The Picture of Arabic Feminist

The Picture of Arabic Feminist The three stories titled The Picture share the perspective that sex and desire are complicated, not uniformly happy elements in a woman’s life, and that they carry terrible risks, whether one is very young or quite mature in years.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Picture of Arabic Feminist specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Looking at three women and the families around them, the stories by Layla Al-Uthman, Nawal Al-Saadawi, and Latifa Al-Zayyat examine women who are becoming aware of a new aspect of their sexual life, often with less than joyous implications. Narjis, the barely pubescent heroine of Nawal Al-Saadawi’s story, discovers both her own emerging sexuality and her father’s hypocrisy and exploitativeness of his household servant. Latifa Al-Zayyat’s heroine, Amal, becomes aware of the potential for her beloved and desired husband to be faithless. Layla Al-Uthman recounts the tale of her heroine in the first person, a woman contemplating the possibility of cuckolding her husband. All three discover aspects of their own sexuality that open up the potential for great pain. In Al-Saadawi’s tale of self-discovery, the little girl explores her own body in a way that would be entirely unremarkable in a western or secular household. However in the context of her religious upbringing and the strict and reserved behavior of her father, this self-exploration becomes frightening, and momentous. It ultimately destroys her world, which is founded on a worshipful respect for her father. If she were not feeling the new feelings engendered by her growing and developing body, she would not have been up so late to belatedly fulfill the obligatory ablutions her father and her religion have imposed on her. As a result, she is awake at a time of night when her father imposes his sexual will on the house servant. Thus, she discovers the possibilities of her own body and th at of all women, in a cataclysmic moment of revelation.Advertising Looking for essay on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Narjis is apparently motherless. There is nothing to suggest that she has a mother now, or ever did. Her only female role model is the taciturn house servant who is fulfilling the role of mother, servant, and, apparently, sex object for her father. Thus, at this turning point in her life, she has no one to ask, no one to share her new-found insights with. She is limited.herself, to the role of supplicant at her father’s feet, doomed never to look him in the face, a hero worshipper, uttering the same two words that her father’s servant uses to communicate with him. She persists in her investigations of herself, nonetheless, experimenting and wondering at what she finds. She is too young to have experienced the ‘male gaze’, but has frequently basked in the reflected glory of her father’s respected position in the community. Thus, her budding buttocks are in a sense the first element of her own identity apart from her overbearing father. They are something he has not asked her to do, that he did not cause to happen, and they are her exclusively her own. As noted above, however, they are also a mystery. Najir notes that, She could see Nabawiyya from the rear, but not herself. At that moment, she imagined that she had discovered a new human misfortune: you could see other peoples bodies but not the body in which you were born and which you always carried around However, in a society where women have little or no status, what could be a woman’s own territory, or fiefdom; namely, her own body, Najir is confronted with the unavoidable fact that all a woman’s parts are at the service of men. This is symbolized by Najir’s father’s exploitation of his maidservant. The fact that the act may be pleasurable for Nabawiyya is irrelevant. Najir’s father’s taking of her sexually excludes her from chances at a marriage of her own, because she is deprived of her virginity, and exposes the young woman to the risk of a pregnancy which could be literally life-threatening.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Picture of Arabic Feminist specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The fact that the two girls are developing secondary sexual characteristics at the same time suggests that they are roughly the same age, which makes his deflowering of Nabawiyya all the more disturbing. The author leaves us with the clear sense that Najir is bound to a path that will be different from the one she was on when the story opened. She does not drape herself modestly in the sight of her father’s portrait. She regards him, in the same photograph that she so admired at the start of the story, very differently. Here is how her father’s image is described before the revelation: His head looked big, his nose large and crooked, and his eyes hollow and wide, almost swallowing her up. After her discovery, the description changes subtly. There is almost a phallic feel to the way Najir’s father’s portrait is depicted – note the use of the image of bulging, and slicing: His wide eyes were bulging, and his sharp, crooked nose sliced his face in two. By the end of the story, Najir has acquired a sense of her own identity, her own body, her own thoughts. Her buttocks, the readers imagines, will likely be bestowed, in her future, where and when she chooses, and not where any man insists they be bestowed. At the other end of a woman’s sexual and reproduction life is the heroine of Layla Al-Uthman’s version of The Picture. She tells her story herself, a near brush with humiliation. The woman has the societal role of a wife and mother, with a grown son, so her marriage was at an early but perhaps not too early age. She acquires an ambition which even she herself terms â€Å"frivolous†, to have an affair. This occurs in spite of her being married to a man to whom she is still attracted, and who cherishes her enough to stage an elaborate birthday party for her.Advertising Looking for essay on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In the process of contemplating her own potential infidelity, she considers the possibility that her husband has long since been unfaithful to her. She also reviews the possible candidates for both disloyalties. The fact that none of the men in her life strikes her as being as attractive to her as her own husband signals that the lech is not so much sexual as existential. Is it not more likely that she wants excitement to offset the ennui she feels? She says, I became very calm, but my mind was racing. I felt a continuous