Sustainable Development and its overall impact Assignment

Sustainable Development and its overall impact - Assignment Example It is related with the utilisation of resources, excess consumption of resources, insufficiency, human rights and availability of facilities. Therefore, evaluation of sustainable development should accept a time limit which can capture both human and environment and react with the requirement of future and present generation. Proper anticipation of future needs should be done on the basis of historic circumstances. The sustainable framework of an organisation should link with the chosen vision and objectives of organisation. A number of measurement amalgamations are effective to provide vibrant indication of progress towards sustainability. By associating the measurement value with the target, organisations can comprehend the ways and the tendencies towards sustainable development (Hardi & Zdan, 1997). Values and Beliefs: Values and beliefs are vital for management of sustainability. Therefore, organisations ought to ensure a level of openness in their operations which can ensure tru st and faith. There is need for applying considerable level of transparency in business performances which also includes measurement of sustainable progress. In order to add value, organisations can maintain close interaction with the government and the public. The involvement of people such as professionals, social groups comprising youths and ethnic people can help to ensure acknowledgement of miscellaneous and fluctuating values. Participations of communities can also help to secure an organisation by connecting implemented policies with consequential actions (International Energy Agency, 2006). Evaluation of Sustainable Development: Organisations need to be iterative, adaptive and reactive to any kind of... Center of discussion in this paper is sustainable development as a kind of development which satisfies the requisites of present times without sacrificing the aptitudes of upcoming generations to satisfy their own requirements. In relation to the case there are five major aspects of sustainable development principles which are: establishing vision, universal perception, needs and rights, values and beliefs, evaluation of sustainable development. Sustainable development is an extensive concept where human and organisational actions can affect the environment and social welfare. Organisations along with individuals have responsibilities to promote sustainable development. From the above analysis of cases, it can be observed that several organisations and bodies implement different measures to protect and to restore the environment and natural resources. In order to accomplish a positive future, above aspects should be considered by organisations and should also implement measures that can reduce the negative environmental impacts. Organisational structure and culture should be changed and adjusted towards better sustainability and the organisations also need to comply with the rules and the regulations of environment. In order to enhance the biodiversity, several projects have been undertaken as a part of sustainable development. One such project is development of â€Å"Bird Flapper† where a disk is linked with the power lines.

Maltese Falcon Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Maltese Falcon - Movie Review Example It also had a choice of setting, which was an urban landscape. This film is not only renowned for its long-term popularity, but also its considerable contribution in either changing or inaugurating key aspects of the film industry. Like the Film Noir by Paul Schrader, Maltase Falcon also presents a darker view of life. This contributed to a change in the film industry since most of the previous films majorly concentrated on human despair, failure and depravity. Maltase Falcon and Film Noir both share some common themes like dark, tormented obsessions and sexual divergence (Shrader 57). For instance, both the films strongly advocates for gender equality, as they perceive men as weak and women as powerful. â€Å"Black widow† is preselected as a powerful woman as she seduced, exploited and killed her partners (Shrader 59). The film has a happy conclusion to the audience because Sam who has since been frustrated because of his color and personality finally becomes a hero and achieves his existential identity in spite of all the shortcomings in his

Schindlers List vs Book Thief Essay Example for Free

Schindlers List vs Book Thief Essay The character Death, in Zusack’s The Book Thief says: â€Å"That’s the sort of thing I’ll never know- what humans are capable of. † Discuss the way this statement reflects one or more texts you have seen or read this year. Adaptation is the ability to adjust for existence under environmental conditions. Like how animals adapt in the wild, humans are also capable to be tolerant in difficult situations. We do not know our limit of cruelty or kindness. Although most people choose to be kind and sympathetic to others, there are also people who are cruel and cold-hearted. Mark Zusack states this idea in his book, The Book Thief from death’s point of view, â€Å"That’s the sort of thing I’ll never know, or comprehend- what humans are capable of. † Amon Goth’s cruelty to Jews in the movie, Schindler’s List is an example of human’s undeterminable mind. The morning when groups of Jews arrive to his work camp, Goth randomly starts shooting the Jews from his veranda. At first, the Jews thought they are now safe since they have survived the chaos in the city. Therefore, Goth shoots them to rise up the tension of the scene. His shots cause chaos at the camp and the view of the chaos from his veranda makes the Jews look more animal like and vulnerable. Later in the film, the Jews’ wedding scene, Schindler’s