20 Essay Topics for ‘The Scarlet Letter’ by N. Hawthorne for a Literary Analysis

20 Essay Topics for ‘The Scarlet Letter’ by N. Hawthorne for a Literary Analysis Writing a literary analysis essay about a classical literary work is a common assignment in literature courses. Not only does it force students to read the original text, but it also pushes them to delve into the author’s opinions and commentaries on the text. ‘The Scarlet Letter’ by Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the richest novels when it comes to themes and ideas, which is why many instructors choose it for literary analysis write-ups. If you have this book on your reading list and have to write a literary analysis on it, refer to the list below to decide on an aspect to tackle. If you want to come up with your own idea, check our 10 facts on ‘The Scarlet Letter’ by N. Hawthorne for a literary analysis. Without further ado, the topics: The Role of Pearl in Hester’s Transformation An Exploration of the Relationship between Hester’s Identity and the Scarlet Letter The Contrast between Herter’s Self-Created Identity and the One Which Society Assigns to Her The Scarlet Letter as a Commentary on the American History The Use of Symbols: Puritan vs. the Narrator The Functions of Physical Settings in the Scarlet Letter An Analysis of Chillingworth’s Ideas of Revenge Pearl: A Blessing and a Curse for Hester Pearl as a Symbol of Hester’s Conscience The Contrasting Behavior of Children and Adults in the Scarlet Letter Hawthorne’s Ideas of the Inherently Flawed Human as Presented in The Scarlet Letter Hester Prynne: When Women Break Cultural Bonds and Gain Personal Power Sphere Imagery: Purpose and Effectiveness The Scarlet Letter: An Embodiment of the Tradition of Romanticism? The Difference between Hester and Dimmesdale An Exploration of How Tone, Word Choice, and Symbolism Help In Character Development in the Scarlet Letter The Literary Devices in the Scarlet Letter: Types, Usage and Effect on Persuasiveness Hypocrisy and Conformity in the Scarlet Letter Sin in the Puritan Community: A Comparison between the Punishments of Men and Women Hester Prynne: A Sinner and a Saint You can use these topics as is or tweak them a little to suit the purpose of your thesis. If you wish to explore a more specific aspect, you can choose to refine any of the topics from our list. This will ensure that you choose something substantial and relevant. A sample essay is added below to help inspire your literary analysis. The following lines explore the symbolism of the major characters in the text. Sample Literary Analysis: An Exploration of How Tone, Word Choice, and Symbolism Help in Character Development in the Scarlet Letter ‘The Scarlet Letter’ by Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the prominent romance novels despite not appearing to be one. It delves deeply into the Puritan community, highlighting its rigid rules of life and how its members could suffer by going against them. One of the aspects that make ‘The Scarlet Letter’ truly immortal is the author’s extensive use of symbols. Therefore, in order to understand the text, it is necessary to analyze the myriad of symbols presented. In literature, a symbol is often a concrete idea used to represent a more complex, abstract idea. This idea is broader in meaning and scope, and is usually a religious, philosophical or moral concept. The Puritans view the world through allegories. Simple patterns of nature such as a meteor moving through the sky held a deeply religious meaning. This is just one facet of the repressive thinking. Hawthorne shows their moral attitudes in a different light through the symbolism of his characters. The Puritan society looks at Hester as a woman fallen from grace, Dimmesdale as a saint-like personality, and was likely to consider Chillingworth as a victim and a betrayed husband. The author turns these interpretations around; he ultimately shows Hester as a sensitive human being, strips Dimmesdale of his saint-like faà §ade, and reveals Chillingworth as an offender of humanity who pursues evil and revenge. The Puritan mentality refuses to accept the reality of these characters. Hester is shunned and Dimmesdale’s confession is not believed by many people. This shows that underneath the public displays of piety so favored by Puritanism, there exists a grim underside that goes unseen. The static and stagnant thinking of the Puritanical society is shown through the transformation of characters as symbols and the subsequent refusal of the society to accept this change. Hester is a fallen woman in the beginning; she is publically shamed and shunned, causing her to suffer greatly. She struggles to understand the letter’s symbolic meaning only to come out as a strong woman in the end. Hester gains a unique understanding of humanity and the struggles of other people. As Hawthorne says, The tendency of her fate and fortunes had been to set her free. The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Dimmesdale is a private sinner; his sins remain a secret. His public face presents a stark contrast with his private face. The Colony of Massachusetts looks at him as an embodiment of sanctity and goodness, but this is just a faà §ade. Dimmesdale struggles internally and drowns in the storm raging between his holiness and guilt. Dimmesdale is a symbol of hypocrisy and moral weakness. He refuses to do the right thing and the reader comes to view his piety as something superficial. Ultimately, he manages to redeem his soul, albeit quite late. Pearl is by far the strongest of the allegorical images in this text. She symbolizes the freedom of nature. Hester views her as the living hieroglyphic of her sin. Hester describes Pearl to the community leaders by saying, â€Å"she is my happiness! - she is my torture. . . See ye not, she is the scarlet letter, only capable of being loved, and so endowed with a million-fold the power of retribution for my sin? The Scarlet Letter displays symbols through characterization, colors, location and light. The author’s brilliant use of these symbols and their transformation is a major reason for the acclaim and popularity of this classical work and why it has become a peerless example of romance novels. After reading this analysis, you probably have a few suggestions and thoughts to make it appear better. So, quickly jot those down and begin creating an outline for your own literary analysis. If you need more help with this assignment, check out our guide on how to write a literary analysis on ‘The Scarlet Letter’ by N. Hawthorne. References: Hunter, Dianne, Seduction and theory: readings of gender, representation, and rhetoric. University of Illinois Press. 1989. Pgs. 186-187 Schreiner, Samuel A., Jr. The Concord Quartet: Alcott, Emerson, Hawthorne, Thoreau, and the Friendship That Freed the American Mind. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley Sons, Inc., 2006: 158.ISBN 978-0-471-64663-1 Crowley, J. Donald, and Orestes Brownson. Chapter 50: [Orestes Brownson], From A Review In Brownsons Quarterly Review. Nathaniel Hawthorne (0-415-15930-X) (1997): 175–179. Literary Reference Center Plus. Wineapple, Brenda. Hawthorne: A Life. Random House: New York, 2003: 209–210. ISBN 0-8129-7291-0. Wright, John Hardy. Hawthornes Haunts in New England. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2008: 47. ISBN 978-1-59629-425-7. McFarland, Philip. Hawthorne in Concord. New York: Grove Press, 2004: 136. ISBN 0-8021-1776-7 Miller, Edwin Haviland. Salem is my Dwelling Place: A Life of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1991: 299. ISBN 0-87745-332-2

