Study of Demographics Essay Example for Free

Study of Demographics Essay The city of Wildwood is a sleepy city in the county of Sumter in Florida. It is a city which is primarily similar to the Wildwood’s initial economy that was put together around the lumber industry. A business man by the name of Barwick constructed and had possession of a timber mill close tor town. In the year of 1882 is when the railroad emanated to Wildwood in, and Wildwood became the hub for the railroad until the 1960’s and that is when Seaboard Coastline inaugurated â€Å"laying off† workers (Visit communities in Sumer, 2014). After Seaboard Coastline railroad degenerated in the 1960’s, there were a hardly any farsighted select few which were competent enough to efficaciously redirect the township. This is the point where a shopping center was constructed and it is when the Floridas Turnpike was completed in 1964 (soon followed by I-75), it was the efforts of J.W. Peebles and E.C. Rowell that got the Wildwood-. The U.S. census for 2010 demographic profile for Wildwood, Florida is the hub of transportation for the central western part of the state. Wildwood is where Interstate 75 and the Florida Turnpike intersects (Visit communities in Sumer, 2014) Wildwood’s has a total population of 3,551. The following 2010 U.S. census reports the housing status (in housing units unless noted) at a total of 2,197 of those 1,608 are occupied and of those 1,281 are owner-occupied. The population in owner-occupied (number of individuals) 2,731, those renter-occupied numbered at 327. Population in renter-occu pied dwellings (number of individuals) is valued at 820 of those households with individuals fewer than 18 estimated at 343. With the number of vacant properties was 589; there are 55 vacant for rent, 67 vacant and for sale. The population by sex and age; Male- 1,746 Female 1,805 Under 18 630 18 over 2,921 20 24 140 25 34 278 35 49 646 50 64 777 65 over 1,012 Population by Ethnicity; Hispanic or Latino -82 Non-Hispanic or Latino 3,469 Population by Race: White- 3,383 African American 52 Asian- 28 American Indian and Alaska Native- 10 (QuickFacts:Locate a counti.., 2012) The reported 2010 household income statistics for the City of Wildwood, Florida states that there are those who have less than $15,000 in earnings a year. With a mere 10% of families’ income is between $15,000 and $24,999, 15% of families income is $25,000 to $49,999, then 20% have between $35,000 to $49,999. The median wage of Wildwood is those making $50,000 to $74,999 are rated the most with a total of approximately 22%, and 5% earn $100,000.00 to $124,999, $124.999 to $149.999 is 5%, 1% earns $150.00 to $199,999.99 and 2% with earnings $200,000.00 (Wildwood, FL Household Incomes, 2012). Of those in the city of Wildwood the population was stretched out with 22.3% of the people are under age 18, 6.5% are between 18 to 24, 18.4% from 25 to 44, 19.0% are 45 to 64, and 33.8% who were 65 years of age or older. â€Å"The median age was 48 years. For every 100 females there were 83.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.2 males† (QuickFacts:Locate a counti.., 2012). The City of Wildwood’s educational level is based upon C LRsearch.com approximately 20% did not complete high school,40% completed high school, 20% had some college, 55 completed an associates program, 105 completed a bachelor degree program, and 55 had completed a Graduate Degree at age 25 or  more (Wildwood, Fla Education Le., 2012). Employment statistics for all potential employees (population age 16+); civilian males 195, civilian females 18%, 1% of males are in the armed forces, 0 females in service, 2% males and females unemployed, 28% males not among work force, and 32% of the females not in work force (Wildwood Employment, Occupation and Industry, 2012). The English language is the dominant language with Spanish coming in second amongst the city’s 42 ministries in Wildwood ranging from Baptist 6, Church of -1. Episcopal Church -1 Churches, Temples, and Shrines – 9, Christian and Reformed Church – 1, Brethren Church – 1, Miscellaneous Denomination Church 6 (Visit communities in Sumer, 2014), Industries associated with the trucking industry and lumber is a major factor in the economy and according to observation has that this city will continue to grow in these fields. The area’s geography, demographics, and tax deductions for businesses, fuel the motive for businesses to locate in Wildwood. It makes perfect sense since the area has plenty of labor; it is at the hub of Interstate 75 and the Florida Turnpike. The natives are well versed in English as the language of the majority. References QuickFacts:Locate a counti.. (2012, n.d. n.d.). Retrieved March 16th, 2014, from U.S. Department of Commerce U.S. Census Bureau: http://quickfacts.census.gov/cgi-bin/qfd/lookup?state=12000 Visit communities in Sumer. (2014, n.d. n.d.). Retrieved March 16th, 2014, from Sumter County Chamber of Commerce: http://www.sumterchamber.org/sumter-government.asp Wildwood Employment, Occupation and Industry. (2012, n.d. n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2014, from CLRresearsh.com: http://www.clrsearch.com/Wildwood-Demographics/FL/Employment-Occupation-and-I

