Asian American Stereotypes Essay Example for Free

Asian American Stereotypes Essay Pertaining to Tracy Lais article titled, Asian American Women, Lai discusses how stereotypes dehumanize people while turning them into objects to be manipulated. Lai touches on the topic of how Asian people and cultures are stereotyped as being inferior and exotic. The problem that Lai brings to our attention is that it is a struggle to be an Asian in America due to the fact that Asians have been denied political, economic and social equality in America. Lai also brings to our attention the die hard myth that Asians have made it in America, which is far from the truth. I sense that Lais argument is extremely effective due to the fact that stereotypes are not only seen among Asians, they are also seen in many other cultures and genders. For instance, women for years were battling for womans equality to be able to vote, and today women are still battling for equality in political and economic areas. In addition, African Americans are still trying to be accepted into certain political roles throughout our society. Since Tracy Lai is a Asian in America I feel that her argument holds great validity due to the fact that Lai shared her own personal experiences. By reading Lais personal feelings, it allowed me to understand her beliefs to a greater extent because I was able to see where she was coming from. Certainly I agree with Lais views because I have noticed that Asians are depicted as being inferior. For example, if you have ever seen a movie or a television show that had an Asian character, nine times out of ten the Asian character is depicted as being mathematicians, naive, and speaks with broken English. I have also noticed that there are very few Asian politicians, as well as very few women politicians, within our culture. I do not know if this problem stems from Asian Americans not having a historical/authoritative figure like Dr. Martin Luther King representing African Americans, and Susan B. Anthony representing womans rights to vote. However, I do know that Asians do not receive the same types of opportunities as others because they have been stereotyped for so long as being inferior. In addition, I feel that the reason why Asians may be seen as inferior individuals is because they were one of the last cultures to start a movement for equality that was inspired by other ethnic cultures. Because of this somewhat late movement, our culture has not been able to adapt to this change, like our culture has not adapted to women being paid the same as men. Lai brought to my attention that Asians are claimed to value education more than other minorities and Asians are said to have special intellectual affinities for math and science. Lai proceeded to raise the point that this is a racist rationale because this is implying that other cultures are not able to succeed in this type of area. For instance, I can relate to this statement because African Americans are said to be dominate in athletics, and they are also believed to have a higher vertical leap than others. I was offended when I heard this because I received a scholarship to Sacramento State for high jumping, and I am not African American. This example just goes to show you that stereotypes do dehumanize people and turns them into something they are not. In retrospect, Asians and other cultures are being denied political, economic, and social equality which is not equitable to these people. I feel that by reading Lais article has made me realize that stereotyping has no boundaries, because it is occurring in many different cultures and it is effecting many different people.

Gatorade - Marketing Project Essay Example for Free

Gatorade Marketing Project Essay The Gatorade Company makes the world’s leading sports drink. In part, this is due to its ubiquitous marketing strategies that can be seen almost everywhere. Gatorade is the official sports drink of the NBA, WNBA, MLB, NHL and MLS. It is also the official sports drink of the NFL and has become part of a famous tradition, the â€Å"Gatorade Dunk† where the winning athletes of the Super Bowl empty the Gatorade cooler over the coach. Gatorade has also been advertised by some of the greatest athletes in history; from Serena Williams, to Peyton Manning, to Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt, to probably the most famous endorser in NBA great Michael Jordan. Gatorade makes several products including the G series which consists of pre-game, thirst quencher and post-game beverages. There is also the G Series Pro which consists mainly of sports nutrition products. Then there is G Natural which contains more natural ingredients. The Gatorade Company also makes Propel Fitness Water. The Gatorade Company was not always such a large company nor was it created by an existing beverage corporation. It was created as a necessity by the team in which it’s named after: The University of Florida Gators. Gatorade was created in 1965 by a team of five scientists led by Dr. Robert Cade. The beverage was created to improve the athletic performance of the university’s football team. When more than a dozen of the players had fallen sick due to dehydration from the intense heat and training, the scientists researched dehydration and what the body loses during immense activity. They found out that sugars, salts and minerals were required to hydrate the human body after immense physical activity; water alone was not enough. They created an electrolyte-carbohydrate drink and supplied it to the athletes. The results were phenomenal. The Gators were able to outperform their rivals, especially in the latter half of the game where exhaustion seemed to cripple their opponents. The Gators went on to win their first Champion ship and soon after Gatorade was adopted by other sports teams. Supplying the beverage became more and more