American Democracy Is It Unhealthy And Who Is Blame

American Democracy: Is it Unhealthy and Who is to Blame? Despite being one of the oldest and most consistently stable democracies in the Western world, the American government, and American democracy as a whole, has frequently come under fire in recent years. Whether it is political parties, pundits, bloggers or citizens, Americans and non-Americans are all lining up to take shots at what they diagnose as a storied democracy crumbling before their eyes. Two of Robert Dahl’s criteria for a healthy democracy are enlightened understanding: are citizens able to acquire the political information necessary to participate in their own democracy, and control of the agenda: do the American senators and members of congress have exclusive and†¦show more content†¦In terms of how informed American citizens are about their government, it has been well documented that the majority of the American populace are not well informed about political goings-on, and have not been for a lengthy period of time. In a 2012 survey issued to 1010 Ameri can adults, Pew Research Center found that out of a 12 question survey covering the American presidential election of that year, American voters were only able to answer 58.2% of the questions. Only 85% could correctly identify Joe Biden as the current vice president, and only 40% knew that the Republicans had a majority in Congress (Pew Research Center, 2012, p 1). Even more alarming was that among the citizens surveyed who were not registered voters, the percentages of people able to correctly answer these questions fell to 60%, and 22% respectively. While unregistered voters being unable to vote would certainly mean a drop off between the two groups ability to answer the question, drop off as large as a quarter of respondents being unable to identify the vice president is still cause for alarm. In another study conducted by Pew Research Center comparing American citizens’ ability to answer political questions in 1989 and 2007, they concluded that American ignorance of curr ent events is a systemic problem rather than an emerging one. When asked to identify the vice president, only 74% of

The Turtle Jean Lafitte Adventures of a Pet Psychic Free Essays

string(37) " got sucked into Gordon’s act\." Gordon 1 Stephanie Gordon College Writing 112. 005 Guyant 10/11/11 Psychics reading the gullible Gordon 2 The world today is filled with psychics claiming they can perform tasks involving extrasensory projections. There are people who say they can speak with the dead, read minds, feel energies, and see into the future. We will write a custom essay sample on The Turtle Jean Lafitte: Adventures of a Pet Psychic or any similar topic only for you Order Now It is very easy, when vulnerable and gullible enough, to fall into what these psychics are saying. Most will say what you want to hear in order to gain credibility for themselves, or even to just earn a living. It is a complicated thing to argue, however, because this science cannot be proven true. It has undoubtedly been proven a hoax time and time again, but there are two sides to every story. Those who believe and buy into what these psychics are saying are the ones who keep this business alive. I think that people will believe what they want to believe, which is why psychics can continue putting on a show to make believers out of the gullible. There is a term used in Psychology to represent when it is actually the subjects who make a reading succeed. It is called the â€Å"fallacy of personal validation. This means that when someone is being read by a psychic, the way they interpret the reading to match their own character is what makes them believe in what the psychic is saying (Gordon 48). This is most often true with horoscopes. We usually only read the horoscope that matches up with our own birthday, but when reading ones that are for other months, they can be matched up to anyone. Horoscopes can be very general, such as, â€Å"Good things are coming your way†, or â€Å"You will meet someone with potential for a relationship next month†. These things could be interpreted in a different way for every person who reads them. Almost anyone could find a way to fit the readings into their own lives. Most of the time the horoscope â€Å"predicts† things that would have happened to a person anyways. Chances are whoever reads it will have something good happen to them or meet someone new any period of time after they have read it. It is the fallacy of personal validation that makes astronomical readings seem so accurate for each individual. Psychics themselves have a lot of confidence in what they do. Though there are some who know they are putting on an act, there are others who truly believe they have a gift. One psychic who Gordon 3 makes a living off of being a reader, DeAna, lives in the United Kingdom. She explains in an interview that ever since she was a young girl, her family and friends were baffled when DeAna knew information that she was never directly told. She constantly knew information that she not only should not, but could not have possibly known. Using her skill as a career measure did not come until much later in life. When asked â€Å"How have you become a psychic reader? † DeAna replies, â€Å"A lady I worked with was dreadfully distraught about a relative who had gone AWOL. One day she handed me a coffee and I found information about the person flooding in – as she touched me. I gave her the info and the person was located. She was shocked at first and then thrilled and told an awful lot of people! Before I knew it, after a 12 hour shift – 6 days a week, I would arrive home to find people waiting on my doorstep needing a reading. † (DeAna) She continues to explain how she helped people before and after her shift at her regular job, for no pay. One day a woman came along who was offended when DeAna would not accept payment. She scolded the psychic and said that she was offering a service and should expect payment for her skills. DeAna decided to make her readings a full time job, after the woman put things into perspective for her. She thought she should use her gift to help whenever she could, whenever she could. DeAna soon realized this was her calling, and chose to start charging all of her clients and turn her talent into a career. DeAna helps people who are looking for answers. Her clients who now pay her for reading sessions in person and over the phone, come to her because they need help with something in their lives. DeAna even helps corporate businesses in finding the correct applicant