Quest For Personal Identity In Toni Morrisons The Bluest Eye Essays

Quest for Personal Identity in Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye English Quest for Personal Identity in Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye Post World War I, many new opportunities were given to the growing and expanding group of African Americans living in the North. Almost 500,00 African Americans moved to the northern states between 1910 and 1920. This was the beginning of a continuing migration northward. More than 1,500,000 blacks went north in the 1930's and 2,500,00 in the 1940's. Life in the North was very hard for African Americans. Race riots, limited housing resulting in slum housing, and restricted job opportunities were only a few of the many hardships that the African American people had to face at this time. Families often had to separate, social agencies were overcrowded with people that all needed help, crime rates increased and many other resulting problems ensued. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison takes place during this time period. A main theme in this novel is the "quest for individual identity and the influences of the family and c ommunity in that quest" (Trescott). This theme is present throughout the novel and evident in many of the characters. Pecola Breedlove, Cholly Breedlove, and Pauline Breedlove and are all embodiments of this quest for identity, as well as symbols of the quest of many of the Black northern newcomers of that time. The Breedlove family is a group of people under the same roof, a family by name only. Cholly (the father) is a constantly drunk and abusive man. His abusive manner is apparent towards his wife Pauline physically and towards his daughter Pecola sexually. Pauline is a "mammy" to a white family and continues to favor them over her biological family. Pecola is a little black girl with low self esteem. The world has led her to believe that she is ugly and that the epitome of "beautiful" requires blue eyes. Therefore every night she prays that she will wake up with blue eyes. Brought up as a poor unwanted girl, Pecola Breedlove desires the acceptance and love of society. The image of "Shirley Temple beauty" surrounds her. In her mind, if she was to be beautiful, people would finally love and accept her. The idea that blue eyes are a necessity for beauty has been imprinted on Pecola her whole life. "If [I] looked different, beautiful, maybe Cholly would be different, and Mrs. Breedlove too. Maybe they would say, `Why look at pretty eyed Pecola. We mustn't do bad things in front of those pretty [blue] eyes'" (Morrison 46). Many people have helped imprint this ideal of beauty on her. Mr. Yacowbski as a symbol for the rest of society's norm, treats her as if she were invisible. "He does not see her, because for him there is nothing to see. How can a fifty-two-year-old white immigrant storekeeper... see a little black girl?" (Morrison 48). Her classmates also have an effect on her. They seem to think that because she is not beautiful, she is not worth anything except as the focal point of their mockery. "Black e mo. Black e mo. Yadaddsleepsnekked. Black e mo blac k e mo ya dadd sleeps nekked. Black e mo..." (Morrison 65). Shouted by her classmates on such a regular basis, this scorn seemed not to penetrate anymore. As if it were not bad enough being ridiculed by children her own age, adults also had to mock her. Geraldine, a colored woman, who refused to tolerate "niggers", happened to walk in while Pecola was in her house. "`Get out,' she said her voice quiet. `You nasty little black bitch. Get out of my house'" (Morrison 92). By having an adult point out to her that she really was a "nasty" little girl, it seems all the more true. Pecola was never able to get away from this kind of ridicule. At home she was put through the same thing, if not worse because her family members were the ones who were supposed to love her. Her mother was not able conceal her obvious affection towards a white girl over her. One day as Pecola was visiting her mother at the home where she is working, Pecola accidentally knocked over

