My Personal Ethics and What They Mean to Me Essay Example for Free

My Personal Ethics and What They Mean to Me Essay Everyone has their own personal ethics, for me this means being honest to my self in everything I do. I use my personal ethics to help in making choices that affect every aspect of my life. Personal ethics for me mean that I choose to be who I am and don’t let others effect the way I think or behave. Ethics are what makes us who we are and how we react to situations. In school it is important to have personal ethics, this helps us to be honest, uphold the academic integrity, and be able to follow the rules that are set for us. When at work, home or while dealing with others your personal ethics come into play. People don’t even realize that they use these every day to make choices that will affect them. I always think before I say something and how it will affect the other person. There are some who do not do this however, and for them their personal ethics are different. I find it hard to understand those who do not have the same kind of personal ethics as myself. I know the reason why others do not think as I do, but it is hard to understand when someone is mean or dishonest and thinks nothing of it. I have always tried to be an honest and caring person. I take care of others and I am responsible for a lot of their personal items. I have to deal with small amounts of their money, cell phones, clothing, and jewelry every day. Without my ethics I would think nothing of taking things that didn’t belong to me. I know that I have had coworkers who have done this and I hate that it happened. They of course are no longer working here. It amazes me that people have bad personal ethics that they can even think about doing something to someone who has been placed in their care. I will as long as I live use my personal ethics to make me a better person to all I come in contact with.

Why Authoritarian Governments In Asia Control The Media Politics Essay

Why Authoritarian Governments In Asia Control The Media Politics Essay Authoritarian regimes or governments have always been considered by western scholars or politicians as standing on the opposite side of democracy. In those states within which media are controlled, the freedom of speech, human rights and democracy remain big concerns of those democrats. Asia, the largest continent in the world, boasts its diversified politic forms, be it democratic regimes, like Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korean and quasi-democratic ones like Thailand, as well as authoritarian ones like Mainland China, North Korean and Burma. The role of media in Asia varies with the political style, from free to control. This essay, then, mainly focuses on exploring the reason why authoritarian regime expects to take control of media from the political, cultural, technological and economic perspectives. à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚  Media in authoritarian rule in Asia Authoritarian government refers to the government that concentrates power in the hands of a leader or a small group of elites unelected by the people; and is opposed to individualism and democracy. Although authoritarian governments always claim that their existence is to protect the country and to provide discipline and order to its way of life and that the traditional culture should be aggressively maintained against encroaching external or contemporary culture (Robert McKenzie, 2006 73-74), the reality is in the opposite side that those basic components of a civil society like human rights, free information, free speech, social justice, etc. are almost eliminated or constrained in the so called order and traditional culture. As what Myung-Jin Park,James Curran(1999) point out, authoritarian regimes can be divided into three major forms: single-party regime, military regime and religious regime. In Asia, countries can be entitled as authoritarian are Brunei (the executive authority lies with the unelected sultan), China (state under communist single party rule), Laos (a communist single party state), Burma (military rule), North Korea (one-party rule), Oman (ruled by a hereditary sultan, and no political parties are legal and no opposition movement), Qatar (ruled by hereditary emirates), Saudi Arabia Syria United Arab Emirates (ruled by hereditary emirates), Vietnam (communist single-party state). Media in these authoritarian regimes can be either privately or publicly owned but must resort to the control of the state. Such control means that the media are never allowed to expose the information that opposes the will of ruling class or interest groups strictly related to the government. Media can criticize the government, but not the supreme level which takes the hold of the highest power. They have certain degree of freedom, but it is only restricted to the reports and programs unrelated to political areas, such as entertainment, sports, travel, etc. In authoritarian rule, Robert McKenzie (2006) points out two procedures that are commonly implemented: censorship and punishment. In terms of the censorship of the media content, it involves two steps: state censorship and self-censorship. State censorship is applied when speech and communication are contrary to state objectives, then the content is banned for dissemination. Self-censorship is the act of intently censoring ones own publications, blogs, films, news scripts, TV programs or other means of expression without direct pressure from the authority, in order not to disseminate the content against the government objectives. So after finishing ones work, he or she may remove inappropriate material for fear of