Public Speaking and Success Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Public Speaking and Success - Term Paper Example Even a cursory perusal of the human history testifies to the fact that the leaders in all ages and times, was it Alexander, Caesar, George Washington, Churchill, Kennedy or Martin Luther King owed a great part of their success to their public speaking skills. Public speaking is not merely about speaking, but rather involves a range of factors and attributes that help a competent public speaker emerge as a natural leader and a success story. Public Speaking Bolsters Self Confidence Self confidence is primarily about having an unshakable faith in one’s beliefs, values and aspirations. Almost everybody agrees to the fact that public speaking is a challenge. It goes without saying that the willingness on the part of an individual to embrace a challenge, especially a challenge of the nature of public speaking that involves public audience is bound to make a person confident and self assured (Davidson 36). The very ability to convey one’s thoughts and feelings to an audience in a way that is interesting, involving and attention grabbing could positively be expected to do much good to a person’s self confidence and self esteem (Davidson 36). In the realm of public speaking there is always a risk involved of ending up being a laughing stock of the people or getting oneself misunderstood (Davidson 112). Every time an individual dares to embrace this risk, one adds loads of substance and gumption to one’s personality. Eventually this faith in oneself infiltrates the varied other aspects of a person’s life and helps one face the challenges posed by life with an attitude of courage and daring that is the mark of a true leader. Public speaking instills an attitude of risk taking and a spirit of adventure in a person that make that person grasp the challenges posed by life with calm and poise. For what could be a better measure of faith in one’s beliefs and aspirations than the willingness to express it before people. Public Speaking Enhances Visibility Irrespective of the existence of a millions of books on the topic of leadership and a range of courses existing in the academic institutions aimed at enhancing leadership abilities, the reality is that leadership is a scarce public resource in varied facets of public life, be it politics, business, academics, religion or social service. In society there is no dearth of individuals who are competent and accomplished, yet not all manage to emerge as a leader. Public speaking enhances the visibility coefficient of an individual (Davidson 15). Besides, the willingness to speak before people in itself conveys much about the potential and abilities of a person. Of what use is all the accomplishment and ability of a person if the people who matter do not know about him. In contrast, even people with mediocre skills and proficiencies end up projecting themselves as capable and willing, every time they ascend the stage to express their views. Hence, when it comes to choo sing a leader, be it in the chambers of business and commerce, neighborhood clubs, social associations or academic programs, people mostly do not opt for the person who is most accomplished, but rather vie for the person who had been most visible. Public speaking is the most accessible and cheapest avenue for advertising oneself and one’s abilities. Transference of Skills Almost every successful public speaker and leader will undeniably and unexceptionally testify to the fact that

You do not to need to go to a mosque to be a good Muslim :: essays research papers

Religious Studies Coursework 'You do not to need to go to a mosque to be a good Muslim' I personally agree with this statement that to be a good Muslim you do not need to attend Mosque. A good Muslim is someone who follows the five pillars of Islam. The five pillars of Islam is the term given to 'the five duties incumbent on every Muslim'. these duties are Shahadah(profession of faith), Salat(ritual prayer), Zakat(alms giving), Sawm(fasting during the month of Ramadan) and Hajj(pilgrimage to Mecca). A good strong building has four strong corner stones and good Muslims have five because they want to be strong in the way which they live. Muslims believe that Allah has requested that we must act on these pillars consistently. Nowadays a mosque facilitates the emergence of a city centre for most Muslims, offering services such as family support service, counselling clinic and Shariah counsel besides many more . However the main purpose of a mosque is to perform Salah. I however argue that Muslims do not need to pray in a mosque to do this and what is important is that they carry out the obligatory five daily prayers, whether it is in their own house or somewhere else as long as it is a suitable environment. A mosque is called Masjid in Arabic the language of Islam. The word literally means ?Place of Prostration? because strictly speaking a mosque is anywhere where a Muslim kneels down to prostrate him/herself before Allah. A prayer mat laid down at home or even at the side of the road becomes a mosque-a place of prostration. The prophet Muhammad once said: ?Whenever the time of prayer overtakes you: pray. That place is a mosque? I believe that the prophet Muhammad is agreeing that to be a good Muslim you do not need to attend mosque. A good Muslim prays to Allah and when the time comes to pray it doesn?t matter where you are , that place becomes your mosque as soon as you kneel down with the intention to pray. You do not to need to go to a mosque to be a good Muslim :: essays research papers Religious Studies Coursework 'You do not to need to go to a mosque to be a good Muslim' I personally agree with this statement that to be a good Muslim you do not need to attend Mosque. A good Muslim is someone who follows the five pillars of Islam. The five pillars of Islam is the term given to 'the five duties incumbent on every Muslim'. these duties are Shahadah(profession of faith), Salat(ritual prayer), Zakat(alms giving), Sawm(fasting during the month of Ramadan) and Hajj(pilgrimage to Mecca). A good strong building has four strong corner stones and good Muslims have five because they want to be strong in the way which they live. Muslims believe that Allah has requested that we must act on these pillars consistently. Nowadays a mosque facilitates the emergence of a city centre for most Muslims, offering services such as family support service, counselling clinic and Shariah counsel besides many more . However the main purpose of a mosque is to perform Salah. I however argue that Muslims do not need to pray in a mosque to do this and what is important is that they carry out the obligatory five daily prayers, whether it is in their own house or somewhere else as long as it is a suitable environment. A mosque is called Masjid in Arabic the language of Islam. The word literally means ?Place of Prostration? because strictly speaking a mosque is anywhere where a Muslim kneels down to prostrate him/herself before Allah. A prayer mat laid down at home or even at the side of the road becomes a mosque-a place of prostration. The prophet Muhammad once said: ?Whenever the time of prayer overtakes you: pray. That place is a mosque? I believe that the prophet Muhammad is agreeing that to be a good Muslim you do not need to attend mosque. A good Muslim prays to Allah and when the time comes to pray it doesn?t matter where you are , that place becomes your mosque as soon as you kneel down with the intention to pray.

NET framework and common language runtime Essay

The . NET framework is a component of Windows that enables the running of more advanced applications and XML Web services (DePetrillo, 2002). One of the main aim of coming up with this framework is to enable applications to have a consistent object-oriented programming methodology. It is also useful in that it eliminate software deployment and the execution of code safely without problems of scripting and interpreted environments. Microsoft. NET is also referred to as Windows DNA, it was a Microsoft’s previous platform used for developing all enterprise applications. It includes a variety of proven technologies which are in the production they include Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS) and COM+, Microsoft Message Queue (MSMQ), the Microsoft SQL Server database. Common Language Runtime provides the . NET framework applications an environment to execute. These language runtime includes common type system Just-in-time compiler, manages memory and gives compiler the security required. Design of . NET and Common Language Runtime (CLR) The design of . NE framework gives of room for interoperability. .NET frameworks have a way of allowing applications which were developed in the framework to still operate in environments outside of . NET environment. The ability to access COM components is made possible by . NET developers which are in the SRIS and the System Services namespace. With this platform, communication between old and new applications is increasing and is becoming a reality. The design of . NET and CLR also allows for security implementation for applications. .NET has two features for security for their mechanisms for security. These two features include validation and verification, and Code Access Security. The latter feature uses the association with specific assembly (DePetrillo, 2002). Normally, the assembly source acts as the evidence regardless of whether they are installed on the local machine or has been downloaded from the Internet. This mechanism uses evidence to determine permissions that are given to the code. With other code, they can demand that calling code be given a specific permission. This demand normally enables CLR to countercheck the permissions; called call stack walk. This is a situation whereby for every assembly of each method in the stack is scrutinized for the required permissions. An exception is thrown if an assembly does not have the right permissions. When an assembly is launched, the CLR performs very many tests. Two of the tests include validation and verification. The verification purpose is to check if the code will do anything which is not safe. Also, . NET framework uses appdomains to isolate code running in a process (DePetrillo, 2002). The appdomains help when there is a crash in a system. In case one application crushes in a system, the other applications within that system will not be affected. An example of security problem is the buffer overflows. This is taken care of with the use of . NET framework. The stability of . NET is assured because it brings with it the end of manual memory management. The . NET framework does memory management by itself thus freeing the user the burden of doing this. The memory that was allocated for instantiations of objects meant for . NET is done contiguously from memory heap. This heap is normally managed by CLR. The . NET also manages garbage collection. This is done by the garbage collector which is compacting and non-deterministic. Memory leakage is an example of stability issue that is solved with the use of . NET framework. The last design feature added to . NET and CLR is the addition of class libraries. These libraries help in maintenance of the applications because one does not have to create applications afresh. Someone seeking to add some more functionality to their applications or do some maintenance will just use the class libraries available at their disposal to achieve all these. The class libraries is a collection of thousands of interfaces, classes, structures and enumerations that are aimed at adding functionality of core system and application services in order to ease programming. There are various classes that someone can use to manipulate the file system. For example there are classes to manipulate XML files, classes to manipulate databases, and serialize objects. In addition to the availability of vast collection of libraries in . NET, the user also has the capability of creating their own classes which they can use in many applications (DePetrillo, 2002). Advantages and disadvantages of . NET Framework Microsoft. NET offers a variety of features such as the time-to-market which are not found in others like the J2EE. It gives a fairly complete solution from the single vendor-Microsoft which may lack some higher end features. With the Microsoft. NET there is one place to get similar information since there is no question of what is the shared context repository. There is an established passport which is an active system. Microsoft. NET gives one the language neutrality when coming up with their new eBusiness applications thus allowing one to view other languages as one application. The cons It does not support a true web services since it lacks the support for ebXML. Microsoft. NET does not give tactics for improving the performance thus not allowing the developers to introduce errors into their systems. It requires qualified developers who are well educated and can handle more hand-holding. It is difficult to maintain since the . NET supports Win32 only in which a large number of machines are required. Microsoft. NET web services are not interoperable with the present industry standards since their BizTalk framework has proprietary SOAP extensions which do not support ebXML. References DePetrillo, B. A. (2002). Think Microsoft. NET. Que.