difficult for the scientists as demand increased, and after failed attempts to commercialize it, Stokely-Van Camp acquired U. S. rights to the drink and Gatorade Inc. was incorporated in Florida in 1967. After much success, the coach of the Florida Gators suggested the winning formula to the coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs were impressed and used throughout the entire season culminating with a Super Bowl victory. Much of the growth of the Gatorade Company occurred when it was acquired by Quaker Oats, which bought Stokely-Van Camp for $220 million in 1983. It was under Quaker Oats that Michael Jordan, who was arguably the most famous and fast rising athlete at the time, became the celebrity spokesperson for the company. Sales skyrocketed and Gatorade was once again the leader as the sports drink market grew to $1 billion by 1994. Also during its ownership by Quaker Oats, the product went global. It was and continues to be sold in numerous countries and several continents successfully. It also expanded its product line to include more flavor varieties. Towards the end of the 1990’s the sports drink market grew to $2 billion. With its consistent success, Gatorade continued to launch new products including Propel Fitness Water. In 2000, PepsiCo, a multinational corporation focusing on beverages and snacks, acquired Quaker Oats for $13 billion. It bought over Quaker Oats primarily for the Gatorade brand, which is still one of the corporation’s largest and most successful divisions. Gatorade continued to grow because it renewed its contract with Michael Jordan, campaigned its â€Å"Is it n you? † ad, and also signed a host of new celebrity athletes. Today, Gatorade has over a dozen plants where it manufactures the products it sells and is still the leader in today’s $3 billion dollar sports drink market. Target Market Description The original target market for Gatorade was sports teams. In fact, it was originally only sold to sports teams. It spread from the Gators football team to other Gators teams such as basketball. It then spread to other college sports teams until finally it reached professional teams in the NFL. It spread team to team until it became the official sports drink of the NFL in 1983 and was used by over 70 divisions and college teams. Sales trends increased with the same rapid pace. In the early 1980’s Gatorade led the $200 million sports drink market. Net sales were recorded at $90 million in 1982 and grew exponentially in the following years. By the mid 1980’s net sales were recorded at $170 million. During the latter half of the 1980’s Gatorade marketed its famous Gatorade is Thirst Aid for that deep down body thirst, this along with televised adds, strategic placing of the product on sidelines during big games and a growing sports drink market raised net sales to nearly $900 million by the end of the decade. The demographics of the Gatorade G Series target market: * Traditionally active males, aged 18 to 25. They can be students, just starting their careers, or well established. * They grew up idolizing many different sports athletes and teams, which still have an influence. * They make a very wide variety of incomes because Gatorade is inexpensive. It could be anywhere from $10,000 to $60,000. * Education could vary also, most have at least high school level education and some have college or above experiences. * These types of consumers may also be interested in other sport-related clothing and accessories. They may be interested in terms such as jerseys, hats, shoes or anything that will show off their allegiance to a team, sport or player. * The G Series core target is the 13- to 17-year-old high-school athlete, while G Series Pros target is the 16- to 24-year-old who is in the business of being athletic, whether as an elite athlete or personal trainer. A more detailed look at the MRI report gives a great glimpse into the target market for the sports drink industry. As highlighted in the index, 18-24 year olds are the core target market. With an index of 174, that means 74% of that age range are more likely to drink sports drinks. Moving further up the age range, 18-49 year adults provide a tremendous opportunity for this market. As highlighted by their percent down (which indicates the percent of those persons out of everyone that consumes a variable), 78. 2% of the total population that drank sports drinks were of that age group. Capturing the teen consumer has been identified as a priority for the brand, with the CMO of Gatorade, Ms. Robb-OHagan, conceding that teens thought the brand was dated. Last years shift to G was meant to grab their attention. With that accomplished, she said, the brand has been working with teens to test and promote the new products. Through May, a mobile locker room is making its way to high schools, showcasing the G Series products. What were focusing on this year, from a marketing standpoint, is making sure that the high-school athlete understands the G Series, understands the three-part series, Mrs. Robb-O’Hagan said. If we land that strongly with the teen consumers, we have a lot of opportunity. A Reporter Report is complete with explanations of key numbers. Please note that all the numbers are based on the 2009 Fall MRI study, and that the projected numbers (000) are expressed in thousands. (Appendix A). Market Trends and Macro Forces According to the Beverage Marketing Corporation, the sports drink industry has actually shrunk in sales by 12. 3% from 2009. Considering that Gatorade holds over a 70% market share of the entire sports drink market, they saw losses in gallons produced by 15. 5% in that same year. In a more local look at the market, from 1986 to 2009, the geometric growth of the industry in America has been 11. 62%. However, considering the great growth for the first 19 years of its existence from 1986 to 2005 of 14. 