Representation of Gays in Hollywood

During the production code, there were very few representations of gay and lesbians on screen. The only few representations were filled with stereotypes and lacked variety. People will call each other when they see another gay person on TV. The story lines in movies featuring gays and lesbians were controlled and restricted. The whole story was not often told in gay movies. Even after the code was lifted, Hollywood still struggled with their portrayal of gays, the â€Å"proud sissies† and the â€Å"regular gays† who were not as flamboyant. In today’s movies, those issues are still prevalent. Gay scenes are laced with comedy and as a form of punishment.There are not enough genuine, authentic gay love stories anymore. The notion of visibility at any cause still exists today, maybe not as difficult as it was in the 30’s. I am starting to believe that films do not creates stereotypes but rather the people behind these films. Directors, producers and even actor s creates and perpetuate the stereotypes and feeds them to the audience. Simply changing the films alone will not be enough to solve gay stereotypes in Hollywood. The change should start with the people making the films. Perhaps we need more gay directors or less stereotyping straight directors or better yet directors with open minds.Fleming disagrees with Russo’s views on gay visibility in Hollywood. She is not as optimistic as Russo. Fleming’s point about the lack of lesbian perspective in Hollywood films was very interesting. But what stood out the most was the point she made about the dilemma of gays in Hollywood. If they become more visible, they open themselves up for ridicule but if they remain invisible then they are allow Hollywood to keep portraying them stereotypically. Overall, Fleming believes that there should be more range and diversity in gay story lines and I

Pareto Analysis

MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING & PERFORMANCE EVALUATION MAF 635 PARETO ANALYSIS GROUP 10 PREPARED FOR: PN. ZARINAH ABDUL RASIT CONTENT | PAGE| INTRODUCTION| 2| WHAT IS PARETO ANALYSIS? | 2| HISTORY OF PARETO ANALYSIS| 3| WHEN TO USE PARETO ANALYSIS| 3| HOW TO USE PARETO ANALYSIS| 4| RISK AND WAYS TO AVOID IT| 7| ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES| 8| CONCLUSION| 8| APPENDIX| 9| INTRODUCTION In this chapter, we will discuss on Pareto Analysis topic which is a statistical techniques in decision making. We will focus on: * The definition of Pareto Analysis. * The history of Pareto Analysis. * When we can use Pareto Analysis. How to use Pareto Analysis. * The risks of using Pareto Analysis. * Ways to avoid the risks arises. * The advantages and disadvantages of Pareto Analysis. WHAT IS PARETO ANALYSIS? The definition of Pareto Analysis can be identified as statistical techniques in decision making. The difference between other decision making techniques is this analysis are applying the 80/20 rule. Which is by doing 20% of works, will gain 80% advantage of the entire works. Meaning here is by only focusing on significant issue or problems, we can gain a 80% returns as we focus on the entire works.This Pareto Analysis is a creative way of looking at causes of problems to help stimulate thinking and organize thought. HISTORY OF PARETO ANALYSIS WHEN TO USE PARETO ANALYSIS * During problem analysis, to find those sub-problems that will return the greatest benefits. * Used in any general situation where you want to prioritise action. For example, use it when selecting potential solutions, by comparing their cost-benefit ratios. * Use it in a team situation to show results of voting. HOW TO USE PARETO ANALYSIS STEPS | DESCRIPTION | EXAMPLE |Identify Items to compare | * Identify the items to be analysed and charted. * These should be a single complete group that can be measured in the same way. | For example ‘Damaged seats’| Choose measurement units| * Find a measurement uni t this that will lead to the highest bar being the most important to address. * This is often a count of something. | A weighting factor may be used to ensure the highest number is the most important. | Plan the measurement| * Determine how many items must be measured to build a representative chart. Plan the detail of the work, including who will measure what, how, for how long, and so on. | If possible aim for around 50 items, as this will give a statistically repeatable chart. If you repeat the measurement, keep all conditions as similar as possible. | Measure as planned| * Carry out the measurement as planned. * A Check Sheet can be used to manually record measurements. | | Plot the chart| * Plot the results in vertical bars, sorted with the highest bar on the left. | If there are a lot of items that would lead to a long tail of small bars, you can combine these into an ‘others’. Select the focus| * Choose the number of bars which you will address further (this is u sually one or two). | If there are a lot of items that would lead to a long tail of small bars, you can combine these into an ‘others’. | Take action| * Take the work to the next stage by acting on your findings. | If the bar selected is big, you can find a further focus by breaking this down into a sub-Pareto chart. | EXAMPLE: * The city hospital has to analyse and solve the various complaints of the patients, which are submitted to the Head Nurse Office. In order to analyse the complaints and claims we use the Pareto Diagram. With consideration 845 received complaints, starting from the complaint forms filled in by the medical service beneficiaries, which were grouped in the following categories. 1) COMPLAINTS BY CATEGORY: 2) REARRANGE THE PROBLEMS ACCORDING TO THE MOST SIGNIFICANT TO THE LEAST SIGNIFICANT ACCORDING TO THE NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS RECEIVED. 3) PLOT THE GRAPH, CREATE THE CHART AND DRAW THE CUMULATIVE CURVE RISK OF PARETO ANALYSIS & HOW TO AVOID IT RISKS| S TEPS TO AVOID| * Selecting the wrong items, such as jumping to conclusions rather than using proven facts. | * Take care to start with the right problem. * Using measures which lead to the highest bar on the chart indicating something that is not the most appropriate item to address. | * Remember that the focus is to find the most important item, so get measurements right. | * Assuming the people who are doing the measurement are motivated and able to do this. | * Educate the people who are doing the measurements and check with their managers that they can do this extra work. | * Ending up with things that are too-big to address. | * Carefully consider the effort you will need to address the selected items.If this will be too much, then take another step to find a lower-level focus. | * Last-minute changes that are based on intuition rather than measurements and known facts. | * Be very careful when taking intuitive leaps. It is often better to trust a process which can later be ver ified. | ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES OF PARETO ANALYSIS ADVANTAGES: 1. Organizational Efficiency -The problems ranked highest in severity should become the main focus for problem resolution of improvement. 2. Enhanced problem-solving skills -Enables management to organize work-related problems into connected facts. . Improved decision making -Can measure and compare the impact of changes that take place in an organization. DISADVANTAGES: 1. Easy to make but hard to troubleshoot -Provide no insight on the root causes 2. Multiple Pareto chart may be needed -Further analysis and more charts are needed 3. Qualitative Vs Quantitative data -Can only show qualitative data that can be observed. CONCLUSION Here, we can conclude that Pareto Analysis are helping in decision making by identifying the significant issues or problems to be solved and get the high advantage by doing entire jobs.The 80/20 rule states that by focusing on 20% of the entire problems, we may generate 80% of the advantage of the entire job. Therefore, we can saves time and improved decision making skills by solving the right or significant problems rather than focus on the symptoms only. However, Pareto Analysis also have some drawbacks when they’re failed to determine the root causes and it needs further analysis since the Parato Analysis only gives the significant problems according to the information gained from unskilled person on the certain issue such as from customers, clients, suppliers and other parties. APPENDIX

Song of a Hummingbird

Sophia Rocha Mike Fraga CHI 100 November 16, 2012 Book Review The novel, Song of the Hummingbird by Graciela Limon, is a book about Huitzitzilin’s encounters during the Spanish conquest and the coming of Cortes. There are many themes in this novel, such as war, religion, culture, sins and the ending of an Era for the Mexicas. But it does not start off of her telling her stories, but of a young monk named Father Benito Lara, who is called to hear her last confession, for she was very old and knew she was near the end of her long journey.Father Benito went to listen to Huitzitzilin everyday for she had much to say about her life and about her culture before and during the Spanish conquest. She told him some sins throughout their conversations, and when she did not talk about their sins, he would write down all that she was saying so he can record her side of what happened during the conquest, for he only heard teachings of how the Spaniards had seen the conquest. The novel start s of in a convent at Coyoacan in 1583.Father Benito is only 27, and Huitzitzilin is 82. As Huitzitzilin starts her story, it is spring in the year 1501 when she was born. She describes her growing up in her tribe and of her traditions and customs. Some of these disturbed the monk because he felt that they were devil worshipers and did not want to hear such chants for he feel the devil will try to pull him in. Huitzitzilin tried to tell him that she was not a devil worshiper, but she has gods of her own that she did worship.He was taught differently of her tribe and did not understand most of the things she had to say, but he still listened for he was fascinated by most of the things she had to say about her life and about her tribe. Graciela Limon is arguing for Huitzitzilin, for the way she wrote this novel explained in detail Huitzitzilin’s journey through all her hardships she had to face during the time of the Spanish conquests. Limon did not suppress how Huitzitzilin loo ked in any way throughout the novel. She wrote the story as f she was Huitzitzilin herself, and just wanted to have her story told. Huitzitzilin’s character had a lot to say about her life and after every conversation she felt better after confessing her sins, for she felt a burden was being lifted of her shoulders. One theme of the novel is religion. Religion is a theme throughout the whole novel, for Father Benito kept referring to God and about his Christianity every time Huitzitzilin talked about her gods of about some of her traditions. â€Å"No! Don’t mention the idols! Father Benito’s voice trembled, betraying the fear the god’s name conjured his mind. â€Å"No? But if you don’t allow me to speak of them, how can I explain the most important part of those events? † The monk was dumbfounded. Yet he had promised Father Anselmo that he would not allow allusion to those demons. He bit his lip in consternation because he couldn’t h elp thinking that it would be equally difficult to speak of his own people without the mention of Jesus Christ. † He kept reminding her that it was a great thing that the Spaniards brought Christianity amongst them.She repeatedly told him that she did not believe in his ways or in God, for she only seeked the forgiveness of Father Benito, not of God. â€Å"Will you forgive me? † â€Å"God forgives all sins if there is contrition. † â€Å"But will you forgive me? † In the end of the novel he understood why she kept asking for his forgiveness, for it was not for mercy or absolution but for understanding of her life. Another theme was sins, for Huitzitzilin confessed sins to Father Benito during her conversations. Her first sin was fornication with Zintle by the lake.But the way she told her sins to him bothered him for she told them in exact detailed of the way she remembered it. Her second sin she told was abortion. She was pregnant with Zintles child and s he went to a healer that knows about some herbs that can get rid of the unborn child. She was not sorry for that sin for her and the priest argued about it. She argued she did that for the sake of her own life, for if her husband to be found out about her fornication, he would have her killed. After hearing what her husband to be, Tetla, did to her the night of their wedding, he began to feel sorry for her.

