William Faulkner Essays (1598 words) - Modernist Literature

William Faulkner William Faulkner is viewed by many as America's greatest writer of prose fiction. He was born in New Albany, Mississippi where he lived a life filled with good times and bad times. However, despite bad times he would become known as a poet, a short story writer, and finally one of the greatest contemporary novelist of his time. William Faulkner's accomplishments resulted not only from his love and devotion of writing, but also from family, friends, and certain uncontrollable events. William Faulkner's life is an astonishing accomplishment; however, it is crucial to explore his life prior to his fixated writing career. In 1905, Faulkner entered the first grade at a tender age of eight, and immediately showed signs of talent. He not only drew an explicitly detailed drawing of a locomotive, but he soon became an honour-roll student: "His report card would show no grades below Perfect or Excellent" (Blotner 21). Throughout his early education he would work conscientiously at reading, spelling, writing, and arithmetic; however, he especially enjoyed drawing. His deportment at school was very high, but it was not as high as it was at home. When Faulkner got promoted to third grade, skipping the second grade, he was asked by his teacher what he wanted to be when he grew up, and he replied, "I want to be a writer just like my great granddaddy" (Blotner 23). At last, (in 1914) Faulkner took interest in poetry, but no one in Oxford could tell him what to do with his poems. Meanwhile, Faulkner, who is very talkative, would always entertain Katrina Carter and Estelle Oldham by telling them vividly imagined stories. Eventually, Faulkner grew very fond of Estelle in fact, if he heard her voice he would deliberately attempt to be spotted by Katrina in hopes that she asks him to join her. Estelle soon became the sole inspirer and recipient of Faulkner's earlier poems. Coincidentally, a gentleman named Phil Stone would fall in love with Estelle's friend, Katrina. As a result, Katrina had told Stone about Faulkner and his poetry. So one afternoon, Stone walked to Faulkner's home to get acquainted, and during his visit he received several written verses from Faulkner' poetry collections: "Anybody could have seen that he (Faulkner) had talent...it was perfectly obvious" (Blotner 44). Stone not only became Faulkner's close friend, but also a mentor to the young writer at the beginning of his career. Stone immediately gave the potential poet encouragement, advice, and models for his study of literature. For example, Stone would give practice drills in punctuation, as well as lecture Faulkner on goals and grammars. Meanwhile, Faulkner's main interest in school became athletics such as football and baseball, thus his grades started to deteriorate: "Bill showed absolutely no interest in the education being offered...He gazed out the windows, and answered the simplest questions with ?I don't know'" (Blotner 39). Eventually, he would quit both athletics and school altogether. In 1919, his first literary work was acknowledged and published in The New Republic. The poem is a forty-line verse with a French title that acknowledges the influence of the French Symbolist, "L'Apres-Midi d'un Faune." In September, Faulkner would enroll in the University of Mississippi, and during his academic years it did not deter him from writing more poems. The Mississippian, the student paper, published "Landing in Luck" by Faulkner- the story is a nine-page short story created from his direct experience in the Royal Air Force flight training in 1916. He has also written several other poems such as "Cathay", which is published in the Oxford Eagle and "Sapphic", which is published in The Mississippian. During the summer, Faulkner became a house painter in Oxford, and in the beginning of autumn he enrolled in the University of Mississippi; however, his early pattern of school started to take toll. Faulkner began to cut classes and finally just stopped going. Although, this time he participated in a drama club called "The Marionettes", and began to publish book reviews in The Mississippian. In the summer of 1921, Faulkner decided to take a trip to New York to receive some professional instructions from editors and critics, since Stone was busy with his academic studies. Faulkner stayed with a man named Stark Young, where they shared an incredibly small apartment. Later, Young introduced Faulkner to Elizabeth Prall of the Doubleday bookstore to see if she wanted some help prior to the Christmas rush. Reluctantly, Prall accepted and never regretted her choice since. "Faulkner made a good clerk-polite, interested, and one of the best salesman in the store...

T he notion of stakeholder is one of the most prom Essays - Economy

T he notion of stakeholder is one of the most prom Essays - Economy T he notion of stakeholder is one of the most prominent contributions to recent business ethics. This theory expressed that managers, in making decisions, ought to consider the interests of all stakeholders This theory is one of the major influences on CSR. CSR is a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis." More locally the definition is concerned with the relationship between a corporation and the local society in which it resides or operates. The central tenet of social responsibility however is the social contract between all the stakeholders to society, which is an essential requirement of civil society. This concept therefore implies a recognition that the organisation is part of a wider societal network and has responsibilities to all of that network rather than just to the owners of the organisation Since the introduction of this concept by Edward Freeman in 1984, a concern for the interests of all stakeholder groups has become a widely recognized feature of ethical management and it has been employed in order to give an explanation to the general idea, supported by economists, according to which the main responsibility of businessmen was tied to profit maximization S takeholders could be defined as any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of a corporation purpose, but also as people holding specific r ights I n order to determine how a firm should behave in specific situations, it is necessary to identify the parts that interact with the firm . Normally, the stakeholder group includes workers, managers, shareholders, consumers, customers and the local community. For instance, a firm has some duties towards its workers as they are both workers and human beings. Workers, on the contrary, have some obligations that derive from the role they play within the firm, in addition to the general moral obligations that bind the relations between individuals and between workers and firms . The stakeholder theory develops a thick grid of relations based on trust that binds the firm towards its stakeholders and both inside and outside the firm. As a simple example, when a factory produces industrial waste, a CSR perspective attaches a responsibility directly to factory owners to dispose of the waste safely. By contrast, a stakeholder theorist begins with those living in the surrounding community who may find their environment poisoned, and begins to talk about business ethics by insisting that they have a right to clean air and water. Therefore, they're stakeholders in the company and their voices must contribute to corporate decisions. It's true that they may own no stock, but they have a moral claim to participate in the decision-making process. This is a very important point. At least in theoretical form, those affected by a company's actions actually become something like shareholders and owners. Because they're touched by a company's actions, they have a right to participate in managing it. T he theory demands that all those who may be affected know what's being dumped, what the risks are to people and the environment, and what the costs are of taking the steps necessary to dispose of the chemical runoff more permanently and safely. stakeholder theory obligates corporate directors to appeal to all sides and balance everyone's interests and welfare in the name of maximizing benefits across the spectrum of those whose lives are touched by the business. The stakeholders' theor y is based on the idea that the firm gives some value to stakeholders, just like each group of stakeholders attributes value to the firm, and this mechanism of mutual exchange enables the firm to grow in a safe way