sanction by the government. With the above two kinds of censorship, media only speak the voice of the government or ruling class instead of the people. With the regard to the punishment, the consequence is always conditioned by the seriousness of the illegal content. In the authoritarian rule, the state has the right to penalize individuals and media organizations for seditious libel (Robert McKenzie, 2006). Since the authoritarian societies are under the rule of men instead of law, the punishment can be various types according to the leaders will, such as confiscating private facilities, incarceration of media professionals, expiration, long-term prison, or even death. The content of media in different countries may vary, but one common feature of the authoritarian states in Asia is that media are controlled or owned by the state. Therefore, the information the audience received in the media reflect not the interest of the people but the ruling class, no matter how capable or how hard-working the leaders are, because it is the system of a state that decides the role of the media. à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚ ¡Reasons for the authoritarian seeking to control the media According to Denis Mcquail(2005), there are four types of control over media: control of content for political reasons; control of content for cultural and/or moral reasons; control of infrastructures for technical reasons; and control infrastructures for economic reasons. These reasons can serve as a guideline for the author to explore further. 1. Control for political reasons The influence of media in political societies is immense and should never be underestimated. As what Katrin Voltmer and Gary Rawnsley (2010)point out, the function of media in democratic society is to (a) provide a forum where all voices can be heard and engage in a dialogue with each other, and (b) to act as a watchdog of the government. However, the effect of these above two functions are what the authoritarian ruling elites want to decrease, because they are not only the functions, but inherent nature of media, and if without control, the innate force will bring the media to the peoples side. Then the pluralistic opinions and voices will appear that are unlikely all to conform to the political will proposed by the ruling elites. But if we stand at the point of the authoritarian government, the control seems to be necessary, because the media have too much potential power that could be used to unseat the state or destabilize the country (Robert McKenzie, 2006 73-74). What the authoritarian governments most badly need is stability, for in chaos the power of the people will release and it is uneasy to be taken control again. Take China as an example. The government makes every effort to forbid the expressions related to Tiananmen event in 1989, for fear of arousing another wave of opponents that might shake the foundation of the superstructure. Although the information is blocked in mainland China, related videos, books, magazines and reports from abroad still remain hard evidence, which can be a great threat against the authority of communist party. Only if those media become inaccessible to people can the central government avoid losing support from the public. Therefore, the authoritarian media can also be a watchdog, but to watch people instead of the government. Beside, given that the president or premier or the elite ruling group has the high morality, responsibility, wisdom and really concern the people, it is unlikely for them to make sure that every official they appoint or appointed by their appointers other than through the election from the people obey the principles of the constitution. Holding great power and backed by the superior, bureaucractism, red-tapism and corruption will generate, which means that only by controlling the media can they cover their bad deeds, without knowing from the above and the public. But if even the supreme rulers or elites group have ulterior or scandal of their own, degree of control will be much stricter and the free of media is far from possible. In addition, since the media belong to the government, they can be used as a powerful agency to propagate, reinforce and sublimate the value and merits of the ruling concept, thus win more trust and understanding over disagreement. The news from the state-owned media is always the wise decisions and favorable policies which give the people hope and better future, but seldom is there any voice that directly criticizes the state leaders or central government. 2. Control for cultural reasons Almost all authoritarian countries in Asia have their unique as well as dominating traditional or political culture. These cultures not only determine the patterns of thought of the people, but also provide a well constructed harbor for the elite ruling groups to prevent their regime from the impact of the outside world. Media, therefore, can serve as a useful tool to further strengthen the preexisted culture on the one hand, and to broadcast and spread the domestic culture to the world on the other. In this sense, to control the media is to some extent to control the mind of the mass people. The following analysis will focus on the analysis from several powerful cultures. The most distinguished culture in Asia may be Islamism, a belief that Islam is a political ideology, as well as a faith. For this culture, to control the media is to maintain the purity of the peoples thought and enhance the loyalty to the god. It is a modernist claim that political sovereignty belongs to God, that the Sharia should be used as state law, that Muslims form a political rather than a religious bloc around the world and that it is a religious duty for all Muslims to create a political entity that is governed as such.