Social Criticism in The Yellow-Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Social Criticism in The Yellow-Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Traditionally, men have held the power in society. Women have been treated as a second class of citizens with neither the legal rights nor the respect of their male counterparts. Culture has contributed to these gender roles by conditioning women to accept their subordinate status while encouraging young men to lead and control. Feminist criticism contends that literature either supports society’s patriarchal structure or provides social criticism in order to change this hierarchy. â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, depicts one women’s struggle against the traditional female role into which society attempts to force her and the societal reaction to this act. From the beginning of this work, the woman is shown to have gone mad. We are given no insight into the past, and we do not know why she has been driven to the brink of insanity. The â€Å"beautiful†¦English place† that the woman sees in her minds eye is the way men have traditionally wanted women to see their role in society. As the woman says, â€Å"It is quite alone standing well back from the road†¦It makes me think of English places†¦for there are hedges and walls and gates that lock, and lots of separate little houses for the gardeners and people. There is a delicious garden! I never saw such a garden—large and shady, full of box-bordered paths, and lined with long grape-covered arbors with seats under them.† This lovely English countryside picture that this woman paints to the reader is a shallow view at the real likeness of her prison. The reality of things is that this lovely place is her small living space, and in it she is to func tion as every other good housewife should. The description of her cell, versus the reality of it, is a very good example of the restriction women had in those days. They were free to see things as they wanted, but there was no real chance at a woman changing her roles and place in society. This is mostly attributed to the small amount of freedom women had, and therefore they could not bring about a drastic change, because men were happy with the position women filled. This creates a despair, of hopelessness and of downheartedness. The woman, on multiple occasions, wrote down, â€Å"And what can one do?† This lets the reader know that women as a whole were very oppressed in ... ...er rebellion. In the final moments of this story, the woman’s husband returns to see her. She writes, â€Å"He stopped short by the door. ‘What is the matter?’ he cried. ‘For God’s sake, what are you doing!’ I kept on creeping just the same, but I looked at him over my shoulder. ‘I’ve got out at last,’ said I, ‘in spite of you and Jane. And I’ve pulled off most of the paper, so you can’t put me back!’ Now why should that man have fainted, but he did, and right across my path by the wall, so that I had to creep over him every time!’† This final passage shows that, when this woman rebels, and â€Å"escapes the wallpaper†, it is not highly looked upon. The woman made a power statement, by telling her husband that she had, in essence, found a new role in life, and he can not push her back. When he can not handle her actions, she continues her new ways right over him. In conclusion, this story, â€Å"The Yellow Wall-Paper†, provided a great social and psychological criticism. It shows the reader how women have progressed so far in the recent years. This woman was the start of many, which finally led to making men and woman more equal, and this is the society that this woman wanted.

Analyzing Poetry Essay

Ezra Pound’s poetry is striking in its break from the blank verse which occupied the page during the transcendental period. Taking points from Whitman’s free verse style, Pound gives the reader a subjective look at poetry. The poem A Virginal gives the reader both phantoms and tangible feelings of which the narrator is powerless to control (much as the war made countrymen feel a powerlessness in the death of their comrades). This is supported with lines such as â€Å"And left me cloaked as with a gauze of aether† (Pound line 5). It is this symbolic castration that war represents which plays a significant role in Pound’s poem. Pound’s poem War Verse Pound gives a rather ambivalent opinion of World War I. The point of the poem is that he wants poets to give soldiers their time; he was speaking about poets winning awards for their poems about the war, of which they had seen no action. The beginning lines of War Verse are, â€Å"O two-penny poets, be still! – For you have nine years out of every ten To go gunning for glory – with pop guns; Be still, give the soldiers their turns† (Pound lines 1-2). In either poem this idea of not being able to do anything about the war and the deaths that were the outcome of that war, are the impetus to Pound’s feelings. The form of either poem are similar, and the subject matter of course is strikingly the same. In T. S. Eliot’s view of the past as expounded upon in his essay Tradition and the Individual Talent have to do with following tradition. Eliot criticizes poets and critics for only following a tradition that is merely one generation removed from the present and says that we ought to follow the maturity of the poet, not the expanse of his work, not the work done with less vigor as we are apt to do. In his essay Eliot says we must understand what it is when we speak of tradition; which means that we cannot ignore any of the work, that a poet must strive uphold tradition in knowing the full expanse of literature (not just the previous generation’s