Learn About the Crimean War

Learn About the Crimean War The Crimean War is perhaps remembered mostly for the â€Å"Charge of the Light Brigade,† a poem written about a disastrous episode when British cavalry valiantly attacked the wrong objective in a battle. The war was also significant for the pioneering nursing of Florence Nightingale, the reporting of a man considered the first war correspondent, and the first use of photography in a war. The war itself, however, arose from muddled circumstances. The conflict between superpowers of the day was fought between allies Britain and France against Russia and its Turkish ally. The result of the war did not make enormous changes in Europe. Although rooted in longstanding rivalries, the Crimean War erupted over what was obviously a pretext involving religion of populations in the Holy Land. It was almost as if the large powers in Europe wanted a war at that time to keep each other in check, and they found an excuse to have it. Causes of the Crimean War In the early decades of the 19th century, Russia had grown into a mighty military power. By 1850 Russia appeared to be intent on spreading its influence southward. Britain was concerned that Russia would expand to the point where it held power over the Mediterranean. The French emperor Napoleon III, in the early 1850s, had forced the Ottoman Empire to recognize France as a sovereign authority in the Holy Land. The Russian tsar objected and began his own diplomatic maneuvering. The Russians claimed to be protecting the religious freedom of Christians in Holy Land. War Declared By Britain and France Somehow the obscure diplomatic wrangling led to open hostilities, and Britain and France declared war against Russia on March 28, 1854. The Russians appeared willing, at first, to avoid war. But demands put forth by Britain and France were not met, and a larger conflict seemed unavoidable. The Invasion of the Crimea In September 1854 the allies struck the the Crimea, a peninsula in the present day Ukraine. The Russians had a large naval base at Sevastopol, on the Black Sea, which was the ultimate target of the invasion force. The British and French troops, after landing at Calamita Bay, began marching southward toward Sevastopol, which was approximately 30 miles away. The allied armies, with about 60,000 troops, encountered a Russian force at the River Alma and a battle ensued. The British commander, Lord Raglan, who had not been in combat since losing an arm at Waterloo nearly 30 years earlier, had considerable trouble coordinating his attacks with his French allies. Despite these problems, which would become common throughout the war, the British and French routed the Russian army, which fled. The Russians regrouped at Sevastopol. The British, bypassing that major base, attacked the town of Balaclava, which had a harbor that could be used as a supply base. Ammunition and siege weapons began to be unloaded, and the allies prepared for an eventual attack on Sevastopol. The British and French began an artillery bombardment of Sevastopol on October 17, 1854. The time-honored tactic did not seem to have much effect. On October 25, 1854, the Russian commander, Prince Aleksandr Menshikov, ordered an attack on the allied lines. The Russians attacked a weak position and stood a good chance of reaching the town of Balaclava until they were repulsed heroically by Scottish Highlanders. Charge of the Light Brigade As the Russians were fighting the Highlanders, another Russian unit began removing British guns from an abandoned position. Lord Raglan ordered his light cavalry to prevent that action, but his orders got confused and the legendary Charge of the Light Brigade was launched against the wrong Russian position. The 650 men of the regiment raced into certain death, and at least 100 men were killed in the first minutes of the charge. The battle ended with the British having lost a lot of ground, but with the standoff still in place. Ten days later the Russians attacked again. In what was known as the Battle of the Inkermann, the armies fought in very wet and foggy weather. That day ended with high casualties on the Russian side, but again the fighting was indecisive. The Siege Continued As the winter weather approached and conditions deteriorated, the fighting came to a virtual halt with the siege of Sevastopol still in place. During the winter of 1854-55 the war became an ordeal of disease and malnutrition. Thousands of troops died of exposure and contagious illnesses spread through the camps. Four times as many troops died of illness than combat wounds. In late 1854 Florence Nightingale arrived in Constantinople and began treating British troops in hospitals. She was shocked by the appalling conditions she encountered. The armies stayed in trenches throughout the spring of 1855, and assaults on Sevastopol were finally planned for June 1855. Attacks on fortresses protecting the city were launched and repulsed on June 15, 1855, thanks largely to incompetence by the British and French attackers. The British commander, Lord Raglan, had taken ill and died on June 28, 1855. Another attack on Sevastopol was launched in September 1855, and the city finally fell to the British and French. At that point the Crimean War was essentially over, though some scattered fighting went on until February 1856. Peace was finally declared in late March 1856. Consequences of the Crimean War While the British and French did eventually capture their objective, the war itself could not be considered a great success. It was marked by incompetence and what was widely perceived as needless loss of life. The Crimean War did check the Russian expansionist tendencies. But Russia itself was not really defeated, as the Russian homeland was not attacked.

Services problem of Samsung (White paper) Essay

Services problem of Samsung (White paper) - Essay Example One of the critical areas is customer service, and Samsung suffers an epic service problem. In order to correct this problem, a PRS program needs to be implemented. It is cost effective and will spare the company revenue which will have been lost by disgruntled customers. Brand 2 is an international customer relation consultant with an access to the best minds in the service providers. It has a long history and a wide range of customer relations programs and successes in the media industry. Samsung does not require bad publicity in a highly competitive world. Bad publicity tends to scare aware prospective investors and potential customers. Brand 2 can change that and ensure that not only satisfied customers, but also an efficient service team that responds, connects and performs to its level best. This problem is underscored. Samsung customer service ranks no 465 out of the 747 companies that have a Customer Service Scoreboard rating. According to the survey of 1,771 customers of Samsung, there are 1,692 negative comments. This is an overall score of 29.97 out of a possible 200 based upon 1831 ratings. The score rates Samsung customer service and customer support as inadequate. With the highly competitive nature of the technology industry this might be the waterloo of Samsung. Most customers complained of the staff rudeness and dishonesty. The negative comments keep repeating themselves. This is not only a ticking time bomb but a disaster as far as public relation is concerned. For a company of Samsung nature this certainly something that needs urgent attention. The general nature of mankind is to promote negativity; in as far as customer relation is concerned, this poses a major risk. Negative news sells. (KS consulting limited) Unhappy customers spread the word! Depending on the industry this can even be worse. Today, the dangers of negative word-of-mouth are copious;

IRAC Brief Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

IRAC Brief - Case Study Example lthy tycoons and political campaign donors Baxter-Simons and Nathaniel Simons, to manage the household expenses, including those of the household employees (Markay, 2015). The parties are to enter into an agreement through arbitration, which will be later notified to the court. Issue: Madalyn Garcia was recruited as a household worker to serve in the 6,700 square-foot home owned by the Simons’ family and located in Berkeley, in 2010, to serve as a housekeeper (Markay, 2015). Garcia was considered one of the best employees at the household, and thus she consequently received numerous bonuses on frequent basis, as an appreciation of her work. However, all this was to change in the April of 2012, when Garcia informed the home owner, Baxter-Simons, that she was pregnant, and thus requested for a 12-week maternity leave (Markay, 2015). Upon this request, Baxter-Simons was visibly upset, but still allowed Garcia to take only a 6-week leave. When Garcia reached 8 months of her pregnancy, she started experiencing tiredness and difficulties in undertaking her duties, thus requested for a rearrangement of her 2-off duty days, so she could have occasional rests (Markay, 2015). This upset Mrs. Baxter-Simons even more and she refused to grant that request, while starting to harass Garcia through asking her to do work that was difficult for her, such as carrying a crate of wine up and down the stairs. The relationship between Garcia and her employer would subsequently deteriorate, and on Aug. 6, 2012 Elan Household, LLC informed her that she had been fired (Markay, 2015). Analysis: The U.S. Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1964, under Title VII, provides that it is prohibited for an employer to treat a female employee â€Å"unfavorably because of pregnancy, childbirth or any other medical condition related to the regency or childbirth† (USA.Gov, 2015). Additionally, the law of California provides that a pregnant employee should be granted up to four months of maternity leave

