In Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast, Generous Orthodoxy, he explains what generous orthodoxy is. The generous part of generous orthodoxy amounts to being open to making changes and seeing change as positive, and the orthodoxy points to a more traditional stance on values. Combined, these two concepts are ironic, because generally traditions aren’t changed easily, and the changes made aren’t always accepted by the community that stands behind those traditions. Gladwell also explains that to make a positive change in a tradition, the body that you are trying to change must be respected. The Lady Vanishes, by Malcolm Gladwell, starts off with introducing a painting named Roll Call by an unknown artist in the 19th century, which soon after, the true …show more content…
He wasn’t anywhere near close to being a white elite male, but with being elected, President Obama seemed to demonstrate that our nation 's longstanding problem with race had been put to an end. Some people feel like the tensions have only gotten worse because of Obama’s election win and presidency, we’re all entitled to our own opinions. The election in 2008 and also this year’s election, 8 years later, show exactly what happened in the podcast “The Lady Vanishes” by Malcolm Gladwell. The door was opened for Barack Obama, just as it was for Gillard, and now that his term is ending, and we as a nation chose a new President-Elect, Donald Trump, the door is being slammed shut. I feel that Gladwell would compare the election of Obama and the election of Trump together to show the contradiction and the irony between how racism in the United States has (or has not) stopped since the election of 2008. I feel that since 2008, the racism in our nation has dwindled down to a minimum, but has since started back up with the election of Trump (an “elite” white male). Obama broke the chain of elite white male presidents by becoming the nation’s first African American President, he opened a new door for all races, and genders. But today, in 2016, that door has been slammed shut and the racism is starting up …show more content…
Wilson was one of many who supported things like black codes after slavery was abolished; Gladwell explains in the podcast that the students were uncomfortable and did not feel welcome in their own college because there were portraits and plaques and building all in name of the rich white elites to honor them and what they did. When a student tried to approach the school, Gladwell explains that she did so in a negative way, showing no respect to the school or body, which is ironic in Gladwell’s eyes because before she chose to go to Princeton University, she had more options of colleges to go to, yet she still chose Princeton despite knowing what the campus was like and what type of people were honored and looked up to there. In order to make a change or suggest one, the student should not have acted in a rash negative way, Gladwell suggests a way to do this is to threaten to not to show up to school after the end of a semester or even after a holiday break. By doing this, it would show the school that she wants to be there, because she has spent all her time and money there, and giving up school would be big risk to her; she would be showing that she really did love being at Princeton and she just wanted to make it a
“I repeatedly forgot each of the realizations on this list until I wrote it down. For me, white privilege has turned out to be an elusive and fugitive subject. The pressure to avoid it is great, for in facing it I must give up the myth of meritocracy. If these things are true, this is not such a free country; one’s life is not what one makes it; many doors open for certain people through no virtues of their own.”
In the novel, My Antonia, by Willa Cather, society seems to govern the lives of many people. But for the others, who see past society's stereotypical values, had enough strength to overcome this and allowed them to achieve their dreams. Throughout the book, everyone seems to be trying to pursue the American Dream. While they all have different ideas of just exactly what the American Dream is, they all know precisely what they want. For some, the American Dream sounds so enticing that they have traveled across the world to achieve their goal.
America have a long history of black’s relationship with their fellow white citizens, there’s two authors that dedicated their whole life, fighting for equality for blacks in America. – Audre Lorde and Brent Staples. They both devoted their professional careers outlying their opinions, on how to reduce the hatred towards blacks and other colored. From their contributions they left a huge impression on many academic studies and Americans about the lack of awareness, on race issues that are towards African-American. There’s been countless, of critical evidence that these two prolific writers will always be synonymous to writing great academic papers, after reading and learning about their life experience, from their memoirs.
