Capstone Project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Capstone Project - Assignment Example The proposed initiative dubbed ‘Arkansas’s Youth Gun Violence Initiative’ is a community based initiative that will involve solicitation of some ideas from the state agencies, learning institutions and non-profit organization regarding pilot programs that will reduce gun violence. The idea of the initiative is to implement a program that will promote a positive youth outcome. The proposed initiative will focus on establishing work relations among the institutions in Arkansas such as the health, school, leaders and non-profit organizations in order to identify all the drivers of youth gun violence. Identification of such drivers will aid in the establishment of relevant evidence based strategies that will focus on addressing each issue regarding the reasons why youths are involved in gun violence. The proposed initiative will involve working with all community partners that are involved with youth based institutions so as to engage the residents of Arkansas in the implementation of the initiative plan and ensure that the plan will be sustained through refraining the youth from any gun violence incidence. Gun violence in Arkansas as in many other states is highly concentrated on the young population. Thus the long-term goal for the proposed initiative is to reduce youth gun violence and increase collective efficacy in Arkansas State. The issue of youth gun violence in United States has passed extreme conditions and is now regarded as an epidemic. Between 1976 to around 1991 guns were used by an estimated 65% of the juvenile homicide offenders. Homicides resulting to gun violence have been the leading cause of death among many youths. Most male teenagers in all ethnic and racial groups are likely to die from gunshot wounds instead of natural causes. As a result of this the Department of Justice (DOJ) has over the years been involved with funding community based initiatives and policy programs to help curb the

Advertisements Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Advertisements - Essay Example Competition always threatens to reduce the amount of sales recorded by each product.Because of this,manufactures of various products or providers of various services are forced to engage in regular advertisements These adverts are meant to capture the attention of consumers and provoke them to purchase a certain product or use it. Advertising involves the repetition of the name or image of a product with the aim of associating it with particular qualities with the brand in the minds of the consumers. The â€Å"holidays are coming† is a Coca Cola advertisement which features a train composed of red delivery trucks bearing the Coca Cola name are beautified with Christmas lights (Coca Cola video). The train drives along a snowy landscape and as it passes, it causes everything on its path to light up and people at the sides watch as delivery lorries pass by. This advert uses holiday campaigns and excitement as its advertising strategies. This advert made people to be aware that th e celebration season is back once again and this goes hand in hand with drinking. This motivates consumers to start treating themselves with Coca Cola drinks. It also reminds them to purchase or save money for buying coca-cola drinks for Christmas celebrations. The Coca Cola Company had stopped using the train advert in 2001. However, it was brought back in 2007 because many consumers called the company’s information center saying that they considered the advert as a mark of the beginning of Christmas. Another advert advertising Coca Cola was a billboard with a big bottle that had seemingly bubbled out a group of fun making and cheerful people. The background of the space containing the fun-making people is very bright. The slogan for this advert is â€Å"Live on the coke side of life† and uses excitement as its strategy (Coca-Cola-Art par 1). The â€Å"Live on the coke side of life† advert calls for people to live on the positive side of life (Coca-Cola-Art par 1). The advert makes people to think that drinking coca cola will make them to be happy. It helps them to reflect their optimist moments of their lives (Coca-Cola-Art par 2). The campaign invites consumers to live life full of color, create their own positive reality, listen to their hearts and be spontaneous. The use of people who are happy and making fun presents coca-cola not only as a drink that refreshes and makes one exited but also, it energizes them and gives them the strength to move with vigor. Another Coca-Cola advert is â€Å"Always Coca-Cola† previously featuring on TV. The main marketing strategy used in this advert is brand positioning. This adverts used good sounds and music, and a large mixture of pictures of people enjoying Coca Cola. Each picture in the advert had its own slogan. The welcoming picture was a cute lady smiling at the audience and its slogan was â€Å"have a Coca Cola†. The second is that of two men feeling so refreshed and its slogan was â€Å"it sends thirst flying† and the third slogan was â€Å"thirst asks nothing more†. The fourth slogan was â€Å"delicious and refreshing† followed by â€Å"so refreshing so welcome, everywhere† and the final is â€Å"what I want is Coke† and its picture featured a cure lady reaching out for a bottle of coke. All throughout the advert, there was a nice Coca Cola song that repetitively used the words â€Å"always Coca Cola.