for a job. She states that she wrote out a paragraph for each applicant on their character traits and strengths as she saw it. Perhaps the person in charge of hiring had poor skills in his job area to begin with, which is why other people he had hired did not end up working out for their company. The fact of the matter is, every person DeAna has picked out for the company has worked extremely well in their position. One man, who admits to being a fake, is Henry Gordon. He calls himself a mentalist-magician, Gordon 4 because his tricks are what he calls slight of mind. His career has been based on debunking those who claim to have magical or psychic powers. In 1977 (Gordon 3), he put on a magic show in his hometown, but performed under the stage name Elchonen and wore a mask so his identity would stay hidden. After performing several amazing tricks, the audience was completely hooked and bought into his entire performance. When it came time for the second act, Gordon walked out on stage without his mask and was instantly recognized by his community. He told people they had been duped, and proceeded to explain why it is so easy for them to believe his tricks. People in the audience had every reason to be upset. They had put themselves in a vulnerable position and got sucked into Gordon’s act. You read "The Turtle Jean Lafitte: Adventures of a Pet Psychic" in category "Papers" This is also part of the reason people believe so strongly in psychics and their readings. Those who are curious are the ones who are easily pulled into the hoax. After an atmosphere is created with a crystal ball, one or two correct guesses, and just a hint of belief, a psychic can pull a client in and the rest is history. It is very easy for a mentalist magician like Gordon to pull simple tricks and attract a following. Some members of the audience in Gordon’s show were so upset they demanded their money back. Gordon told them they would receive a full refund for their ticket if they asked for it at the ticket office. He later found out most of the people who received their refund came back to find out the tricks of his trade. He calls himself a mentalist magician, because he uses slight of mind tricks, as opposed to sleight of hand. His tricks test a person’s mind, rather than how well they were paying attention. Gordon makes a living off of debunking psychics and anyone who claims they have extra sensory projection. He says that he could make a much better living off of being a magician, but there is something standing between him and a life full of riches. His conscience. Psychics make general assumptions that lead to specific answers, based on the responses of the person they are reading. (75) This is what makes the person believe they are taking part in something outside our natural world. It is what pulls them in and makes them a believer in this phenomenon. Some people tend to believe when they need an answer that they cannot seem to find on their Gordon 5 own. Local law enforcement has been known to use a psychic when they have hit a dead end during a case. This happens rarely. Often times the psychic is brought in by the family of the victim, and not law enforcement directly. Law enforcement will comply with the psychic if they feel they have no other options and need help taking a step in a new direction. The psychics, however, can be more of a problem than a help. Police may be looking for a step in the right direction, but what if the psychic sets them on a completely wrong path? Time is of the essence in the majority of these cases and a psychic may throw off the entire investigation. If a psychic chooses to help in a search, officials may decide to ignore their claims. One man, Mr. Earl Curley, is extremely confident in his psychic abilities. He brags to his followers about how his help led to an arrest in a murder investigation. Curley states that he gave a composite drawing of the alleged killer in the investigation of the Atlanta Child Murders. He then claims that because of his help, a criminal named Wayne Williams was apprehended four and a half days later. Since Curley seemed to be so confident in his help, Henry Gordon went to investigate how much he had really helped the investigators on the outcome of this case. When Gordon contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigations about Curley’s help with the case, he received a direct quote from the Press Information Office. â€Å"Mr. Earl Curley contacted our Atlanta office (voluntarily) in 1980 and 1981. He sent in some kind of write-up of what he thought the subject would look like, and he sent in some sort of a drawing. However, there was no impact on the case as a result of what he sent in. (Gordon 88) This goes to show that psychics can brag about using their abilities, but unless someone digs deeper in the matter, they will not know how much the psychic really helped. Psychics may have helped law enforcement with their two cents worth, but it does not mean that they led to any kind of conclusion in a case. Suppose the FBI had used Curley’s drawings. They might have arres ted a man who matched the picture, but who was not the criminal who committed the murders. Any set of circumstances resulting from Curley’s voluntary help could have sent the entire investigation in a completely wrong direction. Luckily the Bureau was smart enough to ignore this psychic and stick with their own set of techniques. Gordon 6 Having confidence in their work is part of what makes them so believable. If they believe in it themselves, others are sure to follow in the hype. Psychics use all sort of ways to show their skills. Whether it is using a reading to predict an outcome, predict the future, communicate with the afterlife, they all have their own set of ways to create believers. A popular method some psychics use when attempting to contact someone who has passed on, is the Ouija board. It is a board with numbers from zero to nine and all of the letters of the alphabet on it. A game piece in the shape of a triangle with a plastic center is used to spell out the answers to questions asked. When the piece goes over a letter or number, it is supposed to spell out a word of phrase that is from a spirit. This board was considered a game in the United States. It sold extremely well, mostly to people who had lost a loved one in World War I. The woes of someone dying, going missing, or simply being affected by the tragedies of war, drove some people to turn to magic. These were people who needed answers from their loved ones and had no way of getting them elsewhere. The man who created