sense of rebellion. I was driven by boredom, drawn from one room to another, from wardrobe to drawer. I searched for something to do. All the things that might need tidying up or dusting suddenly looked in perfect order. I loathed everything around me. The house was rejecting me. Her role in the family is very probably constraining and suffocating, although she has the freedom to drive a car, and walk in public. She finds no relief in driving fast, however. Instead , she encounters a woman who either is, or resembles closely, the older woman with whom her son had a brief affair. It is clear from the son’s letter that he regards the woman as having humiliated herself and disgusted him by her behavior. In remembering this story, the protagonist draws a direct comparison between herself and this nameless older woman. She is appalled at the prospect of her own aging body and face being involved in such a liaison. She would, herself, play the role of a fading beauty trying to recapture some desirability of youth if she pursued her intention of infidelity. As she guns the car motor, she flees both her own foray into infidelity, and, perhaps, the chance to escape the stifling boredom of her life as it has been. In this depressing finale, the reader senses the tyranny of youthfulness in determining sexual desirability. There is no a priori reason why an older woman should not be as attractive as a younger one when fertility is not the aim for t he relationship. However, the protagonist clearly feels, by the end of the story, that she is disqualified from that particular solution to boredom and social constraints. The reader is left to hope that the protagonist will find constructive ways to spread her wings and bring some fresh air into her cigarette-drugged lungs, ways that do not hold the risk of destroying her family. The somewhat younger woman in Latifa Al-Zayyat’s story still has an active role to play as the mother of a young son. She has the excitement of finding that her husband still is capable of fierce desire for her, perhaps sparked by the unfamiliarity of an â€Å"away† vacation. However, this gratification is spoiled by her suspicions that her husband is contemplating infidelity. The author does not make clear whether Amal’s concerns are justified. The process by which Amal arrives at her suspicions draws attention to the sade fact that she seems to have defied her parents and married for love rather than with an arranged marriage. She also seems to have exerted lifelong efforts to be a modest and appropriate woman and wife. During her engagement, for example, she did not want to have a picture taken that revealed a public display of affection. Her chaste and devoted behavior contrasts violently with the other woman’s. The other woman wears shorts, swings her posterior, smokes, drinks, and laughs at another woman’s husband. The other woman is as trapped by her role as Amal is, however. Even if she is actually a PhD in chemistry, her image labels her as a floozy. Izaat may follow at her heels, panting, but he will not take her seriously. She is as shut out of serious life as Amal is. Amal clings to her son in her effort to remind herself of her rights as a mother and wife. However, when she clings to her huband, she finds herself embarrassed by the result. The picture shows her as a desparate woman squeezing her husband’s arm so hard that he grim aces. He runs off immediately afterwards, putatively for change, but the reader is left to wonder whether he has actually gone to get change, or to arrange an assignation with the shameless woman in shorts. Amal takes this photograph as a true reflection of her relationship with her husband. She clearly feels that something has been breached that will not allow for healing. How else is the reader to interpret her willful and spiteful act of defacement of the photo? In case this message is not clear, Al-Zayyat ends the story with the fateful statement that, there was a long road ahead of her. This is a bleak assessment of Amal’s future. As a mature woman, she faces loneliness and possibly deprivation if she breaks with her husband. If she takes her life into her own hands, she will irretrievably change her life. She may lose her child. Is this worth it? Is being independent more important than being married? Is being married to someone who may be faithless worth more than bein g alone? What role would Amal play as a divorced woman? In the course of a few minutes and a few pages, the reader is dragged from a watching a happy wife laughing at rainbows, to watching a wife with serious suspicions about her mate. This reflects the way such revelations occur in real life, so the impact is powerful. The message seems to be to avoid pinning one’s life and happiness on one man, to avoid playing a role that depends on a weak-willed man’s keeping faith. These are three very different stories, but only one holds any hope of long term happiness. Najir has the best chance of creating a life for herself that does not depend on a man’s whim. In each case, the roles imposed on the heroines, whether semi-servant, cosseted arm candy, or simply taken for granted, are hardly a bargain. The only way out for all three seems to lie in a lonely life apart from men. If this is the aim of feminism, it is a bleak one. As has been observed, the categories of Arab feminist writing are not fixed . These stories are definitely feminist because they focus on the women in them, and they are clearly Arab because the challenges that the women face are shaped by the Arab culture around them. However, there is much that is common to women everywhere who think about their roles and their own sexuality. All women need to think carefully about sex and desire. These are potentially dangerous parts of life. Women all share, in the words of Magda M. Al-Nowaihi, â€Å"sorrows and dreams† . Bibliography Al-Saadawi, Nawal. The Picture. Cohen-Mor, Dalya. Arab Women Writers: An Anthology of Short Stories. Ed. Dalya Cohen-Mor. Trans. Dalya Cohen-Mor. SUNY Press, 2005. 60-64. Al-Uthman, Layla. The Picture. Cohen-Mor, Dalya. Arab Women Writers: An Anthology of Short Stories. Ed. Dalya Cohen-Mor. Trans. Dalya Cohen-Mor. SUNY Press, 2005. 73-78. Al-Zayyat, Latifa. The Picture. Cohen-Mor, Dalya. Arab Women Writers: An Anthology of Short Stories. Ed. Dalya Coh en-Mor. Trans. Dalya Cohen-Mor. SUNY Press, 2005. 65-72. M. Al-Nowaihi, Magda. Resisiting Silence in Arab Womens Autobiographies. International Journal of Middle East Studies 33 (2001): 477-502. Mendola, Tara. Where do We Go From Here? College Literature 36.3 (2009): 221-9.

