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Observation

Observation undoubtedly is one of the most effective elements of assessment. Continuous observation of the learning skills/work habits helps to figure out various strengths, interest and needs of students which will surely help in further programming and making necessary changes to facilitate caring, positive, inclusive environment which help to improve child’s learning skills. Student’s work habits go a long way in helping students to fill in their achievement gaps as well. For example-In kindergarten, observing students behavior during play time (indoor and outdoor), inquiry based projects, their interaction and engagement with material, helping in winding up resources, how well they get along with peers, builds consensus to achieve group goals, making choices etc. in a way demonstrates their learning skills/ work habits visible which is not possible in paper and pencil assessments. However, it is imperative that these observations need to be documented be it in the form of anecdotal records, video recording etc.

Conversations and dialogue between student and teacher helps to understand student’s learning.

Beside observations, conferences are required to collect explicit information related to ongoing task. It presents verification of student’s development. For example, in kindergarten, these conversations can happen when students are engaged in math center. Playing and interacting with students using counters will help to understand their knowledge about number sense or asking inquiry based questions during water play will inform us about their discoveries. Also, conferencing fosters stronger relationships between teacher and students as it connects them in a meaningful way. Though it has to be taken care of that goal of conferencing is to help students learn how to solve their own problem with the given cues and not sharing direct answers. It further helps students to reflect on their work and plan the next steps to reach the learning goals.

Descriptive feedback is the most powerful tool for improving student learning. The ongoing, timely and meaningful feedback not only helps students to know where they have to put their efforts but also provide them numerous opportunities to refine their learning goals and thus helps to reach at their academic excellence. As teachers, we should guard against the tendency to praise everything ("that is wonderful", "Great work", "amazing"...) at the expense of giving meaningful feedback that will help students improve. Instead of using throw away phrases, teacher very descriptively needs to share what the student has done well and what they can do to improve. For example instead of saying “Good Job!” teacher should give descriptive feedback like - Good work on organizing your paragraph. Could you think of some descriptive words that would help a reader get a clear “mind picture” of how bad the storm really was? One thing which need to be taken care of is that the teacher should start giving feedback with a positive note s/he has noticed about the student—the student’s interests, efforts, and goings-on. When we tell students we noticed what they’ve done well, we begin to establish a supportive connection, an essential step before talking about a behavior that isn’t working.

As we read before in the previous modules that the role of the In-School Support Team is to provide internal support to students with LD. The information given by the class teacher using different assessment strategies including observations and conferences works as a guideline for them to evaluate and reviewing students’ progress . Thus, suggesting needed strategies and interventions to help students. The In-school support team meets regularly to evaluate the student’s progress. However, when they feel that the given intervention is not able to meet child’s needs then they take the help of Out of School Support Team Out of School Support (i.e. psychology consultant, social worker, community partners including parents- guardians etc.). The Out of School Support Team (SST) reviews the education goals and shares strategies that are based on the student’s unique learning profile. This team offers additional knowledge and expertise by including representatives from special education, psychology, social worker, speech-language pathology, occupational.

The part played by money in our everyday life is very important. We need money to sustain ourselves. To buy food and to pay our bills. In this modern world, most of the things that we want, can be obtained with money. Without money, one’s life can become a misery. It is clear for every able-bodied person to do some sort of work so that he or she can be paid for the work done. Afterwards, he or she can spend the money buying necessary things. Yet the opportunity of making money is so vast, that most of the people do not really understand their potential or the potential of chances in making money. To start earning money, first of all, you will need proper education. To have a certain set of competence to be employed. You can earn money in many ways. There are plenty of opportunities for someone who really wants to make money in the legal manner. I will discuss a few ways in which we can make money and save for ourselves.

The traditional method of making money are office jobs. Here the income is steady and there are chances that while climbing the professional ladder, the income also will increase. Even though it is said a full-time job, most of the time you leave home early and get back late. Hours spent with the people you love or friends get minimal here. Another method is in investing. Investments are in various methods and depend on how one looks at it. Some people choose the share markets, where you buy shares of different organizations and sell them based on the market fluctuation. It could be profitable but at times even huge looses are faced. While some others choose the very traditional methods like investing in metals such as gold or silver. Again, another class of people go for mutual funds, bonds, insurance plans and various such options for long terms investments.

Another option which is now widely catching up is through the Online market. Online jobs are high in demand and you get paid for what you do. A flexible kind of job and more and more people are turning to this kind of jobs. Another platform that people make money is through their interests being publicized such as blogs. Blogging is possible any anyone and gradually you could generate revenue from it. Money is not everything, but money is something very important. Beyond the basic needs, money helps us achieve our life’s goals and supports — the things we care about most deeply — family, education, health care, charity, adventure and fun. It helps us get some of life’s intangibles — freedom or independence, the opportunity to make the most of our skills and talents, the ability to choose our own course in life, financial security. With money, much good can be done and much unnecessary suffering avoided or eliminated. Whatever be the mode that you choose, the main agenda should be profit at the end.

So, spending unwisely or more than what you make is never a wise choice and you should keep a close eye on the current markets and financial status to have a better understanding to place yourself in the best suitable position. Face boldly any situation that comes up in life and then, learn from mistakes, on how to earn your income and how to save it for a better future.

Works Cited

1. Fidelity Investments. (2022). Understanding investment options. https://www.fidelity.com/learning-center/investment-products
2. Investopedia. (2022). How to invest in stocks. https://www.investopedia.com/articles/basics/06/invest1000.asp
3. Kiyosaki, R. T. (1997). Rich dad poor dad. Tech Press.
4. Mullainathan, S., & Shafir, E. (2013). Scarcity: Why having too little means so much. Macmillan.
5. O’Leary, K. (2011). Cold hard truth: On business, money & life. Doubleday Canada.
6. Ramit Sethi. (2019). I will teach you to be rich: No guilt, no excuses-just a 6-week program that works. Workman Publishing Company.
7. Seligman, M. E. (2011). Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. Free Press.
8. The Balance. (2022). Guide to investing.
9. The Penny Hoarder. (2022). Make money online. https://www.thepennyhoarder.com/make-money/
10. The Simple Dollar. (2022). Investing.

Ideas of social change and progressive ideals are prominent in many nineteenth century works of literature. Charles Dickens’ Hard Times is a prime example of a social criticism novel, putting prominent ideas of the time period, such as utilitarianism and social class, to the test. Dickens uses specific literary techniques that are highly effective in shocking the reader into understanding Dickens’ views. Dickens uses symbolism, satire, and synecdoche, among other literary techniques, to emphasize his argument.

