Gender Oppression essays

Gender Oppression essays Since the beginning of time every angle of life has been looked at from a male/female standpoint. People begin to feel uncomfortable when the ground between man and woman gets broken. After watching Sally Potters Orlando (1993), a movie based on a novel written by Virginia Woolf (1923), in which a man transforms into a woman over a four-hundred year period, and watching Kimberly Pierces film, Boys Dont Cry (1999), I began to understand more how the world looks at the two genders. Although Orlando managed to end her life happily, she still had to fight the battle of gender, whereas when Branden Teena was discovered as Teena Branden, the people around her became uncomfortable, and unfortunately, she did not get the same ending as Orlando. Orlando projects a feminist future full of promise, while Boys Dont Cry answers Woolfs optimism with a brutal, resounding not yet! Throughout Orlando, Orlando never changes who s/he is no matter what body s/he inhabits. When he changed into a woman he simply looked into the mirror and said, Same person, just a different sex. Branden Teena, on the other hand, feels completely determined by her body and her self-presentation. When discovered as a girl, Branden did not want to be seen by others, she felt closed up and very insecure. Even though she knew that people knew she was not a boy she still denied that she was female, she had the mindset to be man and still faced things like a man. When being questioned by the police, Branden kept up the tough act and kept her secrets, that is until the police began to harass her because of the manner in which she behaved, calling her a dike or a lesbian and so forth. Even Brandens family criticized her for the way that she exposed herself. Brandens cousin tried to relate the way she was, but all he saw was a girl wearing his underwear, dating other wom...

English class assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

English class assignment - Essay Example For example is the commercial ad of Bud Light where it uses the punch line of â€Å"Whatever is coming, #UpForWhatever† (MrMayoFella). This kind of rhetorical device appeals to public because it is easy to understand and to remember. Also the use of product endorsers is a big plus to the commercial advertisement. The maker of this ad uses repetition wherein the words in the punch line are repeated in such a way that people will get it easily and will have more impact. Another Super bowl commercial ad that used rhetorical choices as its strategy to public viewers is the commercial ad of Doritos. It has a punch line of â€Å"Doritos For the Bold†. In its commercial ad, the boy was proposing to his girlfriend and placed the ring inside the Doritos. His girlfriend accidentally ate the ring (MrMayoFella). Analyzing the commercial ad, the rhetorical choice used was appeal to pride because of the punch line â€Å"For The Bold†. It’s like the advertisers are advising the public viewers that they should eat Doritos to gain boldness or pride. While the other commercial ads are modernized, the commercial of Audi used the rhetorical choice of appeal to history. The Audi commercial presented its past showing its credibility in car-making (MrMayoFella). Also the use of stating credentials can be said to be used in the Audi commercial ad because the credibility of the Audi was being stated in the commercial clearly. Also the M&M’s commercial ad used another rhetorical choice to appeal into the public viewers. The company showed an M&M chocolate singing â€Å"I’ll Do Anything For Love† while resisting to be cooked or eaten by people (MrMayoFella). This kind of rhetorical choice is satire. Analyzing the commercial ad, the advertisers made the public viewer laugh while inserting their point that you M&M chocolate are delicious combined with other foods. For the halftime show, the Super Bowl organizers invite famous singers to entertain the crowd. Then the

Inventory Management and Production Planning and Scheduling Essay

Inventory Management and Production Planning and Scheduling - Essay Example These usually shares 50%-70% of the total items yet contribute only 5% to 20% of their total value. As A items are most valuable in the business operation, stricter and tighter inventory control policies are implemented for their maintenance. For one, A items requires the most accurate and detailed records which are done through a more rigid control on transaction documents. Also, daily updating is done to gain a regular accurate insight of their demand and order quantities. I believe that these tighter inventory policies for type A items are logical. Since they constitute the highest dollar value of the total stock of merchandise, they must be treated with utmost care. These items do entail the stricter documentation as loss of only a minute portion will lead to huge losses for the company as their per unit value is relatively high. Also, inventories with higher values are typically marketed at a higher price to customers. Type A are considered high-end products as they typically require a huge amount of purchasing power from the consumer. Since they are sold to the high-end market, a loss of a single sale of the inventory will lead to a significant loss to the company. Closely monitoring the level of these stocks will yield a higher profitability for any business operation. B items, though given a less strict policy than A items, requires normal control which involves accurate records and timely attention. As opposed to A items which require daily updating, order quantity and order points for B items only need to be revised on a quarterly basis. These stocks require only normal processing, yet they are given top priority when critical situations arise. Moderate control policies are implemented in keeping B items as they comprise only an intermediate value of the company’s total inventory. These items do not require