Definition and Examples of Multiple Exclamation Marks

Definition and Examples of Multiple Exclamation Marks An  exclamation point  (!)  is a mark of  punctuation  used after a word, phrase, or sentence that expresses a strong emotion. It ends emphatic statements, says English Grammar Punctuation, a reference guide. William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White, in their famous Elements of Style,  say that: The exclamation mark is to be reserved for after true exclamations and commands. And Merriam-Websters Guide to Punctuation and Style  notes that the exclamation point is used to mark a forceful comment or exclamation. It is also called an  exclamation mark  or tellingly, in newspaper jargon, a  shriek. These sources and others may define it with different vocabulary, but they all agree on one thing: The exclamation point is possibly the most overused punctuation mark in the English language.  Multiple exclamation points  (or marks)- two or, often, three exclamation marks  (!!!) following a word or sentence- should be even rarer still in good writing. History The exclamation point was first used by printers at the end of the 15th century, according to  Thomas MacKellar, in his 1885 book, The American Printer: A Manual of Typography. MacKellar also noted that the punctuation meant admiration or exclamation as well as surprise, astonishment, rapture, and the like sudden emotions of the mind. The mark, itself, comes from Latin, says  Smithsonian.com: In Latin, the exclamation of joy was  io,  where the i was written above the o. And, since all their letters were written as capitals, an I with an O below it looks a lot like an exclamation point. It wasn’t until 1970 that the exclamation point had its own key on the keyboard, the Smithsonian notes, adding that before that you had to type a period, and then use the backspace to go back and stick an apostrophe above it. When executives dictated to secretaries, they would say bang to indicate the exclamation point, leading to the term  interbang,  a  nonstandard punctuation  mark in the form of a question mark superimposed on an exclamation point (sometimes appearing as ?!).  It is used to end a rhetorical question or a simultaneous question and exclamation. Some writers, then, began using  multiple exclamation points  as a logical outgrowth of the interbang and single exclamation mark to add even more emphasis to words, phrases, and sentences. Purpose The use of the exclamation point- and, even more so, multiple exclamation points- has been met with plenty of controversy and criticism. Smithsonian notes this less-than-pleased response  by F. Scott Fitzgerald to the use of multiple exclamation points: â€Å"Cut out all those exclamation marks. An exclamation mark is like laughing at your own jokes.† Author Elmore Leonard was even more incensed by their use: â€Å"You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.† Leonard also said that use of  multiple exclamation points  is the sign of a diseased mind. Still, exclamation points do have a purpose in the English language, according to the late  Rene Jack Cappon, a longtime editor at the Associated Press and author of  The Associated Press Guide to Punctuation. Cappon said that exclamation points are certainly not subtle; instead, they act like a kettle drum, noisily calling readers attention to a given word, phrase, or sentence. Echoing the very earliest use of this punctuation mark, Cappon says you should use exclamation points to convey pain, fear, astonishment, anger, and disgust, as in: â€Å" Ouch! My toes! cries one, a bowling ball dropped on his foot. Somebody  help  me! screams a damsel in distress. Look, a real unicorn! Astonishment. Get thee behind me, Satan! Rage and disgust. Cappon notes that you rarely run into emotional outbursts like these, so you should use single or multiple exclamation points sparingly. He and other grammar and punctuation experts point out that you should generally let the words speak for themselves, set off by a simple  period,  comma, or  semicolon. Otherwise, you risk damaging your credibility by constantly yelling at your readers, similar to someone screaming fire in a crowded theater, even when there is not a hint of smoke. Rules for Using Exclamation Marks Richard Bullock, Michal Brody, and Francine Weinberg note in the The Little Seagull Handbook, a grammar, punctuation, and style guide used on many college campuses, that you should use exclamation points to express strong emotion or add emphasis to a statement or command. They give this example of when to use an exclamation point, from Susan Jane Gilmans Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress: Tales of Growing Up Groovy and Clueless, who described seeing The Rolling Stones band member Keith Richards: Keith, we shrieked as the car drove away. Keith, we love you! Encountering a member of the iconic rock band- and the shrieking that accompanied the sighting- would, indeed, call for at least one exclamation point- and perhaps more!!!- to emphasize the excitement of the moment. Another example of when to use exclamation points is illustrated in this pithy quote from Tennessee Williams in Camino Real. Make voyages! Attempt them! Theres nothing else. You can also use multiple exclamation points in  informal  or comic writing, or to express  sarcasm, as in:   I loved your last email! OMG did I LOVE it!!! The point is that the writer of the above sentences didnt really love the email. She was being  ironic, which the multiple exclamation points help to show. Additionally, David Crystal, in Making a Point: The Persnickety Story of English Punctuation, gives these examples where the  contexts  dictate when exclamation marks would be acceptable, even expected: Interjections -  Oh!Expletives -  Damn!Greetings -  Happy Xmas!!!Calls -  Johnny!Commands -  Stop!Expressions of surprise -  What a mess!!!Emphatic statements -  I want to see you now!Attention-getters -  Listen carefully!Loud speech in dialogue -  Im in the garden!Ironic comments -  He paid, for a change!  or . . .  for a change (!)Strong mental attitudes -  Hardly! he thought But there are many other instances where you should omit exclamation points, as in this example from The Little Seagull Handbook. It was so close, so low, so huge and fast, so intent on its target that I swear to you, I swear to you, I felt the vengeance and rage emanating from the plane.- Debra Fontaine, Witnessing Bill Walsh, the late copy chief for the  Washington Post, noted in The Elephants of Style: A Trunkload of Tips on the Big Issues and Gray Areas of Contemporary American English that you should omit exclamation points (and other punctuation marks) when they are, essentially, gimmicky decorations for company names. So, says Walsh, you would write Yahoo,  not Yahoo! The Associated Press Stylebook also notes that you place exclamation points within quote marks when they are part of the quoted material, as in: How wonderful! he exclaimed.Never! she shouted. But place exclamation points outside of quotation marks when they are not part of the quoted material: I hated reading Spensers Faerie Queene! And never use other punctuation marks, such as a comma, after an exclamation point: Wrong: Halt!, the corporal cried.Right: Halt! the corporal cried. So, when using exclamation points remember that less is more. Use this punctuation mark- whether it be one, two, or three exclamation points- only when the context calls for it. Otherwise, let your prose speak for themselves and save the mighty exclamation point for extreme circumstances, for heavens sake!!!