3%, this number might be misleading. A more accurate picture can be painted by using the last 5 years, letting the state of the economy be fully reflected in growth. In this new scenario, the growth is at -. 27%. Gatorade markets not only to the athlete, but to the casual drinker as well: construction workers, restaurants, and families for dinnertime. Sales records for the sports drink brands for the year 2009 and 2010 are available in the Appendix B. Market Trends Changing Needs Gatorade being a sports drink primarily focuses on the needs of the athletes. The researchers believe that the athletes are looking for pre and post workout drinks. The average consumer is already consuming during the before-and-after occasion, said Sarah Robb-OHagan, chief marketing officer at Gatorade. Different consumers have different nutritional needs on game day vs. training days. What weve seen as weve developed these products is different consumers mixing and matching their own regime to meet their needs. In addition, in order to build long term brand loyalty Gatorade is focusing on target high school students between the ages of 13-17 years. What were focusing on this year, from a marketing standpoint, is making sure that the high-school athlete understands the G Series, understands the three-part series, she said. If we land that strongly with the teen consumers, we have a lot of opportunity. What are also sparking the changing needs in this market trend are consumers increasingly focusing on their health. They are conscious about the effects of beverages on their own bodies. According to Mintel, a consumer packaged goods monitoring service, some of the product areas with the highest growth were in the sports and meal replacement categories, which place a greater emphasis on nutrition. More beverage companies are focusing their attention on adding new nutritional benefits to their new products, promoting a product’s ability to enhance sports performance. As the consumers are growing increasingly conscious about the contents of the sports drinks and the needs of the athletes are changing, so is the change in formulations of sports drinks. It is getting even more complicated. Sports nutrition companies are looking at low glycemic sugars as functional sugar systems to enhance endurance in certain products. These include newer functional sweeteners, such as isomaltulose and trehalose. Gatorade has risen to this challenge of balancing innovation with market needs. Beverage World selected Gatorade as the Winner for Brand Reinvention when it released the G-Series which includes the three products: Prime, Perform and Recover for before, during and after work out respectively. Macro Forces There are many macro forces that affect the sports drink industry. Among the most toxic is the current state of the economy. As we have discussed earlier, the poor spending power of consumers has shifted demand to less expensive alternatives, such as water or vitamin infused drinks. As the recession begins to lag into the next year, the sports drink industry can expect sales volume to remain at current levels. Given that the U6 rate (the most comprehensive form of unemployment that combines both unemployed and underemployed) is at 17%, discretionary income will continue to be a hindrance on this industry. While our competitor analysis is fully developed in the coming sections, it should be pointed out now that competition plays a significant role in this industry’s macro forces. Currently, there are two main competitors, Gatorade and Powerade, or Pepsi and Coke, respectively. Unfortunately there is no room for consolidation in this domestic saturated market, so the competitive battles that spur between the two eat away at costs and sales. A recent example comes from a lawsuit between these two companies. An article in the Beverage Industry relating to the industry issues reported a clash between Coca-Colas Powerade and Pepsi-Colas Gatorade on a lawsuit over brand advertising. At issue was a Powerade Option ad that featured a drag race between horse-drawn carts, one of which was carrying 10 bales of hay and the other 50. The message was that 10-calorie Option allowed the 10-bale horse to win the race over the 50-calorie competitor. The lawsuit argued the ad sent the message that Powerade was more effective as a sports drink, as well as containing fewer calories. The matter was resolved in a matter of days, with Coca-Cola agreeing to modify the ad. Such trivial pursuits between the two are costly to the industry and companies themselves. In addition to the direct competitors, sports drinks are facing increased competition from bottled water like Vitamin Water and coconut water and nutritional drinks like skimmed milk and chocolate milk for hydration and nutrition. Coconut water, skimmed milk and chocolate milk are easy to produce and provide natural health benefits compared to the artificial electrolytes in popular sports drinks like Gatorade. While health concerns have had positive effects on the industry, there are also some negatives as well. A new study done by researchers at The University of Iowa suggests that the sports drink Gatorade erodes teeth faster than a carbonated soft drink. I dont think everybody realizes how erosive these things are, especially Gatorade and Red Bull, Leslie A. Ehlen, a student at the University of Iowa School of Dentistry tells WebMD. People need to be aware that all sorts of beverages can be causing dental erosion. Of course, this leads right back to another macro force in regulator procedures. Although in know will health issues like this loom over the industry’s ability to sell their products, the F. D. A (food and drug administration) can certainly dampen sales volumes if need be. The F. D. A has recently banned production of Four Loko as it the combination of caffeine and alcohol mix is extremely dangerous.

