Author Tips Writing a Book

Author Tips Author Tips As anyone who has ever attempted it can attest, writing a book is not easy. If the sheer work involved isn’t enough to scare you off, trying to keep you subject matter, characters, form, and other elements can be downright mind-boggling. We’ve covered this topic before in our How to Write a Novel guide, but it never hurts to have more author tips that can help you accomplish your goals. Author Tips: Read, Read, and Read Some More One of the dangers that authors run into is myopia. Being so focused on your work and ideas that you lose sight of how other books are written. While it’s hard to find time to read in our busy world, reading can provide you with author tips that can flow into your subconscious. No one works in a vacuum, so don’t be afraid to steal liberally and weave those thoughts into your own voice. It also helps to read different works that are outside of your target genre. For instance, if you’re writing non-fiction, a science fiction novel can remind you of how to make more engaging prose. Vice versa, non-fiction can bring a dose of realism that can make your ideas more relatable. Author Tips: Be Aware of Your Style Of all the author tips presented in this article, style should be a foremost concern when writing a book. Have you ever read a book that seems like it was written by more than one author? It probably was—or, at the very least, it conveys that an author wasn’t consistent. Authors need to make a cohesive work that retains a definitive style unless they are going for a disjointed, avant-garde style. Style augments the story and subject matter. Consider two books written about war – Hemingway’s â€Å"For Whom the Bell Tolls† and Kurt Vonnegut’s â€Å"Slaughterhouse 5†. Both stories have a number elements in common—a male narrator trapped in military conflict, describing the horrors around them while trying to maintain their composure under extreme stress. Hemingway’s laconic style displays his famous â€Å"iceberg theory,† where the reader is left to grasp at the narrator’s true, hidden feelings. In â€Å"Slaughterhouse 5†, Vonnegut’s tone is similarly stark, but with a hint of disconcerting humor for a person undergoing the effects of PTSD. So it goes†¦ If you haven’t had an opportunity, read Strunk White’s The Elements of Style. This short book will open your eyes to some of the options authors have when trying to convey their story to readers. Author Tips: Using a Pseudonym Consider how your work will be viewed by your professional colleagues and future employers. Should you attach your name to it, or are you willing to forego the recognition and adulation by using a pseudonym? This is important for those looking to write about controversial topics that may impact their life. It’s one thing to specialize in erotica, but would you want your family, students, and coworkers to know about your hobby? The same goes for political affiliations. If you want to state your beliefs without regard to the consequences, be aware of how your decision will appear to those who don’t know you personally. And while we’d all like to make writing our main focus, some employers look down on authors that â€Å"moonlight† on their passion projects. After all, would your literary commitments impact your job performance and availability? Then again, it may increase  your job prospects! Author Tips: Nose to the Grindstone, Sort of†¦ Books don’t write themselves. While this may seem like one of the most obvious of author tips, no one else is going to write your book for you—unless you subcontract  it. Traditionally-published works seem like the work of one person, but often this isn’t the case at all. Books are usually composed by not only an author, but also a team of editors, copyeditors, designers, fact-checkers, and other personnel that hone the work into a professional document. Likewise, if you have a literary agent  and ask friends review your work, they can be considered a part of your team. While it’s tempting to be the mastermind behind your masterpiece, no one does it alone. Author Tips: Motivation People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing, that’s why we recommend it daily †¨- Zig Ziglar One of the most overlooked author tips out there is the subject of motivation. If you’ve ever met writers who are continually working on their book year-after-year, you may have sensed that they’ve lost the will to finish. The trick is to maintain your enthusiasm in the same way that you would routinely fill your car with gas on a long road trip. There will be times where your work may seem like it was better fit for the garbage heap; keep writing until you â€Å"finish† the work. Events like NaNoWriMo may be the antidote to your motivation problems. By having a finite goal of 50,000 words, as well as a community of individuals to keep accountable (at least in a quasi-public fashion), you can generate the motivation to finish a rough draft of your new work. Similarly, if you can’t make the November commitment, spread your intentions on social media. Having to face the shame of unfinished work could be just the motivational ticket. Author Tips: Trust Your Work Remember that you and you alone are responsible for crafting your work. Don’t discount the idea that others may feel jealous, as your newfound status as an author tips the scale in your personal relationships. It’s not unusual to arouse the envy and pessimism of those around you when undertaking such an all-encompassing task as writing a novel. Trust in your abilities, and take the following quote by author Neil Gaiman to heart: â€Å"Remember: when people tell you somethings wrong or doesnt work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong. * * * If you take these author tips to heart, you can be well on your way to realizing your dreams of writing a novel. It is no easy feat, but then again, that may be why you started writing in the first place! Good luck.

