Individual Identity in Philip Roths The Ghost Writer Essay -- Ghost W

Individual Identity in Philip Roth's The Ghost Writer    The idea of self, an individual authentic unique identity, seems to be constantly questioned and challenged in Philip Roth's The Ghost Writer. We are presented with several portraits of artists, writers and would be writers, whose notion of self is in some significant manner tied to their art. Rather than knitting together a unified (rehabilitated?) concept of self, aesthetic creativity, art, complicates and further problematizes the issue of identity. Art simultaneously undermines and underscores insights provided by a supposedly seamless master narrative. The creative impulses and ideas which inspire an artist to create may have little or nothing to do with the meaning or meanings assigned to the art itself by a virtually endless chain of interpreters. Writers are thus distanced from their texts at the same time an audience, a reader, is constructing an identity for him/herself and for the author based on the text.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Nathan Zuckerman, the narrator, is motivated to become a "great" novelist because in part of his romanticized notions of writing and writers. His identity becomes entangled in the works of E.I. Lonoff. Nathan rejects the pleas of his father to place his identity as a member of a family and as a Jew above his identity as a writer. Evoking Joyce's Stephen Dedalus, Roth's Nathan Dedalus places his identity as an artist above other concerns. He seeks a new intellectual/spiritual father in Lonoff. First from Lonoff's writings and then from the personal encounter with Lonoff himself, Nathan hopes that by emulating Lonoff in all aspects, he will become more like the idealized identity he has created as his goal.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Lonoff... ...sentative of a larger group, concept, or commodity. This fracture first promoted by her writing is a source of both hope and agony.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Amy seeks meaning from within her fragmented existence. Where Nathan is brought to the edge of this discovery as the novel progresses, Lonoff retreats from it. Literature is adept at describing and cultivating a fragmented sense of identity; it can motivate others to actions/extremes never sought by the author. Put simply, art encourages interpretation. As writers, each of these three characters is aware of the fact that unity or singularity of interpretation is rarely (if ever) achieved. When also applied to an individual identity such interpretive freedom/ambiguity can be the source of both strength and despair. The notion of self, though perhaps less whole by the end of the novel, still houses a potential for meaning.

Role of The Tannery in the novel Nectar in a Sieve Essay -- essays res

Question: What role does the tannery, in Rukmani’s city, have throughout the book? Explain. Also, be sure to discuss what effect it had on the people. In almost every novel, there is at least one culprit or menace. He or she usually causes problems and in more exciting works, ends up murdering one of the protagonists. Hence, in the erratic novel Nectar in a Sieve, which is set in India during the early 1950’s, there has been a troublemaker, just hidden and extremely indirect in his actions. â€Å"What’s his name?† one might ask. The answer: the tannery. This corporation alone forces Rukmani and her husband Nathan off their land, takes away Rukmani’s sons, and ultimately, kills her husband. By being the culprit in the book, the tannery symbolizes many important things such as how the area is changing and those who can’t adapt will flounder such as what happens to Rukmani and Nathan. The tannery shows India’s economic situation as well. The more businesses, the faster India’s economic structure will form, resulting in more political power for the country, but deteriorating the crop li fe. Lastly, the tannery depicts how farm life in India is slowly fading away and those who can not find other skills will fade away too. A major corporation opening in a small town is a sign that the tides are changing and if one can not keep up, he will drown. This is certainly the case in Nectar in a Sieve, being that the tannery opens up in Rukmani’s city. At the time, Rukmani and Nathan have no other skills than tilling the fields and when the tannery buys their land, they were left awestruck as to what their next move should be. Rukmani always had a hunch since the start of the book that the tannery would lead to their end. This quote shows that... ...ry provides stable wages and hope for promotion. This is more secure than working in a farm because even if there is a drought or the crops go bad, workers still earn a constant rupee a day to support their family. The tannery opening up in Rukmani’s small city and the steady rush of workers depicts how farm life in India will decrease in the next century. Rukmani overcame many hardships in the novel but her fight with the tannery is a loss. The tannery ultimately defeats her and takes away her husband. Alas, readers typically overlook the tannery as being the antagonist in the novel even though it frequently infuriated the lives of Rukmani and Nathan. Everybody has at least one tannery in their life, be it their boss, friend, coworker or even parent. Being able to overcome your mental tannery would grant you success in life, something Rukmani could never achieve.