triumphs) as Eliot states, the historical sense compels a man to write not merely with his own generation in his bones, but with a feeling that the whole of the literature of Europe from Homer and within it the whole of the literature of his own country has a simultaneous existence and composes a simultaneous order. (Eliot paragraph 3) For T. S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock can be said to be the addressing of age, life, and one’s personal fight with the passing of days. The many allusions throughout the poem may be attributed to various issues concerning one’s growing old. In line two, for example, Eliot makes the comparison of the evening to an unconscious patient on an operating table. The consequence of this comparison is that the reader begins to see the evening as not the end of a day, but rather the end of someone’s life – old age. With this allusion used in Eliot’s poem the reader is allowed to explore their own understanding of how their life has been in comparison to the illustrations used by Eliot. Thus, the reader becomes a part of the poem; an active listener in the story/poem told by Eliot. The personification of the time of day at the beginning of the poem, then leads the reader to view the rest of the poem in a manner conducive to that comparison – with all of the metaphors dealing with life. This comparison is further pressed in line 23, with â€Å"And indeed there will be time†. This solidifies the metaphor of time, and a person’s dealings with it. Eliot seemed to enjoy writing in the metaphysical aspects and indeed this is strongly reflected in Prufrock, while Eliot balances this writing with concrete imagery. Though Eliot insists â€Å"there will be time†, he follows this line with a list of many things that one does throughout his or her life. This expansive list would fill a lifetime, and therefore refute the idea of endless time that line 23 infers. Eliot liked to write in contradictions since humanity was full of contention points and paradoxes. The hesitations and frivolous actions of life listed in this poem are not an affirmation of the ability to achieve these goals, or waste this time, but instead it is a warning that time passes, without respect to the desire or intent of a person. Eliot makes mention of this by indicating that his hair is thinning, something that he does not desire to occur, yet does – outside his control. This again is the metaphysical aspect of Eliot’s writing which could perhaps have been inspired by Donne’s work, yet Eliot’s writing style seems to be more realistic than Donne’s and Eliot writes with a sort of paying attention to the fringes of humanity and exploring darker concepts of the human mind; such as death and time in this poem. Works Cited The Heath Anthology of American Literature, Vol. II, ed. Lauter, et al (Vols. C, D, a

Geography Prelim Notes

Geography Preliminary Exam Outline 20 multiple choice – skills Short Answer Questions – Biophysical Interactions (some or all or how they integrate), population and culture integration. Extended response – Natural resources – one or a combination of the four points Geography Preliminary Notes The Biophysical Environment * The Biophysical Environment is the interaction of all abiotic and biotic elements found on the planet. * Expressed another way the BPE is made up of all the features of the physical and the built environment and how these features interrelate. The BPE is then the interactions, which occur between the Atmosphere, Lithosphere, Biosphere and Hydrosphere. ATMOSPHERE * Atmosphere, mixture of gases surrounding any celestial object that has a gravitational field strong enough to prevent the gases from escaping; especially the gaseous envelope of the earth. The principal constituents of the atmosphere of the earth are nitrogen (78 percent) and ox ygen (21 percent). The atmospheric gases in the remaining 1 percent are argon (0. 9 percent), carbon dioxide (0. 3 percent), varying amounts of water vapour, and trace amounts of hydrogen, ozone, methane, carbon monoxide, helium, neon, krypton, and xenon. * The water-vapour content of the air varies considerably, depending on the temperature and relative humidity. With 100 percent relative humidity the water-vapour content of air varies from 190 parts per million (ppm) at -40Â ° C to 42,000 ppm at 30Â ° C. Minute quantities of other gases, such as ammonia, hydrogen sulphide, and oxides of sulphur and nitrogen, are temporary constituents of the atmosphere in the vicinity of volcanoes and are washed out of the air by rain or snow.Divisions of the Atmosphere: Without our atmosphere, there would be no life on earth. A relatively thin envelope, the atmosphere consists of layers of gases that support life can provide protection from harmful radiation. Issues related to the Atmosphere * Daily weather conditions, climatic conditions (seasonal/short-term/long-term/cyclical) * Global warming, Greenhouse Effect (GHE) * Ozone depletion * Acid rain * Smog, photochemical smog, brown haze * Radioactive fallout Atmosphere Impacts Oxides and other pollutants added to the atmosphere by factories and automobiles have become a major concern, however, because of their damaging effects in the form of acid rain. In addition, the strong possibility exists that the steady increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide, mainly as the result of fossil-fuel combustion over the past century, may affect the earth's climate (for example enhanced Greenhouse Effect). * Similar concerns are posed by the sharp increase in atmospheric methane.Methane levels have risen 11 per cent since 1978. About 80 per cent of the gas is produced by decomposition in rice