Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Did social media have a big impact in the Bahraini uprising during the Essay - 1

Did social media have a big impact in the Bahraini uprising during the Arab spring - Essay Example The Arab Spring was a term coined for the wave of revolutionary uprisings experienced in the Arab World from late December 2010. The wave of revolution took the form of protests and demonstrations that were either violent or non-violent in nature, coupled with civil wars and continuous riots. The wave of revolutions targeted the removal of leaders from power for different reasons that included oppression, nepotism, and system failures. The protests were witnessed in Egypt, Libya, Yemen, and Tunisia with major cases of civil uprising being witnessed in Syria and Bahrain (Behr & Aaltola, 2011). The protests experienced in the Arab countries had some shared elements that led to sustenance of civil resistance including demonstrations, use of social media, strikes, rallies and increased marches. The use of social media stood out as the major form of communication and creation of awareness in facing state control in the form of internet censorship (Safranek, 2012). The uprising witnessed in Bahrain commenced on February 14, 2011 with varied demands. The uprising has been ongoing with several concessions being achieved that include the release of political captives, removal of the head of security from office, increased negotiations with rebel movements including Shia representatives, GCC intervention following a request by the country’s government, implementation of BICI recommendations, and several economic gains under the watch of King Hamad. The uprising led to many deaths at the early stages with the incarceration of thousands of people by the close of April 2012. The choice of this article is informed by its in-depth analysis of the Bahraini uprising regarding the contribution of the social media in promoting the uprising amidst strong government interference and intervention. Cottle (2011) addresses the role played by communication networks and media systems in the facilitation of what are

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Elie Saab Marketing Analysis

Elie Saab Marketing Analysis Expanding a luxury brand without diluting its luxury status has become a challenge to many luxury brands. Premium luxury brands therefore need to plan their expansion strategy carefully. This report will focus on how the Elie Saab brand may develop by offering the brand extension of lingerie to be sold alongside its ready-to-wear collection. The price range of lingerie is normally lower compared to other ready-to-wear products, therefore this product extension has the potential to enlarge the accessibility of the ES brand and grow the current consumer segmentation. The new product line should inherit the brands essence. The launching and promoting of the new line will be an appropriate way for the brand to get more exposure and will reinforce its brand identity. The report will cover the product extension and communication issue respectively, while critically evaluate the plan as a whole. Started as a couture house in Beirut, ELIE SAAB (ES) has an ambition of turning into a global luxury brand. ES exclusively target on the worldwide super-wealthy class, while successfully maintains a loyal customer base from the Middle East. In addition, the brand is favoured by royalty, for its luxurious, feminine but slightly conservative style. ES dresses are widely present in different prestigious events, worn by celebrities from different regions. The product lines of ES currently include Haute Couture, Ready-to-Wear (RTW), Wedding Dresses, and Accessories. The expanding of the brand, however, continued through many forms including luxury hotel and super yachts (SHUAYTO, 2012). Nevertheless, there are still many problems exist, and if not handled carefully, they may remit the pace of ESs growth. it was pointed out that Elie Saab, owner of ELIE SAAB, wanted to be involved in not only every aspects of his Haute Couture line, but also all the branding decision making process. (SHUAY TO, 2012) Saabs tight control of the brand may consume most of his energy, which makes the brand expansion on product line rather difficult. Besides, with only 150 employees, (SHUAYTO, 2012) the ES Group is relatively small compared to other luxury brands from large luxury groups such as LVMH (100,00employees) (ARNAULT, N/D). Thus the amount of support ES could receive for expansion is very limited. Furthermore, recognition is a key element in conspicuous consumption, for it endows the owner of luxury product with admiration. (KAPFERER, 2012)ES have covered several