Killing the Bear

Judith Minty’s story, â€Å"Killing the Bear,† is the about a woman who commits murder against her sexual self. Although, she wants to move on with life, she realizes that she must kill this bear in order to be a peace with herself. While I was reading, I chose to focus on the two aspects of the psyche, specifically id and the ego. The id, the bestial nature of the bear, in the woman’s life, and the ego, the real world, represented by the woman’s cabin. It is always hot for this woman. The summer heat was an all-consuming, sexual tension inside her. She lives only for the summer, marking each day, but the rest of the year, and even the rest of her life, it means nothing to her. At the end of the summer, she immediately plans for the next summer. Although in denial of her own heat, her sexuality, she seems, at the same time, to live for it. I noticed that during the summer, she lived in an isolated cabin, the woman builds herself a rational world, hammering and painting on her space. This real world is disturbed by the presence of a wild bear. When she first sees the bear, he is distant, frightening, like the awakening of sensuality in a young woman. He scares her a little and â€Å"her hands lift to cover her breasts,† a somewhat sexual response to the bear’s presence, suggesting displacement of her sensual urges on the bear. Downplaying her fear of the bear, she intellectualizes the bear, recounting facts and stories she has heard about bears. However, even during this intellectualization, she reflects on her animal nature and its destruction. Her memory of her mother burning her stuffed bear mirrors, in a roundabout way, her current situation and her ultimate solution to the live bear’s presence. At the end of the stuffed bear story, she observes that her mother misspoke when she said, â€Å"I’m sorry for burning the animal in you.† Although, the mother â€Å"killed† the woman’s childhood beast, the adult woman is facing the same animal, the living beast in herself, again. When I was reading, I could tell that her sexuality, the bear, grows bold and more insistent, threatening her rational world, the woman’s fear grows. She buys a gun for protection, snapping at the flirting clerk that â€Å"she didn’t need a man† as she pays for it. She denies her baser needs and desires, yet at the same time, she wants to seek out and dominate her sensuality, to go â€Å"hunting† for her beast. Ironically, she chooses to use a gun, a violent phallic symbol, to kill her sexuality. â€Å"Killing the Bear† is a great example of how an author can use the real world symbolically to mirror the inner psychological world of human beings. In the story, the natural world which threatens the woman reflects all the baser elements that people usually try to internalize, control, or sometimes reject. However, in the story, the woman’s barriers against her nature, her â€Å"civilization†, are not enough. She can never quite tame the beast within.

Education and Edutainment Essay

The idea that learning can be fun, and fun can promote learning, is transforming attractions that once saw themselves as primarily either education- or entertainment-oriented. It’s even spawned a new word: edutainment. The American Heritage Dictionary defines edutainment as â€Å"the act of learning through a medium that both educates and entertains.† In that definition, learning is the key element. We’d suggest that when applied to the location-based entertainment (LBE) industry, the emphasis is switched. We define LBE edutainment as â€Å"events, programs and attractions where the entertainment qualities are the primary draw, with the learning or education being a byproduct.† We see edutainment as any entertainment that also delivers educational content in an entertainment format. It consists of two equally important parts: the format (entertainment) and the message/content (education). Our research indicates the first use of the word edutainment was for educationally oriented CD-ROM games used to teach children in an entertaining way. As best we can determine, our company was the first to apply the word in the LBE industry to describe the children’s play & discovery centers we starting producing for our clients in the mid-’90s, which we called ‘children’s edutainment centers.’ The articles we authored about edutainment centers published in industry magazines during the late ’90s imbedded the term into the industry’s lexicon. Given a choice between just education, just entertainment, or a combination of the two, more LBE guests prefer the two-fer. A couple of examples: One survey of videogame manufacturers and designers found that they believe that a game with up to 50% educational content will still be perceived as entertainment. And many informal learning institutions like zoos, museums and botanical gardens are adding entertainment elements to their offerings in recognition of the greater appeal of this combination.

Vladimir Putin Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Vladimir Putin - Essay Example ther it was aimed at creating a sovereign Russian democratic system closer to the states own circumstances and traditions (Lieven & Lieven 2005, 73). Putin’s domestic policies intensified fight against organized crime and terrorism that resulted in a twofold time lower murder rate and a significant reduction of the terrorist attacks. The policies were effective in codifying tax and land law, establishment of new labor codes, commercial, administrative and civil procedural law (Herspring 2009, 165). Under the administration, the economy made real gains on a 7 percent average making it the seventh world’s largest economy in terms of its purchasing powers. The investments increased by 125 percent; industries grew by 76 percent, and an increase in construction and agriculture was also reported (Lo 2008, 12). Putin’s domestic political policies resulted in a relative qualitative and quantitative decreased cooperation initiative between Russia and the United States. Putin revived the global power image of Russia that had been lost by the preceding leadership as the nation transformed into a new state. The domestic and foreign policy issues lead to a renewal of political tension between Russia and United state similar confrontation during the era of the cold war losing their support differentiating Russia from the West (Foxall 2013, 149). The foreign policies were characterized by military demonstrations, aggressive, cold and highly pragmatic diplomacy. The policies asserted the nations position in the global political arena. The Russian leadership moved to bilateral partnerships and as well reduced the dependence on the western political guides and expertise (Mankoff 2008, 44). This resulted in a diplomatic and a strong opposition that opposed the US economic and military coercion action, the imposed security initiatives and the centralization of executive power. The nation’s global image was restored by arousing nationalist agenda, as well as the

Methodology Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Methodology - Dissertation Example Thus, financial reports recorded in this manner make it harder to compare financial reports. This issue has been said to be solved by implementing a standard reporting system or global accounting standards (Hawkins, 2000). Standardized financial reporting has been implemented based on the assumption that it can increase the comparability of financial statements, increase the quality of financial reports, and improve corporate transparency especially in terms of incentives. It has also been determined to be created as a result of the increase in the number of multinational companies or MNCs (Nobes and Parker, 2006). Moreover, Bolt-Lee and Smith (2009) included increase in reporting consistency, better global competition, and increase in the transparency of financial reporting as the benefits of international financial reporting. Moreover, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1999 stated that the financial systems of developing crisis, especially those experiencing financial crisis , can be strengthened by enhancing the financial reporting regulations and practices. Jainkengit (2002) reported an improvement in the economy of Thailand as a result of enhanced financial reporting regulations and practices and transparency or greater disclosure on financial information. Similarly, a study by Daske, Hail, Leuz, and Verdi (2008) explored the effects and consequences of mandatory IFRS (International Financial Reporting Systems) reporting. ... The benefits include increase in stock market value, market liquidity, and lower capital costs. Lastly, the study determined that financial reporting standards are most effective under a strict and strong regulating environment. This is most evident in a study by Barrett (1996) where it was determined that financial reports among American and British companies are more comprehensive because of their disclosure requirements. However, there are factors that affect financial reporting among corporate companies. There is an immense role to be played by economic and political forces in what concerns the shaping of accounting. A study by Suttachai and Cooke (2009) enumerated several factors that affect international financial reporting. The important factors discussed are the environment and culture, wherein environment stands for the legal system, economic system, and other institutional factors. Cooke and Wallace (1990) agree by stating that the environment wherein the company is located can greatly affect financial reporting. Thus, despite the homogeneity in the standards for international financial reporting, it still varies depending on various factors, specifically and most especially in terms of its location and culture. It only imply that although they follow the same standards or format for reporting, the quality of data and the means on which they measure still varies (Suttachai and Cooke, 2009), which is ultimately the purpose of standardizing financial report systems: to decrease and eventually eliminate variation (Nobes and Parker,2006). On the other hand, Choi (2002) stated that harmonization or standardization of financial practices and reports increase the comparability and compatibility of financial reports by limiting the

DXNs Marketing Plan Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

DXNs Marketing Plan - Case Study Example This business includes dietary food supplements, beverages, personal care products, household products and water treatment system. These products are popularly known as DXN products. "Dato Dr. Lim started the business in quest of the benefits of mushroom on human health" (Corporate Information, 2009). DXN products are based on the Chinese mushroom called ganoderma which is considered the food of the immortals in Daoism. Ganoderma has long been used in traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of such diseases and disorders as cancer and arthritis, and its bio medicinal value is now being established through a wealth of published literature. DXN uses Multi Level Marketing (MLM) or is commonly known as Network Marketing (DXN marketing, http://www.dxnmalaysia.com/) in promoting and advertising their products. Through network marketing, the rapid global expansion of DXN is recognized internationally by its vast growth of members worldwide and its amplification of footprint in key strategic locations. With over four million registered distributors worldwide, DXN is solidifying its position as the world leader in Ganoderma products (Corporate Information, 2009). DXNs high regard for quality earned the company many outstanding citations and recognitions from various health and business organizations. Since its inception in 1993, "DXN has upheld its concept of One Dragon, One World One Market and One Mind. With this powerful concept, DXN has sailed through continuous growth over the years" (Castillo 2009). DXN logo symbolizes success in business with a very strong marketing plan. Red represents fire to symbolize the company's fighting spirit to progress. Green represents trees to symbolize the dynamic growth and expansion of its market. Blue represents water to symbolize the company as the foundation for all the vigorous developments. The Red Oval symbolizes the rising sun to represent aggressiveness, single-mindedness and persistence in achieving DXNs vision. The Green Branches symbolizes Ganoderma to represent the company's strong commitments for growth and relentless striving to achieve excellence by focusing on health-based industry. The Blue Horizontal Line symbolizes the company as the power source for the impetus of business development (devinder 2007). The growth and life span of any company lies in the strength of its products. DXN products are superior health food products catering to the ever-increasing demands of this health-conscious world. The efficacy of these products alone is proven through many testimonies received from our 2.5 million consumers based worldwide. These products have benefited and helped many people. And on top of enjoying a healthy life because of DXN products, members are assured of lucrative bonuses. The assurance of an excellent product with growing awareness and steady demands, together with a committed company mission holds many promises for an investment that you can be proud of. Target Audiences (Distributors, Consumers) In every business big or small, we have our goal to achieve. Audiences play an important role in achieving this goal because "they are the important stakeholder" (Identify The Target Audience, 2009, par.1). Therefore we must clearly define our targeted

