National Identtiy Essay Example for Free

National Identtiy Essay National identity refers to the set of attributes and beliefs shared by those who belong to the same nation, the legitimate form of a political organization. Our independence and the way the achieve liberty is through self-rule. According to Anthony Smith a nation is a self-identifying group or community based on such factors as a common culture, history, language, ethnicity and religion. (Power Point Lecture) Nations can adopt a degree of common culture and belief, a set of common understandings such as language and ambitions to promote a cohesive unit. National identity is multi-dimensional and there are 5 fundamental features: historic territory or homeland, common myths and historical memories, a common mass public culture, common legal rights and duties for all members, and common economy with territorial mobility for members. The first feature is historic territory or homeland. Without territory that we call our own we can’t have national identity. One example is the singing of the National Anthem. This is clearly a well-respected song of praise about the land that brings us freedom which we view as our beautiful country. Territory is land that is claimed and called their own, yet there are nations in the past that have had their state and now became nations without states like Catalonia and Scotland. The United States is an example of a nation that doesn’t have a dominant group and a multi-cultural society as a civic nation. An example from the lecture was how we cannot particularly identify an â€Å"American† here in America, but if we were to fly to Japan, an American can be identified very quickly because of their dominant groups. Second, are the common myths and historical memories which are told. This pertains to national identity of people and about their origins. Historic memories refer to illustrations and historical events that become a part of the national story. An example in the lecture is the topic of 9/11. We put aside time to remember 9/11, often events associated with war and how identity is created. Also in national identity we pay taxes to people with never meet, because we have common bonds of obligations to each other, we care about strangers that are part of our nation. We start seeing each other as human in which we outline ourselves in contra distinction to others. The third fundamental feature is the common mass public culture. This is the requirement that we have institutions that reach out and forge a sense of belonging to national identity. Schools and educational institutions are associated in this feature. An example is The Pledge of Allegiance, origins of nations are illustrations of why we learn is since kindergarten and how we must put our right hand over our heart and face the flag as we recite The Pledge of Allegiance. Also, our calendar reminds us we are American and what it means to be American. For Americans the 4th of July is an example and for Mexicans the celebration of Cinco de Mayo is another example of national recognition to those living in Mexico. On Thanksgiving we give thanks because this is the day in which we merit the discovery of our country. In addition, the singing of the National Anthem that starts off the Super bowl also emphasizes the point that we participate in a common mass public culture. All of these examples symbolize that we are a multi-cultural society. The fourth feature explains how common legal right and duties for all members speak to the coherence between nationalism and equality. Each one of us belongs to a different sub group, meaning our citizenship. The fifth and final feature is the common economy with territorial mobility, meaning getting rid of barriers for commerce for common trade. Keeping the same concurrent of currency and standards of measurements in the United States means you know your part of the same nation. The ability to travel freely from one place to another is what we acknowledge as a national identity. For instance, if I were to travel to Ensenada, B. C I would most likely trade in my currency for pesos. A different currency system means a different nation. This also explains a part of what it means to have a national identity. In conclusion, national identity is formed from our interpretation of our nation. Citizens learn to identify with their nation in several ways from singing anthems, honoring calendar holidays such as Memorial Day and 4th of July which in all illustrate to us how to love our beautiful country even to the point of willing to kill for a nation.

Replication of the Stroop Effect

Replication of the Stroop Effect Abdus Azad Abstract This experiment is a replication of the Stroop effect, in which you are supposed to identify colors, where colors are in different texts. Also the name of the word when in different colors. There was one experimenter and the participants were 20 (15 females, 5 males) Hunter College Psychology 250 students. The age ranged from 19-32 with a mean age of 23.5. The Experimenter tested the participant’s in two effects and three conditions. In one effect they were to identify the word, in three conditions congruent (matching the color), incongruent (different color), and control (neutral black text). In another effect the students were tasked with identifying the color in three conditions, congruent (same color matched), incongruent (different text), and control (neutral black text). We hypothesized there will be an increase in the mean time when participants are tested in the incongruent conditions due to interference. Using a one-way repeated measures ANOVA the result of this study found that there is a significant difference in incongruent condition when participants were tasked to name the color F (1.554, 23.32) = 7.434, p= 0.0055. Using a second one-way ANOVA for naming words, the results showed no significance F (1.845, 27.68) = 0.1289, p= 0.8642. A Replication of The Stroop Effect When we focus our attention to do one task, this is called selective attention. This means to exclude any other stimuli which may cause distraction. While on the other hand divided attention is when we have the ability to divide our attention to a few tasks, sometimes while doing these tasks, it may become an automatic process which makes dividing your attention between these two tasks much easier. Automatic processing, is when you cannot control your thought process, it can be thought as implicit thinking, in other words thinking that may occur unconsciously. Automatic processing may not always be helpful, you may have conflict with automatic and controlled processing. The Stroop Effect tested how these processes worked. James McKeen Cattell (1886) had originally conducted research and found that objects and colors when compared to their corresponding words, took longer to speak aloud. He knew there was an interference with automatic and controlled processing. Even though he had already made this connection, Ridley Stroop (1935) is more recognized for work with color and words. Stroop in his experiment had used six colors and did three different experiments. The experiment’s consisted of participants reading lists of colors, on one list color was written