communication channels in brand image building, but the exposure is still not enough. ELIE SAABs facebook page has received 800,987 likes (Facebook, 2013b), while Dior has 11,480,356 likes (Facebook, 2013a). It is the same on the ELIE SAAB YouTube channel (2013a), which only have 4,580 subscribers (Dior: 47,871) (YouTube LLC, 2013c), and on its twitter page (2013b) with 128,682 followers (Dior: 1,794,503) (Twitter,Inc., 2 013a). It would seem that ES havent caught much attention of the public. For such a vibrant premium brand, expending without diluting its luxury status requires a very well planed strategy. Regarding the situation mentioned above, the report will illustrate how ELIE SAAB could develop by introducing the brand extension of lingerie to be sold alongside its Ready-to-Wear line. The lingerie sector has enjoyed a continuous growth of 16.1% in the UK market during the previous five years. It was considered to be a treat for a woman in an affordable price during the recession. (Hucker, 2013) It is reported that in Western Europe and the US, the average number of lingerie purchased by a woman annually is two bras and around five briefs. As a function-oriented product, Lingerie is considered to be a necessity, and the need always exists. Nevertheless, despite the booming UK lingerie market, the global lingerie market suffered from the recession. Moreover, the market is overcrowded with many discount retailers sourcing from Asian countries, which is pulling down the pricing point. (Hughes, 2011) The price of bras range from under six pounds to over 250 pounds, but only a few brands produce premium lingerie (Independent Print Ltd., 2012). In the niche market of premium lingerie (NI Syndication Limited., 2007), the reputation of ES could be an advantage, let along i ts loyal high-end client base. Meanwhile, as the price range of lingerie is lower compared to High-end RTW (SHUAYTO, 2012), the new line would potentially enlarge the accessibility of the ES brand. Overall, entering the lingerie market could be a challenging opportunity for ELIE SAAB. The essential goal of this plan is to expand product range, increase brand exposure, and assist ELIE SAABs transformation into a global premium brand. Product extension Lingerie design, especially brassiere design, requires very specific skills and knowledge. The time required in the designing process is also particularly long. As lingerie is of great importance in shaping a perfect body, customers require optimum fit, high function, as well as attractiveness. From cups to shoulder strap, all of them are important in providing a centralized and firm appearance, while designing them equally costs great energy. (Liao Lee, 2010) Since ELIE SAAB is still a growing company with not much employees, and is a brand highly dependent on Elie Saab, the suggestion would be to achieve the expansion through licensing. But it should be handled very carefully, for licensing could possibility dilute the brand. (Hoffmann Stankeviciute, 2012) Some even argue that the key of maintaining the luxe of a brand is never get involved in licensing. (KAPFERER, 2012) While other suggest that though risking dilution, licensing still proves to be a fair choice for brands to acc ess expertise in the area where their knowledge and power is limited. (Colucci, et al., 2008) First and foremost, the lingerie line must inherit the sprite of ELIE SAAB. It should be designed and inspired base on the ES haute couture collection or RTW collection, and be cohesive with the collections of the core brand in style and aesthetics in that season. Consumers expect the luxury brand to offer them a product that possess the quality, design and value that the parent brand represents. (Hoffmann Stankeviciute, 2012) Especially for a brand like ELIE SAAB, which highly relies on loyal customers, (SHUAYTO, 2012) fulfilling the consumers expectation and keeping the brand image clear is exceptionally important. ELIE SAAB is known for its luxurious, dreamy, and feminine style.