(http://www.quilliamfoundation.org/faqs.html) Based on the above definition, religious belief becomes legitimate tool and peoples behaviors are judged by the Quran. They believe in one God and resist other religions. Then the Islamic content is dominant in media. The western thought, belief, values as well as culture are severely censored and are considered conflict to Islam. For them, the religion and politic are tied extremely close to each other. So if the religion or culture is affected by outside or different impact, the political rule will also be impaired. Another powerful culture is communist culture. In this culture, to control the media is to prevent the attack and cultural impact from the outside world.In present China, North Korea, Laos, Vietnam, the culture is shaped by communist party rather than Confucianism, even though some parts of the behaviors and thoughts still follow the principles proposed by Confucius. Communist culture is relatively young but very influential. At the very beginning of the communist party, those vanguards did set up educational and honorable examples that inspire the fellow country men and women to fight against outside invasion. They did win peoples trust that the communist party will bring them freedom, democracy and equality. But communism is based on the philosophy proposed by Karl Marx that it is possible to create an egalitarian or classless society by means of working as a collective whole. Besides, there is a huge difference of the definition of democracy. While western world regard democracy a s characterized by free speech, two or multiparty and mass election, the communism believe that the democracy is to liberate people and let people become the sovereign master. Ever since the Marxism was applied by the developing countries, the capitalism has become their enemy. The western thought and value as well as ways of running economy are all considered as against the communist belief. Therefore, everything from the western world is banned or defined as evil. In extreme case like North Korea, the image of the party is always the representative of justice, while those western capitalist societies are shown as the lack enlightenment of communist thought. In this environment, the people are deprived of the idea to fight against free speech, liberty and democracy, because as what media show, there are in this process. 3. Control for technological reasons With the development of high technology, especially the booming of the internet, the battle between media control and anti-control has been largely upgraded. Modern communications technologies mean that authoritarian governments find it ever more difficult to hermetically seal their borders and prevent their people from receiving often uncomfortable news, information and opinion from overseas sources (Katrin Voltmer and Gary Rawnsley, 2010). On the other hand, the ruling elites clearly know that to control the core technology is to hold the initiative advantage, so the high technology is not only widely applied by people, but also by the government as a fairly useful tool to exercise censorship, underground investigation as well as supervisory. In other word, the authoritarian government plays the role of defense, while the dissidents and civil right fighters act as the role of offense, and the rest becomes the audience, looking on the development of the game. This means that even though people can create some software to get access to the blocked information, government then can renew the fire-wall and all kinds of software to block the sensitive expressions, detect the opinion initiators, or even control them. After all, the power of individuals is relatively small. They do not have enough economic income to keep them fighting longer. They are intelligent and are able to find the flaw of the censorship system, but seldom is there anyone daring to cross the bottom line of the ruling class. However, the government has sufficient financial support. It can establish well-equipped companies and hire a group of highly professional hackers or internet veterans to help the information control and monitoring. New technology or the new media does provide the citizens with a platform to voice out their opinions and unfair experience with the government and the exposed officials will do meet their deserved consequence. Nevertheless, no government wants its system to be corrupted and then lose its efficiency. In this sense, new technology also helps the government to find a new method to govern the stuff and officials. 4. Control for economic reasons When studying the media issues, economic respect should be considered, for mass media is not only a social institution, but also an industry. With the regard to the present essay, the reasons of media control from the economic perspective are mainly focused on the issue of ownership. Altschull(1984) in his second law of journalism says: the contents of media always reflect the interests of those who finance them. That is to say, the economic structure of the state decides the structure of the media industry, thus determines the role of media. Specifically, in authoritarian regime, the state owns the media, and the main sources of income are advertising, consumer revenue as well as the state financial support. What should be noticed is that the most powerful enterprises in authoritarian states are commonly the state-owned or royal relates-owned industries, which contribute a lion share of the advertising investments. Those state-owned companies not only