DCQ Sontag Essay

Photography shows us the world, but only the world the photographer creates. According to Sontag, photos show that we understand through a photo in the way we see the picture. Seeing photos can limit our understanding because we only see the picture not whats going on around it. In other words the viewer only sees what’s within the frame. Images allowed us to see situations that occurred; however, it is extremely limited in what the audience can see. I qualify Sontag’s claim that photography limits our understanding of the world because nothing is picture perfect. A picture is just a snapshot or quick image of something distorted. Photography has accomplished the task of manipulation to the point where images do not exhibit the honesty. In general photography is used to trick the audience’s eyes. For example, ads are displayed every day in our lives distorting the honesty portrayed. Long ago when a cigarette commercial came on they had enhanced the color, and edited all the little details that appeals to our emotions, making cigarettes look good. The only problem is cigarette isn’t good for anyone, but the viewers wouldn’t get that message due to the changes the photographers have made. Following this further Sontag infers that nothing that comes from a photo can really be understood. The reason for that is because photography shows everything but context. Photography gives people a small glimpse of reality, but the realities have been manipulated to the photographer’s idealism. However as Sontag pointed out photography takes the gaps in our mental pictures and replaces them. Photograph gives proof and confirms the past, but it does not exhibit the honesty a citizen would have lived through. For example if no pictures were captured during the Holocaust time period, it would be hard for people to believe that all the torturing actually occurred. Images allowed us to get a glimpse of what the Jews went through but the feelings and emotions aren’t the same. One cannot say they truly understand how the Jews felt, without actually experiencing what the Jews did. It takes one to be there to experience the emotions and tears the Jews had as the gas killed them and family. Sontag says understanding can only come from what is shown.. There is much  more to life than what meets the eye, and this can be exemplified and proved in many different ways. Pretend that someone knows nothing about the tragic events that occurred on September 11, 2001. A photo is placed in front of Them. They take a look. It appears to be a man dressed in what appears to be in work clothes but the thing that strikes their attention first, the thing that stands out most is that he is upside down. Odd they think. The background behind the man is what looks to be a steel like structure. Maybe if their senses are sharp that day you’ll come to the conclusion that this is an image of a man who decided to end his life by jumping off the top of a tall building while in midair. However, did the photograph show them what was going on around him? The building he jumped off of? A hijacked commercial airlines plane crashed into it leaving the building to go up in flames and ready to collapse with smoke pouring out the windows. Leaving him and at least 1,000 other people trapped on the high floors of the tower. This man, this falling man, was surrounded by absolute chaos, destruction, death, a living hell, but they would never know. He looks so calm, so serene even though he is more than well aware that his life is about to end in a matter of seconds. To the person looking at the photo they only see it as Sontag says they do. Through what they see in the picture, not what is really occurring. To an extent, yes, photography does limit us in the view of the world like Sontag refers to. Pictures are taken by photographers who chose what they wish to express and how they wish life to appear to be. By doing this, reality has changed, becoming manipulated into something that it truly is not. It is now a reality created from the human mind, influenced by its wants, desires and emotions. Photography also fails to give us background, or deeper knowledge about the photo. Pictures lack the emotion experienced by the person taking the picture (how hard it may have been to get the picture the photographer wanted). Yet pictures can sometimes invoke an emotional response (a gruesome death, a spectacular sunset). Pictures lend to a greater understanding of what is happening around the world. When someone sees the faces of others in places they never will travel to, they start to understand the emotion they show. Words sometimes can not do justice to the things you are able to see. Pictures only help the reader  better understand his/her meaning of what is actually taking place. Yet, do not be fooled by everything you see today. Technology has taken photography to a new level. Make certain you trust your source first. The old saying â€Å"Believe only half of what you see and nothing that you hear† no longer rings true. Be skeptical, but keep your eyes and mind open at the same time. Qualifying Sontag, a single photograph of an event, place, time or whatever will only give you a limited perspective of that event, place or whatever. However it does not limit our understanding of something. It simply gives a single viewpoint or snapshot for us to base an overall understanding. Susan Sontag claims in her passage, â€Å"On Photography†, that photography limits our understanding of the world. However, the truth is that photography enhanced our understanding of the world. It allows us to see things that would be otherwise impossible to see. Sontag argues that photography does not allow people to truly understand things and that it does not teach any ethical or political knowledge. The truth is that it deepens our understanding and expands our knowledge of the world around us. Without photography, people would have no idea of what surrounded them and what happened before their time. Photography produces a visual history of the world, thus producing a greater appr eciation for it.

