Dealing with Suffering and Loss

Suffering and loss is a regular situation in the human life cycle, it is vital to learn how to deal with it so that it doesn’t affect the rest of our lives negatively. In Scott Russell Sanders’s Ten Reasons Why We’ll Always Need a Good Story he explains that one of the reasons is to help us deal and become aware of suffering, loss, and death. During our youth we often don’t consider the end of the life cycle.However, in life we will always encounter grieving from a loved one’s death. The first time we experience some sort of grieving it may be very hard to handle and may cause depression. Stories help us prepare for moments of suffering, loss, and death with fictional experiences which show us how to deal with these unfortunate events. In the three short stories we read at least one character in each story is forced to deal with suffering, loss, or death.In the short story Bluffing by Gail Helgason, Liam has an unfortunate accident and experiences p hysical pain as well as the emotional pain of his deteriorating relationship with Gabriella. In Two Words by Isabel Allende, Belisa Crepusculario is devastated by the death of her entire family due to their impoverished lifestyle and the love between her and the Colonel causes them to miss each other. In The Indisputable Weight of the Ocean by Darryl Berger, Edmund deals with not being able to see his father and deals with the suffering of moving to a suburban area.First of all, breaking up with your partner can cause heavy depression to some people and it makes us feel like we’ve lost someone important in our lives, also enduring a large amount of physical pain causes us to more careful to avoid feeling anything like that again. In Bluffing we do not get to witness how Gabriella and Liam’s relationship continues, however, the author leaves us to infer that the relationship is coming to an end. We are also left to infer how they both feel after they breakup.Gabriella f eels that Liam is not committed to the relationship after he broke the news to her that he would be leaving to go on a hiking trip for three months. When Gabriella stormed off into the woods it becomes clear that she is ending the relationship, however, the accident that happened to Liam just after she stormed off made it hard for her to leave him because of his condition, it would make her seem superficial because Liam would think she is breaking up with him because he looks worse: â€Å"She knows in her bones that she can manage this way, for the rest of the rest of the afternoon, at least† (Helgason 7).Another example of suffering and loss in Bluffing is when Liam is unfortunately attacked by a grizzly and receives many injuries to his body and also to his face. Liam has to suffer with this immense amount of physical pain. Liam’s confidence may also be lower due to his â€Å"puffed up [skin], mottled, with ridges of shiny, rubbery scar tissue†(Helgason 7) whi ch may cause depression because he doesn’t want anyone to see him the way his is now, looking worse than before. We cannot allow breaking up with our partner or physical pain to affect us negatively for too long because these are both natural incidents of human life.Second of all, dealing with the death of a loved one is often the most amount of emotional pain someone can experience in a lifetime, also not knowing if you will ever see a loved one can also cause depression. In the short story Two Words Belisa Crepusculario lives an impoverished lifestyle where her â€Å"family is so poor they did not even have names to give their children†¦and [she] grew up in an inhospitable land† (Allende 1) making it hard for the Crepusculario family to survive.Tragically, Belisa had to bury four younger brothers and sisters. This is most likely the most horrifying incident Belisa will experience in her life time and what made it worse is that they were all very young. Surely, B elisa did a lot of grieving but she overcame her emotional pain and set out on a journey for a positive life. She became widely popular and respected across the country even catching the attention of the Colonel for her incredible skill with words. She enjoys her profession and the new life she has begun.This story of Belisa’s misfortune is a great lesson of human life because we cannot allow the grieving of a loved one’s death to control the rest of our lives, the same way Belisa beats the odds and begins a positive life: â€Å"There were few occupations she was qualified for. It seemed that selling words would be an honourable alternative† (Allende 3). The next example of suffering and loss in Two Words is when Belisa tells the colonel the secret words and they control his mind at an important point in his career: â€Å"Those two words that were buried like two daggers in his gut† (Allende 7).This shows loss because the Colonel is unable to think straig ht because of his love for Belisa after she tells him the two words. He doesn’t know if he will ever see her again and he is constantly worried about that. This shows us how not being able to see someone you love can affect you negatively. In two words Belisa’s grieving of her siblings and the love between Belisa and the Colonel are two examples that show us how to deal with suffering and loss.Not being able to see a family member or friend is similar to losing someone, however, we still have hope that we will one day meet them again, and being forced to change your lifestyle can cause suffering. In The Indisputable Weight of the Ocean a â€Å"little gentleman† by the name of Edmund Kelley has a father who is a mystery to him. The author explains, â€Å"For as long as he could remember, it had just been the two of them† (Berger 1). Since Edmund is an incredibly intelligent ten year old he has surely wondered if his father is actually just away for work fo r so many years.His father being away for so long makes Edmund feel as though he has lost him, however, he still has hope that one day his father will return, therefore he does not grieve like he would if he found out that his father is dead. The next example of suffering in the short story is not between two or more humans, it is between Edmund and his changing life. To Edmunds disappointment he and his mom have to leave their isolated lives on the acreage and move to a more populated suburban area.Since Edmund is anti-social towards children his own age it is hard for him to be around them all the time: â€Å"Edmund did not have much use for other children. The only time he saw any was when they went into town for groceries, and what he saw he did not like† (Berger 1). Edmund notices that his mother is only searching for a better life for the both of them: â€Å"Edmund was not without consideration for his mom. And because he did not want to be an extra burden on her, he t ried to cope with his new situation† (Berger 2). He tried his hardest to never complain about the suffering he is going through.In these two examples from this short story we learn how to deal with not being able to see a loved one and not knowing when or if you will see them again, and we learn how to cope with new situations that often occur in one’s life. Overall, some of the characters in the three short stories all have to face suffering and/or loss in a variety of ways. All the different situations teach us how to deal with these real life experiences so that suffering and loss doesn’t affect the rest of our lives negatively. We learn how to deal with a deteriorating relationship and physical pain from accidents.We also learn how to deal with the emotional pain of a deceased loved one and not knowing if you will ever see someone you fell in love with. The last two situations we learn how to deal with are, not being able to see a family member for a long tim e and the suffering of changing your lifestyle or where you live. Instead of learning from our own mistakes like we are always told to do when we’re growing up, stories allow us to never make those mistakes ourselves, but learn from the mistakes that the characters have made.