the Ouija board, Isaac Fuld, was a toymaker. He attempted to say the game was a scientific instrument, so that he would not have to pay a ten percent tax on toy sales. This was even argued all the way to the Supreme Court. There is no way to test that connecting with those in the afterlife is a scientific measure, so the board was ruled a toy. How surprising. To make a point as to how the toy could not possibly be magic, Henry Gordon, once again was there to help us out. He taught a class on the paranormal at McGill University. He brought in a woman who claimed to be a psychic and used the Ouija board as a tool to contact spirits from the afterlife. Since Gordon made his living off of proving psychics to be fakes, she was one of his star guest speakers. She wore a long green dress and a turban, which made her appear as someone who you would see behind a crystal ball in a dimly lit room. This was obviously a part of her performance. She demonstrated how the board worked, and allowed Gordon to ask a few questions to someone he knew who had passed. After receiving a few answers from the â€Å"spirits† (Who knows if they were right? ), Gordon tested the woman’s skills. To Gordon 7 prove the board, and the woman, who truly believed in her gift of communicating with spirits, were both fake, he placed a piece of brown paper wrapping over the board. The game piece moved around over the paper, so the numbers and letters were hidden. This way the woman could not see what characters her hands were moving over. He asked a few more questions, but the game piece only spelled out gibberish for answers. Gordon 110) If the spirits really were speaking to Gordon and the class through the Ouija board, would it matter if there was paper covering it? This throws the Ouija board in with the crystal balls, tarot cards, astrological charts, and any other tricks a psychic may use to convince the world of their talent. Another way the public is pulled into psychic hysteria is with animals. Some pet owners claim that their horse or dog o r pig have psychic powers. The most well-known psychic animal came around in the 1920s. (Milbourne 40) She was a benign mare named Lady who performed in a red barn near Richmond, Virginia. Mrs. Claudia Fonda, Lady’s owner claimed she could spell, add, subtract, multiply, divide, tell time, and answer questions. Reporters who visited Lady to see the Wonder Horse with their own eyes wrote that she could predict the future and read minds. Mrs. Fonda charged a fee of fifty cents for children and one dollar for adults for admission to see Lady and her talents. People would ask the horse a wide range of questions. Lady was asked anything from â€Å"When will I marry? † to â€Å"How should I invest my money? † (41) Lady even took part in helping find the body of a missing boy in Norfolk County, Massachusetts. She also knew a lot about baseball, and even had a more success in picking winners than most professional sportswriters. Everything in Lady’s career left everyone astonished, and in 1956 (43), Mrs. Fonda shortened Lady’s time with the public to afternoons only. A man named John Kobler was being sent to write an article on Lady for the Saturday Evening Post. He asked Christopher Melbourne if he was available to come along as a consultant, because he was one who was familiar with the techniques of deception. Since Melbourne had written articles on the horse before, he introduced himself to Mrs. Fonda as John Banks, so that she would not be upset by his Gordon 8 presence. Banks carried a camera, so that he would be accepted as a photographer associate to Kobler. When they arrived at Lady’s Barn, Mrs. Fonda assumed her position to the left of Lady. Lady communicated through a giant typewriter-like machine. When she pushed down a plank with her nose, a letter popped up. Mrs. Fonda instructed the men to ask Lady whatever they wanted. Banks asked the horse â€Å"What is my name? † Lady spelled out B-A-N-K-S on her typewriter, but his name was not really Banks. He also asked when his brother would return from Europe, and Lady answered â€Å"S-U-M-M-E-R†. Banks did not have a brother. After Kobler asked several questions of his own, Mrs. Fonda handed each of the men a long, skinny pad of paper, and a long pencil. She instructed them to write down a number, and Lady would read their minds and know the number. Kobler did as he was told, and Lady guessed everytime. Banks, however, would write the number one, but act as though he was writing the number 9. He would only push the pencil to paper as the spine of the 9 came down. He used this technique for almost every number, and Lady guessed wrong every time. It was obvious that a technique called pencil reading was being used. Mrs. Fonda had given the men skinny pads, so that the stroke of the pencils could easily be seen. This is the same reason for giving them longer pencils. Had a large pad of paper and short, stubby pencils been used, pencil reading could not have occurred. At the end of the visit, Melbourne had come to the conclusion that Lady had indeed been trained very well by Mrs. Fonda, but Lady was no psychic. Mrs. Fonda stood on Lady’s left side. Horses cannot see what is in front of them, only what is on the side. Therefore the only thing in Lady’s sight was Mrs. Fonda, and the stick she held in her hand. The stick is what Fonda used to direct Lady for which plank she should push. This means that Lady was simply doing as her master instructed, and that Fonda was really answering everyone’s questions. Although it has been proved that Lady was not a psychic animal, it leaves us with the question as to how Mrs. Fonda knew all of those answers? One way researchers attempted to discover just how many people believed in Psychical Phenomena, was with a survey called the Sheep-Goat scale. In the late 1970s (Haraldsson, Journal of Gordon 9 American Society for Psychical Research 2), a group of researchers set out to discover how belief in psychical phenomena may be related to attitudes, experiences, and activities in the domain of religion and politics. The survey asked questions about belief in the existence of telepathy, ability to know the future, spiritual experiences or dreams, and whether the person read books or articles on psychic phenomena. (2-3) Subjects were scored on their answers and only taken into account if they had answered every question. This scale was used in four different to obtain information on the public’s knowledge on psychical phenomena. The first study was done in Iceland on persons ranging from 30-70 years old, selected at random. About 80% of the original sample size returned the survey, which was enough to use the results as a representative of the Icelandic population in that age range. (3) The other three studies were done at the University of Iceland. All of the studies concluded that belief in the psychic and religious beliefs have common facts to some extent. 