in black, and on the other list was color written in different colored inks. They were supposed to identify the color of the words and also timed. The other experiments that he did was similar involving shapes. The way Cattell and Stroop’s research differs is that Cattell ha d concluded there was an interference between automatic and controlled processing, while Stroop’s research was more about developing an understanding as to why this interference is occurring. In Stroop’s article â€Å"Studies of Interference in Serial Verbal Reactions† he had concluded that your mind can automatically decide the semantic meaning of a word, hence when the color matched the word the time it took to figure out the color was much quicker vs when the colors did not match the word. Further replications of the Stroop test were performed, J.D. Dunbar and C.M. McLeod’s (1990) replication like Stroop also consisted of a congruent condition (words with the same color as the text) and incongruent conditions (colors don’t match the word text). They also added a control condition, the words were in a neutral color. Flowers, Warner, and Polansky (1979) did a variation of Dunbar and MacLeod’s Stroop test. They used rows numbers, the number was the same in each row and they asked the participants to determine how many numbers were in the rows. The findings by both Danbar, McLeod (1990) and Flowers, Warner, Polansky (1979) showed there was a noticeable gap in time and errors made in the incongruent condition compared to the control and congruent conditions. With their replications, we can conclude that participants in the incongruent group take more time identifying the color and made more errors Haely (1994) spoke of further research on automatic processing. An experiment was conducted on how we process words that we use frequently, words like â€Å"of†, â€Å"the†, etc. It showed that participants found it harder to focus on the individual letters of the words. She gave the participants some English text to read and asked them to circle every letter â€Å"t† that they saw. The findings showed that participants frequently missed letters that were in more common words, words like â€Å"the†, â€Å"then†, etc. When it came to less used words they were able to more easily identify it. These findings showed how we automatically process words. Words that are commonly used daily, when reading them, we see a whole entity, instead of the individual components. This way our brain automatically reads words further supports Stroop’s findings. In our experiment we will attempt to do a modified replication of Stroop’s experiment to see how our results correspond to his. We will have two groups one will be to Name The Color, and the other to Name The Word. Our null hypothesis is that there will be no significance mean difference in time recorded for participants in congruent and incongruent groups from the control group. The alternative hypothesis for our experiment is that the time recorded for participants in the incongruent groups will be significantly more. From the many studies done on Stroop Interference, mostly all suggesting that the incongruent group will take more time to identify the color or word due to Stroop Interference, this is where our alternative hypothesis has come from. Method Participants The participants of this study were all Hunter College students. There were 5 males and 15 females, ages from 19-32 (M=23.50, SD=3.80). 10 of the participants spoke English as a second language. The hours of sleep the participants had varied from 4 -7 hours (M=5.36, SD=1.02). Only one participant had reported vision problems. Ethnicity and socioeconomic status were not taken into consideration. All of the students who participated were from the Psychology 250, class that meets on Mondays Thursdays from 8:00 am to 11:20 AM. The participants will all be compensated in the form of a letter grade from the professor. Materials The testing was taken on a consisting of three conditions. Control (color of word written in black text), congruent (word was written in same color), and incongruent (color of word was different from text), the time it took to answer was recorded by the computer. The results were displayed on the screen and were written on paper with a pen or pencil. The students transferred their results into a shared excel data table which was uploaded on Blackboard. The participants completed the test in a computer lab using computers. Procedure There was informed consent and the students were briefed on the experiment with no deception. The students were all presented with the same instructions. We conducted a within subjects design, to select the order of the participants a counterbalancing method was used to avoid possible sequence effects. Each participant was assigned a number from 1-6. Depending on your assigned number you would start with a different condition. 8 participants started with the Control, 6 participants started with the congruent, and the remaining 6 started with the incongruent condition. 3 participants were chosen at a time and went took the experiment on different computers in three different rooms. Once in the room the participant closed the door, and started with the assigned condition. There was two effects, in one the participant was required to Name The Word, and the other the participant was supposed to Name The Color. Each effect had three conditions. The control condition was black colored text displaying a color. The congruent condition had both had a text corresponding to the color. The incongruent condition had a text of a color displayed in a different color. Words would display and the user was required to click the answer as quickly as possible, after one condition was completed they moved on to the next. After a participant was complete another participant shortly followed to the empty computer following the sequence previously mentioned. We chose to exclude any extreme values from our data any person with values  ± 2.0 SD from the mean Results When the participants were required to Name The Word, in the control condition the mean score and standard deviation was (M=1494.89, SD= 314.19), in the incongruent condition the mean score and standard deviation was (M=1545.93, SD=283.30, and in the congruent condition the mean score and standard deviation was (M=1483.74, SD= 264.03) see Figure 1. In the second effect when the participants were required to Name The Color, in the control condition the mean score and standard deviation was (M=1661.22, SD=248.22), in the incongruent condition the mean score and standard deviation-n was (M=17.63.41, SD=416.93), and in the congruent condition the mean score and standard deviation was (M=1400.78, SD=454.59) see Figure 2 . A one way repeated measures ANOVA was conducted twice once to test Name The Color and another to test Name The Word. It was found there was significance difference in mean time for Name The Color group F (1.554, 23.32) = 7.434, p= 0.0055, the post hoc analysis shows inco ngruent had a significant mean time slower at (p p= 0.8642. Our hypothesis was partially correct, our results show that when naming color there is a significant delay in the incongruent condition. While when naming the word