Discuss the meaning of justice Essay

Critically analyse the extent to which the law is successful in achieving justice, and discuss the difficulties which is faces in seeking to do so. (30 marks + 5 AO3) Justice is central to our law. Most would agree the law should be just, but justice is not easy to define. The concept has been studied by many philosophers all of whom have their own theories of what a just society should be. Aristotle, a Greek philosopher, was born 384 years before Christ (BC). He separated justice into two parts – distributive justice and corrective justice. Distributive justice is concerned with the fair distribution of society’s wealth. He went onto say that this wealth should be spread according to merit and an individual’s contributions into society. So this system relies on giving to those who have contributed in some way rather than to those who are needy. Aristotle said that distribution on the basis of people needs merely rewards the lazy and so would be unjust. Correctiv e justice he said, is needed to ensure that individuals can keep their entitlements. He believed that if someone is to steal from another the court should ensure that the offender does not gain and the victim does not lose out. This idea can still be seen in areas of law such as compensatory damages for negligence. Aristotle also had other controversial views. He believed that people where either suited by nature to be slaves or masters and this was seen by a matter of fit. He thought that children who were born into families of slaves were suited to carry out that role. Aristotle also believed that women where inferior to men as they are ‘colder’ and lack the ability to produce semen and so he viewed them as ‘infertile men’. He went onto say that women belong in the home and should be ruled by men who were superior. Our law today prohibits discrimination on grounds of sex so these ideas are no longer acceptable to us. Thomas Aquinas, born in 1225, was a theologian who also believed in distributive justice, but said that our society’s wealth should not be distributed just by merit, but also by rank and need – he stressed our moral obligation to look after the poor. Read more:  Justice Denied is Justice Delayed Essay Karl Marx, born in 1818, is widely regarded as the founder of communism. Marx developed a very different model of distributive justice which can be understood from his words ‘from each according to his ability, to each according to his need’. This requires that each should maximise their contribution to society by exercising full use of their abilities and secondly, each should receive in accordance with  need, regardless of what they have contributed. But if people are automatically given what they need, will they be motivated to work hard? Not only this, but how do we accurately determine what someone needs? Bentham, widely known for his development of the utilitarian approach to justice, said that maximising happiness is the object of justice. Utilitarianism is based on the doctrine that all actions should be judged in terms of their utility in promoting the greatest happiness for the largest number of people. John Stuart Mill, a 19th century liberal supported Benth am in his work of utilitarianism. He said that actions are right ‘in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness’. But unlike Bentham, Mill concentrated on the quality of happiness rather than merely the quantity of people who are happy. He also went onto say that justice ‘includes respect for people, for property and for rights, as well as the need for good faith and impartiality’. But the concept of utilitarianism can be heavily criticised. The greater good will not benefit the minority groups and ignores the feelings of individuals, as satisfying those needs may sacrifice happiness for the greater good. Under utilitarianism, torturing one person, even if it turns out that the person is not to blame, as an attempt to save the lives of others is considered to be just which some would consider morally wrong. So the expense of one innocent person or a minority group would justify the happiness of a greater number. John Rawls (1921-2002) was a professor of political philosophy at Harvard and set out in his book ‘Theory of Justice’ the concept of social justice. Rawls said that a just society is one in which rational people would choose to live if covered by a ‘veil of ignorance’. This meant without any bias towards their own situation i.e. their wealth, age, social class, gender, health intelligence and every aspect of their life. He said there are two basic principles of justice that would be chosen under these circumstances. Firstly, the principle of liberty, i.e. the maximum possible liberty for all. And secondly the principle of difference which says that goods should be distributed equally except where unequal distribution benefits those who are least advantaged. He also said they would choose equality of opportunities for social advancement which differs from Aristotle’s idea of people being born into or fitted to certain roles. Robert Nozick was a Harvard colleague of Rawls and developed an entitlement  theory of justice which had three elements. 1) A principle of justice in acquisition, dealing with how property is initially acquired. 2) A principle of justice in transfer, dealing with how a property can change hands. 3) A principle of rectif ication of injustice, dealing with injustices arising from the acquisition or transfer of property under then two principles above. This third principle, he said, would not be required if the world was entirely just. He said that where a person gains property in accordance with the principles of acquisition and transfer, they are therefore entitled to keep the property. But where people gain property due to wrong doing i.e. fraud or theft the third principle provides a remedy. Nozick’s ideas are consistent with right wing conservatism, but are diametrically opposed to the ideas of Marx. The term law can be defined as ‘the principles and regulations established in a community by some authority and applicable to its people, whether in the form of legislation or of custom of the police, recognized and enforced by judicial decision’. Justice on the other hand is not as easy to define as we have discovered people have very different views of what a just society is, but I think we would all agree that the law should attempt to achieve justice as best it can. This view was expressed strongly by Lord Denning who said that law should always strive to achieve justice. He said that ‘the proper role of the judge is to do justice between the parties before him. If there is any rule of law which impairs the doing of justice, then it is the province of the judge to do all he legitimately can to avoid the rule or even change it so as to do justice’. But others views are slightly more restrictive. For example Sir Robert Megarry had said that it is the judge’s role to administer justice ‘according to the law’. But we have seen this will not always give a just result. Emily Andrews had told the police that she was repeatedly raped by her husband, but later withdrew the accusation because of great family pressure. She was then jailed for 8 months for perverting the course of justice and her guilty husband was able to walk free. After spending 18 days in prison her prison sentence was finally overturned by Lord Judge. She is now struggling to gain custody of her four young children. Lord Judge said ‘this is an exceptional case and we hope that it will be very exceptional for cases of this kind to be prosecuted to conviction in the Crown Courts’. So it seems as if Lord Judge was saying she should not have