Harlem Renaissance Poets Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Harlem Renaissance Poets - Research Paper Example Some of the luminaries of the Harlem Renaissance poetry include Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Johnson, Countee Cullen and James Weldon. Langston Hughes (1902-1967) James Langston Hughes was born in 1902 in Missouri. He was educated at Columbia University and traveled often to Africa and Europe while working as a seaman. He published his first poetry book, Weary Blues, in 1924 in Washington. He contributed to the Renaissance movement through portraying the nature of Black life in American society. He engaged his work with jazz, thus appealing to the African-American masses during the Harlem Renaissance of 1920s. His work ‘The Negro Speaks of Rivers’ contributed much to expressing the Black struggles, love for music, and suffering in the society. He is considered as the most prolific Black poet during the Renaissance period. ‘The Negro Speaks of Rivers’ His poem â€Å"The Negro Speaks of Rivers’ clearly demonstrates some elements of double consciousne ss. The poem articulates the long struggles of Black people and speaks of the struggles of the African Americans with their own identity. It speaks of the injustice to W.E.B DuBois and symbolically represents the life of Blacks in the life of the ‘River’. ... Accordingly, Hughes asserts that ‘I looked upon the Nile and raised pyramids above it’ (Hughes, 1994, l.6) and also ‘I built my hut near Congo and it lulled me to sleep.’ The two statements indicate the awareness of origin of Black people and the need to return to the African continent. In addition, Hughes claims that ‘I heard the singing of Mississippi’ (Hughes, 1994, l.7) and seen its ‘muddy’ turn all ‘golden’ to ‘sunset’ (Hughes, 1994, l.7). The statement reminds the Blacks of the emancipation of Black people through the end of slavery in the Southern States. The use of river symbolizes ancient times. The main themes in the poem are an expression of the Black heritage and cultural history such as the pyramids and huts. Another theme is the battle for cultural identity in the American society and end of slavery. The symbolism defines the past struggles and calls for the unity of African Americans in expre ssing their identity. The imagery such as pyramids demonstrates the background and origins of the Black people. The ‘blood flow’ symbolizes the historical struggles in ending slavery in the South. The poem highlights the economic and social inequalities that are faced by Black Americans and identity conflict that lead to low self-esteem. Claude McKay He was born in Jamaica in 1890 and died in 1940. He moved to the United States to attend Tuskegee Institute, but later moved to Kansas State University to study agriculture. He used his poetry work to demonstrate the negative impact of injustices that were faced by the Blacks in America. His poems focus on social and political life of the Blacks and his passion for his homeland Jamaica. His poems contributed to setting the tone of

Gender and development projects which focus only on women are doomed Essay

Gender and development projects which focus only on women are doomed to fail - Essay Example In this paper we will start with the theoretical approaches regarding women and development. Various gender and development projects especially those directed only towards women will also be discussed. We will restrict our study to Latin America only. We will discuss a few development projects actually designed and implemented in Latin America. For this purpose we will take the example of the projects conducted by World Bank. We will also try to analyze the impact and success of these projects. There is general view that development projects directed towards women only, are doomed to fail we will also try to form an opinion about it and will try to find the answer as well.A theoretical debate on development has identified three major paths upon which the framework for development is based. They are namely Women in Development (WID), Women and Development (WAD), and Gender and Development. In order to develop a sound understanding of these frameworks we will discuss them in detail. 1( Nalini Visvanathan, Lynn Duggan, Laurie Nisonoff, 2005).Women in Development (WID) is the most dominant and probably the oldest framework as well. WID subscribes to the assumptions of the modernization theory. Modernization theory assumes that traditional theories are male dominated and authoritative whereas modern theories were democratic and egalitarian and they did not believe in oppression by men. But it was realized that the benefits of modernization actually did not helped the position of women. Its benefits did not reach them but to the contrary in some cases it undermined their existing position. The focus of this theory was to integrate women in the productive role in the economic and welfare of the society. Strategies were devised even if that requires changes in the legal system to minimize disadvantages against the productive role of the women. Questions regarding women became important and visible in the development theory and practice. This theory had non-confrontation al approach. It did not question the existing social structures. It made no attempt in identifying the factors which resulted in modernization non beneficial for women. It ignored the influence of social, cultural, religious factors on the state of women. The second theory Women and Development (WID) emerged as the critique of the modernization theory and WID. It is derived from the dependency theory. With the onset of capitalism it is believed that men had greater opportunities and hence it resulted in the spread of gender hierarchy. Production for exchange which was dominated by men replaced production for use and hence it became the public opinion. The main focus of this theory was that women have always been part of the production process so the concept of integrating women in development is a myth. Its main emphasis is on the processes so this theory focuses on the relationship between woman and development process. The main contribution of this theory is that recognizes the im portance of women as an important economic actor in their