Perhaps the most effective technique is symbolism. Dickens uses it to exaggerate some ideas that may otherwise be overlooked in the overall complexity of the novel. A symbolic motif running throughout the novel is that of the farming cycle, and the idea of reaping what is sown. In the first chapters of the novel, Gradgrind, Bounderby and McChoakumchild “sow the seeds” of Fact into the young, fertile minds of children. The only seeds planted are those of Fact, and fancy and feeling are discouraged and tamped down by adults. In the second part of the book, the characters begin to “reap” what they “sowed” in the children at the beginning of the novel. The doctrine of fact alone begins to create problems as characters such as Louisa and Tom find themselves unable to make any right decisions, or feel any emotions at all. In part three of the novel, the harvest is “garnered”, or stored, and the reader is hit with the true inadequacy of the seeds sown so long ago. Disasters such as Louisa’s ruined marriage, Stephen’s death, and Tom’s undoing occur, and the characters who originally planted the seeds are left with nothing to sustain them. This use of obscure symbolism sharply and sometimes cruelly highlights Dickens’ disgust with the utilitarian doctrines of fact, and the reader is unable to ignore his disdain. By using this symbolism, Dickens not only expresses his disgust and disagreement with many facets of utilitarianism, but also backs up his hatred with predictions of what will happen to the people if an entire society were based solely on fact.

Dickens also uses satire to incite the reader’s vehemence for social change. In discussing many of the characters’, and, indeed, Coketown’s, love of fact, he adopts an almost religiously reverent view. He discusses the fact that most of the churches are unattended by the working masses: “A town so sacred in fact, and so triumphant in its assertion, of course it got on well? Why no…who belonged to the eighteen (religious) denominations? Because, whoever did, the laboring people did not…” (Book the first: Ch. V; pg. 38). He continually reinforces the ideas preached by Gradgrind and Bounderby, that Facts are the one scripture needful above every other facet of life, including religion itself. For Gradgrind, science and fact utterly consume him, leaving him no time to pay attention to the human need for comfort and peace that is often exemplified by religion. Gradgrind even goes so far as to replace the word “God” with the word “Fact” in the statement “God forbid”, often exclaiming “Fact forbid!” when faced with something fanciful, such as the circus. All of these facets combine to create a highly satirical view of Coketown as a place where the religion is not one of God but one of fact. Dickens backs this up further by continually inserting religions allusions and fragments of prayers into descriptions of Coketown or passages that talk about fact. This satirical view of a much darker reality causes the reader to pause and forces though on the twisted reality of a world where fact and science, both subject to human fallacy, have replaced a higher power.

Dickens utilizes synecdoche in order to exaggerate and bring across the true mechanization of the masses so prevalent in the industrial age. He often refers to the Coketown workers as “the masses” and his characters often generalizes them as “the hands”, all wanting the same things, all doing the same things, and all part of nothing but the overall working machine of the town. In general, the individual is not spoken of; instead the whole represents the individual. This is a useful viewpoint for those such as Gradgrind and Bounderby to take because it is the view that creates the most profit. However, through his extensive use of this synecdoche, Dickens shows that it creates a vicious cycle, where the town can be ruined if only one small part of the working whole begins questioning, and where the people trapped in the cycle become less than human.

Dickens questions the greater ideas driving industrial age itself, the ideas of individuality as opposed to profit and output, and he causes readers to also question these ideas as they see the ruin of the people of Coketown, both the workers and the leaders, such as Bounderby and Gradgrind.

Table of contents

1. Methods to Control Inflation
Monetary MeasuresMonetary Methods of controlling Inflation
2. Fiscal Measures
Fiscal Methods of controlling Inflation

Methods to Control Inflation

Monetary Measures

A moderate rate of inflation is sometimes considered to be essential but it varies from country to country and from time to time but as the rate of inflation crosses the desirable limit, certain measures are undertaken to prevent increasing undesirable inflation. Countries use monetary measures to keep the inflation under control.

The monetary policy is defined as the plan of action undertaken a monetary authority especially the central bank of a country. The purpose of monetary policy is to regulate as well as control the demand and supply of money to public. The goal of monetary policy is to set the inflation rate and interest rate at such a level that the currency of the country remains stable and trust in the currency is ensured.

Monetary Methods of controlling Inflation

• Bank Rate Policy: The bank rate policy also known as Central Bank Rediscount Rate is an important tool for controlling inflation. It is the rate at which the central bank buys or discounts the provided bills of exchange presented by commercial banks to build their reserves. The bank rate policy works as a monetary measure in two ways.
• Interest rate increase: In the time of inflation, the central bank of a country increases the rates of interest due to which the lending costs rises, as a resultant, commercial banks reduce their borrowing from central bank. With less rate of borrowing, the money flow from commercial banks to public reduces and this is how the central bank of a country controls the extent of inflation.
• Less Business Borrowings: When the central bank of a country raises the interest rate for commercial banks, the commercial banks then ahead raise the interest rate for individual and Corporation/Company borrowings which results in fewer borrowings from corporate sector. Increase in interest is usually a sign for corporate sector to pull up their socks because it would be difficult for them in the future. With this decrease in borrowings, inflation is also controlled.
• Cash Reserve Ratio: Also known as variable reserve ratio is a specific proportion of deposits that is mandatory for all commercial banks to maintain in form of cash reserves in central bank. The CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) is determined and decided by central bank of a country to control the supply of money. With the increase in the CRR, the capacity of borrowing of commercial banks from central bank decreases and also does the power of public to lend money from commercial banks. With this the price of goods in the market can be controlled; to which extent they would increase or decrease. As a result inflation can be controlled.
• Government Bonds & Securities: The sale and purchase of bonds and securities of government by the central bank of a country characterizes the open market operation of an economy. When the central bank of a country buys government bonds and securities it further sells them to public with the help of commercial banks. When the commercial banks buy these bonds and securities, they transfer an adequate amount of credit to central bank, which results in decrease in rate of money production or credit production by commercial banks. This reduces the flow of money to public by commercial banks and due to this inflation can be controlled.

Fiscal Measures

The fiscal measures to control inflation are comprised of government spending or expenditures, public borrowings and taxation. The people who study fiscal measures are known as fiscals and they assert that inflation is caused due to an excess of aggregate demand and aggregate supply.

