Feminism Vs Queer theory Essay Example for Free

Feminism Vs Queer theory Essay The book by Catherine Churchill titled ‘Cloud Nine’ provides insight into the two very different types of societies in the two acts of the book and depicts the change in the characters in terms of their femininity and sexual orientation. The diverse factors impacting the lives of the characteristics like power, wealth and politics as well as their ion satisfactions levels in different relationships have been discussed through the use of comedy and the art of storytelling. The book highlights the concepts of feminism and queer theory through its content and the way the lives of the characters play out in the two different acts of the book. Feminism is basically defined as the change or orientation towards women empowerment. It is made up of the social, cultural as well as the political reforms, movements and diverse theories which contribute towards equality between makes and females and highlights the equal rights movement for the women. The basis of feminism is the exhalation of the position of women in the society. Queer Theory on the other hand is a branch of gender studies which pertains to the gay and lesbian studies. This field is specific to diverse sexual orientation in women and takes its foundation form the feminism movement and theory itself. The inclination towards feminism in the book and the play of Cloud Nine is very explicit as depicts how the women are oppressed in the Victorian era so much so that they are forced to disguise themselves as men to hide their feminine identity when giving in to their strong nature and ambitions. The play clearly and explicitly describes the differences in the roles of the women and the men in the Victorian era, and in the modern era, therefore depicting how they have changed to an extent, but not as much as they should have. in the first act the play violently depicts the male oriented society by initiating with a welcome for the male gender, and present the allude of power, in context of economics as held by men in the society. Aside from this the play also depicts the position of the women in history as the subservient gender. This established the concept that the role and cultural construction of the females in the society is a product more of history and tradition than of their own capabilities, thus reinforcing the concept of feminism. The queer theory is expanded upon by the author in the play though the confused sexual orientation of the characters and the cross dressing and role reversal amongst the cast in the play. â€Å"Churchill clearly intended to raise questions of gender, sexual orientation, and race as ideological issues; she accomplished this largely by cross-dressing and role-doubling the actors, thereby alienating them from the characters they play. † (Worthen, 807). The characters in the play like those of Gerry the homosexual man and the lesbian mother provide the essence of the queer theory. In fact it can even be mentioned that Cloud Nine is an explicitly queer play. The structure of the play is very confusing for the audience as well as the readers due to the role reversals by the characters, and the language used in the play is highly oriented towards the depiction of feminism and queer theory. The play clearly points out the underlying issues in the societies pertaining to women oppression, women’s rights as well as gay pride and sexual orientation of the men and women. Moreover the play is highly political in nature as it tends to shock the audience and the readers through the presentation and the roles played by the characters. On the whole however the play contributes towards the literary identity development of women in the modern society. References Barry, P. , ‘Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory (Beginnings)’, Manchester University Press, (2002) , ISBN-10: 0719062683 Caslin, S. , ‘Feminism and post-colonialism’, accessed March 15, 2008 from http://www. qub. ac. uk/schools/SchoolofEnglish/imperial/key-concepts/feminism-and-postcolonialism. htm Churchill, C. , ‘Cloud Nine’, Nick Hern Books, (1989), ISBN-10: 1854590901 Marx, K. , ‘The Communist Manifesto: Complete with Seven Rarely’, Filiquarian Publishing, (2005), ISBN 1599869950 Worthen, W. B. , ‘The Wadsworth Anthology of Drama’, Heinle, (2003), ISBN-10: 0838407501

Virtual Police Department Case Study Essay Example for Free

Virtual Police Department Case Study Essay Introduction This paper will consist of an overview of the Virtual Police Department, the history of that department and where it is today. I will analyse the different issues within the department and set a constructive path for the department so that it may benefit fully from all the resources that it has available. The Virtual Police Department is a medium sized department with 155 sworn officers. The department has a long history of hiring from a â€Å"good ole boy† system. The criteria for being hired at this particular department is minimal and their turnover rate for personnel is often and all at once. The current department leadership has been around for no more than 15 years and most of the staff have been hired within the last 5 years. Because of the turnover rate, experience is lacking. All of the seasoned officers have â€Å"phased out† and promotions were required, however, not necessarily earned or deserved. I have identified several areas that I would recommend immediate attention to. However, I have highlighted four of these for the purpose of this case study. Firstly, I would look at the hiring process within this department and make some much needed changes. Next, I would revisit the budget. Then, I would restructure the four organizations into functioning efficient groups. Lastly, I would establish connections within the community and neighbouring police departments and community agencies to ensure a close knit, positive, supported network. I recommend that this department begin with a change to its hiring process. Many of the employees have no more than a high school diploma. I feel there should be a set standard of education and experience to become the Chief of Police. Not just family relations or friends. The community of VPD are losing faith and confidence in their police department and one way to begin the change is to start from the inside. Once the Chief of Police is in  office with a Bachelor or higher, then they may start enforcing their own officers to at least fulfil an associate’s degree in Criminal Justice. I understand that in the past, looking for