Free Essays on Lady With The Ped Dog

. Oates creates Anna as a simple woman without respect for herself, a woman insane with love. Chekhov and Oates’s approach towards this point of view were both convincing and realistic. Chekhov’s ability to place all the emphasis on the emotional stability and instability of Gurov’s thoughts and emotions give the reader a more in-depth sense of the confusion involved in his situation. Chekhov’s use of the third person narrator enhanced the story. If Chekhov had approached this story from a different perspective, we would not have the full effect of the masculinity involved in the emotional bondage between a man and woman. For example, if Gurov’s wife would have been the consciousness of the story we would have felt her pain and suffering, thus leaving us with more despise for Gurov. However, only given Gurov’s perspective we can empathize with his innocent love for this woman Anna. Oates approach also would not have... Free Essays on Lady With The Ped Dog Free Essays on Lady With The Ped Dog Point of View in Chekhov’s and Oates’s â€Å"The Lady with the Pet Dog† Anton Chekhov and Joyce Oates both approached this short story from the third-person narrator. The main difference is how Chekhov entertained the male perspective of love while Oates indulged in the weakening aspect of the feminine side. Chekhov used a limited omniscient narrator who only knows Gurov’s inner thoughts and feelings. He reveals the point of view by not including any feminine thoughts and emotions throughout the story only a mere poetic aspect of Anna. Chekhov tells his story from the eyes of a man looking at a beautiful woman, smart, with a soft voice. He makes her so perfect that you forget that their love was sinful, but more innocent. On the same aspect, Oates uses a limited omniscient narrator who focuses on Anna as being the center of consciousness. She reveals the point of view by alienating the thoughts to only Anna. The reader is only able to interpret the thought s and emotions of the lover only through his own words. Oates creates Anna as a simple woman without respect for herself, a woman insane with love. Chekhov and Oates’s approach towards this point of view were both convincing and realistic. Chekhov’s ability to place all the emphasis on the emotional stability and instability of Gurov’s thoughts and emotions give the reader a more in-depth sense of the confusion involved in his situation. Chekhov’s use of the third person narrator enhanced the story. If Chekhov had approached this story from a different perspective, we would not have the full effect of the masculinity involved in the emotional bondage between a man and woman. For example, if Gurov’s wife would have been the consciousness of the story we would have felt her pain and suffering, thus leaving us with more despise for Gurov. However, only given Gurov’s perspective we can empathize with his innocent love for this woman Anna. Oates approach also would not have...

Family and Sense Essay

Family and Sense Essay Family and Sense Essay How Migrant Hostel relates to belonging? Migrant hostels, like the one described in this poem, were old army camps with dormitory style accommodation. Men and women were not housed together. The migrants Skrzynecki depicts in the poem are those who came to Australia after World War 2 at the invitation of the government. There is a tone of bitterness in the poem, as these migrants were separated and isolated from the rest of the population even though they were actually invited to come to Australia. It is this separation that brings about feelings of isolation and lack of belonging in their new country. The bitterness is further highlighted by the fact that these migrants were helping Australia to recover after the war, and they were treated so appallingly. The shared memories and common culture connect them. How 10 Mary Street relates to belonging? The scenes of domestic joy and comfort in this poem represent the sense of belonging the family feels while living at 10 Mary Street. The family experience belonging in the home because it is where they can express their true selves and their culture. The house provides the security for the family to enjoy their time together. There are scenes of the poet’s parents nurturing the garden while their son greedily enjoys the fruits of their labour when he eats too many strawberries and peas. The family lived in the house for 19 years, and during that time shared many happy times with family and friends. It was in the house that they could celebrate their homeland and truly express their culture, which that may have needed to suppress when they were in the outside world either and school or work. It is with some bitterness that the poet alludes to the forthcoming destruction of the house to make way for industry. There is a sense here that no amount of time will allow this family to feel a lasting sense of security and belonging How St Patricks College relates to belonging? This poem explores the effects of schooling on an individual’s sense of self. The poet’s mother chose St Patrick’s College for her son’s education as she is impressed by the uniform of her employer’s son, although she seems to have known little about what the school would mean for her son. However, the poet’s mother would like both her son and herself to belong to a particular social group which she considers significant. From the poet’s first day at school, he feels oppressed by the watching eyes of ‘Our lady’ and contempt for the motto ‘let your light shine’. Despite catching the bus to school for eight years, the poet still feels like he didn’t belong- it is with some irony that the poet describes being ‘privileged’ to wear the uniform. When he leaves school the poet is surrounded by darkness and feels that the schooling his mother