Executive Compensation in Investment Banks Essay

Executive Compensation in Investment Banks - Essay Example Initially it was the investing public that was greatly affected, but as the crisis grew and the state had to intervene, it was the common man who stands out as most hurt, not only in the US, but across Europe and the world. Apart from bearing the full force of the crisis in terms of recession, unemployment, it is his money that is being used to bailout companies from the mess created for which he is in no way responsible. The media, the public and the politicians are busy naming the culprits for the crisis. The state regulators are trying hard to exonerate themselves by saying it did everything to prevent it and academicians are busy trying to analyse and suggest solutions. The analysts and executives who are being seen as the immediate malefactors are facing the media and public ire for the alleged role they played in the process. The important thing about this crisis is that it is not something that happened by a set of circumstances which developed overnight. There have been two similar occurrences, though of lesser magnitude in the last decade, the stock market bubble in the mid nineties and the crisis following the dot.com bubble burst in the earlier part of the century. At both times the reactions of the media, public and regulators have been similar, but apparently whatever remedial action taken by the regulators and the industry does not seem to have prevented the recurrence of the present crisis. Questions are still being asked on how this has happened Can these be prevented Are these inherent risks in a capitalist and market economy and therefore these are unavoidable If so, how should they be mitigated What and who is responsible for the present crisis What has been the role of the state and regulators The questions being attempted to be answered in these area are more specific namely if the executive compensation in investment banks are flawed and whether disclosures made in Reports and Accounts have given information to shareholders about long term prospects of the company to justify such high compensation and how these have affected shareholders wealth erosion in the present crisis. There is a universal agreement across academicians, industry, regulators and media that executive payments in investment banks are indeed very high. "Firms make lots of money, and use about half of it to overpay their employees."(Brown, 6) CFA UK's analysis of pay structure of employees of investment banks (Annexure A) and concedes that they are very high compared to other business sectors. Even if we concede for the moment that the remuneration and incentives paid to employees and CEOs of investment bank is disproportionate to what they really deserve, and this had a bearing on the crisis, this cannot be the reason for the crisis. Three articles have been chosen from three different sources-the media, academic research and industry association to see how much they agree with the statement. These have been taken from three different periods of time, one immediately after the previous crisis of 2002, one midway between the last two crises (2007) and one not more than a month ago after the full impact of the crisis was beginning to unfold (2008). The first one is written by Gretchen C. Morgenson et al. (2002) appeared in May 2002 in the Money and Business/ Financial section of

Performance Appraisal, Diversity Management, And Employee Essay

Performance Appraisal, Diversity Management, And Employee Participation - Essay Example The leaders of the organization are the key to the success of any organization. They who set the goals, define the mission and vision and work with the employees to get the objectives completed. The problem that the company is facing is due to the lack of leadership qualities shown by the leader and non-satisfactory part played by the managers in performing their roles. Let’s identify some of the problems that are found in the company: Like the case study tells us, most of the top level and middle-level management positions are occupied by white men who share similar interests. This gives an idea that the organization is in control of the white men, and decisions are taken by them. When even white middle managers would spend time with the white top-level managers, the minority groups in the company would feel cut out and would generally blame the management of favoring the whites even if this wasn’t true. So by not having a diverse top management force, the perception o f the minority groups becomes biased. (Ely & Thomas, 2001) The minority groups are complaining about the incorrect and unjustified performance appraisals done. They received lesser points when compared to other white employees and for this very reason, their accusations of discrimination have become certain. Although the management may not be discriminatory and performance appraisal is done solely on merit, but due to the management’s negative attitude towards the minorities, any appraisal done is looked from a critical look.  ... This gives an idea that the organization is in control of the white men, and decisions are taken by them. When even white middle managers would spend time with the white top level managers, the minority groups in the company would feel cut out and would generally blame the management of favoring the whites even if this wasn't true. So by not having a diverse top management force, the perception of the minority groups becomes biased. (Ely & Thomas, 2001) 2. Injustices to the Minority Groups The minority groups are complaining about the incorrect and unjustified performance appraisals done. They received lesser points when compared to other white employees and for this very reason their accusations for discrimination have become certain. Although the management may not be discriminatory and performance appraisal is done solely on merit, but due to the management's negative attitude towards the minorities, any appraisal done is looked from a critical look. (Ely & Thomas, 2001) 3. Lack of Knowledge and Trained Human Resource Staff The company has a HR team however the team hasn't been able to fulfill its responsibilities as yet. Not enough knowledge is imparted to the employees about employee appraisal and diversity at the work place which is turning the company into a non-diverse white men company. Such a company can only be successful to an extent since diversity brings in new challenges and with it, it brings creativity. (French, 2006) 4. No Motivation for Minority Groups Minority groups are not finding any luck on their sides. They see no benefits for working and hence some have even resigned from their jobs. Since there is no encouragement, motivation, rewards and appreciation

