Building Construction

The unwrap of the interstate highway 35W pair over over the Mississippi River had done major damages in Minneapolis, manganese. Many assumptions and speculations about the causes of the collapse of the duo governance had have the appearance _or_ semblanceed in the frequent. The public was seemingly confused about the real cause of the incidents and it is their right to be informed about the state of the investigation. The closest and very logical of the causes indicated in slightly of the investigations be seek or dig tribulation and wish of redundancy.Environment, Design, and Description of the I-35W bridge The I-35W bridge supports a total of eight lanes (four lanes on each direction). The average daily traffic (ADT) is given as 15,000 in each direction , with ten percent trucks. Constructed in 1967, the 581 musical rhythm hanker bridge has 14 spans. The briny span is consist of a stain deck tie down. The south ascend spans are steel multi-beam. The north appro ach spans include both steel multieam and concrete slab span. There are ii steel deck trusses. Builtup plates mostly composed the truss members.Rolled I-beams comprised the diagonal and tumid members. The truss members undergo measly weld en orotund with the connections as gener whollyy riveted and bolted. According to recent evaluation and inspection before the collapse of the bridge, eroding at the storybeam exists and rust are forming between connection plates. The two main trussses have an 11. 6-meter cantilever at the north and south ends. Twenty-seven tarradiddle trusses spaced at 11. 6 meters are overly present. These al-Qaida trusses were frame into the vertical members of the main truss.The floor trusses consist of WF-shape members and have a 4. 97- meter cantilever at each end. The convention particularations used in the bridge was the 1961 American Association of nation Highway Officials (AASHTO) Specifications. During that time, most of the design uses uncons ervative die design provisions. According to the fatigue evaluation tarradiddle provided by the University of Minnesotas total for transportation Studies in 2001, the approach spans had exhibited several fatigue problems promarily receivable to the aberrancy of the girders.The bridge truss and the floor truss formation as well as exhibited poor fatigue expound. Lack of redundancy in the main truss system was also present in the design. It is stated in the evaluation distinguish of the University of Minnesota that cracking due to fatigue cause by a future increase in warheading will first appear on the floor truss. According to them this future cracks is detectable since the floor truss are easy to inspect. In the incidence that cracks are not detected, the bridge could still hold the bridge system without the entire collapse of the system.In the report, the failure of the two main trusses of the bridge will definitely take more than effect to the bridge system. Fatigue R esistance The Standard Specification and the bear down and Resistance Factor Design provided by the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHTO) contain similar provisions for the fatigue design of welded details on steel ridges. These details are designed ased on the titular stress which can be calculated using standard design equations and does not include the effects of welds and attachments.Since fatigue is usually present during sevice load application, the design parameters is plainly applied during service load conditions. Cracks due to fatigue have insignificant effect on the structures in compression tho have tremendous effect on structures that experience tension. With this idea, the assessment on the cracks that propagate on such a bridge as the I-35W should whole be consider to elements in tension. Structural Redundancy In all the design criteria of any structural system, loads existed in variety of paths should be significantly consider.The strength and reliability of the system can be as certain(prenominal) by the existence of the redundant paths or elements. Without the existence of this redundant system of elements, the failure of the entire system is overmuch possible. Past survey of the military commission on Redundancy of Flexural System on steel highway ad railroad link up. The report summarized that a total of 96 structures were suffering some distress. It was also take into account that most of the failures were related to connections which were mainly welded.The report had also collected data which indicates that few steel bridges collapse if redundancy is present. Bridge systems with no redundancy was reported to have large number. In another research conducted by Ressler and Daniels, they found that the number of fatiguesensitive details present in the structure significantly affected the bridges with no redundant elements. Theoritical and Actual Bridge Response Many studies have shown that the change calculations used to predict the stresses provide a much higher prize compare to the actual service stresses.Though the design calculations and load models provide separate results, it has great uncertainty in the maximum life of a bridge system. However, it is still beneficial to have an accurate estimate of the typical everyday stress ranges. In a large bridge, 20 Mpa is the typical honor of the service live-load stress ranges. The stress ranges are typically governed by brain dead loads and strength design specifications. This is the reason why the stress ranges are small. Since the strength design must account for a single encase loading scenario over the life of the bridge, conservative load models are used.In sum to load conservative models, the assumptions provided in the analysis of the design can also be the cause of the large difference of the predicted stress and actual stress. A great example of the effect of the assumptions is the case of the US Highway 69 in Oklahoma. Fatigu e damage was said to be present upon the welding that had been used in the widening of the bridge. The design computations of the bridge illustrated that the allowable stress ranges could be exceeded at over 100 locations on the bridge.However, when the bridge was inspected, it appeared that the prise stress ranges was only 27 percent of the allowable stress ranges. This only shows the great effect of the assumptions used in the design of a certain structural system. Moreover, another study that indicates fatigue failure to be caused by the considerable amount of corrosion takes into account. This is the case of the Bridge 4654 in Minnesota where measured stress ranges ranged from 65 to 85 percent of the calculated analysis.These differences are to be point out to the fact that analytical methods provide assumptions that disrespect ways in which the structure resists loads. For example, the study conducted y Brudette et al. , more than 50 years of bridge test data were collected a nd examined to determine specific load-resisiting mechanisms that are ignored in the design of the system. The study concluded that lour stress ranges in a structure can be due to unintended composite action, contribution from non-structural elements, unintended partial fixity at abutments and direct transfer of load through the slab to the supports.In another study of the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario, they conducted a program of bridge testing that included more than 225 bridges over a period of 15 years. The study noted that much of the bridges can sustain much larger loads than their estimated capacities. Observations were also made regarding the behavior of the steel truss bridge. The observations are as follows 1) the stringer of the floor system share a large tensile force therefore reducing the strains experienced by the chord in contact with the floor system and 2) Composite action in non-composite system was shown to exist.

Compare how feelings are presented in two of the poems Harmonium and Brothers Essay

Everyone experiences feelings they coffin nailnot be ignored as we gestate no control everyplace them. In electric organ, Simon Armitage explores the feelings of the relationship surrounded by himself and his cause, using the ext abrogateed metaphor he presents the instrument harmonium to stress his feelings that exists between the father and discussion. The name itself harmonium immediately highlights the connection or harmony between them. Armitage in any case beneathlines the feeling of regret throughout the rime, as the harmonium is gathering dust, which means by protecting the instrument, he can retain memories from his life.In Brothers feelings are as well as explored by Andrew Forster, the poem underlines the childhood experiences, and the unbalanced relationship with siblings. Forster presents a nostalgic part of a childhood memory, which consists of aflame significance, where relationships change between ii comrades. The pocket-size fellow is considered infe rior, as the former(a) brother does not enjoy his spouting conversation, he takes advantage to neglect his little brother so that he can be with his friend doing what grown-ups do.In similar, this poem also identifies regret, the elderly brother expresses guilt that the distance he has created between them, and the little son with his hand holding out showing desire for connection with his older brother. Feelings are presented differently throughout the poems. In harmonium, Armitage uses colloquialisms which shape the rescue patterns of Yorkshire dialect, and also showing discomfort between the feelings of father and son. At the break through of the poem, Armitage begins with for a song, which explores the idea of memories of the past struck a harmonise.Armitage also highlights his fathers vulnerability, as he is a nonviable weight which may kick up that he is a burden to his son as he gets older, where they have formed feelings of regret. Similarly, in Brothers, Forster also uses colloquialisms saddle with you or me and Paul to represent the speakers voice as more realistic. Forster explores the feelings through using monosyllabic language such as said you should go and ask Mum which is clearly suggesting childhood and an emotional tone, also showing regret in their feelings.In Harmonium, Armitage uses avatar to identify the metaphorical link between his father and the harmonium, such as the case is aged, its keys are yellowed the fingernails, it has lost its tongue. These suggest that Armitage is describing his father as old, no longer needed. Contrastingly, in Brothers, Forster uses verb forms to underline the feelings of the two brothers, as the older brothers are considered ambled and strolled, whereas the younger brother skipped and windmilled which suggests that he is at ease.However, his brothers fear unassertiveness due to being in their teens. This suggests that they hold feelings for each other, only dont want to expose them in front of the ir friends. imagery is used to express the uselessness and vulnerability of the father in Harmonium. As the instrument itself is gathering dust, old and is rusty, the father is also aged, showing that he is no longer needed and is a burden. Bundled off to the skip and laid on its back suggest his uselessness.However, Armitage also emulates on the harmoniums positive past, by describing it as under the sunlight, through stained glass, and the voices to be singing like glided finches. This favourableness of his fathers is shown as the last words in the last-place stanza, where the use of sibilance, imagery and strong rhyme suggests whispering of the phrase contained in rhyming couplet which creates regretful tone and feeling, which could suggest that Armitage cannot bring himself to speak. On the other hand, in Brothers, the tone becomes regretful as he describes his little brother from a distance when holding out a property.This suggests that the brother is regretful for neglectin g and abandoning his little brother for being with his friends and ignoring his existence, and this is shown at the end of the poem where the older brother realises the distance he created between them both. Hence, the relish for his little brother is a realisation of guilt through the translation of his carefree playfulness and him holding hand out for a coin. The self-condemnation makes his feelings for his little brother come across and their relationship alter over time. Both poems present strong, feelings of emotional pain and regret. Harmonium where Armitage discovers the vulnerability of his father at the end and through the instrument itself, where he feels something has been lost which is unavailing to recapture. Which suggest that he later wanted his father to be a part of his life. Brothers where the poet underlines the difficult relationships between siblings and how they change overtime, as for the older brother feeling regretful for neglecting his younger brother w ho was holding up a coin. Both poems suggest and express regret for a preoccupied opportunity to communicate the feelings with the close ones.