Globalisation In Early Childhood Education Essay

Globalisation In Early Childhood Education Essay Globalisation affects the countrys culture and economy development. There is impact of globalisation for children and families in both developed and developing countries. There are positive and negative implications for globalisations. In the developing countries, such as Africa, children were not supposed to view themselves as individuals on your own and without the constant intimate presence of others is the worst kind of punishment. (Penn, 2004) In this way, children may not be able to have his own decision and thoughts. People viewed themselves as a whole as community working as together. Children were trained to run errands from the moment they could toddle. (Penn, 2004) Children are to help out in the family and perform the given work the same as everyone. They are to work and contribute to the family. If they are encouraged to go to school, the family will have less helpers to support and they also face the challenge of funding their childrens education. It has also been experienced that although the majority of children in India today have access to school education, all of them are not receiving quality education for various reasons. (Govinda, 2011) One of the reasons could be the lack of funds to suppor t the childrens education as their families are already in poverty. It becomes a challenge to sustain a childs education throughout his life. However according to Penn (2004), rich countries notion of helpfulness and obligation is rarely seen as an integral part of childhood and bearing. They view it as immoral to deploy children into the workforce. Globalisation of early childhood education has positive impact in the more developed countries as they have the beliefs of providing education to the children and against the practice of letting children be breadwinners for their households. Another impact of globalisation of early childhood education has on the affluence and in poverty is in the area of language. In the case of Africa, the understanding of early childhood includes the virtue of togetherness called ubuntu which is reflected in their very own native language. Hence, communications are reflected in different meanings in different languages. For example, terms of respect, deference and gender are built into most African languages, and communication is meaningless without them. (Penn, 2004) It is mentioned that there is a limited range of countries (USA and Europe) which derived the contemporary notions of child development. (Sanders, 2004) The increasingly globalised world culture can result in certain ideologies about children and childhood will come to displace the vital diversity of experience of being a child. These ideologies derived predominantly from Western, affluent countries. The fact that English language is the world language will affect the int roduction of ideologies from western countries. Children from developing countries who do not have the chance to learn and practise English as effectively as pre-school and schooling experiences sometimes could do more harm than good for them to pick up the language skills due to mismatched of teaching methods. (Penn, 2004) The children may not appreciate the literacy skills that they should learn. On the hand, children from affluent countries are usually English speakers who see no need to learn another language since English is the universal language. In a way, they may be at a disadvantage as those who are multilingual or bilingual are naturally at an intellectual advantage. The implications of early childhood globalisations have been more receptive for developed countries than developing countries. In developed countries such as America, the government plays an important role in the country. It has a role in promoting early childhood education and care. (Penn, 2004) Government supportive of early childhood education will influence the parents thoughts and views about education. Funds to help in early childhood education area will improved in the quality of education. For example, employing skilled teachers and sending teachers for professional development to be updated with the latest information and skills. Now they are beginning to focus on childrens experiences before school. (Penn, 2004) They are very positive towards globalisation of early childhood education and care. All governments in most developed countires have a national framework for the development and support of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). (Penn, 2004) It shows the government emphasis on the importance and commitment of ECEC. European countries are especially embrace these policies to help balance work life in families. It is viewed as public good. Unlike the case of developing countries, they have been facing potential negative implications for early childhood care and education. According to Penn (2004), developing countries has increasing number of women are seeking out to work. The women and their families are moving into the cities. Therefore, they would send their children in to childcare and mothers will be able to go out to work. The need of having childcare services would increase and proper education will be able to be delivered to children. However, there is a percentage of children who do not receive education or receive poor education in the cities. People pay for what they can afford, and poor people who cannot afford to pay fees either receive very poor service or none at all. (Penn, 2004) It is essential giving proper care and sending children to schools with proper education. The children most affected by poor quality schools and therefore facing problems of locational disadvantage; and the influence of gender and social background of children on their access to quality education. (Govinda and Madhumita, 2011) Working mothers are working leaves their children in the care of their older children or leaving their children without any care. Leaving children without any proper care leads to