PBS -- Positive Behavior Support

PBS Positive Behavior Support PBS stands for Positive Behavior Support, which seeks to support and reinforce appropriate behavior in school and eliminate negative, problem behaviors. Focusing on reinforcing and teaching the behaviors that lead to learning and school success, PBS has proven to be significantly better than the old methods of punish and suspend. Using Positive Behavior Support There are a number of successful strategies for supporting positive behavior.  Among them are color behavior charts (as in the illustration,) color wheels, token economies and other means of reinforcing good behavior. Still, the other important components of a successful positive behavior plan include routines, rules, and clear expectations.  Those expectations should be posted in the halls, on classroom walls and all the places students will see them.   Positive Behavior Support can be class-wide or school-wide. Of course, teachers will write behavior plans in collaboration with behavior specialists or psychologists that will support individual students, called BIPs (Behavior Intervention Plans) but a class-wide system will put everyone in the class on the same path. Positive Behavior Support plans can be adapted to support students with disabilities.  By making modifications to the plans, and using the reinforcers designed for the whole school, or the strategy (color chart, etc.) to describe the behaviors and the consequences (i.e. Quiet hands when the clip goes to red.  No calling out when the clip goes to red, etc.)   Many schools have school-wide positive behavior support plans.  Usually, the school has a single set of cues and prompts for certain behaviors, clarity about school rules and the consequences, and means to win prizes or special privileges.  Often, the behavior support plan includes ways that students can win points or school bucks for positive behavior which they can use toward prizes donated by local businesses. Also Known As: Positive Behavior Plans Examples: Miss Johnson started a Positive Behavior Support plan for her classroom. Students receive raffle tickets when they are caught being good. Each Friday she pills a ticket from a box, and the student whose name is called gets to pick a prize from her treasure chest.

Summary and response Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Summary and response - Research Paper Example In deciding on a child’s future, Newman illustrates that parents acknowledge a picture of a university life that contrasts the one depicted by him. They recognize the margin between Newman’s ideal and the imperfect realities. Instead, they endorse that the margin does not represent a decline. Currently, modern universities enjoy resources that are higher than those enjoyed by Newman’s university are. For instance, they have good lecture halls, concert halls, booking lending facilities, and places of recreation hence influencing parent’s choice. A middle class father invests a lot of money in meeting the tuition fees of 40, 000 dollars and lodging costs for his daughter. However, after four years the daughter emerges with a degree in Women’s Studies. Therefore, it results in a significant waste of a third of a million dollars. It portrays that daughter has ended the university with the same ignorance she had at the start. Currently, many students graduate in soft subjects, which require ideological conformity rather than intellectual growth. Newman explains that most students spend their leisure hours in ways that their parents would not approve. They defend it as the natural result of academic freedom. Newman shows that individuals have the scope, freedom, and habit of association, which enable them to achieve their goals regardless of the established institutions. It is evident in the homeschooling that allow students to work from home. Therefore, it will prevent the heavy expenses incurred by most parents in the education of the children. The author, Roger Scruton, has proficiently written the text that has enhanced my personal understanding of the idea with utmost ease. Scruton provides the background information of who Newman is. For instance, he portrays Cardinal John Henry Newman as a scholar,

Personal financial planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Personal financial planning - Essay Example However where this healthcare system differs is that the insurance would not be run for profit and healthcare is provided to all people. Beveridge: This system of healthcare owes its namesake to William Beveridge who helped spearhead reforms in Great Britain’s National Health Service. Ultimately funding was to be drawn from taxpayers so the healthcare system becomes a government run institution (Like the fire departments, police forces, schools etc.) Many doctors and hospitals would be run and paid for by the government, and there would be private doctors & specialists who would receive payments from the government. Some hospitals (Such as veterans hospitals) may be run like this in the U.S. but overall this does not closely resemble the overall American system. Medicare: This loosely resembles the Canadian model which is sort of a hybrid of both the Bismarck and Beveridge systems. There exists both a private sector provider (Bismarck) but funding also comes from the governmen t which draws its funding from the tax base (Beveridge). So in essence there is no real incentive to deny claims insofar as there is no incentive to generate a profit.

Groups and Teams Essay Example for Free

Groups and Teams Essay Recall a small team or group you have been a part of. Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper about your experience. †¢Provide a brief description of the team or group. How many members did it include? What was its purpose? †¢Describe the behaviors the team or group exhibited as it went through each stage of development. †¢Describe a problem the team or group encountered. What steps were taken to address and solve the problem? Was the team or group able to generate a successful solution? Why or why not? †¢Discuss the influence that leadership—or the lack of leadership—had on the team’s or group’s ability to solve the problem. What style of leadership did the leader exhibit? What problem-solving steps were taken to resolve the situation? What steps would have produced better results? †¢Explain whether the team or group was effective. Support your position by discussing goals, roles, ground rules, norms, and characteristics your team or group displayed. How did these characteristics affect the team’s or group’s ability to accomplish its purpose and solve the problem it encountered? †¢Analyze how communication contributed to cohesiveness. Identify and address how diversity or technology affected the team or group members’ ability to communicate with one another to reach a resolution. †¢Explain your thoughts on how goals, roles, ground rules, and norms help determine effectiveness. How did these characteristics affect the team’s or group’s ability to accomplish its purpose and solve the problem? Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.