† The use of sounds and music helps to achieve effective marketing in that it makes people feel good to be associated with the product being advertised. The mixture good music and pictures creates in the consumers an emotional ambience that draws them to the marketing campaign and makes them feel good to have the product. The slogans â€Å"it sends thirst flying† and â€Å"thirst asks nothing more† makes consumers to perceive Coca Cola as the best solution to thirst and this will always prompt them to g et themselves of a bottle or can of Coca Cola whenever they are thirsty. In this way, the position of the brand in the soft

Britain And Us A Comparative

Britain And Us A Comparative For my comparative essay of political systems in the contemporary context I have chosen the US republican system and the British constitutional Westminster system. Throughout the essay I will compare and contrast the different political systems, how they interact with one another and how the systems are significant in the modern day context of world politics. America, a former colony of Great Britain, won its war of independence in the year of 1776 and therefore was independent from Britain in terms of internal politics and overseas polices initiated into America republic, with the famous quote no tax without representation. From then on America became a republican state and now is arguably the most powerful state in the world in terms of military power, economic power and political power. It is necessary now to give a brief description of the American political system before we relate it to that of Britain and contemporary world politics. America is a federal democratic system made up of three bodies known as the pillars of American politics. The three branches present in the American political sphere are the executive branch, the legislative branch and the judicial branch. The executive branch is responsible for issues such as proposing legislation, formatting a cabinet and developing internal and foreign policies. The legislative is re sponsible mainly for finalizing many of the propositions coming out of the executive branch, and therefore wields much of the power within American politics. The judicial branch is responsible for legislative issues with the power to review legislation passed and acts as a guardian over the civil rights of citizens. As similar within the Westminster system, there is a lower and upper house but this is notably where there is a large contrast between the two systems, as the American upper house holds much more significance in terms of power within the political system. As previously mentioned the political system consists of a lower and upper house, the lower house being the House of Representatives and the upper being the senate. The house of representatives is largely responsible for internal issues of legislation, budgetary issues such as allocation and foreign policy, where as the upper house, known as the senate initiates and regulates much of the what is proposed by the lower ho use, therefore acts as a balance of power within the American political sphere. The American electoral system should be mentioned in order to compare and contrast to that of Britain, although not into too much detail. Ultimately, party delegates are elected by citizens by popular vote using the voting system of proportional representation, where delegates need a majority vote to become a party delegate. The party delegates are then responsible for the procedure of presidential elections where the delegates vote for who will be the party leader to be legitimate for a presidential candidate. Through this system, it is regarded that an indirect electoral process is used in terms of the presidential elections as the average citizen is not directly responsible in terms of the determining the outcome. Once the presidential candidate is initiated it is ultimately down to the Electoral College system, a system where the people contained within it are representatives of individual states and have the final vote of determining the winner, a system not used within Britain. As for the parties themselves, there are two main predominant ones, that of the Democrats and that of the Republicans, one being left centrist (Democrats) and one being right centrist (Republicans), both arguably contrast slightly and lean in a similar direction in terms of policy implementation leading to a stable system of consistent politics within America. A final note on America contains that the fact there is a post independence written constitution as to determine how the country should be run internally, as with most established republics, also an element of American politics not present within the British system. A brief description of the British system will now be confronted in order to begin the process of comparing and contrasting the two systems as a whole. Within Britain there are three branches upon