9) This positive correlation may be due to the fact that the respondents read often. Belief in one item may lead to a belief in the other. As a result of this research, I feel it is clear that psychics can absolutely be proven to be fakes. They cannot, however, be proven to be real. Their profession relies solely on belief, most of which is from vulnerable, gullible people. Psychics use their props, tricks, and performances to pull in peo ple and turn them into believers. Depending on the type of hoax they use to attract a clientele, they can make an entire living off of other people’s gullibility. I feel it is wrong to be able to do this, but am happy there are people such as Henry Gordon who continue to work on proving them wrong. There are still some questions left unanswered, like how Claudia Fonda, knew all of the answers to everybody’s questions. The fact of the matter is that there will always be questions left unanswered, because there is no science developed to prove or disprove a psychic’s abilities. Gullible people will continue to be fed on by psychics. Only a look into the crystal ball will tell when the hoaxes will all come to an end. Gordon 10 Christopher, Milbourne. ESP, Seers Psychics. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1970. Print. DeAna. Interview. Jacob. Parapsychology articles and blog. 3 May. 2007. Web. Gordon, Henry. Extra Sensory Deception. Buffalo: Prometheus Books, 1987. Print. Haraldsson, Erlendur. â€Å"Representative national surveys of psychic phenomena: Iceland, great Britain, Sweden, USA, and Gallup’s multinational survey. † Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 53(1985) pg. 1-14. Web. Haraldsson, Erlendur. â€Å"Some Determinants of Belief in Psychical Phenomena. † The Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 75(1981): pg 1-10. Web. How to cite The Turtle Jean Lafitte: Adventures of a Pet Psychic, Papers

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom Thesis Essay free essay sample

This job was at an amusement park, Ruby Pier, just doing maintenance, and making sure the park ran smoothly. It was a very tedious job, doing the same things every day, every week, every year, unchanging except for the types of rides he had to maintain. Eddie worked as carnival maintenance from the time he got out of the military and his father died, right up until his own death. (His death was actually on the job. ) Patience was a great trait for him to possess; when he arrived in heaven, Eddie had the time of forever on his hands. The protagonist of The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Eddie, was very kind-hearted on the inside, too. After high school, Eddie went into the military. During combat he and four others became prisoners of war, where they stayed captured for several months. When they broke out, they burned everything down because of the memories and stifled hatred against their captors. We will write a custom essay sample on The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom Thesis Essay or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page But while Eddie was burning down a barn, he thought he saw a child; he had then run inside the burning barn looking for the child. Eddie risked his own life trying to save that child; so much so that the only way his comrades could get him to come out was to shoot him in the knee, then to drag him out. Another instance of Eddie’s kind-heartedness was his death. One day on the job at the carnival, Eddie received a frantic radio call about a broken and dangling carnival ride. He rushed on the scene and saved the people in the cart that was hanging. Tragically, a little girl was standing underneath the cart, calling for her mom, when the wire holding it snapped. Running with all his might, Eddie shoved the little girl out of the way just in time, although it caused his own death. Through these events, Eddie showed his kind heart and worked hard at having one, whether consciously or unconsciously. Hard work was another of Eddie’s values, and that personality trait showed in a couple of scenes from the book. He, as I’ve said before, went to war overseas. While there, Eddie fought hard against his enemies, protecting his comrades, himself, and the USA. Once he became captured, he struggled against his oppressors. The whole time his was in captivity, he was very much against them; he ended up killing two of them himself, and was responsible for the death of the others. But when the captors were still alive, they put Eddie and his four compatriots in a coal mine to mine ore, and there Eddie definitely pulled his own weight. He eventually worked hard enough to free himself and his three remaining fellow soldiers. Back at Ruby Pier, he took the amusement park job up for his father, who left it unoccupied after his death. Eddie spent many long years there working that job; greasing tracks, fixing machines, and repairing broken parts was what most of his time was spent on. Although he spent so much energy and time at his job on Ruby Pier, he always put his best foot forward. Hard work was one of the primary traits Eddie had, and it was very prominent in his actions. Eddie â€Å"Maintenance† (as the little kids on the pier called him) was also a very accepting character. He had big dreams of the future while in high school, and was dead set against working the same job as his father. His father, too, had hit him as punishment when he was mad; Eddie just accepted it for a while as how it was supposed to be. When Eddie’s father left the head maintenance job open on account of his death, Eddie just took the job. He had felt it was his responsibility. His acceptance had cost him his big dreams; although in heaven, those dreams didn’t really matter anymore (he was dead, and couldn’t do anything with those dreams). In heaven Eddie tried to understand his life, and the people he met helped him do that, but they also helped him to accept it. He did, eventually; he came to terms with everything in his life, even all the grudges he’d held. He learned to accept everything, and was at peace. Eddie â€Å"Maintenance† had so much patience, kind-heartedness, hard-working attitude, and acceptance that they are what made him such a great and interesting character and the book so enjoyable to read.