paddies, swamps, and the intestines of grazing animals, and by tropical termites. Human activities that tend to accelerate these processes include raising more livestock and growing more rice. Besides adding to the greenhouse effect, methane reduces the volume of atmospheric hydroxyl ions, thereby curtailing the atmosphere's ability to cleanse itself of pollutants. (for example photochemical smog) Atmosphere – Ozone DepletionThe ozone layer became a subject of concern in the early 1970s when it was found that chemicals known as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), were rising into the atmosphere in large quantities because of their use as refrigerants and as propellants in aerosol dispensers. The concern centred on the possibility that these compounds, through the action of sunlight, could chemically attack and destroy stratospheric ozone, which protects the earth's surface from excessive ultraviolet radiation. HYDROSPHERE * The hydrosphere refers to all liquid and frozen surface waters, groundwater held in soil and rock, and atmospheric water vapour. Water is the most abundant substance at the surface of the Earth. About 1. 4 b illion cubic kilometres of water in liquid and frozen form make up the oceans, lakes, streams, glaciers, and groundwater. * Central to any discussion of the hydrosphere is the concept of the hydrologic cycle. This cycle consists of a group of reservoirs containing water, the processes by which water is transferred from one reservoir to another (or transformed from one state to another), and the rates of transfer associated with such processes.These transfer paths penetrate the entire hydrosphere, extending upward to about 15 kilometres in the Earth's atmosphere and downward to depths in the order of five kilometres into the crust. * Although water storage in rivers, lakes, and the atmosphere is small, the rate of water circulation through the rain–river–ocean–atmosphere system is relatively rapid. The amount of water discharged each year into the oceans from the land is approximately equal to the total mass of water stored at any instant in rivers and lakes. The biosphere, though primarily H2O in composition, contains very little of the total water at the terrestrial surface, only about 0. 00004 per cent. Yet, the biosphere plays a major role in the transport of water vapour back into the atmosphere by the process of transpiration. Impact of Human Activities on the Hydrosphere * The activities of modern society are having a severe impact on the hydrologic cycle. * Humans alter the natural functioning of the water cycle through quantitative or qualitative changes to the cycle. For example the dynamic steady state is being disturbed by the discharge of toxic chemicals, radioactive substances, and other industrial wastes and by the seepage of mineral fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides into surface and subsurface aquatic systems. Inadvertent and deliberate discharge of petroleum, improper sewage disposal, and thermal pollution also are seriously affecting the quality of the hydrosphere. * Humans alter the quantity of water available throu gh by a range of activities such as the construction of Dams.Weirs, irrigation schemes, aqueducts, reservoirs, dyke & levee schemes and land reclamation projects. * In more subtle ways humans through enhancing the Greenhouse Effect may be changing regional climates and therefore rainfall patterns within regions. * While large scale dams can mitigate flood damage, provide Hydro-electric energy and reliable water supply they also present significant environmental and ecological costs. * People alter the quality of water in many ways such as through domestic, agricultural, commercial and industrial pollution. The pollution of waterways is classified according to point or non-point pollution. * Pollution in waterways can mean the quality of water is unfit for human consumption (toxic to humans) or of a low enough quality to seriously impact on the ecology of the water system. LITHOSPHERE * The Earth's outermost rigid, rocky layer is called the lithosphere. It is broken, like a slightly cracked eggshell, into about a dozen separate rigid blocks, or plates. There are two types of plates, oceanic and continental.An example of an oceanic plate is the Pacific Plate, which extends from the East Pacific Rise to the deep-ocean trenches bordering the western part of the Pacific basin. The North American Plate exemplifies a continental plate. * The upper layer of the lithosphere is termed the crust. * The earth’s crust is comprised of bedrock material in various situ * Rocks are commonly divided into three major classes according to the processes that resulted in their formation.These classes are (1) igneous rocks, which have solidified from molten material called magma; (2) sedimentary rocks, those consisting of fragments derived from pre-existing rocks or of materials precipitated from solutions; and (3) metamorphic rocks, which have been derived from either igneous or sedimentary rocks under conditions that caused changes in mineralogical composition, texture, and internal structure. * Elements of weathering, erosion and gradational forces over time then shape these rock components into landform.This is known as the geomorphological process. * Such forces as tectonic plate movement, fluvial action, gradational forces and the action of the wind and sun shape landform features. * Tectonic plates move in three main ways relative to each other. Translation, seduction and convergence (Spreading). The results of this plate movement is often seen as volcanic activity (eruptions, geysers, hot springs) as earthquakes or tremors and in subsidence, land slips and slumping. * Fluvial action is the process of water eroding, transporting and depositing rock material. Wind can erode rock material by blasting, while the sun heating up rock and the rock cooling can break it down in a process call exfoliation. The top three soil issues confronting Australia are; 1. Loss of valuable topsoil due to over-clearing and subsequent erosion 2. Soils salinity – as result of over-clearing and or irrigation rasing the water table and bringing salt to the surface. 