Reconciliation Of Personal, Cultural, Organizational And Ethical Values Essay Example for Free

Reconciliation Of Personal, Cultural, Organizational And Ethical Values Essay The values and ethics people carry in their personal and professional life are important determinants of their growth and development. The eventual success of a person is realized through self understanding and actualization and not through relentless manipulation of material resources. Successful reconciliation of personal, organizational, and cultural values and ethics require a number of strategies, some of which are discussed below Communication: Communication is requires towards establishment of rapport with each diverse group. People within a large organization differ not only from their cultural, religious, and social orientations, but also from their professional orientation and interests. These differences widen when many different functional units of an organization, with their philosophies and approach towards work, are required to undergo technology amalgamation (Harris, 1993). These differences often lead to conflicts in the personal and cultural value system, which lead to conflict at workplace, distress in personal and professional life and issues in integration with the organizational setup (ibid). Communication is the key to resolve this deadlock, without causing any antagonistic and negative feelings. People should be aware that organizations are dependent on successful coordination among number of teams and people. Hence they should try to initiate measures that would avoid projecting any conflict or confrontation in interests within the organization. They should be sensitive to each other’s ethnic, social, religious and individual backgrounds and understand their views as sum of their personal growth Sometimes people resent opinions of others, involve their ego and stop to cooperate, coordinate or understand the need to assimilate their juniors and seniors to achieve organizational goals (Swanson, 2005). A successful communication strategy shall effectively address these problems at their inception point and ensure that they do not emerge as any significant stumbling block in ideological merging of various cultural groups (Rahim, 2001). Ensuring Interconnectedness Understanding the collective responsibility and appreciation of team work and group interaction is necessary in embedding the value culture that helps in the reconciliation approach. This would help people to come out of their individual shells and get integrated with their colleagues (Harris, 1993; Rahim, 2001). Understanding inherent organizational contradictions It is important to teach people about recognizing and respecting that contradiction occurs in other people, their experience and circumstances, their view points, their ideological background and their value based system. Understanding the role of crises A timely recognition that crises and conflicts are inbuilt of component of life and progress is achieved by incorporating them in the philosophy towards life should be able to show people that above all the things, they require harmony, and cooperation for things to successfully work (Rahim, 2001) Kinship with others The communication expert should specifically stress on building associations and help in realizing that every one is important and deserves equal respect from others. It is the first requirement of building strong and lasting bonds within any organization. When people are organized in teams, they share similar goals and they work towards joint growth and development (Harris, 1993; Rahim, 2001). Respecting the opposition. It teaches about taking opposition as constructive contradiction, instead of viewing it in negative perspective. A constructive opposition always helps in finding out mistakes in one’s own approach, rectify them and move ahead successfully. Negotiation: An important aspect of communication management is negotiation which has become important within organizational and social setups. As. Negotiation, requires interested parties to trade proposals for settlement. Generally the process of negotiation proceeds through motives that are competitive, integrative, cooperative and composite (Levy, 1999) . The approach of communication in the entire process of negotiation is concerned with the messages that are transferred among negotiators and the concerned parties. Reconciliation of Ethics Business and ethics are always considered opposite to each other. The general conception of business is that it is a commercial activity with aims to earn maximum income and maximize profit where levels of deceit, subterfuge, and conceit are much higher than socially seen or found (Swanson, 2005). However, this concept of business is archaic and medieval. Today, most of the businesses have developed their own philosophies, which although not exactly philanthropic, but contains a broad social and human vision, and attempts to see business activities as integral part of comprehensive human functions. Modern business is as much based on cardinal principle of profit maximization as on the neo-thoughts of values, morals and ethics. The foundation of business world is on ethics of honesty and commitment where contacts are honored, promises are maintained, and rights of property are observed. Observing ethical values and practices indeed brings positive results as ethical companies face less problems, less litigation and less regulations (Guy, 1990). Corporate Values and corporate culture Ethics are not stand-alone concepts or abstract morals that are hung on wall for ocular delights. They are values and best practices that should be embedded in the working culture that corporations, in their attempts to promote business ethics and best practices, should ensure that their employees are well aware of the values and principles that the corporation aims to pursue. The concept of organizational culture has emerged as most enduring and successful business concept in the ethical dimensions (Bjerke,1999). Business managers, academicians, and corporate leaders all agree that organizational culture as a part of business strategy is crucialfor a firm to maintain and sustain the high standards of operation, decision making and future planning while ensuring expansion, innovation, and entrepreneurship (Oden, 1997). The role of organizational culture, in promoting ethical behavior and establishing organization wide accepted norms and working principles is paramount and it is recognized in the corporate quarters, that evolving a healthy organizational culture is probably the best method to create ethical, value based, principled and visionary business practices (Swanson, 2005). Modifying Organizational behavior An organization is a product of the values and ethics its employees carry in and employ to attain the organization’s goal. The eventual success of an organization is realized not through manipulation of material resources, but on the ability of the organization to understand the human factor involved with it. This led to the concept of the organizational behavior (OB) that studies the human behavior in the organizations to help employees develop a better work related understanding of their surrounding, their co-workers and eventually about themselves. Today organizational behavior is seen as an powerful tool that is necessary for one’s career development and success in a complex and dynamic organizational process. The essence of organizational behavior is people. It attempts to understand their aspirations, hopes, personal and professional ambitions, desire for accomplishments, all set in the dynamic context of globalization, modernity, diversity, pressure of managing home and work, electronic and communication revolutions and continuously changing aspects of business and industry that raise new and unpredictable challenges and responsibilities to the management and consequently to the workers (Harris, 1993). Organizational Culture. While the employees’ individual values and ethics define their personal approach to work and workplace, there are some shared values and modalities of behavior that each of them reflects when working together. This shared notion of values and ethics that endemic to an organization is called as the Organization’s culture. Basically organizational culture is defined as system of shared values, beliefs, actions and best practices that evolve within an organization and determine the behavior of each of its member. While organizational behavior may remain same across multiple organizations, organization’s culture is typically particular to the organization and no two organizations may share the exactly same organizational culture Managing Diversity An organization that doesn’t understands or values diversity, doesn’t understand its employees. Diversity is an inherent part of human society. It becomes more important when globalization has made organizational employees lineup multi-cultural, with people from different religious beliefs, ethnic backgrounds and culture working together towards same goals and missions. Therefore it is vital that the organization values their diversity while integrating them as part of its own culture. Conclusion There is little disagreement on the challenges and difficulties in bringing about a complete reconciliation of all the elements discussed in this essay and some difference is bound to exist. However, the increasingly multi-cultured and multi-valued landscape of the world has its own coping strategies and requirements. Globalization has narrowed down the divides that formerly allowed separated existence. Today’s world is culturally congested and value crowded, where every person must create a harmony to maintain a secular balance and growth. References Bjerke, B. 1999. Business Leadership and Culture: National Management Styles in the Global Economy. Publisher: Edward Elgar. Cheltenham, England. Guy, M. E. 1990. Ethical Decision Making in Everyday Work Situations. Publisher: Quorum Books. Place of Publication: Westport, CT. Harris, T. A. 1993. Applied Organizational Communication: Perspectives, Principles, and Pragmatics. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Hillsdale, NJ. Levy, G. M. 1999. Resolving real estate disputes. Real Estate Issues; Chicago; Oden, H. W. 1997. Managing Corporate Culture, Innovation and Intrapreneurship. Quorum Books. Westport, CT. Rahim, M. A (2001), Managing Conflict in Organizations. Contributors: M. Afzalur: Quorum Books. Westport, CT Swanson, D. L. 2005. Business Ethics Education at Bay: Addressing a Crisis of Legitimacy. Journal Title: Issues in Accounting Education. Volume: 20. Issue: 3. Page Number: 247+.

