Pretty Little Liars Essay

Pretty Little Liars is the story of four teen girls—Aria, Hanna, Spencer, and Emily— whose world is turned upside down when their ringleader Alison goes missing. The book begins a year after Alison’s disappearance. Aria has been abroad for a year with her family, and the other three girls have drifted apart. When Aria returns from Iceland, Alison’s body is finally found, and the four girls start receiving creepy and threatening text messages from an untraceable number. The texts are signed â€Å"A. A’s texts indicate she knows everything about the girls, which is dangerous because each of the girls has a secret she doesn’t want to expose. The liars also have a collective secret: They were involved in an accident that left one of their peers blind. Jenna, the blind girl, comes back for Alison’s funeral. Jenna doesn’t know that Alison was the one who set off the stink bomb that caused an explosion and blinded her. The liars feel guilty for not talking Alison out of the dangerous prank. Alison blackmailed Jenna’s step-brother Toby, and he was forced to take the blame for the explosion. He too returns to Rosewood after a year of being away. When it’s discovered that Alison was wearing Toby’s sweater when she died, Toby is arrested for murder. Through all of this, the mysterious A meddles with the girls’ lives: Photos of Emily’s same-sex kiss are sent to Emily’s mother, and Aria’s mom gets a letter detailing her husband’s infidelities, which Aria knew about. Via text, â€Å"A† taunts the girls to find out his/her identity during a birthday party in the woods for Mona, Hanna’s social-climbing best friend. Hanna succeeds at discovering A’s identity, but gets hit by a car before she can reveal it to anyone.

Etiquette and Rule Essay

In todays modern era we are surrounded by technology all over the place. This technology Is constantly being Improved everyday. One of the most widely used technologies In the world Is the computer. Almost everything can be done on the computer these days. There are a lot of rules people need to follow on the Internet and they can all be categorized under Netiquette. Netiquette is really just a set of rules to follow in order to behave properly online. It is extremely important to know how to behave online because it can affect you in the real world as well. There are many rules In Netiquette. One of the main sets of rules is called the Ten Core Rules of Netiquette. These rules help a person be who they really are online and In reality. The flrst rule In this set Is spell check. Whenever you are communicating with someone online it is always important to spell check and proofread. Errors and misspelling can make you look less professional and it can also reduce the meaning of the message. The second rule is to never use â€Å"ALL CAPS†. This is because when somebody uses all caps online it Is considered that you are shouting at them. The recipient of the message can take this the wrong way and get offended. The third rule of the ten states, † Tell the truth†. Basically what this means Is to be honest on social networking websites and to not write anything but the truth. Lies can cause problems for you, so it is Just better to tell the truth to begin with. The fourth rule states† Be yourself’ which means be the same person online that you would be in the real world. Do not say or do things that you would not normally do. Pretending to be someone you are not online can ruin your Image. The fifth rule in this set is Do not flame or respond to flames. You should not do this because It Is unclvlllzed and a flame Is an Insult. Continuing with the ten core rules, the sixth rule is to not click on any spam or send any spam. These pop ups and spam can lead to malware, viruses, and malware. These viruses can damage your computer software and slow down the performance. The seventh rule of the code is to be conservative in the emails you send. This is because it Is better to have quality over quantity; It Is better to get straight to the point. The eight rule also has to do with email. This rule Is to not send email late at night. If you send a email late at night It might make the employer or recipient wonder what you are doing up that late. The ninth rule is to shop on secure websites. This is important because you do not want to disclose any personal information on the Internet. Lastly the tenth rule of this code is to always be discreet with what you do online. This can include making profiles, posting comments and sending messages. You never know who Is watching and what can be on the line. Of course you must exercise these rules more when you are not using your own computer. For example if you are using a school laptop and you cannot log into your personal accounts, because if you forget to sign out somebody can send all sorts of hings out and create a bad image of you. Additionally when you use someone else’s computer or laptop, you have to avoid going to websites that have too many pop up links or follow up any spam. The reason to this Is because it can lead to viruses, which will not content the owner of the computer or laptop. Some people think that because nothing you do on the Internet is private or gone forever. Once you send a message there is no way off getting it back, The person reading the message can save your email or can also forward it to others. This is why writing appropriate and not offensive are one of the important rules to follow as well. There are many reasons why it is important to communicate appropriately online. The reason why is because it shows the reader you are serious and it also gives them a clue of what kind of person you are.. The reader can automatically tell what kind of person you are once you send them your email by the way you talk in the email. You have to be as clear and to the point as possible to avoid any conflict and keep your job. I have seen many situations in where there was good etiquette and bad etiquette used. One example of good netiquette that I have see was when my dad was going to uy something online he made sure that every website had the secure check on it. This helped to protect personal information while checking out. One example of bad netiquette that I have seen was when a student from my old school was emailing a teacher and he was using slang in the message. This was unprofessional and I told him to fix it before he sent it. Overall when you are using the Internet there are a lot of rules to follow so that you don’t look unprofessional. These netiquette rules help many people be themselves online and also help a lot of people keep their Jobs.

Discuss Some Hindu Influences in America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Discuss Some Hindu Influences in America - Essay Example The influence is quite evident as there are numerous temples that were created by people belonging to the Hindu religion in the region of America. These temples can easily be seen in regions such as Texas and New York. In these temples people practice their religious traditions such as Holi and Diwali quite openly. In these events people belonging to the Hindu religion as well as the other citizens of America participate together. Another major example of the influence of Hindu religion on the American soil is the acceptance of Kama Sutra. The book is thought to be a guideline for having a sexual experience. Hindus believe that the book teaches about pleasure, love as well as wishes. This book was translated into English and gained great popularity during the period of 1990s (Ciochetto 77). The Hindu religious music has even greatly influenced the music industry of America. Quite famous Hindu chants have now become a part of the main stream music industry of America. For example The Hare Krishna mantra has become quite a famous song in

Answer questions on a scholarly article Assignment

Answer questions on a scholarly article - Assignment Example There are 7 parts in the main text, some of which contain several subheadings. Hence, the article has 3 headings dedicated to characteristics of each chosen research instruments. Also article provides abstract, which specifies purpose of the study. This part is the shortest one compared to others. Furthermore, there is a part called Methods. It has 3 subheadings, such as Sample, Instruments and Procedure and Data Analyses. With a help of these subheadings, it is very easy to identify what kind of information is represented in mentioned parts. The most important part of the article is named Results. Having also 3 subheadings, it reveals figures and explanations concerning disparity in scores between diagnostic groups. The last part, Discussion, is the longest one. It is divided into 5 sections, which present major conclusions in regard to each research method, limitations of the study and further recommendations. Article contains number of in-text citations that are mentioned in Introduction and Purpose part. However, the biggest cluster of references can be found in the first three parts that are dedicated to description of each research instrument. Hence, providing claims of various specialists, authors explain the gist of chosen methods, make examples and reveal importance of medical results. More frequently primary evidence within its analyses is presented through textual description providing relevant equations, final figures and conclusions concerning received indicators. In addition, article includes six tables, which help to structure information in clear and visual way. Authors use combination of parenthetical citations and paraphrasing. There are no any footnotes or endnotes in the article, bibliography of which is presented as a list of references after Appendix. Notes are located right after each quotation. In some parts there are