been prosecuted, but it would have been  a very bold person to not have imposed charges because the law is very clear. So this example clearly shows that justice cannot always be achieved by following the law. Justice is often sub divided into procedural and substantive justice. Procedural justice refers to the idea of fairness in the processes of legal proceedings, whereas substantive justice is justice in the content of the law. One aspect of procedural justice is natural justice which has two basic principles. The first is the rules against bias (nemo iudex in causa sua). In the case of Rv Bingham Exparte Jowitt the defendant was on trial for a speeding offence, and his evidence was contradictory with that of the police officer’s. The magistrate said ‘my principle in such cases has always been to believe the evidence of the police officer’. This shows bias, and so it was not considered to be a fair trial – judges must be impartial. It was said by Lord Denning in Metropolitan Properties Ltd v Lannon that ‘justice must be rooted in confidence, and confidence is destroyed when right-minded people go away thinking: the judge was biased’. It also means that where a decision maker i.e. a judge has a connection with a part y or a witness they should stand down. In Re Pinochet Lord Hoffman should have done just that. Amnesty international gave evidence against Pinochet. Lord Hoffman was a non-executive direct of Amnesty so he had an undeclared link to the case. There had to be a second rehearing so justice was seen to be done. The second basic principle of natural law is the right to a fair hearing – the right to be heard (audi alteram partem). Both parties’ cases must always be put forward. This is illustrated in the case Re A where it involved a decision whether conjoined twins should be separated which would end the life of the weaker twin. Although the twins could not speak for themselves, both were represented at the trial. It also includes that a person should be given adequate prior notice of charges or allegations and a reasonable opportunity to put together his or her case. In R v Thames Magistrates’ Court ex parte Polemis a sea captain was not given adequate time to prepare his evidence for the case. He received his summons at 10.30am and the trial was heard that day at 4pm. Another difficulty in achieving justice is m oney. Although the legal aid budget is  £2 billion, legal aid was already very restrictive in civil cases. It is not available for personal injury cases so they usually run on a no win – no fee basis which means that  solicitors will only accept cases that they think are very likely to win. This means that a lot of personal injury cases will go unheard because of lacking representation. Not only this, but the current legal aid bill makes very severe cuts to legal aid.  £350 million will be cut from family and civil cases which will impact on the poorest in our society like those who are on benefits. Also legal aid will no longer be available for debt advice, benefit advice or housing. This means that more people will be forced to represent themselves at trial which will make trials much longer and less efficient therefore ultimately more expensive. It has also been proposed that legal aid is removed from medical negligence. This means that again, people will have to rely on a no win – no fee basis. So a lot of cases won’t reach court as solicitors will only take on cases that have a very high chance of winning. As a result of this, badly injured people will remain uncompensated. It is also important that rules of evidence are strictly followed to ensure that justice is served. After there has been a crime, especially if it is a high profile case, there is often a lot of pressure on the police to secure a conviction. This pressure may sometimes lead to unlawful behaviour in the way evidence is obtained. An example of this can be seen from the case of Paul Blackburn who was charged with the attempted murder and sexual assault of a nine year old boy at the age of 15. Paul Blackburn served his 25 year sentence and not until 2 years after he was released was it found that he was actually wrongfully convicted. The entire case against Blackburn rested on a confession he had handwritten, after more than four hours of intense interrogation. He finally gave into the two detectives and wrote a statement which was, he says, effectively dictated to him by the detectives. He said ‘they even helped me spell the words I didn’t know. My writing was quite basic at the time’. At the appeal in 2005 the three appeal judges heard expert testimony which questioned how a 15 year old, poor educated boy could have written a document which was punctuated and included technical terms, all of which spelt correctly. So it wasn’t until the 25th of May 2005, 28 years after the conviction that Paul Blackburn was finally acquitted. Some may argue that now Blackburn has been found to be not guilty at appeal, justice has finally been served. But 25 years of imprisonment down the line, not to mention the actual criminal walking free, can we really say justice has been served? Paul Blackburn is  now described as ‘an emotionally shattered man’. Another difficulty in achieving justice is unreliable expert evidence. When someone is up at the stand and introduces themselves as for example Professor Sir Roy Meadows a member of the general medical council the jury are likely to believe what they say. So in some way it must be checked upon that this evidence is reliable before it sways the decision of a jury in a serious criminal trial. An example of how unreliable expert evidence can affect a trial can be seen from the case of Sally Clark. Sally Clark was convicted for the murder of her two sons in 1999 and sentenced to life imprisonment even though she insisted it was caused by cot death. After spending more than 3 years in prison she was released in January 2003 after expert evidence given at the trial by Professor Sir Roy Meadow, a paediatrician, was discredited. During the trial he had said that the chance of having two cot-deaths in one family was 1 in 73 million, which undoubtedly and understandably lead the jury to convict. This evidence given by Sir Roy Meadow also lead to the conviction of Angela Canning who was sentenced to life imprisonment in April 2002 for the murder of her two children which she insisted was caused by cot death. He had said that one cot death in a family was unfortunate, two was suspicious and three was murder. After 20 months in prison Canning was released in December 2003. Her case was re-opened after an investigation found three previous cot deaths in the family, suggesting a genetic cause. After investigation it was actually found that Sir Roy Meadow’s evidence had no statistical basis and ‘grossly misinterpreted the chance of two sudden deaths with in a family’ so Sally Clark and Angela Canning’s convictions were overturned. These two cases show the power and the effects of expert evidence given at a trial. I think that it is important for future cases that expert evidence is checked upon for its reliability to prevent more horrific miscarriages of justice like the cases of Angela Canning and Sally Clark. And in fact the Law Commission want to do just that. Their report in 2009: ‘The Admissibility of Expert Evidence in Criminal Proceedings in England and Wales’ said that expert evidence’s reliability should be assessed by the trial judges, their recent report published in 2011: ‘Expert Evidence in Criminal Proceedings’ makes recommendations to the original in light of the comments they have received. The repo rt proposes that there should be special statutory admissibility test for expert opinion