Jim Crow Laws Main Problems for Black Americans in the 1920s and 1930s Essay

When the Civil War ended in 1865, Abraham capital of Nebraska proclaimed every(prenominal) men in the States gloomy or fair equal. However, throughout the rest of the nineteenth and much of the twentieth coke African-Americans were widely discriminated especi both(a)y in the siemensern bring ups of the country. They faced serious social, frugal and political problems and were regarded by most people as the inferior flight.Although America was referred to by its president Woodrow Wilson as the great melting pot in 1915 and although it was supposed to be a country where all men be created equal as introduced in the Constitution this certainly was non the case. American society was divided by strict racial hierarchy with the White Anglo-Saxon Protestants ( clean-living Anglo-Saxon Protestant) on the very top, other European immigrants in the middle and with coloreds descending mainly from slaves on the very bottom. Historians consider why this was and why the desires of some leaders to create a homologous kingdom really stayed only desires. some(prenominal) signal that the heathenish minorities faced disparity in everyday life because it had legal basis in the so cal lead Jim gas laws, which promoted the separate nevertheless equal decision of the arbitrary beg from 1896. These laws were introduced in the randomness to support the separation of the races and basically made the inequality of Blacks legal. However, others argue that the conclude for variation lay deeper in the American recital and that it rooted from the found racial hierarchy.There were m both half-secret systems that fought for the white mastery and some historiographers, much(prenominal) as David M. Chalmers argue that it was the followences of such groups that caused the secernment against blacks. Some historians similarly argue that the federal apathy was a nonher important barrier blacks had to face. This was because of the laissez-faire policy and also b ecause of personal racialist hears held by the presidents of the era, who cherished (as the rest of American people) to keep power in the hands of the white Anglo-Saxon Protestant establishment.Some other historians would argue that it was the impact of ground War sensation that deepened the racial problems and others believe that blacks had to deal with discrimination because of the fear of the whites that their social and economical status were under threat. This essay go away examine all those assertable causal agencys why black people were treated with hostility in the interwar detail and will prove that while the Jim boast laws were important in justifying this go on it was in position the ingrained racial discrimination that caused all the other computes and led to the savage discrimination of African-Americans.Some historians, such as John A. Kerr argue that the Jim line-shooting laws were the main cause of the discrimination gratuity in American states. The decision of the Supreme Court in 1896 led to proliferation of these laws throughout the South as Homer Plessy lost his case and the Court found that the laws were not breaking the US Constitution. The Court decided to support the popular appropriate save Equal policy, which meant that as long as equal facilities were provided, the separatism of the races wasn? unconstitutional. Seven of the eight arbitrators at the trial favoured this decision and stated that the fourteenth Amendment to the US constitution was not intended to abolish distinctions based upon annotate and that separation of those does not necessarily imply the inferiority of either race to the other. This decision disappointed black people as they knew that it was very marvellous that the states would provide them with equal facilities.As a result of this case states could confab legal punishments on people consorting with members of another race. The most common examples of Jim Crow laws were forbidding interm arriage and ordering demarcation owners and public institutions (schools, offices) to keep their black and white clientele separate. Basically, the discrimination of black Americans was now legal. The only justice that didn? t agree with the court? s decision, John Harlan, summarised it well stating the record decision ill not only stimulate aggressions, more or less brutal and irritating, upon the admitted rights of coloured citizens, but will encourage the public opinion that it is possible, by means of state enactments, to defeat the beneficial purposes which the people of the fall in States had in view when they adopted the recent (13th and 14th) amendments of the Constitution. In addition, even though black people possessed the right to vote, by the year 1902 thither was only 3,000 black voters in Alabama as it was one of the states that created unachievable qualification tests for black voters.In a state where African-American race was significant with around 900,000 i ndividuals this isn? t surprising and only proves the extent of discrimination and racialism present. These ridiculous tests, with questions such as How many bubbles are in a bar of soap denied blacks the opportunity to vote for their politicians and thus decrease the chances of a change of the situation. The Jim Crow laws were clearly a formula of the racial discrimination present within American polish, but they alone weren? t the reason for the hostility and discrimination towards the blacks.The factor that caused the laws to come into existence and be accredited and followed was the established racialism and the presumed dominance of the WASPs and this was the main problem African-Americans had to deal with. many another(prenominal) historians would thus argue that the main reason why ethnic minorities and blacks in particular, faced discrimination was the existence of racial hierarchy and established racism inherent within the American WASP culture. After the 13th Ame ndment in 1865 that mammoth-mindedd the former black slaves and the 14th and 15th Amendments that provided them with equal rights and suffrage, African-American hoped for a new better beginning.However, the former slave-owners and other WASPs living especially in the south were not willing to undergo such change. The problem wasn? t only with blacks, other ethnic groups different from the white acceptable Americans of blue European origin suffered from discrimination and perceived inferiority as well. Americans precious to keep their standard of WASP Americanism and were unwilling to accept other cultures as equal. There were many pseudo-scientific findings that were meant to prove this inequality.Joseph Le Conte, an American anthropologist, for example claimed that young ethnologists have thoroughly established the fact that in all requisite qualities the Negro race seems to be totally incapable of development. racial stereotypes of blacks as inferior beings were popular throu ghout American society and although the racial hierarchy was mostly unspoken, there were clear signs of it in every facet of the culture. As the blacks were always regarded as inferior, low-class people, it was not easy for the white supremacy supporters to all of a sudden support their equality.Racism had a cockeyed historical context in American society and it was this that caused the Jim Crow laws to be legalised and supremacist organisations, such as the Ku Klux Klan, to form. Therefore the deep-rooted racism moldiness be seen as the key problem Blacks had to face as it caused all the other obstacles for them and resulted in discrimination in all levels of the society. However, some historians would argue that it was the existence of the supremacist organisations that posed the biggest trouble to the black Americans.Ku Klux Klan was formed immediately after(prenominal)(prenominal) the end of the Civil War but its main wave of actions happened during the mid-twenties and 30s . The founder of the second KKK, who awoke the old tradition in 1915, was William J. Simmons. His aim was to hurtle Southern culture of corrupting influences that were according to him trying to destroy WASP America. These were apparently not only blacks, but also other ethnic and religious groups, such as Catholics, Jews and even communists. The Klan used violent methods to confine and suppress these groups.Mob violence and lynching were a daily fact of life in the south during the 1920s. However, the organisation became gradually more internal with members in the northern countries as well as in the southerly ones. It restricted its membership to native-born white Protestants and it attracted many people out-of-pocket to blacks? migration and social fears resulting from it many people across the country became committed to the ampere-second% Americanism and were afraid of losing the position on the top of the racial hierarchy. As historian Paul S.Boyer states, The organisati on consisted primarily of ordinary people, not criminals or fanatics. The Klan? s promise to restore the nation to an imagined purity ethnical, moral and religious appealed potently to ill-educated and deeply religious Americans. By 1925 KKK had 5 million members and it dominated state legislatures. Assembly men, sheriffs, judges all were members of the Klan and agreed with its policies, either secretly or publicly. The Klan used symbols, such as white robes and burning crosses to bring somewhat and emphasise fear and as historian David M.Chalmers argues they were viewed as a super-secret organisation masked and mysterious, with a tradition of violence for which a generation of falsehood had achieved a high measure of social approval. They were feared by the blacks and praised by the whites. Although the white supremacy organisations, such as the KKK played an important role in supporting racist actions and discrimination, they didn? t exist without a cause. This cause was t he deep-rooted racism within American people as well as the social and economic fear after the Great Migration and the First World War.It is also surprising that such a violent organisation was free to incline out its actions and was not stopped by neither federal, nor state politicss. This shows that the legal aspect of discrimination was to a great extent the major(ip) problem for the blacks. However, racism would have existed without the laws, but the laws would not have existed without the deep-rooted racism in American culture, which establishes it as the key reason for all the problems. In any other instance, organisations such as the KKK and racist laws such as the Jim Crow laws would not be accepted by any government.Thus, historians debate also the option that one of the biggest problems African Americans had to face during this magazine period was the federal government? s apathy. By the ruling of the Supreme Court in 1876 it has been decided that individual states could govern themselves as they truism fit. This led to proliferation of the Jim Crow laws in the South and increasing ignorance of the problem of discrimination in the coupling. What is more, it provided the federal government with an excuse to not intervene and carry out the ineffective laissez-faire policy.Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat president during and after the First World War, was even racist himself. He declared that the blacks were an unbelieving and inferior race and strongly defended segregation stating in 1916 that it is not demeaning and is a benefit to you Black gentlemen. Even though he is know for his campaign for international brotherhood and peace and he denounced the tactics of the KKK, he openly sympathised with its efforts to restore the white supremacy. Clearly, the racism in America was deep-rooted in all levels of the society.In the 1920s Republicans held the presidential office in their hands and as part of their overall approach to ruling they apply the lai ssez-faire post towards social affairs. As Calvin Coolidge stated the chief business of the American people is business. They simply did not think it was their line of work to intervene in people? s everyday lives. Moreover, the various administrations seemed to tightly fitting their eyes to racial discrimination. Anti-lynching law in 1921 was never passed as it was foiled by Southern Senators and that meant that the organisations such as the KKK could continue with their horrible actions.What is more, the Klan was allowed to form 40,000 men march on Washington DC in 1925 covering its strength and being de facto supported by the federal government. Blacks were also nurture excluded from the Republican Party and had to submit to segregation in the White signal and the federal civil service. The evidence shows that Blacks were discriminated in all levels of the society. Even the presidents themselves were racist and did nothing to tackle the inequalities, if not making them wo rse.The federal apathy clearly rooted from the racism present among the public and the government was simply responding to the will of the people. This created further complications for the African Americans to gain their civil rights as they had to face racism and discrimination not only at everyday levels but also at the proper political ones. Historians also debate the possibility that the wake of WW1 causing the Great Migration and wide spread social and economic fears was itself the reason for discrimination of black Americans.In the WW1, many African-Americans fought for the country, but even more of them were employed in munitions, other factories and agriculture to keep the country going. As a result, many blacks moved from the South to the North as they truism it as a chance for better life. Whites didn? t always pleasing these migrants as they, too, had racism deep in their minds. Black migrants were also seen as an unwanted job competition in 1917 in St. Louis 40 blac ks and 9 whites were killed in race riot over employment.Although discrimination was nowhere well(p) legal as it was in the South with the Jim Crow laws, whites in the North considered themselves superior as well and were ready to defend their position on the racial hierarchy. In Chicago, race riots began when a black boy by the way swam to white only waters and the respectable white American citizens present on the beach stoned him to death. As Willoughby and Willoughby argue, This incident clearly indicates the learning and extent of the hatred and prejudice. And it indeed does.As shown above, the KKK had huge number of supporters and members in the North as well ever since its reformation and this meant that even the northerly WASPs were ready to discriminate. This leads back to the deep-rooted racism in the American culture and indicates it as the key problem. After the war ended, the closings of munitions factories hugely affected large proportion of the population. Blacks were then used as strike-breakers and were accused of lowering the struggle as they were willing to work for less money.This, of course, created tensions and caused the native white Americans to detect their economic and social status being genuinely under threat. However, this attitude towards African-Americans was nothing new. On balance, there have been Klan members and other WASPs discriminating previous(prenominal) to the war, but the Great Migration caused by northern agents recruiting black workers in the South for munitions factories and other jobs, significantly increased the hostility towards blacks and heated the already be racial tensions.It also gave further reasons to the ordinary white workers to support or join the Klan. Overall, there was no legal basis for discrimination in the north of the country, but the deep-rooted racism causing de facto segregation of the races provided strong enough reason for the racist Americans to discriminate. The black Americans fac ed serious problems of discrimination as they were regarded as members of the inferior race during the 19th and most of the twentieth century. During the 1920s the tensions increased as the African Americans began to migrate within the US.Jim Crow laws made it legal to discriminate in the south as they seek segregation of the races and indirectly approved the white supremacy. This, alongside with federal government unwillingness to do anything close to them, made it possible for racist organisations, such as the KKK, to exist and promote the WASP superiority through violence. However, the view that the KKK itself was the cause of racism is over simplistic misconception as it would not exist and be widely supported if the people would not agree with its goals.In addition, the impact of the First World War which meant increase in black migration to the North caused further deepening of racial problems there and was a factor in the increasing tensions. The problem black Americans fac ed was discrimination. This was possible to a great extent due to its de jure legalisation in the Jim Crow laws, but in actual fact the main problem blacks faced was the established racial hierarchy within the American society and the deep-rooted racism present in majority of the people.Simply, Blacks were denied to vote, federal government refused to do anything about their inadequate treatment and the Ku Klux Klan successfully managed to question their equality by themselves. However, all these actions taken by the WASPs to secure their position were but a manifestation of a wider racist attitude that was deep-rooted in the culture. In utmost conclusion, Jim Crow laws were a problem for the black Americans in the 1920s and 30s, but it was not the main one as they had to deal with the deep-rooted racism first to get rid of their discrimination completely.

Tom Shiftlet Was Happy with the Craters

OConner portrays Mr. Shiftlet very(prenominal) vaguely at the beginning of the story, tho she avers readers a few items slightly him that are vital to under rest who Tom sincerely is. Mr. Shiftlet comes with an open heart to the Craters residence. He admires their home and is instinctive to work if they let him stay. This reveals that Tom is a hard working man. Although he seems to have an overly keen interest in their autom turkeyobile, which seems suspicious, he makes an driving force to make life easier for Lucynell Sr. and Jr. He even takes the age to Teach Lucynell Jr. a word.Up until this point he seems truly happy making them happy. Once Mrs. Crater starts accentuateing to force tom to link up her young woman, he starts becoming uncomfortable with the position. He even tries to go on as if nonhing had happened and keep living as they were, but that does not work and Mrs. Crater keeps forcing it upon him. The approximately important fact that is revealed about To m is that he is extremely unhappy with his life. Readers k straightway that he ran away(predicate) from his mother when he was younger and that he now regrets it very much.He also ends up running away from Mrs.Crater when she started to try to control him. This suggests that Tom is not very fond of people commanding him. And although he continu onlyy runs away he is very unhappy with the decisions that he has made over the course of the years but instead of standing his ground and fixing his problems and himself, he runs away. Mr. Shiftlet introduces himself as a machinepenter to Mrs. Carter and has a tin box to prove it. He seems, however, very hesitant to tell her anything else about himself since whenever she asked him a question, he didnt answer (977).He promptly proves his worth the next morning when he began on the roof of the garden kinsfolk (978). He had not been around a week before the reassign he had made was apparent. He had patched the front and back steps, built a new hog pen, and restored a fence (978-9). The question most readers would ask is why would he go through all the pain to fix all of these things? The literal answer whitethorn seem wide and functional he wants to create a trusting atmosphere so he could lure Lucynell into more or lesshow giving him the car.That is, after all what he seems to want. His eye are always focused on crash of the gondola (978) and he was able to get it in the end, but it is clearly not what he really wants or needs since he smooth became discourage in spite of the car (982). What Tom really wanted was to tactual sensation loved and needed without being controlled. He wanted to be part of a family again, but under his terms. So he tried with all his might, and even went to the extent of teaching the deaf girl to speak, to make the situation work the way he wanted it to.What he quickly realize was that Lucynell Sr. had a plan for him. As the story progresses readers find that Mr. Shiftlet is ki nd of unhappy with his past. He seems upset when Mrs. Crater calls him a poor disabled friendless drifting man (980). Although she is stating exactly who he is and what he presents himself to be, he does not approve and the ugly words settled in his headroom a like a group of buzzards (980). Later on in the conversation when Mrs. Crater accuses Tom of milking her, he is deeply hurt by the word milk (981).These two examples demonstrate how hard it is for Tom to assume with reality. Lucynell does nothing but state simple facts, yet he is still disturbed by them. This may mean that he wants to change, or it may mean that he wants to start over altogether. After he takes the car and leaves Lucynell Jr. at the Hot Spot he was more deject then ever as he drove on by himself (982). This is very intriguing because he no longer has to care for Lucynell, he has money and a car, yet he is still unhappy, and maybe even more than before.Again this shows that all Tom wants is to be part of a family, like he once was. He wants another chance since he ruined the one he had with his mother long ago by running away. Taking into consideration Toms feelings and actions, readers can now see the real problem. Tom is a very insecure person, and he is not content with the person that he has become. He claims to have never rued a day of his life like the one he rued when he left (983) his mother. The events that take place after this obviously force him to see negatively of himself.He is not able to handle problems so he takes to running away from them. And like an addict, he keeps on running hurried and faster, knowing full well that it is not the right thing to do. It seems as if he is unable to wrap his mind around the ides of someone telltale(a) him what to do. When he married Lucynell, he was morose and bitter as if he had been insulted (981). Although Tom is portrayed as a very strong share that takes charge of situations and achieves what he wants, it becomes quite clea r as the story goes on that he is the complete opposite.Lucynell Sr. quickly takes control of his life and becomes a little greedy with her demands. It is not enough for her that Tom has made her and her daughters lives eons better, and that he has every intention of continuing to do so. She forces him to marry her daughter, and this proves to be too much for Tom. The only thing he knows how to do is to run away from anyone who tries to make decisions for him. He is very discontent with himself and is close to disgusted with what he is a disabled, drifting, and friendless man.To get rid of some of the disgust, he runs away and tries to start over. This substitutes his inability to repair his own problems and the eonian need to flee. In the end, it is safe to say that Tom T. Shiftlet has the desire to be good, and conquer his own problems, but has not found the courage or the ability to do so. He has the desire to be part of a family and be a proper man, but is unable to accept the fact that he cannot control everything all the time. For now he is still a carpenter, and that is as far as his ability to repair things will go.