there is no significance. Discussion The aim of this study was to do a modified replication of the Stroop effect. We hypothesized that participants would have an increase in interference with more complex tasks. In other words, the mean reaction time will be significantly higher between the incongruent conditions. The results proved our hypothesis partially correct, which was that participants would have an increase in mean time in the incongruent condition. In other words, the mean reaction time will be significantly higher in Naming The Color and Naming The Word incongruent conditions. Our result found significance when participants saw words with different colors and they were required to name the color. There was no significance when they were required to name the word. The findings were somewhat inconsistent with our hypothesis because other previous studies also showed that when the word conflicts with the ink color, people are slower to respond and they are faster if the word agrees with the ink color, (Cohen, Dunbar, McClelland, 1990). So, previous studies agree with our results. Our findings were consistent with the first and second experiment, which was done by Stroop (1935). Our results agree with Stroop’s study because in both studies tested participants in different conditions and the conditions were counterbalanced to avoid order affects. Stroop had found a delay in his second experiment when the color was supposed to be named with different words, and no significant delay in the first experiment. Our replication yielded similar results. In both studies, participants had a task of naming words of colors which were written in a different color (incongruent) and then also naming neutral words (control). Since previous research had already explained that when a word complements its ink color, it leads to the processing of naming the word and the color together and if the color and the word are different it takes a longer time of reaction or response, (Cohen, Dunbar, McClelland, 1990), we can conclude that both studies would have similar findings. Our result was also consistent with the second study done by Algom, Eidels, and Townsend et al. (2009) which found that when a participant is given the task of naming color words that are printed in color, they report the ink color faster if that color word is the name of the color rather than the name of a different color. By doing this study we were able to see that when faced with two tasks at the same time our brain responds to the immediate visible one. So, when we see the word blue written in the color green, we automatically are triggered to name the word, which is blue because that is processed in our brain first. However, if we are told to say the name of the color that the word is written in, like blue written in green, it takes a longer time because now the brain has to overcome the first step in automatically just recognizing the word, we have to voluntarily pay attention to the word and it’s incongruent color to name just the color of the word, which takes a longer time, as explained by Cattell (1886), Posner and Snyder (1975), Shiffrin and Schneider (1977) in their studies. Some limitations of this study was that the sample size was too small (N=20) so it was not representative of the larger population. There is a biased sample, the age group of the participants is fairly narrow. So the results obtained would not be acceptable to generalize the whole population. With a larger sample, the results may have varied. Also, the experiment was done too early in the morning when people are usually tired, sleepy, moody or hungry. So, their moods can have a great effect in how much time they take when testing in the three different conditions. And since, condition 3 took more attention and concentration, certain moods or hunger could have affected their concentration. Future studies should examine look at Stroop test in regards to color and shape.in color-object naming instead of just color-word naming to see if our brain works the same way for both tasks. The sample size should be much larger and there should be more variability. Also, gender should be divided equally because in our study, there were 9 females and only 3 males. Also, future studies should do the Stroop task with other different age groups and compare how one age group’s mean reaction time is different from that of a younger or older age group. References Cattell, J. M. (1886). The time it takes to see and name objects. Mind,  11, 63-65.85). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Cohen, J., Dunbar, K., and McClelland, J. (1990). On the Control of Automatic  Processes: A Parallel Distributed Processing Account of the Stroop Effect. Psychological Review, 97 (3) 332-361. Retrieved from www.psych.stanford.edu/~jlm/papers/CohenDunbarMcC90.pdf. Eidels, A., Townsend, J., Algom, D. (2009). Comparing perception of stroop stimuli infocused versus divided attention paradigms: Evidence for dramatic processing differences Cognition, doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2009.08.008. Flowers, J.H., Warner, J.L., Polansky, M.L. (1979). Response and encoding factors in ignoring irrelevant information.Memory Cognition, 7,86-94 Healy, A. (1994). Letter detection: A window to unitization and other cognitive processes in reading text. Psychonomic Bulletin Review, 3, 333-334 Shiffrin, R. M., Schneider, W. (1977). Controlled and automatic human  information processing: II. Perceptual learning, automatic attending,  and a general theory. Psychological Review, 84, 127-190. Stroop, J. R. (1935). Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 12, 643-662. Figure1. -. The control condition the mean score and standard deviation was (M=1494.89, SD= 314.19), in the incongruent condition the mean score and standard deviation was (M=1545.93, SD=283.30, and in the congruent condition the mean score and standard deviation was (M=1483.74, SD= 264.03). The bars represent SD from the mean Figure 2.- The control condition the mean score and standard deviation was (M=1661.22, SD=248.22), in the incongruent condition the mean score and standard deviation-n was (M=17.63.41, SD=416.93), and in the congruent condition the mean score and standard deviation was (M=1400.78, SD=454.59). The â€Å"**† represents a p

Gender Roles in Society Essay -- Sociology Gender Sex Essays