Essay --

Michael McClain Mrs. Baringer Honors World Lit 16 December 2013 Gender Roles For Hamlet Act 1 King Claudius- "'Tis sweet and commendable in your nature, Hamlet, To give these mourning duties to your father: [†¦] but to persever In obstinate condolement is a course Of impious stubbornness; 'tis unmanly grief; It shows a will most incorrect to heaven, A heart unfortified, a mind impatient, An understanding simple and unschool'd." (1.2.290-300) Plot Context: King Claudius is talking about Hamlet mourning the death of his father still. His mother Gertrude says she also still misses her husband but you have to move on. Analysis: In this quote, Claudius is saying that Hamlet needs to stop complaining about his father's death. That mourning for this long is very unmanly. He is basically saying that everyone else is happy why can't you be happy. Act 1 Hamlet-" That it should come to this! But two months dead: nay, not so much, not two: So excellent a king; that was, to this, Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother That he might not beteem the winds of heaven Visit her face too roughly. Heaven and earth! Must I remember? why, she would hang on him, As if increase of appetite had grown By what it fed on: and yet, within a month— Let me not think on't—Frailty, thy name is woman!—"(1.2.341-350) Plot Context: In this part of the story Hamlet is very upset with his mother. His mom has just gotten married to his uncle 2 months after his father's death. In the speech he is talking about losing faith in woman especially his mother. Analysis: In this he is talking about all his mother wanted was to have a man in her life. She is so weak that she couldn’t go 2 months without a man. He says that her "appetite" has grown and she needs to feed on so... ...easty collection, which carries them through and through the most fond and winnowed opinions; and do but blow them to their trial, the bubbles are out. (181-188) Plot Context: Hamlet it talking to Horatio about the duel that will happen. He also makes about Laertes is not ready for the duel. Analysis: In the quote Hamlet is talking about praised and he isn’t ready. Men have cockiness and don’t know what’s really going to happen. He is going to lose because he isn’t prepared. Act 5 GERTRUDE: He’s fat, and scant of breath.— Here, Hamlet, take my napkin, rub thy brows. The queen carouses to thy fortune, Hamlet. (5.2.281-283) Plot Context: Hamlet is dueling Laertes and is winning. He strikes Laertes again and Gertrude comes out with wine and a rag. Analysis: Gertrude is playing the common role of a caring mother. She wants her boy to win and do well so she comes out

