It Was But A Dream Essay Example for Free

It Was But A Dream Essay From my home country, attending school is a blessing. It is an opportunity given to those who can. Education is a privilege for those who can afford, and a gift to those who cannot. But for a person like me, who somehow found having my nose at a book intriguing, college education was a dream. Living that dream is another wonderful experience all together. Fellow students and teachers became the drawing force of inspiration from deep within. They highlighted that going to school was truly what I wanted. To be constantly surrounded by equally educated individuals continues to tickle the mind. There was just so much to learn. It is not about doing what everybody else does. It is not about having the bragging rights of even attaining an education. It is all about fulfilling what is in my heart. This was my chance to have an education, and as a person of my country, I simply could not back away. Concepts The first step in achieving one’s dreams is to accept all challenges that come along with it. There were times when you would question if this was what you really wanted for yourself. It is not as easy as the fantasies make you believe. It is hard work. But nothing is ever free. Education is earned as much as everything else that we want to have as our own. The next step is to immerse yourself in the pool. Education, I realized, is not just through the books and the professors. Relating with other students gave the textbook definition more in-depth meaning. It gave the whole idea of schooling much deserved essence. Sharing with fellow students what you have learned in class is a simple yet overwhelming experience. In comparison to lower level education, college education is more diverse. Not only are there a wide array of programs and courses to choose from, but there are also a lot of cultures to learn and understand. Moreover, it is advantageous to be able to relate with these cultures. College was that door to go beyond barriers and closed minds. As a person who is of color, this aspect of cultural differences is an important highlight in further enhancing one’s education. Without being able to see beyond the color of one’s skin, one fail to completely learn what is there to learn. Inferences Based on my experiences, not only do I dream to have an education, but it would seem that the underlying objective is to understand and to be understood. College education is not just being able to learn Science, English, Mathematics, or Art. My experiences suggested an even bigger and better package. It is learning all that with fellow students. Professors are also students—in the sense that they learn from their classes as well. According to my perceptions of education, I am an open minded person ever eager to learn more about anything and everything. I have my own field of interest, like any other student, but a student will always give a different idea a chance. Keeping minds closed would be the greatest downfall of a college student. Within me, I will always bring my country. But I share that with other people for them to learn who I am and who my people are. Implications My college experience has been fruitful. It was another beginning to life’s adventures, to learn, to find, and to experience. It was never always an easy task. But at the end of the day, one would find that you gained more than what you gave away. The network of friends, students, and educators helped fulfill a lifelong dream. All the hardships, the challenges, the financial ties were all worth it. Earning my college education was not just a dream I fantasize about as a child and a young adult. It was something I really wanted—that made every challenge seem very minimal. The new ideas and friends made in every class and endeavor might become overwhelming. But I always remember that I feel that way because I learned something new. The challenges tire me, but I always take my victories. Point of View In the end of it all, I believe that everyone truly deserves a college education. A lot of individuals find school too tiring. To them, it would always seem that there is too much to do: too much to read, too much to write, and too much to achieve. Little did they realize that at the end of it all, it is not about having achieved too much. Instead, it is having achieved so much. It is given more than enough effort, more credit, and more attention. That leaves a person worth knowing. As it is said, a person who is education talks very little. There are a lot of other ways to share what you know, and to let people see what you have gained in school. It is unfortunate that more often than not, people fail to realize this reality: college is a life changing experience. It is not just the books, the school hours, the tuition, and fees. It is about keeping the mind active. I believe everyone should experience college. There is much nothing to fear except the belief that you cannot achieve anything. I might not have achieved the greatest of awards, but my college experiences are my life’s best teachers. That is considering that even having a college education is but a dream.

Effects of Social Class Identification on Government

Effects of Social Class Identification on Government Walsh, K. C., Jennings, M., Stoker, L. (2004). The Effects of Social Class Identification on Participatory Orientations Towards Government.  British Journal of Political Science,Vol.34, No.03, pp.469-495. Brief Summary There is common claim that class identity does not matter for American political behaviour. The researchers tried to find out the influence of social class identification on participatory orientations towards government. The researchers focus on class identity perspective which people use to interpret and interact with the political world. The researchers used panel-study data spanning thirty-two years and two generations. Research Description This study’s independent variable is social class identification. There are two approaches, the first respondents subjectively identified themselves, and the second one is objective assessment. The researchers distinguish two classes (working-class and middle-class) by levels of income, education, union membership, and occupation. This study’s dependent variable is participatory orientations towards government. The researchers employed four measures. All of these measures concern political involvement and engagement (political interest, political efficacy, conception of good citizen, and political participation). Because there were many variables in this research, the researchers used multivariate analysis. Two variables are control variables, they are gender and race. â€Å"In a multivariate analysis, a variable is said to controlled when its influence is removed. We control variable by holding its value constant† (Agresti, 1999, p.305). The methodology in that research was a quantitative approach. Creswell (2003, p.18) explained quantitative as â€Å"an approach which the investigator primarily uses post positivist claims for developing knowledge, employs strategies of inquiry such as experiments and survey, and collects data on predetermined instruments that yield statistical data†. Because the purpose of this research is to make predictions about relation or effects of social class on political world, researchers used inferential statistics. â€Å"Inferential statistical analysis can predict characteristics of entire populations quite well by selecting samples that are small relative to the population size. In the past quarter-century, social scientists have increasingly recognized the power of inferential statistical methods†, (Agresti, 1999, p.5). This research used longitudinal research, from 1965-1997 with panel-study type. The sampling technique is proportionate stratified random