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Individual Social Responsibility is a moral belief where we as individuals, have a responsibility toward society. Being “socially responsible” is about all individuals behaving ethically and sensitively towards social, economic, and environmental issues. It is about being accountable for our actions and being conscious of the impact your actions have on others, our communities, and the environment.
Get original essayBy taking an active participation in resolving some of the issues, we as individuals should all strive to set good examples by applying and adhering to socially responsible practices, such as improving the quality of lives for individuals and their families, volunteer energy and time towards improving and benefiting society.
Student social responsibility is the responsibility of every student for their actions. It is morally binding, and suggests that each individual act in such a way that minimizes the adverse effect on those immediately around them.
Corporate social responsibility or CSR has been defined by Lord Holme and Richard Watts in the World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s publication “Making Good Business Sense” as “…the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as the local community and society at large.” CSR is one of the newest management strategies where companies try to create a positive impact on society while doing business. Evidence suggests that CSR taken on voluntarily by companies will be much more effective than CSR mandated by governments.[12] There is no clear-cut definition of what CSR comprises. Every company has different CSR objectives though the main motive is the same. All companies have a two-point agenda—to improve qualitatively (the management of people and processes) and quantitatively (the impact on society). The second is as important as the first and stake holders of every company are increasingly taking an interest in “the outer circle”-the activities of the company and how these are impacting the environment and society.[13] The other motive behind this is that the companies should not be focused only on maximization of profits.
While many corporations include social responsibility in their operations, it is still important for those procuring the goods and services to ensure the products are socially sustainable. Verification tools are available from a multitude of entities internationally,[14] such as the Underwriters Laboratories environmental standards, BIFMA, BioPreferred, and Green Seal. These resources help corporations and their consumers identify potential risks associated with a product’s lifecycle and enable end users to confirm the corporation’s practices adhere to social responsibility.
Morality and happiness are among the many issues that have troubled moral philosophers and scholars over the years. Most communities in the world value morality and often relate it happiness explaining the reason why the topics of morality and happiness are a major concern to many not only to philosophy but also the society in general. But why should one or the society be moral? This question and its similar variants make us view happiness and morality in a number of ways, the individual and societal perspective, the I and other perspectives. It is the interest of this analysis to look at how the two intertwin and relate in the world of reality.
Get original essayFor an overview, happiness can be defined as that which an individual acquires after a successful achievement of personal values. As Hirsch puts it, it is a conscious state that has its rooting in morality. The story by Ursula LeGuin presents a paradoxical dichotomy that challenges the reader’s moral standing. The tells of imaginary exotic mythical city Omelas, a bright city towered by the sea. Unlike other cities or the cities, we currently live or know the people of Omelas are happy individuals. The author Ursula LeGuin describes this city as pure elegant with magnificent, public buildings, ideal governance, a city with zero toleration to slavery and any form of injustices resulting from monarchy system of governance (LeGuin). The author describes a magnificent city where the fortunate city dwellers live in a joyous life, they enjoy what to many is a utopia kind of life with plentiful of comforts that includes no limits to drugs, sexual encounters and good music. The city has an ideal weather one that favours the city dweller there are no exploitative advertisements, no secret police suggesting the citizen of the city are law abiding and live a free life free of any kind of monitoring. Typically, Omelas is the ideal city anyone could wish to live in.
As the story progresses, we are introduced into the flaws of the city and its dwellers. The author notes despite the people in the city living in exotic life, a life that is far fetched when compared to the real world of happenings. The joyous and happy life in the city of Omelas depended on the miseries and degradation of one child. Impoverished and locked in a dark cellar room this kid is subjected to the most inhumane conditions just for the millions of people living in the city. How moral is it that the happiness of the whole city is pegged on the mistreatment of a single individual? To make matters even more complicated this is just but a child, the author notes that since infancy the kid has spent its whole life in such devastating conditions. We are not told why fate had it that the kid suffers on behave of the whole city but considering the age it clear that the kid is not out of will that the kid chose to suffer for the city but out of subjection form the city dwellers. Ursula LeGuin notes that the kids used to cry for help at night saying “I will be good” but at the moment the kids only whines and speaks less or never at all.
Back to our question are the deeds of the city dweller justifiable? Do you believe it is acceptable to sacrifice some for the benefit of many more? From the author’s description of Omelas it a perfect example of what is ideal but not real and achievable. My take on this is that subjecting and individual to inhuman conditions for the benefit of many is not justifiable by any moral standards. If a people’s happiness is going to be defined by the sorrows and suffering of others it good to let go the happiness all together. Human life is sacred it not something fellow humans should decide. As such each and every human being is entitled to a better life. Besides this the author suggest that the fundamental condition of good life in the city depends on the suffering of the kid without reprieve. This in essence suggest that suffering and happiness are two sides of the same coin, non can exist without the other. This then implies that even if the kid is left free there will be people in the city who will suffer and as well, we will also have those living in happiness. In addition, the fact of life has it that there will always be points suffering and happiness at some time in life. It is not always a smooth line even for those deemed to be leading a happy life. The story also suggests that to maintain a careful balance aimed at preserving the joy in the city the city dweller had to adopt some kind of discrimination system. LeGuin notes that in the city, “happiness is based on a just discrimination of what is necessary, what is neither necessary nor destructive and what is destructive.” The implication of the same is that life and happiness in the city solely never depended on the alienation and imprisonment of the young kid.
How does he moral/ethical dilemma of 'Omelas' applies to real life? It should be noted the story The One Who Walk Away from Omelas is purely a mythical dilemma. One hand we have happiness and prosperity pegged on an imprisoned and malnourished kid, and on the other we have the guilt eating into few Omelians over the suffering of kid at the cost of their happiness and joyous life. Despite this being a mythical tale, it has its implication in the real world that we live in. a perfect example is slavery. When talking of slavery many people often look at it as an outdated concept one of the images that paints bad deed of the 18th and 20th century slave trade. What such people miss to notices is that even in our contemporary world slavery does exist but in different forms. In slavery people are subjected by their master to hard conditions, unpaid labour and many other inhuman conditions that only work best for the masters. The people who gain from the labour of the slaves are the masters. So, in one way or the other the slaves suffer at the expense of the masters. Slavery never ended at its abolition in the 19th century. It changed it form and still manifests its self in a number of ways. He further gives examples of slavery that benefit masters as forced prostitution (especially women), forced labour and children working in sweatshops and many other. He further defines slavery as any form of live where individuals are controlled by their exploiters.
Any form of human exploitation that goes to benefit others should never be tolerated at all. This is so irrespective of whether it defines the happiness or wellbeing of majority of the people. For the example on modern slavery it can be the trapped people have not alternative but to be exploited, the best should be done through legislations to ensure that citizens are not exploited by a few. With relation to our story of analysis observes that in the world of reality a person’s life is usually surrounded with suffering and few instances of happiness so, there is no point in subjecting others to misery as was the case of the city of Omelas to that young kid. The model city of Omelas is flawed with regard to its perception of happiness and morality. Fortunately, in the city there are few individuals who could see this but instead of confronting the facts they often wondered into the unknown world baring the burdens of guilt alone.
Throughout this analysis we have looked at how happiness and morality relate pegged on our main reading the one who walk away from Omelas. In this concluding part I will like to focus on this the one who walk away from Omelas. You will notice story mainly revolves around the fancies of the imaginary city. In fact, the author dedicates three third of the story describing the magnificent city and the good life the people therein lived. The author only uses roughly a quarter of her spaces to tell us about the one who walk away from Omelas. Irrespective of the space used these individuals are significant in this story because after all the story is about them. The ones who walk away from Omelas are essentially individual who do the odds. It clear that what the city did to the kid was open injustices, majority of the people in the city could see this but due to their egocentricity, they put forwards their needs (happiness) at the expense of the suffering child. The one who left Omelas after realising the injustice are to some extent commendable for their bold actions which also acts as a lesson to us that we should always pin point and call out injustices by its name irrespective the people suffering. In writing this story LeGuin was inspired by William James’ quote which says that, “one could not accept happiness shared with millions if the condition of that happiness were the suffering of one sole.”