have continuously financial support from the central government, but also take control of the choices of the consumers, in other word, the market. The vulnerable private media companies, though exist, can seldom have the opportunities to set foot in the most influential market like broadcasting industry and are fac ed with severe competition from various aspects. Then the domination of powerful state-owned companies in communication industries remains as an impassable barrier for private sectors. Consequently, since the government controls the market, that media are controlled becomes a nature process. à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚ ¢ Conclusion The study of the relationship between government and the media involves a various range of research and analysis. The present essay at first introduces the situation of media in authoritarian regimes in Asia. When media are unable to perform as an agent of democratic transition and consolidation, they become the important means of enforcing the authoritarian or totalitarian rule. Serving as the lapdog and gatekeeper of the government and accompanied by the relevant law and policy, the position of media is fixed and can hardly be changed. Consequently, the people have to be careful with the serious censorship and take the risk of being punished if they seek to rebel the government will. The purpose for government to control the media can be analyzed in four aspects. The first one is the political aspect that government takes the media as a useful tool to maintain the stability of ideology, reinforce the governance and to hide truth and dirt deeds of the rulers themselves. In terms of the cultural reasons, the author tries to find result from studying to distinctive cases of Islam culture and communist culture. A common feature of the both cultures is that the government seeks to manipulate media through keeping the purity of the culture, thus erecting a shield to resist the western democratic thought and culture. With the regard to the technological sphere, the government does realize the potential threat from the booming internet communication, so they intently act as a powerful defender to defend the attack from the domestic and abroad on the one hand, and makes most use of the high technology to strengthen itself on the other. The last reason is from the economic sphere that since the authoritarian government has the huge influence on the market, it influences the media industry as well. Owned and financed by state-run enterprises, the media industry is unchallengeablely controlled by the government. All in all, the media independence is a long process, and the freedom of media and information follows the political reform, cultural transformation and globalization, technological advancement as well as economic development. Although media are controlled, they are still able to play a significant role in pushing forward the social progress of these authoritarian countries in Asia,

Metaphors Of The Mind :: essays research papers

<a href="http://www.geocities.com/vaksam/">Sam Vaknin's Psychology, Philosophy, Economics and Foreign Affairs Web Sites The brain (and, by implication, the Mind) has been compared to the latest technological innovation in every generation. The computer metaphor is now in vogue. Computer hardware metaphors were replaced by software metaphors and, lately, by (neuronal) network metaphors. Such attempts to understand by comparison are common in every field of human knowledge. Architects and mathematicians have lately come up with the structural concept of "tensegrity" to explain the phenomenon of life. The tendency of humans to see patterns and structures everywhere (even where there are none) is well documented and probably has its survival value added. Another trend is to discount these metaphors as erroneous, irrelevant, or deceptively misleading. Yet, these metaphors are generated by the same Mind that is to be described by them. The entities or processes to which the brain is compared are also "brain-children", the results of "brain-storming", conceived by "minds". What is a computer, a software application, a communications network if not a (material) representation of cerebral events? In other words, a necessary and sufficient connection must exist between ANYTHING created by humans and the minds of humans. Even a gas pump must have a "mind-correlate". It is also conceivable that representations of the "non-human" parts of the Universe exist in our minds, whether a-priori (not deriving from experience) or a-posteriori (dependent upon experience). This "correlation", "emulation", "simulation", "representation" (in short : close connection) between the "excretions", "output", "spin-offs", "products" of the human mind and the human mind itself - is a key to understanding it. This claim is an instance of a much broader category of claims: that we can learn about the artist by his art, about a creator by his creation, and generally: about the origin by any of its derivatives, inheritors, successors, products and similes. This general contention is especially strong when the origin and the product share the same nature. If the origin is human (father) and the product is human (child) - there is an enormous amount of data to be safely and certainly derived from the product and these data will surely apply to the origin. The closer the origin and the product - the more we can learn about the origin. The computer is a "thinking machine" (however limited, simulated, recursive and mechanical). Similarly, the brain is a "thinking machine" (admittedly much more agile, versatile, non-linear, maybe even qualitatively different).

