Fairy Tales Reflection of Societal Dysfunction Essay

When people talk about fairy tales, in their mind, they will automatically think about fantasy element such as princess, princes, and fairy and of course the happy ending at the end of every fairy tale. They give us a place for freedom of thinking and relaxing. Moreover, in some way, we used fairy tales to teach a childs moral lessons about how to behavior. Do fairy tales only offer the freedom of thinking and moral lesson fairy tales to people? We use to think that the fantasy in the fairy tales has no impact on their society, and its merely the element to get the stories in fairy tales gloomier and more attracted to the reader. No, fairy tales still hold one more important function. In one aspect, fairy tales reflect the bad side of†¦show more content†¦The willing to believe in fairy tales is existent and choosing to follow the forest nymph who leads her to the faun in the labyrinth first visit she is the action of a rebel. As Guillermo Del Torro, the films director of Pa ns Labyrinth, he states: Fascism is the absolute lack of imagination, the absolute lack of choice, and the most masculine expression of power. Under its cruel restrictions, people are prohibited from thinking for themselves. They (the people) have to take what the fascist society offers them and are not allowed to think for themselves. However, Ofelia made her choice for herself. She would rather put her faith to believe the fantasy characters in fairy tales which no one believes than live with the real world. The actions of accepting that she is a princess and trying to find her way back to her underworld kingdom, we see that Ofelia represents the unwillingness to live under a fascist regime by escaping from the real world where the lives of men seem worthless. She uses the fantasy world as the way to escape the living with the captain. Annalee Newitz, the author of Pan’s labyrinth-Can Fantasies Rescue Us from Fascism, said, â€Å"Ofelia’s fantasies are more than m erely escapist because they allow her to find political allies.† Her actions of betraying the Caption also shows her defending the Marxist rebels. When she knows that she cannot return to her kingdom Ofelia decides to go with Mercedes and help the Marxist rebels.

Attitude Formation Free Essays

Attitude FormationCCSF, Shardlow In Social Psychology attitudes are defined as positive or negative evaluations of objects of thought. Attitudes typically have three components. †¢ The cognitive component is made up of the thoughts and beliefs people hold about the object of the attitude. We will write a custom essay sample on Attitude Formation or any similar topic only for you Order Now †¢ The affective component consists of the emotional feelings stimulated by the object of the attitude. †¢ The behavioral component consists of predispositions to act in certain ways toward an attitude object. The object of an attitude can be anything people have opinions about. Therefore, individual people, groups of people, institutions, products, social trends, consumer products, etc. all can be attitudinal objects. †¢ Attitudes involve social judgments. They are either for, or against, pro, or con, positive, or negative; however, it is possible to be ambivalent about the attitudinal object and have a mix of positive and negative feelings and thoughts about it. †¢ Attitudes involve a readiness (or predisposition) to respond; however, for a variety of reasons we don’t always act on our attitudes. †¢ Attitudes vary along dimensions of strength and accessibility. Strong attitudes are very important to the individual and tend to be durable and have a powerful impact on behavior, whereas weak attitudes are not very important and have little impact. Accessible attitudes come to mind quickly, whereas other attitudes may rarely be noticed. †¢ Attitudes tend to be stable over time, but a number of factors can cause attitudes to change. †¢ Stereotypes are widely held beliefs that people have certain characteristics because of their membership in a particular group. †¢ A prejudice is an arbitrary belief, or feeling, directed toward a group of people or its individual members. Prejudices can be either positive or negative; however, the term is usually used to refer to a negative attitude held toward members of a group. Prejudice may lead to discrimination, which involves behaving differently, usually unfairly, toward the members of a group. Psychological factors involved in Attitude Formation and Attitude Change 1. Direct Instruction involves being told what attitudes to have by parents, schools, community organizations, religious doctrine, friends, etc. 2. Operant Conditioning is a simple form of learning. It is based on the â€Å"Law of Effect† and involves voluntary responses. Behaviors (including verbal behaviors and maybe even thoughts) tend to be repeated if they are reinforced (i. e. , followed by a positive experience). Conversely, behaviors tend to be stopped when they are punished (i. e. , followed by an unpleasant experience). Thus, if one expresses, or acts out an attitude toward some group, and this is reinforced by one’s peers, the attitude is strengthened and is likely to be expressed again. The reinforcement can be as subtle as a smile or as obvious as a raise in salary. Operant conditioning is especially involved with the behavioral component of attitudes. 