Fasting, Feasting and Human Suffering Essay Example

Fasting, Feasting and Human Suffering Essay Anita Desai’s Fasting, Feasting provides an insight into a traditional Indian family in India. The novel describes the plight of passive characters like Uma, Anamika, Melanie and Arun who are controlled by the social and historical forces of the society they live in. The title, Fasting, Feasting are opposites, depicting extremity in settings, situations and culture, yet they are marked by distinct similarities. Women suffer on account of their gender, while men, especially boys suffer due to patriarchal expectations of securing a good job for a better future. Oppressed characters find means of happiness from their suffering with a positive attitude and hope for an escape. The discussions would unfold in two parts, with the first part discussing on the metaphor of the title in regards to human suffering and its implications while the second part would focus on inner personality traits of Uma, the female protagonist, that prevents her from being envious of her siblings, who are more privileged then her. The first part of the novel, Fasting is set in India, where the female protagonist Uma, the eldest of the three siblings find herself starved for opportunities in education and career. It has been claimed that â€Å"Uma suffers existential absurdity, dilemmas and loss of communications that puts her in a state of helplessness† (Poon 2006. Accessed 17 March 2015). Her starvation becomes evident in the story when a son (Arun) is born and Uma is forced to leave school to look after him. â€Å"We are not sending you back to school Uma. You are to stay at home to help with Arun† (Desai, 1999: 18). Uma’s protestations fell on deaf ears from both MamaPapa and Mother Agnes who agreed that girls need to learn domesticity (pg. 28) and thus she was deprived of education. Uma also lost a chance for a career when Dr Dutt’s offer for a job was declined by her parents. The only opportunity for Uma to mark her identity and have a career was bulldozed We will write a custom essay sample on Fasting, Feasting and Human Suffering specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Fasting, Feasting and Human Suffering specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Fasting, Feasting and Human Suffering specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer

Law vs. Beliefs essays

Law vs. Beliefs essays What does a person have to face when he breaks the rule and the law? His self-consciousness? The negative consequences after he gets caught? An individual should not break the social rule stipulated by law. This is what we have been taught and educated about since our childhood, and this legal and moral concept has been deeply implanted in our minds and guides our daily behavior, our way of communicating with others, and our style of interacting with this society. An individual should not break the rule even if it ¡Ã‚ ¯s against his or her personal beliefs. Law is something set by a nation ¡Ã‚ ¯s legislative organization for people to follow. It aims at protecting the rights, properties, etc., of the great majority of the people in the society. Law and personal beliefs do not contradict one another in a general, normal sense. They are a somewhat complementary distribution interaction. Sometimes, they go against each other, even though law cannot be sacrificed for the sake of so- called satisfaction of personal beliefs. In a society law is set to protect people ¡Ã‚ ¯s rights within it. When the law is broken the individual who breaks the law may enjoy some privileges; others may lose them at the same time. The purpose of the law is not only giving people rights but also keeping a common peace within a community or society by confining or limiting people ¡Ã‚ ¯s boundaries of activities. To keep a common peace is what national government uses to keep the country united into one. Breaking the law would do nothing good for ourselves as individuals but causes trouble, disadvantage, etc. The basic concept of being a knowledgeable human is not breaking rules, even if it ¡Ã‚ ¯s against ones own beliefs. Three social conventions confine and influence directly or indirectly our individual and social behavior in our daily life. They are law, morality and belief, overlapping on top of each other as a hierarchy. One follows another, and seldom contradi...

Characteristics of efficient, responsive, risk-hedging and agile Assignment

Characteristics of efficient, responsive, risk-hedging and agile supply chains - Assignment Example Risk-Hedging Supply Chain is distinguished by a high supply and low demand uncertainty, cost efficiency and hedging the risk of supplier distractions. It also has a functional product type and competitive on cost and flexibility. This form of the supply chain has a low responsiveness to market demand and uses a relation-based approach toward suppliers. Agile Supply Chain is highly sensitive to the market and able to read and respond to real market demand. Agile supply chains have extensive sharing of information between suppliers and buyers regarding supply and demand and hence, develop a virtual supply chain where physical stocks are adequately replaced with information. No, a company cannot apply both responsive and efficient supply chains. This is because responsive and efficient supply chain strategies have conflicting objectives, for instance, in terms of cost and lead-times. Whereas efficient supply chain has a low-cost strategy and long-term forecast, the responsive supply cha in has high unit cost and short-term forecasts. Yes,  management can apply both agile and risk-hedging supply chains. This is because agility works in environments with high demand and supply risks. Agile approaches unite strengths of responsive and risk-hedging approaches to respond to the uncertain demand of customers while minimizing the risk of supply disruption.