Cognitive Dissonance Essay - 1280 Words

â€Å"Your best friend is having a beer bash tonight. Everyone you talk to indicated their positive intentions of going to the best beer bash of the millennium. However, you have a Psyc 135 final next morning that you havent studied for. Your midterm scores have been low going into the final, but everyone claims that the final is easy every semester. Should you stay home and study for the final or go to this millennium beer bash and merrily consume alcohol?† Above stated scenario raises several questions in my mind and lands me in a state of psychological tension. Having a choice of attending a social event or studying for the final exam puts me in a dilemma as to what to do next. Deciding to stay home and study for a test may very well anger†¦show more content†¦One decision is to stay abstinent from alcohol or follow in the footsteps of my beer bash friends. Prescribing to any of the alternatives may lead to dissonance as drinking may deteriorate health and cause lower grades, while not attending the beer bash may give my best friend and peers a sense of their rejection. What happens to people when they discover dissonant cognitions? The answer to this question forms the postulation of Festinger’s theory. Festingers theory of Cognitive Dissonance postulates that individuals, when presented with evidence contrary to their worldview or situations in which they must behave contrary to their worldview, experience cognitive dissonance (Festinger, 1957). Dissonance can be simply understood as an â€Å"unpleasant state of tension.† A person who has dissonant or discrepant cognitions is said to be in a state of psychological dissonance, which is experienced as unpleasant psychological tension (Berkowitz amp; Cotton, 1984). This tension state has drive-like properties that are much like those of hunger and thirst. When an individual has been deprived of food for several hours, he/she experiences unpleasant tension and is driven to reduce the unpleasant tension state that results (Berkowitz amp; Cotton, 1984). The general sequence of a psychological tension is as follows, (a) conflict, (b)Show MoreRelatedCognitive Dissonance1266 Words   |  6 PagesCognitive Dissonance Cognitive Dissonance or mental stress which is primarily caused by contradictory beliefs, can be a common part of some peoples life’s however we are psychologically motivated to avoid situations which cause mental stress. This paper will discuss a situation and the behavior using attribution theory, the reciprocal relationship between behavior and attitudes as well as how cognitive dissonance theory could be used to rationalize the behavior. Situation and Subsequent Behavior Read MoreCognitive Dissonance1161 Words   |  5 PagesPsych Cognitive Dissonance Cognitive dissonance theory has been around since the late fifties. It has inspired many psychologists to figure out the murky depths of people’s minds. The theory relates strongly to decision making, social phenomenons and mental angst. Many paradigms exist within cognitive dissonance. Two important paradigms are the Belief Disconfirmation paradigm and the Free Choice paradigm. There are several experiments that have been studied that relate to cognitive dissonance, includingRead MoreCognitive Dissonance Theory1621 Words   |  7 Pagescreated the cognitive dissonance theory as an attempt to explain why people desire to have consistency between their behaviors and actions. Cognitive dissonance is the distressing mental state people feel when they find themselves doing things that don’t fit with what they know, or having opinions that do not fit with other opinions they hold (Festinger, 1957; as cited in Griffin, 2009). Thus, people are motivated to change either their behavior or their belief when feelings of dissonance arise. Read MoreCognitive Dissonance Paper1671 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction The words Cognitive Dissonance were fascinatingly interesting; therefore more research went into the origin of these two words. Both words are Middle English, which was the English in use from 12th to 15th centuries and both used in the 15th century [ (Merriam-Webster, 2011) ]. Cognitive is an adjective meaning, there is physical activity involving the mind; be it: thinking, reasoning or remembering. Dissonance is a noun meaning, when there is a tug-of- war between one’s actions andRead MoreAssignment on Cognitive Dissonance1417 Words   |  6 PagesTheory Paper on Cognitive Dissonance Theory â€Å"Sometimes people hold a core belief that is very strong. When they are presented with evidence that works against that belief, the new evidence cannot be accepted. It would create a feeling that is extremely uncomfortable, called cognitive dissonance. And because it is so important to protect the core belief, they will rationalize, ignore and even deny anything that doesn t fit in with the core belief.† ― Frantz Fanon, Black Skin, WhiteRead More Cognitive Dissonance Theory Essay1027 Words   |  5 Pages nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The theory of Cognitive Dissonance states that when individuals are presented with information that implies we act in a way that contradicts our moral standards, we experience discomfort (Aronson, Wilson, and Akert, 1998, P. 191). This is considered Cognitive Dissonance, A psychological term used to describe mental conflict that occurs when beliefs or assumptions are contradicted by new information; arouses unease or tension; relieved by one of several defensive maneuvers:Read MoreCognitive Dissonance1475 Words   |  6 PagesCognitive Dissonance Cognitive Dissonance Consistency, the absence of contradictions, has sometimes been called the hallmark of ethics. Ethics is supposed to provide an individual with a guide for moral living, and to do so it must be rational, and to be rational it must be free of contradictions. When consistency and