Gender Roles in Society Suggested roles of all types set the stage for how human beings perceive their life should be. Gender roles are one of the most dangerous roles that society faces today. With all of the controversy applied to male vs. female dominance in households, and in the workplace, there seems to be an argument either way. In the essay, â€Å"Men as Success Objects†, the author Warren Farrell explains this threat of society as a whole. Farrell explains the difference of men and women growing up and how they believe their role in society to be. He justifies that it doesn’t just appear in marriage, but in the earliest stages of life. Similarly, in the essay â€Å"Roles of Sexes†, real life applications are explored in two different novels. The synthesis between these two essays proves how prevalent roles are in even the smallest part of a concept and how it is relatively an inevitable subject. Warren Farrell is a well educated man who focuses his attention on gender. In his essay â€Å"Men as Success Objects,† he writes about gender roles in male-female relationships. He begins, â€Å"for thousands of years, marriages were about economic security and survival† (Farrell 185). The key word in that statement is were. This implies the fact that marriage has changed in the last century. He relates the fact that post 1950s, marriage was more about what the male and female were getting out of the relationship rather than just the security of being married. Divorce rates grew and added to the tension of which gender held the supremacy and which role the individuals were supposed to accept. â€Å"Inequality in the workplace† covered up all of the conflicts involved with the â€Å"inequality in the homeplace†(Farrell). Farrell brings to attention all ... ...o accept. They help define male versus female. Most of the time these issues are taken lightly, and go unnoticed until someone or some group pays attention to the inequality and typical roles. It becomes interesting when roles are reversed in society to see how others react to those situations. Society seems to be getting more comfortable with female success, and less obsessed with women staying home to do housework. No matter how successful, there is always a struggle for dominance. It also seems to depend on how children are brought up as to how strongly those individuals strive to achieve their specific role. It will be interesting to see as society changes over time how the defined gender roles will continue to change as well. Whether it is the conflict of success, supremacy, or need for perfection roles will sustain time just as they have from the beginning.

American Tragedy: Self-Destruction in a Self-Indulgent Society Essay ex

American Tragedy: Self-Destruction in a Self-Indulgent Society  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     "The boy moved restlessly from one foot to the other, keeping his eyes down . . . . [and he] appeared indeed to resent and even to suffer from the position in which he found himself" (p.9). Clyde Griffiths always wanted to be somebody---anyone but who he was. Growing up in a poor home of evangelizing, exhorting missionaries, he was not drawn to God but pushed away from Him and his family. Clyde was looking for a way to escape from his haunting reality to both a place and position in life that were more attractive. He was ashamed of his looks, his attire, his social position and his poor education. American Tragedy (1925) by Theodore Dreiser is the tragic story of a man whose fate is sealed and ambitions are shaped by society's values. Clyde, in trying to fit in with the norms of society, gets into more trouble than he could ever imagine. His trouble begins in Kansas City, where he works at a hotel and runs with some boys who are not all bad, yet are not good either. When these rowdy boys "borrow" a car and pick up their girls for some fun, they hit and kill a little girl. Rather than remain at the scene, they all run. When Clyde finds himself with nowhere to go, he roams until he runs into an old friend from Kansas City. He gets a job at another hotel where he meets his rich uncle. Uncle Samuel tells Clyde that he can come up and get a job in his factory. While working in that factory, he meets Roberta and falls very much in love. However, their love affair must be a secret because he is not, as a department head, supposed to date an employee. As time goes on their relationship becomes physical. In the midst of this physical relationship, Clyde accid... ...ams of getting on and up, was in danger of death. . ." (p.623)! His mother has always known that he is driven to become more like the Griffiths of Lycurgus, but still never imagined that he would become a murderer with this drive. Clyde's desire and ambitions to be something great with the help of society's twisted thinking is what brought about Clyde's demise. The selfish, self-centered thinking of this "high society," and their teaching Clyde these thoughts makes him feel like he has no choice if he wants to obtain his goals. Being corrupted by values which he accepts in order to be successful does nothing more than seal his fate and send him to the electric chair. An American Tragedy is Clyde's story about vice and greed, and the resulting catastrophe.    Bibliography Dreiser, Theodore, An American Tragedy, N.Y., The World Publishing Company, 1953. American Tragedy: Self-Destruction in a Self-Indulgent Society Essay ex American Tragedy: Self-Destruction in a Self-Indulgent Society  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     "The boy moved restlessly from one foot to the other, keeping his eyes down . . . . [and he] appeared indeed to resent and even to suffer from the position in which he found himself" (p.9). Clyde Griffiths always wanted to be somebody---anyone but who he was. Growing up in a poor home of evangelizing, exhorting missionaries, he was not drawn to God but pushed away from Him and his family. Clyde was looking for a way to escape from his haunting reality to both a place and position in life that were more attractive. He was ashamed of his looks, his attire, his social position and his poor education. American Tragedy (1925) by Theodore Dreiser is the tragic story of a man whose fate is sealed and ambitions are shaped by society's values. Clyde, in trying to fit in with the norms of society, gets into more trouble than he could ever imagine. His trouble begins in Kansas City, where he works at a hotel and runs with some boys who are not all bad, yet are not good either. When these rowdy boys "borrow" a car and pick up their girls for some fun, they hit and kill a little girl. Rather than remain at the scene, they all run. When Clyde finds himself with nowhere to go, he roams until he runs into an old friend from Kansas City. He gets a job at another hotel where he meets his rich uncle. Uncle Samuel tells Clyde that he can come up and get a job in his factory. While working in that factory, he meets Roberta and falls very much in love. However, their love affair must be a secret because he is not, as a department head, supposed to date an employee. As time goes on their relationship becomes physical. In the midst of this physical relationship, Clyde accid... ...ams of getting on and up, was in danger of death. . ." (p.623)! His mother has always known that he is driven to become more like the Griffiths of Lycurgus, but still never imagined that he would become a murderer with this drive. Clyde's desire and ambitions to be something great with the help of society's twisted thinking is what brought about Clyde's demise. The selfish, self-centered thinking of this "high society," and their teaching Clyde these thoughts makes him feel like he has no choice if he wants to obtain his goals. Being corrupted by values which he accepts in order to be successful does nothing more than seal his fate and send him to the electric chair. An American Tragedy is Clyde's story about vice and greed, and the resulting catastrophe.    Bibliography Dreiser, Theodore, An American Tragedy, N.Y., The World Publishing Company, 1953.