3. Classical conditioning is another simple form of learning. It involves involuntary responses and is acquired through the pairing of two stimuli. Two events that repeatedly occur close together in time become fused and before long the person responds in the same way to both events. Originally studied by Pavlov, the process requires an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) that produces an involuntary (reflexive) response (UCR). If a neutral stimulus (NS) is paired, either very dramatically on one occasion, or repeatedly for several acquisition trials, the neutral stimulus will lead to the same response elicited by the unconditioned stimulus. At this point the stimulus is no longer neutral and so is referred to as a conditioned stimulus (CS) and the response has now become a learned response and so is referred to as a conditioned response (CR). In Pavlov’s research the UCS was meat powder which led to an UCR of salivation. The NS was a bell. At first the bell elicited no response from the dog, but eventually the bell alone caused the dog to salivate. Advertisers create positive attitudes towards their products by presenting attractive models in their ads. In this case the model is the UCS and our reaction to him, or her, is an automatic positive response. The product is the original NS which through pairing comes to elicit a positive conditioned response. In a similar fashion, pleasant or unpleasant experiences with members of a particular group could lead to positive or negative attitudes toward that group. Classical conditioning is especially involved with the emotional, or affective, component of attitudes. 4. Social (Observational) Learning is based on modeling. We observe others. If they are getting reinforced for certain behaviors or the expression of certain attitudes, this serves as vicarious reinforcement and makes it more ikely that we, too, will behave in this manner or express this attitude. Classical conditioning can also occur vicariously through observation of others. 5. Cognitive Dissonance exists when related cognitions, feelings or behaviors are inconsistent or contradictory. Cognitive dissonance creates an unpleasant state of tension that motivates people to reduce their dissonance by changing their cognitions, feel ing, or behaviors. For example, a person who starts out with a negative attitude toward marijuana will experience cognitive dissonance if they start smoking marijuana and find themselves enjoying the experience. The dissonance they experience is thus likely to motivate them to either change their attitude toward marijuana, or to stop using marijuana. This process can be conscious, but often occurs without conscious awareness. 6. Unconscious Motivation. Some attitudes are held because they serve some unconscious function for an individual. For example, a person who is threatened by his homosexual feelings may employ the defense mechanism of reaction formation and become a crusader against homosexuals. Or, someone who feels inferior may feel somewhat better by putting down a group other than her own. Because it is unconscious, the person will not be aware of the unconscious motivation at the time it is operative, but may become aware of it as some later point in time. 7. Rational Analysis involves the careful weighing of evidence for, and against, a particular attitude. For example, a person may carefully listen to the presidential debates and read opinions of political experts in order to decide which candidate to vote for in an election. How to cite Attitude Formation, Essay examples

Exploring stereotypes through the film Crash 2005 Essay Example

Exploring stereotypes through the film Crash 2005 Paper Stereotypes often reflect and are formed from dominant hegemonic values of that specific time. In victor Flemings Gone with the Wind (1939) characters such as mammy clearly reflected the dominant ideological beliefs of that era. With the acceptance of slave labor shaping these beliefs she was representative of the expected and accepted historic black stereotypes of funny fat woman, comic servants, and natural entertainers. In the 1960s revolutionaries such as Martin Luther King played a key roles in challenging peoples perceptions of women and men of all equalities. Along with the civil rights movement these derogatory and dominant stereotypes gradually began to change. During the late 50s to the late 60s Sidney Poitier was the only black leading man working consistently in Hollywood feature films. The civil rights movement had shaped the contours of Poitiers career. Non violent demonstrations for black equality had forged a culture in which his image resonated, and his movies had prompted racial goodwill. He made his feature-length movie debut as Dr. Luther Brooks, a black doctor who treats a bigoted white criminal, in No Way Out (Joseph L. Mankiewicz. ) (1950). He was the second black actor to win an Academy Award (Hattie McDaniel had won a best supporting actress Oscar for Gone with the Wind in 1939) His role in (No Way Out) established a significant pattern both for Poitier himself and for the black actors who followed him; by refusing roles that played to a racial stereotype, Poitier pushed the restrictive boundaries set by Hollywood and made inroads into the American mainstream. In contrast to the films of the 50s and 60s films of the blaxploitation era cast black people in roles such as pimps, drug