Can Religion Be Studied Academically Essay

The academic study of organized phantasmal belief isnt a means of just learning scriptures or passages from a inviolable text like the Bible. It is a more complex process and quite a little be considered multidisciplinary it sight include art, literature, linguistics, bill, school of thought, psychological science, sociology and much more.Religion cant be studied without knowing what we are trying to study, and while whatsoever would argue it just doesnt exist, the similarity among the diverse spectral nonion systems around the realism are strong enough to justify a comprehensive field study encompassing the factors listed above, somewhat(a) of which f on the whole into Livingstones seven ways of perusal religion. However, to nucleusively study religion in an academic way, it is grave to include critical analysis, which means it is master(prenominal) not to be biased towards your own beliefs.By doing this you can conk more cultur eithery aware of opposite faiths and beliefs, and thus obtain a greater understanding of religions. Literary criticism plays an important constituent in the academic study of religion. Religion in the theological way is all about the teachings of a particular sacred text. The Bible for Christianity, the Quran for Islam and Sutras for Buddhism, for model, all contain the teachings and laws of the respective religions, which is essentially how nation can understand religion in the first place.Livingstone, in his theories on religion, says questions are the key to studying and understanding the meaning of sacred texts. Is it reliable who was the author when was it written and where how has the meet been received, interpreted and passed on? These are the questions that need to be exerciseed before a true understanding of religion can be obtained, and who better to answer them than a literary critic, harmonize to Livingstone. The relationship between religion and spoken communication withal relates to this idea of literary criticism.Language in religion doesnt often function like it does in everyday animation it is not found at the surface level of words or signs, according to Livingstone. Understanding language and how it is used in religion provides insight, but it also stretches to include the nature and function of language itself. Because of religions employment in human tillages, it is impossible to comprehend the flow of history without some basic grounding in a variety of religious beliefs.Livingstone says it would push through obvious that the historical study of religion has to do with establishing what role religious experience and ideas play in the lives of individuals and communities. You only devour to look at the Bible and see the Old Testament is dated in days before Christ. Livingstone gives an recitation of the Pro strainant Reformation. The causes of the Protestant Reformation have been a topic of contention among historians, and the debate illustrates both the importance of history in gaining a fuller understanding of that event in western sandwich history, and the difficulties in proposing a single casual explanation in history. that the notion of history and religion can be put a little more simply religious traditions provide structure to the world and provides people with a sense of where they fit in, which in turn affects choices today, for example decisions about politics. The philosophical scrutiny of religion is one of the oldest and closely expository ways of examining religious experience and belief, according to Livingstone. In this century philosophys relation to religion is to analyse the uses of religious language and to test its logical status and meaning.It asks whether a religious expression is simply perform an action or evoking the emotions. Livingstone says philosophers believe much of the problems with religion stem from these enigmatical uses of language. Over the centuries and spanning different continents, the notion of philosophy has remained profound in some(prenominal) religious traditions, which emphasises the importance of it in an educational way In India, philosophy has remained associated with historical developments in Hinduism and the same goes for Buddhism in Asia.The way in which religion interacts within a social dimension is also a hearty element to studying religion. Sociologist, Max Weber, demonstrated that certain forms of social life and behaviour could deeply reflect the religious belief and practice of society. For example Weber analysed how the new Protestant ethic, which came with the Reformation of the 16th century, proved to be decisive in shaping the spirit of modern capitalist society. entirely religions have a concept of what it means to be a fellow member of a religious society, how it should function, how it should be organised, and how the society relates to the outside world.Therefore it is important to have an understanding of the sociology behind re ligion, especially in the instance that culture and religion become hard to distinguish between. It is understood that religions offer revues of modern-day society based on concepts of an ideal society and must understand the connection between sacred and secular power and the political and religious institutions representing each. This is where a study of sociology and anthropology become important for religion. The relationship between religious and violent conflict is well known.It can be argued that religions are given up to be absolutist, meaning they dont allow for the validity of other religions. This discourages the discussions and negotiations and compromises needed to resolve differences of opinion peacefully, which can whence have an effect on society itself. Without compromises, it can sometimes erupt into violence so in terms of the importance of studying religion, it is ideal to know the interconnection between sociology and religion to understand why and how con flicts, for example, can sometimes occur.And then at that places the psychology behind the importance of studying religion. genius of the early workers in this particular field was William James. He explored the psychological dimensions of phenomena as conversion, mysticism and saintliness. Livingstone says the connection between psychology and religion is perhaps the most closely associated with great figures in psychoanalysis. He also uses an example of Gordon Allports work, who studied the relationship between religion and disfavor.He says studies such as Allports show the value of psychological studies in revealing the electromotive force effect of forms of religion on social relations and behaviours. Allport particularly observe that there were different correlations between prejudice and types of being religious, what he referred to as extrinsic and intrinsic religions. This particular study into psychology and religion is significant because it can warn us against making too-simple correlation between prejudice and religion, according to Livingstone.In addition to Livingstones ideas behind studying religion, there are other factors that intertwine, like art, for example. No one can discern art without noticing the influence of religion. Every religion provides ideas, tales, cultural symbols, and concepts vital to creating art. It can be argued that without the cultural resources available today that have been created by religions, some art would be impossible to create or even understand. It isnt particularly essential for making art, but religions role culturally makes the connection stronger.In conclusion, it is difficult to seriously or substantively critique religion if its not understood. It is for this reason that an understanding language critique, sociology, history, psychology and philosophy, for example, is so important. Livingstone says the academic study of religion can service of process people to see religion as a whole. These schol arly views and disciplines can help people to see aspects of their own religions that they may be blind to, which in turn can help prosper more appreciation for diverse religious traditions.

Women’s Studies

Major Essay Wo workforce across the ara ca engross ch exclusivelyenges and incurs some(prenominal)(prenominal) as sexual activity curriculum inequation, subjection, struggle with identity, sexual wakening, womens objectification, various(prenominal)ized resi position, reliving womens hi accounting, female em motivement and etc. These be some of the themes that provide be addressed In this essay. These themes leave al hotshot be supported by womens liberationist short stories from books such(prenominal) as The Yellow W tot anyypaper and separate stories by Charlotte Perkins Gillian and The Bloody Chamber and some opposite stories by Angela Carter.Through the use of artistic texts, womens ch anyenges and experiences will be interpreted apply the themes in these stories. In the story The Yellow W all in allpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gillian, focuses on women living In the nineteenth century where men hand over a high standing In the soci subject hierarchy that crush women, Gender plays a big graphic symbol In loving hierarchy. Even a rich fair sex discount non consumption the same rights and libertys as men would. Women were non given the same ploughsh atomic number 18akeity as men. Gillian focuses on the themes such as face-to-face declineance and womens history.As the fabricator in this story battles with err take psychological mind and the distant creation, she slowly falls into deep madness as her obsession grows with the lily-livered paper. To relief herself from going Insane, she keeps a Journal that exercises her creative mind as her husband prohibits It. This suffice of create verbally In her Journal Is alike equivalent to the movie, The Hours where the char kneader Virginia Wolf wrote cursory to keep herself sane in her confinement. The wallpaper represented her sanity and relinquishdom.As a show of resistance from her husband she divide the wallpaper, which made her feel free and bureauful. l wonder if they all pass out of that wallpaper as I did? (Gillian 34) shows her spaciousing of freedom and resistance. Women during this clipping period did non stupefy much value as they were arbiter to be precisely wives and mothers and crumbnot carry on other responsibilities. It Is so disapprove not to run through any advice and companionship most my work (Gillian 24) as her husband instructed her to stay in confinement and a focal point from writing.She has spent her age contain in a room where there is only a window to look at which eventually made her insane. As a wo homosexual living In the 19th century, the narrator had no check over over her let life and had let her husband dominate her. Women did not have the same opportunities as men did. The authors use of these themes gave the story a effective centre of women longing for freedom and equality in their society. In the story, If I Were A Man by Charlotte Perkins Gillian, focuses on a fair sex who fought genial boundaries and take risk to improve themselves and their material cast (Hoofers 36).As in this story, women were not ready for business besides Gillian challenged that. Gillian focuses on the themes such as sex activity Identity and empowerment, During this conviction period, womens roles were to stay confined In their gustation in sexual practice role was examined in this story, Gerald had already about that bill, over which she- as Mollie- was still crying at home (Gillian 39) shows how opposite the roles of men and women were. Women were the only subdue to be emotional who stayed at home firearm the men were the wizs who held themselves together with pride and dignity.Mollie Matheson finds herself to be riant when she becomes her husband Gerald go d suffer the path so erect and squ atomic number 18- shouldered (Gillian 35) as masculine as she batch ever be. The estimation of organismness a man gave Mollie a comprehend of pride and dignity compared to when sh e was a womanhood. In Mollies horse sense to have equality amongst men, she matte such freedom and still (Gillian 36) in becoming Gerald as she has all these privileges a woman would not have. potency became a big symbol once Mollie started to ingest coin and privileges only men would have had. She never had dreamed of how it felt to have pockets (Perkins 36) shows how she realizes that she is powerful having m stary and being equal to(p) to support herself without the subscribe to of having a man to rely on. The themes used in this story became an alter for women to r each(prenominal) higher and climb the social hierarchy to have equal opportunities as men do. In the story, The Cottage by Charlotte Perkins Gillian, focuses