evidence. However the courts will only apply the test if it appears that the evidence might be insufficiently reliable to be admitted. They also said that there should be a single list of criteria to help the trial judges apply the test. And finally that the party seeking to rely on the expert evidence should bear the burden of proof in demonstrating its reliability, even if that party is the accused. These proposals where agreed in February 2011 and I think would ensure a much fairer law on the admissibility of expert evidence and will help us to achieve justice in future criminal cases. Corrective justice is an aspect of procedural justice which involves rectifying mistakes. One way in which mistakes can be rectified in our law can be seen from our appeal system. Originally in our appeal system, a retrial was not permitted if the defendant was acquitted but the appeal system has now broadened and gives the prosecution a right of appeal against an acquittal if there is ‘new and compelli ng evidence’: Criminal Justice Act 2003 (part 10). For example in Rv Dunlop the defendant confessed to a police officer that he had murdered Julie Hogg in 1991 but as he had already been acquitted in 1989 so no further action could be taken. This meant that in 2006 Dunlop was retried and was convicted of murder. Another way in which our law seeks to ‘correct’ justice can be seen from the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) which was set up in March 1997 by the Criminal Appeal Act 1995. It is an independent and impartial body that reviews the convictions of people who have been found, they think, wrongfully convicted or harshly sentenced and refers the appropriate cases to the appeal courts. The CCRC have had over 1,300 applications, 320 of which have been re-heard and the convictions quashed. An example of such is Rv Andrew Adams. The defendant was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment on the 18th of May 1993. The defendants appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal Criminal Division in January 1998. The CCRC referred the case to the courts in 2005 on the basis that there was incompetent defence representation, material non-disclosure by the prosecution, errors in the summing-up and that the jury had received inadmissible evidence concerning the appellant’s bad character. An appeal was granted and at the trial, finally, after spending 14 years in prison, on the 12th of January 2007 the defendant’s conviction of murder was quashed. It could argued that because Andrews was convicted of murder and spent 14 years in prison, justice was not fully achieved for him. But at least  because of the CCRC he is now a free and proven to be innocent man. I do think that the CCRC do well to help us achieve justice in our society, but there are mixed opi nions about the body. It has been found that every year the CCRC reject 97% of applications from individuals who claim they have been wrongfully convicted. Professor Michael Zander a member of the Runciman Royal Commission which recommended the setting of the body after cases the Birmingham Six, Guilford 4 and Maguire Seven, all of whom were wrongfully convicted. Zander believes that the CCRC need to use a little known power to refer cases to the court of appeal even when no new evidence has been uncovered, if there is serious doubt about the conviction. ‘They could use this power more’ says Zander. He also went onto say that ‘innocent people are in the greatest difficulties once they have been convicted. It is not always the case that something new can be found, even with the best will in the world and all the investigations that can be mustered’. He has also criticised the body for its overreliance on paper analysis of evidence and for not actually visiting the individuals in prison which is something that the Royal Commission had recommended. Also the body will only refer cases where they think there is a â €˜real possibility’ that the conviction will be overturned on referral to the court of appeal. But many have said that this is too restrictively interpreted by the CCRC. 45 cases listed by campaigners as having ‘plausible claims’ of innocence have been turned down by the body. So although the CCRC have been successful in overturning the convictions of some innocent people, there is still a long way to go. Just 3% of applications to the body are referred to the appeal court. So although the body is succeeding to help a small number of people who have been wrongfully convicted, which of course should be commended, there may still be a large of number of those who are not guilty whose cases are bit referred. Substantive justice is justice in the content of the law. Does the way we set out our law achieve justice as best it can? The law of murder is regularly criticised for being unjust as you can be guilty of murder with intending to kill or surprisingly, intending to cause serious harm, without knowing any risk of death (Vickers), both of course receiving the mandat ory life sentence. It seems unjust and extremely unfair, that a man who only intends serious harm and a man who sets out to kill are put in the same category of crime and both receive the same mandatory life sentence. In 2006  the Law Commission proposed that murder should be sub-divided into two categories. The first would be called ‘first degree murder’ and would cover defendants who intended to kill. And the second category would be called ‘second degree murder’ which would cover defendants who intended serious harm but were not aware there was a risk of death. By separating the offence, only defendants convicted of first degree murder would receive the mandatory life sentence and second degree murder would allow the judge discretion in sentencing. I think these proposals ensure a fairer law on murder and would help justice to be achieved. To conclude, I don’t think that anyone could say honestly, that we have a legal system that ensures that justice is always achieved, however much we aim to promote it. But I don’t actually believe that a law can ever be drafted that ensures justice for every individual. Even now, when wrongfully convicted people like the Birmingham Six, Paul Blackburn, Sally Clark and Angela Canning walk free, their lives are changed forever always hindered by the effects of a convicted of murder, justice doesn’t quite seem to be the word. It may be possible that someone is able to create a legal system that they believe will always achieve justice, but as we have seen people have very different ideas of a just society, so it is impossible that everybody’s needs are met. For our legal system to achieve justice, all members of that system have to be fair, unprejudiced and free from corruption, which we have seen is not always the case. The detectives who questioned Paul Blackburn, then a 15-year-old boy for over 4 hours and forced a conviction out of him, dictating the words for him to write in his statement were most definitely not fair. How can we ensure that every single person who in some way affects the course of justice is impartial, unbiased and honest? How can we ensure that a judge, an influential and important part of any trial is fair and non-discriminatory? Former Law Lord Tom Bingham said that perfect justice is an unattainable ideal. He said ‘a time is unlikely to come when anyone will ever be able to say that perfect fairness has been achieved once and for all, and in retrospect most legal systems operating today will be judged to be defect not yet recognized’. Unfortunately I think that these realistic words run true and although we can do everything possible to strive to achieve a just society, it will only ever be an unattainable ideal.