Leading Teams Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Leading Teams - Coursework Example a political reform. In a business point of view, a work team has members working independently on a common goal so as to produce a given output. However, a work group consists of two or more people working independently in their achievements, not necessarily working in the same department (Harvard Business School , 2013). In summary, a team works together with a common output whereas a group is more independent to one another. Logical/rational persuasion- presenting factual information and laying out unnecessary arguments is the best way to influence others. It includes putting emphasis on the positive benefits of the course of action. This technique is commonly used upwards like giving suggestions to executives on plan of actions (Hackman, 2002). Inspirational appeal- it is used in a downward fashion with the aim of influencing high performance in a group/team. The leader relates the desired outcome or activity to a set of values or ideals that are respected by the group. It appeals mostly to emotions, which are drivers of motivation. Consultation- it is a fancy word for seeking advice. Always make use of consultation when you are sure of what to do, but requesting how to do it. It works best because when one gives an input, they become more interested and committed to take the initiative. They feel appreciated and involved thus become motivated to pursue to its success. Hughes, R. L., Ginnett, C., R., Curphy, & J., G. (2012). Leadership: Enhancing the lessons of experience (7th ed.). New York: Hughes, R. L., Ginnett, R. C., & Curphy, G. J. (2012). Leadership: Enhancing the lessons of experience (7th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Film Comparison Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Film Comparison - Essay Example Although the Lake House film that was set in America have some differences from the ones set in South Korea, both movies are of similar genre. This is because the authors adapted similar style of writing and also share the same theme, which is time-transcending love. Both films versions are of similar genre because they are both a remake of Hollywood films and romantic comedies that have been popular in South Korea. Although, Lake House is an American version is written in an American language, it is a remake of South Korean so it mostly features the Korean culture. The English language restructure of foreign language films always receives awful press (Han 45). This makes fewer seeking to get the original films because viewers prefer the best film remake to have totally something different from the original. Similarly, both versions focus on a romantic comedy, but they both fit into clear genres of Korean films. Moreover, these Hollywood genres are taking the Asian film remakes, but the rights of Hollywood film productions have attempted to employ global strategy of producing Hollywood remakes of its movies. However, there is a little difference in this kind of Hollywood genres. One of them is that even though the Lake House film is an American film produced in America, it has new elements which are not of South Korean version of film genres. This is because the film has taken the different strategic approach of Korean films; hence it features the Korean culture. The film does not also include horror narratives, which are popular in many of the American genres. The American version uses its own styles in creating the movie. This is especially the way the director of the movie remakes the film rights, but this seems to be the problem because the film marketing may do poorly in Asian region. The main characters of Lake House film include Alex Wyler and Sandra Bullock. These main characters have romantic relationships, but they are separated by distance and time ( Reeves, Sandra, Dylan, Shohreh, Christopher, Doug, Roy, David and Alejandro 2006). Therefore, the Lake House is the one that unites them because it has the mailbox, which they pick and drop letters. The characters in this film are characterized as characters who have patient because they belief that one time they will meet, even though, distance separates them. However, this film is tricky especially when narrating a romantic love story by introducing time and distance travel elements in the story. Hence, the story is tricky when the authors are attempting to narrate a romantic story between characters residing in different places. The plot for both American and South Korean films are similar because they both reveal the way a young girl moves out of her house and drops the letter to the next occupants, which is later picked by a young man who has just moved into the newly built house. Although, the plot is similar, the American version is narrated in English language and characters uses English names. However, the Korean version is written in local language, as well as, some characters have names written in local language (Lee, Jung-Jae and Ji-hyun 2003). Even so, the American ver

Novel Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Novel Analysis - Essay Example In essence, then, to reach an entirely subjective meaning of Pynchon’s novel a reader must do exactly what Pierce Inverarity advises Oedipa to do; namely to keep bouncing the massive reception of information in order to decode the meaningful clues from the meaningless ones. Pynchon’s protagonist, Oedipa Mass, spends the novel engaged in the pursuit of clues or else debating whether she should involve herself in the mysteries that surround her. As coexecutrix of Pierce’s estate, Oedipa takes off on an odyssey to unlock the full impact involved in Inverarity’s bequest. As her odyssey progresses Oedipa comes to perceive that Pierce Inverarity’s influence not only on her life but on the rest of the world appears to be more substantial, such as when she recollects that Pierce â€Å"owned a large block of shares, had been somehow involved in negotiating an understanding with the county tax assessor to lure Yoyodyne here in the first place. It was part, he explained, of being a founding father" (25-26). Executing Pierce’s will sets Oedipa on her journey to begin boucing information back and forth in an attempt to balance it and understand it, causing Oedipa to eventually piece together clues so that they form a truth about Pierce that assigns him great authority, including the power to leave behind the clues to the mystery of Tristero as an inordinately elaborate plan of some sort that is directed entirely for her benefit. This idea causes Oedipa to reflect upon the possibility that Pierce "might himself have discovered the Tristero, and encrypted that in the will, buying into just enough to be sure shed find it. Or he might even have tried to survive death, as a paranoia; as a pure conspiracy against someone he loved" (179). The novel engages with the theoretical ideas of Newtonian forces, especially action and reaction through the idea that Inverarity still manages to be a moving force

Marketing Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Marketing Management - Essay Example Therefore, to prevent others from preying on a new product idea, entrepreneurs must seek legal protection for their great ideas. One can seek nondisclosure agreement to protect trade secrets. Similarly, there are other legal protection mechanisms such as patents, registered design, trademark, copyright and licensing among others that can be used to protect unique ideas. The nature of the product will determine the most appropriate protection measure to be taken. This paper explores suitable legal protection mechanisms for Smart Control, branding and evidence of viability. It also gives justifications for the choice of the product’s target audience. Methods of Legal Protection Available for Smart Control Patents The first appropriate legal protection choice available for our product, Smart Control is patenting. A patent refers to a legitimate monopoly issued by the government to an entrepreneur for specific time coverage (Rowland & MacDonald 2005). Patents prevent other people from commercially benefiting from other people’s product ideas, manufacturing methods as well as product functioning. A patent will be more suitable for safeguarding Smart Control because it can usually protects a product from a wider perspective compared to copyright (Galler 1995). It will disclose to the public how Smart Control works while disclosing the extent of protection to our product. Being a novel, important and inventive step, Smart Control qualifies for patenting. However, the company will need to conduct patent search to establish the products legibility for registration and avoid adverse legal issues in future. Licensing The second available option is licensing. Smart Control being an intellectual property, can be commercially exploited by television manufacturing companies as well as other devices it is designed to operate. Smart Control’s patent may be sold or mortgaged. Consequently, licensing will enable the company to allow licensees to exploit our i nvention for a fee (Lindberg 2009). Licenses can be a crucial revenue source for us. Trademark Trademark will identify and distinguish Smart Control from other similar products. Unlike copyrights, trademark law may prohibit developing similar product, which may confuse the public. As such, trademark protection will be more suitable for our product compared to copyright (Lindberg 2009). Trademark law will protect our unique mark effectively. Trade Secret Nondisclosure agreements and trade secret protection protects a new idea from being stolen by competitors (Anderman 2007). Smart Control being an iphone compatible app can easily be stolen by iphone producing companies to better their products. Trade secret protection will help to protect Smart Control from being illegally exploited by iphone companies that would wish to partner with us to deliver superior products to the consumer. Management of Brands Contemporary advertising majorly focus on brand management. Brand management refer s to the techniques aimed at establishing, promoting, and protecting the integrity of a given brand (Kapferer 2008). Commercial advertisement messages usually appeal to customers to buy a particular brand and not any other by claiming superiority. Branding eliminates any notion about the possibility of a product being generic. According to Wood (2000), brands are fundamental product differentiation strategy and must as such be managed strategically. Strategic brand management (branding) commence only after a