sampling. The sample is 1,669 seniors from 97 secondary high schools in America in 1965 and also their parents. Furthermore, the instrument which researchers used is a questionnaire. Research Critique Clarity This research methods use inferential statistics to predict population characteristics by using sample, so the concept of population and sample must be clear. According to Babbie (1990, p.72), researchers must begin with a careful specification of population and should not mislead or deceive the readers. He gave example â€Å"Adult New Yorkers† is clearer than â€Å"American† because there is specification of the age and boundaries. In this study, the population all senior high school students in USA, and the unit analysis is an individual senior high school student in 1965. The sample is 1,669 students in 1965 and their parents. The researchers describe the different attitude between two generations. Besides that, the researchers also show the trend or the changing of respondents attitude using four wave panels for student generation in 1965 (G2) and three waves panel for their parents (G1). This article published in July 2004 and at the beginning of the article (p.469) clearly stated that it is about American political behavior. In addition, the brief result or answer for research question is â€Å"class may be particularly important in the present political context†. However the researchers used data survey in 1965, 1973, 1982, and 1997. The focus of research is one of issues here. Longitudinal research usually compares the changing of the subject time after time. One of types of longitudinal research is panel-study. â€Å"Panel studies involve the collection of data over time from the same sample respondents. The sample for such a study is called the panel†(Babbie, 1990, p.58). Researchers make claim the result particularly important for present political context instead of stated trend of last five decades or comparison of two generations. 2.2 Theory and Hypotheses â€Å"Theory has an important role in research and is an essential ally for the researcher. Researchers interweave a story about the operation of the social world (the theory) with what they observe when examine it systematically† (Neuman, 2007, p.24). Dennis Gilbert (2010, p.11) define social classes as â€Å"groups of families, more or less equal in rank and differentiated from other families above or below them with regard to characteristics such as occupation, income, wealth, and prestige†. Furthermore he figure out American social class structure become six parts: underclass (12%), working poor (13%), working class (30%), middle class (30%), upper-middle class (14%), and capitalist class (1%). Each of class has characteristics in terms of typical occupation and education. In this research, researchers just use two social classes. Justification to do that because based on previous research by Jackman and Jackman in 1975, the vast majority respondents identified as working-class (37 %) or middle-class (44 %). In subjective social class identification, respondents have to choose two options. As a result there are several respondents did not give answer. Instead of beginning with theories and concepts related to engagement in governmental affairs such as political participation and civic engagement, the researchers directly gave their measurement. They used four measurements to measure participatory orientations toward government (political interest, active citizen, political efficacy, and political participation). Based on the purpose of research to get to know relationship social class identification toward participatory orientations toward government, the simply hypothesis would be: H0 = There is no significant correlation/effects between social class identification and participatory orientations towards government. Ha= There is significant correlation/effects between social class identification and participatory orientations towards government. In analytical surveys usually are driven by theoretical questions. The purpose is to collect evidence which supports or contradict some hypothesis about the cause of people’s behavior. Buckingham and Saunders (2004, p.14) define hypotheses as â€Å"statements about what our theoretical propositions lead us to expect to find. They enable theories to be tested by predicting patterns of observations that should occur. Hypotheses therefore predict patterns of association in observed data as a means for testing causal theories†. 2.3 Research Design and Methodology â€Å"Research design is a strategy for collecting and analyzing data. It must be appropriate for answering the questions which the project is seeking to address, and it must take into account the practical constraints which the project is likely to encounter† (Buckingham and Saunders, 2004, p.294). The strategy which researchers used to collect data here is a survey. Sampling In order to get the view and attitude of population, the researchers used random sampling. This is the selection of a sample that should be representative of the population. The researchers choose from sampling frame available, and each individual has same opportunity. In this study, type of probability sampling which researchers used is proportionate stratified random sampling. The researchers said (p.473) â€Å"the students were distributed across a stratified sample of ninety-seven secondary schools, with the probability of schools selection being proportionate to size†. As described above, the sample took in 1965 from 97 schools with target subjects 1,669 students and one of their parents as well. We can ask questions, why the researchers used stratified random sampling? Why make a senior high school student as a unit analysis? Why there are four wave panels? Actually it is a series of data survey about political attitudes and behaviors by obtaining data on the same individuals as they aged from approximately 18 years of age in 1965 to 50 years of age in 1997. Based on that series of data survey, in 2004 the researchers make study about the effects of social identification on participatory towards government affairs. According to this information, we can assume the stratum here is the generation (G1 and G2). These four wave panels yielded 935 respondents for G2 (students) and 898 respondents for three wave panels G1 (parents). However, the surveys in 1973 and 1982 did not include social class questions. Because of geographical problem to make personal interview, the base panel survey in 1973 and 1982 are 728 for G1 and 659 for G2. One problem here, can we compare every wave panel, if the sample compositions are different? Instrumentation â€Å"A research instrument is a survey questionnaire or interview schedule that researcher uses to measure variables† (Neuman, 2007, p.168). The researchers used a questionnaire which conducted by several ways (face-to-face interview, computer-assisted personal interview, computer-assisted telephone interview, and self-enumerated questionnaire). This research used Logistic regression model for binary response variables which only has two possible outcomes. Education level: This index was scaled from 0 (less than high school) to 1 (PhD). Union Member: 0 = no; 1 = yes. Income: all of responses about household income were coded to the midpoint of the category and then rescaled within each wave and each generation from 0 (least) to 1 (highest). Occupation Skill Level Self-Employment and Homemaker For the better education level, income, and participate in union member would take into account in middle class status. However, for occupation indicators, the researchers just gave information about the consideration without description where those characteristics were placed. There are several questions in the questionnaire which measure political attitudes of American people. Researchers employed four measures, and it is categorized as a dichotomous dependent dummy variable. The value is most often a representation for a measured variable (Hagle, 2004). Political interest, 0 = hardly at all, 1 = most of the time Being an active citizen, 0 = if they did not volunteer such a response, 1 = respondents volunteered a response of this nature in any one of the responses. Political Efficacy, 0 = least efficacy, 1 = most efficacy Political participation, 0 = least active, 1 = most active The measurement scale which researchers used is an ordinal scale. Neuman (2007, p.375) defines ordinal level measurement as â€Å"a level of measurement that identifies a difference among categories of a variable and allows the categories to be rank order†. Even though just there are two categories (0 and 1), we can order it, which is 1 is more active than 0 in terms of political participation variable for example. Ordinal scale can have more than two options, for example (very interested, interested, uninterested, very uninterested). 