Everyone has different opinions on the negative effect computer games can have on individuals. In this paper you will be informed about how individuals are being affected by computer games. Families are beginning to become concerned about individual consumption of and addiction to computer games. To begin with, it is being affected by having lack of socialization, aggression levels being developed, and behaviors that lead to crimes. The negative effects will be discussed; however, there is a learning tool that creates a positive effect on individuals. The lack of socialization is based on analyzing how young people deal with computer game addiction in relation to others. It has been investigated how aggression resulting from playing violent computer games varies by gender. Finally, they look at the relationship between video game playing and aggression, and after that they investigate their social connections to crime.
Get original essayHave you ever thought if computer games have any negative effects on individuals? If not, think again. Computer games are affecting individuals in terms of lack of socialization, crime, and increased aggression levels. The reason why computer games are negative for individuals is because of most of the violence it contains. Excessive use of computer games may cause crime, aggression, and lack of socialization. However, based on this research, there is a positive learning tool gained from computer games that involves enjoyment and exercise, which is great for an individual’s well-being.
People have different experiences with “computer game addiction”. This article will be based on young people’s perspectives on computer game addiction and will show that young people who are identified as computer game addicts are more than “introvert, neurotic, and impulsive”, a result of problematic behavior or a biochemical aberration. This article is based on qualitative interviews with three 14-15-year-old boys who would typically be described as computer game addicts. This study is not intended to discuss if computer game addiction is a new disorder, but rather to the consequences of using computer game addiction as a commonsense word. It is based on analyzing how young people interact in relation to others in terms of computer game addiction. The importance of this research is how to prevent young people from being stigmatized because of their computer gaming. It has been emphasized that due to their identification with the phenomenon, young individuals encounter social uncertainties in their daily life. Social organizations and parents are becoming worried about young people’s consumption of computer game addiction. It has been shown that some of the social unpredictabilities that young people face in their everyday lives arise from this phenomenon.
Computer game addiction is not negative for young people, as they can be positive in terms of their identity work, which relies on acceptance from their environment. The risk of stigmatization raises questions for many people about young people’s social lives, showing how painful it is to be labeled as an “outsider.” According to Rose, the diagnostic manuals no longer apply to a small pathological minority; they seem to interact with almost all of us. This makes it possible to examine young people’s everyday lives with computer games. According to Brus, “This increasing diagnostic practice implies that ordinary everyday problems related with work, family, and education are being described as disorders requiring psychological, psychiatric, or medical treatment.” It has been indicated that others need to be cautious about classifying playing computer games as a psychiatric disorder or a negative behavior.
It has been investigated how aggression resulting from playing violent computer games varies by gender and trait aggressiveness level. Animosity may be upgraded in children through playing computer games, which may be a prevalent form of excitement for this group. Playing computer games has been found to make people feel relaxed and children spend an extraordinary amount of time on this activity. Analysts have evaluated that around 89% of children’s electronic play incorporates bloody and violent content. In contrast, counter-strike games require clients to shoot others with programmed rifles in real-life settings through observational learning.
According to, the effect of playing violent computer games on aggression levels among children works by utilizing a semantic classification errand. The discoveries of Study 1 appeared that Virtual Cop2 was a rough computer diversion, based on the essentially high scores members gave for violent substance and images. In addition, Battle Proprietor was a relatively peaceful computer diversion, since the scores for all diversion viciousness rating measurements were high but nonsignificant. Study 2 discovered that playing rough computer games essentially prepared children for animosity. “Particularly, as anticipated, an increment was seen within the number of children whose animosity was dynamic after introduction to the violent, versus nonviolent game”. According to Boutwell, Franklin, Barnes, and Beaver these results concur with those of past analyses and support the first hypothesis.
The relationship between videogames and crime have been examined by psychologists. They have focused only on violent videogames and suffer from two major shortcomings. Psychologists have adopted research that does not look into the relationship between video game-playing behavior and crime, but rather at the relationship between video game-playing and aggression, and then offer social suggestions to reduce crime. In this study, contradictory results can be explained using routine activities theory. The study has a hypothesis using UCR, CPS, and census data. As predicted by routine activities theory, they find that rates of video game-playing behavior in the home are negatively related with violent crime.
Video game competitiveness and hostility has been increasing for at least a decade within the area of testing social brain research. It was contended that violent video games specifically support forceful or criminal behavior. They argued that violent games empower players to identify with forceful characters and thus enhance their capacity to imitate or replicate savage acts until they become desensitized. Desensitization to viciousness, they suggest may lead individuals who play these video games to commit acts of criminal violence throughout their lives. “Critically, across studies, it is not always violent videogames that are hypothesized to increase aggression but, indeed, any videogame that encourages zero-sum competition between players”.
The following information will be based on the psychological effects of playing exergames from the viewpoint of player engagement. Journal articles were collected from 2011 to 2015, in which 45 experimental studies were selected out of 911 studies. The results show that the psychological effects measured by the exergame studies were enjoyment, immersion, and flow. Exergames are video games that require physical exertion such as balance, strength, and flexibility to play. Only a dearth of supporting evidence exists on the psychological effects of playing exergames, which are engagement, motivation, and pleasure. The main question is, what are the psychological effects of playing exergames, as studied by researchers in the field? Social interaction amid exergame play is considered an important feature leading to positive mental impacts.
Playing exergames with a group or competitive play has appeared more often than playing alone. In a normal workout setting, it has been established that group workouts are more prevalent than individual workouts. For instance, people in a group workout appeared to have a more positive sense of well-being and less mental stretching than people in a singular workout. Moreover, high interactivity and social competition lead to upgraded submersion of players. As social interaction amid exergame play is an additional variable as in a typical workout or sports, it was considered to be a major design component of exergames. According to Seungmin, Wonkyung, Taiwoo, and Penn, “There have been studies suggesting humans can build social relationships with SG partners”.
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Get custom essayIn conclusion, addiction to computer games will cause depression, social withdrawal, and so much more. If parents begin to monitor their children playing computer games, there wouldn’t be as many negative effects. If children were carefully monitored, then lack of socialization, aggression levels, and crime will be reduced tremendously. There isn’t anything wrong with playing a computer game. However, it should be permitted only if there is a balance and doesn’t lead to addiction in the future.
Reflective Entry 1. The Scope of Corporate Reputation
Get original essayThe basic principles of corporate reputation are self-explanatory. Many consumers would accept or reject a product offered to them based on the image they have of the product — unaware that their decision is, in many ways, a comment on the brand’s public reputation. The basic learning from this introductory module is the fact that corporate reputation is an intangible asset. The intangibility of corporate reputation stems from the fact that it relies on goodwill, brand recognition, and business methodologies among other things. The collective assessments of a corporation's past actions; and the ability of the company to deliver improving business results to multiple stockholders over time. For example, many businesses assess corporate reputations using financial soundness, quality of management, products and services, and market competitiveness as the criteria for ranking. For most corporations, their reputation is also dependent on the performance and behaviors of their subsidiaries and external agencies. For instance, the failure of following international labor laws and child labor laws in sweatshops have impacted the brand reputation of many international luxury fashion brands such as Marks and Spencer's, Next, Ralph Lauren, DKNY, GAP, Converse, Banana Republic, Land's End, and Levi's. On the flip side, the corporate reputation of a brand will impact the relationship it shares with its stakeholders. For example, the dwindling reputation of cola brands due to growing water regulation concerns regarding their bottling process impacted the business of their retailers and distributors. Therefore, following this first module it can be understood that corporate reputation and its scope is wide-ranging for corporations across industries.
