Puerto Ricans and black Americans Essay Example for Free

Puerto Ri keisters and fateful Ameri so-and-sos EssayIn his memoir D suffer These Mean Streets, Piri Thomas searches for belong in the racially stratified American nation of the 1940s and 1950s. Thomas explores how his race as well as his physical appearance compels him to seek acknowledgement with black Americans. Throughout the narrative Piri struggles with his fathers privileging of colorness and rejection of their visible black racial heritage. Piri questions his fathers abandonment, as he sees it, of their racial individuality and of Piri as he deliberate in charges to navigate the United States process of assimilation. While Piri struggles with his rejection by larger society as a Puerto Rican, he is conscious that he has another(prenominal) avenue open to him, identification as a black American, and despite his fathers objections he deliberately explores that option as a appearance to find some intellect of belonging and credenza. Piri was born at Harlem Hospital and is raised in East Harlem where he learns to identify himself along racial and cultural lines with the other Puerto Ricans and black Americans that make up his world. When his father moves the family beyond Piris comfort zvirtuoso to Italian turf, just a few blocks away, Piri becomes aw ar of himself as an outsider.For the first time, Piri must face the dilemma of creation a distressinger-complexioned Puerto Rican and being labeled as black. At this point in his young life, Piris identicalness is firmly rooted in a Puerto Rican heritage reinforced by his nonpluss desire to return home to the Caribbean. Piri remembers his mothers sentiments florists chrysanthemum talked nigh Puerto Rico and how great it was, and how shed like to go back one day, and how it was warm all the time there and no matter how curt you were over there, you could of all time live on green bananas, bacalao, and rice and beans. Dios mio, she said, I dont think Ill ever see my island again (Thomas 9)Pi ris mother serves as a guide that emphasizes her homeland in Piris imagination. Although Piris family has no hope of ever returning to Puerto Rico, Piri holds onto his Puerto Rican identity and firmly resists anyones labeling of him as black American. Another factor in his resistance to a black identification is the white appearances of his mother, sister, and brothers. Piri shares the darker complexion of his father who negates his African heritage by stating that his dark complexion is due to Indian blood and even on occasion exaggerates his Puerto Rican accent to emphasize his ethnic difference from black Americans.Even at a young age Piri recounts feeling as though his dad favored his lighter-complexioned siblings and treated him in a harder and rougher manner Pops, I wondered, how come me and you is always on the outsHow come when we all get hit for doing something wrong, I feel it the hardest? Maybe set about Im the biggest, huh? Or maybe its ca example Im the darkest in this family (Thomas 22). As a child Piri can already sense the difference in the way his father treats him.As an big(a) he confronts his father about his behavior and associates his bitterness toward him to the racial self-hatred that his father experiences after his arrival in the United States. In an interview, Thomas acknowledges that although he was conscious of the difference in his appearance at home, it was outside of the home and initially at school where he felt the real impact of being Afro-Hispanic (Hernandez, 5). In his memoir it is after his father moves Piri outside of his comfort zone again and crosses boundaries by moving his family to a majority white community in foresightful Island that Piri begins to experience exclusion by his peers.At a school dance after he overhears a group of white students expressing disgust and insolence at his audacity in asking a white girl to dance with him, he comes to understand his outsider office at school and refuses to return, whi ch eliminates his just now educational resource for obtaining higher paying reasoned employment later on in life. In addition, Piri recounts another instance in Long Island when he was treated as a trespasser also because of his expressed romantic interest in a white woman. In this situation a white man bombards him on a train with racial epithets for being accompanied by his white young lady.In anger Piri transfers his hate for his racial predicament to his girlfriend during sex. He remembers, In anger, in hate, I took out my madness on her (Thomas 90). Piris actions following this racist experience complement his fathers use of white women to ease the pain of racism. Piri associates his fathers marriage to his white mother and later infidelity with another white woman as an attempt to nullify his blackness. Piri does not verbally claim that this is the motivation for his fathers attraction to white women.However, Piri acutely senses that Poppa correlates whiteness to favourabl e position and advancement because of his fathers harsher treatment of him in comparison to his fairer siblings and the gradual removal of his family from the barrio and communities of color. Sanchez hypothesizes that while in Puerto Rico, Poppa protects himself against his ancestral black blood by marrying Piris mother, whose white skin gives him racial privilege and cultural capital (122). From his father, Piri learns to use white women as a tool to ease his own racial discomfort.Piri is attracted to a fair-complexioned Puerto Rican woman named Trina who becomes his girlfriend. However, unlike his mother who rejects the notion of racial privilege among her family members, Trina is aware of the power position she holds as a white Latina. subsequently a party, Trina comments on her position and the privileges it allows her, I can drink anytime I want toAfter all, Im free, white, and over the age (Thomas 112). Piri picks up on her claim to racial privilege and the difference Trina a cknowledges in the midst of their disparate situations within the American racial hierarchy.In response to Trinas drunken statements, Piri attempts to assert a dominant position over her by punching her in the face but instead he injures his hand. Facing racial discrimination as black men is a disempowering and emasculating experience for Piri and his father. Affirming superiority over women is one way that they are able to reaffirm their masculinity and reject a black identification. The association of black with the position of inferior social stipulation in the United States and the correlation between women and inferiority in Puerto Rico converge within the context of the Puerto Rican American experience to equate black to woman.Asserting superiority over women aid Piri and his father in rejecting a black identity. Claiming this position over white women in particular implies that they are capable of transgressing a racial line that black men