Friday, November 29, 2019

Michael Jordan Essays (774 words) - Chicago Bulls,

Michael Jordan When someone says the name Michael Jordan, the first thing that comes to mind is basketball, The Chicago Bulls and Nike shoes. Through the years, Michael Jordan has proved time and time again that he is the greatest basketball player ever, and by performing in this rapidly expanding sporting field, he has gained tremendous popularity throughout the world. People of all ages and from all nationalities have gathered to watch him play. A journalist states even your Aunt Matilda might not know nothing about basketball, liked watching him play (Jonathon 1999:58). Jordan has become more than just an entertainer. He is a hero and a role model amongst basketball spectators. Johnson claims that he is the most famous American in the world (ibid.). Perhaps he was born to be the best. Even though he is a star, Michaels childhood had been very distressing. In fact, Michael Jordan was nearly miscarried by his mother. His nose bled from birth till he was five, he nearly suffocated when he fell behind the bed as a baby and nearly killed himself when an electrocution threw him three feet. In Jordans own words, he exclaims I mean my girlfriend got swept in a flood and drowned when we were in college. Another time, I was swimming with a friend when both of us got pulled into the ocean by a strong undertow. I was able to get free and make it back to land. He never made it back (Jordan 1998:96). Additionally, after going through so many traumatic and distressing times, not many people would have been able to live their dreams. But Jordan performed the task of living his dream exceptionally well. Despite a somewhat desperate childhood, Michael Jordan enjoyed his time at school. He did his first years of schooling at D.C. Virgo Junior High School and later graduated to Lanley High School where he began practicing intensively on his basketball skills. He was accepted in the University of North Carolina through a basketball scholarship. At the university, Michael took on the challenge of driving his teammates to a level of performance that they might never have achieved on their own. He scored the winning basket in the National Collegiate Athletic Association championship game in 1982. A sportswriter describes the relentlessness with which Michael Jordan prodded and cajoled the other players in leading them to championship season after championship season (Lazenby 1996:37). The glorious moments achieved by Michael Jordan were soon vaporised by a permanent shadow. In 1993, an agonising incident shattered Jordans excitement after winning his third championship. Moments after the game, Michaels father, James Jordan, was brutally murdered by two ruthless teenagers. This was a severe tragedy in Michaels life; his father was gone. For this reason, Michael decided to retire from Basketball and play Baseball in memory of his father. This was because James Jordan adored Baseball (Jordan 1998:112). He signed a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox, but was unsuccessful (Encarta 1999). Hence Jordan returned to his favorable professional sport of basketball. Allison exclaims at a press conference, Michael only said two words, Im back! (Samuels 1999). The ball started to roll again. But the anxiety of the spectators only lasted till the end of 1997. By far, the Chicago Bulls had been hit the hardest with the news of Jordans retirement. The breakup arose when the management refused to pay Phil Jackson, coach of the Chicago Bulls, what he deserved after bringing six NBA championships to the Bulls. When Jackson abandoned the team, Jordan refused to play for a new coach. After Jordan officially announced his retirement, basketball great, Scottie Pippen was traded to the Houston Rockets. Only four players of the previous years team still remained on the Chicago Bulls. Stein considers many have made the prediction that the bulls will lose mare games in this shortened season than they did all last year (Stein 1999). The die-hard Chicago Bulls fans will always hold a special place in their heart for Michael Jordan. They will tell their sons and daughters about him, they will get out the old VHS tapes of games that they have recorded and they will pass along basketball cards that will be worth hundreds of dollars.

Monday, November 25, 2019

25 German Loanwords

25 German Loanwords 25 German Loanwords 25 German Loanwords By Mark Nichol The German language has provided English with a huge inventory of words, many of them pertaining to music, science, and politics, thanks to the influence of German-speaking people on those areas of human endeavor. Here are some of the more useful German terms borrowed into English. 1. Achtung (â€Å"attention†): an imperative announcement used to obtain someone’s attention 2. Angst (â€Å"anxiety†): a feeling of apprehension 3. Blitz (â€Å"lightning†): used only literally in German, but in English refers to a sudden movement, such as a rush in a contact sport 4. Carabiner (â€Å"rifle†): an equivalent of the English word carbine, this truncation of karabinerhaken (â€Å"riflehook†) refers to a metal loop originally employed with ropes in mountaineering, rock climbing, and other sports and activities but now widely employed for more general uses 5. Delicatessen (â€Å"delicate eating†): a restaurant or food shop selling meats, cheeses, and delicacies 6. Doppelgnger (â€Å"double-goer†): in German, refers to a look-alike, but in English, the primary connotation is of a supernatural phenomenon either a spirit or a duplicate person 7. Ersatz (â€Å"substitute†): refers to an artificial and/or inferior imitation or replacement 8. Flak (acronym): an abbreviation for â€Å"air-defense cannon† used figuratively to refer to criticism 9. Gestalt (â€Å"figure†): something more than the sum of its parts, or viewed or analyzed with other contributing phenomena 10. Gà ¶tterdmmerung (â€Å"twilight of the gods†): a catastrophic event 11. Hinterland (â€Å"land behind†): originally a technical geographic term; later, in both German and English, came to connote undeveloped rural or wilderness areas, and in British English has a limited sense of â€Å"artistic or scholarly knowledge,† as in â€Å"Smith’s hinterland isn’t very impressive† 12. Kitsch: something of low taste and/or quality, or such a condition 13. Leitmotiv (â€Å"leading motive†): a recurring theme, originally applied to music and later literature and theater but now in general usage 14. Nazi (truncation of â€Å"National Socialist†): originally denoted a person, thing, or idea associated with the German political party of that name and later the national government it dominated; now, by association with Adolf Hitler and the tyranny of the party and the government, a pejorative term for a fanatical or tyrannical person 15. Poltergeist (â€Å"noisy ghost†): a mischievous and/or malicious apparition or spectral force thought responsible for otherwise inexplicable movement of objects 16. Putsch (â€Å"push†): overthrow, coup d’etat 17. Realpolitik (real politics): the reality of political affairs, as opposed to perceptions or propaganda about political principles or values 18. Reich (â€Å"realm†): in German, usually a neutral term for â€Å"empire† or part of a name for a nationalized service, such as the postal service, but in English, because of the Nazi appellation â€Å"the Third Reich,† connotes tyranny 19. Schadenfreude (â€Å"harm joy†): enjoyment of others’ misfortune 20. Sturm und drang (â€Å"storm and stress†): turmoil, drama 21. Verboten (â€Å"forbidden†): prohibited 22. Weltanschauung (â€Å"worldview†): an all-encompassing conception or perception of existence 23. Weltschmerz (â€Å"world pain†): despair or world-weariness 24. Wunderkind (â€Å"wonder child†): a child prodigy 25. Zeitgeist (â€Å"time ghost†): the spirit of the time, or a prevailing attitude, mentality, or worldview Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should AvoidRound vs. AroundHyphenation in Compound Nouns