“The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” is a short fictional story written by Ursula K. LeGuin. Although this story contains many realistic characters and setting, there is an overall eerie vibe about the city of Omelas that makes the story unusual. Omelas is described with several vivid details that indicate the city to be a gorgeous place, yet it appears to be a sort of unrealistic utopia. After analyzing the story, it was evident that this story was written about people who are trapped in Purgatory trying to decide where to go next. Although never stated directly, LeGuin wrote this story intentionally about Purgatory, which is made clear by her use of the literary elements: imagery, point of view, and symbolism.
Every woman would want to be Lady Marguerite Blakeney, née St Just. Having recently made her debut at the Comedie Francois, Marguerite married Sir Percy Blakeney alias the Scarlet Pimpernel. Charming, clever, beautiful, with childlike eyes and a delicate face, Marguerite captures everyone’s attention. Yet Marguerite is portrayed as a stereotypical woman who is weak, impulsive, and whose identity revolves around her husband.
The contentious little book titled Women, Power, Politics maintains politics to be devalued, acknowledging the fact that only few people do vote, and women are unable to achieve within the realm of Canadian politics. Sylvia Bashevkin, the author of the book argues that Canadians have a profound unease with women in positions of political authority, what she calls the "women plus power equals discomfort" equation. She evaluates a range of barriers faced by women who enter politics, including the media's biased role of representing the private lives of women in politics, and she wonders why citizens find politics is underrepresented in Canada compared to Belgium. In clear, accessible terms, Bashevkin explains her ideas on how to eliminate “low voters turn-out,” “devaluation of politics,” "gender schemas," and "media framing.” She outlines some compelling solutions to address the stalemate facing women in Canadian politics which are; contesting media portrayals, changing the rule of the game, improving legislative quotas, electoral reform, movement renewals, and so on. This response paper would addresses the reality of a political mainstream, actions which should be taken against the oppressive elements of reality, and the awareness it brings through economic, social, and political environment.
The Help, written by Kathryn Stockett, is a story set in the early 1960 's about three women in Jacksonville, Mississippi, Aibileen, Minny, and Skeeter. The story shows how these characters progress and face their inner demons as they struggle to make a statement in a world of hate and segregation and give voice to the black maids of Mississippi. Aibileen, a sweet kind hearted women, works for the Leefolt 's as a maid and has been for many years. She creates a strong mother like bond with their baby girl Mae Mobley whom she considers to be her "special baby" (Stockett. 6). Her inner demon is dealing with the death of her young son and although it is not the focus of her
To provide a successful comparison of any two things, one must be able to comprehend all aspects of the articles in question. Many forms of literature are easily comparable due to the very nature of an author transcribing a piece of history or thought directly to paper; however, poetry is not one of these afore mentioned forms of literature so easily compared. This is because poetry itself is as emotionally driven, as it is ambiguous. With there being no definitive set of rules, dictating what is or is not poetry, attention to detail is paramount in fully understanding the relationships between the poems. The utilization of three different poems, by different authors, and all contained in a similar category, allows for a more broad range of analysis; moreover, the stark differences, as well as the shared commonalities between them, become more evident with a comparison of more than two works of an author or authors. The works of poetry in this comparison are “The Mother,” by Gwendolyn Brooks; “The Man He Killed,” by Thomas Hardy; and “Ballad of Birmingham,” by Dudley Randall. At first glance, each of these poems seems to have very little in common with one another. On one hand, they are unique to each specific poem unto itself. On the other hand, these three pieces of poetry are alike in many ways. The analysis of each poem in regards to the theme presented, tone being communicated, imagery used, and the rhyme scheme employed, exposes the coexistence of similarities and differences between the three poems.
In his article, “The Sure Thing”, Malcolm Gladwell argues that the conventional thought of entrepreneurs as ‘hot-headed risk takers’ is absolutely wrong. From Ted Turner to Sam Walton and John Paulson, Mr. Gladwell arrives at the conclusion that many successful entrepreneurs are not high-risk risk takers, but are instead merciless, careful thinking attackers. Many of them are not even taking risks- they simply see an opportunity presented to them that most others do not consider. They all consistently minimize chances for failure along the way, and always see what they do through until the end.
