is. A good movie can be defined as a movie that has many exceptional movie elements. The following are some major movie elements: plot, drama, special effects, theme, and character acting. For my review of the movie Gladiator, I will first explain what each one of the major movie elements needs to consist of to be considered good. I will then briefly describe the plot of the movie Gladiator. After that, I will compare the movie elements in Gladiator to the movie elements of a good movie. By doing this, I will explain how Gladiator is an all around good movie. Before a movie can be considered good, it must have a good plot. A good plot is a plot that tells a definite story and doesn’t focus on unimportant details. It moves from point to point and is never dull. A good plot also keeps the audience in suspense and has them wondering what will happen next. The most important part of a good plot is that it must give the audience something unexpected when it plays itself out. It should be surprising and the audience should not be able guess what will happen next. Drama is not a necessity of all movies, but it is a necessity of a good sports movie. A good sports movie should be full of drama. The audience should find themselves turning th... ...stic. James Marshall (Tommy) and Cuba Gooding Jr. (Lincoln) deliver Oscar worthy performances. Their acting is especially superb in their dramatic boxing match against each other. The way that Marshall and Gooding make you feel like you are actually in the arena through their actions is phenomenal. Marshall and Gooding both have the body structure and physical ability of great boxers. The casting for the movie is pure genius. The actors fit perfectly into their roles and perform like they were born to play them. It is my opinion that Gladiator is a movie of high value. It compares quite well to the major elements of a good movie in a lot of areas. A major reason that Gladiator is so fantastic is because although it has multiple themes, it is still very easy to follow and understand. It is an excellent sports movie, and perhaps one of the best movies of all time.

Vocabulary :: essays research papers

Vocabulary: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Amendment: Written change in the Constitution. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Balanced Budget: Budget in which income equals expenses. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Birthrate: Number of births per 1,000 persons during one year. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Block Grant: Federal funds given to state and local governments for broad purposes. 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Brown v. Board of Education: Concerned eight-year-old Linda Brown, a black girl living in Topeka, Kansas. The school only five blocks from Linda’s home was for whites only. 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  City: Largest type of municipality. 7.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Commander-In-Chief: Role of the President as head of the armed forces. 8.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Concurring Opinion: Statement written by a Supreme Court Justice who agrees with the majority but for different reasons. 9.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Counties: Subdivision of state government formed to carry out state laws, collect taxes, and supervise elections. 10.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Debt Limit: Limit on the amount of money a government may borrow. 11.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Delegated Powers: Power given to the federal government by the Constitution. 12.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dissenting Opinion: Statement written by a Supreme Court Justice who disagrees with the majority decision. 13.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Double Jeopardy: Being tried a second time for the same crime. 14.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Draft: Policy requiring men to serve in the military. 15.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Due Process: Right of all people to a fair trial. 16.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Electoral College: Group of people who cast the official votes that elect the President and Vice President. 17.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Filibuster: Method of delaying action in the Senate by making long speeches. 18.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  General Election: Election in which the voters elect our leaders. 19.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Glittering Generalities: Method uses words that sound good but have little real meaning. 20.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Home Rule: Power of a city to write its own municipal charter and to manage its own affairs. 21.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Immigrant: Person who comes to a nation to settle as a permanent resident. 22.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Implied Power: Authority not specifically granted to Congress by the Constitution but which is suggested to be necessary to carry out the specific powers. 23.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Interest: Payment made for the use of loaned money. 24.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Interest Group: Organization of people with common interests who try to influence government policies and decisions. 25.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lobbyist: Person paid to represent an interest group’s viewpoint at congressional committee hearings and who tries to influence the votes of Congress members. 26.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Marbury v. Madison: The case involved William Marbury, who had been promised appointment as a justice of the peace, and Secretary of State James Madison. 27.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Major-Council Plan: System of local government in which voters elect a city council to make laws and a major to carry out laws. 28.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Misdemeanor: Less serious crime, such as a traffic violation. 29.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Personal Income Tax: Tax on the income a person earns. 30.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Plank: Each part of a political party’s platform. 31.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Political Action Committee: Political arm of a interest group that collects voluntary contributions from members and contributes it to political candidates and parties it favors.

Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings Chapter 12~13