Kara Walker: Artist

Considered one of the respectable and influential contemporary fine artists in United States in this generation, Kara Walker revives historical events.   Her intelligent artworks, which are mostly monochromatic, silhouette in style, suggest tragic sceneries believably happen during antebellum period in the South where sectionalism, racial discrimination, sexism and gender inequality occurred.The Life and Biography of Kara WalkerKara Walker was born on November 26, 1969 in Stockton, California.   She was a member of a black family.   Although she admitted that it was her family who convinced her to show and enhance her own artistic intelligence and talent, she remembers that at a very young age of 2 ½ or 3 years old, she already has the conviction to follow the footsteps of his educated artist father Larry Walker, as she was watching him drawing while sitting on his lap.   Kara Walker received her Bachelor of Fine Arts majoring in Painting and Printmaking at Atlanta College of Art in 1991 and her Masters in Fine Arts at Rhode Island School of Design which she also majors in Painting and Printmaking in 1994.   Currently, she is a member of the faculty in Columbia University where she works as a professor of an MFA program and teaches visual arts.Aside from her numerous art exhibitions, Kara Walker received recognitions as part of her achievements which includes her genius award of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in 1997 wherein the record shows that she is the youngest recipient of the said genius grant at the age of 27; her representation in Sao Paolo Biennial in Brazil in 2002; and this year’s inclusion of her name as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World – Entertainment and Artists in Times Magazine.Works and MasterpiecesUnlike other artists who commonly express their feelings, or wander and explore the beauty of life, or transcends the limitation of artistry to go beyond the thin line of natural charac terization and fictional imagery, Kara Walker chose to make focus on the heartbreaking and controversial historical folklore of African American people during pre-American Civil War as her only subject matter, which anyone could speculate her work that has unconsciously come in series.   She is famous for her signature medium, and that is using caricatures or cut-paper silhouette life-sized images adhesively displayed and installed mostly on an entire white-painted wall creating a panoramic nostalgia of her topic.Kara Walker put on view to the public her first ever large masterpiece of a 50 feet long and 13 feet high mural which she called Gone, An Historical Romance of a Civil War as It Occurred Between the Dusky Thighs of One Young Negress and Her Heart, in 1994.   After the first hit, she then experimented to have a narrative vignette and a cyclorama.   Her first cyclorama in 1997 entitled Slavery! Slavery! was a 12 feet high and 85 feet long in a 360-degree installation. Also you can read Rhetorical Devices in Night Walker by Brent StaplesEnhancement of her medium is technically improved as she explores different techniques and procedures in her artworks to make them more artistic, attractive, and more pleasurable to the eyes of her audience.   This includes the use of light projections.   The Darkytown Rebellion in 2001, which is a 14 feet high and 37 feet long mural using life-sized black paper cut-outs and overhead light projectors of different colors, demonstrates the involvement of the viewers in the mural as their shadows cast with the characters glued in the wall.   In her latest experimentation, she challenges herself to animate her silhouette black paper cut-out images and make them move with the help of 16mm film, plywood trees, dimensions variable and sounds.   Her success in this stroke is another breakthrough, and the animation project is exhibited in 2004, which she gave the title Testimony: Narrative of a Negress Burdened by Go od Intentions.Although Kara Walker is well-known for having her own style of using silhouette cut-outs, she is also fond of drawing and painting, as this is what she mastered in the University.   One of her colorful painting is entitled Allegory.   This painting is finished in 1996, using the gouache and watercolor on 5.3 feet high and 4.3 feet wide paper.Kara Walker has also a series of drawings with a story behind it.   The one is called Do You Like Creme in Your Coffee and Chocolate in Your Milk?, a 64 pages of paper using watercolor, colored pencil, and graphite.   This is a series of dramatic narration and representation about the emotions and struggles of an artist like her from public views, opinions, and critiques.Another artwork that she created is the large-scale wall text.   The most famous one in 1998 is called Letter from a Black Girl, a collage of typewritten text in 30 index cards, artistically set up as a life-sized mural.ThemesWhile Kara Walker is fascinat ed using the unconventional medium which transcends in different level of artwork, she inculcates the same subject matter of American Pre-Civil War Antebellum South.   Having combining the topics of slavery, violence and sex, drawn from cultural influences that include folklore, cartoons, movies, black memorabilia, Harlequin romance novels and slave narratives, she then come up all those themes in five major categories.   These are racial representation; desire, pleasure and shame; historical agreement between fact, fantasy and fiction; descriptive storytelling or narrative; and humor.R E F E R E N C E SKara Walker: My Complement, My Enemy, My Oppressor, My Love. 2005. The Art ofKara Walker: A Companion to the Exhibit. 13 Sept. 2007.Kara Walker: The Collection. The Broad Art Froundation. 23 Sept. 2007.Kara Walker. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 23 Sept. 2007. Sterling, Kristin. Visual Arts' Kara Walker Recreates Scenes from Antebellum SouthThrough Life Sized Silhouettes. 2003 . Columbia News: The Public Affairs andRecord Home Page. 23 Sept. 2007.

