The Promise of Sociology free essay sample

Excerpt from The Sociological Imagination (originally published in 1959) This classic statement of the basic ingredients of the sociological imagination† retains its vitality and relevance today and remains one of the most influential statements of what sociology is all about. In reading, focus on Mills distinction between history and biography and between individual troubles and public issues. Nowadays men often feel that their private lives are a series of traps.They sense that within their everyday worlds, they cannot overcome their troubles, and in this feeling, they are often quite correct: What ordinary men are directly aware of and what they try to do are bounded by the private orbits in which they live; their visions and their powers are limited to the close-up scenes of job, family, neighborhood; in other milieux, they move vicariously and remain spectators. And the more aware they become, however vaguely, of ambitions and of threats which transcend their immediate locales, the more trapped they seem to feel. We will write a custom essay sample on The Promise of Sociology or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Underlying this sense of being trapped are seemingly impersonal changes in the very structure of continent-wide societies. The facts of contemporary history are also facts about the success and the failure of individual men and women. When a society is industrialized, a peasant becomes a worker; a feudal lord is liquidated or becomes a businessman. When classes rise or fall, a man is employed or unemployed; when the rate of investment goes up or down, a man takes new heart or goes broke.When wars happen, an insurance salesman becomes a rocket launcher; a store clerk, a radar man; a wife lives alone; a child grows up without a father. Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both. Yet men do not usually define the troubles they endure in terms of historical change and institutional contradiction. The well-being they enjoy, they do not usually impute to the big ups and downs of the societies in which they live.Seldom aware of the intricate connection between the patterns of their own lives and the course of world history, ordinary men do not usually know what this connection means for the kinds of men they are becoming and for the kinds of history-making in which they might take part. They do not possess the quality of mind essential to grasp the interplay of man and society, of biography and history, of self and world. They cannot cope with their personal troubles in such ways as to control the structural transformations that usually lie behind them. Surely it is no wonder.In what period have so many men been so totally exposed at so fast a pace to such earthquakes of change? That Americans have not known such catastrophic changes as have the men and women of other societies is due to historical facts that are now quickly becoming merely history. The history that now affects every man is world history. . The very shaping of history now outpaces the ability of men to orient themselves in accordance with cherished values. Is it any wonder that ordinary men feel they cannot cope with the larger worlds with which they are so suddenly confronted?That they cannot understand the meaning of their epoch for their own lives?.. . Is it any wonder that they come to be possessed by a sense of the trap? 1 It is not only information they needin this Age of Fact, information often dominates their attention and overwhelms their capacities to assimilate it. What they need, and what they feel they need, is a quality of mind that will help them to use information and to develop reason in order to achieve lucid summations of what is going on in the world and of what may be happening within themselves.It is this quality, I am going to contend, that journalists and scholars, artists and publics, scientists and editors are coming to expect of what may be called the sociological imagination. The sociological imagination enables its possessor to understand the larger historical scene in terms of its meaning for the inner life and the external career of a variety of individuals. It enables him to take into account how individuals, in the welter of their daily experience, often become falsely conscious of their social positions.Within that welter, the framework of modern society is sought, and within that framework the psychologies of a variety of men and women are formulated. By such means the personal uneasiness of individuals is focused upon explicit troubles and the indifference of publics is transformed into involvement with public issues. The first fruit of this imaginationand the first lesson of the social science that embodies it-is the idea that the individual can understand his own experience and gauge his own fate only by locating himself within his period, that he can know his own chances in life only by becoming aware of hose of all individuals in his circumst ances. In many ways it is a terrible lesson; in many ways a magnificent one. We do not know the limits of mans capacities for supreme effort or willing degradation, for agony or glee, for pleasurable brutality or the sweetness of reason. But in our time we have come to know that the limits of human nature are frighteningly broad. We have come to know that every individual lives, from one generation to the next, in some society; that he lives out a biography, and that he lives it out within some historical sequence.By the fact of his living he contributes, however minutely, to the shaping of this society and to the course of its history, even as he is made by society and by its historical push and shove. The sociological imagination enables us to grasp history and biography and the relations between the two within society. That is its task and its promise. To recognize this task and this promise is the mark of the classic social analyst. It is characteristic of Herbert Spencerturgid, polysyllabic, comprehensive; of E. A. Ross-graceful, muckraking, upright; of Auguste Comte and Emile Durkheim; of the intricate and subtle Karl Mannheim.It is the quality of all that is intellectually excellent in Karl Marx; it is the clue to Thorstein Veblens brilliant and ironic insight, to Joseph Schumpeters many-sided constructions of reality; it is the basis of the psychological sweep of W. E. H. Lecky no less than of the profundity and clarity of Max Weber. And it is the signal of what is best in contemporary studies of man and society. No social study that does not come back to the problems of biography, of history and of their intersections within a society has completed its intellectual journey.Whatever the specific problems of the classic social analysts, however limited or however broad the features of social reality they have examined, those who have been