Business Ethics (Part A) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Business Ethics (Part A) - Essay Example Often times our myopic approach does not allow us to see the long term possibilities of an ethical action, thus we up taking the shortest and easiest way to fulfil our immediate needs. Ethical dilemmas are prevalent in every aspect of our lifestyle, starting from social groups to work place environment. Velasquez et al (2010) mentioned that ethics cannot be defined by any single definition, as it is dependent on a person’s mentality. Some people define ethics as following their feelings, while other may believe that ethical practices are synonymous to religious customs. However, on closer inspection it has been identified that our feelings often deviate from ethical practices and although several religious customs dictate ethical practices, it may vary across different religions (Bucaro, 2007). Moreover, ethics applies to a theist and atheist alike. An ethical practice also does not fall under legal criteria, because an activity although legal may be unethical. Ethics can be d escribed as developing one’s behaviour based on certain standards which dictates him to do the right thing in a societal context, which will eventually yield a long term achievement or success (BBC, 2014). Running a business operation involves following a set of rules and regulations, which defines the governance of the company. The rules are set in such a way that the company can achieve its financial goals, while meeting the stakeholder’s interest at the same time (Rafner, 2014). Due to highly competitive marketplace, some companies create a competitive work environment, where the employees and workers are given steep targets to achieve. In such a competitive environment the employees often adopt certain unethical practices to achieve their target. In jobs involving direct sales, employees often fabricate and manipulate product related information to the

American History Master Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

American History Master - Essay Example I shall also highlight how the new world order was disrupted by America. Law on the international level is dependent on a state's acceptance to be subjected to the enforcement of laws. States must be willing to subject themselves into the international legal process. In international law, there is no single enforcement mechanism, which sometimes causes individuals to question the validity of international law. They question whether international law is a fundamental requirement of a modern, increasingly independent, global system of states and non-state actors. They question whether international law stops them from pursuing their self-interest (Damrosch etal 2001 p 14). In modern times, because of globalism, international law is a fundamental requirement for international relations. In the last 100 years, history has shown us that the absence of such laws can have detrimental consequences on the entire world. The Bush administration has insisted on its right to unilaterally attack Iraq. To justify this end, the administration either ignored or conveniently reinterpreted UN articles or resolutions. It is no wonder that the vast majority of the international community did not support the Bush administration's conclusions. International opinion was that the attack on Iraq was illegal under the international laws of the UN. (http://www.123helpme.com/view.aspid=18686) The United States has clearly defined their foreign po... Foreign Policy The United States has clearly defined their foreign policy's objectives and goals. While some groups claim that the United States acts as an isolationist body, the government works to improve the international community through negotiation and cooperation The United States maintains relations with nearly every nation state in the international system. The US also conducts frequent relations with many international organizations for a lot of different reasons While the United States has hundreds of goals and objectives of the foreign policy, it's most important goals currently are internationalism and multilateralism, national security, and limiting weapons of mass destruction (Walter 2001 p 2). A divided government within the United States sometimes makes it difficult to create clear strategies both domestically and internationally, nevertheless both groups are willing to compromise in order to deal effectively with any problems Traditional and current foreign policy objectives determine current relationships between the United States and other countries and various international actors. Traditional objectives of international security and trade have always shaped relations in the international system. Today, issues of terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, and Middle East peace also help shape relationships with the US abroad. The current policy objectives shape US international relations. Foreign policy activity and the decision making process have two driving motivations- an external, and a domestic or internal. The external motivation includes foreign activities, politics and policies that have an effect on US foreign policy. For example, external threats such as the Cuban Missile Crisis during the Cold War,

Conservation vs. Preservation Essay Example for Free

Conservation vs. Preservation Essay To whom it may concern My name is Michelle lane I am writing this letter to share my thoughts about preserving the Bridger Teton. This big stretch of land has not been affected by human technology. It has been preserved in its natural state. It is important to us as human beings. This stretch of land has a lot of trees, wild animals, and wild vegetation that call this stretch of land home. We cannot disturb it in the name of progress. We need to make sure we preserve this land so it can flourish and remain the same, untouched by technology and humans who want to mine it for resources. I agree that we need resources to sustain our lives and how we live it, but there are other ways to do so. Understandably we do not want to rely on other countries to supply us with the resources that we need but if we need to understand that we cannot deplete all the land that we have available to us. We have to think of the future and what we are going to leave for the growing generation. Eventually we will use up all the resources that we have and we would have to rely on other countries to help us. Wouldn’t it be better that while we have available resource we find a better way of getting what we need without destroying valuable land? What we need to do is find other ways to make sure we sustain our life style. For now I believe we need to rely on other countries to meet our needs and while we are doing that we need to develop other ways or find other resources. Saving the Bridger Teton will ensure that the wild life, trees and vegetation that live there will continue to flourish, they will continue to grow hopefully our children and future generations will be able to benefit and be able to appreciate the land that we try so hard to protect. Maybe in the future there will be more lands like the Bridger Teton that was protected and saved so the future generations can benefit from it. Conservation versus Preservation: To whom it may concern, My name is Michelle lane I am writing this letter to share my thought about the Bridger Teton area. I think it is a big piece of land that can be put in  to use to help our nation. I believe that we need to make sure these lands are saved but I also believe that we can use some of this land to mine, plant on, or see if we can find oil. This will lessen our dependence from other countries. Imagine an America that does not rely on other countries for their oil or any other resources that we would need to live. Not only would we get it for a cheaper price but we can supply other countries with resources and we can be financialy indipendant as well. We can still save a part of the land for preservation for the wild life and vegetation, but we will benefit more by putting the land to use. We can first research the land to see if we can use the resources found in it for human use. The four steps that we are going to use for this hazard assessment is Hazard Identification, Dose-response assessment, exposure assessment, and risk characterization. We need to test the soil, vegetation, animals and water to make sure it is safe and there are no harmful bacteria living in the area that could harm humans. This kind of assessment will help us asses which areas are safe for human use and resource mining. The areas that we find that are not as safe or would not be beneficial should be preserved and let it stay the way it is for the future generations to enjoy. This a good way to have both world we have the lands we can use for gathering resources so we can be a more independent country and the lands we want to save for the future generations to enjoy. In the end I believe we will run out of resources and we will have to still rely on other countries to supply us with what we will need to sustain our daily lives and keep it the way it is. While we can we should try to supply our own resources. America is a big place there is room to preserve and also land that we can use to help us live independently.