The negative impact of telecommunication on society :: essays research papers fc

"Watson, come here; I want you." This was the first sentence which was transferred by Alexander Graham Bell to his assistant (Reiman). When Graham succeeded in transferring a human voice throw a machine, he realized that he invented a new instrument which will make communication between people easier and faster. Day by Day, scientists started to improve and develop what Bell started and tried to make matters of communication easy to use and available to all people. Recently, mobile phones, short message (SMS) and multimedia message (MMS) services, and the Internet have become available to most people in developed countries almost all time. Such new communication means have unconsciously affected behavior of most people, especially the young, as they depend heavily on them in their daily life. Many sociologists have started the notice that human behavior in society has been affected negatively. Therefore, many sociologists have carried out extensive research to study the im pact of new communication means on the way we behave and act. Some people disagree and believe that the new means of communication have made life easier and helped human beings to save time. However, communication through mobile phones, SMS and the Internet is not as effective as face to face interaction; people who depend mainly on technological means in communication might acquire many bad habits and become isolated, persons who could weaken family bonds and, consequently, negatively affect society in the long term. Some people believe that the new means of communication have a very effective role in our lives. Mobile phones have made communication between people much easier. It is very easy to arrange a holiday, change an appointment or ask about family by calling. Moreover, using the short messages has become very popular. It is a very cheap and fast way to communicate. In addition, many people believe that telecommunication devices do not only allow us to communicate with people that we know, but also the new means of communication allow us to make new friends and get to know about other cultures around the world via the Internet. People nowadays spend hours chatting with friends around the world; Many Internet users deem that text and voice chatting have made people open minded and social. Despite the fact that Communication through technological means is easy and fast, it is not as effective as the face to face interaction. Some people deem that making a call can make you in touch and replace meeting someone and talking to him; yet, meeting face to face has another taste.

The Significance of Inappropriate Laughter in Dry September and That Evening Sun :: Faulkner’s Dry September Essays

The Significance of Inappropriate Laughter in Dry September and That Evening Sun When one laughs, a public expression of feelings is being made. One’s guard is let down, and the act of laughing and the emotion that catalyzed it often appears to leave the immediate control of the laugher. Ironically, the more inappropriate the situation, the more full bodied and unstoppable one’s laughter can become. Both Minnie of â€Å"Dry September† and Nancy of â€Å"That Evening Sun† laugh at seemingly ill-timed occasions. Minnie, who has cried rape against Will Mayes, goes to the picture show with some friends. On the way there, she is the focus of the public eye and has to walk among whispers such as â€Å"That’s the one: see?† The one in pink in the middle.†(180) and â€Å"Is that her? What did they do with the nigger?†(181) Her temptation to laugh began as soon as she entered the theater: â€Å"Her lips began to tingle. In the dark, when the picture began, it would be all right; she could hold back the laughing so it would not waste away so fast and so soon.†(181) Soon, when the picture started, Minnie â€Å"... began to laugh. In trying to suppress it, it made more noise than ever; heads began to turn. Still laughing, her friends raised her and led her out, and she stood at the curb, laughing on a high, sustained note, until the taxi came up and they helped her in.† (181) Analyzing the motivation behind Minnie’s laughing episode is dependent on wheth er or not the reader believes that Will Mayes raped Minnie. If Minnie is telling the truth, then perhaps her laughing is a form of crying. Both actions are similar in their instability and often can be interchanged. For example, people have been to known to laugh at funerals and cry when they are happy. On the other hand, if Minnie is lying about the rape, her laughing can symbolize her pride in getting away with it. In addition, Minnie’s laughing could be a response to the irony linked to her having to claim rape in order to be re-sexualized and become the talk of the town. In â€Å"That Evening Sun†, Nancy was found lying in the street laughing after â€Å"Mr. Stovall kicked her in the mouth with his heel and the marshal caught Mr. Stovall back.† (291) Similar to Minnie, Nancy’s laughing may be just a substitution for the act of crying.