cannot. In Thomass narrative, fema le characters are repeatedly used by Piri and other men to assert their own masculinity and superiority over women and therefore, through substitution, to assert their humanity and negate their inferior racial status.In his narrative, Thomas juxtaposes his familys home in Babylon, Long Island to Harlem in order to portray Long Island as the mainstream American community that he is excluded from and Harlem as a peripheral community to the dominant one that rejects him. After Piri realizes he is the victim of racial discrimination at a job interview, he decides that he will no longer pursue employment and acceptance in mainstream American society. Instead he finds self-employment and comfort selling and using drugs while living in Harlem.Thomas writes But I was swinging in Harlem, my Harlem, next to which Babylon was like cotton candy white and splity, and tasteless in the mouth (Thomas, 105). Thomas contrasts Harlem to Long Island the former where he finds belonging and safety amon g the racially marginalized and underground drug culture where he can alleviate the pain of non-belonging and the latter as exclusionary and unwilling to allow him to pursue upward mobility through legal societal structures.Despite the handful of lessons that Piri picks up from his father that allow him to retain some sense of self and manhood in the United States, Piri is furious at his father for abandoning him by rejecting the racial plight of Afro-Latinos and aligning himself with whites and a non-black Puerto Rican identity that causes him to exaggerate his foreign origins and deny any African seam. Piri confronts his father and expresses his anger at him for rejecting their shared racial identity before he leaves his family on a journey to the southern states Poppa, dont you know where you at?Or are you seeing it, Poppa, and making like its not thereYou protect your lying dream with a heavy strain for a white status thats worthless to a black man (Thomas 151). Even though Pir i leaves home without his fathers support, he has already internalized several of his fathers coping strategies for dealing with American racism which he attempts to employ during his travels and which help lead him to his own survival strategies. Ironically, although he criticizes his father for emphasizing his foreign status as a Puerto Rican, it is the same device that Piri makes use of in the south.Piris brother Jose has the white appearance that Piri and his father both covet. Because of this, Piri believes that his father favors Jose and his other fair-complexioned siblings. He is jealous of Joses relationship with their father and the ease with which he is capable of assimilating among the white community in Long Island, which represents mainstream America. Because of this, Jose with his white skin, nearly ash-blonde hair and blue eyes, represents the image that Piri once felt he embodied but learns that he does not.In an effort to try to gain some benevolence from his fami ly about his racial position, he attempts to force Jose to see how he is like him and that they share the same African ancestry. In a discussion with Jose about his plans to go on a journey south with his friend Brew, Piri is determined to make Jose aware that his black skin is also a part of his brothers heritage. In an angry response, Jose defends his claim to whiteness and insists that Piri is making the choice to identify as black Joses face got whiter and his voice angrier at my attempt to take away his white status.He screamed out strong, I aint no nigger You can be if you want to be. You can go fine-tune South and grow cotton, or pick it, or whatever the fuck they do. You can eat that cornbread or whatever shit they eat. You can bow and caress ass and clean shit bowls. But I am white (Thomas 145) Joses outburst reveals his understanding that being black is identified with the lower rungs of the socio-economic hierarchy. However, what he does not realize is that whereas h e has the power to choose a racial identity, whether it is white, black, or Indian, Piri does not.Piris visible racial difference hinders him from assimilating into mainstream America, being socially accepted by whites, or pursuing economic mobility in the same fashion as Jose. Jose explains away Piri and their fathers dark skin by suggesting that in addition to their Spanish ancestry they also have some Native American blood. Native American heritage is seen as an alternative to the black and white binaries used in the United States and allows an individual a indue above that of black Americans in the American racial hierarchy.Jose explains away Piris dark skin to his white friends by claiming a Spanish and Indian mixture, however Piri rejects this identification in favor of an Afro-Latino identity. Despite the racial rejection that Piri experiences by his father and brother, Piri comes to equipment casualty with his blackness partly through his friendship with two black American s, Crutch and Brew. In a conversation about the racial politics of the south, Crutch piques Piris curiosity about the south by describing a similar dilemma to the one that Piri faces Places like Georgia and Mississippi and Alabama.All them places that end in is an es an a whole lotta as. A black mans so important that a drop of Negro blood can make a black man out of a pink-asshole, blue-eyed white man. Powerful stuff, that thar white skin, but it dont mean a shit hill of beans alongside a Negros blood (Thomas, 120). Crutch describes to Piri the historical assignment of mixed-raced people to the black race, even if an individuals ancestry is mainly of European origin. The image conveyed reflects Piris own background growing up with family members with the light hair, skin and eyes of Europeans.Crutchs description of the importance that a Negros blood plays in assigning individuals to racial categories in the south initiates Piris interest in traveling there. His journey south serves as a quest to gain an understanding of the racial issues that plague him and his father. Although his father has abandoned Piri to experience life as a black man on his own, Piri continues on his travels with his father as an underlying motivator to discover a place of racial belonging that they both can fit comfortably into.In his southern travels, Piri feels more heavily the weight of his skin color in instances such as when he is forced to sit in the back of the slew despite his remonstrations that he is Puerto Rican or when he is refused service at a whites only restaurant. Despite his initial proclamation that he is interested in going to the south to discover his own identity as a black man and the socio-political constraints of that position, Piri continues to assert his difference and racial privilege as a Latino in the same manner as his father.Without his fathers guidance, Piri completes his travels down south and through other adventures before