Fan Violence in International Soccer Essay Example for Free

Fan Violence in International Soccer Essay Fan violence in international soccer is a very serious form of aggression and it must be given a lot of attention by the games’ stake holders. Fan violence in international soccer involves actions that are taken by the football supporters and fights between the supporters of rival teams may sometimes take place after the football matches. The fights could also be prearranged in locations that are away from the stadiums so that the fans can avoid the police interventions. Fan violence can be at times be prompted by violent actions which involve the players themselves or any other form of event that could be taking place during a game or even disturbances and riots that are sport related and often they occur for other reasons. Fan violence in international soccer has been on the increase as it is known as the existence of an essentially unstable and an abnormal temperament in some individuals who happen for some reason to have taken soccer as an arena in which they act out their instabilities. (Smith, 1983) It has become very difficult to deal with the offenders in the football matches and the international football federation has had difficulties punishing the spectators who misbehave themselves . The international football federation has also had to deal with issues that prompt fans violence in soccer matches such as providing seats in place of standing accommodation, initiating maximum cooperation between the police and the football clubs and also ensuring that there is an absolute acceptance of the referees decisions by everybody in the football arena. The key stakeholders of the soccer game are the international football federation who ensure that the punishment that is given to the offenders and to those who participate in football hooliganism should match the seriousness of the offence. It is notably very true that the consumption of alcohol is a very important factor in crowd misbehavior especially in places where the football matches are taking place. (Smith, 1987) The football fans are mainly controlled by the activities and the popularize of different clubs . This makes it a contest as they embark on slogans chants and even songs so that they can demonstrate their support to the teams they support. The violence that exists between the sets of fans is seen as a part of their participation in the game. Violent fans and those who mainly participate in violent actions in the international soccer are basically those people who are young and unemployed. It also involves also those who are members of fanatic clubs and they are poorly educated since they attribute most of their behavior to the external factors rather than the internal ones. In most case there are usually two matches going on in a football stadium and whereas one match concerns the football teams that are on the pitch and the second match usually involves the fanatic fans whose interests are not in the game as such but on the opportunities which are offered by the football such as meeting the club mates and giving vents to their emotions and energies in the battles with others. (Smith, 1983) It is at times very complex to handle fan violence in soccer ethically since the game requires intense physical contact which may cause harm of injury. When the stake holders access the moral status of an action, they examine the issue of consent by the person on whom the action has been performed. Actions by the fans which are outside the rules of the federation of international soccer are considered to be morally unacceptabl. Reference: Smith, M. (1983): Violence and Sport, Toronto, Ontario: Butterworth’s. Smith, M. (1987): Violence in Canadian Amateur Sport, a Review of the Literature, Ottawa, Ontario, Commission for Fair Play, Government of Canada.

Hip-hop, Reggae, and Politics Essay -- Essays on Politics

Hip-hop, Reggae, and Politics Introduction Music is an art form and source of power. Many forms of music reflect culture and society, as well as, containing political content and social message. Music as social change has been highlighted throughout the 20th century. In the 1960s the United States saw political and socially oriented folk music discussing the Vietnam War and other social issues. In Jamaica during the 1970s and 1980s reggae developed out of the Ghetto’s of Trench town and expressed the social unrest of the poor and the need to over-through the oppressors. The 1980’s brought the newest development in social and political music, the emergence of hip-hop and rap. This urban musical art form that was developed in New York City has now taken over the mainstream, but originated as an empowering art form for urban youth and emerging working class. Musically hip-hop spawned the age of DJ’s. With strong influences from Reggae, hip-hop has developed into an empowering form for the expression of ideas, power, revolution and change. Power and empowerment have emerged from these musical styles that now have many commonalities. Hip-hop and Reggae are both forms of protest music. â€Å"Protest music is characterized by objections to injustices and oppressions inflicted on certain individual groups†¦. typically, the intent of protest musicians is to oppose the exploitation and oppression exercised by dominant elites and member of dominant groups†(Stapleton, 221). Hip-hop has developed as a new form of protest music void of the common acoustic guitar. The goal of protest music is to promote freedom through music. Bob Marley expresses his belief that music is a message and route to freedom in the song â€Å"Trench town.† ... ...ap† Miami New Times, February 10, 2000, Thursday. Salmon, Barrington â€Å" Bob Marley’s legacy lives forever† Miami Times, V. 73; N. 22 p. 5A, 2/18/1996 Shivers, Kaia â€Å"This is Reggae Music† Los Angeles Sentinel† V. 66; N. 32 p. B5 11/8/2000 Wilson, Basil â€Å"The politics & culture of Reggae music† The Caribbean-American Magazine v. 24 N. 1 p. 25, 2/28/2000 Discography: Honorary Citizen: Peter Tosh, Sony Music Entertainment:1997 Steffens, Roger. â€Å"In the Tracks of the Stepping Razor: The Peter Tosh Biography† pgs. 42-51 Reflection Eternal: Talib Kweli, Rawkus Records 2000 â€Å"This means you† Run DMC: Run DMC, Arista Records 1983 â€Å"Its Like That† Bob Marley: Confrontation, Polygram Records 1983 â€Å"Chant down Babylon,† and â€Å"Trenchtown† Bob Marley: Suvival, Ploygram Records 1979 â€Å"Babylon System†