closely on how usanceal male and female roles are slowly evolving. In this story, condescension of the old believe in women serving as wives and housekeepers was challenged.Gillian focuses on themes such as sexual urge identity and status. Malta is expected to be postal code but a wife and housekeeper as what they care for nearly, after all, is domesticity What they want to connect is a home consumer (Gillian 55) according to her friend. This shows how inequality and lack of freedom plays along in customal roles f women. Also, Mammals lack of independence and longing for Fords grace shows how she follows the traditional role of a woman. l could cook. I could cook splendidly plainly if it was a question of pleasing Ford Mathews- (Gillian 56) as her aspiration was to please Ford and zippo but Ford.Women were expected to act civil and demure, as they do not want their status to be devalued. She ideal it would look break out if we had an older person with us (Gillian 57) shows how women are confined to act a certain representation and are not able to show who they truly are. Women are similarly analysen as trophies or objects a man rump have whenever he wishes, And woman? He will hold her, he will have her when he pleases (Gillian 100). Women were treat nothing equally as men but in this story, this concept was challenged.The themes in this story reminds us that women do have traditional roles but can always do something more than being a wife or housekeeper. In the story, The Bloody Chambers by Angela Carter focuses on sexual awakening and womens objectification by dint of fairytale storytelling. This challenges the typical fairytale story in which is unified as pleasant and happy into gory and violent. The heroine was blossoming into adulthood as she experiences her sexual awakening upon to losing her virginity. Away from Paris, away from girlhood, away from the purity, enclosed tranquillity of my mothers apartment (Carter 7) shows her freedom from childhood and practice her sexual curiosity. She besides compares the act of A tender, delicious ecstasy of excitement (Carter 7) leading up to discourse as meet her husband. She longs and waits the moment when her husband deflowers women have been major targets of sexual stereotypical and detrimental orphaned (Adams and Fuller 7) and seen as sexual objects. marquess interpreted the heroine as a sexual object that he can wo(e) and violate. The heroine felt violated as Marquis in a way forced her to undress and deflower her like disrobing of the bride, a ritual from the whorehouse (Carter 15).The heroine is comparing the confounded of her virginity as a ritual from a bagnio depicts how disrespected and disgusted she felt term doing this act. Marquis was a power thirsty(p) who showed no respect to her brides. The heroine did not feel that losing her virginity was a special act but rather a aromatizing experiences as watched a dozen husbands lift me in a dozen mirrors (Carter 15). Although the story ended with a happy tone, the story still degrades women as the heroin was relieved that she was able to hatch her red mark as the blind piano tuner cannot see it T spares me shame (Carter 41). The themes port rayed in this story shows that fairytale stories exteriorize women and given women a littleer value then they should have. In the story, fathead in Boots by Angela Carter examines the role of violence in sex and woman objectification. The puppyish woman was predicted as a poor girl who was arced to conjoin a rich man. In this case, sexual activity and screen play a role in social status in this story. As signor Pantone symbolizes violence and sex for the young woman, as she wishes for sexual gratification she mustiness submit to violence. L gave her the customary tribute of a fewer firms thrusts of my stripe loins (Carter 70). As Signor Pantone was murdered and passed away, the young woman and Puss subdue proceeded with the act of intercourse despite having a dead corpse abutting to them. . Theyre at it, hammer and tongs, d have got on the carpet since the bed is pursue (Carter 04) shows the young womans absurd attraction of violence towards sex. It seems like the youn g woman is aroused by the acts of violence around her. Women were called unpleasant names and were treated as property by their masters or husbands.One of Signor Pantheons servants was being called a hag and described as someone who is very repulsive and useless. Also, Signor Pantaloon sees the young woman as property and a sense of please giver. She is as well as a prisoner of her own where she can only sit in a window for one hour and one hour only (Carter 101) shows how she doesnt have freedom and is being held captive by her own husband. The themes of violence in sex and womens objectification helped shaped the story poor mentality on womens value. In the story, The Tigers Bride by Angela Carter focuses on womens objectification and sexual awakening.The heroine is a watcher whose nonplus had a gambling addiction in which he had lost to the Beast. The heroine then was used as a operater for her father gambling addiction. My father lost me to The Beast at cards. (Carter 60) shows how devalued the heroine is. There is also patriarchy played in this story. As the father and the beast holds the heroine in incarceration and she has o voice in her own life. My father said he loved me yet he staked his daughter on a pass by of cards. (Carter 62) shows how helpless and out of control the heroines life is.She is being used as an object and nothing more but a value of money and not life itself. The heroines sexual awakening is measured when she transforms into a beast. This also signifies sex and birth as a way of her transformation. Losing her virginity lick the beat off me (Carter 69) she describes herself being reborn into a tigress. This act of rebirth signifies a mans reclaim in sex, as a man controls a woman during intercourse. This also ties in with violence in sex as she sheds pipeline during intercourse and sheds her own skin to become awaken.The themes delivered a powerful message of the pain and relief in finding ones awakening. Through the us e of womens liberationist themes and ideas, writers Charlotte Perkins Gillian and Angela Carter sent powerful messages in their short stories. Charlotte Perkins Gillian mostly used the womens rightist themes such as private resistance and gender identity to apologize the underlying meanings in her stories. Characters in Sailings writings were rebellious and did not conform to social norms. As they, freely expressed themselves in their own way with a positive ending.Contrary in Angel Carters writings, focused on themes such as womens objectification and sexual awakening. The male characters usually portrayed having some event of evil controlling the female character. The stories in Carters books are very tincture and sexual. Some descriptions in her writing almost have a sense of pornographic image. Both writers gave us a grasp on how themes powerfully send messages throughout the stories. Adams, Terrier M. , and Douglas B. Fuller. The Words Have Changed barely the Ideology body the Same Misogynistic Lyrics in Rap Music.Womens Studies gruesome Feminist conceit in the Matrix of Domination From Patricia Hill Collins, raw Feminist approximation Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment (Boston Unwin Hyman, 1990), pp. 221238 obscure womens rightist pattern demonstrates inkiness womens rising power as agents of knowledge. By portraying black women as self- pay backd, self-directed someones confronting race, gender, and class persecuteion, Afrocentric libber survey speaks to the grandeur that conquest, Afrocentric feminist legal opinion speaks to the wideness that knowledge plays in empowering laden expectant deal.One distinguishing feature of dense feminist image is its insistence that devil the counter ex mixed bagd cognisance of individuals and the social transformation of legatoal and frugal institutions pretend essential ingredients for social change. New knowledge is important for two dimensions of change. Knowledge is a vitally important part of the social dealings of domination and resistance. By objectifying black women and recasting our experiences to serve the interests of elite black-and-blue men, much of the Eurocentric masculinist worldview fosters dumb womens subordination.But placing faint womens experiences at the center of depth psychology offers fresh insights on the prevailing concepts, paradigms, and epistemologies of this worldview and on its feminist and Afrocentric critiques. Viewing the world through a two/and conceptual lens of the simultaneity of race, class, and gender oppression and of the necessity for a humanist vision of community creates cutting possibilities for an empowering Afrocentric feminist knowledge. Many down in the mouth feminist intellectuals have long theme about the world in this way be make up this is the way we experience the world.Afrocentric feminist supposition offers two pregnant contributions toward furthering our understandi ng of the important connections among knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. First, minatory feminist conception fosters a fundamental paradigmatic dis presentment in how we think about oppression. By embracing a paradigm of race, class, and gender as interlocking systems of oppression, contraband feminist design reconceptualises the social relations of domination and resistance.Second, shocking feminist vista addresses ongoing epistemological debates in feminist theory and in the sociology of knowledge concerning ways of assessing truth. Offering stamp down roots in the altogether knowledge about their own experiences can be empowering. But revealing new ways of subtile that allow subordinate root words to define their own reality has far greater implications. Reconceptualizing Race, Class, and Gender as meshing Systems of Oppression What I really feel is radical is movementing to make coalitions with the great unwashed who are different from yo u, maintains Barbara Smith. I feel it is radical to be dealing with race and sex and class and sexual identity all at one time. I think that is really radical because it has never been done before. scurrilous feminist thought fosters a fundamental paradigmatic shift that rejects one-dimensional accessiones to oppression. Instead of starting with gender and then adding in other variables such as age, sexual orientation, race, social class, and religion, dull feminist thought sees these distinctive systems of oppression as being part of one overarching structure of domination.Viewing relations of domination for stern women for any given sociohistorical scene as being coordinate via a system of interlocking race, class, and gender oppression expands the focus of analysis from merely describing the similarities and differences distinguishing these systems of oppression and focuses greater management on how they interconnect. Assuming that each system needs the others in arrang ement to function creates a distinct theoretical stance that stimulates the re intellection of basic social science concepts.Afrocentric feminist notions of family reflect this reconceptualization process. Black womens experiences as blood mothers, other mothers, and community other mothers reveal that the mythical norm of a heterosexual, marital couple, nuclear family with a nonworking spouse and a husband mastering a family wage is far from being natural, universal and preferred but instead is deep plant in specialize race and class formations.Placing African-American women in the center of analysis not only reveals much-needed information about Black womens experiences but also questions Eurocentric masculinist perspectives on family Black womens experiences and the Afrocentric feminist thought rearticulating them also challenge prevailing definitions of community. Black womens actions in the struggle or group survival suggest a vision of community that stands in opposition to that extant in the prevalent refinement.The definition of community covert in the market model sees community as arbitrary and fragile, structured fundamentally by competition and domination. In contrast, Afrocentric models of community stress connections, caring, and personal accountability. As cultural workers African-American women have rejected the infer political orientation of domination advanced by the plethoric group in rescript to conserve Afrocentric conceptualizations of community.Denied access to the podium, Black women have been unable to spend time theorizing about choice conceptualizations of community. Instead, through daily actions African-American women have created alternative communities that empower. This vision of community sustained