Interest Levels of Boys Reading at Primary School Essay

Interest Levels of Boys Reading at Primary School - Essay Example Most children entering Key Stage 2 are not certain about their reading processes. Some of these children require specialist assistance and they still require all the experiences offered to the Key Stage 1 children. Other children make a considerable beginning with reading but in the process, they are not able to comprehend majority of the words they are reading in the books with any fluency or speed. They frequently regard themselves as poor readers and they get little pleasure from what they read. These types of children require texts they can manage accurately and those that offer them maximum satisfying experience (Bentley 1999, p93). Data from Lancashire County Council indicates that pupils underperform in reading by; (a) the failure to evaluate the author’s methods in offering an impact on the audience, (b) being not capable of citing evidence for their own opinion from the text and, (c) being not able to draw basic conclusions concerning a character or a situation. Boys fail to perform in reading because they find it difficult to engage with un-macho texts, for instance, they dismiss all female characters as ridiculous (Martin and Waters 1999, p159). It is suggested that in the western societies, the media particularly the television is replacing reading as the main interest of young people. The loss of interest in reading is very worse especially among the boys. The situation has been worsened by the arrival of the Internet and computer games (Goodwyn 2002, p48). It has been argued that â€Å"sex is the major factor in studies of children as readers, being more strongly linked than either social class or ability and attainment with how much children read† (Lockwood and Lockwood 2008, p101). There are many differences on what boys read, how well they read, the much they read, what they discuss in their reading and their performance in certain reading assessments. Researchers have also identified certain elements of English as a subject that tend to alienate boys. The boys are at a disadvantage when emphasis is put on reading narrative fiction specifically realist fiction that deal with daily interpersonal relationships. Outside school, the boys reading interests tend to change when they get older; their interest is more on fantasy than realism and they are engaged more in non-fiction genres than girls. Research shows that boys enjoy non-fiction materials than girls (72 percent of boys as opposed to 57 percent of girls) (Lockwood and Loc kwood 2008, p101). According to the research, the preference for individual responses by the English subject teachers to fiction reading severely disadvantages the boys. This is because the boys are very reluctant to express their emotional engagement with