dealers and sexually promiscuous characters. We will write a custom essay sample on Exploring stereotypes through the film Crash 2005 specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Exploring stereotypes through the film Crash 2005 specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Exploring stereotypes through the film Crash 2005 specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Black people were given lead roles and often white people were portrayed in a negative way, often racist bigots in authoritative roles to reflect the injustices that black people often suffer at the hand of white supremacy. The blaxploitation films were heavily critisised for continuing to use stereotypes but constant popularity amongst the black community allowed films that followed to have similar success such as Gordon Parks Shaft (1972). From a Marxist point of view it could be argued that in a world in which white hegemonic males run our institutions it is impossible for this dominant representation of ethnic minorities to change. The negative images which are created generate ideologies in societies. People of ethnic minorities are therefore prevented from moving up the social hierarchy, and consequently are unable to gain position in the media and are forced to continue to be subservient to the white hegemonic males. With films continuing to produce unrealistic presentations of people of ethnic origin, Crash was anticipated to be a film in which we were offered and alternative ideology and ultimately the negative stereotypes would be challenged. Some critics however have argued that the latter stereotypes are not subverted or challenged; they are simply reinforced and are presented to us as reality. Even when characters surprise us, which happens frequently, it is often by behavior that is just as stereotypical as what we expected, except that it represents a very different stereotype. Crash deliberately shows slanted prejudices against minorities. Latinos become cheating Mexican gang bangers. For example the depiction of Daniel the locksmith The wife of the D. A Jean Cabot insists on having the locks changed when Daniel leaves as she believes he is a (gang banger, with prison tattoos). Blacks become either in the case of men gun-toting criminals, Anthony (Chris Ludacris Bridges) and his side kick Peter Waters (Larenz Tate) or righteous upper class characters such as Cameron (Terrance Howard. ) Asians become greedy smugglers. And whites oversee this chaos with condescending bigotry. As In the depiction of the two white police officers Officer John Ryan (Matt Dillon) and Officer Tom Hansen (Ryan Phillippe) A more contemporary representation is illustrated by the character of Farhad (Shaun Toub). Middle Easterners are depicted as stubborn, incoherent convenience store owners. Toubs character may reflect the current Middle Eastern stereotype subject to the aftermath of 9/11. This current representation is further explored and the severity of the situation revealed when we see Farhad shoot a gun at a small child, many other guns are raised by characters of ethnic origin, but Farhad who is mistaken for being Iraqi (when in fact he is Persian) is the only character to attempt murder. This is further highlighted with mention of Osama Bin Laden in relation to Farhad, reflecting the current feeling of jingoistic resentment displayed post 9/11. Possibly the only two characters that offer us a true alternative are the characters of peter waters (Larenz Tate) and Daniel (Michael Pena). Daniel is mistaken to be a gang member and because of his appearance (having a shaved head and supposedly having prison tattoos. He is revealed to be a farther who is working hard to provide and protect his wife and young daughter. Peter represents a modern stereotypical image which reflects African-American thug lifestyle and its relation to Christianity. Many people believe Tupac Shakur is responsible for the Thug life movement when in fact he himself said I didnt create Thug Life, I diagnosed it Tupac Declared the dictionary definition of a Thug as being a rouge or criminal was not how he used the term, but rather he meant someone who came from an oppressive background and had little opportunity but still they managed to make a life for themselves and were proud. Shakur regularly quoted the bible and in the Code of Thug life there are similar rules for a member to follow as in the bible. Peter has turned to crime in a city in which he feels he is forced to due to lack of opportunity, this further supports the theory that in a world in which our societies are controlled by white middle class males, people of ethnic origin will be forced to continue to struggle to move up the social hierarchy. Some critics argue however that the most cliched stereotypes are the truest as the majority stereotypes derive from some form of truth. As mentioned before African American characters in early films were represented in a way that would reflect their treatment in the slave trade, and therefore so do more recent stereotypes. Towards the end of the 20th century many immigrants who came to America came in search of the American dream. They invested in small retail businesses and now according to trade associations, 50,000 to 70,000 of the 140,000 convenience stores in the United States are owned by south Asians, Therefore the image of Farhad is originally a form of reality. Although