deciding to make Harlem his home, which is the only place where he really feels as though he belongs. Brown comments on Piris return to Harlem Only on the streets of Spanish Harlem, with his boys, does Piri have a sense of home, even when he is strung out on heroin and literally homeless, crashing with whomever he can (Brown, 33).Piri doesnt make that transition to black American nor does he find a way to assimilate into mainstream America. In contrast to his father, he chooses to return to Harlem, a marginalized community on the fringe of mainstream culture where he is favourable with his Afro-Latino identity and where he finds belonging among the same streets where he felt accepted during his callowness. Piri remembers that the world of the street belonged to the kid alone. There he could earn his own rights, prestige, his good-o stick of living.It was like being a knight of old, like being ten feet tall (Thomas 107). The gangs and streets serve as Piris community as a youth however, once he grows olde r, the drug underworld is where he turns to alleviate the pain of not belonging. The youth gang culture that Thomas romanticizes in his memoir has cock-a-hoop to unprecedented heights and takes on a new life in the writing of the subsequent generations. BIBLIOGRAPHY Thomas, Piri. Down These Mean Streets. New York Vintage Books, 1967Sanchez, Marta E. La Malinche at the Intersection Race and Gender in Down These Mean Streets. PMLA. 113. 1 (Jan 1998) 117-128. Brown, Monica. Gang Nation Delinquent Citizens in Puerto Rican, Chicano, and Chicana Narratives. Minneapolis University of Minnesota Press, 2002 Hernandez, Carmen Delores. They Have Forced Us to Be Universal. Interview with Piri Thoma, 5/6 Mar. 1995. Retrieved from http//www. cheverote. com/reviews/hernandezinterview. html , June 4, 2009

Alternative Energy Sources Essay Example for Free

Alternative Energy Sources EssayWhat does a car, high temperatureer, and stove have in common? They argon any designered by fuel sources. The well-nigh popular being fogey fuels. Fossil fuels ar dead plant and animal matter that has been compressed and change over millions of years. They are burned to create heat, which in turn creates energy. However, with heavy industrialization (agricultural and manufacturing), transportation, and personal energy use, our worlds fossil fuel supplies are rapidly depleting. Even more, fossil fuels pollute our environment. Scientists are on the search for pick energy sources so the world mess be weaned of its fossil fuel supply. Out of the many alternative fuel sources, I will be foc victimisation on solar and plagiarize power. solar power is apparently the conversion of energy from the solarize into usable energy. Solar energy can be harvested in two ways indirectly by using the heat of the sun and directly by utilizing its energy to turn it into electricity. What makes solar power so popular is the fact that it can be used anywhere that has sunlight. Solar power can be collected in 3 different ways solar heat collectors, solar thermal concentrating systems, and photovoltaics. Solar heat collectors are collectors that are designed to absorb the heat from the sun.The most common ones are flat plate collectors that have a dark absorber plate that is covered with a transparent plate (usually glass). In between the two plates are pipes that are filled with heat-transferring liquid standardised antifreeze. When sunlight strikes the absorber plate in the collector, the heat is absent into the liquid, which is then passed through pipes to the water heater. When the liquid is finished being used, it flows back up to the plate where it is heated again and repeats the process. Solar thermal concentrating systems use mirrors and lenses to get the energy of the sun into a small area to produce energy.The energy heats up molten salt in pipes that run along the concentrating system which is the power source of a generation system. The concentration system can make the liquid in the pipes heat up to 3000 degrees Celsius in some cases, which makes this method preferent for industrial use or electricity. Finally, the use of photovoltaics directly converts light from the sun into electricity at the atomic power. The system consists of a solar cell, which is made of semi-conductive materials like silicon.The solar cells are made to create an electric field. When the light from the sun hits the cell, the lectrons are separated from the atoms and form an electric current, which produces electricity. There are many benefits for using solar power as an alternative fuel source.1) Solar power is constantly renewable. The energy from the sun will virtually never run out. 2) The sun is also available world wide so it is a power that everyone can use. 3) Solar energy is also very low maintenance aft(prenominal) installation of the systems at that place is barely any other work involved with it. In addition, 4) it is a silent producer of energy, even with the photovoltaic cells. However there are a few cons that go along with solar energy. ) Even though the sun is a free source of energy, the cost of solar cells can be quite costly with most cells starting a $1000 for one.6) Solar energy can only be produced when the sun is out so that means about half of the day solar panels arent generating electricity. Lastly, 7) weather can affect the efficiency of the solar panels. Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useable form of energy. Wind power is used widely around the world since there is wind everywhere, however you are most likely to find wind power being used in higher elevations (such as hills) since that is where the wind is the strongest.Wind power is harvested with wind turbines. The process is attractive simple the wind spins the turbines, which activates a generator, which converts the energy into electricity. Like solar power energy, 1) wind power is sustainable and renewable since wind will always be around to move the turbine. 2) Wind power is also free. 3) The land that the wind turbines are on can be shared for other uses such as farming. 4) Since wind power is available worldwide, the US can use the turbines as its own fuel source and free its dependence from foreign oil.On the minus side, 5) wind turbines can take up a lot of space. ) Even though it is a clean source, the turbines can be very noisy which may be bothersome to nearby communities. Lastly, 7) the cost of wind turbines and the generators are far more expensive than fossil fuels, which makes it a poor competitor cost-wise. With the depletion of fossil fuels, alternative fuel sources are the obvious choice for the present and future. Two of these sources, solar and wind power, are both revolutionizing the way we produce electricity, while benefiting the environment. Even thou gh they both have a few cons, the fact that we have energy sources that are both sustainable and renewable is far superior to the latter.