On ‘Mending Wall’ by Robert Frost

From the very title of this poem Robert Frost implies his intention of presenting an everlasting barricade in human relationship, symbolized by the image of a wall. Close analysis reveals a work that functions on many levels. On the surface, ‘Mending Wall' pictures a scene in which the narrator and his neighbor cooperate with one another to mend a cracked wall and then begin a reasoning dispute over the significance/insignificance of having a wall between them. However, as the poem develops, more underlying conflicts are unfolded which cast a different light on the scene before the readers. Frost takes on these issues to explore some of the more complex aspects of human relationship in modern days. The poem opens with a comment of the puzzled narrator about an unknown force that ‘sends the frozen-ground-swell under it/And spills the upper boulders in the sun', producing measurable gaps in the wall. By the use of an unlikely compound noun: ‘frozen-ground-swell', instead of a proper word, such as ‘ice' or ‘icicle', and the failure to relate the cracks as consequences of the former phenomenon the comment is likely to be the voice of a youth as well as a remark to the natural wonder. Then the depiction of gaps caused by hunters disrupts the scene and brings in a preliminary conflict within the narrator's mind; that is, ironically, the narrator approves only of natural cracks in a wall not the man-made ones. He reasons that man-made gaps are forceful, destructive and merely for a personal purpose: ‘To please the yelping dogs'. On the contrary, with the pausing effect of a Caesura as well as end stops and the use of words with long vowel sounds in a line followed closely by short vowel sounds in another: ‘To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean, [short vowel sounds; No one has seen them made or heard them made, long vowel sounds] But at spring mending-time we find them there,' the narrator expresses his wonder and admiration to a naturally-cracked wall. This preference foreshadows the narrator's calm but cold reaction on mending a wall at the end of the poem. In line 11, ‘But at spring mending-time we find them there', along with the rebirth of spring emerge gaps in a wall, coordinated reparation as well as a remarkable irony in ‘mending wall', all of which prepare the ground for the central conflict of modern human relationship. Acknowledged of the mending time the narrator and his neighbor gather together in order to fulfill gaps in a wall. At this stage, the two characters are unified as the first person plural ‘we', signifying the sense of unity and cooperation. This is indeed an irony; the narrator and his neighbor become cooperative in order to be separate: ‘[†¦] we meet [†¦] and set the wall between us once again'. In addition, the description of the reparation is ornamented with quick, joyful but thoughtless rhythm, following from repetitive use of enjambment and childlike metaphor: ‘Some [stones] are loaves and [†¦] balls'. Such playful words and rhythm characterize many childlike aspects of the narrator. He is initiative and enthusiastic: ‘I let my neighbor know beyond the hill'; he is imaginative in a childlike way: ‘Some are loaves and some so nearly balls/We have to use a spell to make them balance'. In fact, repairing a wall is a tough work: ‘To each the boulders that have fallen to each. [unstressed ending] †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ We have to use a spell to make them balance: [unstressed ending] â€Å"Stay where you are until our backs are turned!† We wear our fingers rough with handling them. Oh, just another kind of outdoor game', hinted by such examples as the effect of interrupting uneasiness from continuous unstressed ending and some words, including ‘have to', ‘spell', and ‘rough', that connote hardship. While mending the wall, the narrator is, however, overwhelmed thoughtlessly with joyful physical recreation and sense of collaboration with his neighbor. Even though he has remarked somewhere that the wall is set up again, the narrator seems ironically ignorant to the fact that ‘mending wall' will later disunify his sense of ‘we', the togetherness between himself and his neighbor. Once he realizes it an argument will be unavoidable. At a particular point, ‘One on a side' , Frost allows his narrator a pause for reasoning thoughts by applying a long-vowel sound