Evaluation and Recommendations for Further Work Essay

Evaluation and Recommendations for Further Work - Essay Example The sources used in the paper were mainly of the popular-scholarly type. The paper could have had a better appeal if the sources were corroborated by other sources that are of the pure scholarly nature. The resources also had to be made in such a manner that they were relevant to the topic of business management. The paper sources were generally acceptable and they provided the audience with the sufficient amount of information. The ultimate test of the ability of a person to write in the upper college level is measured by his prowess in matching the quality of the resources with the quantity. In this case, the paper was capable of attaining this threshold. However, resources could have been more involving and engaging. The degree of the resources in engaging the reader makes the paper match the strong claims made by the thesis (Bryman and Bell, 2003). The quality of the paper was also adequate in meeting the demand or the expectations of the target audience and the topical demands. The other point of evaluation applicable in the analysis of the project is the capacity of the paper to use the sources that are current and relevant to the topic of business management. The most relevant article is the journal articles. Articles are better as sources compared to books since they have a narrow and deep scope (Cooper, Schindler and others, 2003). The use of the books in the library to make up the report is a major flop since the implied content in the books may not be really practical. The paper was not capable of using the resources that have the amount of currency demanded. Sources used in the paper lacked the currency and scope limitations since they were mainly composed of books (Creswell and Plano Clark, 2007). The bulk of the information in the books could have been reduced had the research paper borrowed a lot from the articles (Creswell and Plano Clark, 2007).

Jonas the New Receiver Essay Example for Free

Jonas the New Receiver Essay Can you imagine a world where everything is under control, there is no war, pain, or fear but nobody has a right to choose yet it is perfect? Well, Lois Lowry did. She created a world where everyone were supposed to be happy in her futuristic novel, the Giver. Jonas, the protagonist of the story, was selected to be the new Receiver of Memory. It turns out Jonas was singled out with all the differences he had since he started to feel unlike his friends. Not many people were like Jonas; Gabriel, the baby who almost got released, was like him but what was waiting for him in the future? Jonas, who actually aims to be an obedient citizen of his community, ends up realizing the control of the system over people throughout his training to be a thoughtful, compassionate, and brave Receiver. Jonas is thoughtful. For example, he wonders and questions. That is he does not just settle for everything around him easily. Likewise, he tries to tell the truths of the community to his family and friends just to make them realize. In other words, Jonas did no longer want to be alone with his inner thoughts, awareness, and memories so that he wanted to share them but couldn’t. Jonas had always been obedient but receiving the memories made him ask why’s, and try to make someone understand the community is not perfect as everyone thought to be. Along with the memories, Jonas gains the bravery as well. For instance, he wanted to feel the pain while receiving the memories. He was being brave and accepted the pain he has to receive. Moreover, he decides to leave the community to go Elsewhere and never come back. Jonas ran away from the truth he couldn’t share, thanks to his bravery. Jonas had hesitated about being different at first but then he fled so that the people would know the things he knows, feel the way he feels. Jonas has been a compassionate guy. For example, he was worried about the Giver’s burden of memories that caused him pain. He considered the Giver’s pain more than his and was willing to have some of the pain to lighten the Giver. Furthermore, he gave some of his new memories of happiness and calmness to Gabriel. He was worried about Gabriel and tried to smoothen him by giving him these memories because otherwise, his father was going to release Gabe just because he slept soundly. Jonas has learned many things from the memories, of course, but his way of thinking for others was probably the most precious thing he had gained through the training. The Giver is just the perfect book to understand how a utopic community can turn out to be dystopian for a young boy who is receiving the past, the truth, and the facts of the community. People never knew, maybe they never will, but a world can never be perfect while it includes the human factor, a system of flows, in it. The fabric of life was to make people feel the way he felt for Jonas so that he went to Elsewhere, someplace where the lies of the community were buried underneath. Jonas wanted the freedom he deserved after all, he wanted to choose so he chose to go away with Gabriel, as being a role model for the ones who has been the slaves of the systems in the real world.