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Management Response Questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Management Response Questions - Assignment Example This adds value to their as it is coupled with a wide range of both hardware and software products that they manufacture that contributes to its strength (Iliev, Lindinger, & Poettler, 2004). Apple has rare technology: the aluminum machining technology that they use in the manufacturing of their computers. This has makes them manufacture computers with unsurpassed strength and lightness. This rare technology has given them the strength they need to move forward because none of the other firms have access to it. Apple has been enjoying skills from their now former CEO Steve Jobs who had vast knowledge in mass hardware production (Muro, Murray, & Goode, 2010). He led the company into producing the best designed gadgets like the iPhones and the Mac’s. The strength here lies in the difficulty experienced by other competitors in imitating his skills (Iliev, Lindinger, & Poettler, 2004). Thus it is can be concluded that actually value rarity and imitability are three aspects that co ntributed highly to the strengths of an organization in the SWOT analysis. Question two The evaluation of any company helps assess the company in terms of effectiveness, functioning, problems and achievements. Therefore it is an important tool in trying to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of any organization. In the same light it helps the mangers to come up with better policies that could be used in improving the organization (Duncan, Ginter, & Swayne, 2005). Organization assessment following the SWOT analysis requires a keen look into various aspects of the organization so as to avoid a biased assessment. Having this information is essential as it will help in executing various tasks that can be used to improve the functioning of the organization or could identify problems that exist and thus help in solving those problems that could otherwise have been threats to any organization (Duncan, Ginter, & Swayne, 2005). Through this assessment the organization gathers information that is crucial in decision making that could help an organization decide on the mode of resource allocation, policies required to be put in place and this data could also be used for future planning. Conducting this exercise needs to be done in a careful manner so as to avoid overlooking other sides that may potentially affect the organizations operations (Duncan, Ginter, & Swayne, 2005). Question three According to my analysis in the computer industry, I have come to the conclusion that Apple Inc. has a strong SWOT analysis. Its strength factors outweigh its weaknesses and threats in the computer industry. This company has made use of the various opportunities it has identified in the computer industry and has thus remained at the top of the ladder. It has been able to balance all aspects of its SWOT analysis to ensure that its strengths are far much far than those of any other company (Muro, Murray, & Goode, 2010). The weaknesses are few such that they have been overshadowed by t he strength factors and this makes their customers to overlook this aspect thus making the company one step ahead of their competitors in the industry. Some of its strength factors include the $60 billion reserve that they use to acquire anything that they consider important for their operations. Secondly the technological advantages puts it ahead of others in the industry as they are able to produce products that

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Termpaper on Designer Gianni Versace and Donatella Versace Research Paper

Termpaper on Designer Gianni Versace and Donatella Versace - Research Paper Example Over the Versace fashion world, the designs have reached more than 300 boutiques and 2,000 stores. The Versace fashion name has brought in $2 billion in sales in retail in the US, or around $557 million estimated in 1996. The company was on the verge of expansion when the respected 50-year-old designer, Gianni Versace, was shot in front of his Miami home. The family business was threatened to be pulled apart when his brother Santo and his sister Donatella stepped in to save it. The essay goes into more detail about Gianni’s experience and how Donatella became the chief designer and carried on the Versace legacy. Gianni was born in 1946 in Reggio Calabria, Italy to a small tailor-shop owner. He learned most of what he knew about fashion from his mother and working in her shop. He did not have a formal education in fashion design. He did, however, attend school for architecture in Calabria from 1964 to 1967. He spent much of his time as a child in his mother’s shop where he gained most of his experience. At times he was asked to assist in the selection of beads, crystals, stones and braids to trim some of his mothers designs. Through this experience as a young child he learned about fabrics, decorations, how to create a design, and fittings. He gained much of his knowledge about the actual creation of a garment by watching her. He later worked in his mothers shop as a designer and buyer for five years. After a few years working in the shop, he began to experiment with designs of his own. He started with nontradition combinations of color and fabric. He would sometimes encompass silk, f ur and cotton in one garment, which was totally different from traditional designs. He later moved to Milan to pursue a fashion career of his own. He became well know under three of the design houses of Callaghan, Complice and Genny. Since he was well known

Monday, November 18, 2019

Marketing plan for Computer Village Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Marketing plan for Computer Village - Essay Example Village is a retail and sales company focusing on the IT industry selling used and new computers and accessories along with providing necessary services such as network administration, assembly maintenance and system analysis. The company began its operations in 1988 and is based in San Dimas, Los Angeles. The company is owned and operated by a Certified Microsoft Systems Engineer who serves as an expert in the IT industry. Computer Village is an IT based retailers and service provider that has developed partnership with its client to provide technical assistance in form of affordable products, their servicing and other IT related services. The company has developed business partnership with leading technological corporation such as Microsoft, Apple, Dell, HP etc. to better serve its clients and their business needs (Computer Village, 2013). Industry Information The computer retail and service industry is a booming industry not just in California but around the entire globe. This is because the need for computers and even their servicing and repair has increased significantly in the last few decades. The IT industry and specifically the computer industry is enjoyed a growth phase in today’s world. With the increase in the number of sales of computers worldwide, the computer retail and service industry also enjoys a phase of growth (Franchise Help, 2013). The computer retail industry, while a growing industry, faces competition from three sides. It faces the biggest competition from computer manufactures who directly sell to the end consumers. Consumers, at times, prefer to buy directly from the computer manufacturers and eliminate the middle men. The second competition that the computer retail industry faces is from wholesale companies. Retail chains such as Wal-Mart and Sears offer computers and other accessories to the consumers at discounted range while providing a wide range of selection to choose from. The industry faces its third competition from c omputer retail companies like itself that develop a one-on-one relationship with the end consumer, thereby having a loyal customer base. Small retail computer companies, while selling computers, also provide a wide range of services to their customers. These services include repair and maintenance; network support services; IT services and internet services. In the recent years, there has been a strong demand for computer repair and maintenance services. This is because of the fact that consumers prefer to repair or even change parts rather than investing in buying a new product. The recent recession has rather positively impacted the company as businesses and users would