African Americans in Pop Culture Essay Example for Free

African Americans in Pop Culture Essay African American (597) , African (466) , Pop Culture (18) , Funk (4) Haven't found the essay you want? Get your custom sample essay for only $13.90/page ? African Americans have had an incredible lasting impression on popular culture. African American singers, artists, entrepreneurs, athletes and actors have all had their say and have really stood out within the past few years. They’ve also grown and not grown in different ways all around from music, to television, to movies. African American stereotypes still exist in all aspects of pop culture, while many are trying to get away from what audiences assume is the typical black person. African Americans have been fighting for and against their own stereotypes when they started breaking out into music, then branching out into television, and making it big in the film industry. They’ve gone from being the dumb, uneducated, and underprivileged minority of America, and have started to make themselves more known as gang bangers and thugs, which are often seen as heroes in popular culture. African Americans haven’t only made a name for themselves or left a footprint in only their culture, but in American culture all around. African Americans have been making their mark in music all throughout history. Many started with the jazz and bebop rebellion during the 1940s and ’50s in Detroit. They made their point by trying to be different. They didn’t want to follow the typical white, swing music criteria, and that’s exactly what happened. Bebop wasn’t so mainstream, and that’s what made it their own. They preferred small, unique combos to play instead of big named stars in the music industry. Detroit was shedding light on the working class people of the town and wanted to really make a sound for them. â€Å"The 1940s created an â€Å"afro-modernism,† a response to the urbanization, industrialization, and modernization of African American Culture. † Because of their movement ahead in music, they also made their movement in business. And so emerged an incredibly successful, black capitalist enterprise, Motown Records, founded by Barry Gordy. Along with the movement in Detroit, the Harlem Renaissance had happened even before all the rage for jazz and bebop, which raised awareness to the visual arts, which led to even more developments in music. And even earlier at the beginning of the 20th century, blacks were starting to be accepted into acclaimed schools to study music and they were allowed to join the base of white people in symphony orchestras. During the ’50s, doo-wop and soul music became popular. That’s when legends like Ray Charles emerged and paved the way for others. Soul music remained popular among blacks for long after the pop sounds started to wave through. By the end of the decade and moving into the ’70s, blacks were starting to crossover into the typical white music trends. Psychadelic music had become popular. Jimi Hendrix, along his wah-wah pedal innovation, became one of the most popular guitarists during the era. Right after that, soul had become the popular music in the black community and was starting to revolutionize African-American music. Soul had continued success in popularity during the ’70s, but the ’70s also brought along a rise in black bands. White people were listening to country, disco, and all sorts of rock music, while the African-Americans had their funk, pop, soul, and jazz music that was on a totally different spectrum from their white counterparts. The ’70s was also when Djs started mixing their own beats and playing their funk records the way they wanted to so they could get their audience to dance. And with the beats produced by Djs along with the poets who would read their poems to those beats, came the emergence of hip hop music. The era of hip hop music was a new revolution in African American popular culture. African Americans in Pop Culture. (2016, Dec 17).

White Privilege and the Myth of Meritocracy-Diversity in Organizations Essay

White Privilege and the Myth of Meritocracy-Diversity in Organizations - Essay Example The discussion is also made in the additional contexts of the questions that are required to be answered relating to white privileges that have relevance with regard to organizational diversity; white privileges from the vantage point of non-white minority groups; how discrimination fosters white privileges and whites’ perception of their own capabilities and merits; the use of the terms qualified minorities, qualified whites, and qualified women; gender-based privileges; the relationship between wealth and privileges (Bell, 2011; pp. 223-256; McIntosh, 1990; McIntosh, 2009; McNamee and Miller, 2004; Unz, 2012). Discussion Whites here refer to the ethnic groups that fall under the umbrella of non-Hispanic white and have roots in Europe, or else are from North Africa or the Middle East. They include those who self-report being white, or else report themselves to be one or other of the following: Arab, Irish, Polish, Lebanese, Italian, German, or from the Near East. This is also the definition espoused by the US Census Bureau, and forms the basis of the definition for the paper (Bell, 2011, p. 225). By white privileges is meant those privileges that accrue to Whites in America by virtue of the social conventions that work on either positively discriminating whites based on their color to confer special work, consumption, and other social privileges, or to negatively discriminate against non-whites to effectively put whites in positions of economic, social and political power, and in other relevant aspects of social and cultural life in the country. The myth of meritocracy, meanwhile, posits that whites earned their privileges and positions of dominance and power, and that conversely other minority groups effectively have not earned power and therefore are unable to rise into similar positions as whites. The myth of meritocracy also exists as divisions in â€Å"earned† power and privileges along gender lines, with white women being in inferior positi ons at work for instance due to white males having earned their positions through the merits of their own work and capabilities. While there are parties that assert that reverse discrimination exist, and documented in the courts, the reality is that white privilege persists as a social force acting in ways that reinforce those privileges at the expense of women and minorities, even as whites themselves in significant numbers have historically worked for more egalitarian social arrangements among races, viewing diversity in organizations as sources of strength and advantage that lift all in turn (Bell, 2011; pp. 223-256). Answering the first question, McIntosh presents many of the subtle ways by which white privilege presents itself in daily life, and it is easy to imagine that in the context of organizational diversity, many of those presentations are relevant, especially with regard to not being racially profiled for a host of activities including participating in race-based discus sions and in discussions on promotions, and with regard to the impact of subtle segregation rules in the choice of housing for employees that may work against drives by organizations to foster greater racial diversity in its employee pools. In promotions discussions, if majority of upper management is white too, then ingrained social forces operating within an organization would work against greater ethnic diversity in the management ranks too, to cite another example (McIntosh, 2009; McIntosh, 1990). To answer question two, If I were a member of a minority ethnic group, the white privileges relating to natural social tendencies to promote and enhance the power of whites over

