The Theme of Prejudice in the Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare :: Merchant Venice Essays Shakespeare

The Theme of Prejudice in the Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   William Shakespeare's satirical comedy, The Merchant of Venice, is an examination of hatred and greed. Prejudice is a dominant theme in The Merchant of Venice, most notably taking the form of anti-Semitism. Shylock is stereotypically described as "costumed in a recognizably Jewish way in a long gown of gabardine, probably black, with a red beard and/or wing like that of Judas, and a hooked putty nose or bottle nose" (Charney, p. 41). Shylock is a defensive character because society is constantly reminding him he is different in religion, looks, and motivation. He finds solace in the law because he, himself, is an outcast of society. Shylock is an outsider who is not privy to the rights accorded to the citizens of Venice. The Venetians regard Shylock as a capitalist motivated solely by greed, while they saw themselves as Christian paragons of piety. When Shylock considers taking Antonio's bond using his ships as collateral, his bitterness is evident when he quips, "But ships are but board, sailors but men. There be land rats and water rats, water thieves and land thieves -- I mean pirates -- and then there is the peril of waters, winds, and rocks" (I.iii.25). Shylock believes the Venetians are hypocrites because of their slave ownership. The Venetians justify their practice of slavery by saying simply, "The slaves are ours" (IV.i.98-100). During the trial sequence, Shylock persuasively argues, "You have among you many a purchased slave, which (like your asses and your dogs and mules). You us in abject and in slavish parts, because you bought them, shall I say to you, let them be free, marry them to your heirs... you will answer, `The slaves are ours,' -- so do I answer you: The pound of flesh (which I demand of him) is dearly bought, 'tis mine and I will have it" (IV.i.90-100). Shakespeare's depiction of the Venetians is paradoxical. They are, too, a capitalist people and readily accept his money, however, shun him personally. Like American society, 16th century Venice sought to solidify their commercial reputation through integration, but at the same time, practiced social exclusion. Though they extended their hands to his Shylock's money, they turned their backs on him socially. When Venetian merchants needed usurer capital to finance their business ventures, Jews flocked to Venice in large numbers. The Theme of Prejudice in the Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare :: Merchant Venice Essays Shakespeare The Theme of Prejudice in the Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   William Shakespeare's satirical comedy, The Merchant of Venice, is an examination of hatred and greed. Prejudice is a dominant theme in The Merchant of Venice, most notably taking the form of anti-Semitism. Shylock is stereotypically described as "costumed in a recognizably Jewish way in a long gown of gabardine, probably black, with a red beard and/or wing like that of Judas, and a hooked putty nose or bottle nose" (Charney, p. 41). Shylock is a defensive character because society is constantly reminding him he is different in religion, looks, and motivation. He finds solace in the law because he, himself, is an outcast of society. Shylock is an outsider who is not privy to the rights accorded to the citizens of Venice. The Venetians regard Shylock as a capitalist motivated solely by greed, while they saw themselves as Christian paragons of piety. When Shylock considers taking Antonio's bond using his ships as collateral, his bitterness is evident when he quips, "But ships are but board, sailors but men. There be land rats and water rats, water thieves and land thieves -- I mean pirates -- and then there is the peril of waters, winds, and rocks" (I.iii.25). Shylock believes the Venetians are hypocrites because of their slave ownership. The Venetians justify their practice of slavery by saying simply, "The slaves are ours" (IV.i.98-100). During the trial sequence, Shylock persuasively argues, "You have among you many a purchased slave, which (like your asses and your dogs and mules). You us in abject and in slavish parts, because you bought them, shall I say to you, let them be free, marry them to your heirs... you will answer, `The slaves are ours,' -- so do I answer you: The pound of flesh (which I demand of him) is dearly bought, 'tis mine and I will have it" (IV.i.90-100). Shakespeare's depiction of the Venetians is paradoxical. They are, too, a capitalist people and readily accept his money, however, shun him personally. Like American society, 16th century Venice sought to solidify their commercial reputation through integration, but at the same time, practiced social exclusion. Though they extended their hands to his Shylock's money, they turned their backs on him socially. When Venetian merchants needed usurer capital to finance their business ventures, Jews flocked to Venice in large numbers.