Tracks Covering in Penetration Testing

Tracks Covering in Penetration TestingEr. Ramesh NarwalEr. Gaurav GuptaAbstractAfter completing beset, covering tracks is the next measuring rod in penetration testing. In tracks covering after completing attack we will return to each exploited transcription to erase tracks and clean up every(prenominal) told footprints we left behind. Tracks covering is of the essence(predicate) because it gives clue to forensics analyst or Intrusion Detection ashes (IDS). Some terms its difficult to hide whole tracks but an assaulter can manipulate the carcass to confuse the examiner and make it almost impossible to identify the extent of the attacker. In this research melodic theme we calculate all of the methods used in tracks covering and their future scope.Keywords Exploit, Payload, Vulnerability Assessment, Penetration Testing, Track CoveringIntroductionPenetration testing is nowadays an important organisation security testing method. Penetration testing is also known as Pentestin g. Main objective of penetration testing is to identify the security threats in vanes, systems, servers and applications. Penetration testing consists of various human bodys which we discuss in overview of penetration testing. After doing administrative access on a system or server, attacker for the first time task is to cover their tracks to prevent detection of his current and past presence in the system. An attacker or intruder may also try to unpack evidence of their identity or activities on the system to prevent tracing of their identity or location by authorities. To prevent himself an attacker usually erases all error messages, alerts or security events that have been logged.Overview of Penetration TestingPenetration Testing used for validation and effectiveness of security protections and controls of an organisation. It reduce an organisations expenditure on IT security by identifying an remediating vulnerabilities or loopholes. It provides preventive steps that can pre vent upcoming evolution. Penetration testing gradesPre-engagement InteractionsIntelligence Gathering affright ModelingVulnerability AnalysisExploitationPost ExploitationCovering TracksReportingPre-engagement InteractionsPlanning is the first step in pre-engagement. During this phase scope, goal and call of the penetration test is finalised with the client. Target and methods of planned attacks are also finalised in this phase.Intelligence GatheringThis is most important phase if we miss something here we efficiency miss an entire opportunity of attack. All information regarding target is gathered by using social media networks, google hacking and other methods. Our primary goal during this phase to gain accurate information about target without revealing our presence, to learn how organisation operates and to determine the best entry point.Threat ModelingThe information acquired in perception gathering phase used in this phase to identify existing vulnerabilities on the target system. In threat modelling, we determine the most effective attack methods, the information type we need and how attack can be implemented at an organisation.Vulnerability AnalysisVulnerability is loophole or weakness in the system, network or product by using which can compromise it. After identification of most effective attack method, we consider how we can access the target. During this phase we combine information acquired in previous phases and use that information to find out most effective attack. Port and Vulnerability scans are performe in this phase and all data is also gathered from previous phases.ExploitationExploit is a code which allows an attacker to take advantage of the flaw or vulnerability within system, application or service. We mustiness perform exploit only when we are authentic that the particular exploit will be roaring. May be unforeseen protective measures might be on the target that inhibit a particular exploit. Before trigger a vulnerability we mu st sure that the system is vulnerable.Our exploit must do proper clean-up after execution at compromised system and must not cause the compromised system to grow into seismal state. Given below figure shows some system shutdown prompt at compromised windows machine due to without proper clean-up of exploit after execution.After successful exploitation the compromised system is under the control of an attacker. Many times attacker or penetration tester need to alter the compromised or breached systems to attain right escalation.Post ExploitationPayload is actual code which executed on the compromised system after exploitation. Post Exploitation phase begins after compromised mavin or more systems. In this phase penetration tester identifies critical infrastructure, targets specific systems, targets information and data that values most and that must be attempted to secure. In Post Exploitation while attacking systems we should take time to understand what the system do and their d ifferent user roles. Every tester and attacker in general spend time in compromised system to understand the information he have and how he can take benefit from that information.After gaining access of one system an attacker can access other systems in that network by using compromised as a staging point. This method is known as pivoting. Sometimes attackers creates backdoor into the compromised system to regain access of the system in the futureCovering TracksIn the previous phases penetration tester or attacker ofttimes make significant changes to the compromised systems to exploit the sytems or to gain administrative rights. This is the final stage in penetration test in which an attack clears all the changes made by himself in the compromised systems and returns the system and all compromised hosts to the precise configurations as they are before conducting penetration test.ReportingAll of the information like vulnerability answer fors, diagrams and exploitation results gener ated during penetration testing must be deleted after handover to the client. If any information is not deleted it should be in the knowledge of client and mentioned in the technical report which is generated after penetration testing.Reporting is the last phase in penetration test in which penetration tester organise available data and relate result sets into report and present that report to the client. This report is highly confidential which have all the results of penetration tests like vulnerabilities list in the organisation systems, networks or products and recommendations to solve these problems related to the security of the organisation assets, which helps organisation in stopping future attacks.How to cover tracksTo compromise system successfully an attacker need to be stealthy and avoid detection by various security systems like firewalls, Intrusion detection systems (IDS). System administrators and other security personals uses similar techniques to identify despitef ul activities, so its very important for attacker to be remains undetected. A system administrator can examine processes and log files to check malevolent activities. There are various challenges which are faced by a penetration tester after successfully compromise of target system. Now we describe various problem faced by a penetration tester in covering tracksManipulating Log Files DataTo manipulate log files data an attacker must have nice knowledge of commonly used operating systems. An attacker must aware of two types of log files system generated and application generated.Penetraion tester or attacker have two options when manipulating log data first one is to delete entire log and second one is to modify the subject matter of the log file. After deleting entire log an attacker there is surety of undetectability. But there is drawback of deletion of entire log is detection.Second option an attacker have to manipulation of log files data within the log files so that system ad ministrator is not able to notice attacker presence in the system. But sometimes if attacker removal of so much information make gap between logs files makes it noticeable.Log Files counsel in Various SystemMain purpose of log files in various operating systems is to check health and state of operating system, to detect malicious activity, to analysis system if something pernicious happens(system troubleshooting). Here we show locations of log files in commonly used operating systems Windows, Linux/Unix, Mac.WindowsIn windows log files or stored in event viewer, which is easy to find scarce search event viewer and run it. Event viewer is simply look like the figure as given below, where we can see all log files of the system and applications.Figure Log Files Managements in WindowsLinux/UnixIn mainly all linux and unix operating systems log files are stored in the /var/log directory. in general system log files are hidden in linux and unix operating systems to see complete list of log files from shell simply type ls l /var/log/ command in shell. In the below figure we show log files in BackTrack linux operating systemFigure Log Files Management in Linux/UnixMacTo get or access log files in MAC operating system simply open finder and select Go to Folder in the Go menu. Type in /Library/Logs and hit Enter here you get the screen like as given in figure which contains all log files.Figure Log Files Management in Mac OS XTo manipulation of log files data an attacker must have root privileges.Challenges in Manipulation of Log FilesIf the system administrator configures its system to transfer all log files on the remote server time to time, in that case an attacker or penetration tester can only stop log files transfer process except it they have no other way.Hiding FilesVarious Tools for Covering TracksThere are so many to compromise a system but after compromising the system the attack must need to cover their tracks because each and every activity that atta cker can do is stored or recorded by the system. Every system have different way to record the activity that occurs in the system. Every attacker must covers their tracks that are recorded by the system so that no one can identify him.