What is the relationship between personality traits and emplyee Essay

What is the relationship between personality traits and emplyee performanceHow do personality traits translate into individula's professional careers - Essay Example Moreover, the interrelationship between employee performance, personality traits and professional careers is further intertwined with various organisational theory models, which will be considered contextually. The learning organisation is an evolving notion which has become increasingly incorporated into the modern company and multinational philosophy. In its simplest form, Richard Karash propounds the ideology underlying the learning organisation: â€Å"A learning organisation is one which people at all levels, individuals and collectively are continually increasing their capacity to produce results they really care about† (Karash, R. 1995). The ideological underlying principle behind the learning organisation is that it produces a flexible workforce with a shared vision, which in turn ensures internal stability within an organisation. Mike Wills defines the learning organisation as a â€Å"group of people who work together† (Wills, M. 1998). He further defines it as a â€Å"company, corporation, firm, enterprise or institution, or part thereof, whether incorporated or not, public or private, that has its own functions and administration. For organisations with more than one operating unit, a single operating unity may be defined as an organisation† (1998). Pedler, Burgoyne and Boydell define the learning organisation as â€Å"an organisation that facilitates the learning of all its members and continuously transforms itself to achieve superior competitive performance† (1991). The concept traces its origins to the early writings on management trends in the 1930s and Schumpeter’s creative destruction theory (Pedler, Burgoyne & Boydell, 1991). This was further developed by neo-human writers such as Chris Argyris with his proposition of the â€Å"double-loop learning†, which reacted to the studies of corporate excellence undertaken by Peters and Waterman, identifying organisational behavioural

Property Assessment Project Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Property Assessment Project - Research Paper Example t potential risks in a living area need to be carefully identified and the necessary steps taken to ensure that these threats are diminished or averted completely. Figure 1 contains an image of bottles that have not been given any labels. They have been placed at a strategic point, perhaps a table, for human use. Some of the bottles look similar in nature and have possibly been made out of the same materials. However, their contents differ depicting that they could indeed contain different items. These bottles contain something that is meant for human consumption. It is likely that various types of injuries could result if consumers gain access to such products. It is likely that should a consumer seek to consume these products, they could consume a potentially wrong product. There are consumers who are sensitive to certain products. This could be in the form of allergies, intolerances or simply aversions. Allergies could lead to potentially life threatening conditions such as anaphylaxis that require immediate medical attention. A consumer could have an allergy to some of the products used to design the items contained in these bottles making it potentially risky for them to consume (Grissinger, 2008). Intolerances and aversions can also lead to mild symptoms that could lead to mild irritation that could leave a completely bad taste in the consumers mouth. There are various regulations that have been stipulated as relates to food labeling. According to the United States Food and Drug Administration, it is imperative that food companies label their products with the exact ingredients that have been used to formulate their products. In addition, any product that has been developed using a set of stipulated allergens must be labeled appropriately. This ensures that consumers are aware of the products they are consuming beforehand (Grissinger, 2008). Failure to comply with these regulations could mean a law suit. People can seek damages against the food

A Short Insight Into The Life Of Some Of The Major Aztec Cities Essay - 2

A Short Insight Into The Life Of Some Of The Major Aztec Cities - Essay Example Texcoco was located east of the Lake Texcoco and was proud of its shared name with the lake. It had played a great part in history and the people were proud of their ancestry. Five provinces to the east of the river were under the rule of Texcoco by the start of 15th century and the lands it ruled over went as far as their enemies’ borders in the Highlands. It had flourishing markets, grand temples, and the people living there were educated. But upon attack from Tepanecs, Texcocan enemies, people of Tenochtitlan did not help them to defend them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Tlacopan was joined with the Aztecs and Texcocans in to form the Triple Alliance in 1428. Founded originally by Tepanecs who arrived in the Valley of Mexico early in the 13th century, Tlacopan was not a very big city and only received one-fifth of the compliments received by the Triple Alliance. Tlacopan was seized over in 1521. When the Aztecs first arrived in the Valley of Mexico in 1300 A.D., it was nothing but a marshy island near Lake Texcoco. Out of that marshy island, the Aztecs gave rise to a magnificent city, which stood for centuries and whose temples and buildings were a sight to behold.

Scenario planning for Globilization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Scenario planning for Globilization - Essay Example This reduction was first attributed to the growing number of mountain bark beetles by a forest ecologist, Scott Green from the University of Northern British Columbia. In the past, the pine forest used to recede in summer but would regain its density in the winter. But over the past 20 years or more, the mountain bark beetles have reproduced in such large numbers, that winters have hardly done any job to reduce their number, and the extinction of the pine forests have sustained equally through winter as they did in the summer. Recent research has shown the influence of rise in temperature upon the tendency of the mountain bark beetles to breed. With an overall rise of 2?C in the global temperature since 2010, the mountain bark beetles have increased in number by millions. Forest ecologists are of the view that if the present rate of greenhouse gas emission sustains for another decade, the mountain bark beetles would become the biggest threat to forests all over the world. Story 2: Ov er the last two decades, droughts and floods have frequently been occurring as a consequence of the 2?C rise in the global temperature since 2010. The biggest sufferings have been noticed in the Arctic. For the last twenty years or more, the temperature of air in the Arctic has increased at a speed twice as much as that for the other parts of the world. Accordingly, an overall increase of 4?C has been noticed in the Arctic. More than half of the total volume of summer sea ice in the Arctic has liquefied and flowed into the water over the last twenty years. This has majorly happened as a result of insufficient temperature controlling measures taken since 2010, since the scientists then expected this volume to recede not before 2100. The reality squeezed that period of ninety years into twenty years and the precautionary measures that were designed according to a ninety year period have proved just too insufficient. As a result of the massive loss of ice in the Arctic, polar bears hav e become extinct for the last five years. They are nowhere to be seen but the intensive care units designed by the WWF for the preservation of extinguishing animal species. The veterans are proposing new medications and techniques to increase the breeding rate of polar bears, but many are skeptical about the usability of these techniques since the polar bears can not be provided with natural habitat in ice after birth. Once released, many would die because of the loss of habitat like their ancestors. Story 3: The ice sheets have melted away with an enormous speed since 2010. The drought and spread of epidemics noticed in the last five years is fundamentally attributed to the rise of sea levels. The number and enormity of tropical cyclones has been greatly affected by the heat developing in the seas. Number of storms has generally remained the same as they were five decades ago, though typhoons and hurricanes have dangerously increased both in number and intensity. In the US, parts o f Gulf Coast and East Coast have been hit hard by the typhoons, while coastal flooding has become a routine in New York. In the two consecutive years; 2028 and 2029, Queens and Brooklyn have seen some of the worst natural disasters of the past 100 years. The two foot rise of the sea level has also generated many hurricanes in Shanghai, Bangkok, London, Venice and Cairo since 2025. People have

Criminal Cases in Health Care Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Criminal Cases in Health Care - Research Paper Example Similarly, the HIPAA laws sets the standards that oversee the safety of electronic data routinely collected from patients whenever they visit hospitals (McGee, 2014). In case of HIPAA violations, the healthcare provider in question is routinely stripped of his or her practicing license and fired from his or her place of work. Prosecution by the related authorities should then follow this and in case the accused is guilty, he or she should either be fined or imprisoned for a given duration of time (Pozgar, 2014). In as much as hospitals are not to blame in case of such an occurrence, the bodies that execute such laws occasionally fine hospitals as the event took place under their watch. The administrator should always make sure that information is accessed within the facility and by the relevant personnel. Ideally, corporate compliance would help in such situations, as hospitals would ensure that they block all the avenues through which patient data would leak, hence averting any potential

Cross-Cultural Differences Essay Example for Free

Cross-Cultural Differences Essay A central core in any cultural are its values. Values are independent standards where it is determined the differences of right and wrong, good and bad objectives. There are usually some shared values among all cultures; the contrast is the account of different perceptions between different cultures. Asian values have shown to be inter-related in that they view the individual belonging to a larger group or extended family with an expected well being of the group as a whole. To contrast this against American values of the self is that there is a personal expected importance of well being on the individual, emphasizing independence and self-initiative. Education seems to share a common aspect but there are some differential ideals between American and Asian values. Within the Asian culture their family core interactions being the fuel to move them through their individual life practices uses parenting as a fundamental aspect in pushing their children to work harder in their education; even overachieve. However, Americans might consider Asian parents to be overly dominating; there is an in-turn on exceptive goal that parent support their children as they can. Americans do see education as a key to social mobility and economic opportunity. Asians use education as a movement though family structures more profitable than the use of societal roles. Asian values can also be seen with strong dictation for their consideration of others; with benevolence and obligation that must be present to enforce relationships. Asian societies have a history to be hierarchical, in contrast to the American culture where there is a form of equality to an extent between teacher and student, peer to peer, and family members among themselves. The hierarchical relationships in Asian culture involve a lot of obligation that could be seen as domination with the expectation of responsibility and benevolence in return. Example being children in Asian culture obligated to follow guidelines set by their parents in a strict fashion at the expense of their own independence yet their parents with the returning expectation to raise support and educate them far in excess of what might be sought by American family standards. Reference: Asian-American educational achievements: A phenomenon in search of an explanation. Sue, Stanley; Okazaki, Sumie American Psychologist, Vol 45(8), Aug 1990, 913-920. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.45.8.913 Fuligni, A. J., Tseng, V. and Lam, M. (1999), Attitudes toward Family Obligations among American Adolescents with Asian, Latin American, and European Backgrounds. Child Development.