imaginatively aware of the promise of their work have consistently asked three sorts of questions: (1) What is the structure of this particular society as a whole? What are its essential components, and how are they related to one another? How does it differ from other varieties of social order? Within it, what is the meaning of any particular feature for its continuance and for its change? (2) Where does this society stand in human history? What are the mechanics by which it is changing? What is its place within and its meaning for the development of humanity as a whole? How does any particular feature we are examining affect, and how is it affected by, th e historical period in which it moves? And this period-what are its essential features? How does it differ from other periods? What are its characteristic ways of history-making? (3) What varieties of men and women now prevail in this society and in this period?And what varieties are coming to prevail? In what ways are they selected and formed, liberated and repressed, made sensitive and blunted? What kinds of human nature are revealed in the conduct and character we observe in this society in this period? And what is the meaning for human nature of each and every feature of the society we are examining? Whether the point of interest is a great power state or a minor literary mood, a family, a prison, a creed-these are the kinds of questions the best social analysts have asked.They are the intellectual pivots of classic studies of man in society-and they are the questions inevitably raised by any mind possessing the sociological, imagination. For that imagination is the capacity to shift from one perspective to another-from the political to the psychological; from examination of a single family to comparative assessment of the national budgets of the world; from the theological school to the military establishment; from considerations of an oil industry to studies of contemporary poetry.It is the capacity to range from the most impersonal and remote transformations to the most intimate features of the human self and to see the relations between the two. Back of its use there is always the urge to know the social and historical meaning of the individual in the society and in the period in which he has his quality and his being. That, in brief, is why it is by means of the sociological imagination that men now hope to grasp what is going on in the world, and to understand what is happening in themselves as minute points of the intersections of biography and history within society. .They acquire a new way of thinking, they experience a transvaluation of values: in a word, by their reflection and by their sensibility, they realize the cultural meaning of the social sciences. Perhaps the most fruitful distinction with which the sociological imagination works is between the personal troubles of milieu and the public issues of social structure. This distinction is an essential tool of the sociological imagination and a feature of all classic work in social science. Troubles occur within the character of the individual and within the range of his immediate relations with others; they have to do with his self and with those limited areas of social life of which he is directly and personally aware. Accordingly, the statement and the resolution of troubles properly lie within the individual as a biographical entity and within the scope of his immediate milieu-the social setting that is directly open to his personal experience and to some extent his willful activity.A trouble is a private matter: values cherished by an individual are felt by him to be threatened. Issues have to do with matters that transcend these local environments of the individual and the range of his inner life. They have to do with the organization of many such milieux into the institutions of an historical society as a whole, with the ways in which various milieux overlap and interpenetrate to form the larger structure of social and historical life. An issue is a public matter : some value cherished by publics is felt to be threatened.Often there is a 3 debate about what that value really is and about what it is that really threatens it. This debate is often without focus if only because it is the very nature of an issue, unlike even widespread trouble, that it cannot very well be defined in terms of the immediate and everyday environments of ordinary men. An issue, in fact, often involves a crisis in institutional arrangements, and often too it involves what Marxists call contradictions or antagonisms. In these terms, consider unemployment. When, in a city of 100,000, only one man is unemployed, that is his personal trouble, and for its relief we properly look to the character of the man, his skills, and his immediate opportunities. But when in a nation of 50 million employees, 15 million men are unemployed, that is an issue, and we may not hope to find its solution within the range of opportunities open to any one individual. The very structure of opportunities has collapsed.Both the correct statement of the problem and the range of possible solutions require us to consider the economic and political institutions of the society, and not merely the personal situation and character of a scatter of individuals. Consider war. The personal problem of war, when it occurs, may be how to survive it or how to die in it with honor; how to make money out of it; how to climb into the higher safety of the military apparatus; or how to contribute to the wars termination. In short, according to ones values, to find a set of milieux and within it to survive the war or make ones death in it meaningful.But the structural issues of war have to do with its causes; with what types of men it throws up into command; with its effects upon economic and political, family and religious institutions, with the unorganized irresponsibility of a world of nation-states. Consider marriage. Inside a marriage a man and a woman may experience personal troubles, but when the divorce rate during the first four years of marriage is 250 out of every 1,000 attempts, this is an indication of a structural issue having to do with the institutions of marriage and the family and other institutions that bear upon them.. .What we experience in various and specific milieux, I have noted, is often caused by structural changes. Accordingly, to understand the changes of many personal milieux we are required to look beyond them. And the number and variety of such structural changes increase as the institutions within which we live become more embracing and more intricately connected with one another. To be aware of the idea of social structure and to use it with sensibility is to be capable of tracing such linkages among a great variety of milieux. To be able to do that is to possess the sociological imagination.. 4