Maternity Leave Essay

Maternity leave benefits is found under the Article 133 of the Labor Code and Section 14-A of â€Å"Social Security Act of 1997†³ (Republic Act No. 8282). Checklist for Availment of Maternity Benefits under Social Security Act The pregnant woman employee must have paid at least three monthly contributions within the 12-month period immediately preceding the semester of her childbirth or miscarriage. She has given the required notification of her pregnancy through her employer if employed, or to the SSS if separated, voluntary or self-employed member. Maternity Leave Under Article 133(a) of the Labor Code, â€Å"Every employer shall grant to any pregnant woman employees who has rendered an aggregate service of at least six months for the last twelve months, maternity leave of at least two weeks prior to the expected date of delivery and another four weeks after normal delivery or abortion, with full pay based on her regular or average weekly wages.† From the above provision, a qualified pregnant woman employee shall be entitled maternity leave of at least two weeks prior to expected date of delivery and another four weeks after normal delivery or abortion. That’s a total of six weeks maternity leave. (Note: Article 133, particularly provisions pertaining to benefits and procedure for availment, must give way to Social Security Act.) Leave extension Maternity leave may be extended on account of illness arising out of the pregnancy, delivery, abortion or miscarriage, which renders the woman unfit for work. Extended maternity leave is without pay, but may be charged against any unused leave credits. Maternity Benefits under SSS Law A pregnant woman member of SSS who has paid at least three monthly contributions in the twelve-month period immediately preceding the semester of her childbirth or miscarriage shall be paid a daily maternity benefit. Amount SSS maternity benefit shall be equivalent to 100% of the pregnant employee’s average daily salary credit for 60 days, or 78 days in case of caesarian delivery. Time of payment The full payment of maternity benefits shall be advanced by the employer within 30 days from the filing of the maternity leave application. Who makes the payment The SSS shoulders the payment of maternity benefits. But the procedure is that the payment is to be initially advanced by the employer, subject to immediate reimbursement by SSS. Checklist for Availment The pregnant woman employee must have paid at least three monthly contributions within the 12-month period immediately preceding the semester of her childbirth or miscarriage. She has given the required notification of her pregnancy through her employer if employed, or to the SSS if separated, voluntary or self-employed member. â€Å"3-monthly Contribution† Illustration To avail of maternity benefits, the woman employee must have paid at least three monthly contributions within the 12-month period immediately preceding the semester of her childbirth or miscarriage. A semester refers to two consecutive quarters ending in the quarter of contingency; A quarter refers to three consecutive months ending March, June, September or December. To illustrate, assume that the projected date of delivery is March 2010. The semester of childbirth would be from October 2009 to March 2010. This is called the semester of contingency. Count 12 months backwards starting from the month immediately before the semester of contingency, which is September 2009. Hence, the 12-month period immediately preceding the semester of childbirth or miscarriage is from October 2008 to September 2009. To avail of the benefits, the employee must have paid at least 3 monthly contributions during this period. Note that this requirement supersedes Article 133, which requires that the woman employees must have rendered an aggregate service of at least six months for the last twelve months. Valid marriage not required Unlike in paternity leave where valid marriage is a requisite for availment, the existence of a valid marriage is not required to avail of maternity leave benefits. Limitation on Availment Entitlement to maternity leave under the Labor Code and maternity benefits under the SSS Law applies only for the first four delivery. Bar to recovery of sickness benefits. That payment of daily maternity benefits is a bar to the recovery of SSS sickness benefits for the same period for which daily maternity benefits have been received. Effect of Failure of Employer to Remit Contribution. If the employer fails to remit the required contributions, or to notify SSS of the time of the pregnancy, the employer shall pay to the SSS damages equivalent to the benefits which said employee member would otherwise have been entitled to. Tax Treatment of Meternity Benefit Maternity benefits advanced by employer to employee are excluded from gross income and thus exempt from withholding tax. Under the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC), all â€Å"benefits received from or enjoyed under the Social Security System in accordance with the provisions of Republic Act No. 8282†³ shall not be included in gross income and shall be exempt from taxation. (Section 32 [B][6][e], NIRC) What You Should Know About Maternity Leave Benefits in the Philippines? Maternity Leave Benefit in the Philippines varies depending on your employment. This article only covers employees from the private sector . According to Book III Title III Chapter 1 of the Philippine Labor Code [Presidential Decree No. 422, as Amended]: ART. 133. Maternity leave benefits. – (a) Every employer shall grant to any pregnant woman employee who has rendered an aggregate service of at least six (6) months for the last twelve (12) months, maternity leave of at least two (2) weeks prior to the expected date of delivery and another four (4) weeks after normal delivery or abortion with full pay based on her regular or average weekly wages. The employer may require from any woman employee applying for maternity leave the production of a medical certificate stating that delivery will probably take place within two weeks. (b) The maternity leave shall be extended without pay on account of illness medically certified to arise out of the pregnancy, delivery, abortion or miscarriage, which renders the woman unfit for work, unless she has earned unused leave credits from which such extended leave may be charged. (c) The maternity leave provided in this Article shall be paid by the employer only for the first four (4) deliveries by a woman employee after the effectivity of this Code. Furthermore, Republic Act No. 7322 AN ACT INCREASING MATERNITY BENEFITS IN FAVOR OF WOMEN WORKERS IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE SECTION 14-A OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 1161, AS AMENDED, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES states: SECTION 1. Section 14-A of Republic Act No. 1161, as amended, is further amended to read as follows: SEC. 14-A. Maternity Leave Benefit. – A covered female employee who has paid at least three monthly maternity contributions in the twelve-month period preceding the semester of her childbirth, abortion or miscarriage and who is currently employed shall be paid a daily maternity benefit equivalent to one hundred percent (100%) of her present basic salary, allowances and other benefits or the cash equivalent of such benefits for sixty (60) days subject to the following conditions: (a) That the employee shall have notified her employer of her pregnancy and the probable date of her childbirth which notice shall be transmitted to the SSS in accordance with th e rules and regulations it may provide; (b) That the payment shall be advanced by the employer in two equal installments within thirty (30) days from the filing of the maternity leave application: (c) That in case of caesarean delivery, the employee shall be paid the daily maternity benefit for seventy-eight (78) days; (d) That payment of daily maternity benefits shall be a bar to the recovery of sickness benefits provided by this Act for the same compensable period of sixty (60) days for the same childbirth, abortion, or miscarriage; (e) That the maternity benefits provided under this Section shall be paid only for the first four deliveries after March 13, 1973; (f) That the SSS shall immediately reimburse the employer of one hundred percent (100%) of the amount of maternity benefits advanced to the employee by the employer upon receipt of satisfactory proof of such payment and legality thereof; and (g) That if an employee should give birth or suffer abortion or miscarriage without the required contributions having been remitted for her by her employer to the SSS, or without the latter having been previously notified by the employer of the time of the pregnancy, the employer shall pay to the SSS damages equivalent to the benefits which said employee would otherwise have been entitled to, and the SSS shall in turn pay such amount to the employee concerned.† SEC. 2. Nothing in this Act shall be construed as to diminish existing maternity benefits under present laws and collective bargaining agreements. SEC. 3. All laws, executive orders, prodamations,.presidential decrees, rules and regulations, and other issuances, or parts hereof, inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly. SEC. 4. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) national newspapers of general circulation, whichever comes earlier. In short, you are entitled to a 60 days maternity leave (78 if you had a caesarean delivery) provided that: 1. you have notified your employer of your pregnancy including your estimated delivery date; 2. you are an active SSS member and employee at the time of your delivery; 3. you have paid a minimum of three month contribution to SSS within the 12-month period prior to your delivery (miscarriage); and 4. this is your first, second, third or fourth pregnancy (and/or miscarriage) So remember, Once you’ve confirmed your pregnancy (usually once you’ve got your first ultrasound), make sure to file the necessary papers to notify your company. This is around 6-8 weeks of pregnancy. It’s very important that you file early so you can avail of your benefits should anything happen to you like miscarriage or other complication that would require you to take an early leave. File your maternity leave early. Your company is mandated by law to give you your maternity benefit within 30 days of filling. They usually release advance payment before your leave if you file it on time. Otherwise, you might have to after giving birth. Company may have other policies about maternity benefits, so make sure to review your contract and talk to your company’s HR personnel so know what you’re entitled to. Also once you’ve given birth, don’t forget to submit all the necessary documents to your HR so they can submit them to SSS for reimbursement. You would need to submit following: SSS Form MAT-1 and MAT-2, your child’s birth certificate, your SSS ID, obstetrical history and operating record for caesarean delivery. The SSS forms are available in your HR department or you can get a copy at sss.gov.ph. The full list of requirements is also available in the site. When I posted about maternity leave benefits in my old blog, a lot of people ask why some of them got less than their 60-day salary. The maternity benefit you are entitled as an SSS member is 100% of your average daily salary credit multiplied by 60 (78) days. The details of the computation can be found here. You’ll also see there that the maximum salary credit per day is around Php 500 so at most, you’ll be able to receive around Php 30,000 for normal delivery and Php 39,000 for caesarean delivery. Self-employeed SSS members and also voluntary SSS members are also entitled to this same SSS Maternity Benefits as long as they meet the requirements mentioned above. The only difference is they do the filing and notification directly to SSS. I work in the government sector. Am I entitled to maternity leave? Every pregnant employee is entitled to maternity leave but the conditions change depending on several factors. If you are a government employee, you are allowed to take a maternity leave of 60 calendar days with pay, whether you deliver via normal or cesarean delivery. You are also entitled to maternity benefits in full if you have been working for your government office or agency for at least two years. If you have rendered service for more than a year but less than two years, you will receive maternity benefits in proportion to your length of service. (And half-pay if you have been working there for less than one year.) Maternity leave covers both childbirth and miscarriage. The law provides minimum requirements that you can expect from your employer. Talk to your human resources manager or administrative officer to find out if your employer provides greater maternity benefits than the required minimum. Read your employment contract or collective bargaining agreement carefully and see what it says about your employer’s policy on maternity leaves and benefits. I work for a private company. What maternity benefits am I entitled to? A private sector employee is entitled to take a leave with full pay for 60 calendar days (for normal delivery) or 78 calendar days (for cesarean delivery) as long as certain conditions are met: * You are an SSS member employed at the time of delivery or miscarriage. * You have previously notified your employer about your pregnancy and due date. * You have paid at least three monthly contributions to the SSS within the 12-month period preceding your semester of childbirth or miscarriage. * Understand that you can claim maternity benefits only for your first four deliveries, including miscarriages. What do you mean by semester of childbirth? This is the six-month period prior to your giving birth. For example, if you expect to give birth in June 2012, your semester of childbirth is the period from January 2012 to June 2012. What about the three monthly contributions preceding the semester of childbirth? SSS requires that in the 12 months preceding your semester of childbirth (if you’re due in June 2012, then the period is January to December 2011), you should have paid at least 3 monthly contributions. This 12-month period is important because they will determine how much maternity pay to give you based on your monthly salary during this 12-month period. SSS has a formula for computing your maternity benefit using your six highest monthly credits. What do I have to submit to my employer? Make sure that you: * Give your employer a notice of your pregnancy and due date by submitting SSS Form MAT-1(Maternity Notification Form) at least 60 days from the time you know about your pregnancy and proof of pregnancy, such as laboratory test results, ultrasound report and a medical certificate from your doctor. Your employer will then submit these documents to the SSS. * Maternity leave covers both childbirth and miscarriage. The law provides the minimum requirements that you can expect from your employer. Some companies give more than the minimum requirements. Talk to your human resources manager or administrative officer so you’ll know what your company offers. It would be good to read your employment contract or collective bargaining agreement and learn more about your employer’s policy on maternity leaves and benefits. Your company’s maternity policy may be better than the legal minimum. Thus your entitlements could be different from those of your colleagues or friends working for other companies. Find out exactly what your entitlements are by contacting: * your human resources or personnel manager * your labor union representative * the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Regional Office in your place of work Before taking maternity leave File your maternity leave application a few weeks before the start of your leave. You will want to give your employer enough time to make arrangements and ensure that the company is not affected by your absence. The common practice is to go on leave two weeks before your due date so you can have enough time to prepare for the birth of your child. How do I claim my SSS maternity benefits? You may claim your SSS maternity benefits directly from your employer in full within 30 calendar days from the filing of your maternity leave application. Your employer is required to pay the amount of the claim in advance, subject to reimbursement by the SSS. You also need to submit other documents such as: * SSS Form MAT-1 and MAT-2 * your child’s birth certificate * operating room records for cesarean delivery * obstetrical history in cases of miscarriage or abortion * your SSS I.D.