Baby-Boomer Parents And Their Gen Y Children Essay - 1

Baby-Boomer Parents And Their Gen Y Children - Essay Example This problem has not been fully addressed yet because some people are taking for granted how technology negatively affects their families. These generations must find ways to bridge this gap without necessarily contradicting their interests and preferences in life. Without resolving this gap, generation clashes can result in family conflicts and unhappiness. Gen Y children and Baby Boomer parents can use technology as a bridge that can strengthen family ties through using it to develop better learning and communication strategies. Gen Y children use technology to do multitasking, while Baby Boomer parents employ technology to supplement their activities, but most of the latter prefer doing things the traditional way, and this difference in how technology is used can lead to a strong communication gap between them. Gen Y children depend on technology to do several tasks at the same time, which makes them great multitaskers (Cekada, 2012, p.41), while Baby Boomers do not like doing many things altogether (Cekada, 2012, p.43). Baby Boomers clash with their children who prefer finishing tasks their way, while the former want them to do things the way they used to. Because of these differences in how they see their responsibilities, Gen Y children may overlook that their parents do tasks in a different way, thereby making them impatient in dealing with the latter. Gen Y people tend to expect â€Å"immediate responses,† while their parents may want to talk things through, or to demand their own responses in t heir own time and terms (Cekada, 2012, p.42). Instead of achieving clear communication, the result is miscommunication because of conflicting communication expectations. Because of these problems, Gen Y children should not expect their parents to speak and act the way they do and the same goes for the latter, and instead, they should set aside time doing family activities that they can both enjoy to strengthen their ties. If Baby Boomers see cellular phones for calling than data services, for instance, Gen Y children can help them use smartphones, where they can maximize their data services for their communication needs (Kumar & Lim, 2008, p.570).

Does Ethnicity and Language to the Degree of Parent Involvement in Schools Essay Example for Free

Does Ethnicity and Language to the Degree of Parent Involvement in Schools Essay Many recent studies have indicated that parent involvement can make significant differences to outcomes at schools. Why some parents become involved more than others in their childrens education has been the subject of past studies, and ethnic minority status (especially Black and Hispanic) have been associated in the past with poor involvement compared to whites. But other studies have shown completely opposite conclusions i. e. parental involvement is higher in ethnic groups than whites. The critique: This questionnaire study of teachers and parents was a multi-dimensional investigation into the role of ethnicity in parental involvement in schooling found that Black parents perceive that they take a more active role in their childrens schooling than any other ethnic group. By contrast the teachers perceptions on the issue were drastically opposite – teachers reported much lower levels of alliance with Black parents than White or Hispanic parents. The fact that fewer than 4% of teachers in this study were blacks probably has been a significant factor in this regard. One of the main weaknesses of this study is a lack of verifiability – it was entirely based on questionnaires, without any involvement of students themselves. Secondly the fact that the population consisted entirely of low-performers may have introduced a source of bias in the study. There were also inadequate measures of ruling out the effect of other confounding factors e. g. education level, incomes of households which made it difficult to compare ethnicity properly. Finally, some ethnic groups returned more questionnaire than others, making it difficult to conduct a like for like study. Conclusion : More studies are needed, carried out in a more rigorous method, before the true effect of ethnicity on parental involvement with schools can be established.