Persuasive Letter Essays - Philosophy Of Religion, Existence Of God

Persuasive Letter Essays - Philosophy Of Religion, Existence Of God Persuasive Letter May 5, 2013 123 Main Street Any Town, NJ 12345 Dear Abdulsalem: I know it has been awhile since I spoke to you but I just wanted to let you know I just took a philosophy class and really learned a lot. I know you have been hesitant about talking about your religion but I just wanted to share some thing with you and see if you will have a different view. The biggest thing I learned about was the difference between Theology and Philosophy. I may have always kind of grouped them together but I not only see how they can be similar in one religion but I can also now see how they can be different in others as well. By the end of this letter, I am hoping to persuade you to be open minded with things like philosophy and theology. First, I thought it would be good to just go through a simple definition of what each is. Theology is simply the belief in God. I, myself being a Roman Catholic and you being Muslim just means we may call him something different but we both believe in a high power. With theology we both look for a clear understanding of our religion and make assumptions from our doctrines. Philosophy actually assumes nothing. It is different since philosophers are always looking for the proof of the argument. Philosophy is actually a discipline that uses reason and logic to understand its reality. I know you always leaned more to the philosophical side as you are a skeptic by nature. I, myself, am a true believer and do not need to see to believe. In my class, I also learned about a few other religions and what they thought as well. Just to back up my own Christian upbringing, I thought I would share a view with you. AS you know the biggest question Philosophers have is if God really exists and if so, why did he send his son and how can he be referred to as the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. One of the Philosophers that tried to evaluate if God did exist was St. Anselm. He envisioned God as the Greatest Conceivable Thing and said that only a fool can think God does not exist. He created something called the ontological argument which simply means that Gods existence is self-evident and it is harder to believe there is no God. So even though he assumes God exists, his argument is valid because only a fool would think he did not. I thought I would look into the Muslim culture and see if I can find an argument as well. I found something on the internet and thought I would share this too. Ibn Rushd (Averros) was a Muslim Philosopher and highly regarded in the West. His interpretations or Aristotle sparked interest among the other Muslims and Ibn sought to ease the tension between philosophy and religion. His novel exegesis of seminal Quranic verses made the case for three valid paths of arriving at religious truths, and that philosophy was one if not the best of them, therefore its study should not be prohibited. (iep.utm.edu/ibnrushd/) He was a strong believer that theology and philosophy went together and they helped demonstrate deeper meanings of their representation and words. The last religion I looked at to see if they thought theology and philosophy went hand in hand was the Jewish culture. We both know they believe God exists just what is different from my religion is that they do not believe Jesus was already on earth. They do not believe that God would have put his only son on earth to suffer at the hands of others like he did. Moses Maimonides was a philosopher who attempted to reconcile reason and revelation. I believe that each philosopher and religion proves that theology and philosophy can work together to prove there is a God and to understand that we are better off believing that to be true then not. We used to talk about how many people can believe in all different Gods yet we knew they were still referring to once diving being. This just proves that even though each philosopher needs proof, the unknowing

Using Ethnomethodology to Understand Social Order

Using Ethnomethodology to Understand Social Order What Is Ethnomethodology? Ethnomethodology is a theoretical approach in sociology based on the belief that you can discover the normal social order of a society by disrupting it. Ethnomethodologists explore the question of how people account for their behaviors. To answer this question, they may  deliberately disrupt social norms to see how people respond and how they try to restore social order. Ethnomethodology was first developed during the 1960s by a sociologist named  Harold Garfinkel. It is not an especially popular method, but it has become an accepted approach. What Is the Theoretical Basis for Ethnomethodology? One way of thinking about ethnomethodology is built around the belief that human interaction takes place within a consensus and interaction is not possible without this consensus. The consensus is part of what holds society together and is made up of the norms for behavior that people carry around with them. It is assumed that people in a society share the same norms and expectations for behavior and so by breaking these norms, we can study more about that society and how they react to broken normal social behavior. Ethnomethodologists argue that you cannot simply ask a person what norms he or she uses because most people are not able to articulate or describe them. People are generally not wholly conscious of what norms they use and so ethnomethodology is designed to uncover these norms and behaviors. Examples of Ethnomethodology Ethnomethodologists often use ingenious procedures for uncovering social norms by thinking of clever ways to disrupt normal social interaction. In a famous series of ethnomethodology experiments, college students were asked to pretend that they were guests in their own home without telling their families what they were doing. They were instructed to be polite, impersonal, use terms of formal address (Mr. and Mrs.), and to only speak after being spoken to. When the experiment was over, several students reported that their families treated the episode as a joke. One family thought their daughter was being extra nice because she wanted something, while another’s believed their son was hiding something serious. Other parents reacted with anger, shock, and bewilderment, accusing their children of being impolite, mean, and inconsiderate. This experiment allowed the students to see that even the informal norms that govern our behavior inside our own homes are carefully structured. By violating the norms of the household, the norms become clearly visible. What We Can Learn from Ethnomethodology Ethnomethological research teaches us that many people have a hard time recognizing their own social norms.  Usually people go along with what is expected of them and the existence of norms only becomes apparent when they are violated. In the experiment described above, it became clear that normal behavior was well understood and agreed upon despite the fact that it had never been discussed or described.    References Anderson, M.L. and Taylor, H.F. (2009). Sociology: The Essentials. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth. Garfinkel, H. (1967). Studies in Ethnomethodology. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Paul Cezanne,post impressiont artist.His bibliography and works Essay