Saturday, November 16, 2019

The Success Of Google Maps

The Success Of Google Maps Google Maps a free web mapping service application and technology provided by Google. It offers street maps, a route planner, and an urban business locator for numerous countries around the world. Google Maps can generate driving directions between any pair of locations and can also show turn-by-turn instructions, an estimate of the trip time, and the distance between the two locations. To be able to embed Google Maps into web pages for either more elaborated customization, we need Google Maps API. Google API stands for Application Programmable Interface. As its name implies, it is an interface that queries the Google database to help programmers in the development of their applications. [By definition, Google APIs consist basically of specialized Web services and programs and specialized scripts that makes it possible for Internet application developers to better find and process information on the Web. In essence, Google APIs can be used as an added resource in their applications. In the real world, application programmers, developers and integrators write software programs that can connect remotely to the Google APIs. All data communications are executed via the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), which is a Web services standards as defined by the industry. The SOAP protocol is an XML-based technology meant to easily exchange information entered into a Web application. Googles API can better help developers in easily accessing Googles web search database. This empowers them in developing software that can query billions of Web documents, constantly refreshed by Googles automated crawlers. Programmers can happily initiate search queries to Googles colossal index of more than three billion pages and have results delivered to them as structured data that is simple to analyse and work with. Additionally, Google APIs can perfectly access data in the Google cache, while at the same time provide checking in the spelling of words. Google APIs will more precisely implement the standardized search syntax used on many of Googles search properties.] The map data in Google Maps is compiled by a private company with whom Google have a partnership. This company is Tele Atlas and they are a world leaders in navigation and location-based services. The maps are highly accurate and have been praised for recording extremely rural areas and mapping the terrain correctly. Google Maps also coordinates with several other in-house application currently run by Google. The most obvious of these is Google Earth. The two services use each others data for coordinating satellite imagery and in updating newly-developed areas which have yet to be updated on both databases. Business and premises which are place-marked on maps have been supplied by directory listings. In the US, Google say that they use Yellow Pages directories but also mentions, We arent currently able to share our full list of U.S. Yellow Pages sources. All other premises and place-marks are shared by users which we will take a look at next. The technology behind Google Maps could generically be described as a map server. The map server generates a map for the requested location from a large set of pre-generated map tile images covering the entire planet. The map server may overlay data from other databases on top of this. The combination of a map viewer client and geographical database is traditionally called a Geographical Information System (GIS). A bit more detail, google maps uses a big div element to contain several img elements. each of those img elements is 256 pixels square, and is positioned on a regular grid. from there, the google maps javascript program calculates which grid images should be loaded into each img tag and uses regular dom manipulation to position each img in the right place. Only the tiles of the map that would be visible inside the div are loaded. when you scroll off the side, the javascript library unloads the image, and loads new ones as needed. Other elements, like the zoom controls, markers, and lines, are stacked or drawn on top of that as needed. Overlays are objects on the map that are tied to latitude/longitude coordinates, so they move when you drag or zoom the map. Overlays reflect objects that you add to the map to designate points, lines, or areas. The Maps API has several types of overlays: * Points on the map are displayed using markers, and often display a custom icon. Markers are objects of type GMarker and may make use of the GIcon type. * Lines on the map are displayed using polylines (representing a collection of points). Lines are objects of type GPolyline. * Areas on the map are displayed either as polygons if they are areas of an arbitrary shape or as ground overlays if they are rectangular. Polygons are similar to polylines in that they consist of a collection of points with a closed loop and may take any shape. Ground overlays are often used for areas that map either directly or indirectly to tiles on the map. * The map itself is displayed using a tile overlay. You can modify this with your own set of tiles by using a GTileLayerOverlay or even by creating your map type using a GMapType. * The info window is also a special kind of overlay. Note, however, that the info window is added to the map automatically, and that there can only be one object of type GInfoWindow attached to a map. Each overlay implements the GOverlay interface. Overlays can be added to a map using the GMap2.addOverlay() method and removed using the GMap2.removeOverlay() method. (Note that the info window is added by default to the map.) GPolyline objects use the vector drawing capabilities of the browser, if available. In Internet Explorer, Google Maps uses VML (see XHTML and VML) to draw polylines; in other browsers SVG is used if available. In all other circumstances, we request an image of the line from Google servers and overlay that image on the map, refreshing the image as necessary as the map is zoomed and dragged around. Google Apps Script privilege users with a new level of control over Google products. One can now access and control Google Spreadsheets and other products using ones own JavaScript scripts. Unlike browser-based JavaScript, the scripts you write run directly on Google servers in order to provide direct access to the products they control. These scripts interact with Google applications such as Google Spreadsheets, Google Finance, and Google Sites, and enable varying degrees of interactivity among the applications. Google Apps Scripts is powerful and flexible enough to be used to accomplish a wide range of different tasks, but its also easy enough to use that you dont have to be a programmer to create scripts. ================================================== The Google Apps Script language is JavaScript, with objects and methods that are unique to Google Apps Script. These objects and methods give the scripts access to Google Docs and Spreadsheets, Gmail, Google Finance, and other Google applications. Youll read more about objects and methods in Using the Google Apps Script APIs. Scripts are saved and run from an associated Google Spreadsheet. You can save as many scripts as you want to a particular Spreadsheet, then run them at will. The data your script works with is typically stored in a Google Spreadsheet, but you can retrieve information from many external sources, including web pages and XML sources. You can use Google Apps Script to create email, spreadsheets, pages on Google Sites, and files in the Google Docs Document List. The instructions in a script are grouped into functions. Each function performs a section of the larger task your script accomplishes. For example, if you write a script to manage your budget, the first function might display custom menus in the Spreadsheet and the second might pop up a dialog box that you use to insert additional information into the Spreadsheet. Google Apps Script provides a robust API (Applications Programming Interface) of objects and methods that you use in your scripts for such tasks such as displaying a dialog box, creating a calendar event, creating a page on a Google Site, and many other activities. The Google Apps Script API document is here. ========================================================= The JavaScript class that represents a map is the Map class. Objects of this class define a single map on a page.More than one instance of this class can be created since each object will define a separate map on the page.When creating a new map instance, specify a HTML element in the page as a container for the map. HTML nodes are children of the JavaScript document object, and we obtain a reference to this element via the document.getElementById() method. This code defines a variable (named map) and assigns that variable to a new Map object, also passing in options defined within the myOptions object literal. These options will be used to initialize the maps properties. The function Map() is known as a constructor and its definition is shown below: ========================================================= While an HTML page renders, the document object model (DOM) is built out, and any external images and scripts are received and incorporated into the document object. To ensure that the map is placed on the page after the page has fully loaded, the function, which constructs the Map object once the element of the HTML page receives an onload event, is executed. Doing so avoids unpredictable behavior and gives the user more control on how and when the map draws. The body tags onload attribute is an example of an event handler. The Google Maps JavaScript API also provides a set of events that one can handle to determine state changes. ============================================================================================ The maps on Google Maps contain UI(User Interaction) elements for allowing user interaction through the map. These elements are known as controls and variations of these controls can be included in a Google Maps API application. The Maps API provides built-in controls which may be useful when creating a map: The Navigation control displays a large pan/zoom control as used on Google Maps. This control appears by default in the top left corner of the map. The Scale control displays a map scale element. This control is not enabled by default. The MapType control lets the user toggle between map types (such as ROADMAP and SATELLITE). This control appears by default in the top right corner of the map. controls cannot be accessed or modified directly. Instead, the maps MapOptions fields, which affect the visibility and presentation of controls, is changed. ===================================================================== can be calculated by using the DirectionsService object. This object communicates with the Google Maps API Directions Service which receives direction requests and returns computed results. The user may either handle these directions results himself or use the DirectionsRenderer object to render these results. Directions may specify origins and destinations either as text strings (e.g. Chicago, IL or Darwin, NSW, Australia) or as LatLng values. The Directions service can return multi-part directions using a series of waypoints. Directions are displayed as a polyline drawing the route on a map, or additionally as a series of textual description within a element (e.g. Turn right onto the Williamsburg Bridge ramp). ====================================================================== The Elevation service provides elevation data for locations on the surface of the earth, including depth locations on the ocean floor (which return negative values). If Google does not know the exact elevation value, it uses four nearest locations and returns the avareged value. The ElevationService object provides you with a simple interface to query locations on the earth for elevation data. Additionally, you may request sampled elevation data along paths, allowing you to calculate the equidistant elevation changes along routes. The ElevationService object communicates with the Google Maps API Elevation Service which receives elevation requests and returns elevation data. ============================================================= The SDK includes two SWC files, a Flex version for use within FlexBuilder (or with the free Flex SDK), and a non-Flex version for use within Flash CS3. The Flex *.swc is denoted with a _flex suffix in the filename. These SWC files contain interfaces for all public classes in the Google Maps API for Flash development environment. Compiling your application with this library ensures that it can utilize and communicate with all public functionality of the runtime Google Maps API for Flash library, which is retrieved from Googles servers whenever a client loads your application. ============================================================ The Google Earth Plug-in and its JavaScript API let you embed Google Earth, a true 3D digital globe, into your web pages. Using the API you can draw markers and lines, drape images over the terrain, add 3D models, or load KML files, allowing you to build sophisticated 3D map applications. If you have an existing Maps API site, you can 3D-enable your page with as little as one line of code.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Wedding Toasts †Topics to Avoid :: Wedding Toasts Roasts Speeches