Cyberpunk and Science Fiction Essay

Cyberpunk and Science Fiction in the Information Age Cyberpunk science fiction is considered to be the â€Å"literary manifestation of postmodernism† (Elements149). According to McHale, as a sub-genre of science fiction, cyberpunk stands as the product of the convergence between â€Å"science fiction poetics and postmodernist poetics† (Elements 149). In Constructing Postmodernism, McHale states â€Å"cyberpunk†¦as science fiction derives certain of its elements from postmodern mainstream fiction which itself has†¦already been ‘science-fictionized’ to some greater or lesser degree† (229). The correlation of cyberpunk and postmodernism however is not limited to the existence of cyberpunk as a coagulation of the different factors within science fiction tales. Postmodernism, as a school of thought and as a movement in the different arts, may be characterized by its â€Å"incredulity toward metanarratives† (Lyotard xxiv). Metanarratives refer to the â€Å"‘grand narratives’ or stories that go to legitimize particular practices† (Warren and Warren 78). In the same manner that postmodernism debunks the idea of grand narratives, cyberpunk debunks such grand narratives by placing emphasis on the construction of a separate individual reality within the sphere of cyberspace. Works considered as a part of the sub-genre of cyberpunk are named as such due to their focus on â€Å"technological revolution and its social and psychological implications†¦on online publication† (Stierstorfer 109). The correlation between cyberpunk and postmodernism may thereby be traced to the existence of various worlds within cyberspace presented within cyberpunk texts. It is important to note that the importance of cyberspace is attributed to the space that it provides the individual user for the creation of fictional production. Cyberspace, within these works, stand as a space which is in continuous creation. The creation is determined by each individual and hence it provides the individual with both the freedom and the power to create and determine the worlds created by other individuals within the cyberspace. Within the aforementioned context, reality stands as an individual construction determined by a set of rules for how such a creation may occur. These rules however are not moral rules but merely substantive rules. In a sense, one may thereby state that ‘reality’ within these texts is in continuous flux since what is ‘real’ is determined by one’s point of view, one’s perspective of the world. The act of reading these texts are in a sense determined by the sequence in which these texts are presented however within the context of the assumptions of reality within the text it is possible to imagine a space wherein all acts do not merely interact or collide but occur at the same time since cyberspace is a boundless space and such is the world presented by the texts within the genre of cyberpunk fiction. In line with this, what follows is a discussion of William Gibson’s Neuromancer and Spook Country and Stanislaw Lem’s Imaginary Magnitudes. Online communication creates a space of social contact out of intertextual materials that may end up relying on the very conventional social narratives that many participants hope to escape. These hidden conventional structures within social interaction are the subject of the novel that gave us the term ‘cyberspace’ that being William Gibson’s Neuromancer. A discussion of Gibson’s novel not only provides a glimpse of the very different understanding of identity that results from this intertextuality but also suggests how best to negotiate these narratives. At the most general level Neuromancer is the story of Case’s quest to be re-integrated with cyberspace and the information that it possesses. The story opens with Case’s nervous system intentionally harmed in subtle ways by a past employer so that he is unable to access cyberspace and perform his past role as a ‘cowboy’ who infiltrates computer networks and steals information. Case is mysteriously offered surgery to repair his system if he participates in a complicated scheme to free an artificial intelligence named Wintermute from the limitations placed on it by its creator. Gibson describes Case’s experience of cyberspace in terms of the pleasure of reintegration. The experience is described in the following manner. Found the ridged face of the power stud. And in the bloodlit dark behind his eyes, silver phosphenes boiling in from the edge of space, hypnagogic images jerking past like film compiled from random frames. Symbols, figures, faces, a blurred, fragmented mandala of visual information. Please, he prayed, now†¦Expanding- And flowed, flowering for him, fluid neon origami trick, the unfolding of his distanceless home, his country, transparent 3D chessboard extending to infinity†¦And somewhere he was laughing, in a white-painted loft, distant fingers caressing the deck, tears of release streaking his face. (Neuromancer 52) In the aforementioned passage, Case’s movement into cyberspace is a kind of homecoming that brings him back into contact with a network of human information. Given the lyrical tone of this passage, it is not surprising that interpreters of Neuromancer have concluded that the connection to networks of human information that Case pursues is a uniformly positive thing. Cyberspace subculture frequently takes the disembodied integration into electronic information systems quite literally as a next stage in human evolution. Rather than asserting the value of social integration for its own sake, this story treats such connections as merely showing the protection and evolution of individuals. The links between individuals are similarly ambivalent in Neuromancer. Probably the novel’s clearest statement of the ambivalence of social connection comes late in the novel when Case reflects on his involvement with unseen ‘bosses’. Case has been hired by the mysterious Armitage, who turns out to work for Wintermute. As Case realizes the degree to which Armitage is a puppet or even a construction of Wintermute, he reflects on his involvement with larger political and social powers. It goes in the following manner, Case had always taken it for granted that the real bosses, the kingpins in a given industry, would be more and less than people†¦He’d always imagined it as a gradual and willing accommodation of the machine, the system, the parent organism. It was the root of street cool, too, the knowing posture that implied connection, invisible lines up to hidden levels of influence. (Neuromancer 203) Case’s reflections about the nature of social connection suggest both its positive and negative qualities from the perspective of the individual. Positively, these connections position the individual as a kind of parasite within the ‘parent organism’, sheltering the individual who may not share the goals of the larger system to which he or she belongs. Within this context, one might perceive individuals as pieces of a larger puzzle whose form is partially known but whose image is only available through the different vantage points available to different individuals. Such vantage points however are only accessible or can only be known to one individual unless it is penetrated and in a sense controlled by another one. Knowledge within this space is thereby continually in flux as a result of the power struggles of the entities within it. Imagining people as ‘assemblages’ whose subjectivity is constructed from sources of which they are rarely aware and whose elements do not necessarily cohere certainly seems unappealing at first glimpse since it works against traditional ideas of self-consciousness and personal coherence. However, Neuromancer also suggests that much more dangerous than this disunified subjectivity is the attempt to deny multiplicity and to hide behind some apparent unity. Precisely this tension between unity and incoherence is at issue. One might state that cyberdiscourse enables individuals to raise their consciousness about their own identity however it is also possible to state that it is nothing more than an intertextual concoction of mass media cliches and stereotypes. Gibson’s other novel Spook Country also raises these issues. Spook Country stands as a continuation of Pattern Recognition. As opposed to the futuristic setting of Neuromancer, the later novel is set within the current century. It presents the story of a former rock singer named Hollis Henry who turned into a freelancer researching about locative art for Node magazine. In the process of the research, Hollis discovers that locative art is an art form that combines virtual reality with GPRS technology. As a result of this combination, an individual is able to replicate the events occurring within a particular place thereby allowing the spectator of the artwork to participate within a different reality. This is evident in the following passage from Spook Country. As Hollis and Chombo discuss locative art, they specify the experience that one may achieve in it. They state We’re all doing VR, every time we look at a screen. We have been for decades now†¦VR was an even more specific way we had of telling us where we were going. Without scaring us too much, right? The locative, though, lots of us are already doing it. But you can’t just do the locative with your nervous system. One day, you will. We’ll have internalized the interface. It’ll have evolved to the point where we forget about it. Then you’ll just walk down the street†¦ (Spook 65). In the aforementioned excerpt, one sees the tension between unity and coherence not only in the definition and specification of reality as a result of technological innovations but also the tension that it creates in the process of determining individual identity. This tension is apparent if one considers that an individual’s conception of the ‘self’ is partially dependent upon his surrounding environment. Within the virtual space of locative art, one may thereby create and in a sense develop one’s own space separate but at the same time placed within the sphere of immediate reality. The tension brought about by the existence of the various possibilities of reality within these cyberpunk texts is also evident in Stanislaw Lem’s Imaginary Magnitude. Lem’s Imaginary Magnitude is composed of different introductions and prefaces to non-existent books. The various texts serve satirize the current trends and movements within literature and the other arts. An example of this is evident in the following passage. He states, In an extreme instance, in which there is a Propervirt of less than 0. 9%, the TEXT OF THE PRESENT PROSPECTUS may likewise undergo an ABRUPT change. If, while you are reading these sentences, the words begin to jump about, and the letters quiver and blur, please interrupt your reading for ten or twenty seconds to wipe your glasses, adjust your clothing, or the like, and then start reading AGAIN from the beginning, and NOT JUST from the place where your reading was interrupted, since such a TRANSFORMATION indicates that a correction of DEFICIENCIES is now taking place. (Lem 86) The aforementioned passage may be seen as alluding to a period in the future when it is possible for human beings to directly interact with their reading material. In another context, one might also see it as a parody of the impositions regarding the proper position and manner that individuals ought to read texts. Either way, the book in itself as well as its content of imaginary texts presents the reader with yet another conception of reality that allows the fluidity of experience. Within the aforementioned contexts, one considers how one is to understand the concept of reality, self, and knowledge within the context of cyberpunk science fiction. Within this genre, one sees reality, the self, and knowledge in itself as continuously in flux. Within a text which creates worlds determined by intertextuality, the process of reading the text becomes an act of recognizing the interrelation of its parts to the extent that one is willing to recognize that the events within it and in a sense the realities within it may all occur within the same time and space. Works Cited Gibson, William. Neuromancer. Np: Ace Books,1984. ___. Spook Country. Np: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2007. Lem, Stanislaw. Imaginary Magnitudes. Michigan: U of Michigan, 1984. Lyotard, Jean Francois. The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. Minnesota: U of Minnesota P, 1984. McHale, Brian. Constructing Postmodernism. London: Routledge, 1992. ___. â€Å"Elements of a Poetics of Cyberpunk. † Critique 33. 3 (Spring 1992): 149-75. Warren, William and Bill Warren. Philosophical Dimensions of Personal Construct Psychology. London: Routledge, 1998. Stierstorfer, Klaus. Beyond Postmodernism: Reassessments in Literature, Theory, and Culture. Np: Walter de Gruvter, 2003.