The United Kingdom Essays -- England Economy Politics History Essays

The United Kingdom   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   London is the capital of the United Kingdom. It ranks as one of the world?s most historic cities, tracing its roots back nearly 2000 years. London has long been a great world port and trading center. The port of London consists of two huge docks and 43 miles of wharves along the Thames River. London also has a remarkable transportation system. Expressways, and underground and surface railways carry more than one million commuters between the outlying areas and central London each workday. More than 350,000 commuters travel by subway, about 400,000 take surface trains and more than 100,000 go by bus. About 100,000 people drive their cars to work. The London subway system (the ?tube?), is the largest subway system in the world. It includes over 100 miles of underground rail lines. London?s famous double decker busses are an excellent source of transportation within the central section of the city.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The United Kingdom has an area of 244,111 square km and a population of 57,591,677. It?s population density is 241 people per square kilometer. 89% of the United Kingdom?s population is urban. The United Kingdom has a large portion of flat rolling relief, making it ideal for the 11% of the population that is involved in farming. The UK has about 240,000 farms, which average about 175 acres in size. 25% of the UK?s land is arable and the chief agricultural products are wheat, barley, potatoes, sugar beets, livestock and dairy products. The United Kingdom?s currency is the British pound, which is equivalent to 2.45 Canadian dollars.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The United Kingdom is a member of the European Community. All members of this community are engaged in forming a single market for their economic resources. Forming one market, without artificial barriers to trade and investment, the member nations are able to increase their economic efficiency and raise their citizens? standards of living. The members of the community are Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom. In 1993, the member nations of the European Community formed the European Union. The union consists of three components. One is the European Community. The others are a common Foreign and security policy and Justice and Home Affairs (this involves cooperation on such issues as crime and imm... ...on, more than the combined shares of France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. ?All that we expect as a major company is here in the UK.?- Michael Morgan, President and CEO, Starpak inc. When analyzing the various aspects of the United Kingdom, it becomes evident that the UK has many significant advantages over other countries and holds the traits necessary for future expansion. A politically stable and extremely well organized system of government, great relationships and trading arrangements with other nations, tax breaks awarded to new companies and an abundance of skilled workers, are all among the UK?s benefits. The UK is also self-sufficient energy-wise and has a remarkable transportation system. Investing in the UK may be one of the smartest things you have ever done. It is one of the most sound and secure investments available. The best combination of benefits that offer pro-business conditions, work-force cost efficiency and flexibility, minimum risk, and maximum botto m line return are readily available in the UK. ?Britain draws more foreign investment in new factories, research centers and other business operations than any other country in Europe.? The New York Times