Audit Sampling Case Memo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Audit Sampling Case Memo - Essay Example : (1) the existence of the inventory; (2) the rights or obligations of inventory; (3) the completeness of the inventory as stated in the balance sheet; (4) the valuation of inventory on hand, and whether it is presented according to GAAP along with (5) the presentation or disclosure of inventories in the financial statements (Whittington & Pany, 2006). RF= the reliability factor for the specified risk of incorrect acceptance. This is taken from figure 13-5 in Boynton & Johnson (2010), and for a risk of incorrect acceptance of 37% as listed, the reliability factor is 1.0. EF= the expansion factor for anticipated misstatement. This is obtained from figure 13-6 in Boynton & Johnson (2010). With a risk of incorrect acceptance at 37%, the expansion factor is given as 1.15. In Boynton & Johnson (2010), the risk of incorrect acceptance is listed at 37%. There are scenarios that would explain why 37% is chosen instead of higher or lower percentages. An important element mentioned by Whittington & Pany (2006) is the level of overall audit risk. Audit risk is based on the following formula: Audit risk (AR) is the overall allowable audit risk that a material misstatement will remain undetected. Inherent risk (IR) is a risk of a material misstatement in the financial statements, assuming a company had no internal controls. Control risk (CR) is the risk that a material misstatement could occur in an assertion and will not be detected by internal control. Detection risk (DR) is the risk that the auditors’ substantive testing will not find a material misstatement (Whittington & Pany, 2006). The setting of the risk of incorrect acceptance at 37% is not an exact science. If circumstances arise where auditors place inherent risk and control risk at high levels, and do not engage in other tests of the balance assertion, then the risk of incorrect acceptance would have to be set at a low level. However if a decrease in inherent risk or control risk occurs, then a

Company Aytch Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Company Aytch - Essay Example aining of the soldiers in the face of the new technology in the field of war, this left horrific and devastating experiences to many people and influenced many young men to volunteer to fight through different companies, among them was Sam R.Watkins who was in the rank of common soldier and depicted as immortality through his 1882 memoir Company Aytch. The initial deployment of the troops took place on the proceeding day leaving the local residents in a dilemma whether to leave or to stay in their village, on the eve of the battle upon drawing picket duty, Watkins was surprised to discover a Union guard ‘Yankee’ that was on duty across the road, as Watkins explains that on that night they were not enemies â€Å"†¦We got very friendly †¦ and made a raid upon a citizen’s pantry where we captured a bucket of honey, a pitcher of sweet milk, and three or four biscuits† (Watkins 12) Watkins believes that the locals in this village were taken by surprise. Watkins recalls in his memoirs that in the following morning that a line was drawn between Perryville and the Yankee army, on the other side of the Yankees, they raised blue flag, ready for the war with their dogs threatening to attack, but the war did not start until 12 o’clock (Watkins 15). They were marching in a corn field when the Yankees opened their war dogs on them, they were attacked from the three lines from which they were able to counter attack killing every of their opponent mostly by the use of Napoleon guns, this resulted to many killings totalling to 55,396 federal soldiers and 16800 Braggs confederate soldiers (Watkins 27). One of the greatest characteristic of this war, was that for the first time, Henry Rifle was employed, the rifle was sold in Louisville and it is thought that it was bought by a soldier in Terrills, repeating rifle such as Spencer and Henry were considered to have been the most advanced infantry weapon , in fact the Henry which was an advancement of Winchester, was

I do not know please but the sutible topic Essay

I do not know please but the sutible topic - Essay Example On the other hand, Shary also describes in his article â€Å"Youth in School† the cinematic image of nerds. Nerds as we know it could be either a representation of individuals with high academic achievement, virgins or those usually left behind in the social group due to issue of conformity and acceptability (Choi 119; Driscoll 71). For instance, Shary emphasizes there are substantial opportunities for popular teens, those who are highly accepted in the group, and as a result, would mostly even have rich experiences when it comes to love (social affection) and sex (Shary 1989). Thus, in order for nerds to transform or gain acceptability, they have to produce something among themselves. Whatever might it be, the idea should be to increase their group and social acceptability or desirability. A specific example of this would be some of those shown in weird science films showing the protagonist (nerd) to excel and end up gaining high value in the society (Shary 1985). Thus, the b ottom line would be to increase the level of affection given to them by the surrounding social environment. Laney Boggs from the movie film â€Å"She’s All That† is unpopular art student in the campus, physically unattractive and wallows into solitary atmosphere. In the movie, Boggs needed to be transformed as somebody that comes from being an ugly duckling to a stunning beauty, which is a remarkable depiction of increasing one’s value and social acceptability. The movie film â€Å"The Breakfast Club† featuring the character of Brian Johnson also depicts issue concerning conformity, rebellion and social acceptability. Johnson in this film shows how shameful on his part to remain virgin at his age, which depicts issue about conformity. Shary’s ideas on the nerd concept are actually exemplified in the case of Boggs and Johnson due to the associated issue about conformance and rebellion. In the case of Boggs, her

LEGAL QUESTIONS MUST BE GRAMMER CORRECT AND ON TIME Essay

LEGAL QUESTIONS MUST BE GRAMMER CORRECT AND ON TIME - Essay Example Kathy's participation would be considered in terms of the fact that other messages. Other than the email # 6 can be deemed as Kathy's message and not Bill's. But for this Bill would have to be coward enough to turn his back on Kathy and say that she accessed his Email account without permission. So in this case Bill is responsible for correspondence #6 in evidence. By law, now, they held Walt. But the case description does not specify any warrants being shown to Waltz. One thing being clear. Walt was hacking Jim's system for his personal and Bill's personal advantage and their firm's advantage. Answer) Walt can plead for the motion of cause, only in the following cases: if Walt is able to prove that has committed a minor crime or a crime that has not caused sever damage or loss to the concerned party. Legally, if he has caused damage and loss to the concerned party, he cannot be granted the Motion of Cause. Because as the motion of cause suggests that the evidence found during the search, it would not be allowed to be presented as evidence in court. 3) The CPIF stands for Cost plus incentive fee contract. Megacorp and Mesoco. in other words John and Jim and both their firms had a contract , as this contract was a CPIF contract , by law , Mesoco will have to pay the Amount as ruled by the court because of the implication that CPIF had on their contract . Legally it was not John or his firms' responsibility to know how Jim will complete the project. It was Jims Responsibility. As the CPIF indicates the cost of the project plus some bonus if all is successful. 4) Barbara was at fault initially, she did decide in hastiness, or what one might presume is that, now that she knew she had settled for a lesser amount, she thought this was a good way out. Other than that if we observe the other facts. Which are that she was not qualified enough to handle the project wholly. So she was honest enough to let Bill and Kathy know that she would not continue, if she would she would need an extension on the deadline as well as the assistance of two other people who would be able to do the job for her. For some extra cost. That extra cost was also specified in the mail correspondence. Furthermore, other than this if that wouldn't or couldn't be the case she herself volunteered to back out, and just be paid for the work she had done up till then. The contract she made with Microdev was true and very much there. They can hold her in court against making them suffer when they were half way through the project. Just because she was not careful enough to read all the specifications clearly does not let her buy herself out of the situation. Legally, also Bill and his firm can take her to court and possibly win, if they can prove their point. 5) Nanotechnocrats owe money to Microdev. It is quite sensible. But legally,

Business Writing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business Writing - Assignment Example While preparing the draft, Kathy should take into consideration the detailed information available on the subject which includes various opinion and suggestion of the persons on the matter, her own opinion and perspectives, etc. Based on these inputs, Kathy would need to decide on the parts of her writing which needs to be edited, added or replaced. After preparing the draft, Kathy should read the piece to herself in order to be sure that her writing is properly structured and follow a logical flow with meaningful interpretations. In the draft written by Kathy, she should also look to remove redundant words which do not add sense to the piece of writing. The draft that is prepared by Kathy would need to be revised in order to make sure that the sentences written by her are structured, logical and meaningful. Kathy should look to present her writing in a better manner and use separate paragraphs where necessary. Kathy could also look to take suggestions and feedbacks from her peers in order to improve her writing skills relevant to the piece. After performing these steps, Kathy should make sure that she proofreads the piece written by her. This step is important for Kathy to produce a piece of writing to the target readers which do not contain any grammatical errors, errors in punctuation, spelling errors, etc. In this activity of proofreading, Kathy would need to make sure that all sentences in the writing piece are complete, simple and meaningful. Kathy would be able to remove her confusion in process of writing by performing these steps and would be able to produce a completely structured and perfect form of writing. Comparison of oral v/s written medium of communication: Advantages and disadvantages, examples In order to remove the confusion of Kathy in understanding the differences and applications of oral medium and written medium of communication, the advantages and disadvantages of both the form of communication should be explained. This would help Kathy to undertake the appropriate medium of communication in order to apply the same according to the need of the situation. The advantages of the oral medium of communication would help Kathy to resolve the issues faced the customers on an immediate basis. A good power of communication would help in resolving the customer complaints immediately (Kaul 15). The grievances could be settled in the front desk on an instant basis to the satisfaction of the customers in the hotel of Las Vegas. Thus effective oral communication would help in consolidating the customer relation for the Las Vegas hotel. The disadvantages of oral communication are that the facial expressions and emotions expressed during the communication process could not be concealed. This could lead to flaring of tempers. Once an oral communication is mishandled, it is very difficult to repair the relationship between the communicators. Thus Kathy should be careful of these disadvantages of oral medium of communication. In cas es where oral medium of communication is not effective, where maintenance of official records are necessary to validate the earlier communication held, the written form of communication would be advantageous and Kathy would need to adopt this form of communication. Moreover, written medium of communication is beneficial when the sender and the receiver of message are not within reachable distance.