Identifying the Authors Purpose on a Standardized Test

Identifying the Author's Purpose on a Standardized Test Knowing what authors purpose questions look like is one thing. Finding it is quite another! On a standardized test, youll have answer choices to help you figure it out, but distractor questions will often confuse you. On a short answer test, youll have nothing but your own brain to figure it out, and sometimes it isnt as easy at it seems. It may be helpful to practice these types of questions while preparing for standardized tests. Look For Clue Words Figuring out why an author wrote a particular passage can be as easy (or as difficult) as looking at clues inside the passage. Ive mentioned in the What is the Authors Purpose article several different reasons an author would have to write a passage of text, and what those reasons mean. Below, youll find those reasons, with the clue words associated with them. Compare: Author wanted to show similarities between ideasClue Words: both, similarly, in the same way, like, just asContrast: Author wanted to show differences between ideasClue Words: however, but, dissimilarly, on the other handCriticize: Author wanted to give a negative opinion of an ideaClue Words: Look for words that show the authors negative opinion. Judgment words like bad, wasteful, and poor all demonstrate negative opinions. Describe/Illustrate: Author wanted to paint a picture of an ideaClue Words: Look for words that provide descriptive detail. Adjectives like red, lusty, morose, striped, sparkling, and crestfallen are all illustrative.Explain: Author wanted to break down an idea into simpler termsClue Words: Look for words that turn a complicated process into simple language. A descriptive text will use more adjectives. An explanatory text will usually be used with a complicated idea.Identify/List: Author wanted to tell the reader about an idea or series of ideasClue Word s: Text that identifies or lists, will name an idea or series of ideas without providing much description or opinion. Intensify: Author wanted to make an idea greaterClue Words: Text that intensifies will add more specific details to the idea. Look for superlative adjectives and bigger concepts. A baby sadly crying is descriptive, but a baby mournfully howling red-cheeked for 30 minutes is more intense.Suggest: Author wanted to propose an ideaClue Words: Suggest answers are usually positive opinions and try to sway the reader to believe. The author will provide a point, then use details to prove it.​ Underline the Clue Words It helps to use that pencil in your hand when youre reading if youre unsure what the authors purpose is. As you read, underline the clue words in the text to help you get a better idea. Then, either compose a sentence using the key words (compare, explain, illustrate) to show why the author wrote the piece or select the best answer from the choices given.

Discipline and Punish Essays

Discipline and Punish Essays Discipline and Punish Essay Discipline and Punish Essay Essay Topic: Discipline and Punish the Birth Of the Prison In addition, although Foucault does not study the bureaucratic process in Weberian style, his studies of the prison and other social institutions go further than Weber in preparing the rational process for the administration of the carceral society. On the other hand, Foucaults work also appeals to the political imagination within sociology, presenting a model of powerless monumental than either those of Marx or Weber. What for Weber was a level of regulation and law, for Foucault becomes an open prison committed to abolishing the last dark corner in which the soul might hide and yet in which the resistance is everywhere (ONeill, 1986). One of the most prominent critiques of Foucault from a liberal and criminological perspective is of David Garland. He states, the work of Foucault is meaningful when comparing with Weber on rationalisation and Freud on civilization. Each showing a different perspective of how life is cherished living in the modern world (Garland 1986:848). He advises Foucaults work on power and discipline has attracted various agencies of health and education in developing their political analyses. On the other hand, Garland argues, that the power perception which he develops is a basic one, underpinning and enveloping all challenging explanations. He presents no quantitative or wide ranging evidence to support his classification of modern penal practise. In addition, Paul Patton agrees with Garland and believes Foucault can be criticised for failing to provide the evidence for the strong type of argument he stands for (Cited in Garland, 1986:871). However, Smart believed Foucault could not be criticized for his approach and ideas because he does not intend to present an assumption of social construction. Instead, he tries to expand our theoretical structure by disclosing possible alternative justifications for our present situation that may lead to theoretical creation. However, he does not see them as a replacement (Smart, 1985). Subsequently, Cohen explains, Foucault leaves us within the carceral society without the possibility of its transformation. He believes Foucault, as an author who is expertise at correlating social movements and institutional changes but does not allow enough explanation for the future. Cohen claims that Foucaults penology is in fact too basic and simple. However, Cohen (1985) remarks, Foucault veers between a materialist connection between prison and emerging capitalism and an idealist obsession with the power of ideas but he does agree with the fact that Foucault is more worried with the origins and effects of punishment than with its relations with the economy (Cited in Cavadino Dignan, 2002:69). Consequently, Critiques of Foucault are mainly revolved around his ideas of self-freedom from discipline. It is argued that he did not go in to enough depth in explaining the struggle between individuality and society and Foucault refused to give a reason for the struggle that existed or a goal to be obtained. On the other hand, theorists like Matheisen agreed with Foucault to some extent but varied in other. Matheisen believed the use of technologies like surveillance is an essential element of social control and quite apart from being an unpreventable part of modernity it does not have as well as repressive potential. The constant use of surveillance could be used to increase detection rates but there is no validity that it could be used to harsher penalties for those convicted (Cavadino Dignan, 2002). For all its restrictions, nevertheless, Foucaults method of approaching universal and fundamental social themes through discipline is a great achievement. He does not just write a history of crime and punishment but rather is using historical materials and sociological insights from Marx, Weber and Durkheim to construct his understanding and analysis of the social universe. In conclusion, Discipline and Punish so clearly illuminates and is so significant in understanding the communication between punishment and the disciplinary society. Foucault sees his book as a historical background to various studies of power, normalization and the formation of knowledge in society. Most readers will find Foucaults vision interesting, some will find it emotionally persuasive and yet others will consider its political implications. Therefore, it is evident to believe that Foucaults contribution has certainly transformed the sociology of punishment. Foucaults writing did have a central theme and it proves that his main idea was the struggle of individuals against the power of society. Word count = 1950 Bibliography Cavadino, M and Dignan, J. (2002), The Penal System: An Introduction, Sage Publications Ltd: London, Third Edition. Foucault, M. (1977), Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, Penguin Books: London. Garland, D. (1986), Foucaults Discipline and Punish: An Exposition and Critique, American Bar Foundation Research Journal, Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 847-880. ONeill, J. (1986), The Disciplinary Society: From Weber to Foucault, The British Journal of Sociology, Vol. 37, No. 1, pp. 42-60. Smart, B. (1983), Foucault, Marxism and Critique, Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd: London. Smart, B, (1985), Michel Foucault, Ellis Horward and Tavistock: London.

This Sink Needs Fixed

This Sink Needs Fixed This Sink Needs Fixed This Sink Needs Fixed By Maeve Maddox Maureen Garrison writes: Have you discussed the way people leave out to be in phrases such as This needs to be washed? Â  I keep hearing and seeing in print, This needs washed. Â  I assume it should be, This needs to be washed, or This needs washing, but maybe Im missing something. Â  Id love to see an explanation. Is this a mistake, a colloquialism, or something that is new only to me? What I call the needs fixed construction is a regionalism that has gained wide acceptance in colloquial speech. The expression is often associated with Pittsburgh and a narrow band in the middle of the country extending from the east coast to Montana. I grew up outside those regional boundaries and am quite used to hearing The lawn needs mowed and This sink needs fixed. The construction, standard in Scottish usage, seems to stir the hackles of US speakers to whom it is unfamiliar. I wont bother to quote any of the ugly comments about it that Ive read on other language sites. Here are some web examples from different regions: Lee Adama needs slapped (Scots blogger) Microsoft Needs Slapped. (Texas) Help! My Lawn NEEDS mowed! My Toro Starts but Stalls! (Ohio) The expression is camouflaged by other words in the following sentence, but I think it also partakes of the needs fixed pattern: The Left Needs Its Mouth Washed Out With Soap (Washington DC) Objections ariseand are validif the word needs is regarded as a transitive verb. Speakers who see needs as a transitive verb understandably want it to be followed by a discernible object: a noun substitute, either a to be phrase or a present participle: The lawn needs to be mowed. The lawn needs mowing. However, the word needs does not function as a transitive verb in the expression needs fixed. It acts as a kind of auxiliary verb, similar to to be in a passive construction. The -ed word that follows is also a verb. The lawn needs mowed differs from The lawn needs mowing and The lawn needs to be mowed in that the desired action goes beyond a projected future event and anticipates an accomplished fact. The needs fixed construction demands action. The alternative versions permit a vagueness that needs fixed does not. It says no more dilly-dallying! This lawn needs mowed today! If you want supper, this stove needs fixed. Bottom line: The needs fixed expression is best avoided in a formal context, but theres nothing wrong with its informal use. Use the version you prefer and let others do the same without ridicule. 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 Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Addressing A Letter to Two PeopleSelect vs. Selected10 Functions of the Comma

