What role does equality play in socialist ideology Essay - 1

What role does equality play in socialist ideology - Essay Example Under this ideology, social and economic surplus achieved through socialist philosophy is allocated to labourers in the working class equitably and where political and corporate systems become decentralised. Thus, under this practical definition of socialism, equality not only plays a powerful role in socialist doctrine, it is the foundational imperative of the ideology. Equality, both socially and economically, underpins the foundation of socialist thought. Under most socialist models, the philosophy is an evolution from attempts to block or otherwise emerge from capitalist ideology which, during the 19th Century, began to dominate many international economies experiencing economic growth born of the Industrial Revolution. Capitalism, by design, applauds the emergence of the profit-seeking corporation in which capital assets, including industrial machinery and factories, are controlled by either private citizens or private businesses (Degen 2008). Gains on capital assets and paid labour are then allowed to accrue to serve the utility of private ownership supported by various pricing mechanisms as the foundation of allocation of capital goods (products and services) which is unequal depending on economic resources of the consuming public. Socialist ideology, on the other hand, especially with the more revolutionary Marxist school of thought, considers capitalism to be extravagant and utterly inefficient as allocation of capital goods produced is disproportionate to satisfying the needs of a broader society and labourers are deemed to be exploited to ensure surplus of production is available for private owners. Socialists reject disparate allocation of produced and natural resources and prefer social ownership of capital assets to maximise the utility of majority society (Degen 2008). This is akin to a form of act utilitarianism in which maximising majority utility, even when requiring some self-sacrifice, are mandates (Hooker 2001; Kagan 1991). Thus,

Assignment 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Assignment 3 - Essay Example The point of view being taken from the individual is purely through a profit or money-making mindset. Concerns such as data security and data storage are literally thrown out the window, as social media is purely seen as a selling point for companies and individuals alike. Using social media for the affable and leisurely means of communication across transnational borders for family and friends is not in the mindset of the individual in the aforementioned conversation. The notion of making money while you sleep has been discussed widely in internet marketing and social media marketing circles throughout the past decade; so much so that individuals coming into the profession of social media marketing are led to believe that they too can make money while they literally are asleep. Yet there are a number of facets, both moral and ethical, that must be considered when using individual data from social networks for the purpose of advertising through social media networks. How would custom ers react if, whilst completing their online banking, they were to see an advertisement pop-up offering a meal discount at the latest restaurant they went to? Undoubtedly customers could become a bit finicky when they begin to realise their spending habits are not only being tracked, but are actively used to further promote additional products and services. People hate to be sold, yet a pop-up on a customer’s screen may just be the trigger to earn even more money from them. According to data obtained from the World Bank on worldwide internet users (â€Å"Internet users as percentage of population,† 2012) 32.77% of the world’s population is now using the internet. All people of the aforementioned percentage would be interacting with some form of social media, whether it is Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Google, Yahoo, and so on. The potential of advertising through such mediums in an effective and visually aesthetic way is unfathomable. College dropouts are turning into overnight internet multimillionaires as they are beginning to understand the power of social media marketing. The golden years of elderly experienced working hard for one’s money by working 10, 12, 14 or even 16 hours per day has been replaced with young moguls, who with a keyboard, a mouse and internet access have the capabilities to begin running their own online business from the comfort of their own home with no prior qualifications or experience required. Evans (2010) states individuals are able to develop the use of social media marketing more than just by selling and promoting: it is through the use of effective â€Å"dream-like† visualisation from the business owner to the prospective buyer which will entice them to purchase a particular product. Today, entrepreneurs have taken quickly towards information selling and using social media as a form of exponentially increasing their brand awareness. Where previously, word of mouth was predominantly seen as a b usiness’ driver in future sales, today it is simply the click of a â€Å"Like† button on Facebook, or a photo or instant â€Å"tweet† to friends on Twitter which will determine the success and viability of a company. Business owners will also need to embrace social media marketing and use it to its fullest potential. A number of traditional offline businesses such as postal services are starting to move towards gearing a greater portion of their business activities towards the online arena.