Cultural Anthropology Midterm Study Guide

Anthropology 2 Midterm Study Guide: Professor Li Zhang Midterm Date: October 30, 2012 Week 1 What is the scope of cultural anthropology? Discuss its focus of inquiry, approach, and major changes over time. ?Cultural anthropology is concerned with the nature and extent of social and cultural differences among different societies. Focus on Inquiry: Why there are different cultures and how they came about and are affected or changing. Focus on Approach: Approaches could be urban, political, legal, medical, psychological, environmental, feminist, etc. Goals: ?Understanding how differences among societies are shaped. Understanding the unequal power relations between societies produced by colonialism, imperialism and contemporary global practices. ?To compare the perspectives of different societies and how each of them interprets the world. Changes in cultural anthropology over time: ?Used to be a way to proves inferiority of others and justify oppression and ethnocentrism. Now its mostly about being critical of inequality, ? We also do fieldwork in western, ‘developed’ countries. ?There is more globalization now. ?Early anthropology focused on studying isolated, tribal societies. ?Over time they began to study large urban industrial societies. Today the scope of cultural anthropology has expanded into various subdivisions, such as urban political, and medical. Compare the two major schools of early anthropological thought: British social anthropology and French structuralism in terms of their primary concern and focus. British Social Anthropology: ?Emerged in early 20th century. Main founding figure was Malinowski. ?Radcliffe-Brown, Evans-Pritchard, Gluckman, and Leach also were important figures. ?Two theoretical foundations were functionalism and structural functionalism: 0Functionalism – Explanation of why certain social institutions exist. Explains the cultural responses to basic individual needs that are biological and/or physiological. 0Exa mple: cannibalism may be explained through a survivalist function ?Structural Functionalism – Concerned less with individual needs and actions and more with the place of the individuals in the social order. ?Figures out the relationship of individuals to the larger social body. ?Example: Cannibal Tours – colonists arrived and stripped villages of sacred objects and introduced European monetary system to make the villagers subordinateDuring these early years, social anthropology was deeply intertwined with the British colonial government that provided the financial support for research and teaching in anthropology. The primary interest was in Africa – to study their languages and generate knowledge about their political and legal systems. French Structuralism ?Primary figure in school of thought is Levi Strauss. ?Focused on the elementary structures of kinship, mythology, and language. ?Some concerns include the patterns or underlying structures and how seemingly unrelated things may actually be from a complex system of interrelated parts. Form is emphasized over content. ?The internal logic of a culture and its relationship to the structures of human society and human mind. Comparison: ?Both schools of thought are concerned with studying the structure and layout of the society. ?British social anthropology is concerned more with the relation of the individual to society while French structuralism is concerned with how individuals are connected to one another to form the society (mythologies, language, human mind). Week 2: How does Edward Taylor define â€Å"culture†? Discuss the four key aspects of culture by providing one example for each aspect. Examples can be drawn from the readings, films, or other sources including your own observation. British anthropologist Edward Taylor defines culture as: â€Å"a complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, arts, morals, law, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by a man as a member of society. † The four elements of culture are: 1. Culture is learned. ?Culture can be learned consciously and unconsciously through interacting and imitating the people around us. It can happen in informal settings such as your home, or formal places like churches and schools. Example: as children we learn to imitate words we hear adults speak and learn to speak the language. Proper etiquette is taught by looking at how others behave or from interacting with people who teach it to them. 2. Culture is shared. ?Members of a group share common beliefs, values, memories, and hope. ?Example: American culture is identified with individualism, while Chinese culture is identified with collectivism. This difference can be seen through the food and meals they choose. Americans usually don’t like to share their meals and order individual plates while the Chinese typically share their food and eat family-style. Example: â€Å"Eating Christmas in the Kalahari† by Richard Lee 0For Christmas, Lee buys the largest ox to show his gratitude for the Bushmen’s hospitality during his stay. He becomes confused when everyone in the village says that the ox he bought was no good and that is has no meat on it. 0In Bushmen village, it is part of their culture and tradition to insult each other so that people don’t become arrogant. Lee learned this by asking the Bushmen about it, showing how culture is shared by communication and interaction. 3. Culture is symbolic. Creation of culture depends on the human’s ability to use symbols and be able to have symbolic thought. ?We are able to give meaning to a thing or event and grasp the meaning. It can be arbitrary and conventional and depends on the social context that is widely accepted by society. However, the context can vary for each society. ?Examples: -McDonalds has become a symbol of fast food and unhealthy eating in America, but it is viewed as high class and modern in China. ?Colors tend to have symbolic meanings attached to them. Red represents love, yellow represents life, black represents death, etc. . Culture is dynamic. ?Culture isn’t a static cage to lock people in. It is something that changes over time. ?People use their culture creatively and actively instead of rigidly following the rules. ?There are some differences in culture between groups and societies, but the differences aren’t absolute. ?Cultural hybridization allows different cultural traditions and practices to merge together. 0Examples: – Food culture: fusion of food features a combination of different elements of cultures from all over the world. – Western psychotherapy combines Buddhist meditation with western psychology.What is ethnocentrism? Why is it problematic? In your discussion, draw examples from either Bohannan’s â€Å"Shakespeare in the Bush† or the film Cannibal Tours. How would a diffusionist argue against ethnocentrism? Ethnoce ntrism is the tendency to use one’s own culture as a yardstick to measure other cultural practices and beliefs. †¢Tendency for people to see their own culture as superior and natural. People make judgments according to their own cultural lens, giving them a narrow perspective; they see all other cultures as inferior to theirs.Examples: Cannibal Tours: The western tourists continuously compared the natives’ lifestyle to their own and saw their culture as primitive and backwards. They saw the natives as uncivilized and poor people who lacked the technology they possessed back at home. Bohannan’s â€Å"Shakespeare in the Bush†: While reading through Hamlet, both the storyteller and the audience exhibit ethnocentrism. What Bohannan took for granted and viewed as common sense were things that the elders did not understand because it didn’t exist in their culture.Ghosts and the afterlife did not exist in the native’s culture, and young people should not fight against their elders. Elders constantly made remarks about the play as if they knew what was going on, believing that they were telling her the true meaning of Hamlet and how her interpretation of Hamlet is actually wrong. According to Franz Boas, no culture is pure and authentic. Instead, cultural boundaries are porous and cultural exchanges have long existed in human societies. 