CHAPTER TWELVE Here's My Coupon, He Said, Singing the Redemption Song Normally, if the whale cops found an unauthorized person on a research vessel, they would simply record the violation, write a ticket, then remove the person from the boat and take him back to Lahaina Harbor. A fine was paid and violations were considered the following year when the permit came up for renewal. By contrast, Kona was delivered to the Maui county jail with both his wrists and ankles shackled and a swath of duct tape over his mouth. Nate and Amy were waiting in the lobby of the Maui county jail in Wailuku, sitting in metal chairs designed to promote discomfort and waffled butt skin. â€Å"It's really okay if he has to stay in overnight,† said Nate. â€Å"Or for a week or so if it would be easier.† Amy punched Nate in the shoulder. â€Å"You creep! I thought it was Kona that got them to let you come to us.† â€Å"Still, jail builds character. I've heard that. It might do him good to be off his herb for a few days.† Kona had slipped his fanny pack full of pot and paraphernalia to Nate before he'd been taken away. â€Å"Character? If he starts with his native-sovereignty speech stuff in there the real Hawaiians will pound him.† â€Å"He'll be okay. I'm worried about you. Don't you want to go get checked?† Clair had taken Clay to the hospital to get a CAT scan and have his scalp stitched up. â€Å"I'm fine, Nate. I was only shaken up because I was worried about Clay.† â€Å"You were down a long time.† â€Å"Yes, and I went by Clay's dive computer. We decompressed completely. The worst part was I froze my ass off.† â€Å"I can't believe you had the presence of mind to decompress with Clay unconscious. I don't know if I would have. Hell, I couldn't have. I'd have run out of air in ten minutes. How did you manage – ; â€Å"I'm small, Nate. I don't use air like you. And I could tell that Clay was breathing okay. I could tell that the cut on his head wasn't that bad either. The biggest danger to both of us was decompression sickness, so I followed the computer, breathed off of Clay's rescue supply when I ran out, and nobody got hurt.† â€Å"I'm really impressed,† said Nate. â€Å"I just did what I was supposed to do. No big deal.† â€Å"I was really scared – I thought you – You had me worried.† He patted her knee in a grandmotherly fashion, and she looked at his hand. â€Å"Careful, I'll get all sniffly over here,† Amy said. They led the surfer into the holding tank, where everyone was wearing the same orange jumpsuit that he was. â€Å"Irie, bruddahs,† Kona said, â€Å"we all shoutin' down Sheriff John Brown in these Great Pumpkin suits, Jah.† They all looked up: a giant Samoan who had beaten an Oldsmobile to death with a softball bat when it stalled in the middle of the Kuihelani Freeway, an alcoholic white guy who had fallen asleep on the Four Seasons' private beach in Wailea and made the mistake of dropping his morning business in one of the cabanas, a bass player from Lahaina who had been brought in because at any given time a bass player is probably up to no good, an angry bruddah who had been caught doing a smash-and-grab from a rental car at La Perouse Bay, and two up-country pig hunters who had tried to back their four-wheeler full of pit bulls down a volcano after huffing two cans of spray paint. Kona could tell they were huffers by the glazed look in their eyes and the large red rings that covered their mouths and noses from the bag. â€Å"Hey, brah, Krylon?† One of the pig hunters nodded and briefly lost control of the motion of his head. â€Å"Nothin' like a quality red.† â€Å"I hear dat,† said the pig hunter. â€Å"I hear dat.† Then Kona made his way to the corner of the cell, the guard locked the door, and everyone resumed looking at his shoes, except for the Samoan guy, who was waiting for Kona to make eye contact so he could kill him. â€Å"Ye know, brah,† Kona said to him in a friendly, if seriously flawed fake Jamaican accent, â€Å"I be learning from my science dreadies to look at tings with the critical eye, don't ya know. And I think I know what the problem with taking a stand against da man on Maui.† â€Å"Whad dat?† ask the Samoan. â€Å"Well, it's an island, ain't it, mon? You got to be stone stupid going outlaw here wid nowhere to escape.† â€Å"You callin' me stupid, haole?† â€Å"No, mon, just speaking the truth.† â€Å"An' what you in for, haole girl?† â€Å"Failing to give a humpback whale the proper scientific handjob, I tink.† â€Å"Goin' ta fuck ya and kill ya now.† â€Å"Could ya kill me first?† â€Å"Whadeva,† said the Samoan, climbing to his feet and expanding to his full Godzilla proportions. â€Å"Thanks, brah. Peace in Jah's mercy,† said the doomed surfer. Forty-five minutes later, after Nate had filled out the requisite papers, the jailer, a compact Hawaiian with weightlifter shoulders, led Kona through the double steel doors into the waiting room. The surfer shuffled in, head down, looking ashamed and a little lopsided. Amy put her arm around his shoulders and patted his head. â€Å"Oh, Sistah Amy, 'twas heinous.† He put his arm around Amy, then let his hand slip to the curve of her bottom. â€Å"Heinous most true.† The jailer grinned. â€Å"Had a disagreement with a big Samoan guy. We stopped it before it got too far. The holding cells are monitored on closed-circuit video.† â€Å"Snatched half me dreads out.† Kona pulled a handful of orphaned dreadlocks from the pocket of his surf shorts. â€Å"Going to cost some deep monies to hook these boys back up. I can feel my strength waning without them.† The jailer waived a finger under Kona's nose. â€Å"Just so you know, kid, if it had gone the other way – if the Samoan had decided to kill you second – I wouldn't have stepped in so early. You understand?† â€Å"Yah, Sheriff.† â€Å"You stay out of my jail, or next time I tell him which end to start on, okay?† The jailer turned to Quinn. â€Å"They aren't filing any charges that merit incarceration. They just wanted to make a point.† Then he leaned close to Nate and whispered, their height difference making it appear as if he were talking to the scientist's shirt pocket, â€Å"You need to get this kid some help. He thinks he's Hawaiian. I see these suburban Rasta boys all the time – hell, Paia's crawling with them – but this one, he's troubled. One of my boys goes that way, I'd pay for a shrink.† â€Å"He's not my kid.† â€Å"I know how you feel. His girlfriend is cute, though. Makes you wonder how they pick 'em, doesn't it?† â€Å"Thanks, Officer,† Nate said. Having shared all the paternal camaraderie he could handle, he turned and walked out into the blinding Maui sun. To Kona, Amy said, â€Å"You better now, baby?† Kona nodded into her shoulder, where he'd been pretending to seek comfort in a nuzzle. â€Å"Good. Then move your hand.