social party scene and Goth torturing Helen scene are shown by juxtaposition. This juxtaposition shows those three different scenes that create different moods in a short amount of time. This also shows Goth’s insanity. He asks questions to Helen however, he answers those questions by himself pretending Helen is the one who’s answering them. His sudden mood swings also hints about his odd mental condition. In the film Schindler’s List, the audiences are mesmerized by the protagonist, Oskar Schindler’s generosity. It uses juxtaposition between Schindler and Itzhak Stern’s thorough search of all the names to add to the list to save the Jews from the work camp and the images of those people to show the critical subclimax of the movie. Schindler’s break down at the end of the movie touches the audiences’ hearts. He keeps murmuring to Itzhak about his regrets. He thinks that if he knew that the war was about to end, e would have spent everything he has to save more Jews. He was touched when the Jews have him a gold ring as a gift for his devotions. When the Jews hand him the ring his hands were shaking and he was shocked. Most people would not risk their lives to safe others. However, Schindler’s selflessness is magnificent which has save thousands of Jews’ lives. Another example from this film is at the beginning when Narzi soldiers evacuate and execute the Jews in the city. These soldiers barge into the apartments destroy all the belonging in their paths. When they cannot control the situation, they start random shootings which killed hundreds of thousands of people. Not one of the soldiers hesitates before they put a bullet in the Jews’ heads. Although there were bloodsheds, we could not see the colour since almost the entire movie is shown in black and white. Otherwise, these bloodshed scenes would be even more horrible. The Nazi’s discrimination towards the Jews is also a very cruel act that most people are not capable of understanding the reason why they did it. The signs of discrimination are shown in the film. The Nazis let them run around naked during the medical checks. Although the doctors can easily determine the difference between the sick and the healthy Jews, they forced them to be examined naked in the camp. This is shown to portray how powerless and embarrassed the Jews would have felt at that time. The director shows this scene from many different angles to capture all the actions happening in the area. The tombstones of the Jews are used to build up roads which is also another way of dehumanizing the Jews. These tombstones are important for their family members but they have used it as a resource to walk on it which shows disrespect. It is also to make to look like the Jews are powerless and vulnerable. Another surprising thing that overwhelms people is the Jews’ capability to harsh violence by the Nazis. At the beginning of the movie, the Jews are sent off to the work camp by travelling in squashing trains and trucks. They had to work hard labour although this kind of work used to be unfamiliar for most people; some still manage to survive this hardship. Although they have to do harsh labours, the execution, and concentration camps they still do not lose hope. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank wrote that, â€Å"Someday I will be able to taste freedom and some day we will all be free. † No matter how bad the situation is humans also hope for the best. I believe that this is something that only humans are most capable of. It is hope that let so many people conquer hardships and difficulties.

Meeting Health and Well-being Needs in Day Care Centre

Meeting Health and Well-being Needs in Day Care Centre Day Care Centre This essay will be the design of a day care centre that will meet the needs of 3-5 year olds; cognitive, physical, emotional and social development. This will show examples of how to meet these needs and research to back up the actions. Cognitive development Between these ages lots of cognitive development is going on as they learn from what’s around them, this is where my day care centre can help. In terms of language acquisition children are using sentences made up of more than 4 words, which are intelligible to everyone, not just familiar listeners. They will also ask how and why questions (Bhalla, 2013), and able to answer these questions knowing what type of answer is required of them, despite maybe giving the wrong answer (Hussey-Gardner, 1992). They will be learning the meanings of words, which will help them describe things and tell stories. One issue that will come across is the over generalization of grammar rules, for example a child may use ‘goed’, ‘wented’ ‘fishes’ (Hussey-Gardner, 1992). This supports the language acquisition device (LAD) theory from Chomsky, a child assumed and applied the grammar rules from their universal grammar because they could not have copied or learned these words from adults (Albery, et al., 2008). However the flaw with this theory is that it doesn’t prove a child has a LAD, although it supports that children don’t learn language through imitation alone, they could learn it through other interactions (DAgostino, 2001). In my day care centre I will help prevent over generalisation of grammar rules by repeating the sentence back with the correct grammar in place, reading books with different tenses, ensuring I use the words which are freque ntly misused in the right context. I will also encourage their speech in general by getting them to describe things, and asking them to explain their activities. Vygotsky claimed that children at this age will talk to themselves in order to help complete tasks, this is a very important stage in cognitive development because speaking out loud whilst problem solving will eventually lead to internal thoughts (Albery, et al., 2008). In