Mcdonalization Essays - McDonalds, George Ritzer,

Mcdonalization Is Mcdonaldization Inevitable? George Ritzer's, Mcdonaldization of Society, is a critical analysis of the impact on social structural change on human interaction and identity. According to Ritzer, Mcdonaldization ?is the process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as rest of the world? (Ritzer, 1). Ritzer focuses on four foundations of Mcdonaldization: efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control. These are the commandments of any rationalized corporation. However, they are not carried out from the point of view of the consumer. Efficiency, for example, may entail the placing of great inconveniences upon a consumer for the sake of efficient management. Calculability may involve hiding certain information from the consumer. Predictability and control may involve a company's ability to predict and control consumer behavior, not the consumer's ability to predict what kind of product or control what kind of service he gets. Ritzer calls such breakdowns the irrationality of rationalization. Ritzer points out the irrationality of rationality, as all of the supposed benefits of Mcdonaldized systems backfire: waiting in long lines, suspect quality, little or no customer service, little or no customer service, the illusion of large quantities for low prices, and severely limited selection of choice. Throughout Mcdonaldization of Society, Ritzer describes Mcdonaldization as largely negative and often destructive. While Mcdonaldization is rapidly taking over American society and spreading to the rest of the globe, it is not something unjustly imposed on the American people. The consumerist culture of America has groomed the public to seek efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control. These principles grow in importance and value in contemporary America. Even when given the choice to avoid a Mcdonaldized establishment or product, people will flock to it. I agree with Ritzer's analysis of a Mcdonaldized society, but I feel that Ritzer has failed to provide any real solutions to the Mcdonaldization process. I will support Ritzer's analysis of the Mcdonaldization process, but also show that it is inevitable and essential in the American society to have a rationalized system. Ritzer stresses that ?Mcdonaldization? does not just refer to robotlike assembly of food. Rather, this process, occurring throughout society, is transforming our lives. ?In the 1980s and 1990s Mcdonaldization has extended its reach into more and more regions of society, and those areas are increasingly remote from the heart of the fast-food business? (Ritzer, 137). Shopping malls are controlled environments of approved design, logo, colors, and opening and closing hours. ?For those people who wish to see Europe, a package tour rationalizes the package. People can efficiently see, in a rigidly controlled manner, many sights while traveling in conveyances, staying in hotels, and eating in fast-food restaurants just like those at home? (Ritzer, 21). ?USA Today? produces the same bland, instant news- in short, unanalytic pieces that can be read between gulps of the Mcshake or the Mcburger. Is this all bad? Not necessarily. Efficiency does bring reduced prices. But at a cost, a loss of something difficult to define or quantify, a quality of life washed away by rationalization. When I travel, for example, had I taken a packaged tour, I never would have had the opportunity to have all the unique experiences that I've had. However, the costs may be even simpler than that. For example, just recently I was ordering food through the drive-thru during lunch hour. The employee at the window was already stressed from trying to work too fast, gave me large cokes in a flimsy cardboard container. The coke went from the window onto to my car seat. Later it was established that the lids weren't even properly placed on the glasses. This is also and example of the irrationality of rational systems. The lines at the fast-food restaurants can be very long, and waiting to get through the drive-thru can even take longer than going inside. In addition, Ritzer explains that in Mcdonaldization establishes control through the substitution of nonhuman for human technology. He explains that ?...these two elements are closely linked. Specifically, replacement of human by nonhuman technology is often oriented towards greater control. The great source of uncertainty and unpredictability in a rationalizing system are people-either the people who work within those systems or the people who are served by them? (Ritzer, 148). For example, in my telemarketing job, individuality is frowned upon. The idea is to read the screen and deviate as little as possible. The human employee is not required to think, just follow the instructions and push

Literary Wit and Wisdom

Literary Wit and Wisdom Chinua Achebe (1930-2013, Nigeria): â€Å"We cannot trample upon the humanity of others without devaluing our own. The Igbo, always practical, put it concretely in their proverb Onye ji onye nani ji onwe ya: He who will hold another down in the mud must stay in the mud to keep him down,† The Education of a British-Protected Child. Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986, Argentina): â€Å"You cant measure time by days, the way you measure money by dollars and cents, because dollars are all the same while every day is different and maybe every hour as well.† Willa Cather (1873-1947, United States): â€Å"In great misfortunes, people want to be alone. They have a right to be. And the misfortunes that occur within one are the greatest. Surely the saddest thing in the world is falling out of loveif once one has ever fallen in,† The Professor’s House. Kate Chopin (1850-1904, United States): â€Å"Some people are born with a vital and responsive energy. It not only enables them to keep abreast of the times; it qualifies them to furnish in their own personality a good bit of the motive power to the mad pace. They are fortunate beings. They do not need to apprehend the significance of things. They do not grow weary nor miss step, nor do they fall out of rank and sink by the wayside to be left contemplating the moving procession, The Awakening.    