2.4. Analysis of Data and Findings The researchers provide regression tables to describe their research result. In this study, researchers stated (p.479) that they used bivariate (type I) and multivariate regression models (type II). Bivariate analysis is an analysis of association between two variables. On the other hand, â€Å"multivariate analysis is statistical procedures which attempt to distinguish and measure the relative strength or significance of association between several independent variables and a dependent variables† (Buckingham and Sunders, p.292). The regression model formula: y= a + b1x1 + b2x2 + †¦ + e. Relationship between Class Identity and Political Interest The positive and significant coefficients on class identity in the bivariate models (I) indicate that middle-class identifiers display higher levels of interest. Generally, the stable middle-class identifiers are consistently and statistically significantly more interested in politics than are the stable working-class identifiers with p-value Relationship between Class Identity and Conception of Good Citizen as an Active Political Participant Middle-class identifiers are significantly more likely to emphasize the importance of being an active player in politics. In generation 2, the working-class mean drops from 0.53 to 0.41, whereas middle-class mean stays at 0.62. In model II, stable middle-class always more likely to mention active engagement than were stable working-class, 0.10 more in 1965 and 0.20 more in 1997. Relationship between Class Identity and Political Efficacy The bivariate models show the gaps between middle-class and working-class identifiers range from 0.14 to 0.21 for G1, and from 0.16 to 0.23 for G2 on the 0-1 efficacy scale. The dramatic decline of political efficacy happened from 1973 to 1992 (0.61 to 0.49) for G1 middle-class. On the other hand, for G2 slightly increase from 0.65 in 1982 become 0.67 in 1997. Relationship between Class Identity and Political Participation The constants and coefficients in the type I models demonstrate the expected life cycle: decreasing participation among parents as they become older and increasing participation among the offspring generation as they middle age. The type II models show that subjective identification becomes a less impressive predictor for G1 members as the coefficients on stable middle-class identity changed from 0.15 in 1965 to 0.09 in 1982. At confidence interval 95% and p-value (*p Limitation and Recommendation 3.1 Reliability and Outdated Neuman (2007, p.115) explain reliability as â€Å"dependability or consistency. It suggests that the same thing is repeated or recurs under the identical or very similar conditions†. This research seems like not reliable enough due to limited information given by the researchers. It may be difficult for the other researchers to conduct similar type of research in the future. The data which the researchers used derived from 1965-1997. Meanwhile, the research launched in 2004, and now 2014. Thus, this research could be less important to be used because the condition and preferences of people to participate on governmental affairs might be has been changed. 3.2 Sampling The representativeness is one of issues here. The researchers use data from their previous research. We can question, whether 1,669 students (with his parent) at 97 schools are representative? How about the distribution? Response rate from this study is just slightly more than a half of the total respondents, 935 of 1,669 or 56%. Then from 935 the researchers could only processed 728 data. Some of the reasons data not completed is because some respondents refuse to state their social class identity and geographical factor. It is easier for the researchers to focus on particular area or state. Besides that, the researchers can make shorter the range of research duration, only one decade for example. It is because not easy to keep the same and large respondents in long time period. 3.3 Data Analyzing The researchers not much explain about dependent variables in type II model, but from four those regression tables we know that, education and income are outstanding variables who make significant differences between working-class and middle-class. Research Good Practice and Contribution This study not only including subjective claim but also use objective indicator to determine of the social class of the respondents. Researchers effort to use panel study spanning two generations G1 and G2 for thirty-two years, allows the reader to check the trend of participation. The researcher concluded there is relevance of social class identification and participatory toward government affairs. It showed middle class with better income, education level, and occupation more contributive and active in political activity and civic engagement than working class. This research could be consideration for government to make strategies how to increase political participation like to vote in general election. Besides that, media, academician, and politicians could make effort to raise public awareness about how relevance and important of politics in their life. Conclusion To conclude this study, I would like to highlight back some points. Overall, it is a good research and useful in social political discipline. The researchers offered something new from previous research about social class and political participation. They used longitudinal research, compare two generations, and used objective measurement to determine social class. However, there are still few things need to be improved towards achieve a better result. Bibliography Agresti, A., Finlay, B. (1999) Statistical Methods for the Social Sciences. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Babbie, E. (1990). Survey research methods . Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Buckingham, A., Saunders, P. (2004)The survey methods workbook: From design to analysis. Cambridge: Polity Press Creswell, J.W. (2009) Research Design – Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches 3rd edition, Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications Hagle, T. M. (2004) Dichotomous Variablesin The Sage Encyclopedia of Social Science Research Methods. Ed. Michael Lewis-Beck, Alan Bryman and Tim Futing Liao. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications Jackman, M. R., and Jackman R. W. (1983) Class Awareness in the United States. Barkeley: University of California Press. Neuman, W. L. (2007) Basic of Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. 2nd ed. Boston: Pearson Education. Walsh, K. C., Jennings, M., Stoker, L. (2004). The Effects of Social Class Identification on Participatory Orientations Towards Government.British Journal of Political Science,Vol.34, No.03, pp.469-495.