Supernatural in Shakespeares Macbeth - Power of the Witches :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

The Power of the Witches in Macbeth      Ã‚   Myths and religions often include divine or devilish beings with incredible powers. William Shakespeare incorporated witches with bizarre powers in his play, Macbeth. These witches possessed devilish powers to set the course of events in the plot and added to the flavor of the story. The witches' powers included omnientness, vision and apparition creation, and the ability to set the conditions for disaster, and the utilization of these abilities sets the movement of the play.    As opening characters in the story, the witches establish the major theme of the tale and predict future events. Upon hinting of their insight to the end of the war and revealing their relationship with demonic forces, the witches call out, "Fair is foul, and foul is fair,"(I, i, 12). In his first meeting with the Weird Sisters, Banquo questions the witches powers and asks, "If you can look into the seeds of time and say which will grow and which will not?"(I, iii, 65). The witches prophecies linger through the story and reveal their accuracy, and Banquo takes notice and comments to Macbeth, "I dreamt last night of the three Weird Sisters. To you they have showed some truth,"(II, i, 25). The witches prophecies place an underlying thought in Macbeth and Banquo's minds and hide there throughout their actions with an ever-present influence.    Another influential power of the Weird Sisters was their ability to create visions and apparitions. Early in the murder scene of Duncan, Macbeth sees a bloody dagger   and in a phantasmagoric state, remarks, "Thou marshal'st me the way that I was going, / And such an instrument I was to use,"(II, i, 51). Macbeth also states, "Witchcraft celebrates Pale Hecate's offerings,"(II, i, 60). Both of these statements may suggest a supernatural force in the affair. The witches' powers also extend to the summoning of apparitions that foretell future events. The three apparitions tell Macbeth, "Beware the Thane of Fife,"(IV, i, 81), "none of woman born / Shall harm Macbeth," (IV, i, 91), and "Macbeth shall never be vanquished be until / Great Birnham Wood to high Dunsinane Hill / Shall come against him,"(IV, i, 106). These visions and apparitions, as seen later on, have a profound effect on Macbeth's actions.    The most significant power of the Weird Sisters lies in their ability to set the conditions for disaster.

HOW ARE TENSION AND SUSPENSE BUILT UP AND MAINTAINED IN AT LEAST TWO :: English Literature

HOW ARE TENSION AND SUSPENSE BUILT UP AND MAINTAINED IN AT LEAST TWO GOTHIC HORROR STORIES? The original use of the term `Gothic Horror' was applied to a group of novels, including Mary Shelley's `Frankenstein', written before 1914. These novels usually included some or all of the following characteristics, which seem demonstrative of the original use of the term `Gothic': An emphasis on portraying the terrifying, a common insistence on archaic settings, a prominent use of the supernatural, the presence of highly stereotyped characters, barbarism as opposed to elegance, and the attempt to set up and perfect techniques of literary suspense. Bram Stoker's `Dracula' would be another example as the novel includes most of the characteristics above. The setting would generally have a sense of eeriness and darkness and there is usually a lack of an escape route. This can make a character experience a dramatic loss of self-control and overwhelming emotions. A sense of helplessness or vulnerability heightens the dramatic climaxes of these stories. As well as vulnerable characters appearing in these stories there would also be a rational, scientifically thinking character. He, or she, would represent the newly literate middle class and would have lent credibility to the tale. ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ is an example of a pre 1914 Gothic Horror story. It is about a man who receives a paw which can allow people to make a wish but can also cause evil things to happen. Mr White wished for two hundred pounds, which he was given, but as compensation for the coincidental death of his son. Mrs White came up with the idea to wish for their son to come back. Mr White, knowing that his son would be mutilated after being buried for nine days, wished for everything to be back to normal after they received a strange knock on their door in the early hours of the morning. ‘The Red Room’ is about a protagonist who visits ‘Lorraine Castle’, in a deserted place, to see whether the stories of a haunted room were true. After a long walk through the castle he gets to the room. On his way there he encounters ordinary objects which look menacing due to the contrast of the moonlight. Once in the red room strange things started happening. What made the room feel haunted was fear. In the Victorian era, pre 1914, people were very rational. People in the 19th Century had just come out of the Industrial Revolution, they were more educated than before and by then they had became less superstitious ‘of the myths about earls, countesses or the timid wife’, mockingly alluded to in 'The Red Room'.