which consist of the executive branch, the legislative branch and the judiciary branch which is very similar to that of America. Within the Westminster system the executive branch is made up of ministers who run the country and are responsible for proposing legislation, developing foreign and internal policies and is headed by the Prime Minister, who chooses which ministers compose the cabinet. The legislative branch is the elected body upon which passes laws that are proposed from the executive branch, it should be mentioned that all government ministers are members of the legislative branch. Finally there is the judiciary branch upon which ensures that laws that are passed, are obeyed and has the power to review laws and works independently of the government and headed by a senior ministe r. The Supreme Court is the highest court within the political system of Great Britain. The British parliamentary system is bicameral meaning, there two chambers present, that being the lower house or the House of Commons and the upper house which is the House of Lords. The house of commons consists of 650 seats which are occupied MPs who meet daily for about half the weeks of the year, where opposition parties have a opportunity to challenge the current governments policies and general governing of the nation and the political nature is based around transparency and the public sphere. Those who make up the executive branch are those who attend the House of Commons meetings where, the majority of the time the PM and his cabinet and members of parliament will attend the proceedings, which is chaired by a speaker who monitors the meeting s and keeps order. The House of Commons is the house with the most authority within British politics. The House of Lords is the more exclusive house but does not possess the ultimate political authority and largely is based on noble tradi tion and status. It acts as a check on the governments activities and has the ability to revise legislation that has been passed through the House of Commons but essentially cannot block the will of the House of Commons. Like mentioned before, membership is exclusively reserved by the elite class or the nobles who are appointed by the queen, with advice from the government, which contrast from that of house of commons where MPs are elected into the house. Like America there two parties which have dominated politics within Britain, one being the labor party, which is traditional working class party leaning to the left and the other being the conservative party which leans towards the right, both mainly centrist with slightly differing views mostly, that of public spending reforms. The Liberal Democrats have always been influential with their presence but failed to be an overall competing power within parliament until the recent coalition with the conservatives, who are now in power. Within the electoral process itself, first past the post is the system used through most of England and Wales at the regional and local levels, where a candidate representing a certain constituent is voted on the basis that one person equals one vote, with the majority winning. The political party with the most constituents will form the government, who will take the majority of the seats within the House of Commons. The runners up form her majestys royal opposition, who will take the remaining seats within parliament. Within Scotland and Northern Ireland however, the voting system used differs from England and Wales. Scotland uses a mixed system called the additional member system, where voters usually get two votes, one for an individual candidate and one for the overall party. With Britain being a constitutional Monarchy, the queen is officially the head of state but does not wield much political power and rarely interferes within the political activity. The House of Lords would be the main involvement within her political activities through tradition, as historically the monarch would appoint House of Lord members, but as previously mentioned the House of Lords holds less authority over the House of Commons. To finish a description of the British political system it should be mentioned that, unlike America, Britain does not have a written constitution but rather a build up of traditional folk laws with modern additions to previous concepts of how the country should function in terms of the monarchy, politics and civil society in the modern contemporary era. Now to compare the two political systems which have been described, being that of the American federal republic system and Britains parliamentary system within a constitutional monarchy. Similarities are easily distinguishable whilst looking into the formation and functioning of the political systems with respect to those who function inside and out of the overall system. At first it should be noticed that the political structures contain all the same elements of an executive body, a legislative body and judiciary body, where the framework embodies that the executive branch is responsible for the proposal and development of legislation and the initiation of policy formation. The executive branches are within the lower house where in both systems, wield