personnel who had a Bachelor’s degree rendered many from w ithin the department ineligible, however, maybe this is a beginning to the change. The department needs to start looking outside of their town for personnel to police the area. According to the department demographics chart, the department has never had the full authorized members. From 2009-2012, the average number of actual sworn employees was 140. The authorized number rose in 2011 to 145. The current year, there are 155 sworn officers which is 10 over authorization. The history of the making of this police department has seriously perpetuated the situation the VPD is facing today. From the initial hiring in 1950, the Mayor and City Council hired their friends as the initial department members. In the beginning, this had no effect on the department and it actually solidified a great relationship within the community. However, as times have changed, the department itself has grown, the community has grown as well, this kind of hiring process has taken its toll on the department, authority, and the community. The department has a significant repetitive issue which is the consistent bulk hiring and retiring of its officers. There really isn’t a phase out process in place whereby rookie police officers train and learn from the more experienced ones before they retire. It seems a common theme within this department is a lot of running from fire to fire. It appears the department spends more time playing defence as opposed to offense. Instead of the department spacing its personnel who are looking at retirement out, they all seem to retire at the same time. This is yet another impact of the hiring of friends and family. Although it worked well in the 1950’s, the city and its inhabitants are far different than they were in the 1950s. There also appears to be a significant amount of complaints from both internal and external sources; as well as decreasing percentage of crimes solved and/or successfully prosecuted. Based on these issues, I would phase the retirement and hiring proc ess. It may initially create a few headaches, however, I believe those will be fewer than the continual spiral out of control the department is currently facing. I believe that if some of those that are close to retirement were promoted to other positions within the force, they would stay around a little longer.  Eventually, there will be a good mix of longevity within the police department. Ensuring that junior officers receive proper training from the more seasoned officers is extremely important. According to the crime statistics provided by the scenario, there appears to be a lot of burglary, robbery, and theft in the Part 1 Offences. Personnel should be dedicated to these areas to ensure the crime is attacked BEFORE it occurs. The Broken Windows theory is epic when considering the transformation of a community. Showing the community that the police want to be proactive as opposed to reactive is certainly a good start. In the proactive article titled â€Å"Broken Windows: The Polic e and Neighborhood Safety,† James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling argued that policing should work more on â€Å"little problems† such as maintaining order, providing services to those in need, and adopting strategies to reduce the fear of crime (1982:29). Their assumptions were based on three reasons: Areas with street people, youth gangs, prostitution, and drunks are high-crime areas. Neighborhood disorder creates fear. (1982:30) Another issue with the current hiring process is there is no hiring board or public announcements made. The police department likes to hire from within and have kept to hiring friends and family to, â€Å"keep all the undesirables off the police force.† I would announce any upcoming vacancies state wide and set up a hiring process based on qualifications. The hiring would not be concurrent with the Mayoral elections and the police department will break from the political tie it currently has. As the police department and the mayoral council run so tightly together, it is impossible for the VPD, state police, and county sheriff to communicate with each other. Communication between police departments is crucial for the VPD to survive. The process of socialization seems to be missing from the Virtual Pol ice Department. Although they are close because of the internal hiring, it does not lend credence to learning the ropes by doing as much as by the rule-book. As the experienced officers phase out, there is not a lot left for the younger inexperienced officers to learn the valuable on-the-job lessons with. George, C., Smith, C. (2004). With the changes to the hiring and retiring process, the budget obviously needs to be revisited. The first thing I would do is look at the average starting salary for the police and drop it to $32,000 $35,000 annual. Starting rookie police officers out at $45,000 doesn’t give room for promotion with pay increase, time on  department increases, and doesn’t encourage members within the department to further their education or strive for a better position. Pay should increase as positions and responsibility increase. If 75 of the 155 police officers are within their first 5 years on the force, their pay should be $35,000 annual. The budget would need to be met to cover the cost of each police officer with a buffer of 15% for over time. If the starting salary for the VPD force was $32,000, the total for the rookie officers would be $2,400,000 annual. That would be a savings of $975,000 a year. Police departments should have a program and promotion rate for their officers to strive toward. According to George Cole and Christopher Smith, â€Å"The average starting salary in 2001 was more than $32,000†. (2004:173). Pay increase should come with responsibility and job knowledge and time on the force. I also think the police department needs to compare the pay of their officers and commanders to other neighbouring departments and base the starting pay on those. An extremely important aspect has been overlooked within this department due to budget cuts. Training has obviously suffered greatly. I do not believe that training should ever be jeopardized for the sake of saving a few pennies. Train the trainer programs are a great way to maximize training the cheapest way. Sending one or two individuals to receive training that will certify them to conduct the training within their department is gold. Once the rapport is established with the other departments within the area, then the trainer can