Sexual Harrasment

Sexual Harassment Topic: Human Resource Management/Sexual Harassment Characters: Paula, Management trainee in the Production Department of a medium-sized company Steve, Vice President of Production and Paula’s Manager Richard, Paula’s coworker and a Manager in Production Paula, a recent college graduate, is a newly hired manager in the Production Department of a medium-sized US Company. The first woman selected for this production training position, Paula takes her work very seriously. She has been with the organization for three months.For the first two months, she performed her duties very well, but during the last month, Steve, her boss, has noticed a change in Paula. She seems more tense and uneasy and is to not concentrating on her work as conscientiously as she previously did During the last month, Paula has been continually harassed by Richard, a coworker. At first she tried ignoring his jokes and sexual banter. However, his persistence has caused Paula have very uncomfortable feelings while she is at work and at home as well.Paula looked into the employee’s handbook concerning sexual harassment policies and found none. She really did not know what to do. Finally, after noticing her continually declining work, Steve asked her what was bothering her. She told him the problem and showed him information concerning the EEOC laws dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace she had found in a human resources textbook from college. She also said that she was considering taking action against Richard if his actions continued.Steve told her he was totally unaware of the problem but agreed something should be done. He asked her to investigate what the organization needed to do to stop this from occurring now and also to anyone else in the future. He also thanked Paula for her patience and honesty and also promised her that something would be done. What Are the Ethical Issues? 1. What is sexual harassment, and why is it prohibited? 2. What obligations does a company have to deal with sexual harassment issues?Does an organization have an obligation to establish written policies on sexual harassment? 3. What obligations does a manager have to deal with accusations or established incidents of sexual harassment among his subordinates? How should such incidents be handled? 4. What should be done with individuals who are accused of sexual harassment? What would be appropriate penalties for individuals found to have been involved in sexual harassment of others? 5. What obligation does a company and its managers have towards the victims of sexual harassment?What Actions Should Be Taken? 1. What actions should Paula take? 2. Should Steve address this current problem before he asks Paula to draft a harassment policy for the organization? 3. Is Paula the best choice to develop this document? 4. Should Richard be fired? Punished? 5. What are the choices Steve can take, and which would you choose? Why? 6. What ethical theories mak e the most sense (utilitarian, rights, justice) concerning this case? 7. What actions should Steve take? Sexual Harrasment Sexual harassment is a two word phrase which hopes to never be brought up in a fire department, legally or just in conversation. It is a despicable practice that is widely acceptable around the nation in fire departments and in business. However, it is not tolerated on the legal front, nor should it ever be condoned in a professional environment. Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender is absolutely intolerable and is a plague on today’s fire service. Claims on sexual harassment arise all the time and are never short of horrendous and demeaning acts, as well as crude remarks against the plaintiff.Many legal issues arise when it comes to sexual harassment as so many aspects play into a claim of sexual harassment. The term ‘sexual harassment’ is defined as – â€Å"Unwelcomed sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature, when submission to or rejection of this conduct affects an individualà ¢â‚¬â„¢s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment† By J. Curtis Varone, Legal Considerations for Fire and emergency services, 2nd edition, page 421.Accordingly sexual harassment claims tend to include almost all the above elements as well as many more elements, be they physical or verbal. It is also broken down into two main categories. The two categories of sexual harassment are ‘quid pro quo’ (this for that) and ‘hostile work environment’. Quid Pro Quo sexual harassment – â€Å"Occurs when the employee’s employment opportunities or benefits are granted or denied because of an individual’s submission to sexual advances or requests for sexual favors. † Varone, 421.Such examples of this kind of sexual harassment would include a female firefighter being denied a