The Yellow Wallpaper Feminist Analysis

The Yellow Wallpaper Feminist Analysis One of the major goals of feminist literature is to determine what kind of voice women have or do not have in a world, dominated by men. Women are seen as not as important as men in humanity, and language is one of the tools used to emphasize mens power over women. Often the world in literature is represented from a male point of view, yet female writers have continued to write. In Charlotte Perkins Gilmans The Yellow Wallpaper the author uses slight symbolism to tell the reader how the main character is really feeling while the literal text goes  either talk like men or not talk at all. Even with these expectations, men have different experiences than women and women needed to find a way to express them, by finding their own style that includes specific themes, like mental illness, and women work on self expression. Mental illness and disease are common themes in North American feminist writing (Feminist Criticism, 173). This piece was written during what Showalter refers to as th e Feminist phase, which was between 1880-1920 when omen protested against societys standards and values. (Feminist Criticism and Jane Eyre, 462) Charlotte Perkins Gilman was one of many women who used mental illness as a theme in her writing, as well as suffering from it in real life. As the story unfolds, the characters oppression from men and resulting mental illness takes shape. At the beginning, the author quickly makes it obvious who is dominant in her marriage, saying John and myself while writing in her personal diary. Even in her private thoughts she feels respectful to the men in her life. As quickly as she lets the reader know the way her relationship is set up, it becomes obvious that she has a very active imagination. She describes the house as a haunted house, which also is a foreshadowing to the conclusion of the story. Her resentment towards John is shown in small ways and is hard to detect, John laughs at me, of course. She is used to John thinking her ideas are a joke. Throughout the beginning of the story we learn all about Johns personality traits, a practical forceful physician. In describing John and emph asizing how different the two are, she implies that she is the opposite of his traits. Where he is practical, she is a dreamer. The juxtaposition of John and the narrator reflects the universal juxtaposition of men and women. The dominance of men is undeniable, He does not believe Im sick. The narrator has lost control to decide if shes sick or not, one of the most basic things a person can determine. Her brother is another male figure who makes decisions for her. Although she disagrees, it is not something that she is vocal about. While describing herself, John and her brother the narrator does not use a lot of symbolism. However with the sentence So I will let it alone and talk about  the house, the symbolism begins. Because she cannot argue in the realm of men, she chooses a different outlet for her feelings in issues surrounding the house. She describes the house and its surroundings as beautiful, she then says There were greenhouses too, but they are all broken now. It is common knowledge that greenhouses are areas of new life and growth, the fact that they are broken symbolizing the end of growing new life. The narrator was pregnant, and the  idea of a broken greenhouse could symbolize depressio n relating to the pregnancy and not having the baby growing inside her anymore. The narrators imagination is something that John expects her to control and change, his constant disapproval of her true personality is unavoidable. She does not disagree with John  actively or in an upfront manner, even within the text. The houses features, especially the wallpaper, can be seen as a symbol for the narrators marriage and general feelings. John chooses for the two of them to live in the upstairs nursery, while the narrator preferred the prettier downstairs. I dont like our room one bit. The narrators distaste for the nursery could also symbolize the fact that she did not want to have a child in the first place, which is also evident in the fact that she does not refer to the baby by name or show any desire to interact with it. Their room and shared space could be interpreted to mean their marriage, where it seems that she spends a lot of time alone. Even when attempting to describe John in a positive loving way such as, He is so careful and loving, and hardly lets m e stir without special direction the narrator manages to imply that this is irritating and stifling. This isnt genuine pleasure in this attention. She is not openly rebellious, yet her feelings of unhappiness towards male dominance cause her to feel ungrateful because she is aware of the role women are supposed to happily play. She feels trapped, her unwanted nursery room is ugly and the windows are barred. This was once a precaution for children inhabiting the nursery, but now makes a cage like environment for the narrator and serves as a constant reminder of children. It also is a blatant symbol of the fact that the narrator is caged within a life she has no control over. Her hatred of tire room is intensified by her disgust with the wallpaper. She describes it as committing every aesthetic sin. At first glance, the wallpaper may be seen as insignificant. But upon closer inspection it can be obviously interpreted as a symbol for her marriage. She calls the wall paper dull but irritating, John is either leaving her which is boring or trying to control her life which is annoying. The narrator spends a countless amount of time studying the wall paper, I start, well say at the bottom, down in the corner over there where it has not been touched, and I determine for the thousandth time that I will follow that p ointless pattern to some sort of conclusion. This passage despite how frustrated she is, she continually complains of feeling a lack of strength. She is unable to truly change her situation and feels defeated by this. John makes assumptions and assertions such as You know the place is doing you good,  while the narrator is slowly slipping into madness. It shows his ignorance towards his wifes situation, and mens general ignorance of the well being of women. Also it makes it obvious that one person shouldnt be making decisions for someone else, which was a major cause of unhappiness for women when men were accepted by society as the dominant gender. The narrator feels separated from her husband, there is a disconnected displayed by their inability to communicate, his lack of awareness of their needs and their marriage as a whole. The fact that the narrator has been put in this room, symbolically her marriage, angers her and she makes this known I would not be as silly as to make him uncomfortable just for a whim. He makes her stay upstairs just because that is his preference, when he is often away. The narrator describes the wallpaper and her feelings towards it by saying, I get positively  angry with the impertinence of it and everlastingness. Her marriage is something she cannot escape from, and she has no choice in the matter. The word choices made in this part of the story intensify the feeling of unhappiness, words such as inharmonious and sentences like ravages  the children have made here they must have had perseverance as well as hatred convey a negative image. Yet as much as there is the narrator fights against the oppression of men there are moments within the text where she doesnt do a very good job of making her case. And dear John gathered me up in his arms, and just carried me upstairs and laid me on the bed, and sat by me and read to me till it tired my head At times like this she enforces the idea that she is a child and needs to be babied. If this is the way she behaves than it is no wonder that he treats her the way he does. As much as the oppression is created by men it is accepted and at times encouraged by women. Her tears and weakness are leading towards a mental breakdown. She begins to see a woman in the pattern, stooping down and creeping about. If her marriage is the wallpaper, than the woman behind it can be seen as the narrators subconscious. Her growing unhappiness makes the woman more and more noticeable. She lacks purpose, as she is not allowed to write, and this causes her over active imagination to engage. Her woman behind the pattern feels as she does, the faint figure behind seemed to shake the pattern, just as if she wanted to get out. The narrator desires to shake off her marriage as the woman tries to shake the pattern. The use of the word pattern is no accident either, as these types of relationships are the typical pattern followed by society at his time. As time progresses the narrator sinks deeper into her obsession with the woman in the wallpaper, perhaps her only means of escape from a situation she cannot change. Finally the narrator gives way to madness, ripping at the wallpaper and creeping around the room causing her husband to faint. She hasnt managed to escape the confines of her relationship, yet she is attempting to free the woman from behind the pattern of the wallpaper. Her obsession with the wall paper is directly correlated to her desire for control within her life  and relationships, she can assert her dominance over the wall paper yet she is incapable of changing her relationship.