also train those departments. Essentially, each department would send someone to receive specialized training and share that training throughout the departments. This way, each department will save money and not have to forego the training. Another area that is concerning is firearm qualification training. This is a major mistake to allow officers to continue to carry their firearms when they are not qualified. If they had to use their weapon and during the course of the investigation, it is determined that they were not qualified, the repercussions would be immense, not just for the department, but for the other departments, the city, and the state. Also of great importance in the training area is ET not keeping up with law updates, changes, and recent court rulings. Training can be conducted on the job and any additional training can be completed during one of the 8 hour shifts if the s chedule can be made to allow a training day. That way, the officer  isn’t on the road, isn’t side-tracked, isn’t in court, or isn’t unavailable. If training day was a â€Å"duty day† then training can be maintained. â€Å"Recruits need formal training in order to gain an understanding of legal rules, weapons use, and other aspects of the job.† (2004:179). A positive approach to establishing a budget within the jurisdiction would be to evaluate the cost of crime. According to Mark Cohen, â€Å"taking a â€Å"bottom-up† approach to crime aids in breaking them down.† (2005: 84). Breaking the crimes down on a per-crime basis will give the planners assistance when looking at the statistics of their community crimes. In doing this, it would be beneficial for the courts to readdress the cost of fines paid, fees and offence times, etc. The courts would essentially be assisting the police department in policing their community. Possibly, stiffer sentences, stiffer fines, and attention to the crimes will be a significant deterrent. Let those who choose to break the law pay the price for it. The best way to reasonably ensure that training is being conducted is to organize the department a bit better. The department does seem to be organized well. It has the typical four separate commands; Patrol, Investigations, Special Operations, and Support Services. Each of these departments has a commander. The departments are organized by talents, friendships, and skills. The department seems to be extremely mismanaged as they currently have 155 sworn officers, however they are only authorized 145 by 2012. Along with the sworn officers, they are also extremely overstaffed with civilian employees as well. According to the table, they are authorized 17, however, they currently employ 70. On top of the overstaffing issue, the department has a history of hiring predominately Caucasian male police officers (70%), and only 11% Caucasian female officers; which has held pretty steady over the last four years. According to Wilson and Kelling, â€Å"For most of the nation’s history, almost all police officers were white men.† (2004:174). The Civilian Personnel demographics are not much different. The department has a high number of Caucasian men and women employees. The African-American male employees estimate at 10% of the police force ov er the last four years. The African-American female police officers sat at 3.7% estimated over the last four years. As the community has grown in size, it appears the police department has maintained a consistent employee demographic base. The last recorded census was from 2000. Based on that census, the population  consisted of the following; 50.9% male, 49.1% female, 60.1% Caucasian, 16.7% black or African American, 11.4% Hispanic, 7.0% Asian, Other 0.2%, some other race 1.7%, two or more races 2.9% and foreign born 16.2%. The median age was 37.9 years of age. Not only has the ethnic population changed, but the median income average has as well. The median has dropped by 13% which should alert the surrounding agencies that their citizens are not as wealthy as they once were and most of the time, this also incites criminal activity. The demographic differences in the community and police department is wide. It may have been the same demographics at one time, however, the police department hasn’t seemed to change much since the 1930s in that aspect. As the department still chooses to hire friends and family, this is not expected to change anytime soon. I would argue that the change needs to happen immediately. I think a new census should be taken or at least have patrols identify areas within the community that have changed drastically with ethnicity. A new census would also assist the budget and the jurisdiction boundary and also allow the bigger picture to be evident to the Mayor. Most cities have a natural cultural divide. It is important for the police department to recognize this and adjust their manning accordingly. If there is an increase of crimes against women, it would be important for the department to look at hiring more women onto the force who can deal with the more sensitive areas. If there are race issues within the community, it wouldn’t be a good decision to send a police officer into that area knowing it could potentially escalate a situation. The department should have more diversity amongst the officers. To start this, I will go back to my earlier statement on hiring outside of the police force family. Try and appeal to the other ethnic backgrounds that the community can relate to and hopefully start to trust. Next, I would re-evaluate the shift work. If the area of responsibility has grown, and the number of citizens within the community has grown, it is imperative that the police are able to respond and react to calls appropriately. Because police work doesn’t end at the scene, officers must have time to go back to the station and complete their required paperwork. Twelve hour shifts make it virtually impossible to complete paperwork and get enough rest before the next shift. I would break the shifts up into 8 hour shifts and apply the greater amount of officers to the busiest time of the day or night. Taking a look at the criminal statistics, I initially notice that due to the unplanned city demographic changes, the department is currently suffering a set back with a larger than projected area of responsibility and more citizens within their jurisdiction. The number of lower income families has risen, and the average age of the community dropped to 34.7 which means more children are attending the local schools. Looking at the Statistics of Crime in VPD area, there has