(Fig 1) Lace, chiffon, silk, crystal, hand-made beading and embroidery (NI Syndication Limited., 2007), those materials used in ES haute couture collections can also be seen in lingerie design, which could be counted as an advantage in reaching the coherence of core brand and lingerie line. The service provided for the lingerie line is equally important, for providing ultimate customer experience is another promise of the ES brand. To minimize the dilution of core brand, the ES lingerie line should be positioned as premium lingerie (Hoffmann Stankeviciute, 2012). The most important part of buying lingerie is fit (Law, et al., 2012). It is important for the consumers to feel comfortable in their lingerie (Liao Lee, 2010). However, most women do not know how to find a right size, and the sizes that many retailers provide are not accurate. Fitting has become a major problem for the lingerie industry (Hucker, 2013). Thus in every ES lingerie stores, there need to be at least one professional fitter to help, and provide the customers a one-to-one fitting service. Also, in the lingerie sector on the ES official website, a specific multi-media lingerie fitting guidance, using the form of video, picture and word description (Fig 2), should be provided. The cost of producing a fitting video and putting the information on the ES website could be quite low, but this effort may affect customers confidence of purchasing ES lingerie positively. bra fitting.jpg To improve customer experience, ES may consider providing customized lingerie. Co-design, which involves customers in the designing process of their own order, may be welcomed by those who eager for a differentiated, unique product. In the co-design process, customers are provided several pre designed options of each part of the product, and they can create a unique product by combining their choices. Burberry has put a co-design section on their website, where customers can design their own trench coat, and then order creation. (Fig 3) The co-designed trench coat will be produced separately. (Burberry Group Plc, N/D) Co-design offers a memorable experience to customers, which may interest the loyal customers, and possibly attract new customers. (Liao Lee, 2010) Nevertheless, the cost of producing co-design lingerie may be quite high. The Burberry co-design products are priced about one to two hundred pounds higher than their similar RTW products in the same length and material. The ratio of mark up is merely 0.18% approximately, due to the high price of the RTW product range. If ES decide to adopt co-design in the lingerie line, the ratio of mark up needs to be carefully calculated, in order to make enough profit, but still remain acceptable for the customers. Marketing communication The lunching of a new product line will probably draw much attention. Seizing the chance, ELIE SAAB may increase its exposure by doing a series of campaign, aiming at building the image of a global premium brand. Without enough brand awareness, it is very hard for luxury brands to create desire and attraction (KAPFERER, 2012). Hence, most luxury brands tend to build a whole brand image, rather than the image of a single product category. In addition, by showing the image of their target consumers lifestyle, brands could form an image of a brand users in the consumers mind. Potential customers may be attracted by the perception of a brands personality, moreover, may produce a stronger purchasing intention when they find similarities between their self-image and the image of a typical brand user (Fang, et al., 2012). Marketing the ES lingerie line by promoting the whole brand, emphasising the luxe of the core brand, may also protect the brand from dilution. Communicating the heritage inspiration and cultural reference may help a relatively new brand elevating its position in consumers mind. As a hedonic product, luxury products need to not only have a physical function, but also embraces a spiritual function. They should help consumers fulfilling their highest need, which is self-realization (KAPFERER, 2012). To create a scarcity effect, making the brand more desirable, ELIE SAAB may develop a marketing strategy based on culture and art. Producing a short film featuring the inspiration of the unique ELIE SAAB style may help consumers generating a better understanding of the brands cultural background, deepening the meaning behind each ELIE SAAB product. The film should also include the craftsmanship of ES haute couture collection. By showing the intriguing details of haute couture, from the inspiration, drafting to the hand-making process, the film need to plant the concept of haute couture being an art into the viewers mind. Consequent ly, as the brand producing art, ELIE SAAB will be viewed differently. Linked to art, ES products would be seen as artistic creations, rather than commercial goods (KAPFERER, 2012). It embodies the extraordinary taste of its customers, while remains to be a desirous dream of the non-owners. Another way of marketing ELIE SAAB as an artistic brand is to hold and exhibition showing the history and creations of the brand. The company could partner with an art museum, and show their archived pieces from previous fashion shows. Also, the creating process may be an interesting to show on the exhibition. It would be better if the showroom could be designed as a vision of the earliest inspiration