Victor Hugo (1802-1885, France) â€Å"What Is Love? I have met in the streets a very poor young man who was in love. His hat was old, his coat worn, the water passed through his shoes and the stars through his soul. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784, England): â€Å"A writer only begins a book. A reader finishes it.† George Orwell (1903-1950, England) â€Å"A writer only begins a book. A reader finishes it, 1984. Natsume SÃ… seki (1867-1916, Japan) â€Å"Approach everything rationally, and you become harsh. Pole along in the stream of emotions, and you will be swept away by the current. Give free rein to your desires, and you become uncomfortably confined. It is not a very agreeable place to live, this world of ours, The Three-Cornered World. John Steinbeck (1902-1968, United States) â€Å"Its so much darker when a light goes out than it would have been if it had never shone, The Winter of Our Discontent. Jonathan Swift (1667-1745, Ireland) â€Å"You should never be ashamed to admit you have been wrong. It only proves you are wiser today than yesterday. Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910, Russia) â€Å"If, then, I were asked for the most important advice I could give, that which I considered to be the most useful to the men of our century, I should simply say: in the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you, Essays, Letters and Miscellanies. Edith Wharton (1862-1937, United States) â€Å"A classic is classic not because it conforms to certain structural rules, or fits certain definitions (of which its author had quite probably never heard). It is classic because of a certain eternal and irrepressible freshness.† Émile Zola (1840-1902, France) â€Å"If people can just love each other a little bit, they can be so happy,† Germinal.

Should You Be a Communications Major

Should You Be a Communications Major SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Most colleges offer a communications major. In fact, you probably know at least a few people who plan to major or are currently majoring in the field. What exactly does a communications major entail in terms of coursework and skills? And what kinds of jobs and salaries can you expect with a communications degree? Read on to learn what a communications major is, what the most popular jobs for communications majors are, and what the job outlook is for each major job option. We’ll also provide you with some tips on how to determine whether a communications major is the right path for you. What Is a Communications Major? A communications major (also called a communication major or a communication studies major) is the study of how to effectively communicate different types of information in various fields such as journalism/media, business, politics, and law. As a communications major, you’ll learn how to research and analyze information and how to clearly and cogently communicate topics through writing and speaking. You will take courses in research strategies, theory, rhetoric, public speaking, writing, and journalism/media. According to the website Communication Studies, undergraduate communications courses can be grouped into two categories: theory-based courses and skills-based courses. Whereas theory-based classes deal with different types of communication (e.g., political vs virtual communication), skills-based courses emphasize the application and mastery of key skills, including public speaking, group communication, and public relations. For most undergraduate communications programs, you’ll be required to take a handful of core communications courses. These are typically taken during the first two years of undergrad in order to provide you with a basic foundation for your communications major. The exact core courses your communications major will require depends on the school you attend. For example, communication majors at Stanford must take an introductory comm course in addition to classes on research methods, media processes, and writing. Similarly, comm majors at UCLA must take intro comm courses as well as area courses centering on mass communication, interpersonal communication, communication technology, and political and legal communication. Because communications is such a broad field, many colleges offer specific concentrations to communications majors. This allows comm students to specialize in a particular area. At UMass Amherst, for instance, possible comm subfields include interpersonal communication and culture, media and popular culture studies, and film studies. Meanwhile, comm majors can specialize in one of three subfields at The Ohio State University: Communication Analysis and Practice, New Media and Communication Technology, and Strategic Communication. What Can You Do With a Communications Degree? Now that you know exactly what a communications degree entails, what can you do with it once you graduate college and enter the workforce? What are popular communications major jobs? As I mentioned, communications is a pretty broad field- meaning there’s actually a lot you can do with your major, depending on what your concentration is, what kind of job/career you want, and whether you plan to get an advanced degree. Here are some common fields communications majors often work in: Advertising Business Corporate management Customer service Education Film production Government/politics Graphic design Healthcare Human resources (HR) International relations (IR) Journalism Law Marketing Public relations (PR) Sales Social media Social work Writing/editing Below is a list of potential communications major jobs you could get. Note that for some jobs, such as lawyers, you must have further education in the form of advanced degrees, training, etc.: Announcer Author Brand manager Communications director Creative director Educational administrator Event planner/manager Foreign correspondent Graphic designer HR