Reflective Entry 2. Corporate Culture
This particular module introduced me to the nuances of corporate culture and how it affects the company’s public perception. The key to a successful organization is to have a culture based on a strongly held and widely shared set of beliefs that are supported by strategy and structure. When an organization has a strong culture, three things happen: employees know how top management wants them to respond to any situation, employees believe that the expected response is the proper one, and employees know that they will be rewarded for demonstrating the organization's values. An organization's culture defines the proper way to behave within the organization. This culture consists of shared beliefs and values established by leaders and then communicated and reinforced through various methods, ultimately shaping employee perceptions, behaviors, and understanding. Organizational culture sets the context for everything an enterprise does. A strong culture is a common denominator among the most successful companies. All have consensus at the top regarding cultural priorities, and those values focus not on individuals but on the organization and its goals. Leaders in successful companies live their cultures every day and go out of their way to communicate their cultural identities to employees as well as prospective new hires. I also learned that employees who share values and aspirations tend to outperform those in environments that lack cohesiveness and common purposes. Performance management programs can greatly affect the corporate culture by clearly outlining what is expected from employees as well as by providing a feedback tool that informs employees about proper behavior in the workspace.
Reflective Entry 3. Measuring Corporate Reputation
The concept of being able to measure the reputation of a corporation was alien to me. Through this module, I understood that while reputation is largely an intangible process, there are ways in which its various aspects can be reasonably quantified — thus, helping corporations to measure their reputation in tangible terms. Corporate reputation is an aggregation of the perception of all stakeholders associated with a firm. This characteristic of reputation forms it highly subjective measure. Corporate reputation is measured as the evaluation of the perception of stakeholders or experts on the basis of certain attributes that enhance reputation. This module introduced me to the concept of reputation quotient. The reputation quotient is dependent on multiple factors that include emotional appeal, quality products and services, good financial performance, vision and leadership, workplace environment, and social responsibility toward society. Reputation is the sum of the perception, assessment, and valuation of a company by all external stakeholders such as customers, investors, analysts, business partners, journalists, civil society organizations, government, businesses, and the public. The six criteria show how stakeholders evaluate the business and also show how vulnerable a good reputation is. The six corporate reputation drivers are the tools of the communications or branding strategist who wants to improve the company’s reputation. For example, the financial hold of Woolworths on the Australian consumer staples market teamed with their commitment to quality products and services, and their ability to provide a positive space for the consumers walking in have a constructive effect on their image and resultant reputation.
Reflective Entry 4. Corporate Communication
The basic learning from this module is the fact that a robust system of communications is crucial for the success of any corporation. Corporate communication is the practice of developing, cultivating and maintaining a corporate identity or brand image. A solid corporate communications team provides initiatives to mold the company image, communicate with internal and external audiences, and sustain a long-term positive reputation. Through public relations and widespread corporate communications, customers, employees, and clients can share in your company's successes. Corporate communication encompasses methods and processes in promoting a company’s credentials, its positioning pitch and its acceptability in the marketplace. It involves a series of planned, interconnected activities and programs to communicate and engage with internal employees and externally with partners, customers, and other stakeholders. Corporate communication is generally acknowledged as the best possible method of building a long-term corporate identity. A well-articulated and consistent corporate communication strategy, along with larger advertising and PR campaigns, reinforces a positive image about your company. This practice has helped businesses, corporations, and even start-ups to develop and sustain unique corporate brand identities. Strategic, timely, and well-orchestrated corporate communication initiatives have helped companies to limit negative fallouts of market missteps, crisis scenarios, or unseemly or controversial utterances by key business executives. For instance, the drastic change in the corporate communication of IBM under Lou Gerstner helped the company turn around their downward spiral in the 1980s and early 1990s. The global technology giant was successful in molding its corporate communication in a manner that changed the game in their favor, giving them an opportunity to realign themselves as a market leader in the increasingly digital society.
Reflective Entry 5. Methods of Corporate Communications
Corporate communications is not a streamlined concept that is dependent on a narrow set of tools and techniques. The module is instrumental in understanding that corporate communication is widespread and includes an array of different methods that work in tandem to provide a holistic view of the brand to the customers. Basically, corporate communications refer to the way in which businesses and organizations communicate with internal and external various audiences. Corporate communications can take many forms depending on the audience that is being addressed. Ultimately, an organization’s communication strategy will typically consist of the written word (such as internal and external reports, advertisements, website copy, promotional materials, email, memos, and press releases), spoken word (including meetings, press conferences, interviews, and video), and non-spoken communication (like photographs, illustrations, info-graphics, and general branding). It includes everything from emailing your employees that the coffee machine’s broken to a press release about the company’s latest product or development. Corporate communication condenses every single way the brand engages with its audiences and plays a huge role in shaping how the brand is perceived by these groups. An important aspect of the business that is often highlighted primarily by using a host of communication tools is CSR. CSR communication has become a vital issue in building and sustaining the legitimacy of a company in the eyes of stakeholders. CSR is a way for companies to pay forward their due to the society that accepts them. Campaigns led by global brands such as Starbucks and Mcdonald's to ditch the use of plastic straws in their outlets are a response to demands from customers for less packaging waste while promoting their brands as reliable participants in society.
Reflective Entry 6. Issues Management, Risk Management, and Crisis Communication
It is not unusual for companies to find themselves in a situation that is not ideal. Such risks are very common and companies are largely prepared to mitigate the various forms of risks that they might encounter as part of their daily operations. For a company that is going through a problem, it is essential that they continue to communicate with their stakeholders to ensure that they are able to maintain a clear stream of information about how the company is dealing with the crisis. This module helped me understand that crisis communication is essential in ensuring that the consumers’ trust is retained in the company despite obvious problems. Crisis communication is a strategic approach to corresponding with people and organizations during a disruptive event. When a crisis occurs, proactive, quick, and detailed communication is critical. Every business should have an emergency communication plan that documents the protocol for distributing information during a time of intense difficulty or danger. Since a business' reputation is at stake when it faces a crisis, it's important to impart information to the public to ease concerns and counter false information. An outside public relations firm can help an organization interact with the media. A crisis communication plan is a comprehensive process that includes details about audiences, contact information, and the type of messaging. It is important to have a variety of tools and resources during a disruptive event. A successful example of crisis communication was in 2014 when a Virgin Galactic test flight crashed. The Spaceship Two space tourism craft crashed while flying over the Mojave Desert in California. One pilot died from the crash, while the other was injured. The Virgin Group began with sharing details of the crash and showing genuine concern for the pilots and their families. Richard Branson, the founder of the Virgin Group, tweeted numerous times with updates and personal remarks. Branson immediately flew out to Los Angeles to be at the scene of the incident and take ownership for the unfortunate situation. The proactive steps resonated with the public.
Reflective Entry 7. Symbols, Tools, and the Media
The module is instrumental in understanding that only communicating is not particularly enough. It is also important for corporations to understand the various forms in which they can frame the message to ensure that it has the desired impact on the receiver; which may include their customers, employees, and other stakeholders. A frame is a lens through which people would interpret the information they receive. In terms of improving business communication, framing a message is about positioning it in a manner that both the intention and the content are interpreted as they were meant. When corporations frame a message, their intention of how the information is likely to be received by others should inform their choice of framing strategies. Framing would include thinking of the reasons that can be provided to justify the time and attention the company wants the audience to give to the message; and determining how the content affects the audience and how it compares with what the audience already knows, believes, and values. The most beneficial aspect of framing is to influence the emotional response of listeners. One way to do this is to learn and appeal to the values of the average audience member. The use of message framing techniques has been aced by Dove. The global brand has been running a campaign for over a decade that positions the brand as an undying ambassador of ‘real beauty’. The campaign has been central to the brand’s identity and played the role of being the foundation of every other campaign. The framing of the promotional message has helped in the brand associate itself with the emotional appeal that is inherent to the idea of natural beauty.