Wedding Toasts – Topics to Avoid Don’t Mention Anything About â€Å"Milk† or â€Å"Cows† At the rehearsal dinner, one of the bridesmaids, who had been drinking, gave a toast. It started off just fine, but then she ended it with " thank God, sometimes guys do buy the cow even when they get the milk for free!" Don’t Blasphemy About a year ago, my fiancà © and I attended the wedding of my cousin. She married her college sweetheart, and the bridal party was made up mostly of their college friends. During the toast, the best man decides to talk about when he first knew the groom was going to propose. He says that he and the groom were in New Orleans celebrating Mardi Gras. He was surprised to hear about the upcoming proposal at that time, given that they were surrounded by women taking their tops off to get beads. The conclusion he comes to--and proceeds to tell the whole group of family, friends, and of course the bride's father--is that my cousin "must have better breasts than God." Don’t Comment on the Many Years it took for the Bride to Find a Sucker (Husband) At my wedding a year ago, my father gave a toast that went over like a lead balloon. He said (in paraphrase), "I've seen my daughter grow through the years and have had a few laughs, like the time she fell in the toilet as a small child. She was so mad at me for laughing at her, that I think maybe that's why it took her so long to find a man to marry." (I was 32 when I got married.) Remember, It’s a Wedding Toast, not an Esoteric Diatribe My husband's brother is well known for his selfishness. He was the best man in our wedding and gave the worst toast you could ever imagine. The speech was typed, single-spaced, on 5 pages, front and back. It lasted about 20 minutes and I (the bride) don't recall being mentioned once. The theme of the speech was "I'm losing my brother" and contained gems like "I can't believe he is getting married", "it's going to be so weird" and "we won't be able to hang out anymore". I was not welcomed to the family, not congratulated, not spoken to or looked at. And we get along just fine -- it wasn't intended to be disrespectful.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Huntingtons’s Concept and Its Applicability to the Contemporary World Essay

Introduction Globalization and the trend in the politics has entered a new political schema after the World War II and as such, it is has drawn the interest of political theorists who had hoped to re-define and predict the future outcomes of global politics. Among the different approaches, what had really attracted the attention of the media and the interested crowd is Huntington’s concept on the Clash of Civilizations theory. Huntington’s stereotypical claims and predictions regarding future outcomes of global relations had uncannily matched with that of the drastic event of the Al-Qaeda’s attack on September 11 on the Twin Towers. The event, which had caught global attention,   is said to have been a direct pop-out from Huntington’s essay and that ‘event’ was resultant of the ‘clash’ between the differing cultures of the American superpower and the Muslims of Afghanistan. The ethnic conflict, albeit on global scale, would be the political pattern after the Cold War. The question is, is Huntington’s concept still applicable with the current trend of globalization? Here there is a basic assumption that conflicts arise from ethnic differences and it is on these differences which will feed the upcoming antagonism between the different nations. Al-Qaeda’s attack may have been likely ‘accidental’ and that his reasons were not purely ‘ethnic’ as in Huntington’s theory. In the paper, there is an attempt to investigate the flaws of Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations when placed in the larger context of globalization and international conflict. A thorough understanding of his paper first must be placated followed by criticisms and the more apt model that would fit the current trend for global political system. s The Clash of Civilizations is a theory proposed by political scientist Samuel P. Huntington in 1993 as a reaction to Fukuyama’s book. Herein, Huntington expanded on the shift of global patterns after the Cold War from the economic to traditional; whereby conflicts are more of culture clash. The globalization trend would function in the traditional cultural sense and will no longer be confounded on ideological clashes as in the philosophcal claims before. Huntington’s thesis is relatively simple to understand in the manner that he had oversimplified and reduced everything: â€Å"†¦It is my hypothesis that the fundamental source of conflict in this new world will not be primarily ideological or primarily economic. The great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict will be cultural. Nation states will remain the most powerful actors in world affairs, but the principal conflicts of global politics will occur between nations and groups of different civilizations. The clash of civilizations will dominate global politics. The fault lines between civilizations will be the battle lines of the future†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . His basic premise is the culture clash as a primary source of conflict and he divided the Globe into different ethnic groups representing the different civilizations, each embodying different religion: African, Hindu, Western, Sinic, Orthodox, Islamic, Latin America and Japanese. From these different ethnic frontiers, will arise the future conflicts and he had cited the cases of India and Pakistan. What is most daunting of his perceptions is that the Superpower of America will face a decline and the shift will be on the combined powers of Sino-Islamic group. Equally daunting is Huntington’s concept that what had fueled this antagonism is the purposive role of teology in the different civilizations, most particularly, that of the Islams.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