much political power. However it is quite clear that within the contrasting systems, the power of the lower house differs with respect to the balance of power between the upper house and lower houses. With Britain, the House of Commons is ultimately the most influential body and is not, in theory, open to checks and balances of a higher authority, as the legislative branch consists of government ministers, whom of whic h initiate legislation and policies. Within the American system although the lower house is responsible and has the power to propose such issues, the Upper house or the Senate, has the ability to initiate the proposed legislation, which is largely through the legislator finding sponsors within the Senate, which is not the case within Britain. With these checks and balances present within the US, it ensures power is spread across the political arena and power is not subjected to one body. This leaves many implications as the reasons for why these differences occur between the powers of the upper house. It could be argued in the case of Britain that the House of lords is not elected by the people or in fact, by anyone with political significance and the members themselves may lack the political experience to wield such power with interfering within politics and would act as a hindrance due their own conservative biases. With Britains political culture, represented as a stable democrac y under a hereditary power, emphasizes the irrelevance of the nobles to enter into modern day politics, with a feudal upper house system. America political culture of strong democracy and liberty is found within the context of the Senate and the House of Representatives, as both are elected in for a predetermined term in office, if all members of the upper and lower house are elected, the need for a balance of power is necessary for full representation, which is brought through the culture of democracy. This leads me to now consider the voting systems and electoral processes with respect to the nations under consideration. Very clearly both the US and the UK have constituted democracy as their political system, but there are some clear cut differences that need to be examined. First would be that of the process of electing the prime minister or in Americas case the president. Within both systems the party leadership is not determined by the civilian population but party delegates; however it could be argued that within Britain, through the first past the post system, a PM is directly elected by the people once the gene ral elections come underway, as apposed to the American Electoral College system, which determines the presidency. This has implications as to why the PM has unwieldy power of choosing their own cabinet members and has the ability to determine when elections shall be held as long as it is within five years. As they have been democratically elected by the people without hindrance within the first past the post system to represent the nation as a unitary state, it leaves no question to the conditions determined within the political process. Within the US, the Electoral College system creates the idea of an indirect process of a presidential election within civil society, where there have been cases where the winner has not even won the majority of the vote, but key state votes. With this voting system in place, it is key that the balance of power is established within the system so state representatives still have the ability t o protect the rights and interests of the civilian popula tion, who ultimately will not be completely subjected to the rule of a president, who does not represent their interests. This is prevalent in the idea of state arguably, being able to hold a form of autonomy from the central government and are able to initiate independent state laws and policies, which helps uphold the democratic political structure within the US. England does not face this problem as a unitary state due to size and devolution of the nations which constitute Great Britain, as they share similar political freedoms to that of states within America. Although there are similarities and contrasts within each system discussed, one thing is concrete, that both countries hold democratic values as political culture which goes hand in hand with the liberalist approach to world politics, which is evident how the two countries discussed throughout the essay have interacted in the contemporary age as strong allies. With the idea of international peace, the installation of democracy and strong trade orientations America and Britain have supported each other in several conquests, such as that of the Middle East where the two allies have fought with the idea of crushing terrorism and installing democracy. The two nations have never vetoed one another within issues brought forth within the UN security council and have managed to uphold good relations arguably, through the favoring political cultures upheld by political stability installed though democratic principles within both nations. Although there have been criticisms by many that Britai n is the 51st state of America, it reflects how the two countries function with respect to one another.