A Mentor Is A More Experienced Individual Nursing Essay

A Mentor Is A More Experienced Individual Nursing Essay My belief in mentoring is to let a mentee develop their skills and to progress professionally on their own rather than a mentor being directive. My idea is in line with Hawkey, (1998, p.665, in Harrison, Dymoke Pell, 2004, p.1065) that mentoring is about mentors giving help to develop mentees skills. However, a mentor plays many roles in the life of a mentee and the mentor role has been defined in various different ways. Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD, 2010) has pointed out, for example, that mentoring is a reciprocal professional learning relationship between the mentor and mentee on what happens in the classroom. In short, mentoring is typically viewed and presented as the process of supporting and guiding the mentee with the aim of helping them to progress professionally. Mentoring has featured in a variety of ways throughout my professional life as an educator. As a first time mentor, it was quite difficult to be a mentor though I am still learning to become more confident and an effective mentor. However, I became interested in unpicking the concepts and practices of mentoring in direct response to my role, which demands me to be more critically aware of the process in order to support my mentee effectively. I have had the good fortune of being both a mentee and now a mentor. In an effort to help build the best mentoring relationship possible, both mentor and mentee need to see if they can communicate with each other since this is an important aspect in the mentor relationship. Pittenger and Heimann, (2000) explores this mentor relationship in George Mapilly (2012) advocating that mentoring relationships require mentor and mentee to engage in challenging activities, utilizing new skills (p.140). Being a first time mentor, it was vital to my continuing practice that I critically examine my own practice in relation to my mentee, since being a critically reflective mentor would help me à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦to define a way of thinking that accepts uncertainty and acknowledges dilemmas (Dewey, 1933, 1938; King Kitchener, 1994; Sparks-Langer Colton, 1991; Zehm Kottler, 1993, in Larrivee B. 2000, p294). The purpose of this assignment is to provide information about effective mentoring practice and to suggest how mentors and mentees can get the best out of a mentoring relationship which is highlighted by Holloway and White (1994), by emphasizing that there is a need for an unbiased relationship to enable the mentee to effectively explore their own development (in Woodd, 1997 p.335). The assignment will further evaluate my own practice in peer- mentoring a member of my own department. We both teach Home- Economics and I have been working alongside her for four years. My mentee is an experienced teacher who has been teaching for four years, the same as me. After I arranged a day and time to go observe my mentee, she asked me if we could meet before the class to give me a brief overview about the class. We discussed class size and level. We also briefly discussed the activities that they were going to be doing that day. This initial meeting was important to make her feel at ease (Maynar d, 2000). Basically, the outcomes of my mentoring relationship depended on the interpersonal qualities of both mentor and mentee. Through the mentoring relationship the mentee could achieve guidance practice (Harrison, Dymoke Pell, 2004, p.1058) provided by the mentor. An effective mentor involved being a reflective practitioner (Schà ¶n, 1983, in Russell T. 2005, p.199) as stated by Larrivee B. (2000) that becoming an effective teacher involves considerably more than accumulating skills and strategies. The first week lesson observation (see appendix 1) was not that easy for me as the teacher (mentee) was not feeling at ease and my presence was not highly appreciated. Roberts (2000) quotes Smith and Alfred in saying that it is extremely difficult to fulfill the role of mentorà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (p.161). Therefore, mentors need to be good role models (Stammers, 1992, in Roberts, 2000, p. 159) who have the respect of their mentees and are held in good regard for their personal attributes. I hold the opinion that my engagement as a mentor was not as effective as I would have liked in the initial period of mentoring. So, the ability to critically analyze my own performance and to seek ways to improve was fundamental. Hence, being engaged in reflective practice could help to improve professionally and is a great way to increase confidence. I recognised therefore and decided to look closely at Gibbs reflective cycle (Gibbs, 1988) so that I could use this as a better model for future meetings. I was new to the role of mentor and did not fully understand the challenges of mentoring as I was not demonstrating enough attention and support to my mentee. Only upon being engaged in the mentor-mentee relationship really opened my eyes to the potential of mentoring and the role I could play. Lester and Johnson (1981), envelop the holistic nature of mentoring by saying that mentoring is a one- to- one learning relationship between an an older person and a less experienced person based on a modelling of behaviour and extended dialogue between them. (in George Mampilly, 2012, p.137). With this increased understanding, I started to engage much better in my role. I was not there to answer all the questions but to listen and hopefully help my mentee find her own answers. As a mentor, I felt there was an obvious need to use a range of strategies that would enable my mentee to develop her skills. For a successful and productive mentoring relationship, it was important for both mentor a nd mentee to have a common view of their roles and to understand how to get the best out of the mentoring experience. Once I completed the Bell (2002), mentors scale, I realized that I am very kind- hearted and a generous person where I am inclined more to openness, sociability and less to dominance. This is significant, as I am open to criticism and this positively helped me while mentoring. I furthermore laid stress on the significance of communication as I would have failed as a mentor if there were communication barriers between us. It was very noteworthy for me that my mentee sensed as resolved as she could, as this shall aid to strongly build a hopeful mentor and mentee relationship. My mentee has been teaching the same length as me. Since my presence was not highly appreciated during the first week, I thought we should have a feedback meeting as soon as possible. It is identified by Waite, 1997; Hyland Lo, 2006; Copland, 2008a, in Copland (2010) that In order to perform these duties, tutors/mentors usually hold a feedback session with the trainee teacher after having observed them teaching ( p. 266). In the course of this meeting while questioning her, it became clear that she felt pressured due to my presence in the class. Therefore it was very important that I build her confidence by being as supportive as I could and wanted her to be independent. Korthagen Vasalos, (2005) claimed that many teacher educators use Kolbs model (Kolb Fry, 1975), which describes experiential learning as a cyclical process of concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization and active experimentation (p.50). I followed the Kolb model of experiential learning (Kolb, 1984). This suggested that by going through the different stages of the learning cycle could help both mentor and mentee engage in professional learning development. As a result, mentors can thus help mentees develop the skills of reflective practice and acquire initial experiences (Russell T. 2005, p.199) On the other hand, a mentors responsibility is also to help another individual to address the major transitions or thresholds that the individual is facing (Megginson, 1994, in Woodds, 1997, p335). Mentors do not need to be perfect but they do need to be willing and able to grow in a relationship and build on mutual contributions where this role is seen as an occasion to learn from the mentee as well as providing training to her. During the second week observation (see appendix 2), I believe there was a shift in our relationship. We were encouraging each other with our own professional development and there was a new air of confidence surrounding us. As I assisted my mentee to develop her own professional practice, I was interested into improving my own mentoring skills (Coombs and Fletcher, 2005). Working in a collaborative way enabled me as a mentor to start finding solutions to the problems arising. Since a mentor is someone who imparts knowledge and experience and shares it with a less experienced person; he/ she acts as a guide (Roberts, 2000), master or advisor (Gibbs, 2003). Thus, the mentor also uses specific skills, frameworks and processes to develop insight and to promote change. In regard to knowledge development, good mentors are seen as sources of knowledge (Little, 1990, in Orland- Barak Hasin, 2009, p.429). In this respect, mentors access their theoretical knowledge and translate it for mento ring purposes in order to enhance the mentees teaching- learning processes (Ardery, 1990: Roberts, 2000, in Orland- Barak Hasin, 2009, p.429). The term mentor has been used for a number of different models, as I believe there are many factors that affect the role including the mentees level of experience and the time in the mentoring relationship. As a mentor I had encountered some difficulties in finding the best way to work with my mentee so I was keen to adopt a different approach to my mentoring relationship. If my skills of mentoring were lacking then my mentee might have received less support during mentoring relationship than she otherwise would have done. Yet, I veered more towards the directive approach and was offering suggestions rather than waiting for my mentee to come to her own conclusions. My focus was very much on the development of my interpersonal skills and practice. Nevertheless, it was in listening where I felt that there was actual development in my practice over the two observations. My understanding to a mentors role was that I should be a good listener (Cain, 2009, p.55) so that I enable my mentee to reflect on the actuality of her practice (John and Gilchrist, 1999, p.102). I was actually in the moment, listening to what was being said and then responding to it, rather than listening and trying to work out what was my own response to them might be. Likewise, the Mauritian Teaching Competencies 2.3 (See Appendix 6), teachers should be able to gain learners attention and be able to sustain their interests. My mentee used video lesson to gain the learners attention. Moreover, she did not meet the terms with the Mauritian Teaching Competencies 1.2.4 and 1.2.5 (see Appendix 6), which are: an understanding of the special needs of individual learners and of specific learning difficulties, an understanding of how to develop the thinking and problem solving skills of learners across the curriculum. She should pay attention to the development of literacy and numeracy skills in every subject, every lesson (DfES 2004, 3, p.2). It is imperative to highlight the features of each subject that need constant attention in order to boost performance and ensure progression. It is thus significant to realise what motivates lower-attaining students to learn and what methods could be used in in order to create motivation. By following the third observation (see appendix 3), there may be, therefore, a mismatch with a teacher who, as a qualified person, would wish to be able to make their own decisions about personal and professional development and about their pupils needs. In my communications with my mentee consequently made me feel assured by