ethics are compromised, this is known as cognitive dissonance. Leon Festinger shared his brilliance with the world when he created the Cognitive Dissonance theoryRead MoreCognitive Dissonance And Its Effect On Behavior1654 Words   |  7 PagesPeople experience cognitive dissonance when they perceive that there is a mismatch between their attitudes and behaviors. Because we are motivated to keep our cognitions consistent, the inconsistency brought about by dissonance becomes a drive that must be reduced. This is done by changing either the attitude or the behavior such that they may accurately align with each other. Eventually, the New Look model to dissonance will shift the causal path to an explanation using avoidance of aversive consequencesRead MoreThe Theory of Cognitive Dissonance Essay example877 Words   |  4 Pagestheory of cognitive dissonance started as a very simple observation by Leon Festinger that people do not like to deal with inconsistency. This simple observation led to the development of a theory that became very controversial, and it would be this controversy that propelled the theory forward. Many years of research has led to many different ideas of what cognitive dissonance really is and why it actually occurs. Festinger developed the term cognitions while developing his theory on cognitive dissonanceRead MoreActions Caused by Cognitive Dissonance Essay919 Words   |  4 PagesFestinger’s cognitive dissonance theory that asserts that we act to reduce discomfort or dissonance, an unpleasant tension, we experience when two of our thoughts or cognitions are inconsistent. Mkimmie, et al. (2003) investigated the impact of social support on cognitive dissonance arousal in their experiment, â€Å"I’m a Hypocrite, but So Is Everyone Else: Group Support and the Reduction of Cognitive Dissonance.† The psychologists aimed to test the impact of social support on dissonance by testing two

Relationship Between Sex And Power - 955 Words

Introduction Michel Foucault was a French philosopher, historian, social theorist, philologist and literary critic whose work had a tremendous impact on several disciplines. He was not a sociologist by training, but he worked diligently on sociological issues and otherwise had significant influence on the work of other sociologists. One of his most famous works is the The History of Sexuality, in which he examines the emergence of sexuality as a discursive object and separate sphere of life. According to Foucault, the idea that everyone has a sexuality is relatively a recent development in the West. In Volume 1, Foucault discusses the relationship between sex and power in a historical context. He states that the ways in which humans think about sexuality is primarily shaped by the repressive hypothesis, which claims that Western society had suppressed sexuality from the 17th to the mid-20th century, and this was due to the rise of capitalism and the bourgeois society. There are several ke y concepts in this book that will be discussed in this paper include repressive hypothesis, sexuality, power, and discourse. This paper will seek to show the ways in which sexuality is a discursive object, and how sexuality was linked to power throughout history. Foucault describes the repressive hypothesis as one that supposes that any increase of energy on purely pleasurable activities, such as sex, has been frowned upon since the rise of the bourgeoisie. Due to this, sexShow MoreRelatedThe Body Politic : The Removal Of Agency And The Struggle For Power1352 Words   |  6 PagesThe Body Politic: The Removal of Agency and the Struggle for Power The demand for sexual services is a universal constant in human society—from the sexual slavery of the Indo-Asian colonial period, to contemporary Canada, the relation between sex and power is an undisputed fact. Prostitutes and concubines are and were people who struggled with power historically due to their positions in society and their occupations; they have struggled for political access, for their own safety, and for theirRead MoreSame Sex Marriage Should Be Legal1659 Words   |  7 Pages Same-sex couples can hardly remember a time where they were not fighting for their right to marriage in the United States. After several court cases, California Proposition Six, and their struggle against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), same-sex couples found their way into U.S. society. Many misguided studies appealed to those opposing same-sex marriage, but after several years of integrating in society, same-sex couples found the support they were looking for. Before the S upreme CourtRead MoreThe Court Hierarchy Of Australia1305 Words   |  6 Pagessystem). Courts are essential to the system of law in Australia, as they provide a means of resolution for legal disputes between individuals, corporate entities, or individuals and the government. Courts are where the application and validity of laws are determined. The essence of a court of law is that it is independent to the Executive and Legislature, and has the power to conclusively determine disputes in accordance with the law. As time has progressed, the Australian legal system has seenRead MoreSocial Exchange Theory And Division Of Household Labor Essay1598 Words   |  7 PagesHousehold Labor in Same-Sex Couples† by Suzanne Taylor Sutphin The division of power and responsibility in family units has traditionally been studied with a focus on the role gender plays in that distribution (Sutphin, 2010). Structural functionalism, for example, traditionally suggests the male is the breadwinner and the female is the homemaker. Feminism might refute this claim and state that the inverse is acceptable. However, when trying to understand the power imbalances of same-sex couples, genderRead MoreThe Legal Definition Of Marriage Essay1717 Words   |  7 PagesIn Australia marriage is the union between a women and a man, in the eyes