Quest for Manhood Malcolm X Essay Example for Free

Quest for Manhood Malcolm X Essay Manhood is when a boy takes the leap from being a child to a true man. People say that leap happens at different times for every boy. People can tell it happens because they stop acting foolishly and deal with matters by themselves. The four stories The Autobiography of Malcolm X, â€Å"The Ethics of Living Jim Crow†, â€Å"The Man Who Killed a Shadow†, and â€Å"Almos’ a Man† all deal with African American boys and them becoming true men. The literature of Richard Wright and Malcolm X illustrate how African American males encountered much difficulty in asserting their manhood while living within the racist society of the 1930’s and 1940’s. Racism denied African American males the opportunity to gain economic power. In â€Å"The Ethics of Living Jim Crow†, the young African American boy gets a job in a factory. He works with white men and wants to learn more. One day he is told that the factory is â€Å"a white man’s work†¦and [he] better watch [him] self! † (241) The white men feel he is threatening their job even though he is just trying to support his family. They threaten him and make him quit his job. Unlike the young boy who already has a job, Malcolm X moves to Boston to search for a new job. During Malcolm X, Malcolm decides his life would be better if he moves in with his sister. He was walking through the city and noticed these people were â€Å"only a big city version of those successful Negro bootblacks and janitors back in Lansing† (42). Janitors and bootblacks were considered successful jobs for African Americans where that job for a white man would be around middle to lower class. Blacks don’t even have a chance at a good job like a lawyer or doctor. â€Å"The Man with a Shadow† is about an African American man growing up in life. He is working as a janitor and his boss has legs spread wide open and her panties showing. He is embarrassed and refuses to clean under her desk. The boss becomes angry and screams, â€Å"‘You’re being paid to clean, You black nigger†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (232). The black man feels real embarrassed and gets yelled at for not cleaning the same area again. He feels as if he is being treated like a slave. Also being called the N word is real offensive for African Americans. He has to quit because he accidentally killed the librarian. Economic power is one step in leading men to manhood, but exercising one’s freedom is also an important step. Racism prevented African American males from exercising their autonomy. In â€Å"The Ethics of Living Jim Crow†, the young African American boy has a job and is making a delivery. He is on his back to the store when â€Å"a police car, swerving toward [him], jammed [him] into the curbing† (244). Blacks in this time period were treated unfairly. He is just trying to do his job and even the cops wouldn’t let blacks exercise their own independence. Whites put fear into blacks in all different kinds of settings during this time period, from work places to social settings. During Malcolm X, Malcolm is in a theatre watching a show. When the show started, Malcolm â€Å"was the only Negro in the theatre†¦[and] felt like crawling under a rug† (33). People go to theatres all the time and shouldn’t be forced to feel uncomfortable while in them. Malcolm wants to watch the show, but since the country was so racist and he was the only black, he felt weird and wanted to leave. Later on in the book, Malcolm is thinking about what he wanted to do for his job. â€Å"Lansing certainly had no negro lawyers or doctors,† something he may have wanted to be (38). He wants to be successful in life, but as he recalls there are zero lawyers or doctors in Lansing. This quote shows that because of race alone, blacks can’t use their autonomy and get a job they aspire to be. Finding their independence was hard enough, but trying to protect each other was even harder. Racism would not allow African American males to defend themselves or others. The young boy in â€Å"The Ethics of a Living Jim Crow† is at a store working when an old woman gets beat. â€Å"They would not beat me if I knew enough to keep my mouth shut† even though they beat that old black lady (243). The white workers beat an old black lady for not paying her bill. He could not defend the old lady because he knew the whites would hurt him if I tried to help her. Later on in the story, a security guard slaps a fellow black female employee on the butt. The African American man feels embarrassed for letting his friend get slapped on the butt. The employee who got slapped says, â€Å"‘Don’t worry, you couldn’t help it†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (246). This quote shows that blacks had no chance to defend others because if they did, the whites would just beat them even more. The girl knows they can’t do anything about it and tells him not to worry. From white security guards to racist groups such as the KKK, whites could do basically whatever they want to do to blacks at this time. At the very beginning of Malcolm X, the KKK is at Malcolm’s house. They were surrounding the house, â€Å"brandishing their shotguns and rifles† (1). The KKK is around the house with weapons wanting Malcolm’s father to leave town. He had no way to defend himself because they had all weapons. Many people and organizations in town, and even the police are corrupt and don’t like the blacks. Part of being a man is defending others and the whites would not let them do this at this time. The four stories show how black males had different obstacles to overcome in gaining their manhood while living in the racist society during the mid 1900’s. The boys in all the stories had problems they encountered on their way to finding their manhood. They couldn’t gain economic power, exercise their autonomy, or defend themselves and others. The 30’s and 40’s were a bad time for African Americans to live in, but as the years have gone on, minorities have gained more rights in America. With the help of groups such as the NAACP, blacks have more rights than ever. Barack Obama, the United States President and Tiger Woods, the world’s most popular athlete are both examples of how far African Americans have come.