of Elie Saab, telling his story of creating art, rather than a copy of an ES flagship store. This is to avoid being viewed as a commercial activity. However, the cost of holding an exhibition might be quite high, and the influence of an exhibition is geographically limited. With the booming of social media, today, marketing is more about communicating and interacting with consumers. Adopting the trend, brands start to pay more attention on digital channels (KAPFERER, 2012). ELIE SAAB is not an exception. The brand has adopted many digital communication platforms including facebook, twitter, YouTube, even weibo.com. Nevertheless, it is noticed that the communication result ES achieved in those platforms is not very impressive. Comparing to its competitors, the number of people getting involved in ESs digital communication channels is quite small. Besides, they do not seem to be very impressed by the information they have received from the ES channels. ELIE SAAB Le Parfum Ad Campaign video has only received 73 likes. (YouTube LLC, 2011) In contrast, the Miss Dior advert, La vie en rose, received 991 likes. (YouTube LLC, 2013b) As for the short films featuring brand identity, the ES Balade a Paris film has received 209 likes, (YouTube LLC, 2012a) while the Dior Secret Garden-Versailles film has received 6,029 likes (YouTube LLC, 2012b). All the films mentioned above are beautifully made and clearly reveal their brand image. Yet the Miss Dior film appeared eight times on the Dior facebook page (Facebook, 2013a), while the ES Balad a Paris film only appeared in four posts on the ES facebook page (Facebook, 2013b). It can therefore be then presumed that the link between different digital platforms the brand use has some influence on the communication result the brand may receive. ELIE SAAB may want to strengthen the connection between its different communication channels, in order to increase communication efficiency. Critical evalution For a premium brand, expanding through licensing is a huge risk. Being one of the two largest apparel categories of Calvin Klein (Schimroszik, 2012), underwear, which was licensed to the Warnaco group, was a huge success in the 1980s (Robertson, 2012). By 1999, licensing contributed 90% of Calvin Kleins revenue. Yet soon enough, the Calvin Klein brand found that it had little control of its licensees, under an incredible long contract. The luxury status of Calvin Klein was almost destroyed. It took Calvin Klein eight years to get back into business, and slowly started repairing the damage brought by licensing (Hoffmann Stankeviciute, 2012). Notwithstanding the risk, licensing still is a popular expanding method among luxury brands (Colucci, et al., 2008). In fact, if handled carefully, the damage can be minimized (Hoffmann Stankeviciute, 2012). As ELIE SAAB does not have the expertise in lingerie production, licensing is a reasonable choice. But the brand should have tight control over the licensee. The major problem of licensing is the licensees tend to pursuit the fastest success and biggest profit, regardless the impact it may have on the brand. The licenser wants to maintain the consistency of the entire collection, while the licensees may prefer to stick with the most popular designs in the market (Colucci, et al., 2008). And it is the responsibility of the core brand to protect its reputation, including product quality, design aesthetics, customer service, and luxury status. But the licensee might be producing for different brands simultaneously, thus the design of the different products they produce might be similar, or they might borrow the design of ELIE SAAB, and use it in other products that they are producing. Even there is a possibility that the licensee may secretly produces counterfeit version of the ES linge rie using cheaper materials, and sells them in other channels or under other brand names. All of the mentioned problems may result in brand dilution. As a result, ES may need to spend much effort in monitoring the licensee. Despite the drawbacks, with a right partner, ES could achieve the expansion with a relatively low cost. If the plan was executed successfully, the brand could increase brand awareness, and might reinforce the loyalty of its existing customers by impressing them with a new and exciting product line. For some women, lingerie is as important as outer clothing. So the ES customers might be interested in matching the lingerie and the outer wear. Another issue to be concern is the cultural impact of lingerie line. Intimate apparel may have different symbolic meanings in different culture. When marketing globally, it should be noticed that women from different culture may have different need