accidents to happen. Parents may not have the knowledge of leaving their children alone without any care or leaving them to the older siblings care. Older siblings may not have the experience and knowledge looking after young children too. Accidents or death may happen when negligence takes place. Another negative implication is that there is a mismatch of successful model for implementation of globalisation of early childhood education with the local traditions and context in developing countries. Based on Penn, she had done a research on the work of international donors agencies in the field of early childhood. She discovered that very often, these agencies would take into the child developement theory from the developed countries in order to implement initiatives in developing countries. The full implementation of such initiatives in developing countries can cause resistance and incorporation. It is inevitable to have modification for effectiveness. Historical and cultural influences may not seem to impact early childhood education but they are very important in understanding why things are the way they are. (Jackson and Fawcett, 2004) In Mongolia, World Bank and other international agencies were willing to invest money in to help Mongolia to reform.(Penn, 2004) However, money were accepted but reforms could not take place. Donors tried to promote community participation but it was not favoured by the local people as their best understanding is home place. Therefore it is meaningless for donors to help them. Reform ideas had to be stopped. When initiatives or funds were given to the needed country, the people in the country may not work and tends to rely on the funds to support themselves and family. They do not see the importance to work to improve in their home economy. They lack capacity of they deemed too lazy or dishonest to undertake the work that is necessary. (Penn, 2004) It becomes a cycle of helping the country and it may not be constantly other countries to help all the time. Globalisation has open the door for reform in affluent countries and countries in poverty. There are positive and negative impacts and implications as it challenged the norms, the identities and belief systems of the countries. In globalisation, children in poverty-stricken countries are given the opportunity to attend schools. This will help the countrys economy as their human resource is more well-trained and prepared for the future. In globalisation, there are measures and policies in place to encourage women to join the workforce. Mothers are encouraged to enter the society to work. When both parents are out to work, it will help in earning more family income. However, the negative implications of globalisation for developing countries have to be well-managed. There should be room for improvement, modification and review. One of the ways is that the trend is for professionals from developing countries, such as South Africa, to fill gaps in the labour market in developed countries such as the United Kingdom. (Sadhana, 2009) In this case, workers from developing countries have the chance to earn more income and boost the economy and have sufficient funds to provide their children with a good early childhood education. There is still room for research in the area of globalisation of early childhood education so as to reap its full potential in both developed and developing countries. Word Count : 1530

Slavery During the 1800s :: Slavery Essays

Slavery in the eighteenth century was worst for African Americans. Observers of slaves suggested that slave characteristics like: clumsiness, untidiness, littleness, destructiveness, and inability to learn the white people were â€Å"better.† Despite white society's belief that slaves were nothing more than laborers when in fact they were a part of an elaborate and well defined social structure that gave them identity and sustained them in their silent protest. In their quarters, slaves expressed themselves with some what more freedom from white slave owners. Religion provided a feel of similar freedom and also gave slaves mental support. By attending church, slaves created a Christianity that emphasized salvation for every race, including slaves. To avoid over work slaves tried to work at their own pace and resist speedups. Some of the techniques they used to prevent work were to fake illness or pregnancy, break or misplace tools or fake ignorance. Unless slaves lived near free territory, or near a city where they could blend into a free black population, they knew that permanent escape was unlikely. Only rarely, did a large group of slaves attempt a mass escape and maintain an independent freedom for long periods of time. On numerous occasions groups of runaway slaves either attacked white slave patrollers or tried to bribe them. When slaves became desperate enough, they openly resisted their masters. Numerous examples show how slaves refused to accept punishment and battled with their white masters who were trying to give punishment. Slave resistance was rarely successful because most masters would not tolerate it. Whether slaves physically or verbally opposed a white man it was dangerous. Slave’s masters consistently tried to erase African culture from their slave’s memories. They insisted that slavery had rescued blacks form the barbarians from Africa and introduced them to the â€Å"superior† white civilization. Some slaves came to believe this propaganda, but the continued influence of African culture in the slave community added slave resistance to the modification of African culture. Some slaves, for example, answered to English name in the fields but use African names in their quarters. The slave’s lives were filled with surviving traits of African culture, and their artwork, music, and other differences reflected this influence. Slaves also injured themselves to avoid work, punishment, or sale. They cut off their own fingers, hands, toes, or feet, and disfigured body in various other ways to make themselves less valuable slave property.