Al-Qaeda Network Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Al-Qaeda Network - Term Paper Example According to President George Bush, the Islamic terrorists ‘hate us because of our freedoms.’ This, of course, is faulty, simplistic reasoning much the same as the logic he used to promote his ‘Global War on Terrorism’ which has served only to increase terrorist attacks. This discussion examines the question of why al-Qaeda attacked on 9-11, reasons which should have been understood prior to waging war against this organization or as an excuse to invade a sovereign country that had no ties to this action. Top leaders of the Al-Qaeda network were identified as Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahri who was killed in a U.S. air strike on June 7, 2006. Al-Qaeda’s attempt to cause massive destruction would serve all the traditional purposes of terrorism: symbolism, propaganda and psychological impact, irrespective of the failure or success of the mission. There’s a faulty premise in the current strategy on the war on terrorism, that suicide terrorism and Al Qaeda suicide terrorism in particular is mainly driven by an evil ideology, Islamic fundamentalism, independent of other circumstances. However, the facts are that since 1980, of the suicide terrorist attacks around the world over half have been secular. What over 95 percent of suicide attacks around the world are about is not religion, but a specific strategic purpose – to compel modern democracies to withdraw military forces from the territory that the terrorists view as their homeland or prize greatly. This is in fact a centerpiece of Al Qaeda’s strategic logic, which is to compel the United States and Western countries to abandon military commitments on the Arabian Peninsula. Suicide terrorists are not mainly depressed, lonely individuals on the margins of society. University of Chicago’s Professor Richard Pape studied 462 suicide terrorists from around the world since 1980 (cited in O’Brien, 2005).

Aung San Suu Kyi, The Voice of Hope, rev. upd. Ed, 2008 Research Paper

Aung San Suu Kyi, The Voice of Hope, rev. upd. Ed, 2008 - Research Paper Example In the book, we learn of Suu Kyi’s wishes to bring lasting peace to the ethnic minorities who have been fighting for independence through the years. The thoughts and actions of the fifty million civilians of Burma is under the control of a government that wishes to extend its powers over the powerless people. In this book, we see the visions of an unshakable Suu Kyi who hopes and fights for a democratic Burma, holding on to the Buddhist concepts of faith and metta (loving kindness) strongly. We also see the strong connection between Buddhism and politics in Burma, which lays the foundation of true democracy. The author has aimed at unraveling the deepest thoughts of Suu Kyi with a series of questions, enabling us to understand the source f her strength, optimism and continued willingness to fight for the rights of her people even at the cost of having to lose all joys and the people she loved. In the course of discovering Suu Kyi’s ideas to bring about the revolution in her land, we see that Suu Kyi is an individual that cannot be stopped or shaken by the powers of weaponry or authority and that her life encompasses love for humanity. The central theme of the book lies in understanding the fight for freedom and Suu Kyi’s commitment to bring about that change with her invincible power of non violence. The chapters in the book, such as ‘Truth is a powerful weapon’ and ‘I never learned to hate my captors’, come from Buddhist beliefs, showing the struggle faced by the civilians of Burma, the brutality that they are subject to and their strong belief i n the theories and teachings of Buddhism. The book clearly shows the strength that lies in the people who believe in non violence, their ability to laugh through the most painful and tortured years of struggle and their tenacity. The replies given by Suu Kyi