Notes on Cry Essay Example for Free

Notes on Cry Essay The dance’s intent is to portray the struggle strength of the African American women who were in the slave trade; how women so enslaved trapped can still manage to be so free. â€Å"I heard about lynching’s, Having that kind of experience as a child left a feeling of rage in me that I think pervades my work† Alvin Ailey. â€Å"She rises again to wear the cloth as a shawl, then steps on its ends as if bound by it to the ground†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"The final posture mirrors the opening posture of the dance, suggesting a cyclical inevitable progression of frustration and despair†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Ailey has abstracted this narrative to portray the woman’s despair. BEEN ON A TRAIN The use of the percussive piano accents in relation to movement. For example, the dynamic emphasis of the gestures Ailey uses. â€Å"The power of Cry emanates from its defiantly shifting images of identity in its first section, the bottomless abyss of sorrow approached in its second section and the transcendent quality of ecstatic faith engaged in the third section.† â€Å" Cry became emblematic as an act of simultaneous defiance and release. As a depiction of contemporary African American  identity, the dance liberated audience and dancer in its  modernistic layering of movement genres, especially its  conspicuous use of neoAfrican  body part isolations.† In this work there are three distinct sections and for each new section, there is a new song that is played. The songs used in this work are ‘Something About John Coltrane’ by Alice Coltrane, ‘Been On A Train’ by Laura Nyro and ‘Right On. Be Free.’ by The Voices Of East Harlem. In a couple of these songs the word ‘north’ is used quite a bit. My personal  interpretation is that these slaves perhaps saw freedom and/or refuge in North America, wished to be there but something stopped them.  She clearly demonstrated Ailey’s mother’s struggles as well as any other African American woman’s struggles at the time as a slave to their fight for freedom.