Environmental Impacts of the Global Increase in Demand for Oil Essay Example for Free

Environmental Impacts of the Global Increase in Demand for Oil Essay To what extent are the environmental impacts of the global increase in demand for oil acceptable? [15 marks] After the industrial revolution, the demand for oil has been increasing globally. Over 100 million tonnes of oil are transported around the world on average a day. There are countries like the US which consume almost one quarter of global oil output, which must be supplied from oil reserves, usually from countries like Saudi Arabia (Guinness, 2011, p. 245). This shows that the topic of oil consumption is a global issue as all countries need oil to develop and provide for their populations. The issue with this large consumption of oil is the fact that oil is a non-renewable source of energy and therefore has a limit. Oil is formed from the remains of dead plants and animals in underground rock which is found in marine areas and therefore requires technology such as pipelines and drilling machines to extract the oil. The implications of this has caused serious environmental consequences which questions whether extracting oil to supply the demands of the world’s population should be permitted when the environment has to pay the cost, examples being oil leaks into the sea and the effects of that. With a growing global population, energy companies are trying to find sources of energy and are therefore trying to construct pathways and routes to constantly feed people’s needs and demands. This has lead to companies searching and drilling for oil in fragile environments, such as the Alaska pipeline which crosses 3 mountain ranges. The reason why companies are looking into areas full of permafrost is because global warming is causing the ice in the Arctic Circle to melt and oil rich sea beads are now being uncovered. The implementation of the Alaska pipeline has not caused any major environmental problems as many obstacles had been avoided when constructing this project, such as raising the pipeline on stilts so that that the heated oil would not cause the ice to melt. However, the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, which occurred in 1989 did take place and still affects the environment, animal species and humans to this day. The oil tanker named Exxon Valdez was carrying 1.2 million barrels of oil when it ran aground on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, spilling 240 000 barrels. The oil slick eventually covered 25 000 km2 coastal and off-shore waters and 1700km of coastline (RGS Worcester, n.d., para. 2). A major oil spill like this has resulted in devastating environmental impacts, which has caused social and economical impacts as well. The clean-up process, which included burning the oil (relatively effective as it reduced 113,400 liters of oil to 1,134 liters of removable residue), spraying chemicals on the oil which reached the shoreline and mechanical cleanup methods, did not eradicate the oil fast enough as the environmental impacts are still present after 21 years. 10000 people were involved in the clean up and it took 4 summers and cost 2 billion dollars. This large number of people put their jobs on hold and attended to the effects of the oil spill, which could have caused a decline in the economy in Alaska (Exxon Valdez oil spill, n.d., para. 5). The biggest impact of the oil spill was on the wildlife. Some 2,000 sea otters, 302 harbor seals and about 250,000 seabirds died within a few days after the oil spill (Graham, 2003, para. 1). A decrease in biodiversity and the ecosystems in Alaska affect the environment significantly as it disrupts food chains and causes animals like ducks and other marine animals to lose their source of food. The biggest impact, in terms of wildlife, is the herring population and the effect on the herring industry in Alaska. The spill occurred during spawning season that the inlets and bays where herring traditionally laid their eggs were choked with oil. Within four years, the herring population has disappeared. This has affected Alaskans in terms of their jobs and their source of food. Permits to fish herring commercially had been worth hundreds of thousands of dollars before the spill but became worthless, leaving many fishermen facing huge amounts of debt. Farmers used to earn 150000 dollars a year but this has dropped to 5000 dollars, showing the extent of the impact of the loss of herring (BBC News, 2010, para. 9). A weaker economy results in economical problems within the area and a change in employment structure as children of these fisherman can no longer have the opportunity to be a herring farmer. Economic problems can also result in social problems such as domestic violence, alcohol abuse, suicides and divorces, mainly due to massive unemployment. This example shows that the environmental impacts can have their own impacts, which again questions whether the extraction of oil is worth all these consequences. After 21 years, 20000 gallons of oil still remain on the beaches of Prince William Sound (BBC News, 2010, para. 30). Therefore, the clean up hasn’t been very effective. It’s also worth pointing out that maybe all the environmental impacts still haven’t been determined, for example the soil and vegetation could also have been affected by the oil spill as the oil may have seeped through the sand of the beaches. This would affect the growth of vegetation drastically. People don’t know enough to predict how long the effects are going to last as they can range from years to centuries. One wonders how long countries can continue to extract and consume oil when they still don’t fully know the extent of the environmental effects of oil spills and if their chances of occurring are more likely. The production of oil is also a process which causes a variety of negative effects on the environment. An example is the tar sands oil extraction in Canada – the country which supplies the US with the most oil as it doesn’t have issues regarding transport, weather and the fact that there are pipeline installed from Canada to the US. There is enough natural gas to heat 3 million homes from the extraction of tar sands oil in Canada. However, it is expensive to extract the oil out of the sands (120 million dollars over the last 12 years have been invested) which has lead to environmental degradation in the form of excess use of water to extract bitumen. The bitumen is then refined and the toxic sludge (not like conventional oil – mainly nasty impurities) that is left over after separating oil from impurities is usually dumped in ponds and lakes. In some cases, the toxic ponds are so big that they can be seen from space. The Athabasca River in Canada has a large number of toxic ponds, some being 60 km long in length. These companies, like SUNCOR (Canadian energy company), are dumping around 1.8 billion liters of toxic materials like sludge and impurities in these ponds, they will eventually reach water in the delta (Sustainable Guidance, 2011). The effects of these impurities in the water can be devastating to the wildlife. There is a decrease in the number of fish as the sludge clogs up the fish’s gills, making it hard for them to breathe. The change in the ecosystem and food chain will also cause a decline in fish as smaller species like plankton may be affected by the impurities. The fish may also be contaminated and migratory birds which eat these fish will suffer and possibly die as they won’t eat healthy meat. Moose is another species which are affected by the toxic ponds as their source of food is contaminated and decreasing. This has lead to a number of endangered species. There is a 35 million acres coniferous forest (larger than the Brazilian forest) which is full of endangered species. There have also been cases where environmental issues like toxic ponds are not released to the public as these details have been ‘covered up’ by companies like SUNCOR, leaving environmentalists like Green peace in conflict with these energy companies. This example has shown the harmful effects of oil production on the environment, which again makes us question whether this is all worth it (Sustainable Guidance, 2011). To a very small extent, the environmental impacts of the global increase in demand for oil are acceptable. It can be said, with great certainty, that oil production and consumption does not benefit the environment. The environmental consequences may not be frequent but when they do occur, they cause a catastrophic effect, which takes the environment and the people decades or even longer to recover. These impacts are therefore not acceptable, which is why countries should start investing in producing renewable energy such as solar panels and wind turbines. Governments can’t suddenly start decreasing the amount of oil they consume as the people are already used to living with a high standard of living. The populations around the world should be educated about the problem and should be encouraged to start relying on renewable sources of energy. However, this raises the problem for developing countries and NICs. It will be extremely difficult to develop without consuming large amounts of oil and will therefore cause the rate of development to decrease. This leaves these types of countries at a disadvantage, which questions whether it is acceptable for all countries to consume a smaller amount of oil when there are countries with different levels of development. Clearly the issue needs to be discussed before any strategies can be implemented. References BBC News. (2010, July 6). Alaska town slowly heals after 1989 Exxon Valdez spill. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10548872 BBC News. (2010, June 17). Examining the legacy of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10324021 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved February 24, 2013 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exxon_Valdez_oil_spill Graham, S. (2003, December 19). Environmental effects of Exxon Valdez spill still being felt. Retrieved from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=environmental-effects-of Guinness, P. (2011). Geography for the IB diploma. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. RGS Worcester. (n.d.) The Exxon Valdez – environmental catastrophe in a fragile environment? Retrieved from https://schoolweb.rgsw.org.uk/resource.aspx?id=52612 Sustainable Guidance. (2011, April 27). Tar sands oil extraction – the dirty truth. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkwoRivP17A