been a significant increase in Part 1 and Part II Offenses. Part II Offences have seen the most increase over the last four years with drugs, disorderly conduct, and burglary topping the list. It is scary to note that although crimes in almost every offense is up, arrests are down significantly from 2009-2011 and 2012. Over the last four years, the city has seen a steady increase in crime and antisocial activity. Also, Use of Force, conduct, and performance complaints have drastically increased against the police, hi ghlighting a possible stressed, stretched thin police department, and frustrated community. It also appears that the adult offences are higher than the youth offenses. This could be as a result of the closure of the neighbouring city’s high rise public and subsidized housing causing its residents to relocate. Due to this, a 10% increase in low income residents are now a part of the VPD community. Larry Bennett, Janet Smith, and Patricia Wright wrote about Paul Fischer of Lake Forest College. In a 2003 study, â€Å"most families relocated from CHA housing are re-segregated into other very low-income, majority African-American neighborhoods where housing conditions are not appreciably better than those they left.† (2006: 219). Along the lines of changing 12 hour shifts into 8 hour shifts, I would also start communicating with the surrounding police departments. I would establish a rapport – even if it is to my departments sacrifice at first. I would be interested in any training opportunities, their demographics for their area, any areas that may â€Å"overlap† with jurisdictions, and I would start an interagency database so the surrounding areas demographics may be included in it. One thing that would have assisted the VPD before the buildings were torn down in the neighbouring areas would have been the communication between departments. Having a good working relationship with them would have potentially avoided all the chaos that was created by the influx of lower income families. I would also have my  Patrol Commander to establish a Community Oriented Policing task force to get out into the community and get some insight to what the citizens would like to see. If the department takes a step in the right direction and shows the community that they know there is a problem and they want the community’s help to fix it then it may generate a lot of interest. I am sure that if the community pulls together to start paying attention to vandalism, prostitution, drugs and disorderly conduct, then hopefully the homicides, rapes, burglaries, motor vehicle thefts and aggravated assaults would decrease. I would also incorporate an operation similar to â€Å"Operation Condor† which was highlighted by Howard Safir and Ellis Whitman. According to Safir and Whitman, Condor was an extension of the Broken Windows effec t. This operation had significant impact on homicide and crime rates and eliminated signs of lawlessness. (2005: 198). Based on the positive outcome of Operation Condor, VPD may benefit significantly with something like this. The police department has a bad reputation responding to calls. In 2012, there were 163,433 calls for police service and units were dispatched to only 131,548. That means that 31,885 calls for assistance were unanswered. This is not acceptable. According to James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling, â€Å"Untended disorderly behavior is a signal that the community does not care. This leads to worse disorder and crime. If police are to deal with disorder to reduce fear and crime, they need the community for assistance.† (1984:29) The new acceptable standard of bending the rules and the code of silence is inexcusable. The VPD has had a longstanding reputation for integrity. However, over the last several years, it has become accepted to bend the rules and violatio ns, and is overlooked by supervisors. The Virtual Police Department is in great need of a complete overhaul. Unfortunately, the department does not have its priorities correct. In my attempt to fix the VPD, I would call in Police Officer Standards and Training Commissions POST Commissions to evaluate and train the department on the critical issues of police officer standards. As this is a state function, the county, Mayor, and others will not be able to influence the training or decision making. According to Sullivan and Simonetti Rosen, â€Å"These state-level commissions provide law enforcement agencies with guidelines, established by administrative regulations or law, and require compliance by all municipal, county, and state law enforcement agencies, to maintain a baseline for  police officer standards and training.† (2006: 350-351). I honestly feel an â€Å"audit† would benefit the department on so many levels. Finally, I would appoint a Human Resource Manager to ensure that the needs of the personnel are met and a Safety Officer to ensure that regulations are being followed appropriately. The hiring process, budget, structure of the department, and community relations are what I see to be the weakest areas within this department. Fortunately, they feed off of each other and adjustments in one area will affect the others. It will be a process, but a greatly needed process none-the-less. References Cohen, M. (2005). The Costs of Crime and Justice. New York: Routledge. George, C., Smith, C. (2004). The American System of Criminal Justice (10 ed.). Belmont: Thompson Learning, Inc. Howard, S., Whitman, E. (2003). Security: Policing your Homeland, your State, Your City (1 ed.). New York: St Martins Press. Larry, B., Smith, J., Wright, P. (2006). Where are poor people to live?. Armonk: M.E. Sharpe, Inc. Larry, S., Simonetti Rosen, M. (2005). Encyclopedia of Law Enforcement (Vol. 1). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc. Virtual Police Department Case Study Paper

Fake News: A Global Problem