A Rhetorical Analysis Of Rickwarrens Preaching Religion Essay Example

A Rhetorical Analysis Of Rickwarrens Preaching Religion Essay Example A Rhetorical Analysis Of Rickwarrens Preaching Religion Essay A Rhetorical Analysis Of Rickwarrens Preaching Religion Essay where he began composing books. He co-wrote two books, A The Victory Scripture Memory SeriesA and Twelve Dynamic Bible Study Methods for Laity, with Billie Hanks, Jr. and Wayne Watts ; and a Doctor of MinistryA grade[ 4 ]fromA Fuller Theological SeminaryA in Pasadena, California.[ 5 ] His Influencers As mentioned earlier Warren s household were Southern Baptist churchs and doubtless played a important function in determining him. In the Fall of 1971 Warren was influenced by a book entitled The Key to Triumphant Living written by Jack R. Taylor, a Baptist curate and conference talker from Texas.[ 6 ]Criswell in his preface for The Purpose Driven Church writes that God could non hold given me a more darling and effectual son in the ministry than Rick Warren. Rick Warren had high respects for W. A. Criswell and so in 1974, when he was a 19-year-old pupil at California Baptist skipped out on categories with his friend and drove 350 stat mis to go to the California Baptist Convention in San Francisco. Warren stood in line to agitate custodies with Criswell: When my bend eventually arrived, something unexpected happened. Criswell looked at me with sort, loving eyes and said, rather decidedly, Young adult male, I feel led to put custodies on you and pray for you! He placed his cust odies on my caput and prayed: Father, I ask that you give this immature preacher a dual part of your Spirit. [ 7 ]Rick read tonss of books on supplication by Edward McKendree Bounds, a celebrated civil war revivalist. An American missionary to India Donald McGavran s profile, inspired Rick to seek for principles-biblical, cultural and leading rules that produce healthy, turning churches.[ 8 ]James T. Draper, John Bisango, Billy Graham, direction specializer Peter Drucker were besides among those who greatly influenced Warren.[ 9 ] His Influence Rick Warren is ranked figure three and is a model and guru for the immature draw a bead oning sermonizers of today.[ 10 ]Rick Warren is besides recognized as a planetary strategian, theologian, and altruist. He s been frequently named America s most influential religious leader A andA America s Pastor. Fortune magazine described him as secular America s favourite evangelical Christian.[ 11 ]Warren claims that he had been busy practising the penetrations he learned at Saddleback and had to wait for 20 old ages to compose and portion them in the book The Purpose-Driven Church, which has become one of the most popular Christian books of recent old ages.[ 12 ]The Purpose Driven Life has been translated into 20 one languages and twenty million transcripts sold. The Purpose Driven Church is listed in 100 Christian Books that changed the twentieth Century. [ 13 ] He is besides the writer of The Purpose of Christmas, Personal Bible Study Methods, God s Answers to Life s Difficult Questions, God s Power to alter Your Life.[ 14 ]Alan Wolfe, a celebrated Boston College political scientist, one time referred to Warren as non merely the best sermonizer, but merely the best public talker I have of all time heard.[ 15 ]President-elect Barack Obama chose Rick Warren though many opposed to present the supplication at his startup.[ 16 ]White house sought his advice on how to detect the first day of remembrance of 9/11.[ 17 ]So much is said about Warren, what has made him to be what he is and likely the best tool to measure may be Aristotle s agencies of persuasion. Aristotle s Triad of Communication Theory Possibly if one can conceive of human history as a wall a major part or block or possibly the indispensable brick would be and will be effectual communicating or rhetorical discourse. In fact, the procedure of communicating was of import in the history of communicating, world has inflated communicating by communications.[ 18 ]Burke and Ornstein in their article titled, Communication and Faith in the Middle Ages, concur that by that the church had control over all people in all affairs. The influence of Greek reached its tallness in the 8th century of which Aristotle was one.[ 19 ] Harmonizing to a narrative, Plato gave Aristotle the nick name The Reader. Aristotle was the first to learn rhetoric at the academy.[ 20 ]He was besides the first individual to acknowledge clearly that rhetoric as an art of communicating was impersonal and could be used positively every bit good as negatively. He wanted the talkers to acknowledge how the heads of the hearers work, and in the procedure one comes to an apprehension of who they are, why and what they do.[ 21 ]So what is rhetoric and what is its connexion to sermon? To reply in simple words rhetoric is the survey of the art or scientific discipline of utilizing words efficaciously in composing or speech production.[ 22 ]Jerry Vines a dynamic SBC sermonizer defined rhetoric as the art of utilizing words efficaciously in talking to act upon or carry others.[ 23 ]Quintilian a first century Roman speechmaker defined Rhetoric as a good adult male prophesying good. [ 24 ] A Brief overview of Aristotle s Rhetoric Aristotle wrote Rhetoric to react to Plato Phaedrus and to promote his readers to heighten the accomplishment of address, though it was non meant for publication.[ 25 ]However it is one of the beginnings kind after on the subject of address. His treatise is divided into three books called the officia oratoris the responsibilities of the speechmaker.[ 26 ]Aristotle s Rhetoric is likely the oldest on the topic and in Book I and II,[ 27 ]Aristotle defines rhetoric as the module of detecting all the available agencies of persuasion. [ 28 ]There are three agencies of persuasion, foremost those ensuing from character ethos of the talker, 2nd those derived from the emotion poignancy and the 3rd derived from true statement Son. He farther discusses deliberative Rhetoric, Epideictic Rhetoric and Judicial Rhetoric.[ 29 ]Book 2, trades with persuasion derived from the Character of the talker and from Appeal to the emotions of the hearer and a treatment of Logical statement. Finally book 3 trad es with Style and Arrangement.[ 30 ] Logos, Ethos and Pathos Harmonizing to Aristotle, the cogent evidence of the statement is grounded in logical, ethical and emotional entreaty, the three agencies of persuasion. Exerting these three entreaties will do the speaker/preacher in a topographic point where he can actuate the hearers to action.[ 31 ]Our ultimate purpose as sermonizers of the Good intelligence is to carry all peoples to go good and godly. Logos relates to the rational statement or rational content of communicating.[ 32 ]Aristotle discusses Sons in Book 1, chapter 2. Alan of Lille in his The Art of Preaching says: Preaching is an unfastened and public direction in religion and behaviour, whose intent is the forming of work forces ; it derives from the way of ground and from the fountain caput of the governments which is Holy Scripture.[ 33 ] The sermonizer as a rhetor has must turn out that his statement is true and earn credibleness. Credibility must be established to the place where the hearer s trust is in its extremum and the hearer agreed upon the fact that the statement is applicable and relevant.[ 34 ]As sermonizers we hold to the Scripture as the footing for our religion and truth on which the Gospel message is shared and built. In most of the instances in a peculiar fold which is chiefly a truster crowd there would be no demand to turn out genuineness and dependability.[ 35 ]However a sermonizer must stay must stay faithful to the text and present it with unity and lucidity. In simple footings as a sermonizer 1 must turn out that he is persevering in analyzing the word of God and prepared to prophesy the Word of God in season and out of season. Harmonizing to traditional position Aristotle divides logical entreaties into enthymeme, maxim, and illustration. [ 36 ] Enthymeme[ 37 ] Enthymeme is a signifier of deductive statement or logical thinking and is besides called the rhetorical syllogism. A common position is that the enthymeme s footing is on likely, non certain, and the full idea of logical thinking may be shortened.[ 38 ]In prophesying the usage of deductive logical thinking is critical step of Son since it does non appeal straight to the hearers understanding but to the human sense of ground. Deductive logical thinking will assist the hearer to easy hold trust in the sermonizer and the truth presented. Maxim[ 39 ] A logical entreaty to a axiom may mention to admiting authorization or supply a sort of premiss for enthymemes.