Counterargument and Peaceful Species

IGCSE English as a First Language – The Winchester School, Dubai Ishita Sharma – 11G Argumentative writing: â€Å"Humans are a peaceful species at heart† How far do you agree? Are humans a peaceful species at heart? It’s a difficult task to pick a clear side but many people have many opinions. There are various people who will say yes, humans are a peaceful species at heart but there are equally many people who would say no. After all, it is a broad topic concerning an unpredictable species.One strong argument in support of this statement would be that if we weren’t a peaceful species how would we co-exist in such a large population in places like mega cities. Furthermore, criminals exist in a minority, how can that tip the scales and make us think that we are a violent species. Also, if we were so violent, why would we organize charities for people we don’t even know? Why would donations exist? If we were not cooperative how would generation s of scientists from all over the world discover things such as the atom, medicines etc.The counter-argument to that would be that we could just be cooperating for selfish reasons or from fear of justice. There are many who are against this statement and have just as many points to justify their opinion. The most important point is that if we were so peaceful, why are there such things as wars? A minority of criminals, which is slowly rising, have the ability to kill innocent people, are they not humans too? Why is it that weapons such as guns which were invented to protect the innocent, are now being used to kill them? Terrorism and racism, in other words hatred, have consumed many defenceless beings.It is in human nature in fact, to be aggressive. In our history, there have been massive blood baths for selfish reasons such as a quest for power and even natural resources. We are the reason that the Earth may suffer another Ice Age as we are destroying it on a daily basis. Could it not be that it is a fear of being reprimanded that makes us behave like civil people? After all, just 3000 years or so ago, we were barbarians who fought over land and food, and it seems we continue to do so. In conclusion, after weighing up the arguments, I feel that I am against this statement. Humans are not peaceful as it is not even in our nature to be so.We are the cause of many epidemics and in the end we are the ones who destroy each other and everything around us whether it is for selfish purposes or justice. After all, there is no justification for violence, destruction and of course, selfishness. Comment: Introductory paragraph. Explains the fact that this is a complex topics towards which people have differing opinions. Comment: Reason 1. Argument for Comment: Good example of connective adverb to develop reason 1. Comment: Reason 2 Comment: Bridge sentence, indicating that she is now moving on to the reasons against the topic Comment: Argument sections. Reasons for.Comme nt: Use of rhetorical questions to bring the reader over to her viewpoint. Comment: Counter argument section. Reasons against. Comment: Conclusion section of the essay. She states her opinion and reiterated the main reason why she doesn’t believe humans are a peaceful species at heart. Overall, this essay scores an A grade. Ishita has followed the structure we discussed in class: clear introduction, followed by argument, counterargument and a conclusion. She has points for and against the topic indicating that she has considered both sides of the argument and is aware of what the proponents and opponents of the statement believe.She has used a few rhetorical questions for emphasis – always a good strategy. Her conclusion was sound: she states her opinion after presenting us with her main reason why she believes humans aren’t a peaceful species at heart. Her sentences are grammatically correct and she makes her points succinctly with a confident economy of words. She could score a higher grade if she focused a little more on elaborating her points for/against. Using a more varied vocabulary would add an extra dimension to her writing and drive home her points all the more effectively. – Mr. Roberts

Role of Media in Society Today

Media certainly plays a vital role in advertising of anything what so ever to the general public. It is simply the media which brings out the commodities, new cars, new products, new inventions, and new designs of simply anything, new ideas, and new technology to the people Even though there are a lot of different kinds of Medias but television no doubt is the most powerful media present today. There is no doubt that the inventions of television in the human lives have changed everything around us. Communications have been made easier due to these Medias like Radio, television, newspapers and many more. If we simply talk about television as a whole, it would certainly not be wrong to say that television plays a vital role in our lives today. Television has become a necessity, rather than a luxury in almost every part of the world. It is undoubtfully true that today we would see television in simply every home. Even though there are merits as well as demerit of this media. Nowadays television channels and newspapers are busy making money by giving out wrong kind of information to the general public. Making money has simply become top most priority of the people engaged in this media business. They simply think that this way they would become more popular .As indicated earlier, that everyone simply watches television, simply because of the fact that it provides a lot of entertainment although, it is a common thought that the television only offers all types of   dramas, soaps, advertising, and the news. So we could say that due to the reason that this particular media. Has got a lot of viewers on the whole. Children undoubtfully watch a lot of television and according to one of the survey report they spent a lot more time watching television than they spend in their classrooms.   Thus lot viewers mean that this is simply the best media for advertising. As it is that not only the children watch television extensively but also the adults. This has been the reason that advertising is also done extensively on this media.(n.p,n.d} Nowadays shopping is also done through television. within minutes with the help of credit cards without roaming in the rush of shopping malls, which has been greatly appreciated by the female populace of the globe. Thus, television has become a matter of just fingertips, and has promoted, as well as, assisted the humans in achieving a better and improved place in their lives. This way a lot of time is also stopped from being wasted for going to the shopping malls and a person could simply shop at home. Apart from advantages of this media there are a lot of demerits of watching television for example we could say that at times it does happens that what is shown on the television is not what it basically is. when the product is bought on the credit card after watching the advertisement reaches the customer ,the customer does not wants to have it because what was so attractive ,did not appear to be when it got in the hands of the customer. Due to this reason also a lot of people hesitate from buying after watching television ads .But still there are many more that prefer from buying like this because it wastes no time. For the most part the television is found to be very entertaining. People watch television shows they enjoy and find entertaining. Television does not only provide entertainment only for adults but also for the babies. TELEVISION AND ADVERTISING As indicated that even the children of all ages watches television thus a lot of products like candies, different kinds of chocolated, different kinds of outlets for children, toys ,cloths are also advertised on television so the children could also watch and ask their parents to buy it for them.   At the same time there are also a lot of disadvantages of watching television This is also a fact that when people men and women watches television and look at the slim, smart looking people they feel as if they are unhealthy and are not fit .Due to this reason they do not eat well and start to take medicines which is of course not correct. Escaping the media and their influence is impossible. Everywhere one turns, a different form of the media is conveying a message to the world about what normalcy is and/or should be. As Douglas Kellner, author of Cultural Studies, Multiculturalism and Media Culture writes, they provide materials out of which we forge our very identities, our sense of selfhood; our notion of what it means to be male or female† this is true that there is so much going on and so much to look at that it just becomes impossible not to take notice of the messages that the media is passing on to us. The influence of media in society has effects on various age groups As we know that the advertising is done for different age groups so the effect is also on the different group of people. Media’s influence on society is so great that it clearly has the ability to mould our world through its distribution of information. Media can be of any kind it is a fact that people are attracted to it; it is just like a cyclone which takes in everyone who is in its reach. CONCLUSION Earlier when the media was not as it is today, newspapers and radio were the greatest and most reliable source of information in the world to bring people’s attention to different things. But that was long time back .Today the strongest media is television and one of the most reliable too. As it is that it reaches simply everyone .People of all ages, casts, class and religion.. One of the advantages of the television is its reliability, as the information on the television is updated within seconds. Businesspersons can be informed of latest foreign exchange rates and products that would be in trend in the near future. The term ‘television’ is used not only for an electronic box that provides a transmission by receiving and sending particular images and sounds within a distance; however, a new commercial world of entertainment and technology has been emerged through this idiot box. Works Cited Les Brown. (1973). Television. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich: USA. Marry Ellen Brown. (1990). Television and Women’s Culture. Currency Press: USA. R. W. Burns. (1998). Television. IET: Texas, USA. Richard Collins. (1990). Television. Routledge: UK. Toby Miller. (2003). Television. Taylor & Francis: New York, USA. Vldamir Kosma Zworykin. (1954). Television. J. Wiley: New York, USA.   