of the law couples of the same sexual orientation is not considered a marriage. In this report it will contain the legal definition of marriage, the current legislation, the legal issues surrounding the law, foreign marriages and how to impact Australia, the rights of the stake holders, the social issues surrounding marriage, political ideas and views of marriage, the evaluation of the law, concluding with recommendation asRead MoreWhat is homosexuality? Homosexuality is the romantic or sexual attraction or sexual behavior900 Words   |  4 Pagessexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. What is same sex marriage? Same sex marriage is marriage between two people of the same sex. The legal recognition of same-sex marriage or the possibility to perform same-sex marriage is called marriage equality or equal marriage. The recognition of same-sex marriage is a political, social, human rights, civil rights, and religious issue in many nations around the world, and there are continuous debates over whether same-sex couples shouldRead MoreWorld Wide Intimate Partner Violence1078 Words   |  5 Pages not only for heterosexual relationships, but also for same-sex relationships. In an article IPV was best described as abuse that occurs between two individuals in a close and intimate relationship and usually refers to romantic couples, be they are married, dating, living together, or former partners/ spouses (Samuelson, Kristin W. and Oringher, Jonathan 1). When we think about it, then why have we not heard about IPV in same-sex and even in heterosexual relationships and why isn’t it reported.Read MorePower Relations : An Overview Essay1562 Words   |  7 PagesPower Relations: An Overview Michel Foucault analyzed the relationship between types of power and its relation to creating a subject—a person. He gives an analysis with mention of the modern state and pastoral power. The modern state exerts its influence on society causing subjection of individuals based on the preferences of a certain group of people within society (ed. Rabinow and Rose 2003). In relation to sex education, we can attribute this subjectivity to macro-level factors such as legislatureRead MoreSexual Boycotts, Documented During The Greek Empire And The Peloponnesian War1070 Words   |  5 PagesSex boycotts, documented during the Greek empire and the Peloponnesian war between Athens and Sparta, have been a traditional interesting non-violent method to resolve conflicts. The Australian aboriginals community also illustrated the sex boycott as a popular practice. Contemporary examples in Colombia in 2005 , in the Philippines and in Canada in 2012 confirmed the vulgarization of the â€Å"Lysistrata regime† to achieve social, political and economic goals. Also aimed to counteract several formsRead MoreGender Asymmetry, Emotion Work and Its Role in Gender Power Relations1242 Words   |  5 PagesEmotion Work and Its Role in Gender Power Relations In this essay the following topics will be discussed, gender asymmetry, emotion work and what role this plays in gender power relations in the context of heterosexual couples. Duncombe and Marsden in 1993 use local survey evidence to illustrate the gender difference or asymmetry in intimate emotional behaviour. It is a commonly known belief that in the first stages of a relationship, it is passionate, loving, full

Hamlet Comparative Essay Example For Students

Hamlet Comparative Essay Hamlets agonized worrying over his state of existence begins before his first encounter with the ghost. He reports first to his mother that These but the trappings and suits of woe (I,ii) do not begin to illumine his inner heartbreak over the death of his father. But it is soon revealed in his first soliloquy that he despairs more over the hasty remarriage of Gertrude than the death of King Hamlet. a beast, that wants discourse of reason, / Would have mournd longer. (I,ii) Gertrudes apparent disregard of his honorable late father causes his suicidal dejection. When he hears from the ghost of his fathers murder, he does indeed vow revenge. However, that revenge never seems to materialize, he thinks and worries but commits no action to fulfill his vow. For some reason, he plays the fool and delays his revenge. Significantly, he presents the play with the scenes altered to mirror the circumstances of Claudius crime so Hamlet can watch his reactions with his own eyes. For I mine eyes will rivet to his face, / And after we will both our judgments join / In censure of his seeming. (III,ii) Hamlets revenge, when it finally occurs, is the result of considerable provocation. Claudius has been exposed by Laertes as a conspiring murderer of Prince Hamlet. Claudius has caused Hamlet to be the death of several people, notably Ophelia and Gertrude. In the end Hamlet kills Claudius, and the ghost is revenged. But truly, whose revenge has taken place? The connection among all of Hamlets actions is merely himself. He certainly mourns his father, but mainly he feels sorry for himself because he lost his mother and his crown the day his father died. It is possible that he misses Gertrude and Denmark more than his father the king. Also, Hamlet cannot accept the ghosts word for Claudius guilt, he arranges a situation where he can watch Claudius condemn himself. Again, this is a reaction from his self-centered motives-he requires the feeling of hatred that is only achieved when he is the victim of a crime. Although the play shows him a first-hand picture of Claudius guilt, it is still not enough provocation for murder. In Hamlets case, self-centered is not a fault but a way of feeling emotions. He is evidently unable to feel the necessary passion when they are related secondhand, he must have the immediate relation to his own psyche. Finally, Claudius presents Hamlet with all the reasons for revenge and no room for reservations. A dying Laertes reveals Claudius plot to send Hamlet to an English death, and Gertrude is dead from Claudius poison that was meant for Hamlet. With such incitement, Hamlet is able to execute Claudius. Hamlet can be deemed successful in the end, because he has redeemed the wrongs committed against his person if not his fathers. He lacks some interior ability to commit bloody revenge for some victim other than himself. However, Claudius eventually unites Hamlets passion to avenge the old king with his need for a primary injury, which causes Claudius death and the satisfaction of all Hamlets goals, both for himself and his father.