How Does Marxism Explain the Role of Education in Society?

How does Marxism explain the role of education in society? The sociology of education is the study of how public institutions and individual experiences affect education and its outcomes. It is most concerned with the public schooling systems of modern industrial societies, including the expansion of higher, further, adult, and continuing education. Education has always been seen as a fundamentally optimistic human endeavour characterised by aspirations for progress and betterment.It is understood by many to be a means of overcoming handicaps, achieving greater equality and acquiring wealth and social status (Education and Sociology 1992). Education is perceived as a place where children can develop according to their unique needs and potential. It is also perceived as one of the best means of achieving greater social equality. Many would say that the purpose of education should be to develop every individual to their full potential and give them a chance to achieve as much in life a s their natural abilities allow (meritocracy).However some take a particularly negative view, arguing that the education system is designed with the intention of causing the social reproduction of inequality and creating a workforce for society. One of the main sociological approaches that use theory to explain the role of education is Marxism. The Marxist perspective is critical of the educational system, arguing that it is unfair, and serves to coerce people into accepting their â€Å"roles† in an unequal society. The concept of the ‘hidden curriculum’ is key in the understanding of the Marxist perspective.The aim of the hidden curriculum is to socialise young people into accepting the role assigned to them by the capitalist class. It is argued the teachers subconsciously deliver this ‘hidden curriculum’ making pupils aware of the respect and obedience that should be given towards the established organisation [Karl Marx, 1983]. As well as this, sub tle skills such as time keeping and organisation are taught. In introducing these skills from a young age, society will accept them as norms and not question there status in society.The correspondence principle is a theory used by Marxists to explain how much of what we learn in school is preparation for our future roles as workers is in capitalist society. Many sociologists who support this principle argue that education is just a means of maintaining social class boundaries. Many argue that schools in capitalistic societies are geared toward giving children different types of education based solely on their social standing rather than by their inherent skills. Under this principle schools are believed to give lower class children a different type of education compared to their upper class counterparts.Typically, it is said that lower class children are put on an educational track that will prepare them for ‘blue collar’ jobs. It is thought that the education of lower class children is different because it prepares them to enter the work force directly after secondary school. Schooling teaches working class children to sit quietly at their desk, obey the teacher’s authority, and also acquaints them with becoming familiar with repetitive tasks. Similarly, the education of upper class children is thought to be geared toward upper class or ‘white collar’ professions.With upper class children, instead of focusing on preparing them to enter the workforce, there is added emphasis is on preparing them to move on to four year colleges and universities after secondary school. Here they are trained to be professionals and capitalists by teaching them how to think critically and instilling in them a sense of responsibility and authority [Frank M Howell 1982] Louis Althusser was a structural Marxist who, through the influences of Karl Marx, introduced the concept of an ‘ideological state apparatus’.He argued that economic rel ations structure education so as to reproduce these same economic values into teaching. He went on to state that education is part of the system of the reproduction of labour power. Schools work to ensure that those who are to do the work will do so co-operatively, out of the belief that the situation is just and reasonable. From this point of view, the failure of so many pupils in schools is not a failing of the system but actually what the schooling system is designed to do. Working class children, who opt out, fail, or find schools alien, are indications that schooling is working successfully.Thus, education is not designed to develop human potential, but to limit it. The correspondence principle (Bowles and Gintis 1976) takes this point further stating that education introduces the acceptance of hierarchy and motivation by external rewards. For example; teacher says, pupil does; boss says worker does. Hierarchy comes into place in the form of the teachers roles