Employment laws differ in a global environment Essay

Employment laws differ in a global environment - Essay Example Employment laws differ in a global environment in a number of ways. These differences are usually evident in terms of employment, severance policies, consideration for employment, employment litigation, human rights, compensation, discharge, and statutory protection among others (Honeyball, 2008). A good example of a country whose employment laws are different from those of the US is Canada. For example, in Canada, employers must provide employees with at least pay in lieu or a statutory notice of termination, whereas, in the US, employment is ‘at will’ and a notice of termination to an employee is only required if a contract was signed. Another difference in employment laws in US and Canada is seen in the human rights perspective. Both Canada and USA prohibit discrimination in employment on grounds such as religion, ethnic origin, gender, and color among others. When it comes to disability, discrimination is also prohibited in both countries, and employers are required to make necessary accommodations for workers with disabilities. However, in Canada, employers face tougher conditions than in the US since they are required to accommodate drug addicts and alcoholics. These two conditions are recognized as disabilities by Canadian employment laws, and they require accommodation (Honeyball, 2008). There is no valid reason for these differences. All employees and employers should be equally protected by the law; regardless of the region they are located. It does not make sense to protect employers or employees in one area against something, and totally disregard the same thing in another area. Therefore, I do not agree with these differences. The main reason for this is because these differences create an unnecessary rift. For example, why would employers in Canada be required to accommodate drug addicts and alcoholics? It simply does not make sense because such people have made decisions to

Is Police accountability a special case, or merely one example of the Essay

Is Police accountability a special case, or merely one example of the tension inherent in all accountability arrangements between allowing agents the exercise o - Essay Example The OSCE in its report on democracy in Serbia says that to establish democratic stability in a country "it is crucial that the policing is both democratic and free from political interference" (OSCE, 2002). For this purpose, accountability is essential both within and outside the organization. This is to ensure that the police do not function in an undemocratic manner and can be held to account by the citizens for its actions. The report says that the most important feature of democratic policing is that "policing must be with the general consent of the public" (OSCE, 1). This applies both to the actions of the police personnel and the manner in which the action occurs. There must be an ongoing dialogue between the public and the police regarding the style of policing and the limitations of police powers (OSCE, 1). It implies an agreed understanding between the two about when the police will intervene and the acceptable ways for them to do it. It is known as "moral consensus." In this system there is a balance between power and accountability. Power is granted to the police forces by the parliament on behalf of the citizens, who are granted the ability to hold the police accountable for their actions, policies, procedures, priorities, and expenditure (OSCE 2002). The police is also expected to have integrity, fairness, sensitivity, and these values are upheld through systems of accountability. In a democracy, policing needs to be based on consent across the community (Accountability I). "The community recognizes the legitimacy of the policing task, confers authority on police personnel in carrying out their role in policing and actively supports them" (Accountability I). Consent depends on proper accountability. The police needs to be accountable in two senses - the subordinate or obedient sense; and the explanatory and cooperative sense. In the former sense, the police are subordinate to the law and the community expects to get the service for which its money is spent. In the latter sense, the public and police need to communicate with each other and work in partnership to ensure effective policing. OSCE has recommended five levels of supervision to ensure accountability of the police forces to the public. These are: 1. Internal affairs: The first level of accountability insists on integrity. There is the need for an internal affairs department which overlooks the integrity of the individual police staff. Its responsibility will be to investigate allegations of crime, corruption and inappropriate behaviour on the part of the police personnel. They would also devise tactics to prevent corruption. 2. External oversight: To uphold the integrity of this internal affairs department there needs to be an organization, completely independent of the police, which will oversee the allegations of crime, corruption and malpractices against the police. This external organization would also have the right to see the documents of the internal affairs department. This organization would report back to the public after investigating allegations against the police department. It will also be able to influence police procedures and comment publicly on incidents (OSCE 2002).3. Parliamentary oversight: The external oversight organization also needs

Are human conceptions of God overly anthropomorphic (in the same way Essay

Are human conceptions of God overly anthropomorphic (in the same way that those of the spiders are overly arachnimorphic) - Essay Example This therefore confirms the truth that human conceptions or the true idea of God must be anthropomorphic in nature meaning that the Deity possesses man-like character and norm. Even though it is difficult to prove that man was made in the image of God, it is not in doubt that all men are made in the image of God. All experiences therefore come from God including the human experience, and in that sense anthropomorphic. The substance of the philosophical and theological theories is that man has the conception of God as anthropomorphic as it is embedded in almost all the scriptures of the different religions like Christianity and Judaism amongst others. Hume’ Dialogues brings about different conceptions of God as anthropomorphic through the ranking of four causal principles namely reason, instinct, generation, and vegetation (O’Connor 127; Hume and Richard 46). For instance, Philo argues that the universe resembles an organism and is likely to have originated by generation from matter by stating, â€Å"The universe bears a greater likeness to an animal or vegetable than human works. The cause must therefore be similar. The cause of order in animals and vegetables is reproduction. The universe therefore originated by reproduction rather than design.† (Hume 131). Cleanthes supports the anthropomorphic conception of God along the lines of the Design Argument as he feels it is the only philosophical argument that gives an insight about the true nature and existence of God (Hume and Dorothy 22). Both Demea and Philo feel that it is difficult to understand the real God but Cleanthes uses the Argument Design to describe how humans view God as anthropomorphic. Cleanthes states, â€Å"The existence and nature of God is known by the Argument from design: 1. Premise: The world is adjusted and fine-tuned, 2. Premise: The adjustment of the world resembles exactly, though it

Personality Tests Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Personality Tests - Assignment Example feel the same every time I am in the company of others, but it is true to a large extent and that is the reason my score is above average for this particular trait. I am an energetic individual and have high ambitions that I share with others. The score for my test for this particular factor is also above average which shows that I like to interact with people and share my thoughts and feelings. I think the result is quite right because it truly reflects my cooperative and friendly nature. I like to help others out in every situation I can and want to bring happiness on their faces as much as I can. Along with this, I also want to keep my image extremely good in the minds of others. The score for my test fort this particular factor is below average which shows that I do not focus on the ways to achieve my goals. I was really surprised to get this score for this factor as I am an ambitious and energetic individual who always tries to achieve things using the best approach. However, I do show some carelessness at times because of which I feel it hard to achieve all of my goals. This may be the reason why my score came low on this test. The score for my test fort this particular factor is above average which shows that I get stressed because of my emotions and feelings. I set high expectations got different things and when I do not get the response that I expect, I easily get stressed as a result. I am much prone to the feelings of stress and anxiety because I experience negative thoughts at times. I think my score is high on this factor also because I think on the negative perspectives more than the positive ones. The score for my test fort this particular factor is average which shows that I am half interested in arts and culture and related activities. I think this is true because I have not ever taken much interest in cultural activities. I am interested more in doings things practically instead of looking things in artworks and going in the world of

An Analysis of Greasy lake by T. Coraghessan Boyle Essay

An Analysis of Greasy lake by T. Coraghessan Boyle - Essay Example The events unfold when the protagonist and his friends are looking for fun and excitement and mistakenly identify a car parked at Greasy Lake as belonging to their friend Tony. Deciding to play a joke on him they honk and shine lights at the other car and upon the discovery that it doesn’t belong to their friend they find themselves in the middle of a fight, with a character much tougher and seemingly more bad, during which out of fear and desperation the narrator strikes the man with a iron and assumes that he has killed him. Inflamed by the almost ritualistic murder of the man the boys violently lash out on his girlfriend with the intention to rape her. They are caught in the act due to the arrival of another car and escape by hiding out in the lake where he "blundered into something. Something unspeakable, obscene, something soft, wet, moss-grown" (129). It turned out to be a corpse.

Your Own Franchise, Part 2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Your Own Franchise, Part 2 - Assignment Example In this paper, the researcher will focus on issues like legal rights of the franchisee, financial obligations of franchisees, market segments for this franchise, factors involved in determining a site for the franchise, possible challenges and current phase of franchisee. Background of Allstate Insurance Company will be briefly discussed in the next section in order to develop situational framework for this paper. Allstate Insurance Company & Franchise Model Allstate Insurance Company was founded in 1931 and became publicly traded in the year 1993 (Allstate, 2013a; Bond, 2012). In USA, Allstate Corporation is regarded as largest publicly held insurance company that offers both personal lines property and casualty insurance services (Allstate, 2013a). As of 2011, total asset of the company is hovering over $125 billion while it was ranked 93 in Fortune 500 list. Allstate Insurance Company business model focuses on developing chain of franchise owners’ or entrepreneurial individ uals who are ready to act as â€Å"Allstate Exclusive Agents† and sell wide range of financial and insurance products of Allstate Insurance Company to customers such as auto insurance, property insurance and investment services (Allstate, 2013b; McCarthy, 2010). ... ce*, Allstate*, and Esurance† while promoting and marketing Allstate Insurance products like life insurance cover, retirement insurance cover, health insurance covers, fixed deposits, auto insurance, home insurance and fixed deposits (Bond, 2012). Legal Rights as a Franchisee In case of working under the trademark Allstate Insurance Company, individual agents holding the rights to sell Allstate Insurance products are being classified as franchisee owner while Allstate Insurance Company can be classified as franchisor. From 2000 onwards, Allstate Insurance Company converted all of its existing franchisee as independent operation in order to get tax advantages while legal rights of these franchisees are being governed through ‘independent contractor’ norms (Napaausa, 2013). Although, Allstate Insurance Company converted its franchisee owners to independent agents but job description remained unchanged. Therefore, legal rights of independent contractor or franchises r emained disregarded in case of franchisee-franchisor relationship for Allstate Insurance Company. As par Employee Agent (EA) agreement, franchisee owners are needed follow all the employee responsibilities on behalf of Allstate Insurance Company yet they would not be liable to get compensation like federal unemployment compensation or contract compensation (Napaausa, 2013). As par Section XVII, Section XVII.B.2 and Section I.A of the EA Agreement, franchisee contract can be terminated without payment of commission or non compliance of responsibilities mentioned by Allstate Insurance Company (Judiciary, 2012). Legal rights of franchisee is being dominated in EA Agreement while some undue favor has been given in favor of the franchisor such as minimum accountability for supporting actions of franchisee,

An Analysis of Greasy lake by T. Coraghessan Boyle Essay

An Analysis of Greasy lake by T. Coraghessan Boyle - Essay Example The events unfold when the protagonist and his friends are looking for fun and excitement and mistakenly identify a car parked at Greasy Lake as belonging to their friend Tony. Deciding to play a joke on him they honk and shine lights at the other car and upon the discovery that it doesn’t belong to their friend they find themselves in the middle of a fight, with a character much tougher and seemingly more bad, during which out of fear and desperation the narrator strikes the man with a iron and assumes that he has killed him. Inflamed by the almost ritualistic murder of the man the boys violently lash out on his girlfriend with the intention to rape her. They are caught in the act due to the arrival of another car and escape by hiding out in the lake where he "blundered into something. Something unspeakable, obscene, something soft, wet, moss-grown" (129). It turned out to be a corpse.

