Wednesday, January 29, 2020

The Pure Essence of the Individual Essay Example for Free

The Pure Essence of the Individual Essay Many stereotypes exist within the social context of today’s world that stem from old and new preconceived notions of the unfamiliar. For example, some stereotypes stress generalizations that pertain to the aspects of different cultures such as religion, behavior, and even down to the type of cuisine. These misconceptions generalize an entire group of people based off of one characteristic, not taking into account the individuality of each person. Stereotypes produced by the social world at times can lead to ignorance as well as bring light to how wrong the misconceptions are compared to the truth. Surrounded in the confusion, people than develop tainted perspectives about other cultures and even their own, often leading to struggles in self as well as cultural identity. In Amy Tan’s short story, A Pair of Tickets, the main character Jing-Mei struggles with her cultural and self-identity but ultimately learns to rethink her misconceptions leading to her understanding of what it truly means to be Chinese. In the first section of the story Tan introduces the main character Jing-Mei, accompanied by her elderly father Canning Woo on a train to Guangzhou in China where they will visit with some family that Canning has not seen since childhood. Throughout the train ride and even after the two arrived to Guangzhou and met the family, Jing-Mei possessed many stereotypical viewpoints about China and the Chinese culture. En route to Guangzhou, Jing-Mei reminisced about her mother, Suyuan who passed away three months ago, and how she would always remind her Chinese roots saying that someday the Chinese in her will finally be let out because when Jing-Mei was fifteen she would always deny that she had any Chinese in her. During these conversations, she said she felt herself transforming like a werewolf. In a way Jing-Mei felt that she would finally come to terms with her Chinese roots only by force. Tan informs the reader that aside from herself, even Jing-Mei’s Caucasian friends remarked that, â€Å"She was as Chinese as they were†, making it clear of Jing-Mei’s unawareness of and distance from her own culture. She also obtained her stereotypical point of view on the way Chinese people behave from her mother’s occasional display of personal quirks, such as haggling with store owners, picking her teeth in public and the choosing out of season colors to wear during the winter time. Along with comparing to the grotesque transformation from a human into a werewolf, she pictured herself starting to act in such a way describing it as a â€Å"syndrome† (189). Jing-Mei’s perceptions on Chinese culture get proven wrong once her and her father arrive in Guangzhou. When she disembarked the train she felt the need to remind herself that she was in China. The atmosphere to her felt like that in San Francisco; the pushing and rushing crowds within the station and the crowded lines of people waiting to go through customs (192). Once Jing-Mei and Canning Woo united with the family and arrived at the hotel, Jing-Mei grew even more shocked at the way the hotel looked referring to it as a â€Å"grandeur version of the Hyatt Regency† and once again she asked herself this was the communist China (194). The magnificent, modern and fancy atmosphere of the hotel surprised Jing-Mei because she expected to arrive to an area of lesser quality especially since she requested to the traveler agent to lodge somewhere that would only cost them forty dollars a night. She then became worried about the expense as well as being judged as a typical spoiled American not able to go one night without luxury. When dinner time rolled around, Jing-Mei expected to finally try her first authentic Chinese feast but to her surprise, her relatives chose to eat hamburgers, French fries and apple pie, a stereotypical American dinner (195). As time passed during her visit in China, Jing-Mei began to grow more interested with her family roots. One night she overheard Canning Woo and her aunt, Aiyi, having a conversation about her mother, Suyuan, and her search to find her twin daughters from her previous marriage. Engaging herself in the conversation Jing-Mei learned more about her mother’s suffering and sacrifice during the Japanese occupation in China in 1949. She was curious as to what the names of her two half-sisters were and meant as well as her mother’s name, and eventually Jing-Mei questioned her father about the meaning of her own name; learn ing the special meaning behind the names her mother gave her and her twin sisters and her beautiful poetical nature (199-200). After Canning Woo told his daughter the intimate story of Suyuan’s hardship and sacrifice in giving up her two twin daughters during the occupation, Jing-Mei grew anxious in meeting her two sisters once she and Canning Woo departed Guangzhou for Shanghai. She dreaded the arrival feeling that her sisters would somehow blame her for Suyuan’s death in that she did not appreciate her mother. When Jing-Mei finally met her sisters for the first time a beautiful moment occurred as she saw two faces that resembled her mother waving and greeting her that arrived and faded. With great joy the sisters united and held each other capturing the moment with a Polaroid camera. Once the picture came transformed the plane gray surface before their eyes, the girls saw that each of them looked like Suyuan and realized that her dream of being with her daughters had finally come true (201).The three sisters embodied their own individuality as well as their mother. In her trip to China, Jing-Mei discovered what her mother meant about experiencing what it meant to be Chinese through their family history and also gained a sense of self identity. She grew to understand the importance of her family in correlation with their culture; that the resilience and strength that ran through the veins of her relatives now run through hers discovering her heritage. Jing-Mei’s journey from America to China resembled her own personal journey in finding herself as well as understanding her roots. By learning from her family past, she was able to discover her true self and understand her own culture as well. In the beginning of the story Jing-Mei’s perceptions of being Chinese clouded her ability to understand her heritage as well as herself as an individual. She denied her Chinese roots since her teenage years and never understood what her mother meant in that someday the Chinese in her blood will be set free. In choosing to leave her comfort zone in San Francisco, Jing-Mei began her journey in discovering that her preconceived notions of her own culture were different than reality, causing her to dive deeper into her own past so that she could find and understanding of where she came from. By the end of the story the trip had caused Jin-Mei to see her heritage as well as the view of herself differently. Like Jing-Mei, many people become accustomed to stereotypes because they help explain that which we cannot clearly understand. Such stereotypes can cause misapprehension towards others but more importantly towards us. By choosing to leave the comfort of invalid certainty, Jin-Mei found that her heritage meant more than eating authentic Chinese meals and arguing with storeowners. In finding the truth about her culture, she found the importance of herself as an individual. By stripping away the generalizations and false notions that stereotypes engrain in our perspective, we then can then distinguish the pure essence of what it truly means to be an individual.

