Monday, January 27, 2020

Developing a Socially Stratified Society

Developing a Socially Stratified Society Reconstructing the society There are many categories in which we sort humans. Among the major categories we have race, class and gender. Race is a social concept that categorizes humans into large populations and groups that stand distinctively by cultural, anatomical, genetic, geographical and social affiliation. There is not yet an agreement on the best definition of class, but it can be defined as people belonging to the same same social, economic and educational status. Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining between masculinity and feminity, and also differentiating them. Alternatively, it pertains to socially constructed roles, behaviours and also attributes that a society considers right for both the male and the female gender. We can incorporate the films â€Å"La Haine† and â€Å"manufacturing consent† to illustrate this. In La Haine, we can illustrate the impression of class as a category in which we sort the human race. This is clear when there ensue a hard-hitting drama between the police and the disenfranchised French youth. The relationship that can be examined between these two groups is riotous because of the social class. There is a riot that took place after a second generation Arab was beaten by the cops. The following day, young men went to Paris and they were arrested by the police. They were interrogated, only to be involved in a rumble with skinheads later on. On their returning home, what they encountered was never suspected. Delving deeper into the film La Haine, we find the writer director Mathieu Kassovitz butting the European urbanity with the American style of the streets as clash with the police in suburban parts. The end result can be seen as an explosion scathing social commentary and generally the story-telling is dynamic. Closer scrutiny to the generaton; class and race are the major factors that divide the nation of France. Kassovits attacks the frontlines of power fearlessly but on a rather unreservedly pessimistic note. A riot in seen in the outskirts of paris where the police beat Abdel Ahmed Ghili, an Arab teenager, into a coma. This fuelled a lot of anger and hatred inside Vincent cassel, who is commonly reffered to as Vinz. Vinz was a Jew who was determined to whack the cops in the occasion the boy dies. The jocular admitted this to the cohorts of Vincent. He also approached Humbert, an African boxer, to speak to him of his rather evil plan as they embark on an adventurous voyage from the neighbourhood of immigrants. The time bomb ticks a fatal account of the society’s decline which is plainly one sided. The efforts of only one police who shows sympathy to the troubled youth are negligible and ineffective among an army of bullies and bigots. It can be seen that kassovits view situations in black-and-white which vividly explains the reason for striking a monochrome print. It is the conviction and broad discovery with which he writes the story that makes it really compelling. He lifts up a scene straight from the taxi driver where Vincent Cassel poses infront of the mirror with a gun. He asks his own image if it is talking to him. Humbert is seen to offset him with a cool self assurance. Taghmaoui performance was outstanding when he offers funny relief to neutralize the unbearable tension. He prompted a hitherto, unseen and executed it brilliantly. Racism has been seen to be a particular problem in the police force. The tense relationship between the policemen and the youth evidences racism. It takes place during a 24 hour period. When Abdul is injured and is critically in hospital, in the course of retribution, Vinz is caught in the possession of a policeman’s gun he had obtained in the riot. He swore to murder a â€Å"pig† if Abdul dies. This illustrates how race is a major class of sorting the humans We can construct a socially stratified reality that will help us save some of these racial, class and gender related problems. The most basic elements of the social structure is status. It stands for a social position that is recognized and of which an individual occupies in the society. There are duties and responsibilities usually in relation to complimentary positions. Secondly, we have the status set. Everyone in the society holds many status positions and not one. Status set can be defined as all the statuses that a person holds at a given time. One can be a male or a female, teacher or student, husband or wife among many others. When we talk of status, it can either be ascribed or achieved status. Ascribed status is achieved at birth or later assumed involuntarily in the course of life. Achieved status is a social position that is assumed voluntarily. Its can reflect the personal ability that one has or the magnitude of efforts with which he puts. Oftenly, we have a combination of both the achieved status and the ascribed status. However, there’s that status with an exceptional importance for social identity and that shapes a person’s personal life. This is referred to as a master status and according to our society, one’s occupation often comprises this position. According to the social diversity, physical disability becomes the master status for many people. Some other ascribed statuses like race or sex are other examples of positions which in one way or the other are a person’s master statuses. In the construction of a socially stratified reality, the concept of role is significant. By role, we mean the expected behavior that is attached to particular status. The expectations the society attaches to a role somewhat makes the role performance to differ. Since each status has several roles attached to it, a person has many roles than statuses. This number of roles attached to particular status is referred to as role set. An individual can creatively shape reality through social interaction. It is understood as a negotiation process which generates to shaping reality. People also build reality from the surrounding culture that varies widely within a given society. Analysis of social interaction in terms of theatrical performances is crucial. Individuals in various settings make attempts to create impressions in the minds of others, what is referred to as impression management. There are various reasons why discrimination arises and how it is perpetuated. Compounding effect of multiple grounds are always linked to a person’s experience of definition. For example, researches confirm that the elderly and persons with disabilities experience higher unemployment chances. Members of radicalized groups with such qualities may also be underemployed on multiple grounds. These are social harms and pains that come from such acts of discrimination. Another reason for discrimination is protecting persons associated with others protected by the code. The code could protect people who are not personally identified by one of the grounds. The big question arises on whether one is a member of a protected group. There should be considerable intent behind how u treat someone instead of analysis based on looks, myths and stereotypes. This is discrimination based on perceived grounds. Age could also be another reason for discrimination on may social area including employment. Younger job applicants may be discriminated on the grounds of stereotypes about youth and experience. Older employees may be discriminated on the grounds of health related and disability concerns. They should eliminate discrimination and instead base thneir decisions on the basis of actual merits, capacities and circumstances. Others are discriminated on the basis of underage and considered to as minors. Some are discriminated whenever employers state the maximum and minimum age. Disability is another major point of concern. This has been claimed by a quarter of all human rights. Employers are concerned with disability related concerns, and to prevent these claims and issues in a timely way, they opt to discriminate which should not be the case. They should instead apply measures such as inclusive design and develop accommodation issues. Family status is another major reason for discrimination. A person’s marital status has also become a major concern. To take care of this, policies and actions should not be based on social areas. Some stereotypes that a man or a woman is of a greater value than other types of marital status should be dropped. There is also race and race related grounds of discrimination. Language itself is not a ground for discrimination but it may be associated with any of the race related grounds. The same case applies to color. Ancestry and place of origin are also major causes of discrimination. Citizenship, sex, and record of offences, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation are also major causes of discrimination. However, discrimination may be stopped. These include setting the standards without placing blame. One should bring awareness on what is acceptable and what should be dropped. Whenever one experiences discrimination, it is good to challenge the behavior immediately. Sometimes it is good to address the challenge even if it means later in future. In the process of eliminating discrimination, it is important to know your audience your evidence and understand them. This makes it easier to drive a convincing argument and know what points you need to change. It is good to take your time and work out the best strategy in which you can address discrimination. You can also seek the advice of other in order to come up with the best strategy. One can also seek the help of others including a lawyer to know your rights. Discrimination has hazardous consequences. Some of the physical consequences associated with discrimination include change of appetite, decreased energy, stress related ailments, insomnia, headaches among others. It also has emotional impacts such as anger, depression, fear, feeling of isolation, self blame and guilt. Career and academic impact include absenteesm, decreased concentration, and reduced productivity whenever one fall victim. The grades or employment records suffer because of this. The vice of discrimination also has social impacts such as alcohol and drug abuse. It leads to physical and emotional withdrawal from friends and family. Financial impacts include decrease in professional reputation or academic standing, decrease in future job opportunities, actual loss of jobs, scholarships and recommendations. The organization may also suffer costs of discrimination such litigation, higher employee turnover, tarnished public image, frustration and loosing sides. In conclusion, impression management is very fundamental in our daily life. Talking of impression management we mean the process with which people attempt to influence perceptions of other people, object or even designs. It may extent to professional or even public relations. There are three types of intangible consequences that are associated with discrimination. These include fines, litigation costs and also bad publicity. Litigation expenses are associate dwith employment discrimination claims. These includes the attorney fees and investigative expenses. There are sums of costs associated with litigation. They include punitive damages and compensatory damages. Lost income and revenue is a tangible, though difficult to measure, cause of discrimination. When the media covers such issues there may be a considerable drop in sales hence lost incomes and revenues. There are no socially responsible customers that will want to be associated with supporting businesses that have been involved with scandals of social discrimination practices. Organizations use impressions such as branding as strategies to convey the brand image to external and internal audiences. Mangers have no option other than build the impressions they make on others, be it subordinates and business partners. The imperession they create is the overall effect on their understanding All in all, these are just but ways in which we create a socially stratified reality, or rather category driven realities. Works cited David M. Newman, Sociology, chapter 12, â€Å"The Architecture of Inequality: Sex and Gender.† Kate Bornstein â€Å"Gender Outlaw vintage books New York, 1995† David M. Newman, sociology, Chapter 14 â€Å"Architects of change: Reconstructing Society† David M. Newman, sociology, Chapter 10 â€Å"The Architecture of Stratification: Social Class and Inequality†