the day care centre I will help encourage this by giving children tasks by giving them spoken instructions so they can repeat these instructions to themselves whilst completing the task. Using language to assist in problem solving occurred in what Vygotsky called the egocentric speech stage. This stage has a connection to Piaget’s pre-operational stage, where Piaget also believed that children of this age were egocentric and had egocentric speech (Albery, et al., 2008). However Piaget didn’t come to the conclusion Vygotsky did that egocentric speech turned into internal thoughts, Piaget thought egocentric speech just disappeared (Blunden, 1997). Piaget also believed that within this stage children make mistakes due to centration, which is not being able to think of two things at once. He showed this using a balance scale task where children had to take into account distance and number of weights to see which side will go down (Waring, 2006). A criticism for Piaget’s test is that it was not something children understood and are used to and therefore harder for them to relate to the test (Waring, 2006) . I could help children think less centrally by using Vygotsky scaffolding theory (Chaiklin, 2003). They can solve a puzzle on their own taking only one element into account, then with the help of a more knowing adult they can solve a puzzle taking into account two elements, they then should be able to do this themselves. The scaffolding idea from Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development theory is the idea that more knowing adults can guide children through what they can do by themselves, what they can do with help and eventually doing it themselves. The problem with this theory is that it doesn’t take into consideration children’s personal abilities, if they are not particularly good at a skill, no amount of help will get them to succeed by themselves. It also doesn’t consider children’s motivation or desire to complete the task (Chaiklin, 2003) Physical Children at the age of 3-5 years are developing their fine and gross motor skills. They can get more involved in physical play, like climbing, or using tricycles. They can hold things between their thumb and finger rather than their whole fists and manipulate clay (Australian Government Department of Social Services, 2011). To help develop their fine motor skills I can start by giving the children bigger pencils and scissors and gradually give them smaller ones to use. I would also give them shapes to draw, at first getting them to draw along dotted lines, then copying a shape and them getting them to draw it free hand (Bhalla, 2013). Trawick-Smith (2010) noted in his report that motiavtion is an important factor in childrens physical development espeshially in their gross motor skills. He believes that children relate to make believe and role playing games and that they devlop physically when they can reflect on their actions and see what their actions do and look like. So in my day care centre I will have an area for physical sessions with a mirror coverng one side. In these sessions I will relate movements to characters e.g. marching soldiers or woddling penguins. As well as having an outdoor climbing frame which children can play on with each other. The problem with Trawick-Smith’s (2010) ideas are that it is hard to motivate a large group of children in the same way. The idea of physical activity sessions can also be supported by Bandura’s theory of observational learning which came about from his Bobo Doll experiment. The children now have the ability, biologically, to copy the behaviours and to learn new fine or gross motor skills. I need to offer the opportunity to observe the behaviours, for them to retain the behaviour, imitiate the behaviour, and repeat these behaviours. However I must motiave them to repeat the actions and reward the success of repeated action (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, n.d.). The problem with this theory is that there is no garentee that a child will repeat the behaviour straight away it may take a while for the child to feel it is beneficial for them to repeat the action (Taylor, 2014). This is a very behaviourist way of looking at pysical development. The nature vs. nurture debate could be relevant here, as you could argue that the a child will devlop the ability to do these activites through muturation. However behaviourist will take the nuture root that the behvaiour is learnt however the ability to learn it is innate (Keegan, 2002). Lifespan devlopmental theory takes on both approuches, at this age they are in the childhood stage (Keegan, 2002). At this stage they are gaining motor skillls however because myelination is still in its early stages (the devlopment of the sheath around the axon stucture in the Central Nervous System) a child cannot transmit information as fast, the more it develops the more complex brain processes can be allowed (Fraser-Trill, 2010). This may result in differnent physical activites each child is able to do (MacFarlane Nierman, 2001). So in my day care center I will have 3 groups for physical activites seperating the different ability levels. Social Children between the ages of 3-5 will be trying to interact with other children by engaging in pretend play (Bhalla, 2013). They may try and play with toys but sharing may be a difficult task for them at this age due to them being egocentric (Kamptner, 2014). Egocentrism is a theory put forward in Piaget’s pre-operational stage, he used the three mountains test to show that children could not picture someone else’s viewpoint (Albery, et al., 2008). However the problem with Piaget’s theory is that the three mountains test is not relatable to children, they do not understand what is being asked of him. When Hughes and Donaldson carried out the ‘Policeman test’ with children it showed that children could see from another point of view because the task was more relatable as a hide-and-seek type game (Albery, et al., 2008). In my day care centre I will have circle time, each child will have a chance to say something about their day, one child will have a teddy bear, this will indicate it’s their turn to talk, and everyone else in the circle must listen. This will help guide children into understanding others points of view. Egocentrism can also cause difficulties in sharing, taking turns, conflict when playing with each other and can be possessive over toys (Kamptner, 2014). I can try to reduce this in my day care centre by encouraging sharing by having a timer, when the timer ends the toy is given to another child. Also during this age group children are progressing from ‘interactive’ play, which involves parallel play, where children can play with the same toys in the same area but not together, to eventually, ‘cooperatively’ play together, which involves playing together with toys which makes it more organised, for example building something together (Kamptner, 2014). In my day care centre I will use Vygotsky’s scaffolding theory to assist the children in progressing through the two stages. At first I may have group of 2 children and one member of staff to complete a task, for example building a tower. Firstly the children will share the blocks to make one each with the watchful eye of the member of staff, which will encourage parallel play. Next I will get the children to build something different each with the same blocks, maybe a tower and a building which put together after will make a castle, this will show that working together can achieve more. The next stage will be getting the children to build a tower together, the member of staff with them will assign each of them a task to complete. After they will be asked to do the same but the children will organise themselves to cooperative play. The member of staff will be there to diffuse any conflicts that may arise, and to ensure they are sharing properly. Another factor I will have to c onsider is ensuring the children are motivated and rewarded for playing nicely with each other. Emotional At this age children are becoming in tune with their emotions, they are starting to identify their own feelings, they can use words to express themselves which causes less frustration, have fears and are developing a sense of humour, bodily functions in particular are funny to them. It’s important for children to be able to identify emotions as they can still be overwhelmed by them if they don’t understand, however children need to understand their own emotions and others too (Bullick, 2010). Piaget believed that children in the pre-operational stage could not feel empathy because they are too egocentric, however this was contradicted by the policeman test (Albery, et al., 2008). Now that it’s been supported that children can have empathy it’s important to develop it, one way of doing this could be through using a ‘persona doll’. Persona dolls are doll that come in a range of shapes, colour, religion and abilities to help children relate to them. An adult will tell a story about the persona doll, the children then interact by suggesting how it makes them feel and how to make them feel better. For example ‘the doll is scared of the dark’, a child will respond ‘she is scared of the dark like me, I have a night light, we should get her one too’ or ‘someone told the doll she couldn’t play because she was a girl’ a child would respond ‘someone said that to me once, I felt sad. Everyone should be all owed to play.’ This doll encourages them to not only identify their own emotions but also empathise with someone else’s and what they can do to make themselves and others feel better (Brown, et al., 2012). Children who will help themselves or others with their emotions are using their initiative, which is one of the elements in Erikson’s initiative vs guilt psychosocial stage. An initiative child will have a good self-esteem and confident in the activities they are doing. For example they may lead other peers to play a game, or get others to join in on activities or make decisions for example collect their coat when its home time without being told. However low self-esteem or guilt can occur when this initiative is not praised, or criticised, this can lead to inhibition (McLeod, 2013). I can help raise initiative by encouraging role play games as groups. I may have a small group of children and one adult, the adult will nominate one child to make up roles and organise the game which they will all join in on, and the adult must try not to take over or discourage any of the ideas. The next day the adult will nominate a different child, this way all the children have a fair part to play and they are all gaining initiative. Erikson’s theory is based on Freudian view of the conflicting id, ego and superego, however Erikson doesn’t state how successfully resolve these conflicts and the boundaries between each are vague. It also doesn’t show how of if one of the conflict stages can effect another (McLeod, 2013). I could also include Bowlby’s attachment theory here. Bowlby believed that children become attached to their primary care giver, and by this age they will be upset if they leave them (Keegan, 2002). To help with this transition I could let the parents be at the day care center together, to let them get used to it, and then they could bring a teddy from home that they could use a comfort if they start to get upset. In conclusion I will have to bear in mind a lot of aspects in order for the children in my day care centre to have the best development. It has been supported that role play, problem solving and an adult helping hand can go a long way in the development