Dress Codes and School Uniforms Essay -- Education Clothing Essays

Dress Codes and School Uniforms The ringing of the alarm clock that is placed conveniently beside your bed wakes you. The sound startles your brain into getting out of your warm, cozy bed. It is time to go to school. You must wake up now in order to make it on time. If you are late again, your teacher will probably give you that nasty look of dismissal. What are you going to wear? Is this a dilemma you face each morning? Do you have trouble wanting to get out of your bed, and then you are faced with the troubling question of what cool, clean, unwrinkled outfit you should wear that day? Do you think your life would be easier if you could just throw on a uniform? This way you might not have to think so hard in the morning, right after that bellowing alarm clock frightens you into facing the world. Or do you like being able to express your individuality? This is an important question to think about. The first amendment gives each person in this nation the right to free expression. You should be able to dress as you wish and not feel pressured to dress in a uniform manner, with the rest of you student body. Right? I agree with this latter statement. "Currently 20% of the nation's school districts use uniforms, most of them voluntarily" (Portner, 2001). The states included in this percentage are: California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, Tennessee, Utah, and Virginia. Long Beach, California was the first to enforce voluntary school uniform policies into their schools. There are 60 elementary schools, 15 middle schools, and one high school in Long Beach that have introduced this policy. There are over 72,000 students wearing school uniforms in Long Beach, California. Of these 72,000 students, on... ... In case you missed it: Some thoughts about school unfiroms. (26 April 2001). WWW: http://www.middleweb.com/INCASEUniforms.html Judge says school's dress code is legal. (1 September 1999). WWW: http://www.oregonlive.com/news/99/09/st090125.html Marchant, V. (13 September 1999). Time Magazine: Dress for success. WWW: http://www.time.com/magazine/articles/0,3266,30497.00.html Portner, J. (26 April 2001). Schools ratchet up the rules on student clothing. WWW: http://www.edweek.org/ew/vol-8/35teens.h18 School Uniforms: Where they are and why they work. (26 April 2001). WWW: http://www.edgov/updates/uniforms.html Seigel, L. (1 March 1996). In Congress: Point of view: School uniforms. WWW: http://www.alcu.org/congress/uniform.html Those disgusting school uniforms. (1 October 1998). WWW: http://www.optionality.net/mag/oct98a.html