Fake News: A Global Problem Mathangii Balasubramanian Carla Nyssen Do you remember the dress worn by American First lady for the presidential inauguration back in January of 2012? Several thousands of people looked at the photo posted online of her striped dress and had overwhelmingly different opinions about what color it was. Many thought it was navy blue and white, some said it was black and white, and few others even thought it was green 4xand yellow. So what was the actual color of that dress and what was the truth? What was the reasoning behind such contrasting opinions and what does this lead to? Dress worn by The First Lady is an example how the same information was interpreted in several different ways. This comes to mind amid discussions about how fake news and outright lies has taken precedence and its serious impact.mk In this so-called world of fake news where there is unlimited freedom of information sharing, anyone can spread anything they wish on the internet around the globe and anyone can find the information and rely on the fake news which confirms their beliefs. This clearly shows the lack of publics critical thinking and fall prey to fake news. This representation of the lack of critical thinking skills is quite worrying and in order to prevent the spread of fake news and control this serious problem, root cause concerning human mind has to be understood. The unprecedented rapid growth in technology leading to a widespread increase in fake news, understanding the inherent nature of human cognition, loopholes in the media and ways to control the spread of fake news has to be understood. In order to be a discerning news consumer, it is important for oneself to be a critical thinker with the ability to differentiate fake news from real news. There were various forms of media such as television, newspapers, magazines, and radio to spread and disseminate information before internet came into existence. Ancient media methods allowed advertisements and supplements which paved way to mask the real news. Television was a phenomena in the 1960s which glued people to sit in front of their media box. Advertisements, seen as ways to mask real news was telecasted during prime time with an opportunity to reach millions of homes every day. Later, fantasy based reality shows closed the gap between real and staged events. In todays world, professional looking websites can be published and search engines and social media platforms can be programmed to create influential news. Even a technological savvy computer science or information technology graduate student can create such websites. The news media doesnt tailor its content to specific individuals, hence its varied content and far reaching impact. Information shared with the media will spread at a faster pace and to a greater extent compared to the one without media coverage. Media targets a set of people whom the message needs to be communicate. Online media provides unlimited free access to information through websites, blogs, and various applications. Internet coverage and smart devices allow easy access to news media with a finger touch. Due to the volatile nature of politics, economy, and safety environment in the world, news media plays an important role. The news media do play a significant role on the negative side as well spreading fake news through various tabloids. There were lots of fake news involving gossips, scandals and manipulated information. The news media is a profit making organization with an ulterior goal of multiplying profits. Hence advertisements and sponsored content may contain unappro ved content causing huge impact to the society. Fake news doesnt mean its outright lie, rather news that are more likely to be biased or misleading in a gentle way. It is the information that is clearly fabricated and that has been customized to look like genuine news. Its content is specifically created to appeal to an audiences pre-existing preferences. The spread of fake news with the evolution of technology has been widespread causing a huge impact. According to a historian, dating back to 18th and 19th centuries, fake news was a commonly accepted practice and newspapers were more opinionated and agenda driven. Later with the introduction of penny press in 1830s, sensational news and gossip started proliferating. Though readers didnt believe everything they read is true as many newspapers published short stories and poetry and satire was mainly used by entertainers and not journalists. Most of the fake news thats viral online consists of written pieces and recorded segments that promotes false information through means of factual reporting. For example, several reports were published by news organizations highlighting examples of hoaxes, fake news and misinformation on Election Day 2016. Fake news is created intentionally by entrepreneurs who seek to make money from advertising, and false information can also arise from misinformed social media posts by normal people who posts regularly, which spreads through a biased blogosphere. One such example was the recent post on social media by a businessman regarding protests where he connected seeing several buses lined up in downtown and the protests reports which he heard in the news media. He assumed the two were connected and posted his thoughts on social media which were soon followed by many of his followers, then taken to reddit community, blogs and were shared among the internet world causing a huge stir and confusion. Initial content of the message got manipulated in several ways leading to incorrect information sharing driven by incorrect assumptions. This is one typical example how fake news originates and propagates with the help of social media and blogs in the internet world. Incidents affecting humanity and human values signify the dark real world consequences caused by fake news. Just for political propaganda, there were lot of websites that publish completely fake and fabricated news. Fake news grew into fame taking advantage of peoples attention seeking skills, meaning if human mind pays attention to a particular topic, more articles pertaining to that topic will be produced. More than the real news, its about page views that matters as in more sensational the headline is, the more views you get and the more money that could be made from manipulating eyeballs. It is tough to ignore the historical facts about how newspapers were agenda driven in the past and how it has changed now with a focus towards free speech and unbiased content. In the recent past, some of the headlines in the newspapers and social media have left people thinking in the wrong direction before they figure out that its fake news after reading the entire article. There were several instances where one reads various fake news pages and comes up with one on his own based purely on his exaggeration with a fancy and a sensational headline, making it go viral. It is imperative for people to differentiate fake news from real ones and prevent proliferation of such fake news even for the fun aspect of it. Because of the nature of social media, most of what is published goes unmediated. While traditional journalism subscribes to strong