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Employee Privacy In the Workplace Essay -- Business Managemant

Employee Privacy Rights in the Workplace For many years, there has been an ongoing fight between employers and employees pertaining to employee rights. The main thing that they have fought about is computer and email monitoring. Many employees don’t seen to understand exactly employers do this. Employers monitor email accounts and company computers mainly for two reasons. Reason one is that they don’t want their employees wasting company time for personal use. In most places, that is considered a very good reason, because if an employee is using company time for personal things, then work isn’t being done. Then it causes problems for everyone. Reason two is that employers want to make sure that employees aren’t doing anything illegal through either email or other internet sites. ..

Monday, January 13, 2020

Katherine Mansfield stories “Prelude” and “At the Bay” Essay

Two of Katherine Mansfield’s most famous stories are â€Å"Prelude† and â€Å"At the Bay†, both of them portraying a New Zealand family. Both stories, are revolving around the female characters, but the one link that connects all of them is Stanley Burnell, member and provider of the family. The New Zealand critic Carl Stead affirms that Stanley Burnell is a ‘benevolent despot’ meaning that he is a kind person, and a tyrant in the same time. I agree with Stead affirmation, but as it seems somewhat incomplete, I would want to add a few words to it: Stanley character is benevolent but unconsciously despot. Stanley is dynamic and doesn’t like to rely on other people; he is eager to put down roots and settle down. He has no inherited wealth or special education; only his own intellect on which to rely. He is not only responsible for Linda and his children, but he has assumed responsibility for her mother and unmarried sister, Beryl. He works hard and makes sacrifices to support his family. For example, when they are all on holiday in â€Å"At the Bay†, Stanley catches the bus in to work .To have such a busy life, Stanley demands constant support from everyone else into covering his insecurities. He is not only looking for support, but he also expects for other people to try and achieve something on their own as he does. Because Beryl lacks money, Stanley expects her to try and work hard: ‘By Jove, if she can’t do a hand’s turn occasionally without shouting about it in return for†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢. Stanley does not finish his sentence, being not sure exactly what it is Beryl owes him. This shows that it became a routine for him to financially take care of everybody in the family, and that he does not expect a material reward, even though he wants to see people try. In ‘At the Bay’ there is a moment when all the women seem to enjoy Stanley’s departure: ‘Oh, the relief, the difference it made to have the man out of the house. Their very voices were changed as they called to one another; they sounded warm and loving as if they shared a secret’. But Katherine Mansfield uses this passage to highlight how much they all depend on him. Anyone in Mansfield’s fiction who uses slang or truncated sentences, such as Stanley is suspect of having controversy in the character. Usually, in  Stanley’s dialogs, Katherine Mansfield uses short sentences as trying to prove that he speaks fast. Stanley also seems to use slang and to swear in front of the kids: ‘†What the hell†¦ Damnation take it†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ. All this demonstrate that he is a voluble and an action men, as he does not have time to fix his language. There is a tension in Stanley’s life: he is controlled by the need of always to be on time; he can rarely relax. In â€Å"At the Bay†, even going for an early morning swim, he flung, cleared, rushed staggered, raced, swooped, in order to be first in, and once in, he can not stop to enjoy it: â€Å"I have no tie to fool about†. This is a good example of life authenticity (a recreation of life) that Mansfield achieves. The scene happens in early morning, to highlight that Stanley was used to getting up early. Mansfield uses a very subtle mixture of precision and action, to portray exactly his enthusiasm. She has run every step behind him and she slows down the motion by using the word ‘staggered’ – ‘staggered up the sandy hillock’. Mansfield intends to slow down Stanley’s race not because he was tired, but because his feet were sinking into the sand. This race might represent the symbol of his life. Stanley’s life is a race in which he wants to be the best. But just as his feet sink in the sand, in real life he meets obstacles and becomes insecure, needing the family support to give him the strength to keep going, ‘racing for dear life’. In the passage the atmosphere seems to be filled with excitement, even joy, which shows that Stanley is happy with his complicated life. Mansfield uses lots of words like â€Å"exulting†, â€Å"swoops† and â€Å"souse† to convey his thoughts and feelings. He wades out ‘exulting’. He ‘swoops’ to ‘souse’ his head and neck, delighted with himself for being first in the water again. Then he hears Jonathan Trout’s voice and he realizes that he is not first after all and small explosions occurring inside his head. ‘†Great Scott! Damnation take it! Why the dickens didn’t the fellow stick to his part of the sea?