Generic Structure Of Hortatory Exposition English Language Essay

Generic Structure Of Hortatory Exposition English Language Essay Hortatory exposition is a text which represent the attempt of the writer to have the addressee do something or act in certain way. In other words, a hortatory exposition is a text whose purpose is persuade the readers that something should or should not be the case or be done. Generic Structure of Hortatory Exposition 1. Thesis/ General Statement. 2. Arguments 3. Recommendation Language Feature of Hortatory Exposition 1. Focusing on the writer 2. Using abstract noun: policy, advantage, etc 3. Using action verbs 4. Using thinking verbs 5. Using modals 6. Using adverb: certainly, surely, etc 7. Using temporal connectives/transition: firstly, secondly, etc 8. Using evaluative words: important, valuable, trustworthy, etc 9. Using passive voice 10. Using simple present tense The following section presents some example of hortatory exposition. Example 1 of a Hortatory Exposition Text Indonesian People Should Value All the Different Culture to Promote Unity of the Nation Indonesia is a culturally-diverse country. Many different religions and cultures from many provinces are now seen living side by side in many places. One of the biggest questions facing Indonesian today is how to deal with a culturally diverse citizenry and then promote unity. https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFMv2eYRLzL_USTB98FYOWfVKM60gAiXX1VduXvpCURjtAbUXhoE9Ge-ix7opXl5eX7UpYLmBF6WnMRrreBteFW1PljX0mv6mC01tjoOXDBdBC_Bw8wfvL0tfo8nmNaLOcO756vSvrMqo/s200/hortatory-exposition.jpg Therefore, Indonesians should appreciate differences among culture for the following reasons. Firstly, Indonesia is vulnerable to separation for its archipelago and culture diversity. Raising tolerance among people is the best way to maintain the unity among differences. Many ways or cultures of living are equally legal, even if they are not regarded as normal by some people. If a society claims to be tolerant of personal choice, then it must respect the personal choice to retain their heritage. Then, unity of the nation can be preserved. Secondly, Indonesians must recognize that every culture has different customs and beliefs. Thus, people are forbidden to make judgments of comparative value, for it is measuring something unmeasured. A plurality of nations, especially in the modern era, can allow for cultural development and cultural exchange that benefits both parties. The cross-cultural understanding among cultures makes the world a better place and preserves the unity of the nation. Lastly, raising nationalism is one way to preserve unity of the nation. It is a sense of fellow feeling between group members. This promotes cooperation and social cohesion within the group. The sense of social cooperation makes welfare, social security and medical programs much more likely and stronger. Cultural differences are sometime a sensitive matter for people. Indonesian people must teach younger generation about the importance of the cultural identity and nationalism to promote unity of the nation. Comprehension Questions: What is the main idea of the text? Where is the information about the main idea located? What supporting details can be found in the text? What is the function of the text? How do you know? What are the generic structures of the text? Can you identify each of the feature (generic structure) in the text? In which sentence? What are the language features of text? Example 2 of a Hortatory Exposition Text Watch your Kids While Watching TV Television becomes one of the most important devices which takes place in almost houses. It can unite all members of the family as well as separate them. However, is it important to know what your kids are watching? The answer is, of course, absolutely Yes and that should be done by all parents. Television can expose things you have tried to protect the children from, especially violence, pornography, consumerism and so on. Recently, a study demonstrated that spending too much time on watching TV during the day or at bedtime often cause bed-time disruption, stress, and short sleep duration. Another research found that there is a significant relationship between the amount of time spent for watching television during adolescence and early adulthood, and the possibility of being aggressive. Meanwhile, many studies have identified a relationship between kids who watch TV a lot and being inactive and overweight. Considering some facts mentioning above, protect your children with the following tips: Limit television viewing to one-two hours each day Do not allow your children to have a TV set in their own bedrooms Review the rating of TV shows which your children watch Watch television with your children and discuss what is happening in the show. Comprehension Questions: What is the main idea of the text? Where is the information about the main idea located? What supporting details can be found in the text? What is the function of the text? How do you know? What are the generic structures of the text? Can you identify each of the feature (generic structure) in the text? In which sentence? What are the language features of text? Example 3 of a Hortatory Exposition Text Should not Bring Mobile Phone to School Recently most people own mobile phone. Why does mobile phone user increase dramatically in recent years? First, the feature and functions has increased. Mobile phone is not used just for calling, but sending text, taking pictures, recording videos, accessing internet, playing games and much more. Second, mobile phone has also become a lot cheaper. Now this communication device does not only fill the pocket of adult but also teenager and student. Even a lot phones are intentionally designed to teenaged market. However should they be allowed to bring them to school? Many schools do not allow students to bring cell phones to school. It is very reasonable because bringing phone to school potentially disrupts the learning process. Most students use cell phones irresponsibly. They use cell phones to talk to their friend during class time. They also use the calculator and camera features in the class as well. Those potentially lead less concentration in the time of learning and teaching process. Students go to school to learn and behave fair way. Mobile phones provide a large temptation to cheat in tests. They can communicate to anyone and almost anywhere in the world. Because of the small size of the cell phone, students can send a text quietly and discreetly. The text can go unnoticed anywhere to get help on answering tests, homework, and other class assignment. Learning in school is to behave fair not cheating. Therefore, schools should ban students from bringing their cell phones. However it should be done fairly. In case of an emergency some student need a call for help, providing easy access to phone is better. (Source: blogspot.com/2010/02/contoh-hortatory-text-sample-should-not.html) Comprehension Questions: What is the main idea of the text? Where is the information about the main idea located? What supporting details can be found in the text? What is the function of the text? How do you know? What are the generic structures of the text? Can you identify each of the feature (generic structure) in the text? In which sentence? What are the language features of text? Example 4 of a Hortatory Exposition Text How ASEAN Should Face CAFTA The China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA) is a win-win situation for ASEAN. It will help speed the recovery of ASEAN from the global recession. The CAFTA is an important vehicle for trade-led growth and recovery in the ASEAN region with growth of 3.9 percent in 2009 which most likely will increase in 2010. Furthermore, the launch of a US$10 billion infrastructure investment fund by China to improve roads, railways and airlines and strengthen telecommunication links may help speed the ASEAN recovery. China has also committed to a $15 billion credit facility to promote regional integration. ASEAN should take advantage of this and not rely completely on the United States. Times are changing and regional groupings like the CAFTA, the SCO, the EU, the NAFTA, etc., are more beneficial than so-called globalization. One crisis, like the one in the US, has a domino effect to the world economy, whereas one region that falls into a crisis can be rescued by other regions not affected by it. World trade will be more stable under divided regional groupings and still maintain world trade and investments globally. Last but not the least, in order to take advantage of the CAFTA and make it work, ASEAN should cut down its bureaucratic red tape in its financial and economic sectors to efficiently speed up trade and investment, and do it with transparency. Comprehension Questions: What is the main idea of the text? Where is the information about the main idea located? What supporting details can be found in the text? What is the function of the text? How do you know? What are the generic structures of the text? Can you identify each of the feature (generic structure) in the text? In which sentence? What are the language features of text? Example 5 of a Hortatory Exposition Text What is the Benefit of Tourism for Local People? Well, Tourism is now a huge contributor to the economies of most countries. Tourism industries can bring money, job vacancy and advancement especially to developing regions. However, this money often goes into the pockets of foreign investors, and only rarely benefits for local people. Tourism industries will not give much benefit for local people if, for example, multinational hotel chains dont care about the surrounding nature when they build new hotels. This can cause many social, cultural and geographical problems. Some local people may get job and money from that International hotel chain. However in case of missing that opportunity, some of them still have their own environment. Moreover, some facts show that tourists tend to go, visit and spend their money in restaurants, bars and even luxury hotels of that multinational chains. They less go to such places; restaurant, bar, hotel, shop which are owned by local people. This can prevent the local peoples business from becoming even larger. Most important thing, tours or excursions of tourism have little effect on nature. Even it can disrupt or destroy ecosystems and environments, and if it does, the local people will get the risk. So the local government policies should be put in place to ensure that tourism will make the benefit spreading widely. The policies should guarantee that tourism will not cause any harm to any local people or places. Comprehension Questions: What is the main idea of the text? Where is the information about the main idea located? What supporting details can be found in the text? What is the function of the text? How do you know? What are the generic structures of the text? Can you identify each of the feature (generic structure) in the text? In which sentence? What are the language features of text? Example 6 of a Hortatory Exposition Text Choosing Home Schooling as Kids Learning Recently more parents choose to school their children from home. There are the positive aspects of this form of education versus other public and private schools. Homeschooling could be the parents right choice of learning for the kids There are a number of reasons as to why parents opt to home school their children. They include: * Religious reasons. * Family reasons. * Poor learning environment at the school. * Object the lessons of public school. * The child has a disability or is special needs. * Transportation issues. * Public or private school did not challenge the child. * The child could not get into the desired private school. * The parents career So if parents decide that home schooling is the best option for their children, they need to do a little research in finding out what criteria they and their children must meet. Comprehension Questions: What is the main idea of the text? Where is the information about the main idea located? What supporting details can be found in the text? What is the function of the text? How do you know? What are the generic structures of the text? Can you identify each of the feature (generic structure) in the text? In which sentence? What are the language features of text? Example 7 of a Hortatory Exposition Text Encouraging to Use Mass Transportation Mass transportation is a kind of transportation system which large numbers of people are carried within a single vehicle. Airplanes, railways, buses, trolleys, light rail systems, and subways are examples of mass transportation systems. This mass transit systems is believed to be the future way which can solve the heavy traffic in the street. Mass transportation have a number of advantages over private automobile. In many parts of the world, mass transportation is an important component of a nations transportation system. Where people are too poor to buy automobiles, they depend on bicycles or animals or mass transit systems such as bus lines to travel within a city and from city to city. Mass transportations such as bus, train, plane are more efficient ways of moving people than the private automobile. For example, a subway system can transport 80,000 passengers per hour. In comparison, an 8-lane freeway can carry only 20,000 passengers per hour. The cost of operating an inter-city bus line typically runs about two cents per vehicle mile, about one-tenth the comparable average for a private automobile. Mass transit systems also take up much less space than do the highways needed for the movement of automobile traffic. Most urban landscapes today are a vivid testimony to the amount of space required for private automobiles. To make that mass transportation system works, some experts suggest that forms of mass transportation should be developed. The efforts can be: Setting up van pools for employees in big company areas. Picking up people who live close to each other in small vans and brought to and from work as a group. Having an experiment with dial-a-ride programs which elderly citizens can call to request transportation in a mini-van from one point to another. Attempting to increase the use of mass transportation by imposing high taxes on parking and tolls leading to the city for private automobiles. Developing new subway, trolley, and bus lines, and other alternative forms of mass transportation. Comprehension Questions: What is the main idea of the text? Where is the information about the main idea located? What supporting details can be found in the text? What is the function of the text? How do you know? What are the generic structures of the text? Can you identify each of the feature (generic structure) in the text? In which sentence? What are the language features of text? Example 8 of a Hortatory Exposition Text Never Try Smoking A lot of people, especially teenagers, who do not smoke, always want to try smoking. They know it is bad for them and all, but it is just something they want to try. So they ask one of their smoker friends for a cigarette. Admittedly, they firstly can not light it on their own so they ask his friend to do it. Then they inhale that cigarette and smoke occasionally. Apparently that makes them the born smokers. Now they do smoke fairly regularly. They can not avoid smoking and they enjoy too. They have smoker friends. Everyday they bring a pack in their pocket. For them, a pack of cigarette is as important as a wallet for their money. Suddenly, for certain reason, they realize the fact that tobacco is the cause of a long list of nasty diseases. It is not only heart disease, stroke, and chronic lung disease but also bladder, lung, and pancreatic cancer. Even it was reported that around 400,000 Americans died each year. It was one every 80 seconds from tobacco-related illnesses. Then they decide it is stupid to harm selves. They want to quit smoking. Unfortunately, they find that quitting smoking is so difficult. Why cant I stop smoking? I really want to stop it. It is hard to quit because nicotine is powerfully addictive. Cigarette is one of the most efficient drug-delivery devices ever devised. As result, when people try to quit smoking, they often experience classic nicotine withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety, irritability, headache, depression, and restlessness. Well, still want to try smoke? Think the facts before trying! If you are not smoker, you should never and never try to smoke. Comprehension Questions: What is the main idea of the text? Where is the information about the main idea located? What supporting details can be found in the text? What is the function of the text? How do you know? What are the generic structures of the text? Can you identify each of the feature (generic structure) in the text? In which sentence? What are the language features of text? Example 9 of a Hortatory Exposition Text Why Should Weare a Helmet when Motorcycling? We often hear lots of stories from road regarding people taking spill on motorcycle when they are riding without using helmet. Mostly the riders badly end up in mess. Wearing a fitted protective helmet offers many benefits which reduces the negative aspects of riding. First and the most important is that wearing the correct helmet can save a riders life, physical ability, family pain, and money. The recommended designs of motorcycle helmets can provide total protection. They not only protect riders from getting a worse road injured accident but also from flying bugs, such as rain, sleet, mud and other potential projectiles. Second, wearing a helmet can gives the raiders a matter of style. Helmets give the opportunity for rider to express the image they may want to project when riding on they way. This benefit may not be important to some people, but to others, it means a lot and important. By choosing the most appropriate helmet from all of the various styles, such as beanie, shorty, German, and many others, wearing a helmet which can projecting an image is an inherent crucial part of motorcycling and help riders feel more confident when riding on the road. However, what most important is wearing helmet when riding is a matter of using it properly. Bikers should use the helmets which are fixed to their head. It is really not good if they places simply the helmets on the head without settling them properly. The bikers should fasten the helmet correctly to their head in order to get safe and comfort. Comprehension Questions: What is the main idea of the text? Where is the information about the main idea located? What supporting details can be found in the text? What is the function of the text? How do you know? What are the generic structures of the text? Can you identify each of the feature (generic structure) in the text? In which sentence? What are the language features of text? Example 10 of a Hortatory Exposition Text Watch Your Kids While Watching TV Television becomes one of the most important devices which takes place in almost houses. It can unite all members of the family as well as separate them. However, is it important to know what your kids are watching? The answer is, of course, absolutely Yes and that should be done by all parents. Television can expose things you have tried to protect the children from, especially violence, pornography, consumerism and so on. Recently, a study demonstrated that spending too much time on watching TV during the day or at bedtime often caused bed-time disruption, stress, and short sleep duration. Another research found that there is a significant relationship between the amount of time spent for watching television during adolescence and early adulthood, and the possibility of being aggressive. Meanwhile, many studies have identified a relationship between kids who watch TV a lot and being inactive and overweight. Considering some facts mentioning above, protect your children with the following tips: Limit television viewing to one-two hours each day Do not allow your children to have a TV set in their own bedrooms Review the rating of TV shows which your children watch Watch television with your children and discuss what is happening in the show Comprehension Questions: What is the main idea of the text? Where is the information about the main idea located? What supporting details can be found in the text? What is the function of the text? How do you know? What are the generic structures of the text? Can you identify each of the feature (generic structure) in the text? In which sentence? What are the language features of text? Example 11 of a Hortatory Exposition Text Public Awareness Lets Make City Clean and Fresh A clean and fresh city will surely make the inhabitants healthy. Every morning especially in dry season, all roads must be watered with clean water and swept by the workers of the regional government under the Majors instruction. To keep the people from heavy pollution caused by cars, trucks and motorcycles, enough trees must be planted along all roads. Every building or house in the city must be surrounded short and small trees which bear colorful flower. Bad and improper habits which cause disadvantages, bad smell and dangerous diseases to people such as smoking and throwing rubbish anywhere should be stopped at once. The major of each city will have to think over the way how to educate people, so that they realize on how important cleanliness and health are for their own sake. Building more public lavatories at every busy place is very badly needed. It will be wise if the Major decides a certain amount of fine to be paid by those who disobey the government regulation on cleanliness matter. A man who urinate not at lavatory, smoke not at smoking room or throw rubbish at the roads should be fined for instance. Besides dirtying the environment with cigarettes butts, smoking will also cause pollution and lungs disease to other people. So bad habits and impolite attitude should be immediately stopped, otherwise the city will be dirty, unhealthy badly polluted and will never attract foreign or domestic tourist Comprehension Questions: What is the main idea of the text? Where is the information about the main idea located? What supporting details can be found in the text? What is the function of the text? How do you know? What are the generic structures of the text? Can you identify each of the feature (generic structure) in the text? In which sentence? What are the language features of text? Example 12 of a Hortatory Exposition Text More Dust Bins is Cleaner To improve comfort and cleanliness at the school, there should be an increasing number of dust bins. When we look at classroom, school corridors and schoolyard, there papers, mineral water cops, straws, and napkin everywhere. The condition of unseemliness really hinders learning and teaching environment. They can be filled out with water coming from the rain. This can be placed for mosquito to spread out. Anyway I notice that most of the students have responsibilities for their school environment. They put their litter on the proper place but some of them are not diligent enough to find the dust bins. The numbers of the dust bins in the school are not enough. More dust bins should be put beside each step, outside of the classrooms and some along of the corridors. Probably one dust bin should be in every ten meters. So when students want to throw away their litters, they can find the dust bins easily. When school is equipped with sufficient dust bins, students do not have problem of discomfort any more. So provide more dust bins and school will be very clean and become a very nice place to study. Comprehension Questions: What is the main idea of the text? Where is the information about the main idea located? What supporting details can be found in the text? What is the function of the text? How do you know? What are the generic structures of the text? Can you identify each of the feature (generic structure) in the text? In which sentence? What are the language features of text? Example 13 of a Hortatory Exposition Text Where should be after High School? The National examination result will be publicly enounced in next short time. Euphoria will flood for those who get success. In the other hand, It will be sorry to hear that there are some of them do not succeed in their national final examination. For those who succeed soon will think to decide; where will they be after graduating high school? Actually it will be easy to decide for those has been arranged and thought earlier but for those have not planed yet, it will be quite confusing. Continuing study or looking for work is the primary choice among them. When they think about continuing study, they will think hard about the time and cost. How long the higher study will last? And how high is about the cost. In the same way, when they think about straightly seeking job, what skill and competence they have got is a big matter of questioning. So, doing both choices in the same time is an alternative. Continuing study as well as seeking job is possibly done but it will be hard for them. Conventionally studying in the university needs much time to spend especially in the first year. It is true because they have to do and adapt a lot of things in their new higher school. it will be very hard to looking for job. Therefore it should come to their mind of continuing studying at higher school from their own home. As result, the available time will be more flexible for them. Then it will be very possible to seek job and get the appropriate one. This type of studying is publicly known as distance learning. As the alternative method of studying, besides the conventional studying which students and the lecturer have to meet in the fixed time and place regularly, distance learning provides possibility to grow better. Possibly working and studying surely will create high quality graduate. Distance learning should appear as a considerable choice for them. (http://bos-sulap.blogspot.com/2010/02/contoh-example-hortatory-text-where.html. Retrieved: 30 may 2012) Comprehension Questions: What is the main idea of the text? Where is the information about the main idea located? What supporting details can be found in the text? What is the function of the text? How do you know? What are the generic structures of the text? Can you identify each of the feature (generic structure) in the text? In which sentence? What are the language features of text? Example 14 of a Hortatory Exposition Text Millions from Property Market Dear friend, Are you tired of the daily grind? Sick of working all hours of the day for litle reward? Tired of having enough money to really enjoy yourself? Well, now there is a way out. We can show the way to give up work. Sit back and make millions for yourself and your loved ones on property market. Albert Smith felt just like you untill he read our leaflet. Now he drives a sport car arround the South of France and his wife has one of her own too. Generic Structure Analyse Thesis: there is a way out of financial problem. Argument: Albert Smith is the proof. Recommendation: Join property market ! Language Feature Analysis Using abstract noun: reward Using action verb: give up, make, etc Using thinking verb;:felt Using simple present tense: are you tired?, he drives a sport car, etc Comprehension Questions: What is the main idea of the text? Where is the information about the main idea located? What supporting details can be found in the text? What is the function of the text? How do you know? What are the generic structures of the text? Can you identify each of the feature (generic structure) in the text? In which sentence? What are the language features of text? Example 15 of a Hortatory Exposition Text Removing Lead from Petrol In all the discussion over the removal of lead from petrol (and the atmosphere) there doesnt seem to have been any mention of the difference between driving in the city and the country. While I realize my leaded petrol car is polluting the air wherever I drive, I feel that when you travel through the country, where you only see the another car every five to ten minutes, the problem is not as severe as when traffic is concentrated on city roads. Those who want to penalize older, leaded petrol vehicles and their owners dont seem to appreciate that, in the country, there is no public transport to fall back upon and ones own vehicle is the only way to get about. I feel that the country people, who often have to travel huge distances to the nearest town and who already spend a great deal of money on petrol, should be treated differently to the people who live in the city. Comprehension Questions: What is the main idea of the text? Where is the information about the main idea located? What supporting details can be found in the text? What is the function of the text? How do you know? What are the generic structures of the text? Can you identify each of the feature (generic structure) in the text? In which sentence? What are the language features of text?