Reflective Entry 8. The Future of Brands and Brand Communications
With a rapidly changing world order, innovation will be key in reinventing communication channels. The final module emphasizes on the importance of innovation to ensure that the companies are communicating in the most effective manner possible. The Global Corona Crisis has made innovation vital. A very important outcome thus far from this horrible pandemic is just how critical employee behavior, trust and engagement are not only to organizations and business but to society in general. Maintaining a level of confidence in the workforce is essential to productivity, innovation, and balance. The strategic mechanism designed to influence and drive operational success has been internal communications. The pandemic is leading executives to realize that companies cannot grow, prosper, or even survive without a knowledgeable, engaged, and aware workforce. Internal communications are evolving to a new level, where the focus on is accelerating decision-making, challenging people’s knowledge, and providing information that leaders, managers, and employees utilize to frame arguments, illustrate situations, make decisions, and launch initiatives. Working in a virtual environment is opening up avenues of innovation, ideation, and more interesting managerial techniques. However, the change is also causing anxiety, fear, and loneliness. In this unprecedented time, internal communications systems, methods, content, cadence, feedback, tone, and frequency can make a difference. A management model focused on improving organizational effectiveness must bring together the right mix of communication techniques to ease leadership and team-building to create openness and exchange that is fostered by the right technologies and the right skill sets.
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Ever since I was a little girl, I have always wanted to be a teacher. I grew up with all different levels of teachers in my family. Some were college professors, high school teachers, elementary school teachers, and even a counselor. You could say it was in my blood. I would play “school” with my cousins and I always wanted to be the teacher. From then on, I started working with kids as a “Kindergarten helper” throughout my elementary school years, worked for the Chicago Park District during my teen years, and was a tutor through my early adult years. Teaching students new things and watching them light up when they understood something became a passion for me.
Get original essayThrough the classes I have taken at Northeastern Illinois University and American College of Education, as well as my experiences in the classroom, I developed a personal teaching philosophy that I implemented into my classroom. My personal philosophy is to educate, inspire, and make a change in my students. Nelson Mandela once quoted “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. This quote really means a lot to me because through my teachings, I want my students to know that having an education is the most powerful tool you can have and not take that granted.
Goal Statement One: Educate. I want to be the best teacher I can possibly be for my students. I want to give them the education that they and I both know they deserve. It makes me extremely happy to educate my students on new things and working with them to ensure they understand not only concepts, but practical applications as well. My students should feel my passion of teaching and I want them to be able to portray it in their work. If a teacher does not love what they do, the students will see right through that. I want them to be motivated and engaged in their work so they can be the best that I know they can be and strive for greatness. Students should shine through their creativity and strengths, which is why for all my assignments and lessons, I give them choices on how to accomplish it. Some students understand the concept differently than others so I want them to show me in the most knowledgeable way they know how too. I design my lessons to their different learning styles and strengths. “If learning from a teacher requires being influenced by that teacher, then the possibility of being influenced at all requires vulnerability to that influence; that is, we can now situate simultaneously in both a love of life and the continuing possibility of interrupting that complacency”. My goal in educating my students is that they remember what I taught them for a lifetime and to be confident in their work. I want to be that teacher that they come back to years down the road and say, “Hey, remember when you taught me this...thank you”. That would be the most satisfying accomplishment in the world.
Goal Statement Two: Inspire. I came into this profession knowing I wanted to inspire young minds for the better. My goal is to be someone’s role model. I have had plenty of teachers who were my role models and still are today as I am still learning as well. Helping them to strive for greatness and letting them know they can really do anything they set their minds too. I inspire my students to find the creative side of them and let them learn through that. Computer Science is all about critical thinking and applying knowledge to applications, I let them free play and design their own games. Another way I inspire my students is giving them the confidence that I know they have deep down inside. If they say they cannot do something, I tell them practice makes perfect and there are plenty of things that I cannot do either. Some students need that extra assistance or encouragement of “teachers are humans too”. Students need to understand that mistakes are our first attempt in learning and mistakes just show us that we will come up with something better in the end. The greatest moment of my life was inspiring one of my former students. I never truly knew I left that kind of mark on her until she wrote a paper about me calling her “second mother”.
Goal Statement Three: Change. As an educator, I want to make a change in students’ lives. My goal as a teacher is to also have students make a change in their community. Every year, I teach my students about making a change in the world. We talk about what service learning is and how we can give back to our community. We created projects based on homelessness. Students would research what homelessness is, and how people may become homeless. We would then watch videos and read articles about it. Once the research was done, it was time to get to work to make a change in our community. Students collected toiletries and other small household materials and created little care packages for homeless shelters. We also took a trip to a community garden where students helped plant food, and got a better understanding of what a community garden does. The garden will sell vegetables, fruits, eggs, and honey at a very cheap price for those members in the community who cannot afford groceries from the store. Every year, my students beg to go back to the garden to help. It shows me that I am making a change in my student’s lives to give back to those who are less fortunate than we may be.
Goal Statement Four: Growth. All my life, I have always wanted to “shoot for the stars” and never give up on my education. My Master’s Degree was always going to be an option for me but timing never seemed to work out. Not only am I doing this for my students and myself but also I really did it to make my father proud. He never went to college so he always wanted the best for my brother and me. The day I told him I decided to go back to school, his face lit up with pride and joy. I will never forget that day; he told all his friends that I was continuing my education to better my students and myself. He unexpectedly passed away shortly after. This was right at the start of my journey, and I almost threw in the towel. I then realized “giving up” was not going to be an option. I wanted to grow through this experience as a person and an educator. This journey of my graduate’s degree made me feel accomplished in so many ways. I am showing my students that education does not have to end after high school or their bachelors, I am showing myself that anything is possible, and most importantly, keeping true of making my father proud.
In conclusion, as an educator and now graduate student, it is important to enjoy students and everything they have to offer. I know some days will be harder than others will but in the end, we all make mistakes and learn from each other. I will always be a “student” whether I am teaching a class or still learning from my professors. There are new things constantly evolving in the world, so many new tools that teachers can use, that we are all learning new things together. I want my students to be well educated, feel inspired, and make a change in the world.
Choice is inescapable and inevitable to all who exist or have ever existed. When meeting a fork in the road, a decision is always made, even if no action is taken. Utterly paradoxical, even the act of no decision at all is stepping in one direction of a choice, always making a statement. It is around this ideology of constant choice that the philosophical theory of existentialism exists. It declares that each individual lives in the universe as a being of free-will, one that is capable of his own decision-making and actions. And that it is through these self-determined choices and actions that each individual distinguishes himself from every other member of the population while simultaneously defining himself. The existentialist theme presents itself in three divergent ways in the following works: Hunger, The Metamorphosis, and The Stranger. In each of these compositions, the protagonist is physically and mentally alienated from society, possesses a desire for something never obtained, and dies surrounded by a void that continues past their deaths and applies to others.
Get original essayIn Hunger, Bobby Sands experiences mental and physical alienation from his surroundings due to his hunger strike and subsequent placement in the hospital ward. While imprisonment itself creates separation between the imprisoned and society, Sands further experiences isolation even from other prisoners when he steps forward as the first to participate in a hunger strike. Sands’ hunger strike distances him from all non-participating prisoners; the tremendous mental fortitude required to overcome his hunger creates an alienation from other prisoners, some of whom are not involved in the hunger strike. In addition to the mental alienation that he experiences, Sands is also physically separated from other prisoners when his hunger strike intensifies and he is transported to the hospital wing. As Sands spends the remainder of his life in the prison hospital wing, maintaining his hunger strike and resisting the temptation of three meals each day, he is physically alienated from other prisoners. From the start of his hunger strike until his death, Sands experiences increasing mental and physical alienation from other prisoners.