Symbolism in The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson :: The Lottery Essays

Shirley Jackson’s â€Å"The Lottery† is a chilling tale of a harsh ritualistic gathering conducted by people of a small village. The word lottery would typically remind someone of a drawing to win a cash prize. A better comparison to the story would be the lottery used to select troops for the Vietnam War; a lottery of death. Another would be the human sacrifices the Aztecs willingly made long ago.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The story opens by embracing the reader with a relaxed setting, giving the anticipation for an optimistic story. â€Å"†¦with the fresh warmth of a full summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green (p.445).† The discussion of children and school also gives well meaning of an organized and well-balanced village the people have put together, one the average parent would want their children raised in. â€Å"They tended to gather together quietly for a while before they broke into boisterous play, and their talk was still of the classroom and the teacher, of books and reprimands (p.445).† The thought of children playing also illustrates of a positive outlook for the rest of the story, a sense of happiness.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is also mentioned that the story begins on June twenty-seventh. â€Å"With the fresh warmth of a full summer day (p.445). † Again, the setting is depicted as a bright, happy place. The date is important, because the end of June is a time when the summer has fully set in, possibly giving the meaning that change is up ahead.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While the mood continues to be pleasant, the village gathers for what would appear to be a joyous festival everyone looks forward to. â€Å"The lottery was conducted –as were the square dances, the teen-age club, the Halloween program†¦ (p.445).†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the story, Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves are basically the two men in charge of making sure the lottery is conducted each year. Mr. Summers’ name seems to represent the time of the year the lottery is conducted. Mr. Graves represents the grave the chosen lottery victim will be sent to, as he has no problem administering death to those close around him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The lottery itself is conducted in a black box using paper-slips. The color black represents death, as the future of someone’s life will be decided from it. The dark mood is felt when it is introduced. A general feeling of nervousness is spread throughout the crowd, the younger people in particular.

Free Joy Luck Club Essays - Movie vs Book :: Movie Film comparison compare contrast

The Joy Luck Club: Movie versus Book In the novel, The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, it tells of four Chinese women drawn together in San Francisco to play mah jong, and tell stories of the past. These four women and their families all lived in Chinatown and belong to the First Chinese Baptist Church. They were not necessarily religious, but found They could improve their home China. This is how the woo's, the Hsu's, the Jong's and the St Clair's met in 1949. The first member of the Joy Luck Club to die was Suyuan Woo. Her daughter, Jing-mei "June" Woo, is asked to sit in and take her mother's place at playing mah jong. Memories of the past are shared by the three women left, An-mei Hsu, Lindo Jong and Ying-ying St Clair. June Woo learns of the real secret her mother carried to her grave from her mother's friends. The twin baby girls, her half sisters, Suyuan pushed in a Wheelbarrow as she escaped from the Japanese. Due to sickness, Suyuan can no longer carry her babies, and is forced to leave them on the side of the road. She lives her whole life not knowing if they are alive or dead. In the book, the Woo's left for America to build a better life for themselves. Suyuan Woo wanted to have a daughter like herself, and no one would look down on her. It was important that she speak perfect English and hopefully not share in the same tragedies and sorrows she had known. The movie brought this concept out very vividly. You were able to imagine the time and place and the emotions of the characters. Their anger in the early years, how women and children were treated as possessions. The book spoke of Rose Hsu Jordan, daughter of An-mei Hsu, who had seven brothers and sisters. A very tragic time in her life when her brother Bing drowns at age 1 while she was in charge of watching him. The movie does not touch upon this tragic event and brings out the rich family Rose marries into, and the instant rejection from her boyfriends mother. Rose unhappiness in her marriage with Tod, is similar to the unhappiness her mother had throughout her life. Lindo Jong was a special character in the book , referring to promises she made to her mother as a young girl, and keeping them throughout her life.