Paul Cezanne,post impressiont artist.His bibliography and works - Essay Example This paper discusses in depth about the bibliography of Paul Cezanne and his works in the field of art. Paul Cezanne was born in 1839 by a single mother who later got married to his father when Paul was at five years of age. This separation of his parents at his tender age branded him with stigma of illegitimacy causing him discomfort. At the age of 13, Paul attended Bourbon College where he met Emile Zola. His opportunity to go to school was the beginning point of his long life dream and success. He always attended drawing classes at a nearby academy when he came from school. This made him yearn for more drawing skills and gave him the desire to become a well-known artist2. His old time pal, Emile Zola, still encouraged him while he was at Paris. He kept motivating him through letters to move to Paris and further his skill in painting. His father who was a successful businessperson never approved of his son’s desire to become an artist. He advocated Paul to purse law, which he did and performed extremely marvelous in his first examinations. Cezanne’s uncomfortable relationship with his father made him unable to approach him regarding his dream and passion of art. However, his desire to move to Paris overwhelmed is fear upon his father and he went ahead to tell him about his plans3. To his disappointment, his intention to leave for Paris and further his art was met with disdain. He dropped out of school and his father lost hope in persuading him to continue with his law classes. He then offered him some money to cater for his expenses at Paris. Life at Paris was not at all smooth for Paul Cezanne. He failed in his entrance exams and the most hurting point was the rejection of his paintings. He completely lost hope in his dream as an artist and went back home regretting why he had tarnished his father’s dream of wanting him to study law. However, to be successful, an individual has to struggle and persist despite the

The benefits and drawbacks of digitalisation in educational sector Essay

The benefits and drawbacks of digitalisation in educational sector - Essay Example Some of these changes are positive whereas others are negative. This paper analyses the literature available through secondary research to know more about the benefits and drawbacks of information communication technology or digitalization in educational sector. Benefits of Digitalisation in Educational Sector Computer based technologies are normally used at the current educational sector which help the students and teachers to communicate and share information digitally. Word processing software like Microsoft Word and spread sheets like Microsoft Excel helps students immensely in creating instant documents and solving problems. Spelling checkers, dictionaries and readymade computer programs are available nowadays for corrections and calculations. Presentation software like Microsoft PowerPoint helps both teachers and students to express their views in a clear manner so that the mutual communication between the teacher and the students could be improved. Databases like Oracle, MS Ac cess etc help teachers to maintain digital records of students in a structured manner. In short, most of the curriculum functions are heavily dependent on the information communication technology at present. Internal and external networks like Local Area network (LAN) and Wide Area Network (WAN) are used specifically by schools and colleges to communicate each other. Interactive digital television (iDTV), as a relatively easy way to use technology, brings many challenges and opportunities into the field of education, i.e. formation and utilization of learning via TV, called t-learning. T-learning has many characteristics (i.e. technological or pedagogical aspects) that differentiate this type of education from other well elaborated... There are many drawbacks also associated with the digitalization of educational sector. Digitalization is an expensive act for educational sector. This paper outlines the problem of global digitalisation. This research is necessary to know more about the merits and demerits of digitalization in educational sector.The digital technology incorporated in educational sector should be user friendly. Otherwise teachers and students may stay away from it. Younger generation adapts more easily with the digitalization process in educational sector than the older generation. The world is getting digitalized more and more as time goes on. The introductions of computers, televisions, mobile phones and internet have created a digital culture which affects every segment of human life at present. The difference in culture between the current world and the world couple of decades before can be identified easily. It should be noted that the communication technologies a couple decades before was depen dent on analogue technology whereas it is heavily dependent on digital technologies at present.Creation of media rich environment in schools and homes is another advantage of digitalization of educational sector. Media plays a vital role in enhancing the quality of education. Students get substantial knowledge from media while they watch educational programs. Internet, email, televisions, tablets and mobile phones help students immensely in acquiring proper knowledge in their educational topics.