[ 40 ]Preachers could utilize pictures, film cartridge holders from intelligence channels which can be of some authorization. This is done so that those non experts in a peculiar field will be able understand what is communicated. Example[ 41 ] The Logical entreaty to illustration is inductive concluding. Inductive logical thinking occurs when the cogent evidence is based on a case in point, anterior instances. The purpose of inductive logical thinking is to do the statement clear and more persuasive.[ 42 ]In sermon, Jesus used inductive logical thinking by stating fables so that the hearer will be persuaded. Ethos drives persuasion based on the credibility of the talker. Aristotle discusses Ethos in Book II, chapter 12 through 17 of the Rhetoric.[ 43 ]Ethical entreaty is artistic in that the sermonizer supplies his place of credibleness ; ethical entreaty is one which deals with sermonizers credibleness as the one showing the message.[ 44 ]In other words it refers to character, normally the moral character of a individual, either the talker or the hearer.[ 45 ]Interestingly ethical entreaty is non-scientific in nature and is hence more nonreversible than the logical entreaty, however, it is no manner less influential in the procedure of persuasion.[ 46 ]Luntz in his work, skilfully writes, By all agencies, show do nt tellaˆÂ ¦reveal your personalityaˆÂ ¦be the message instead than narrating it, but above all, be reliable. [ 47 ]The worthiness of sermonizer to be believed is carried within the ethical entreaty. We tend to believe people whom we respect and one of the jobs of d ebate is to project an feeling to the hearer that you are person deserving listening to.[ 48 ] Virtue Aristotle defines virtuousness as the ability to bring forth and good. [ 49 ]When a strong character or virtuousness is tagged with the sermonizer by the hearer, so the message will be accepted as virtuous.[ 50 ]Aristotle lists nine virtuousnesss in book I: Justice, bravery, self-denial, liberalness, munificence, impressiveness, prudence, wisdom, and gradualness.[ 51 ] Wisdom Wisdom has been capable to assorted readings: good sense, practical wisdom, expertness, and intelligence. The sermonizer must cognize a great trade to be successful, a show of cognition and expertness on a topic may go an of import factor in persuasion.[ 52 ] Good will Aristotle interestingly compares friendliness with good will in the Rhetoric. A sermonizer must portion the best advice out of good will as a friend would care and portion for a friend of his. As preacher one must wish good for the hearers who may be in a hard state of affairs and so surely goodwill creates more credibleness and therefore a higher grade of persuasion.[ 53 ] Pathos is derived from the emotional facet of the sermonizer and the message and the consequence of persuasion this has on the hearer. This cogent evidence is discussed in Book II, chapters 1 through 11.[ 54 ]Emotional entreaty presents the affectional impact of the message on the sermonizer and translates to the emotional responses from the hearers. Ethical entreaty influences both the emotions every bit good as the mind of the hearers. A hearer is convicted of his/her province against the Word of God and persuaded toward an action by the hearer.[ 55 ] Emotion of the Speaker/Preacher The primary status of emotional entreaty sets the usage of emotion. A sermonizer uses his emotions as a cardinal beginning to carry his hearers to action. Emotional entreaties, are used to carry. Language pick affects the audience s emotional response, and emotional entreaty can efficaciously be used to heighten an statement.[ 56 ] A presentation of emotion coupled with passion for the message exhibits the value of the content of the message and therefore renders the message more persuasive and therefore as a sermonizer one plays the function of construing the temper or emotional province which the sermonizer induces to light within the hearers.[ 57 ] Emotion of the Listener/Audience The response of the hearer is really much connected to the emotions of the sermonizer and is hence critical for persuasion. A good sermon should lend to the redemption of both those who deliver the message and the hearers.[ 58 ]It is the duty of the sermonizer to elicit equal emotional response from the hearers after analysing the hearers which may or may non be contributing.[ 59 ]The response is measured by the emotional impact that the message has created immediately every bit good as in long tally. It is really of import to observe that success of persuasion must be evaluated in relation to where the hearer was or stood to get down with.[ 60 ]However, the response of strong belief may or may non be apparent during the act of sermon, but will be displayed in the action on the portion of the hearer to be good and godly. An analysis of one of Warren s written beginnings which is popular and ten most current discourses preached by Warren at the Saddleback church will be followed. Warren s intent for the Purpose Driven Church Warren s intent or his end is spelled out in the purpose statement that Saddleback and Warren wrote together: To convey people to Jesus and rank in his household, develop them to go more similar Christ in their adulthood, fit them for their ministry in the church and life mission in the universe, in order to amplify God s name. [ 61 ]Warren nevertheless believes that this is Christ s design for the cosmopolitan church and the intent of the church is to carry through the Great Commission and the Great Command.[ 62 ]Warren states, Until you know what your church exists for, you have no foundation, no motive, and no way for ministry. [ 63 ] An Overview of The Purpose Driven Church[ 64 ] Warren carves out five alone rules which are cosmopolitan and of import in nature. First, he gives a short sum-up of his life and ministry and negotiations about the myths that people in churches have about church. Second, he answers the inquiry of how a church can go purpose goaded. Third, he talks about evangelism and making out to the lost. Fourthly, explains what Jesus did to pull people to Himself. Last, he shows how to prolong, beef up a church and maintain it traveling. Warren here uses a surfboarder metaphor and encourages his readers to acknowledge God s autonomous manus in all affair of constructing a church particularly in its growing. He says, We are populating in the most exciting clip in the history of the churchaˆÂ ¦ , and if a church is non turning so it is deceasing. Warren draws his readers attending by utilizing pick words stating that church wellness will go more attending seeking than church wellness. In order to for the church to turn healthy at that place must Bible survey and persevering making of what the Bible says in footings of loving and populating a Jesus lauding life. Warren concurs that the Great Commandment and Great Commission have intents and they are summarized as follows, worship, discipleship, ministry, family and evangelism. In portion two he points that truth entirely should steer a purpose goaded church, but frequently times programmes and construction hinders making the doomed. Warren believes that the New Testament churches are the best illustrations for a healthy growing and individuality. As Aristotle points out that the church s intent is to construct, enlighten and promote God s people. The same is pointed here by Warren, the church exists to enlighten or educate God s people. Warren in chapter 18 Teachs against the myths of religious adulthood, he poses inquiries like, How does religious growing go on? How do we go spiritually mature in Christ? He answers the inquiry by citing, the Five degrees of Learning, which are cognition, strong belief, position, accomplishments and character. When a church fulfills the five intents it will be a church that will convey glorification to God. Analysis of Purpose Driven Church and Ten most current Sermons based on Ethos, Pathos and Logos Questions Logical Entreaty The inquiry to be asked refering the major class of logical persuasive entreaty was: Was it persuasive plenty to see from the content communicated that it was credible? Has he adequately argued his instance to where the hearers are persuaded that the instance he presented is true? The rating was scored high in persuasion if at the terminal of the message the sermonizer logically defended the place asserted in the message. A lower mark of persuasion was rendered if there was uncertainty that the sermonizer efficaciously argued his instance based upon logical, and more specifically sound scriptural logical thinking. Deductive Reasoning: The inquiry asked in mention to the sub-measure component of deductive logical thinking, which falls under the major class of logical entreaty, was How strongly was the content communicated through deductive logical thinking? In sing this inquiry with regard to the discourse, an appraisal made to see what extent of the statement unfolded from a major premiss to a minor 1. Did the sermonizer construct his attention consistently as to appeal to the fold s principle and sense of concluding? Out