An economy’s level of stability, employment rate of a country and an individual’s earning are deeply affected by the relationship of government’s spending and its tax rates implemented. A slight change in between these two can either cause inflation or deflation. These slight changes in tax rate and governments spending to control employment rate and demand for products are known as Fiscal policy.

Fiscal Methods of controlling Inflation

• By reducing publics volume of spending.
• By more internal borrowing by public authorities.
• By increasing taxes.
• By decreasing governments expenditure.
• By introducing more taxes and bringing more people in its coverage.
• By inducing wage earners to buy government bonds and securities.

Table of contents

1. Number of Views Over Time
Ratings (likes/dislikes)Discovery EventsAnalyze Audience DemographicsViewer Dip-off
2. Track Traffic Sources
Sharing StatisticsEncourage Subscriber Engagement

Number of Views Over Time

An important metric used to determine the success of a video is the number of views the video has received over time. YouTube Insights provides this metric at the bottom right of every video to give both users and source a sense of its popularity. This metric can help to determine what type of content resonates best with one’s audience. Average number of views per video helps to obtain a clear understanding of the video content which does well and guides future content creation. Video views need to be considered as the main factor of any video’s success.

Ratings (likes/dislikes)

Video ratings are another metric that demonstrate direct viewer feedback. They are displayed at the bottom right hand corner of videos along with video views. Here, we can see the number of likes or dislikes the video has received over time. For an in-depth view of these ratings, one needs to click on the bar graph. This helps compare likes, dislikes, comments and favorites of the video from its publication. Along with the total number of views of ones’ video, ratings can help to determine what video content is liked or disliked by one’s audience. Ratings feedback is often a better indication of engagement as compared to just views, as ratings require more action from one’s audience than simply watching one’s content. Feedback in the form of likes or dislikes can help our search rankings, as YouTube takes these factors into account when deciding our videos’ rank in the search results.

Discovery Events

An understanding of how traffic was driven to one’s YouTube videos is essential to understand how to drive relevant viewers to our videos in the future. This information can be accessed by clicking on the same bar graph icon at the bottom right of most YouTube videos. It shows the significant discovery events; i.e., the major referral sources of viewers to a video. The listing of major referral sources allows one to analyses significant sources of views. This information provides actionable insights into which marketing channels drive traffic to one’s videos over others and allows focusing of efforts. If one source of traffic draws more than another, then the video promotion strategy can be adjusted accordingly. It is desirable to note the websites which embed our videos. Embedding a video is posting a YouTube video to be seen on a site without viewing it in YouTube. We can note and reach out to the websites that embed our YouTube videos. They can be informed of a new video launch, so they can share it as well.

Analyze Audience Demographics

To further analyze one’s video statistics, one can click on the view more statistics button to get more extensive analytics about the video. Better understanding of audience demographics will help with future content creation to make it as relevant as possible for the age, gender and geographical location of the viewership. Viewer demographics can be compared for deeper insights into the audience growth over time and obtain ideas on segmenting audience based on video content. A video created to target a specific demographic should be monitored to ensure it’s reaching the right audience and relevant viewers.

Viewer Dip-off

It is also important to understand one’s audience retention. Audience retention is how long our viewers watched our YouTube video. It depends on factors including the video’s length, content, and quality, among others. Audience retention metrics need to be examined to understand where one’s viewers stopped watching their videos. This aspect of YouTube insights is very beneficial as it allows us to watch our video while viewing where viewers stopped watching at the same time. This helps to discover weaknesses in one’s video content and help prevent occurrence of same issues in the future. For instance, if all of the viewers appear to stop watching the video halfway through, the following questions can be asked: Was the video too long? Was the content irrelevant to viewers? Is the video not engaging enough or is it boring? They may help solve problems regarding drop in viewership.

Track Traffic Sources

This section provides in-depth look at each traffic source based on groupings by channel. One can segment the traffic sources, which allows analyzing a traffic source of interest for promotion of other video content in the future. These insights help us to determine whether traffic from YouTube search or YouTube suggested videos is more important to our video promotion strategy.

Sharing Statistics

One of the ways a video goes viral is through sharing on social media channels. Thus, the use of sharing report in video analytics is necessary to identify which of the videos are shared the most. This can help to figure out why some videos are more popular on social media channels than others, and this information can be used in future videos. YouTube annotations can be used to drive viewers to perform actions such as sharing on Facebook or Twitter.

Encourage Subscriber Engagement

We need to monitor trends in our subscriber base to understand the overall reach of our YouTube content and ensure continued interest of our viewers in future. Subscriber report can help obtain better sense of the subscribers lost or gained on a video-by-video basis. Also, utilizing calls to action in the form of annotations can help in gaining subscribers. This is beneficial as more subscribers will imply more potential viewers. This report should be monitored on a video-by-video basis to identify any trends in subscriber loss or gain.

The museum that I visited for this research study was the Metropolitan Museum. The exhibition that I chose to view for this study was 'Epic Abstraction: Pollock to Herrera,’ which was an ongoing exhibition that opened on 17th December 2018. The exhibition was on the second floor of the museum located in the Lila Acheson Wallace Wing, taking the positions of galleries 917-925. The main focus of the exhibition was to present abstract art in a better and new way that would thrill viewers and art enthusiasts. Therefore the exhibition contained large paintings that had thin frames all around them while other canvasses lacked frames. The paintings presented in the exhibition were from familiar staple artists of abstract art like Jackson Pollock, Willen de Kooning, Motherwell, Mark Rothko, and Cy Twombly. From my point of view, I think the Met managed t present the collection of these artists in an exciting and better way.