Similarly, in The Metamorphosis, Gregor Samsa experiences mental and physical alienation from those around him when he awakes one day as an insect and is then forced to become a prisoner in his room. Samsa’s transition to an insect brings him distinct mental differences compared to those around him, separating Samsa from his family. For example, he feels a liberating high when adhering to the walls and ceiling of his room: “He especially liked hanging from the ceiling; it was completely different from lying on the floor; one could breathe more freely; and in the almost happy absent-mindedness which Gregor felt up there, it could happen to his own surprise that he let go and plopped onto the floor” (30). He begins to adapt the feelings and emotions of an insect, continuously drifting away from his family. Additionally, he is physically imprisoned in his room out of disgust from his family and differences in his bodily appearance. The family who, at one point, had loved and cared for him cannot hide their true feelings of hatred toward him, banishing him to his room. It is clear to the reader that any territory outside of Samsa’s home is now forbidden to him through his father’s reaction when he dares to leave his space: “He had only the fixed idea that Gregor must return to his room as quickly as possible (…) when from behind, his father gave him a hard shove, which was truly his salvation, and bleeding profusely, he flew far into his room”(18-19). Both Hunger and The Metamorphosis encompass the physical imprisonment of the protagonist. Samsa reflects on his isolation, explicitly using the word “imprisonment”, after hearing new financial news discussed at a family meeting he hears from his room: “These explanations by his father were to some extent the first pleasant news Gregor had heard since his imprisonment” (25). Mentally, he is isolated through abnormal thoughts and feelings. Physically, his horrible appearance is unbearable by those around him, causing his family to banish him to his room.
Although Meursault in The Stranger also feels both physical and mental alienation, there are some differences between him and Samsa or Sands. Meursault’s situation differs in that his isolation is not evident to him until he is put in front of a jury. He recognizes nothing wrong with how he handles his mother’s death and does not recognize just how inhuman he is. It is established in The Stranger that Meursault does precisely as he pleases, unaffected by the thoughts or predetermined normalities set by society. An example of this is demonstrated when the thought of bread is dismissed in his mind as the effort of making a trip to the store is not worth the outcome: “I fixed myself some eggs and ate them out of the pan, without bread because I didn’t have any left and I didn’t feel like going downstairs to buy some” (21). This continuous behavior of mild interest and little enthusiasm carries through his life preceding his court date. He disregards his case as anything important. The gravity of taking another man’s life does not resonate with him and he treats the matter as if it is something of daily occurrence. He becomes aware of his physical isolation from society following the murder of the Arab, when put in front of a group of his peers in the courtroom. Up until this point, Meursault disregards the importance of himself. He is for once isolated out of a group and it is a foreign feeling to him: “I think that at first I hadn’t realized that all those people were crowding in to see me. Usually people didn’t pay much attention to me. It took some doing on my part to understand that I was the cause of all the excitement” (83). In addition to physically being isolated during his trial, Meursault is mentally trapped in his cell alone, prior to his execution. The lingering thoughts of a free man swirl in his head after his entrance into prison. It is at time when he feels these longings for freedom that he is truly alienated from society: “For example, I would suddenly have the urge to be on a beach and to walk down to the water. As I imagined the sound of the first waves under my feet, my body entering the water and the sense of relief it would give me, all of a sudden I would feel just how closed in I was by the walls of my cell” (76). Meursault’s alienation mirrors that of Samsa’s and Sands’ through the confining walls of imprisonment he resides in, yet differs mentally in the fact that Meursault does not realize his alienation until it unequivocally presented itself to him in the courtroom.
What pushes Sands to starve himself to death is the constant longing for an Ireland free from the United Kingdom. This constant hunger for political liberation is the driving force of what pushes Sands to kill himself in such an inhumane way. Following Sands' death, some demands are met. However, the forlornness of the situation is that Sands never experiences the freedom nor the satisfaction of triumph. He was constantly striving for something out of reach and it took his death and the death of seven others for the government to step in. In his lifetime, he never achieved his goals. He was only ever fighting for something that he was unable to obtain. This burning desire for something that will never be achieved is similarly shown in The Metamorphosis through Samsa’s fantasies of leading a normal life again. He longs for his body to return to how it was before he went to bed, an impossible request after his transformation. An example of just how driven Samsa is to return his life to its normal state is his dismissal of the entire situation when he first wakes. His focus is solely pinned on arriving to his workplace, as if it was just another weekday: “The next train left at seven o'clock; to make it, he would have to hurry like a madman, and the line of samples wasn’t packed yet, and he himself didn’t feel especially fresh and ready to march around”(5). Furthermore, throughout the novella, Samsa maintains this conscious effort to stay alive, hoping for an alteration that makes him human again. He does not give in to the notion that he should remove himself from the family even when his sister, who up until this point has been loyal, finally believes that the family should rid themselves of his presence. His desire to continue living and become human again is an unrealistic objective and without his permission, he is taken from the world: “Then, without his consent, his head sank down to the floor, and from his nostrils streamed his last weak breath” (51). Throughout the entire novella, Samsa yearns for a goal that he can never achieve. As those around him begin to dismiss him as a member of the family, this hunger for change does not falter.
Meursault faces the constant challenge of achieving a feeling he has not experienced: love. Following the death of his mother, he does not exhibit the symptoms of a normal grieving man. Rather than partake in the five stages of grief, he jumps the gun, immediately accepting what has happened. He did not truly love his mother, for he would have been depressed or mourning. His lack of love is also demonstrated in how little attention he pays to the details of his own mother’s death, even unsure of the exact day she passed away: “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know”(3). Moreover, he is constantly convincing himself that he and his mother have tight rapport, through his continuous use of the word Maman, a childish synonym of Mother. He tries to love his mother, but he cannot or will not feel that love. He makes mild attempts to be close with Maman and maintain a loving relationship, but he feels nothing and only goes through the motions. His search for love continues after Maman’s passing when he flirts with Marie: “I asked her if she wanted to go to the movies that evening. She laughed again and told me there was a Fernandel movie she’d like to see” (20). His sudden jump between his recently deceased mother to a new young woman is a part of his endless attempt to find love. He feels no real connection between either individual. Maman dies, and he goes out to find someone to take her spot; but still, he finds no one he loves. He and Marie go through the motions of a couple, but he does not feel an attraction of love toward Marie: “Then she wanted to know if I loved her. I answered the same way I had the last time, that it didn’t mean anything but that I probably didn’t love her” (41). He first attempts to love his mother. When she passes away, he turns to Marie. He continuously looks for a love that he will never find.
Sands surrounds himself with the ongoing pain of famine through the last sixty-six days of his life, a void in it of itself. However, he is also constantly surrounded by his strong feelings about the United Kingdom and Ireland. A void is created for Bobby Sands and fellow members of the Irish Republican Army through their strong feelings between the separation of Ireland and the United Kingdom. It is seemingly inescapable and they feel they have a responsibility to affect the outcome of the situation. With the thoughts of Ireland’s future in mind, Sands patiently awaits his death in a state of extreme hunger. He dies from self-starvation while surrounded by not only the void of hunger, but also lack of political freedom, which continues without him until seven more have killed themselves.
Much like in Sands, Samsa is surrounded by two voids. Although he does have the void of his metamorphosis, he is trapped in another void as well, which was established before his first awakening as an insect. His responsibility to provide for his family at a young age to work off the debt to his father’s name when he should be getting married and starting a family of his own is a void that seems endless. It becomes clear to the reader that he abhors his career as a traveling salesman, only working because of the obligation he feels to provide for his family: “If I didn’t hold back for my parents’ sake, I would have quit long ago, I would have marched up to the boss and spoken my piece from the bottom of my heart(...) Well, I haven’t given up hope completely; once I’ve gotten the money together to pay off my parents’ debt to him - that will probably take another five or six year s- I’m going to do it without fail”(4). Gregor is relieved from this duty through his metamorphosis, the death of his human self and the birth of a different animal. It is through that process of death that he escapes the void his parents have created for him. However, although Gregor has died, his sister, Grete, is soon to be sucked into the void of her parent’s expectations. This is demonstrated through the bleak and darkly ironic ending, following Gregor’s death: “While they were talking in this vein, it occurred almost simultaneously to Mr. and Mrs. Samsa, as they watched their daughter getting livelier and livelier, that lately, in spite of all the troubles which had turned her cheeks pale, she had blossomed into a good-looking, shapely girl. Growing quieter and communicating almost unconsciously through glances, they thought that it would soon be time, too, to find her a good husband” (55). The void continues past Gregor’s death as Mr. and Mrs. Samsa think about expectations to be set for their next child, Grete.