Ethics in IT Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Ethics in IT Assignment - Essay Example Software for business or for entertainment is designed with the sole purpose of making money which makes it mandatory for an engineer to design quality software to make it worth the price. It will be senseless to distinguish software as the same people that use them for entertainment use it for health and rescue purposes. A team of engineers working on a project will have effective methods of execution. Every member of the team having a role to play, it will be easier to share responsibilities. The chances of making mistakes when in a team are expected to be minimal as the work has been broken down in order for an individual to give more concentration to his or her part. Mistakes that may arise from a project handled by a team of engineers will have a greater moral responsibility as it is expected they have consulted widely within the team to avoid any mistakes from arising (Whitbeck, 2008). An individual engineer on the team will not have a greater moral responsibility as compared to the team since the team as a whole is expected to have helped in guiding him from making any

How to Choose Perfect Ivory Wedding Shoes Essay Example for Free

How to Choose Perfect Ivory Wedding Shoes Essay Although wedding dresses are the most important part of the wedding, shoes always are also playing a vital role in your wedding dressing. A brilliant pair of ivory wedding shoes cannot only add beauty to the dress, but also improve the delicate taste. Beautiful bride should be perfection from head to toe, in addition to a superb wedding, beautiful makeup, flashing jewelry and charming smile. Key point: The best time to choose shoes is around 3pm to 6pm because feet will swell slightly at this time. If the selected size is not small, it is no problem to wear at any other time. You cannot just try it before the mirror, you should be sure to go back and forth a few steps and carefully feel stability of the shoe with the right size. Second point: About 2/3 of people are not as large as two feet. So just remember which foot is long or short and two feet should to be tried on. You cannot simply choose the sizes to buy shoes. You are sure to personally try on the shoes. ivory wedding shoes Third point: Foot will have expansion and contraction phenomenon with different seasons, so you can buy discounted shoes in winter. However, the exact size you try may be slightly smaller than the summer. Fourth point: Choose ivory wedding shoes according to the color of the wedding dress. Do not choose a quite different color between shoes and dress. It is better to choose a similar color, which is more coordinated. Fifth point: Before the wedding ceremony, youd better wear new wedding shoes for several times to adapt it in the case of feeling frayed at the ceremony. And you can prepare some band-aid in advance.

Admissions Essay: Why Ob/Gyn? -- Medicine College Admissions Essays

Admissions Essay: Why Ob/Gyn? Â   I'm having trouble coming up with that concise, compelling anecdote about the patient who inspired me to go into Obstetrics and Gynecology, because so many people have helped me realize that this is where I belong. Â   There are the women whose babies I've delivered, whom I've gotten to know at a clinic visit or during the early contractions of active labor, and then coached through the calm between pushes in the last few minutes before delivery. There are the teenagers at their first Gyn exam, nervously kicking the end of the table as we talk about safer sex, the benefits of the pill and just what a speculum actually is. And there are the patients who are very, very sick - the 44-year-old with metastatic ovarian cancer, whose family was ... ...ood prenatal care. Â   Ultimately, I hope to join the faculty of an academic medical center, where I can combine patient care with my love of teaching, and where I can continue to explore how interactive technologies can inform and empower patients. Most of all, however, I look forward to taking care of my patients, drawing on the remarkable depth and breadth of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

ItalianAmerican Traditions in film :: essays papers

ItalianAmerican Traditions in film Work Ethic A Bronx tale is a story of a father who tries to win back the love and pride of his son from a showy neighborhood mob boss. In my opinion this film is the best portrayal of work ethic. Lorenzo, played by Robert DeNiro, plays a father who tries to teach his son that discipline and hard work pay off from working, in the long. His son Calogero, played by Lillo Brancato, is exposed to the life of a mob boss Sonny, played by Chazz Palmenteri,, and doesn’t understand why he should live a life of difficulty when he can have a life of luxury. He tries to explain to his son that the men in the community don’t look up to him, but rather they fear him He also tries to make clear that it’s easy to do what he does, but try waking up every morning and working everyday, that’s a real man. Throughout the film Sonny and Calogero develop a very close relationship. More than just a friendship, Calogero looks up to him as if he were a father figure. Sonny tells Calogero that he does not want him to do what he does, he does it because he has to; he has no other way out. He wants Calogero to finish school and make something of himself, and not to follow in his footsteps. Sonny feels like there’s always someone out there out to get him and never feels safe. He doesn’t want Calogero to have to go through the same thing. In the film Sonny murdered another person because of the fact that he took he took his parking spot. This haunting feeling he has throughout the film finally comes true in the final scene of the movie as the son of the father that was murdered earlier comes back for vengeance and kills Sonny. This action of revenge is another stereotype of Italian-American men. As the film ends Calogero is in the prime of his life so we do not know how his life continues. The viewer, in this case me, thinks that because of this dreadful ending Calogero will follow the advice of Sonny and his father to complete school and life his life like every other hard working individual in America, because as his father mentioned earlier hard work pays off in the end.

A Million Little Pieces Character List

A Million Little Pieces Characters James (1:1) Main character, miserable, self centered, drug addict Mom (1:2) James mother, she’s always upset, sad, she cries a lot Dad (1: 2) Is in charge of most family affairs, happy, concerned Nurse (1:8) she wears all white, smiles a lot administers the shots Men in White (1:11) the men in white take him away Doctor Baker (1:15) kind eyes, rehab doctor, helpful James’s love interest Lilly (1:18) black hair and blue eyes, drug addictLilly’s Dad (1:23) Left Lilly’s family when she was four Lilly’s Mom (1:23) Heroin addict, prostitute Lilly’s Grandmother (1:23) pays for Lilly’s, cared for Lilly as a child, dies while Lilly is still in rehab Roy (1:23) James roommate, follows the rules Larry (1:25)35 southern accent, short, alcoholic Warren (1:25)50, tall, thin, well dressed John (1:26) nervous and hypersexual ninja, addicted to cokeKen (1:28) Unit recovery counselor, nice at first but ends up being a wful Hank (1:35) the driver who works at the rehab, James friend, messy looking old man with white hair and blue eyes Dentist Stevens (1:36) does James surgery, he doesn’t use pain killers Amy (1:43) James sober friend Lucinda (1:43) James sober friend Courtney (1:43) James sober friend Lincoln (1:53) Unit supervisor, he hates James Joanne (1:53) Staff psychologist, secretly dating hank Ed (1:56) short man, nosey, blue collar worker Ted (1:76) tall man, deep southern accent Bill (1:77) the founder of AAMichelle (1:80) one of the only people who comes to visit James in rehab, James’ sober friend Bald Man (1:85) Alcoholic, has a wife and two kids, cries during a group meeting and gets made fun of Mickey (2:121) the gangster that Leo looked up to as a child, adopted him when he was a teenager, married to Geena Geena (2:121) Mickey’s wife and Leonard’s adopted mother, very sweet Eric (2:125) Roy’s friend who tells the counselors that Roy picked the fig ht Julie (2:126) James friend who comes to see him in rehab, very for giving Kirk (2:126) James friend, who comes to visit him in rehab, Matt (2:161) Featherweight Champion, addicted to crackDaniel (3:247) Counselor at family rehab center Sophie (3:259) Addict, alcoholic, married to Tony, is in the same rehab as James Michael (4:353) James friend, one of the guys who go with James to the bar for his first time when he’s out of rehab Kevin (4:424) James friend, one of the guys who goes with James to the bar for his first time when he’s out of rehab Bob (4:424)James friend, one of the guys who goes with James to the bar for his first time when he’s out of rehab Chapter One- (112 pages) James is a drug addict who is angry, sad and on the verge of death.In order to stay alive he must learn to live a sober life so his family sends him to rehab. In the rehab facility he finds a group of patients he fits in with and gets in a fight with Roy. Chapter Two- (113pages) Jam es continues rehab and is doing well. He starts to make friends with Leonard and they help each other through rehab. James also begins to meet secretly with a girl named Lilly even though it’s against regulations. James has an older brother that starts coming to see him on visiting days.Chapter Three- (113 pages) James begins family counseling and is having a lot of trouble dealing with his parents. Meanwhile, Lilies grandmother gets sick so Lilly leaves the rehab facility and relapses. Despite the consequences James goes after her, he does not relapse and they return together. Chapter Four- (69 pages) Aside from having nightmares about using drugs James is doing well in rehab and Lilly is recovering. James is released from rehab, shortly after Lilly’s grandmother dies and Lilly commits suicide. James is doing well and has yet to relapse.