specialist/manager/coordinator Journalist/reporter Labor relations specialist/manager Lawyer Lobbyist Market researcher Marketing director Media planner/coordinator Media relations manager Newscaster Political scientist Politician Producer Professor PR specialist Sales representative Social media manager Translator/interpreter Writer/editor (including copywriter, scriptwriter, speechwriter, and technical writer) Communications Major: Salary and Job Outlook As we saw above, there’s a big number of jobs and careers you can have with a communications major. Consequently, your job outlook and salary potential as a communications major will depend mostly on the field you enter. Here is an overview of the (median) salaries for various communications major jobs and their job outlooks in terms of projected employment growth rates. Note that any number in the negatives means that decline in employment is expected instead of growth. All information is from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Currently, the average employment growth rate in the US is 7%. Any rate that is more than 1% higher than this average signifies growth, while any rate more than 1% lower indicates a decline. All jobs in the chart below are arranged from highest to lowest (median) salary: Job Title Median Salary (2017) Employment Growth Rate (2016-2026) Advertising, Promotions, and Marketing Managers $129,380 10% Sales Managers $121,060 7% Lawyers* $119,250 8% Political Scientists* $115,110 3% Public Relations and Fundraising Managers $111,280 10% Human Resources Managers $110,120 9% Training and Development Managers $108,250 10% Art Directors $92,500 5% Postsecondary Education Administrators* $92,360 10% Postsecondary Teachers* $76,000 15% Technical Writers $70,930 11% Purchasing Managers, Buyers, and Purchasing Agents $66,610 -3% Social and Community Service Managers $64,100 18% Market Research Analysts $63,230 23% Labor Relations Specialists $63,200 -8% Writers and Authors $61,820 8% Human Resources Specialists $60,350 7% Public Relations Specialist $59,300 9% Editors $58,770 -1% Insurance Sales Agents $49,710 10% Advertising Sales Agents $49,680 -4% Graphic Designers $48,700 4% Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners $48,290 11% Interpreters and Translators $47,190 18% Reporters, Correspondents, and Broadcast News Analysts $40,910 -9% Announcers $31,500 -9% *Master’s and/or doctoral degree typically required. As you can see from this chart, there is a big array of salaries and employment growth rates for communications majors depending on what job you get. The highest-grossing jobs are typically managerial positions and jobs that require advanced degrees, such as lawyers, political scientists, and college professors. Know, however, that it’ll likely take a lot of time and experience before you can reach this salary level (or higher). In other words, don't expect to be getting this salary straight out of undergrad. By contrast, jobs with the lowest salaries are usually those that require a high amount of independent work and little leadership skill, from designers and translators to announcers. Many of these positions can be considered entry-level jobs, as they're more likely to be open to those with minimal work experience. By looking at the employment growth rates for all the jobs listed above, we can see that there are clear differences between the communications jobs that are in high demand and those that are gradually falling in importance. Jobs with faster-than-average growth rates include market research analysts (23%), interpreters and translators (18%), and social and community service managers (18%). These are excellent jobs for communications majors to get, as there is a growing demand for them. Meanwhile, jobs that can expect declines include reporters and correspondents (-9%), announcers (-9%), and labor relations specialists (-8%). As a result, communications majors will be better off avoiding these types of jobs, since they're not in demand right now. Is a Communications Degree Right for You? So far, we’ve taken a look at what a communications major is, what kinds of jobs you can get with a communications degree, and what salaries and employment growth rates you can expect. With all this information in mind, you’re probably wondering: is a communications degree right for you? Here are three questions to ask yourself to help you decide whether you should go for a communications major or not: #1: Do You Have a Passion for Communicating With Others? First things first, are you absolutely passionate about communicating with others? Do you enjoy facilitating and improving communication, be it in written or spoken form (or both)? If so, then a communications major sounds like a great fit for your skills and career goals. Remember, communications is ultimately about, well, communicating. So if you love writing, connecting with audiences, and giving presentations, you'll most certainly enjoy this major- and be more likely to utilize it in a career you love. #2: Do You Have a Specific Field or Concentration in Mind? Although you don’t need to have everything decided before you declare a communications major, it’s a good idea to take some time to think about what types of subfields or concentrations within the communications field interest you most. For example, if you’re a great writer, you might want to explore a concentration in journalism or media. A fan of politics? Look into political communication. Hoping to break into graphic design? Consider an emphasis in visual communication. It's your choice and yours alone. (Note that the communications concentrations available to you will ultimately depend on what’s offered at your particular college.) Being able to narrow your focus early on can help you eventually look for (and land) jobs that target your specific area of expertise, since you’ll know exactly what kind of field you're hoping to work in and will have all the applicable skills and knowledge necessary to do well in it. It’ll also help you figure out ahead of time whether your field will