Literary Analysis Of White Teeth By Zadie Smith Essay

Literary Analysis Of White Teeth By Zadie Smith - Essay Example She is currently a Fellow at Harvard University in the US. Our children will be born of our actions. Our accidents will become their destinies. Oh, the actions will remain. It is a simple matter of what you will do when the chips are down, my friend. When the fat lady is singing. When the walls are falling in, and the sky is dark, and the ground is rumbling. In that moment our actions will define us. And it makes no difference whether you are being watched by Allah, Jesus, Buddha, or whether you are not. On cold days a man can see his breath, on a hot day he can't. On both occasions, the man breathes. -Zadie Smith, White Teeth If World War II and the knowledge of oppression it represents are absent from all too many postcolonial studies, fifty-five years after its ending, the event and its lingering effects have found a critical position in the remarkable novel White Teeth, by Zadie Smith, Britain's most celebrated postcolonial prodigy. In White Teeth, the last days of that war mark the beginning of an escape from the nightmare of belonging to someone else and chart a journey to somewhere else. White Teeth proclaims a declaration of independence not only from the haunting and constraining memory of the war's catastrophes and racist oppression, but from the very idea of belonging. After centuries of colonial oppression and decades of postcolonial depression and anger, White Teeth imagines the grand finale of Empire as the construction of a multicultural, multiclass British bazaar. Acknowledging its colonial history and debt to postcolonial studies, the novel creates a set of unanticipated mutating connectio ns among historical and imagined events and identities interwoven among first-, second-, and third-generation postcolonial citizens of Britain. (Mike Storry, Peter Childs 53) The end of World War II meets the creation of a new Britain when a younger generation seizes the monocultural ground of Englishness on which their racialized conditions originated. As this younger generation remaps the future of their interrelated history, the narrative and political effects of their takeover represent a response not only to postcolonial critics, but to British women writing the end of Empire. Born in 1975, of a Jamaican mother and English father, in the epicenter of "British racism of the 1970s and 1980s, "Zadie Smith writes White Teeth as a rebellion against her confinement in the role of marginalized victim in an ongoing history of oppression. Neither she nor her characters will accept their places as objects of an interminable and global racist plot. (Nasta 11) Instead, she insists that "her own education at a comprehensive school and then at Cambridge shows that"life changes, my family is a picture of change"). The novel's hyperkinetic romp across interracial, multiethnic London veers from the marriage of working-class Englishman Archie Jones to biracial Jamaican Clara, from his friendship with his Bengali Muslim army mate, Samad Iqbal, to their children's entanglements with the Jewish Chalfen family. As their children hip-hop unimpeded through London's jumble of social and cultural identities, White Teeth understands, toys with, and then refuses inclusion in the "official racism of Britain in the 1970s". These characters and the whole of White Teeth will not play into the hands of Enoch Powell's racist rhetoric-"the triumph of barbarism over civilization". Powell's rallying cry against the postwar waves of postcolonial immigration reverses that slogan used by colonial conquerors and also by the Allies in their war against Nazi conquest-th e triumph of civilization over barbarism. But Powell's slogan also exposes what all

Film Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 8

Film - Essay Example However, even though the films are of same genre and have similar background themes, the setting and the characters are distinct, and have unique personalities. The films ‘It Happened One Night’ (1934) and ‘Maid in Manhattan’ (2002) have similar background themes where a wealthy person falls in love with a ‘commoner.’ The love interest gets the wealthy characters (Ellie and Chris) distracted from the goals they had set to achieve. For example, in the movie ‘It Happened One Night,’ the female character Ellie runs away from her wealthy father to get married to a man of her choice. However, when she meets Peter and gets to know him during their travel to New York, she falls in love with him and gets distracted from the goal for which she had run away from her father. Similarly, in the film ‘Maid in Manhattan,’ Christopher Marshall who is a senatorial candidate, gets distracted from his goal of focusing on his campaign when he falls in love with a maid working in a classy hotel in which he stays. However, the contrast in the theme is that when Ellie confesses her love towards Pete r, he agrees that he is also in love with her. However, the character of Marissa, who is a maid, tries to avoid Christopher when she realizes that he is romantically interested in her. The other difference in the themes of the films is the truth about the characters who are ‘commoners’. In the movie ‘It Happened One Night,’ Peter discloses his real self to Ellie right from the beginning, and that too, with certain flamboyance and charm. On the other hand, Chris misunderstands Marissa as a socialite guest at the hotel, and considers her as a wealthy woman and not a ‘commoner’. Hence, when Chris falls in love with Marissa, he is not aware about her true identity of a maid. In this way, even though basic themes of the films are similar, the shades of the characters are different. The basis of the romantic comedies