3. Acid Sulfate soil exposure – as a result of construction and mining exposing acid sulfates locked up in soil and these sulfates leaching into local waterways. BIOSPHERE The Biosphere is defined as the relatively thin life-supporting stratum of the Earth's surface, extending from a few kilometres into the atmosphere to the deep-sea vents of the oceans. * The biosphere is a global ecosystem composed of living organisms (biota) and the abiotic (nonliving) factors from which they derive energy and nutrients. * The biosphere can be broken down into segments of abiotic and biotic components, called ecosystems. Oceans, lakes, and wetlands are examples of aquatic ecosystems, while forests, deserts, and tundra are examples of terrestrial ecosystems.Through these systems, energy flows and chemicals essential to life are cycled in what is known as biogeochemical cycles. * The biosph ere itself can be studied as a worldwide ecosystem through which the interconnectedness of all life and life-supporting systems on the Earth can be understood. * The earth’s biodiversity (total known stock of varying species of fauna and flora on the planet) is classified into several major Biomes. Each Biome is made up of a multitude of interconnected and interrelating ecosystems. An ecosystem is defined as the complex of living organisms, their physical environment, and all their interrelationships in a particular unit of space. * An ecosystem can be categorized into its abiotic constituents, including minerals, climate, soil, water, sunlight, and all other nonliving elements, and its biotic constituents, consisting of all its living members. Linking these constituents together are two major forces: the flow of energy through the ecosystem, and the cycling of nutrients within the ecosystem. Cycles within ecosystems which transfer / transform energy and matter are known as t he Biogeochemical cycles (eg. Carbon, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Phosphorous etc.. ) * The biosphere supports between 3 and 30 million species of plants, animals, fungi, single-celled prokaryotes such as bacteria, and single-celled eukaryotes such as protozoans. Of this total, only about 1. 4 million species have been named so far, and fewer than 1 percent have been studied for their ecological relationships and their role in ecosystems. * A little more than half the named species are insects, which dominate errestrial and freshwater communities worldwide; the laboratories of systematises are filled with insect species yet to be named and described. Hence, the relationships of organisms to their environments and the roles that species play in the biosphere are only beginning to be understood. BIOPYSICAL ENVIRONMENT Impacts of Humans on the Biophysical Environment * The biosphere supports between 3 and 30 million species of plants, animals, fungi, single-celled prokaryotes such as bacteria, a nd single-celled eukaryotes such as protozoans. Of this total, only about 1. million species have been named so far, and fewer than 1 percent have been studied for their ecological relationships and their role in ecosystems. * A little more than half the named species are insects, which dominate terrestrial and freshwater communities worldwide; the laboratories of systematises are filled with insect species yet to be named and described. Hence, the relationships of organisms to their environments and the roles that species play in the biosphere are only beginning to be understood. Management Strategies for human impacts on BPE Management strategies can be based on a number of approaches such as reactionary, precautionary or proactive management. * As many issues have multiple causal factors at a variety of scales any successful management strategies must be designed with this in mind. Often the real measure of success of a management strategy is a direct reflection of effectiveness or otherwise of a co-ordinating authority. * An example of this need for a co-ordinated response to management can be seen through reviewing the Murray Darling Basin Commission (MDBC).This authority must oversee management strategies in literally hundreds of sub-catchments of the Murray Darling river and across local, state and federal levels of jurisdiction. Natural Resources Definition of a Natural Resource A natural resource is any part of the biophysical environment that can be used in some way to satisfy human needs. For example; air, water, forests, minerals. They can either be either RENEWABLE or NON-RENEWABLE. RENEWABLE RESOURCES Renewable resources are those that are naturally renewed within a sufficiently short time span to be useful to human beings.There are two categories of renewable resources: * Non-critical zone resources * Critical zone resources Non-critical zone renewable resources: * These types of natural resources remain renewable irrespective of how much and ho w often humans use them * Some examples include solar energy, tides, wing, waves, water and air. Critical zone renewable resources: * These are resources that naturally renew within short periods of time but can be affected by how much and how often humans use them, That is humans use them before they can be renewed. * Examples