History of Womens Football in England Essay Example for Free

History of Womens Football in England Essay I have chosen to do my essay about the history of women’s football in England. I’ve chosen to write about this because it is a topic which I am interested in as I play for a girl’s football team inside school and out. Also I would like to find out more about women’s football and where and when it all started. In this essay you will find out about the basic history of women’s football heading all the way back from 1895 to present day. I will also write a comparison between men’s football and women’s and share my opinion about 1895-1920 On the 6th April 1895 the first ever women’s football game took place at Preston Park, Brighton. The event was organised to raise funds for local medical charities. In the match North beat South 7-1. Up to 1920 no more women’s matches took place until the first women’s international game when Dick Kerr’s English ladies took on the French Ladies. The result was a 2-0 victory to England; this game had a huge audience of 25,000 people. On Boxing Day 1920 a match took place between Preston and St Helens, Preston winning 4-0. It was the biggest crowd to date for a women’s match with 53,000 spectators. 1921 In 1921 another big match was supposed to take place between London and Paris. This match never went ahead due to the FA. The FA issued a ban against womens football. They stated ‘the game of football is quite unsuitable for females and ought not to be encouraged’. This meant any women caught playing football on the grounds of an affiliated club would be punished for breaking the law. Many women were disgusted by the decision and thought it was very unfair to do this. If I was around in this time I would also be very aggravated by the decision and I would be offended that they still allow men to play. 1969-1971 After 48 years of womens football being banned women wanted to change this. They started to become very annoyed a started campaigning. After a few campaigns 44 women got together to form The Womens Football Association (WFA). They were hoping that they would slowly gain back the right to play womens football. Two years later in 1971 the FA council lifted the ban against women which allowed women to play football once again. It had been fifty years since they had been allowed to play so they knew that the game would be no longer as popular as it was and it would take a while to get it back to the way it was. Not long after the ban was lifted women were advertising for football teams all around the country. 1991-1994 Since 1971 womens football slowly grew bigger and bigger with many small local leagues playing all around the country. In 1991 the WFA launched a national league. It started off with 24 clubs from all around the country it was pretty similar to the womens league we have today. Two years later they found that the league had been very successful so the WFA decided to host a cup competition. In 1993 the WFA held a national cup competition with 137 teams entering from across the nation. Womens football was slowly becoming bigger and gaining popularity. In 1994 the FA took on the administration of the Womens Nation League and the League Cup competition. The league then became The FA Womens Premier League (FAWPL). 1997-1998 In 1997 the FA decided that they were going to develop womens football from the grassroots to the elite level. This meant that more young girls could get involved to gain popularity. In 1998 the first 20 Centres of Excellence were established for young girls. Sponsors were gained for the league and the cup competitions; this raised the profile of the women’s game. Also in 1998 Hope Powell was appointed as the first full-time coach for the England’s Women’s international side. This was a very big thing for the nation. I think this helped the game increase its popularity because it got more people involved in the game from an early age which meant in the future decade’s womens football should be a very popular game. 1999-2002 In 1999 England entered their first Fifa World Cup. The competition was held in the USA and which saw tickets sold out for most matches and over 90,000 at the Final. There had been a competition called the Womens World Championship. This was just like a world cup and it was held in 1991 but England didn’t participate. In 2002 researchers found that football had become the top participated sport for girls and women of England. The FA had not planned for this to happen for another 3 years, so they were well ahead of schedule. 2005-Present In 2005 the UEFA Womens Championship was held in England. The opening matches attracted around 29,000 spectators per game, with around 2.9 million people watching the games live on BBC Two. The tournament was attended by over 115,000 fans within 15 matches. England went out in the group stages, but got a lot of recognition across the nation. Since then womens football has gradually become more popular and has reached the level it is at today. I think it has done well to regain its popularity after the fifty year ban, but I don’t think it will ever get back to the popular state which it was in before the game got banned. FA’s Plan for the Future of Women’s Football The FA has many plans to increase the growth of womens football. They are introducing it to younger people across the country by holding taster days and trials for many football clubs. Also the FA is trying to expand the womens football league into two different leagues just like the men’s. Here is an extract from the article the FA released ‘The Football Association is considering introducing a two-tier Womens Super League (WSL) in 2014. The eight teams that took part in the inaugural WSL season, which ended in August with Arsenal winning the title, have been offered new licences. Sixteen teams had initially applied for membership in 2010, with Sunderland and Nottingham Forest missing out. An FA statement said: Plans being discussed include exploring the introduction of a second tier in 2014.’ I think this is a good idea because it will make the game become more popular across the country. Also with more leagues being introduced this means more spectators which will mean more money is being funded into the association. What I think of the Future of Women’s Football I think womens football has done very well to get back to where it is today due to the ban for fifty years. However, I don’t think that womens football will ever get to the stage like men’s because men’s football has had a lot more time to reach this popularity. Also there is a huge amount of money in the association and it would be practically impossible for women to get to that amount. I do think that womens football will grow bigger and younger girls will start to get involved. The only problem with this is it will take quite some time but they have to make up the time from the ban. Comparison When it comes to football men and women play the exact same game but one seems to be a lot more popular, the men’s. Men’s football was first found in 1314 which is nearly 700 years ago and womens football was first found in 1895 which is not even 120 years ago. Therefore there was 581 years between men and womens football. Somehow this has managed to affect the popularity in the game as it is very rare to find womens football on television when it is averaged that there is one male football match per week shown on television. If you wanted to be a professional footballer whatever sex you are you would get paid, but there is a significant amount of money difference between the genders. The average male Manchester City player would receive around  £86,280 per week plus bonuses and the average female Arsenal player would receive around  £3,000 per week that means that there is  £83280 different in the wages they receive each week. Opinion I think that womens football is different today than men’s because the FA banned it. I think if women were able to play football all the way through the 20th Century I think womens and men’s football would be similar in popularity and the wages. I also think that is very silly that the games are treated differently because they both play the same game, 90 minutes each week and the male are treated much better and receive the better pay when they both do the same job.