Sunday, January 19, 2020

The History of the Nutcracker Ballet :: essays research papers

The History of The Nutcracker Ballet   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When we think about The Nutcracker today, we see a memorable story about a girl (Marie) receiving a magical gift at a Christmas party from her mysterious Uncle Dosselmeyer. The gift is a nutcracker. Later that night, the nutcracker ends up turning into a Prince after defeating the Mouse King and saves Marie. Then, he takes Marie to a land called The Kingdom of Sweets where she is greeted by the Sugarplum fairy. This story is one of the most recognized ballets across the globe. However, what we do not think about is the way this ballet was created and how no one believed in the story as a great ballet. Following the success of The Sleeping Beauty, Ivan Alexandrovitch Vsevolojsky, the director of the Imperial Theaters, wanted to make another ballet with choreographer Marius Petipa and composer Pete Ilyitch Tchaikovsky. Vsevolojsky suggested a story based on a book called Nussknacher und Mausekonig (The Nutcracker and the King of the Mice) by Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffman. Hoffman’s story was first published in 1816. It was a part of a collection of children’s fairy tales titled Kindermarchen. This story, however, had a dark twist to the end of it that none of them liked. Because of this, Vsevolojsky decided to pick a nicer version of the story. He found a book that was based on Hoffman’s book. It was written by Alexandre Dumas and it was called L’Historie d’un Casse Noisette (The Story of a Hazelnutcracker).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Both Petipa and Tchaikovsky still did not like the story and refused to work on the project. Petipa did not think the story was right for ballet dancing. He did not feel that Marie, the main character, was a strong enough character to dance. He did try to write a scenario for the ballet, but he could not think of anything past the scene of what we know of as the kingdom of snow. After Petipa gave up, Vsevolojsky begged and persisted with Petipa to try again. He convinced Petipa and this time he created a new character called the Sugarplum fairy. This character was not in either of the original stories. She was to be the main character, rather than Marie, and she would be the ruler of the Kingdom of Sweets. Petipa felt that this character could dance the big scenes better than the character Marie.