View of white women in interracial relationships

View of white women in interracial relationships A Qualitative Analysis of Black Womens Constructions of White Women in Interracial Relationships. Research, especially media discourses suggest and show that black women have a negative discourse towards white women who have interracial relationships. Therefore this exploratory qualitative study used focus groups to investigate how black women construct interracial relationships and white women who have interracial relationships. Social constructionist guided the discourse theory methodology. Participants described Introduction Since the 1980s social constructionism has become an increasingly influential perspective within psychology (e.g., Burr, 1995). Social constructionism suggests that human experience, including perception is mediated historically, culturally and linguistically (Willig, 2007). Therefore for this study, it is important to understand gender and race historically, also black and white unions within a historical context. Interracial relations in a historical context, the construction of race and multiculturalism Historically, interracial unions have played an integral role in the construction of racial categories. Interracial sex and marriage became deviant within the construction of a white identity that was in opposition to blacks. The underlying basis for interracial sexuality as deviant being the claim that blacks and whites are biologically and culturally different. An important part of this concept of race is based on black peoples experiences, constructions and discourses about whites as threats to racial purity (Childs, 2005). The issue of interracial sex and marriage is an integral part of the construction of race and racial groups, with the opposition to and the fear of interracial relationships often used as a means to execute and justify racist ideologies and practices. Thus, Ideas of race as biological difference emerged with slavery, as a justification. So both the construction of white/black relationships as problematic, and the abuse seen during slavery, can be seen as emergi ng along with changing discourses of race. During black slavery, among white peoples interracial sexual relationships was constructed as deviant, and this idea of deviancy was primarily aimed at preventing black male slaves from engaging in sexual acts with white women. It has been documented that those who did engage in interracial sexual relationships would be punished. However, for black people there is a complicated and painful history to black and white interracial relationships, as a result the roots of the hostility are different from white people. The discourses on interracial relationships are complex. The hostility that black communities may have to wards interracial relationships derives from a social and collective memory of violation by whites. Historically blacks as a group have had to deal with the devaluation by whites and this in turn has effective blacks identity which has as a result shaped the attitudes and responses to interracial relationships. It has been well documented that black women were allegedly raped and sexually abused by white slave masters who all play a huge part in the sociohistorical construction of race and the rules of race relations (Childs, 2005). Social constructionist propose that the concept of race, for example the belief that the classification based on skin colour and other skin deep properties like body shape or hair style maps onto meaningful, important biological kinds which is a pseudo biological concept that has been used to justify and rationalise the unequal treatment of groups of people or others (Machery Faucher 2005). Social constructionism became prevalent mainly in the 1970s. It became recognised that the biological concept of subspecies, that is, of population of conspecifics that are genetically and morphologically different from each other, could not be applied to human. Assigning an individual to a race does not buy the inferential power you are usually warranted to expect from a biological kind term. Also, classifications based on different traits such as skin colour, body shape hair etc usually cross cut each other (Brown Armelagos 2001). Thus, the racialist tenet that skin colour and other skin deep properties pick up different biological groups has been assumed to be false. Thus, biology has fuelled the recent racial scepticism of social constructionists, that is, the view that races do not exist. But social constructionists about race are not mere sceptics. They usually underscore the instability and diversity of human beings concept of races. For instance Omi and Winant (2002) state that effort must be made to understand race as an unstable and decentered complex of social meanings constantly being transformed by political struggle. Banton (1970) suggest that this notion is a modern intervention, rooted in the eighteenth century taxonomies of Linnaeus and Blumenbach, for them, there were times or places where people did not have any concept of race (Machery Faucher 2005). The constructionist contribution to the understanding of racialism is important. It suggests that individuals concept of race do not occur in a social vacuum: social environment are important to explain the concept of our concept of race. This helps to identify the diversity of indi viduals concept of race across cultures. There has been growing literature in evolutionary psychology and evolutionary anthropology about racialism. Although no consensus has yet emerged, several proposals have recently attempted to describe the underlying cognitive mechanism responsible for the production of racial concepts (e.g., Hirschfield, 2001; White, 2001; Machery Faucher 2005). The two latter approaches are both a needed supplement to the social constructionist approach. The recurrence of racial classification across cultures and the commonalties between them suggest that racial classifications are the product of some universal psychological disposition. There is much literature that addresses the issue of interracial relationships and marriages specifically, for example both quantitative and qualitative methods have been implemented. Interracial heterosexual relationships have been explored from many viewpoints. Qualitative research has been conducted on black men and white women interracial couples (McNamara, Tempenis, Walton 1999; Rosenblatt, Karis, Powell 1995; Spickard 1989) and quantitative data of black and white attitudes towards interracial dating (Davis Smith 1991). Social sciences have focused on how and why interracial couples have come together, the demographic similarities and differences and the comparisons of interracial relationship compared with same race relationships (Davis 1941; Gaines et al. 1999). Davis (1941) article deals with interrelation between marriage and cast and Gains (1991) research is concerned with the differences between secure and insecure individuals among both sexes in heterosexual interraci al couples. Qualitative studies of interracial relationships has focused on the views, experiences and opinions of the couples and their relationships with society and the community (McNamara et al 1999; Root 2001) Some researchers have suggested that the number of couples, although increasing has remained small because of the lack of acceptance. It has been found that ethnic minority communities at times consider minority individuals that pair with partners as race traitors or whitewashed (Pan, 2000). Yet, there is little research on the ways that interracial couples are socially constructed and the societal responses from black womens towards interracial relationships. Existing research on interracial relationships show that they do not look at examining race as a changing socio historical concept and construct. Researchers have studied interracial relationships without first acknowledging race and racial groups as socially constructed and subject to change and conflict instead they reproduce the idea of race as real and a natural phenomenon. While the latter literature review has provided important perspectives on understanding interracial relationships, the current study is different as the study places an importance on societal responses to interracial relationships from the voices of British black women. Evolved Cognition and Ethnicity and Culture: Cultural Transmission Ethnicity and culture are related phenomena and bear no intrinsic connection to human biological variations or race. Ethnicity refers to cluster of people who have common culture traits that they distinguish from those of other people. People who share a common language, geographic locale or place of origin, religion or sense of history, traditional values, values and so on, are perceived, and view themselves as constituting, an ethnic group (e.g., Jones,1997 Smedley 1999). However, according to Smedley and Smedley (2005) ethnic groups and ethnicity are not fixed, bounded entities, they are flexible and open to change and they are usually self defined (Barth, 1998) Theories of cultural transmission provide the proper framework for integrating the two main traditions in the study of racialism (Richerson Boyd, 2004). The idea is that many beliefs, preferences, reasoning patters are socially learned. Similar to the traditional social learning theory, they are acquired from ones social environment form an individuals cultural parents for instance (Boyd Richerson, 1985). According to Machery Faucher (2005) race is culturally transmitted, which lines with social constructionist reliance on traditional theories of social is learning, that is, with the idea that the concept of race is acquired from an individuals social environment. This in turn gives explanations as to why a culture, at a time, people tend to have the same concept of race. This also explains why different cultures at different times have endorsed the same concepts. The Social Construction of Interracial Couples The ideas of race has been produce and reproduced though the construction of racial groups and social interaction, which had led to consequences in beliefs and practices. Therefore the images and meaning attached to black and white relationships are not simply produced by the black women but are rather constructed, socially, culturally, politically in their society and by the varying social groups (Childs, 2005). Therefore the black womens understanding of their own identities