promotion unless she submitted to a perverse act entirely u nrelated to the typical means of promotion. Often times, such harassment only occurs whereby the supervisor is the harasser, making the employer strictly liable for the claim. Hostile Work Environment sexual harassment â€Å"Occurs when unwelcome sexual conduct unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance or has the effect of creating an intimidating or offensive work environment†Varone, 422. Such related examples do not even need to relate to employment opportunities or anything related under ‘quid pro quo’ harassment. It is possible for hostile work environment harassment to occur when either the employer or supervisor should have known about the event occurring, or that the said supervisor should have done something about it. Possible examples include sexually oriented comments, display of sexually oriented material in the workplace, sexually oriented demeaning names or obscene remarks or jokes to the harassed individual.Often more time s than not, hostile work environment harassment is more common than quid pro quo. Statistics on sexual harassment are surprisingly low compared to other types of harassment or discrimination. Sexual harassment is under-represented due to fear of punishment or disciplinary action. The EEOC puts out statistics every year on the matter. The year of 2011 was the lowest amount of claims year in the past decade; however, the damages done are no less degrading. The below table is based upon EEOC statistics. EEOC Sexual Harassment Claims: 2011 Statistics |Total Claims filed | 11,364| % of Charges Filed by Males | 16. 3%| | Claims Resolutions by Type: | Number | Percent | Settlements | 1,367| 10. 9% | Withdrawals w/Benefits | 1,150| 9. 1% | Administrative Closures | 2,635 | 21. 0%| No Reasonable Cause | 6,658| 53. 0%| Reasonable Cause | 761| 6. 1%| Successful Conciliations | 288| 2. 3%| Unsuccessful Conciliations | 473| 3. 8%| Merit Resolutions | 3,278 | 26. 1%| Total Settlement Dollars | $5 2,300,000| Compared to previous years, 2011 has been substantially lower in amount of claims of sexual harassment.Also seen is the financial burden that sexual harassment carries. It is by no means unreasonable for the amount and extent of damages that occur for the affected individuals. Real examples of sexual harassment in the media are ever prevalent today. One such recent example comes from Phoenix, Arizona. The female plaintiff alleges that she endured years of demeaning names and remarks as well as having been passed up for promotion where it was due. She issued a $70,000 lawsuit against the City of Phoenix. A case very similar to this is the Julia M.O’Rourke v City of Providence case from the early 90’s, which I think will be similar to the final outcome of the City of Phoenix case. Julia M. O’Rourke was one of the first female firefighters in the history of the Providence fire department. She started with 6 other women in the process of the fire departme nts academy in January of 1992. After which, O’Rourke was hired under the city’s new affirmative action policy. It wasn’t until this point that the Chief of the department made a sexual harassment policy. The policy stated was to keep sexual related content, be it media, or remarks out of the department.It also stated that the supervisor of each station was responsible to enforce the policy. Also added was a course on sensitivity training as well as a sexual harassment course. Prior to even being fully employed, Julia experienced many instances of sexual harassment during the academy. Almost every instance can be tied to hostile work environment sexual harassment. On numerous occasions, one specific academy member, Ferro, was found to be discussing overly sexual opinions, displaying pornographic content to other members as well as making remarks specifically to O’Rourke.In one specific event, Ferro pointed to O’Rourke’s breasts and claimed t hat she was â€Å"stacked†, in the company of many other students at a water training exercise. Ferro continued to be a general problem for O’Rourke during the course of the academy. Even after making through the academy and being hired on at engine 5, B shift, the harassment did not stop, in fact, it got worse. Instead of just from a co-worker, harassment was now coming from the company officer on her shift. A specific event occurred where the company officer threw pieces of paper with O’Rourkes number out of the engine while going past a bar in the own. Despite being asked to stop by O’Rourke, the company officer continued and laughed. Also at one point, she was warned that there was the possibility of there being a closed circuit camera in her bunk room. She felt completely invaded and violated in a place that should feel at the very least safe. Volatile treatment like this