† The surfer played his fingers over her bottom like anemones in a tidal wash, anchored yet flowing. â€Å"That's it,† Amy said. She snatched a handful of his remaining dreads and quickstepped through the double glass doors, dragging the bent-over surfer behind her. â€Å"Ouch, ouch, ouch,† Kona chanted in perfect four/four reggae rhythm. CHAPTER THIRTEEN Spirits in the Night Nate spent the whole afternoon and most of the evening trying to analyze spectrograms of whale-song recordings, correlate behavior patterns, and then chart the corresponding patterns of interaction. The problem was figuring out what actually defined interaction for an eighty-thousand-pound animal? Were animals interacting when they were five hundred yards away? A thousand? A mile, ten miles? The song was certainly audible for miles; the low, subsonic frequencies could travel literally thousands of miles in deep ocean basins. Nate tried to put himself in their world – no boundaries, no obstacles. They lived, for the most part, in a world of sound, yet they had acute eyesight, both in and out of the water, and special muscles in the eye that allowed them to change focus for either medium. You interacted with animals you could both see and not see. When Nate and Clay used satellite tags, of which they could afford only a few, or rented a helicopter, from which they could observe animals from a wide perspective, it appeared that the whales were indeed responding to each other from miles apart. How do you study an animal that is socializing over a distance of miles? The key had to be in the song, in the signal somewhere. If for no other reason than that was the only way to approach the problem. Midnight found him sitting alone in the office, lit only by the glow of his computer monitor, having forgotten to eat, drink, or relieve himself for four hours, when Kona came in. â€Å"What's that?† asked the surfer, pointing to the spectrograph that was scrolling across the screen. Nate nearly jumped out of the chair, then caught himself and pulled the headphones down. â€Å"The part that's scrolling is the spectrograph of the humpback song. The different colors are frequency, or pitch. The wiggly line in this box is an oscilloscope. It shows frequency, too, but I can use it to isolate each range by clicking on it.† Kona was eating a banana. He handed another one to Nate without taking his eyes off the screen. â€Å"So this is what it looks like? The song?† Kona had forgotten to affect any of his accents, so Nate forgot to be sarcastic in reply. â€Å"It's a way of looking at it. Humans are visual animals. Our brains are better suited to process visual information rather than acoustic information, so it's easier for us to think about sound by looking at it. A whale or a dolphin's brain is structured to process acoustics more than visuals.† â€Å"What are you looking for?† â€Å"I'm not sure. I'm looking for a signal. For some pattern of information in the structure of the song.† â€Å"Like a message?† â€Å"Maybe a message.† â€Å"And it's not in the musical parts?† Kona asked. â€Å"The difference in notes? Like a song? You know the prophet Bob Marley gave us the wisdom of HIM in song.† Quinn swiveled in his chair and paused in midbite of his banana. â€Å"HIM? What's that?† â€Å"His Imperial Majesty, Haile Selassie, emperor of Ethiopia, Lion of Judah, Jesus Christ on earth, son of God. His blessings upon us. Jah, mon.† â€Å"You mean Haile Selassie, the Ethiopian king who died in the 1970s? That Haile Selassie?† â€Å"Yah mon. HIM, the direct descendant of David as foretold in Isaiah, through the divine consort Solomon and Makeda, the queen of Sheba, and from their sons all the emperors of Ethiopia have come. So we Rastas believe that Haile Selassie is Jesus Christ alive on earth.† â€Å"But he's dead, how's that work?† â€Å"It helps to be stoned.† â€Å"I see,† Nate said. Well, that did explain a lot. â€Å"Anyway, to answer your question, yes, we've looked at the musical transmission, but despite Bob Marley I think the answer is here, in this low register, but only because it travels the farthest.† â€Å"Can you freeze this?† said Kona, pointing to the oscilloscope, a green line dancing on a field of black. Nate clicked it and froze a jagged line on the screen. â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Those teeth? See, there are tall ones and not so tall ones.† â€Å"They're called microoscillations. You can only see them if you have the wave stopped like this.† â€Å"What if the tall one is a one and the short one is a zero? What's that?† â€Å"Binary?† â€Å"Yah, mon, what if it's computer talk, like that?† Nate was stunned. Not because he thought Kona was right, but because the kid had actually had the cognitive powers to come up with the question. Nate wouldn't have been more surprised if he'd walked in on a team of squirrels building a toaster oven. Maybe the kid had run out of pot, and this spike in intelligence was just a withdrawal symptom. â€Å"That's not a bad guess, Kona, but the only way the whales would know about this would be if they had oscilloscopes.† â€Å"And they don't?† â€Å"No, they don't.† â€Å"Oh, and that acoustic brain? That couldn't see this?† â€Å"No,† said Nate, not entirely sure that he hadn't just lied. He'd never thought of it before. â€Å"Okay. I go for to sleep now. You need more grinds?† â€Å"No. Thanks for the banana.† â€Å"Jah's blessing, mon. Thanks for getting me out for jail this day. We going go out next morning?† â€Å"Maybe not everyone. We'll have to see how Clay feels tomorrow. He went right to his cabin when Clair brought him home from the hospital.† â€Å"Oh, Boss Clay got cool runnings, brah. He having sweet agonies with Sistah Clair. I hear them love jams as I'm coming over.† â€Å"Well, good,† Nate said, thinking from Kona's tone and his smile that whatever he said must have been good. â€Å"Good night, Kona.† â€Å"Good night, boss.† Before the surfer was out the door, Nate had turned to the monitor and started mapping out peaks in the wave pattern of the low end of the whale song. He'd need to look up some articles on blue-whale calls – the lowest, loudest, longest-traveling calls on the planet – and he'd have to see if anyone had done any numerical analysis on dolphin sonar clicks, and that was all he could think of right at the moment. In the meantime he had to have enough of a sample to see if there was any meaning there. It was ridiculous, of course. It would never be so simple, nor could it be so complex. Of course you could assign values of one or zero to parts of the song – that was easy. It didn't mean there would be any meaning to it. It wouldn't necessarily answer any of their questions, but it was a different way of looking at things. Whale-call binary, no. Two hours later he was still assigning ones and zeroes to different microoscillations in wave patterns of different songs and felt as if he might actually, strangely, amazingly, be learning something, when Clay came through the door wearing a knee-length pink kimono emblazoned with huge white chrysanthemums. There was a small bandage on his forehead and what appeared to be a lipstick smear that ran from his mouth to his right ear. â€Å"Any beer in there?† Clay nodded to the kitchen. The office cabin, like all the others at Papa Lani, had once been living quarters for a whole family, so it had a full kitchen in addition to the great room they used for a main office, two smaller rooms they used for storage, and a bathroom. Clay padded past and threw open the refrigerator. â€Å"Nope. Water, I guess. I'm really dehydrated.† â€Å"You okay,† Nate said. â€Å"How was the CAT scan?† â€Å"I'm cat free.† Clay came back to the office and fell into the chair in front of his broken monitor. â€Å"Thirteen stitches in my scalp, maybe a mild concussion. I'll be okay. Clair may kill me yet tonight, though – heart attack, stroke, affection. Nothing like a near-death experience to bring out the passion in a woman. You can't believe the stuff that woman is doing to me. And she's a schoolteacher. It's shameful.