The first artwork I saw in one of the exhibition rooms was that one created by Jackson Pollock. Jackson painted the Pasiphae in 1943. As I keenly observed this artwork, I noticed that it in many figurative elements, but the most prominent element is the standing figure in the right periphery of the canvas. This artwork of Pollock indicates his expressionist ideas that were greatly influenced by Kandinsky, Picasso, and Klee. The painting of Pasiphae is oil on canvas art. In the same exhibition room, stood a massive painting of Autumn Rhythm that is created by the same artist, Jackson Pollock. Pollock made this artwork in October of 1950. This painting is a nonrepresentational picture that is composed of thinned paint applied to unprimed, unstretched canvass that was laid flat on the floor instead of being pinned on the easel. The size of the painting is 207 inches wide, and it used an environmental scale to envelop both sides of creating a visual rhythmic dynamics sense of buoyancy. The exhibition also had paintings of Mark Rothko, one of which was the Color field painting. There were two untitled watercolor artworks that were created from 1944 to 1946, all of which were profoundly moving. Another piece of art that I noticed in the exhibition was of Elizabeth Murray’s painting of Terrifying Terrain, done from 1989 to 19190. This piece was described as an oil on shaped canvases. More artwork were those of Louis Nevelson’s Mrs. N’s Palace, created out painted wood and mirror, an op-art that Kenneth Noland did in 1961 called October, and Carmen Herrera’s Equilibrio artwork that he did in 2012.

The artworks of Jackson Pollock were exquisite and composite, and they thrilled me more than the other pieces even though all of them were unique. Especially the painting of Pasiphae was the most remarkable one. The picture boasted of composite firm structures that and had integrated central white flanked beasts on either side by two figures that were standing on sentry like a posed manner. Pollock created these figures in an enigmatic and composite manner, which brought out the reminiscent of the medieval carvings of the tribal people. The tangled strokes of the brush in the painting and flourishes, Pollock was portraying a specific interpretation of automatism, which is a surrealistic technique that an artist employs to relinquish conscious control to the paintbrush when creating a piece of art. Most probably, Jackson began by painting the outline of the figures and proceeded by applying thin colors of washes and continuing to opaque swathes that he applied with increased strength. All of these designs and elements are pressed against the plane of the picture, which made me aware of the surfaces and textures of the canvas that I viewed with ewe an admiration. I was tempted to search through the painting to identify figures and other realities, but reality faded away so fast that I only left with the amusement and vibrant explosion of colors and shapes that dazzled my mind.

The painting can only be described as meticulous and grandeur, captivating my mind at first glance with each minute piece standing on its merit, illustrating an illusion of a painting within a painting. The second painting of Pollock, Autumn Rhythm, was much bigger, and it denoted that Pollock was at the peak of his power as an artist. The feeling that arose when I viewed this work was that of sensational grip as the heavy, arcing, graceful, swirling pooling lines of color caught my attention. This painting is the direct choreography of the artist applying the paint with a new way of thinking. Mark Rothko Color field is also amazing and very interesting as the brightest painting with most contrast deeply moved me. Louise Nevelson's work of Mrs. N's Palace was beautifully shaped, and the wooden room was geometrically shaped that thrilled me a lot, almost tempting me to walk inside and live in the home that the art represented.

The artwork of Pasiphae can be described as oil on canvas painting. The formal analysis of the painting can be attributed to weaved figures of free-form abstraction and arcane symbols. The painting was created through light paints in the outline of the figures and then thin color washes that build into thick opaque paint layers. It was then accentuated with linear contours colored patches cutting across the figures, establishing an independent rhythm. The next over paint part that Pollock applied was the gray overpainting at the topmost of the canvas controlling the momentum and reinstating order in the painting. Each layer of paint was directly applied not only by brush but also with a palette knife and paint squeezes to give it an animated look. Whereas, Autumn Rhythm represented a thinned paint poured onto an unstretched and unprimed canvas that laid flat on the ground. Pollock possibly splashed, scumbled, splattered, dribbled, and flicked the pigments in the most unorthodox way that made the painting not to have any focal point or hierarchy of elements forming the whole aspect of the painting to be significant. The others in the exhibition could not much the artwork depicted in these two painting canvases of Pollock.

Bibliography

1. Duvernois, Isabelle, Julie Arslanoglu, and Silvia A. Centeno. “Cut from the Same Cloth: A Technical Comparison of Jackson Pollock’s Pasiphae and Mural.” Getty Research Journal 9, no. S1 (2017): 61-78.
2. Peacock, Monica. “High or Low? The Value of Transitional Paintings by Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and Mark Rothko.” (2018).
3. Perchuk, Andrew, Alan Phenix, and Laura Rivers. “Making Mural: Technical Analysis and Interpretation.” Getty Research Journal 9, no. S1 (2017); 27-60.

Throughout the duration of Albert Camus’s novel The Stranger, the narrator, Meursault, evolves in terms of his self-awareness and world-view, a change which Camus uses to aid the reader in understanding both his protagonist and the existentialist themes throughout the novel. By splitting the text into two parts, Camus not only creates a valid ‘before’ and ‘after’ distinction for Meursault’s murder of the Arab, but also forges a distinct indication of the protagonist’s change in understanding of choice and consciousness. During Part 1, we are given a snapshot of Meursault’s daily life: Maman’s funeral, his relationship with Marie, Raymond, and Salamano, and the trip to the beach culminating in his murder of the Arab. In Part 2, Camus recounts Meursault’s incarceration, his trial, and the period before his execution, mirroring his murder of the Arab with his dawning revelation from indifference to acceptance. As a result, the dynamic nature of Meursault’s character is evident; through the intermediates of Maman’s funeral, the murder of the Arab, and his attack on the chaplain Meursault loses the flatness he embodies during Part 1 and shifts in character throughout the remainder of the novel.

In the beginning of the novel, Camus paints Meursault as someone who is emotionally and spiritually detached from society. He revels in the physical aspects of his existence, thinking about nature, swimming, and his lusty feelings for women such as Marie in extensive and passionate detail. When he travels to Marengo to attend Maman’s funeral, he is not overcome with grief at the loss of his mother, and declines the caretaker’s offer to see her body before the funeral, telling him that he doesn’t know why he’d rather close the coffin. Throughout the proceedings of the funeral, he spends a lot of time describing both the oppressive heat of the sun and the pleasantries of nature, using long and descriptive passages that dictate his behavior, as seen when he sits vigil for Maman, commenting; “It was pleasant; the coffee had warmed me up, and the smell of flowers on the night air was coming through the open door. I think I dozed off for a while.” (Camus, 9). In his passivity, he allows the weather and his surroundings to dictate his behavior, showcasing a lack of individual motivation and active participation in the dynamic nature of his environment, as well as little taste for personal choice, shifting his attitude based on the method of least resistance. This is evident in all aspects of his life, as seen when he tells Marie that love doesn’t mean anything to him, and that he doesn’t care if they get married. As apparent in his response, Meursault focuses on the physical rather than the emotional, and is unaware or ambivalent about what happens to him in his life. Although this signifies a lack of choice, his incongruity may also be a nod toward the existentialist idea of the universe as an irrational and disordered. By ignoring feeling, Meursault may be attempting to focus on the objective and concrete in a subjective and absurd world.