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 135

Summary - Essay Example There were so many restrictions in that Africans had limited movements and could only access limited areas of the states. By 1877, reconstruction was no more because Africans had been separated and thus were considered second-class citizens. These were some of the things that the author explains that had influenced Africans to fight for their positions. During the 1920s, there were lots of negative socio-political perceptions about the blacks. This was readily evident when blacks were stripped off their rights to access medical rights among others after the First World War. They had a rough time fighting for equality and good treatment which however, increased the cultural and social drift. The continuous fight depicts education as an important tool which can shape leadership skills (Lewis, 1987). For instance, W.E.B. Du Bois used such skills in fighting against racism. He supported Pan Africanism since it was in favor of African ideologies in terms of culture, language and ethnicity. Racial and political equality was a major concern by most African Americans. Even though some radical American whites considered it a myth, a good number of them ganged up to help in the fight for equal rights. Washington’s philosophy was a major contributor to African oppression. For this reason, Africans had to rely on paternalism in which the Southern whites offered symphathy. All in all, they had to accept the oppression and admit the superiority of whites. The Africans, while in the south took education seriously, began to save money and made investments. This was the only means through which they could get their equal rights and identity. Even while trying to popularize the African culture, some key aspects must have been forgotten especially the stereotype associated with â€Å"tap dancing Negro† (Lewis, 1987). This was something that most visual artists like Stuart Davies embraced all along. However, African elites considered such a move to be a racial joke since it

Choose one a particular subject from the book Essay

Choose one a particular subject from the book - Essay Example The book was written by Linda Diebel who is known for working in order to uncover the human right abuses that are covered by a glossy lie which sabotage the democracy and the freedom. Investigation in the book is linked with a great historical event which was assassination of a great and internationally well known human rights lawyer Digna Ochoa during the year 2001. Book starts with an extensive survey of the political landscape of Mexico which unfolds the upsetting development of death squads which are based in a Canadian tourist destination. The inquiry which was linked with Ochoa’s murder is a very important controversy in the history of human rights and people protecting human rights. Her murder which on the surface was declared a suicide was an obsession for Diebel who knew Digna Ochoa. They were together for about seven years while they were working in Star’s Mexico City bureau. The said book narrates about all the horror and mysterious stories which came out of Central America’s history in. There is a suspicion drawn by Diebel towards government authorities linked with asking too many questions which are an integral part of history. Diebel talks about all the important historical events linked with Ochoa’s death where she herself was present and she recorded the events first hand. Digna Ochoa was demanded dead, on 19th October 2001, she was found shot twice, once in the thigh and once in the head at the office on Mexico City’s Zacatecas street which was located in the rundown Colonia Roma neighborhood. People who were close to Ochoa were not that surprised when they got to know about her sudden death as they were well aware of her practice of law which was extremely risky. She was a scorching and minuscule ex nun who was a pain for the political establishments for several years along with the Mexican army. She had a strong say on the court and was an integral character in the arena of international human rights. She wa s associated with many human rights campaigns on behalf of the accused Zapatistas who were ill treated and tortured by the Mexican army and other cruel clients. Ochoa was an Indian descent and she has a special feel for the Mexico’s indigenous poor and she was an important and crucial character in the cases that were challenging and against the nation’s new post NAFTA economy along with all the impact it was having on the poorest classes negatively (Diebel, n. p.) One week before her murder, Ochoa was in the rugged hill country of Guerrero which was beneath the brooding peaks of the Sierra Madre where she met peasant activists working for the organization of peasant ecologist of the Sierra Petatlan. It talks about the fact how all these people were locked in life and death struggle with the politicians and also the American logging companies. The book clearly reveals how the peasants wanted to stop the forest clearing which was covering the Sierra forest which was extr emely profitable and important for the powerful and the rich class as the trees disappeared throughout the mountain road but it was extremely important peasant ecologists as it was like a life sustaining base for them. Many group members were already arrested on various charges along with many hiding in the caves of Sierra and also the canyons (HarperCollins, n.

No Child Left Behind Policy Making Process in Florida Research Paper

No Child Left Behind Policy Making Process in Florida - Research Paper Example Other analysts pose the question of whether it is justifiable to punish the schools that do not conform to the standards of the policy, and if the policy has contributed positively towards minimizing the gaps between the rich and poor in terms of accessing proper education. However, the policy has also been implemented in Florida State following the procedure of setting the agenda, decision making, implementation and evaluation of the policy. This is line to Shafritz, Russell & Borrick’s (2011) argument that indicates for all policies to be formulated, it is compulsory that the concerned stakeholders adhere to the process of policy making. Agenda setting The main agenda behind creation of the ‘No Child Left Behind’ policy in Florida was to come up with standards that would allow creation of a curriculum that would direct learners towards having a system that would make them useful even after their education, in terms of joining institutions of higher learning or w hile selecting their careers. Shafritz, Russell & Borrick’s (2011) indicate that setting the agenda cannot be alienated from creation and implementation of policies in the educational sector. The concerned stakeholders were concerned with ensuring that all American children are directed towards proficiency in terms of education, as well as attaining the basics of education that would be useful in the future careers. Decision making In the policy making process, decision making entails coming up with the most appropriate solution towards making the right decision from the proposed recommendations by the concerned parties. In the case of the ‘No Child Left Behind’ policy in Florida, various debates came up both for the policy and against the policy. Some analysts and researchers argued that the conditions in the policy would simply regarded as a fallacy, while on the other hand, another group of individuals in the policy making process argued that the policy would be a success if only the terms and conditions would be adhered. In the long run, the group of stakeholders came to a conclusion that the basics of the policy would be beneficial to the American children, and undertook a move to implement the same. Implementation process In an attempt to put the policy in practice, there was need for government intervention in the entire process. On February 2012, Obama’s ruling came up with a decree that declared that all states inclusive of Florida were to embrace all the aspects of improvement of education by raising the standards of education being offered in schools as well as increase the effectiveness of teachers in the entire educational system. In this case, it is warranted to argue that implementation process is inevitable in the policy making process. In the state of Florida, it was required that all the educationists undertake moves of ensuring that student achievement is on the forefront, though it would be extremely difficult to ensure that complete proficiency in the learners. Additionally, it was required that the school systems in Florida embrace accountable systems of performance in schools so as to differentiate between high performers and low performers. In the case of