Braveheart Essays

Leadership / Braveheart Essays Leadership / Braveheart Essay Leadership / Braveheart Essay Braveheart Like 12 0 Clock High and Lawrence of Arabia, the characters in Braveheart are engaged in a desperate military campaign against superior forces. In such a situation, the quality of leadership may make a difference between success and failure. As a charismatic leader who draws disparate groups together in support of a cause, the character of William Wallace possesses many similarities to T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia and also to Commander Davenport in 12 0 Clock High. The presence of a charismatic leader brings many advantages to an organization, ncluding a passionate base of supporters, but also some disadvantages, as demonstrated by all three films. Charismatic leaders like Wallace and Lawrence may inspire loyalty and attract recruits through the force of their personalities. Both characters make their initial impressions and win the loyalty of the men they eventually lead through acts of bravery, in Lawrences case, or prowess in combat, in Wallaces. While this kind of attention can inspire considerable passion from followers, who can then achieve results that would otherwise seem impossible, such qualifiers for leadership do not lways indicate a capacity for actual strategic thinking or resource management, which can lead to the downfall of the organization. Commander Davenport in 12 0 Clock High was also a charismatic leader who was well-liked by his men. However, his affection was earned through camaraderie, not leadership skills, which resulted in the 918th group suffering high casualty rates and mission failures. Gardner points out that an effective leader can be measured by the extent to which he or she maintains a focus on group objectives. In the case of charismatic eaders like Wallace and Lawrence, the group objective and personal objectives often align. For the character of William Wallace, his personal mission for revenge evolves into the larger goal of Scottish liberation, while Lawrences goal of Arab liberation comes from personal sympathies for the marginalized Arab tribes. However, the weakness of leadership inspired solely by charisma can come from the same source as its strength, meaning that the leaders personal qualities do not necessarily extend to the act of total leadership. For Lawrence, for example, whose personal ego and mbition eventually cloud his perception of the groups fighting under him, the focus on Arab liberation slowly shifts to a focus on self-aggrandizement. While he does win the battle for Damascus and achieves his overall objectives, his inability to objectively evaluate the situation dooms the larger goal of Arab liberation to failure. William Wallace, on the other hand, does not suffer from the same style of weakness. Like Lawrence, however, the appeal based on his personal reputation is very strong among the rank-and-file soldiers, but weaker among those in power with personal stakes of their own. Lawrences men habitually leave the battle when they have accumulated enough money to make the expedition worthwhile because their William Wallace over-estimates his own authority at the battle of Falkirk, where he is betrayed by Lochlan and Mornay, for whom money and power are more important than Scottish independence. Atticus from the film To Kill a Mockingbird makes a similar error, assuming that his personal conviction will be enough to overcome the racist tendencies of the Jury. By contrast, General Savage achieves results leading the 918th partially because he is willing to be personally unpopular and instill unit iscipline, uniting the group around common goals rather than his personality. Another error made by charismatic leaders in these films is the unwillingness to fully trust their managers and leader-managers. Lawrence continually refuses to acknowledge the advice of al-Sharif throughout the film, even though in several instances Sharifs insight would have maintained the cohesion of the Arab fighting units and prevented Lawrence from being arrested and tortured. William Wallace is also often hesitant to delegate responsibility and listen to the counsel of others, specially the more temperate voice of Robert the Bruce. While Roberts naivet? © is mostly responsible for Wallaces capture, his input regarding dealing with the Scottish nobility could have helped avoid the betrayal and losses in the first place. By contrast, General Savage consistently requests the counsel of the officers and managers working under him. While he does not always respond his officers advice, he is often willing to put aside his own prominence in order to be a more effective leader. Charismatic leaders often find themselves as the recipients of fierce loyalty from heir subordinates. However, this loyalty does not always extend to the goals of the organization at large, resting instead on the leadership fgure himself. When this situation arises, the personality flaws of the individual leader become weaknesses for the entire organization, which may also lack the cohesion to follow through on its goals in the leaders absence. William Wallace, Atticus, and T. E. Lawrence all personally failed at their objectives, while the 819th achieved at their objective precisely because the loyalty of the fghting men was to the organization, not the fgure of the leader.