Macbeth’s Gender Role Reversal Essay Example for Free

Macbeth’s Gender Role Reversal Essay William Shakespeare’s tragedy â€Å"Macbeth† completely challenges the idea of traditional gender roles and social norms during the renaissance period. The male characters have many feminine traits while the female characters have many more masculine and manlier traits. This was going entirely against the stereotypical outlook of the roles you’re supposed to play as your gender during that time of history. During the renaissance period women were only expected to clean, cook, and to have babies. Men on the other hand were typically expected to work hard and to provide for the home. Socially women didn’t have power or respect and men were the ones who were supposed to be brave and tough at the best of times and the worst of times. That idea is challenged many times throughout Macbeth as their are several examples where Lady Macbeth remains strong while Macbeth crumbles and becomes weak. The play consistently challenges the society norms of gender roles. It’s obvious the Macbeth’s don’t serve as your stereotypical husband and wife. Right away throughout the first couple of acts, Shakespeare introduces Lady Macbeth’s character as an assertive and dominant woman that makes the decisions over her husband Macbeth. Lady Macbeth really makes it apparent that she wears the pants in there relationship. For example, in scene 1 act 5 when Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth King Duncan is coming and he seems to be very hesitant on how he will handle the King’s presence. Lady Macbeth takes charge and asserts her dominance by saying, â€Å"He that’s coming/ Must be provided for, and you shall put/ This night’s great business into my dispatch† (scene 1 act 5 64-66).In traditional society, if the king is coming to your house, it would be very unusual for the lady of the house to be in charge of handling the appearance by the king. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth also exchange roles in the way they handle their emotions and the way they handle the guilt. For instance, when it comes to the thought of murder and death, Lady Macbeth shows no mercy, and when King Duncan was murdered, she remained unphased by the act. This is apparent when she deals with Macbeth leaving the gory daggers at the site of the murder, â€Å"Give me the daggers. The sleeping and the dead/ Are but as pictures; ‘tis the eye of childhood/ That fears a painted devil.†(scene 2 act 2 56-58). Macbeth is portrayed as emotionally unstable and soft as he is afraid to even go back into the room where the murder took place, â€Å"I’ll go no more/ I am afraid to think what I have done†(scene 2 act 2 54-55). This interaction between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth really shows the unusual roles one another play in their relationship because, in a situation where someone is murdered or there is a serious crime, women aren’t usually t he ones who are brave and strong-minded about it, men are. As the play goes on, Lady Macbeth begins to lose her fierce and intimidating persona as Macbeth becomes the more assertive and dominant one. Lady Macbeth starts losing her edge when it becomes less difficult to get Macbeth to follow through with his murderous acts. Anytime Macbeth thinks you’re interfering with his kinship, he’ll have no problem taking you down and getting you out of his way. Macbeth no longer needs Lady Macbeth to persuade him. This is very apparent when he shows no mercy planning the murder of Banquo, â€Å"There’s comfort yet, they are assailable/ Then be thou jocund: ere the bat hath flown/ His cloistered flight, ere to black Hecate’s summons/ The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums/ Hath rung night’s yawning peal, there shall be done/ A deed of dreadful note† (scene 3 act 2 40-44). A completely different Macbeth we see out of this quote, no longer hesitant and no longer appearing to be affected by guilt. Now that Macbeth is this individual who is ready and eager to kill, Lady Macbeth begins to show the side of her that wasn’t present at the beginning of the play, â€Å"Come on. Gentle my lord/ Sleek o’er your rugged looks, be bright and jovial/ Among your guests tonight† (act 3 scene 2 26-28). Lady Macbeth expresses emotion and traits of care, unlike any other time. The play Macbeth features many different gender reversals throughout the entire play. Shakespeare really tests the normality of having women be the assertive and dominant one in a marriage while having the man be kind of timid and soft. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s gender reversals distinctively show the extreme traits one another possess and it gives an opposite perspective than what we are used to. Whatever goes up always must come down, and when Lady Macbeth and Macbeth begin to form into traditional gender roles, that becomes the start of their decline.

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Introduction Contemporary Human Resource Management (HRM) is a organizational function that encompasses recruiting, motivating and retaining people. It focuses on the people aspect, in order to ensure that the employees are used in an effective and efficient manner to accomplish organization’s objectives. It is done through a set of well-designed management systems. Traditional personnel, administration, and transactional roles of HRM are being outsourced increasingly. HRM’s main role is to zoom into how employees can be utilized strategically and impact the business with measurable. HRM focuses on strategic direction and HRM metrics and measurable to demonstrate value. Effective HRM enables employees to contribute to the overall company direction, goals and objectives in an effective and productive fashion. In this assignment, we should look into the major changes that HRM had undergone in terms how its functions, objectives and delivery, from Personnel Management (PM) to its current form. â€Æ' Personnel Management (PM) vs Human Resource Management (HRM) HRM derives its origin from the practices of the earlier PM, which assisted in the management of people in an organization setup. It is important to highlight the key differences between PM and HRM. In the nutshell, PM is an operational role, majority on administrative duties and record-keeping tasks. Not only to ensure fairness in the terms and conditions of employment, companies had who adopted PM, need to manage the personnel activities by department level individually. It is believed that by doing the abovementioned will aid the company in achieving its organizational goals successfully. HRM zoom in to the people strategies, integrating it with company’s corporate strategies, an... ...s an important portion in the organization, which is highly integrated with the core strategy. PM is typically held responsible by the company’s personnel/manpower department. In HRM, all managerial level of the organization is involved with a collective aim, where personnel issues are being taken care of by managers of the respective departments, who are trained with the necessary skill set. As motivations, PM offers employees with extrinsic rewards like compensation, bonuses, rewards, and the reduction of work responsibilities. From the PM point of view, by rewarding an employee will motivate him to perform better at work. On the other hand, HRM consider that by performing better will lead to a happier employee instead. With HRM, working in groups, overcoming challenges with effective strategies, and job creativity are considered to be the main motivating factors.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Essay