these elements can be hugely exaggerated to create a stereotype that is comical and can be mocked. For example Apu in the Simpsons runs the Kwik-E-Mart. He has many stereotypical traits including: he has a strong work ethic, having a recognisably South Asian name, a strong Indian accent, he is often a victim of crime both children shoplifting, attempting to buy alcohol and armed robbery. Although again this can mirrored in Farhad as he is often a victim of crime. Most of the representations offered to us in the film are stereotyped characters who do not subvert previous representations or ideologies. However it could be argued that there is a need for these stereotypes. Many large Hollywood production executives would argue that in order for a mass audience to accept a text as reality stereotypes still need to be present to enable an audience to connect with the characters and to find them to be believable. It is important in many parts of the film for the audience to engage and empathise with characters. In order to generate empathy and to allow the audience to relate to characters there must be a certain degree of identification. This idea explored in the film. Cameron (a black film director) is asked by a colleague to shoot his last scene again because one of the black actors on set isnt speaking black enough, the white director believes that the audience will not recognise the actor as black unless he speaks in slang. Many people who havent experienced these ethnic minorities directly in L. A are likely to accept them as reality, thus generating and fueling previous negative ideologies. The alternative stereotype of an African American is offered in Crash through the characters of Christine and Cameron. Educated, successful and affluent citizens, Cameron and Christine could be seen to fall into the stereotype of noble negro. This is avoided as we get glimpses of a profound relationship in which they are far from a sexless married couple. We see conflict between them suggesting a more complex relationship than what is presented to us on the surface. This contemporary representation starts to move away from the stereotypical interpretation of an African American couple. However after an unwarranted police stop, Christine is enraged about her husbands refusal to intervene when white cop Ryan uses the pretense of frisking her to feel her up even feeling her crotch. She harangues against what she sees as a cowardly Uncle-Tomism, whilst he insists he acted the only way he could, that when a white man has power there is no way to win, so you do what you can to survive. This exploitation and suppression of African Americans at the hand of white people would imply that racism is primarily institutional; however the ideology behind the film suggests that discrimination and racist attitudes are down to the people who perpetuate it. For example Officer Ryan verbally abuses Shaniqua (Lorreta Devine, a black case manager at an insurance company. She bears Ryans racism with dignity as he unloads his frustration with the insurance companys rules about his fathers care onto her, in the form of a livid and ignorant rant against the Affirmative Action Programme. She appears to be a more reasonable principled character in the film. However this is short lived, in a key point at the end of the film. Shaniqua has a car crash were an Asian woman rear-ends Shaniquas car. She then emerges from her car shouting dont talk to me unless you speak American. The LAPD is represented by two characters and from two different perspectives. Both of which a subverted though out the movie. One perspective is from that of Officer Ryan. In contrast to his previous wrong doings, fate places Ryan at the scene of a car crash where Christine the woman who he previously sexually attacked is in a life threatening situation. Ryan now subverts his previous stereotype and puts his own life in danger to rescue Christine, even after she hysterically rejects his help. The juxtaposed perspective is offered by Officer Hanson (Ryan Phillepe. Hanson in contrast to Ryan is compassionate and idealistic. Hanson tries to prevent the incident between Officer Ryan and Christine and throughout the film he tries to uphold his morals. Though he is that character who is most committed to racial justice at the end of the film Hansons fears overcomes justice and he shoots an innocent black man (Peter) (Larenz Tate. Hanson thought he was well intentioned only to find that he harbors a deep-seated form of psychological racism hidden within his consciousness. This racist view was unbeknown to Hanson, who believed he was an upstanding, understanding individual. His act of racism did not derive form an overt or pervasive discriminatory view on his behalf, but rather from a systematic fear that existed deep within his consciousness, due to years of conditioning us with of archetypal impressions created by the media. It could be argued that Hanson reflects how many of us judge by appearances. The ever-present stereotype of the African American, that we have been conditioned to accept as reality, presents us with a image of a young black male who is a criminal who is much more likely to have a gun in the pocket of their jeans than a religious statue of St Christopher, therefore the film has now revealed the key ideology that every person is capable of intolerance. The depiction and later transformation