are shaped by the responses of others and the images of how black women oppose to interracial relationships in which exists. Unnatural discourse In British culture interracial relations is probelematised. Interracial sex is treated as a problem. Recent films such as Jungle Fever, Bodyguard and Rising Sun have portrayed interracial sexual relations as acts of deviance (Mencke, 1976). These narratives have been accompanied by severe moral lessons about destructive nature of such unions, which often damage not only the lives of the character but their family and friends too. Whatever the situation, the unifying element of such popular representation is that interracial relationships do not work. Academia controversy often surrounds the culturally authoritative discourse of science. This has been used overtime to justify a multitude of agendas, not least of which has been to ensure a moral argument for slavery and the conquest of the New World. Infused with notions borrowed from Darwins theories of evolution and natural selection, fears expressed in such writings have typically been grounded on notions of purity and degeneration of races through mixing of blood. Typically, researchers conclude that participants in interracial relations are deviant, rebellious or rejected by their racial group (Buttny, 1987; Muhsam, 1990), it is clear that racial categories are bounded within discursive constructs that make any transgression appear abnormal, if not wrong. Sexual relations between black men and white women have generally been located in the discourses of the unnatural. Sexuality between races has been constructed as transgression. Saxton (1995) argues that race thinking rests on class foundation , and it is also the case that ideologies of racism, one articulated, take on a life of their own and assume many contested and varied forms. Hooks (1990) puts forward, that our attempt to destabilise the naturalised discourses that define and construct race and sexuality is confounded by language (Tyner Houston, 2000). Mapping a discourse The current discourse against interracial relationships includes the following. First, it entails a range of racialised masculinities and images of what it means to be a man differentiated by race and class and at times drawing in racist stereotypes of the nineteenth and twentieth centurys. Secondly white femininity is racialised; white women who choose interracial relationships are constructed as sexually loose or sexually radical. Third, the discourse generates a view interracial relationship as transgressing fixed racial or cultural boundaries. These three elements presuppose a fourth, the idea of race as explained earlier as a fixed and essential axis of differentiation and sixth, the idea of cultural differences is tied to race and biological belonging (Frankenberg, 1993). Social Construction of Black women, Black Femininity, Gender and Mixed race as Ideal Research on the issues of black womens, appearance and the marriage market is also important (Childs, 2000). Morrison (1972) wrote that there are devastating effects of persistent European ideals of beauty on the self image of black women. While light skin blacks are evaluated as more attractive and more victorious in terms of income and employment (Hughes Hertel, 1990). This of course plays a huge role in the way that black women construct interracial dating and specifically the white women since the discrimination based on skin colour may be associated with the decision to date interracially as a privileging of lighter skin and the lightest skin of all white (Russell, Wilson Hall 1993; Childs 2005). It is important to understand that there are a dual set of myths which distinguishes the construction of black women from other groups. The social construction of race is dependent on gender categorisation and the social construction of gender is dependent on racial categorisations. This process of using race to define gender has a long standing history. According to White (2001) he argues that nineteenth century scientists often used race to explain gender and gender to explain race. The result of this is the segregation between groups of individuals based on their race and genders; where some groups are portrayed as dominant and normal and others as subordinate are based on social construction , the consequences of this is real and determines the power relations both between and within groups. In an effort to maintain these power relations and structures, cultural myths and symbols which are mainly based on stereotypes are employed. And as such, cultural symbols of black womanhood serve to mask as normalise the inequitable position of black women. As a result of racing gendering, black women find themselves marginalised on two fronts, race and gender. They are margin isled because they are non white. This marginalisation occurs on two levels, the first being that there is a construction of black women in relation to white men. Secondly, there is the construction of black women in relation to white women. Overtime time, these multiple marginalisations resulted in the development and redevelopment of a number if cultural symbols and icon used to represent black womanhood (Zachery, 2009). Dominant discourses: Now Interracial sexual relationships remain controversial both in the United Sates and the United Kingdom. Examining the discourse on interracial relationships brings a range of issues key to comprehending the impact of racism both on black womens experience and worldview and on social organisation more broadly. Interracial relationships continue to be a social issue in the black communities. Most black- white relationships involve a black man and white women according to the UK census. According to Collins (2000) black women remain called upon to accept and love the mixed race children born to brothers friends and relatives who at the same time often represent tangible reminders of their own rejection (2000, 195). Dickson (1993) suggest that interracial relationships between black men and white women along with the high murder rates in black communities, and levels of incarceration are viewed as the source of the shortage of good black men. Although statistics show that there is an increase in black white interracial relationships and marriages, the oppositions to these relationships have not necessarily disappeared. No matter how these relationships are viewed, what are interesting about them are the responses they receive from black women. An in depth analysis on black British womens constructions on heterosexual interracial relationships will provide a better understanding of this phenomenon. Therefore this project will look specifically look at the way in which British black women respond to interracial relationships and specifically their constructions towards white women who have interracial relationships. The project will look at the way black women construct interracial relationtions by asking them about their attitudes and their beliefs of interracial relationships, and popular culture and media depictions. I will discuss the images and discourses that have been constructed about interracial relationships and how these images and discourses contribute to the construction and maintenance of how black women construct white women who have interracial relationships. I approach the study of interracial relationships, understanding these interracial unions as socially constructed. It is important to understand that this will not be a nationwide representative study of attitudes, beliefs or occurrences that can be generalised. Rather this project provides an ethnographic look at black womens constructions through in depth focus groups Method Participants I recruited my participant by handing out a recruitment sheet outside lectures. The recruitment letter explained the nature of the study and if the student wished to participate in the study to please contact me. My participants were either students at London Southbank University or known to me personally. Their age ranged from 16- 45, all of my participants were Black British women; All of my participants were born in Britain. It was made clear to all of the participants that they could withdraw from the study at anytime. Design Discursive analysis provides an ideal opportunity for studying ideology in psychology. In the 1970s the materialization of a new paradigm in social psychology occurred. New paradigm researchers called for a turn to language which was inspired by theories and research which had emerged from other disciplines. This turn to language was the setting of the emergence during the 1980s, in social and developmental psychology and in other major parts of psychology (Parker, 2005). Studies such as Henriques et al, (1984) illustrated how language that is spoken can be organised as patterns of discourse. Discourse had a theoretical basis in the social constructionist approach (e.g., Burr, 2003). The social constructionist perspectives purpose was that understanding the study of human interaction and the linguistic communication is of importance. According to discursive psychology, language does not merely express experiences, rather, language also constitutes experiences and the subjective, psyc hological reality (Potter Wetherell 1987; Shotter 1993; Wetherell 1995); therefore, construction of social reality through the use of language enables discourse analysis to come about. This social process sustains this knowledge through social interactions (Burr, 1995) discourse can alter and adapt overtime; therefore, discourse are historically and culturally identifiable and is analysed through the language employed in the social interactions. This method is what I thought is best suited for my final year project as I was not looking for the participants personal experiences but rather how the participants construct inter-racial relationships and white women who have inter-racial relationships. Potter and Wetherell (1987) introduced discourse to gain a better understanding of social texts through examining social life and social interactions. Its aim was to scrutinise discourse through analysing verbal and written communication. A number of themes are common in discourse analysis these include rhetoric, voice, footing, discursive repertoires and the dialogical nature of talk. Potter and Wetherell 1987; Wetherell Potter 1992 provided some of the best work on social psychology. It was developed as an analysis of racist interpretive