seeing her able to use appropriate teaching strategies relevant to the age, ability and attainment level of learners which is an area which is linked to Mauritian teaching competency 1.3.4 (see appendix 6). When I observed my mentee in class, she did engage the students in group work which was lacking during the first observation, conformed to the active engagement techniques (DfES, 2004, 11). My mentee involved the students in sharing their knowledge, ideas and perspectives and arrive at a fuller understanding than they might have done working alone (DfES, 2004, 11, p.5). In order for a successful mentoring relationship take place, I believe that skills and qu alities such as open communication (Bradbury Koballa, 2008, p.55), listening (Edwards and Collison, 1996, in Hobson, 2002, p.2135), mutual trust (Awaya et al., 2003, p.55) and being supportive should prevail. Mentoring and coaching provides a vital link with positive reflective practice. Throughout the mentoring relationship, there need to be a strong sense of self belief and efficacy, as goals can be realistically achieved. Through this experience, I managed to prove myself and help my mentee by not giving up. The foundation for being a good mentor is in building a good working relationship with the mentee. Achieving this one initial, important goal will solidly underpin every other aspect of mentoring. In mentoring, time is at a premium. As such, there should be effective use of time in order for good working relationships to be achieved as quickly as possible. However, to achieve this, the mentees first day and week should be managed in a productive and welcoming way (Maynard, 2 000, p.26), and furthermore the mentor should make use of good communication skills and active listening. The effective mentor does not feel that they are perfect nor that they know all the answers. They are real people who are still learning themselves but are willing to share what they do know. Good mentors are non- judgmental about their mentees and in being so are able to develop a relationship based upon trust and acceptance. Only in such an open and trusting atmosphere can a student really feel at ease and free to ask for help and to question. Perhaps the most useful communication skill in mentoring is that of active listening. I then proceeded with my fourth class observation (See Appendix 4). By identifying my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats helped me to develop and improve my own mentoring skills. For this assignment, a personal SWOT analysis (QuintCareers.Com) was developed where I reflected on my own development as a mentor. The SWOT analysis (see appendix 7) was then used to identify my personal development goals. The goals were centered on consolidating strengths and thinking about how best I could use them. The goals were also about overcoming my weaknesses, exploiting opportunities and nullifying threats. The personal SWOT analysis proved to be a useful tool for helping me to be self- reflective. As a consequence my aim as a mentor was to increase teacher effectiveness where while mentoring I assumed my responsibility to help mentee evaluate and overcome challenges in the classroom in order to become better teachers (Korthagen, 2004). Particularly, my idea is in line with Lopez-Rea l Kwan, (2005, in Kwan Lopez-Real, 2010) that in the process of mentoring, my own personal and professional understanding developed as I worked collaboratively and reflectively with my mentee (p. 724). When I observed my mentee in class, she portrayed an image of a teacher who stands at the front of the classroom and explaining things (Korthagen, 2004, p.81). Learning can be described as a process (Edwards Protheroe, 2003). The environment such as: school culture and classroom, where the learner will evolve is an important fact. Therefore, the teacher (mentee) has to act as a facilitator. The teacher has to be more students centered and lass dominant in the classroom. Thus the teachers approach to interaction with learners should be different. To some extent, my mentee have used engaged learning technique in the classroom. Basically, in terms of building prior knowledge of students, this is done by conducting a brainstorming session in class (DfES, 2004, 19)My mentee organised th e students into group so that they could discuss, plan, monitor and reflect on their work. As such they developed their thinking and problem solving skills. As a result, the role of the mentor became one of raising the ante by gradually (Edwards Protheroe, 2003, p. 231) facilitating the mentee to distinguish and answer to the difficulty of the situation even though, the mentee as learner is involved in practice. My first time as a mentor allowed me to learn a lot where I learnt about my individual development as a mentor. It has also helped me out to achieve the ability to challenge, motivate and reflect. In sum, if mentoring relationship is successful then inevitably the coach themselves will notice an increase in their own awareness. I feel that the process of trying to identify myself as a mentor has equipped me with skills which will serve me well both professionally and personally and I can say without doubt that the journey thus far has been very enlightening. This piece of work underlined, the significance of the affective in students school-based learning: the close relationship that exists between the personal and the professional (Furlong Maynard, 1995, in Maynard, 2000, p.29). In mentoring, mentee often discussed good practice and made reference to how mentors made them feel. For example, welcome, accepted, included, supported and recognised as an individual (Maynard, 2000). The way in which the mentee responded to me in this respect impacted on the mentor mentee relationship and eventually contributed to her success. There is absolutely a need for mentors to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to work effectively with the mentee.