include fish, forests, animals, soil, underground water (aquifers)NON-RENEWABLE RESOURCES * These are resources that have taken millions of years to form’ * These are resources that are deemed to be in fixed supply that is once they are used they can never be replaced. There are two categories of non renewable resources; * CONSUMED BY USE and * RECYCLABLE OR THEORETICALLY RECOVERABLE Consumed by use Non-renewable * These are resources that once used they can not be replaced. These are basically the fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal. There are called fossil fuels because they were once living organisms million years ago. * Because of the ra te of use in recent times these resources could ace exhaustion. It is predicted that after 2008 that oil will reduce as we have used it up. Recyclable or Theoretically Recoverable Non-renewable * These are the metallic minerals that are mined such as iron ore, aluminum copper, gold, silver etc. These also take millions of years to be created and once used they too cannot be replaced; the significant difference is that these resources can be reused or recycled. Think of aluminum cans or metal scrap yards. What constitutes a resource? For these resources defined earlier several conditions must exist before it can actually become a resource. 1.It must be recognized as being a resource indirectly or directly. 2. There must be the skills, equipment and social organization present to transform the resource into something useful. 3. The transformation must be achieved at a cost and convenience that make it more appropriate than an alternative. 4. The adverse impacts generated by the activi ty must be acceptable to society. What a natural resource is, depends on a number of factors; 1. Economic – what is the cost of extraction e. g. , extracting petroleum out of deep-sea deposits is expensive and risky – the deep sea well in the golf of Mexico. 2.Cultural – What is a resource for one culture might not be for another e. g. Kangaroo meat. 3. Technology – the resource might not be technologically possible at the moment e. g. fusion power 4. Political – governments might promote exploitation of natural resources for strategic, economic & political reasons e. g. the cotton industry in Australia is a result of government policy in the 1960s that wanted to reduce our reliance on imported cotton. 5. Environment and health factors – concerns about the impact on the environment and the health of people and ecosystems may effect the nature and rater if resources exploitation.Environment + Impact Statements (EIS) are often used to assess t he impact on ecosystems of the exploitation of a resource. Economic & political issues related to the use of natural resource, their ownership and management 1. Rate of use: Supply and Demand * Economically, natural resources will be used at a higher rate while that resource is in demand. * If demand is reduced over time it could have economic repercussions for the country that relied on its sale – relevant to the economic well being of many developing countries. They take out large loans to help develop their country based on the performance of selling their natural resources * Once demand decreases their ability to pay back the loan is reduced which then makes the country more in debt. * Money made from selling the resources is used to pay off interest on the loans and little is put back into the country to make it better off. 2. Continued demand for a resource * Can jeopardise economic prosperity due to economically unsustainable practices * Uncontrolled exploitation may j eopardise long term production levels.A good example of this is fishing. * May cause stocks to be reduced * Threat to the preservation of the fish species * Industry and jobs would be lost * Boat owners would incur increasing debts * Food supplies would be threatened by high prices and limited availability Political Issues 1. Opposing views * Political issues of resource use can arise when competing groups wish to use the same resources. * Countries who dispute ownership of a major resource e. g. the waters of a river that flows through more than one country. * Subgroups within a society

An Analysis of South Park, The American Adult Animated Sitcom and The Issues It Tackles In Society

An Analysis of South Park, The American Adult Animated Sitcom and The Issues It Tackles In Society South Park is an American adult animated sitcom, a production of South Park Digital Studios, LLC that started airing on August 13, 1997, till now. with 20 seasons and over 270 episodes in total, South Park has received numerous awards and even ranked as the tenth Greatest TV Cartoon of All Time by TVGuid. Being famous for its dark, surreal humor that covers a wide range of topics including social problems, politics, and internet sensations. South Park became a popular entertainment among adults all over the world, mainly in the United States. Although South Park had been famous for its well-scripted comedy that applies to different situations, groups and even individuals, according to Roland Barthes’s concepts discussed in Mythologies, there are still tricks played on us that causes us to invest in the ones in greater power willingly or even wholeheartedly. Through the book Mythologies, Roland Barthes shows how truths are hidden behind the banalest and natural aspects of everyday life. According to Barthes, things often present themselves as being natural, therefore, are transparent to the public. His analysis of different â€Å"natural† mythologies today reveals the ideological nature of the products. Barthes considers Myths as speech, that it is a system of communication which bears meaning in itself. He expresses his view on how every symbol conveys a meaning, unlimited by the nature of the symbol, be it a text, an image or even human actions. As Barthes explained in Mythologies â€Å"Every object in the world can pass from a closed, silent existence to an oral state, open to appropriation by society, for there is no law, whether natural or not, which forbids talking about things. A tree is a tree. Yes, of course.