e. g. head, deput y head, head of year, head of department etc. Many pupils are not interested in the subject knowledge they are taught are school, the only reason that have for going to school is to get exam passes i. e. an external reward.This prepares us for the world of work where we do not work for the love of the job but for the wage. Thus what happens at school corresponds to what happens at work. There are several examples present in today’s society that support Marxist theories of education. The introduction of the Youth Training Schemes (YTS) in 1983 [online] is one of these. Known as ‘on-the-job training courses’, these YTS represented ‘working class’ and job specific qualifications for the needs of capitalism. Another example of such schemes are General National Vocational Qualification (GNVQ’s) which are now know as NVQ’s.Such courses are said to favour the working classes as the structure is mainly coursework based. Many of the courses invo lve hands on learning which again, teach the hidden disciplines needed to work for the capitalist society and prepare a skilled work force. The Class biased system of education is shown by league tables and examination results and the principle of student loans represents the way in which the disadvantaged (working classes) are ‘priced’ out of the system. In conclusion of the Marxist perspective, it is clear they take a very critical approach on the education system.The promotion of ruling class ideologies through institutions such as the education system is seen to supress the working classes keeping them conformed to the norms and values of society. The teaching of these values at a young age means fewer questions are likely to be asked and the capitalist society can continue to work as it does, for the benefit of the economy. A second sociological perspective that takes a different view on education is that of functionalism. This is, in contrast to Marxism, a non-con flict approach. Functionalists believe that the education system has three main functions.Firstly it socialises young people into key cultural values such as equality of opportunity, competition and religious morality. Education is said by functionalists (especially Durkheim) to emphasise moral responsibilities in society that people should have towards each other [Education and Sociology 1922]. If these norms were not passed down through generations then there would be a tendency for individualism (where people believe that they are more important than social groups). An example of how education goes about promoting these values is through the subjects that are taught.Citizenship and religious education were introduced as compulsory subjects in schools to see that young people did things with thought for the society. The second function is to do with the skills that education teaches children, from literacy and numeracy to more job-specific skills. Occupational jobs are becoming mo re specialised and this in turn will lead to more years in education. The final function of education, according to functionalists is the allocating of roles of young people in society. Examinations and qualifications are said to allocate people for their most suited job.The equality of opportunity took place and so higher talented people are given the most functionally important jobs for the society. Emile Durkheim is one of the main influential and well known functionalists. He stated that ‘society can survive only if there exists among all its members a sufficient degree of homogeneity; education perpetuates and reinforces this homogeneity by fixing in the child, from the very beginning, the essential similarities that collective life demands’ [Education and Sociology 1922]. Homogeneity is defined as the quality or state of being of the same or similar nature having a uniform structure throughout [online].Durkheim saw sociology as a science and concentrated on the st udy of social facts rather than what motivates the actions of individuals. He argued that education has many functions; to reinforce social solidarity in subjects such as history (learning about individuals who have done good things for the many makes an individual feel insignificant) and through the pledge of allegiance in America (making individuals feel part of a group and therefore less likely to break rules); to maintain social role (school is a society in miniature. It has a similar hierarchy, rules, and expectations to the â€Å"outside world. It trains young people to fulfil roles); and to maintain division of labour (school sorts students into skill groups, encouraging students to take up employment in fields best suited to their abilities) [Education and Sociology 1922]. Although many of these points are similar to that of Marxism, the functionalists look at the positives of such class divisions. Two more perspectives that challenge the views of Marxism are Interactionism and Feminism. Interactionists take