Lesson Plans for Civil Debates and Discussion

Lesson Plans for Civil Debates and Discussion This lesson plan is based on the idea that having students support opinions that are not necessarily their own during debates can help improve students fluency. In this manner, students pragmatically focus on correct production skills in conversation rather than striving to win the argument. For more information on this approach please see the following feature: Teaching Conversational Skills: Tips and Strategies Of course, once students have become confident in their production skills, the can obviously argue the point they truly believe in. Aim: Improve conversational skills when supporting a point of view Activity: Debate concerning the current and future impact of the Internet on daily life Level: Upper-intermediate to advanced Outline: Review language used when expressing opinions, disagreeing, making comments on other persons point of view, etc. (See worksheet)Ask students to consider the following statement:The Internet has forever changed the way we live. Its importance will continue to grow. By the year 2010, most of the world will be conducting its business, receiving its media (TV, films, music), and staying in touch solely via the Internet.Based on students responses, divide groups up into two groups. Important: Make sure that groups are put into the group with the opposite opinion of what they seemed to believe in the warm-up conversation.Give students worksheets including ideas pro and con. Have students develop arguments using the ideas on the worksheet as a springboard for further ideas and discussion.Once students have prepared their opening arguments, begin with the debate. Each team has 5 minutes to present their principal ideas.Have students prepare notes and make a rebuttal to the expressed opinions . While the debate is in progress, take notes on common errors made by the students.At the end of the debate, take time for a short focus on common mistakes. This is important, as students should not be too involved emotionally and therefore will be quite capable of recognizing language problems - as opposed to problems in beliefs! Internet Craze What do you think about the following statement? The Internet has forever changed the way we live. Its importance will continue to grow. By the year 2010, most of the world will be conducting its business, receiving its media (TV, films, music), and staying in touch solely via the Internet. Use the clues and ideas below to help you create an argument for your appointed point of view with your team members. Below you will find phrases and language helpful in expressing opinions, offering explanations and disagreeing. Opinions, Preferences: I think..., In my opinion..., Id like to..., Id rather..., Id prefer..., The way I see it..., As far as Im concerned..., If it were up to me..., I suppose..., I suspect that..., Im pretty sure that..., It is fairly certain that..., Im convinced that..., I honestly feel that, I strongly believe that..., Without a doubt,..., Disagreeing: I dont think that..., Dont you think it would be better..., I dont agree, Id prefer..., Shouldnt we consider..., But what about..., Im afraid I dont agree..., Frankly, I doubt if..., Lets face it, The truth of the matter is..., The problem with your point of view is that... Giving Reasons and offering explanations: To start with, The reason why..., Thats why..., For this reason..., Thats the reason why..., Many people think...., Considering..., Allowing for the fact that..., When you consider that... The Internet Will Change Our Lives In Every Aspect The use of the Internet around the world is doubling every few months.The Internet has already changed with way we communicate.Business has invested billions on the Internet.The Internet is becoming faster all the time, you can already watch a video or listen to Mp3s via the Internet.Many people now live at home and work via the Internet.The Internet has created unlimited new business opportunitiesMost people use email instead of writing letters to keep in touch with their friends.The Internet is still very young. The Internet Is Just A New Form Of Communication, But Will Not Change Everything In Our Lives The Internet, while interesting, is just a fad.People want to go out and meet other people when they do their shopping.It is too difficult to use the Internet and computers, most people do not have the patience.Reading on a computer screen is uncomfortable and people will never stop wanting to read, listen to music and be entertained in traditional ways.The Internet creates cultural homogenization - some would say Americanization, and eventually people will get tired of this.The only real interaction between people must take place face to face on not virtually.The Internet is mainly used by teenagers and other people who have lots of time to waste.The new economy of the Internet produces nothing - people can not buy a smoke.

HRM strategy and implementation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

HRM strategy and implementation - Essay Example zation to lay more focus on its core activities hence increasing the output and ensuring that the business has a greater competitive advantage (Campbell 606). In some cases, focus is put on the possible impact of future sets of promotional tactics. Marketing oriented models are often used to optimise promotional strategies of an organization with respect to sales revenue or profit margins. Techniques used for this purpose were developed by econometricians and were first applied to consumer goods that were specifically being packaged. A good market model would entail a detailed mathematical representation of the actual interactions among the different market forces. These various participants include economic forces and the different choices that are made at various levels of doing business within an organization. Different market models attempt to explain or predict the behaviour of various aspects of a market. For instance, for security markets, one model would attempt to express how the return on a certain product portfolio can be maximized. A marketing model is a central component of the general marketing discipline. Information technology has indeed ensured a rapid change in the way businesses carry out their marketing (Chesbrough, et al. 2000). More customers can now be reached within a short time by use of reliable technologies that are very cost effective. Human resource refers to people-power within an organization. People within an organization are normally charged with the responsibility of ensuring that machines and other resources are put into good use. Resources such as computer systems only help to facilitate the work done by the human resource (Kelly 2003). People with various skills and academic credentials ensure that various duties are carried out in an organizational setup. The term human resource therefore refers to the way in which people are managed by organizations. Human resource is the most complex and difficult category of resources to