Corporate Social Responsibility at British Airways

Corporate Social Responsibility at British Airways Introduction This report concerns with an investigation of business ethics in British Airways (BA) and in particular an event that happened in August 2005 with its catering contractor Gate Gourmet. The main objectives of this report are:- To examine BAs approach towards Corporate Social Responsibility. To elucidate whether Gate Gourmets employees are part of BAs stakeholder or not. To explain the negative outcome To explore ethical issues involved in the practice of outsourcing. The objective of the report will be achieved by using theories and concepts of business ethics. This report will make possible a number of informative conclusions on how BA handles Corporate Social Responsibility and the particular problem with Gate Gourmet. Page: 3 BAs approach towards corporate social responsibility Corporate social responsibility (CSR): CSR is a type of corporate self regulation integrated into a business model. Superlatively, CSR policy would function as integrated, self-governing device whereby business would observe and make sure that its adherence to law, ethical standards, and international norms. Business would accept responsibility for the influence of their activities on the environment, consumers, employees, communities, stakeholders and all other members of the public. In order to weigh up the approach of Corporate Social Responsibility a well known framework has been used which was devised by Elkington (1999) called the triple-bottom line. According to triple bottom line a corporate doesnt have only one purpose that is to add economic value to their corporation but also to add environmental and social values too. Triple bottom line gives a clearer picture of what the components of sustainability actually represents in terms of a goal for business ethics by examining them separately. Social Environment Economic viable Sustainable bearable Equitable John Elkington (1998) Page: 4 Economic perspective: The economic perspective recognizes that continued growth in population, industrial activity, resource use and population could mean that standard of living would in the long run decline. A narrow belief of economic sustainability focuses on the economic performances of the corporation itself: the responsibility of management is to develop, produce and market those products that assure long term economic performance for the corporation. This includes a focus on strategies that set in motion long term rise in share price, revenue and share market rather than short term explosions of profits at the expense of long term possibility. A broader concept of sustainability would take account of the companys attitude towards bribes and building cartels. They could be regarded as economically unsustainable: they are not willing to fund the political institutional system (schools, hospitals, police and justice system) then they eat away at the key institutional basis of co rporate success. From 2000 the airline industries worldwide had been suffering from less number of passenger wanting to fly which was due to 9/11 incident, Sars epidemic and rise in the fuel costs following the war in Iraq. BAs approach towards Corporate Social Responsibility on economic is that to maintain its economic system BA has been outsourcing its services and reducing cost of personnel through redundancies and various other resources. Social perspective: This is a recent improvement in the Corporate Social Responsibility. It has come to pass from apprehension about the effect of business activities on native communities in less developed countries and regions. The addition of social contemplation has marked a move in the way ideas about sustainability were put forward. The major issue in the social perspective of sustainability is that of social justice. In spite of the remarkable advances in standards of living that many of us have enjoyed, there are growing lack of correspondence of income and wealth within many countries. In a more just an evenhanded world, living standards will lead to more economic affluence. BAs approach towards Corporate Social Responsibility on social is that it has decided to enable up to 500 applicants a year to realize their dreams through the London 2012 Great Britons Programme. Page: 5 It is aiming to raise  £1.5 million for Change for Good to help vulnerable children around the world by 2009/10. BA has plans to increase the number of collogue who donate to payroll giving by 50 percent by 2012. It will continue to work with Comic Relief and Children in Need. BA has aims to increase the number of young people participating in educational activities to 8000 per year. Environmental perspective: The notion of sustainability came into sight mainly from environmental trepidation. The fundamental principles of sustainability in the environmental perspective alarm the effective management of physical resources so that they are preserved for the future. All bio systems are regarded as having limited resources and finite capacity and hence sustainable human activity must maneuver at a level that does not threaten the health of those systems. Even at the most crucial point these distress a need to dispatch a number of significant problems like greenhouse gases from industrial plants and consumer products. BAs approach towards Corporate Social Responsibility on environmental is that it is planning