Save The Internet :: essays research papers fc

Did you know that 83.5% of the images available on the Internet were pornographic (Kershaw)? Did you know that pornography on the Internet is readily available to curious little children who happen to bump into them? Today, the Internet which has only become popular several years ago, is unequivocally one of the most revolutionary innovations in the computer world. The information superhighway has changed peoples' lives dramatically and have created many new exciting opportunities as well as markets to be exploited. But, unfortunately, the Internet also has created a haven for the depravity of pornography and hate literature. Therefore, this has called for immediate action and the only solution up to today is censorship. The Internet must be censored to the utmost. Many people complain that censorship is the violation of the first amendment and the suppression of freedom of speech but there is a point where freedom of speech becomes corrupt; freedom of speech only creates an excuse for the vile pornographers to poison our nation let alone our children. Pornography is regarded as immoral and downright filthy by the people. It denies human dignity and often stimulates the user to violent acts (Beahm 295). Therefore, pornography and violence are correlated. It trivializes the human beauty and converts it into commercialized slime (Beahm 295). Moreover, the consumption of pornography can lead to a detrimental addiction and the consumer can become a slave to it (Beahm 297). In short, pornography is a very addictive drug; which has an equal or more potency to hard-core drugs like heroin and cocaine. Can you imagine a ten year-old innocently surfing the Internet and suddenly bumps into a pornographic site depicting explicit images of naked women and becoming addicted to it? The damage is long-term and when the time comes, we will have a nation of perverts. Galbraith says, "The U.S. constitution does not forbid the protection of children from a pornographer's freedom of speech. That must be inferred through the First Amendment." These are our children and we have the right to protect them. The fact that pornography is damaging mentally is further aggravated as the availability of pornography to all Internet users is a major problem as well. The ridiculously easy accessibility to all types pornography; by anyone who logs into the Internet has raised a major concern from both the government and the public. The Internet, being the biggest interactive library ever existed, has no owner, President, chief operating officer or pope (Montoya). "Inevitably, being an uncontrolled system, means that the Internet will be subjected to subversive applications of some unscrupulous users." (Kershaw) Internet users can publish pornography and hate literature