The Pathological Protagonist of Dostoevsky’s Notes from the Underground

The Pathological Protagonist of Dostoevsky’s Notes from the Underground Dostoevsky’s vision of the world is violent and his characters tortured; it is no wonder that many have viewed his work as prophetic of the 20th century. However, though Dostoevsky, in his unflinching portrayal of depravity, gives the Devil some of his best arguments, the Gospel often triumphs. Ivan Karamazov is at least offered the possibility of repentance when kissed by his saintly brother Alyosha. Raskolnikov, the nihilistic antihero of Crime and Punishment, is eventually redeemed through the love of the pure prostitute Sonja. Notes from the Underground, however, breaks this pattern. The protagonist of this novel, who, uncharacteristically for Dostoevsky, is also the narrator, is not redeemed by his encounter with a prostitute, but rather degrades both her and himself by his actions. While Notes from the Underground has often been analyzed from a philosophical perspective, as Dostoevsky’s defense of free will against the mechanistic determinism and utilitarian moral theories popular in his day, it is more properly viewed as a character study. This view is necessitated, Ralph Matlaw writes, by the unreliability of the underground man as a guide to his own character and motivations (102). One who consistently proves to be a liar in matters of fact is not likely to be an honest theoretician either. The underground man himself, nearing the conclusion of his philosophical reflections, writes, â€Å"I swear to you, gentlemen, there is not one thing, not one word of what I have written that I really belie ve. That is, I believe it, perhaps, but at the same time I feel and suspect that I am lying like a cobbler† (Dostoevsky 212). Regarding the novel as prima... ...y, NY: Anchor Books, 1960. Lethcoe, James. â€Å"Self-Deception in Dostoevskij's Notes from the Underground.† The Slavic and East European Journal 10.1 (Spring, 1966): 9-21. Matlaw, Ralph. â€Å"Structure and Integration in Notes from the Underground.† PMLA 73.1 (March 1958): 101-109. Meerson, Olga. â€Å"Old Testament Lamentation in the Underground Man’s Monologue: A Refutation of the Existentialist Reading of Notes from the Underground.† The Slavic and East European Journal, 36.3 (Autumn 1992): 317-322. Morson, Gary Saul. â€Å"Paradoxical Dostoevsky.† The Slavic and East European Journal 43.3 (Autumn 1999): 471-494. Paris, Bernard. â€Å"Notes from Underground: A Horneyan Analysis.† PMLA 88.3 (May 1973): 511-522. Rosenshield, Gary. â€Å"The Fate of Dostoevskij's Underground Man: The Case for an Open Ending.† The Slavic and East European Journal 28.3 (Autumn, 1984): 324-339. The Pathological Protagonist of Dostoevsky’s Notes from the Underground The Pathological Protagonist of Dostoevsky’s Notes from the Underground Dostoevsky’s vision of the world is violent and his characters tortured; it is no wonder that many have viewed his work as prophetic of the 20th century. However, though Dostoevsky, in his unflinching portrayal of depravity, gives the Devil some of his best arguments, the Gospel often triumphs. Ivan Karamazov is at least offered the possibility of repentance when kissed by his saintly brother Alyosha. Raskolnikov, the nihilistic antihero of Crime and Punishment, is eventually redeemed through the love of the pure prostitute Sonja. Notes from the Underground, however, breaks this pattern. The protagonist of this novel, who, uncharacteristically for Dostoevsky, is also the narrator, is not redeemed by his encounter with a prostitute, but rather degrades both her and himself by his actions. While Notes from the Underground has often been analyzed from a philosophical perspective, as Dostoevsky’s defense of free will against the mechanistic determinism and utilitarian moral theories popular in his day, it is more properly viewed as a character study. This view is necessitated, Ralph Matlaw writes, by the unreliability of the underground man as a guide to his own character and motivations (102). One who consistently proves to be a liar in matters of fact is not likely to be an honest theoretician either. The underground man himself, nearing the conclusion of his philosophical reflections, writes, â€Å"I swear to you, gentlemen, there is not one thing, not one word of what I have written that I really belie ve. That is, I believe it, perhaps, but at the same time I feel and suspect that I am lying like a cobbler† (Dostoevsky 212). Regarding the novel as prima... ...y, NY: Anchor Books, 1960. Lethcoe, James. â€Å"Self-Deception in Dostoevskij's Notes from the Underground.† The Slavic and East European Journal 10.1 (Spring, 1966): 9-21. Matlaw, Ralph. â€Å"Structure and Integration in Notes from the Underground.† PMLA 73.1 (March 1958): 101-109. Meerson, Olga. â€Å"Old Testament Lamentation in the Underground Man’s Monologue: A Refutation of the Existentialist Reading of Notes from the Underground.† The Slavic and East European Journal, 36.3 (Autumn 1992): 317-322. Morson, Gary Saul. â€Å"Paradoxical Dostoevsky.† The Slavic and East European Journal 43.3 (Autumn 1999): 471-494. Paris, Bernard. â€Å"Notes from Underground: A Horneyan Analysis.† PMLA 88.3 (May 1973): 511-522. Rosenshield, Gary. â€Å"The Fate of Dostoevskij's Underground Man: The Case for an Open Ending.† The Slavic and East European Journal 28.3 (Autumn, 1984): 324-339.