Wireless: from Marconis Black-box to the Audion :: Wireless: from Marconis Black-box to the Audion

Wireless: from Marconi's Black-box to the Audion Wireless is a methodical account of the early development of wireless telegraphy and the inventors who made it possible. Sungook Hong examines several early significant inventions, including Hertzian waves and optics, the galvanometer, transatlantic signaling, Marconi's secret-box, Fleming's air-blast key and double transformation system, Lodge's syntonic transmitter and receiver, the Edison effect, the thermionic valve, and the audion and continuous wave. Wireless fills the gap created by Hugh Aitken, who described at length the early development of wireless communication, but who did not attempt "to probe the substance and context of scientific and engineering practice in the early years of wireless" (p. x). Sungook Hong seeks to fill this gap by offering an exhaustive analysis of the theoretical and experimental engineering and scientific practices of the early days of wireless; by examining the borderland between science and technology; depicting the transformation of scientific effects into technological artifacts; and showing how the race for scientific and engineering accomplishment fuels the politic of the corporate institution. While the author succeeds in fulfilling these goals, the thesis, it seems, is to affirm Guglielmo Marconi's place in history as the father of wireless telegraphy. Wireless begins with a brief discussion of the 1995 centennial of the invention of radio by Marconi and a rebuttal by the British historians who oppose this claim. Using underused or previously overlooked or perhaps ignored resources the author disproves the claims against the originality and ingenuity of Marconi's 1897 patent on wireless telegraphy. While credit is given to several British scientists and engineers and their scientific discoveries and inventions, it was Marconi, a practitioner, who made the first significant breakthrough in practical wireless telegraphy when he "connected one end of the plate of the receiver, and one end of the transmitter, to the earth" (p. 20). Marconi transformed these scientific effects into wireless technologies and then exploited them for commercial purposes. The focus of British scientists and engineers on optical analogies, scientific experimentation and demonstration, and the fear of British national interests becoming monopolized (particula rly by a foreigner) are the primary reasons for the dispute surrounding Marconi's patent. (By 1897 it was clear how wireless telegraphy would impact military interests.) The author shows in great detail how British scientists and engineers, namely physicist Oliver Lodge, J. J. Thomson, Minchin, Rollo Appleyard, and Campbell Swinton, deliberately constructed false scientific and social claims to discredit the originality of Marconi's patent.