by African-American women in connecter with African-American men addresses the larger issue of reconceptualizing power. The type of Black womens power discussed here does resemble feminist theories of power which empha size zipper and community.However, in contrast to this body of literature whose celebration of womens power is often come with by a lack of attention to the importance of power as domination, Black womens experiences as mothers, community other mothers, educators, church leaders, labor sum of money center-women, and community leaders seem to suggest that power as energy can be fostered by creative acts of resistance. The spheres of learn created and sustained by African-American women are not meant solely to provide a backup from oppressive smirchs or a retreat from their effects. alternatively, these Black female spheres of influence constitute potential sanctuaries where individual Black women and men are nurtured in order to confront oppressive social institutions. Power from this perspective is a creative power used for the good of the community, whether that community is conceptualized as ones family, church community, or the next generation of the communitys children. B y qualification the community bulletproofer, African-American women become authorize, and that same community can serve as a ancestor of support when Black women encounter race, gender, and class oppression. . . Approaches that assume that race, gender, and class are interconnected have immediate practical applications. For ex plenteous, African-American women stretch to be inadequately protected by prenomen VII of the cultivated Rights Act of 1964. The primordial coil purpose of the statute is to eradicate all aspects of discrimination. But judicial treatment of Black womens employment discrimination claims has encouraged Black women to identify race or sex as the so-called primary discrimination. To resolve the inequities that confront Black women, counsels Scarborough, the courts must first correctly conceptualize them as Black women, a distinct class protected by Title VII. Such a shift, from protected categories to protected classes of mountain whose Title VII claims might be based on more than two discriminations, would work to alter the entire basis of current antidiscrimination efforts. Reconceptualizing phenomena such as the rapid growth of female-headed households in African-American communities would also benefit from a race-, class-, and gender-inclusive analysis.Case studies of Black women heading households must be attentive to racially section local labor markets and community patterns, to changes in local political economies specific to a given city or region, and to established racial and gender ideology for a given location. This approach would go far to deconstruct Eurocentric, masculinist analyses that implicitly rely on controlling images of the matriarch or the well-being mother as guiding conceptual premises. . . Black feminist thought that rearticulates experiences such as these fosters an enhanced theoretical understanding of how race, gender, and class oppression are part of a single, historically created system. The Matri x of Domination analogue models of oppression are firmly grow in the either/or dichotomous thinking of Eurocentric, masculinist thought. One must be either Black or white in such thought systemspersons of ambiguous racial and ethnic identity constantly battle with questions such as what are your, anyway? This emphasis on quantification and categorization occurs in conjunction with the sentiment that either/or categories must be ranked. The search for certainty of this physique requires that one side of a dichotomy be privileged bit its other is denigrated. Privilege becomes defined in relation to its other. Replacing additive models of oppression with interlocking ones creates possibilities for new paradigms.The significance of seeing race, class, and gender as interlocking systems of oppression is that such an approach fosters a paradigmatic shift of thinking inclusively about other oppressions, such as age, sexual orientation, religion, and ethnicity. Race, class, and gender r epresent the three systems of oppression that most heavily affect African-American women. But these systems and the economical, political, and ideological conditions that support them whitethorn not be the most fundamental oppressions, and they certainly affect many more groups than Black women.Other people of discolour, Jews, the poor white women, and gays and lesbians have all had similar ideological justifications offered for their subordination. any categories of humans labeled Others have been equated to one another(prenominal), to animals, and to nature. Placing African-American women and other excluded groups in the center of analysis opens up possibilities for a two/and conceptual stance, one in which all groups possess varying amounts of penalty and privilege in one historically created system. In this system, for example, white women are penalized by their gender but privileged by their race.Depending on the s jazz, an individual whitethorn be an oppressor, a member o f an oppressed group, or simultaneously oppressor and oppressed. Adhering to a both/and conceptual stance does not mean that race, class, and gender oppression are interchangeable. For example, whereas race, class, and gender oppression operate on the social structural train of institutions, gender oppression seems better able to annex the basic power of the erotic and intrude in personal relationships via family dynamics and within individual consciousness.This whitethorn be because racial oppression has fostered historically cover communities among African-Americans and other racial/ethnic groups. These communities have stimulated cultures of resistance. art object these communities segregate Blacks from whites, they simultaneously provide counter-institutional buffers that subordinate groups such as African-Americans use to resist the ideas and institutions of prevalent groups. Social class may be similarly structured.Traditionally conceptualized as a relationship of individ ual employees to their employers, social class might be better viewed as a relationship of communities to capitalist political economies. Moreover, significant cooccur exists between racial and social class oppression when viewing them through the collective lens of family and community. Existing community structures provide a primary line of resistance against racial and class oppression. But because gender cross-cuts these structures, it finds less comparable institutional bases to foster resistance.Embracing a both/and conceptual stance moves us from additive, separate systems approaches to oppression and toward what I now see as the more fundamental issue of the social relations of domination. Race, class, and gender constitute axes of oppression that characterize Black womens experiences within a more generalized matrix of domination. Other groups may encounter different dimensions of the matrix, such as sexual orientation, religion, and age, but the overarching relationship is one of domination and the types of activism it finds.Bell Hooks labels this matrix a politic of domination and describes how it operates along interlocking axes of race, class, and gender oppression. This politic of domination refers to the ideological ground that they share, which is a belief in domination, and a belief in the notions of superior and inferior, which are components of all of those systems. For me its like a house, they share the foundation, but the foundation is the ideological beliefs around which notions of domination are constructed.Johnella Butler claims that new methodologies maturation from this new paradigm would be non-hierarchical and would slump primacy to either race, class, gender, or ethnicity, demanding instead a recognition of their matrix-like interaction. Race, class, and gender may not be the most fundamental or important systems of oppression, but they have most profoundly affected African-American women. One significant dimension of Black feminist thought is its potential to reveal insights about the social relations of domination organized along other axes such as religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and age.Investigating Black womens occurrence experiences thusly promises to reveal much about the more universal process of domination. Multiple Levels of Domination In addition to being structured along axes such as race, gender, and social class, the matrix of domination is structured on several levels. People experience and resist oppression on three levels the level of personal autobiography the group or community level of the cultural context created by race, class, and gender and the systemic level of social institutions.Black feminist thought emphasizes all three levels as sites of domination and as potential sites of resistance. Each individual has a unique personal biography made up of concrete experiences, values, motivations, and emotions. No two individuals occupy the same social length thus no tw o biographies are identical. Human ties can be acquittance and empowering, as is the case with Black womens heterosexual love relationships or in the power of motherhood in African-American families and communities. Human ties can also be confining and oppressive.Situations of domestic violence and convolute or cases in which controlling images foster Black womens internalized oppression represent domination on the personal level. The same situation can look quite different depending on the consciousness one brings to interpret it. This level of individual consciousness is a fundamental area where new knowledge can generate change. Traditional accounts assume that power as domination operates from the top down by forcing and controlling unwilling victims to bend to the will of more powerful superiors.But these accounts fail to account for questions concerning why, for example, women stay with abusive men even with ample opportunity to leave or why slaves did not kill their owners more often. The willingness of the victim to collude in her or his own victimization becomes lost. They also fail to account for sustained resistance by victims, even when chances for advantage appear remote. By emphasizing the power of self-definition and the necessity of a free mind, Black feminist thought speaks to the importance African-American women thinkers place on consciousness as a sphere of freedom.Black women intellectuals realize that domination operates not only by structuring power from the top down but by simultaneously annexing the power as energy of those on the bottom for its own ends. In their efforts to rearticulate the rack of African-American women as a group, Black feminist thinkers offer individual African-American women the conceptual tools to resist oppression. The cultural context formed by those experiences and ideas that are shared with other members of a group or community which give meaning to individual biographies constitutes a indorsement level at which domination is experienced and resisted.Each individual biography is rooted in several overlapping cultural contextsfor example, groups defined by race, social class, age, gender, religion, and sexual orientation. The cultural component contributes, among other things, the concepts used in thinking and acting, group validation of an individuals interpretation of concepts, the thought models used in the erudition of knowledge, and standards used to evaluate individual thought and behavior. The most cohesive cultural contexts are those with identifiable histories, geographic locations, and social institutions.For Black women African-American communities have provided the location for an Afrocentric group perspective to endure. Subjugated knowledges, such as a Black womens culture of resistance, develop in cultural contexts controlled by oppressed groups. Dominant groups aim to replace subjugated knowledge with their own specialized thought because they realize that gaining co ntrol over this dimension of subordinate groups lives simplifies control. While efforts to nfluence this dimension of an oppressed groups experiences can be partial(p)ly successful, this level is more difficult to control than superior groups would have us believe. For example, adhering to externally derived standards of beauty leads many African-American women to dislike their skin color or hairs-breadth texture. Similarly, internalizing Eurocentric gender ideology leads some Black men to abuse Black women. These are cases of the successful infusion of the dominant groups specialized thought into the everyday cultural context of African-Americans.But the long-standing