0Diffusionism shows that all cultures are interrelated to one another, so ethnocentrism does not exist. In Ralph Linton’s â€Å"One Hundred Percent American,† he shows that cultures are not 100% from their own country and that culture is diffused and adapted by various places as part of their culture. What is cultural relativism? Discuss its pros and cons. What is your take on it? Support your argument with evidence and analysis. Cultural Relativism is the view opposite of ethnocentrism: believes that one shouldn’t judge the values and practices of other people accordi ng to their own standards. †¢The main idea is to see things from the point of view of those who live their lives.This allows the anthropologist to fully appreciate another culture. Pros: ?Objective approach in doing research; helps anthropologists another culture more thoroughly. ?Promotes unity between cultures and between groups of people in general since it would help people respect and understand each other. Cons: ?Helps justify controversial practices such as female genitalia mutilation, cannibalism, animal sacrifice, etc. *I am of the opinion that cultural relativism is an important philosophy to apply to any anthropological research, however a delicate balance must always strive to be maintained.To me, respect should always be asserted, but human rights should have authority over political correctness. †-malinowski According to Malinowski, what is a holistic approach to doing ethnographic research and why is it important? What constitutes the proper conditions for ethnographic fieldwork? Explain three central ethnographic techniques (don’t just list them, but explain in greater detail). A holistic approach in doing ethnographic work is to understand a culture as a whole and all aspects are connected/intertwined and must be understood in relation to one another. The goal of the ethnographer should be to provide an anatomy of the culture, understand the facts and put the focus into a broader context. †¢You must understand that all the small institutions of a culture, such as religion, education, kinship, are all related to one another in order to grasp the meaning as a whole. †¢The proper conditions for ethnographic fieldwork is to observe the details of the natives’ family and communal life by staying as close in contact with them as possible and cutting yourself off from the company of anyone else other than the natives.You must immerse yourself into the local society for a long duration because there is a difference b etween sporadic plunging into the company of the natives and really living with them and connecting with them. Three central ethnographic techniques: 1. Observation and participant observation. ?Careful and detailed observation is important to collect data to answer questions, which requires a lot of patience. ?You should try to be objective and keep away from any bias thoughts or else the collected data will be compromised.You must also remember to be invisible and make sure they don’t know they are being observed or else the data will be inaccurate. ?Participant observation is when you participate in events with the natives in order to analyze and take notes. 0This allows you to get closer to the natives and helps you to better understand their culture through your experience and interaction with them. 2. Interviews. ?Interviews involve asking several individual questions to get a better understanding of the culture from a native’s point of view. The goal of the inte rviews is to see a pattern that emerges in the answers you receive. ?Interviews can be informal, semi-structured, or structured. ?Informal interview – an interview that doesn’t follow a straight schedule and takes advantage of the opportunity when it arises. ?Semi-structured / structured interview – interviews that are planned out with the questions you want to ask written down and planned beforehand. 0Semi-structured interviews may have some open ended questions. 0Interviews are the most effective method and are the core of ethnographic research. When you interview people you know, you may get introduced to people that you could possibly interview, and you can therefore gather up more data and opinions for your research. This is called the snowballing effect. 3. Key informants and life histories. ?Also called cultural consultants. These people are important figures that are able to give you more insight and information in various aspects of a culture. 0They are the few people who are willing to tell you more and explain in clear details while incorporating their personal experience to help you understand.Key Informant: Someone you build an amicable relationship with, who acts as a representative of the culture. Generally someone in a high position who will be able to explain the ins and outs of the culture from an intimately informed POV. What are the core issues in the code of ethics for anthropologists (discuss at least three)? Why is it important to follow them? The three core issues in the code of ethics for anthropologists include: 1. Full disclosure. ?It is important for the anthropologist to be open and honest to the people s/he is studying. Must inform them of every aspect of the study and any consequences that may happen as a result of the study. 2. Informed Consent. ?The people being studied must be well informed about the procedure, and the anthropologist must have them sign a paper or ask for verbal consent before proceeding w ith the study. 0This is to make sure that they have fully agreed to the terms and have proof that they have willingly volunteered themselves. 3. Potential Harm. 0It is the anthropologist’s duty to inform the subject of any consequential harm that may come to them. The anthropologist must ensure not to harm safety, dignity, or privacy of any parties involved. ?It is important to follow the code of ethics in order to avoid any lawsuits and also to make sure that the people being studied are well informed and know exactly what they are signing up for so that no harm will come to them. Week 4: Today most anthropologists recognize that race is a social construct that does not have a biological reality. Discuss how Boas and Montagu each defend this view. What evidence from modern genetics does the film â€Å"Race: The Power of an Illusion† provide to further support this position?Franz Boas also referred to as the â€Å"Father of American Anthropology,† talks about ra ce as a social construction in his paper, â€Å"Mind of Primitive Man† ? He believes that racial groups never existed, and that races are not as pure as we imagine them to be because migration patterns in the past intertwined cultures together and created diverse groups of people. ?Boas talks about purity and boundedness, stating that biological significance is only possible when races have uniform, closely inbred groups where family lines are alike. However, these conditions can’t be achieved with humans, especially in large populations. He also argues about the instability of populations, meaning that the physical and psychological attributes of people are dynamic and fluctuate constantly to adapt to various circumstances. 0The biological, linguistic, and cultural traits of people are the product of historical development and the environment. Ashley Montagu in her article, â€Å"The Concept of Race in the Human Species in the Light of Genetics,† uses the idea of cooking an omelet as a metaphor for the making of race. 0When an omelet is made, the end result may all look the same, but the ingredients used to make the omelet may vary.This is the basis for the anthropological view of race in that although groups of people may have different appearances and characteristics, everyone is essentially the same. 0His argument is based on modern genetics, stating that no two humans are genetically identical to one another, therefore races cannot categorize groups of people since they don’t share the same genetic background.  ¦Racial characteristics are artificial and have no genetic base. Example of the use of modern genetics in the film, â€Å"Race: The Power of an Illusion. †¢In the film, a group of students performed an experiment to compare genetic similarities to other classmates using blood samples, skin color, and saliva swaps. The result of the experiment turned out to be different from what they expected. The students found that their genes were most similar to people they least expected, and that there was no correlation between their genetic patterns and their skin color. †¢Dr. Richard Lewontin, with the use of gel electrophesis, found that 85% of all variations among humans are between individuals of the same local population. There is as much difference between two individuals of the same race as there is between individuals of different races, so race can’t be determined biologically. What is scientific racism? Why is it flawed and dangerous? Use one of the examples discussed in the lecture to support your argument (Morton versus Gould or The Bell Curve). How do anthropologists understand gender and patriarchy? Provide two examples (from the lecture or your own observation) to show that gender roles change from society to society and from time to time.Scientific Racism is the attempt to prove â€Å"scientifically† that some â€Å"races† are not just different, but superio r to others. 0Scientific techniques and observations are usually utilized to prove this belief but the collected data is usually inaccurate and tainted with racist beliefs. Example: Dr. Samuel George Morton versus Stephen J. Gould. †¢Samuel George Morton attempted to prove that some races were superior to others by measuring the skulls of people of different races,  ¦He believed that the cranial capacity of the skulls would tell how intelligent people were. His results concluded that white people were the superior race among other groups, because his measurements showed that they had the largest skulls compared to the others. ?Stephen J. Gould repeated the research and found several errors with Morton’s conclusion. 0Morton manipulated his data by including more female skulls for blacks than for whites, so the measurement for the skulls of the blacks turned out to be smaller. 0When Gould measured again fairly, the average size of a black person’s skull turned out to be much larger than the skull of a white person’s. The data was manipulated because of Morton’s bias. His beliefs caused him to already have the results in mind that he wanted, regardless of what is actually true. Example: The Bell Curve 0A book written by Richard J. Hernstein and Charles Murray: argues that blacks carry inferior genes of intelligence compared to whites, and so they naturally score lower on IQ tests.  ¦Their low IQ scores are what prevent the blacks from attaining a higher level job, and it is also because of their low intelligence that they have a higher crime rate. The controversy that comes with this claim is that if the government agrees with it, then the blacks should not receive social welfare for their low-income families because they are genetically inferior. Scientific racism is usually incorrectly proven using data that has been deliberately altered to support bias beliefs, so the results are not accurate. The danger that can result fro m this if it is actually proven, the groups may be neglected or abused, or at the very least treated with social injustice. Gender – All the traits that a culture assigns to and indicates in men and women. It is a social construct of male and female characteristics and roles. ?Gender differences come from culture rather than biology. ?Patriarchy – A social and political system rule by men in which women have inferior social and political status. 0Females are carried out as subordinates to men in this system. Most common in patrilineal societies (involving counting the descent line of the father’s line, which includes property inheritance, names, titles, etc. ) Examples of gender roles changing between societies and through time: ?Forager/hunter and gatherer societiesThis type of society shows a typical gender division of labor. Men were responsible for hunting and fishing while women were responsible for gathering fruits and nuts. Men would usually bring in more food than women, so the men had a higher social rank in these societies. When women are the ones to contribute more food, then the women would have an equal relationship with the men. ?Agriculture societies Men are assigned to heavy labor such as plowing the field, while women are responsible for domestic work, child rearing, and light far work around the house. These societies tend to have a stronger gender inequality. Industrial societies Gender roles in industrial societies tend to change over time in response to economic conditions and social climates. Before the 1900s, it was common for men, women, and children to work in factories. Things began to change in the 1900s with the large influx of immigrants that increased the male labor force and also brought up ideas that women weren’t fit to work in the factories and should stay home and take care of the kids instead, During WW2, things changed again as men are drafted into the military and women began working in factorie s again to fill the gap.The women’s return to the factory was received in a positive notion and was even viewed as patriotic. What are gender stereotypes? What is the role of advertising in making and reinforcing gender stereotypes and normalcy? Draw two concrete examples from the film (Killing US Softly) in your discussion. Gender stereotypes – oversimplified yet strongly held ideas about the characteristics of men and women. Advertisements mainly target women and girls about beauty and the ideal body they should have, as well as a childlike / quiet demeanor. Many girls express the fear of being fat, and the number one wish of girls between the age of 11-17 is to be thinner. ?Most of the people who suffer from eating disorders are girls who are self-conscious and obsessive about their body. Examples in Killing us Softly: ?Ads of women of color tend to show them with animal prints which turn them into animals rather than human beings. ?Ads about women who lost weight t ypically say they were able to get married because they lost weight.This gives the idea that women who are fat probably won’t ever get married, and this serves to lower women’s self-esteems even further and increase their drive to become skinnier and purchase products to expedite the process. ?Images of thin women are often used to silence women and put them down. ?Ads show pictures of women exhibiting passive body language such as their hands over their mouths and faces. ?When there is an ad of a man and a woman, the man is usually taller and is looking down at the woman, while the woman looks up and smiles compliantly. This encourages female submission to men and conveys the message that women should be quiet and obedient. According to Martin’s article, how do stereotypical gender roles shape scientific accounts of the egg-sperm romance? Stereotypical gender roles shape scientific accounts by how the sperm and the egg are described and how they function. ?The sperm is described as masculine, active, agile, and penetrating, while the egg is described as passive, feminine, fragile and dependent. ?The egg is portrayed as a damsel in distress who waits quietly in a still spot for her knight in shining armor, the sperm, to fight his way to her. The female reproductive system is seen as wasteful and a failure while the male reproductive system is seen as productive. ?Scientists question why women are born with so many eggs only to have most of it go to waste, yet the don’t consider the excessive amount of sperm men create as a waste. ?New research found that the sperms aren’t that forceful and what actually matters is that the surface of the egg is what traps the sperm, showing that eggs are more active than previously thought. This shows that the relationship between the egg and the sperm is interactive. Even with this new research, the egg is still viewed in a bad light. ?The more active role of the egg is seen as too aggressiv e and the reproductive system of women as a dangerous place since it tries to kill sperm cells that enter it. How does Ortner explain why women are universally put in an inferior position to men? Do you agree with her argument? Why or why not? Support your view with evidence. Ortner argues that the subordination of women is a universal idea by referring to how a lot of anthropological literatures show accounts of how women are devalued in society. Symbolic acts of women are believed to justify their inferior role. Menstruation is considered a symbolic act that restricts the freedom of women. During a women’s menstruation period, she was not allowed to come near sacred objects because of the fear that she might contaminate them. Menstruation was believed to be a threat of warfare. ?Social and political structures also serve to affect the status of women in societies, and exclude women from participating in areas with people of high authority. ?Women are associated with nature while men are associated with culture, and culture is typically viewed as superior to nature.Men use their creativity to create technology and symbols that are transcendental and last for eternity, while women are restricted by their natural duties that involve reproduction and creating life.  ¦Destruction of life by men has more prestige and is viewed as transcendental, while creation of life by women is regarded as less important.  ¦The things that men create last forever while what women produce are doomed to die.  ¦The reason why women are associated with nature more is because of their physiology, social role, and psyche. ?No I do not agree with Ortner.I believe that these views are socially constructed, and that we’ve evolved past them. Week 5: What are the five different economic systems in the world? Define each briefly. ?Forager: hunting and gathering; moving from place to place; gender roles due to unequal division of labor, egalitarian (old people are respect ed). ?Horticulture: Cultivation with simple tools, fields not permanent property (slash and burn) mobility, depend on rainfall. ?Agriculture: Use animals for food and labor. These groups are less mobile, live in larger and more permanent settlements, and use advanced irrigation systems. Pastoral: Focus on domesticated animals for food; nomadic. ?Industrial: Mechanized forces, factories, and technology for mass production; increased population density. Briefly explain the three basic principles that govern exchanges according to Karl Polanyi. ?The Market Principle: Supply and Demand, Capitalism. Coffee beans they were selling. Export of crop. ?Redistribution: Socialism; Goods move from local level to center: taxation, welfare. Redistributing the pigs and wealth within the people. ?Reciprocity: exchange between those who are socially equal (gift economies); want to give back.What is a moral economy? What is a system of total service defined by Marcel Mauss? ?Moral Economy: A type of e conomy in which economic activities are an integral part of social relations and moral obligations. Economic and non-economic activities and institutions are embedded in one another. Economic activities and exchange systems are governed by conceptions of social justice, norms, and expectations. ?Systems of total service – The exchange is not solely about property and wealth, but also about the social and moral obligations. Part of the more general and enduring contract.According to Marcel Mauss, why does a gift have the special power to cause its recipient to pay it back? ?The Power – Gifts are never â€Å"free,† so they give rise to reciprocal exchanges. The giver does not merely give an object, but also a part of him/herself. This intrinsic bondage weighs on the conscience of the recipient. What is potlatch? How do Ruth Benedict, Marcel Mauss, and Marvin Harris explain why potlatch exists? ?Potlatch means to give away, or a gift; it is a festival ceremony, and its goal is to give away joy and wealth – more than the rival. Explanations – 0Ruth Benedict: Driven by obsession with prestige and status, (because the more that you give the more prestige you claim). 0Marcel Mauss: Compelled by reciprocity, (responding to a positive action with another positive action, rewarding kindness). 0Marvin Harris: Serves an economic purpose (rational cultural adaptation). Says that potlatch is a logical cultural mechanism. Says that participating in potlatches creates a constant flow of goods. Serves as an economic purpose, human social life is a response to practical problems of earthly existence.