A major turning point of the text, Meursault’s murder of the Arab on the beach can be viewed as the next step in his transformation from indifference to acceptance, hinting at the first inclination of choice as he decides “that you could either shoot or not shoot.” (Camus, 56), Camus’s sly reference to Shakespeare’s Hamlet in his ‘To be or not to be’ soliloquy. Even though Meursault indicates that he had little influence, or choice, in the murder, claiming that “the trigger gave” (Camus, 59), his acknowledgment of his power to kill or not kill the Arab is an important milestone in his conversion to self-consciousness and self-awareness. By giving some authority to the power of decision, he comes closer to the existential ‘freedom to choose’, reaching the philosophy that “humans define their own meaning in life, and try to make rational decisions despite existing in an irrational universe” (“Existentialism”).

The final stage of Meursault’s transformation, his descent toward self-awareness occurs after his attack on the chaplain, who attempts to persuade him to turn to God for comfort. Meursault tells the chaplain that he doesn’t believe in God, and that everything in life is meaningless because all humans are destined for death, and becomes enraged, grabbing him by his cassock in anger. He narrates that “I was pouring out on him everything that was in my heart, cries of anger and cries of joy.” (Camus, 120), the first real indication in the text of emotion following the trial, during which Meursault was forced to consciously identify the existence he was being held accountable for. Here, his confrontation with the chaplain is the only time in the novel that he is passionate and active with feeling, indicating self-awareness as he claims understanding and a sense of sureness; “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.” (Camus, 121). Interestingly enough, this change is mirrored with Meursault’s murder of the Arab, a parallel that compares his shoot or not to shoot epiphany with his comprehension of self-awareness. Meursault’s world view shifts even further when he voices the thought “I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate.” (Camus, 123), expressing his ‘kinship’ to human existence for the first time. His realization that all humans “are elected by the same fate” (Camus, 121) – death, bridging the barrier that he previously felt toward other people, accepting companionship, even if it is in the form of an angry mob. This awareness that the universe’s indifference to human affairs echoes his own personal indifference evokes this feeling of companionship that leads Meursault to label the world ‘a brother’, the full dawning of his transformation as an existentialist character.

Overall, it can be said that Camus’s existentialist novel The Stranger depicts the protagonist, Meursault, as a dynamic and evolving persona. Within the text, Meursault shifts from passivity to participation, embodying existentialism at the close of the novel through the themes of choice, free will, and freedom that he exemplifies. These topics permeate both his fictional existence and our own; as readers, applying the idea that every human is in charge of his or her own destiny, is a fresh and innovative idea in a society that preaches conformity over individuality. Thus, through the catalysts of Maman’s funeral, the murder of the Arab, and his attack on the chaplain Meursault gains depth and perspective, approaching life and his impending death with an original world-view different from that which he displayed in the beginning of the text.

Works Cited Camus, Albert, and Matthew Ward. The Stranger. New York: Vintage International, 1989. Print. Mastin, Luke. “Existentialism.” The Basics of Philosophy. Philosophy Basics, 2008. Web. 4 Dec. 2014.

Most individuals struggle to move past the death of a loved one, particularly when it is your child or a parent. When a dear one passes, the norm would be to grieve and show your emotions. It is an incalculable lasting blow. So when somebody demonstrates no affection or pain from a recent death, it is natural for others around to put their guard up and wonder what is going on. Brooke Richardson, secretly gave birth in her bathroom and buried her stillborn baby in her backyard, then carried on with her daily life as a highschool cheerleader. This would be an example of an existential character. Society was shocked that Richardson was capable of committing such a cold blooded murder after carrying the baby inside of her for nine months, and then during trial showed no regrets or emotions. In The Stranger by Albert Camus the main character shows similar actions of existentialism. Meursault shows no signs of grief when his mother passes, therefore leaving society astonished. It is evident that Meursault is an existential character due to his apathetic, free will and inscrutable outlook on life.

To begin Meursault seems to think he can brush all events under the rug and make them seem frivolous. Funerals allow us to say our goodbyes and acknowledge that someone we love has died. For society it tends to be an unforgettable day. In the novel Meursault says, “Maman died today. Or yesterday, I don’t know.” This quote shows us how it is indifferent to him whether his mom were deceased or still living. He views major events in life as meaningless. He tends to be dismissive towards the passing of his mother. For example, “Maman was buried now… I was going back to work… really nothing had changed.” Meursault is a numb person, by illustrating he has no feelings or emotions towards his mother’s demise. If he cared he would more than likely need a little more time to mourn and he would most definitely know when she passed.

To conclude, Albert Camus through his literary work of The Stranger, supports the idea that Meursault is an existential character. He does so by demonstrating the characters cold hearted, enigmatic and free willed traits. Although we know death is inevitable, nobody is ever actually prepared for it. In society the norm is to lament the loss of a loved one. Brooke Richardson and Meursault are comparable in the sense that they have no sentiment and regardless of how big or small an event is in life, they see it as illogical and absurd. Thus, society is left in shock and can not comprehend how other humans are capable of being so numb. When ones family member or friend passes away, it leaves you with gaping holes.  

Works Cited

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4. The Week. (2016, November 9). 53% of white women voted for Donald Trump. Retrieved from https://theweek.com/articles/658044/53-white-women-voted-donald-trump
5. Kaiser Family Foundation. (n.d.). Abortion in the United States: Demographic Characteristics and Access to Care. Retrieved from https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/fact-sheet/abortion-in-the-united-states/
6. National Center for Lesbian Rights. (n.d.). Fact Sheet: Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Health. Retrieved from https://www.nclrights.org/publications/fact-sheet-lesbian-bisexual-and-transgender-health/
7. Bonilla-Silva, E. (2017). Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States. Rowman & Littlefield.
8. Henslin, J. M. (2018). Essentials of Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. Pearson.
9. Mead, G. H. (1934). Mind, Self, and Society. University of Chicago Press.
10. Goffman, E. (1967). Interaction Ritual: Essays on Face-to-Face Behavior. Anchor Books.