Political Economy and the Propaganda Model of Noam Chomsky

Using one of the case studies outlined by Chomsky & Herman in ‘Manufacturing Consent – The Political Economy of the Mass Media’, critically assess the main propositions put forward in their analysis of the mass media. Is the ‘Propaganda Model’ still relevant today? Noam Chomsky along with Edward Herman has developed the  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Propaganda Model†Ã‚  of the media works. They helped develop the detailed and sophisticated analysis of how the wealthy and powerful use the media to propagandise their own interests behind a mask of objective news reporting. Herman and Chomsky expound this analysis in their book  Ã¢â‚¬ËœManufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media’. In their 1988 book, Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky’s ‘propaganda model’ argues that there are 5 classes of ‘filters' in society which determine what is ‘news'; in other words, what gets broadcast by radio or printed in newspapers and shown on television. Herman and Chomsky's model also explains how dissent from the mainstream is given little, or zero, coverage, while governments and big business gain easy access to the public in order to convey their state-corporate messages. Noam Chomsky has been engaged in political activism most of his life; he spoke up firstly about the media coverage of Nicaragua. July 19, 1979 – the leftist  Frente Sandinista de Liberacion Nacional  (FSLN/Sandinistas) rolled into Managua, Nicaragua leader of the insurrection that had finally succeeded in overthrowing the dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle. Then there was the election in 1984. The American coverage for the elections in Nicaragua and el Salvador are a key aspect which Chomsky and Herman cover in Manufacturing Consent, and one which Chomsky spoke of on many occasions. The media covered both elections in both countries simultaneously the American media condemned the outcome of the election in Nicaragua as a â€Å"soviet sham† because the new Nicaraguan government were against the American puppet government and were a more socialist country. Because President Reagan's war created a need for a propaganda victory, in December 1983 the Sandinistas outsmarted Washington by scheduling their first post-triumph election earlier than originally planned— 2 days before Americans would decide whether President Reagan should continue to lead the country. The Media coverage up to this point had been little in the way of truth, and of the actual happenings of Nicaragua in the past. What they were trying to achieve, for many years, and most of all about the upcoming elections of the time. The American press seemed to try and protect America’s interest and perception by the people, then to deliver unbiased reporting. The fact that most of the rest of the world was opposed to Reagan's terrorist activities didn’t filter through to the Americans. Most of the Nicaraguan people, along with many worldwide had hoped that if the Sandinistas won as expected, Washington would accept the results and call off President Reagan’s â€Å"freedom fighters†. This was a naive hope, as Secretary of State George P. Shultz made clear: â€Å"with or without elections we will continue our policy of pressuring Nicaragua†. Nicaragua was in the news on election night in the U. S, but the story that was in the news was not one on Nicaragua’s election. The story was of soviet MIGs. As reported by CBS Evening News on November 6, 1984, the soviet freighter Bakuriani was on its way to Nicaragua with MIG 21 fighters aboard. The ‘sham election’ story was succeeded quickly by the security threat story. The overwhelming majority of objective observers concluded that the election was conducted competently and fairly by the Supreme Electoral Council, and that all Nicaraguan political parties had been given ample opportunity and resources to campaign and get their messages out to the people without serious hindrance from the Sandinistas. While all this was going on, the American government stated on the complete flipside that the El Salvador election, whose victors were against the socialist uprising, was a victory for democracy. The Americans supported the oppressive party and condemned the socialists because it suited them and they could easily pass off the socialists as communists. The American government continued to support and fund the tyranny long after this travesty. â€Å"Only the naive believe that Sunday's election in Nicaragua was democratic or legitimizing proof of the Sandinistas' popularity. The result was ordained when opposition parties tamely accepted terms that barred them from power. This plebiscite will not end the struggle for pluralism in Nicaragua. But neither can it serve as justification for recent American policy. â€Å"The Sandinistas made it easy to dismiss their election as a sham. †¦ † Nobody Won in Nicaragua, Editorial, New York Times, Nov 7, 1984 pg. A26. â€Å"No major political tendency in Nicaragua was denied access to the electoral process in 1984. The only parties that did not appear on the ballot were absent by their own choice, not because of government exclusion. †¦ Opposition parties received their legal allotments of campaign funds and had regular and substantial access to radio and television. The legally registered opposition parties were able to hold the vast majority of their rallies unimpeded by pro-FSLN demonstrators or by other kinds of government interference. † (http://www. williamgbecker. com/lasa_1984. pdf)â € A member of the [opposition] Popular Social Christian Party, Jose Lazos said his party ‘recognized the percentage of the F. S. L. N. vote. ‘ ‘It was an honourable process', he said. † [Lazos also confided to the LASA delegation â€Å"We received the vote we expected†. LASA report, ibid. , p. 18. — B. B. ] â€Å"A team of observers from the Washington Office on Latin America, a church-sponsored lobbying group, said the electoral process had been ‘meaningful' and had provided a political opening in Nicaragua. â€Å"The group, in a statement prepared after the voting ended on Sunday, said the process had been ‘well-conceived' and had afforded ‘easy access to vote with guarantees of secrecy. †Ã‚  From  Sandinista Claims Big Election Victory, by Gordon Mott. New York Times, Nov 6, 1984. â€Å"However, [Virgilio Godoy, the PLI presidential candidate who dropped out the day after a visit from the U. S. ambassador] went on to compare favourably Nicaragua's election with presidential elections in El Salvador earlier this year. ‘If the US is going to try to be honest in evaluating these elections, it will be a real problem for the Reagan administration,' Mr. Godoy said. ‘If the US administration said that the Guatemalan and Salvadorian elections were valid ones, how can they condemn elections in Nicaragua, when they have been no worse and probably a lot better than elections in Salvador and Guatemala. ‘The elections here have been much more peaceful. There were no deaths as in the other two countries, where the opposition were often in fear for their lives. ‘† Nicaragua vote seen as better run than Salvador's By Dennis Volman, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor November 5, 1984, p. 13. Managua, Nicaragua  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Reviewing the history of the negotiations between the FSLN and the opposition parties since 1981, and especially during the current election year, Stephen Kinzer, the Managua-based correspondent of The New York Times, told our delegation ‘The FSLN gave in on almost all of the opposition parties' demands concerning how the electoral process would be run. Their stance seemed to be, â€Å"if any clause of the election law causes serious controversy, we'll modify it. † Most of the opposition's complaints about the process had nothing to do with the mechanics of the elections, but rather were more general criticisms of the political system†¦. What some of these groups want is a complete change in the political system: to abolish the CDSs (Sandinista Defence Committees), get the Sandinistas out of the army, prohibit [incumbent] government officials from running for office, and so forth. In short, they want Nicaragua to become a parliamentary democracy first, before they will participate. But this isn't Switzerland! ‘ † (LASA report, ibid. , p. 12. )†Suppose that some power of unimaginable strength were to threaten to reduce the United States to the level of Ethiopia unless we voted for its candidates, demonstrating that the threat was real. Suppose that we refused, and the threat was then carried out, the country brought to its knees, the economy wrecked and millions killed. Suppose, finally, that the threat were repeated, loud and clear, at the time of the next scheduled elections. Under such conditions, only the most extreme hypocrite would speak of a