Analysis of Shakespeares Antony and Cleopatra Essay -- William Shakes

Analysis of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra The most influential writer in all of English literature, William Shakespeare was born in 1564 to a successful middle-class glove maker in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Shakespeare attended grammar school, but his formal education proceeded no further. In 1582 he married an older woman, Anne Hathaway, and had three children with her. Around 1590 he left his family behind and traveled to London to work as an actor and playwright. Public and critical acclaim quickly followed, and Shakespeare eventually became the most popular playwright in England and part-owner of the Globe Theater. His career bridged the reigns of Elizabeth I (ruled 1558–1603) and James I (ruled 1603–1625), and he was a favorite of both monarchs. Indeed, James granted Shakespeare’s company the greatest possible compliment by bestowing upon its members the title of King’s Men. Wealthy and renowned, Shakespeare retired to Stratford and died in 1616 at the age of fifty-two. At the time of Sha kespeare’s death, literary luminaries such as Ben Jonson hailed his works as timeless. Shakespeare’s works were collected and printed in various editions in the century following his death, and by the early eighteenth century his reputation as the greatest poet ever to write in English was well established. The unprecedented admiration garnered by his works led to a fierce curiosity about Shakespeare’s life, but the dearth of biographical information has left many details of Shakespeare’s personal history shrouded in mystery. Some people have concluded from this fact and from Shakespeare’s modest education that Shakespeare’s plays were actually written by someone else—Francis Bacon and the Earl of Oxford are the two most popular -candidates—but the support for this claim is overwhelmingly circumstantial, and the theory is not taken seriously by many scholars. In the absence of credible evidence to the contrary, Shakespeare must be viewed as the author of the thirty-seven plays and 154 sonnets that bear his name. The legacy of this body of work is immense. A number of Shakespeare’s plays seem to have transcended even the category of brilliance, becoming so influential as to affect profoundly the course of Western literature and culture ever after. Scholars believe that Shakespeare wrote Antony and Cleopatra in 1606, immediately after Macbeth, and it is o... ... of love, makes it difficult for him to â€Å"hold this visible shape† (IV.xv.14). Cleopatra’s Fleeing Ships The image of Cleopatra’s fleeing ships is presented twice in the play. Antony twice does battle with Caesar at sea, and both times his navy is betrayed by the queen’s retreat. The ships remind us of Cleopatra’s inconstancy and of the inconstancy of human character in the play. One cannot be sure of Cleopatra’s allegiance: it is uncertain whether she flees out of fear or because she realizes it would be politically savvy to align herself with Caesar. Her fleeing ships are an effective symbol of her wavering and changeability. The Asps One of the most memorable symbols in the play comes in its final moments, as Cleopatra applies deadly snakes to her skin. The asps are a prop in the queen’s final and most magnificent performance. As she lifts one snake, then another to her breast, they become her children and she a common wet nurse: â€Å"Dost thou not see my baby at my breast, / That sucks the nurse asleep?† (V.ii.300–301). The domestic nature of the image contributes to Cleopatra’s final metamorphosis, in death, into Antony’s wife. She assures him, â€Å"Husband, I come† (V.ii.278).

Race and Gender Schemas Essay

A person’s gender schema affects how they treat all other people regardless of age, race, or social position; because we assume that everyone fits into one of two categories: male or female. There are other cultures that do not have a binary gender schema, and allow people to occupy a â€Å"third position† combining traits that Americans would see as male or female. It is unfortunate that gender schemas are so restrictive and create expectations and judgments about people’s authentic selves that can damage the psyche (Valian, 208). As a way to navigate the social world, gender schemas can be important, but like schemas for race and social class, they can reinforce hierarchies that restrict a large part of the population. Below, I will talk about my own gender schema, how I view the gender schema of my society, and how it could be changed to better As media becomes an ever more powerful force in shaping the world’s perception of itself, an individual’s struggle to maintain a unique identity and self-understanding apart from media influence becomes increasingly difficult. Damaging to the idea of the self are the racial, gendered, and class-based stereotypes (always artificial and frequently physically, fiscally, and emotionally unattainable), which are broadly perpetuated and, because of their persistence, are apparently not broadly questioned. The prevalence and power of gender (especially female) stereotypes in the media are addressed in this p My own gender schema has changed radically from when I was younger. I can remember asking my mother â€Å"is that a boy or a girl? about a person whom my mother identified as a woman, but who had a very square, angular face with large eyes. Later, I learned to incorporate larger scale features (curvy hips or breasts; large shoulder-to-waist ratio) into