Black People and Roberta Essay Example for Free

Black People and Roberta Essay In Toni Morrison’s â€Å"Recitatif,† the story is about two girls, Twyla and Roberta. They grow up in an orphanage because their mothers could not care for them. Morrison makes it clear the girls come from different ethnic backgrounds but never states which one is black or white. At one point in the story Twyla comments, â€Å"We looked like salt and pepper. † I grew frustrated with the story and had to read it several times. I could never determine who was black and white and the lesson I learned should have been it doesn’t really matter. The story begins with Twyla’s mother dropping her off at the orphanage. She meets Roberta and they become best friends. The bond they share occurs because they were not considered real orphans. They were abandoned kids unlike the other children whose parents had died. One of the last times the girls see each other was the day of a visitation. On that night, Twyla’s mother was wearing â€Å"those tight green slacks that made her butt stick out. † Many people have labeled blacks as having larger butts. She could have been black, she could have been a heavy white woman with a large butt, or a Hispanic woman like me. But I automatically stereotyped and went with Twyla has to be black. During the visitation Roberta’s mother â€Å"had brought chicken legs. † Twyla notices Roberta does not eat the chicken legs. I always thought black people liked chicken more than white people which means Roberta was white since she did not eat the chicken. Or maybe she just wasn’t hungry. Shortly after that visitation Roberta’s mother came to take her home, leaving the girls devastated. They see each other several times throughout the years. At their first meeting, Roberta was rude and distant because she was high. Roberta tells Twyla she is on the way to see Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix was an infamous black guitarist. I thought at this point Roberta has to be black. However Hendrix’s band was interracial with a diverse audience. Roberta could have been white due to the diverse audience. I am a huge Hendrix fan and I am not black so why would I think Roberta is. Twelve years later they meet again at a grocery store. Roberta married a rich man and was extremely friendly to Twyla. Twyla cannot hold back her emotions and asks Roberta about the last time they saw each other. Roberta shrugs it off, â€Å"Oh, Twyla, you know how it was in those days: black—white. You know how everything was. † I can relate to this. In 1980, the Cuban Mariel Boat Lifts came over bring thousands of Cubans. I am Cuban but I was born here. Kids I had known since kindergarten treated me as if I just come over on the boats. It had a lasting effect on me and matured me beyond my years. The third time they meet is at the school where their children attend. Roberta and other mothers were picketing because they did not want their kids to be segregated. This led to a fight severing any last chance of a friendship for them as it would not be resolved until Twyla and Roberta meet for a final time. As the story ends I do not get a sense of closure. The question of which girl is white or black remains unanswered. It opened my eyes and made me question how prejudice I really am. I try to not stereotype as a result of what I went through as a child but I found myself doing just that. I can understand why Morrison wrote the way she. I am not sure what her goal was overall but to me it seemed as if she were teaching me about prejudices. â€Å"Recitatif† challenged me to not judge either girl by their race but accept them for who they are. In the end, what difference did it really make about the girls’ races? The story is about how their friendship develops and then deteriorates. Nothing more; nothing less.

Much Ado About Nothing - The Importance Of Noting Essay -- essays rese

Discuss The Importance Of Noting In Much Ado About Nothing Noting, or observing, is central to many of the ideas in Much Ado About Nothing. The word nothing was pronounced as noting in Elizabethan times, and it seems reasonable to presume that the pun was intended by Shakespeare to signal the importance of observation, spying and eavesdropping in the play. As a plot device, these occurrences propel the action and create humour and tension. The perils of noting incorrectly are portrayed and this leads naturally to the investigation of another major theme, the discrepancy between appearance and reality. Shakespeare uses the problems of illusion, deception and subjectivity of perception to examine the Elizabethan patriarchy, and he shows how adhering to convention can distort the views of society’s leaders. Plot development and comedy in Much Ado rely heavily on the use of noting. The play appears to have a simple plot; the romantic couple, Claudio and Hero, are denied marital joy by the evil Don John while the sub-plot, Beatrice’s and Benedick’s resisted but growing love, provides us with some humour until order and happiness are re-established in Messina. However, Shakespeare cleverly employs the many forms of noting (observation, misunderstanding, misreporting) to move the dramatic action forward. The main plot and the sub-plots are laced together with this device and, to emphasise the importance of noting, the audience is denied viewing the vital episode where Claudio and Don Pedro witness what they think is Hero’s debauchery – we observe the watch eavesdropping on Borachio recounting the event to Conrade. This eavesdropping reminds us of the orchard scenes where Beatrice and Benedick are tricked into loving each other. They both come closer to a position of self-knowledge and this enables the â€Å"merry war† of Beatrice and Benedick to move a step further to its conclusion. The orchard scenes, along with the scenes involving The Watch, are a major source of humour in the play. Eavesdropping leads to Beatrice’s and Benedick’s most hilarious lines and Dogberry’s continued misunderstandings and malapropisms help soften the tone of the play as they follow the more sinister sections. Dogberry’s insistence on others noting that Conrade called him an ass is especially funny: â€Å"Oh that I had been writ down an ass† (4. 2. 70-71). The audience enjoys the irony tha... ...ty. This can also be said for Beatrice (she is an orphan and does not have Hero’s parental pressure). They both eschew the courtly style and behaviour expected of Hero and Claudio and are able to think and act in a freer fashion. Friar Francis, being a cleric, definitely stands outside of society, and the others to note correctly, The Watch, belong to a totally different class. It seems that Shakespeare is suggesting that only those that are not controlled by patriarchal rules and rituals are capable of an undistorted view of life. The inability of the Messina aristocracy to note correctly points to this reading. Much Ado About Nothing ends with order restored. The masks come off, perhaps to be replaced by the more subtle ones worn every day. It seems unlikely that Claudio’s ability to note correctly will improve but, in Beatrice and Benedick, Shakespeare gives the audience encouragement that self-knowledge and reality will grow in Messina. The importance given to this couple’s superior perception clearly demonstrates that noting is central to this play. The plot relies on it for momentum and humour, and Shakespeare uses it to attack the illusions surrounding patriarchal society.