stages. References Albery, I. P., Chandler, C., Field, A., Jones, D., Messer, D., Simon, M., Sterling, C. (2008). Complete Psychology (2nd ed.). (G. Davey, Ed.) London: British Libuary Cataloguing in Publication Data. Australian Government Department of Social Services. (2011, March 10). Physical Development 3-4 year olds. Retrieved Febuary 17, 2014, from Rasing Children: http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/physical_health_from_age_3_to_4_pbs.html Bhalla, S. (2013, April 25). Parenting Tips Sorted by Age Preschoolers. Growth and Development: 3-5 years. Retrieved Febuary 13, 2014, from One Tough Job: https://www.onetoughjob.org/tips/preschoolers/growth-a-development-3-5-years Blunden, A. (1997). Vygotsky and the Dialectical Method. Retrieved Febuary 13, 2014, from Marxists.org: http://www.marxists.org/archive/vygotsky/works/comment/vygotsk1.htm Brown, B., Johnson, M., Louth, J., Shepherd, M., Spencer, M., Wilson, M. (2012). Case Studies. Retrieved Febuary 19, 2014, from Persona Doll Training: www.persona-doll-training.org Bullick, T. (2010). Growing Miracles. The first six years with your child. (2nd ed.). Alberta: Alberta Health Services. Chaiklin, S. (2003). The Zone of Proximal Development in Vygotskys Analysis of Learning and Instruction. In V. S. Ageyev, B. Gindis, A. Kozulin, S. M. Miller, Vygotskys Educational Theory in Cultural Context (pp. 39-61). Cambridge: The Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge. DAgostino, F. (2001). Noam Chomsky. Retrieved Febuary 13, 2014, from Chomsky.info: www.chomsky.info/bios/2001-02.htm Fraser-Trill, R. (2010, August 26). Definition of Myelination. Retrieved Febuary 26, 2014, from About.com: tweenparenting.about.com/od/physicalemotionalgrowth/a/Difinition-of-Myelination.html Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. (n.d.). Physical Devlopment: Age 2-6. Retrieved Febuary 18, 2014, from CliffNotes: http://www.cliffsnotes.com/sciences/psychology/development-psychology/physical-cognitive-development-age-26/physical-development-age-26 Hussey-Gardner, D. B. (1992). Language Development. Retrieved Febuary 13, 2014, from Parenting Me: http://www.parentingme.com/language Kamptner, L. (2014, January 7). Supporting Childrens Devlopment 3-5 year olds Social Development. Retrieved Febuary 18, 2014, from Institute for Child Devlopment and Family Relations: http://icdfr.csusb.edu/documents/phandoutsocialdevelopment-2.pdf Keegan, G. (2002). Developmental Psychology. Kilmarnock: Learning and Teaching Scotland. MacFarlane, M., Nierman, M. (2001). Life Span Development. Retrieved Febuary 26, 2014, from Annenberg Learner: http://www.learner.org/series/discoveringpsychology/development/dev_flash.html McLeod, S. (2013). Erik Erikson. Retrieved Febuary 19, 2014, from Simply Psychology: www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson Taylor, V. (2014, Febuary 18). The Disadvantages of Observational Learning. Retrieved Febuary 18, 2014, from ehow: http://www.ehow.co.uk/info_8571259_disadvantages-observational-learning.html Trawick-Smith, J. (2010). From Playpen to Playground—The Importance of Physical Play for the. Eastern Connecticut: Head Start Body Start National Center for Physical Development and Outdoor Play. Retrieved Febuary 17, 2014 Waring, P. (2006). Cognition and Development. Retrieved Febuary 13, 2014, from Psychology 4a: http://www.psychology4a.com/cognitive_development.htm

Styles of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge versus The Tell Tale Heart :: essays research papers

The authors, Ambrose Bierce of 'An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge' and Edger Allan Poe of 'The Tell Tale Heart' have unique styles to pull the reader into the story. Both authors use unreliable narrator and imagery to allow the reader to picture and follow the narrator's way of thinking. In the Tell Tale Heart, the man is very repetitious and his psychotic behavior is what intrigues the overall dark madness of The Tell Tale Heart. In Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Bierce uses illusions to allow the reader to follow wherever his ideas lead which also intrigues the overall dark madness effect. After the old man is dead and under the floorboards the police arrive, and the narrator remains calm and his "manor had convinced them.?Villains!" "Dissemble no more! I admit the deed! -- tear up the planks! -- Here, here! -- it is the beating of his hideous heart!" The narrator of "The Tell Tale Heart" shows that he is unreliable. Concluding the questioning by the police, the narrator had a sudden fear and assumed that the policemen have heard the old man?s heart beat. Not only the narrator could hear the old man?s heart beating, but it is assumed (from the audience perspective) that the police could hear the narrator?s heart beating. The narrator listening to the old man?s heart beat is a replacement of his own consciousness that brought out the guiltiness for murdering the old man. In the last three paragraphs of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge told by a third person point of view, Farquhar is being hanged by the rope, and when the rope is undone, Farquhar escapes and sees the light of the river. The light in this particular story represents a warm bright light from heaven. On other hand on the complete opposite side, in The Tell Tale Heart the light (lantern) signifies fear of the eye. However the narrator reveals that Farquhar?s escape is a hallucination that lasts only from moment the rope breaks his neck at the end of the fall. In the Tell Tale Heart, Poe uses many figures of speech such as Anaphora at the beginning of a clause throughout the whole entire story as the narrator becomes calm and mad about the crime the narrator committed. A couple examples are: ?I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth.