Iagos Personality :: Literary Analysis, Shakespeare, Classics

Ideas about Othello In what way is this play about race? Considering that the protagonist is black, it brings in the idea of isolation. It is an important part of the play as he is isolated, placed on a pedestal so his fall is even more dramatic. In effect Shakespeare isolates the issue that racial prejudice is a timeless issue that will continue through time. Insecurity and vulnerability, allows Iago to attack him, makes relationship between Desdemona and Othello foundations shaky. Confirms Elizabethan stereotypes about race it was written for an audience that could accept racist stereotypes as truisms without acknowledging their own racism. A tragic flaw; makes Iago jealous; thus the downfall of Othello is imminent Is it a dramatic device? Shakespeare – concerned with racism? Imagery –dichotomy – conflict white/black; a discussion of humanity – confirming the Elizabethan stereotypes Power Iago – his disposition to know all the other characters flaws, undermines peoples in position of authority; his ability as a puppeteer Cassio – young and handsome; educated; superficial power Othello – military power and authority; meritocracy where status is gained on merit undermined by the idea that the duke orders him what to do; superficial power limited to their positions; undermining the power all the time; highlight how superficial his power is, it is undermined by Iago all the time Desdemona – women are dutiful, are repressed by their position as possessions of their masters In what way is this a play about the relationships between men and women? Shakespeare recognises the role of women through their relationships. Othello and Desdemona’s relationship conveys the ideas of love, lust, based on strong foundations or not.

Cixouss The Laugh of the Medusa Against Showalters Feminist Criticism

Cixous's The Laugh of the Medusa Critiqued Against Showalter's Essay Feminist Criticism in the Wilderness In learning about feminist theory this semester, one idea that arose from class discussions was the notion of essentialism. Essentialism, a theory that stresses essence as opposed to existence, was discussed at length and while some classmates found it to reductionary and cliché, it is a question that I assume must be asked of ecriture feminine writing. Does ecriture feminine writing essentialize women? If it does, is essentializing women problematic? One critique of ecriture feminine by the feminist critique and gynocricitics is that the former essentializes women. In my own understanding of feminist theory, I have related to ecriture feminine in my writing and believe that women should write from their bodies, should write as women, but there were some interesting points raised in class by classmates who do not argue with ecirture feminine's position. This paper will look at the issue surround essentialism; whether a woman writing from her body essentializes women. Ironically, although I find the writing of ecriture feminine writers to be engaging, stimulating and meaningful, I have chosen to write this paper in a linear, structured and straightforward manner. As an exegesis piece of work, I still believe that the notions of writing from female experience and acknowledging female difference are possible. I will look at an example of Ecriture Feminine writing, that of French feminist Helene Cixous's "The Laugh of the Medusa". This work will then be c... ... is clearly a gynocritic, I argue that she can be seen to support the movement to an ecriture feminine way of looking at women's writing and language. My reasoning behind this argument is that I believe the reason why Showalter objects to ecriture feminine writing is because she believes that ecriture feminine essentializes women and that sees essentialism to be harmful to feminist theory. Because I do not think that ecirture feminine essentializing women (in a problematic way), I argue that Showalter can reinforce the notions behind ecriture feminine. Showalter argues that we "need to ask much more searchingly what we want to know and how we can find answers to the questions that come from our experience" (Showalter 2000: 311).