Saturday, January 11, 2020

The Refugee

The Refugee by Pearl S. Buck Genre: social problem Theme: the aftermath of a natural disaster Setting: city in China; flood Characters: old man, noodle vendor, passer-by Summary: Please put the paragraphs into the correct order: An old man, too old for the heavy burden he is carrying, is the last of the procession. He can hardly keep up with the others. When he can no longer go on he sits down near a stand selling hot noodles. A man passing by takes pity on him and offers him some coins, although he himself does not know where his next meal is to come from.The old man is reluctant to take the money. He does not want to be thought a beggar and so explains the situation. He says that his people had good land, but that the river rose and they had no food left. In desperation they even ate the seed which had been bought for planting the land. He takes pains to defend his people, saying that they were too hungry and too inexperienced to think of the future, although he warned them not to eat the seed. The passer-by drops a silver coin and a copper penny into the old man's apron and goes on his way.To the noodle vendor's surprise the old man does not spend all the money on food, but only the copper coin. He gives the noodles to his small grandson, whom he is carrying in one of his baskets. The boy's mother and father had died in the floods and the old man is now looking after the child. He himself only eats the few scraps left by the boy. Then he hands the bowl back to the astonished vendor, who cannot understand why a starving man with a silver coin does not buy more food for himself.The old man explains that the rest of the money is for seed. He says that the best thing he can do for his grandson is to buy seed to ensure against more starvation the following year. The flooding of the river has forced the farmers of an unnamed country to leave their homelands and look for food and shelter in the capital a few hundred miles away. The city is full of ragged and starvi ng refugees and nobody really knows how to cope with the problem. They have to live in great camps outside the city wall trying to find work and food.The situation is causing a lot of bitterness among the local inhabitants. One day some new refugees arrive. They are different from the others in that they are not â€Å"riff-raff from some community always poor and easily starving in a flood time†. They are all from the same region and are well-built, neatly and cleanly dressed and obviously take pride in themselves, despite their hopeless situation. There are, however, no young girls and no infants, which suggests that they must have perished during the floods while still working in the fields.All of them carry bedding and cauldrons, though there is no trace of food in any of them. The lack of food shows in their faces and in their apathy towards the things around them. Unit I The Situation in the City 1. The situation in the city Why did the refugees have to leave their land? How do the refugees feel about the new place? Which words tell the reader that the place where they come from is very different from where they are now? How does the time of year make the situation of the refugees even worse?How do the local inhabitants feel about all the refugees in their city? The crowd of refugees is described as a â€Å"horde† (25 5). This term expresses dislike. Which other word in the same paragraph describes the refugees in a way which shows how much the inhabitants dislike them being in the city? Look the word up in a dictionary. What does it compare the refugees with? What ideas come to mind when you hear the word â€Å"horde†? Unit II The Refugees 1. The new refugees Despite the differences which exist between the new refugees and the others what do they have in common? common features: | |Feeling of alienation and estrangement | |They are as in a dream: apathy, lack of interest, no curiosity, indifference, despair, loss of hope, no confide nce | | | |differences: | |common refugees |new refugees | |they beg at doors | | |they have no belongings | | |tend to be poor wherever they are | | |†clothed somehow† (24 14-15) | | |they are â€Å"ragged† (24 16) | | |riff-raff no-one is proud of | | Unit III The significance of the title What makes the old man different from all the other refugees? Unit IV Unanswered Questions; The Message Topics for further discussion: What natural catastrophes threaten us? The message What can the reader learn from the story? Suggestion for written work: a) Imagine you are a citizen of the capital, a shopkeeper. You have had enough of all these refugees and do not want any more to come. You saw the new ones arrive yesterday.Write a letter to the editor of your local paper, explaining your point of view and demanding that something should be done about the situation. Words from the story will help you. b) Imagine you are the person who gave the money to the old man. Write a letter to the editor of your local paper, explaining how you feel: say that you want the city to do more to help the refugees both in their present situation and in the future. Suggest some ways of preventing a second catastrophe. Explain what will happen if there is no long-term help. Start both letters with ‘Dear sir' and end them with ‘Yours faithfully'. Read the letters out in class and discuss them.

Friday, January 3, 2020

Characteristics Of A Customer Service Department - 867 Words

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