A Dystopian Future in Brave New World Essay -- Brave New World Essays

Brave New World is a remarkable journey into the future wherein mankind is dehumanized by the progress and misuse of technology to the point where society is a laboratory produced race of beings who are clones devoid of identity only able to worship the three things they have been preconditioned to love:   "Henry Ford, their idol; Soma, a wonder drug; and sex" (Dusterhoof, Guynn, Patterson, Shaw, Wroten and Yuhasz   1).   The misuse of perfected technologies, especially those allowing the manipulation of the human brain and genes, have created a pleasure-seeking world where there is no such thing as spiritual experience, just pleasures of the flesh.   In the face of a transcendent religion, the inhabitants (genetically engineered to exist in one of five classes and condition to believe that the class within which they fall is the best one for them) lose their will to rebel against the capitalistic class-divisions of their society.   Psychological mottoes and rigid class div isions have replaced traditional societal values such as family, religion and freedom.   A wonder drug that removes all psychological pain, the pursuit of carnal pleasures, and the replacement of identity and soul with idol worship of a Henry Ford type savior serve to create a dystopia that is frightening as well as the path already being forged in society when he wrote the work in the early 1930s. Yet when Huxley published the book in 1932, the concepts most frightening in the novel (babies conceived in the laboratory, gene splicing and reproduction, and pharmaceutical wonder drugs to relieve psychic pain) were not realities.   With the successful cloning of farm animals, the development of invitro fertilization, and the rampant prescribing of countless wonder dru... ...ew. Narr. Jenny Sawyer. 60secondRecap, 2010. Web 14 Apr. 2015 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwCy56slJHw Baker Siepmann, K. (ed.) Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia. (3rd edit.) Harper & Row, N.Y.:   1987. Birnbaum, M.   Aldous Huxley's Quest For Values.   Univ. of Tennessee Press, TENN:   1971. Dusterhoff, A., Guynn, R., Patterson, J., Shaw, L., Wroten, D. and Yuhasz, G.   "Huxley's Brave New World:   A Study Of Dehumanization."   Web 11 Apr. 2015. http://mural.uv.es/madelro/bnwstudyofdehumanization.html Firchow, P. E. The End of Utopia.   Associated Univ. Presses, Inc., N.J.:   1984. Huxley, A.   Brave New World.   Harper & Bros., N.Y.:   1950. Leary, T. and Gullichsen, E.   "Huxley, Hesse And The Cybernetic Society."  Web 24 Apr. 2015. http://downlode.org/Etext/huxley_hesse_cybernetic.html Watts, H. H.   Aldous Huxley.   Twayne Publishers, MASS:   1969.