Problem in the United States

Smuggling has been a problem in the United States for many years. The continuous breaching of our borders may one day allow the smuggling of something that could cause massive destruction and death to our country. It is easy to see how the smuggling of something as innocuous as a specific flower or bush can be a problem when it infiltrates the native environment and kills off many different species. But smuggling is not limited to this. There is also the continuous smuggling of drugs and people into this country that causes many problems. Although many people who are smuggled into the United States do so to work or to be with their family, there is a large percentage of them that are forced into prostitution or some other form of slavery. This paper will look at these specific cases of smuggling and determine what, if anything can be done about it. Smuggling is done for many reasons. Generally when something is smuggled, it is smuggled over an international border and it is smuggled for many reasons; either to avoid paying taxes, because the item is illegal, or, in the case of people, because they are not supposed to be there. As an example of this, it is estimated that millions of dollars worth of cigarettes are smuggled every year. These cigarettes are not necessarily smuggled into the United States from another country, but from other states, in which the taxes are low. A carton of cigarettes may be as cheap as $20 in a state like Virginia, and in states like New York, where the cigarette taxes are very high, making the total cost of a carton $75 can lead to a profit for the smuggler of about $40 per carton. The smuggling of cigarettes from one state to another is fairly simple. There are not any customs officials to pass through, and if the smuggler gets pulled over, it is very unlikely that the police officer would search his or her trunk, where the cartons may be. But getting over international borders is usually more difficult, and the smugglers have evolved certain strategies for not getting caught. One way smugglers pass over the border is with the use of small, private planes. The smuggler can fly into the country undetected, allowing whatever he is smuggling into the country. They are also small boats smugglers can use to get themselves from a specific country to the United States. These boats are known as â€Å"go-fast† boats and can be used to smuggle anything from drugs to people. And one way to smuggle that we are seeing more and more are the use of tunnels. A smuggler may hire someone to dig tunnels underground, allowing nearly anything to be passed from one country to the next without having to go through customs. More daring smugglers, however, will hide whatever it is that they are smuggling and attempt to get through customs this way. They may hide it on their bodies or under their clothes, inside themselves, in their cars, or in the bodies of animals that may be traveling with them. Like the more clandestine ways, this way of smuggling is rampant, as evidenced by the massive amount of smugglers caught each year while trying to go through customs. Smuggling has consequences for everyone. Of course, the smugglers, assuming they do not get caught, make out better than anyone. Usually the practice of smuggling is very lucrative. The profits from illegal drugs and cigarettes and the trafficking of humans provide smugglers with billions of dollars every year. As long as the profit margin is high, there will always be people illegally smuggling. The â€Å"war on drugs† must be concerned with the smuggling problem. But the question of how to win the war on drugs is an interesting one. If by winning the drug war it is meant the eradication of all drugs, then the United States has surely lost. There are still people, usually those directly involved with the drug war, that still think we should keep fighting the war as we always have been. But there has been now over a trillion dollars spent on the war on drugs and drugs today are more potent and making larger profits than ever. The people benefiting most from the war on drugs are the smugglers and the drug dealers themselves. The fact remains that all throughout human history, intoxicants have been used in one degree or another, so why would we think people today are any different? By this definition of the war on drugs the United States, on all counts, has lost. There is another way to win the war on drugs and that is to turn it into a war on smugglers and drug dealers. People are going to always be looking for ways to alter their consciousness. Everyone does it; whether you work out, or take heroin, the point is to feel better. Drugs are not going away. Drugs like marijuana and meth, which can be produced by anyone, will always be with us. By regulating drugs, and making the tax on them universal, the drug dealers and the smugglers would be put out of business. We cannot change how people feel, or what they want to do. All we can do is deter them from doing it. So the question becomes, what is the best way to deter them? We could threaten them with jail, but this obviously does not work, as nearly 80 percent of people in jail are there in some way for drugs. So we could decriminalize and regulate the drugs, putting gangs, dealers and smugglers out of business and using the profits from the sale of the drugs to educate people about their effects. This form of deterrence would be more much more humane and effective than how the war has been fought thus far.

journalism essays

journalism essays Since 1968 America has been better enlightened than previously concerning current events and happenings around the world. A considerable factor for this occurrence is the television program 60 Minutes which debuted on the air in September of 1968. Many other television newsmagazines have been produced since its creation, however none have possessed the longevity nor the influence of 60 Minutes. In fact, 60 Minutes, which is owned by CBS News, was the first regular network news program to cover actual stories as opposed to topics. Today, similar newsmagazines can be seen every night of the week on various stations, all of which were sparked by the inception of 60 Minutes. All of the tabloid television programs being shown today are also a result of 60 Minutes and its bold, gutsy, "gotcha" style of television journalism. 60 Minutes changed the way that the American public receives its television news, stemming forth a whole new format of television broadcast journalism. 60 Minutes has a vast history of stories covered, yet the format has remained unchanged. Don Hewett, creator and producer of 60 Minutes, has been the subject of much criticism for his stubbornness. Since its origin, 60 Minutes has continued to adhere to the same formula that made it such a success. The hidden-camera interviews, the surprising of unsuspecting alleged crooks with a bombardment of questions, the longevity of the featured reporters, all of these are what made 60 Minutes a successfinishing in the top 10 Nielson ratings for 17 consecutive seasons and counting. Other than the fact that it changed from black- and-white to color with the new technology, the appearance of 60 Minutes has remained consistent. There is no reason to change a thing about such a prosperous show according to Hewitt. Not only has the format remained constant but the reporters have as well. ...