Semantics Lesson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Semantics Lesson - Essay Example Within this view, facial expressions, sounds, body language, as well as proxemics, have semantic (significant) content, and each one encompasses various branches of study. Things such as punctuation and paragraph structure, in written language, have semantic content. Some of the main aspects of semantics include lexical competence and sociolinguistic competence (Dragon & Fair-Bumbray, 2007). This paper will create a semantics lesson plan focusing on lexical competence. Lexical competence or ability is a fancy linguistic word, which refers to the way language learners differentiate the disparity between words in a similar â€Å"family† (for instance a seat = stool, chair or bench). Semantics is significant because, in English, semantics (word meaning) is the key to unlocking understanding in words (Dragon & Fair-Bumbray, 2007). Also, in order for people to communicate, as well as comprehend, they must understand or be aware of the meaning of words. Secondly, they should know a bank of words from which to select from and finally they must know the strategies of supporting themselves in word retrieval. Semantics is significant because choosing the accurate words (or failure to) can have grave social and academic/professional consequences (Dragon & Fair-Bumbray, 2007). The old strategy that educators have been using in their semantics lessons is visualization or imagery. This, even though efficient, has not managed fully to assist students, especially those who lack full competence in English, understand meaning in words. This paper, therefore, advocates for a new strategy, Word Hierarchies or Graphic Organizers, which is easy to understand and practical when it comes to teaching semantics. The target grades for this lesson will be students from 5th to 8th grade. This is a comprehensive classroom setting which consists of 24 students (12 regular /8 special /8 ELL). Such a lesson would happen in a chain of mini-lessons using visualization to pass meaning thro ugh speaking and in writing, though the concepts might be used in any subject area where learners are projected to derive and/or express meaning with words. Students use their visualization abilities and apply them in learning a new strategy for conveying meaning, semantic mapping. Word hierarchies, in this lesson, will be used to scaffold students prior to their introduction of the approach of semantic mapping. The aims of this lesson are for learners to examine or inspect word families and arrange related words by intensity or degree. The standards recognized have a widespread thread, which learners apply while using language (Cruse, 1986). The anticipation is that when communicating, learners will choose words suitable for the audience and context, and also utilize strategies for generating, expanding, as well as retrieving vocabulary. The standards of this lesson include 6LD-Q3, 6LD-V10 and 8LD-O7. 6LD-Q3 will identify mood, tone or emotion expressed in oral communication. 6LD-V 10, on the other hand, will determine alternating word choices using thesauri, dictionaries or other resources. 8LD-O7 finally will distinguish and create informal and formal language suitable to the purpose and audience, including recognizing how to use words for specific effect. As a way of differentiating instruction to meet needs of different learners, this paper will advocate for metacognitive awareness and task strategies. Metacognitive aware

Was the Post-1967 Settler Movement a Continuation of the Founding Essay

Was the Post-1967 Settler Movement a Continuation of the Founding Zionist project, or an Independent Development - Essay Example With Israel emerging as the victor from the war, territories expanded in areas such as Gaza, west bank, east Jerusalem and the Golan heights. This was in contrary to Arab predictions before the war that Israel would face extinction. The country was now stable to attack its enemies as well as protect its territories from attacks. The win was not taken easily by the religious Zion’s who termed the win as mere miraculous attempt by Israel. Instead of giving credit where it is due, Zionists used divine proof in their favor and praised themselves from the historical achievements in the past occurrences. In the process of trying to confer the new terms of Israel, the religions Zion got transformed into a system, which incorporated nationalism. At the same time, they got the limelight in the center stage showing their power through the secular enterprises. After same war settler, movement arose a move, which got incorporated to fight for the displaced in the society. They used makesh ift tents same as those used by the Zionists in the 1930s in a bid to escape from mandatory and forceful power of the Palestinian nationalism1. Many questions, therefore, have arisen as to the source of the settler movement due to the many things that the movement shares with the Zionists. Consequently, the patrons and leaders of the settler movements got identified as leaders from the Zion society, a factor that leaves beyond doubt that settler movement was a product of the Zionists. It is from this perspective that I tend to defend the fact that all the basic similarities found between the settler and Zionists was not coincidental2. Settler movement is, therefore, a product of the Zionists as proven by the following subsidiary points. To start, the settler movement main agenda was, to provide settlement for displaced persons from the war. In addition, it engrossed the nationalists’ impulse, which included mixing religious ideologies such as biblical â€Å"Eretz Israel† rhythm. This was a perquisite of the religious redemption of the Christians by the time a move, which aimed at providing sustainable housing as well as settlement for the displaced persons from the six-day strenuous war. From a close analysis of its agendas, settler movement show sighs of shared ideas. This is because some of the settlement ideologies can be traced back to Zionists thinkers like Abraham Isaac Kook who was the first chief of the rabbi pre-state period3. From this perspective settler, movement formulated after the 1967 war gets viewed as a product of the Zionists, as they could not formulate their own ideologies, but took the ideologies from the Zionists movements. Subsequently, it leaves certainty beyond any doubt that the religious legitimacy that prevailed in the settler movement was a product of the Zionists. This, therefore, proves that fact that settler movement erupted from the Zionists. The Zionists made use of secular elements and instruments in the proces s of reestablishing the land of Israel and motivation of Jewish renaissance. According to Kook, one of the founders of Zionist movements, the move aimed at restoring the civilization match in the people of Israel. Consequently, it geared towards ensuring moral progress and in turn creating a modal society where everybody had transformation. Notably the dream of the Zionists was to transform the whole Israel community and create a barrier from the past in terms of development and emergence. A close observation of the settler mo

Consumer Driven Health Plans and Health Savings Accounts Essay

Consumer Driven Health Plans and Health Savings Accounts - Essay Example ible Spending Accounts such as tax benefits to employees and employers, a portable health program, an attractive incentive program and an affordable approach to health care. They are preferable to other options because they offer portability and are less limited or risk-laden than the HSA. However, they do require a high deductible health plan. In determining the best type of health plan to offer our employees, the option of Health Savings Accounts presented itself as being the best choice for our company situation as a small but growing firm. This paper describes what a Health Savings Account is, addresses the most unique advantages it has to offer with particular emphasis on the advantages offered to small companies and compares this type of program with other consumer driven health plans available. In addition, the disadvantages of Health Savings Accounts are discussed, common questions are posed with answers provided by the Department of Treasury and consumer feedback is offered. A Health Savings Account (HSA), an example of a consumer-driven health plan, offers a distinct alternative to the way in which we work with traditional health insurance programs such as Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO) or Preferred Provider Organizations (PPO). One of the greatest advantages of HSAs is that they offer tax breaks that continue to grow wealthier because consumers decide for themselves how to spend less. Patients pay for a greater share of their health care directly and are given more control over the money in their HSA than they would have in more traditional plans. These plans are contingent on the use of a high-deductible health insurance plan that meets specific criteria, which functions to lower costs for employers as well as premiums for employees. Decisions on what types of investments to make with the money are made by the individual consumers without relying on a third party employer relations expert or a health insurer. In addition, each person