† Clay grinned, and Nate noticed a little lipstick on his teeth. â€Å"So that's shame?† Nate gestured for Clay to wipe his mouth. The photographer took a swipe across his mug, came up with a handful of color, and examined it. â€Å"No, I think that's strawberry lip gloss. A woman her age wearing flavored lip gloss. The shame is in my heart.† â€Å"You really had her worried, Clay. Me, too. If Amy hadn't kept her head†¦ well – ; â€Å"I fucked up. I know it. I started living in the viewfinder and forgot where I was. It was an amateurish mistake. But you can't believe the footage I was getting using the rebreather. It's going to be amazing for singers. I'm finally going to be able to get underneath them, beside them, whatever you need. I just need to remember where I am.† â€Å"You're unbelievably lucky.† Nate knew that any lecture he might come up with, Clay had already put himself through a dozen times. Still, he had to say it. Regardless of the outcome, he had endured the loss of his friend, even if was for only forty minutes or so. â€Å"Unconscious, that deep, for that long – you used up a lot of lives on that one, Clay. The fact that your mouthpiece stayed in is a miracle.† â€Å"Well, that part wasn't an accident. I have the hoses tight because the rebreather is so temperamental about getting water in it. Over the years I've had mouthpieces knocked out of my mouth a hundred times, kicked out by another diver, camera caught on it, hit by a dolphin. Since you have to keep your head back to film most of the time anyway, with the hoses short so the thing stays in your mouth, it's just a matter of keeping the seal. Man's only instinct is to suck.† â€Å"And you suck, is that what you're saying?† â€Å"Look, Nate, I know you're mad, but I'm okay. Something was going on with that animal. It distracted me. It won't happen again. I owe it to the kid, though.† â€Å"We thought we'd lost her, too.† â€Å"She's good, Nate. Really good. She kept her head, she did what needed to be done, and damned if I know how she did it, but she brought my ancient ass up alive and without the bends. Situation was reversed, I would have never done the decompression stops, but it turns out she did the right thing. You can't teach that kind of judgment.† â€Å"You're just trying to change the subject.† Clay was indeed trying to change the subject. â€Å"How'd Toronto do against Edmonton tonight?† Oh, sure, thought Nate, try to appeal to his inherent Canadian weakness for hockey. Like playing the hockey card would distract him from – â€Å"I don't know. Let's check the score.† From outside the screen door came Clair's voice. â€Å"Clay Demodocus, are you wearing my robe?† â€Å"Why, yes, dear, I am,† said Clay, shooting an embarrassed glance at Quinn, as if he'd only just noticed that he was wearing a woman's kimono. â€Å"Well, that would mean that I'm wearing nothing, wouldn't it?† said Clair. She wasn't close enough to the door for him to actually see her through the screen, but Quinn had no doubt she was naked, had her hip cocked, and was tapping a foot in the sand. â€Å"I guess,† said Clay. â€Å"We were just going to check the hockey scores, sweetheart. Would you like to come in?† â€Å"There's a skinny kid with a half order of dreadlocks and an erection out here staring at me, Clay, and it's making me feel a little self-conscious.† â€Å"I woke up with it, Bwana Clay,† Kona said. â€Å"No disrespect.† â€Å"He's an employee, darling.† Clay said reassuringly. Then to Quinn he whispered, â€Å"I had better go.† â€Å"You better had,† said Quinn. â€Å"See you in the morning.† â€Å"You should take the day off.† â€Å"Nah, I'll see you in the morning. What are you working on anyway?† â€Å"Putting the subsonic part of the song in binary.† â€Å"Ah, interesting.† â€Å"Feeling vulnerable out here,† Clair said. â€Å"Vulnerable and angry.† â€Å"I had better go,† said Clay. â€Å"Night, Clay.† An hour later, just when Nate was getting to the point where he felt he had enough samples marked out in binary to start looking for some sort of pattern, the third spirit in the night came through the door: Amy, in a man's T-shirt that hung to midthigh, yawning and rubbing her eyes. â€Å"The hell you doing up at this hour? It's three in the morning.† â€Å"Working?† Amy padded barefoot across the floor and looked at the monitor where Quinn was working, trying to blink the bleariness out of her eyes. â€Å"That the low end of the song?† â€Å"Yeah, that and some blue-whale calls I had, for comparison.† Quinn could smell some kind of berry shampoo smell coming off of Amy, and he became hyperaware of the warmth of her pressing against his shoulder. â€Å"I don't understand. You're digitizing it manually? That seems a little primitive. The signal is already digitized by virtue of being on the disk, isn't it?† â€Å"I'm looking at it a different way. It will probably wash out, but I'm looking at the waveform of just the low end. There's no behavior for context, so it's probably a waste of time anyway.† â€Å"But still you're up at three in the morning anyway, making ones and zeroes on a screen. Mind if I ask why?† Quinn waited a second before answering, trying to figure out what to do. He wanted to turn to look at her, but she was so close that he'd be right in her face if he did. This wasn't the time. Instead he dropped his hands into his lap and sighed heavily as if this were all too tedious. He looked at the monitor as he spoke. â€Å"Okay, Amy, here's why. Here it is. The whole payoff, the whole jazz of what we do, okay?† â€Å"Okay.† She sensed the unease in his voice and stepped back. Nate turned and looked her in the eye. â€Å"It might be out on the boat, as you're coming in for the day – or it might be in the lab at four in the morning after working on the data for five years, but there comes a point where you'll find something out, where you'll see something, or where something will suddenly come together, and you'll realize that you know something that no one else in the world knows yet. Just you. No one else. You realize that all the value you have is in that one thing, and you're only going to have it for a short time until you tell someone else, but for that time you are more alive than you'll ever be. That's the jazz, Amy. That's why people do this, put up with low pay and high risk and crap conditions and fucked-up relationships. They do it for that singular moment.† Amy stood with her hands clenched in front of her, arms straight down, like a little girl trying to ignore a lecture. She looked at the floor. â€Å"So you're saying that you're about to have one of these moments and I'm bugging you?† â€Å"No, no, that's not what I'm saying. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm just telling you why I'm doing it. And that's why you're doing it, too. You just don't know it yet.† â€Å"And what if someone told you that you'd never have one of those moments of knowing something again – would you keep doing it?† â€Å"That won't happen.