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof: What do you learn about Maggie from the way Tennessee Williams has presented her so far?  The character Margaret is married to Brick, the son of Big Daddy. They live together in Big Daddy’s house, along with his wife, Big Mama. We, as readers learn a lot about her character from the way she speaks, by what is said about her and by the stage directions. We also gain a good insight into her relationships with the people around her. Margaret’s relationship with Brick comes across as quite bizarre. His lack of interest in what she has to say gives the impression that he doesn’t care and also shows a slight lack of respect. For example, when Brick replies to Maggie’s first line in the play, he says â€Å"Wha’d you say, Maggie?†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The stage directions prior to his response read â€Å"A tone of politely feigned interest, masking indifference or worse.† Other stage directions describing his attitude to Maggie’s statements share the same negativity; such as â€Å"Without interest.†, â€Å"Wryly†, â€Å"Absent mindedly†, â€Å"Dreamily†, followed by sarcastic comments. We also get the impression that Brick doesn’t find his wife as attractive as other men do. On page twenty-one, Maggie says â€Å"Way he always drops his eyes down my body when I’m talkin’ to him, drops his eyes to my boobs an’ licks his old chops!† The fact that she’s telling her husband how other men show interest in her comes across as a subtle hint to her husband that perhaps he should appreciate her more. Almost reassuring herself, as well as him that she’s an attractive woman. Brick’s response however doesn’t seem like the reply she was looking for. He describes her â€Å"talk† as disgusting. There’s also a sense of insecurity on Maggie’s front. When she catches Brick staring at her, she asks him continuously what he’s thinking when he stares at her like that. On page twenty-five, Maggie says â€Å"†¦I wish you would lose your looks†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This is a particular strange request to make of one’s partner. It makes readers assume she doesn’t want to be attracted to Brick any longer. This assumption is soon backed up with further lines on page twenty-eight when the couple talk of the â€Å"conditions† Maggie has to follow in order for Brick to continue living with her. They also refer to their bedroom as a cage, giving the sense of entrapment. Margaret’s relationship with Mae seems strained and false. Maggie’s continuous insulting of Mae’s children gives the impression that they don’t get along particularly well. The topic of children in Maggie and Brick’s relationship also seems awkward. Mae seems to take a patronising tone with Margaret on page twenty-nine when she says â€Å"Maggie, honey, if you had children of your own you’d know how funny that is†¦Ã¢â‚¬  It seems that Mae is well aware of Maggie’s envy towards her for having children and likes to bring it up from time to time. Margaret often refers to Big Daddy when she’s attempting to make Brick jealous. When she was talking of the man who was looking her up and down, she was talking of Big Daddy, Brick’s father. She uses him as an example of a man who gives her attention to try and get Brick to do the same. She also talks of Big Daddy not getting along with Gooper, Brick’s brother or Mae. On page twenty, she says â€Å"Big Daddy dotes on you honey. And he can’t stand Brother Man and Brother Man’s wife†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Big Daddy is also supposed to be dying of cancer, therefore there’s a lot of talk of who will be getting the large share of his will. Margaret is obviously very aware of her sexuality. On the first page of the play, a stage direction says â€Å"She steps out of her dress, stands in a slip of ivory satin lace.† She also cares a lot about her appearance and what Brick thinks of her. I feel this because of her asking Brick what he thinks of her when he looks at her and because of stage directions such as â€Å"She adjusts the angle of a magnifying mirror to straighten an eyelash†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Her relationship with her husband seems one sided and cruel. It seems as thought she wants children and a happy marriage like her sister in law however it’s made obvious that Brick doesn’t share the same passion. We know from the continuous talk of Big Daddy’s will that she has dreams of being rich. So far, Williams has made Maggie seem like a desperate, hurt character that covers her pain up with her loud personality.

Pareto Principle Essay

The term â€Å"Pareto principle† can also refer to Pareto efficiency. The Pareto principle (also known as the 80–20 rule, the law of the vital few, and the principle of factor sparsity) states that, for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. Business? management consultant Joseph M. Juran suggested the principle and named it after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who observed in 1906 that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population; he developed the principle by observing that 20% of the pea pods in his garden contained 80% of the peas. It is a common rule of thumb in business; e. g. , â€Å"80% of your sales come from 20% of your clients. † Mathematically, where something is shared among a sufficiently large set of participants, there must be a number k between 50 and 100 such that â€Å"k% is taken by (100 ? k)% of the parcipants. † The number k may vary from 50 (in the case of equal distribution, i. e. , 100% of the population have equal shares) to nearly 100 (when a tiny number of participants account for almost all of the resource). There is nothing special about the number 80% mathematically, but many real systems have k somewhere around this region of intermediate imbalance in distribution. The Pareto principle is only tangentially related to Pareto efficiency, which was also introduced by the same economist. Pareto developed both concepts in the context of the distribution of income and wealth among the population. In economics The original observation was in connection with population and wealth. Pareto noticed that 80% of Italy’s land was owned by 20% of the population. He then carried out surveys on a variety of other countries and found to his surprise that a similar distribution applied. Due to the scale? invariant nature of the power law relationship, the relationship applies also to subsets of the income range. Even if we take the 10 wealthiest individuals in the world, we see that the top three (Warren Buffett, Carlos Slim Helu, and Bill Gates) own as much as the next seven put together. A chart that gave the inequality a very visible and comprehensible form, the so? alled ‘champagne glass’ effect was contained in the 1992 United Nations Development Program Report, which showed the distribution of global income to be very uneven, with the richest 20% of the world’s population controlling 82. 7% of the world’s income. The Pareto principle has also been used to attribute the widening economic inequality in the United States to ‘skill? biased technical change’—i. e. , income growth accrues to those with the education and skills required to take advantage of new technology and globalization.