Finally, in The Stranger, Meursault finds himself lost in the void of life. He spirals through aimlessly, uninterested in what the world has to offer. He participates in only a small amount of activities and does not feel compelled to go above and beyond in any way. If he does not feel the desire or need to do something, he simply won’t do it. He does socialize with friends and is romantically involved with Marie, but he does not love her. Meursault feels unimportant to the world, someone that will soon be gone and leave without a trace. He floats through the void of life, waiting for it to discontinue. He is certain that his death will come and his pessimistic view of life is translated through to his lack of feelings when something as important as his mother’s death takes place: “Nothing, nothing mattered, and I knew why(...) Throughout the whole absurd life I’d lived, a dark wind had been rising toward me from somewhere deep in my future, across the years that were still to come, and as it passed, this wind leveled whatever was offered to me at the time, in years no more real than the ones I was leaving” (121). It is for this reason he never over-achieves and is merely mildly interested in most things. He becomes offended when someone, like the chaplain, regards him as someone of significance:”Then, I don’t know why, but something inside me snapped. I started yelling at the top of my lungs, and I insulted him and told him not to waste his prayers on me(...) But I was sure about me, about everything, surer than he could ever be, sure of my life and sure of the death I had waiting for me”(120). Meursault finds comfort in the fact that death is certain and that he will eventually face it one of these days, taking him from the void of life. However, even with his passing, the void continues; life will go on for others living in the world and Meursault is one of billions who inhabit the Earth. He believes his effects and contributions as a human are indeterminable.
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Get custom essayIn all three works, each subject struggles with isolation from society, mentally and physically, wrestles with a longing for something they never achieve, and escapes a void that pertains not solely them, but continues past death. An existential crisis for each individual, they react in different ways. Each man identifies who he is and sets himself apart from the remaining population. Through each action, each protagonist establishes his identity and shapes the opinions of others around him, dividing himself from his peers.
Most people think they understand what it means to be an individual. They may say it is to be yourself, and not act like everyone else. Though this widely understood definition is accurate, there is so much more to expand on the idea of individuality. I will explain the ways in which the world affect’s a person’s individuality. People get swallowed up by what is popular and trending persuading them to make decisions based on how it will affect their appearance. I will tell that being an individual takes power and is a freedom granted to those who act on it. Individuality now may be different from what it was years ago. It is a state of loneliness that only true individuals are brave enough to enter. It means stepping out of the social norms and being yourself.
Get original essayEvery person on the Earth counts as an individual. The globe’s population is a number based on how many individuals exist. So, if everyone is an individual, what does individuality mean? Individuality looked up in the dictionary means the quality or character of a particular person or thing that distinguishes them from others of the same kind, especially when strongly marked. If this concept of individuality was not in existence, every human would be the same and the world would not evolve. There would be no diversity, and everyone would speak the same language or have the same religious beliefs. It expands anywhere from wearing clothes you feel comfortable in, whether they are in fashion or not, to listening to music no matter what songs are on the top of the charts at the time. Being individual is a power, a freedom, and the ability to own yourself.
Individuality is an expression of power that every human has within them. It is the ability to make decisions that may even go against what most the majority of the population thinks or does. “The individual is an effect of power, and at the same time, or precisely to the extent to which it is that effect, is the element of its articulation” (2 Rozmarin 2005). Without this independence, everyone would conform to pop culture and become a slave of society. Rozmarin also explains that “The individual (. ) is an open and dynamic structure, shaped but not determined by social, historical and discursive conditions” (3).
People are not shaped by their society, yet they are shaped by how they differentiate from the society. The smartest and most successful people used their individuality to achieve greatness. Individuality is one of the most powerful traits in the world.
Freedom is the absence of coercive constraints and the right to initiate one’s own purposive action. Freedom is vital to individuals to express their individualism. It gives them the right to be unique and the ability to think for themselves and act on their own thoughts. One’s integrity can drive him or her to execute success and happiness. The freedoms to be individual empower people to be self-reliant and combine their efforts with other individuals to achieve greater success. With the freedom of people to express themselves through their individuality, they are able to thrive within their communities. The last hidden meaning of individuality is the ability to own yourself. You have ownership of your body and leadership to trust yourself. “The tension here lies in the fact that owning one’s own body, while being a necessary condition of one’s capacity to realize oneself as free and as an owner, cannot ultimately be accounted for in terms of the implicit metaphysical stance that is embodied in one’s claim to be an owner of things generally” (2 Ciavatta 2005).
Ciavatta explains in this quote that to be an owner of things you must first take full ownership of yourself. In another article it was written that “(. ) Ultimately the individual could only ever examine him or herself as a particular determinate ‘active’ person” (Tyler 2015). To express individuality, you must take full ownership of your body and all of your actions. Comment by Nancy Suarez-Castro (Student): Add ‘para’ in front of 2 Individuality is not as simple as to just one short definition. It is a broad term and can be interpreted in multiple ways. Individuality is expressing power, freedom, and ownership of yourself. It creates diversity in the world and makes people independent. Without individualism, the world would be a dull and boring place.
During the late sixties, isolation and separation were seen around the world, a portion of these developments comprised of people wanting to make a change. For example, the American activists Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Robert F. Kennedy, and Rosa Parks, who experienced numerous challenges in accomplishing their objective however in the long run moved past them. An individual has the ability to change the society.
Get original essayDuring the 1950s and 1960s Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the biggest advocates for African Americans. MLK fought for basic civil rights for African Americans. In comparison to BLM, Martin Luther King’s wise speaking towards achieving civil rights for African Americans is very similar to BLM’s protests. The Black Lives Matter Movement also confronts some of the same issues that previous black liberation movements addressed: that, black people are seen as criminals, and black bodies are expendable. Both movements have been opposed to racism and systemic oppression. Many see BLM as the new civil rights movement. That movement, from 1954 to 1965, demanded basic equality for African Americans. Black Lives Matter has focused on police abuse of African Americans. To that end, it is instructive to examine the similarities and differences between the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Lives Matter Movement.
US Civil Rights for African Americans have changed radically since the 1960’s. For hundreds of years, the human rights for African Americans were abused. Although slavery was abolished, segregation between the white and black was still present. African Americans were to be separated from the whites on public transport. Rosa Parks, an American activist, refused to give up her seat for a white passenger, resulting in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. One year later, the boycott ended, stopping segregation of black and white passengers on bus services, encouraging many other efforts to end segregation in America. A group of activists known as Freedom Riders, wanted to test the US Supreme Court’s decision on ending segregation on public transport. The group boarded public buses to southern US states, their strategy being to sit next to each other, black and white, with one black passenger sitting in the front section that was previously reserved for whites. Ignoring segregation signs, their journeys were interrupted by many mob attacks and arrests. The racist violence was one of the reasons many other freedom riders joined the campaign. In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr, delivered his “I Have A Dream” speech at the March on Washington. In his speech, Martin Luther King addressed, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.” He wanted equality between the white and black, hoping that one day the black community would not have to suffer prejudice because of the colour of their skin. The speech was revolutionary, gaining attention by millions. The many events and attempts for equality finally payed off. On the 2 July 1964, the US Congress enacted the ‘Civil Rights Act’, outlawing prejudice based on race or gender.
The tactic Dr. Martin Luther King used was speeches to influence people about how wrong discrimination and segregation were. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech states, “Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy; now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice; now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood; now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children”. This quote represents how King wants to encourage the people to join him and change the world by getting rid of segregation.
Robert F. Kennedy wanted to unite the people and end-all of the fighting between skin colors. In “A Eulogy for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he states, “What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice towards those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or they be black”. Robert F. Kennedy wanted to continue what Dr. Martin Luther King started because he believed that segregation should come to an end.
To conclude, all three have made a huge difference in the world to make it how it is today. Martin Luther King’s speech pushed people to come together and unite, no matter what color skin they had. Robert F. Kennedy’s speech showed that just because King passed didn’t mean that his dream went with him. Rosa Parks’s boycott proved that an individual can make a huge change. This shows that if they put their mind to an individual has the power to change society.