Aqualisa Quartz Showers Market and Business Analysis

Aqualisa Quartz Showers Market and Business Analysis 1 Introduction/Case study analysis Aqualisa quartz shower, the top, state of the art product of the Aqualisa, was launched in May 2001. Quartz was the result of the intense market research, fantastic piece of technology and design. The compatibility, ease of installation and reliability were popular among the plumbers while the beautiful design, stability of temperature and good pressure made it ideal for the consumers. Unexpectedly, despite of the Quartzs fantastic features, it did not get the overwhelming success that Aqualisa expected. 2 Consumer Behaviour The consumer behaviour with regards to its purchase of shower in UK was somewhat complex and problematic. Only 60% homes had showers. Gravity-fed plumbing meant slow water pressure (3 to 4 litters per min). Varying temperature was also a problem. The individual consumer market had various priorities (see the table (a) below).44% of UK market for shower was replacement shower. So there was a demand for durability. Similarly the do-it-yourself consumer was keener on convenience as well as value of the product. Property developers wanted a product which they could use in their developing properties which should not only be cheap but stylish and long lasting as well. The plumbers played very important role in the selection of showers for the consumers. Individual consumer market fell into three pricing segments Segments Shop from Priorities Premium Showrooms Quality and design Standard Plumber recommendations Quality and durability Value Plumber selection Convenience and price Table a Do It Yourselfers proffered to buy showers from BQ style chains, which were easy to install, despite of being bulky, within a day without any help. The property developers needed stylish an attractive design, cheap and which would work in multiple setting. Showermax was designed for them which were very popular among them. The plumbers preferred the apparatus with which they were familiar to avoid repeat plumbing. The lack of trust in electric shower because of previous failure made them sceptical about electric showers. 2.1 Market Players their Strategies In the UK the main players in terms of market share were Triton, Mira, Gainsborough, Aqualisa and Masco with 545,500, 390,000, 203,500, 122,000 and 120,000 sold units respectively.* Tritons simple strategy was to create awareness at consumer level. This strategy gave them an edge and as a result more trust was developed in the product. They had range of all three kinds of shower e.g. electric shower, mixer shower and power showers, so targeting several segments. The distribution of the products of particularly Triton and Mira, in all distribution channels was exceptionally well. 2.2 Swot Analysis The following is the swat analysis of the Aqualisa Quarts. Strengths 5% to 10% market growth High tech products Showers with better water pressures than the competitors Brilliant, researched based designs Innovative products(e.g. Quartz) No 2 in mixing valve and 3 in over all UK market. Good service provider Popular in plumbers Elegant designs and Clever products Weakness 10% products still goes faulty Should be available in up to 90% of trade shop, show rooms and out lets. Weak marketing strategy for Quarts as the sale forces for Aqualisa spends 90% of time on maintaining existing account while the 10% on developing new customers Opportunities brand awareness Maximum sales and profits in case of Quartz success. Market leaders in innovative showers products Road to new inventions and ideas Leave the competitors behind Threats Other competitors catching up to Aqualisas product quality Perception of the product as overpriced Too much focus on innovation thus spending more money on inventions and ignoring core issues like providing basic service to customers.(10% items still goes faulty) 3 The Product development and launch process for Aqualisa Quartz Aqualisa was a respectable company with a 25% net return on sales and 5% to 10% growth in the market*. Despite the fact that the company was at the third position in the market as a whole and was considered respectable and reliable, it was feared by the company that the rivals may well beat them if they dont come up with something innovative and novel. The managing director Harry Rawlinson organised (RD) Research and Development team of Aqualisas sales and marketing Directors, market researchers, Cambridge scientists, and top industrial designers*. All the experts through brain storming and market research came up with the idea of the product which involved a small apparatus installed remotely in order to mix water. This idea was very powerful as the product installation wouldnt require excavation. After feedback from the 60 consumer field test sites and three years of development and expenditure of around  £5.8 million Quartz was developed. It cost the company from  £175 to $230 to make*. The Aqualisa was launched in the major showrooms like Bathroom Expo in London in May 2001 and was awarded fist prize. There were good and positive reviews about the product in the news papers. The fact that the product had good flow of water, very convenient and fast to install and accurate temperature control made it a popular product. Quartz was on the covers of major trade journals. There was a single time add run in news paper on Sunday too. 3.1 Positioning Strategies and Marketing mix The positioning strategy of the Aqualisa quarts was complicated. Following chart would show some pros and cons of the Positioning of the Quartz. Positioning Pros Cons 1 Targeting Consumer Directly If the consumers were targeted directly there was a good chance of the revitalization and an increase in the sale of the product once aware of the advantages of the product. Insist /influence the plumbers to use the Quartz. The advertisement would cost  £3 to  £4 million in two years 2 Targeting Do It Yourselfers Quartz was so easy to install that anybody could do it easily, so if advertised to d.i.y market could be beneficial. If advertised as premium value product the partner like BQ could help boost the advertising campaign too. If the item was associated with the d.i.y products it would never take its premium position. It was too good to take place of value product. 