Financial Performance of BAE Systems Plc Research Paper

Financial Performance of BAE Systems Plc - Research Paper Example In addition, historical figures are also reviewed to assess the change and strength of the current results. This paper will review and summarize the financial performance of one of the world's renowned manufacturer of defense systems BAE Systems Plc by making use of financial ratio analysis. To better evaluate the financial performance of BAE, its financial ratios are compared with another competitor within the same industry. Cobham Plc was chosen to be compared with BAE. Finally, outlook in the future of BAE will forecasted based on available information. The threats of terrorism have significantly boost defense systems spending especially for countries like United States. After the September 11 tragedy which shocked the global business environment becomes a grim reminder for nations to improve their defense systems. BAE Systems Plc (BAE) traces its origin to the 7.7 billion merger of Marconi Electronic Systems which is the defense electronics and naval shipbuilding subsidiary of the General Electric Company Plc and British Aerospace which specializes in the manufacture of aircraft, ammunition, and naval systems. Out of these prestigious business organizations, its establishment in 1999 equipped with a unique competitive advantage which enables it to position itself as the third largest global defence company and sixth largest US defense company employing 97, 500 highly skilled people. Financial ratio analysis is ... rigin to the 7.7 billion merger of Marconi Electronic Systems which is the defense electronics and naval shipbuilding subsidiary of the General Electric Company Plc and British Aerospace which specializes in the manufacture of aircraft, ammunition, and naval systems. Out of these prestigious business organizations, its establishment in 1999 equipped with a unique competitive advantage which enables it to position itself as the third largest global defence company and sixth largest US defense company employing 97, 500 highly skilled people. 2. Financial Ratio Analysis Financial ratio analysis is an essential tool to assess the financial health of a business entity. It enables a financial analyst to highlight specific measures and compare it with the performance of similar business enterprises within the same industry. This tool is currently utilized by business managers, investors, creditors, suppliers, and other decision makers in order to determine the financial performance and well being of a business organisation. Financial ratios are grouped into four broad categories, each showing a different aspect of a company's financial performance. These are profitability ratios, financial leverage ratios, liquidity/solvency ratios, and efficiency ratios. In order to get a deeper insight of BAE's financial performance, its computed financial ratios will be benchmarked with its competitor's Cobham Plc. The rationale of choosing these two business organizations is simple. It should be noted that both of them are regarded as important players in the global defense industry. Being in the same line of business and the same industry, it is right to assume that BAE and Cobham Plc both face the same challenges and opportunities in the sector under consideration. This assumption

Linguistics_Positioning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Linguistics_Positioning - Essay Example In fact Warren Mashall's admissions have a phenomenal effect on the reader. It's mostly because of him that the reader initially develops a soft corner for Justin. It is rather interesting to note that in a father-son relationship the odds are in Justin's favor which is contrary to normal depiction of family life these days. Kevin Phillips, the lawyer, on the other hand has to jog down memory lane to recollect a character sketch and case history of Justin. His positioning of Justin is of a wannabe alpha male, a man who is willing to knock down some one because he suspects that they hurled abuse about his girlfriend. But Kevin does seem to generalize the case and his assessment of Justin is rather generic. To him Justin is just another case and according to him brawls like this do happen among young drunken men with raging hormones, especially when they happen to be rugby players. Thus even a cursory reading of Kevin's account of the case reveals some inconsistencies with the rest of the narrative. Justin confesses that he is not sure if Mathias ever did say anything to provoke him. In Justin's own words it could have been any one of the bystanders who could have chipped in. But on the contrary Kevin states it for fact that Justin was provoked which resulted in the ensuing brawl. The reader naturally doe sn't fully agree with Kevin's positioning of Justin because there is some room for doubt and the narrative that follows supports this view. Both the positionings are contrary to each other but are not worlds apart. The lawyer tends to generalize because for him this is everyday business. His assessment is based more on the crime and its legal implications and not so much on the client himself. Whereas the father gives a much better insight on the issue and is undoubtedly a much better source of judgment. Task B Positioning the Self Bar-room Brawl The self position in this excerpt is of a man who is at the ends of his nerves and who is simply fed up with the sort of attitude that people are giving him because of his career decision. By the end of the extract, in his own words, Justin snaps at this guy because he has had enough of the wisecracks. But on a parallel plane he is also remorseful of what he did because the guy he hit might not have said anything at all. So to sum it up Justin's self positioning is that of a man who is fed up and pretty much on the brink. No Animosity The self positioning in this part of the narrative is of a lot more toned down person, a person who is in remorse and regret over what he did. His character has shifted to a much more open person and a man changed by his circumstances and experience; the experience being a serious threat of spending significant time in jail. But apart from all this he is a true sportsman because he now respects the man he hit. This is mainly because he now believes that he may have wrongfully hit Mathias. Kevin respects Mathias for not destroying his career because at that time of the incident Mathias was in a position to do so. Thus the shift in self positioning is evident from a person looking for trouble to a person who regrets having done what he did. It is remarkable to see how the narrative plays with Justin's character and the phenomenal shift in his self perception is pretty much evident to the