followed immediately by a Caesura. The pause as well as the subsequent statement: ‘It comes to little more', reports a wondering tone and suggests in some way that the narration is developing his intellectual maturity. He begins his first argument against the significance of ‘mending wall', saying innocently ‘My apple trees will never get across/And eat the cones under his pines'. He fails to argue his neighbor's murmur: â€Å"Good fences make good neighbors†, though. Further on the main conflict of a revolutionary mind versus a conservative one has fully developed, illustrating Frost's concerned awareness of mental gaps in modern relationship. The unified ‘we' has been split perpetually into two independent units: ‘I' the revolutionary and ‘He' the conservative. No longer a pleasant wonder, the ‘spring mending-time' has now become mischievous to the revolutionary mind. The narrator who once eagerly informed his neighbor of the mending-wall time would now prefer a world without borders and a neighborhood without ‘fences'. The narrator, having passed the verge of maturity, bursts out a train of spicy, reasonable arguments made firm and effective by the use of rhetorical questions and enjambment: â€Å"Why do they make good neighbors? Isn't it Where there are cows? But here there are no cows Before I built a wall I'd ask to know What I was walling in or walling out, And to whom I was like to give offense.† He views a ‘wall' no longer as a springtime recreation nor a symbol of neighborliness and collaboration. It is a sign of ‘offense', and he ‘wants it down'. Nonetheless, the narrator only ‘puts a notion [about the uselessness of a wall] in his [neighbor's] head' and refuses the use of force, even though he realizes that verbal encouragement may not work. The reason lies in his earlier detestation about the ‘work of hunters'. That is, the narrator regards himself as ‘apple orchard', polychromatic, fruitful trees of knowledge that make man civilized. Consequently, he would not degrade himself into the level of ‘yelping dogs' just to ‘have the rabbit(an intended metaphor for his neighbor) out of hiding'. He would rather have nature –as he could say â€Å"elves†Ã¢â‚¬â€œ take its course in destroying the wall. The central conflict does not come as an overt interaction, and the narrator's treatment towards his neighbor is courteous in a sense. But, it is not on the whole, for his remarks about the neighbor are somewhat cold and contemptuous. The narrator likens his neighbor who dare not ‘go behind his father's saying' to a gloomy, prickling pine tree with its inedible ‘cones'. Then an image of an ‘armed old-stone savage' is deployed to humiliate his incorrigible neighbor. Frost may be pointing out how a modern, revolutionary youth views conservatism in general, which is suggested as a step backward, a retreat into ‘darkness'. However, seeds of satire are also disseminated in the delineation of the rebelling narrator. The Fruit of Knowledge, which is compared to the revolutionary mind, is not only the cause of human intelligence but also that of human banishment from the Garden of Eden. Considering himself as civilized and assuming allegedly that his belief is unarguably correct, the narrator of the ‘Mending Wall' is somehow driven by pride when he ridicules his neighbor as a prehistoric savage. Moreover, such premises as the eating of ‘cones', the wandering of ‘cows' and the uselessness of a ‘wall' have their implication of materialism (Note that they are all materials and involve the gain/loss of benefits). Frost may intend to insert these defaults to make his subversive narrator less reliable and leave space for individual readers to judge according to their own favour. When finishing ‘Mending Wall' it is possible to assert that the poem is a microcosm of our changing world in which ones are gradually separated from the others as a result of ones' own bias, causing interminable gaps in human relationship. Portrayed in ‘Mending Wall' are the narrator, the revolutionary mind, who assumes arrogantly his superiority to others and his neighbor, the conservative mind, who possesses indestructible sense of stubbornness. Frost has implied that the roots of all trouble indeed lie within these two egocentric characters. The wall itself stands as an ironic symbol of integration or reconciliation and does not account for the disintegration between the narrator and his neighbor.