Right to Free Education Act

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act  or  Right to Education Act (RTE), which was passed by the  Ã‚  on 4 August 2009, describes the modalities of the importance of free and compulsory education for children between 6 and 14 in  Ã‚  under Article 21A of the  . India became one of 135 countries to make  Ã‚  of every child when the act came into force on 1 April 2010. History Present Act has its history in the drafting of the Indian constitution at the time of Independence[5]  but are more specifically to the Constitutional Amendment that included the Article 21A in the Indian constitution making Education a fundamental Right.This amendment, however, specified the need for a legislation to describe the mode of implementation of the same which necessitated the drafting of a separate Education Bill. A rough draft of the bill was composed in year 2005. It received much opposition due to its mandatory provision to provide 25% reservation for disadvantage d children in private schools. The sub-committee of the Central Advisory Board of Education which prepared the draft Bill held this provision as a significant prerequisite for creating a democratic and egalitarian society.Indian Law commission had initially proposed 50% reservation for disadvantaged students in private schools. []Passage The bill was approved by the  Ã‚  on 2 July 2009. passed the bill on 20 July 2009  and the  Ã‚  on 4 August 2009. It received Presidential assent and was notified as law on 26 August 2009  as The Children's Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act. The law came into effect in the whole of India except the state of Jammu and Kashmir from 1 April 2010, the first time in the history of India a law was brought into force by a speech by the Prime Minister.In his speech,  ,  Ã‚  stated that, â€Å"We are committed to ensuring that all children, irrespective of gender and social category, have access to education. An education that enables t hem to acquire the skills, knowledge, values and attitudes necessary to become responsible and active citizens of India. â€Å"[13] []Highlights The Act makes  Ã‚  of every child between the ages of 6 and 14 and specifies minimum norms in elementary schools. It requires all private schools to reserve 25% of seats to children from poor families (to be reimbursed by the state as part of the public-private partnership plan).It also prohibits all unrecognized schools from practice, and makes provisions for no donation or capitation fees and no interview of the child or parent for admission. The Act also provides that no child shall be held back, expelled, or required to pass a board examination until the completion of elementary education. There is also a provision for special training of school drop-outs to bring them up to par with students of the same age. The RTE act requires surveys that will monitor all neighbourhoods, identify children requiring education, and set up facilitie s for providing it.The  Ã‚  education specialist for India, Sam Carlson, has observed: The RTE Act is the first legislation in the world that puts the responsibility of ensuring enrollment, attendance and completion on the Government. It is the parents' responsibility to send the children to schools in the U. S. and other countries. The Right to Education of persons with disabilities until 18 years of age is laid down under a separate legislation- the Persons with Disabilities Act. A number of other provisions regarding improvement of school infrastructure, teacher-student ratio and faculty are made in the Act.The Act provides for a special organization, the  , an autonomous body set up in 2007,  to monitor the implementation of the act,together with Commissions to be set up by the states. []Implementation and funding Education in the  Ã‚  is a concurrent issue and both centre and states can legislate on the issue. The Act lays down specific responsibilities for the centre, state and local bodies for its implementation. The states have been clamouring that they lack financial capacity to deliver education of appropriate standard in all the schools needed for universal education.Thus it was clear that the central government (which collects most of the revenue) will be required to subsidize the states. A committee set up to study the funds requirement and funding initially estimated that  Ã‚  171,000  Ã‚  or 1. 71 trillion (38. 2 billion) across five years was required to implement the Act, and in April 2010 the central government agreed to sharing the funding for implementing the law in the ratio of 65 to 35 between the centre and the states, and a ratio of 90 to 10 for the north-eastern states. However, in mid 2010, this figure was upgraded to Rs. 31,000  , and the center agreed to raise its share to 68%. There is some confusion on this, with other media reports stating that the centre's share of the implementation expenses would now be 70%. At t hat rate, most states may not need to increase their education budgets substantially. A critical development in 2011 has been the decision taken in principle to extend the right to education till Class X (age 16)  Ã‚  and into the preschool age range. The CABE committee is in the process of looking into the implications of making these changes. Advisory Council on ImplementationThe Ministry of HRD set up a high-level, 14-member National Advisory Council (NAC) for implementation of the Act. The members include Kiran Karnik, former president of NASSCOM Krishna Kumar, former director of the NCERT Mrinal Miri, former vice-chancellor of North-East Hill University Yogendra Yadav – social scientist. India Sajit Krishnan kutty Secretary of The Educators Assisting Children's Hopes (TEACH)India. Annie Namala, an activist and head of Centre for Social Equity and Inclusion Aboobacker Ahmad, vice-president of Muslim Education Society, Kerala. [24] [edit]Status of ImplementationA report on the status of implementation of the Act was released by the Ministry of Human Resource Development on the one year anniversary of the Act. The report admits that 8. 1 million children in the age group six-14 remain out of school and there’s a shortage of 508,000 teachers country-wide. A shadow report by the RTE Forum representing the leading education networks in the country, however, challenging the findings pointing out that several key legal commitments are falling behind the schedule. [25] The Supreme Court of India has also intervened to demand implementation of the Act in the Northeast. 26] It has also provided the legal basis for ensuring pay parity between teachers in government and government aided schools [27] Haryana Government has assigned the duties and responsibilities to Block Elementary Education Officers–cum–Block Resource Coordinators (BEEOs-cum-BRCs) for effective implementation and continuous monitoring of implementation of Right to Educat ion Act in the State. [28] [edit]Precedents It has been pointed out that the RTE act is not new. Universal adult franchise in the act was opposed since most of the population was illiterate.Article 45 in the Constitution of India was set up as an act: The State shall endeavour to provide, within a period of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution, for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years. As that deadline was about to be passed many decades ago, the education minister at the time, M C Chagla, memorably said: Our Constitution fathers did not intend that we just set up hovels, put students there, give untrained teachers, give them bad textbooks, no playgrounds, and say, we have complied with Article 45 and primary education is expanding†¦They meant that real education should be given to our children between the ages of 6 and 14 – M. C. Chagla, 1964[29] In the 1990s, the World Bank funded a number of measu res to set up schools within easy reach of rural communities. This effort was consolidated in the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan model in the 1990s. RTE takes the process further, and makes the enrollment of children in schools a state prerogative. [edit]CriticismThe act has been criticized for being hastily-drafted,[30] not consulting many groups active in education, not considering the quality of education, infringing on the rights of private and religious minority schools to administer their system, and for excluding children under six years of age. [31] Many of the ideas are seen as continuing the policies of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan of the last decade, and the World Bank funded District Primary Education Programme DPEP of the '90s, both of which, while having set up a number of schools in rural areas, have been criticized for being ineffective[32] and corruption-ridden. 33] [edit]Quality of education The quality of education provided by the government system remains in question. [34] While it remains the largest provider of elementary education in the country forming 80% of all recognized schools, it suffers from shortages of teachers, infrastructural gaps and several habitations continue to lack schools altogether. There are also frequent allegations of government schools being riddled with absenteeism and mismanagement and appointments are based on political convenience. Despite the allure of free lunch-food in the government schools, many parents send their children to private schools.Average schoolteacher salaries in private rural schools in some States (about Rs. 4,000 per month) are considerably lower than that in government schools. [18] As a result, proponents of low cost private schools, critiqued government schools as being poor value for money. Children attending the private schools are seen to be at an advantage, thus discriminating against the weakest sections, who are forced to go to government schools. Furthermore, the system has been criticized as cat ering to the rural elites who are able to afford school fees in a country where large number of families live in absolute poverty.The act has been criticized as discriminatory for not addressing these issues. Well-known educationist Anil Sadagopal said of the hurriedly-drafted act: It is a fraud on our children. It gives neither free education nor compulsory education. In fact, it only legitimises the present multi-layered, inferior quality school education system where discrimination shall continue to prevail. [30] Entrepreneur Gurcharan Das noted that 54% of urban children attend private schools, and this rate is growing at 3% per year. â€Å"Even the poor children are abandoning the government schools. They are leaving because the teachers are not showing up. [30] However, other researchers have countered the argument by citing that the evidence for higher standards of quality in private schools often disappears when other factors (like family income, parental literacy- all corr elated to the parental ability to pay) are controlled for. [edit]Public-private partnership In order to address these quality issues, the Act has provisions for compensating private schools for admission of children under the 25% quota which has been compared to school vouchers, whereby parents may â€Å"send† their children in any school, private or public.This measure, along with the increase in PPP (Public Private Partnership) has been viewed by some organizations such as the All-India Forum for Right to Education (AIF-RTE), as the state abdicating its â€Å"constitutional obligation towards providing elementary education†. [32] [edit]Infringement on private schools The Society for Un-aided Private Schools, Rajasthan (in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 95 of 2010) and as many as 31 others[35] petitioned the Supreme Court of India claiming the act violates the constitutional right of private managements to run their institutions without governmental interference. 36]The pa rties claimed that providing 25 percent reservation for children from economically weak section in government and private unaided schools is unconstitutional. Forcing unaided schools to admit 25% students has also been criticized by saying that the government has partly transferred its constitutional obligation to provide free and compulsory elementary education to children on â€Å"non-state actors† like private schools while collecting a 2% cess on the total tax payable for primary education. 32] On 12 April 2012, a three judge bench of the Supreme Court delivered its judgement by a majority of 2-1. Chief Justice SH Kapadia and Justice Swatanter Kumar held that providing such reservation is not unconstitutional, but stated that the Act will not be applicable on unaided private minority schools and boarding schools.However, Justice KS Radhakrishnan dissented with the majority view and held that the Act can not apply to both minority and non minority private schools which do not receive any aid or grant from the government. 37][38][39] In September 2012, the Supreme Court subsequently declined a review petion of the Act. [40] [edit]Barrier for orphans The Act provides for admission of children without any certification. However, several states have continued pre-existing procedures insisting that children produce income and caste certificates, BPL cards and birth certificates. Orphan children are often unable to produce such documents, even though they are willing to do so. As a result, schools are not admitting them, as they require the documents as a condition to admission. [41]