Women’s Literature Essay Example

Women’s Literature Essay In 1971, Ntozake Shange adapted her Zulu/African name that replaced her real name Paulette Williams as a rebellion and a rejection from her middle-class upbringing. Ntozale Shange, meaning â€Å"she who comes with her own things† and â€Å"who walks like a lion,† respectively is born in October 18, 1948.Shange lived the American dream only for a short period of time—for the wealth and cultural background can never protect her from experiencing racism at the age of eight. In St. Louis, she is integrated n the school system of the all-white school. She is not prepared for the kind of school who will mold her to a life full of alienation and frustration. Her gender became an obstacle since it limited her to lots of things just because she was a woman. The gender issues she felt during her formative years translated into having an anti-female aura later on.Five years after their stay in St. Louis, Missouri, the whole family returned to New Jersey. She continued honin g her craft as a writer—writing short stories and poems to express herself while divulging her feelings toward the whole world and the society she is into. Criticisms flowed like water since her works are dominated with a â€Å"black voice,† and eventually discouraged from pursuing her dream, her outlet of emotions, her only companion—the pen and paper. With her four suicide attempts, she managed to continue her life and devote her time to writing and performing arts.She stayed in California after being a graduate form the University of California. During her residence in California, Shange immediately discovered the cathartic effect of the fusion of writing and performing, while redefining her being as a woman determined to declare and disseminate the power and cultural heritage of black women throughout the community (Nelson 422).Ntozake Shane’s proved herself to the limelight in the late 1970s. Four of her best-known dramatic works became the start of her career being a playwright. Her most popular work, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When The Rainbow Is Not Enuf, began as a cycle of seven poems in 1974, and by 1976 it had reached Broadway. Boogie Woogie Landscapes appeared as a one-woman show in 1978 and in play form in 1979. Spell # 7: Geechee Jibara Quik Magic Trance Manual For Technologically Stressed Third World People first appeared in 1979 (Olaniyan 172). It gave way for the mainstream theater to acknowledge the presence of black dramatists in the field of theater arts. The smash hit For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When The Rainbow Is Not Enuf won an Obie award in 1977. This breakthrough inspired female playwrights and other scholarly publications to feature black theater arts in the late ‘70s. Her revolutionary pieces about racism and gender issues have been brought around the globe and translated in different languages. This breakthrough started the advocacy for black women in the socie ty.Social MilieuThe 1970s is a decade for the disintegration and decline of the civil rights movement. Court decisions combined with the laws, hoping to put an end to the segregation in the community of white Americans and black Americans did not materialize. As whites fled to the suburbs, businesses relocated outside the city, making it more difficult for African Americans to find work. At the same time the whole American economy is shifting from a manufacturing to a service base; blue-collar jobs are steadily decreasing as white-collar ones became more plentiful—with a requirement for technical skills and a high educational attainment. Most of the underprivileged African Americans are unable to qualify with these requirements. Thus, the black Americans are trapped in an unstable and fluctuating economic crisis bound with a deteriorating physical environment due to poverty (Olson 91).During the 1970s, African-American leaders turned attention to the issue of poverty and the prevalent institutional racism to be reformed by the civil rights movements and advocacies. The Civil Rights Act of 1968 had eliminated many forms of housing discrimination, but African-American leaders concluded that if school integration are to wait for integrated neighborhoods, it will probably never happen. They believed that â€Å"busing† children is the only way to overcome segregation in schools and second-class education for African-American children. However, opponents of the â€Å"busing† claimed that it will only â€Å"disrupt the lives of children and their families.