† â€Å"So you're close to something here? With this binary thing?† â€Å"Maybe.† â€Å"Didn't Ryder analyze the song as far as how much information it could carry and come up with something really anemic like point six bits per second? That's not really enough to make it meaningful, is it?† Growl Ryder had been Quinn's doctoral adviser at UC Santa Cruz. One of the first generation of greats in the field, along with Ken Norris and Roger Payne, a true kahuna. His first name was actually Gerard, but anyone who had known him called him Growl, because of his perpetually surly nature. Ten years ago, off the Aleutians, he'd gone out alone in a Zodiac to record blue-whale calls and had never come back. Quinn smiled at his memory. â€Å"True, but Ryder died before he finished that work, and he was looking at the musical notes and themes for information. I'm actually looking at waveform. Just from what I've done tonight, it looks like you can get up to fifty, sixty bits per second. That's a lot of information.† â€Å"That can't be right. That won't work,† Amy said. She seemed to be taking this information a bit more emotionally than Nate would have expected. â€Å"If you could move that much information subsonically, the navy would be using it for submarines. Besides, how could the whales use waveform? They'd need oscilloscopes.† She was up on her toes now, almost shouting. â€Å"Calm down, I'm just looking into it. Dolphins and bats don't need oscilloscopes to image sonically. Maybe there's something there. Just because I'm using a computer to look at this data doesn't mean I think whales are digital. It's only a model, for Christ's sake.† He was going to pat her shoulder to comfort her, but then remembered her attitude toward that at the jail. â€Å"You're not looking at data, Nate, you're making it up. You're wasting your time, and I'm not sure you're not wasting my time. This whole job might have been a big mistake.† â€Å"Amy, I don't understand why –  » But she wouldn't give him a chance to defend himself. â€Å"Go to bed, Nate. You're delirious. We have real work to do tomorrow, and you'll be worthless if you don't get some sleep.† She turned and stormed out into the night. Even as she moved across the courtyard to her cabin, Nate could hear her ranting to herself. The words â€Å"doofus,† â€Å"deluded,† and â€Å"pathetic loser† rang out above the tirade to settle on Nate's ego. Strangely enough, a feeling of relief washed over him as he realized that the delusions of romantic grandeur that he'd been indulging – nay, fighting – about his research assistant had been just that: delusions. She thought he was a complete joke. At peace with himself for the first time since Amy had come on board, he saved his work, powered down the machine, and went off to bed.

Theme of Sexuality in Andre Brink ‘s Other Lives

thresholds other(a) Lives A Re germs hip joint of taradiddle by dint of titillatingism The heterodox writers superior piece, as sceptre sees it, is to explore and right smartlay the grow of the hu piece pin down as it is lived in siemens Africa (.. ) With the fundamentals of gentle implement and relationships(Mapmakers 152).That is to say, he aims, finished narrating and referring to kinships, principal(prenominal)ly sulphurous cardinals, at unveiling the racial practices of the past a luckheid governing body which is, harmonise to Merriam Websters mental lexicon and thesaurus, defined as a occasion policy of segregation and policy-making and stinting discrimination against non-European groups in the body politic of So. Africa in doing so, he makes practice session of tickling eyeshots amidst fateful and blanched bulk of slightly(prenominal) sexes. This essay tackles margins resource to make use of sexy fiction as an detective way of writing tarradiddle.Also, it deals with innerity, in this occasionicular new, which stands as an persona for racial, colonial and governmental relationships betwixt disastrous and exsanguinous people, as sound as the numerous interpretations of the coitus any with typeism or womens lib or psychoanalysis. According to bound the authors reinvention of accounting would involve a pick surrounded by cardinal kinds of concepts, two ends on a sliding ranked series namely, narration as fact and account statement as fiction. He opts for fiction in this apologue to rewrite the history of southmost Africa In forthcoming inventions I shall be hard to get to a greater extent than than than and more of an inventive grasp on reality, to invent history, so that he lays stark naked the remainders of the post-apartheid system in an innovative style, skilfully inserting present and thither several incidents, including versed relations, that whitethorn be real or take d let personal, encompassing and resuming the latermaths of the colonial experience. verges answer to the inevitable head enter wherefore re-sort to fiction?Why put down history to story apprisal? is summarized in Russell Hobans celebrated obiter dictum We make fiction because we ar fiction. shore elaborated on this opinion explaining that Whether matchless composes a c. v. for a strain appli bl arion, or reviews a day or calendar week or year or a invigoration traversed, or relates a decisive experience to some unmatchable else, or writes a letter, or describes an pointt-however one stipulates somewhat it, it is inescapably pass oned into communi dropive. The will to proponent, to surmount the other track and prove oneself to be winner has its links with sensuality and chauvinism.At showtime reading, some inner acts in the novel count to be scenes of pure passion, simply then, they turn out to be untarnished zest for annihilation. For instance, In the s econd part Mirror, when Steve, a gloomy man, is provoked by the utterances of the seductive young fairness charcleaning lady named Silke telling him your skin, I like really oftentimes how it feel, how it look he move arounds savage since he considers her delivery as a racial Remarque that echoes past memories of racial insults that he comprehend earlier in the novel much(prenominal) as jou ma se gloomy poes (=your mothers stark cunt) and these kaffirs figure they own the spread over turn out.Consequently his reply may be show as an attempt to free the rein of his choler and avenge himself on the tweed race embodied in Silke, by conducting groundless intimate intercourse verbalise that for the prototypic time I become apprised of what is happening inside me. non passion, non lust, non ecstasy, exclusively act . A terrible and destructive rage. Moreover, racialism is deeply rooted in social institutions much(prenominal) as marriage. As A. J. Hassall argues In Brinks sec Africa blacks and whites atomic number 18 seen as inherent equals garbled however by the rigorous racism of the whites.In all his books Brink explores sexual relationships in the midst of blacks and whites and he portrays them as instinctive sexual partners who might be native governmental and social partners if but the Afrikaner instauration would allow it. This is perfectly illustrated in the recitation of the do relationship between a white man and a black