† (Mythologies 1972 p.1) He considers every cultural product as a symbol itself, conveying at least a meanin g conditioned by a myth. Any cultural product can be analyzed and reviewed in Barthes’s consideration since there is always a realm of second-class signification which distinguishes its symbolic meaning from its denotation through analysis. Barthes’s explanation of his analysis in the article ‘The Romans in films’, â€Å"Signs ought to present themselves only in two extreme forms: either openly intellectual and so remote that they are reduced to an algebra, as in the Chinese theatre, where a flag on its own signifies a regiment; or deeply rooted, invented, so to speak, on each occasion, revealing an internal, a hidden facet, and indicative of a moment in time, no longer of a concept†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Mythologies 2009 p.28) Applying Barthes’s concept presented in Mythologies on South Park, as an American animated sitcom, it often expresses people’s view and thoughts through comedy and satire, presenting themselves to be true and universal. Ironically, similar to its own c haracteristic of presenting ideas through imaginary characters and stories, South Park is actually a fiction that tricks us into benefiting the more powerful members of the society. Its use of comedic approach to expressing ideas and thoughts increase social acceptability on transgressions. It also decreases the viewers tendency on voicing out, through fulfilling their will of express and reflecting on social issues or problems when they are enjoying the show. The mixing of highly-realistic setting and contents with surreal situations cuts back imagination and expectations of the public on different aspects. South Park slowly dull viewers’ individual and critical thinking and tricks them into being an easier public to mass media or governance by slipping ideas and myths into the show. South Park is famous for its use of humor relating to social issues or taboos, the use of comedy encourages the acceptance of transgressions such as racism and sexism. South Park often over-exaggerate public’s reactions and social problems to create comic yet relatable stories or situations. Although it is considered done ironically to encourage social participation or awareness, it also encourages social acceptance on transgression. Suggested by Brain L. Ott, ‘South Park does not simply depict the violation of social taboos; it enlists viewers participation in them. By watching the show repeatedly transgress the boundaries of social acceptability, public complete the communication circuit vital to the shows violations.’ (Taking South Park Seriously 2008 p.41-42) The constant violation of social taboos in the show made viewers dull towards transgression, which increases their acceptance of the violation of social taboos. In South Park season 20, the theme focuses on internet trolls, the 2016 United States presidential election, and nostalgia. Multiple social taboos are comically discussed and over-exaggerated, in the episodes of the 20th season, numerous racist, sexist jokes and ideas are presented. In the episodes, the Member Berries speaks of memories of older days some quotes that over-exaggerates nostalgia like â€Å"Member when there werent so many Mexicans?†, â€Å"Member when a white man kissing a black woman on national television was considered daring?†, â€Å"Member when interracial marriage wasnt legal?†[1] are racist comments relatable to Americans. Similarly, sexist jokes about women being not funny and irrational are constantly made throughout the season, such as â€Å"Whats the one thing women dont have? Semen and a sense of humor.† Not only in one or two seasons but throughout all airings of South Park, offensive jokes or remarks and extended use of slurs and foul languages often appear in the show . Since it is considered as an â€Å"Adult-only† sitcom, viewer automatically considers them to be only for comical effects. The overuse of offensive jokes with the excuse of â€Å"only for comedic effects† slowly dulls viewer’s negative feelings on the violations of social taboos, by creating the myth of not needing to take violations of social taboos seriously if it’s comical. With long-term exposure of such remarks and language, viewers are unconsciously brainwashed into the acceptance of transgression, believing that it’s not a serious problem. South Park fulfills the viewers’ needs of expressing and reflecting on social issues or problems through the fictional characters’ highly-relatable expressions on up-to-date topics, which my decrease the viewers’ need of expressing themselves in real life. According to Fiske, â€Å"Cartoons and comedies frequently invert normal relationships and show the adults as incompetent, unable to understand, and the children as superior in insight and ability.