free election. Furthermore, it is likely that close to 100% of the population would succumb. â€Å"Apart from the last sentence, I have just described U. S. -Nicaraguan relations for the last decade. † —Noam Chomsky, The Boston Globe, March 4, 1990El Salvador in 1982 and 1984, and Nicaragua in 1984, provide a virtually controlled experiment in media integrity or submissiveness. The U. S. government promoted the Salvadoran elections as marvels of democratic advance, under adverse conditions, while trying to undermine and discredit the Nicaraguan election as a sham, even though facts did not support claims of superiority of the former election. In the case of El Salvador, the U. S. government agenda stressed the importance and excellence of the election. They focused on the long lines of smiling voters, the size of the turnout, rebel opposition and alleged efforts at disruption. Additionally, they downplayed the absence of fundamental conditions of a free election, such as the freedoms of press and assembly; the ability of all groups to run candidates; and freedom from state terror and coercive threats. The idea that the American press was so quick to praise one and condemn the other is what Chomsky refers to as the ‘propaganda model’ of the mass media. The American government dictates the press into writing about what benefits the American government more so than writing about the truth. Is the Propaganda Model still relevant today? In their propaganda model, Herman and Chomsky present a series of five â€Å"filters† to account for why the dominant U. S. media invariably serve as propagandists for the interests of the elite. Only stories with a strong orientation to elite interests can pass through the five filters unobstructed and receive ample media attention. The model explains how the media can conscientiously function when even a superficial analysis of the evidence would indicate the preposterous nature of many of the stories that receive ample publicity in the press and on the network news broadcasts. However, what, if any of what Chomsky and Herman presented is still relevant today? The model was dubbed a conspiracy theory by many critics on both left and right although Herman says he and Chomsky had looked for structural factors as the only possible root of systematic behaviour and performance patterns. In defending ‘Manufacturing Consent: Political Economy of the Mass Media’, Noam Chomsky's collaborator Edward Herman says; â€Å"Institutional critiques such as we present in this book are commonly dismissed by establishment commentators as ‘conspiracy theories,' but this is merely an evasion. We do not use any kind of ‘conspiracy' hypothesis to explain mass-media performance. In fact, our treatment is much closer to a ‘free market' analysis, with the results largely an outcome of the workings of market forces.   Herman goes on to further explain how the model is not a conspiracy theory and relevant: â€Å"The propaganda model describes a decentralized and non-conspiratorial market system of control and processing, although at times the government or one or more private actors may take initiatives and mobilize co-ordinated elite handling of an issue. † The â€Å"propaganda model† has as little in common with a â€Å"conspiracy theoryâ €  as saying that the management of General Motors acts to maintain and increase its profits. As Chomsky notes,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"to confront power is costly and difficult; high standards of evidence and argument are imposed, and critical analysis is naturally not welcomed by those who are in a position to react vigorously and to determine the array of rewards and punishments. Conformity to a ‘patriotic agenda,' in contrast, imposes no such costs. †Ã‚  Meaning that  Ã¢â‚¬Å"conformity is the easy way, and the path to privilege and prestige†¦ It is a natural expectation, on uncontroversial assumptions, that the major media and other ideological institutions will generally reflect the perspectives and interests of established power.   [Necessary Illusions, pp. 8-9 and p. 10] So in totally ruling out the ‘conspiracy theory’ label, Herman writes that â€Å"the dramatic changes in the economy, the communications industries, and politics over the past dozen years have tended on balance to enhance the applicability of the propaganda model. The first two fil ters–ownership and advertising–have become ever more important. The decline of public broadcasting, the increase in corporate power and global reach, and the mergers and centralization of the media, have made bottom-line considerations more influential both in the United States and abroad. The competition for advertisers has become more intense and the boundaries between editorial and advertising departments have weakened further. Newsrooms have been more thoroughly incorporated into transnational corporate empires, with budget cuts and even less management enthusiasm for investigative journalism that would challenge the structure of power (Herman and McChesney, 1997). † What Herman is saying is that the journalists own voice has been reduced. The Internet and new communication technologies are breaking the corporate stranglehold on journalism somewhat and opening an unprecedented era of interactive democratic media. Some think that they permit media firms to shrink staff while achieving greater outputs and they make possible global distribution systems, thus reducing the number of media entities. Herman states â€Å"there are, by one conservative count, 20,000 more PR agents working to doctor the news today than there are journalists writing it. †Looking for more modern examples to see if ‘The propaganda model’ still applies Herman uses the media's treatment of the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the subsequent Mexican crisis and meltdown of 1994-95. He states that â€Å"once again there was a sharp split between the preferences of ordinary citizens and the elite and business community, with polls consistently showing substantial majorities opposed to NAFTA — and to the bailout of investors in Mexican securities — but the elite in favour†. Media news coverage, selection of â€Å"experts,† and opinion columns were skewed accordingly; their judgment was that the benefits of NAFTA were obvious, agreed to by all qualified authorities, and that only demagogues and â€Å"special interests† were opposed. Labour has been under siege in the United States for the past fifteen years according to Herman, â€Å"but you would hardly know this from the mainstream media. † Using the example of the long Pittston miners’ strike to show â€Å"the propaganda model’s† relevance in a similar way to Nicaragua, Timor, Jerzy Popieluszko and so many of Chomsky and Herman other examples the strike was afforded much less attention than the strike of miners in the Soviet Union. The more recent examples to think of would be the American media coverage of the whole â€Å"war on terror† compared with most of the world’s media. Much of the world opposed the Iraq war and Americas invasions. In conclusion, the propositions put forward by Chomsky and Herman, such as the ‘five filters’ and their theories of mass media compared with worldwide media seem to be based on very solid ground, with a good foundation of case studies and research. The case study of Nicaragua being a prime example that backs up their studies in Manufacturing Consent. It is quite clear to see how the American media has filtered different stories and overall tried to sway people’s perceptions on the issue. The fact that the similar situation in El Salvador was so comparable proves a great basis to highlight Chomsky and Herman’s theories. Also when talking about if ‘the propaganda model’ is relevant today in which Herman talking on whether it is still relevant claims that â€Å"The applicability of the propaganda model in these and other cases seems clear. I agree that ‘the propaganda model’ is most certainly applicable today. To what extent remains to be seen through research, though I disagree that the internet has brought on an even greater level of control to mass media, although it is worth noting that the internet was a lot different back in the 90’s when Herman talked about it. | Bibliography http://www. chomsky. info/onchomsky/2002—-. htm http://ics. leeds. ac. uk/papers/vp01. cfm? outfi t=pmt&folder=30&paper=1227 The Social and Political Thought of Noam Chomsky  by Alison Edgley http://anarchism. pageabode. com/afaq/secD3. html http://www. chomsky. info/onchomsky/20031209. htm http://www. williamgbecker. com/nicaragua_1984_election. php http://www. chomsky. info/onchomsky/198901–. htm Washington's war on Nicaragua  by Holly Sklar http://www. williamgbecker. com/lasa_1984. pdf http://www. fifth-estate-online. co. uk/comment/Mullen_paper_FEO. pdf http://www. llc. manchester. ac. uk/research/projects/etrist/conferences/fileuploadmax10mb,169799,en. pdf