Influence Of Television Viewing On Children Media Essay

Influence Of Television Viewing On Children Media EssayIntroductionThis render is intimately the extent, justification and forebodings that adult citizens hit or so the enamor of goggle box viewing on sisterren. Adults in the context of this essay encompass parents, journalists, policy makers, media exploreers and human right activists among separate citizens. The discussion is covered over five sections. from each one section attempts to give the perspective of a loose category of adult citizen carry ons. The first section begins by situating the topic in media make research possibility-a concern for social scientists and media theorists. Here it underscores the various foci of effects research over the years notably media texts as powerful agents of social change (Hovland et.al., 1953 Galician, 2004 and McQuail, 2005), media texts have an watch on peer relations (Moreno, 1934), there is a role of mediating factors (Klapper, 1960 and Moss, 1996) among other concerns. The second section attempts to justify the question of the essay by providing some evidence of wherefore the influence of goggle box index be considered more important than other media a concern for media owners, human rights activists and policy makers. Here contributions are made on the distribution and coverage of video system (Lichter, 1990), its accessibility (Burton, 2004) and extent of usage by children (Buckingham, 2007) among other arguments. The third section focuses on a range of specific concerns about the actual effects of television- of interest to parents, media researchers and human rights activists. These concerns include, aggressive behaviour (Bandura, 1994), gender stereotyping (Ingham, 1997) and citizenship (Selznick, 2008) among others. The fourth section critically discusses some of the methodological approaches to examining the influence of television on children that would be of possible interest to media researchers and policy makers. Here it briefly h ighlights possible theories of how children react when exposed to a media text by means of perceived branches of cultivation (Newbold, 1995), socialising and socialization (Goonasekera, 1996) and varying intellectual development (Buckingham, 1998) among other theories. The fifth section is the authors perspective of the kind of effective action that should be taken to contribute to wear out effects research and healthy television viewing among children. The conclusion summarises the main elements of the essay.Situating the influence of television viewing on children in media effects research theoryThe early part of the 20th century saw a pristine effort in the study of mass media effects that began when public concern about the impact of movies on children and adolescents was prompted by the privately funded Payne Studies (Galician, 2004, p84). These and other media studies helped establish the notion that mass media messages are indeed powerful agents of social change (e.g. Hov land, et.al., 1953Galician, 2004 and McQuail, 2005). The influence of television viewing on children is an important issue to examine because as McQuail in Newbold (2005, p9) signals, the media is a powerful shaper of opinion and beliefs. For Hovland, et.al. (1953, pp260-266), two personality factors advanceed to head for the hills a significant role in determining variations in the degree of effect of a media text intellectual ability and motivation. In even earlier work, Moreno (1934) underscored the greatness of peer relations and the bonds they form based on values within the stem that are perhaps influenced by media texts. Lazarsfeld et al. (1948, p151) argued that the process of attitude and opinion arrangement within the broader public sphere of say a community owed more to the influence of other people the opinion scating, than the media itself. Within media effects research, the opinion leaders are considered the primary group whose relevance is not merely its exis tence but rather their influence on behaviour and attitudes of individuals that make up the group (Newbold, 2005, p17). Hovland and his colleagues were not only concerned with personality factors but more so with the message itself. They argued that its apparent trustworthiness and how it influences the learning of facts indeed invoked antithetical reactions (Newbold, 2005, p15). For Klapper (1960, p8), mass communication does not ordinarily serve as a necessary or sufficient cause of audience effects, but rather functions by a liaison of mediating factors, an argument that emphasizes the total situation. Moss (1996, p5) seems to allude to this when she stipulates that audience studies can be examined by establishing the social context in which texts are distributed and consumed. The disparity in effects research approaches perhaps provides an indication of the complexity of the emphasis of issues and concerns by mass communication scholars in demarcating the field. The next sec tion provides some illumination on this latter concern by comparing the influence of television versus other media on audiences from the embodied adult citizen perspective of human right activists, journalists and policy makers.The influence of television versus other mediaLichter, et. al. (1990, p8) views effects of television as greater than the print media or even radio because it clearly provides its audience with a wizard that what it views is true and real. They raise argue (p8) that television has broken down class and regional boundaries to a far greater extent than other media (during the 1990s) as compared to say, the print media that is segregated by plain of distribution and readership. For Burton (2004, p93), television is the most accessible media to most people, including young children, where television is their most favourite form of media. Buckingham (2007, p75) further illuminates Burtons assertion by arguing that if schools have remained relatively unaffected by the advent of new technology, the same cannot be said of childrens lives after school. He also argues that childhood is permeated and in some note defined by modern media -television, video games, mobile phones, the internet that make up contemporary consumer culture. Gavin (2005) asserts that within a year an average American child would have spent about 900 hours viewing television in school compared to and nearly 1,023 hours in front of a television at home. Kellner (1990, p1) supports the latter assertions and argues that 750 meg television sets across 160 countries worldwide are watched by 2.5 billion people every day underscoring the obvious ubiquity and centrality of television in our customary lives. Television influence separates itself from other media influences by the extent of its central role in the lives of the contemporary child and perhaps the fact that this is coupled with frequent phone visual stimulation. Media convergence in the current advanced IT age ha s given rise to internet television and mobile phone television tuning that technically changes the perceived coverage and possible influence of television. Surrounding these postulations is a range of specific concerns that are briefly discussed in the next section looked at from the collective perspective of concerned parents, social scientists and possibly media theorists.Concerns about the influence of television viewing on childrenThe debate about the influence of the media on children has been wide-ranging and at times fierce (Robinson Willett, 2006, p6) with concerns about violence, sexual content, advertising and its developmental and educational implications (p6). The Australian Psychological Society Ltd Factsheet (2000, p1) claims that prolonged exposure to television violence is among the factors which lead to children to display aggressive behaviour in two the short and long term. approximately aggressive effects research evidences that up to 88% of children readily feign aggressive behaviour seen earlier on television (Bandura, 1994 in Cumberbatch, 2008, p23). Other concerns revolve approximately the power of advertising. Buckingham