population of a Black womens culture of resistance as expressed through Black womens relationships with one another, the Black womens blues tradition, and the voices of contemporary African-American women writers all attest to the difficulty of eliminating the cultural context as a fundamental site of resistance. Domination is also experienced and resisted on the third level of social institutions controlled by the dominant group namely, schools, churches, the media, and other formal organizations.These institutions expose individuals to the specialized thought representing the dominant groups bandstand and interests. While such institutions offer the promise of both literacy and other skills that can be used for individual empowerment and social transformation, they simultaneously require docility and passivity. Such institutions would have us believe that the theorizing of elites constitutes the whole of theory.The existence of African-American women thinkers such as Maria Stewart, Sojourner Truth, Zora Neale Hurston, and Fannie Lou Hamer who, though excluded from and/or marginalized within such institutions, continued to score theory effectively opposes this hegemonic view. Moreover, the more new-made resurgence of Black feminist thought within these institutions, the case of the lad der of contemporary Black feminist thought in history and literature, at a time challenges the Eurocentric masculinist thought pervading these institutions.Resisting the Matrix of Domination Domination operates by seducing, pressuring, or forcing African-American women and members of subordinated groups to replace individual and cultural ways of knowing with the dominant groups specialized thought. As a result, suggests Audre Lorde, the true focus of transmutationary change is never merely the oppressive situations which we seek to escape, but that piece of the oppressor which is plant deep within each of us. Or as Toni Cade Bambara succinctly states, revolution begins with the self, in the self. Lorde and Bambaras suppositions raise an important issue for Black feminist intellectuals and for all scholars and activists working for social change. Although most individuals have little difficulty identifying their own victimization within some major system of oppressionwhether it b e by race, social class, religion, physical ability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, age or genderthey typically fail to see how their thoughts and actions uphold someone elses subordination. Thus white feminists routinely point with confidence to their oppression as women but resist seeing how much their white skin privileges them.African-Americans who possess eloquent analyses of racial discrimination often persist in viewing poor white women as symbols of white power. The radical left fares little better. If only people of color and women could see their true class interests, they argue, class solidarity would eliminate racism and sexism. In essence, each group identifies the oppression with which it feels most comfortable as being fundamental and classifies all others as being of lesser importance. Oppression is modify with such contradictions because these approaches fail to recognize that a matrix of domination contains few pure victims or oppressors.Each individual derives varying amounts of penalty and privilege from the twofold systems of oppression which frame everyones lives. A broader focus stresses the interlocking nature of oppressions that are structured on eight-fold levels, from the individual to the social structural, and which are part of a larger matrix of domination. Adhering to this inclusive model provides the conceptual space needed for each individual to see that she or he is both a member of multiple dominant groups and a member of multiple subordinate groups.Shifting the analysis to investigating how the matrix of domination is structured along certain axesrace, gender, and class being the axes of investigation for AfricanAmerican womenreveals that different systems of oppression may rely in varying degrees on systemic versus interpersonal mechanisms of domination. Empowerment involves rejecting the dimensions of knowledge, whether personal, cultural, or institutional, that perpetuate objectification and dehumanization.African-Am erican women and other individuals in subordinate groups become empowered when we understand and use those dimensions of our individual, group, and disciplinary ways of knowing that foster our benignity as fully human subjects. This is the case when Black women value our self-definitions, infix in a Black womens activist tradition, invoke an Afrocentric feminist epistemology as central to our worldview, and view the skills gained in schools as part of a focused education for Black community development. C.Wright Mills identifies this holistic epistemology as the sociological imagination and identifies its task and its promise as a way of knowing that enables individuals to grasp the relations between history and biography within society. using ones standpoint to reside the sociological imagination can empower the individual. My fullest niggardliness of energy is available to me, Audre Lorde maintains, only when I integrate all the split of who I am, openly, allowing power from particular sources of my living to flow back and off freely through all my different selves, without the restriction of externally impose definition. Black Women as Agents of Knowledge Living life as an African-American woman is a necessary prerequisite for producing Black feminist thought because within Black womens communities thought is vali projectd and publishd with reference to a particular set of historical, material, and epistemological conditions. African-American women who adhere to the idea that claims about Black women must be substantiated by Black womens sense of our own experiences and who strand our knowledge claims in an Afrocentric feminist epistemology have produced a rich tradition of Black feminist thought.Traditionally such women were blues singers, poets, autobiographers, storytellers, and orators validated by everyday Black women as experts on a Black womens standpoint. Only a few unusual African-American feminist scholars have been able to bear Eurocent ric masculinist epistemologies and explicitly embrace an Afrocentric feminist epistemology. Consider Alice Walkers description of Zora Neal Hurston In my mind, Zora Neale Hurston, Billie Holiday, and Bessie Smith form a sort of unholy trinity.Zora belongs in the tradition of black women singers, rather than among the literati. . . . Like Billie and Jessie she followed her own road, believed in her own gods act her own dreams, and refused to separate herself from common people. Zora Neal Hurston is an exception for prior to 1950, few African-American women earned advanced degrees and most of those who did complied with Eurocentric masculinist epistemologies.Although these women worked on behalf of Black women, they did so within the confines of pervasive race and gender oppression. Black women scholars were in a position to see the exclusion of African-American women from scholarly discourse, and the thematic content of their work often reflected their interest in examining a Black womens standpoint. However, their tenuous status in academic institutions led them to adhere to Eurocentric masculinist epistemologies so that their work would be accepted as scholarly.As a result, while they produced Black feminist thought, those African-American women most likely to gain academic credentials were often least likely to produce Black feminist thought that used an Afrocentric feminist epistemology. An ongoing tension exists for Black women as agents of knowledge, a tension rooted in the sometimes conflicting demands of Afrocentricity and feminism. Those Black women who are feminists are critical of how Black culture and many of its traditions oppress women.For example, the strong pronatal beliefs in African-American communities that foster early motherhood among childlike girls, the lack of self-actualization that can accompany the double-day of paid employment and work in the home, and the emotional and physical abuse that many Black women experience from their fa thers, lovers, and husbands all reflect practices opposed by African-American women who are feminists. But these same women may have a parallel desire as members of an oppressed racial group to affirm the value of that same culture and traditions.Thus strong Black mothers appear in Black womens literature, Black womens economic contributions to families is lauded, and a curious silence exists concerning domestic abuse. As more African-American women earn advanced degrees, the range of Black feminist scholarship is expanding. Increasing numbers of African-American women scholars are explicitly choosing to ground their work in Black womens experiences, and, by doing so, they implicitly adhere to an Afrocentric feminist epistemology.Rather than being restrained by their both/and status of marginality, these women make creative use of their outsider-within status and produce innovative Afrocentric feminist thought. The difficulties these women face lie less in demonstrating that they h ave mastered white male epistemologies than in resisting the hegemonic nature of these patterns of thought in order to see, value, and use existing alternative Afrocentric feminist ways of knowing. In establishing the legitimacy of their knowledge claims, Black women scholars who want to develop Afrocentric feminist thought may encounter the often conflicting standards of three key groups.First, Black feminist thought must be validated by ordinary bicycle Atrican-American women who, in the words of Hannah Nelson, grow to womanhood in a world where the saner you are, the madder you are made to appear. To be credible in the eye of this group, scholars must be personal advocates for their material, be accountable for the consequences of their work, have lived or experienced their material in some fashion, and be willing to engage in confabulations about their findings with ordinary, everyday people. Second, Black feminist thought also must be accepted by the community of Black women scholars.These scholars place varying amounts of importance on rearticulating a Black womens standpoint using an Afrocentric feminist epistemology. Third, Afrocentric feminist thought within academia must be prepared to confront Eurocentric masculinist political and epistemological requirements. The dilemma cladding Black women scholars engaged in creating Black feminist thought is that a knowledge claim that meets the criteria of adequacy for one group and thus is judged to be an acceptable knowledge claim may not be translatable into the terms of a different group.Using the example of Black English, June Jordan illustrates the difficulty of woful among epistemologies You cannot translate instances of Standard English preoccupied with abstraction or with nothing/nobody evidently alive into Black English. That would warp the language into uses antithetic to the guiding perspective of its community of users. Rather you must first change those Standard English sentences, themselve s, into ideas consistent with the person-centered assumptions of Black English.Although both worldviews share a common vocabulary, the ideas themselves defy direct edition. For Black women who are agents of knowledge, the marginality that accompanies outsider-within status can be the source of both frustration and creativity. In an attempt to pick at the differences between the cultural context of African-American communities and the expectations of social institutions, some women assort their behavior and become two different people. Over time, the strain of doing this can be enormous.Others reject their cultural context and work against their own outdo interests by enforcing the dominant groups specialized thought. Still others manage to inhabit both contexts but do so critically, using their outsider-within perspectives as a source of insights and ideas. But while outsiders within can make substantial personal cost. Eventually it comes to you, observes Lorraine Hansberry, the thing that makes you exceptional, if you are at all, is inevitably that which must also make you lonely. Once Black feminist scholars face the notion that, on certain dimensions of a Black womens standpoint, it may be fruitless to try and translate ideas from an Afrocentric feminist epistemology into a Eurocentric masculinist framework, then other choices emerge. Rather than trying to uncover universal knowledge claims that can withstand the translation from one epistemology to another (initially, at least), Black women intellectuals might find efforts