to reduce Co2 emission by 50 percent by 2050.it is aiming to reduce noise per flight by 15 percent. BA has plans to recycle its waste up to 50 percent by 2010 and aims to send zero waste to landfill by 2010 across Heathrow and Gatwick. Reference: Elkington, J. (1997) http://www.britishairways.com/travel/csr-corporate-responsibility/public/en_gb It is can be concluded that BA uses or has an approach to Corporate Social Responsibilities put forward by Elkingtons Triple Bottom Line. Those can be divided into Economic, Social and Environmental. Weather Gate Gourmets employees are part of BAs stakeholder It has been made a case that contractors are not legitimate stakeholders for a client. On the other hand in order to find out whether this is the case; the concept of salience of stakeholders will be used. There are three factors that consider the salience of stakeholder and they are Power, Legitimacy and Urgency. Page: 6 Power: it is the apparent capacity of a stakeholder to influence organizational action. Legitimacy: whether the organization perceives the stakeholders actions as desirable, proper, or appropriate. Urgency: The extent to which stakeholder demand are professed to call for immediate attention. Reference: Mitchell, R.K, Agle, B.R., and Wood, D.J. (1997) Gate Gourmet had been losing  £1.5 million a day due to the new contract put forward by BA which had very tough terms. Because of this Gate Gourmet decided to employ new staff on lower wages. So, on 10 August 2005 when 120 new employees were brought in the company the existing workers decided to go on strike while the trade union representatives went to talk to the management. But after three minutes the management of the Gate Gourmet sacked 700 staff without negotiating with the employees. The very following day BAs baggage handling staff at Heathrow airport went on one day strike grounding 700 flights and more than 100,000 passengers in BAs global network. It was nothing to do with BA but the reason of the strike was because BAs suppliers of in-flight meal Gate Gourmet had sacked 600 of its employee who had relatives in the BAs baggage handling staff. BA termed this walkout technically illegal and refused to pay the strikers wages and workers went back to their duty only after on ly a one day strike. On the other hand this incident brought bad reputation to BAs global operation and also lost cost of more than  £60 million. After a lengthy and controversial talks and negotiations BA decided to revise its supply contract with Gate Gourmet on better terms. Gate Gourmet had been losing  £1.5 million a day due to the tough terms put forward by BA but they could do nothing to make BA revise its terms. It shows that Gate Gourmet have no ability to influence the action of BA.(Power) BA didnt take any interest to the Gate Gourmets case and refused to pay its workers on strike and thought stakeholders actions as undesirable, improper and inappropriate. (legitimacy) Page: 7 BA didnt try to solve its stakeholders (Gate Gourmet) immediately but took lengthy and controversial talks to revise its terms. BA didnt show any urgency to solve its stakeholders problem. (urgency) Reference: WWW.guardian .co.uk Therefore I conclude that BA is not a legitimate stakeholder according to the concept of Salience of stakeholder. The negative outcome Mendelow created a stakeholder analysis chart for mapping stakeholders power over the corporate and the interest the corporate has over his stakeholder. STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS Low Interest High Minimum effort keep informed A B Keep satisfied key players C D Low Power interest matrix POWER High Mendelow (1991) Chart of Stakeholder Analysis Page: 8 Segment A represents that the stakeholder has low power which means that the stakeholder has less ability to influence organizational goal and the corporate has less interest in the stakeholder. That is why the corporate puts minimum effort to satisfy the stakeholder. Segment B represents that the stakeholder has low power and cannot influence the corporate goal but the corporate has high interest on the stakeholder because the stakeholder in segment B can be important allies in influencing the attitude of more powerful stakeholder through lobbying. Thus the corporate keep informed about its shareholder. Segment C represents that the stakeholder has high power and can influence the corporate goal but the corporate has less interest in the stakeholder. As the stakeholder is powerful the corporate tries to keep the shareholders satisfied. Segment D represent that the stakeholder has high power and can easily influence the goal of the corporate and the chart also shows that the corporate also has high interest on its stakeholder. The stakeholder has high power and the corporate also has high interest in them so they are a key player to the corporate. Reference: Mendelow, A. (1991) in Johnson, G., Scholes, K. and Whittington, R. (2005) Gate Gourmet had been losing  £1.5 million a day due to the new contract put forward by BA which had very tough terms. As Gate Gourmet couldnt make BA revise its term we can say that Gate Gourmet has low power. Because of this Gate Gourmet decided to employ new staff on lower wages and the existing employee of Gate Gourmet went on strike opposing the decision made by the management. The management sacked 700 staff without negotiating but BA remained quiet during this course of event. It shows that