Death Foretold by Symbols

Gabriel Garcia Marquez is the author of the very intriguing novel Chronicle of a Death Foretold. The chronicle â€Å"is very strange and brilliantly conceived,† and â€Å" a sort of metaphysical murder mystery in which the detective, Garcia Marquez himself, reconstructs events associated with the murder 27 years earlier of Santiago Nasar, a rich, handsome fellow who lived in the Caribbean town where the author grew up† (Michaels, P. 1). Marquez plays himself in the novel, interviewing people who remember the murder and studies documents assembled by the court. He gathers various kinds of data—dreams, gossip, philosophical speculation, weather reports—and creates a chronological record of what occurred. The data that is accumulated demonstrates that symbolism was very prominent in the story and essential to the death of Santiago Nasar. Symbolism is first set up when it is introduced to the readers that Santiago Nasar had dreamed the night before his death that he was flying: â€Å"He’d dreamed he was going through a grove of timber trees where a gentle drizzle was falling, and for an instant he was happy in his dream, but when he awoke he felt completely spattered with bird shit† (Marquez, P. ). Beginning with the place, Nasar was passing by timber trees which are evergreens. â€Å"Evergreens represent immortality, everlasting life or an undying spirit, ironically enough† (â€Å"Symbolism in Chronicle of a Death foretold†). This adds to the whole ironic theme represented in a symbolic way. What is also symbolic about this piece is that flying usually represents moving to the next level spiritually. So that foreshadows his death. Another related dream that Nasar had was the one in which he was alone in a tinfoil airplane and â€Å"’flying through the almond trees without bumping into anything’† (Marquez, P. ). These almond trees are a symbol of virginity, divine favor, and purity. Trees are also recognized as being feminine. This could be representative of Santiago Nasar flying through a grove of virginal Angela Vicario. His airplane did not bump into anything, leaving the trees fully intact. This could also represent the innocence of Nasar, saying that he did not touch Angela. His innocence could also be represented in a form of Jesus. Santiago and Jesus Christ can be direct parallels when Marquez writes: â€Å"Santiago put on a shirt and pants of white linen†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Marquez, P5). Since white is the color of innocence and purity, this choice of clothing promotes those attributes. Jesus wore a linen cloth before his death as well and was aware that they were going to kill him, much like Nasar. Not only is this symbolism, but religious also. The bishop coming to town also gives a slight symbolic feature. This is because a bishop could resemble god in the way when he blesses, hears sins and such (â€Å"Bishop†). So god coming to town could foreshadow something big occurring as well. As many Christians and Catholics would agree it’s a very big deal, so it being a very big deal, one would think that everyone would behave but the exact opposite occurs when Santiago Nasar is murdered in such a brutal way right infront of his home. This story is filled with irony. When Nasar tells his mother about the symbolic dreams it would have been ideal for her to decipher them and tell him that they meant death. But instead it is mentioned that she did not recognize anything ominous within them. It is also quite ironic when he mentions, the day of his death, that â€Å"it was a very beautiful day† (Marquez, P. ) when most people agreed that the weather was funeral, with a cloudy, low sky and the thick smell of still waters, and that at the moment of the misfortune a thin drizzle was falling like the one Santiago Nasar had seen in his dream grove. Another malicious omen ignored. In a certain way, it is understandable that a lot of omens and symbols are ignored because they are not facts. The work that Marquez does is supposed to be â€Å"journalistic and factual† (â€Å"Chronicle of a Death Foretold†) and symbols would be counter-productive because they are not very good evidence, so they become anecdotes. However, if the people in town would have interpreted the symbols and warned him, he would be alive. But then again, if that would have occurred in the interesting novel, it wouldn’t be called Chronicle of a Death Foretold. It would just be Death or something like that, which eliminates all the entertainment. Returning to the symbols, we also see that flowers are important. A day before the death of Santiago Nasar, he distinctively told Marquez that he did not like flowers because they remind him of a funeral. This is also ronic because usually flowers are meant to represent purity, love, happiness, etc. But in his case it was the opposite. Other prominent symbols are the knives that the Vicario brothers used to kill Nasar, because almost everyone had seen them. Not only did they see the knives but when they did the Vicario brothers even rubbed it more in by saying that they were going to kill Santiago Nasar. The townspeople were very ignorant by believing that they would not carry on with the malicious deed. So they had great reticence by doing this. The ending adds to the both ironic and symbolic theme of the story. Angela Vicario and Bayardo San Roman reconciliate and it is foreknowledged if one looks at how many letters Angela sends Bayardo in the years that they are separated. But the twist is that he does not even open them. Chronicle of a Death Foretold puzzles the reader by demonstrating many symbols that foreshadow the death of Santiago Nasar. Dreams, clothing, flowers, weather, knives, and letters are just a few that make the story more interesting by giving it a symbolic view. If they had been ignored the story would not be the story that it is. Therefore, symbolism and irony play a very significant role in the story.