† The Supreme Court, mediating with the two factions, decided to continue the â€Å"busing† since earlier plans of desegregation did not make any improvement in the educational opportunities of the black Americans (Olson 92).The issue on sexism, which is defined as the attitudes toward women because of their gender, became to be a social problem in the ‘70s. Since black famil ies are usually headed by women, the discrimination is much greater compared to a white female American woman. Discrimination varies from employment to bank loans and the administration of appropriate justice. Black women also experience disproportional levels of mental and physical abuse from black men because of more frequent institution barriers and frustrations experienced by black men compared to that of the white men (Hill 45).The civil rights movement joined other prominent groups since they constitute â€Å"only 12 percent of the American population,† hence the force to fight with the drive of equality with these white Americans is fair and influential. They included themselves in the Democratic Party, and labor union leaderships. They slowly won the loyalty of a large number of white Americans in this process. People with fair and just minds will have a natural feeling that â€Å"keeping an individual from the right to vote,† win a position from the public off ice, or go to any school or university on the basis of ethnic group association or race is deemed to be wrong and unjust (Olson 92).Analysis of For Colored GirlsTheatrical performances are not always based on the theoretical formulations of the dramatists. It becomes a process of capturing an identity and bringing it to life. The identity of the characters may reflect the real character of the dramatist, and in the process of conceptualizing the character, the African-American culture and nationalism emerges deep in the roots of Ntozake Shange.Shange’s literary works represent the tortured moment of becoming itself, the moment of emergence and discovery of the true meaning of living. The late 1970’s makes it clear that Shange’s work as a playwright, especially in for colored girls, represented a moment of crucial importance and truth in the black American history. The process of becoming is Shange’s subject, â€Å"our struggle to become all that is forbi dden by our environment, all that is forfeited by our gender, all that we have forgotten.†Much in the history of for colored girls is contributed to the discovery of open form, which Shange used in this collection of poems. One example in the poem for colored girls, she initially visualized the women as anonymous entities of all the cities in America. Women belonged to anyone, as how the society tells them to be. The African-American women are to be nameless, without their own voices for a very long time and now regained their selves as they saw one another living in a different cultural ideology and breaking the traditional stereotypes of women of color. They are beginning to compose themselves with hegemony, with a dictation in their own lives. The unpredictability of the poem for colored girls is evident from the beginning. The dialectic performance of two cultural tongues conjured in a single being is one of the unpredictabilities of the poem. The process of self-expressio n is another unpredictability of the poem. From the use of the art of dancing to the use of the whole poem itself is a transition from one form of art to another. Even the word â€Å"choreopoem,† meaning a piece that is part dance and part language, was coined to describe a kind of writing that â€Å"fits in between all† genres and does justice to â€Å"human beings’ first impulses,† which â€Å"are to move and to speak.†Shange’s use of the word colored represented the other cultural groups as well, not only the African American. Her focus in this selection is the relationship between a black male and a black female, and how oppression became a part of the black American history. There is a paradox about Shange’s poetry, in general. Her works are inscribed with the tensions of a very specific time and place, which is during the 1970s. Indeed, we can see that she also spoke for herself in this selection.This selection also contains a g reat deal of violent behavior with regard to the oppressive white American culture. The hostility can be seen with the attack on the white English such as:i cant count the number of time i have viscerally wanted to attack deform n maim the language that i waz taught to hate myself in†¦. The mess of my fortune to be born black English-speaking†¦(Schlueter 198).This created the verbal distortions that took place in the whole poem for colored girls.Shange’s drama decisively participates in the urgency for freedom and empowerment of women of color. She translated her madness in the poem for colored girls while taking into consideration the young adults and other cultural minorities to be affected with her dramatic composition. The use of two languages as a means of switching from one cultural perspective to another became suggestive to her audiences. The dialogic character is an engagement of the characters to the indefatigable space between the American culture and th e African culture (Olaniyan 121). In effect, this translates in the construction of gender-informed cultural identity, which Shange used as a point of departure for her written account.In the poem for colored girls, there is no one and concrete result to the process of becoming. The unity of the characters, as projected in their dance, established a connection between and among the characters but it does not necessarily mean that they will have the same endings. Therefore, there is no one unifying end. The process of freedom through self-empowerment is the process, in which all the characters are engaged.   What is more, communal expression may well be the only outlet for a certain range of feelings, according to Shange: â€Å"in addition to the obvious stress of racism in poverty/afro-american culture†¦has minimized its emotional vocabulary to the extent that admitting feelings of rage, defeat, frustration is virtually impossible outside a collective voice.