Of Mice and Men-outcasts essays

Of Mice and Men-outcasts essays In the novel, Of Mice and Men, Crooks and Curleys wife could both be considered outcasts. Crooks could be considered an outcast because of his race. Curleys wife could be considered an outcast because most of the characters believe trouble always follows her. Both Crooks and Curleys wife are thought of as social outcasts for various reasons, such as race and reputation. Many examples are stated throughout the novel in different situations with other characters. Crooks is mainly thought of as an outcasts because of his race. This was a common issue during the early 1900s when the story took place. Black people were segregated from the rest of society because of the color of their skin. Crooks realizes he is an outcast, and in the scene where Lennie goes into Crooks room and asks him why he isnt wanted, Crooks replies, Cause Im black. They play cards in there, but I cant play because Im black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you, you all of you stink to me. Crooks is well aware of the issue of segregation and has to accept the fact that because of his race he will always be treated differently than white people. Curleys Wife is considered an outcast because she is just that, the wife of Curley. All of the men on the farm try to avoid Curley because they know he seems like a person who is always looking for trouble. His wife is a very flirtatious woman mainly because all of the men ignore her and she is always complaining how lonely she gets. For example, in one scene where she came into the barn looking for Curley, Crooks told her to go along and that they didnt want any trouble. Curleys wife responded, Well, I aint giving you no trouble. Think I dont like to talk to somebody ever once in a while. Think I like to stick in that house alla time? What she was referring to was the fact that she usually s ...

Professional Tips to Improve Your Literary Analysis Writing

Professional Tips to Improve Your Literary Analysis Writing Short and Easy Guide for Writing a Literary Analysis Many students dislike writing literary analysis and see no point in doing this. However, the task is a great practice for developing an analytical intuition and critical thinking. No matter what your teacher asks you to write: a short paragraph that explains some facts about a piece of literature or an analytical essay that consists of several pages, your preparation shall start from understanding the aim of the work. Reading a book, a novel or a poem, we accept the text as a whole. In other words, we see a completed imaginary picture. However, if we start to think about the written words more carefully and analyze each sentence, phrase or even a word, we may see a lot of information that is not very obvious, however, is interesting and valuable to a reader. Literary analysis is just like reading between lines. It allows us to see another side of written information and great shades of its meaning. In the beginning it may sound boring to you, however, later you may even find it interesting and intriguing. How to Read a Text for Literary Analysis Any analysis starts with reading the text that you are going to analyze. However, this time try to read the text more thoughtfully, finding answers to the following questions: What is the message the author wanted to share intentionally? Usually, it’s the easiest question to answer. You have just to read the text and to understand the information it gives. What is the true personality of the main characters? This question needs careful thinking. Try not only to notice direct descriptions of the characters but also to analyze their actions and the conditions that influenced them. Sometimes you may even discover real-life prototypes of the literary characters or those real-life figures that donated their features to the novel heroes. Why the author chose certain writing means and ways? Creating a poem or a novel, authors are trying to choose the size, tone, and language that would help to create the most appropriate atmosphere for the described event. Very often we do not notice these methods. However, if we look deeper, we will see the great work that stands behind each literary masterpiece. Moreover, sometimes an author may use special elements unintentionally. However, these elements may reveal some additional information about an author’s attitude to the described events or characters. What a Literary Analysis Is Developing a clear understanding of what literary analysis is, you will find the best way of analyzing the texts. In fact, literary analysis is an essay that helps to understand a piece of literature in a better and deeper way. It may be aimed at analyzing the whole text or understanding some characters or events described in the text. No matter which type of literary work you are supposed to analyze, the methods that are used for that will be the same or will slightly differ. In order to make your literary analysis detailed and informative, you shall start with separating a text on some parts and elements to work with each of them. Analyzing text, you shall pay attention to those elements that are less obvious, for example: the connection between the main information that an author wanted to express and the methods and words that were chosen for expressing it; the connection between the plot and the sub-plot of a literary work; the connection between the described events and the reality of the author. Sometimes it’s also wise to learn more about the author himself, trying to understand the personality and the possible mood of the writer. You may discover a lot of elements that could be influenced by some events from the childhood of the author, reflection of his political or moral views, etc. A Short Definition of Literary Analysis Literary Analysis is a detailed and complex analysis of elements and expressive methods that are used by an author for discovering and defining their effects on a reader and their role for expressing the main idea of the text. The literary analysis concentrates on a theme, topic, characters, plot, methods, and devices created or chosen by an author. Structure and Format of Literary Analysis Just like any other writing work, the literary analysis shall be properly formatted and structured. This helps to group and organize the information in a more logical and comfortable to read way. The structure of your literary analysis is similar to others essay that you used to deal with: Introduction; Thesis Statement; Body paragraph; Final Conclusion. Introduction The introductory part is aimed at telling your reader what the essay is about. It shall include elements like: Data about the analyzed piece of literature: title, a name of the author, year of creation and other information that may be helpful for identifying the subject. A statement or statements that may express the main aim of your essay. A thesis statement that shall be a final part of the introductory paragraph. It shall be short, laconic and very informative. Some writing experts advise to include a question that you are going to answer later in your essay. There is an easy way to check if the introductory paragraph is informative enough. Check if it answers the following questions: WHO: the information about an author and its creation. WHAT: the main question or issue that is going to be solved. HOW: the methods and ways that are going to be used in order to reach the aim. WHY: the idea about how the results can be used in real life, for which purposes and why the author of the essay choose the topic. Body Paragraph The common mistake of many students is writing the body of an essay as a single paragraph. This part of an essay is the biggest and most informative. It can be difficult to read or to understand it. That’s why it’s better to write two or more paragraphs with several sub-paragraphs if necessary. There are also several great tips that can help you to write a great body paragraph: Use a separate paragraph for each statement or an idea. It’s better to express the main idea at the beginning of the paragraph. Check if it coincides with the general idea of an essay that is mentioned in the thesis. Supporting your ideas with some facts can be useful. However, it’s also necessary to support your ideas with extracts from the piece of literature and quotes. For this purpose, you can use extracts of dialogues or monologues of the characters. Try to understand and to describe an author’s choice of literature techniques instead of giving simple definitions to them. End each paragraph with some important information. Psychologists say that readers will accept information better if it’s given at the beginning and at the end of a paragraph. Sometimes it’s very difficult not to step away from the main aim. To avoid that, check if each of your paragraphs corresponds to the main topic mentioned in the introductory part. Conclusion The final part of the essay is shorter but not less important than the body part. Some students think that the conclusion is a short and very laconic rewrite of the body paragraph. However, it’s wrong to think this way. The conclusion part is aimed at answering the main question that was described or mentioned in a thesis. It also shows how the statements that were mentioned and described in the body paragraph support the main conclusion. 5 Common Types of Literary Analysis There are several types of literary analysis. They differ due to pieces of literature they describe, their main aim and methods that are used for analysis. Here, we describe some of the existing types that are commonly used for academic programs: Close Reading This type of analysis is used for noticing and analyzing small details and parts of the text. For example, in this case, great attention is paid to some minor actions, gestures of the characters, choice of words, etc. This type of analysis allows noticing the smallest elements of the general picture created by an author and understanding it in a better way. Theoretical Unlike the type that is described above, the theoretical type of analysis is more concentrated on the general idea or some key elements. This analysis allows evaluating the main theory described in the literary work. It may also include a comparison between the described theory and other possible theories connected to a subject. Comparative This type of analysis means that a writer of an essay compares two or more elements that may have a connection to the piece of literature. In fact, there are different subtypes of the comparative analysis. It may be a comparison between two elements or characters that are used in the same text, a comparison between two literary works of the same or different authors, etc. Contextual This type of analysis requires a careful investigation of the historical, geographical and cultural background of the events that are described in a novel or a poem. This analysis is helpful for a better understanding of the information that is given in the author’s text. Applied The applied type of literary analysis is aimed at revealing your own attitude to the written text. Many students think that this means that writing an applied analysis can be less difficult than dealing with other types of analysis. In fact, it’s not really true. This type of analysis allows you to be more creative, however, it never means that the analysis shall look less critical and deep. Usage of Examples for Literary Analysis Using correct and illustrative examples may be a great method to support and explain your statements. Which examples can be used? Description of similar situations from your personal experience or experience of some people you know. Description of situations that are related to more understandable reality. For example, an explanation of how an event mentioned in an analyzed historical novel could be interpreted nowadays. Describing situations that are mentioned in other pieces of literature. Alternative Solution It’s always a nice way to read some additional guidelines or explanations and to practice for a while before writing an excellent literature analysis. However, students’ life is more complicated than it may appear. Sometimes students have too much work, feel unmotivated to write an essay or simply think that working on an essay or another type of writing assignment can ruin some of their great plans. There’s always an alternative solution for situations like that. For example, applying to our writing service in order to receive some help! If something goes wrong with the preparation of your writing paper, there’s no need to worry. We are always ready to save you!