be easier or harder to break into (i.e., whether it has a high employment growth rate or a low/negative growth rate). If you don’t have a specific concentration in mind, you might find it harder to figure out what it is you want to do with your communications degree once you graduate college. Ultimately, it’s better to spend your time as a communications major developing specific skills that’ll serve you well in a particular field rather than overly general skills that won’t make you stand apart from other job applicants. #3: Are You OK With Getting an Advanced Degree If Necessary? As we discussed above, some communications majors go on to enter specialized professions in fields such as law, politics, or education. If your interest lies in a specialized field, be sure to ask yourself whether you’d be OK with having to get a master’s degree or doctorate after receiving a bachelor’s degree in communications. This isn’t just about time but also money. Do you have enough funds to get yourself through multiple years of grad school? If not, are you open to taking out loans? Do you have a particular career in mind that you believe is worth going to grad school for? That being said, having an advanced degree and meeting all prerequisites for a job doesn’t guarantee that you'll get hired. This is especially true for college professors. If your goal is to become a full-time professor, you can bet that it’ll take far more than a doctorate to actually get you there. Why is this? The reality is that many jobs that require applicants to have an advanced degree also expect them to have ample experience (e.g., internships) and/or a prominent professional presence (e.g., academic publications). These high expectations for candidates are mainly due to how competitive certain jobs have become in recent years. In short, be sure to weigh the pros and cons of attending grad school for the communications career you’re considering pursuing. Should You Be a Communications Major? Key Takeaways Communications is one of the broadest majors out there, letting students study tons of skills and pursue an array of careers. In general, a communications major is the study of communicating, interpreting, and analyzing different types of information. Most colleges that have a communications major offer specific concentrations or subfields for students to select from as part of their communications degree; these often include themes such as visual communication, political communication, and media. Communications majors can choose from many career paths and fields, from public relations and advertising to graphic design and translation. Job outlooks can vary significantly depending on the field, so it’s important to keep this factor into consideration as you decide which concentration you want to do for your communications major. Finally, in order to determine whether a communications degree is right for you, ask yourself the following three questions: Do you have a passion for communicating with others? Do you have a specific field or concentration in mind? Are you OK with getting an advanced degree if necessary? No matter what you decide to major in, know that a communications major is a great choice for many students- and you might just be one of them! What’s Next? Considering studying journalism or graphic design in college? Then take a look at our lists of the best journalism schools and the best graphic design schools in the US! Struggling to figure out what you should major in? Check out our five expert tips to help you select the best college major based on your interests and goals. If you're looking for a low-key major, we also have a guide to the easiest majors for your bachelor's degree here. Do you love to communicate in foreign languages, or hope to be able to do so one day? Then you'll definitely want to read my guide on why you should consider majoring in a foreign language. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Article response about architecture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Article response about architecture - Essay Example ansion and growth of American commercial life encouraged broader spectrum of American people to relocate into suburban cities or communities after the bloody world war. From 1949 to 19955, the American suburban societies grew by forty percent in contrast to general population growth of 10%. At an amazing pace, the futuristic mass built and highways and well-equipped home appliances that had been dreamt of during the New York Global Fair in 1940 had become a real (Cohen 1055). The topic focused on the transformation and reconstruction of American suburban life after the war from 1947 to 19991. In addition, it presents a clear picture of how American suburban population grew after some families opted to move out of town and start new life in suburban communities. The restructuring and reconfiguration of consumer marketplace led to transformation of suburban residential places. The article asserts that during the 1920, merchandisers and business people in America had desired to live in a motorized and developed society. After the war, this dream was changing into realty in the sense that as consumers became autonomous, they encountered new problems that one had predicted. For instance, every American used to drive a situation that caused traffic snarl up since developing towns had little pace to accommodate the increasing population (Cohen 1059). 20. Most Interesting Passage (single quotation of 100-300 words, plus page citation—or series of up to three shorter quotations, same aggregate word-count, plus page citation) plus a brief comment as to why this passage(s) is interesting to you It was interesting to learn that when planner and town developers dreamt to construct a consumer oriented center in 19950, they aimed to perfect the idea of downtown despite the fact that their project challenged the feasibility of existing commercial towns such as Hackensack in Bergen County (Cohen 1061). I found it interesting because it is not easy to imagine that during the