Our Time Essay

In Mary Louise Pratt’s essay, â€Å"Arts of the Contact Zone,† we are introduced to the idea of contact zones, autoethnography, and new ways of looking at common ideas. I wanted to see some examples of what she was really talking about. After reading John Edgar Wideman’s â€Å"Our Time† we can see that Pratt’s ideas and terms are accurate because they can be applied to this reading as well as others. â€Å"Our Time† is an autoethnography because it uses diffeerent points of view, not just oneself, to give information about someone’s upbringing and cultural growth. In Pratt’s essay, she often referred to the term autoethnography. These emerge from contact zones. Autoethnographies are used as a method to oppose the views of oneself that everyone else sees. For example, if there are people in your neighborhood that have a label on your home and family, you might go back and tell them how your life actually is. Mary Louise Pratt goes on to tell us that a contact zone is a place where people from different cultures and communities come together. Here, these different people share ideas and interact with each other. It is almost a type of hybridization. Multiple cultures or societies come together, and mash. They can join together, or exchange some values, or be overrun by one another. Within these contact zones, people are able to see the way others see them and interpret them. From there, they would be able to see themselves through different eyes, and from a different perspective. In relation, autoethnographic texts are â€Å"texts in which people undertake to describe themselves in ways that engage with repre sentations others have made of them† (Pratt 487). They are not texts written to Bolduc 2 explain how the writer sees themselves, but how they are seen by others. This is to maximize the credibility, and that there isn’t too much bias. Writers put together these texts from others’ understandings and viewpoints of them, as well as interpretation of others. Similarly, Pratt also refers to the term transculturation frequently in her essay. The definition of transculturation is when values or ways of life and habits from the dominant culture are passed down to smaller subordinate cultures. From there, those cultures choose what materials they would like to use as well as trying to  persuade the dominant culture to use some of their ideas. In Pratt’s essay, she uses Guaman Poma’s New Chronicle to back up her claims. She refers to the reading as an autoethnographic text. This text â€Å"involve[s] a selective collaboration with appropriation of idioms of the metropolis or the conqueror† (Pratt 488). In the New Chronicle, Poma’s story is written in two languages, Spanish and Quechua which is an Incan language. Spanish is considered the dominant language, or culture, whereas the Incan language is considered to be the subordinate language and culture. Poma writes his story from the Incan point of view where he attempts to rewrite history through their eyes rather than the Spanish. Transculturation is represented because he uses the main ideas from the dominant culture, such as Adam and Eve, and then in turn incorporates the Incan culture while pushing some of their ideas back on the dominant culture. This is where you see two cultures interact, and form very different cultures from their origina l state, but more similar to each other. On the same note, Poma writes the story based on representation others’ have made of them, and by incorporating both cultures, the story can be considered an autoethnographic text. Similarly, Wideman’s text can also be considered an autoethnographic text. We see both of these terms represented in Wideman’s â€Å"Our Time,† as well as the ideas from Poma’s story. Wideman does a great job of incorporating different idioms to represent Bolduc 3 himself, as well as his brother Robby, in order to paint an accurate picture of the community and culture in which they are each a part of. For example, in the preface, the terms â€Å"ghetto† and â€Å"gangster† are used to describe their black community of Homewood— which can be referred to as indigenous idioms. Indigenous idioms are the common way of speaking within ones’ own community. A quick example of this would be how some stated refer to soda as soda, or pop, or coke, while they are all referring to the same thing. In the text, the community of Homewood is considered to be the subordinate culture. This culture stems from the dominant culture of Pittsburgh showing how the story can be considered an autoethnographic text. This is because Wideman is using the autoethnography to sort of push back against the typical Pittsburgh  culture, and show people how it actually is. John and Robby’s family moved from the dominant culture to Homewood. Wi th them they brought ideas from both communities together creating a contact zone. Due to them growing up in a white community, Robby became intrigued with the black community from a very young age. This is because he grew up surrounded by whites who would never tell him about it. As he says in the text, â€Å"I decided I’d find out what it was all about. Didn’t care if it killed me, I was going to find out† (Wideman 678). This helps us see why Robby immersed himself in the culture of Homewood, while also getting in touch with Robby’s voice in the text. Because of Robby’s fascination, he gets sucked down a path of crime, which eventually leads to jail. On the other hand, Wideman finds himself more immersed in the dominant culture. He goes through a series of very fortunate events, leading him to becoming a successful, established writer. Both brothers grow up in similar communities but found themselves going down very separate paths, showing the diversity within the contact zone. Wideman’s goal in this story is to try and figure out why Robby and himself turned out so differently. Therefore, he wants to go through specific events in order to figure this out. He Bolduc 4 writes â€Å"Our Time† in a way that most readers are not used to. Instead of writing a basic story of his brother’s life, he instead incorporates himself into it, as well as his thought processes throughout. Because he writes his story based on his brother, parts of this reading can be considered ethnography. Ethnography can