of the bulk of discourses analyzed Warren could non show good exegesis of the text, but focused more on the demand based inquiries that he answered. The series was Decade of Destiny which began on 10/10/2010. Warren besides did non travel through a transition but referred to several Bibles. But still Warren was able to show his ability to set up the statements by traveling from the major theological point of the text to the homiletic application. Warren besides is skilled in utilizing memorable phrases and catchy phrases, God chose to give you the SHAPE you are in, he uses an acronym and makes it memorable, religious gifts, bosom, ability, personalities and experiences. In his discourse titled, Making the most of your head, he shared an acronym, THINK-Test every idea, Helmet your caput from evil ideas, Imagine great ideas, Nourish a godly head, Keep on larning. Of class in this discourse the Scripture poetry he started with was 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, but he barely touched on it or exegete the transition. He scores 3 on 6 in this class. Inductive Reasoning The enquiry used to measure the logical entreaty sub-measure of inductive logical thinking was, How strongly was the content communicated through inductive logical thinking? Contemplating this inquiry involved sing how good the sermonizer used illustration, imagination and illustrations to convey his statement. Warren s usage of deductive logical thinking was enhanced through his adept usage of linguistic communication. He was able to link good with the younger coevals particularly when he employed modern-day linguistic communication. He besides did link with senior folks as in one of his sermon, he bragged about the wisdom that seniors had and he in fact asked them to stand and honour them. He besides used short film cartridge holders to exemplify to formalize his content. He had a picture cartridge holder in three of his discourses that were analyzed. Warren is a great narrative Teller and used this accomplishment to reason his content. Warren besides has the ability to light thoughts through narrative portraitures. Overall Warren s logical entreaty and credibility is apparent in his usage of both deductive and inductive logical thinking. However, he did non make a good expounding of the Scripture but did a superficial touched one or two points but used the Bible to reply the inquiry originating in the head of the hearer. So his overall-Logical entreaty was 3 of 6. Ethical Entreaty The major class of ethical persuasive entreaty beacons the inquiry to the judge: Was at that place adequate persuasion that the sermonizer was believable? This component relates straight to the feeling the sermonizer left upon me with regard to his ain unity as an authorization on the subject presented. The ethical entreaty was considered extremely persuasive if there was influence toward persuasion because the unity of the sermonizer was echt and that he was pityingly interested in my improvement as a receiver of the message. A lessened persuasive mark was given in the event when there was strong belief that the message was more self-seeking to the sermonizer than it was to the enlightening the hearer. Fictional character The inquiry of the ethical entreaty sub-measure of character was, How strong of an influence was the sermonizer s character on his credibleness? In other words, did the sermonizer look to be a virtuous adult male every bit good as one whose life is being conformed into the character of Christ? Warren exhibited assurance about himself and presented himself as a adult male of credibleness and virtuousness. Several cases he was honorable and crystalline particularly when he confessed before get downing his discourse titled, God s prescription for wellness that he had been a victim of gluttony and how everything felicity or sorrow was tied to nutrient. Warren is compared to Billy Graham and his life manner has attracted even Barack Obama to take to make the inaugural supplication on the installing of his president ship. Warren portrays to be low and virtuous in his personality which helped him link good with the hearers. Intelligence Under the major class of ethical entreaty, the inquiry with regard to the sub-measure of intelligence was, How strong of an influence was the sermonizer s lever of intelligence on his credibleness? This inquiry seeks to mensurate if the sermonizer demonstrated a sufficient cognition of the stuff every bit good as an appropriate sum of aptitude as it relates to his statement. Warren s prophesying particularly his consciousness on general subject is applaudable. He is articulate and deliberate in his sermon. His books though critiqued has become the largest selling book in America. His six books and other brochures show his intelligence. Good will The enquiry made refering the sub-measure of good will within the class of ethical entreaty was, How strongly did the sermonizer demonstrate good will and benevolence for the audience? This inquiry takes into consideration the grade to which the sermonizer developed a sense of friendly relationship with the fold and showed the echt involvement for their wellbeing. Warren exhibited a sense of benevolence for the wellbeing of the hearer. He seemed sincere in his desire to better the lives of his hearers both now and everlastingly. In fact the current series Decade of Destiny reveals it and every discourse he started he connected with his hearers stating that as their curate he is committed to assist them win in the following 10 old ages in all domains, spiritually, emotionally, financially, physically, relationally in their calling, household and separately. Warren seems to hold built a lovingness and friendly relationship with his hearers. Warren s over all ethical entreaty is really persuasive, his strong character and virtuousness is discernible and the hearers are convinced that he is a adult male of unity and honestness. In the discourse titled, The Life that God blesses he makes a remark Short cuts are short sighted, do it the right ways, neer acquire into the trap. He makes another remark, Dare to different than your civilization. Warren s ethical entreaty is strengthened by the grounds of his readiness and intellect displayed in the bringing of his messages. The overall mark for the class of ethical entreaty, the mark is 5 of 6. Emotional Entreaty The inquiry to be asked environing the premier class of emotional persuasive entreaty was, Were the hearers persuaded emotionally to react to the message and the courier? In another sense, was the message delivered with passion by the sermonizer and did it stir up positive sentiments and responses within the hearer? The emotional persuasion was given a higher mark if it was observed that the emotion within the sermonizer while the statement was being relayed and the hearer was moved to action or strong belief by the message. A lower ranking was given if there was no motion to action or contemplation ignited from the hearer. Further diminution in marking was awarded if the sermonizer appeared to be monotone and unattached emotionally to his ain message. Emotion of the Speaker The inquiry asked refering the emotion of the emotion of the talker as it relates to emotional entreaty was, How strong did the sermonizer show emotions that connected with the hearer? In other words how passionate was the sermonizer as he was pass oning the message? Since emotions are contagious and surely effects the people around. Warren s emotion was clear as he presented his message. His voice transition was good, except he was sort giving a image that he was glued to the dais. He expressed his emotion through wit and laughter, for case, in the discourse, God s prescription for wellness He says, I love pasta and that is my drug by pick and that is the ground they call me, Pasta Rick. The emotion of the sermonizer was strong through the message and so the mark is 5 of 6. Emotion of the Audience In relation to the emotion of the audience, as a sub-measure of the ethical entreaty class the inquiry to be posed is, How strong did the hearer emotionally respond to the sermonizer? Was there grounds of connexion points from the talker with the hearer? Warren has the gift of painting his images in the heads of his hearers by utilizing emotional phrases or narratives. He brings in strong emotional contrast that forces the hearer to pay attending. He controls contrast by utilizing present tense and active verbs, it seems he brings the scriptural text to life and challenges his hearer with verbs that are lively yet obliging to set the truth to work. Some illustrations are: Stop anticipating anyone or anything else to be your savior, You merely halt life in denial and face world. He besides uses brief analogies life, religion is like a musculus. The audience acknowledged with laughter and mockery to show that they were with him. There were minutes of co