Heroes and Villains in Postmodernism Essay

Postmodernism is a creative movement that is said to have originated in the 1950s. As the name suggests, it is the successor of modernism, and the development of postmodernism is visible in not only literature, but also other creative disciplines such as architecture, music, fashion, film and painting. Postmodernism was created as a reaction to its predecessor, and its â€Å"rational, scientific, and historical aspects†. This results in postmodernism being self-conscious, ironic, and experimental, concerned with the instability and unreliability of language, and with epistemology, the study of what knowledge is. In saying this, the purpose of postmodernism is not to shock the bourgeoisie world, as the avant-garde movement arguably does, but to challenge it- both by reducing it to its natural state, and by seeing how far it can be stretched beyond its existing ideas. Postmodernism does this by introducing deconstruction and disintegration to question our ideas of certainty, identity and the truth; and by the use of hyperreality, pastiche, bricolage, recurring characters, irony, authorial intrusions, non-linear narrative and self-reflexivity to bring more attention to the world outside of the text as a part of the world inside it. There is a true breakdown of what we know to be true, what we expect, and what we are able to believe, and this is certainly reflected in the depictions of heroes and villains within postmodernist texts. This investigation looks into the role of heroic and villainous characters in postmodernist texts, the aspects of the postmodern world that is portrayed by these characters and how they developed, in relation to the societal and political changes that were gasoline to the flames of postmodernism. The characters that will be used to  investigate this are the superhero Batman, and one of his arch-nemeses The Joker, using the films Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, both directed by Christopher Nolan, and the graphic novels Joker written by Brian Azzarello, and The Killing Joke, written by Alan Moore; Shrek from the film Shrek, directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson; Billy Pilgrim from the novel Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut; and Patrick Bateman from the novel American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. These texts represent the wide-ranging reaches of postmodernism, including both what people may class as â€Å"literature† and â€Å"mass culture† as distinctive examples of postmodernism. However, in studying these texts, it is clear to see the disordered nature of postmodernism by the creation of the antihero- a protagonist who lacks the traditional heroic qualities, who is flawed, who the audience is ultimately able to recognise themselves in. How do the texts themselves reflect postmodernism? The literary label of â€Å"postmodernism† can be applied liberally, and encompasses a large number of texts, with differing postmodern qualities found in each one. However, over the range of texts that is being investigated in this report, there are some aspects that stand out more clearly than others. As this report focuses on heroes and villains within the texts, we will firstly look at the texts that were used to analyse the characters of Batman and the Joker. The texts used to study the Batman include The Dark Knight, Batman Begins, Joker, and The Killing Joke. All of these texts are set in the fictional city of Gotham, New York, which is a postmodern setting that makes us aware of facing widespread social meltdown in which it is becoming increasingly more difficult to make a separation between law and anarchy, heroism and terrorism, and sanity and madness. This shifting, sliding, disintegrating world is clearly portrayed in all of Nolan’s, Moore’s and Azzarello’s work. This postmodern setting, an arguably dystopian Gotham, is infested with crime and corruption, and fear and mistrust is abound- the people of the city cannot trust the authorities, nor can they trust any of the social or political institutions that they were brought up to believe in. This reflects the postmodern idea of disintegration- the dissolving of social norms and institutions on which many people based their lives, the removal of the â€Å"absolute†. The issues  that the citizens of Gotham face are not merely about right and wrong, or good and evil, they are vicious moral dilemmas presented by psychopathic and unpredictable villains. Also, the hyperrealistic nature of the violence that is depicted in both the films and the graphic novels is also a postmodern aspect of these texts. For example, in the graphic novel, Joker, when a mob boss who went against the Joker was flayed alive and paraded on to a strip club stage; or when Harvey Dent’s hired detective/thug is shot in the head and hung upside down from a tree on the grounds of Dent’s mansion and Dent finds him in the morning, dripping brain matter over his newspaper. Hyperreality is a deliberate blurring of the boundaries between fantasy and reality, and the portrayal of hyperreal violence in postmodern texts is common, as they distort reality through a trivialization of violence and the effects it has upon human beings. Hyperreal violence is also found in the novel American Psycho, in which Patrick Bateman, a yuppie Wall Street banker by day, and psychotic murderer by night, commits gruesome murders and sexual acts constantly throughout the novel, which are described with chillingly accurate detail. By the end of the novel, the reader is numbed to the graphic descriptions of violence and gore, accepting them as part of his everyday life, just as normal as him going to work and engaging in mindless conversation with his colleagues. However, in American Psycho, the most obvious, and most often seen, characteristic of postmodernism is its constant references to brand names, pop culture and the corporate world that Bateman is a part of. As the novel is written in a stream-of-consciousness style from Bateman’s point of view, the reader sees his thoughts as he passes shallow, superficial judgment on virtually everyone he sees. Bateman’s thoughts as he and his girlfriend Evelyn attend a party are a good indication of the tone of the novel: â€Å"Evelyn and I are by far the best-dressed couple. I’m wearing a lamb’s wool topcoat, a wool jacket with wool flannel trousers, a cotton shirt, a cashmere V-neck sweater and a silk tie, all from Armani. Evelyn’s wearing a cotton blouse by Dolce do Gabbana, suede shoes by Yves Saint Laurent, a stenciled calf skirt by Adrienne Landau with a suede belt by Jill Stuart, Calvin Klein tights, Venetian-glass earrings by Frances Patiky Stein, and  clasped in her hand is a single white rose that I bought at a Korean deli before Carruthers’ limousine picked me up. Carruthers is wearing a lamb’s wool sport coat, a cashmere/vicuà ±a cardigan sweater, cavalry twill trousers, a cotton shirt and a silk tie, all from Hermà ¨s. (â€Å"How tacky,† Evelyn whispered to me; I silently agreed.) Courtney is wearing a triple-layered silk organdy top and a long velvet skirt with a fishtail hem, velvet-ribbon and enamel earrings by Josà © and Maria Barrera, gloves by Portolano and shoes from Gucci.† The constant allusions to brand names, fashion trends and collections, make the novel a part of, and a product of, the world outside of the text, the consumerist society we have today. Unlike the fictional, dystopian city that Batman and the Joker live in, Bateman lives in a world that we are easily able to relate to- our world. We, as the reader, have our attention called to the fact that the world the characters in the novel are experiencing is the same world that we live and take part in. This is unlike most modernist novels, in which the story and its characters are confined to the world created in the novel, and the reader is only able to experience them through the windows of the novel. References to pop culture feature prominently across postmodernist texts, as seen clearly in the film Shrek. Although intended as a children’s film, the films are a perfect example of a postmodern fairytale. The films themselves are extremely intertextual, creating a story with many, many fairytale characters woven into the one story, such as the Wolf from Little Red Riding Hood, the Three Little Pigs, the Fairy Godmother and the Gingerbread Man, among many others. This intertextuality in itself is a reference to popular culture, citing multiple fairytales, stories, and nursery rhymes for many of the main characters. Other references to the world outside of the text include Robin Hood and his Merry Men dancing to Riverdance; Princess Fiona slowing down in time like Neo in film The Matrix while she is fighting; references to the film The Princess Bride; and mimicking the style of game shows and dating shows, for example when the Mirror on the Wall introduces Princess Fiona in a bachelorette-dating style. The directors also use irony at the start of the film Shrek, as the beginning scene of the film has a narrator telling the story seriously as a fairytale, when Shrek interrupts this and mocks the author when he says, â€Å"Yeah right.† and tears the page out of the book. Not only does the use of irony and humour in this scene make the audience aware  that the ogre we are introduced to is not a stereotypical one, we also see an interaction between the author and character, a barrier which is broken in postmodern texts to highlight that the text is a work of fiction. The audience is also made aware of this as Shrek acknowledges the camera or audience when he turns to the camera and blocks it before kissing Fiona. This shows that the film is self-reflexive, the characters of the film are aware of film-making and its tools. The use of such postmodern techniques embeds the story of Shrek in a world that the audience is aware of, and while it may not fully be the reality we live in, it is one that we have grown up with and are comfortable with. Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five uses similar techniques to assert its postmodernism. It references popular culture, mentioning Christmas carols, novels (a character refers to the novel â€Å"The Brothers Karamazov†, by Fyodor Dostoevsky, as â€Å"everything there was to know about life†) and history books about one of the main events of the novel, the fire-bombing of Dresden. However, despite these links to the outside world, the reader gets constant reminders of the fact that this book is fictional. The author, Vonnegut is present as a character in the book, as a soldier, a POW taken to Dresden along with Billy, making occasional comments, and then informing the reader that â€Å"That was I. That was me. That was the author of this book.† The intrusion of the author into the narrative is also shown through the recurring phrase â€Å"So it goes†, which follows each mention of death: â€Å"The plane crashed on top of Sugarbush Mountain, in Vermont. Everyone was killed but Billy. So it goes. While Billy was recuperating in a hospital in Vermont, his wife died accidentally of carbon-monoxide poisoning. So it goes.† The use of the non-linear narrative structure is also a postmodern aspect of the text- the main protagonist travels randomly through time, experiencing the events in non-chronological order. For example, his death is merely four sentences in the middle of the novel, described as merely being â€Å"violet light and a hum.† Similar to American Psycho, the usual significance of death is not present in the novel. However, while in American Psycho the reader was slowly desensitized towards death, in Slaughterhouse-Five, death  simply does not matter, which challenges all the readers’ preconceived notions about death, and the sanctity of it. The temporal structure of the novel reflects what the alien Tralfamadorians teach Billy of their beliefs about time, that it is an â€Å"assemblage† of moments rather than a linear progression. This means that they are able to accept death as a perpetually occurring event, hence their use of the phrase â€Å"So it goes†. Another postmodern technique is the use of recurring characters: the character of Kilgore Trout, a science fiction writer, appears in Vonnegut’s other novels; Eliot Rosewater appears in God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater; Howard W. Campbell, the American-turned-Nazi, in Mother Night; and Bertram Copeland Rumfoord is a relative of Winston Niles Rumfoord, who appears in The Sirens of Titan. These characters that appear over a number of books connects the discrete novels as being part of a greater whole; as being part of a world outside its pages. Vonnegut also blurs the lines of genre in the novel in order to deconstruct the idea of a â€Å"war novel†. The novel swings between the genres of science fiction and a biography, and Vonnegut mixes the fantasy of aliens and the planet Tralfamadore with the reality of war, and the author’s presence and experiences of it. The term â€Å"postmodernism† sweeps many different, and seemingly unrelated, texts under its wide reaches, but most such texts use similar postmodern techniques to achieve the ultimate effect- of making the reader aware of the text as a work of fiction, and as an entity that exists as a part of a greater whole, rather than an object existing in a world defined by itself. In what ways are the heroes or villains of these texts postmodern? With the ideological, cultural, and social upheaval that was present during the time of the birth of postmodernism, a new protagonist was born, which redefined our existing notions and stereotypes about the nature of these protagonists- the antihero. Defined as being the main character of a text, who does not possess the qualities of a traditional â€Å"hero†, the character appears in postmodern texts regularly. With the movement of heroes away from the expected â€Å"good†, we are also able to see changes in the villains of texts, and these revolutionary changes in the idea of heroes and villains,  which comes down to the primal, instinctive battle between good and evil, can be seen through postmodern texts. The character of Batman is an incredibly complex one, having heroic qualities yet not conforming to the stereotype of â€Å"superheroes†, the strong, powerful men or women with a heart of gold, using their powers for the good of mankind. Batman is postmodern in that he breaks the mold for a traditional â€Å"superhero†, and rejects the story arc for one. His whole journey started not from a need of his to create good, but a twisted sense of revenge for his parents’ death, and in order to become develop his fighting skills. After his parents’ murderer is killed, Bruce Wayne leaves Gotham and disappears for 7 years, â€Å"exploring the criminal fraternity†, and training with the League of Shadows. He obviously has a different set of morals than what is expected, when asked by Henri Ducard whether he pitied the criminals while he lived with them, he says, â€Å"The first time I stole so I wouldn’t starve, yes, I lost many assumptions about the simple nature of right and wrong.