BA has low interest in Gate Gourmet and thus had put no effort in getting involved in the Gate Gourmet situation. Page: 9 When 600 employees were sacked by Gate Gourmet the relatives of the sacked employee who were in the BAs baggage handling in the Heathrow went on strike on support of their colleague. Due to this strike 700 flights and more than 100,000 passengers were grounded. This compelled BA to revise its supply contract with Gate Gourmet on better terms. Hence, in this way Gate Gourmet became a key player from minimum effort. Referencecorporatw: www.guardian.co.uk Ethical issues involved in the practice of outsourcing. Problems with Outsourcing: According to Sheffi (2005) companies should never rely on only one contractor and in case of BA, it should have used more than one caterer or the relationship should have been closer so that it could have known more about what the contractor is doing. Some organization, like banks have been disapproved of for poor customer support from outsourced Indian call centers. Also Nike and Gap have been bothered over the sweat shops allegedly operated by some of their suppliers. Outsourcing an activity does not mean it is no longer an organizations problem. And according to Emmelhainz and Adams (1999), there is a shift towards global supply and competition and individual firms appear to be faced with the outlook of an extended chain of responsibility. Once it was perfectly satisfactory to argue that the ethics of an organizations suppliers, or a firm influence on its competitors, was simply not any of its business, this no longer seems to be the case. Hence, corpora tions have to take their ethical responsibilities much more largely; as a result, the supply chain has to be used as a means of expression for ethics management and regulation. Page: 10 Carolls Model (1991) Economic responsibilities: Companies have shareholders who require a reasonable return on their investments, they have employees who want safe and fairly paid jobs, they have customers who insist good quality products at a fair price, etc. This is by definition the motivation why businesses are set up in society and so the first task of business is to be properly functioning economic unit and to stay in business. This first layer of Carrolss model is the basis for all the successive responsibilities, which rest on this solid basis. According to Carroll (1991), the satisfaction of economic responsibilities is thus required of all corporations. From 2000 the airline industries worldwide had been suffering from less number of passenger wanting to fly which was due to 9/11 incident, Sars epidemic and rise in the fuel costs following the war in Iraq. So, BA outsourced its service (in flight meal served by Gate Gourmet) to reduce its cost and to increase its profitability. The ethical issue of outsourcing regarding economical responsibilities is that it helps to give shareholders a reasonable return, its employees a safe and fairly paid job and satisfy the customers needs. Legal responsibilities: Laws are the codification of societys moral views. For example Microsoft has had to face an antitrust case for abusing its monopolistic position. Page: 11 To outsource cheap labour if a company brings illegal immigrants than it is illegal. Every firm has to follow societys moral view. Ethical Responsibility: These responsibilities compel corporations to do what is right, just and fair even when they are not compelled to do so by the legal framework. For example it was legal to dispose of an oil rig in the sea but was it ethical? Gate Gourmet had been losing  £1.5 million a day due to the new contract put forward by BA which had very tough terms. Because of this Gate Gourmet decided to outsource new staff on lower wages. So, on 10 August 2005 120 new employees were brought in the company which made the existing employees insecure. So they went on a strike but they sacked 700 staff without negotiating with them. Outsourcing must not be use only to fulfill the economic responsibilities of a firm but also try to think ethically by not being unfair and unjust to its employees as the Gate Gourmet. Philanthropic Responsibility: The word Philanthropic is derived from the Greek word which means love of the fellow human. According to this proposal in a business context, the mock-up incorporates activities that are within the corporations judgment to improve the quality of life of employees, local communities and ultimately society in general. This feature of CSR addresses a great range of topic, including things such as charitable donations, the building of recreation facilities for employees and their families, support for local schools or subsidizing of art and sports events. According to Carrolls (1991), philanthropic responsibilities are consequently purely preferred of corporations without being estimated or required, making them less important than the other three categories. References: Emmelhainz, M.A and Adams R.J(1999) A. Crane and D.Matten (2007) www.guardian.co.uk Page: 12 By outsourcing its services BA has increased its profitability but it is also involved with many non profitable organizations which helps the society. In this way outsourcing can fulfill firms Philanthropic Responsibility. So I conclude that ethical issues involved in the modern practice of outsourcing are economic responsibilities, legal responsibilities, ethical responsibilities and philanthropic responsibilities.