Comparing Marriage in Maria, or the Wrongs of Woman, She Stoops to Conq

Separation between Love and Marriage in Mary the Wrongs of Woman, She Stoops to Conquer and Moll Flanders      Ã‚  Ã‚   Our aim in this paper will be to analyze and discuss the different ways in which love and marriage were dealt with during the eighteenth century and to what extent these two terms were linked together or considered as opposite. To accomplish this matter we are going to focus our attention on several works that are representative from this period and that reflect in an accurate way the social mores and more specifically, marriage conventions and romantic love. Throughout this discussion we will be emphasizing the idea that marriage is represented in these works as an institution completely detached from love and that it pursues more than anything else economic purposes and an rising in the social hierarchy. First of all we should account for the situation of English women during the eighteenth century, that despite several social improvements, continued having less rights or freedom than men within the family and marriage as an institution. Patriarchal forms were still a deep-rooted custom that ruled society, which was male-centered. Marriage was often forced on women as their only way of having a recognized position in society, but at the same time led them to slavery. Women's property could be spent to the discretion of the husband as she was considered, together with all that she owned, a possession of the husband. Significantly relevant is the fact that the convention of marriages arranged by parents was still widely accepted. Evidences of this aspect can be found in Goldsmith's work She Stoops to Conquer. At the very beginning of the play Mr.Hardcastle expresses that he has already chosen a husband for... ...and stability. However, the existence of arranged marriages and consequently the lack of love, turned matrimony into a prison where women were locked. A male-ruled world transformed women into virtual slaves that had no rights, and the cases where marriage was the result of a true and passionate love can be counted for as exceptional. Works Cited Wollstonecraft, M., Mary The Wrongs of Woman, Oxford World's Classics.  Ã‚   (1976) Defoe, D., Moll Flanders (1978) Penguin English Classics.   (1999) Goldsmith, O., She Stoops to Conquer Dover Thrift Editions. (1991) Stone, L. The Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500-1800, (1979) Pelikan   Ty, E. Unsex'd Revolutionaries: Five Women Novelists of the 1790's.   University of Toronto Press, Toronto.   (1993) Spencer, J., The Rise of the Woman Novelist: From Aphra Behn to Jane Austen Oxford Press (1987)