†(Television Culture 1992 p.197) South Park uses the same tactic, revolving around four 4th grade boys, Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormick, and their bizarre adventures. In season 19, the adult’s greed leads to the growing intelligence of online advertisements, while the children are the ones understanding and noticing the problems, being the main force of defeating the â€Å"evil ads† that the adults had created. The reverse in relations are even more vivid in Season 2 0, some adults trolls and bullies people online leading to a potential world war, adults fail to resist the temptation of nostalgia that causes poor decision making, and professionals failed to complete the right formula for the discovery of a new energy; while all the problems are solved with the children’s intelligence and insights. In all episodes of South Park, it’s the children often speaking the truth or intelligence with surreal abilities and ways, while adults are often the ones who cause trouble. As Brain L. Ott had pointed out, â€Å"They are invited to engage the show and the world not as responsible individual adults, but as children at play. Such liberation is an intense but fleeting pleasure because when one turns off South Park, he or she must re-enter the world of social rules and conventions.†(Taking South Park Seriously 2008 p.44) The highly-relatable expressions in the show pleasure the viewer’s need of expressing or reflecting on the s ocial issues and problems they encounter, leading them to believe that their thoughts are similar to concepts and ideas presented by only children with their surreal abilities. And since they are invited to engage the show as children at play, the viewers’ will to express or reflect on those topics are automatically diminished when they turn off South Park. Not realizing that the show had invert the relationships, showing the children to be superior in insight and ability, viewers are tricked into believing in the myth of being a responsible individual adult, is to not fully expressing and voicing out their own thoughts. South Park uses highly-realistic, up-to-date setting and contents but adds in some surreal and imaginary situations. Although the surreal situations on realistic events actually reflect the viewers’ imagination and expectations, the situations often turn out to be delusional or disappointing, which cuts back the viewers’ imagination and expectations on different aspects. The setting and characters are highly relatable and realistic. The show mainly locates in the fictional small town that is within the real-life South Park basin in the Rocky Mountains of central Colorado. There are prominent settings, including bus stops, the local elementary school, even various neighborhoods and the snowy landscape. Actual Colorado landmarks and the shops and businesses along the towns main street, are also prominent and are based on the appearance of similar locations in a real town in Colorado— Fairplay. The choice Colorado is simply because of the creators, Trey Parker and M att Stones origin[2], but the realistic setting made the show easily relatable. The shows do not only create relatable characters but also uses real names and persons, depicting an extremely realistic social setting. Although the show is highly relatable and realistic itself, each episode of South Park opens with a simple disclaimer— †All characters and events in this show—even those based on real people—are entirely fictional. All celebrity voices are impersonated..poorly. The following program contains coarse language and due to its content it should not be viewed by anyone. The comical disclaimers remind viewers of its fictional content while the truth is that most of the content is based off real-time, up-to-date events of since each episode is written and produced during the week preceding its broadcast. Since they are based off real-time events, expectations and imagination of the public on related topics are also depicted, such as the common expecta tion of Americans on NASA having great discoveries on projects of Mars, or the wish of having a peaceful cyber-community. Just like all the other common depiction of dreams or expectations, the expectation on great discoveries of Mars as well as the dream a peaceful cyber-community turns out to be dilution and disappointing in South Park Season 20, since the project on bringing mankind to Mars is destructed by an explosion and first mail of the newly built cyber-community is still about trolling. Both situations is a common imagination or expectation of the public, but through the mixing up of realistic characteristics with scripted delusional outcome, viewers might unconsciously expect the same delusional outcome in real life. They might cut back their own imagination and expectations on different aspects, believing in the myth that imaginations and expectations will always end up as a disappointment. â€Å"One learns how to watch South Park as surely as one learns how to take in Shakespeare (we learn for instance that Kyle is almost always right and Cartman is almost always wrong; that if Kenny dies, he most likely will be back again in the next episode; that Chef’s advice invariably has more to do with libido than with the actual problem at hand, and so forth)† (Taking South Park Seriously 2008 p.19) Ironically similar to the hidden rules among the characters in South Park as well as the show itself being an American animated sitcom, South Park is actually a scripted fiction that tricks us into benefiting the more powerful members of the society. The show slowly shapes the viewers into an easier public for mass media and governance through the myths hidden in the show itself, causing viewers to be more accepting on transgression, being less criticising on social issues, and being less sensitive to the cutting back of imagination or expectations. And by simply putti ng on a disclaimer and listing itself as a satirical American animated sitcom for adult viewers only, South Park can protect itself from all the possible critics with the expectation of the viewers themselves.