my schema. Although I was raised as a girl and have always looked female (if not always perfectly feminine), I don’t always â€Å"act like a girl† – I am somewhat aggressive when playing sports, I’m not shy about asking questions, and I’m sometimes stoic about my emotions. This reflects my gender schema for males: â€Å"typical men† are aggressive in sports, readily ask questions, and do not express emotions. By contrast, â€Å"typical females† in my gender schema are concerned with their appearance, are not aggressive on the playing field, tend to be shy if they ask questions, usually assume that they are not in a position of authority, and express their emotions freely. My schematic representation of male and female physical features has relaxed slightly since childhood; plenty of the women I was with in high school were more angular than curvy. Even though I grew up in a fairly enlightened part of the world, men and women still used nonconformity to gender stereotypes/schemas to insult each other across group lines (women insulting men for being too female-like; men insulting women for being too male-like). Also, I was more cautious of people who did not fit my gender schema, because these schemas predict behavioral and cognitive tendencies, however unreliably. Although our society has changed significantly even in the past 30 years, gender schemas themselves are still very restrictive. It may be the case that fathers have increased their contribution to childrearing time so little because the gender schema for males still dictates that a man spend the best hours of his day at his job (TenenbaumLeaper, 616). Women are expected to conform to people’s gender schemas by liking children and being caring, sympathetic people – all qualities of good mothers. However, it is never clear that every woman you meet wants to be, or is even capable of being, a mother. Many people still retain a gender schema that does not allow for women in positions of power in the workplace. The industrialized nations’ gender schemas â€Å"support a sexist society by propagating an ideology of an innate and entirely pervasive, sex determined social structure† (Devor, 147). This is as bad for men as it is for women. For every woman passed over for promotion at work because their boss’s gender schema classifies them as a â€Å"mothering type,† unsuited for the fast-paced world of their chosen industry, there is probably a man in a high-pressure job that would like to ask for paternity leave, but doesn’t want to be belittled by â€Å"the guys. From my perspective as a woman, and as someone who has felt pressure to conform to a feminine gender schema, it seems like women get a worse deal if everyone uses the male/female gender schema in which typically-feminine behavior includes letting other people have their way, assuming you are not in a position of authority, and paying more attention to your appearance than your skill set. For gender schemas to change in society at large, gender schemas must change for children. The best way to do this is by exposing children to gender-atypical men and women in an accepting way, expanding children’s gender schemas and symbolically making it acceptable for men and women to be as â€Å"masculine† or â€Å"feminine† as they feel like. Another way to take the claws out of the American gender schema would be to legitimize between-gender roles, either by working towards acceptance of transgendered and transsexual populations or by studying the gender schemas of other cultures as a way to shift our own prejudices about what constitutes â€Å"maleness† and â€Å"femaleness. Shifting our gender schemas will allow people’s inherent strengths and weaknesses, rather than their adherence to stereotypes, to be the most important determinant of how we treat others. Heightened public awareness of both the existence of and potential damage caused by these stereotypes is essential if they are to be eliminated. Frequently, though, they are d ifficult to combat and even to identify because of the ways in which they are presented. Overwhelming amounts of time and energy are devoted to uplifting a small, specially selected portion of the population as models of physical perfection. These individuals are, predominantly, television and movie celebrities, fashion models, and sports figures. The glamorous ways in which these occupations are portrayed by the media are seemingly impossible to separate from the physical appearance of the people who hold them. The glamour that surrounds the media presentation of the lives and careers of these individuals extends, not surprisingly, to the clothes that they wear and the way that they look. In fact, so much attention is given to celebrity appearances that entire television programs are devoted to little else but visual exploitation of celebrity clothing and their tangible products of their latest fad workouts. The media presentation of the celebrity body has a single unifying thread, regardless of the specific job title of a given celebrity. Celebrity bodies are desired, both subjectively and objectively. The media, without question, shapes this public response. It can be argued (and has been, on many occasions) that, because the media portrays celebrities’ bodies as attractive, desirable, and â€Å"good,† they become national symbols of these characteristics. Conversely, bodies that do not meet this lofty goal frequently are, consciously or unconsciously, regarded as â€Å"bad† or ugly. Consider the most recent (and extremely popular) advertising tack