in lingerie. Many ES customers are from the Middle East, where, in the outsiders view, might be quite conservative. On the contrary, it was discovered that sex is quite important for married Muslims. (Asser, 2008). As a result, they may be very interested in lingerie of various bold designs. In the forthcoming years, there is expected to be a recovery of the economy. It could affect the whole luxury market, and could be an opportunity for premium lingerie. Yet the competition among lingerie specialist brands would also be fierce. Many lingerie brands are aiming to the global market, including Victorias Secret, Agent Provocateur, et cetera. With so much choice, consumers might doubt the expertise of the ES lingerie line, because lingerie is generally function-based product. Besides, the link between the lingerie line and the brand emphasising advertise champagne might be weak and confusing. The new lingerie line might be ignored due to this reason. Conclusion and recogminadions Product expansion means a new adventure for a brand. As a young luxury brand that is eager to develop, product expansion will always at some point be adopted. The previous partnership experience of ELIE SAAB indicates that Saab could be not only a brilliant designer, but also a successful businessman. Hence, the risk of expending a new lingerie line through licensing could turn out to be another success of the brand. But ELIE SAAB should choose the partner very carefully. Both the reputation and the producing capability should be taken into consideration. A partner with well established reputation in the industry is the reassurance of quality for the customers (Hoffmann Stankeviciute, 2012). Moreover, ELIE SAAB should have strict control over the licensing project, making sure the products and service remains in the same level as the core ES products. The places where the lingerie line products are sold should also be chosen using ES criterions. The price-point of the lingerie line should remain high, in order to match the premium status of the ES brand. The marketing of the lingerie line is suggested to be focused on building the whole brand image, rather than the single lingerie line. Nevertheless, advertisements featuring the lingerie line product are also needed. ELIE SAAB may consider spending most of its budget on overall brand image campaigns, and only using a small part of the budget to do the lingerie line advert. Overall, the whole plan is designed to assist the developing of the ELIE SAAB brand as a whole, and the main focus should be always on its core products. Otherwise, without the success of the core brand, the lingerie line will soon be forgotten as well.

Friday, October 25, 2019

A Comparison of the Monsters of Frankenstein, Bladerunner, and Star Tre

In the long history of the existence of fantasy literature, writers represent monsters as something opposite to the human being. The prior conflict of this genre is usually "man Vs monster." Several examples of science fiction seemingly portray antagonistic creatures yet they are depicted as being similar to humanity: the replicants in the film Bladerunner; the monster in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; and the Borg in Star Trek. In each of these examples, the aforementioned "monster(s)" posses human-like characteristics (some, like the replicants in Bladerunner appear almost exactly human) yet are still "monsters," they are not quite human. Thus each of the human societies shuns and despises these creatures for what they are. The significance of the alignment of the monsters with ourselves is how the monsters are the personification of our ontology. The unconscious human mind is the content of what these works attempt to personify in the monster. As Donna Haraway said in he r "Cyborg Manifesto," "we are all chimeras." The curious thing is that the protagonists in some of the works actually portray monster-like characteristics--a role reversal between the monster and the hero of the work: "We have found the enemy and he is us." The analogy of the monsters is actually depicted in each of the work's respective humans' thoughts and deeds. This also shows the authors' portrayal of the monster-like and thus human-like characteristics of the human unconscious and the conscious mind. The role-reversal of an antagonistic monster and the human hero is never more blatant than in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. In modern pop culture, the name of Frankenstein is often associated with the monster of the novel. Unkn... ...w much do our genes control how we will live our lives? Our dependence on machines is one popular theme in science fiction including Star Trek. The Borg are cyborgs--completely dependent on their mechanical components to survive. In modern society, how much do we depend on machines to survive? The Borg reflects several aspects of our own human society and human self. Donna Haraway says, "The cyborg is our ontology...The machine is us." Frankenstein's monster, the replicants, and Star Trek's Borg each is analogous to the monster within a subconscious or unrealized level within modern reality. The unconscious needs of modern technology, the uncertain amount of genetic programming within us, and the unknown about the human's unconscious mind are all objectives explored in the allegorical genre of science fiction as we explore the monster within.