2 Targeting Developers Large- volume channel Developers would enforce more plumbers to install quarts so plumbers would get more confidence about Quartz Never accepted Aqualisa product even at 50% discount No guarantee that reducing price would defiantly attract them. Table c McCarthy (1999) classified the tools that constitute the Marketing mix, into four famous Ps Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. In case of Aqualisa Quartz as a Product it was a fantastic piece of technology and art. It was ticking all the boxes for what the consumer wanted. The plumbers regarded it as a wonderful product because of the ease of installation. It was innovative, state of art product. Quartz was premium Priced. The price was high because of the Quartz being innovative and state of the art product. It wouldnt be long when the competitors would be following the same route and may price their product even higher, so just because the Quartz did not get the overwhelming success in its first phase of launch, the price should not be reduced. Place; the Quartz was distributed to various channels e.g. trade shops and showrooms etc. There were a good number of plumbers working for Aqualisa who were also introduced to the product. They loved the ease of installation as it took half a day to install. In spite of that very few sale were made. Promotion; the product at the time of launch was exhibited in London in May 2001 at Bathroom expo. It was given first prise for being a fantastic product*. Similarly a single time add in the mail on Sunday magazine was run. Major news papers and trade magazines had it on its front pages. Still the promotion was not enough to make the product successful as it failed to target the potential buyer. 4 Reasons of Failure of Aqualisa Quartz in the initial phase There were many reasons to the failure of the product despite its fantastic qualities and innovations. Some of the reasons are listed below. The Quartz was an innovative and fantastic product but it was considered an expensive product. Although the price was high but the product deserved a higher price being so distinctive than traditional products in market. The twenty sales personal would spend mere 10% of time on gaining new customers while 90% on maintaining old customers. Obviously more than 10% of time was required to attain new customers. Reluctance of the Plumbers to accept electric showers due to previous failure of the electric shower so they were eager to try Quartz. Consumers often had to force the plumber to install the Quartz for them. But once they installed it they were converted and were convinced that it was a brilliant product. Weak positioning also created a vague image of the product as the plumbers were sceptical and the individual consumers were not fully aware of the advantages the product was offering. The Marketing mix of the product was also not perfectly well executed as the item was although available through main channels but little work was done on the promotion of the product. At the time of launch it was exhibited at the London Expo and it won the first prise and it was on the front pages of trade magazines, still it was not enough. Intense marketing at individual level was also required for the awareness and promotion of the product. 4.1 Strategies to revive the product Following strategies could revive Quartz. Segmenting the market and Targeting the independent plumbers which constituted the 54% of the UK market*, was of core importance. A vigorous marketing was needed to target them. The plumbers were sceptical of using the electric showers but once they used Quartz they were converted. Targeting 54% of the market could be really beneficial for the company. Following this strategy the Quartz could dominate as a successful product up to 90% of plumbers who made 100% of decision for 54% of market in the. change the perceptions of the consumers particularly property developing market which constituted 20% of the UK market (source Aqualisa). Once the independent plumbers were converted then that would eventually change the status of the product as a reliable and efficient. Availability of Quartz in max no Show rooms, Trade shops and D.I.Y sheds. According to the UK shower market in 2000, total electric shower units sold in show rooms was 55,000 *. It was important to make sure that the Quartz is present in max no of showrooms and. Similarly 330,000 electric units were sold by the trade shops and a good no of plumbers were working for these shops*. The presence of the product in the trade shops would mean better chances of exposure to the consumer. The D.I.Y sheds like BQ could promote the Quartz as a premium high quality product with the benefit to install independently. The sale of electric shower in UK at D.I.Y sheds in 2000 was the max i.e. 550,000*. If the product was placed in the D.I.Y sheds with the help of BQ promotions it could get the success it deserved. Launch an intense marketing campaign was vital to target the consumer directly. Once the product is successful the profit would cover the costs of marketing. Only one time add in magazine is not enough. Electronic media e.g. TV and radio should run advertisements for the product. Microsoft launched a massive $500 million marketing campaign, when it introduced the original Xbox, promoting the new product through in store merchandising, retailer incentives, events and sponsorship in addition to traditional advertising. (Alice z. 2004) Position Quartz as a family product. In the showrooms once the individuals with families had a look, they bought it as it was perfect and safe for all ages. Targeting the consumer directly through advertisement would let the families realised that the Quartz is a family need. Brand awareness would attract the families, plumbers, D.I.Yers and property developers as they would become aware of the product benefits. Justify high price by emphasising the qualities of the Quartz. Promotional low prices temporarily for the new buyers particularly the property developers. Once they plumbers used the product they were converted. So by low promotional prices would attract massive audience who could be converted as well. To increase the 20 person sales force. To increase from 10% to at least 50% of time to spend on new customers attainment. 5 Conclusion Aqualisa Quartz despite of the fact that it was a fantastic product, it failed to achieve the success it deserved in the beginning. The product was such an innovation that it should have made records of best selling product. The push button technology, ease of installation, stable temperature and ideal water pressure made it ideal shower. It was safe to use with children as well as with elderly. Aqualisa was expecting huge sales but the results were rather disappointing when there were only few sales in the first phase. Robert Lauterborn (1990) suggested that the sellers four Ps correspond to the customers four Cs. Four Ps Four Cs Product Customer solution Price Customer cost Place Convenience Promotion Communication. The Quartz was a fantastic Product and it was offering perfect customer solution. Similarly the price was just ok for the product as it was one in all products. And customer would pay high Price for an item if it is fit for purpose and providing the luxury at the same time. Thats when the Promotion comes in. But at the same time Quartz needed wright positioning and good marketing to attract the consumer. The product was available through trade shops, Showrooms and D.I.Y sheds. The plumbers working for the Aqualisa were also introduced to the product. Still more was needed. So if all the strategies listed above are tried, it should not take long when the Quartz would be on its way to success.