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Deviance Can Serve Social Functions Essays

Deviance Can Serve Social Functions Essays Deviance Can Serve Social Functions Paper Deviance Can Serve Social Functions Paper People do complain, though, including people in the gang’s neighborhood. Church and community development groups often argue that gangs stand in the way of community progress, not only because they increase levels of violence but also because the money they take often comes from the community and goes for the gangs’ private purposes. These criticism of gangs are sometimes greater in African-American communities, where gangs are somewhat likelier to be separate from other community organizations and to engage in high levels of violence, such as drive-by shootings. In Hispanic communities, in contrast, gangs have been more closely integrated into other social institutions, and their violence, therefore, has been somewhat more restrained. Despite complains about gangs, many inner-city residents still understand why young people join them. Orlando, a thirty-three-year old father of five employed as an apartment-house doorman, explained his view of gangs this way. Sometimes, gangs are actively accepted and appreciated by community members for the protection they provide, especially from drug addicts, loan sharks, unethical land-lords or store owners, and other outsiders who try to rip off community residents. Wilma, a forty-eight-year-old resident of a poor neighborhood, is typical in her positive feelings: They beat them with clubs and chains and they didn’t show any mercy. . . You know that isn’t nice, but it works and works better than the police, because with the police, they have to be concerned with the criminal’s rights and all that. And even if they do catch them, nothing ever happens to them because the courts let them back on the street to do it all over again. But the gangs don’t have to worry about rights and the stuff and they let criminals know that if they come back they can expect exactly the same or worse. . . . People can think what they want, but this has worked here. (Covington, 1982). Thus in order to understand inner-city gangs, we need to realize that they are social organizations trying to cope with the fear, deprivation, and frustration of poverty stricken neighborhoods. Gangs are functionally integrated into their social settings, and they are unlikely to disappear as long as those settings continue to be excluded from most of the benefits of American society. This view of gangs stresses that they are not simply groups of people who think and behave deviantly. Whether or not a gang’s actions are considered deviant is a matter of social perspective. In inner-city ghettos, gangs are considered more acceptable than they are in middle-and upper –class American communities. This is because inner-city residents are immersed in the world in which gangs exist and so are more likely to accept the norms by which gangs operate. Gangs, on other words, are not always looked upon as deviant. Definitions of deviance are relative to the particular time, place, and situation. The key concept of functional integration, as well said before, can help us to analyze and understand deviance. Not only does deviance sometimes disrupt well-integrated social systems, but it can also, in the process, serve some positive social functions. Emile Durkheim (1895/1982), one of sociology’s founders, was the first to discuss this seeming paradox. Durkheim argued that deviance is a natural part of social life, indeed â€Å"an integral part of all healthy societies† (1895/1982, p. 67). What did he mean by this? How can deviance be healthy for societies? Durkheim’s answer has two parts. First, in defining certain kinds of behavior as deviant, a group of community also defines what behavior is acceptable. The boundaries between acceptable and unacceptable are rarely hard and fast. Societies typically have a â€Å"permissive zone of variation† (in Durkheim’s words) surrounding even strongly supported and quite specific norms. Most norms, however, are not expressed in highly specific ways. Rather, they are defined informally in the course of people’s day-t-day activities. By testing the boundaries of permissiveness, deviance force other members of society to think about what they believe is normal and right. Deviance can also be good for society in that it tends to unite members in opposition to the deviant, thus reaffirming their social solidarity. When people in the Old West formed a posse, when parents unite to fight a pornography shop in their town, when citizens vote for a new, more honest politician, they are united by a sense of shared courage against a deviant – the outlaw who stole their horses, the merchant who opened the pornography store, the unethical politician who accepted bribes. Public opposition and punishment of deviants not only reaffirm norms that were threatened but also allow members of a community to pour their collective energy into shoring up the social order.

Monday, November 4, 2019

Chinese Culture and Political Police in China in the Movies Joy Luck Essay

Chinese Culture and Political Police in China in the Movies Joy Luck Club and Not One Less - Essay Example These films mainly about China, driven by means of the modernity’s blinding light, while, at the same time, no longer acknowledging its own children, in addition to its primitive past. In Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, there are four mothers, four daughters and four families whose histories change with the four winds according to the person narrating the stories. During 1949, four Chinese women, who happened to be recent immigrants to San Francisco, started meeting while eating dim sum, playing mahjong, and talking. Joy Luck Club is the name this group united by shared unspeakable loss, as well as hope, they referred to themselves. Instead of allowing themselves to sink in tragedy, they opt to gather by raising not only their spirits, but also money. Forty years down the line, the stories, as well as history persist (Tan 56). Amy Tan explores the sometimes painful, in most cases tender while always deep link between mothers and daughters with wit, as well as sensitivity. As every w oman exposes her secrets, attempting to unravel the truth concerning her life, the strings end up getting extensively tangled, while, at the same time extremely entwined. Apparently, mothers boast or despair over daughters, while daughters roll their eyes although they feel the inextricable tapering of their matriarchal ties. Amy happens to be an astute storyteller, who entices her readers into immersing themselves to these lives of complexity, as well as mystery. In Not One Less, Wei Minzhi who is a representative of an agrarian society, with all her backwardness, together with naivete, exemplifies the humanity that gets rejected by modern man pursuing an industrial civilization. Wei Minzhi is the replacement teacher of 13-years who is bigger than life; although she seems to be primitive, uncouth, silly, as well as immature; she happens to be China’s self-depiction as a third-world country along with a tenacity to modernize when she begins going to the city by foot thereby f inding her student, an act that is foolish yet heroic (Ebert 21). She turns out to be an expediently dumping ground for the pessimistic human emotions of the perfectly educated, which lecture her on rules, as well as etiquettes; with her solid resolution of letting no one be absent from her class, she exemplifies a spirit of the people on a pursuit for equitable growth, along with a more democratic society. She turns out to be a representation of China's resolve of being strong while catching up with the other part of the world. She happens to be courageous since she has a group of children behind her; to the point she is in control, they are capable of accomplishing things like moving numerous bricks to coming up with some money for her to purchasing a bus ticket. This means that, in Shui Quan elementary, there happens to be socialism still at work whereby people tend to share things such as coke while doing things within a collective manner; Wei Minzhi's courage, together with per sonal dignity lie on the continuation of this community. Wei Minzhi encounters the urbanites in the vast metropolis are a symbol of the â€Å"adult† world whereby Minzhi, together with Huike have a lot to learn as â€Å"children†; yet these city folks have suspicious morals: informed but uncaring, urbane but indifferent, wealthy but miserable; the ticket conductor tosses Minzhi out of the bus for not purchasing a ticket with the policeman guarding the television station’

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Social Media as an Effective Marketing Channel Essay

Social Media as an Effective Marketing Channel - Essay Example This paper illustrates that there are many types of social media that help people communicate with each other and develop business relationships. However, social media mainly refers to the social networking websites that play a dynamic role in the personal and professional lives of people. Some of the main business benefits of using social media include the provision of an effective marketing platform, ability to reach large audiences, and improved customer service. Social networking websites are playing a valuable role as effective marketing channels for all types of companies whether large, small, or medium-sized. With the advent of the social media as an effective network for marketing and advertising, companies started using social networking websites for achieving the better response, as well as to provide customer service through an enhanced level of interaction with the customers of the company. â€Å"The main goal of social media marketing is to ensure high participation of target audience in campaigns and content shared by the company†. It is imperative for a company y to know the needs and demands of the customers for the provision of best products and services. Managers use a range of tools to gather required information because, without the information of customers’ requirements, it is not possible for a company to deliver customer value properly. Social media marketing helps managers and concerned employees in contacting the customers of the company directly to know their requirements and preferences. Today, many small and large companies form manufacturing and retail industries are focusing on the use social media marketing to customize their products in accordance with the customers’ preferences, as well as to deliver their message in a more effective and conventional way to the target audience. Social media marketing refers to marketing using social networking websites and other forms of social media.