Puritan Society In Hesters Life :: essays research papers

The Godly beliefs and punishments followed by the Puritans stemmed from their English experience and complete involvement in religion. The Puritan society molded itself and created a government based upon the Bible and implemented it with force. Hester’s act of adultery was welcomed with rage and was qualified for serious punishment. Boston became more involved in Hester’s life after her crime was announced than it had ever been before—the religious based, justice system formally punished her and society collectively tortured her. Based upon the religious, governmental, and social design of the society, Hester’s entire existence revolved around her sin and the Puritan perception thereof; this association breaks way to society significantly becoming involved in her life. The importance of a social framework for the new society, where the Church would be all encompassing, developed from the teachings of such religious reformers as John Wycliffe and John Calvin. The Church would be directly involved in the running of the community and its regime. Enforcing such laws established by scripture read from the Bible, the government disciplined Hester for her committed sin. The Puritans considered the Bible as the â€Å"true law of God that provided guidelines for church and government†. They wished to shape the Church of England to meet their ideals, emphasizing Bible reading, prayer, and preaching in worship services. They simplified the ritual of the sacraments and also wanted more personal and fewer prescribed prayers. The Puritans stressed grace, devotion, prayer, and self-examination to achieve religious virtue while including a basic knowledge of unacceptable actions of the time. Obtaining virtue was expected to secure order and peace within the Puritan community. The Church officials, who played a direct role in the government, calculated the penalties for various sins. When sins arose, the government took the role as chief executive of corrective punishment and instituted castigation. Hester found herself very much a part of the local Church and government’s heavy hand. Everyone was aware of her sinful act, for she was placed on a scaffold amidst the entire people for a painful viewing. The religious morals instilled in the Puritan society caused her much pain long after the public humiliation. Permanently â€Å"symbolized as a sinner†, Hester was branded for life with a cloth letter worn on her bosom. For years after the letter was first revealed on the scaffold, Hester was associated with the sin and the scarlet letter. Because the Puritans contoured religion, social life, and government together, each member of the society was involved in the religion, social life, and government—everybody in Boston saw the â€Å"A† on Hester’s chest in the same light.

Assess How Martin Gaite Takes on the Task of Confronting Recent History Both Aesthetically and Ethically in El Cuarto de Atras.

Assess how Martin Gaite takes on the task of confronting recent history both aesthetically and ethically in El cuarto de atras. El cuarto de atras is Carmen Martin Gaite’s first post-Franco novel. Encompassing two very distinct genres, it is a fantastical novel, whilst in the same framework, a realist memoir of a woman growing up in post-war Spain. Through the use of the fantastic mode, the author approaches the real social history of the Civil War and post war period.This essay, will explore how Martin Gaite confronts this recent history, illustrating the hostile political environment of her youth and the anxiety it engendered. Through aesthetic techniques, particularly the fantastic mode, the novel facilitates a recollection of memories, which for many, were tarred with pain and anger. What we discover is that Martin Gaite’s intended purpose for her novel is not direct criticism of the fascist regime, but rather she aims to capture the collective memory of a generatio n, a memory which is often difficult to yield.To begin, it necessary to understand Martin Gaite’s decision to write her novel in this way, by gaining a sense of the climate of opinion which prevailed among the leading writers at the end of Franco’s rule, the time when Martin Gaite wrote El cuarto de atras. One of her contemporaries, the influential Juan Goytisolo, published an essay in 1967, which criticises the insipid realistic literature that was written in post-war Spain. He warns that Spanish novelists seem to have lost the ability to smile, despite belonging to a literary tradition that can draw on Cervantes and Larra.Goytisolo claims that, preoccupied with fighting Franco with words, he and his contemporaries have failed to serve either their cause or the wider interests of literature itself. In his essay, he writes: Digamoslo con claridad: las generaciones venideras nos pediran cuentas, sin duda, de nuestra actual conducta civica, pero no tomaran a esta en cons ideracion si, paralelamente a nuestra responsabilidad moral de ciudadanos, no manifestamos nuestra responsabilidad artistica como escritores.No basta, en efecto, reclamar la libertad: tenemos que probarla desde ahora con la autenticidad y responsabilidad de nuestras obras (Wood 2012: 48). Martin Gaite acknowledged and responded to this need for a new form of literature that did not rely solely on politics and realism. On November 23, 1975, the day that Franco died, she set out to write El cuarto de atras. Her novel would focus on two main literary goals; Firstly, to write a social history of the post-war era and secondly to write a fantastic novel.The novel is narrated by a woman called ‘C’, similar to Martin Gaite herself, who tells the story of an unexpected visit by a mysterious man, in the middle of the night. He has come to interview her. During their night-long conversation, the interviewer encourages the narrator in her recollection of her past. During the course of the conversation, the two protagonists notice that in the corner of the room, there is a pile of papers, which continues to grow. At the end of the novel, we learn that this stack of pages comprises the novel itself, even entitled ‘El cuarto de atras’.Their conversation has produced a novel. This powerful metafictional image of the written manuscript of the novel appearing within the novel itself creates a sense of participation amongst her readers. In the final pages, when the protagonist picks up the manuscript, we suddenly become aware of the novel we hold in our hands, and see it now as a mere artefact, the product of the conversation to which we have been aesthetically participating. The mystery behind this metafiction helps in establishing the ‘fantastic’ genre of the novel.Todorov gives a three-part definition of the fantastic genre, all three met in El cuarto de atras, ‘the reader considers the fictional world as real, the reader