of many of the stereotypes could be seen to support the theory of the Other which proposes that those who are different from the norm (white, heterosexual, middle class males) are often perceived as being the other. This ideology only exists due to white males dominating our influential hegemonic media institutions. They create positive and powerful representations of themselves which as before with Ethnic minorities we are conditioned to accept them as reality. Therefore they continue to maintain the most dominant and powerful positions. The media institution behind a text will have influence over the objective of a movie. Lions gate (distributor and producer) of Crash best known for distributing films too controversial for the large American companies such as Fahrenheit 9/11 and American Psycho. However a major investor in Lions Gate Films is Yahoo! , who previously has been accused of being racist. Consequently it could be argued that they could have had control of the overall ideology behind the film. All those who challenge the hegemonic ideology forced upon us are represented as negatively and are stereotyped in order to control them. This theory is evident in the film when we see Officer Ryan rescues Christine. The previous racist white male is redeemed by his heroism, while the black woman is reduced to incoherence by the situation and is forced to be silently grateful for his transcendence. The idea that from each scene a intelligible and blatant moral is expressed purposely provokes the audience to decide if in reality this how prejudice is expressed or if in fact people are more understanding. The reception theory initiated from the work of Hans-Robert Jauss is greatly supported by Hall. This textual analysis focuses on the capacity for compromise and resistance on behalf of the audience. This means that there is an aspect of viewing in which the audience will not passively absorb a text instead they will actively negotiate the meaning. The meaning will an individual conceive depends on their cultural background, as a result of the background some will accept a text and others will reject it. The reading of the representations could be seen in two ways depending on the beliefs and background of each individual viewer. Paul Haggis stated I hate as Americans we just love to define people. We love to say Good person, Bad person. In this film at least I didnt want us to be judging others. I wanted us to be judging ourselves. This offers us an insight into his original intention for the film, with the idea that the film would revolve around race decided later. The twin elements of accident (literally and figuratively) and coincidence connect the various stories, which are intended to prove that people form harmful prejudices from a combination of impressions and individual psychoses. I believe Ethnic stereotypes play a very significant role in the understanding of the film Crash, On either of its two dimensions. In order to understand the film either on a simplistic representational level, or else seeing the film as an example of maybe considering social conflicts as externalisations of a fundamentally internal crisis, which therefore allow the audience to realise that the complexity found in each character can in fact undermine the entire concept of a stereotype, consequently producing realistic individuals who are surrounded by racial conflict in post 9/11. To understand and examine racial issues in the after math of 9/11 looking towards real life will enable us to predict the stereotypes that may also become hegemonic ideologies in America.

Foucalt essays

Foucalt essays Jean Bernard Leon Foucault was a very instrumental scientist in history. Born on the 18th. of September 1819, in Paris. Foucault was born into a fairly wealthy family. As he grew up his father urged him to pursue a career in medicine. Foucault agreed, and began his medical studies. He soon became bored, and then turned his attention to studying physics. In 1845 he became the scientific editor of The Journal des Debats. His experiments began in the same period. In 1855 he became the physicist at the local observatory. Foucault, like many of the great thinkers of his time, was a specialist in multiple fields. Foucault was very interested in science dealing with mirrors. He personally invented the gyroscope. He pioneered a better method to silver astronomical mirrors. He also developed the Foucault knife experiment to test whetted mirrors. He was interested in the mechanics of light as well. He invented a prism to change polarized light and a better method to measure the speed of light. He even studied a little in the field of electricity. He discovered the phenomenon we know as the Foucault currents. Perhaps his most well known area of study was the Earths rotation. When most scientists speak of Jean Bernard Foucault, they talk about his most famous experiment. The Foucault Pendulum was the masterpiece of Foucaults scientific career. At the start Foucault wanted to prove that the plane of a swing of a pendulum appears to rotate or precess. The secret of the pendulum is it is the earth moving, not the pendulum. The pendulums swing advances to the right due to the Coriolis effect. This is the same phenomenon that causes the winds to form and the turning of water going down a drain. The earths gravity and a magnet keep the pendulum from slowing down. The ...