Health care in America Essay

Healthcare in America is seemingly, chronically an issue of finances. Whether or not the hospital has it or the family of an ill patient has it, it becomes prudent to note that without the country’s currency rubbing the right palms, healthcare becomes an issue, especially for the financially strapped family. Lack of finance equals care-giver burden. Purpose of the Analysis In the following pages care-giver burden will be addressed using five peer-reviewed articles. The articles are in design stressing the issue of guilt and depression when a family decides they don’t have the time or the money to keep a loved one at home and must face putting them in a care facility (Sanders article Shouldering the Burden of Care). Other articles address the issue of keeping a family member at home (child) and the upkeep cost that entails such as home health aid cost, medications, or leaving a job (Wilson, Leslie S. et al. The Economic Burden of Home Care for Children with HIV and Other Chronic Illnesses). Also, the review of patient care for nurses and the burden of lack of authority in administration this presents is another form of care-giver burden (Welchman, Jennifer & Glenn G. Griener, Patient Advocacy and Professional Associations: Individual and Collective Responsibilities). There is also the gender role burden between husband and wife when one is sick and has to be taken care of and the other one lives a full active lifestyle and the issue here is burden of responsibility (King, K. M. & PM Koop, The Influence of the Cardiac Surgery Patient’s Sex and Age on Care-Giving). There are many facets to unravel in the primary care system but for this paper, care-giver burden is the primary concept in terms of money, guilt and love. Antecedents Most care-giving authority is given to nurses; both in a hospital setting and during stay at home cases. The preceding concept or the patient is its important to have a strong trusting relationship with the care-giver in order for them to feel more comfortable and also feel their issues and concerns are being heard. If the patient does not feel comfortable then the care-giver burden becomes apparent in scowling-unreceptive-to-therapy patients. However, in Welchman and Griener’s article, Patient Advocacy and Professional Associations, a rising concern over nurses’ burden when taking care of patients begins to be seen, â€Å"†¦nurses are being taught to be patient advocates and both nurses and patients are the worse for it. The nursing profession’s redefinition of the nurse’s role from loyal handmaid to patient advocate in the 1980s was supposed to protect patients by empowering nurses to think and act autonomously in their dealings with other health professionals. Individual nurses have been burdened with a responsibility that most professions assign†¦to their professional associations. It is not a responsibility that individuals can readily fulfill. Unless or until the duty of advocacy is taken off the shoulders of individual nurses and returned to the professional bodies that represent them, nurses and patients will continue to suffer unnecessarily†(2005). The nurses role in patient care involves everything a patient needs or may potentially need (feeding, bathing, bathroom visits, company) and each of these duties cannot be accomplished without proper support from family/administration, and without this support and the lack of performance in a nurse’s duty a patient will lapse in trust. This is the contention in the make-up of care-giver burden; nurses cannot fulfill their role to maximum potential without the backing of the hospital rules. In the area of patient care and the burden of care giving an interesting side note that should be considered is in the study done by King and Koop which involves a closer look at patient care with the influencing variables of sex and/or age. In their study they revealed that female patients relied on their spouse less than the male counterpart. Also, female care-givers were more often employed outside the home than male care-givers giving rise to a staggering believe of job importance and detachment for men in home care situations. As mentioned in the opening statement, the pivotal issue of care-giver burden is that of money. If a household is not sufficiently funded then the burden of caring for loved-ones either by oneself or with the assistance of an aid, the stress and strain is very detrimental. In Wilson et al. ’s study of patient care for ill and HIV children the stats for financing reflects a tremendous burden, â€Å".. in-home care for ill children (ranging from approximately $19,000 to $36000) is higher than that of hiring caregivers for healthy children (approximately $10,000)† (2005). This burden is further emphasized for the family if they are not equipped to pay a professional care-giver and are dependent upon themselves for such care; this issue raises the other issues of job attendance (some families pass up promotions, decline extra working hours, or quit their jobs entirely in order to care for the ill which makes the financial burden that much more potent). Further in Wilson et al. ’s study they reveal the numbers involved in American care-giver homes, â€Å"It is estimated that 10% to 18% of US children (6 to 10. 8 million children) are chronically ill. According to our cost estimates, the total value of care ranges from $155 to $279 billion per year†(2005). This number is daunting and almost in realms of infinite thought with regards to cost analysis. Consquences The burden is twofold for the nurse and the patient. As Welchman and Griener state in a final cul-de-sac, â€Å"Advocacy for improvements in access to and deliver of health care is best viewed as a collective responsibility of health professions owed to society as a whole, not as the sole province of individual practitioners†(2005). In the case of gender roles playing out in the care-giver burden the consequence is this: dependence is a potential burden to the spouse whose in need of not only assistance in daily routines (bathing, eating, etc) but in companionship. The findings of King and Koop suggest that a patient’s gender has relevance to the availability of home-based care (King & Koop, 1999). The potential cost of in home health care is a care-giver burden as well as a patient burden. The weight stressed here is not one that is easily remedied. When put into perspective the cost is much more than money but also wavers on emotional stress to the care-giver and patient when the care-giver’s stresses are known to the patient. Such stresses as highlighted above are job attendance, quitting a job, and the issue of time spent with a patient as opposed to time spent with other members of a family. As Sanders states in Shouldering the Burden of Care, in which one family is analyzed, â€Å"Faced with her mother’s inevitable decline, she wonders whether she should continue to care for her in her home. But the more important question is, can she? † (2005). Defining Attributes This is the main point of care-giver burden: when faced with a choice of sending the patient to a nursing home, or institute where they can possibly be better attended to, should the family send the patient/family member away, or should they endure? The potential for this question to raise a respite for patient care or to give into the burden of home-health care is pertinent in its prospective view of burden. The relationship between care-giver burden and money is inseparable. The high-cost measurement presented in the Wilson study harkens to the reality of facts and numbers involving patients and their estimated cost of care per year in this country, and when a job is lost or sacrificed for the benefit of the patient the new stress becomes where will the money come from for the upkeep of home health care? Empirical Referents In the area of money, and of authority it is to nurses who are the advocates of the patient in the hospital that studies should be turning. If they are allowed to be sufficient leaders then the trust between them and patient is strong. In an at home environment the dangers of lack of funds arise and the emotional stress on family members and spending time with each other (either children, wife, or husband) and the noncompliance from other family members in putting the patient/loved-one in a home can be daunting. The care-giver burden here is clear. When a family member who isn’t equipped physically or professionally to take care of the ill, then an alternative way must be found and is found with nurses, and the high cost of in-home care. Relationship The defining features of care-giver burden, that of cost, and guilt bears a close relationship to euthanasia. In both cases the issue of money, guilt and pain arise and are handled usually with the confidence of a nurse. A nurse aids a family in decision making for both in-home care or euthanasia. In the relationship between the two concepts it is the burden of the patient on the family emotionally and financially that a decision is made: to either keep them at home or send them away, to either keep them on a ventilator or pull the plug.

