Abstract This paper explores complicity in the novel, "Linden Hills" by Gloria Naylor and the short story, "The Sleeper Wakes" by JessieRedmonFauset. The paper examines complicity in issues of race, gender and class in these two contrasting works ? the former a tale of the descent into hell in an affluent suburb and the latter concerned with the redemption of an individual.
From the Paper "There are several female characters in Linden Hills but we will focus on Mrs Nedeed when looking at gender issues in the novel, since she is the one who brings about her husband's demise. The latest Mrs Nedeed is imprisoned by her husband in the basement and finds hidden records of the women who have before her and how they met their ends. Initially, she finds the diary of the first Mrs Nedeed ? Luwana Packerville who was bought by Luther Nedeed. This charts Luwana's isolation ? being first cut out of her son's life and then out of running a household, while at the same time being unable to mix with the community in Linden Hills for reasons of status and race."
Abstract A comparative essay on the issue of identity and how gender constructs affect the heroines of both novels who choose either to fight their victimization or submit to their socially prescribed roles.
From the Paper The ideals of existing social structures have managed to deprive individuals of self-created identities. W.I. Thomas writes in The Unadjusted Girl: "the role which a girl is expected to play in life is"indicated to her by her family in a series of aesthetic-moral definitions of the situation"She has been the subject of a far-going idealization"[Hence, the individual] does not know she has any particular value until she learns it from others?? (98). Thomas? theory, that one's identity is determined by these ?aesthetic-moral definitions,? is relevant to the characters in Stephen Crane's Maggie, a Girl of the Streets and Jessie Redmon Fauset's Plum Bun whose identities are mere receptacles of societal projections. Maggie is perceived as a prostitute by her family and neighbors; therefore she is a prostitute. Similarly, Angela's identity is complicated when she disowns part of it. Through the problematic identities of its characters both novels explore the fundamental rules of civilization that attempt to govern one's life. In Maggie, a Girl of the Streets and Plum Bun the embracing of one's identity is essential in defying these social constructions.
Abstract The paper looks at how emotion has been a largely avoided causal attribute in the study of deviance and especially in transgressive behaviors that are criminally defined. This is largely because such soft attributes as emotion are difficult to quantify and even more difficult to measure. In a recent research study, the paper explains how Redmon attempts to correct this omission by redefining the concept of emotion in terms that sociology can both measure and quantify.
From the Paper "Low self-control is not the propensity or motivating force underlying criminal acts, rather it is the barrier that stands between the actor and the obvious momentary benefits of crime and deviance" (376). In other words, Redmon is attempting to redefine the very concept of emotionality in terms that social scientists can better appreciate as a contributing force to deviance.
Essay on affirmative action, including an outline, history, con and rebuttal, past court cases, recent events including the University of Michigan case, and work cited page.
Abstract This essay covers most topics surrounding affirmative action, including background, first affirmative action case and more recent events. The writer claims that affirmative action, while created to help bring blacks and whites together, only further spreads the races apart and should be abolished.
Table of Contents
History
Civil War
Reconstruction
Jim Crow Laws
Presidential Orders
Past Court Cases
Con and Rebuttal
Con Quotes and Opinions
Jessie Jackson on Affirmative Action
Lyndon B. Johnson on Affirmative Action
Rebuttal
How Affirmative Action Hurts the Civil Rights Act
Ill Effects of Affirmative Action
Recent Events
Piscataway Board of Education vs. Taxman
Proposition 209
California Ballot
Suit against Proposition 209
Arguments for Proposition 209
Arguments against Proposition 209
University of Michigan and Bush Brief
From the Paper "According to the Webster's Dictionary, affirmative action is an active effort to improve the employment or educational opportunities of members of minority groups and women. "Born of the civil rights movement three decades ago, affirmative action calls for minorities and women to be given special consideration in employment, education, and contracting decisions" (Froomkin 1). It has been a controversial topic in the United States since it began to plague the country in the early 1940?s. Affirmative action as it is now seen, is giving unequal or special employment, or educational rights to minorities. "Affirmative action programs were originally created to correct racial and cultural discrimination, dating from the days of slavery and public segregation. But the initiative has proven controversial, and enforcement has often applied in a random and confusing way" (Mears 1). While created to help bring blacks and whites together, affirmative action only further spreads the races apart and should be abolished."
Tags: 209, african, americans, civil, proposition, racism, rights
A discussion of whether the imagery that artists in the twentieth century used to portray New York City was manipulated by the artists or were more documentary in nature.
Abstract As America developed in the nineteenth century, large cities sprang up across the nation. In particular, by the twentieth century with the help of an influx of immigration, New York City had become a bustling city with well over one million people. Opinions on the quality of city life were mixed, especially among artists. This paper refutes the arguments put forth by cultural historian, Alan Trachtenberg, in his book "Reading American Art", that artists, specifically photographers like Alfred Stieglitz, manipulated their art to convey their individual feelings toward the big city. The paper argues that Trachtenberg unfairly groups all artists that presented urban imagery into the same category. The photography Trachtenberg refers to differs substantially from other photographers and painters that portrayed city life. The paper includes several reproductions of photographs and paintings.
From the Paper "However, most often, the Ashcan artists focused on the city as a collection of individual "microneighborhoods"4 rather than a larger entity. This differs again from Trachtenberg's assertion that the city is most often depicted as picturesque. Again, by inserting people into the picture, the picturesque nature is lost. In comparing Sloan's A Woman's Work to Hine's Playground in a Tenement Alley there are parallels that can be drawn. Both show low class tenements with their laundry hanging out to dry over an alley. Sloan's painting portrays the house work that women must do and suggests that the woman is the one who keeps the house in order. Hine's photo proposes that while the children live in a run down rookery tenement, they are quite satisfied playing baseball."
Tags:Jessie, Tarbox, Beals, Arnold, Genthe, Lewis, Hine, Ashcan, School
Abstract This paper provides a counterargument to Leonard Pitts' editorial "Reality Shows Are Mocking Us," in which the author claims that reality television shows are demeaning, condescending and mocking to groups of Americans such as poor Southerners. The counterargument maintains Pitts' argument is invalid and that reality shows offer entertainment and even educational value.
From the Paper "Introduction Leonard Pitts' argument that reality shows are mocking us is largely an emotional argument based on the author's value judgments and built on faulty logic. Pitts' claim that the humor underlying reality shows encourages us ..."
Tags: Maury Povich, The Real Beverly Hills, Sally Jessie Raphael, education, humor, comedy, emotional appeal, value judgment, logic
Abstract This paper presents an analysis of the value of "mother" as it is represented by the actions of the male family members toward Ruth and Jessie in Harold Pinter's "The Homecoming," focusing on a dysfunctional family and the family dynamic.
From the Paper "In Pinter's The Homecoming we are treated to the dynamic of a dysfunctional family that exhibits violence, invective sarcasm and sexuality ..."
Abstract This paper discusses the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the prosecution of James Earl Ray The author includes recent evidence that sheds doubt on Ray's trial and conviction. The paper relates the impact of the assassination on the African-American community and American society.
From the Paper "The full page banner headline in 'The New York Times' the day following the assassination of Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr read as follows: "MARTIN LUTHER KING IS SLAIN IN MEMPHIS. A WHITE IS SUSPECTED."
Tags: assassination, civil rights, racial discrimination, government, Jessie Jackson, James Early Ray, politics, protest, African Americans