Postmodernist Features in Vonneguts Cats Cradle Essay -- Cats Cradl

Postmodernist Features in Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle Cat's Cradle is a book, which enables many points for literary discussions. One possible topic of them could be the postmodernist features in this book. In this examination Ihab Hassan's essay "Toward a Concept of Postmodernism" was used as a source of secondary literature for defining of postmodernist features. The most visible and prevalent features are postmodernist metonymy, treatment of the character, dynamic tension, anarchy and a postmodernist look at religion as a whole. To put Vonnegut's Cradle into a definite time span, let me start with a bit of personal data about the author. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was born on November 11, 1922 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Although from a wealthy family, the Depression caused a rapid lost of their fortune. After having no success with his study of science, Vonnegut found pleasure in writing. Poor academic performance made him leave the university and join the U.S. Army. It is hard to state for sure, if his inspiration for writing laid mostly in his genetically inherited poetical cells or in his life experience. When we look at his father's occupation, we find nothing striking that would have something in common with writing. His father was an architect. So let's have a look at his mother. She had a long history of mental instability and consequently committed a suicide. As well known, in each talented writer is a piece of insanity. After taking into account Vonnegut's science fiction themes, we can lead discussions about this connection to his mother's sanity. Some inherited features can be se... ...nnegut. New York: Warner Books, 1972. Vonnegut, Kurt. Cat's Cradle. London: Penguin Books, 1965. Zelenka, Petr. Zelenka, Petr. Novà © nà ¡boÃ… ¾enstvà ­ Kurta Vonneguta. Jinoà ¨any: H&H, 1992. http://www.cs.uni.edu/%7Ewallingf/personal/bokonon.html 16.3.2002 (The Books of Bokonon) http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/4953/kv_life.html 16.3.2002 ("A life worth living" essay by Nick McDowell) www.duke.edu/~crh4/vonnegut/catscradle/cats_magill.html 16.3.2002 (Synopsis: Cat ´s Cradle) http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/4953/kv_religion.html 16.3.2002 ("Understanding Religion Through Cat's Cradle" essay by Liana Price) http://home.eduhi.at/user/tw/vonnegut/vnetlnk.htm 16.3.2002 (Vonnegut ´s life) http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/catscradle 25.11.2001 (Vonnegut ´s life) "KdyÃ… ¾ povà ­dka byla krà ¡lem." HN Và ­kend 2.November. 2001, natl.ed.: 21. Postmodernist Features in Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle Essay -- Cat's Cradl Postmodernist Features in Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle Cat's Cradle is a book, which enables many points for literary discussions. One possible topic of them could be the postmodernist features in this book. In this examination Ihab Hassan's essay "Toward a Concept of Postmodernism" was used as a source of secondary literature for defining of postmodernist features. The most visible and prevalent features are postmodernist metonymy, treatment of the character, dynamic tension, anarchy and a postmodernist look at religion as a whole. To put Vonnegut's Cradle into a definite time span, let me start with a bit of personal data about the author. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was born on November 11, 1922 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Although from a wealthy family, the Depression caused a rapid lost of their fortune. After having no success with his study of science, Vonnegut found pleasure in writing. Poor academic performance made him leave the university and join the U.S. Army. It is hard to state for sure, if his inspiration for writing laid mostly in his genetically inherited poetical cells or in his life experience. When we look at his father's occupation, we find nothing striking that would have something in common with writing. His father was an architect. So let's have a look at his mother. She had a long history of mental instability and consequently committed a suicide. As well known, in each talented writer is a piece of insanity. After taking into account Vonnegut's science fiction themes, we can lead discussions about this connection to his mother's sanity. Some inherited features can be se... ...nnegut. New York: Warner Books, 1972. Vonnegut, Kurt. Cat's Cradle. London: Penguin Books, 1965. Zelenka, Petr. Zelenka, Petr. Novà © nà ¡boÃ… ¾enstvà ­ Kurta Vonneguta. Jinoà ¨any: H&H, 1992. http://www.cs.uni.edu/%7Ewallingf/personal/bokonon.html 16.3.2002 (The Books of Bokonon) http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/4953/kv_life.html 16.3.2002 ("A life worth living" essay by Nick McDowell) www.duke.edu/~crh4/vonnegut/catscradle/cats_magill.html 16.3.2002 (Synopsis: Cat ´s Cradle) http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/4953/kv_religion.html 16.3.2002 ("Understanding Religion Through Cat's Cradle" essay by Liana Price) http://home.eduhi.at/user/tw/vonnegut/vnetlnk.htm 16.3.2002 (Vonnegut ´s life) http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/catscradle 25.11.2001 (Vonnegut ´s life) "KdyÃ… ¾ povà ­dka byla krà ¡lem." HN Và ­kend 2.November. 2001, natl.ed.: 21.