Functionalist Theory Essay Example for Free

Functionalist Theory Essay The functionalist theory is one that views the society as one that is social system made up of interrelated components. Each of these components is important and works together towards the achievement of a whole complete society. A common analogy supporting the functionalist theory is the human body which has several body organs which usually work together with problems in one organ affecting the rest of the body. The major components within a society are customs, traditions, norms and institutions such as families. It is agreed among major functionalists that social institutions make the essential components of society with rules and regulations being needed so as to organize the society in an effective manner. Functionalism within the discipline of anthropology developed in the early 20th century as a reaction to the extremes of the diffusionist and evolutionary theories developed within the 19th century (Goldschmidt 1996). The change was as a result of a change in focus from the more speculative diachronic examination of cultural traits and social customs as survivals to a more synchronic examination of the various social institutions existing within functioning societies. Functionalists were attempting to increase socio-cultural examination beyond the limits of the evolutionary notion of social history which viewed cultural traits and social customs as the residual pieces of cultural history. The theory has anthropological roots based on the thoughts and works of Bronislaw Malinowski, who argued that social institutions existed so as to meet the physiological needs of individuals within a society. As such, social stability was achieved by ensuring the needs of the individuals comprising the society were met with adequate knowledge of the feelings and motives of these individuals forming a basis for understanding how the society functioned. He viewed culture as the main element that ensured the needs of the members of a society were met. It is also based on the works of Alfred Radcliffe-Brown who argued that the basic divisions of anthropology were the various processes of human life within a social structure interlinked through interactions. Stability within society was therefore achieved through social practices that would repeat themselves and develop overtime supporting each other. As such, he theorized functional analysis as the attempt to understand social stability by observing how these social practices would fit together. The functionalist theory is also based on the thoughts and works of major social positivists and was first theorized by Auguste Comte following the French revolution which resulted in social malaise. This led him to see the need for social cohesion within society. This was followed by the works of Emile Durkheim that advanced the theory of organic solidarity, whose major emphasis was on the fundamental function that ethical consensus played in ensuring social order as well as building an equilibrium within society. His main concern was how certain societies were able to maintain stability and be able to survive hence proposed that such societies are usually have subdivisions with the separate divisions being held mutually by common values and symbols. In addition, Talcott Parsons argued that a social system is usually one that is comprised of the actions of individuals who are faced with a variety of choices which in turn are influenced by several social and physical factors. He posited a social system that had four types of action systems which included culture, personality, organismic, and society, with each these four systems having to satisfy four functional needs which were latency, adaptation, integration, and goal attainment. His analysis involved studying the processes and trade offs of social structures within and between the four system levels (Turner and Maryanski 1991). Central principles in the functionalist theory Functionalist analysis studies the social importance of phenomena. It seeks to examine the various functions that these phenomena serve within a society in order to preserve the whole (Jarvie, 1973). According to Malinowski, the major concepts included: †¢ Understanding behavior based on an individual’s motivation in addition to both rational and irrational behavior; †¢ Recognizing the interrelationship of the various items which comprised a culture forming a system; and †¢ Recognizing a particular item and identifying its function within the contemporary operation of a culture. Radcliffe-Brown based his works on those of Emile Durkheim who had posited that social phenomena comprised a domain of reality that was independent of any biological or psychological facts. As such, social phenomena have to be explained in terms of the other social phenomena occurring within the domain (Broce, 1973). Radcliffe-Brown therefore studied the circumstances under which the various social structures are upheld within society. He developed an analogy between organic life and social life in order to be able to explain the idea of function hence placing emphasis on the contribution of phenomena to preserving social order. Functional analysis has given value to social institutions. This is because it considers them as integrated and active components of a social system and not as simple customs (Langness, 1987). Functionalism has also contributed to the current idea that traditional usages have been formed by the necessity that human beings have to live collectively in harmony. Its emphasis on exhaustive fieldwork has offered an in-depth study of human societies. In addition, the study of functional interrelationship between institutions and customs has provided a framework for collecting information on how societies function. Major criticisms There have been several criticisms raised against the functionalist theory leading to its decline. The functionalist theory has been criticized for its major ignorance towards historical process in addition to its presumption that societies exists in an equilibrium state (Goldschmidt, 1996). Interactionist theorists have criticized this theory due to its failure to conceptualize sufficiently the multifaceted nature of individual actors and the methods of interaction within societies. Marxist theorists have criticized functionalism due to its conservativism and the fixed nature of examination used that underlined the role of social phenomena in the preservation of the status-quo within society (Holmwood, 2005). Constructionist theorists have criticized functionalism due to the use of classificatory theories that characterized phenomena based on their functions (Turner and Maryanski, 1991). Responses to Critiques Comparative functionalism, developed by Walter Goldschmidt, attempts to respond to the difficulties that have developed as a result of Malinowskis argument that a culture can be comprehended on its own with institutions been seen as products of the various cultures within which they were created. Comparative functionalism seeks to understand institutional differences between cultures by examining phenomena within the different cultures and the problems experienced in these societies. This approach is worthwhile since it is aware of the universality of the functions to which social institutions are a response to. Problems are usually consistent from one culture to another culture, but the institutional solutions that will be needed will vary from one culture to another (Holmwood, 2005). As such, one begins with analyzing the problem so as to find out how institutional procedures provide solutions. Neo-functionalism is an attempt to revise British structural-functionalism. Some neo-functionalists seek to analyze phenomena based on particular functional requisites. Other neo-functionalists focus on matters of social integration, social evolution, and social differentiation. Others examine how the various cultural processes such as rituals, values, and ideologies integrate with social structures. However, neo-functionalism places little emphasis on how phenomena are able to meet system needs (Turner and Maryanski, 1991). This approach is worthwhile since it provides a bridge between human behavior, which frequently involves cooperation, and natural selection, where individual interaction involves competition more than cooperation. References Broce, G. (1973). History of Anthropology. Minneapolis: Burgess Publishing Company. Goldschmidt, W. (1996). Functionalism. In Encyclopedia of Cultural Anthropology, Vol 2. David Levinson and Melvin Ember, eds. New York: Henry Holt and Company. Holmwood, J. (2005). Functionalism and its Critics, in Harrington, A. Modern Social Theory: An Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Jarvie, I. C. (1973). Functionalism. Minneapolis: Burgess Publishing Company. Kuper, A. (1996). Anthropology and Anthropologists. London: Routledge. Langness, L. (1987). The Study of Culture. Novato, California: Chandler Sharp Publishers, Inc. Turner, J. H. Maryanski, A. (1991). Functionalism. In Borgatta, E. F, Encyclopedia of Sociology, Vol 2. New York: MacMillan Publishing Company.

Racial Discrimination in the Workplace Essay

Racial Discrimination in the Workplace Essay In the current time, the pay gap between the genders is still significant in most countries, which shows that there is discrimination against women in the workplace, as the graph below illustrates that women were more than twice as likely as men to say they have been victims of discrimination (Wilson, 2006). In the past century many people did not have equal rights to choose their jobs. For example women could not find jobs easily as men, because certain people believed that men were more qualified than women. In the current time, people strongly believe in human rights, but discrimination still exists, and the impacts of discrimination are serious in the workplace and in society. The effects of discrimination in the workplace are shown mainly in two ways. Firstly, discrimination directly deals with the increasing rate of unemployment. Gender discrimination exists in some companies. There are companies that do not employ women, and as a result women have less job opportunities. In addition, age discrimination exists in other companies. Young people may not find jobs after graduation, because some companies think that young peoples lack of experience would not benefit them. Secondly, discrimination results in decline in work efficiency. If a company discriminates against women, consequently this company will lose work balance. Furthermore age discrimination is also harmful to a company. For one, at an older age people have a lot of experience, but young people are full of enthusiasm and ideas, so these two groups are both important for a company. Racism has been identified as the belief that race is the main determinant of human capabilities, that a certain race is better than others, and that individuals should be treated differently according to their racial designation (Racism, 2010). The United States has come a long way in defeating discrimination in the workplace but it still has a long way to go. Although many minorities made great steps during the Affirmative Action years, today there is still a very low percentage of minorities in comparison to whites in corporate America. In addition, the graph below shows the percentage of minorities in the workplace, where they got only 34% of the total employment (Chow, 2010). Racism acts dont affect the racist himself/herself or only the people working with him/her, it involves the customers and the staff also. As seen in the graph below, the effect of racism is not limited to certain kind of people (Jones, 1996). The customers should be served in the best way possible no matter where they are from. Some employees may make the company lose many customers because of their actions. In the workplace there has to be harmony between the employees so the work flows easily and work gets done efficiently. But when there is discrimination between the staff, the environment becomes unhealthy, and consequently such actions would affect the company as a whole. For example, when employees are racist against each other, they wont be helpful to each other, and as a result the work wont be done effectively. Discrimination can be caused by many reasons in the work place, such as religion, hatred, and stereotyping. One of the main reasons of discrimination is religion, which can endanger the workplace. Religion may be a sensitive issue, and it might cause conflicts. Furthermore, in the workplace discrimination could occur just because of hatred. For example, some employees may think that another employee got a raise just because of his race, so they would discriminate and hate him/her. In the current time, most of the companies hire employees from different nationalities, because of globalization. Moreover, some of the employees may be racist to other nationalities and they would not accept having other nationalities working at the same level as they are. Moreover, stereotyping is another reason of discrimination. Someone may have had a bad experience with people from a certain region, and as a result this person may discriminate and stereotype anyone from this area because of the past experience. The consequences for racism in the workplace is massive, it includes lack of work flow, lost customers, and lawsuits. Racism would eliminate the efficiency of the work dynamics, as some employees may not work effectively with others so there will be a lack of the work flow. Furthermore, this might affect the company adversely. Additionally, if the company has racist employees this will affect the way they treat their customers. Consequently, the operation of the company will be affected, as many customers might feel discriminated or not appreciated and may leave the company and start going to other competitors. As well, the company might be at risk of racism lawsuits if it acquires racist employees. As a result, this is going to put the company and the employee at jeopardy. Moreover, if the company gets a reputation of race discrimination it would be harmful for its business. The graph below shows the number of discrimination cases filed by category to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (PERFORMANCE RESULTS, 2008). For a company to survive its business it has to have solutions and preventive measures for racism acts. This could be achieved by awareness by peer review, training, disciplinary acts, and even terminations. Companies that take efforts to attain cultural diversity are open to changes in corporate policies that give incentives for employees who increase productivity in their departments based on cultural diversity. Often, this translates into major changes in corporate policies, such as in engaging in peer reviews over the traditional boss/underling scenario. When managers are reviewed by those underneath them, there is less of a chance that they will engage in racist comments or actions. Plus, the company should give cultural diversity training to their employees so that they will be aware of their actions and words, that they might think its acceptable to say or do but its considered racist. Many times, racism is not a public, overt action. Sometimes, many people who think of themselves as without prejudice may make racist comments without even knowing they made them. They may hear others putting down a fellow worker and take notice but be completely ignorant of their own prejudices and behaviors. Saying something like â€Å"you sure are smart for a black man,† or a woman, or a Latino, is the kind of comment where the person usually has no sense of his or her own racism and many times think they had sincerely given the person a compliment. Furthermore, the graph below demonstrates the rate of discrimination while working in most countries around the world (Nita, 2008). Also, there has to be some kind of disciplinary acts within the company, so employees would be more careful of their actions toward each other, and toward customers. Disciplinary acts is important in such cases as it shows the importance of the issue and that such discriminating actions are not tolerated in the company. Furthermore, termination is considered as the final result of racism acts. For example, an employee is known of discriminating acts and the disciplinary acts have not shown any improvement in his/her actions. Therefore, termination must be considered so that the work environment would not be affected by such employees, and so that this racist employee would act as an example to all the other employees. In conclusion, racist are very successful at keeping their actions private, thats why racism in the workplace still exists. The fact that an employee doesnt publicly say discriminating words at the workplace does not absolutely mean he has had a change of heart. He still may meet outside of work with his/her colleagues, and engage in racist jokes or put-downs. The basic prejudice is still there, and as long as it is, there can be no comfort taken in the fact that actions in the workplace have changed. A racially-biased attitude remains. People cannot feel comfortable on making progress on discrimination in the workplace until this kind of attitude no longer exists (Racism In The Workplace, 2009). Chow, L. (2010, January 14). Mad Men Havent Changed Much Since The 1960s. Retrieved April 03, 2010, from National Public Radio: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122545036 Jones, J. M. (1996). Prejudice and racism. In J. M. Jones, Prejudice and racism. McGraw-Hill Humanities. Nita. (2008, March 5). Job discrimination at the workplace. Retrieved April 11, 2010, from http://nitawriter.wordpress.com/2008/03/05/job-discrimination-at-the-workplace/ PERFORMANCE RESULTS. (2008, November 26). Retrieved April 10, 2010, from The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: http://archive.eeoc.gov/abouteeoc/plan/par/2008/performance_results.html Racism. (2010, April). Retrieved April 02, 2010, from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism Racism In The Workplace. (2009). Retrieved April 11, 2010, from Knowledge Galaxy: http://www.knowledgegalaxy.net/racism_in_the_workplace/racism_in_the_workplace.html Wilson, D. C. (2006). When Equal Opportunity Knocks. GALLUP Management Journal , 1-4.