Wakefield Essay -- Literary Analysis, Hawthorne

What Was He Thinking? What would you think of a man who left his family, moved over to the next street to watch their lives unfold, and then returned after twenty years as if nothing had happened? What could drive a man to such bizarre behavior? These are the issues that Nathaniel Hawthorne deals with in the story of Mr. Wakefield. The very idea that a man could possibly do such a thing makes the audience want to understand his intentions. It is hard for a modern audience to make sense of such a story because television shows and movies have made today’s society focus so much on easily apparent themes or morals. Hawthorne used this story to examine society’s motivations. In his short story â€Å"Wakefield,† it is necessary that Hawthorne uses the narrator as a tool to shed light on Mr. Wakefield’s motives as well as to emphasize the story’s theme, that an individual can only appreciate and understand his life by looking in on it from the outside. In Hawthorne’s â€Å"Wakefield† the narrator’s thoughts and comments bring insight into the motivations of the character of the story. The story includes a long introduction in which the narrator, Hawthorne, describes how he heard the curious story of Mr. Wakefield. Hawthorne supplies his audience with a condensed version of the entire plot of the story. With this introduction, Hawthorne has already informed the audience of the story’s intriguing plot and this intensifies the audience’s desire to find out Mr. Wakefield’s motivations because they cannot comprehend why he would do such a thing. The audience will try to make sense of Mr. Wakefield’s actions, but they will not find a logical explanation. The story may seem unreal but the reader must take the story as it is and focus on the charact... ..., would argue that Hawthorne was showing his modernism by writing about the strange habits of human nature. Others, such as Morsberger would argue that the story of Wakefield simply mirrors many of Hawthorne’s other works. I do not disagree with either viewpoint, but I feel that Hawthorne simply wanted to create an intriguing story that dealt with people’s motivations. I would argue that he wrote this story to examine a side of human nature that is often forgotten or intentionally left out of a large portion of literature. Hawthorne is able to place the reader within the mind of Mr. Wakefield through his unique approach to story-telling. The result is a fascinating look into the mind of a very interesting character. Hawthorne has done such a wonderful job of luring in the reader that it takes only a few minutes to read â€Å"Wakefield,† but you will never forget it.