a micro approach looking at what happens in the classroom environment, specifically pupil and teacher interaction.They also concentrate on the way teacher expectations and perceptions of pupils can affect the life chances and educational chances of pupils. Whereas Marxists and Functionalists tend to focus on the structural sides to society, interactionists examine the relationships between the education system and the individual. This sociological group place a strong emphasis on labelling theology. Hargreaves, Hester and Mellor (Deviance in Classrooms 1975) studied how pupils became typified and classified. They conducted their study in two schools by interviewing teachers and observing in class.They found that teachers have a limited knowledge about their pupils when they first arrive at school, so they speculate, using the information that they already have, such as the pupils’ appearance, how far they conform to discipline, and their en thusiasm for work. This is elaborated over time until the teacher reaches a stage when they feel â€Å"they know† the pupil. It is therefore a gradual process that changes over time. Through this process the teacher can have an important influence on the progress of their pupils.It can affect the attention and encouragement a pupil can receive. The self-fulfilling prophecy follows on from the stereotyping and subsequent labelling of pupils. This theory argues that predictions made by teachers about the future success or failure of their pupils will tend to come true. The teachers’ interaction with their pupils will be influenced by the labels that they have attached. If a pupil has been labelled by their teacher as a potentially bright student they may receive extra encouragement to attain the higher marks.Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) tested the validity of self-fulfilling prophecy. They discovered that teachers’ expectations could significantly affect their pu pils’ performance The feminist perspectives generally focus on how education promotes patriarchy and a ‘male dominated’ society. There are many different branches within feminism such as liberal, radical and Marxist feminists however they all share the view that the education system is very male orientated and that women are socialised to conform to this dominance thus supressing them.Some of the more radical approaches go as far to say that ‘patriarchy will only end when women are freed from the physical and emotional violence inflicted by men in the classroom and the playground’ [online] In conclusion, the Marxist approach takes a very critical view of the education system arguing that is merely reinforces inequalities in society. They go on to state that in teaching a ‘hidden curriculum’, the system is only in place to create a dominant and trained work force to work for and fit the needs of the capitalist society.From a young age chi ldren begin to be shaped to fit these societal needs and are made to believe that their place in society is already decided for them through norms and values. In conforming to what they believe is normal, societies avoid anomie and complete social collapse as well as keeping the social classes from rising above their stations or asking questions. In contrast to such a negative outlook on the education system, functionalists look at how the teaching of norms and values creates social solidarity where shared beliefs bring together all classes.Interactionists take yet another view exploring the concept of pupil to teacher interaction and how labelling can shape behaviour. Finally, feminists take the view that the education system works in favour of males in giving them a higher status in the economical market thus justifying the suppression of women. References -Bottomore, Tom; Goode, Patrick [1983] ‘Readings in Marxist Sociology’ Clarendon Press (London) -Durkheim, Emile [1895] ‘The Rules of Sociological Method’ 8th edition, trans.Sarah A. Solovay and John M. Mueller, ed. George E. G. Catlin (1938, 1964 edition) -Durkheim, Emile [1956] ‘Education and Sociology’ Macmillan Publishing Co. , inc. & Collier Macmillan Publishers (London) -Howell, Frank M. ; McBroom, Lynn W. (1982), SOCIAL RELATIONS AT HOME AND AT SCHOOL: AN ANALYSIS OF THE CORRESPONDENCE PRINCIPLE, 55, American Sociological Association -http://socyberty. com/education/the-functions-of-education-according-to-functionalists-and-marxists/#ixzz1HN8LoWUv [accessed on 13. 3. 2011] -http://socyberty. com/education/the-functions-of-education-according-to-functionalists-and-marxists/#ixzz1HNLMioDC [accessed on 9. 03. 2011] -http://www. educationforum. co. uk/sociology_2/functionalist. htm [accessed on 9. 03. 2011] -http://www. le. ac. uk/education/resources/SocSci/zoe. html [accessed on 9. 03. 2011] -http://www. marxists. org/glossary/people/a/l. htm [accessed on 9. 03. 2 011] -http://www. thestudentroom. co. uk/showthread. php? t=185151 [accessed on 13. 03. 2011]