Lack of Motivation & Coaching in the Workplace Research Proposal

Lack of Motivation & Coaching in the Workplace - Research Proposal Example Lack of motivation and coaching at a work place can be deteriorating for an organization’s human resource health. The capital may not be motivated to work hard enough, resulting in a lower level of performance that may cost the organization its market position in a competitive environment today (John, 2005). Without coaching, a person may not be able to take the best decisions, which may come to him with experience or when an experienced person advices them. Therefore, coaching acts as a make shift tool for the knowledge management of an organization and is equally important. Research has shown that highly motivated individuals in an organization produce work efficiently, in lesser time and better quality when compared to their counterparts in the same or different organizations. Therefore, research on the implications of the lack of motivation and coaching in the workplace is very important for organizations to understand its importance (Robert, 2007). It is highly important that the employees are motivated in the right context and put their best effort towards the organization; the goals of the organization as well as the employees should be matched in such a manner that they work in unison. Meeting the coaching needs of an employee would help them to make better decisions regarding the day to day operations as well as their career, further motivating them to work harder. The negative impact that may arise due to lack of motivation and coaching in the work place are theoretically tremendous. Organizations may face a high employee turnover rate if the organizations don’t take steps to motivate their employees enough. The question arises that what kind of initiatives should be taken to motivate the employees at the workplace (John, 2001). Also, the impact of having no coaching initiatives in an organization may be tremendous; therefore, is coaching and motivation necessary for the employees to produce their

Case study 2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Case study 2 - Assignment Example During the midmorning snack, Jim will be offered one cup of plain yogurt, Mona will take one half cup of cooked pastas while Kora will be offered  ¼ cup of cottage cheese. During the mid afternoon snack Jim will take 1  ½ ounces of cheddar cheese, Mona will take 1  ½ cup of cooked rice, while Kora will have 1 egg (Marotz, 2011). Mona who is allergic to wheat is likely to have a shortage of carbohydrates and fiber; he will lack nutrients such as calcium, iron, riboflavin, and thiamin. Jim who does do take milk will lack enough proteins and nutrients such as calcium, while Kara will have a deficiency of vitamins especially vitamin B. Peanuts is also a good source of proteins. In order to meet their nutritional needs they are supposed to be given food such as puddings, cheese, yogurt for Jim, pastas, rice for Mola, and legumes, meat, beans or eggs for Kola. As a teacher, one should also ensure that we have the approval of the child’s physician before giving any treatment to any child with allergy symptoms. We should ensure that children do not use their allergies as a way of getting attention or seeking special privileges (Marotz,

Consonants in old and middle english Research Paper

Consonants in old and middle english - Research Paper Example The second part of the paper has discussed the Middle English (1066-1500 CE). A table of consonants has been used to illustrate what consonants were like during the period. The inventory sounds of consonants of Chaucerian Middle English have been discussed in this section. Another feature highlighted in the section is the characteristics of Middle English. The paper has been concluded by justifying how the English language has developed after undergoing refine standardization for several periods. A consonant is a speech sound that is coherent to partial closure or complete closure of a vocal tract. Examples of consonants are t, p, k, h and s among others. Some consonants are pronounced at the front of the tongue, some at the back of the lip, some in the throat, some at the back of the tomgue and some are pronounced by forcing air through a narrow channel. English is a language from West German, which originates from Anglo-Frisian Dialects. The language was brought to Britain by invaders and settlers from German (Fennell, 2001). These people settled in the present Netherlands and North West Germany. English is unique from other European languages of the same era in that it uses vocabularies. English is regarded as a borrowing language because most of its modern vocabulary originated from Anglo-Norman languages (Fennell, 2001). Middle English varied from old English because of the two invasions of the middle ages. The North Germanic language natives were responsible for the first invasion. These people conquered and colonized some parts of the Britain during 8th and 9th centuries A.D. The second invasion was caused by the Normans of the 11th Century, who were natives of old Norman. This language developed after sometime to English form and adopted the name Anglo-Norman. The new English vocabularies, which were used during the beginning of the Middle English times, influenced most organizations to a great extent. Some of the influenced organizations include;