be defined as a text that is based on someone other than the writer, just as Wideman writes about Robby. Wideman’s goal is persuade us to find value is his project. Readers also mix his ideas with theirs, in which they develop their own ideas based on Widman’s story, as well as give feedback. This gives a sense of transculturation, because just listening to Wideman’s points allow us to adopt some of his culture. Wideman explains to us the different ways he thought about starting the story as well as certain habits he must overcome in order to make his project successful. He ends up starting off with a story explaining the death of his brothers’ friend, Garth who died of a disease because he did not receive proper treatment, due to being black. This can be considered a contact zone  because the dominant culture represents themselves as the superiors in this situation, showing the diversity of the contact zone. Not only does this paint a picture of the world they live in, but also gives us some back round on reasons why Robby ended up living a life of crime that eventually lead him to jail. Garth’s death shook Robby and his community. They knew he had been treated unfairly and because of that they had hatred towards the dominant culture. This could be a reason why Robby chose to rebel against it, and dive into the Homewood community and culture— which showed him the life of crime. Garth’s death is one of the many instances in which we see the community that the brothers lived and grew up in. Wideman writes this section using Robby’s point of view as a way to try and understand why Robby ended up like he did, which is an example of ethnography. For instance, Wideman shows Robby’s point of view when he describes Garth. Explaining that he â€Å"looked bad. Real Bad. Inchabod Crane anyway, but now he Bolduc 5 was a skeleton† (Wideman 658). Here, Robby is providing us with a description of what Garth looks like, but Wideman is writing it, making it ethnography since it is not from Garth’s person. Along with that, Wideman shares with us another moment in time which he considered starting the story from. His other way was with the day Robby was born. Robby’s birthday was surrounded by times of death and sadness. It was almost as if it was completely overshadowed by it, almost as if there was a low gloomy storm cloud above it. Wideman shows us the effect it had on his brother by saying that â€Å"Robby cried a lot on his birthdays† (Wideman 684). This instance could have a lot to do with the way Robby ended up in jail. He was never truly celebrated on his special day; instead it contained tears and depression. Wideman uses this as an example of the factors that lead to his life of crime. He uses his own view of Robby to portray autoethnography. He writes it so that we see the way others view Robby in this situation, as well as they way Robby feels viewed, and then puts it into his words. I wondered why he switches points of view mid story. But then I realized that the whole reason he included Robby in his story was to counter ideas about Robby, whether they be his own, or other people in town. By switching to Robby’s voice, it gives a different insight. One that Is from Robby, and this helps strengthen the  autoethnographic element by opposing whatever claims and judgments that Wideman or even the reader may have, and shows us how things actually are. Throughout the story we see examples of what we can call Indigenous texts, where Wideman is trying to connect to what Robby is saying. In order to connect with Robby in the way that he wants, Wideman realizes that he has to overcome some of his habits. The biggest habit he had to overcome was â€Å"listening to [himself] listen to him† (Wideman 672). He had the tendency to hear Robby in his words rather than really listen to Robby’s point of view, which is important in order to create and autoethnographic text. Therefore, when putting material together Bolduc 6 he had to focus on breaking this habit. He had to see Robby through Robby’s eyes in order to make his project successful, which he did. Another habit Wideman had to overcome was to avoid having his story sound poetic and fictional. He wanted us to truly hear Robby’s voice and get an accurate idea of his community, and to do that; he had to drop some of the fancy words and phases so it didn’t overshadow the true point of his project. A third habit he had to overcome was the feeling of guilt about success and luck he has received throughout his life. He questions multiple times in the text why they turned out so differently. He feels guilty that his brother ended up in jail and he turned into such a successful writer. In conclusion, Wideman shows his side of the story along with his brothers, creating a piece of writing that differs from what we may consider to be usual, or conventional writing. Wideman steps out of the norm by describing his process of writing thr oughout the story. By doing this, along with providing different perspectives, he was able to create an autoethnographic text while also incorporating ethnography. Also, by giving us a glimpse of different cultures and communities that they grew up in, Wideman was able to create transculturation as well as show us the contact zones that come up within the story. All of these ideas lead back to Pratt’s ideas of contact zones, as well as Guaman Poma’s New Chronicle, providing us with instances to portray Pratt’s significance as well as Wideman’s. Wideman’s goal was to show us the ways in which he and his brother turned out so differently, and I think he succeeded. He was able to verify Pratt’s idea of contact zones  and show us his personal experience of the diversity within them. Also, he was able to help us understand the background behind Robby’s life of crime and accurately show why they ended up on different paths. This is what made Wideman’s project successful. Bolduc 7 Works Cited Wideman, John. â€Å"Our Time.† Ways of reading. 9th ed. Editor David Bartholomae & Anthony Petrosky. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin, 2011. 655-694. Print Pratt, Mary. â€Å"Arts of the Contact Zone.† Ways of reading. 9th ed. Editor David Bartholomae & Anthony Petrosky. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin, 2011. 655-694. Print