Survival Technology Essays -- Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Survival Technology Arnold Pacey's book, Technology in World Civilization: A Thousand Year History argues that survival technology, the technology of production of food and other basic necessities, is dependent on the local environment and requires local solutions rather than solutions dictated by "technologically superior" scientists from other areas. Every culture has had a long experience with the environment they live in and have developed ways to make food and other basic necessities. When outsiders with advanced technology interfere without taking input from the natives they can cause more damage then they solve. One of the most basic principles of survival technology is that the most advanced solution is not necessarily the best solution. An example of this principle occurred in the 1940s in India and China. Both countries took different approaches to solve there malaria problems. India which was more open to western ideas decided to spray the walls of every dwelling in India with DDT to kill the malaria carrying mosquitoes. On the other hand China, which was not able to afford DDT, decided to inform the populace on how to avoid malaria, redesign the water courses and improve housing all in an attempt to reduce malaria. India had a more drastic drop in malaria cases, but China's drop was more permanent. By the 1970s malaria cases began to rise in India, because of mosquitoes with immunity to DDT.(1) The quick technologically advanced solution was inferior to the steps the Chinese took to reduce the amount of malaria. Forcing advanced technology onto areas without that technology is usually not a good idea without proper thought put into it. A tractor would be less than useful... ...re the techniques that the farmers have already developed. This is unique to survival technology as there is no other technology division where the researchers would totally ignore the contributions and suggestions of those using the technology. These problems are only exacerbated when the scientists come from different areas and cultures than the farmers there supposed to be helping. In those cases the scientists not only ignore the contributions and suggestions of the farmers they generally are ignorant of the environment as well. It would probably be best if the scientists would talk to the farmers they are trying to help. Works Cited 1.Arnold Pacey, Technology in World Civilization: A Thousand Year History, Basil Blackwood, 1990, pg 189 2.Ibid, pg 199 3.Ibid, pg 199 4.Ibid, pg 199-200 5.Ibid, pg 199 6.Ibid, pg 192-193 7.Ibid, pg 193