College Life of Single Students versus College Life of Married Students Essay

The college life of single students is much easier on different levels as compared with the college life of married students. A majority of people are of the assumption that when married and in college, your social life will go down the gutter. While this is true to some extent, it paints a bad picture of the whole idea of marrying while in college. For a college-going single student and a college-going married student, their chances of learning are all the same. The difference, however, comes in with issues of residence, social life, hardships, university experience, and issues of finance. When these issues are compared between a married and single college going student, the fact remains that being single while in college offers a lot of opportunities to the student. College life of single students is generally less-stressful compared to college life of married students. The process of gaining scholarships or college financial aid is difficult for married students than for single students. Single students have a much easier access to scholarships as they are taken as students without a flowing income. In registering for financial aid, they will only have to state their parent’s income. However, for married students the situation is different. The government ceases recognizing the couple as under their parents. They are now independent individuals. They, therefore, state their spouses’ income as a prerequisite for receiving government financial aid (campusexplorer.com). In addition, financial aid for married students does not come easy as various regulations are placed for them to acquire a loan or aid. Unlike single students, married students will have to account for every dollar they will receive, and they are required to write this down on the application form. This is despite the fact that the financial aid handed down to them caters for only a marginal portion of their financial needs. Single students rarely expend their full financial aid in education, and some are used elsewhere. Money handed to them by their parents also for purposes of school related expenses is quietly diverted to some other cause that the parent does not know about. It is safe to assume that they are given too much cash that they do not know what to do with the rest. Lastly, on the issue of financial reliability, it is easier for married college students to call-off a semester for lack of college fees. It is common that married college students rarely rely on their parents for monetary needs. Being mature, taking they are married, they are allowed their freedom. Hence, the majority of them face a stumbling block when it comes to raising fees for their academic needs. However, for single students, excluding those that are financially independent, they have fewer chances of quitting school or taking a semester off. They are funded by their parents and completely rely on them for academic as well as other financial needs. This makes their chances of suspending school slim to none. A married life in college is full of hardships as compared with a single life. A married life in college is not as rosy as a single college life this considering the many responsibilities heaped upon married individuals. Married individuals rarely find time to engage in the idle activities that most single individuals have as they are busy handling issues that come with getting married (andybox.com). Some married individuals have to concentrate on their families, find alternate ways of getting income, spend time with their spouses or generally spend time at home reading or researching. At the end of doing all these activities, they are expected to regularly attend classes. On the other hand, a number of single students often find a lot of free time at their disposal. They have no urgent issues to attend to, thus mostly live a freer lifestyle compared with their married counterparts. For those that are married while in college and have a kid to look after, life is too hard. Having a c hild and still have to juggle between going to classes and taking care of the younger one is one hardship that a majority of married couples finds it hard to bear. Women especially are denied that one chance that most mothers dare not miss, to bond with the child so when classes are over, they have to rush back at home. Men too as fathers, join in the activity. They will rarely miss being at home with their children. Single college-going students, of course, have no such hardships that take their total attention and time. Another hardship common of college going married couples is accommodation. Mostly, accommodation within the campus is preferred by single students that have no issue sharing rooms with total strangers. For married couples, this is unacceptable for they will prefer off-campus accommodation where they can comfortably live with their spouses. In some cases, most married couples live far off campus and have to drive or commute to school on a daily basis which can be he ctic for a majority. The issue here is not being provided with on-campus accommodation, but rather the fact that they have to lose hours driving, a period of time they can otherwise expend doing useful class work. A married life in college is socially limiting. Most married men or women in campus are in a life of their own. They have a lot to think about and many places to be at the same time that they rarely have time to socialize or engage in events that run within the school. It is acceptable considering that they have families to think about (campusexplorer.com). On the other hand, single students are everywhere quite literally. They are to be found in whatever events that happen on the campus whether academic or not. This places their socializing level at an extreme high. Secondly, since most married couples stay off-campus, they live in seclusion to the going-ons within campus. Once class breaks, the majority will rush to their cars and zoom off campus only to reappear in the next class. This gives them a limited time to interact with the students or with the campus environment. For single college students, however, their