Table of contents

1. Introduction
2. The Outsider by Albert Camus: summary and analysis
3. Conclusion

Introduction

Albert Camus was an Algerian-French absurdist author, who wrote novels like The Outsider and The Plague. In The Outsider he tells the story of an emotionless and immoral character, Meursault, and how he deals with the norms of the society and the judgmental people around him. The story takes place in Algiers, where Meursault receives a telegram informing him that his mother had passed out and that he needed to attend the funeral, in which he did not show any emotion. Later on, as the character evolves, he kills a man with no specific motive and he is prosecuted in court for his actions. With supporting evidence from the novel, it can be argued that Meursault is an outsider to society, to himself and to his environment, only to some extent.

The Outsider by Albert Camus: summary and analysis

In the eyes of society Meursault is an outsider, a peculiar and detached man, who does not seem to understand how everything is supposed to function around him. Meursault does not understand why events, such as marriage or death of a loved one, usually have a sentimental value for people and this is what makes him appear as numb and disconnected with them. When Meursault is first introduced in the novel, he has to attend his mother’s funeral in Marengo. As he talks about the funeral, he almost seems indifferent towards the fact that his mother had died, he even said, “it’s still a little as if Mama hadn’t died”. One can understand the apathy he felt towards his mother’s death, since she had been living in an old people’s home for years, Meursault was disconnected with her, he was used to her absence, so his reaction could be justified. However, in the eyes of society, this kind of behaviour is regarded as bizarre and the fact that he did not show any kind of emotion in his mother’s funeral contributes to this strange image of Meursault. Later on, Meursault is found in a perplexing situation where he kills an Arab at the beach, without any clear motive. As he is being interviewed, Meursault tries to convince his lawyer that he did not know the man he killed and that he shot him for no reason. The lawyer is a representative of society, a ‘normal’ man and he does not seem to understand Meursault’s way of thinking. Also, when the judge interrogated him, he kept asking him why he shot the Arab 5 times, since he was dead with the first shot but Meursault did not know what to tell him, because he did not know why he did it. When the judge got irritated, he brought up religion and God, yet Meursault gave no importance to religion, this was illogical and impossible in the eyes of the judge, who was a representation of society too. Generally, Meursault is viewed as an outsider to society, since he cannot comprehend the consequences of his actions and he does not follow any of the norms.

To contrast the above paragraph, it can be argued that Meursault is not an outsider to his natural environment, as he is so familiar with it, that it affects his decision-making. As Meursault goes to the beach and he went outside in the sun, he said: “it felt like a slap across the face”. One can see how much it affected him, since Meursault recognizes the physical world better than the emotional. When he gets to the beach Meursault is relieved to finally see the “clear water”. The huge contrast between the water and the blistering sun seems to calm him down and as he gets in the water he appears more pleased and comforted. Later on, the protagonist is affected so much by the warmth of the sun, that he kills the Arab without a second thought. Camus uses words like “burned alive” or “pierce my aching eyes” to build up tension in the murder scene and show how much Meursault is affected by the environment around him. Moreover, in the beginning of chapter 2, as Meursault is being interrogated he mentions:

“I had great difficulty following his reasoning, first of all I was hot...”

One can understand that once the weather is hot, Meursault’s world gets upset. In this example, he starts losing concentration and he does not fully understand what the judge is telling him.

In the Outsider, the protagonist Meursault seems to be a stranger to himself as well as to the society. He can associate very well with the physical world but not at all with the emotional world around him and this is what makes him the outsider. Moments before the funeral, he was asked if he wanted to see his mother’s body in the casket, but he said he did not want to. Then, Meursault mentions that he was embarrassed of his answer, so one can understand that he is aware of the answer society would expect him to have, yet he either cannot change or he does not want to change in order to fit in.

In contradiction with the above paragraph, it can also be argued that Meursault is not an outsider to himself, he rather knows what he wants. He does not cry at his mother’s funeral and he does not mourn her death, simply because it did not mean anything to him. He recognizes the reaction that is expected by him, yet he refuses to change in order to please the people around him. When Meursault is asked if he would be interested in moving to Paris, he simply said that:

“You can never really change your life…my life here wasn’t bad at all”

This shows how change does not matter to Meursault and that since his life was not bad, then he does not understand why he needs to change and that is why he refuses to accept the offer. Meursault does not want to change himself and by not accepting the job opportunity to Paris, he stays true to his absurdist beliefs. Another moment where the protagonist rejects society’s views is when he has a discussion with the chaplain and refuses by any means to turn to God, even if that is his last option left. As he talks with the chaplain, he says:

“I didn’t have time to waste thinking about things that didn’t interest me”

Meursault firmly believes that religion is meaningless and unimportant, thus he does not have time for it and does not understand why people value it so much. The chaplain had tried several times to persuade Meursault to turn to God, however the protagonist kept denying, by doing that, he remains true to himself even though he is looked as an outsider by the society.

Conclusion

To conclude, Meursault is obviously an outsider to the society around him, since his behaviour is regarded as bizarre and amoral. Even though he is aware of the norms of the society, he keeps refusing to change in order to become accepted by the society, it is insignificant to him. One could say that Meursault lives his life with his own rules that please him. Lastly, he is not an outsider to his natural environment, because since he is so familiar with it, it has started to affect his emotions and mood. One can say that Meursault is an outsider to society, but not to himself and the environment.

Table of contents

1. Introduction
2. Property ownership disputes in Mexico are a source of contention
3. The American West phenomenon and its impact on Mexican American land ownership
4. The American west’s undocumented colonization
5. Discrimination against Mexican Americans has resulted in the loss of land and pride
6. The US government’s part in exacerbating bigotry towards Mexican Americans
7. Factors that contributed to Mexican Americans’ segregation and who was to blame
8. Conclusion
9. Works Cited

Introduction

Mexican Americans have a long and colorful history dating back hundreds of years. Over the span of nearly a century, Mexican-Americans have created a distinct identity. They are separated into two groups: those who have just arrived in the United States and those who are first or second-generation Americans due to their parents’ decades-long immigration to the United States. Then there are the Mexican Americans, whose forefathers arrived in the United States when it was still under Spanish or Mexican rule. Mexican Americans have fought for property rights in the United States since the 1800s and the annexation of multiple countries in the United States that once belonged to Mexico. There are two sides to this argument. The first argument is that Mexican Americans were granted safety, freedom, citizenship, and peace in the United States after multiple states became a part of the country. They were allowed to remain on their property and were given the opportunity to claim American citizenship if they wanted to. They were welcomed into the United States. The second side to this argument is that because the United States did not make a systematic attempt to incorporate the Mexican approach to property ownership into the system, the legal system has failed Mexicans living in America. Furthermore, the United States failed to address prejudice against Mexican-Americans as well as colonization, which resulted in repeated cycles of oppression that can still be witnessed today.