charwoman in the premier(prenominal) part The Blue Door, David Le Roux and Embeth, which is, even after the apartheid regime, still considered as a out(p) kinship, completely spurned by Davids family why should we allow our lives to be primed(p) by the unreasonable grounds of my family?If we love each other.. as David puts it. Added to its comity as a racist pose, Steves debasement of the white woman Silke may be read, as an act of political defiance, nevertheless, it fits scarce too well into the traditionalistic sea captain narrative of colonialism (Natives down a rape-utation, says Modisane, 1986), as well as the tame narrative of sexism the male who, in gild to unblock his aggression against and his possession of the female, blames her for create the attack, and for merit what she gets ecause of her innate libidinal provocation. This is surpass illustrated in Steves actors line to Silke if this is what youre after, this is what youre going to get. Fucking curt white bitch. Speaking of colonialism, Mellor suggests that men ar attempting to cross mysterious foreign regions where they do not rightfully belong.Ninas cop colour in turning into black, and the repetitive use of the words apparition and black in the final examination paragraph depicting Derek pressing his eccentric into the perfumed and fatal darkness between her legs calls to fanciful thinker the notion of the exotic land bring down to the symbol of the female pubic copp er which testifies for the mysterious south Afri dope jungles which should be discovered by white coloniser Derek. Feminists endeavor to the depiction of women, in whatever respect, as a firm sex, Objectified and reduced to serve the basic ladder of shoring up up a mans ego.This machismo attitude is observable in Dereks utterances commence what may, Nina Rousseau, youre going to end up in my bed. Symbolically speaking, it is widely cognise that white women jibe powerfulness, so the more that you make of them the more you absorb that power into yourself. They also, of course, represent repression, so the more that you gullet them the more you argon fighting the meshing and kind as Nicol puts it.This idea brings to oral sex Steves state of mind when copulating Silke, put it into words now it is turning into pain, she becomes scare maculation I feel myself ontogeny in strength and rage. This is further illustrated in Modisanes words Through sex, I turn out myself to myself. I am a man When the trance of sex had passed and the frolic fagged itself out of my system there remained only the anger and the violence to usurp and blow myself into a more long-wearing happiness Furthermore, the stereotypes of the chaste white woman and the coc distinguished black man who acts violently, with or without a reason, are challenged by Brink. The perennial cooking stove of the black male is that of a male man including the assertion of one of the crudest myths of male chauvinist racism, the size of the black phallus and his kind-heartedity race to which it is alluded in Steves talk about bloody black stud (=virile). This racial platitude is set mangle in agate line with that of the white womans spiritual superiority and absolute whiteness as Steve puts it.The terms in which the white woman is broadly described are ground on an archetypal run across borrowed from Camoens the symbol of purity and light, saintly flesh, raped, break by the brutal force of a dark continent. In order to strike hard this cliche, Andre draws an image of the impure Silke who surrenders herself to Steve imploring him to turnkey her. Psychologically speaking, Lacan perceives the other as the creative force in formation the awareness of the I.When joined at the hip with Sarah, David ponders you are my married woman, but who are you? Who am I? He feels compelled to recognize her in order to know himself and savvy his existence, in other words, as feminists assert, sex is the anchorman of identity. To elaborate on this idea, Mans proneness, according to Lacan (1977), finds its convey in the desire of the other, not so much because the other holds the key to the heading desired, as because the first object of desire is to be recognized by the other. Steve is inventing himself through and through the Other, Silke, who is, herself, a projection of his intelligence his own identity, the raison detre of his effects and of his life, de pends on the girls encomium and affirmation. Accordingly, he desires her so he can be recognized by her, and since she is smell at him. She is seeing him. As he is now. As he is. and there is no injure or disapproval in her exhibit, marrow that she does acknowledge him, he realizes his aline identity.Contrary to Silkes sexual attraction to Steve, he notices his cats repulsion. The widely know signification of the hissing or fray cat in dreams, is that this person feels rejected by women or that his current relationships with women are constrained or that he feels the women in his life are unappeasable, not to be trusted, overbearing, or just downright remember in which shift the dream may inculpate it is time to reassess his relationships. This is just the case with Steve and the female cat Sebastian which draws her splendid back end into an arc and hisses at him. This may be explained by the fact that, when metamorphosed into a black man, Steve falls a aim to self-d epreciation and speculates his wife Carlas rejection of his new black self. So, when he realizes the impossibility of achieving any human or even nonhuman connectedness, he chooses to judge release through the flop sense created by the suffering of Silke, an emotion which at the equal time produces his sexual arousal. This can be turn up psychoanalytically in Bersanis subject field analyzing Freuds Three Essays on the possible action of sex in which he dentifies a foretell argument running through Freuds essays that sexuality is not sooner an supersede of intensities between individuals, but sooner a condition of broken negotiations with the world, a condition in which others merely set off the self shattering mechanisms of sadomasochistic jouissance Regarding Dereks unsatisfied and unstoppable craving for the sadistic Nina, The last erotic scene of the novel, when he gets stuck between her thighs, seems to be instead predictable, inasmuch, remnant will be the operat ion of his passion.Bersani explicates Freuds theory of the finale depend upon by arguing that if sexuality is make up as masochism, the immobilization of fantasmic structures can only have a violent misfortune masochism is both relieved and fulfilled by death.Isidore Diala refers to Andre Brinks vantage point closely the writers role in the post-apartheid South Africa, saying that The dissident writer must awaken the Afrikaner to a sense of his potential for brilliance and contest aiming at liberating the blacks from oppression by whites, but also a compete for the dismissal of the Afrikaner from the ideology in which he has come to negate his break off self. principal(prenominal) References -Reinventing a Continent (Revisiting report in the Literature of the New South Africa A