used by Subway, the national fast food sandwich chain. Jared,† the protagonist of the recent slew of television commercials, allegedly lost hundreds of pounds while on a diet consisting primarily of the chain’s fare. Jared’s â€Å"before† pictures show him considerably larger than his current size, but they also show him alone, with no friends or family. In stark contrast, however, his â€Å"after† action shots consistently show him not only thinner, but also constantly in the presence of a beautiful woman, presumably his significant other. The advertising message is clear: fat=bad, ugly, unhappy and alone, thin=happy and with attractive partner. Through these commercials, Jared has assumed celebrity status, solely on the basis that his body has changed to approximate more closely the current standard of attractiveness. Sadly, though, there is a severe disconnect between the male and female body types lauded in the media and those of the public at large. A shockingly small minority of the population has the genetic dispensation to match with what the media purports to be attractive. For women, â€Å"desirable† physical characteristics (as they are portrayed in the media) include being thin, long-legged, slim-hipped, and large-breasted. The media-portrayed â€Å"desirable† physical characteristics for men include being muscular and possessing a full head of hair. Some characteristics are portrayed as desirable in both sexes, such as being tall, fit, athletic, young, and light-skinned. In the gap between what is implicitly beautiful in the eyes of the media and the physical reality of the popular majority flourishes a market of â€Å"self-improvement† products and services, ranging from hair dye and makeup to tanning salons, dieting, and plastic surgery. It seems as though nearly everyone, at some point in his or her life attempts to alter him- or herself in a physical way, in order to conform more closely to the marketed â€Å"norm† of attractiveness and desirability. Television, magazines, and newspapers are filled with advertisements promoting self-loathing, while offering â€Å"miracle,† body-altering â€Å"cures. † The body that does not conform to a sexy, sleek stereotype becomes a thing to be hated, improved upon, and generally tortured into submission. A portion of the damage caused by such a mentality is quantifiable, though observation of the huge profits accumulated yearly by various diet programs and plastic surgeons. The harm of this presentation of the human body can also be seen in our current societal epidemic of disordered eating, including anorexia, bulimia, over-exercising, excessive dieting, and over-anxiety over food. While the population subset living with and recovering from disordered eating is still predominately composed of women, the number of men with disordered and dangerous eating habits is on the rise. In addition to physical damage, intangible psychological harm results from body image problems to which the media contributes daily. When men and women are faced with the implication that their bodies, if they fail to conform to an impossibly stringent set of standards, are unattractive, unhealthy, and unlovable, they begin to lose confidence in themselves. The perception that a single, narrow range of body types is acceptable and healthy for men and women is not only in error, but contributes to widespread social discontent. Instead of celebrating the diversity and beauty of the human form, the media stifles our desire to feel comfortable with ourselves in an attempt to fool us into supporting a billion dollar self improvement market, from which the media garners tremendous financial benefits. In addition to (and perhaps more devastating than) the physical and emotional damage caused by the current media-driven obsession with achieving an arbitrary physical â€Å"perfection,† our society faces losing serious social perspective. As it is currently used in the media, the body is stripped of its uniqueness and forced into frustratingly narrow constraints: good/bad and attractive/unattractive. Little or no public attention is given to the countless other factors around which a person’s identity is structured: kindness, generosity, honesty, friendliness, work ethics, personal motivation, intelligence, and spirituality. By focusing too intensely on the physical, our society risks losing sight of the fuller sense of what people are, and what makes us truly beautiful. My LAP is going to talk about a personal experience that I have encountered with a family member. I have a brother who fits the schemas that we have spoke about in class. I feel that my brother has been dealing with identity issues for a long time since his childhood. How do you deal with being something that you don’t feel you are? Being in this class has me see that everything is not black and white. Schemas are just a stereo type and everyone that may be something does not always seem to be the case. Sometimes there are many reasons that people feel that they are a part of a schema it can be caught up in how people act. Many things on TV make people want to try things like being attracted to the same sex. But sometimes it can be what is going on in your environment. Sometimes I feel that I am a part of a schema I am one of the only black females at my job that is around wide variety of Reform Jews and to me I feel sometimes that I am not suppose to be there but I hold my head up high and keep my enthusiasm very high. So schemas are every day and it just does not have to be about sexuality.