Implementing Talent Development Strategies Essay

The organizations that are running the talent development programs may soon begin to find the high quality people who can be able to lead and to motivate others in order to achieve the highest levels of performance and productivity in the organization. This means that identifying the organizational education culture for the organization, people and top performers of the organization will revolve around some factors that lead to the development of an all round business professional. (Davis and Cutt, 1988). These include strategizing market and product or the services, instilling the manufacturing know how to the people, educating people on the distribution channels, financing strategies among others. Educational issues cover many issues such as cash and expense flow, position of the firm’s cash flow. The people undergoing the talent development will require getting instructions from skilled staff members to make solid decisions and to understand the technical issues that are involved. Education programs will include development of self awareness knowledge, effective problem solving and having good interpersonal communication. (Davis and Cutt, 1988). Training In the organizations if internal training programs are necessary for talent development, they should therefore be updated regularly. The management should also review these programs to see that they are up to date. Again, working in the training program should be a temporary move by employees who are in need of improving their career skills by sharpening their technical as well as presentation skills. (Davis and Cutt, 1988). An organization that is implementing the talent implementation program is likely to receive problems and resistance. This is because young employees are often faced with many problems sometimes that may come immediately after they begin their careers. (Davis and Cutt, 1988). The first problem which involves being offered jobs that they are not trained in. secondly, the firm may face the problem of too much experience which is caused by narrowing down of the career. In addition, the organization may face the problem of using techniques of talent development in order to protect ones career especially towards the person’s retirement. The above problems show that the development of new talents will stop if the firm fails to give appropriate conditions. This may be achieved through employee training. (Davis and Cutt, 1988). An OPD professional might help implement the strategies as well as address or resolve any problems or issues in the implementation of the talent program by making it clear to the organization the organizational requirements to maintain an organization’s competitive edge and to ensure the survival of the organization. The professional may provide means of developing the organizations effectiveness. The professi9onal is required to understand the strategic goals of the organization and to translate this in to the day to day running of the organizational processes. (Davis and Cutt, 1988).

Sop communication engineering

The heart of human excellence often begins to beat when you discover a pursuit that absorbs you, challenges you and gives you a sense of meaning, joy and passion. I have found that one thing that helps me to live peacefully on this glorious planet is â€Å"successful engagement in meaningful work† keeping in my mind where my hands are. An intrepid dream by the Wright brothers to give the humankind wings to fly, an intrepid dream by few thoughtful men to let the human race take the first step on the moon.I think hat it is the gift to dream, the ability to ponder beyond facts and the intelligence to make thoughts into reality that sets us apart from the rest in the tree of evolution. From the wheel to pacemaker, history is replete with events where a simple, yet brilliant idea has changed the way future generations live for decades, and even countries. I believe in seeing dreams and giving my best to realize those dreams that will be a step forward in the betterment of the human race.Dreams are what made the world, what it is today. In an era of competition and excellence, engineering has taken strides which our forefathers never even dreamt of. To be an excellent instrument for the development of our world we must be educated, cultured, refined and thoughtful. Knowledge is what elevates man to a disciplined being. To be an erudite is not only about possessing education but also having skill to implement it in a practical world.An aspiration to become a pioneer in the field of Electronics prevailed right from my childhood. The desire of gaining in-depth knowledge and my enthusiasm and curiosity to understand the mechanics of electronic devices and about communication systems led me to hose Electronics and Communication engineering as my undergraduate study. During my undergraduate studies, lectures delivered by eminent people who are leaders in their field exposed me to the needs and aspirations of the industry. Id my summer in-plant training in Airports A uthority of India, where I was engaged in learning various functional aspects of security and communication equipments such as X-ray baggage Inspection System (SIBS) and CATV camera used for surveillance purpose. During my third year of undergraduate study had the opportunity to visit Doorman's Achaean, which is the Indian's largest public broadcaster. Had a great experience working with the technicians in this platform where I had a thorough knowledge about the working mechanism in Production control room, Master control room, earth station and transmission process.To implement practically what had learnt in my three years of undergraduate study, I did my final year project which is about â€Å"Implementation Of tamper proof ATM and weapon identification system. † Looting money, ATM robbery/ burglars damaging the money vending machines have become common. So, n order to save the lives of common people I had used a vibration sensor and inductive proximity sensor which will al ert the cops using a RFC transceiver.Hence, this is an added protection to ATM itself. In addition to the above projects, I am currently pursuing a course on â€Å"CAN (Switching and Routing)† that validates the ability to install, configure, operate and troubleshoot medium-size routed and switched networks. I believe this course is supportive for any communication engineer to know more in depth about NETWORKING and also hope that this course will be beneficial for me to attain an internship experience in your laboratory.To further my knowledge in the field of Communication Systems, I wish to pursue my higher studies and excel in a graduate school that stands for high quality teaching and infrastructure which could help me realize my goal of becoming a lead engineer in the field of communication systems. Nanning Technological University (ANTI) is likely to provide me just that through its Communication Engineering program. The course listings under this program with subjects such as Digital communication systems, Optical fiber communications,Computer networks, Antennas and propagation for wireless systems and all other courses provides me a great platform to further my ideas. This knowledge shall help me in design an effective, efficient and safe system, play a significant role in long-term planning and help me to become a successful communication engineer. I strongly believe .NET is the place that provides the path towards my destination. NUT has one of the topmost ranked graduate programs in Communication Engineering in terms of experienced faculty and state-of-the-art infrastructure and research facilities.