System Tray Delphi Application

System Tray Delphi Application Take a look at your Task Bar. See the area where the time is located? Are there any other icons there? The place is called the Windows System Tray. Would you like to place your Delphi applications icon there? Would you like that icon to be animated - or reflect the state of your application? This would be useful for programs that are left running for long periods of time with no user interaction (background tasks you typically keep running on your PC all day long). What you can do is to make your Delphi applications look as if they are minimizing to the Tray (instead of to the Task Bar, right to the Win Start button) by placing an icon in the tray and simultaneously making your form(s) invisible. Lets Tray It Fortunately, creating an application that runs in the system tray is pretty easy - only one (API) function, Shell_NotifyIcon, is needed to accomplish the task. The function is defined in the ShellAPI unit and requires two parameters. The first is a flag indicating whether the icon is being added, modified, or removed, and the second is a pointer to a TNotifyIconData structure holding the information about the icon. That includes the handle of the icon to show, the text to show as  a tool tip when the mouse is over the icon, the handle of the window that will receive the messages of the icon and the message type the icon will send to this window. First, in your main forms Private section put the line:TrayIconData: TNotifyIconData; type TMainForm class(TForm) procedure FormCreate(Sender: TObject); private TrayIconData: TNotifyIconData; { Private declarations }public{ Public declarations }end; Then, in your main forms OnCreate method, initialize the TrayIconData data structure and call the Shell_NotifyIcon function: with TrayIconData dobegin cbSize : SizeOf(TrayIconData); Wnd : Handle; uID : 0; uFlags : NIF_MESSAGE NIF_ICON NIF_TIP; uCallbackMessage : WM_ICONTRAY; hIcon : Application.Icon.Handle; StrPCopy(szTip, Application.Title); end; Shell_NotifyIcon(NIM_ADD, TrayIconData); The Wnd parameter of the TrayIconData structure points to the window that receives notification messages associated with an icon.   The hIcon points to the icon we want to add to the Tray - in this case, Applications main icon is used.The szTip holds the Tooltip text to display for the icon - in our case the title of the application. The szTip can hold up to 64 characters.The uFlags parameter is set to tell the icon to process application messages, use the applications icon and its tip. The uCallbackMessage points to the application-defined message identifier. The system uses the specified identifier for notification messages that it sends to the window identified by Wnd whenever a mouse event occurs in the bounding rectangle of the icon. This parameter is set to WM_ICONTRAY constant defined in the interface section of the forms unit and equals: WM_USER 1; You add the icon to the Tray by calling the Shell_NotifyIcon API function. The first parameter NIM_ADD adds an icon to the Tray area. The other two possible values, NIM_DELETE and NIM_MODIFY are used to delete or modify an icon in the Tray - well see how later in this article. The second parameter we send to the Shell_NotifyIcon is the initialized TrayIconData structure. Take One If you RUN your project now youll see an icon near the Clock in the Tray. Note three things.   1) First, nothing happens when you click (or do anything else with the mouse) on the icon placed in the Tray - we havent created a procedure (message handler), yet.2) Second, there is a button on the Task Bar (we obviously dont want it there).3) Third, when you close your application, the icon remains in the Tray. Take Two Lets solve this backward. To have the icon removed from the Tray when you exit the application, you have to call the Shell_NotifyIcon again, but with the NIM_DELETE as the first parameter. You do this in the OnDestroy event handler for the Main form. procedure TMainForm.FormDestroy(Sender: TObject);begin Shell_NotifyIcon(NIM_DELETE, TrayIconData);end; To hide the application (applications button) from the Task Bar well use a simple trick. In the Projects source code add the following line: Application.ShowMainForm : False; before the Application.CreateForm(TMainForm, MainForm); E.g let it look like: ...begin Application.Initialize; Application.ShowMainForm : False; Application.CreateForm(TMainForm, MainForm); Application.Run;end. And finally, to have our Tray icon respond to mouse events, we need to create a message handling procedure. First, we declare a message handling procedure in the public part of the form declaration: procedure TrayMessage(var Msg: TMessage); message WM_ICONTRAY; Second, the definition of this procedure looks like: procedure TMainForm.TrayMessage(var Msg: TMessage);begincase Msg.lParam of WM_LBUTTONDOWN: begin ShowMessage(Left button clicked - lets SHOW the Form!); MainForm.Show; end; WM_RBUTTONDOWN: begin ShowMessage(Right button clicked - lets HIDE the Form!); MainForm.Hide; end; end;end; This procedure is designed to handle only our message, the WM_ICONTRAY. It takes the LParam value from the message structure which can give us the state of the mouse upon the activation of the procedure. For the sake of simplicity well handle only left mouse down (WM_LBUTTONDOWN) and right mouse down (WM_RBUTTONDOWN). When the left mouse button is down on the icon we show the main form, when the right button is pressed we hide it. Of course, there are other mouse input messages you can handle in the procedure, like, button up, button double click etc. Thats it. Quick and easy. Next,  youll see how to animate the icon in the Tray and how to have that icon reflect the state of your application. Even more, youll see how to display a pop-up menu near the icon.

Project 1 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Project 1 - Coursework Example Examination of the ritual of a Tamil Brahmin wherein the day begins by waking up before sunrise, baths in cold water and begins with the pujas- by performing ‘Sandhyavandana’ and ‘Japa’ and are vegetarians who do not onions, garlic, leeks and mushrooms. After marriage at the age of 22 the couple migrated to the United States of America to pursue their studies. Against this backdrop imagine this Brahmin living in America and indeed Kala would have to face and adjust with the cultural change. Kala states that initially they felt like aliens for their accent and style of communication was different and people did find it hard to comprehend them. The positive impact is Kala though an Indian by birth has her heart, soul and life in America. She has accepted the American style but at the same time respecting her tradition and religious norms. For instance Kala does not eat meat but she has no problem washing and cooking meat/chicken for her friends and neighbors. When asked will she ever miss her home country? Kala replied her mother country can never be removed from her memory as it will always be part of her but now she is the child of another country. Interesting and how does her family react when she visits them with her Westernized outlook and accent? Initially, Kala replied that they looked upon me as a sinner who has disgraced the family. Especially when they knew that I had touched, washed and cooked meat. My parents made me bath in cold water with saffron and only after days of pujas was I allowed to enter the house. â€Å"Try explaining or changing their view point† she laughs and says â€Å"impossible, as they have been inculcated in their rituals that they refuse modernization†. Kala further added, â€Å"When my children were born my family wanted us to return to India as they felt that the children had to be brought up learning the Hindu sutras and slokas†. She reminisce the