Women in Leadership Roles

This report examines the research on gender equity in educational leadership published since 1997until 2010. Even though women attaining jobs in school leadership has increased, women still do not fill administrative positions in comparison to men. The majority of research related to women and leadership examines the barriers women face in entering or moving up in the leadership hierarchy. Looking at the differences and similarities in how men and women take on and exercise leadership roles, the authors of the articles suggest ideas based on biological, psychological and sociological theories that stress gender difference. The article, â€Å"Re-thinking educational leadership: exploring the impact of cultural and belief systems† written by Shah, discusses how education and educational leadership theories and practices are influenced by culture and belief systems; with a focus on gender in Muslim societies. The first priority of Muslim women was to look after their family; therefore, before taking on any professional responsibility they had to ensure that no decisions or actions brought shame to their family or extended families. According to Shah, the Muslim women who participated in leadership positions often felt powerless because their decisions and actions were regularly scrutinized by men. The second article, â€Å"Gender Differences Among New Recruits to School Administration: Cautionary Footnotes to an Optimistic Tale† written by Riehl and Byrd discusses the factors affecting leadership among men and women in elementary and secondary education. Even though the women were as highly educated as the men, the men often were given many more opportunities. Women were still seen as displaying nurturing characteristics in their leadership style. The article also discusses women’s leadership aspirations to that of their male counterparts. The third article, â€Å"School leadership, sex and gender: welcome to difference† written by Kruger brings into light the biological differences in genetic make up of men and women. It discusses how different hormones and brain structure are the reasons for differences in behaviour and personality among men and women, which is considered a deciding factor in their leadership styles. Kruger also examines how the environment plays an important role in the realization of gender differences in leadership. The last article, â€Å"Gender and educational Leadership in England: a comparison of secondary headteachers’ views over time† written by Coleman discusses the expectations of women and men as principals in England in the 1990`s and in 2004. The article focuses on women with regards to work and personal life. Coleman reports that women have larger roles at work and at home, whereas men generally concern themselves with work only. Notably, women were seen as inferior so they adopted male work ethics. The results of Coleman’s studies are similar to those in other countries. It was very interesting to review the articles I chose to better understand the ways that educational leadership is perceived with respect to gender in the education system. As I continued to review the research, I thought it was of importance to examine the differing leadership styles and barriers, along with the similarities women faced in both western and non-western cultures. Throughout this inquiry I will cite several reasons for the low proportion of women as educational leaders. According to Shah, â€Å"Men and women are conceptually divided into two separate worlds. Home is defined as a woman’s legitimate ideological and physical space, while a man dominates the world outside the home† (p. 31). With the ever-changing society, Muslim women started exploring their options and took more of an active role outside the home. Interestingly, the women who attained positions of leadership worked in the women-only establishments. It was troublesome for a woman to work in a mixed gender environment because their educational decisions went through a male counterpart, regardless of their seniority. Women still held strong beliefs and values with respect to education; similar to western cultures, but the notion of women in a male dominated hierarchy was still considered problematic. I strongly believe that family and home responsibilities are still more likely to affect the career paths of women than of men today as they pursue administrative positions. Riehl and Byrd also believe that gender plays a major factor in the career development process to the degree that men and women encounter different circumstances, act differently, and/or experience different outcomes. The theoretical explanations that have emerged are as follows: women have not been socialized to aspire to administrative roles or to prepare for them, higher level jobs were designed to exclude women and school leadership is located in male dominance in society overall, not just educational (p. 46). I believe society as a whole is more accepting of these barriers now; however, these issues are still evident, but not as strong. Similar to today, women as teachers and principals were more likely to be found at the elementary level and men at the secondary level. While I do see many women teaching as previously mentioned, it was interesting to hear that men at their level receive more administrative practice, thus leading to senior administrative positions. Also, the amount of education one received didn’t play a huge factor in the hiring process. According to Riel and Bryd even the objective factors such as â€Å"obtaining education or experience increased women’s chances of becoming administrators, they did not bring women’s chances to parity with men’s† (p. 61). Kruger also examines gender differences but relates it to the biological sex differences in school leadership. Women by nature have a more caring, nurturing personality and this influences their administrative styles in a male dominant society. Kruger found that: â€Å"women are stronger educational leaders than their male colleagues. They carry out more educational activities and spend more time on educational matters than men. Women are more focused on instruction and education, on the school goals, they are higher on creating a positive culture and an orderly learning atmosphere, they have a stronger classroom orientation, they reward teachers more often and they create more professional development opportunities for teachers† (p. 62). It appears as though women are strong educational leaders; however, we have learned throughout this course that male and female styles tend to differ even when they occupy the same leadership role. Women, who already face enough resistance and obstacles in a male dominated field, find their leadership styles are judged more harshly by men; however thi s is not the same for the men. According to Kruger, â€Å"Women who display male leadership styles are more negatively judged compared with those who do not, but men with a female leadership style do not seem to be more negatively judged† (p. 164). Despite these factors more women tend to work under male principals then they do women. The reason for this is perhaps do to personality conflicts they may have with the same sexes on ideas of what successful administration entails. Another deciding factor in this is that women tend to be more education rooted and become administrators because out of their desire to improve education, whereas men take on administer roles mainly for the salary. Coleman’s research states that the stereotypical leader is a white, heterosexual, middle class male; therefore, women are often viewed as outsiders in a position of leadership. Coleman identifies various factors effecting women’s likelihood of becoming leaders such as â€Å"discrimination, lack of confidence, hesitation in making career plans, stereotyped into ‘caring’ pastoral roles that were then not seen as fitting them for leadership and there were multiple difficulties for women in combining a family and career† (p. 385). Women’s leadership styles were seen as passive and gentle, while men were stronger and more decisive. In 2004, only half of the women surveyed report experience in discrimination related to advancements due to the likelihood of being labeled a feminist (Coleman, p. 86). Surprisingly, the traditional male style leadership has given way to more feminine styles of leadership. Males have been seen as putting work first over family at all times, which has influenced women to the point of minimizing maternity leave and foregoing their desire to be supportive figures to younger women. Throughout this course we have discussed various effective educational leadership practices. Leaders should be able to adapt their leadership styles according to the situation. Therefore, change is necessary if we want to move ahead in our respective field. The passive, nurturing, education orientated and productive styles depicted by women in these articles are accepted today by both genders in leadership positions. Noteworthy, a strong dominant leader is not always effective or seen as an acceptable style. As a teacher, I often see different leadership styles and can conclude that men and women at times see things differently. In conclusion, the role of women in educational leadership positions continues to evolve; however, there still needs to be work done in order to ensure equality. If one were to look at our current list of administrators in the school board they would notice that there is significant higher ratio of male to female administrators. The females are often placed in small, rural elementary schools or are the vice-principals of secondary schools. I truly believe women will always face barriers while trying to attain leadership positions; however, if we work together, take charge and voice our opinions things may change in the upcoming years.