and the n arrator share a hesitation over whether or not what they perceive derives from commonly-held definitions of reality, and no allegorical interpretation of the unexplainable is advanced’ (Brown 1987: 41). Throughout the novel, the narrator mentions Todorov and quotes several times from his works. The narrator literally stumbles over Todorov’s book at the very start of the novel and later on, she spills water on the book, in doing so, making it more real.She even comes across a note she made when finishing reading the book, promising that one day ‘voy a escribir una novela fantastica’ (p 27). By the end of the novel, when she picks up the manuscript entitled ‘El cuarto de atras’, we realise that this is in fact, the fantastic novel which she promised she would write. The following description constructed by Todorov himself indicates why Martin Gaite decided to use the fantastic mode in her novel: ‘The supernatural thereby becomes a symbol o f language, just as the figures of rhetoric do, and the figure is, as we have seen, the purest form of literality’ (Brown 1987: 153).As well as heightening the creativity of her realist memoirs, Martin Gaite depends on the fantastic genre to uncover certain truths, which lie in hidden memories. Explaining, ‘cuando se traspasa esa frontera entre lo que estas convencido de que es verdad y lo que ya sabes si es verdad o mentira, puede ser posible todo’[1], it is apparent that in using the fantastic, mixing reality with mystery, she makes possible the difficult task of confronting painful, distressing memories experienced during the Civil war in Spain. The fantastic genre of El cuarto de atras is actually determined by the interviewer, the â€Å"man in the black hat†.The mystery of this nocturnal visitor remains unresolved and we finish the novel not knowing if his visit was real or dreamt-up by the narrator. From his very arrival, a fantastic apparition mater ialises, with the huge cockroach on the stairway, whose eyes, she will later note, exactly resemble his. ‘With its monstrous appearance [†¦ ] the insect summons the reader to anticipate the unknown. While the insect is described in detail, the man whose entry follows is not’ (Brown 1987: 151). The absent description of this character is one of several unresolved ambiguities of the novel, taking us in to the territory of the fantastic.It is in this territory and through her conversation with this ghostly character, that the narrator is able to recall her memories. The narrator realises that her difficulty in writing the memoir was due to the fact that she wanted to recapture more than just facts, ‘lo que yo queria rescatar era algo mas inaprensible, eran las miguitas, no las piedrecitas blancas’ (p. 120). With the image of white pebbles and breadcrumbs, a symbol from Perrault’s stories, we learn that she grasps how the truth about history, identi ty and collective memory, is made up of fragments, like pieces of a puzzle.Acting as her conscience, the interviewer certifies this in saying ‘tendria que aprender a escribir como habla’ (p. 120). This reflects Martin Gaite’s view that historical narrative does not suffice if and when constructing a novel which successfully approaches such a painful past. For the narrator, rather than assisting her, facts and historical data have acted as an obstacle. Martin Gaite creates a fantastic memoir, with dimensions of both reality and mystery, allowing the readers to find some form of escapism in her novel. As Robert C.Spires notes, the fantastic ‘frees both writer and reader from a one-dimensional, cause and effect, view of existence’ (1984:120). This creative release, which Martin Gaite seeks in her employment of the fantastic, hints at Spain’s sudden release from the Franco regime. In a further metafictional reference, the narrator explains how, si nce her childhood, she has experienced a form of escape through literature and fantasy. In her composition, as a child, of a novel revolving around a mythical island called Bergai, she demonstrates her desire to escape the strict silence of the regime.By declaring her own search for freedom through literature, Martin Gaite hopes that her novel will encourage the freeing of unspoken memories that her own generation has been hiding. The very title of the novel and the plurality of it’s meaning, indicates Martin Gaite’s desire to liberate memories. The narrator recalls how, ‘El cuarto de atras’ was the place where she used to play as a child, enjoying its freedom to develop her creative imagination. With the war, ‘el cuarto de atras’ begins to be appropriated by adults to store ‘articulos de primera necesidad’ (p. 157).The narrator explains, ‘hasta que dejamos de tener cuarto para jugar, porque los articulos de primera necesida d desplazaron y arrinconaron nuestra infancia, el juego y la subsistencia coexistieron en una convivencia agria de olores incompatibles’ (p. 160). ‘Politics seemed to be part of the adult world and the changes brought about by war seemed like rules for an unexplained new game’ (O’leary and Ribeiro de Menezes 2008:114). Her description reveals her imagination, yet at the same time, serves to depict the ways in which the war impeded on such basic aspects of everyday life.Through her innocence as a child, she does not politically criticise the war, but instead, discusses its inconveniences on her life as she grew up. The plurality of meaning that surrounds ‘El cuarto de atras’ surfaces in a further description of this space: ‘me lo imagino tambien como un desvan del cerebro [†¦ ] separado [†¦ ] por una cortina que solo se descorre de vez en cuando; los recuerdos que pueden darnos alguna sorpresa viven agazapados en el cuarto de at ras, siempre salen de alli, y solo cuando quieren, no sirve hostigarlos† (p. 83).In the novel, the task of pulling back the curtain is undertaken by the interviewer, as it can be perceived that his role is to help the narrator reveal hidden memories. This task of confronting past experiences is not an easy one, as it can un-surface deep fear and anger. ‘It must be remembered that government repression was a formalised expression of the psychological mechanisms adopted by a people whose horror had to be assuaged’ (Brown 1987:162). In establishing the mode of the fantastic, Martin Gaite pulls back the curtain on past realities, and in doing so, captures collective memory.The novel gives a realistic account of life as a child growing up in Spain in 1930’s and 40’s. The narrator points out that Franco came to power when she was only nine years old and she speaks openly about the effects the Civil War had on her. She recalls personal experiences such as h er uncle’s murder because he was a Socialist and the imprisonment of her friend’s parents because they were ‘Rojos’. Her recollections originate from her perception of them as a child, for example, trips