continued to occur for the next 2 years. Finally in September of 1994, Oâ€℠¢Rourke sought out the City’s EEO officer. This finally got the ball rolling to straighten out and shed justice on the issue.Final verdicts won for O’Rourke throughout the year of 1997 on numerous cases on the basis of hostile work environment sexual harassment. O’Rourke was victorious in receiving her dues on the basis of sexual harassment. I feel that the Phoenix Arizona case will play out similarly, but only time will tell as there is not much information so far on the exact events or court trials. Ultimately, sexual harassment will continue to plague the fire service until people become more tolerable of others differences.Sexual harassment is immensely degrading for the affected individual and is nothing short of driving a person to inadequacy. It should never be tolerated in the workplace or professional environment and certainly has no place in the fire service. The main virtue is that a person can do the job. That is the only merit that holds true, but d iscrimination on the basis of gender or sexual preference simply isn’t a proper means of deciding whether or not an individual should be able to perform in this job.It is my hope that there will continue to be a downward trend in sexual harassment claims and actual occurrences as the practice of such is horrendous. Works Cited – Varone, J. C. (2006). Legal considerations for fire and emergency services. Delmar Pub. Resendez, M. E. (Writer) (2012). In ABC 15. Phoenix, AZ: ABC. Retrieved from http://www. abc15. com/dpp/news/region_phoenix_metro/central_phoenix/70k-sexual-harassment-lawsuit-prompts-big-changes-at-the-Phoenix-Fire-Department Eeoc. Retrieved from http://www. eeoc. gov/ Sexual Harrasment Sexual Harassment Topic: Human Resource Management/Sexual Harassment Characters: Paula, Management trainee in the Production Department of a medium-sized company Steve, Vice President of Production and Paula’s Manager Richard, Paula’s coworker and a Manager in Production Paula, a recent college graduate, is a newly hired manager in the Production Department of a medium-sized US Company. The first woman selected for this production training position, Paula takes her work very seriously. She has been with the organization for three months.For the first two months, she performed her duties very well, but during the last month, Steve, her boss, has noticed a change in Paula. She seems more tense and uneasy and is to not concentrating on her work as conscientiously as she previously did During the last month, Paula has been continually harassed by Richard, a coworker. At first she tried ignoring his jokes and sexual banter. However, his persistence has caused Paula have very uncomfortable feelings while she is at work and at home as well.Paula looked into the employee’s handbook concerning sexual harassment policies and found none. She really did not know what to do. Finally, after noticing her continually declining work, Steve asked her what was bothering her. She told him the problem and showed him information concerning the EEOC laws dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace she had found in a human resources textbook from college. She also said that she was considering taking action against Richard if his actions continued.Steve told her he was totally unaware of the problem but agreed something should be done. He asked her to investigate what the organization needed to do to stop this from occurring now and also to anyone else in the future. He also thanked Paula for her patience and honesty and also promised her that something would be done. What Are the Ethical Issues? 1. What is sexual harassment, and why is it prohibited? 2. What obligations does a company have to deal with sexual harassment issues?Does an organization have an obligation to establish written policies on sexual harassment? 3. What obligations does a manager have to deal with accusations or established incidents of sexual harassment among his subordinates? How should such incidents be handled? 4. What should be done with individuals who are accused of sexual harassment? What would be appropriate penalties for individuals found to have been involved in sexual harassment of others? 5. What obligation does a company and its managers have towards the victims of sexual harassment?What Actions Should Be Taken? 1. What actions should Paula take? 2. Should Steve address this current problem before he asks Paula to draft a harassment policy for the organization? 3. Is Paula the best choice to develop this document? 4. Should Richard be fired? Punished? 5. What are the choices Steve can take, and which would you choose? Why? 6. What ethical theories mak e the most sense (utilitarian, rights, justice) concerning this case? 7. What actions should Steve take?