The Handmaid's Tale is a dystopian novel in which Atwood creates a world which seems absurd and near impossible. Women being kept in slavery only to create babies, cult like religious control over the population, and the deportation of an entire race, these things all seem like fiction. However Atwood's novel is closer to fact than fiction; all the events which take place in the story have a base in the real world as well as a historical precedent. Atwood establishes the world of Gilead on historical events as well as the social and political trends which were taking place during her life time in the 1980's. Atwood shows her audience through political and historical reference that Gilead was and is closer than most people realize.
In the “Between Barack and a hard place” by Tim Wise, Wise explains that Obama’s victory or candidate as a president could mean anything where it talks about race debate to new levels. Wise explores the real issues of race in Obama’s campaign and his presidency by citing some arguments and statistics of how the past and the present racism affect people. He states some two questions that arise in the media based on Obama as a nominee as a president. First question: “What does it say about race in AmerIn aica that a black man now stands… the most powerful person in the world?” (Wise 17) Second question: “Is white America really ready for a black president?” (Wise 18) Based on these two questions, it portrays that people’s interrogations means that these are new for people where they had not experienced of having a black president and they do not know what would be the result of it. According to Wise, he asserts that Obama’s victory might signify the end of racism. (Wise 27) It means that some people think that it will end racism since people are open minded or give the chance to the potentiality effective black leadership. In addition, Wise shows: “In the wake of Obama’s victory… hope and expectations that race relations will improve in coming years.” (Wise 32) Wise also mentions the legacy and ongoing institutional racism where he provides some arguments and statistics in terms of
Robinson divides black American into four groups: the mainstream middle class, the abandoned minority with less hope and access to resources, the transcendent elite with wealth and power and the emergent group. In chapter six, “The Transcendent: Where None Have Gone Before” Robinson explains the development of the transcendent group and how president Obama’s definitively settles whether a transcendent black American elite has risen. The transcendent is a “small growing cohort with the kind of power, wealth, and influence that previous generations of African Americans could never have imagined.” Throughout the chapter, Robinson explains how there have been African Americans transcendent before slaves were free like Frederick Douglas then to Booker T. Washington and W.E.B DuBois, men who encouraged African Americans to obtain knowledge to achieve multiple advancements in this country. Robinson also discusses contemporary transcendents like Oprah Winfrey and Earvin “Magic”
Using an uncertain and dismissive point of view, Ursula Le Guin writes “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” as a hypothetical scenario in order to demonstrate that people in real life must learn to cope with the consequences of their actions or inactions. In the beginning, the narrator describes a wonderful place called Omelas, with joyful children and beautiful music. However, it is soon hinted that such the place itself is not important; the dilemma the citizens face is the focus of the story. For example, those who think of the city as unbelievable are told that “[i]f an orgy would help, don't hesitate [to add one] (Le Guin 3). Because of the uncertainty of the actual place and how the speaker dismisses the importance of the details, the
Since the beginning of “South Carolina Democratic Primary Victory Speech” the audience was cheering and chanting. Obama evokes patriotism and equality by welcoming every ethnicity and sexuality once again. He goes on and off by going back into history and then anchoring into the present. According to Chou, Bleiker, and Premaratna, “his visionary of change also promised a renewed national and global focus that appealed both to an American and global audience.” The change in race in America is clear, but Americans must do sacrifices for equality. Tragedies in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York demonstrates the realities of living as a minority in the United States. We should not pretend that racial discrimination is new. Since the birth of this
The Help, written by Kathryn Stockett, was one of the funniest and most touching books I’ve read because of the amusing characters’ attitudes and the strong bond that grows between a young white woman and two black maids. The young, white, woman writes their stories of working in the homes of middle class white families in Jackson, Mississippi. This book will have you laughing one minute and crying the next.