Intuitive Eating Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Intuitive Eating - Assignment Example After further reading, however, I came to the conclusion that the book was making a very serious contribution to the field of nutrition, and that it was based on some good scientific evidence. The first chapter made it clear to me that the starting point of the book was one of the biggest problems faced by readers who have difficulty achieving and maintaining a healthy weight: a process that I would describe as diet fatigue. From my own experience I know that it is very difficult to stick to any diet and that there is a tendency for dieters to have a cycle of enthusiasm, initial weight loss, failure to maintain momentum, and finally a regaining of the pounds that have been lost and a search for a new diet. It was a new idea for me to consider this issue from the angle that dieting is the problem and not the solution. In fact the term that the authors use for this is â€Å"diet backlash† (Tribole and Resch, 1995, p. 2). The authors make the point that serial dieting is not only unsuccessful, it is actually harmful because it teaches the mind and the body to acquire all kinds of bad habits that counteract any good effects of the changes made in calorie intake. So far I was convinced by the argument, but I had a nagging worry that the authors would need to come up with something special to replace the tried and tested means of dieting for those who want to achieve a healthy body weight. Chapter two was an interesting exploration of different personality types which are reflected in eating habits. The three main categories of â€Å"Careful Eater, Professional Dieter and Unconscious Eater.† In my opinion this is an over-simplification because I have encountered many different personality types, both in my professional life and in my private circle of friends. The value of the descriptors is, however, that it encourages the reader to focus on the underlying motivations for people’s behavior in relation to food. I have one friend, for example,

No topic Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 14

No topic - Assignment Example In an attempt to resolve the scarcity concern, reliance on chemically processed substitutes or genetically engineered crop products could emerge in the economy but these could have adverse health implications. Use of chemically processed foods may intoxicate people while genetically engineered foods may alter change cell structure to alter people’s body physiology. Farmers would also lose their jobs and this would mean their lost earnings. Following the loss, poverty rate is likely to increase and its effects such as inability to meet social needs are likely. With inability to meet care costs, quality of life is likely to deteriorate and escalate problems that could arise from scarcity of food or use of chemically processed foods (Ball State University 9, 10). Low life expectancy is another anticipated effect of the concern, as residents of the state would suffer from famine. This could also lead to high mortality rate, especially among poor members of the society who have bee n relying on crop farming for their income (Doblhammer, Berg, and Lumey n.p.). Doblhammer, Gabriele, Berg, Gerard, and Lumey, L. â€Å"Long-term effects of famine on life expectancy: A re-analysis of the great Finish famine of 1866-1868.† IZA. February 2011. Web. April 2, 2015. < http://ftp.iza.org/dp5534.pdf