A Prisoner’s Re-Entry into Society

Prisoner re-entry is a vitally important issue today which has yet to reach its full impact on the minds and lives of voters. However, with every passing year the importance of this topic becomes more evident. Since the eighties, every passing year has brought more pressure for harsher and longer imprisonment and more streamlined mandatory sentencing rules. This has not only resulted in an exploding prison population, but also in a drastic increase in the number of prisoners re-released into communities. Additionally, the push towards more punitive measures has decreased educational opportunities in prisons and the availability of rehabilitation programs. This means that released prisoners are increasingly unable to reintegrate into their communities, increasingly prone to recidivism, and increasingly violent in each release and re-capture cycle. Even the conservative Bush administration has recognized the threat posed by unprepared prisoner re-entry and responded with a series of grants to private and public organizations involved in rehabilitation and easing prisoner transitions. However, merely making government money available to private, religious, or state-based programs is not enough. These funds are only likely to reach a minority of prisoners who are already being aided by the aided programs. Prisoners whose communities and systems do not already take measures to help their rehabilitation will not be seeing any increase in re-entry programs or preparation. A nationwide set of standards is needed to assure that every prisoner eligible for re-release into the community will be inoculated against recidivism and prepared to become a useful part of the society in which they will reside. It is time for the Democratic Party to back away from the conservative model of crime prevention through fear and towards social responsible model of crime prevention through the creation of healthy communities. This can be done in large part by reforming the prison system from a gulag of social control and intimidation into a truly educational experience in which prisoners are put on a moderated track towards social responsibility, respect for the rights of others, and preparation to take a beneficial role in society. Joan Petersilia wrote an insightful book on this subject documenting a series of studies in crime and public policy, When Prisoners Come Home: Parole and Prisoner Reentry. After presenting many pages of carefully documented research, Petersilia provided four suggestions for future reform which could drastically reduce recidivism and change returning prisoners from presenting a public threat to being a boon to society. These suggestions were as follows: 1. Alter the in-prison experience. Provide more education, work, and rehabilitation opportunities. Change the prison environment to promote life skills rather than violence and domination. 2. Change prison release and revocation practices. Institute a system of discretionary parole release that incorporates parole release guidelines. These parole guidelines should be based primarily on recidivism prediction. 3. Revise post-prison services and supervision. Incorporate better parole supervision classification systems, and target services and surveillance to those with high need and risk profiles. 4. Foster collaborations with the community and enhance mechanisms of informal social control. Develop partnerships with service providers, ex-convicts, law enforcement, family members, victim advocates, and neighborhoods to support the offender. (Petersilia) These suggestions represent the best Democratic policy towards reform of the prisoner re-entry system. Petersilia's book on the subject provides documentation about the efficacy of these recommendations and their necessity in the current environment. The remainder of this paper will focus on the precise laws, policies, and programs which may be recommended to promote the implementations of these suggestions. Petersilia's first recommendation is to alter the in-prison experience. This may not be the immediately evident response to prisoner re-entry, but evidence suggests it may in fact be the most important response. As Petersilia points out in a separate article on the â€Å"Challenges of Prisoner Reentry and Parole in California,† the reason that returning convicts pose such a threat is not merely that they are dangerous criminals returning to the communities that they originally victimized, but that their time in prison has in all likelihood increased the dangers they pose to civilians! It is common knowledge that non-violent and inexperienced criminals entering the prison system are likely to emerge being both violent and experienced due to the brutal conditions that exist in most prisons. Male (and female) rape is extremely common in the prison system, with estimates placed between 13-70% of inmates suffering unwanted sexual conduct. (HRW) Such brutal experiences lead many inmates to experience post traumatic stress disorder, which has been positively linked to increased violent tendencies. The degree of dehumanization and stress common in prison can cause other problems as well. â€Å"Mental illnesses, particularly chronic anxiety and depression, may be caused by incarceration. Psychologists believe that incarceration often breeds ‘global rage,' an impulsive and explosive anger so great that a minor incident can trigger an uncontrolled response.† (Petersilia, â€Å"Challenges†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ) The Human Rights Watch's report on prison rape in America recommends several measures for preventing prison rape and brutality, and it is vital that policy focus on this aspect of the prison experience. In 2003 a bill was passed establishing a National Commission dedicated to studying prison rape, and several other measures to provide information and training regarding prison rape. However, these measures did not go far enough to assure that prison rape was both prosecuted and that victims received help and counseling. Neither mandatory prosecution nor counseling was included in the bill's measures. Though some constituents might hesitate to focus on preventing brutality to prisoners (indeed, if one pays close attention to the sorts of attitudes and jokes prevalent on crime shows such as Law and Order and NYPD Blue, many consumers may think that prison rape is a justifiable punishment for child abusers and pedophiles), it is important to remember that prison rape victims are likely to emerge with HIV and equally likely to become sexual abusers after their experiences even if they were not abusers before. Thus it is a public health and safety concern to prevent prison rape and other brutality between prisoners. The following policies should be instituted nationwide: 1. Division of prison population between violent and non-violent criminals, and between those who are eligible for parole and those who are not. (Parole-eligible prisoners have more incentive for good behavior) 2. Establishment of special court systems for prison population, mandatory investigation and prosecution of all incidents of hospitalization resulting from sexual assault, availability of independent prisoner-rights advocates, and segregation of all inmates convicted of prisoner-on-prisoner sexual assault to carefully regulated wards, and automatic termination for any employee convicted of sexual impropriety or battery of an inmate. 3. Mandatory counseling and AIDS testing for all prison brutality victims and the establishment of victim-positive protective custody arrangements. (Many victimized inmates are only offered solitary confinement as a protective arrangement, which generally means loss of other privileges and any human interaction, potentially worsening the trauma and decreasing reports) Condoms and retro-virus treatment should be made available to all AIDS/HIV positive inmates, so that future consensual prison relationships will be less likely to increase AIDS transmission. Additionally, the very arrangement of prisons tends to discourage personal responsibility and the development of positive social interactions. Petersilia describes how prison systems punish individual initiative and free-thought, and fail to prepare inmates for independence and responsibility within an open society. â€Å"When personal choice is eliminated, so is personal accountability because the system makes all decisions for prisoners.† (Petersilia, 184) A nationwide study should be undertaken regarding ways that personal choice and accountability can be safely established in prisons and a set of guidelines for national and private prisons should be developed based on the results of that study. Petersilia recommends some programs which have had success in the past which allow simple personal choice from requiring prisoners to decide for themselves when/how to clean their own cells, send their laundry to the cleaners, and so forth. Involving prisoners in some of the more mundane aspects of their confinement is likely to increase the sense of personal control and encourage responsibility. These changes should not be geared so much as ameliorating the punishment of prisoners as of assuring that the incarceration does not reduce their ability to function as a free person. One more important issue regarding prison experience is the availability of vocational and academic training. It is well known by those who study these issues that prisoners who are able to be employed after re-entry to society are significantly less likely to commit further crimes. Petersilia's second suggestion was to change prison release and revocation practices. The best recommendation for policy on this issue would be to adjust mandatory sentences so that they included the completion of certain educational and behavioral requirements. These adapted sentences would require the inmate to both complete a certain length of time and a set of release requirements to be established by a panel of experts on a case-by-case basis. These release requirements must be completed before the inmate was eligible either for parole or release based on time served. Requirements should include, as determined per individual case, mandatory counseling, addiction treatment, educational attainment, vocational studies, and good behavior. Petersilia points out that, based on prison records, recidivism predictions can be made that are 80% correct. Recidivism predictors should be made clear to inmates and they should be encouraged to work towards being eligible for release and parole. A nationwide set of guidelines regarding minimum achievements requirements in addition to the current nationwide set of minimum time-served requirements would return the focus to rehabilitation rather than mere punishment. In fact, the minimum time-served should be directly related to the minimum time necessary to complete the release requirements. Part of assuring that the prison system creates parolees who do not endanger the community is assuring that it creates educated parolees. It would do well in the future for ex-criminals to speak of â€Å"graduating† from prison, as it were, and going on to lead productive lives. In 1997 the Center on Crime, Communities, and Culture reported that â€Å"inmates with at least two years of college have a 10% re-arrest rate, compared to a national re-arrest rate of approximately 60%.† This is somewhat ironic, because just three years earlier in 1994 Congress passed a bill which virtually destroyed the prison undergraduate school system. This bill eliminated Pell grants paying for the education of incarcerated individuals. â€Å"Nationally, the only higher education program that's still publicly funded is for youthful offenders.† (Banks) So it is that since 1994 recidivism has increased by almost half, going from around 60% to nearly 90%. Today a mixture of volunteers, religious organizations, and state-funded programs have moved in to provide some college education for inmates. However only slightly more than 10% of prisoners will re-enter society with a college degree. A new bill should be sponsored which would fight to prevent crime by educating prisoners and thus slashing their chances of offending again. Even if Pell Grants were not extended to prisoners, perhaps a new system of educational grants should be developed that would pay for accredited college education for prisoners as part of their pre-release requirements. Our founding fathers all focused on the necessity of a free people being an educated people, and claimed that democracy was dependent on the education of the people. If we are to prepare prisoners to reenter a democratic nation and partake in it as citizens rather than as public enemies, then a liberal arts education which both prepares them for work and prepares them to understand the rights and responsibilities of all citizens is absolutely necessary. Petersilia's third point is that we need extensive post-release services. A new set of federal guidelines should require all released prisoners to be prepared with housing and income options. Halfway housing should be arranged for those who do not have families prepared to commit to providing housing. Job-placement services should be arranged before release and continued employment should be a condition of parole with job-placement provided at any point during the parole period at which the ex-inmate becomes unemployed. Continued medical treatment and counseling for prison-related problems (including AIDS and mental illness) should be provided, as well as mandatory counseling and guidance sessions. More federal and state funding needs to be available to increase the number of parole officers and services. Nationwide there is a shortage in parole officers. In California, for example, â€Å"the ratio is now 82 parolees to 1 parole officer†¦ even parolees who are motivated to change have little opportunity to do so.† (Petersilia, â€Å"Challenges†¦Ã¢â‚¬  ) According to Petersilia's research, â€Å"most inmates have a strong desire to succeed when they are first released.