Hamlet and His Problems Essay

Eliot offers, as we have seen, what has come to be called an ‘impersonal theory of poetic creation. ’ Eliot would not have denied either that poets have feelings or that poetry inspires certain feelings in the reader. He offers, rather, an account, centered around his notion of the objective correlative, of how such feelings enter the poem in the first place that differs significantly from the expressive model of poetry promulgated by the Romantics. In â€Å"Tradition and the Individual Talent,† you might recall, using a chemical analogy, Eliot compares the poet’s mind to a catalyst and the emotions and feelings (he draws a distinction between these two that is unclear) universally inspired by particular objects and events to two chemicals which react with each other only in the presence of the catalyst. The product of the ‘chemical’ reaction is a poem which, when properly executed, then in turn inspires the same emotions and feelings in its audience. In short, the poet does not inject his personal emotions into the poem, that is, the best poetry does not ‘express’ the personality (thoughts and feelings) of the poet concerned. In â€Å"Hamlet and Its Problems,† Eliot gives further insight into exactly how emotions are included in poems without the poet’s own feelings becoming personally involved. According to Eliot, the best poets seek to verbally describe suitable objects which, when included in the poem, are responsible for generating a particular kind of emotion that, in turn, strikes the appropriate chord in the reader. The ‘object’ captured in words in this way serves, as Eliot puts it, as the ‘correlative’ of a particular kind of emotion. Eliot puts it this way: the only way of expressing emotion in the form of art is by finding an ‘objective correlative’; in other words, a set of objects, a situation, a chain of events which shall be the formula of that particular emotion; such that when the external facts, which must terminate in sensory experience, are given, the emotion is immediately evoked. 124-5) For example, the description of death inevitably involves the generation of sadness and related emotions in the audience as it would if it happened on real life. Given that Eliot is of the view that the best poetry is divorced from the personal feelings and involvement of the poet, the death described has little to do with the poet’s personal experiences of mortality. From this point of view, Eliot contends, the reason why Shakespeare’s play Hamlet is a failure is that the â€Å"essential emotion of the play is the feeling of a son towards a guilty mother† (124). However, the character Hamlet is â€Å"dominated by an emotion† (125) that is â€Å"in excess of the facts as they appear† (125). That is, the play Hamlet’s difficulty is that the character Hamlet’s â€Å"disgust is occasioned by his mother, but . . . is mother is not an adequate equivalent for it; his disgust envelops and exceeds her† (125). In short, the in fact not entirely unsympathetic figure of Gertrude in the play is not an adequate object for the emotions which she is meant to generate in her son. The play fails because Gertrude is a badly executed character who does not function as she is intended to by Shakespeare and thus fails as an objective correlative for emotions of disgust.