The Transformation of Jack in William Goldings Lord of the Flies Essay

The Transformation of Jack in William Golding's Lord of the Flies        In the novel, Lord of the Flies, Jack is the character that experiences the most change. Jack begins the novel as a somewhat arrogant choirboy, who cries when he is not elected leader of the island. Jack is gradually transformed into a vicious killer who has no respect for human life. Through a series of stages, such as leading the choir, leading the hunting tribe, wearing the mask, killing Simon, separating from the group and intentionally killing Piggy, Jack degenerates from a normal, arrogant school boy into a savage beast. At the beginning of the novel, Golding describes Jack's physical appearance as "inside the floating cloak he was tall, thin and bony; his hair was red beneath the black cap. His face was crumpled and freckled and ugly without silliness" (20).   Jack's original intentions were to keep an organized group on the island. Jack agrees with Ralph when he brings the group together, saying, "I agree with Ralph. We've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we're not savages. We're English, and the English are the best at everything. So we've got to do the right things" (42).   Although originally portrayed as a pretty normal boy, evidence of his hostility begins to emerge. While Piggy is talking, Jack exclaims, "you're talking to much. Shut up fatty" (21).      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jack is made the leader of the hunting tribe. He and his hunters have much trouble trying to hunt and kill a pig. Since he was raised as part of a sophisticated and wealthy family in England, he has not had any experience with hunting before. He struggles to become a hunter. But Jack is shown to have savage urges early. The author says, "he [Jack] tried to convey the... ...a vicious killer who has no respect for human life.    Works Cited Magill, Frank N., ed. Masterplots. Vol. 2. Englewood Cliffs: n.p., 1949. 3 vols. Matuz, Roger., ed. Contemporary Literary Criticism. Vol. 58. Detroit: Gale, 1990. 68 vols. Michel-Michot, Paulette. "The Myth of Innocence,". Matuz 175-7.    Comments You have a solid discussion of Jack's transformation as well a good grasp of your language and grammar.   Your introduction and your conclusion should be more detailed. In the introduction you should introduce the novel, itself, and introduce your topic.   Why is a developing character important to the development of the novel?   Your conclusion should discuss how the change in Jack's character has affected the rest of the group, how it has affected the plot, and perhaps, why Jack's character degenerated instead of improving.

Consumer Society Essay

Write an essay that outlines the view that a consumer society is a divided society. In response to this statement, there needs to be consideration as to whether or not a consumer society, like the one we live in in the UK, is a divided one or not and if so then where these divisions are displayed. Therefore throughout this essay, I’m going to explore some potential divides within society, specifically looking at division between the rich and poor, able-bodied and less able, and lastly the division created between those who have power to influence where we shop and those that do not have as much power, drawing on the example of supermarkets vs. small shop keepers on the high street influencing the consumer public. I will be using ideas from social scientists such as Bauman and Susman to further illustrate my points. As I examine evidence on potential divisions I hope to conclude that the consumer society, in which we live in, is moreover a divided one. Good, well done a cracking introduction here Gwen. This is just fine. Firstly, it could be argued that a division can be seen in a consumer society between the rich and poor. Because we live in a society where you are judged by what you consume, if you do not have much money to consume in the first place then it’s easy to see how someone who is poor may feel lesser or on the outskirts. What we ‘are in to’ and therefore what we consume not only gives us our identity and personality in the contemporary UK (Susman, cited in Hetherington, 2009, p 42), but also gives us our value within society. Kevin Hetherington in chapter one of the material lives strand, shows us a graph that displays what the average weekly household expenditure on main commodities and services in 2007 (Hetherington, 2009, p 24).*1* Transport is seen to be the top weekly expense, as it’s an essential. People might need to travel to work in order to make money for a consumer lifestyle; however the second highest expenditure was, surprisingly, recreation and culture. This category was higher than food and non-alcoholic drink. Hetherington describes this piece of evidence as ‘noteworthy’ presumably because it highlights how our society has become a consumeristic. We spend more money on things we ‘are in to’ than groceries in a week. If you are poorer than the average person in the UK, then it would be very difficult to fit into a society that revolves around consuming when you cannot. *2* Zygmunt Bauman depicts this division between poor and rich in his concept of the seduced and the repressed (Bauman, cited in Hetherington, 2009, p25+26). According to him, people that live in contemporary western society can be roughly put into two categories. The seduced being those who are able to ‘consume effectively’; they are employed, or young and good looking or have a particular skill that is valued financially within society. The repressed might be those that are old without a good pension, or the homeless. These people are repressed as they, more often than not, do not have the means to consume effectively and are therefore valued less in society. This causes a division as they are likely to not feel accepted by the majority who are able to consume. *1* Good content but try to be briefer, no need at all to refer to the module: â€Å"Hetherington displays a graph showing average household expenditure in 2007 (Hetherington, 2009, p 24)†.