Racism and Social Prejudice Reflection Paper

Racism and Social Prejudice Reflection Paper Racism Racism refers to social prejudice against someone based on their skin color. It is a belief that members of a particular race possess certain qualities, characteristics and abilities in order to distinguish them as either superior or inferior to other races. I was born in Southern Kuwaiti. I was raised up in the slums in the outskirts of the city. I did not attend school. I spent much of my life on the looking up to the passers-by for food and other necessities. It was during this period as I strolled up and down the streets when I heard someone refer to me as a â€Å"bidoon†. I barely understood what this meant. Each day I would not comprehend the reason my parents could not own and possess the land. I also noticed that majority of my neighbors had the same cultural practices like us, they dressed like me. Moreover, the majority of the children in the neighborhood did not attend school like me. We spent most of our days and time in the streets borrowing food and money from the strangers. The term â€Å"bidoon† became more and more familiar to my ears each day. At 16, I had grown sick and tired of other kids laughing and giggling at me in the streets. While we remained stranded and misplaced in the streets, they seemed to be in a better position, always smiling and more comfortable than me. The curiosity to ask my parents why I did not attend school grew each day. Besides, I always wondered why I did not have the privilege to dress up smartly like the rest of the kids and grown ups on the streets. Furthermore, I realized each day that there was a big disparity between me and them. I realized that there existed none of the Arabian people in my neighborhood. Majority of us were all not of Arabian origin. Besides, I did not know why addressed me differently. Each day, something different was always coming up. Also, I realized that we were residing on the less privileged side of the city. Food was a problem, I had no access to clean water and sanitation. At the age of 20, life here had become more and more compelling. My parents were growing older each day and providing for my siblings and I was becoming more cumbersome. I felt compelled to move to the streets in search of a job opportunity. However, my parents would not allow me to. With persistence, he later explained to me that since we were not Arabs, life here was becoming more and more unfavourable. I realized that my parents had still not obtained their identification documents. It had become difficult for them to acquire Kuwait citizenship. This is because, we were not Arabians. I realized that only people of the Arabian origin were more privileged to be legal Kuwait citizens. Besides, it came to my attention that only those who acquired citizenship had more legal rights. They could access education, better health care, and better living conditions unlike me. I now realized why I had spent my entire childhood roaming around the streets. This had all been because we were not legally recognized as Kuwaiti citizens. Besides, majority of the people who enjoyed better civil rights were the Arabians. Living with this form of ethnical discrimination each day now fully dawned onto me. Again, I found that the traditional word I had heard,†bidoon† referred to me, the non-Arabian. It was used to mean I was stateless. That is why I lived in the outskirts of the city. In the slums where housing, sanitation and even food were a problem. My human rights were violated. Despite my parents’ restrictions, at the age of 22, I persistently went out to the streets. My key interest was on following up why all this prejudice on ethnicity and race was being carried on. It later came to my attention that, according to the Kuwaiti constitution, the nationality act, put in place various classes of citizens. I realised that there was a class of those referred to as â€Å"ancient Kuwaitis†(Walcott345-370) and others as naturalized citizens. â€Å"Ancient Kuwaitis† were definitely the Arabs, or those of Arabic origin. These were the ones who had full political rights. The naturalized Kuwaitis were I and the rest of us who were not of Arabian origin despite having grown up in Kuwaiti for the longest period. Living with this traumatising prejudice each day was difficult. It got worse when I discovered it was constitutionally stated. Each day of being a â€Å"bidoon† was a reality. It was distinctly clear that the human rights of the Bidoons like I were being violated and it was constitutionally acceptable. Moreover, I could frequently hear people identifying themselves as either â€Å"Article-1-citizens,†Article-3-citizens†(Walcott,450-500) and many others. I later became curious on why it was not legal for me to participate in the democratic process.I was left out. This is because I could only enjoy the privilege of voting after thirty years. This is because I was not an original Kuwaiti citizen since I was an alien in the land. Besides, neither was I descendant of an original Kuwaiti by blood (Welbon,345-400). I was simply an alien. I had to live with the pain of my rights being violated for the longest period possible. Besides, I realized that it was also constitut ionally acceptable that the Nationality Act gave preferential consideration to people of Arab origin to â€Å"bidoons.Bidoons acquired citizenship through naturalization. I realized that despite the fact that this is legal as per the Kuwaiti constitution, it is a violation of the Kuwait’s treaty duties. I later on sought to discover the origin of statelessness in the country. I discovered that this resulted from the fact that many had failed to acquire citizenship at independence hence could not be identified as Kuwait citizens after independence(Welbon,345-400). I however realised that the situation worsened over time because, rules guiding citizenship had become more vigilant overtime. I clearly understood why I had not attended school. I was a child to the bidoons (Welbon,345-400). I also realised that my parents could not have secured employed anywhere because of the strict rules that had been enforced to govern the â€Å"bidoons†.moreover, throughout I had had no access to medical care because I was the child of a†bidoon†.The worse got to worst in the 1990s, when Iraq invaded Kuwait. The â€Å"bidoons† had to forcefully join the army. If not so, imprisonment or death sentence. I lived under the threat and fear of imprisonment. I had to join the Iraq military(Welbon,345-400) to avoid facing any of the above threats, However this was viewed as a betrayal by Kuwait government. Hence upon liberation in 1991, the other â€Å"bidoons† and I were persecuted. Besides, the rest of my colleagues who had somehow managed to secure jobs were dismissed and denied pay. I had to live with the anger and agony of this prejudice each day ever since. What seems more sympathetic is the fact that each day, the state of prejudice against the non-Arabs worsened. I could not have access to necessary documents such as birth, death or marriage certificates (Wen and Tarn, 100-134). I still remain without any identification documents to this day. Travels across the border have become difficult. I am faced with the option of leaving the country if only never to come back. As the 21st century dawned, there was hope for legal action putting into concern our grievances; however, there is no political will. Instead, I have to live with the fear of eviction. This involves signing affidavits that I am a foreigner. This grants me a residence permit of five years. I have had to bribe the authorities for simple favours such as traveling across the borders. Entire life seems to be limited in a cocoon of things that revolve around insecurity. The fear of eviction from the state you have been at for many years and lack of access to essential facilities such as medical care was more than enough for me to bear (Wen and Tarn,100-134). The state of insecurity and persecution was incredible; this is all I have had to live with. Racism and ethnicity have been key in deterring fundamental progress in my life. Bibliography Pechenizkiy, Mykola. â€Å"Racism in Arabian Countries.† (2006): 1–26. Print. Ravi, Jayashree, Zhifeng Yu, and Weisong Shi. â€Å"A Survey Racism and Ethinicity in Kuwait .† (2009): 943–960. Web. 30 Jan. 2014. Spruyt, Charline. â€Å"Changing Concepts of Racism in Arabian countries .† (2011): 1–129. Print. Welbon, By Guy. â€Å"IN.† 31–38. Print. Wen, H Joseph, and Jyh-horng Michael Tarn. â€Å"racismà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¯,1998,USA,print

Virginia Woolfs Orlando and the Relationship between Virginia and Vita

Virginia Woolf's Orlando and the Relationship between Virginia and Vita It has been said the novel Orlando is the longest love-letter ever written; a celebration of the bond between women. The relationship between Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West is well documented and known to have been intimate. That Virginia was passionate and giddy about her relationship with Vita is also known and displayed in Orlando. But Orlando also offers a rare intimate glimpse into the mind of Virginia Woolf. An unselfconscious work, it reveals her mind, talent at play. Orlando offers rich insights into her mind while keeping the rich prose that embodies her other great works. The novel demonstrates several of Virginia's obsessions, the focus here on gender and sexuality. While presumptuous to assume an author's life directly through her work, Virginia herself writes about this inevitable link in Orlando: "In short, every secret of a writer's soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind is written large in his works, yet we require critics to explain the one and biographers to expound the other" (Orlando 209). A good author usually writes what she knows; considering the background of this novel, the reader may draw parallels between Virginia's life, her relationship with Vita and the writing of Orlando. Who is Orlando? The common interpretation is Orlando is Vita. The book is dedicated to her and pictures of Vita are interspersed throughout the book. Vita herself was said to tell Virginia that she fell in love with herself after reading the novel. Vita's mother was more acetic: "You have written some beautiful phrases in Orlando but probably you do not realise how cruel you have been. And the person who inspired the book ... ...nergy of her relationship with Vita is apparent in the novel. She was to wrestle her demons in other books (To the Lighthouse as an example) in Orlando she celebrated. But in Virginia's hands, even satire has its serious moments. "I am writing Orlando half in mock style very clear and plain, so that people will understand every word. But the balance between truth and fantasy must be careful" (Dairy 117). And now years later, critics are still trying to view in-between the truth and fiction and the enigma of Virginia Woolf. Works Cited Bond, Alma Halbert, Phd. Who Killed Virginia Woolf - a Psychobiography. Human Sciences Press, Inc.:New York, NY 1989. Lee, Hermione. Virginia Woolf. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.:New York, NY 1996. Woolf, Virginia. A Writer's Diary. The Hogarth Press:London 1953 Woolf, Virginia. Orlando. Harcourt Brace & Company:New York 1956.