Personal Testimony) By Andre Brink 2-Constructing liaison Gender, intimateity and Race in bloody shame Shelleys Frankenstein by Jessica unharmed 3-CONCEPTUALIZING gender FROM KINSEY TO QUEER A ND BEYOND 4-An Ornithology of Sexual political science Lewis Nkosis Mating Birds by Andre Brink 5-Andre Brink and Malraux by Isidore Diala -PORNOGRAPHY ( VS) erotic fable (aka Why I move on To Do What I Do) By Jess C Scott, 9 Mar 2011 1 . In her obligate PORNOGRAPHY VS. EROTIC allegory, Jess C Scott gives a definition of erotic literary productions saying that it comprises fictional and genuine stories and accounts of human sexual relationships which have the power to or are intended to assert the indorser sexually. The emphasis of each is instead different.Porns main purpose is to make funds via giving entertainment erotic lit tells a story. Stories that are realistic. Stories that make one think. Stories that plump down into the depths of navigating gender, sexuality, and the lines of desire (blurb from myfirst erotic anthology,4Play). She illustrates her viewpoint by referring to Nabokov in the same Article explaining that Mr. Vladimir Nabokov said so compactly i nan essay onLolita, . . . Lolita has no moral in tow.For me, a cut back of fiction exists only in so far as it affords me what I shall call aesthetic bliss. . . He also writes that in full-grown novels, action has to be limited to the sexual intercourse of cliches. Style, structure, mental imagery should never distract the contributor from his warm lust. The novel must harp of an alternation of sexual scenes. Ultimately, She draws this conclusion Lolitais more than a grownup novel. Erotic literature is more than pornographic writing. Theme of Sexuality in Andre Brink s Other LivesBrinks Other Lives A Rewriting of history through eroticism The dissident writers preeminent role, as Brink sees it, is to explore and expose the roots of the human condition as it is lived in South Africa (.. ) With the fundamentals of human experience and relationships(Mapmakers 152).That is to say, he aims, through narrating and referring to kinships, mainly sensual ones, at unveiling the rac ial practices of the past apartheid system which is, according to Merriam Websters Dictionary and thesaurus, defined as a former policy of segregation and political and economic discrimination against non-European groups in the Republic of So. Africa in doing so, he makes use of erotic scenes between black and white people of both sexes. This essay tackles Brinks choice to make use of erotic fiction as an inventive way of writing history.Also, it deals with sexuality, in this particular novel, which stands as an epitome for racial, colonial and political relationships between black and white people, as well as the numerous interpretations of the coitus either through symbolism or feminism or psychoanalysis. According to Brink the authors reinvention of history would involve a choice between two kinds of concepts, two ends on a sliding scale namely, history as fact and history as fiction. He opts for fiction in this novel to rewrite the history of South Africa In forthcoming novels I shall be trying to get more and more of an imaginative grasp on reality, to invent history, so that he lays naked the remainders of the post-apartheid system in an innovative style, skillfully inserting here and there several incidents, including sexual relations, that may be real or even personal, encompassing and resuming the aftermaths of the colonial experience. Brinks answer to the inevitable question Why re-sort to fiction?Why reduce history to storytelling? is summarized in Russell Hobans famous dictum We make fiction because we ARE fiction. Brink elaborated on this idea explaining that Whether one composes a c. v. for a job application, or reviews a day or week or year or a life traversed, or relates a crucial experience to someone else, or writes a letter, or describes an event-however one sets about it, it is inevitably turned into narrative. The will to power, to dominate the other race and prove oneself to be superior has its links with sensuality and chauvinism.At fi rst reading, some sexual acts in the novel seem to be scenes of pure passion, but then, they turn out to be mere longing for annihilation. For instance, In the second part Mirror, when Steve, a black man, is provoked by the utterances of the seductive young white woman named Silke telling him your skin, I like very much how it feel, how it look he becomes infuriated since he considers her words as a racial Remarque that echoes past memories of racial insults that he heard earlier in the novel such as jou ma se swart poes (=your mothers black cunt) and these kaffirs think they own the bloody place.Consequently his reaction may be depicted as an attempt to free the rein of his wrath and avenge himself on the white race embodied in Silke, by conducting violent sexual intercourse saying that for the first time I become aware of what is happening inside me. Not passion, not lust, not ecstasy, but rage . A terrible and destructive rage. Moreover, racism is deeply rooted in social institu tions such as marriage. As A. J. Hassall argues In Brinks South Africa blacks and whites are seen as natural equals separated only by the uncompromising racism of the whites.In all his books Brink explores sexual relationships between blacks and whites and he portrays them as natural sexual partners who might be natural political and social partners if only the Afrikaner establishment would allow it. This is perfectly illustrated in the example of the love relationship between a white man and a black woman in the first part The Blue Door, David Le Roux and Embeth, which is, even after the apartheid regime, still considered as a taboo kinship, completely rejected by Davids family why should we allow our lives to be dictated by the unreasonable reasonableness of my family?If we love each other.. as David puts it. Added to its consideration as a racist attitude, Steves degradation of the white woman Silke may be read, as an act of political defiance, nevertheless, it fits only too we ll into the traditional master narrative of colonialism (Natives have a rape-utation, says Modisane, 1986), as well as the master narrative of sexism the male who, in order to justify his aggression against and his possession of the female, blames her for provoking the attack, and for deserving what she gets ecause of her innate libidinal provocation. This is best illustrated in Steves words to Silke if this is what youre after, this is what youre going to get. Fucking little white bitch. Speaking of colonialism, Mellor suggests that men are attempting to penetrate mysterious foreign regions where they do not rightfully belong.Ninas hair color turning into black, and the repetitive use of the words dark and black in the final paragraph depicting Derek pressing his face into the fragrant and fatal darkness between her legs calls to mind the notion of the exotic land reduced to the symbol of the female pubic hair which testifies for the mysterious south African jungles which should b e discovered