* *2* Here is where you could helpfully split this paragraph, the first section could have your main point emphasised again and then this would make a good paragraph on its own. People with disabilities might also be seen to fit into the repressed category Bauman speaks of, as they are not always able to go shopping for themselves and a lot of their money arguably goes on facilitating a life in which it is hard to get around. Furthermore, people who are mentally disabled might not have the capacity to know what sorts of things to consume in order for them to fit in with the latest fashion or with the people they’d like to be friends with. Additionally, people that are physically disabled might not only feel excluded by not having the means to consume effectively and therefore fit in with others, but may also be physically excluded as most shopping malls or places of social activity do not cater for someone who is physically impaired. Most shopping malls in particular have escalators, or stairs, or walkways without railings which means those who are disabled are not able to go into these places. This creates a divide between those who are able and those who are less able and can be seen to convey, whether it’s fair or not, that in society, there are winners and losers, people who lose out and people who are winning in the capitalistic race. Excellent content, I appreciate this is your own approach but it is relevant. However, if you find a suitable brief quote from the course it would be better evidenced, you can always do this appropriately but paragraphs without references just show you are not using course material and drop your marks down. This depiction of winners and losers within society is further seen in the tension between supermarkets and small shop keepers on the high street, which can also be described as those that have the power to influence where we shop and those that do not have as much power. This tension is evidently seen in the local market statistics and the falling number of independently owned shops, as well as factory surveys and local case st udies that highlight poverty and hardship (Allen, 2009, p93). Farmer’s markets and independently owned shops on the high street were once the most popular places to shop and were seen by some to contribute to the feeling of community in towns and small cities. *2* However in contemporary consumer society the majority of people are shopping a lot more at big supermarkets and chain stores, resulting in smaller shop keepers going out of business. Consumers may argue here that in supermarkets there’s a lot on offer and for a cheap price. Furthermore, supermarkets sell a huge range of different products, ranging from food to furniture to DVDs (‘Evidence in the social sciences’, 2009, track 1). People these days want all the trappings that come with a consumer lifestyle, and at supermarkets they can get these things for cheaper prices compared with independently owned stores, which appeals to the masses. *3* It is obvious to see how independent store owners and market stall owners may feel some animosity towards supermarket s, causing a power-play division. Excellent content and referencing from various sources, well done *3* You have too much of your own opinion in the next to last sentence here, also you need to mention Dennis Wrong’s theory of zero-sum and positive sum games ( Allen, 2009, p. 70). On the other hand however, supermarkets may argue that their shops contribute to regeneration on the high street as people who might not live in the area are drawn to it because of these mega stores and therefore more people are drawn to high street shops. Furthermore, national market statistics could also be seen as favourable to supermarkets. *4* People are drawn into buying more through these big chain stores therefore the economy is not going downhill. Although, the question arises: to what expense? *5* Supermarket owners say that the exploitation of people working in sweatshops still benefits the workers, as factory visits and local wage level comparisons suggest improved living standards (Allen, 2009, p93). However one might argue that this is true yet the workers are not in a position to protest as, if they do, the supermarkets will always find other people who are desperate to earn money, in that same country or another, who will work for them. *2* This might create a divide in consumer society between those who want to carry on consuming without worrying who’s expense it might be at or if the environment is suffering because of it, and those who care about the exploitation of people from third world countries and how the exportation of goods from countries that are far away increases our carbon footprint. *4* We may be a consumer society, but more and more people are becoming aware and active in world-wide issues like poverty and global warming. This creates a divide between those that are environmentally aware and retailers/ shop owners that have workers in third world countries and are exploiting them. Again, excellent content *4* needs referencing more, quantitative evidence can be shown by the inclusion of a few relevant figures with a reference rather than a word discussion *5* do not include extra questions here, just answer the one set In conclusion, it plausible to say our society is seen to be divided in many different ways. The points I have explored, not only show the many divisions that come up in a consumer society, but also propose the question: is a consumer society a sustainable one? Furthermore, is all that we consume globally sustainable? It is possible that our rate of consumption will one day come to a halt. Additionally, one might argue that the many divisions that are created not just between the general public but between shop-owners show that there are cracks beginning to form in our society.