“A Child Called It” Reflection

child called it â€Å"A Child Called It† Reflection Jessica Budzinski Sociology 2004A Prof. S. Becker September 14, 2012 When I was presented the assignment to read the award winning novel â€Å"A Child called it† by David Pelzer I had mixed feelings. I remember last semester a couple of my friends were reading the novel for their school, family, and community class. They told me about the book they had to read and how it was disturbing and some parts were unbearable to read. They revealed it was about a boy who is abused in the worst ways, and nobody does anything about it.Once receiving the book as well as the assignment I began reading it so I could have my own interpretation about the book. While reading through the novel I felt as it I was right next to David in all the situations he goes through. I felt as if I hated his manipulating mother, spineless father, and emotionless brothers just as much as David did. â€Å"A Child Called It† was extremely helpful in understanding more of what a student may be going through outside of the school environment, that may lead to negative behavior and discipline in the classroom.For example when David’s teacher first observed David stealing food from other students lunch boxes, she believed this was because of rebellion and negative behavior. What she didn’t know was that his mother had been denying him food for such long periods of time that his only hope for survival is to steal food from other students. This makes me think as a future educator to think twice before judging a student inside of the classroom. In some cases students just don’t act out to be funny or rebel, but to send out a message that they are in need of assistance inside their home.I believe that it’s very important to analyze how manipulating David’s mother was towards everyone around her. David’s mother is excellent at making people see David as a â€Å"bad boy† so that they ag ree with her actions of not letting him play outside or having him sit in the corner as a punishment. Its unreal to me that that David’s brothers who are his own blood can walk into the bathroom and see him lying in a bathtub of ice cold water and not have a care in the world about him.Most importantly his father is an important symbol in the novel. Its obvious that towards the beginning of David’s neglection that he disagreed with the way his wife was treating David. For example, when David’s mom was in the hospital giving birth to his brother his father let him interact with her brothers and have dinner. He helped David put away the dishes after he was stabbed by this mother and forced to wash the dishes while in horrific pain. His father would also attempt to save him food and sneak it to the garage.David’s mother became aware of these actions and began fighting and arguing with her husband constantly that he began to rarely come home When he did arriv e home he was intoxicated and unable to have any contact with David. David’s father was also getting abused but in a different way, towards the middle of the novel he didn’t want to start an argument with his wife so he would just stay away from David and no longer give him food. David’s mother repeatedly told David and his brothers that David was no longer part of the family.David’s mother was very loving to her other children, but from a young age her actions of abusing David were seen by her other children, In the novel David talks about how his little brother would make up stories and tell their mother so they can watch David get beaten. David’s brothers also physically abused him, by kicking and hitting him. I found it interesting that at the time of this novel the people around David other then his family were not suspicious about the Pelzer family. For example on Christmas David was only allowed to receive one gift because he is no longer pa rt of the family.He received a pair of roller skates, even as a young boy he knew this gift would be used as a punishment. During the wintertime his mother forced him to skate around the neighborhood for hours, he would be wearing the same dirty thin clothes he always wore. He writes about passing his neighbors and people in cars, but they didn’t even think twice about this action. David tells us that he was starved for a ten-day period and had no choice but to go door to door and ask for food. The people he asked either said no or handed him a sandwich not even wondering why he was knocking on their door for food and not going home.If this were to happen in today’s society people would be suspicious and ask the boy questions. The teachers in the school would wonder why he came to school with the same clothes, missing teeth, broken bones, and starving. David presented the topic that was rarely discussed in his time. He presented the ugly side of amoral society; the one in which nobody cares about the problems of others. Its incredible to see the change in the way America handles child abuse but its also heart wrenching to think of the children who were neglected and abused during the times America was not as active.I found it baffling that after being stabbed, burnt, forced to eat his brothers feces, choked, and forced to breath a mixture of ammonia and bleach that David was still true to his mother. He always completed him chores making sure nothing was under perfection; he walked on eggshells around the house, and never told the truth about his abuse. It’s obvious that the reasoning of this is because if he disobeyed his mother he would receive a worsened punishment. When he scrimmaged through the garbage can and ate the remains of his family’s dinner his mother forced him to vomit and found the food he had consumed.He then received a punishment of sitting in the bathroom for hours with a bucket of ammonia and bleach till he almos t passed out. Its devastating to know that this young boy felt so alone that he couldn’t tell his friends, neighbors, or teachers outside of his home. I hope that as a teacher if a student in my classroom is being abused they will be open and express their emotions to others or me in my school so that we can help them. The title of the book is truly reflective as the survival of the boy required real courage.The fact that his mother refereed to him by â€Å"It† symbolizes that she was blinded by sadism without realizing or comprehending her actions because of her alcohol addiction. Dave Pelzer’s book â€Å"A Child Called it† was not at all a difficult book to read, but the knowledge was quite disturbing and emotional, especially knowing that this actually took place in the United States. I would suggest to anyone that’s planning on pursuing a career in education or as a social worker to read this book. This will help develop a better understanding for students and their needs.