rigor, righteous editors and a history of fact-checking, these disciplines dont exist on social media, where fake news thrives. Given the veneer of respectability of a legitimate-looking site, its easy to see how the outrage can kick off a chain reaction of commentary and public finger pointing. Any lie can gain general acceptance if it gets repeated frequently and this is one sole reason for the alarming increase of fake news. Achieving repetition is easy in this so called era of social media with a few button clicks. Social media and online search giants should take efforts to prevent fake news sites, applications and advertisements from appearing. When there is an iota of doubt concerning a website or news content, it is better to search google for confirmation reports from reputable news sites to check whether they have picked up the same news. There are many reputable online websites such as Snopes, Factcheck, etc., to name a few, to verify the authenticity of the news content. Social media users have the opportunity now to flag articles they think are intentionally false, and these articles will be screened using third-party fact checkers. Warning signs on articles such as disputed and fake tags would negatively impact its rating score on social media making it visible to fewer people in their news feeds. Technology savvy scholars have created several applications detecting fake news sites. Such applications could be installed on web browsers as extensions and warnings provided by those applications could prevent the spread of fake news and help human beings detect and recognize fake sites. Fake news could be controlled by installing fake detector applications on gadgets which analyzes its authenticity and flags fake pages. First and foremost place to look for ways to control fake news is within oneself. Rather than checking the veracity of the news content using different verification websites and fancy tools, one should check their own self to believe or not. If the story is so outrageous, it is too true to believe. Individuals should make sure that they are not being told what they want to hear. In order to become a more insightful, discerning news consumer, it is important to differentiate real and fake news and become more of a critical thinker. Part of being a critical thinker is to always question whether they are only getting part of a story or the complete one. Developing oneself as a media literate person would help overcome this situation. The government must focus on education policy in order to develop a literate society which will help people decipher between real and fake news. Government can also introduce stricter regulations on media and individuals sourcing fake news articles. Though it may cross toes with freedom of speech, it is imperative to have government backing for individuals to fight against defamation and control the spread of fake news. Government can impose fines on social media companies and websites those spread fake news, as this will force sourcing websites to impose verification checks and control the spread of fake news. Fake news is a phenomena whose spread could be controlled through collective responsible actions by the means of governmental regulations, education policy, literate society, technology and applications. At this stage, determining the legitimacy and utility of information is ultimately the responsibility of the people. Work Cited: Agrawal, Nina. Where Fake News Came in and Why Some People Believe It. The Los Angeles Times, 20 Dec. 2016, www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-fake-news-guide-2016-story.html , Accessed 08 Feb, 2017. Anand, Bharat. The U.S. Medias Problems Are Much Bigger than Fake News and Filter Bubbles. Harvard Business Review, 05 Jan, 2017 www.hbr.org/2017/01/the-u-s-medias-problems-are-much-bigger-than-fake-news-and-filter-bubbles, Accessed 16 Feb, 2017. Akpan, Nsikan. The very real consequences of fake news stories and why your brain cant ignore them. PBS NEWSHOUR, 05 Dec, 2016, www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/real-consequences-fake-news-stories-brain-cant-ignore/, Accessed 18 Feb, 2017. Yeats Poem | Second Coming | Yeats Poem | Second Coming | As the title of the poem suggests, Yeats poem is a prophetic poem that clearly shows Christs second return to the earth after the world has been engulfed in sin and sorrow. The poem was written after the first world war to depict hope for earthly occupants who have experienced torture, suffering, death ,hunger and disillusionment .The writer uses imagery to create a sense of waiting and arouse the readers interest in what is the second coming. Gyre is a word used to mean how things were moving in a spiral movement after the Second World War to bring to the readers mind the theme of confusion. Turning and turning is used to create repetition of the worlds cruel events which could present Christs Second Advent as revealed in the book of revelation. All Christians who read the bible and especially the events presenting the second coming were ready for the world to end after world war 1 because the bible warns of the war which will come before Christ returns to the earth to take his people to joyous life in heaven. The falcon cannot hear the falconer is used symbolically. In studies of wild birds, falcon is a bird of prey which kills and eats animals like hedgehogs and its flying speed when targeting its prey is more than that of cheetah. The Sentence means that the attacker or the worlds trouble maker cannot hear the creator. Falconer is the instructor of peace who can be God. Here it means the world has reached a point of no return where evil and the father of evil (the devil) is instructing the leaders of the world to seek war among nations. Suffering is the centre stage where people go hungry, and prostitution and crime are the order of the day, religious fanatics and false prophets are in the world. Concept of brotherhood has seized and the only theme in the world is every man for himself. Then things fall apart. The devil has taken much control of the world. The word mere anarchy is used to mean only and very pure. Writer uses these words in order to show the unleashing of wrath by the serpent who is the prince of darkness and together with his evil angels can cause great trouble in the world if it were not for divine power of God. During the First World War, bombs were dropped to the earths surface and people thought the end had come. These fires can be compared to the lake of fire in revelation which is portrayed