What Factors Do You Think Make Some Organizations Ineffective at Managing Emotions?

Submit your posts to the Case Study Discussion for Module 3. Read the Case Incident 1, â€Å"Is It Okay to Cry at Work† on p. 124 of your textbook. Post a response to one of the questions listed at the end of the case study that has not been previously addressed by another group member. This initial posting is due by February 8, 2013 at 11:30 pm CST. Next, respond and build on a posting made by two of your group members. This follow- up postings are due by February 10, 2013at 11:30 pm CST. The rubric for grading this assignment can be viewed in the syllabus and your grade will appear in the ‘Grades' section of Blackboard. Questions 2.Do you think the strategic use and display of emotions serve to protect employees, or does covering your true emotions at work lead more problems than it solves? 3. Have you enter worked where emotions were used as part of a management style? Describe the advantages and disadvantages of this approach in your experience. 4. Research shows tha t acts of co-workers (37 percent) and management (22 percent) cause more negative emotions for employees than do acts of customers (7 percent). What can Laura’s company do to change its emotional climate? 1. What factors do you think make some organizations ineffective at managing emotions?There are many factors that make organizations ineffective with managing emotions in the workplace. Human beings complex thinking is one of the factors that make the organizations hard to manage the emotions. Every person is different and has his/her own emotions (Robbins 2013, p. 160). Each person may not act in the same way in a same situation due to cultural background (Robbins 2013, p. 162). Therefore, organizations face difficulties when they are dealing with their employee’s emotions. This is becoming a problem when the organization is very large and contains many employees from different background.In addition, sometimes the top managers of the organization cannot control thei r own emotions as well. On the other hand, organizations are unable to relate to their employees, and their lack of constant contact with their staff can be other factor. By keeping strong connections with workforce, organizations can ensure that emotions and moods are up-beat and energetic. It is important to be in constant contact with employees and make sure they feel comfortable to communicate to their managers anything and everything on their mind.Some of the organizations have not practiced the suitable business culture. For example, they will yell and shout at the employees when things go wrong just like the second case mentioned. This shows that some of the organizations still do not concern to manage the emotions effectively. This is due to factors such as: the inability to read emotions of employees and managers, An organization needs to make sure they keep strong connections with their workforce to ensure that emotions and moods are up-beat and energetic.Next, it’s important to remember that bottling up your true inner emotions and keeping them to yourself, will only make things worse. Organizations need to be in constant contact with employees and make sure they feel comfortable telling managers anything and everything on their mind. When I worked at IBM, they would call in each employee individually to the manager’s office every month for a â€Å"check-in† appointment. This is where managers would get very friendly with employees so that we would tell them what was going good, what was going bad, and our thoughts on the current tasks at hand.I learned that the staff would look forward to these monthly meetings and would relay a lot of useful information to the managers during this time. Even though organizations want employees to relay their true emotions, I don’t think crying at work is acceptable. This is an emotion that should be saved for home due to the fact that it could hurt your image and current position at wor k. When I say crying at work is unacceptable, I don’t mean that employees should bottle up their emotions.There is a time and place for everything and I believe you should save the crying for home and confront your manager alone in a professional way once your†¦ 1. What factors do you think make some organizations ineffective at managing emotions? Firstly, I think that the complex human thinking is one of the factors that make the organizations hard to manage the emotions. Every person has his or her own emotions. Although in a same situation, they may not act in the same way. Thus, the organizations face difficulties when they are dealing with their employees.This problem is even becoming worse when the organization is very large and contains many employees from different background. Furthermore, the authority of an organization sometimes finds out they themselves cannot control their own emotions as well. Besides, due to the business culture and etiquette which are sti ll remain poorly in some of the organizations, it becomes a problem for the organizations to manage the emotions effectively. Some of the organizations have not practiced the suitable business culture.For example, they will yell and shout at the employees when things go wrong just like the second case mentioned. This shows that some of the organizations still do not concern to manage the emotions effectively. Moreover, emotions are automatic physiological responses to the environment. It will be very hard for one to control his or her emotions by hiding their true feelings within their heart. It revealed automatically. Even people that are trying to cover their true emotions can be discovered from their facial expression.Thus, this is not the fault that the organisations cannot manage the emotions effectively. This is because it is not an easy work to control the emotions of whole organisations. 