Black People Essay

Tar Baby Toni Morrison’s novel might for some be a novel of cultural awakening. One also might at their first reading and perhaps also by reading the different studies made on Tar Baby, restricted to an interpretation that sees Jadine, Morrison’s protagonist, as woman who has, consciously or unconsciously, lost her â€Å"ancient properties† (305) and internalized the values of a white culture. Jadine has totally disconnected herself from her racial identity and cultural heritage. This reading is supported by the fact that Jadine has got her education in Europe with the financial assistance of Valerian Street (her aunt’s and uncle’s employer). Paraphrasing Marylyn sanders Mobley – the characterization of the protagonist, Jadine, draws attention to a fundamental problem as one that Morrison wants to affirm the self-reliance and freedom of a black woman who makes choices for her own life on her own terms. She also seeks to point out the dangers that can happen to the totally self-reliant if there is no historical connection. While the conflict in Tar Baby is undoubtedly â€Å"between assimilation and cultural nationalism represented by the sealskin coat Ryk has given her and the pie table† (Rayson, 94), the limiting categories which Jadine is continually forced into do not come from the white characters but primarily from the black community in which she finds herself because she (Jadine) has embraced white stereotypes along with white culture. While Valerian is portrayed as the traditional master-figure in the novel, it is actually Son, Sydney and Ondine, and the folk past represented by the different women in different places that try to conquer and dominate Jadine, who retain and represent their culture in the very colour of their skin. On the other hand, one could argue that it is as a result of Jadine’s university education in Europe and her career that further draws her away from her culture and identity and therefore (paraphrasing Mobley in Toni Morrison critical perspectives past and present) contributes significantly to the emotional and spiritual uncertainty that plague her as well as the many different roles that are imposed upon her by her aunt and uncle as well as the ‘society’ that caused her to seek upward social mobility. Sydney and Ondine, Jadine’s uncle and aunt in the novel can be seen as representative of one of the tar pits for Jadine. They do not accept all black people equal in the community in which they live because they employ racial hierarchies. Ondine sees herself as the only woman in the house (209), while Sydney notes more than twice that he is a Philadelphia Negro, â€Å"the proudest people in the race† (61). They seem to have a clear vision of what they want for Jadine their niece. As the story progresses, though, it becomes clearer that it is not actually a question of what they want for Jadine but what they want of her or expect her to do. In addition to them wanting Jadine to provide them safety and credit for their race, Ondine admits by the end of the novel, â€Å"maybe I just wanted her to feel sorry for us [†¦ ] and that’s a lowdown wish if I ever had one† (282). Jadine understands that Sydney and Ondine â€Å"had gotten Valerian to pay her tuition while they sent her the rest† (49) and Ondine keeps reminding that she â€Å"would have stood on her feet all day all night to put Jadine through that school† (193). Ondine sees Jadine as her â€Å"crown† (282), and she and Sydney are continually â€Å"boasting† (49) about Jadine’s success to the point that Margaret calls Ondine â€Å"Mother Superior† (84). In return, they seem to want Jadine to offer them safety for the rest of their lives as Ondine claims that â€Å"Nothing can happen to us as long as she’s here† (102). They are not comfortable with the idea of Jadine marrying Ryk, who is â€Å"white but European which was not as bad as white and American† (48), but they are terrified of her running off with a â€Å"no-count Negro† (193) like Son. Although their views on racial hierarchies seem to alter from time to time, on the outside they seem to want what is best for Jadine. Jadine refute Ondine’s views of black womanhood when she tells her some of the things that are expected of her from society Jadine tells Ondine that: â€Å"I don’t want to learn how to be the kind of woman you’re talking about because I don’t want to be that kind of woman† (282). This, according to Rayson (1998), might be interpreted as Jadine’s â€Å"rejecting the roles of mother, daughter, and woman to stay the tar baby† (Rayson, 95), however it marks her becoming aware of what kind of woman she is by the end of the novel. Jadine‘s inclination toward upward social mobility leads to her separation from the Afro-American roots and the tar quality that Morrison advocates. This kind of flaw in Jadine effectively disqualifies her as a black woman capable of nurturing a family and by large the community. Jadine‘s perception of an ancestral relationship from which she is estranged occurs when she sees an African woman in a Parisian bakery. When she is celebrating her success as model evidenced in her appearance on the cover of Elle, Jadine becomes nervous or perhaps uncomfortable by the African woman in yellow attire. She triggers an identity crisis in Jadine at the moment when she should have felt more secure with her professional achievement assured by beauty and education. In his African woman, Jadine catches a glimpse of beauty, a womanliness, an innate elegance, a nurturer, an authenticity that she had never known before: ? That woman‘s woman – that mother/sister/she/; that unphotographable beauty? (p. 43). By calling the African woman ? that mother/sister/she,? J. Deswal (online source â€Å"Tar Baby- Shodhganga) claims that â€Å"Morrison presents a threefold definition of womanhood