† The recurring idea throughout the texts containing Batman is that he is not a hero, but he is â€Å"whatever Gotham needs him to be†, he is a symbol for good, a symbol for the hope of a new, functional Gotham. â€Å"As a man, I’m flesh and blood, I can be ignored, I can be destroyed, but as a symbol†¦ But as a symbol I can be incorruptible, I can be everlasting†¦Ã¢â‚¬  In this way, he is astoundingly similar to Patrick Bateman. Patrick Bateman exists not as a person, but as a reflection of the society that he is a part of. He is an image created to fit the standards and ideologies of the society he lives in. â€Å"†¦there is an idea of a Patrick Bateman, some kind of abstraction, but there is no real me, only an entity, something illusory, and though I can hide my cold gaze and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable: I simply am not there.† Through the texts, we also see that the Joker is very similar to Batman, and this is what makes their relationship so psychologically complex. They are, in a way, similar to the two sides of a coin. As the Joker says to Batman, â€Å"I complete you.† The relationship between the hero and the villain is subverted and made incredibly ambiguous. Just as the Joker is a villain who does not observe even the basic rules of criminality by which society might identify and punish him, Batman is a hero who does not observe even the  basic rules of heroism so that society might recognise and glorify him. The Killing Joke ends with Batman capturing the Joker, but deciding not to kill him, and offering to help rehabilitate him, because he â€Å"needn’t be out there on the edge anymore. You needn’t be alone†¦ Maybe I’ve been there too. Maybe I can help.† And they laugh together at a joke that the Joker tells him, which only reinforces their similarities, and the fact that they can both understand each other. The Joker, at one point in the Dark Knight, also says to Batman that they are both â€Å"freaks†. And they are, both characters being outcasts of society. But while the Joker is there willingly because of his own calculating inhumanity, Batman is the scapegoat, the reluctant outcast who takes upon himself the violence of society and its corrupted institutions, in order that its illusions of law and order might be preserved, because he rationalizes that he is â€Å"whatever Gotham needs me to be†¦ Because that’s what needs to happen. Because sometimes, truth isn’t good enough, sometimes people deserve more; sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded.† The story of Batman and the Joker is postmodern in that it subverts most of the expected story arcs of both superheroes, and supervillains. It shows that these two need each other to be effective. The Joker we see simultaneously seduces and repels, fascinates and horrifies, and he provides the inescapable force which Batman’s own persona is dependent upon. The character of the Joker is also very similar to Patrick Bateman, both displaying hyperreal violence in their villainy, and being incredibly unreliable narrators. In the Killing Joke, The Joker says, â€Å"†Something like that happened to me, you know. I†¦ I’m not exactly sure what it was. Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another†¦ If I’m going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice! Ha ha ha!† Similarly, in American Psycho, we are unable to trust the memories of a psychopath, shown by his blank â€Å"But I don’t remember†¦Ã¢â‚¬  statements when recounting his murders and sexual exploits. Also, when we find that one of Bateman’s victims, a colleague of his named Paul Owen, is actually alive at the end of the book, we find ourselves being sure of the entire story- his character, the plot and definitely his grisly tales of murder and torture. Bateman and the Joker are both psychopaths- and in some ways, they are both forces of anarchy in  their societies, the Joker being an elemental force unconstrained by any glimmer of humanity, fear or vulnerability. As he claims in the Dark Knight, â€Å"The only sensible way to live in this world is without rules.† Meanwhile, Bateman has no regard for people as everything in his world is purely material- he does not care when he kills, as all he feels he is killing is an â€Å"Armani pantsuit†. Neither of these characters have an object nor a goal towards which they work, as Alfred, Bruce Wayne’s butler says, â€Å"Some men aren’t looking for anything logical, like money. They can’t be bought or bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men want to watch the world burn.† However, while the Joker is invincible due to his absolute freedom from pain and any other human attachment, Bateman is confined to the expectations of his status and social culture. Bateman heavily refers to popular culture throughout Psycho, keeping up a steady stream of superficial commentary on all aspects of his life. In this way, the character of Shrek is similar to Bateman, as he also lives in a world where advertising, brand names, and social standing play a major part in one’s life. However, looking at the characters, they are clear opposites- while Bateman has embraced the shallow culture of his time, and practices it dutifully, the society of Shrek’s time has turned him into a hardened cynic, one who would rolls his eyes whenever his companions would make a frivolous comment. This is related to the fact that Shrek is an ogre, and the film subverts the stereotype of the ogre as a villain, by molding him as the hero, and the actual Prince Charming as the whiny, cowardly villain of the film. This challenges conventional thinking, since we, the audience, have been conditioned to think of ogres as â€Å"evil† creatures who eat people and have no mercy. Through this film, we see that this is actually not the case; traditional villains can also become valiant heroes, given the right setting and sidekick. Billy Pilgrim, a cowardly, weak, time-travelling optometrist who is the protagonist of the novel Slaughterhouse-Five, is an unlikely war hero. He is weak, unpopular and pathetic to the audience, and becomes a laughable soldier. Even as a time traveler, he is described as a â€Å"spastic in time†. He is postmodern in the development of his character as an â€Å"anti-hero†, an  ordinary, if slightly on the pathetic side of ordinary, man. The story is driven the other the events more than the protagonist, since he is unable to be determined and strong-minded enough to change the world, or even his social world, neither positively nor negatively. He is another unreliable narrator, when he tells the world of his tales about the Tralfamadorians, he is taken to be insane, and not believed. Because he is such a weak character, he does not contradict the fact, but neither does he support it, and so the reader is still unsure at the end of the novel whether his tales of Tralfamadore were true, or whether they were merely an elaborate coping mechanism to help deal with the terrible experiences he suffered during the war. Billy Pilgrim is the ultimate postmodern hero- he is an ordinary person, who is thrust into a difficult situation, and similar to large majority of humanity, does nothing heroic or commendable. Through this, we also come to the realization that for every lauded, decorated war hero, there were hundreds of other â€Å"average† ones, and Billy Pilgrim is a perfect example of one. Through the analysis of these heroes and villains, we are able to see that postmodernism does indeed challenge the traditional notion of a clear cut hero and villain. Just as postmodernism blurs the lines of reality in texts, it also blurs the lines in our mind separating the good and the bad. Postmodernism depicts a much more realistic hero, an increasingly more human one, who makes mistakes, is determined by what society makes it, and sometimes, does nothing heroic at all. He or she is present in postmodern texts generally not to inspire, like a classic hero, but to make the audience realize a truth about their lives, their societies, and the world around them. Villainy is depicted as a result of something, rather than a character trait. Postmodernism claims that villains are created by the expectations of society, and are therefore, an essential part of the heroes they work against. How did the external world influence the rise of postmodernism? The birth of postmodernism has been linked back to the political atmosphere of the time, in the atrocities of Stalinism. This, along with the horrors of  Nazism, and the Holocaust, completely undermined the modernist narrative of progress, and the ability of language to describe such an incomprehensible atrocity. Thus, postmodernism was born, an era which looked not to change the world, but to redefine it, to make people look at truths differently. Postmodernist authors reveal many of the concerns of the world today, by both realistically and symbolically representing our world, our societies, through their texts and characters, and making commentary on them. For example, Vonnegut wrote Slaughterhouse Five as a response to war- â€Å"It is so short and jumbled and jangled, because there is nothing intelligent to say about as massacre.† The story is very jumbled, written satirically based on Vonnegut’s own experiences in WWII and being a witness to the firebombing of Dresden, which killed 130,000 people. The use of a pathetic protagonist indicates his anti-war stance- the novel was published in 1969, when USA was in the midst of the Vietnam War. During this time, Vonnegut was an outspoken pacifist, and critic of the war. Just like Vonnegut’s novel is social commentary of the issue of his time, Bret Easton Ellis uses American Psycho to explore newer, more disturbing trends in Western culture. He looks at the desensitization of our culture to violence, the increasingly gory films, novels and graphic novels we are exposed to, and how this tendency of the media can find its way back to people who are easily influenced by it, such as Bateman. He also criticizes our obsession with popular culture, image and brand names, by portraying his protagonist, a man with the perfect face, the perfect clothes, and the perfect image, as a psychopath, a man who kills for the fun of it at night. The popular-culture-mania of our time is also explored in Shrek, as it is a children’s movie, and even children when they watch it, recognize the references to other fairytales and brand names. This reflects how we are conditioned to believe and understand popular culture from a very young age. The story of Batman and the Joker, on the other hand, delves a little deeper into the issues of our society. They uncover the crisis of values in which America, and most of the western world, finds itself at the beginning of the 21st century. Cultural theorists portrayed the late 20th century in terms of  Ã¢â‚¬Å"the postmodern condition†: an era in which traditional values, identities and social institutions were disintegrating and being replaced by twisted narratives, conflicting truth claims and multiple identities. Gotham City reflects what our society may be looking forward to, with the increasing fragmentation of our world into splintered groups and subgroups. Where does that leave us? The era of postmodernism is one that is difficult to define, but it still heralded as a time of immense cultural change, which redefined the way people look at the world today. This can be especially seen in its portrayal of heroes and villains. Gone are the days macho superheroes, instead we have flawed, sometimes even pathetic protagonists, the â€Å"anti-hero† which is increasingly similar to the ordinary person. The villains, on the other hand, are unreliable, and cannot always be expected to do the â€Å"evil† thing, they too are human; they too have backstory which elicits sympathy from the audience. By subverting the traditional stereotypes about the world today postmodern authors and directors warn us of the dangers of human nature and culture, and the bleak future we may be looking forward to, if we let the dangerous behaviour of our culture continue. Bibliography Adamson, Andrew and Jenson, Vicky. (2001) Shrek, Dreamworks Pictures Accessed 11/07/12 Adamson, Glen, et al. (2011) Postmodernism: Style and Subversion, 1970-1990. London: V&A Publishing. Accessed on 26/07/12 Azzarello, Brian (writer), Bermejo, Lee (artist), Gray, Mick (illustrator).] (2008) Joker. DC Comics Accessed on 26/07/12 Ellis, Bret Easton. (1991) American Psycho. New York: Vintage Books. Accessed 31/08/12 Moore, Alan (writer), Bolland, Brian (artist). (1988) The Killing Joke, DC Comics. Nolan, Christopher. (2005) Batman Begins, Warner Bros. Pictures Accessed 14/07/12 Nolan, Christopher. (2008) The Dark Knight, Warner Bros. Pictures Accessed 14/07/12 Vonnegut, Kurt. (2003) Slaughterhouse Five. New York: Harper Collins. Accessed 26/7/12 Wilcox, Leonard. Programme Coordinator of American Studies at University of Canterbury, interview on 12/09/12.