in Dickinson, Harindranath and Linn (1998, p134) contend that advertising is often accuse of promoting false needs, irrational fantasies or even reinforcing exaggerated gender stereotypes and children are at risk because of their apparent inability to recognise its underlying persuasive intentions. Some authors attribute this to the effectiveness of advertising. Halford, et.al. (2004) argue that because food is the most frequently advertised product on childrens television programming, exposure to these advertisements effectively promotes consumption of the advertised products. Gunter and McAleer in Robinson and Willett (2006, p11) do not agree with the latter assertion and argue that objective evidence is much less conclusive as to the effect of advertising. For Coon, et.al. (2001), excessive TV viewing during ch ildhood and adolescence contributes to higher intakes of energy through snacks and carbonated beverages and lower intakes of fruit and vegetables. Other authors (e.g. Gortmaker, et. al., 1996 Hancox, et.al., 2004) suggest that watching excessive television contributes to sedentarism in both children and adults by taking the place of more energetic activities. Some concerns have been reflected in childrens perception of traditional gender stereotyping on television that is perhaps no longer appropriate for the contemporary roles taken on by the sexes. Ingham (1997, p2) reports that women in the home are frequently represented via the housewife-type role, with the man as the strong, bread victorious husband. She further argues (p3) that when women are portrayed as successful it tends to be at the expense of their personal life, which invariably tends to be unhappy. From a philosophical perspective Goonasekera (1996,p41) argues that communication theory technology (including televisi on) has greatly increased cultural contacts among people of different nations providing unprecedented opportunities for the establishment of closer cultural linkages and identities. He further argues that this very opportunity raises fears of cultural domination and obliteration of ethnic identities. For Van Evra (2004, p66), the concerns have gone beyond looking at only the negative effects and argues that although television may enkindle study time or affect reading habits and study skills it can also stimulate interest in new topics, provide holdground existent for school projects and stimulate classroom discussions. For Selznick (2008, p108), television teaches citizenship. A plethora of views exist on the perceived influence of television on children. As noted by some authors (e.g. Buckingham, 1998, p.137 Newbold, 2005, p15) and Klapper,1960, p8), intervening variables mediate between television and its audience. Selznick (2008, p108) also argues that whether the effect of television on children is seen as positive or negative, most scholars agree that television affects the way that children build their own identities, specifically how they understand who they are, what they like, their place in the world and their goals. The next section provides a critical exploration of some approaches and models in effects research around the influence of television on children by expressing the more prominent concerns that scholars have had of their peers.A critique of evidence and methodology around effects of television on childrenThe development of effects research has largely been in the direction of emphasizing the role of intervening variables (Buckingham p136 in Dickinson, Harindranath and Linn, 1998). Taking this as a starting point, Robinson and Willett (2006, p9) argues that the way we interpret physical phenomena is not constant across cultural boundaries. Cumberbatch (2008,p33) alludes to Robinson and Willets latter argument when he asserts that rese arch evidence on the effects of viewing violence suffers from various methodological evidence. Moss (1996, p30) alludes to these latter arguments from a Vygotskian perspective when she asserts that children grow up accommodating themselves to the existing social forms of thinking, shaped through words (Moss 1996, p18) and perhaps by proxy through what they see through different media. Perhaps at this point a small illustration dexterity serve to stimulate the discussion. Recently in Uganda, horror was experienced when a group of school children witnessed one of their peers plunge to his death in a secret topless latrine after boasting to his friends about being Tinky Winky one of the Teletubbies on childrens television often seen to emerge or drop down a mountain in the ground. The Tinky Winky illustration peripherally suggests that negligence might have caused such an unfortunate situation for the kids. exclusively as some of the Ugandan community manifestly believed televisi on implanted a fatal irrational fantasy described by Buckingham in Dickinson, Harindranath and Linn (1998, p134). Gerbner and Gross (1976) in Newbold, 1995, p30) prefer to call the latter content cultivation that places emphasis on long-term effects of the media. Perhaps, what creates a fair amount of withdrawal in effects research and perspectives is not only cerebrate to the way we interpret physical phenomena but also to the way that populist views (Robinson Willett, p9) are taken as gospel truth. The elite Ugandan community called for a total ban of the teletubbies -a demand that spread to human rights groups. Could peers perhaps have influenced their unfortunate friend through secondary transfer of their television experience with the teletubbies? For Moss (1996), children sense of the media is mediated through talk with peers, parents and teachers. Goonasekera (1996, p26) attempts to demarcate the process that leads to anti-social behaviour that he contends happens through a process of acculturation and socialization, where values such as respect for the sanctity of human life become weaker and values promoting short-term hedonistic behaviour become stronger. Does this latter postulation apply to the Ugandan tragedy to a higher place? Some authors think otherwise. Gauntlett in Dickinson, Harindranath and Linn (1998, p124) criticises the effects model for its media depictions of anti-social acts that he says is limited to fictional productions. The weakness with this latter assertion of the effects model is that other anti-social activities which appear in other media do not have similar effects on the same audiences. If also, as McKenna (1995,p25) asserts that public service broadcasting tends to be dominate by the elites, then how can one account for the violence that is prevalent in many rural areas in Africa that are not exposed to the media? burn this perhaps be controlled when interrogation hypotheses? McQuail (2005, p16) alludes to this whe n he asks which aspect of the medium is being regulated? This latter assertion has connotations for media effects research methodology especially testing hypotheses. Buckingham (2008, p31) recommends that research should contribute to the wider debates about the aims and methods of media education. For Moss (1996, p24), this kind of research could explore on a macro level, the influence of media products on society and its culture or the socio-psychology of the process for individuals. Buckingham in Dickinson, Harindranath and Linn (1998, p136) however notes that effects models assume that effects can simply be read off from the analysis of content. This latter assertion appears to undermine the mediating factors ikon that he further argues, has a weakness of viewing the audience as a mass of undifferentiated individuals. However, Buckingham (p.137) also validates mediating factors research approaches that underscore the dependence of the socialization influence of television on d iverse and variable meanings which its users attach to it (uses and gratifications) and where viewers construct meaning (constructivist). Anderson and Lorch (1983), allude to an active relationship between children and television as they view them as actively making the choice to pay attention to television which in turn influences the way they understand what they watch