When to Use Palate, Palette, and Pallet

When to Use Palate, Palette, and Pallet The nouns palate, palette, and pallet are homophones: they are pronounced similarly but have different meanings. The noun palate refers to the roof of the mouth or the sense of taste.The noun palette refers to an artists paint board or a range of colors.The noun pallet is a straw-filled mattress or a hard bed. Examples Egypts senior archaeologist recently discovered that King Tutankhamen was born with a cleft palate and a clubfoot.Walt Disneys Pinocchio paraded the studios early perfection of the cartoon form: subtle character delineation, a rich color palette, and an inside knowledge of boyhood traumas.In one of the more lurid fairy tales, ogres chop off the legs and arms of a woman to make her body fit a pallet.Percy Painter, a promising but penniless portraitist, might possibly profit were he to pick up, perhaps procure, (1) a plentiful patron with a palate for portraiture, (2) a palette with pigments properly primed, and (3) a pretty person pleasingly prepared to pose pleasantly on his paltry pallet. (Robert Oliver Shipman, A Pun My Word: A Humorously Enlightened Path to English Usage. Rowman Littlefield, 1991)

The Kid with a Bike Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Kid with a Bike - Movie Review Example This paper is a review of the film â€Å"The Kid with a Bike† Directed by Jean Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne. The film is about the one sided yet blissful blood bond relation between a father and an eleven year old who is abandoned by his father and lives in a foster home and is being told by the father that he would have to live there for only a short while. With hopes in heart that he would return to his father soon, the distracted boy is never able to relate to life without his father and his desired bicycle. He runs in search of the bike which he considers a special symbol of attachment to his father. To his small childish memory he runs tracing his father in all the places he can image. He visits the place where his father lived, but much to his disappointment, he finds out that his father has moved out.The very first scene of the movie tells us about the boy’s state of mind who is lacking the peace and it is evident through an encounter with the counselor of th e foster home where the boy hopes to find out about his father. He often tries to flee the foster home in hope of going to his real home which was promised by his father to him. While in pursuit of his little dream, and peace, along with hope of finding the bicycle and his father again, his life and future days take a turn for the good when he comes across a generous hairdresser who would later on adopt him. The Theme is based on the attempt of interpretation of the boy’s distracted mind which he suffers due to one of his parent’s unstable social standing.... While in pursuit of his little dream, and peace, along with hope of finding the bicycle and his father again, his life and future days take a turn for the good when he comes across a generous hairdresser who would later on adopt him. The Theme is based on the attempt of interpretation of the boy’s distracted mind which he suffers due to one of his parent’s unstable social standing. Being not able to bring him up, he falsely tells his young son that the stay at foster home would be a brief one; however, in real the things are gloomier for the ill fated boy. The theme is a very apt one considering the modern day unstable social standings of number of parents in various societies across the world, and it equally applies to the American Society and parents as well. It lives up to the expectations and delivers the message in a very calculated manner and warns all those with such intentions that abandoning their kids is the last best option available for their kids. Early day s of life are the days where the kid needs proper attention and their parents guard. Even the toys and other childhood kits do not mean as much to the kids as much as their own parents. This has been shown in a very skill full manner where the kid considers the bicycle as a symbol of his father’s love towards him. The movie will definitely leave a spark in the minds and hearts of all those parents who are going through the thick of times and have even for once thought over similar lines of foster homes for their children. They would get to know what these actions could have in offer for the young ones if sent away from home. What three or four sequences are most important in the film? Why?   There are number of scenes that would give the viewers goose bumps on any given day, and those moments were

B.F. Skinner and Operant Conditioning Research Paper

B.F. Skinner and Operant Conditioning - Research Paper Example Subjects opt for alternatives that result to low risks. Choice introduces self-control where the subject learns how to wait for better rewards instead of settling on immediate smaller rewards. A reinforcement schedule delivers reinforcement to an organism according to a predefined rule. Food is a common reinforcement used to condition hungry rats and pigeons. The schedule delivers the food for a switch closure as a result of a lever press or a peck. Similar experiments have been conducted on humans and the results are similar to those from animals. However, human beings have resulted into a wider range of adopted behavioral strategies compared to animals. A time-based schedule is the most effective where the reinforcement is delivered after a fixed or variable time period. A time marker or the reinforcement is utilized in time-based schedules. Trial-by-trial versions are also utilized during conditioning. For example, in the fixed interval schedule, an inter-trial interval precedes e ach trial and extra-empty trials where no food is given to the rats. In operant conditioning, the acquired behavior is reversible and can only be repeated when the reinforcement is available. ... This is evident in different results from subsequent results of the experimental history. This indicates that the animal has undergone some internal transformation, but the learned behavior is reversible. Several researchers have encountered problems when uncovering the reversible behavior and the nonreversible internal state of the animal. Skinner is concerned with the reversible behavior and not the internal state of the subject. This makes it difficult to draw a plausible conclusion on the cause of the reversible behavior when a second reinforcement is withdrawn after a short exposure. During conditioning, the organism is exposed to the reinforcement at timed intervals. Doubling the interval time doubles the wait time after a learning period. The organism develops an approximation to the interval to be timed. In some procedures, the organism can be exposed to a stimulus and different responses are expected after an absolute or relative duration. The subject can be exposed to two s timuli that confront it with two choices. For example, a rat can be given food after either a press on the left or right lever. After a learning period, the subject is presented with the two stimuli in lieu, which introduces the question of how it distributes the responses. The subject has to develop an intermediate duration in order to differentiate between the two stimuli. Other factors such as the degree of hunger can influence the response during a fixed interval procedure. A time discrimination procedure can mitigate this problem. The subject is exposed to food after a fixed time followed by a longer period of no food. This helps the subject learn to wait then respond until the behavior has been learnt properly. Interval timing is widely used by