Property ownership disputes in Mexico are a source of contention

The contradictory notions that Americans and Mexicans have about land ownership is one of the reasons why there were and still are problems with the land that was provided to Mexicans in America when their country lost territory to the United States. Mexicans place a premium on the ‘informal’ system of land ownership, which is based on connections and patronage, whereas Americans are more concerned with the distinction between public and private ownership, as well as whether or not an individual has complete authority over a piece of property. The easiest way to understand the Mexican land grants is to look at them in the historical, social, and cultural context in which they were created. The Mexican people’s business practices in the 1800s were based more on mutual trust than on official paperwork. The agreements between two persons or groups undertaking a transaction were almost never written down; instead, they were verbal because one’s word was as good as the others. The American judicial system, on the other hand, was and continues to be unwilling to comprehend this facet of Mexican society. While the Mexican land grant system is based on Spanish civil law, the American system is more formal and rigorous and is based on English common law. Perhaps this explains why the two are so irreconcilable, and why today’s jurists and property owners have such a difficult time comprehending the system.

The United States government’s reluctance to acknowledge Mexican property ownership arrangements was sometimes motivated by ulterior intentions. While Mexican usufructuary rights allow landowners to utilize common land resources at their leisure, the American fee does the exact reverse. If the US legal system had granted landowners their usufructuary rights in the same way that the Mexican system did, they would have been denied access to the resources on the property. As a result, usufructuary rights were declared unenforceable under US law. The basic underlying issue between the two sides has thus far been and continues to be what Montoya refers to as ‘translation.’ The land was by all rights theirs in the eyes of the Mexican people; the procedures they went through to obtain it made it legally and entirely their property. Unfortunately, the legal system in the United States does not recognize these practices. The system has its own set of conditions for what it takes to be entitled to property, which are in no way connected with what Mexicans consider to be property rights. Both sides believe they are correct, with the winner selected solely by the party having more of a voice in the current situation, namely the United States judicial system.

The American West phenomenon and its impact on Mexican American land ownership

The fact that the American West was viewed as a huge, uncivilized, populated land up for grabs paved the way for property rights disputes. It was as though the Mexican landowners who had lived there before the Anglo-Americans had gone unnoticed. This made it more likely that they would be thrown out without a fight. The Anglo-American settlers simply did not accept or respect the Mexican people’s land ownership system. This perpetuated the notion that the land was open to all, that there were no established institutions with which they had to contend, that no one had been injured in the course of their settlement and that they acquired the land in a transparent and unacceptable manner. This has worked against Mexican Americans in court cases because the misconception has spread so widely that it has effectively replaced the fact.

The American west’s undocumented colonization

Residents of the acquired territories, namely Texas, California, Colorado, and New Mexico, were welcomed into the American territory on an equal footing; they were given the same representation in Congress as their Anglo-American counterparts, and they were even allowed to vote . As the Mexican American population grew in size, it became more visible in American politics. However, it has come to light that there have been some dubious tactics used, as well as some coercion. Colonization simply means being conquered by a more strong foreign force. Colonization has numerous general characteristics: the colonizer arrives in peace, disguised as a friendly stranger carrying Trojan-like gifts. He gradually asserts himself, and before long, the roles are reversed, and he is in charge. The next step is to claim everything that catches his eye, yelling as fervently as the natives do over it and wailing if it is taken away from him. He instigates change and seeks to modify his environment until it suits him. He then invites his people, who quickly deplete and dominate the resources that were formerly the lifeline of native people.

In this view, the Mexican Americans were colonized. The plight of thousands of Mexicans who lost their homes and lands to Anglo-American settlers received little attention because it was considered incredible that the new and free America, which preached so much about liberty and equality for all people, would be the home of such a vice. Some people considered the expanding Mexican immigrant population as a societal concern and attempted to eliminate what they saw as the bad characteristics of Mexican American life. ‘Americanization through Homemaking,’ according to one school booklet, was the key to social harmony by enrolling Mexican girls in sewing, cooking, and cleaning lessons. For young Mexican immigrant women, this book by Pearl Idelia Ellis describes educational programs in homemaking and citizenship. It symbolizes America’s ‘melting pot’ immigration policy and demonstrates how assimilation can take place at home. Sewing, food, family finance, home nursing, preschool childcare, parenthood, house location and interior décor, and the significant role played by young Mexican women in the Americanization of Mexican immigrants is discussed.

Discrimination against Mexican Americans has resulted in the loss of land and pride

The Mexican-American war was waged from 1846 to 1848 after the United States conquest of Texas in 1845. The Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo was signed at the end of the two-year conflict, and Mexico lost Texas to the United States. Mexico gave up more territory in the Gadsden Purchase of 1853, which included present-day New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, and sections of Wyoming. At first, the Mexicans who lived in these territories had their newly acquired US citizenship as a refuge from General Santa Anna’s dictatorial rule. Furthermore, the US government offered to keep the Mexican people’s fields safe, as they were known for being raided. There was also peace, which had eluded the region for a long time; the Mexicans knew that if they didn’t have to keep fighting all the time, they would be able to settle down and generate wealth.

However, things did not turn out as well as they had appeared at first. While the treaty had provisions ensuring that landowners would be able to maintain their property, the United States government failed to uphold its end of the agreement. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was changed in Congress to remove the Mexicans’ protection. Article 10 of the original treaty, which specified that the US government was obligated to honor land concessions granted to Mexicans living in regions surrendered to the government, was removed. The other article that was changed was article eight, which said that Mexican people who stayed in America for a year after the cession might choose to become full American citizens or preserve their Mexican citizenship. However, this was altered to an indefinite period of time for obtaining US citizenship, with Congress determining the length of time. Thousands more Mexicans lost their property as a result of these changes when they took their claims to state and federal courts. These generally uneducated or semiliterate landowners were powerless in the face of the legal system. Many of these people lost their land as a result of the legal bills they had to pay in order to fight for their right to keep their property.