†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ To escape from Jonathan conversation, which he thinks of as ‘piffle’ and ‘rot’, he turns over on his back and kicks with his legs till he is ‘a living water-spout’. Stanley seems ridiculous as we witness his confidence, delights and disappointments because he is acting like a child and is hard to understand that he is the same person that is very successful in business. This is why I added the word unconsciously to Carl Stead affirmation that Stanley is a benevolent despot. He pushes people to work hard and be like him, but he does not realize that this might be harder for some people than he thinks. If he would know that he is hurting his family, especially Linda, he would stop bullying them. He loves Linda too much and would never want to hurt her. He thinks he will punish her by going off in the morning without saying goodbye, but he regrets he did that and he suffers all day â€Å"I’ve been in tortures† . He arrives home ready to apologise for something that was unnoticed. Linda cares about him too but she keeps him away from getting to close by misinterpreting his actions on purpose. When he arrives home with ‘all the harvest of the earth’, expensive gifts for her – oysters, a pineapple, and cherries – she refers to them as ‘these silly things’; she drapes a cluster of cherries over his ear, knowing full well that he hates to appear foolish. She acts this way because Stanley is the antithesis with her. He has all the energy she lacks. He becomes more successful at business, more prosperous, and more secure in the home while she loses strength. His quick movements and rapid speech exhaust her. When he worries bout running to fat, Linda replies â€Å"You are far too energetic† and he interprets her answer as a reassurance, when it can also mean that he is to energetic for her, as when she wants to scream at him â€Å"You are killing me†. He seems to dominate her, like when she does not resist his sexual acts. Linda admires Stanley’s best qualities: his goodness, his reliability, and his honesty. She compares Stanley with Jonathan Trout, whom she finds attractive and whom she has much in common. Stanley doesn’t like a person like Trout, a person of dreams and impractical ideas, because he, Stanley is a man of action. Linda also cares about Stanley because she is aware of the fact that he is providing the money for the family, and admires his devotion. Katherine Mansfield, at first sight, seems to make Stanley Burnell look as if he is a tyrant, a despot, because he is pushing everybody to work hard, but he is actually a positive character, because he has the dignity and the morality to deal with his life and take the responsibility of looking after his family.

Sunday, January 5, 2020

Risk Factors of Psychological Maltreatment Free Essay Example, 2250 words

The paper tells that the consequences of psychological maltreatment remain glued as one of the characteristics of a child throughout his or her life. In connection with this, it is apparent that victims of psychological maltreatment become incompetent adults; they do not develop to their full potentials. In relation to this, Aduele warns that students should not be exposed to psychological maltreatment since it not only humiliate, but also dehumanize them. Apart from destroying self-image, the maltreatment makes students hate school. It not only de-motivates, but also discourages them from learning. In addition to these, it deforms their character by not only making them shy, but also confused. Psychological maltreatment disgrace and frighten students. Emotionally abused school child portrays the following symptoms: too much worry about academic performance, shift of self-perception from positive to negative, verbalize fear when talking, excessive crying when told something about sc hool, headaches, inactiveness in social activities outside class, sleep disturbances, and depression. The social effects of psychological maltreatment are very adverse. According to Aluede, Jolly and Ojugo, psychologically abused students develop feelings of inferiority and problems with stabilizing. We will write a custom essay sample on Risk Factors of Psychological Maltreatment or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page