To His Coy Mistress :: Literary Analysis

In the poem â€Å"To His Coy Mistress†, the speaker is trying to seduce his wife. In the assumption the mistress is his wife; she is being bashful towards losing her virginity. The speaker, which is the mistress’s husband, develops a carefully constructed argument where the speaker seeks to persuade his lady to surrender her virginity to him. In the poem â€Å"To His Coy Mistress†, the speaker says, â€Å"Had we but world enough, and time†¦I would love you ten years before the Flood, and you should if you please refuse till the conversion of the Jews† (lines 1 and 7-10). The speaker is stating if they had all the time in the world, they would have no need to rush their love making. With all the time they would want he would love her from the very beginning until the very end. The speaker refers to the â€Å"Flood† (line 8) as the flood of Noah’s Arc in the Bible, which indicates he would love her from the beginning of time. Next, the speaker says, â€Å"Till the conversion of the Jews† (line 10), which would indicate the end of time. In the Bible, it is believed that when Christ comes back for his people the Jews will convert to Christianity. Therefore when Christ returns, that will be the end times. In conclusion, the speaker is saying if they had time from the beginning to the very end, his mistress is welcome to continue being shy. In contrary, the speaker and his coy mistress do not have that kind of time to spare, which is the reason he is trying to convince his wife to surrender her virginity. The speaker continues to argue that time is not in favor of his mistress’s nervousness or his age. For instance, he says, â€Å"But at my back I always hear time’s winged chariot hurrying near† (lines 21 and 22). In other words, he is saying his time is running out quickly. There can be many reasons why his time is running short, but according to the poem there is one reason he could be in a rush to make love with his mistress. The speaker says, â€Å"And yonder all before us lie deserts of vast eternity† (lines 23 and 24). â€Å"Deserts of vast eternity† (line 24) expresses his concern of not being able to have children, which would make him sterile. As men age, their sperm count becomes less and less, which makes conceiving a child nearly impossible.

Abusiveessaycompleted

Child abuse is a topic that causes rage in many discussions throughout he county because it is outrageous actions against innocent children. Many parents question whether discipline can become child abuse. In the essay â€Å"Justice: Childhood Love Lessons† the author, Bell Hooks, shows how love should occur all around one's household and claims that, â€Å"No one can rightfully claim to be loving when behaving abusively† (Hooks, 1 1). To an extent, that is true. However, in my opinion, maintain that this assertion can be right or wrong, depends on how people perceive about love and punishment.Bell Hooks is an educated woman, feminist, and writer who has dedicated her life to teaching people about civil rights that every human being deserves. She wrote an essay in which she addresses her personal view on the way children should not be hit under any circumstances, because it neglects love; according to her, love and abuse cannot coexist. However, it is unfair to claim th at a slap on the hand is considered abuse, and that if parents commit this type of action, they do not love their child.There is a huge difference between physical punishment and child abuse. A child needs to learn right from wrong, and when the child's actions turn out of control, it s acceptable to spank or hit them in the hand. As long as the hitting stays to a minimum degree, physical punishment is not child abuse. Sometimes, the parents may unintentionally abuse their child because of teaching their parents taught them. They claim to be â€Å"loving' while carrying out punishment, and that would absolutely confuse a child on what love and abuse is.To educate a child, sometimes the punishment is necessary, but the extent of violence carried out to supply the discipline can be considered as abusive. Those physical acts are carried out, such as hitting, slapping, or pinching, cannot be called a â€Å"loving action. When kids were whipped and told that these punishments were â₠¬Ëœfor their own good,† or â€Å"parents are doing this because they love their children,† would definitely be misunderstood when they are told they are being whipped because they are being loved.It is manipulative and sends the wrong message to the children. According to Hooks, â€Å"There is nothing that creates more confusions about love in the minds and hearts of children that unkind and/or cruel punishment meted out by the adults they have been taught they should love and respect. † (Hooks, 1) The mindsets for the kids are overlooked in a caddish way. Their approach would be like, â€Å"Oh, I can hit everyone whenever want†, which this shows the child growing up to be an overall abusive kid living over her or his childhood actions.Overall, there kids perceptions would be the same and think it is alright to do the something and hit anyone at anytime they want. The parents are messing up their child's childhood of learning from right to wrong. In fact, spanking a child the first time shows an overall lesson so that the next time they will think about actions before they act. In some way, kids are still kids, they make mistakes and learn from it which shows them not to CT it up again. Continue on spanking them anytime whenever they do something wrong would leave wounded not only on their bodies but also in their hearts and minds.As young children to becoming young adults, Thai concept would stick with them forever and travel with them when they become older and have kids of their own, and this is not a good example to leave on their kids. Loving is supposed to be a good feeling that brings warmth and security to the heart and reminds of wonderful things. If a boy hitting his girlfriend but telling her that he is hitting her because he loves her, he girlfriend would feel uncertain because loving is supposed to be sweet and wonderful, not hurtful-As the same point, it is wrong to tell a child that they are being loved when they are b eing abused or punished.Claiming to be â€Å"loving' while being abusive is as bad as telling someone that you love them, and then pushing them off a cliff to their death. â€Å"No one can rightfully claim to be loving when behaving abusively/' (Hooks, 1). In this statement, Hooks declared that if a parent is hitting their child, then they are showing no love towards the child. In somehow, disagree with Hooks because she uses the word abuse in such a negative form throughout her whole essay. What exactly does â€Å"behaving abusively' mean?If a person sees the words, â€Å"behaving abusively' the person might be thinking a child was hit in the face and now the child has a black eye, which is abuse. However, Hooks takes the definition of â€Å"behaving abusively' as any type of hitting even if it's the least amount of pain like a slap on the hand, which is not abuse. It is natural for a parent to punish there children in one way or another during their childhood. Children are na ughty and naturally misbehave, and they Anton help it because they are learning what is appropriate and inappropriate.In other words punishment of any kind, let it be pinching, flicking or spanking will result in disorientation in a child's mind. This statement is true to some people, false to others, but overall hooks tends to be bias in her argument. She doesn't explore the different variations of physical punishment and how these punishments affect the child's thought about love. There are many different types Of punishment out there in this cruel world, but not all of them can disorientate a child's mind or heart about eve.Simple physical punishments; such as pinching, flicking, and spanking, are carried out on us at a very young age, and all throughout life. Our parents are here to discipline us, to teach us the difference of right and wrong. When we first misbehave, our parents might tell us to â€Å"knock it off' or â€Å"stop† and they may raise their voice when asse rting these commands. We sometimes stop when told to, but sometimes we ignore their commands and keep misbehaving repeatedly. This is where physical punishment comes into play. A form of physical punishment would and will be carried out on us.At first it may be a simple punishment, but gradually the punishments intensify. Once a punishment has been carried out, many of us become cloaked in fear of punishment and from this fear we learn not to do that mistake again. Simple punishment is used for the good of children and to discipline them, â€Å"Dry. David Safari, father five and grandfather of five, CNN asked him to talk to us about his views on spanking. He said he was spanked as a child, spanked his own children when necessary and believes the occasional use of physical punishment not abuse can be an effective tool for parents. Giddier) Now, not all parents are abusive. Some discipline by spanking or punishing them in a form Of a time-out or taking away of a privilege. As long as the punishment does not fit a crime, it is fine to discipline a child. All parents experience a time that they have to punish their children, but it is not because they hate or dislike them, but because the children need to learn and the punishment is carried out to teach them that what they did was wrong. Bell Hooks writes, â€Å"Why was harsh punishment a gesture of love? † (Hooks, 1) Harsh punishment is hundred percent not a gesture of love.It is a gesture of force in which a parent wants their child to listen to them and behave. Light punishment is a tool of teaching and is carried out of love. Punishment itself is not considered as a gesture of love, but may result because of care, a sub-genre of love. Claiming to be loving while behaving abusively is not correct, and is an ironic statement. Parents often do not know the consequences of confusing their children by using great words that do not belong in a situation such as abuse. And as the result, it will misunderstand the children and make them difficult to overcome in many years later.