† Shangeâ⠂¬â„¢s dramas wander through a maze of personal and collective experience, only to coalesce in a chant that unites the subjective and the inter-subjective (Olaniyan 136). The women of colored girls chant how they have found god in themselves and how they love one another, while dancing together, as a sign of unity for a common belief—freedom, power, and fulfillment, without the oppressive forces to stop them.Shange portrays black men as shallow, ominous beasts and accuse her of neglecting to dramatize the material reasons for oppression. This oppression came from frustrations and insecurities to white men. In retaliation, black men engage in maltreatment of their wives and passing on their personal burdens to the black women. With Shange’s use of dance, in conjunction with drama, it created something exclusively for women alone, with the control of their own pleasure and solidarity apart from the black men.None of these endings, including the discovery of â€Å"godâ⠂¬  and the journey towards spirituality within one’s self, the appreciation and happiness of being black, or the urge to be like a white American woman can dictate the future of the characters (Schlueter 199). It is only the beginning of another journey towards the self-discovery of their destinies and progressive futures. It is an escape for the emptiness and alienation as long as one realizes the potentials of individual effort driven by suffering and despair. It only became a meeting point for them to realize that there is another world in front of them, self-existent and revolutionary, in a way that they themselves can choose to be a part of it.

buy custom Business, Society and Ethics; Coffee Growing and Fair Trade essay

buy custom Business, Society and Ethics; Coffee Growing and Fair Trade essay Coffee growing and drinking originated in Kaffa Ethiopia, and spread throughout the world. It is a widely grown cash crop especially in Africa and is responsible for a substantial percentage of most developing countries foreign incomes. However coffee growers continued to suffer losses in spite of coffees ready market and in an effort to change this situation, a couple of non governmental organizations have come up with the fair trade movement. Fair Trade Fair trade is a global movement aimed at alleviating poverty and empowering farmers through creating sustainable market opportunities for them in developing countries. For a long time now farmers have suffered from fluctuating low market prices in the agricultural market leading to fluctuating low incomes for producers. Fair trade aims at stabilizing agricultural products farm gate prices in order to stabilize farmers income and to protect them from unfair losses. Farm gate prizes are defined as the value of an agricultural product the first time it is introduced to the market. This global network of nongovernmental organizations seeks to certify and label products such as coffee, tea and chocolate in pursuit of their agenda. As a result of this movement the income of most coffee farmers has been stabilized. This is achieved through the fair trade minimum price which sort of acts as a floor price to protect farmers in times of downturns in the market. The fair-trade premium is an additional financial amount above the fair trade minimum that has enabled farmers to invest in modern agricultural technology and improve their living standards. Fair trade provides farmers with pre-financing to enable them get the product into the market and to cater for production costs. Fair trade movement has had a positive effect in that it has led to improved product quality, stable market prices and empowerment of farmers through education and training. The fair trade market model represents an organized and formal trade setting where the aim is to alleviate poverty and provide sustainability by offering fair conditions for trade to producers. The free trade market model however, does not involve government intervention and there is free flow of goods and services dependent on the market forces; demand and supply. It is characterized by high and fluctuating prices. I have used fair trade coffee before because it is a quality product availed at a fair price. I also realize local farmers benefit when their products are supported domestically. Fair trade coffee if not well embraced by consumers will force farmers to opt for cheaper production methods compromising on quality. Fair trade coffee is purchased directly from farmers at a higher price compared to standard coffee with the objective of providing economic incentive for farmers and improving their working conditions. Tackling Poverty through Trade Coffee growers are facing a major problem due to unstable market prices and unfair competition. They compromise on quality in order to take advantage of cheaper production methods. They lack enough finances to package their products and end up selling the coffee as a primary good for far much lower prices than it is really worth. The retailers make too much profit from the coffee they sell while the growers make little or no profit and in some cases losses. Fair trade movement aims at enabling farmers to package and certify their coffee in order to enable them present it as a finished product. This however can only work if this move is supported by local consumers. If they can find a ready local market it makes it easier to sell it to international markets. Long term contracts create a level of stability and reduce the uncertainty of suffering from fluctuating market prices. The fair trade network enables farmers to access export markets therefore improving their market conditions. This has enabled lots of coffee growers who had left the field during the international coffee crisis to reconsider growing coffee again for a living. Most people do not really think about the effort behind the manufacture of the coffee they drink. When they purchase coffee their decision on what coffee to purchase usually is based on the price, quality and taste of the consumer. They are almost ignorant of their effect on the well being of the coffee growers. Farming practices have improved, farmers have been empowered and become skilled and their incomes have generally increased improving their living standards all as a result of fair trade coffee. The reaction towards fair trade was different. However most of the population believes that it is a commendable move. The