which can thrive within the confines of family and community only. The three eggs she balances effortlessly in her ? tar-black fingers? (p. 44) appear to Jadine as if the woman were boasting of her own easy acceptance of womanhood†. Wendy Harding and Jacky Martin in A World of Difference: An Inter-cultural Study of Toni Morrison explain the importance of the African woman‘s presence as such: â€Å"Whereas Jadine has just been rewarded for her conformity to Western ideals of feminity, the African woman suggests a more powerful version of black womanhood. Like some fertility goddess, she holds in her hand the secret of life. She is the mother of the world in whose black hands whiteness appears as something as easily crushed as cared for (71). When Jadine measures herself by the idea of black womanhood that she sees in the African woman the insecurities of her rootless condition surface in her mind. The women in yellow makes Jadine confront her female role and her sexuality†. Jadine sees ? something in her eyes so powerful? (p. 42) that she follows the woman out of the store. The writers also claim that â€Å"As a symbol of repudiation of Jadine‘s westernized lifestyle, the African woman ? looks right at Jadine? (p. 43) and spits on the pavement†. Jadine hates the woman for her spitting, but what she cannot do is escape feeling ? lonely in a way; lonely and inauthentic? as she tells the readers on page 45. When the sense of self is based on the denial of one‘s ethnic roots, one is certain to experience mental chaos and alienation. So, the woman‘s insult to Jadine had the powerful effect of challenging Jadine‘s choices: her white boyfriend, her girlfriends in New York, her parties, her picture on the cover of Elle and the way she lived her life. One can say that it is as a result of the African woman that Jadine desided to visit her aunt and uncle on the island. Jadine is confused and even questions her plans to marry Ryk, her white boyfriend: I wonder if the person he wants to marry is me or a black girl? And if it isn‘t me he wants, but any black girl who looks like me, talks and acts like me, what will happen when he finds out that I hate ear hoops, that I don‘t have to straighten my hair, that Mingus puts me to sleep, that sometimes I want to get out of my skin and be only the person inside – not American – not black – just me? (p. 45) It is through Son, however, that Morrison offers Jadine the ultimate opportunity to ‘redeem’ herself to her heritage, adapt it and revive her womanhood. Son picks up from where the African woman left off in a sense by making Jadine confront her inauthenticity. Jadine and Son enjoys their stay in New York because it is the place where Jadine feels at ease. She feels loved and safe: ? He ‘unorphaned’ her completely and gave her a brand-new childhood? (p. 231). In turn, Son is encouraged by her need and by his apparent ability to redefine Jadine culturally and emotionally. Son insists that he and Jadine goes to Eloe his hometown where Jadine will see how Son is rooted in family and cultural heritage. He attempts to rescue Jadine from her ignorance and disdain for her cultural heritage, trying in a sense to mould Jadine into the image of his black female ancestors. Son assumes that a relationship with Jadine will mean that they will have children together. He presses claims for family and community: ? He smiled at the vigour of his own heartbeat at the thought of her having his baby? (p. 220). Thus, he wants Jadine to love the nurturing aspects of home and fraternity. He is fed on dreams of his community women. The dreams of ? yellow houses with white doors? and ? fat black ladies in white dresses minding the pie table? (p. 119) are nourishment to Son. Sandra Pouchet Paquet (The ancestors as foundation in their eyes were watching god and tar baby) observes: ? In Son‘s dreams of Eloe, the African-American male ego is restored in a community of black man at the center of a black community. But however appreciative Son is of the beauty, the strength, and the toughness of black women; his vision is of male dominance; of the black women as handmaiden? (511). The image feminity that Son cherishes – of the black woman taking passive role as a nurturer of the hearth – is flagrantly opposite to Jadine‘s perception of the modern black woman. This terrifies Jadine and narrows the possibility of their forming a family. The modern, educated black woman seems to snivel at the aspects of traditional female- specific role as the nurturer of hearth and home. Decadent white values and life style thwart the black woman’s vital roles of building families and raising children. The modern black woman cannot be a complete human being, for she allows her education to keep her career separate from her nurturing role. The black woman is increasingly becoming able to define her own status and to be economically independent. She tries to seek equality in her relationship with men. Robert Staples gives an insight into the faltering dynamics of modern couples: ? What was once a viable institution because women were a subservient group has lost its value for some people in these days of women‘s liberation. The stability of marriage was contingent on the woman accepting her place in the home and not creating dissension by challenging the male‘s prerogatives? (125). The black woman‘s intrinsic quality of ? accepting her place in the home? is Morrison‘s tar quality. However, in advocating the tar quality Morrison does not admonish the educational and professional accomplishments of the black woman. In fact, the black woman is expected to achieve a balance between her roles in the domestic and professional fields. â€Å"It is the historical ability of black women to keep their families and careers together. In an era where both the black male