The U.S. Foreign Policy during the Cold War Essay Example for Free

The U.S. Foreign Policy during the Cold War Essay It is true that foreign strategy of the United States during the Cold War (1947-1989) is called containment. This policy can be described as the efforts to stop global political movement toward communist and socialist ideology (the ideology of the Soviet Union) and promote political popularity of democratic ideas dominating in Europe and the United States. That is how it was supposed to create a certain political isolation of the Soviet Union, which would sooner or later bring to a number of various problems, such as political decadence, economic stagnation and so on. In other words, containment was a policy directed on gradual weakening and declining the power of the Soviet Union by preventing the expansion of communist beliefs around the world and defending the ideas of democracy and opened economy. The strategy of containment was created and proposed by George Frost Kennan, an American politician and diplomat, known as â€Å"the father of containment†, who worked in 1944-1946 as a head of American mission to the Soviet Union and was an excellent specialist in understanding the relations between Washington and Moscow. Having sent his historical â€Å"long telegram† Kennan warned the administration of Truman about possible dangers of messing with Soviet political powers. Besides, later on he publicized his ideas about the necessity to follow the policy of containment in Foreign Affairs magazine, where he stated: â€Å"†¦the main element of any United States policy toward the Soviet Union †¦ must be that of a long-term, patient but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies† and ideology taught them [Soviets] that it was their duty eventually to overthrow the political forces beyond their borders. (U. S. Department of State, n. d. ). Kennan also argued that Soviet Russia was an antagonistic and closed-minded society, driven by a great obsession to dominate combined with a huge political insecurity. That is why, he thought, only a determined and resolute reaction of the United States would be the best solution to frustrate the ambitions of Soviet authorities and eventually bring the power of American ideological ally to a standstill. These ideas of Kennan received a lot of warm support in American administrative circles and became the main postulates of famous Marshall Plan on reformation. Therefore, Kennan’s call for containment had a tremendous impact on American policy-makers and â€Å"†¦inspired the hardheaded power politics that shaped the Cold War† (Holbrook, 2005). The controversy of this policy arose around the issue of the limits of containment, because it was crucial not to lose the control of the situation and peripheral interests of the U. S. That is why in 1950 a detailed plan, stipulating the stages and activities of the United States in the framework of the Cold War was issued by National Security Council as a document called NSC-68. Anyway, the strategy of containment was a great success in the long run, and it became one of the most far-seeing and prudential political moves in modern history, because any aggression from one of the sides in this â€Å"peaceful competition† called the Cold War would spark a serious conflict and possibly bring to global bloody outcomes. George F. Kennan himself in his interview to CNN analysts commented on the effectiveness of the containment policy as the following: â€Å"†¦the alternative was to have a great military conflagration and I could see no good coming out of this† (CNN, n. d. ) Certainly, not every American politician was supporting the policy of containment and there were some, who insisted on more determined activities of the U. S. directed against communist ideology expansion. In particular, John Foster Dulles, the 52nd Secretary of the State, was promoting the ideas of liberation of Western European countries. Nevertheless, the strategy of containment which â€Å".. helped to define the issues and values dividing America and Russia†, was a well-considered political step, which eventually contributed to collapse of communist ideology in Western Europe (UXL Encyclopedia, 2005). References Cornwell, R. (2005, March 19) Obituary: George Kennan. The Independent. 58 (893), 6. George F. Kennan. (2005). UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography. Ed. 1. Farmington Hills, MI: UXL (Gale). George F. Kennan, U. S. Embassy, Moscow. (n. d. ). CNN. A CNN Perspectives Series. Retrieved December 19, 2007, from http://www. cnn. com/SPECIALS/cold. war/episodes/01/interviews/kennan/. Holbrooke, R. (2005, March 21). The Paradox of George F. Kennan. The Washington Post. The Washington Post Company. Retrieved December 19, 2007, from the World Wide Web: http://www. washingtonpost. com/wp-dyn/articles/A52533-2005Mar20. html. Kennan and Containment. (n. d. ). U. S. Department of State. Retrieved December 19, 2007, from the World Wide Web: http://www. state. gov/r/pa/ho/time/cwr/17601. htm.

Primary Commodity Exports and Civil War Essay Example for Free

Primary Commodity Exports and Civil War Essay Fearon’s study particularly pertains to the evaluation on which particular countries are actually prone to undergoing situations such as civil wars. In this article, he along with his co-researchers found out certain elements that contribute to the increase of threat towards the possibility of a country undergoing a civil outburst. According to the said researchers, the most important issues that needs consideration on this part of the situation is the emergence of countries that are involved in primary commodity export appointments in the field of international trade. Apparently, it is in this article that poverty has been noted to be a reactive result of several globalization approaches which also brings about the possibility of social chaos giving way to civil war. The bridge that was supposed to keep nations together through globalization is now serving as the strongest reason of gap between people around the world and even within countries. The widening gap is also producing serious consequences for the richer nations. This is because of their growing dependence on the raw materials of the nations of the â€Å"Third World. † But now these nations have changed their attitudes about how their resources will be used, and paid for. An example of this was the action taken by the oil-producing underdeveloped nations, sending shock waves throughout the industrial lands. For many decades, the poorer oil-producing nations had to sell their oil at a relatively cheap price. Recently, these nations banded together and agreed to quadruple their prices. The poor nations have laid down a clear challenge to the rich nations. They will no longer passively accept what the industrial nations have assumed for more than two centuries. That assumption was that there would always be cheap raw materials available from the poor nations. No longer is this the case. However, the dilemma of the poor nations is that most of them are not blessed with abundant raw materials. Most of them lack abundant mineral and oil resources. They are largely agricultural lands, and in bad years, they have nothing to fall back on to sell to other nations. Therefore, they will not have the money to buy the food and other things they need to help them in bad years. That is just what is happening now to various countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The main idea of studying the way people live in the society is to see how far they have fared in making their way to progress. However, contrary to the aimed unified progress, development is usually shifted only to the â€Å"haves†. Yes, the world may be seemingly unfair, equality may even seem too impossible to be achieved, but through a unified effort, having an equal community could still be worked upon by the entire human civilization; something that is most needed to avoid possible outburst of civil war. Bibliography Fearon, James. Primary Commodity Exports and Civil War. Journal of Conflict Resolution, Vol. 49, No. 4, 483-507 (2005).