The Utilitarian Art of the Mesolithic Age

The Utilitarian Art of the Mesolithic Age Otherwise known as Middle Stone Age, the Mesolithic Age covered a brief span of around 2,000 years. While it served as an important bridge between the Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic Ages, the art of this period was, well, sort of boring. From this distance, its not nearly as fascinating as the discovery of (and innovations in) the art of the preceding era. And the art of the subsequent Neolithic era is exponentially diverse, besides being more well-preserved and offering us thousands of examples of itself, instead of a handful. Still, lets briefly cover the artistic events of the Mesolithic Age because, after all, its a distinct era from any other. Animal Husbandry During this period, most of the glacial ice in the Northern Hemisphere had retreated, leaving behind geography and climates familiar to us in the present day. Along with the glaciers, certain foods disappeared (the wooly mammoth, for example) and the migration patterns of others (reindeer) changed as well. People gradually adapted, assisted by the facts that more temperate weather and diverse edible plants were there to aid in survival. Since humans didnt have to live in caves or follow herds any longer, this era saw the beginnings of both settled communities and farming. The Mesolithic Age also saw the invention of the bow and arrow, pottery for food storage and the domestication of a few animals- either for food or, in the case of dogs, for help in the hunting of food. MesolithicArt Pottery was beginning to be produced at this time, though it was mostly utilitarian in design. In other words, a pot just needed to hold water or grain, not necessarily exist as a feast for the eyes. The artistic designs were mainly left up to later peoples to create. The portable statuary of the Upper Paleolithic was largely absent during the Mesolithic Age. This is likely a result of people settling down and no longer requiring art that could travel. Since the invention of the arrow had occurred, much of this periods carving time seems to have been spent knapping flint, obsidian and other minerals which lent themselves to sharp, pointy tips. The most interesting Mesolithic Age art that we know of consists of rock paintings. Similar in nature to the Paleolithic cave paintings, these moved out of doors to vertical cliffs or walls of natural rock, often semi-protected by outcroppings or overhangs. Though these rock paintings have been found in locations ranging from the far north in Europe to southern Africa, as well as elsewhere around the globe, the largest concentration of them exists in eastern Spains Levant. While no one can say with certainty, the theory exists that the paintings locations werent chosen at random. The spots may have held sacred, magical or religious significance. Very often, a rock painting exists within close proximity to a different, more suitable spot upon which to paint. Characteristics of Mesolithic Art Between the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic eras, the biggest shift in painting occurred in the subject matter. Where cave paintings overwhelmingly depicted animals, rock paintings were usually of human groupings. The painted humans typically seem to be engaged in either hunting or rituals whose purposes have been lost to time. Far from being realistic, the humans shown in rock painting are highly stylized, rather like glorified stick figures. These humans look more like pictographs than pictures, and some historians feel they represent the primitive beginnings of writing (i.e.: hieroglyphs). Very often the groupings of figures are painted in repetitive patterns, which results in a nice sense of rhythm (even if were not sure what theyre meant to be doing, exactly).