and female seek to fulfill individual desires, relationships falter and, consequently, the prospects of the propagation of a family are not too bright. Jadine‘s tar quality is submerged by the white-like urge for freedom and self-actualization. As a result, she finds the conventions of black womanhood antithetical to her own value system†. At Eloe, Jadine is determined to resist rigid male-female role categorization. Jadine cannot ? understand (or accept) her being shunted off with Ellen and the children while the men grouped on the porch and after a greeting, ignored her? (p. 248). While at Eloe, Jadine is provided with yet another chance to attain certain qualities that is for black women. She is accustomed to living an upper-class white lifestyle so she finds the people of Eloe limited and backward. Their stifling little shacks are more foreign to her than the hotel-like splendor of Valerian‘s mansion. She stays in Aunt Rosa‘s house where she feels claustrophobically enclosed in a dark, windowless room. She feels ? she might as well have been in a cave, a grave, the dark womb of the earth, suffocating with the sound of plant life moving, but deprived of its sight? (p. 254). It is in this very room where Jadine and Son were having sex that she had a second awakening vision, which is more frightening than the one she had in Paris about the African Woman. Here, Older, black, fruitful and nurturing women – her own dead mother, her Aunt Ondine, Son‘s dead wife, the African woman in yellow and other black women of her past – become a threatening part of Jadine‘s dreams: I have breasts too,‘ she said or thought or willed, I have breasts too. ‘ But they didn‘t believe her. They just held their own higher and pushed their own farther out and looked at her,? (p. 261) and ? the night women were not merely against her†¦ not merely looking superior over their sagging breasts and folded stomachs, they seemed somehow in agreement with each other about her, and were all determined to punish her for having neglected her cultural heritage. They wanted to bind the person she had become and choke it with their breasts. The night women? accuse Jadine for trading the ? ancient properties? (p. 308) of being a daughter, mother, and a woman for her upward mobility and self-enhancement. All these women are punishing Jadine for her refusal to define herself in relation to family, historical tradition and culture. As they ‘brandish’ their breasts before her eyes, they mock and insult her with their feminity. Jadine finds these women backward and sees no self-fulfilling value in the roles that they serve. However, she is constantly haunted by dreams of the black female image that she seems to have lost throughout life. Ondine express shame and disappointment over her lack of concern for her family, the African woman, at the Parisian bakery, spits at her in disgust and the night women, in the vision at Eloe taunt her with their nurturing breasts. Having refuted her own black culture and heritage, Jadine face the consequence of a divided consciousness and a mental death. Her decision to end the love affair with Son— ? I can‘t let you hurt me again? (p. 274) is an evidence of her shunning womanhood and losing her Afro- American roots as she chooses Ryk her white boyfriend over Son who refused to become the person or image that Jadine wants him to be . Jadine is compelled to make her choice and she decides that it is in Paris, away from Son, where there are prospects of financial success and personal independence. She doesn‘t want what Son and Eloe have to offer: To settle for wifely competence when she could be a beauty queen or to settle for fertility rather than originality and nurturing instead of building? (p. 271). Jadine makes it clear to the reader that she is self-sufficient and independent of men, family and community.

Leadership and Decision making styles Slp Assignment

Leadership and Decision making styles Slp - Assignment Example The management of our organization had to restructure most of the systems and position the organization in the best way to manage the competition. If this was not done, the organization was at the verge of collapse. A major strategic change was called for and all the departmental heads were consulted for their ideas. The main decision to change the strategies of operation of the organization was made by the Chief Executive Officer of the organization. However, he had a consultative meeting with all the stakeholders as well as the technical experts including the departmental heads to find the best solutions to the problems affecting the organization as far as competition is regarded. The question was not well-structured in such a way that one could just find a direct solutions to it. Each department was required to contribute their suggestions on how they feel the issue could be handle and the departmental level. With all the information collected, the implementation was to involve the whole team working together with commitments. Ultimately, a solution was found that required the whole team to participate in its implementation. It is clear that our CEO applied collaborative decision making style even though he could make the ultimate decision on his own. While following the Vroom-Yetton seven questions and applying them to the diagram, I come to find out that the decision making style applied by our CEO is categorized as G2 decision making style (Rigolosi, 2005). Under this style, the supervisor and the team need to work together to arrive at a decision. Exactly, this is what happened in our organization, the CEO worked together with the departmental heads as well as some technical expertise to find solutions to the organizational problems. Under this case, the role of the CEO was majorly facilitative as he could only make