repertoire. This entail suggested how discourse functions ideologically. For example a discourse of heterosexuality defines what is deviant. The practice of discourse analysis involves a range of procedures designed to encourage the researchers to process and reprocess their material these include transcription, coding and recoding. According to Potter (2003), Discourse analysis is the study of how to talk and texts are used to perform actions. He suggested that discourse analysis research should centre on four aspects. How language forms and constructs accounts on social things; how actions and social practices are achieved through linguistics; the ideologies of a particular social action, and, looking at psychological concepts through discourse. Therefore this method will be used to analyse the transcript. Black womens constructions towards interracial relationships and white women who have interracial relationships; Transcript of two focus group discussions between young black women will be analysed. An examination of the text will be scrutinised closely, known as coding (Potter Wetherell, 1987) coding helps to select relevant information from the text. However, there will always be parts of discourse in which cannot be analysed; thus the same text can be analysed again, generating further insight (Potter Wetherell, 1987; Wetherell Potter 1992; Willig 1995, 1997, 1998) the data will analyse any key discourse that show from the data and how the data constructs that. The discourse analysis will also pinpoint any interpretive repertoires (Gilbert, Mulkay, 1984) and instances that occur in the text. This will require reading and re- reading the transcript, making various notes and coding gathered by the repertoires. Procedure The process of recruiting participants was not difficult, mainly because some of the participants were known personally to me and that I also recruited LSBU students, therefore the participants were easily accessible. Needless to say, the women who took part in the project did so voluntarily. They also knew they could refuse to answer particular questions, or discontinue with the discussion at any given time. I advertised by handing out a participation information sheet (see Appendix A) to several students. I gave them a brief overview of the study and asked whether they would be interested in taking part in the study. Two focus group discussions took place in a private area in the LSBU library where they were all given consent forms to sign (see Appendix B). Predetermined questions were asked and the process was recorded using a tape recorder and dictaphone. Private matters in regards to relationships were asked therefore all participants were introduced to one another to ensure that there was no discomfort. The nature of the study was explained to all the participants individually and within the focus group discussion so that no offence was taken when the questions were asked amongst one another. I guided the focus group to express both their opinions and thoughts on the subject at hand and ensured that the discussion did not go off tangent, therefore limitations were applied. I then later transcribed the focus group and drew out themes that emerged from the discussion. Materials Recruitment To recruit the participants an information sheet was handed out, which can be found in Appendix A. It was intended to be clear about the criteria of the project whilst also being highly informative. Schedule Participants were instructed to answer questions which can be found in Appendix C Analysis The transcript is one of two focus group discussion about interracial relationships and how black women construct interracial relationships and how they construct white women who have interracial relationships. The first focus group consisted of six young black women and the second consisted four. Several themes emerged from the data. The analysis revealed, through grammatical and stylistic strategies numerous interpretive repertoires Wetherell and Potter (1998): deviation, extrematisation, constructing relationship as sexual, generalisation and hypersexualisaion normalising in order to put themselves in positions to validate their views on white women and interracial relationships in general. Both focus group discussions justify their actions through language as to why they have these views; this is when discourses are visible. Focus group discussion between young black women students Extract 1 discussion transcript 1 (Page 1) interpretive repertoire: Positioning themselves Participants constructed meaning through shared conversation: they mutually positioned themselves using a variety of discursive techniques. The participants also justified their answers by using discursive markers. Sianne like the other black respondents employed a discursive strategy I am not fazed by it, but by also offering disclaimers doesnt bother me. However they give several reasons as to why interracial couples are problematic Sianne; When I see a black man with a white woman Im not phased to be honest as the saying goes Love is Blind. But sometimes I find that when I pass a mixed couple sometimes the man will avoid glancing in my direction and the woman seems tense. (Laughter) From the language used, Sianne and the other black females use discursive strategy by first stating that they are not against interracial couples Im not fazed by it (line 74-76) It doesnt bother me but show signs that the relationship lacks security. For example Sianne states that the man avoids looking at her and the woman seems tense. According to Wetherell and Potter (1992) posits that racism must be viewed as a series of ideological effect with flexible, fluid and varying content. Therefore, racist discourse should not be viewed as static and homogeneous, but as dynamic and contradictory. Some of the participants state that they do not have a problem with an interracial coupling. However, they use language amongst each other witch contradict themselves (Lines 91-92). Saphira: I dont really think anything unless the black guy is really attractive and the white woman is ugly The extract opens with a disclaimer (Hewitt Stokes, 1975) a disclaimer is a verbal devise that anticipates, and rejects, potentially negative attributions. I dont really think anything disclaims possible attribution of intolerance in the light of the comments in which are about to follow unless the black guy is really attractive. Extract 2 discussion transcripts 1 (Page) interpretive repertoire: Constructing relationship as sexual and deviant A significant piece of the opposition from the black women was why a black man would chose to date a white woman. They construct meaning as to why they becoming interracially involved and the implications for black women. Several of the participants construct white women as easy and more inclined to perform oral sex as the reason why a black man will choose to be in a relationship with a white woman. Saphira; I think white woman are more open to trying new things sexually that a black man wouldnt get from a black woman, I think they come across easier .   When asked why a black man would choose to be in a relationship with a white women. A variety of terms was employed by the participants. This included easier (Saphira) and stress free lifestyle (Jamila) open-minded to certain sexual acts (Justina). Justina; I personally think that a black man would be in a sexual relationship with a white woman because, she may be more inclined to perform certain sexual acts that may be a taboo in a black womans eyes and may also be more open-minded to certain sexual acts such as oral sex or oral sex in comparison to a black woman (Lines 96-101). Black women thus positioned interracial relationships as sexual and constructed white women as easier and stress free. It shows that white femininity is racialsied; that white women are easy and are sexually radical. A rhetorical technique employed here is constructing corroboration and consensuses (Edwards et., 1992) white women are more open minded to oral sex acts by saying that more than one women behave this way. This technique is used again by Justina this may be a taboo in black women eyes she positions herself to the category entitlement Extract 3 discussion transcripts 1 and 2 (Page) interpretive repertoire: Shortage of good black men Saphira; When I see a good looking black guy with a white woman, I cant help but be disappointed and look and think why?.   The construction of black and white couples (focusing here on a black man with a white women) as outside the norm, Saphira also constructs that these couplings as deviant (lines 155-156). Tanya: I know this is really judgmentalà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦but I automatically think that the black man is not really black! By this I mean he is surrounding by white friends he has never dated a black female and deep down he wishes he was white. Its a bit of a waste inità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ One theme in which was visible in both transcripts was the shortage of good black men. Tanya states in the above extract its a bit of a waste init signifying that black men have value before becoming involved with white women. This construction exposes black racism and opposition to interracial relationships. Tanya also uses a disclaimer, a rhetorical devise that allows her to put forward what may be seen as judgemental views Pricilla: discussed how black men of high status with wealth get with white women because they see them as a symbol of success (Lines 82-83). In lines 82 to 83 Pricella constructs more general oppositional categories of them Extract 4 discussion transcript 1 (Page) interpretive repertoire: Diluting the race Traitor Black communities can act as deterrent to interracial relationships as these relationships are constructed as incompatible with black cultural affinity. In other words for a black man to engage in an intimate relationship with a white women means that one is a traitor to white society and in the process sold out the black society. During the focus group discussion Pricella constructs black men who get with white women as traterish especially African men (lines 242-244). Pricella: doesnt make me feel anything but I aint gona alie I think its traiterish its like they getting with a white women is the ultimate price for them when a black men get status even African men Ooh white women Saphira: also state that people may view the black man as