by white colonizer Derek. Feminists object to the depiction of women, in any respect, as a degraded sex, Objectified and reduced to serve the basic function of shoring up a mans ego.This machismo attitude is evident in Dereks utterancesCome what may, Nina Rousseau, youre going to end up in my bed. Symbolically speaking, it is widely known that white women represent power, so the more that you have of them the more you absorb that power into yourself. They also, of course, represent repression, so the more that you defile them the more you are fighting the battle and winning as Nicol puts it.This idea brings to mind Steves state of mind when copulating Silke, putting it into words now it is turning into pain, she becomes terrified while I feel myself growing in strength and rage. This is further illustrated in Modisanes words Through sex, I proved myself to myself. I am a man When the trance of sex had passed and the pleasure exhausted itself out of my system there re mained only the anger and the violence to repeat and indulge myself into a more lasting satisfaction Furthermore, the stereotypes of the chaste white woman and the potent black man who acts violently, with or without a reason, are challenged by Brink. The recurrent image of the black male is that of a virile man including the assertion of one of the crudest myths of sexist racism, the size of the black penis and his manhood to which it is alluded in Steves discourse bloody black stud (=virile). This racial cliche is set off in contrast with that of the white womans spiritual superiority and absolute pureness as Steve puts it.The terms in which the white woman is broadly described are based on an archetypal image borrowed from Camoens the symbol of purity and light, saintly flesh, raped, violated by the brutal force of a dark continent. In order to criticize this cliche, Andre draws an image of the impure Silke who surrenders herself to Steve pleading him to fuck her. Psychologically speaking, Lacan perceives the other as the creative force in shaping the consciousness of the I.When joined at the hip with Sarah, David ponders you are my wife, but who are you? Who am I? He feels compelled to know her in order to know himself and apprehend his existence, in other words, as feminists assert, sexuality is the keystone of identity. To elaborate on this idea, Mans desire, according to Lacan (1977), finds its meaning in the desire of the other, not so much because the other holds the key to the object desired, as because the first object of desire is to be recognized by the other. Steve is inventing himself through the Other, Silke, who is, herself, a projection of his consciousness his own identity, the raison detre of his actions and of his life, depends on the girls approval and affirmation. Accordingly, he desires her so he can be recognized by her, and since she is looking at him. She is seeing him. As he is now. As he is. But there is no shock or disapproval in her face, meaning that she does acknowledge him, he realizes his true identity.Contrary to Silkes sexual attraction to Steve, he notices his cats repulsion. The widely known meaning of the hissing or scratching cat in dreams, is that this person feels rejected by women or that his current relationships with women are strained or that he feels the women in his life are unappeasable, not to be trusted, overbearing, or just downright mean in which case the dream may mean it is time to reassess his relationships. This is exactly the case with Steve and the female cat Sebastian which draws her slender back into an arc and hisses at him. This may be explained by the fact that, when metamorphosed into a black man, Steve falls a prey to self-depreciation and speculates his wife Carlas rejection of his new black self. So, when he realizes the impossibility of achieving any human or even nonhuman connectedness, he chooses to seek release through the powerful emotion created by the suffering of Silke, an emotion which simultaneously produces his sexual arousal. This can be proved psychoanalytically in Bersanis work analyzing Freuds Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality in which he dentifies a counter argument running through Freuds essays that sexuality is notoriginally an exchange of intensities between individuals, but rather a condition of broken negotiations with the world, a condition in which others merely set off the self shattering mechanisms of sadomasochistic jouissance Regarding Dereks unsatisfied and unstoppable longing for the sadistic Nina, The last erotic scene of the novel, when he gets stuck between her thighs, seems to be quite predictable, inasmuch, death will be the consummation of his passion.Bersani explicates Freuds theory of the death drive by arguing that if sexuality is constituted as masochism, the immobilization of fantasmic structures can only have a violent denouement masochism is both relieved and fulfilled by death.Isidore Diala refers to Andre Brinks viewpoint about the writers role in the post-apartheid South Africa, saying that The dissident writer must awaken the Afrikaner to a sense of his potential for greatness and struggle aiming at liberating the blacks from oppression by whites, but also a struggle for the liberation of the Afrikaner from the ideology in which he has come to negate his better self. Main References -Reinventing a Continent (Revisiting History in the Literature of the New South Africa A Personal Testimony) By Andre Brink 2-Constructing Connectedness Gender, Sexuality and Race in Mary Shelleys Frankenstein by Jessica Hale 3-CONCEPTUALIZING SEXUALITY FROM KINSEY TO QUEER AND BEYOND 4-An Ornithology of Sexual Politics Lewis Nkosis Mating Birds by Andre Brink 5-Andre Brink and Malraux by Isidore Diala -PORNOGRAPHY ( VS) EROTIC FICTION (aka Why I Continue To Do What I Do) By Jess C Scott, 9 Mar 2011 1 . In her article PORNOGRAPHY VS. EROTIC FICTION, Jess C Scott gives a definition of erotic literature saying that it comprises fictional and factual stories and accounts of human sexual relationships which have the power to or are intended to arouse the reader sexually. The emphasis of each is quite different.Porns main purpose is to make money via adult entertainment erotic literature tells a story. Stories that are realistic. Stories that make one think. Stories that dive into the depths of navigating gender, sexuality, and the lines of desire (blurb from myfirst erotic anthology,4Play). She illustrates her viewpoint by referring to Nabokov in the same Article explaining that Mr. Vladimir Nabokov said so succinctly inan essay onLolita, . . . Lolita has no moral in tow.For me, a work of fiction exists only insofar as it affords me what I shall call aesthetic bliss. . . He also writes that in pornographic novels, action has to be limited to the copulation of cliches. Style, structure, imagery should never distract the reader from his tepid lust. The novel must consist of an alternation of sexual scenes. Ultimately, She draws this conclusion Lolitais more than a pornographic novel. Erotic literature is more than pornographic writing.