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Prejudice in Mr. Sumarsono Written by Roxana Robinson Essay

Stereotype is a largely false belief, or set of belief, concerning the characteristics of the members of a racial or ethnic group (McLemore, 1983). Stereotype may be positive or negative in mind which is based on limited and minimal knowledge about a group of people. Incomplete information, mistaken perceptions, isolation and segregation have resulted many stereotypes. Viewing of a person with oddity based on the stereotype will limit what we expected and how we respond to them. Prejudice is an unfavorable attitude towards people because they are members of a particular racial or ethnic group. Discrimination is unfavorable action towards people because they are members of a particular racial or ethnic group. (McLemore, 1983). These both are negative manifestations of integrative power. A prejudiced person may not act on their attitude. Therefore, someone can be prejudice towards a certain group but not discriminate against them. Also, prejudice includes all three components of an attitude (affective, behavioral and affective), whereas discrimination just involves behavior and involves some actions. Prejudice and stereotyping parallels attitudes and opinions or beliefs (Stroebe & Insko, 1989) Prejudice also sustains stereotype, while stereotype is a generalization or interpretation toward a person or group of some physical, behavior, belief or other factors. For a 10-year-old girl, she must have got a first bad impression to a stranger, especially a foreigner. She spontaneously thought that someone newbie in another country is a kind of alien with different skin, face structure or another physical body. In that point, this attitude includes a racial stereotype which provokes a prejudice side. Roxana Robinson is a biographer and scholar of nineteenth and early twentieth century American art. She graduated from Buckingham Friends School, in Lahaska, and from The Shipley School, in Bryn Mawr. She attended Bennington College and studied with Bernard Malamud and Howard Nemerov. She received a B. A. degree in English Literature from the University of Michigan. Roxana Robinson is the author of the four novels Cost, (2008) Sweetwater, (2003) This Is My Daughter, (1998) and Summer Light (1988); the three short story collections A Perfect Stranger, (2005) Asking for Love, (1996) A Glimpse of Scarlet, (1991) and the biography Georgia O’Keeffe: A Life, (1989). Mr. Sumarsono is listed as one of the best American Short Stories at 1994. Statement of Problems: 1. Why do Susan and her sister give bad impression toward Mr. Sumarsono? 2. Why did Mrs. Riordan welcome Mr. Sumarsono warmly? 3. What is the cultural aspect of this short story? What is the connection with it? Discussion Mr. Sumarsono is a worker in UN which involved many Western people in it for a long time. Because of the environment, he tried to adapt the style like an American. According to the story, both daughters of Mrs. Riordan, Susan and Kate, with Mrs. Riordan herself fetched Mr. Sumarsono in a Trenton Station in New Jersey and they saw him for the first time with bad impression and underestimate toward Mr. Sumarsono. However, at that time, he was clothed as an American businessman. â€Å"Mr. Sumarsono was wearing an neat suit and leather shoes, like an American businessman, but he didn’t look like an American. The suit was brown, not gray, and it had a slight sheen. And Mr. Sumarsono was built in a different way from Americans: he was slight and graceful, with narrow shoulders and an absence of strut. † (Page 265 line 1) â€Å"Kate and I stood next to my mother as she waved and smiled. Kate and I did not wave and smile†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Page 265 line 11) In this case, it proved that both sisters didn’t like and give bad thought for Mr. Sumarsono because they didn’t know who actually Mr. Sumarsono was, since Mr. Sumarsono had an Asian figure with pale brown skin. Besides, there were few