The eighteenth-century novel seemed often to be the place in which people would attempt reform society. The novel gave writers a medium through which they could provide both entertainment and a place in which they could attempt to reform people’s views. Although often times these writers were only slightly allowed to delve into something outside of the status quo of the time, they were often even more successful because of this penchant to stay within boundaries. In other words, because these authors weren’t too radical in their writings, the readers were therefore abler to swallow these ideas. Austen uses this technique in Mansfield Park to show the readers some of the wrongs of the marriage institution, as well as the way in which women were constrained in the society at the time. In order to do this, Austen uses a technique which Armstrong, in Desire and Domesticity, defines as individuating a collective body—making a societal wrong shown through an individual case in order to reform it. By using this technique of individuating women’s constraints in marriage, we are able to first sympathize with Fanny, and then with the female society as a whole by seeing the emotional impact on the individual.
Get original essayFanny, throughout the novel, is shown to be one with the least amount of influence and voice in the novel, once even defined as a “creep-mouse” by her cousin, and treated as a servant by others (Austen, 168). It is at the crucial part of her life, and possibly the most crucial portion of the book, in which she must raise her voice against her potential suitor, Henry Crawford, as well as her family, in which she truly achieves a greater amount of agency. This increased sense of agency is brought to a climax in Chapter 35, in which Edmund comes to Fanny to encourage her to accept Henry’s marriage proposal. While Edmund is encouraging the marriage, Fanny says of this, that “it ought not to be set down as certain that a man must be acceptable to every woman he may happen to like himself” (Austen, 391). Fanny’s assertion, here, that women need not be forced into a marriage conveys a small part of Austen’s critique of the business-like marriages of the day. Instead, Austen shows here that women should be the ones in charge of their own fate, rather than society dictating that they should be forced into a love-less marriage simply because society, as well as their own families, have pressured them into it. Austen is critiquing female constraints in marriage as a whole through this individual case. Fanny says that she “should have thought…that every woman must have felt the possibility of a man’s not being approved, not being loved by someone of her sex,” which implies this contradiction to the reality of society (Austen, 391). Not only does Fanny’s literal emphasis of the words give more power to her words—something that she normally lacks—but in the fact that she speaks out at all makes the words that much more powerful. Here, Austen is showing the power that women should possess. Being that Fanny almost never speaks out against societal norms, this point of departure from her normal self adds much more power to her words than if she was constantly speaking out. Her emphasis of the word “should” gives an importance to what she is saying, and is on the brink of urgency. Had she been any other character, the word to use here may have been “must,” yet the word “should” lends more credibility to who Fannie is. She cannot give a more forceful opinion, or else be recognized as straying from the societal norm—this being a woman being subservient to men and having little to no say in their matters.
In order to explain and validate what Austen is doing, Armstrong contends that eighteenth-century novelists attempted to reform what people thought of sexuality. Of this, she says that the “struggle to represent sexuality took the form of a struggle to individuate wherever there was a collective body” (Armstrong, 468). In other words, the rise of the novel sought to show an individual circumstance in order to fully convey the struggles of the whole. The individual’s circumstance then gives emotional support and sympathy towards the whole of the population. In order to show the whole, the rise of the novel gives way to individualizing the societal norms, such as the female constraints shown in this novel. Armstrong goes on to say that “Rather than refer to individuals who already…carried on relationships according to novelistic conventions, domestic fiction took great care to distinguish itself from the kind of fiction that predominated in the eighteenth [century]” (Armstrong, 469). Mansfield Park, as a form of domestic fiction, questions the roles that men and women played in relationships through cases such as Fanny’s. Fanny’s exclamation that women should be able to say no to a potential suitor brings to light some of the wrongs of the patriarchal existence that she lives in.
Leading up to this event, Fanny’s subservience and general lack of power is shown earlier in the chapter, evoking in the reader the same sort of sympathy for Fanny’s lack of power that is seen throughout the novel. “Oh! never, never, never; he never will succeed with me,” says Fanny to Edmund during the first part of their conversation, which the readers hope that Fanny is gaining more agency and more of a voice (Austen, 385). This is contradicted immediately by Fanny’s willing subservience to Edmund—she quickly changes this firm decision to saying that she thinks that she shall never marry Henry and that she thinks she shall never return his love (Austen, 385). Her firm decision is quickly turned irresolute by Edmund’s assertion that her decision to never marry Crawford is “so very determined and positive,” which was apparently “not like [herself], [her] rational self” (Austen, 385). In this, Edmund is asserting that her wanting to turn Henry Crawford down is irrational, as if a woman’s own opinions were only rational if they agreed with a man’s, or simply society in general. Austen seems to be critiquing the way in which men made women feel as though their views and feelings were invalid unless they were similar to their own. Once Edmund makes this statement, the narrator conveys that Fanny was obliged to “sorrowfully correct herself’ (Austen, 385). This description from the narrator gives the reader a small sight into Fanny’s mind, showing the reader the great pains, mentally, that Fanny is forced to take in order to fit into the patriarchal-run society. She is constrained to what Edmund—and the rest of the family around her—want to hear, much like other women of the time were forced to deal with. Fanny’s penchant to only subtly go against the patriarchal norm of society can be explained in Armstrong’s theory. Armstrong postulates that “domestic fiction could represent an alternative form of political power without appearing to contest the distribution of power that it represented as historically given” (Armstrong, 471). Fanny only goes so far as to speaking out against Edmund because of the way in which Austen was forced, as an author, to keep the status quo of the time. She must do this in order to survive as an author, and in doing so, the reader is more likely to accept these views because they are not too radical. By subtly integrating some radical views at the time, Austen is thereby able to gain some supporters because her work only slightly contests the views of the day.
This oppression of the proposed marriage between Fanny and Henry is attended to during her explanation, to Edmund, of why the match would be unfavorable to her. After telling Edmund repeatedly of why she did not want to marry Henry Crawford, he claims that their tempers are similar. To this, Fanny contests that the difference between their personalities are “infinitely too great” and that “his spirits often oppress [her]” (Austen, 387). Although Fanny says this fairly nonchalantly, it seems as though Austen is attempting to imply the oppression of the marriage itself. Oppression meaning here something akin to “to (mentally) overwhelm or weigh down a person,” meaning that his spirits (or personality) distressed her, Austen uses this meaning in order to conceal a deeper meaning to this word (OED). Rather, she here is trying to convey that Henry has a penchant to “govern harshly; to tyrannize; to engage in oppression” (OED). Fanny conveys the oppressive nature of men in the patriarchal society of eighteenth-century Britain through speaking about his oppressive personality and temper. This oppressive nature is seen again, when Edmund states that Henry Crawford has “chosen his partner, indeed, with rare felicity” (Austen, 388). The word “chosen” is used here to put pressure on the fact that men felt above women, that they indeed were the ones to choose their partners, who would thereby submit to them. It is this choosing of a wife that Fanny so opposes when she claims that women must not reciprocate romantic feelings towards every man who flirts with her. Rather, it is the choice of both parties which should make the decisions—should being the operative word here, which is put pressure on by Fanny, as mentioned before. “Chosen” puts an insistence on Fanny’s approval, giving the power of the relationship (or lack thereof) to Henry.
Armstrong’s Desire and Domestic Fiction details some of the reasons why the characters of the novel were vying for Fanny to accept Henry, and therefore to submit to society—and Edmund’s—wills. Armstrong claims that “the rise of the novel hinged upon a struggle to say what made a woman desirable”—thus, Edmund was attempting to show submissiveness as a desirable trait in women (Armstrong, 468). Austen criticizes this aspect of novels at the time by actually contradicting this through Fanny’s rejection of Edmund’s persuasions. Being that we already sympathize with Fanny, the reader is thereby trained to sympathize with Fanny’s wishes as well. This allows the reader to see that a woman being independent is much more desirable than what the patriarchal norm of society deemed as desirable. As Armstrong asserts, “narratives which seemed to be concerned solely with matters of courtship and marriage in fact seized the authority to say what was female” (Armstrong, 468). Austen seems to use this allowance in that she forces the reader to reevaluate what they think of as desirable in a woman. It is complicated, though, by the way in which we have already sympathized with Edmund at certain points in this novel. Perhaps Austen does this in order to mask her intentions, and only reveal slightly what is truly desirable in a woman, else be ostracized and criticized for completely going against the norm.