Romeo: Static Character

Throughout the play we see that Romeo’s impulsive decisions land him in onerous situations. His capricious behavior is demonstrated through his rash love when he immediately moves on, without remorse or second thoughts, from Rosaline to Juliet whom he falls in love with instantly after laying eyes on her. Prior to seeing Juliet, Romeo talks about his infatuation with Rosaline, and the torment he suffers when he finds she does not love him back. Upon searching for her at the Capulet’s party, sees Juliet, when he says, â€Å"Did my heart love till now?Forswear it, sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night,† (i. V. 51). His immediate transition between lovers proves that his love for Juliet was impulsive and irrational. When Romeo hears of Juliet’s death, he says to himself, â€Å"Well Juliet, I will lie with thee tonight. Let’s see for means. † (V. i. 34). His first thought is that if Juliet is dead, he must dies too. Without co nsidering any other options or going to Friar Laurence for further details, he acts on a whim and kills himself, when in reality Juliet isn’t actually dead.These actions prove Romeo as a static character because throughout the course of the play, when his love for Juliet ignites, comes to an end, and in other situations, Romeo does not think his decisions through and acts on impulse. Romeo is in love with the idea of being in love. Instead of using his head, Romeo only defines love with his eyes and heart. When it comes to emotions, Romeo is ardent about being in love. Because he unconditionally loves many characters throughout the play, it causes major conflicts.This makes him static because during the play he always lets love, and other emotions, get in the way and never learns from his mistakes. When Tybalt wants a duel Romeo says, â€Å"To such a greeting. Villain am I none,† (III. i. 63) and backs down. After Tybalt starts to insult Romeo, Mercutio gets in between them and is then killed by Tybalt. â€Å"Now, Tybalt, take the ‘villain’ back again that late thou gav’st me; for Mercutio’s soul,† (III. i. 125) Romeo bellows before he stabs Tybalt.Because Romeo loves his friend, he lets his emotions take over and without thinking through his actions, carries them out no matter the consequences. To further prove that this is a static behavior, when Romeo goes to see the Friar and tells him about his love for Juliet the Friar says, â€Å"Women may fall, when there’s no strength in men. † (II. iii. 76) By this the Friar means that *women can be excused for being weak, since mean are not stronger. * This has happened to Romeo many times, and this makes him weak and irresponsible when it comes to love.

Religion or Cult essays

Religion or Cult essays When Does a Religion Become a Cult? When Does a Cult Become a Religion? I think that religion and cults are closely related. However, there can be many noticeable differences. In order for a religion to become a cult, it needs to develop into a negative form of expression. Cults are often damaging to a person and any people that are close to them. In order for a cult to become a religion, it needs to develop into a positive form of expression. This cult to religion change is dependent on the amount of people that follow it, the respect that it gets from others, and the results of following it. In order for a religion to become a cult, it needs to have a negative impact on its followers. Many times, people who are having trouble with their own lives will turn to religion or cults in order to find themselves. Many times these people will follow a new religion, and as time goes on, more and more of these people will join a certain religion. If the religion doesnt satisfy their needs, then they will break away and form their own religion, which ends up becoming a cult. These cults have a negative effect on the people that follow it. They feel that the other religions are not realistic or valid, and they try to turn others toward their new-formed cult. When others see that the cult members are out of the norm of the society, they form a negative opinion about them. This negative feeling toward the cult is what causes a religion to become a cult. In order for a cult to become a religion, it needs to have a positive effect on its followers. The people who are in this cult need to get others to have a good opinion of it. Also, they need to form a large following in order to show that their cult is widely accepted in the society. The cult has to be something that doesnt show signs of being a fad. If a cult is something that only reflects the beliefs of a society at that time, an ...