Criminal justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Criminal justice - Essay Example Compliance on the part of the police has been the subject in the creations of oversight in the criminal justice system in almost all the communities around the world. To drop a few, there are four oversight models to be considered in the implementation of justice in the communities. 1. Political Oversight- This is usually appointed by the mayor of a certain town. Critics of this oversight model claim that the political panels is not independent and do not hold on to the interest of the minority communities. 2. Citizen Oversight – Critics of this oversight claims that the members of the panels lack resources, and is not authorized to adopt changes in the agency policies and procedures. 3. Judicial Oversight – In this model, DOJ has the mandate to review, monitor, and evaluate the compliance of the agencies concern. Furthermore, these includes force policy revisions, and protocols. 4. The Police or Corrections Compliance Office However, in a democratic society, police holds accountable with many things. Furthermore, some of the responsibilities they are accounted for are dealing with crime and disorder, professionalism, and respect when it comes to dealing and treating people. It is therefore relevant to recommend citizen oversight among the models above to be discussed in this paper and to scrutinize the accountability of the police to the public about the treatment they render to the people. CITIZEN OVERSIGHT The creation of oversight system among the communities is rarely identical and most of the time is different. However, most of the reviews in the citizen oversight fall into four main types. 1. Citizen Review Board - Citizens are investigating on the allegations of the police misconduct and give a recommendation on the finding to the head of the agency. This is considered to be the most independent citizen review model. 2. Police Review/Citizen Oversight - Officers do the investigations on the allega tions and findings were developed. After, the citizens review and recommend by which the head of the agency approves or not. Under this model, steps and process of the complaints are handled by the police. A board of citizen’s reviewer reviews those actions. Nevertheless, this model is considered to be less independent compared to Citizen Review Board. 3. Police Review/Citizen-police Appeal Board - Complainants may appeal to the citizen’s review about the findings established by the agency and make

Sharia Law in Islam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sharia Law in Islam - Essay Example Moreover, they argue that the set of rules given in Sharia are not necessarily extremists and that there are positive reasons behind them. This paper contains some Sharia-opposing charges from a modern point of view, which are retaliated by Sharia-supporting facts taken from various sources (Maqsood; Cohen; Ali). One of the main criticisms of Sharia is the extremism regarding punishment for those who have sinned. Many believe that it is inhumane to cut off the hands of thieves or to throw stones at those who have committed adultery. They prefer giving such sinners sentences to prison or some other forms of legal punishments, instead of such brutal acts of violence. However, those who believe this are not well informed about the exact Sharia law concerning such offenders. According to Sharia, such measures are usually the only extreme penalty taken (if the offender’s hand is cut off, no other penalty will be given to him/her). Some Muslims even feel that this punishment is justified because they feel more sympathy for the victims of theft, rather than the thief. However, Sharia is not so strict, due to the fact that this punishment is not given to those stealers who prove that they have stolen only because they were in dire need. Although cutting the hands of the offender might seem har sh, Muslims believe that this measure prevents further such acts from happening. The Middle East, where Sharia is mostly practiced, does not contain one-handed people. This shows how effective such a punishment is in warning potential thieves, and why Sharia is considered so important in Islam (Maqsood). Another charge brought against Sharia is the punishment given to women who have had an illicit affair. For instance, there was a case of a woman in Nigeria who was in danger of being stoned by angry villagers because she was accused of adultery.However, after being taken into custody and judged by Sharia law, she was given a chance to appeal and explain herself.

Emergincy Practise Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Emergincy Practise - Research Paper Example The following chart provides information regarding the total capacity of each of these hospitals: The total numbers of fire houses or stations within the region of Chicago are 100 Cityofchicago.org 1). The total numbers of fire trucks operating in the region are 60 (Cityofchicago.org 1). The total numbers of fire fighters that are working for the fire department of the city of Chicago are 4,500 and this figure was reported on Chicago Fire Department’s website that was last updated during the year of 2014 (Cityofchicago.org 1). The total numbers of ambulances that are operating in the region are 75 providing basic as well as advanced level ambulatory services (Cityofchicago.org 1). There are a total of 16 police stations located all over Chicago and the total number of police officers that were working for the Chicago Police Department 13, 857 individuals during the period of 2011 (Chicago Police Department