The Role of Leaders in Developing a Culture of Quality Essay

The Role of Leaders in Developing a Culture of Quality - Essay Example ity, outlines the stakeholders involved in the process of inculcating the culture, the difference between the role of a manager and a leader in applying the culture of change and how the leaders can assess if they have been successful. Leaders play diverse roles in establishing the culture of quality in health care institutions. First, they take an active role as the main communicators to all levels within an institution. This means that leaders reach out to customers and members of staff and other stakeholders (Swayne et al., 2012). Furthermore, they facilitate communication of information pertaining to the culture of quality. Leaders develop the communication methods fit for the various audiences (Kelly, 2011). Additionally, they are required to listen attentively to the employees and address their concerns in relation to the process of implementing the culture of quality. Secondly, leaders act as strategic thinkers in managing the culture of change within health care institutions. This is owing to the fact that they are the ones with the best understanding of how the organization functions. They are central in ensuring the organization responds to the internal and external changes aimed at improving on quality (Kelly, 2011). Leaders should be well aware of the strengths and weaknesses within health care institutions, and therefore, implement the culture of change in the areas of need. Leaders formulate the objectives of a health care institution that need to be aligned them toward achieving the culture of quality. Thirdly, leaders play the imperative role of decision making in health care institutions while implementing the desired culture. It is necessary to note that leaders are faced with various alternatives and are required to come up with the best option that improves quality within a health care organization (Kongstvedt, 2012). Leaders take into account the influence their decisions have on employees, patients and other stakeholders. Finally, they

Gulf Regional Legal Environment of Business Essay - 1

Gulf Regional Legal Environment of Business - Essay Example There lies the presence of Sharia courts especially in the Gulf Region along with the existence of civil courts which help to preserve the law and order of the region (WSG, 2012). The various purposes of law which is prevalent in the Gulf Region include promoting the aspect of social justice, serving as a moral guide for the citizens, assuring personal freedoms and most importantly preserving law and order. The concept of business law is described as the enforceable rules and guidelines of conduct which administer the activities of the buyers as well as the sellers in business market exchanges (The McGraw-Hill Companies, n.d.). In relation to the business law, it has been viewed that there lies the broad accessibility of arbitration procedures which are encouraged as a way of finding resolution for any sort of disputes relating with the aspect of business law especially in the Gulf Region (WSG, 2012). In this paper, the concept of law as well as its importance to the society along wi th its various sources will be taken into concern. Moreover, a complete analysis of the case study on the basis of the concept of Tort of Law will be portrayed in the discussion. Discussion Importance of Law to the Society The major importance of law to the society is that it provides the enforcement power to the state in order to administer the behavior of the individuals belonging to any particular society. The different laws act as a formal based system of social control which exercises their absolute power at the particular time when there lies the non-effectiveness of the informal forms of social control (Tischler, 2010). The other crucial significance of law to the society is that it keeps the society running. Moreover, in the absence of law, there lies immense probable chance of occurring chaos as well as conflicts between the various social groups of a community. The introduction as well as the application of the various laws facilitates to preserve the orderly form of the s ociety and also to keep the world safe by a large extent. The role of law has been viewed to be a system of rules as well as regulations which emphasize upon the directive of maintaining the interrelation between the people along with their conflicting interests. With the non-appearance of any sort of established laws in the community, people would be free to take various decisions on the basis of their own ideas which can ultimately raise social conflicts considerably (Raz, 2009). Sources of Law Generally, the various sources of law include formal as well as material sources. In this regard, the formal sources are viewed to be the sources from which the law attains its force as well as validity. Conversely, the material sources of law refer to the different procedures which give rise to the evolution of the materials that are viewed to be the significant components of law (Dixon, 2007). In this similar context, it has been viewed that the different law sources especially in the Gul f Region include the Islamic law, Constitutional law and Legislation. The other law sources in the Gulf Region comprise the establishment of Abu Dhabi Court Law, Sharjah Court Law and Social Security Law among others. The Sharia courts are viewed to be