2. Do you think the strategic use and display of emotions serve to protect employees, or does covering your true emotions at work lead to more problems than it solves? By covering one's emotions can sometimes ensure a work to be done perfectly. However, people that are always covering their own emotions will always find themselves in a stressful situation and they are very hard to communicate with others.Consequently, that kind of people can be easily frustrated and lose their confidence in their jobs. Problems such as unsatisfied towards the jobs, depression, low job performance and so on will then arise. At the end, it creates more problems than what it wants to solve at first. Through the strategic use and display of emotions, the employees can express their emotions in a manner way. They have to know the ways to control their emotions even though†¦ http://www. scribd. com/doc/127040062/Case-Study-Discussion-Module-3

Human Indifference Essay

In the article â€Å"Americans are shopping while Iraq burns†, Bob Herbert implies that Americans are deeply absorbed in their own interests and are therefore apathetic to developments in Iraq, and by extension the developments in any other place where the United States is at war like in Afghanistan. On the contrary, renowned photojournalist James Natchwey is of the opinion that Americans would like to be informed of what really is happening so that they can act responsively. This must have been his conviction before embarking on his mission to film footage for the documentary â€Å"War Photographer†. A number of credible sources underline this apathetic stance adapted by many Americans regarding the suffering that emanates from wars waged by their nation in their name. This research paper aims to identify both their stances in detail with the aim of establishing which perspective is closer to the truth. It also pays a tribute to James Natchwey’s exemplary journalism. The State of the American Society Bob Herbert creates a reference for his argument on Thanksgiving Day here in the U. S. Shopping malls opened at midnight as Americans gleefully spend on the celebration. In the meantime, over 200 civilians had been killed by car bombs in the Iraqi city of Sadr. This is just one incident: a majority of Americans go about their business oblivious of the suffering Iraqi civilians endure on a daily basis or the fatalities American troops encounter at the battlefields. If indeed they were conscious of the repercussions of the war, we would be up in protest opposing these wars whose benefits to the American society cannot be ascertained. The apathy demonstrated by Americans may originate from the fact that very few Americans are concerned with the nation’s foreign policy. As Ole R. Holsti points out, there is â€Å"absence of sustained public attention to international issues† (Holsti 2004, 285). This is demonstrated in the circumstances that led to the invasion of Iraq: the Bush administration alleged without sufficient proof that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction (Smith 2005) and connected the Baghdad regime with the Al-Qaeda terrorist network, and the American public was ready to believe these charges in the pretext that Iraq really was a threat to national security (Holsti 2004). Media in the U. S. as made it hard for Americans to know what to believe in or what to value. There is insufficient coverage of the destructiveness of the war as media executives strive to make profits in an overly commercialized industry. The importance of news is diluted as news is â€Å"stripped of its credibility and the audience will have no ability to differentiate between the values of news and other forms of entertainment† (Dadge & Schechter 2006, 103). As Bob Herbert points out, most Americans have no personal stake in the Iraqi war and are consequently indifferent to its outcomes. A short survey reveals that very few citizens would be willing to join the military, no wonder most go about their business bearing indifference to the effects of the war on Iraqi civilians whose lives are shattered by war (Gott 2002) and U. S marines who die in the line of duty. The suggestion by Representative Charles Rangel that the Draft be reinstated implies that American politicians would be reluctant to approve of war if the possibility of their constituents being called into active service was real. With these facts out in the open, Herbert’s position is obviously more credible. Media apathy, domestic lack of interest in foreign policy and general disinterest have all contributed to the absence of a collective sacrifice and sharing of the burden of responsibility on the war. This is supported by the other sources cited in this paper. Public Opinion and American Foreign Policy is a comprehensive text describing in detail American foreign policy since September 11th. Why War: The Cultural Logic of Iraq, the Gulf War, and Suez is a thought-provoking text which pushes a reader beyond the periphery of conventional sociological thought. David Dadge and Danny Schechter’s book exposes the ease with which the American public is in most case willing to acknowledge intelligence reports without the desire to validate the background information. War Photographer James Natchwey demonstrates true heroism as he delves deep into some of the most dangerous and desolate spots on earth to bring pictures of what really goes on here to viewers. His work captivates audiences and instills empathy by relaying the destruction and heartbreak occasioned by conflict. He is an embodiment of courage, professional dedication and humanitarianism.