The US government’s part in exacerbating bigotry towards Mexican Americans

The Mexican people were left without a source of income and no way to support themselves after losing their property. In their own country, the Mexicans had become fugitives. The United States government did not intervene to stop the abuses being perpetrated on the Mexican people. As more Anglo-Americans seized the surrendered lands, the government stood by, buying up territory that properly belonged to the Mexicans and putting it to their own use. In the American West, there began to be a rearrangement of social classes based on who was the wealthiest and had the most power. The landowners were the elite; they owned ranches and were in the cattle business. Then there were people who owned smaller parcels of land, known as ‘rancheros.’ They possessed modest herds of cattle and horses on which they relied for survival. The landless, also known as ‘peons,’ ‘vaqueros,’ and ‘cart men,’ were at the bottom of the social structure. This lowest group on the hierarchy seemed to be nothing more than slaves. They had no property of their own and were frequently employed by ranch owners. They resided in shanties on the same compound as the main ‘hacienda’ where they worked, but far enough away. They didn’t even have access to building supplies, so they had to make do with mud for walls and any thatching materials they could find for roofs. It was an extremely degrading existence.

The legal system entirely failed the Mexican American population, not just in terms of land loss, but also in terms of failing to safeguard their basic human rights. Apart from the continued segregation of Mexican Americans, which eventually turned into blatant racism, there were hundreds of incidences of unjustified violence against members of these communities. There was never any redress for victims, and their cases were never heard in a court of law. In most sections of the American West, Mexican Americans were denied this privilege, despite the fact that they were citizens just like everyone else at the time.

Factors that contributed to Mexican Americans’ segregation and who was to blame

Mexican laborers’ lives were literally not their own. Jose Alamillo recalls his upbringing in southern California, where he lived with his parents, who worked on a limoneira farm. The farm, which was and continues to be the country’s largest lemon ranch, relied primarily on Mexican immigrants for work. According to Alamillo, his family lived in a house owned by the same corporation as the lemon plantation. The all-pervasive corporation owned the grocery store where they bought their groceries as well as the entertainment venues where they visited. Working in the lemon groves was not easy. The job was seasonal, and there were periods during the year when the author’s mother was required to perform extra chores at people’s homes in order to meet their financial obligations. The author claims that during the fruit season, when the packing had to be done, his mother had to work day and night with only short breaks in between. His father had to get up on the coldest nights so they could go and keep the smudge pots burning so the fruit wouldn’t be ruined by the cold. The laborers’ working conditions were hazardous to their health, and the long hours they worked left them exhausted. Worst of all, the payment to the laborers for their work was terrible. It wasn’t even enough to keep the laborers’ families afloat. Because the workers purchased their goods from a business-owned store, the farm had complete control over the pricing established, as did the rent, leaving the laborers subject to extortionate charges.

The laborers cherished their free time; those few hours of respite when they might enjoy their independence. The laborers formed very tight community relationships as a result of their shared misery. They celebrated holidays, weddings, and birthdays with considerable pomp and ceremony. It was as if these moments, like rare diamonds of joy, represented the full lives they could live, free of oppression, continual working and fretting, and the unremitting poverty with which they were confronted on a daily basis. Their leisure time was a symbolic act of rebellion against their superior; it was their method of expressing that, while their bodies and goods were owned, their spirits were free, strong, and unwilling to submit. On farms across the American west, such as this lemon farm, there was an outright violation of human rights. Jose Alamillo’s and his family’s situation was not unusual. The story was the same for Mexican laborers all around the United States. They had to fight back.

Conclusion

I agree with the second argument. The history of the American West predates the arrival of Anglo-American people in the area. In those lands, there were humans who lived before them. The cultural and social history of Mexicans living in the American west could not be reduced to a few rigid documents delineating ownership and boundaries. Because the US legal system did not understand the Mexican land grant system, they were unable to make use of it. The United States government should recognize the injustice done to Mexican Americans over the last century. Though no amount of compensation will compensate the Mexican Americans who had to endure the humiliation of losing their house and home, of being reduced to nothing more than workers, some justice needs to be found.

Mexican Americans began creating labor unions in the early 1900s to fight for the rights of their workers. The Industrial Workers of the World, or IWW, was a well-known labor movement that battled for better working conditions for mine workers and farm laborers alike. The American government, on the other hand, replied by deporting a large number of its citizens in the Bisbee deportation of 1917. The government’s role in the discrimination of Mexican Americans was not kept under wraps. Following the Great Depression of 1929, the state-sponsored repatriation program urged persons of Mexican heritage to return to their homeland. The repatriation, however, was not voluntary because the majority of those deported, over 500 persons, were deported against their will. The League of United Latin American Citizens, founded in 1929 to combat discrimination against Mexican Americans, was one of these movements. They have persisted in their fight until now.

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Mexican Americans have fought a long and hard battle to reclaim a birthright that they were previously denied. There have been few successes along the way, with times of bitterness, loss, and humiliation thrown at them. Mexican Americans have shown enormous tenacity in the face of greater foes in their efforts to achieve social, cultural, and economic equality, even if they may never get everything that was truly theirs in the first place. They have earned their place in the American nation, as have other civilizations that are still fighting for recognition in the United States.

Works Cited

1. De Leon, A. (2019). Mexican Americans: A brief history. John Wiley & Sons.
2. Garcia, M. F. (1997). Mexican Americans: Leadership, ideology, and identity, 1930-1960. Yale University Press.
3. Montejano, D. (1987). Anglos and Mexicans in the making of Texas, 1836-1986. University of Texas Press.
4. Acuña, R. (2007). Occupied America: A history of Chicanos. Pearson Longman.
5. Gonzales, M. (1999). Mexicanos: A history of Mexicans in the United States. Indiana University Press.
6. Valadez, J. R. (2014). An overview of the historical, social, and cultural contexts of Mexican-origin individuals and families. In Mexican American psychology: Social, cultural, and clinical perspectives (pp. 3-19). Routledge.
7. Meier, M., & Ribera, O. (1993). Mexican Americans and the law: Ael pueblo unido jamás será vencido!. University of Arizona Press.
8. Gutiérrez, D. G. (1995). Walls and mirrors: Mexican Americans, Mexican immigrants, and the politics of ethnicity. Univ of California Press.
9. Haney López, I. F. (2006). Racism on trial: The Chicano fight for justice. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
10. Pena, R. (1997). Mexican American women activists: Identity and resistance in two Los Angeles communities. University of Houston Press.