Online Shopping versus Traditional Retail Store - 639 Words

Online Shopping vs. Traditional Retail Store One of the most debatable decisions for most Americans during the sale event or holiday is whether to shop or not to shop. Especially, when considering that some of the online shopping websites such as Amazon and eBay are established. To shop online or to shop in the store has become a more practical question. I used to be a traditional shopper, but I changed my mind sometime over years since I found that shopping online is much cheaper and more convenient than the traditional shopping, and it also provides more options. One point of interest is the expense of online shopping are much less than at retail stores. The prices are reduced due to the fact that there is no retailer to deal with, so online customers get nearer wholesale prices. On the other hand, retailers at most of the stores raise prices to cover building lease, storage, hiring employees, and overhead expenses. Moreover, the cost for owning an online website is lower than owning a retail store because they can maintained at home without any costs; consequently decreasing the products prices. Even though online shopping is not quite as cheap as buying at the sale event at a sales event but it is very reasonable. Additionally, online coupons offer more savings too, especially if people are members of those websites clubs. For example with Amazon.com, a person can save over fifty percent per book and with a special member card, he or she can save more than that. TheyShow MoreRelatedOnline Shopping And Traditional Shopping756 Words   |   4 PagesShopping can be enjoyable for some people; however, it can also be a burden for others. The preference of the shopper really determines whether or not they have a pleasant experience and the time to look for their items. There are many similarities as well as differences with online shopping and traditional shopping. 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