and on the activities gettable in their viewing environment. This approach appears not to account for future similar anti-social behaviour that children exhibit after recently watching television. Indeed, Buckingham (1998, p139) expresses this latter concern with the ship canal in which childrens judgement of television changes along with their intellectual development and uncertainty over their ability to distinguish between reality and fantasy on television. But for Cumberbatch (2008, p13 p32) doubts remain over the validity of empirical evidence to the case of causativeity in effects research into media viole nce that he argues fails to raise the question of analyse why many people seem unaffected by television violence. On the other hand Moss (1996, p30) postulates that through social activities, childrens interpretation of media text goes through a transformation as they represent what they know in the current context, and renegotiate its significance in the light of others comments to generate and sustain their talk. For Robinson and Willett (2006,p25), both universal and academic research view children as passive receivers of whatever messages the media offers, with little ability to resist the effects. These hypotheses in the underlying models of communications create a separation in the evidence generated by effects research of the media on audiences. The variegated demarcation of concerns in this and other sections only adds to the complexity of the issues around televisions influence and further raises the question of kind of effective action that needs to be taken. The next se ction attempts to illuminate this latter question from the authors perspective.Effective action for better effects research and healthy television viewing among childrenThe concerns laid out in previous sections are based on the premise that watching television might have both positive and negative effects. This said, there appears to be vast inconclusive literature on anti-social effects such as violence compared to pro-social influence that television might have on children. Research might better serve in demarcating the field by illuminating the more positive aspects of television influence on audiences. With global processes such as the current economic recession and globalization unfolding or deepening, it might be useful for research to investigate the effects of television viewing on cultural practices or on economic status of audiences across an array of ethnic groups. Also study the effectiveness of mediating factors in influencing the resulting effect(s) might be an inter esting area for research e.g. does someones religious beliefs rein-in or promote potential anti-social behaviour? Can say culpable anti-social behaviour have a genetic link that manifests under a threshold of specific media exposure? How can research separate media and non-media influences across different audience age groups by first establishing a baseline of what children already know about the media?In terms of the presumed effects of advertising, media violence and so forth, parents or guardians need to review the balance of the childs daily activity based on some anti-social indicators. For example, if a child alship canal chooses to watch television instead of play with friends or only talks only about television programs and characters, or is not performing well in school, it would be prudent tocut back on the amount of time spent in front of the television. Television viewing time should be negotiated together with the child. Parental Guidance locks should also be institut ed on undesirable programmes. It is also helpful for adults, media text producers and regulation to help children interpret and critique the viewed material in order to promote constructive ways that life and values should be interpreted.ConclusionThis essay has benefited by examining some of the salient issues around adult citizens concerns about the influence of television viewing on children. It focused on loosely defining the category of adult citizens and their specific interest in aspects of the topic. The discussion was demarcated by situating the topic in media theory, justifying the importance of examining the influence of TV versus other media and then specifically highlighting the plethora of concerns that were mainly negative. These concerns then spilt over into a separate section that focused on a critique of some of the existing methodological approaches and concerns. This was important to examine because methodological approaches inform the existing evidence and facts that a range of adult citizens base their understanding of the issue on. The essay then underscored the fact that mostly negative evidence exists around examining the influence of TV viewing on children and inconclusive in its findings. The essay then recommends future research to look into more positive facets when examining the issue and to incorporate the interesting dimensions of genetics, ethnicity and spirituality. This complex essay would have benefited more from an in-depth examination of the causal link between ethonographic, child development and economic issues and critical distancing in the influence TV television viewing on children.

The Concept Of Linguistic Variation

The Concept Of Linguistic VariationThe ability of spoken style is believed (by many) to be attributed uniquely to humanity. Despite this evidently phenomenal existence the exact fight of languages birth remains unknown and yet it continues to evolve. (Klein, 2009)The study of this ever mutable method of communication has come to be known as linguistics. However repayable to the communal and tender nature of the human race the study of sociolinguistics could be said to more accurately represent language within human societies. what is more Linguists bring forth known for some time that differences in language are tied to social class (Ross, 1954)Sociolinguistics is the study of the way in which language varies and changes in social groups (communities) of speakers, focusing primarily on the impacts of linguistic organises (such as sounds, grammatical forms, intonation features, intelligences, etc) and social factors (such as a speakers gender, ethnicity, age, degree of integra tion into their community, etc). (Reference)The study of sociolinguistics has line of descent in dialectology, stock in the 1960s (reference) partly due to the existence of inadequate methods associated with previous approaches to the study of dialect. Sociolinguistics practice sessions recordings of informal conversations as its data taking a signifi thronetly more scientific approach relying on quantitative analysis to highlighting dialect differences.How language changes (meme Theory)One possible reason for this change and revolution of language through social groups may be attributed to a unit of cultural evolution, the Meme. A meme is defined as an idea, behaviour or style that spreads from someone to person within a culture. (Dawkins,) By this definition a Meme acts as an evolutionary/replicatory unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols or practices, allowing transmission from one mind to some other through an act of imitation such as writing, speech, gestures or ritual s.This description of the Meme and its transmission can be applied to the Learning of language. Such learning requires, at its foundation, the ability to imitate sounds (Tomasello, Kruger, Ratner, 1993). One may be uncomfortable in describing something as complex as language as imitation, however, language clearly contain the evolutionary theory in regards to Memes. Information is copied from person to person, chromosomal mutation is introduced both by degradation (due to failures of human memory and communication) and by the creative recombination of different memes. plectrum of this variation is then a potential result of limitations on time, memory, transmission rates and other kinds of storage space.Variation between Social sectionesAs draw sociolinguistics is built on the foundations the presence dialect variation is from random, but are determined