whole campus life is within the campus. Although they may take som e time during the day off-campus, they mostly spend their day inside the campus since they live there. While in campus, they interact with their fellows and also the campus environment, and in the process getting to know more about their college and the students in general. Such knowledge escapes those that are married. Lastly, there exists a notion among most students that married students are boring or are not hype given they are like â€Å"our parents† or are taken. This rumor has made most married students being given the cold shoulder or just plain avoided. Their interaction with the students in such a case has been hindered by the attitude the students hold towards them just because they are married (andybox.com). For the single students, however, they highly socialize amongst themselves. Some believe that college is the best place to get a suitable wife or husband; hence, if one is not married, one should expect to be accorded a lot of attention by the students of the opposite sex. In conclusion, single life on campus is easier compared with married life. Single life in college offers freedom while when married, one has to juggle a lot of responsibilities. For married individuals, attending college can be stressful considering that they have to drive daily to school, they have to balance school and family, and at the same time have to think about money to pay bills back at home. In addition to this, married students have a difficult time getting financial assistance and when they do, the money is regulated. This occurs while single students are sponsored by the government and their parents or guardians, hence have enough money at their disposal, have nothing but books to think about, and generally have sufficient time to interact with their friends, peers, and environment in campus. With this in mind, I recommend that students rethink their stand on early marriage. Considering the discussion, students should choose to marry and settle once they have completed t heir degree or their course on campus. This is in light of the fact that they might make their experience in college hard to go by should they choose an early marriage and continues their course while married. References AndyBox.com. Students who Marry. Nov 1999. Web Dec 4 2014. Retrieved from http://www.andybox.com/?page_id=74Campus Exlorer. Married College Students. 2014. Web Dec 4 2014. Retrieved from http://www.campusexplorer.com/college-advice-tips/CF0064F6/Married-College-Students/ Source document

Media: a Fictional Reality Essay

Introduction We increasingly move from one kind of reality to another. As spectacles are created with our own lives we are vastly becoming the characters we once saw on television. In media, the producing and promotion of these realities encourage people to misinterpret false depictions into reality. Advertisements When we examine media advertising we find art and technology being used to create a false reality through stories in an effort to evoke desired reactions from audiences. We see a production of characters playing physicians, housewives, used car salesmen, and everyday people with plots and quick resolutions of conflict in which the characters overcome obstacles and fulfill their desires in record time with the help of their product. For example media display products that are cosmetically altered to seem more appealing to viewers. Raw turkeys are made to look baked and delicious with food coloring, burgers are big and juicy, water drops slide down fresh vegetables, even the sizzle from cooking food turns out to be a sound effect added during editing. These sensory deceptions are supplemented by exaggerated claims, to create a false identity for the product. Commercials also include another kind of falsity in the form of digitally manipulated images. They convey a sense of life as celebration, full of people who can’t help but sing out because they love their Skittles or who emerge from swimming pools, all luminescent, with magnificent hair and wonderful lives, surrounded by bright colors, upbeat music and dancing friends, in which everything is in motion to convey a sense of what life can be if we buy the product. They invent â€Å"worlds† based on fantasy and desire. â€Å"To achieve these effects, media engage in the new production process of high-tech capitalism, which is to turn everything into an image. This process is very evident in what happens to actors — they are turned into simplified human images. Their role is to become characters in false utopias so they can act as living sales pitches for products† (Boorstin 1961). They are all false promises that make everything seem better than it is. Cities City landscapes increasingly resemble places all around the world. These false depictions serve as attractions for millions of people, as well as a pseudo reality that the media likes to make into a spectacle. For example, sin city is becoming sim city; the city of simulation. Through varies attractions people are given a misrepresented idea on how media interprets the world. â€Å"One of the city’s monuments is Luxor, a $375 million hotel and casino that is a fantasy version of ancient Egypt, presenting visitors with material images of mystery, mysticism and splendor in one of the greatest monstrosities ever built: a 36-story, pyramid-shaped hotel with a ten-story replica of the Sphinx as an entrance for valet parking. The hollow core of the pyramid is a 27-story atrium that started out with a fake river Nile at the bottom, which took visitors on a barge ride passed tableaus of ancient Egypt. Meanwhile, â€Å"inclinators† — elevators that travel diagonally, following the pitch of the pyramid — take guests to their rooms in the upper floors. † (Kens 1997) They aim at representing an ideal experience, as if you really were visiting the great monuments of Egypt, but these manipulated visions are forced onto people as true depictions of reality. â€Å"Luxor is themed, offering a story line that is intended to give the visitor’s experience a meaning and coherence. But Luxor, like many similar attractions, appears to suffer from an identity crisis: it can’t seem to keep its theme together. In place of presenting one idea or trying to show one kind of place, it has jumbled together all kinds of times and places, which are removed from any sense of context or relation to each other†. (Kens 1997) Thus, the Sphinx is the entrance to a pyramid, which contains an ancient-looking temple, which takes visitors to a dig of a fictional civilization, while a talk show goes on next door and celebrity impersonators play Michael Jackson, Madonna and the Blues Brothers, or other Vegas-style shows go on nearby in Nefertiti’s Lounge. Las Vegas thrives on having the best attractions of the world on one famous street; the Vegas strip, but they’re all attractions focused on historical allusions. Media creates a spectacle of historical information in which gets misinformed to the public. Zoos Many zoos are beginning to offer â€Å"educational† exhibits through fictional realities. Resembling scenes out of movies or Disney related themes, parks and zoos are increasingly using fictional characters and ideals to promote their parks. â€Å"They are imitations that are intended to be better than the originals. To the degree that visitors think of them as accurate representations, they will come away with an image of a rain forest as a place crowded with large animals, where one can get good vistas of peaceful surroundings full of impressive landscapes and gigantic trees. † (Eco 1990) These false depictions are being represented as an educational experience by the media and leave them with a tainted view of reality. â€Å"An increasing number of exhibits portray something that is unlike nature in another sense: under constant pressure to be entertaining, they are incorporating themed environments based on fantasy that have little to do with the natural world. In essence, these attractions, even though they are the handiwork of nonprofit institutions, have to attract an audience that will help keep the enterprise afloat financially and justify its existence. They are trying to win that audience with ever more spectacular displays and excursions into fantasy. The result is the growing numbers of those simulated ruins, suspension bridges, vines that hang over pathways and other popular fantasy elements commonly found in television and movies, which are, supposedly, the sugar that coats the pill of educational value. †(Eco 1990) The act of displaying a rainforest is for entertainment purposes but it should not tarnish the educational responsibility by providing false depictions as reality. Media provides a distorted image of rain forest by the India Jones themed movies. We come to believe that every jungle, rain forest, safari is going to have hidden civilizations, cities of gold, and ancient Mayan ruins. The reality is, that these places are not so exciting. The media raises your hopes for reality at the cost of your educational experience. â€Å"Non-Fiction† Television Newscasts are beginning to foster a type of reality that entertains a viewer as if they were watching the latest episode of Law and Order. Providing their audience with a â€Å"fictional† reality of news highly made into spectacles for entertainment rather than newsworthy purposes. â€Å"These programs are well known for reciting the daily litany of crimes, and personal and community disasters, with all the potential that has for evoking sympathy, fear and anger in audiences. † (Kens 1997) The media publishes a compelling story each with a happy ending. They are more about the storyline then the actual â€Å"factuality† and newsworthiness. Newscasts are no longer an avenue for the â€Å"need-to-know† news but rather the â€Å"want-to-know† news. It is a civil duty that we get provided with accurate information, but that sometimes gets tarnished following a new update from the Octomom. â€Å"In forms of fiction; both evoke anger, fear and sympathy in an audience and then convert these emotions into reassurance and hope. Fiction accomplishes this primarily with a happy ending. Local news does it by placing stories about danger and suffering in a program that overflows with benevolence and camaraderie. Each, in a different way, is designed to provide a satisfying emotional experience to audiences. † (Kens 2007) The experience is the most important aspect newscasts are aiming for. Kens relates newscasts as â€Å"Back to The Future†¦ the ride† because it takes viewers on a journey of images and computer generated graphics meant to serve as an entertaining attraction rather than a trusted source with direct information about the world. Conclusion â€Å"Art and technology masquerading as life. † This is medias lens on reality and how many of us perceive much of today’s world. We believe that the beautiful life portrayed in a commercial is obtainable by the simple act of buying their product. At least if we can’t look like a celebrity we can smell like one, in relation to cologne commercial. People are increasingly becoming less satisfied with their own lives and believe they can just jump into an alternative reality forever. Where there are no problems and like the actors in â€Å"Friends† seem to spend their whole lives together in a coffee shop with no relation to work or any responsibility for that matter. Being the monuments in Vegas or the story lines in â€Å"rainforests,† now days, this exposure of entertainment is increasingly becoming a pseudo reality. They are masquerading real life experiences into a huge spectacle. Media has transformed our lives and everyone in it to the characters and drama series we love to see on television. We live in fiction and are entertained by â€Å"reality. † Work Cited 1. Vick, Roger. â€Å"Story Line as Ideology. † (1989): Print. 2. Robert J. Stoller, Observing the Erotic Imagination (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1985) pp. 58-61. 3. Sans, Ken. â€Å"A Culture Based on Fantasy and Acting Out. † (1997): Print. 4. Sans, Ken. â€Å"Advertising and the Invention of Postmodernity. † (1997): Print. 5. Sans, Ken. â€Å"Las Vegas: Postmodern City of Casinos and Simulation. † (1997): Print. 6. Boornstin, Daniel. The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America. Vintage, 1992. 200-320. Print.