The Cay :: essays research papers

The plot tells of a young boy named Phillip and an old black man named Timothy. Phillip and his mom are on a boat to the United States. Their family has always looked down on black people. Then during the night there was a rumble a Phillip fell of his bunk. A German sub-marine hit their boat. They got up put on their close and life jackets and got in the lifeboat. Then while the life boat was being launched it tipped and everyone fell in the water. Phillip was swimming frantically for his mother but before he knew it he was knocked unconscious by something big. When he woke up he was in a life boat with a old, ugly, black-skinned man. The man said that he got knocked on the head really bad and he was happy to see that he was awake. The sun was really hot so the black man told him to give him his close so he did. Then the man tore some wood from the boat and made a shelter with the close. Phillip said wear are w wears my mom but the man said she’s not here but she’s probably in a different life boat. Phillip was really thirsty so the man opened a hatch in the boat and took some water out of a keg. He only gave Phillip a half a cup so Phillip asked for more. The man said they must spare as much water as possible. It was almost dark when the man said maybe some flying fish will jump in our boat for us to eat. Phillip didn’t like the idea of eating raw fish but he was hungry. The next day Phillip woke up and his eyes were blurry he hey there’s something wrong with my eyes. So the man took a wet towel and put it on his head it started to get better. Then Phillip fell back asleep and when he woke up it was dark. Phillip screamed what time is it the man said ten then Phillip its nighttime right the man laughed no its morning. Phillip screamed I’m blind the man was shocked he said here look at the sun, and he pointed Phillip to the sun Phillip said its still dark. During that night he asked what his name is the man said my name is Timothy. Phillip said do you have a last name the man said no Phillip was shocked at this then Timothy said lets get some sleep we have a long day tomorrow. The Cay :: essays research papers The plot tells of a young boy named Phillip and an old black man named Timothy. Phillip and his mom are on a boat to the United States. Their family has always looked down on black people. Then during the night there was a rumble a Phillip fell of his bunk. A German sub-marine hit their boat. They got up put on their close and life jackets and got in the lifeboat. Then while the life boat was being launched it tipped and everyone fell in the water. Phillip was swimming frantically for his mother but before he knew it he was knocked unconscious by something big. When he woke up he was in a life boat with a old, ugly, black-skinned man. The man said that he got knocked on the head really bad and he was happy to see that he was awake. The sun was really hot so the black man told him to give him his close so he did. Then the man tore some wood from the boat and made a shelter with the close. Phillip said wear are w wears my mom but the man said she’s not here but she’s probably in a different life boat. Phillip was really thirsty so the man opened a hatch in the boat and took some water out of a keg. He only gave Phillip a half a cup so Phillip asked for more. The man said they must spare as much water as possible. It was almost dark when the man said maybe some flying fish will jump in our boat for us to eat. Phillip didn’t like the idea of eating raw fish but he was hungry. The next day Phillip woke up and his eyes were blurry he hey there’s something wrong with my eyes. So the man took a wet towel and put it on his head it started to get better. Then Phillip fell back asleep and when he woke up it was dark. Phillip screamed what time is it the man said ten then Phillip its nighttime right the man laughed no its morning. Phillip screamed I’m blind the man was shocked he said here look at the sun, and he pointed Phillip to the sun Phillip said its still dark. During that night he asked what his name is the man said my name is Timothy. Phillip said do you have a last name the man said no Phillip was shocked at this then Timothy said lets get some sleep we have a long day tomorrow.

Essay --

The Gulf War was a United States and allied countries offensive against the country of Iraq that occurred during August 1990 to February 1991. Due to the United States involvement in the war, The Golf War was executed effectively and ended within 7 months. Due to the success of the Coalition Air Campaign, Operation Desert Saber (combined ground and air offensive on Baghdad), A cease fire was called which lead to the United States victory in Iraq. The Gulf War involved 24 nations and was led by the United States against Iraq in response to the invasion of Kuwait. It is considered the most efficient war in American History, during the time, the United States deployed 7 Army Divisions, 2 Marine Corps Divisions, 6 Carrier Battle Groups, 2 Amphibious Battle Groups, 1 Marine Wing and 15 Air Force Tactical Fighter Wings. Setting the Stage Iraq is located north of Saudi Arabia, and west of Iran, its borders are shared with the nations, of Syria, Jordan, Turkey and Kuwait. Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi leader, came up with the idea of invading Kuwait for many reasons, one of them being that they owed 14 billion USD to the nation. Kuwait was also exceeding oil quotas set by Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), thus bringing more oil to the market and exceeding the demand. In result, the price of oil was at an all-time low and Iraq was losing a significant amount of revenue. Saddam Hussein claimed that Kuwait was stealing oil from Iraqi Reserves, claiming the use of ‘slant drills’, a machine that can drill an oil well at an angle. Saddam claimed Kuwait was doing this at Al-Rumalia Oilfield, a location very close to its borders. The nation of Iraq did not have direct access to the Persian Gulf and invading the nation of Kuw... ... also a media success, full coverage of the 100-Hour was broadcast to the world and the American People completely backed the decision made by The President. The effectiveness of the air campaign; the destruction of Iraqi air power and command infrastructure proved to be a critical point for the coalition against the Iraqi army. It destroyed iraq’s chance to even set a single plane in the air and ultimately lead the United States ownership of the air above Iraq, even out of the reach of Iraq anti-aircraft missiles. Iraq’s air force was nothing compared to the force behind the coalition. The ground war, all but guaranteed the coalition’s success in the war against the Iraqi Army. It was the efforts of the United States military’s that lead to the success of the War. Without the United States Involvement, Iraq could have possibly dominated the Arabic Peninsula.