argument is we are the consumers and we have the potential of making this movement a success or a failure. Consumers who go after quality especially agreed that it was better to avail expensive quality coffee than cheap non quality coffee. They therefore support the movements principals of fair trade premium and the opportunity for pre financing. It ensures that enough finances are available to use modern production technology hence produce quality coffee. Most of the population supported the fair trade movements move to purchase directly from growers eliminating middlemen and hence saving the consumer from paying high prices to cover transaction costs. The consumer is therefore able to consume quality coffee at pocket friendly prices without really hurting the growers incomes. The middlemen however lose out in this arrangement because they are not needed to transact between producers and assemblers and consumers. Labeling the product helps the consumer realize the origin of the product as local and rids them of the mentality that local is not quality. Most off the individuals who had not tried free trade coffee had the misconception that locally produced products do not meet the right quality standards. In earlier times coffee was sold as a primary product then packaged by foreigners and there was the general misconception that the companies responsible for this packaging somehow improved the coffees quality. Local labeling changes this mindset and increases consumers confidence in locally produced goods. While most of the local population is open to the idea of supporting local production there is a percentage of them that are totally indifferent. This group does not make a deliberate move to choose locally produced products over imported products. Their argument is that the local producers have to up their game enough for their products to be quality as the international goods. They have nothing against the origin of the product but they will choose quality anytime regardless of whether or not these products are locally produced. Criticisms against the fair trade area have been brought up. Critics claim that this movement still benefits retailers more by offering them a higher markup while only providing farmers marginally higher prices. The movement also aims at cost reduction and profit attainment yet it is pretty obvious to consumers that corporations that make large profits by selling free trade products do not pay their workers as well as the profit margins would imply. It therefore may cause the misconception that this movement has been put in place to benefit the implementers rather than the farmers. Another criticism is that farmers mark up price is very low at moderately above the cost of production and hence coffee growers do not make as much profit as the final sellers. The general feeling is that fair trade movement has improved farmers welfare to an extent that is obviously better than before, but their condition can be made better. Fair trade encourages farmers to form cooperatives which some criticize as encouraging the very level of bureaucracy they try to eliminate through middlemen. Creating standards in these cooperatives has not been observed and this causes critics to question whether they are a good idea. Cooperatives can be just as corrupt as other organizations and there is no guarantee that they will refrain from corrupt and unethical practices. In conclusion the outcome of this movement will be profitable for farmers and hence for the economy as a whole. Continued locally produced quality products will not only increase the domestic market but the international market too. Fair trade also brings with it a level of security especially for farmers due to the level of organization unlike free trade which is characterized by constant price fluctuations and uncertainty. Buy custom Business, Society and Ethics; Coffee Growing and Fair Trade essay

Program Evaluation Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Program Evaluation Plan - Assignment Example The two slide presentation workshops will concentrate on the effectiveness and informative value of the visual aids used by the supervisors. From the workshops, it is expected that the supervisors will increase the quality of their oral presentation skills by 30th April, 2015. The supervisors will also get three sessions of one-on-one coaching on how to give employees positive and negative feedback on their work performance. Later, the supervisors will also get a tutorial on how to provide accurate, complete, useful written performance feedback that is in compliance with company’s policy and state law. The company will provide the required venue, table, and chairs. The ABC Company HR communication specialist will conduct all sessions. From the coaching sessions and the tutorial, it is expected that the supervisors will have increased the quality of their ability to provide performance feedback to employees by April 30, 2015. Progress on the indicators will be measured by the number of sessions delivered, the number of sessions each supervisor attended, the level of participation of each supervisor, length of sessions and the adherence to workshop delivery plan by the official in charge (Fink, 2015). Program process will be evaluated by examining whether the program was implemented with fidelity and adapted to the target population. It is expected that an acceptable degree of program fidelity will be maintained, and the program will be reviewed for appropriateness. Program outcomes will be evaluated by examining program’s influence on the supervisors’ communication skills. Monthly communication skills assessments will be updated every month by the Communication Specialist. The attendance and participation rates will also be recorded and an implementation record developed by the Communication Specialist upon conclusion of every session. Surveys will be