Nike Case Study Essay

The Nike Sweatshop DebateShould Nike be held responsible for working conditions in foreign factories that it does not own, but where subcontractors make products for Nike?Nike is definitely not only responsible but also accountable for the working conditions of foreign factories that it does not own which it subcontracts with. Nike should have taken the initiative to be responsible of the contractors/employees working in other countries on a global scale. For example: Recently, Pepsi Cola was in the news for allegations of having pesticides in their drink products in India. Pepsi ensured that it was not just meeting standards in the Indian Market, but has the same standards of water purification across the world. Pepsi was found in a similar situation such as Nike, they should have realized that even though they were getting cheap labor in other countries that they needed to be socially responsible to ensure that the workers get minimum wages and work in conditions that are acceptabl e on a global scale. What labor standards regarding safety, working conditions, overtime, and the like should Nike hold foreign factories to: those prevailing in that country, or those prevailing in the United States?Nike needs to adopt a policy for its overseas operations which will allow them to enjoy the cost advantages that they are realizing by off shoring manufacturing of shoes, yet which will give them the integrity of being a humanitarian company. For example, if Nike adopts the normal standards in the country of manufacturing then it is not able to comply with some of the human rights related issues that global organizations should comply with. Thus, it is very important that Nike adopts a series of standards that ensures that workers get at least the minimum wages in the respective country but the working conditions should be acceptable enough for workers to work and the minimum age limit of workers should also be enforced strictly. An income of $2.28 a day, the base pay of Nike Factory workers in Indonesia, is double the daily income of about half the working population. Half of all adults in Indonesia are farmers, who receive less than $1 a day. Given this, is it correct to criticize Nike for the low pay rates of its subcontractors in Indonesia?Each country has their own which is regulated by the labor laws in each country. Daily rates are different according to the skill of  workers, type of city the worker lives and works in and the prices of essential commodities in the city and state. For example, the daily wage of workers in factories manufacturing Nike shoes may be higher than farmers in the same city and or state. If Nike’s contractors are not abiding by the minimum wage regulations for the type of skill and working conditions in which these workers work in, then Nike should be reprimanded and fined on the global scale. Yet, should Nike’s contractors obey the minimum wage regulations set by the government according to a workers skills and working conditions, then Nike cannot be condemned or criticized and comparing wages of one set of workers with another set of workers would be irrelevant. Could Nike have handled the negative publicity over sweatshops better? What might it have done differently, not just from a public relations perspective, but also from a policy perspective?From a policy perspective, Nike could have handled the negative publicity over sweatshops much better. Nike could have enforced policies for all the contractors who are manufacturing either shoes or apparels for Nike across countries to obey the local rules and also could have created some better policies that would apply to all the factories that manufacture Nike’s products. In a good faith effort, Nike should have published the names of all the contractors across countries that obeyed the local working regulations, conditions and wages. Nike could have demanded that the local labor inspectors in different countries do an audit of their factories on a regular basis to ensure that contractors comply with the local laws in their respective countries so that the people working there would be safe and fairly treated. Do you think Nike needs to make any changes to its current policy? If so what? Should Nike make changes even if they hinder the ability of the company to compete?Nike should adopt policies which work across the globe where their factories and workers are concerned. They need to ensure that all their contractors obey both the wage regulations and local working conditions in all countries. Nike can ensure this either by designating a labor inspector in each of their regions whom will report the details of all the workers working in their factories to a local, regional, national, and international board. This report would be submitted to legal experts at the  country level and worldwide level to ensure that all the laws are in compliance by contractors of Nike. Is the WRC right to argue that the FLA is a tool of industry?Nike factories were found to be incompliant with the WRC as they found some policies which were not being followed in Nike’s factories. WRC give ample time to FLA to see that all Nike factories are compliant with the local labor laws in their countries. WRC should routinely audit some of Nike’s factories which FLA has deemed as compliant with local labor laws to ensure that it is not a tool of the industry. If sweatshops are a global problem, what might be a global solution to this problem?Bottom line is that companies should be held responsible for adhering to local, national, and international laws concerning the working conditions of people across the globe. Next summarize the strategic and operational challenges facing global managers illustrated in your selected case. Also comment on recent global developments affecting the company in this case. Strategic Challenges†¢Identifying low cost countries for cost effectiveness while still adhering to regulations governing working conditions and wages. †¢Ensuring that consumers can get the same quality of product form anywhere across the globe. †¢Letting the world know what the company is doing to ensure that its contractors and subcontractors are compliant with Nike’s policies. Operational Challenges†¢Ensuring the same training and development of employees across regions, nations and the globe. †¢Ensuring that each manufacturing plant has similar working conditions across the globe. †¢Ensuring that every worker receives fair wages across the globe. References Hill, Charles W.L. (2005). International Business: Competing in the global marketplace. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.