Compare and Contrast Popular Culture LIterature Term Paper

Compare and Contrast Popular Culture LIterature - Term Paper Example Does one transcend the mind in that fraction of a second when the decision is made? Perhaps yes! In that eventuality, the decision is bound to be faultless. The source of that decision is made in the brilliant flash of inner light. Gladwell writes, â€Å"The first task of Blink is to convince you of a simple fact: decisions made very quickly can be every bit as good as decisions made cautiously and deliberately† (p.14). The word ‘very quickly’ has the element of divine aura about it, and does not contain the element of haste. The level of spiritual progression of those who are brilliant decision makers is far more than those who are consistently inept. The process of the best decisions is to be experienced by the decision maker and it cannot be explained in words. As with his writing technique, Gladwell supports his each contention with allegories and real-life case studies. He gives the example of a psychologist, a tennis coach and the art wizards who recognize t he fake at a glance. He also admits about the failures of â€Å"blink†. Like an ardent supporter of Popular Culture the author argues â€Å"We live in a world that assumes that the quality of a decision is directly related to the time and effort that went into making it† (p.13). ... 2. Outliers: The Story of Success Though the ardent worshippers of Popular Culture are aware of the importance of chance and circumstances in the life of an individual, they finally vote for an individual who succeeds in life in terms of monetary accomplishments. The society salutes the achiever. Big ideas are hidden in the ordinary life of an individual and what is required is to locate and present them before the public well in time. An individual has to notice the talent within him first, before it is being noticed by others. With the spread of Popular Culture, the importance of behavioral science has increased and Malcolm Gladwell is on the right spot to cash this opportunity. 1990s has been the ideal period for experimentation with his new style in literature. About the book â€Å"Outliers: The Story of Success† Malcolm Gladwell (2011) writes â€Å"This is a book about outliers, about men and women who do things that are out of the ordinary. Over the course of the chapte rs ahead, I’m going to introduce to you to one kind of outlier after another: to geniuses, business tycoons, rock stars, and software programmers† (p.17). He sums up his argument thus: â€Å"Nor is success simply the sum of the decisions and efforts we make on our own behalf. It is, rather, a gift. Outliers are those who have been given opportunities-- and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them† (p.267). If one understands this principle in its correct spirit, many of the problems in life will be no more problems, they will be the milestones in the path of success. Success stories are like the champagne to the combustible younger generation who are the admirers of the Popular Culture. Gladwell provides a new perspective about the

Orientalisms Effect on Art and History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Orientalisms Effect on Art and History - Essay Example (Wikipedia 2006) In 1948, while Said was a grade school student (a private English school in Cairo) the state of Israel was created and 80% of the Palestinian population was left without a home, including Said's family. A privileged child, Said had little interest in the conflict. His family left and he did not return to Palestine until as an adult in 1990. After being expelled from Victoria College in Cairo for poor behavior he was sent to the United States, with citizenship in the US, and finished high school at a private boarding school in New England. He went to Princeton University to study English literature and history. His graduate studies were at Harvard. In 1992 he achieved University Professor at Columbia, their most prestigious position. The Suez Crisis made an impact on him as an Arab-Palestinian but he did not get involved. But the Israeli victory over the Arab forces in 1967 and the Israeli occupation of the last remaining Palestinian territories forced Said to take a political stance for the liberation of Palestine. In 1968 he wrote his first article about the Palestinian cause: The Arab Portrayed (Dexheimer 2002). While visiting his family in Beirut in '71, he got entrenched in the struggle for the liberation of Palestine as a part of a community of academics and writers who were involved in various colonial and postcolonial struggles. He translated the speeches of Yassir Arafat into English for the Western press, still not getting politically involved. But in 1977, he was elected to the exiled Palestinian National Congress. It was at this time that Said, as an academic in the field of comparative literature, began writing on contemporary Arab literature about figures such as Naguib Mahfouz, Elias Khouri, and the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish (McLemee 2003). In 1975-1976 Said became a fellow at Stanford University and wrote Orientalism (1978), the book that made him famous. In the next three years he published Covering Islam (1981) and The Question of Palestine (1979), which, in conjunction with Orientalism, has been called his trilogy. This critique of Oriental Studies questioned everything about this subject that had been a scholarly pursuit at most of the well-known European universities for centuries. Said used his fame of the 1980-90's to further the cause of Palestine and advocate for human rights. In the 1980's Said lobbied the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to re-think the strategy of armed struggle for liberation and urged Palestinians and Arabs to understand the importance of mutual respect and co-existence with Israelis. He advocated a two-state solution. A temperate voice, he made many friends within Israel. This occurred despite his unsympathetic stance toward Israel (Wikipedia 2006). Said became a personal target of other conservative Jewish and Christian Zionists. Attacks on Said suggest an "orientalism" on the part of the right-wing Zionists. As an articulate Arab intellectual, Said was viewed as a