to the bomb shelter are just another game.This innocence and political ignorance of her childhood memories help Martin Gaite to steer away from the blame game and political motives, giving instead, an account of what she experienced and how she perceived things as a child. The compelling image which most effectively achieves this is that of Franco’s daughter. The narrator remembers envying her but also feeling sorry for her. We see her sympathising with Carmencita’s grief as a daughter during the dictator’s funeral. Stating that ‘en mi casa, no eran franquistas’, we learn that the narrator is subtle when probed on Franco himself.Although critique on his leadership is inevitable, she avoids using her novel to directly attac k Franco, but rather to give an account of the effect of his dominance on society. As she watches Carmencita Franco at her father’s funeral, the narrator thinks about what they have in common and realises that they share the same collective memory as women who grew up in a patriarchal society. The novel explores the importance of the ‘Seccion Femenina’ and of romantic fiction to her generation of women. Martin Gaite offers the reader an insight, often overlooked in history books, into the ideological inculcation of women during the Franco period’ (O’Leary and Ribeiro de Menezes 2008: 115). She explains, Todas las arengas que monitores y camaradas nos lanzaban en aquellos locales inhospitos, mezcla de hangar y de cine de pueblo, donde cumpli a reganadientes el Servicio Social, cosiendo dobladillos, haciendo gimnasia y jugando al baloncesto, se encaminaban, en definitiva, al mismo objetivo: a que aceptasemos con alegria y orgullo [†¦] nuestra con dicion de mujeres fuertes, complemento y espejo del varon. p. 85) This description has been structured in such a way as to sarcastically signify what was expected on women during the regime. She is able to look back with humour on the expectations of the society she grew up in. As Brown suggests, ‘Luckily, she learned at an early age that the sentiments of the Fascists ruling party were not those of her own family, and that there was a dichotomy between what was thought at home and what was valued outside’ (Brown 1987: 158).Martin Gaite discretely ignored the inhibitions to freedom imposed by the Government’s restrictions and with the support of her mother, she attended university, surpassing the limited, narrow parameters of women’s lives. However, it is apparent that she was in fact influenced by the social tendencies of the time. Through her references to Hollywood stars such as Garbo, and her vision of the interviewer as the hero of a romantic novel, w e discover that her thoughts and behaviour are influenced by romantic literature and Hollywood glamour.The fantasy of each of these became a reality and something these women were expected to aspire towards as a sort of model of behaviour. Sharing such memories with her reader, providing an insight into the social customs of recent history, collective memory is captured. The narrator explains her difficulty in writing her memoirs because her memories of the war and post-war years are disordered and confused. She describes the post war period as ‘un panorama tan ancho y tan revuelto, como una habitacion donde cada cosa esta en su sitio precisamente al haberse salido de su sitio’ (p. 93).Her desire to write these memoirs arises when she is watching Franco’s funeral. As she watches the funeral procession, she summarises what she recalled of Franco’s dominance in the society she grew up in, ‘Franco pescando truchas, Franco en el Pazo de Mieras, Franco en los sellos, Franco en el NO-DO’ (p. 119). The image of Franco was everywhere. As she watches his funeral, the narrator states ‘el tiempo se desbloqueaba’ (p. 119). ‘Franco’s death set time in motion again, as well as language, thus allowing the author to explore the recent past and personal history (O’Leary and Ribeiro 2008:113).The disorder of time and space, in El cuarto de atras, brings forth a revelation in ethically confronting recent history, establishing a contrast with the imposed order of the regime whose end has inspired this fantastic memoir. As a final point, attention should be drawn to the tension that Martin Gaite creates in her depiction of life in Franco’s Spain. This tension lies between her description of the stasis of life under Franco and the life that she managed to live. During this ‘frozen’ time period, the narrator succeeds in becoming both a novelist and a mother.Despite the limitations, obligatio ns and deprivation of the dictatorship, she recalls how her childhood and adolescence were happy. The juxtaposition between stasis and dynamism is most brilliantly described in her comparison of the Franco dictatorship with that of the game ‘escondite ingles’. Under the threatening eye of the dictatorship, people stood still and froze but behind the back of the regime, when and where they had the opportunity, they strove to run their lives as they pleased. In using a popular childhood game to highlight uch tension, her readers are able to return to their past, focusing not on their pain and anger, but rather on the rhythm of life during this period. To conclude, Martin Gaite’s novel, succeeds in offering a new style of writing when confronting recent history. The complex interaction between reality and fantasy, produces a creative and gripping memoir which attempts to capture the collective memory of a generation. In recalling her memories as a child and depictin g the role expected of women, Martin Gaite provides us with an insight of what it was like to experience life under Franco.El cuarto de atras succeeds as a work that enables us to lift the curtain on painful memories that have been hidden away by so many. The recovery of this memory is a difficult task, but by taking us into the world of the fantastic, these memories can find a path to escape. Bibliography Martin Gaite, Carmen. 2009. El cuarto de atras, (Madrid: Libros del Tiempo, Ediciones Siruela). Adrian M. Garcia, 2000. Silence in the Novels of Carmen Martin Gaite (New York: Peter Lang). Lipman Brown, Jo. 1987. Secrets from the Back Room: the Fiction of Carmen Martin Gaite’ (Valencia: University of Mississippi Press).O’Leary and Ribeiro de Menezes, 2008. A Companion to Carmen Martin Gaite (Woodbridge: Tamesis). Robert C. Spires, 1984. Beyond the Metafictional Mode – Directions in the Modern Spanish Novel (Lexington: Kentucky University Press, 1984). Tzvetan Todorov, The Fantastic – A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre trans. Richard Howard (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1975). Wood, Gareth J. 2012. Javier Marias’s Debt to translation (Oxford: Oxford University Press). ———————– [1] Martin Gaite, quoted in Gazarian Gautier ‘Conversacion con Carmen Martin Gaite en Nueva York’, 11.