as burning with brimstone where the beast, the false prophet and the dragon (that serpent of old) are tormented daily. Anarchy means lawlessness and shows how the worlds justice has been buried in an abyss. Fires of wrath dominate the whole world; diseases with no cure and immortal human suffering are used symbolically to mean the tension in the world. The words ceremony of innocence is drowned are an imagery used by the writer to show how the world is not free again and the innocent must suffer for sins which they did not com mit. Whoever commits the sins who is the anarchist, enjoys life and is unquestionable at any court jurisdiction. William butler uses this word to show how the world likes was in the days of civilization is not a place to admire. Like nowadays, the poem is very much applicable where international criminal courts have been established to prosecute evil doers who can escape punishment in their own countries because they are power barons and corrupt leaders like those of the medieval ages. The words best lack conviction and bad are always full of passion is a paraphrase. Here it can also mean that the good people need power to govern others very well in the society and that has been foiled by corruption and injustice. Powerful people on the contrary dont deliver accordingly when given the power but the wise governors say they want to be loved and those people who love believe in wisdom and how they can use it for the benefit of others and themselves. This leads to a vicious circle and c onfusion during the last days here on earth as William butler puts it. Words like revelation is coming are used in order to further develop the title of the poem and always to keep in the mind of the reader just as the title suggests, Christ must return to the world. The concept of time span is revealed by those words. Just as Christ came to the world, then in the same way will return to save mankind from destruction by the sinister person. The poet uses words like spirits mundu to bring the theme of religion in the poem and develop the poems title. Words mean that in the world, there is a pure spirit which rests in the minds of every human being and informs him about Godly issues. People then wait joyously and obey Christs commandments so as to escape eternal torment. The poet uses words like a lion like body with mans head to create fear among the readers and depict dangers associated with the weird creature. Simile is used to show how unforgiving and cruel the beast is. The beast is portrayed as passing through the desert just like the falcon of the second line to scare desert birds. Like the falcon, the beast is a symbol of evil and danger for the occupants of the earth. Desert birds are personified to human beings and again tormentation is a must. The beast represents the anti -Christ who comes before Christ return to cause a religious sway in the world. Beasts power was granted to him by the dragon (serpent) in or der to destroy loot and kill Christs followers. Rough beasts arrival brings the idea of suffering. Centuries of stony sleep is used symbolically to represent the suffering in Ireland during Williamss butlers time where he suffered to a point, and through religious meditations, thought the First World War can lead to the end of the world and Christ can come for rescue. In reality, the world was not ending but it was just beginning because the Second World War was fought but the world can end anytime .The poet uses imagery, symbolism, personification and simile to develop the theme of religion, fear, suffering, and history in his poem. In conclusion, the words used in the poem clearly fit to the message being communicated and they contribute to the development of the title second coming no other words could have been used to achieve the writers objectives.

One Hundred Years of Solitude - Magic Realism Essay -- One Hundred Yea

One Hundred Years of Solitude - Magic Realism One Hundred Years of Solitude   Magic realism is a literary form in which odd, eerie, and dreamlike tales are related as if the events were commonplace. Magic realism is the opposite of the "once-upon-a-time" style of story telling in which the author emphasizes the fantastic quality of imaginary events. In the world of magic realism, the narrator speaks of the surreal so naturally it becomes real. Magic realism can be traced back to Jorge Luis Borges, who wrote during the 1920s,according to noted critic Franco (309). In fact, Jean Franco notes that "the techniques utilized by Garcà ­a Mà ¡rquez in One Hundred Years of Solitude are frequently compared to those of Jorge Luis Borges" Franco (309). However, it was not until the 1940s that Latin American writers began to experiment widely with new techniques and introduced stream of consciousness narration, unusual time sequences and other devices into the novel. In the 1940s, a group of Latin American writers published works which incorporated new techniques. ...

Figures of speech in The Fall of the House of Usher -- Essays Papers

Figures of speech in The Fall of the House of Usher Edgar Allen Poe’s short story, â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher†, sets a tone that is dark, gloomy, and threatening. His inclusion of highly descriptive words and various forms of figurative language enhance the story’s evil nature, giving the house and its inhabitants eerie and â€Å"supernatural† qualities. Poe’s effective use of personification, symbolism, foreshadowing, and doubling create a morbid tale leading to, and ultimately causing, the fall of (the house of) Usher. Poe’s use of personification, the act of giving human characteristics to nonhuman things, assigns the house of Usher a powerful and evil presence. In the first paragraph of the story, the narrator describes the house as having â€Å"vacant eye-like windows†. He uses this description twice: first to show that the house has seen everything that has led to the fall of Usher, and again to emphasize the unidentified deception of the house. The narrator also describes his negative reaction to the house as a â€Å"hideous dropping off of the veil†. This statement describes what the house has revealed to the narrator, a disgusting and disappointing appearance. Poe also uses symbolism to compare the deterioration of the house to the fall of the Usher dynasty. In Roderick’s poem, â€Å"The Haunted Palace†, he describes the history of the house as it began as a strong and â€Å"radiant palace†, which over time became a decrepit, disease-ridden cage. The radiant palace repres...