How to Invent Names for Your Genre Novel

How to Invent Names for Your Genre Novel How to Invent Names for Your Genre Novel How to Invent Names for Your Genre Novel By Mark Nichol You have a great concept for a science fiction, fantasy, or horror novel, but when it comes to crafting names of people, places, and things you’ve invented, you stumble. Fortunately, it’s easier than you might think to assign identities: If you’re a world-building writer you are creating a fully realized realm with discrete cultures and languages construct names so that they are clearly distinct from those of other locations and consistent with others found in the same areas. If you want to suggest parallels with cultures and languages here on Earth, choose names that will evoke them without imitating them think of letter and sound combinations, the preponderance of various vowel pairings and consonant blends, and whether words tend to be curt or complex. Use names that convey a feeling: Guttural consonants suggest belligerence, cruelty, and evil in people, and harsh, hostile weather and topographical features. Multisyllabic, mellifluous monikers make one think of benevolent people and beautiful places. Let the name of a person or a place suggest personality or ambience, or physique or geography. Do names in your invented culture consist of one word, two words, or more? Does this number vary according to social class, or are words similar to royal titles built into names to signal social status? Do surnames in the culture identify trades or skills, equivalent, for example, to Taylor and Smith? Do people use different forms of address depending on relative social standing? Think of how surnames in different languages, especially those stemming from Indo-European, have elements known as particles: Latinate languages, for example, have Le, La, De, Du, and the like, while German and Dutch have Von and Van and Gaelic has M’, Mc, and Mac as well as O’. What particles might your characters’ language have, and why do some names lack them? (A note of caution: Apostrophes are overused in fantasy fiction, sometimes to an absurd extent. Use them judiciously or not at all.) What does the name mean? When reusing a particular syllable, take care that it is appropriate. For example, if twell means â€Å"river,† the syllable shouldn’t appear in the name of a valley unless the valley’s name means â€Å"valley of the river.† And if names are similarly constructed sharing a syllable or a pattern of two or more words those people or places or things should share a common culture or language, but make sure you don’t have too many similar names, or ones that begin with the same letter. Note that on the planet we come from, people who speak different languages have different versions of names for people (Paul vs. Pablo) places (Germany vs. Deutschland), and things (wine vs. vino). Sometimes, words are adopted into other languages, and sometimes they’re not. There’s no reason the rules for the world you build should be any different. Keep in mind, too, how languages evolve (and sometimes become extinct): The name sprawled across a 1,000-year-old map of a kingdom will likely differ somewhat from the name used in the present time. Spelling changes should be consistent with others in the story: If a topographical name’s vowel shifted over time from e to a, then a character’s ancient near namesake probably spelled their name with an e, not an a. To create new names, take a name or another word from English or another known language and change one letter or consonant blend, or replace one or more syllables. Don’t hesitate to assign truncated or diminutive forms of names (equivalent to Jon, from Jonathan, or Timmy, from Timothy), or nicknames. Also, one or two names out of many might replicate or closely resemble names in known languages, but more than that will be distracting. Use Scrabble tiles, magnetized letters, or alphabet blocks to spontaneously form words, or type random letters until a likely syllable or entire word is generated. Alternatively, if you’re the cheating type, or these suggestions don’t work for you, search online for a random name generator. Even in a fantasy realm, names need to be realistic. Superman had a nemesis whose name I can’t even type (or search for online) because it consists of a string of consonants that defy my efforts to reconstruct it. The idea was that the villain was as annoying and contrary as his unpronounceable name suggests, but characters must be able to articulate the words you invent. Remember, somebody christened each person’s name, and some society bestowed each name of a geographical feature on that place and on each practical object within it. The final step, before inserting a name into a story, is to do an online search for it. If another author has already used the word, or it ends up being the Romanian term for slime, alter or jettison it. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Fiction Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Wether, Weather, Whether7 Patterns of Sentence StructurePeople vs. Persons

Human Resource Management Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Human Resource Management - Term Paper Example Many employees are unable to balance their personal life with their work and this mix up is often the leading cause of stress amongst the employees. This also contributes to reduced performance as an employee fails to concentrate in the workplace as a result of the interference with the personal life. If the company is able to provide an environment where employees are able to balance these two different but yet demanding aspects of themselves and blend them to work in unison almost perfectly, then the employees will concentrate more in their work and increase their performance. They will also be in a better position and state of mind to deal with their personal lives and any crisis they may be undergoing without it interfering with their work. Resilience training is where the employees are presented with many different challenges in their workplace in a form of training and are taught how to handle all these challenges without them breaking their work spirit or enthusiasm and without having to show it to their customers as it might affect the feedback. The training is meant to make them much more focused in their work despite what is happening in the surrounding. It will enable them improve their decision making ability in order to enable them make the best decisions at all times. The resilience training is also meant to improve their clarity of problems, crises and challenges in the workplace as well as be more creative and especially when pressed with other matters. Work is done in the same way all the time creates monotony and minimizes or completely kills motivation of the employees in the workplace affecting negatively their performance and productivity of the organization. When the employer creates different opportunities which will make the workplace much more interesting hence reducing the monotony, the employees start valuing and enjoying their work. When employees feel valued and enjoy

Human Rights and democratic society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 10000 words

Human Rights and democratic society - Essay Example The various conflicts and revolutions in the world have shaped the concept of human rights as we know it. In the last two hundred and fifty years, we see the clamor for human rights as the clamor of a world and of the various peoples inside it for equality and freedom. Starting with the French and American revolutions towards the latter part of the eighteenth century, it is this very notion of human rights that has led colonized states and revolutionary movements to assert their voices and fight for their freedoms against oppressive and despotic governments - from the Tiananmen Square uprising in China to the struggle of the East Timorese against Indonesian occupation. All human rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent and interrelated. The international community must treat human rights globally in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing, and with the same emphasis. While the significance of national and regional particularities and various historical, cultural and religious backgrounds must be borne in mind, it is the duty of States, regardless of their political, economic and cultural systems, to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms. When the United Nations was created in 1948 by a world still reeling from the ravages of the Second World War and intent on healing the wounds wrought by it, it was tasked to become the primary agency in defining and advancing human rights. From then on, various other agencies were created, addressing specific human rights concerns. Notable examples of this are the International Labor Organization and the UNICEF. However, the universality of human rights has oftentimes been challenged by critics on the allegation that the Western bias is very much evident, and that the popularity of it in recent times is nothing more than the remnants of a neocolonial attitude purveyed by the crafty and bought by the undiscerning. A refutation of this was attempted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1968 through a study that demonstrated that "the profound aspirations underlying human rights correspond to concepts - the concepts of justice, an individual's integrity and dignity, freedom from oppression and persecution, and individual participation in collective endeavors - that are encountered in all civilizations and periods." Some Islamic scholars like Safi (2000) remain unconvinced: The pragmatic arguments for the universality of human rights are problematic, because they either completely overlook the significant impact cultural differentiation has on values and perceptions, or ignore the fact that agreements through UN reflect, more often than not, political compromises by political elites, rather than normative consensus. Further, many of the ruling elites who pretend to speak on the behalf of the peoples of the developing world lack political legitimacy and public support, and have embraced ideological outlooks at odds with the surrounding cultures. In the absence of genuine democracy in the countries of the South, no one can