Individual Assignment Essay

Determine which level of measurement— nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio—is used in the following examples. The Association of Accountants is conducting a survey to determine the ranking of the top 100 accounting firms in the world. Ordinal How many years did it take you to earn your college degree? Ratio On a questionnaire which asks for gender, males are coded as 1 and females are coded as 2. Interval Respondents are asked to rate a list of high-tech companies as excellent, good, fair, or poor in terms of their service delivery. Ordinal Cereal brands are arranged in an ordered sequence in which an equal interval exists between each point. Interval LeBron James wears the number 23 on his jersey. Nominal The length of time it takes the winner of a marathon to cross the finish line. Ratio Students are asked to rank computer manufacturers. Interval The brand of charge card used by a customer. Nominal The pin number used to access your checking account. Nominal Which sampling method—simple random, systematic, stratified, cluster, convenience, judgment, quota, or snowball—is most appropriate for the following examples? The unemployment rate is calculated each month by the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The survey consists of 50,000 households in about 2,000 counties and cities in all 50 states. Simple Random A researcher for Kraft Foods selects five states randomly, and then selects 10 supermarkets chains within each state to call for a phone survey as test markets for a new cookie. Quota A new pr oduct researcher would like to investigate the use of virtual teams. After conducting an interview with a manager, she asks for the names of other managers that use virtual teams. Convenience A news reporter asks people on the street their opinion about the president’s new bill. Snowball Jamie select Denver, Colorado; Chicago, Illinois; and San Diego, California as test markets for a new potato chip line base on her experience with these markets. Judgment A researcher instructs field interviewers to interview customers of different cell phone companies in a nearby shopping mall so that they each interview 10 AT&T, 8 T Mobile, 6 Verizon, and 4 owners of other cell phone providers. Convenience The Consumer Price Index represents a sampling of 90,000 items from 364 categories, chosen from 20,000 retail stores in 85 geographically distributed areas that are chosen to be as similar as possible. Cluster A finance professor wants to know how many MBA students would be willing to take a course in international finance this summer. She surveys students in the class she is currently teaching. Convenience Which hypothesis-testing procedure would you use in the following situations? The mean time an American family lives in a particular single-family dwelling is 11. 8 years. A sample of 100 families in the Sycamore, OK area shows the mean time living in a single family residence is 12. 7 years. Can we conclude that the time people live in Sycamore is significantly more than the national average? One Sample Z-Test A researcher would like to know if there is a significant difference in clothing purchases between full-time working women, part-time working women, and women who are homemakers. ANOVA Eighty percent of those who play the state lottery never win more than $100 in one play. A sample of 500 players was drawn and the mean winning was $125. One Sample Z-Test A drug manufacturing company conducted a survey of customers. The research question was as follows: Is there a significant relationship between packaging preference (size of the bottle purchased) and economic status? There were four packaging sizes: small, medium, large, and jumbo. Economic status was categorized as follows: lower, middle, and upper. Regression Hypothesis Test A company has 24 salespeople. The test must evaluate whether their product knowledge has improved or remained unchanged after a training program. T-test of dependent samples A computer company has a brand loyalty rating of 6. 8 on a 7 point scale. Is this company’s rating significantly different from the industry average of 6. 4? Two-tailed One Sample T-Test The manager of an office supply store wanted to determine which color folders she should discontinue based on low sales. The colors stocked were black, blue, red, green, and purple. ANOVA