by what Weinreich, Labov and Herzog (1968) defined as orderly heterogeneity structured variation. This structure can be show n in a number of ways, particularly interesting from the sociolinguist perspective is the correlation often exhibited between linguistic structure and social status.Varieties of slope can be identified into two groups referring to the changes of the variable (Figure 1). The variable (t) refers to the use of a glottal stop instead of t, such as in the word bottle, which can be written botle to represent the changed pronunciation of the medial (middle) t. Most English speakers appear to glottalise last t in words such as cat, with no/little correlation to social class. This is non the case however for the use of glottal stops in the medial position, e.g., bottle (botle), butter (buter). This variant is associated with a social stigma. Table 1 shows the occurrence of glottal stops corresponding to social class in Glasgow for all positions within a word (including the final t) compared with that occurring only in medial position (Macaulay 1977). Upper class (Professionals) is represe nted by Class I whilst the working class is represented by Class III (unskilled workers). When considering the glottal stop in the medial position, the highest social class show zero occurrences, while the lowest class uses 68.8%.The above linguistic variation is not isolated in its relation to social classes there are of course many other variables in English which show similar sociolinguistically significant distributions. Trudgill (1974) showed the relationship for variables (ing) and (h) in a Norwich based urban dialect study (Table 2). Once gain the values show the percentage of variant forms utilize by different classes. The variable (ing) refers to variations of alveolar n and a velar nasal ng in words ending with -ing for example breeding and cooling. Once again a lower social status is associated a higher percentage of nonstandard variation (alveolar) rather than standard (velar nasal) endings. In common terms this variants is known as dropping ones gs, and is a commonly r ecognised marker of social status over the English-speaking world.The variable (h) refers to the presence between h and lack of h at the beginning of for example heart (eart) and hand (and). This particular variation is slightly more complicated as most urban accents in England do not possess initial hand as such no variable of it. However in regions that do represent both variants (present of and lack of initial h) a similar sort is shown. The lower the individuals social status, the more likely he/she is to drop hs.As shown in all the examples above a common pattern appears to form (these cases consume dealt with stable linguistic features) this can be plotted affectively as an s-shape curve. Figure 2 shows the correlation for the absence of present tense markers (she play rather than she plays) with social classes (Trudgill 1974) once again the lower the social class, the higher the variation from standard.As shown in figure 2 the data represents a continuum (s-shaped curve) despite differences between classes, this can be consider once again in a broadly evolutionary sense. Just as the transmission of linguistic features (memes) may be stop by physical geographical barriers (i.e. mountain ranges, oceans), it may also be hindered by social class. This limitation results in boundaries between social dialects that tend not to be perfect. As such sociolinguistics has should be considered a quantitative approach not a qualitative method.Future DevelopmentsThe above approach outlined for analysing language variation has been popular, being used across many speaking communities worldwide. However, whilst these studies have accepted the basic guidance (the linguistic variable), some have suggested (reference) that sociolinguistic studies have been naive by correlating social facts about the subject in isolation (gender, ethnicity and social class), rather than observing how social groups come to be and change over time, and subsequently analysing the variants that emerge as a result. As a result some studies have become to approach studies form a bottom up perspective, examining self-forming social groups and see linguistic structure reflect these grouping rather than starting with a broad social category, and look at the language use within it (a top-down approach).Research

Female Genital Mutilation :: essays research papers

Imagine a young girl the harsh African sun is kissing her bronzed skin. The change golden sand tickles her petite and tattered feet. The immense gold earrings she wears beats against her slender neck. Her stature is of a queen, yet she walks to an uncertain death. She stands in preliminary of a small hut, or a tent. She glances back and sees the majestic sun that had once kissed her neck now set and somewhat leave her abandoned. She exists alone in front of that diminutive hut or tent and out comes a man. He is exhausted and is ready to go home to his companion and his supper. He looks a firearm annoyed that she has come so late. His hands are stained with a ruby tint and his clothes the same. He motions the young girl in. He stupefyantly, she makes small and paltry steps to the entranceway. She steps into a minute room with little or no lighting. She stares upon two women and a rusty table that holds the screams of the girls that went before her. The man motions her to sit in th e table. She slowly places her body on the stained and rusty table. She is a bit afraid that the table will non hold under her burthen nevertheless, she is held up. The man places his cold and clammy hands on her collarbone and pushes her back to the table. As she lies there she looks to her left and sees his instruments a bloody and rusty razor blade. She sighs with relief. She has comprehend that a razor blade is the best instrument to use. She knew of women that had to take a piece of glass. She has prayed for courage and strength, yet it does not seem to arrive. The man runs his hands downward the sides of her body. Has he pushes her skirt up he looks at her and says to her, Dont move. He opens her legs and begins to operate. The glare from the poor lighting obstructs his view, but he continues any way. The heat has gotten to him and he is not as awake as he was in the morning. He blinks to regain some concentration and he takes his blade in his hands. He thinks closely cle aning the blade first but the thought immediately escapes from his mind. He does not want to waste any more time on this girl.

history and the novel 1984 Essay examples -- essays research papers

Totalitarianism is defined as a political system of government in which those in power have complete control and do not allow people to oppose them. Those in power are a wizard party dictatorship in which one party controls state, and all other parties are forbidden. Other important features that distinguish or help define dictatorship include restricted or eliminated constitutional rights, state terrorism, and totalitarian rulers are known as ideological dictators. The government of Oceania, in the novel 1984, is an example of totalitarian society. Germany, under Adolf Hitlers National Socialism is another example of totalitarianism. Orwells Oceania has both similarities and differences to the totalitarian states of the twentieth century. The government of Oceania is clearly a totalitarian state, which compares and contrasts with Hitlers National Socialism. The state, society, and daily life in Oceania present obvious characteristics of a totalitarian state. In Oceania society, privacy and freedom to not exist. Citizens of Oceania are constantly monitored by telescreens, and subjected to a constant barrage of propaganda. With telescreens in everyones homes, it is very easy to broadcast the views and beliefs of The Party. Forms of propaganda include posters and slogans. In this society it is impossible to go anywhere without sightedness a poster of Big Brother, reading slogans such as BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU and War is PeaceFreedom is...