Fresh Food vs. Canned Food Essay

I’ll never forget the time when I tasted produce from the fresh side like it came fresh picked out of the garden then compared to the taste of a canned produce that could have been sitting in a can full of water and oil for who knows how long. The look was simply unappealing to the limp, dull and soggy vegetable compared to the vibrant color, and crisp texture and overall taste of a fresh one. Eating is an activity that we as humans do at least two times a day. We live in a world where the variety of food is immense, and we are responsible for what we eat. â€Å"We’re looking at fresh foods, something that appeals to everyone. †(Andrea Reudi) We decide what we are about to eat and how it will affect our bodies. Have you ever tasted a canned food item and could immediately tell that it was lacking something because of the taste quality compared to if you had consumed a fresh item? For most of us we prefer to eat fresh food over canned food any day because of the fresh factor. Fresh food tends to have an effect that bring us into our souls and immerse ourselves into the freshness of the food than in a canned item you just would like to run away from. Because of the advances in food technology have dramatically changed the way we eat, the question we ask is eating fresh food healthier compared to canned food or is there even much of a difference. There is a dramatic difference when eating fresh fruit and vegetables compared to canned goods. The differences between eating fresh foods instead of canned foods are the differences in flavor, health benefits and the cost. Number of people believe that fresh foods are in greater quality to canned goods which is true and will be explained. The general impression is that fresh food —produce, in particular—is better for you than frozen or canned food because fresh food (provided it has not been overly steamed or overly boiled) arrives at your table with its appearance largely unchanged, and its nutrients—including fiber content—intact. Additionally, canned foods are notorious for being higher in added salt and sugar, and frozen meals are known for the additives they often require (such as emulsifiers and binders found in frozen desserts). Now imagine the same situation with a canned food arriving at your table with most of the qualities greatly changed from the bland taste in flavor, the dullness in color, and the limpness and floppiness in texture. It also may seem illogical to think that food processed a year or more before it is consumed could actually still be nutritious (Health library 1). Could you ever tell the difference in taste when it comes to the fresh taste in fresh foods like it was just newly pulled from the ground in a good harvesting season compared to the dull taste of food preserved in a can for as long as two years. Can you imagine eating something that was preserved in a can from two years beforehand tasting the same as when it was freshly harvested on the farm? The most notable difference between these two kinds of foods is their flavor. Fresh foods have great flavor and taste because they keep all their natural conditions. Canned foods however, lack a lot of its flavor characteristics because there are some other chemical products added to the natural foods so it can contain a long shelf life. It is logical that the fresh foods will have a greater taste and flavor when consumed just because of the time in which they have been prepared. Nutrients and vitamins are also greatly diminished in the preserving process. Comparing both types of foods we notice another difference. There are many nutritional differences between both of these that have a health factor that affects both of them. The heating process during canning destroys from one-third to one-half of vitamins A and C, riboflavin, and thiamin. For every year the food is stored, canned food loses an additional 5 to 20% of these vitamins (Diet: fresh foods vs. canned foods). That said there are a few minor drawbacks to purchasing canned goods over fresh. A study conducted by students at the University of California showed that canned produce experiences a significant loss in thiamin, B6 and riboflavin, three essential B vitamins. However, the amounts of other vitamins are only slightly lower in canned food than in fresh food. Canned foods lose some of the original fresh food nutrients when stored, and also it has to be tinned with many conservatives and chemical factors that prolong the shelf life and apparent freshness of the food, but could also become toxic if consumed too often. But on the other hand canned produce, is generally packaged only hours after it has been picked. The canning process that require high temperatures preserve the vast majority of the food’s nutrients. The Food and Drug Administration states that â€Å"When produce is handled properly and canned quickly after harvest, it can be more nutritious than fresh produce sold in stores†. Buying fresh foods have a lot of good qualities over canned foods, but there are other differences why buying fresh foods may have some shortcomings. Popular opinion suggests that fresh produce provides the most nutrients and health benefits over canned foods. However, closer study reveals that this actually may not be the case. What is referred to as â€Å"fresh† produce may not be as fresh as it appears. While it is generally accepted that fresh fruits and vegetables contain the most nutrients, it is important to remember that. Once a fresh produce such as a fruit or vegetable is picked, it undergoes a process of storing and shipping where it loses a significant percent of its nutritional value. Produce is often transported over long distances and then left to sit on store shelves. The time lapse between picking and purchase can cause fresh fruits and vegetables to lose some of their nutritional value as they are exposed to light and air. Their taste and texture are also diminished during this procedure. Frozen or canned produce, on the other hand, is generally packaged immediately after harvesting, when nutrient levels are at their highest. Statements issued by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the International Food Information Council (IFIC) report that nutrients in fruits and vegetables are generally not lost during canning or freezing, and that fresh, frozen, or canned versions of the same food have relatively equivalent nutrient profiles. The nutrients in produce remain largely intact regardless of how they are processed. The lycopene in tomatoes, for example, can be found in fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, and frozen pizza sauce. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety & Inspection Service has also stated that there is little change in nutrient value during freezer storage of meat and poultry products. Well if nutrition isn’t the issue then what is. Yet another difference between these two types of foods is the cost. Canned foods are much more expensive than fresh foods. Here the benefit of buying tinned foods is that they are easier to find, for example, in a supermarket instead of the market like the fresh foods, and they require less work to prepare than fresh foods, just open and serve. Some drawbacks that come along with eating fresh foods are that, fresh fruit is a seasonal product in most areas. If a fruit is not in season, you may be able to purchase the fruit, but it will be prohibitively expensive. Another disadvantage to fresh fruit includes the shelf-life for fresh fruit is impractically short for many of us. This means not only that the fruit purchases is apt to go bad before it can be consumed, but also that more trips to the grocery store are required to keep good fresh fruit in the house at all times. Clearly, there are many differences and comparisons when buying fresh foods and buying canned foods. When comparing canned foods to fresh foods in the amount of nutrients still intact from the process and delivery to the store shelves it is clear that fresh foods contain nutrients throughout the handling process. Studies confirm that fresh fruits and vegetables straight from the garden or local farmer’s market remain the most nutritional of all produce options. But for those without the time or means to grow produce, canned or frozen products may be worth considering . One only has to taste the remarkable difference in a fresh food item compared to a canned item to recognize the dissimilarity in crisp taste compared to the wilted taste in a canned item. As we can see it comes down to a personal choice, based on the time each person has, the money and the importance he/she gives to his/her nutrition and health. Therefore, it is important that you consider your possibilities and choose the best type of foods for your convenience and lifestyle. Is there really any question as to the benefits of fresh foods that underhandly outweigh the benefits evaluated to canned food? But if there was any question you had to ask yourself it would be would you prefer the fresh, crisp taste of a fresh fruit or vegetable or would you desire the soggy, dull taste of a canned product.

Black Humor Essay

Is death a laughable matter? Or Christ? Or maybe inhumanity? No. In most situations, people do not laugh at any of those subjects. However, in Kurt Vonnegut’s anti-war novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, he laughs at all of them through the use of black humor. Vonnegut uses black humor as a way to criticize societies in all of his novels, but most notably in Slaughterhouse-Five (Klinkowitz). He uses black humor to criticize peoples’ glorification of war and make humor of death, Christ, and inhumanity. Vonnegut uses an array of situations to ironically make death humorous. Such as when Billy is training to become a solder, his father is shot to death by a friend while deer hunting back home. When Billy is in the hospital recuperating from a plane crash, his wife rushes to the hospital, she has an accident, tears off the exhaust system, arrives at the hospital and dies from carbon monoxide poisoning. Vonnegut uses these examples of situational irony in order to make the reader laugh at such tragedies when really there is nothing to laugh at. After the Dresden fire-bombing Edgar Derby is tried and executed in Dresden, which was firebombed and 135,000 innocent people died in one night, for attempting to steal a teapot. All of these situational ironies and all deaths are narrated by a simple phrase, â€Å"So it goes†. This simple phrase pushes the reader to laugh at the ironic parts of life, even if it is death. And Billy can’t change anything in his life because, â€Å"Among the things Billy Pilgrim could not change were the past, the present and the future† (Vonnegut 60). His happiness or success in his life can only exist in his imagination through his time travels because he knows when and how he will die. The novel ends with the destruction and searching for bodies in Dresden and Billy being released from a prisoner of war status, juxtaposed images of life and death. Because Billy finally is free, he has his life back, whereas all the people in Dresden have their lives taken. The death of thousands and the release of a soldier from POW status are definitely not something humorous, however Vonnegut provides the reader with such contrasting ideas in order to elicit a smile or chuckle. This is complete black humor because black humor is â€Å"combining the morbid and grotesque with humor and farce to give a disturbing effect and convey the absurdity and cruelty of life. † (Black humor) Not only does Vonnegut use black humor to convey death, Vonnegut also criticizes inhumanity through the use of black humor in order to illustrate that death must be accepted but not inhumanity through his use of Roland Weary. Roland Weary is an insane, revenge driven soldier who takes joy in the suffering of others. For example, he feeds a dog a steak with a cut up spring in it in order to get revenge on the dog for biting him. He talks to the dog almost as a child would when he tells the dog â€Å"I’m not mad,† (Vonnegut 139) and states that â€Å"he believed me† (Vonnegut 139). Because Vonnegut portrays Weary as a child by using â€Å"doggy,† which is similar to the diction of a small child, he juxtaposes a childlike character to the inhumanity of the torture that Weary is inflicting on the dog. He compares the innocence of Weary’s diction to Weary’s psychopathic actions. Vonnegut also makes Weary’s inhumanity humorous through his fascination with his triangular blade that â€Å"makes a wound that won’t close up. † (Vonnegut 37) The torture the blade would inflict is made comic by the affection Weary has for it, juxtaposition, between the torture of the blade and the love and obsession Weary has for it, Vonnegut is â€Å"regarding human suffering as absurd rather than pitiable† (Webster’s) in this situation in order to produce such black humor. Vonnegut also laughs at Jesus when most people hold religion to be sacred. Vonnegut describes Christ as â€Å"dead as a doornail† (Vonnegut 203) after he is hung on the cross. This is humorous because Vonnegut compares a huge spiritual icon, Christ, to the bare basics that hold our society together and held Jesus on the cross, nails. The comparison is so ridiculous that it provides a comic purpose and the reader has to laugh at it. The situation also provides a possible source of Billy’s illusion of being unstuck in time, since he is reading about a time traveler in one of Kilgore Trout’s books this may be the point in his life where he gets the idea of being unstuck in time. Vonnegut also goes on to show the lack of interest the Tralfamadorians have in Jesus Christ, the person they are truly interested in is Charles Darwin. Because he taught that â€Å"those who die are meant to die and that corpses are improvements. † (Vonnegut 210) This contrasts the ideas that humans have of death as a negative sad thing and instead teaches that by dying everyone else is better off. This is absurd and humorous because people are devastated by death yet, he is saying that death is great and people benefit from it. Vonnegut uses black humor in many cases in Slaughterhouse-Five to in a way satirize, however he never provides a solution so it is not truly satire. He simply criticizes society and makes the reader think of his or her own solution. Vonnegut wants the reader to realize and act on the idea that the only way we can’t overcome war and deaths in war, is by removing the glorification of killing in war while not providing a solution or way to change the current societal standards.