Comparison of Film and Book 1984 :: essays research papers

Comparison of a Film and Book After reading the book and watching the movie 1984 there were similarities and differences between the two. The novel is about manipulating people in believing in something that isn’t really there and about erasing history. Both the book and film focused on: authority, government, and war. The book and film follow the theme of conformity to control society. Authority was used as a form of intimidation between the working class societies and to keep society from corruption. The authority figures mentioned in the book and film were the thought police, â€Å"Big Brother†, and the tele. The thought police were in charge of capturing the people who did things that were forbidden and against the laws of the government. Some of the laws that the society couldn’t go against were having impure thoughts, overthrowing the government, and not loving or believing in â€Å"Big Brother†. In which committing these crimes are punishable by death. Authority was used to conform and control society. The government portrayed in the book as well as in the film is referred to as â€Å"Big Brother† the mastermind of establishing a totalitarian government. A totalitarian government is a single party that rules over everything and is superior to everyone. The totalitarian government was created to prevent corruption in the society and keep the people believing in what â€Å"Big Brother† wants them to believe. â€Å"Big Brother† kept the society in believing his reality by intimidation and brain washing. Also the lack of privacy was enforced by the use of surveillance like system known as the tele. The involvement of the government helped in conforming and controlling the society. The war contributed to making the working class society believe that they were doing they’re part in helping â€Å"Big Brother† stop corruption and keeping the society in an orderly state. Big Brother manipulated the society by making up a war using previous pictures and images of a war that happened years ago. The war was also used to erase existing history that the government did not want the society to know. Furthermore, the war was used to keep the government and economy as the basis of power and maintain the balance of â€Å"Big Brother’s civilization†. The war mentioned in the film and book led to a conformed and controlled society. The film and book 1984 focused on the theme conformity to explain how society was controlled by mentioning the enforcement of authority.

Object-oriented programming Essay

Now days, in a highly technological society, human productivity is made more efficient through the development of electronic gadgets. Now, with the advent of such modernization in education, one way to globalize the process of research is to realized that technology is advancing at an incredibly fast pace. Computers are not confined to being used for entertainment but its role in education is also vast. Library is derived from the old French â€Å"libraries† which means â€Å"a collection of book†. Reading material in a school are stored in libraries. Library is place in which books and related materials are kept for use but not for sale. It is also organized for use and maintained by a public body, an institution or a private individual. In addition, it is a place in which we get information in any format and from many sources. The librarian has to keep the room neat so that it is conducive for learning. The librarian is also the person who is liable for monitoring all the books that are borrowed and returned by the borrowers. This project is concerned with developing a Library Inventory Management System using object oriented programming. In this system the library management becomes more efficient and easier to handle with its reliable system components. Many Library System are operated manually by group of people. In such situations many people in the process of managing the library such away that to keep records regarding to students or barrowers, check the books normally, keep records on issued books etc. The proponents use the visual basic as a basic programming language in a developing the system. Macromedia Flash will also be used for the design of the system. Related literature of Computerized Library system A library computer system is the software used to catalog, track circulation (where appropriate) and inventory a library’s assets. It is intended for home, church, private enterprise or other small to medium sized collections. Larger, First World libraries will typically use an integrated library system to manage the more complex activities such as acquisitions and the reference in book. Schools set the various pedagogical changes to achieve the current level of education in other countries. Because of the growing numbers of computer users, this became an effective medium to demonstrate the knowledge and skills of the students. From the traditional searching process for the books in the libraries, the interactive usage of computers can be now addressed as part of the library system. Reason of Choice Project: The proponents create this system to develop a system that can handle and manage the activities involved in library in an efficient and reliable way. Less managing personnel and easy searching availability and user profile managing are major goals in this project. The project is to develop a system that can replace the manual library managing system and developing a database which stores user details and book details. In addition, give reliable search facility for the users. Administrator, Librarian and Users should separate. Logins and create an easy to understand user friendly environment. Must important is to have an attractive user interfaces to navigate through the system for the users. Management Information System. Information systems play a crucial role in the management of any contemporary enterprise such as a small, medium or large organization; a profit making or a social service set up; a public or a private sector undertaking and an upcoming or an established business house. The fast changing scene of liberalization, competition and globalization combined with a never before seen emphasis on quality, timeliness, innovation, customer orientation and efficiency puts a premium on accurate, superfast and timely dissemination of information across the globe. The unprecedented developments in computing and communication technologies have indeed made such demands translatable into realizable goals. In simple terms, MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (MIS) is a computer based system that provides flexible and speedy access to accurate data. Since management involves decision making and decisions have to be supported by accurate data, information systems should help management in decision making. Not all the data or information generated by computers is useful for management. Thus MIS is a philosophy which is far deeper and complex than the mundane processing of large amounts of corporate data by computer.