Assignment Front Sheet Essay

Marketing is at the heart of every organisation’s activity. Its importance is also growing in the non-commercial, public and voluntary sectors. Also, at the heart of marketing is the customer. This unit will introduce learners to some of the tools and techniques all types of organisations use to achieve their objectives. Firstly, learners will explore how different types of organisations use marketing principles to meet the needs of their customers and achieve their objectives. The constraints under which organisations operate are important and learners will study the legal requirements and voluntary codes that affect marketing. Learners will then go on to investigate how organisations collect data through market research and turn it into useful information which can be analysed and used to plan their marketing activities. The segmentation and targeting of groups of customers is a key marketing technique and this is studied in detail. This includes the different bases for segmentation of both consumer and business markets. Next, learners will examine how a marketing mix is developed to meet the needs and aspirations of a targeted group of prospective customers, before going on to develop a marketing mix for a new product or service. Learning Outcomes: On completion of this unit you should: 1. Know the role of marketing in organisations 2. Be able to use marketing research and marketing planning 3. Understand how and why customer groups are targeted 4. Be able to develop a coherent marketing mix. 5.  Criteria reference Assignment brief Qualification BTEC L3 Extended Diploma In Business Unit number and title Unit 3: Introduction to Marketing Start date 24th March 2014 Deadline 22/04/14 Assessor name KAREN MASON Assignment title ‘A’ LISTED MARKETERS. Part 1 The purpose of this assignment is to: Work individually to complete the following tasks. Assignment Brief/Scenario You have just started working for a large marketing and design agency based in Teesside that consults for a variety of businesses on the marketing activities that they undertake in order to promote their products or services. The agency has a varied portfolio of ‘A’ Listed clients and you have been given the task of consulting for two new clients, one business that operates in the private sector and one in the public or voluntary sector. Choose your two businesses remembering that: One must be from the private sector, for example, Marks & Spencer One must be from the public or voluntary sector, for example, Oxfam. Task 1 Describe how marketing techniques are used to market products in two organisations. You task is to produce a presentation for your senior management team (SMT) to introduce your new clients. Your presentation must include the following: Part A a) Two different definitions of marketing (don’t forget to reference your source!) b) Identify the broad aims and objectives of organisations of the private, public and voluntary sectors c) Identify the aims specifically for each of your selected businesses d) e) Part B f) For each business, you will need to research and describe the marketing techniques it has used in order to market one product/service. These techniques might include: Growth strategies Survival strategies Branding Relationship marketing. Following unit content guidance sheet & week 1 PowerPoint; in support of this task (P1) Describe the limitations and constraints of marketing Your task is to create a factsheet that describes the limitations and constraints under which marketers operate; this should include legal requirements and the use of voluntary codes and constraints. Task 2: Select one of the businesses you researched for criterion P1, describe the limitations and constraints of marketing for the organisation. Include the following in your description: legal constraints, for example Sale of Goods Act 1979, The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, Consumer Credit Acts 1974 & 2006, Consumer Protection (Distance Selling)  Regulations, Date Protection Act 1998 Voluntary constraints, for example Code of Advertising Practice and Advertising Standards Authority. pressure groups and consumerism, for example CBI Acceptable language. Guidance note: you should give real life examples of each limitation and constraints identified and include suitable text and images into your factsheet. Following unit content guidance sheet & week 2 PowerPoint; in support of this task (P2) Task 3 Compare marketing techniques used in marketing products in two organisations M1 To complement the presentation you developed for criterion P1, you now need to produce a report where you will demonstrate higher-level skills through comparing or finding the similarities and differences between the marketing techniques used by the two organisations. Guidance note: your report should include an introduction and be separated into sub-sections including growth strategies, survival strategies, branding and relationship marketing. Follow tutor support; stretch & challenge activities to work towards this criteria (M1) Evaluate the effectiveness of the use of techniques in marketing products in one organisation. D1 This task is an extension to the report you have produced for criterion M1. You now need to select one of your two businesses and fully explain how effective you think it has been with the techniques used in marketing its  products? You should fully justify your answer and make suitable recommendations for improvement. Guidance note: you should back up your points with suitable, real life examples relating to that particular business. Evaluation requires more than stating an opinion and should demonstrate higher-level skills such as researching and interpreting data and using logical judgements about the validity and reliability of the data used to evaluate the effectiveness of the marketing techniques Follow tutor support; stretch & challenge activities to work towards this criteria (D1) Sources of information Indicative Reading  Bevan J, Dransfield R, Coupland-Smith H, Goymer J and Richards C – BTEC Level 3 National Business Student Book 1 (Pearson, 2009) ISBN 9781846906343. Tutor support Stretch & Challenge guidance sheets.