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Get custom essayThe constraints that were put upon females and marriage is shown through Fanny’s case. In showing the wrongs of the society by showing its impact on an individual, we can see more clearly how it truly affects women in general. By taking this issue from a collective body and showing it in individualistic terms, we are thereby able to put emotion to the issue and humanize concern. What gives the readers the notion that this is important in a global sense, though? It is the way in which we can relate these happenings to the society of the time. In Austen critiquing the constraints that were put on Fanny, a timid creature already, she is more so using Fanny in order to show but one part of a larger whole of women at the time. Fanny is dealing with the pressures of her family, and (more importantly), the pressures that Edmund is putting on her—to deal with this, she is only able to submit to Edmund’s wishes. These roles seem to fit perfectly into the societal norms that were prevalent at the time—women were often conveyed as timid and subservient to men, while men and the entirety of the patriarchal society put pressure on women, which they were often forced to submit to.
Africa is critical to India’s security, especially the Horn of Africa region, because of its proximity with India. The threat of radicalism, piracy, organized crime emerge from this region.
Get original essayAfrica can help us in diversifying our energy sources, which is one of the stated objective of our Integrated Energy Policy Africa also contains rich reservoir of valuable minerals, metals including gold and diamond Africa provides a space for Indian investment Africa has ample agricultural land which cab address India’s food security. India is looking at leasing land in Africa to overcome the land deficit that we face in terms of arable land.
Geopolitical Support of African countries is important for India’s aim of gaining a permanent seat in UNSC Africa provides a space for displaying both India’s soft and hard power India has been actively involved in peace and stability of African countries through UN Peacekeeping operations. India is involved in capacity building of African countries. Africa is also the largest beneficiary of India’s ITEC programme.
Emma Mawdsley and Gerard McCann (2011). “Changing Geographies of Power” In the global geopolitics India needs to effectively engage with all countries across the world for engagement on multiple fronts. Africa as a dark continent is emerging as global theatre for all major powers for resources and power play. India has its task cut out though with historical ties.
Amanda Lucey, Mark Schoeman and Catherine Grant Makokera (2015). “India-Africa Relations : The Role of the private sector” India is becoming an increasingly important economic partner for African countries. Its ties with Africa can be traced to a strong, shared history based on the principles of South–South cooperation, people-to-people linkages and common development challenges. The third India-Africa Forum Summit, which is taking place in October 2015, will allow India–Africa ties to be strengthened further.
Isabel Hofmeyr (2011). “ South Africa and India: Shaping the Global South” South Africa’s future is increasingly tied up with that of India. While trade and investment between the two countries is intensifying, they share long-standing historical ties and have much in common: apart from cricket, colonialism and Gandhi, both countries are important players in the global South. As India emerges as a major economic power, the need to understand these links becomes ever more pressing
Sharkdam Wapmuk (2013). “Bilateral Trade and Investment Relations between Nigeria and India” This chapter examines the trade relations between India and African countries as a resource for accelerating developmental cooperation under globalization. It will try to examine the strength and uniqueness of the historical foundation for the current Indo–African partnership in the twenty-first century.
Ajay Kumar Dubey (2014). “India–Africa Relations: Historical Goodwill and a Vision for the Future” India and Africa shared a multidimensional relationship since ancient times. The geographical proximity and an easily navigable Indian Ocean brought the people of the two regions nearer to each other. During colonial times, soon after the conquest of Africa and for restructuring African economy, the free and voluntary relations of the past gave way to colonial needs and preferences. The relations between India and sovereign states of Africa were formally established when both sides gained independence.
The declaration placed development cooperation at the heart of India-Africa partnership, with India unveiling $10 billion in Lines of Credit for a host of development projects over the next five years and pledging a grant assistance of $600 million. This grant includes an India-Africa Development Fund of $100 million and an India-Africa Health Fund of $10 million. It will also include 50,000 scholarships in India over the next five years and support the expansion of the Pan Africa E-Network and institutions of skilling, training and learning across Africa. Amid the growing salience of ocean economy, IAFS-III mapped out a blueprint for enhanced cooperation in developing blue economy and to promote what Prime Minister Narendra Modi called “the blue revolution.” Blue Economy aims at sustainable development of marine resources, which will drive growth and prosperity of India, Africa and other littoral states blessed with long coastlines. The third India-Africa Forum Summit saw a striking convergence of positions between India and 54 African countries to address a host of cross-cutting global issues, ranging from the UN Security Council reforms, piracy/maritime security and terrorism to multilateral trade negotiations, climate change and sustainable development. India plans to conduct a new training course at the Centre for UN Peacekeeping (CUNPK) in New Delhi and at other Peacekeeping Training Centers in Africa dedicated for Training of Trainers from upcoming Troop Contributing Countries from Africa. They also agreed on jointly promoting greater involvement of the Troop Contributing Countries in the decision-making process.
There is a positive change observed within the African continent and their urge to economically diversify is visible. Business bodies such as the CII and FICCI are playing a very substantial role in bringing Africa and India relationships and making strategic partnerships.A recent FICCI study ‘The Rising India’ says, “Nowhere in the world is the impact of economic growth and development as visible as in Africa”. The development of Africa with respect to the growing middle class, reducing poverty and growing trend of globalization makes it an apt destination for India to engage in investments and trade with Africa. Our exports include medicines, refined petroleum products and others. This enables us to find an alternate promising market when our markets of the west are slowly diminishing due to various economic and political reasons. This enables the dream of ‘Make in India’ going strong. It will take more heavy-lifting to elevate India’s historical anti-colonial ties with Africa to productive economic partnerships. India needs to continuously expand its outreach on multiple fronts and build a sustainable partnership with Africa to ensure it achieves a greater synergy in the years ahead to find a common ground. India called for partnership with Africa in raising voice for the reform of international institutions such as the United Nations and its security council. It also stressed for collective action for climate change with the mantra of «clean and green». It includes the invitation given by India to all the African countries to be a part of the Indian initiative and join the ‘Solar Club’ for a partnership in areas of clean energy, sustainable habitats, public transport and climate resilient agriculture.
Recommendation for future and Lessons Learned Although Africa is going strong on the economic front, however there are severe challenges that are a major hindrance for the development of its people. The vicious cycle of poverty, unemployment, food security, environmental awareness, disease out breaks, poor health facilities and infrastructure are not only a challenge for the African countries but also India as India is facing the same problems which are deterring its growth and development, though at a lower scale. As mentioned above of the ‘Agenda 2063’ of Africa to deal with the above stated challenges, India’s partnership in the form of ‘Delhi Declaration’ is a positive step in this direction for both the landmasses. The recent racist attacks on the African nationals has left a dark spot on India’s hospitality. It betrays our own understanding of ‘Vasudhev Kutumbhkam’.It is high time that being a responsible citizen of the country, we need to realize that these steps are not isolated in nature but send the image of our nation as racist and intolerant. It marks a big blow on all our previous efforts to generate goodwill.
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Get custom essayIndia and Africa share a bond as ancient as the civilization itself. We need to preserve it and nurture in the best possible way by avoiding any unfortunate incidents by following restraint and tolerance on part of citizens, stringent policy making in this regard on the part of the legislative and effective implementation on the part of the executive. The importance of the ties between India and Africa was realized by our forefathers too for the development of both the land and the people. It will take more heavy-lifting to elevate India’s historical anti-colonial ties with Africa to productive economic partnerships. India needs to continuously expand its outreach on multiple fronts and build a sustainable partnership with Africa to ensure it achieves a greater synergy in the years ahead to find a common ground.