to rearticulate a Black womens standpoint especially fruitful.Rearticulating a Black womens standpoint refashions the concrete and reveals the more universal human dimensions of Black womens everyday lives. I date all my work, notes Nikki Giovanni, because I think poetry, or any writing, is but a reflection of the moment. The universal comes from the particular. Bell Hooks maintains, my goal as a feminist thinker and theorist is to t ake that abstraction and articulate it in a language that renders it accessiblenot less complex or rigorousbut simply more accessible. The complexity exists interpreting it remains the unfulfilled challenge for Black women intellectuals.Situated Knowledge, Subjugated Knowledge, and Partial Perspectives My life seems to be an increasing revelation of the intimate trace of universal struggle, claims June Jordan You begin with your family and the kids on the block, and next you open your eyes to what you call your people and that leads you into land renew into Black English into Angola leads you back to your own bed where you lie by yourself wondering if you deserve to be peaceful, or trusted or desire or left to the freedom of your own unfaltering heart. And the scale shrinks to the use of a skull your own interior cage.Lorraine Hansberry expresses a similar idea I believe that one of the most sound ideas in dramatic writing is that in order to create the universal, you must pay v ery great attention to the specific. Universality, I think, emerges from the truthful identity of what is. Jordan and Hansberrys insights that universal struggle and truth may wear a particularistic, intimate face suggest a new epistemological stance concerning how we negotiate competing knowledge claims and identify truth. The context in which African-American womens ideas are nurtured or suppressed matters.Understanding the content and epistemology of Black womens ideas as specialized knowledge requires attending to the context from which those ideas emerge. While produced by individuals, Black feminist thought as situated knowledge is embedded in the communities in which African-American women find ourselves. A Black womens standpoint and those of other oppressed groups is not only embedded in a context but exists in a situation characterized by domination. Because Black womens ideas have been suppressed, this suppression has stimulated African-American women to create knowledg e that empowers people to resist domination.Thus Afrocentric feminist thought represents a subjugated knowledge. A Black womens standpoint may provide a preferred stance from which to view the matrix of domination because, in principle, Black feminist thought as specialized thought is less likely than the specialized knowledge produced by dominant groups to deny the connection between ideas and the vested interests of their creators. However, Black feminist thought as subjugated knowledge is not exempt from critical analysis, because conquest is not grounds for an epistemology.Despite African-American womens potential power to reveal new insights about the matrix of domination, a Black womens standpoint is only one cant of vision. Thus Black feminist thought represents a partial perspective. The overarching matrix of domination houses multiple groups, each with varying experiences with penalty and privilege that produce corresponding partial perspectives, situated knowledges, and, for clearly identifiable subordinate groups, subjugated knowledges. No one group has a clear angle of vision.No one group possesses the theory or methodology that allows it to discover the authoritative truth or, worse yet, proclaim its theories and methodologies as the universal norm evaluating other groups experiences. Given that groups are unequal in power in making themselves heard, dominant groups have a vested interest in suppressing the knowledge produced by subordinate groups. Given the existence of multiple and competing knowledge claims to truth produced by groups with partial perspectives, what epistemological approach offers the most promise? Dialogue and EmpathyWestern social and political thought contains two alternative approaches to ascertaining truth. The first, reflected in electropositive science, has long claimed that absolute truths exist and that the task of scholarship is to develop objective, unbiased tools of science to measure these truths. . . . Relati vism, the second approach, has been forwarded as the antithesis of and inevitable outcome of rejecting a positivist science. From a relativist perspective all groups produce specialized thought and each groups thought is equally valid. No group can claim to have a better interpretation of the truth than another.In a sense, relativism represents the opposite of scientific ideologies of objectivity. As epistemological stances, both positivist science and relativism minimize the importance of specific location in influencing a groups knowledge claims, the power inequities among groups that produce subjugated knowledges, and the strengths and limitations of partial perspective. The existence of Black feminist thought suggests another alternative to the ostensibly objective norms of science and to relativisms claims that groups with competing knowledge claims are equal. . . This approach to Afrocentric feminist thought allows African-American women to bring a Black womens standpoint to l arger epistemological dialogues concerning the nature of the matrix of domination. Eventually such dialogues may get us to a point at which, claims Elsa Barkley Brown, all people can learn to center in another experience, validate it, and judge it by its own standards without need of comparison or need to larn that framework as their own. In such dialogues, one has no need to decenter anyone in order to center someone else one has only to constantly, appropriately, rowlock the center. Those ideas that are validated as true by African-American women, African-American men, Latina lesbians, Asian-American women, Puerto Rican men, and other groups with distinctive standpoints, with each group using the epistemological approaches growing from its unique standpoint, thus become the most objective truths. Each group speaks from its own standpoint and shares its own partial, situated knowledge.But because each group perceives its own truth as partial, its knowledge is unfinished. Each g roup becomes better able to consider other groups standpoints without relinquishing the uniqueness of its own standpoint or suppressing other groups partial perspectives. What is always needed in the appreciation of art, or life, maintains Alice Walker, is the larger perspective. Connections made, or at least attempted, where none existed before, the straining to espouse in ones glance at the varied world the common thread, the unifying(a) theme through immense diversity. Partiality and not universality is the condition of being heard individuals and groups forwarding knowledge claims without owning their position are deemed less credible than those who do. Dialogue is critical to the success of this epistemological approach, the type of dialogue long extant in the Afrocentric call-and-response tradition whereby power dynamics are fluid, everyone has a voice, but everyone must listen and respond to other voices in order to be allowed to remain in the community.Sharing a common cau se fosters dialogue and encourages groups to transcend their differences. . . . African-American women have been victimized by race, gender, and class oppression. But portraying Black women solely as passive, unfortunate recipients of racial and sexual abuse stifles notions that Black women can actively work to change our circumstances and bring about changes in our lives.Similarly, presenting African-American women solely as heroic figures who easily engage in resisting oppression on all fronts minimizes the very real costs of oppression and can foster the percept that Black women need no help because we can take it. Black feminist thoughts emphasis on the ongoing interplay between Black womens oppression and Black womens activism presents the matrix of domination as responsive to human agency.Such thought views the world as a dynamic place where the goal is not merely to survive or to fit in or to cope rather, it becomes a place where we feel ownership and accountability. The exi stence of Afrocentric feminist thought suggests that there is always choice, and power to act, no matter how bleak the situation may appear to be. Viewing the world as one in the making raises the issue of individual responsibility for bringing about change. It also shows that while individual empowerment is key, only collective action can effectively generate lasting social transformation of political and economic institutions.

Carbonated Beverages

CARBONATED deglutition INDUSTRY CASE abstract Team 4 Marketing Management/MGT-704 19 November, 2011 CARBONATED BEVERAGE INDUSRTY CASE ANAYLSIS suppositional Market Structure provides four different categories an sedulousness can be classified. Each category identifies a specific use a target grocery place is classified. The carbonated sw wholeow industry is no different. It has four target commercialises and they are classified as trade attracter, commercialize contest, food commercialise follower and market nichers (Kotler & Keller, 2009, p. 301).The market loss leader is usually ane company that has the largest market share and usually leads the other companies in value changes, new-product introductions, distribution coverage and promotional intensity (Kotler & Keller, 2009, p. 301). The market gainsayr sets amply aspirations to market their resources to meet or exceed the market leader (Kotler & Keller, 2009, p. 308). The market followers strategy is product i mitation of the market leader (Kotler & Keller, 2009 p. 310). The market nichers are different from the market leader, the market competition and the market follower.The market niches are leaders in small markets that the other threesome marketers are not interested in developing specific products for. The Hypothetical Market Structure for the carbonated beverage industry is the Coca-Cola companionship is the market leader. PepsiCo Inc. is the market challenger. Dr, Pepper Snapple Group (distributer of RC Cola) is the market follower and a market nicher is the Jones soda pop Co (Beverageworld, n. d. ). The carbonated beverage industry is very competitive. The Coca-Cola phoner is the carbonated beverage market leader and PepsiCo Inc. s the market challenger striving to increase its market share by creating a corresponding but yet slight different products in which customers feel is violate and give more value. The competition between market leader and challenge is severe. Both companies prices are very competitive and comparable, they offer carbonated beverage products that include cola based drinks, they distribute to similar markets and both have extensive marketing campaigns for their own products, as well as, campaigning against severally other. It is these reasons we see the most dynamics of competition between the market leader and the market challenger.The Dr. Pepper Snapple Group (distributer of RC Cola) is the market follower to Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo. Inc. This is shown by how the pricing of Dr. Pepper Snapple Group is the same or less than the Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo Inc. The advertising campaign is minor and new products are not macrocosm developed the same as compared to the market leader and market challenger The Jones Soda Co. is a market nicher. It incorporated unique marketing initiatives in its strategy and was recognized and awarded for its unique packaging that features constantly changing labels (Jones Soda Co. n. d. ) . It does not compete against the other three markets because it creates a customized product for a small niche group and not the masses. Therefore, while the Coca-Cola Company is the market leader, PepsiCo Inc. is the market challenger, the Dr, Pepper Snapple Group is the market follower and Jones Soda Co is a market nicher there is a lot of opportunity for all the different types of carbonated beverage industries and combining the right target market to a product is the key to market success.References Beverageworld. (October 2011). Citing Websites. Worldwide 100. Retrieved November 16, 2011, from http//www. beverageworld. com/userfiles/documents/BB_Top_100. pdf. Jones Soda Corporation. (n. d. ). Citing Websites. near Jones Soda. Retrieved November 16, 2011, from http//www. jonessoda. com/company/about-us. Kotler, P. , & Keller, K. L. (2009). Marketing Management 13th Edition (Pearson Education, Inc. Upper bill River, New Jersey, 07458) 301-312.