Lesson plan on Identifying Synonyms Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Lesson plan on Identifying Synonyms - Coursework Example 2. Prompt students to think of other pairs of words that mean the same thing. Write these synonyms on sentence strips, and cut them apart so that you have one word for each student in the class. If students are having difficulty thinking of synonyms, give them one of these words and prompt them to think of a synonym: big/huge, tiny/small, scared/afraid, cute/pretty, rock/stone, loud/noisy, sofa/couch, dinner/supper, store/market, lady/woman, rug/carpet, yell/scream, finish/end, start/begin, quick/fast. 3. Shuffle the words. Explain to students that they will be going on a synonym hunt and that each of them will receive a card with a word on it that they must not look at until they are told. The object of the game is for each student to move around the room and find his/her partner, who has a word that means the same thing. When students find their partners, they should sit down. The game is over when each student has found a partner. To begin, fold each word in half so that the word cannot be seen and give one word to each student. When each student has a card say, â€Å"Let the hunt begin!† 5. As a fun follow-up activity or one to incorporate into the lesson, have students make their own puppets with various facial expressions. They can create puppet skits with partners or groups and think of synonyms. I decided to get someone from the crowd and get to know their feelings. From the line, I encountered Sofia Contreras, a housewife. She was very excited to be part of the event and was sure that the beauty store is a good initiative for the whole town. Prepare sentences with words underlined, and have students select a synonym from a word box for the underlined word in each sentence. For example, have students choose from among the words huge, fast, couch, small, and large to select synonyms for the