The Significance of Spring and Summer in Thomas Hardy’s Poems

Weathers By Thomas Hardy This is the weather the cuckoo likes, And so do I; When showers betumble the chestnut spikes, And nestlings fly; And the little brown nightingale bills his best, And they sit outside at ‘The Traveller's Rest,' And maids come forth sprig-muslin drest, And citizens dream of the south and west, And so do I. This is the weather the shepherd shuns, And so do I; When beeches drip in browns and duns, And thresh and ply; And hill-hid tides throb, throe on throe, And meadow rivulets overflow, And drops on gate bars hang in a row, And rooks in families homeward go, And so do I. The Significance Of Spring And Summer In Thomas Hardy’s Poems – Document Transcript 1. The Significance of Spring and Summer in Thomas Hardy's Poems, If It's Ever Spring Again, and It Never Looks Like Summer Mehdi Hassanian esfahani (GS22456) The Victorian Age (BBL5101) Lecturer: Dr. Wan Roselezam February 2009 2. Introduction: Reading about Thomas Hardy, and as the master students of English Literature, we all know that Hardy had a pessimist view on life and love, was watchful about relationships and interested in psychology of behaviors. His meticulous description of events and characters is not limited to humans, and even nature and animals play a role in the setting of what he narrates and are related to the theme. The following study examines the description of ‘summer’ and ‘spring’ in two selected poems by Thomas Hardy, to observe the significance of climate and seasons in the theme of the poems. The reason of this particular selection is the similarity between the two, in their mood, atmosphere, theme and even the ending. As a result, the analysis will claim the same thing, although it may seem inappropriate to generalize it to Hardy’s poetry. Interpreting imagery, particularly visual imagery in these two poems helps to understand their usage and the role they play to create the theme and setting of time and place. In this way, figurative language and the relationship between words would be examined to lead us to the theme and bring about the importance of summer and spring regarding the poems. It is expected that Hardy uses seasons to refer to nature and its beauty, in order to create a romantic setting, like other Victorian poets, and also uses ‘summer’ and ‘spring’ in the sense attributed to optimistic qualities, hope, [2] 3. warmth and love. But the careful observation of this may reveal a contrast which is made to intensify the underlying theme, and lead us to a pessimist view of Hardy in these poems. Accordingly, it will show that the mood of these poems â€Å"differs from Victorian sorrow; it is sterner, [and] more skeptical as though braced by a long look at the worst† (Stallworthy & Ramazani, 1852). If It's Ever Spring Again (Song) If it's ever spring again, Spring again, I shall go where went I when Down the moor-cock splashed, and hen, Seeing me not, amid their flounder, Standing with my arm around her; If it's ever spring again, Spring again, I shall go where went I then. If it's ever summer-time, summer-time, With the hay crop at the prime, [3] 4. And the cuckoos – two – in rhyme, As they used to be, or seemed to, We shall do as long we've dreamed to, If it's ever summer-time, Summer-time, With the hay, and bees achime (594). The poem, or as Hardy called it the ‘song' If It's Ever Spring Again deals with spring and summer; two bright and shiny seasons which normally warm the nature and people by the energy and hope they spread around. Kinesthetic imagery of ‘going out’ in line three, stanza one and the plashing moor-cock supports the excitement which is in the air. Hardy depicts spring with many positive qualities, when happiness is all around. He doesn’t talk of common characters, but moor-cock and moor-hen, which according to Morgon, the editor and publisher of the annual Hardy Review, are â€Å"shy, undemonstrative creatures rarely drawn from their coverture under the river-bank to gladden the heart of spring† to emphasize this supreme enthusiasm. As a result of this depiction, the prominent imagery in this poem is the visual imagery; which suddenly puts us in the middle of the nature; but there are also auditory and, as we saw, some hints of kinesthetic imagery. 4] 5. At first, Hardy reminds himself a day in spring, when he (the persona) was able to stand next to the beloved ‘with arms around her’ and enjoy the beauty of spring. He feels prospered and thinks of spring as a complete season, as well as himself. Then in stanza two, he leaps to another memory in a summer day, with again the perfection of setting and t he inner sense of fulfillment, when the ‘day crop’ is ‘at the prime’, ‘bees achime’ and cuckoos are singing in rhyme. The visual imagery which is connected to the golden color of the sun and the repetition of ‘summer’ in addition to the auditory imagery of birds singing free and cheerful, are effective devices to insure us of the blissful man, he feels inside. But it is not all. Richards explains that Hardy was interested in nature, and for him, like other Victorian writers, nature was equal to beauty, but also clarifies that â€Å"he was more interested in strangeness than conventional beauty† (190). It is as if the beauty of nature is not the ultimate goal of his poetry. Narrator’s effort to give an adequate visual imagery and create the setting of place and time is just a tool to carry out the profound meaning which is implied in the poem. The ‘if’s and ‘ever’s convey a sense of regret. Thinking of past days, the narrator cannot understand the lack which is now in his life. And the poem ends on a note, as if he lives in the past and doesn’t dare to face the future. In this sense, the whole poem seems not a delightful praise of spring, but an envy of the past. That’s Mellers’ view who considers this poem ‘a song of [5] 6. ostalgia’. Taking birds and bees, according to Cortus, the Vice President of The Thomas Hardy Association, as â€Å"collectively a trite euphemism for sex†, two cuckoos can be a metaphor of lovers (which includes the narrator), and his doubt in line 14, about their singing ‘As they used to †¦ or seemed to’ be together, demonstrates the pessim ist atmosphere which is settled in the mind, as well as the heart of this narrator that even cannot trust his beloved, and the past. This may explain the reason for the cock and hen ‘seeing not’ the narrator ‘amid their flounder’. In this case, the whole poem presents a continual abstract dreaming, disclosing the dimness melancholy that the narrator feels inside. It can suggest that the narration of past and this memory is not reliable, due to the obsession of narrator to his relationship, and the traumatic lost he has in his life. In the second poem, It never looks like summer, Hardy strongly uses ‘summer’ to display the peak of a relationship, the satisfaction and joyfulness which this season, apparently is connected to or is responsible to bring us. The poem lacks descriptive statements or cliche details of nature, and is much modern in the sense which looks like an internal monologue. It is written in a way, that one can conclude it wasn’t supposed to be published (although there is no evidence of such a thing), and is more like the private thoughts of its poet than a poem about ‘summer’. [6] 7. It Never Looks Like Summer â€Å"It never looks like summer here On Beeny by the sea. † But though she saw its look as drear, Summer it seemed to me. It never looks like summer now Whatever weather's there; But ah, it cannot anyhow, On Beeny or elsewhere (507)! Here, the image of summer is overwhelming, though it is very general and there are no details. Hardy uses contrasts to express his feeling. Again, the prominent imagery in the poem is visual imagery, like the drear summer that surrounds us; however an abstract imagery can be derived from connotations of ‘summer’. Narrator implicitly attributes some positive qualities to summer, though he never names them. In the first stanza, he remembers a day when weather was not ‘summery’ a lot, but he felt so; perhaps due to a companionship. And now, in the second stanza, he feels cold although it is summer outside. The nature in general and ‘summer’ in particular is interweaved to persona’s life (both emotionally and [7] 8. physically), though they do not always match together. In other words â€Å"the thinnest partition divides man’s existence (including his mental existence) from the rest of nature† (Richards, 196). This is remarkable which in both If It's Ever Spring Again and It never looks like summer, climate and seasons metaphorically are used to explore the feeling of the persona and â€Å"to register inner states of [his] feeling† (Blackburn, 15). The pessimist view of life and [the lost] love is repeated again; when narrator can say which season it ‘is’, but doubts if the beloved’s presence was real or the feeling was true, and claims that it ‘seemed’ summer to him. He prefers to sing bereavement poems, than face the reality and live in present, and the last two lines support this idea that he cannot think of future. He generalizes the unsatisfactory consequence of his attempts and his lost to all other happenings anytime in future and anywhere else around the world, and decides not to move and not to change; he dares not to look at the future because of his tragic experience. Talking about Hardy’s poetry, Blackburn asserts that the magnetism of his poems â€Å"is built around a complex of love and loss, memory and guilt, pain and self-pity, beauty and regret intermingled with something of delight† (12). In these two poems, he uses images of spring and summer and refers to nature to express the emotions and create the setting, so that he compares two conditions of past and present. To conclude, and as Berger states in the abstract of her PhD [8] 9. roposal, â€Å"Hardy's epistemology can be found at a meeting point of the senses– primarily visual, emotions, imagination, will, and the external world†. Here, the primary setting and the visual imagery play a strong role, metaphorically, to the oppositions, and intensifies the sense of regret. This technique is effective in a way to create the atmosphere and express the sadness this persona feels in his present life. [9]