Indonesian that came to America, or else almost never. Mr. Sumarsono was the only Indonesian who arrived in New Jersey. â€Å"It was 1959, and Mr. Sumarsono was the only Indonesian who got off the train in Trenton, New Jersey. † (Page 264 line 25) Next on, the displeasure of the sisters continued until they were in way home. They were acting like they didn’t need a middle-aged Indonesian in where were they belong to. Moreover, they avoided the lunch time which their mother prepared for them and Mr. Sumarsono. And also, they showed an impolite attitude toward Mr. Sumarsono in the table. â€Å"We were going to watch the mallard nesting, and I hope we didn’t have to include a middle-aged Indonesian in leather shoes†(Page 267 line 1) â€Å"Dev-il,† Kate said, Speaking very loudly and slowly. She pointed at the eggs and then put two forked finger behind her head like horns, Mr. Sumarsono looked at her horns. (Page 269 lines 25) Another evidence occurred at the dinner time when Susan saw her mother wearing a pink dress. She thought her mother’s dress was overlooked just for dinner with a stranger who can not understand their language. â€Å"I was irritated to see that she had put it on as thought she were at a party. This was not a party: she had merely gotten hold of a captive guest, a complete stranger who understood nothing she said. † (Page 270, line 12) Although they kept underestimate him, they were quite surprised that Mr. Sumarsono wasn’t someone like usual Asian guy they were thinking about. He was different in presence. Not only the appearance of him but also his gesture was shown when they were already at home. Somehow, The stop! gesture was making the sisters wondering what makes that Indonesian was different. This gesture is shown by Mr. Sumarsono when he tried to prevent his suitcase as Susan offered to pick up upstairs. â€Å"What struck me was the grace of his gesture. His hand extended easily out cuff and expose a narrow brown wrist, as narrow as my own. When he put his hand up in the Stop! gesture, his hand curved backward from the wrist, and his fingers bent backward from the palm. Instead of the stern and flat-handed Stop! that an American hand would make, this was a polite, subtie, and yielding signal, quite beautiful and infinitely sophisticated, a gesture that suggested a thousand reasons for doing something, a thousand ways to go about it. †(Page 267 line 13) On the other hand, Mrs. Riordan was greeting him cheerfully. She showed an excessive behavior since Mr. Sumarsono decided to spend his weekend in New Jersey. Furthermore, he stayed in Riodan’s as well. Mrs. Riordan tried to catch attention from Mr. Sumarsono. Apart from being dressed in pink, she treated him as best as she can. â€Å"Oh, I’m glad we’re having rice! † she said suddenly, pleased. â€Å"That must make Mr. Sumarsono feel at home. † She looked at me. (Page 273 line 7) She also thought that Mr. Sumarsono was far from his family and being lonely, Mrs. Riordan conclude that he was missing them and she tried to give something that Mr. Sumarsono would feel like he came back to the warm atmosphere when a family was gathered supposed to be. It is shown when Mrs. Riordan asked Mr. Sumarsono to show his wife and children photograph. She saw a strange condition on Mr. Sumarsono with complicated and unfinished look when she asked and he even wanted to take a picture with them. â€Å"The poor man, he must miss his wife and children. Don’t u feel sorry for him, thousands of miles away from his family? Oh, thousands. He’s here for six months, all alone. They told me that at the UN. It’s all very uncertain. He doesn’t know when he gets leaves, how long after that he’ll be here. Think of how his poor wife feels. † (Page 272 line 24) As from the both sisters misjudged all about Mr. Sumarsono and what they have done, they thought that they would feel ashamed, instead of underestimating him. Their prejudice has made them blind to not know who actually Mr. Sumarsono was. Beside it was from their mother, they also felt embarrassed him because they can not be an appropriate hostess to him while Mr. Sumarsono showed his unruffled courtesy. Although Mr. Sumarsono couldn’t speak English well and only responded all Mrs. Riordan and her daughters with simple nodded and smile, at least he knew what attitude he supposed to do when he was visiting people’s house in other country. â€Å"I was embarrassed not only for my mother but also for poor Mr. Sumarsono. Whatever he had expected from a country weekend in America, It could not have been a cramped attic room, two sullen girls, voluble and incomprehensible hostess. I felt we had failed him, we had betrayed his unruffled courtesy, with our bewildering commands, our