Taking a Look at the Concept of Monopoly - 923 Words

A topic I found to be interesting of what I learned in semester two of this class of microeconomics would be monopoly. I chose this topic because as of today we face many issues regarding this topic and I would like to be well informed and help others be informed on monopoly. One of the two articles that I will be using is published on Econlib, the name is â€Å"Monopoly† by George J. Stigler. The other article I will be using is published on about.com in the economic education section and the title is â€Å"What Is a Monopoly?† by Jodi Beggs. â€Å"Monopoly† by George J. Stigler from Econlib is an article based on all the details and acts of what is a monopoly. A monopoly is an enterprise that is the only seller of a good or service. A monopoly is free to set any price it chooses and will usually set the price that yields the largest possible profit when there is no interference of the government. Just being a monopoly does not mean that it will be more profitable than other enterprises that face competition, because the market can be very small that it might not even be able to support one enterprise itself. Economists expect other entrepreneurs to enter the business to grasp some of the high lights if a monopoly does indeed become fortunate and becomes more profitable than the competitive enterprises. But if a plethora of rivals enter in to the competition the effect would be their competition would have the price plunging downward and eliminate monopoly power. It would seem that theShow MoreRelatedGoogles Domina nce Of The Digital World1096 Words   |  5 Pagescompanies of our time. The company’s search engine has become so popular that we don’t look up things on the Internet anymore, we ‘google’ them. The company’s conquest of the digital business world has led some to argue it’s not just an ordinary company anymore, but rather a monopoly. But what are monopolies and is Google a digital monopoly? If so, should regulators try to find a way to limit them? This guide will look at whether we should be worried about Google’s dominance in the digital world andRead MoreFor This Lesson The Main Concept I Am Trying To Teach Is1120 Words   |  5 PagesFor this lesson the main concept I am trying to teach is the concept of monopolistic competition and the effects it can have on consumers. I decided to do this by focusing on the idea of monopolies in the U.S. Healthcare Insurance industry. My goal is to use maps that demonstrate how states with only a few insurance providers have higher premiums as a result from the lack of competition. When I was researching maps I was looking for maps that had a significant amount of data, yet were simple andRead MoreMonopoly Product Life Cycle1436 Words   |  6 Pages Over 2000 versions in 111 countries and 43 languages, Hasbro had sold 275 million Monopoly games worldwide. The Monopoly Game is named after the economic concept of monopoly: the domination of a market by a single provider. Just right after Chess which holds the 1st place, Monopoly is ranked as the 2nd best board game of all time. Monopoly was patented in 1935 and albeit still making a steady cash-cow, Monopoly is well in its maturity stage and in the recent years it is seen also peaking intoRead MoreThe Dark Side of Disney1426 Words   |  6 PagesMickey Mouse Monopoly, a documentary released in 2002, examines Disney’s power to influence society and culture as it explores Disney’s depictions of race and gender in Disney movies, drawing on interviews with various individuals. Mickey Mouse Monopoly appeals to ethos and pathos to draw attention to Disney’s stronghold on public opinion, how Disney sensors negative publicity, and how Disney aids in the gender socialization of our youth and paints a vivid picture of our society’s concepts of race,Read MoreReflecti on Paper1607 Words   |  7 PagesECONOMICS FEBRUARY 19, 2010 During this previous week, our learning team began discussing the topic of market structures. According to our readings, there are four different types of market structures such as pure competition, a pure monopoly, a monopolistic competition, and an oligopoly. Each one of these market structures are diverse in definition, characteristics, and in application, which will be further explained later in detail. We had learned that each one of these fourRead MoreAllocative Efficiency and Dynamic Efficiency1114 Words   |  4 Pagesefficiency and all are linked to how well a market shares scarce resources to satisfy consumers. The two of the terms within efficiency going to illustrate are allocative efficiency and dynamic efficiency. Allocative efficiency Allocative efficiency looks into the goods and services that match the changing consumers’ needs and preferences, reflecting on the price willing to pay. Allocative efficiency is reached when there is no one made better off without making someone else worse off. The conditionRead MoreBenefits Of Competition Among Firms Delivers Benefits And Performance Within Business1354 Words   |  6 Pagesjudgment on the impact of various types of competition, including perfect, imperfect, monopoly and oligopoly, for both the business along with the consumer. To illustrate and support theoretical ideas, concepts and policies, real life examples have been utilised, which will bringing to light key areas where society as a whole may benefit. Competition is apparent on virtually every street, isle and shelf we look at these days, a simple example being that competition can even generate an entire aisleRead MoreMass Media Concepts1359 Words   |  6 PagesMASS MEDIA AND SOCIETY (2) The concept of ‘mass’ The ideas of ‘mass society’ date from the 1940s but before that time, since the19th century, there have been different ideas of what ‘mass’ means. One use of the term ‘mass’ was negative to refer to the mass of people or the ‘common people’ – who were seen as uneducated, ignorant, unruly or violent. ‘Mass’ could also be used in a positive sense as in ‘mass movement’ – such as trade unionism, socialism, or working class solidarity againstRead MorePower By Niccolo Machiavelli, Hannah Arendt, And Karl Emil1461 Words   |  6 Pagesin the state. Despoilment is the act of removing any and all oppression to the ruler. This is an example of force used by the ruler to influence fear in the state and the people. Machiavelli states that the prince should be feared, not loved. This concept concludes that without structure of violence and fear the power of the prince can diminish. Hannah Arendt, a political theorist, argues that there is only strength in individuals, but power is held in groups. She states that violence in politicsRead MoreMickey Mouse Monopoly Essay982 Words   |  4 Pagesrarely confronts him. Beast on the other hand, portraying an abusive male, does everything to a tee. He yells, bangs on doors, throws furniture, and even threatens starvation when Belle goes against him. Belle, being the kind and gentle female lead, looks past all his rage and finds he prince inside; highlighting the common problem in abusive relationships. The abused partner holding onto the hope that their abuser will change, that they will love them and show them the tenderness that used to be there