† (Petersilia, â€Å"Challenges†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ) Therefore it is vital that re-entry services are provided. Additionally, as most inmates are re-arrested within three years, it seems vital that such services are available for a period of at least five years as the inmates adjust to the responsibility and freedom of life outside. Homelessness, lack of income and opportunities, and a return to addiction are among the main reasons for a return to crime — proper post-release supervision, counseling, and provision of housing and work opportunities can prevent this. Though such supervision would be expensive, it will be far less expensive to provide ex-inmates with housing, employment, and services within the community than to provide them with housing, constant supervision, and services inside our prisons after they re-offend. In conclusion, it appears that a national Recidivism Prevention Bill is absolutely necessary. This bill should include: 1) a commitment to stop prison rape by means of the creation of a special court system for in-prison crimes such as rape, the mandatory investigation of prison rape cases, and special custody arrangements designed to combat rape; 2) the establishment of a study resulting in national guidelines for prison reform aimed at fostering social responsibility and accountability; 3) the establishment and funding of an accredited national university of correctional facilities which provides liberal arts, vocational, and technical degrees to inmates; 4) Creation of national guidelines for sentencing to include individual minimum release requirements including (but not limited to) successful completion of addiction or other counseling, charitable service, educational and vocational training, evidence of good behavior, and treatment for mental health problems; 5) national guidelines and funding for parole services including housing, job-placement and training, medical services , and mental health/addiction/family adjustment counseling, and a low parolee-to-officer ration allowing for adequate surveillance and regular check-ups. A Prisoner’s Re-Entry into Society Prisoner re-entry is a vitally important issue today which has yet to reach its full impact on the minds and lives of voters. However, with every passing year the importance of this topic becomes more evident. Since the eighties, every passing year has brought more pressure for harsher and longer imprisonment and more streamlined mandatory sentencing rules. This has not only resulted in an exploding prison population, but also in a drastic increase in the number of prisoners re-released into communities. Additionally, the push towards more punitive measures has decreased educational opportunities in prisons and the availability of rehabilitation programs. This means that released prisoners are increasingly unable to reintegrate into their communities, increasingly prone to recidivism, and increasingly violent in each release and re-capture cycle. Even the conservative Bush administration has recognized the threat posed by unprepared prisoner re-entry and responded with a series of grants to private and public organizations involved in rehabilitation and easing prisoner transitions. However, merely making government money available to private, religious, or state-based programs is not enough. These funds are only likely to reach a minority of prisoners who are already being aided by the aided programs. Prisoners whose communities and systems do not already take measures to help their rehabilitation will not be seeing any increase in re-entry programs or preparation. A nationwide set of standards is needed to assure that every prisoner eligible for re-release into the community will be inoculated against recidivism and prepared to become a useful part of the society in which they will reside. It is time for the Democratic Party to back away from the conservative model of crime prevention through fear and towards social responsible model of crime prevention through the creation of healthy communities. This can be done in large part by reforming the prison system from a gulag of social control and intimidation into a truly educational experience in which prisoners are put on a moderated track towards social responsibility, respect for the rights of others, and preparation to take a beneficial role in society. Joan Petersilia wrote an insightful book on this subject documenting a series of studies in crime and public policy, When Prisoners Come Home: Parole and Prisoner Reentry. After presenting many pages of carefully documented research, Petersilia provided four suggestions for future reform which could drastically reduce recidivism and change returning prisoners from presenting a public threat to being a boon to society. These suggestions were as follows: 1. Alter the in-prison experience. Provide more education, work, and rehabilitation opportunities. Change the prison environment to promote life skills rather than violence and domination. 2. Change prison release and revocation practices. Institute a system of discretionary parole release that incorporates parole release guidelines. These parole guidelines should be based primarily on recidivism prediction. 3. Revise post-prison services and supervision. Incorporate better parole supervision classification systems, and target services and surveillance to those with high need and risk profiles. 4. Foster collaborations with the community and enhance mechanisms of informal social control. Develop partnerships with service providers, ex-convicts, law enforcement, family members, victim advocates, and neighborhoods to support the offender. (Petersilia) These suggestions represent the best Democratic policy towards reform of the prisoner re-entry system. Petersilia's book on the subject provides documentation about the efficacy of these recommendations and their necessity in the current environment. The remainder of this paper will focus on the precise laws, policies, and programs which may be recommended to promote the implementations of these suggestions. Petersilia's first recommendation is to alter the in-prison experience. This may not be the immediately evident response to prisoner re-entry, but evidence suggests it may in fact be the most important response. As Petersilia points out in a separate article on the â€Å"Challenges of Prisoner Reentry and Parole in California,† the reason that returning convicts pose such a threat is not merely that they are dangerous criminals returning to the communities that they originally victimized, but that their time in prison has in all likelihood increased the dangers they pose to civilians! It is common knowledge that non-violent and inexperienced criminals entering the prison system are likely to emerge being both violent and experienced due to the brutal conditions that exist in most prisons. Male (and female) rape is extremely common in the prison system, with estimates placed between 13-70% of inmates suffering unwanted sexual conduct. (HRW) Such brutal experiences lead many inmates to experience post traumatic stress disorder, which has been positively linked to increased violent tendencies. The degree of dehumanization and stress common in prison can cause other problems as well. â€Å"Mental illnesses, particularly chronic anxiety and depression, may be caused by incarceration. Psychologists believe that incarceration often breeds ‘global rage,' an impulsive and explosive anger so great that a minor incident can trigger an uncontrolled response.† (Petersilia, â€Å"Challenges†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ) The Human Rights Watch's report on prison rape in America recommends several measures for preventing prison rape and brutality, and it is vital that policy focus on this aspect of the prison experience. In 2003 a bill was passed establishing a National Commission dedicated to studying prison rape, and several other measures to provide information and training regarding prison rape. However, these measures did not go far enough to assure that prison rape was both prosecuted and that victims received help and counseling. Neither mandatory prosecution nor counseling was included in the bill's measures. Though some constituents might hesitate to focus on preventing brutality to prisoners (indeed, if one pays close attention to the sorts of attitudes and jokes prevalent on crime shows such as Law and Order and NYPD Blue, many consumers may think that prison rape is a justifiable punishment for child abusers and pedophiles), it is important to remember that prison rape victims are likely to emerge with HIV and equally likely to become sexual abusers after their experiences even if they were not abusers before. Thus it is a public health and safety concern to prevent prison rape and other brutality between prisoners. The following policies should be instituted nationwide: 1. Division of prison population between violent and non-violent criminals, and between those who are eligible for parole and those who are not. (Parole-eligible prisoners have more incentive for good behavior) 2. Establishment of special court systems for prison population, mandatory investigation and prosecution of all incidents of hospitalization resulting from sexual assault, availability of independent prisoner-rights advocates, and segregation of all inmates convicted of prisoner-on-prisoner sexual assault to carefully regulated wards, and automatic termination for any employee convicted of sexual impropriety or battery of an inmate. 3. Mandatory counseling and AIDS testing for all prison brutality victims and the establishment of victim-positive protective custody arrangements. (Many victimized inmates are only offered solitary confinement as a protective arrangement, which generally means loss of other privileges and any human interaction, potentially worsening the trauma and decreasing reports) Condoms and retro-virus treatment should be made available to all AIDS/HIV positive inmates, so that future consensual prison relationships will be less likely to increase AIDS transmission. Additionally, the very arrangement of prisons tends to discourage personal responsibility and the development of positive social interactions. Petersilia describes how prison systems punish individual initiative and free-thought, and fail to prepare inmates for independence and responsibility within an open society. â€Å"When personal choice is eliminated, so is personal accountability because the system makes all decisions for prisoners.† (Petersilia, 184) A nationwide study should be undertaken regarding ways that personal choice and accountability can be safely established in prisons and a set of guidelines for national and private prisons should be developed based on the results of that study. Petersilia recommends some programs which have had success in the past which allow simple personal choice from requiring prisoners to decide for themselves when/how to clean their own cells, send their laundry to the cleaners, and so forth. Involving prisoners in some of the more mundane aspects of their confinement is likely to increase the sense of personal control and encourage responsibility. These changes should not be geared so much as ameliorating the punishment of prisoners as of assuring that the incarceration does not reduce their ability to function as a free person. One more important issue regarding prison experience is the availability of vocational and academic training. It is well known by those who study these issues that prisoners who are able to be employed after re-entry to society are significantly less likely to commit further crimes. Petersilia's second suggestion was to change prison release and revocation practices. The best recommendation for policy on this issue would be to adjust mandatory sentences so that they included the completion of certain educational and behavioral requirements. These adapted sentences would require the inmate to both complete a certain length of time and a set of release requirements to be established by a panel of experts on a case-by-case basis. These release requirements must be completed before the inmate was eligible either for parole or release based on time served. Requirements should include, as determined per individual case, mandatory counseling, addiction treatment, educational attainment, vocational studies, and good behavior. Petersilia points out that, based on prison records, recidivism predictions can be made that are 80% correct. Recidivism predictors should be made clear to inmates and they should be encouraged to work towards being eligible for release and parole. A nationwide set of guidelines regarding minimum achievements requirements in addition to the current nationwide set of minimum time-served requirements would return the focus to rehabilitation rather than mere punishment. In fact, the minimum time-served should be directly related to the minimum time necessary to complete the release requirements. Part of assuring that the prison system creates parolees who do not endanger the community is assuring that it creates educated parolees. It would do well in the future for ex-criminals to speak of â€Å"graduating† from prison, as it were, and going on to lead productive lives. In 1997 the Center on Crime, Communities, and Culture reported that â€Å"inmates with at least two years of college have a 10% re-arrest rate, compared to a national re-arrest rate of approximately 60%.† This is somewhat ironic, because just three years earlier in 1994 Congress passed a bill which virtually destroyed the prison undergraduate school system. This bill eliminated Pell grants paying for the education of incarcerated individuals. â€Å"Nationally, the only higher education program that's still publicly funded is for youthful offenders.† (Banks) So it is that since 1994 recidivism has increased by almost half, going from around 60% to nearly 90%. Today a mixture of volunteers, religious organizations, and state-funded programs have moved in to provide some college education for inmates. However only slightly more than 10% of prisoners will re-enter society with a college degree. A new bill should be sponsored which would fight to prevent crime by educating prisoners and thus slashing their chances of offending again. Even if Pell Grants were not extended to prisoners, perhaps a new system of educational grants should be developed that would pay for accredited college education for prisoners as part of their pre-release requirements. Our founding fathers all focused on the necessity of a free people being an educated people, and claimed that democracy was dependent on the education of the people. If we are to prepare prisoners to reenter a democratic nation and partake in it as citizens rather than as public enemies, then a liberal arts education which both prepares them for work and prepares them to understand the rights and responsibilities of all citizens is absolutely necessary. Petersilia's third point is that we need extensive post-release services. A new set of federal guidelines should require all released prisoners to be prepared with housing and income options. Halfway housing should be arranged for those who do not have families prepared to commit to providing housing. Job-placement services should be arranged before release and continued employment should be a condition of parole with job-placement provided at any point during the parole period at which the ex-inmate becomes unemployed. Continued medical treatment and counseling for prison-related problems (including AIDS and mental illness) should be provided, as well as mandatory counseling and guidance sessions. More federal and state funding needs to be available to increase the number of parole officers and services. Nationwide there is a shortage in parole officers. In California, for example, â€Å"the ratio is now 82 parolees to 1 parole officer†¦ even parolees who are motivated to change have little opportunity to do so.† (Petersilia, â€Å"Challenges†¦Ã¢â‚¬  ) According to Petersilia's research, â€Å"most inmates have a strong desire to succeed when they are first released.† (Petersilia, â€Å"Challenges†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ) Therefore it is vital that re-entry services are provided. Additionally, as most inmates are re-arrested within three years, it seems vital that such services are available for a period of at least five years as the inmates adjust to the responsibility and freedom of life outside. Homelessness, lack of income and opportunities, and a return to addiction are among the main reasons for a return to crime — proper post-release supervision, counseling, and provision of housing and work opportunities can prevent this. Though such supervision would be expensive, it will be far less expensive to provide ex-inmates with housing, employment, and services within the community than to provide them with housing, constant supervision, and services inside our prisons after they re-offend. In conclusion, it appears that a national Recidivism Prevention Bill is absolutely necessary. This bill should include: 1) a commitment to stop prison rape by means of the creation of a special court system for in-prison crimes such as rape, the mandatory investigation of prison rape cases, and special custody arrangements designed to combat rape; 2) the establishment of a study resulting in national guidelines for prison reform aimed at fostering social responsibility and accountability; 3) the establishment and funding of an accredited national university of correctional facilities which provides liberal arts, vocational, and technical degrees to inmates; 4) Creation of national guidelines for sentencing to include individual minimum release requirements including (but not limited to) successful completion of addiction or other counseling, charitable service, educational and vocational training, evidence of good behavior, and treatment for mental health problems; 5) national guidelines and funding for parole services including housing, job-placement and training, medical services , and mental health/addiction/family adjustment counseling, and a low parolee-to-officer ration allowing for adequate surveillance and regular check-ups.