waving forks, our irresponsible talk about lizard. I wanted to save him. I wanted to liberate poor Mr. Sumarsono from this aerial grid of misunderstandings. † (Page 274 line 24) This story is pertaining aspect of prejudice side. Therefore, prejudice has both cognitive and affective components. Affective component is the positive or negative attitude or feeling while cognitive component contains stereotypes. Stereotypes are beliefs about people based on their membership in a particular group. Stereotypes can be positive, negative, or neutral. Stereotypes based on gender, ethnicity, or occupation are common in many societies. Stereotypes often results from, and leads to, prejudice and bigotry. The reasons appearing of stereotype is variable, It occurs When people encounter instances that disconfirm their stereotypes of a particular group, they tend to assume that those instances are atypical subtypes of the group. Second, People’s perceptions are influenced by their expectations. And last, People selectively recall instances that confirm their stereotypes and forget about disconfirming instances. As a branch from stereotype, prejudice is a destructive phenomenon, and it is pervasive because it serves many psychological, social, and economic functions. It allows people to bond with their own group by contrasting their own groups to outsider groups. Conclusion This short story which Roxana wrote showed about an experience of Indonesian immigrant who visited and spent the weekend at one of New Jersey’s families, Riordan’s house. Based on discussion above, it is described that the two daughters, Susan and Kate had first bad impression toward Mr. Sumarsono as a strange foreigner. This signs that their attitude showed the prejudice aspect of the racial differences. References Robinson, Roxana. Asking for Love: Mr. Sumarsono. New York: Random House. 1996. Print University of Colorado, USA. Prejudice and Discrimination. http://www. colorado. edu. 1998 (Access Date: Wednesday, May 02, 2012) Anonim. Roxana Robinson Biography. http://www. roxanarobinson. com. (Access date : Wednesday, May O2,2012) Sparknotes editor. Social Psychology. http://www. sparknotes. com. 2007(Access date: Thursday, May 03 2012).

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Lord of the Ants- Notes and Paper on E. O. Wilson

Lord of the Ants Ed Wilson Was hit in the eye by the dorsal fin of a Pin fish and went partially blind, so he turned his interest to animals small enough for him to see entirely and up close, something small enough for him to hold between his thumb and pointer finger to inspect. Pheidole Jim Watson- Newly appointed head at Harvard Watson inspired Wilson to apply chemistry to how ants stay so organized Chemical trail ants leave to direct and guide other ants towards food, away from an enemy, a new home, and so on. Pheromones Sociobiology Many protested his theory of sociobiology Encyclopedia of Life E. O.Wilson was   intrigued by nature at a very young age, growing up in Alabama offered him a natural world, rich in plants, insects, and plenty other species just waiting to be discovered. He had a true passion for understanding the natural world that we inhabit. As a young boy,   he was hit in the eye by the dorsal fin of a Pin fish and went partially blind. He didn't let this hold him back, instead he focused his interest to animals small enough for him to see entirely and up close, something small enough for him to hold between his thumb and pointer finger to inspect. Wilson's interest in nature grew with his age, he  earned his B.S. and M. S. degrees at the University of Alabama, and went on to earn his Ph. D. from Harvard University. Wilson wrote  On Human Nature, a Pulitzer Prize-winning book on his theory of Sociobiology, explaining how the many characteristics of human and society can be explained from an evolutionary point of view. He explained that all animal behavior, including human behavior, is the outcome of hereditary factors, environmental stimuli, and past experiences. His work faced much resistance from many, as a lot of critics had a hard time accepting his theory as it applied to humans.His theory rejects the previously established doctrine of tabula rasa,  which holds that human beings are born a clean slate, and that culture function s to aid in human knowledge, survival, and success. Island biogeography is a field of biogeography that studies species richness in isolated natural areas. This theory examines extinction and migration patterns of different species to isolated areas. Wilson's work has lead to the understanding and need for species conservation. His theory led to establishing national parks and the development of habitat corridors.