gatcolor Color Symbols and Symbolism in The Great Gatsby :: Great Gatsby Essays

Color Symbolism in The Great Gatsby Colors can symbolize many different things. Artists use colors in their paintings when they want you to see what they are trying to express. Like if an artist is trying to express sorrow or death he often uses blacks blues, and grays basically he uses dreary colors. You automatically feel what the artist is trying to express. When the artist uses bright colors you feel warm and you feel happiness. In the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald is like an artist. He uses colors to symbolize the many different intangible ideas in the book. He uses the color yellow to symbolize moral decay decadence and death. Then he uses the color white to symbolize innocence. He also uses the color green to express hope. Fitzgerald's use of the color green the strongest. Although these are not the only colors that Fitzgerald uses for symbolism, they are the ones that he expresses the most. This book is a very colorful book in the sense that it uses colors to cover so many different aspects of peoples lives. Fitzgerald uses the color yellow to symbolize moral decay. On (Page 18) he writes " The lamp-light, bright on his boots and dull on the autumn-leaf yellow of her hair." He is talking about Tom and Jordan Baker, and he is suggesting that tom might be heading for moral decay. In the book there are several things that Tom does that might prove this. First of all Tom is having an affair with Myrtle Wilson. A second thing is that he does not like Gatsby, and several times he tries to prove that he is not who he says he is. Tom even hires a detective to prove this. Gatsby had a Rolls Royce that was yellow "His station wagon scampered like a yellow brisk-bug . . ." (Page 39). Gatsby's car was referred to many times in the book, but it was always referred to as "The yellow car" (Page 157). The color yellow was used most frequently when there was a death. One of the first things that Fitzgerald wrote about when Myrtle died was when they laid her on a table in the garage.

Prejudice Essay -- essays research papers

For this oral history paper I was very excited to find someone with a quite interesting and culturally diverse family background that I think would contribute a lot to the topic of prejudice and stereotype. This paper will discuss the views of stereotype and prejudice of my interviewee and also how the two factors have affected her life. Brown (1995) defines prejudice as a negative attitude, emotion, or behavior towards members of a group as a result of their membership of that group. This negative attitude, emotion, or behavior that we project toward members of a particular group is influenced by the attitudes of others around us and the norms of our ingroup. In this paper I would try to use the interviewee’s stories which in many instances are filled with treatments of prejudices and stereotypes coming from herself and others. The person I interview is FDG, a 23 year-old female college student with a Motion Picture/Movie Production at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. FDG was born and raised in Jakarta, Indonesia. Her father is Indonesian and her mother is from Turkmenistan (formerly part of the Soviet Union). Her father comes from a very religious (Moslem) family in Sumatra and it was quite a horror to his family when he decided to marry a foreign Jewish girl (her mother then converted to Islam when FDG was 7 years old). FDG comes from a very comfortable economic background, both her parents are chemical engineers. FDG said that she grew up in a very sheltered environment where almost every she needed were provided for. As a child of a mixed raced couple, FDG becomes a member of the minority group in the country she was living in where most couples come from similar economic, religious, and ethnic backgrounds. FDG now acknowledges that during her childhood and adolescence she had encountered and experienced stereotyping and prejudice. Because Russian is her first language, in kindergarten she was teased by her friends for not being able to speak Indonesian fluently and looking different than the others. â€Å"I’ve always hated my blonde hair,† says FDG, â€Å"one time a friend accused me of being an albino Indonesian†¦ I guess he couldn’t accept the fact that I had a Russian mother with blonde her too!† In the 4th grade she got into a fight and punched a classmate after he yelled, â€Å"Go back to where you belong†¦ you Russian terrorist!† FDG remarks that looking ba... ... being categorized in the Chinese group. FDG knows what it feels like to be prejudiced against, without realizing it she still cannot help from being a prejudiced person herself towards certain members of one group (Chinese Indonesians). Like many of other native Indonesians, she also has adopted some prejudiced views against Chinese Indonesians. When I ask FDG if she realizes that she is treating this particular group with the same stereotypes and prejudices that she was treated with while she was living in Indonesia, she says yes. FDG said that she acknowledges it but later on comments that she cannot help but be influenced by the perception of the majority. Although FDG may always encounter prejudices and stereotypes in the future, she now know that it is important to get to know a person based on their intelligence and not by their ethnic backgrounds. Now that she is living in a more â€Å"international† environment such as San Francisco, I think FDG is now able to broaden her perception towards prejudices and stereotypes and hopefully she will finally come to terms with her own diverse heritage and not have negative perceptions regarding others that are different from herself.

How Does Marxism Explain the Role of Education in Society?

How does Marxism explain the role of education in society? The sociology of education is the study of how public institutions and individual experiences affect education and its outcomes. It is most concerned with the public schooling systems of modern industrial societies, including the expansion of higher, further, adult, and continuing education. Education has always been seen as a fundamentally optimistic human endeavour characterised by aspirations for progress and betterment.It is understood by many to be a means of overcoming handicaps, achieving greater equality and acquiring wealth and social status (Education and Sociology 1992). Education is perceived as a place where children can develop according to their unique needs and potential. It is also perceived as one of the best means of achieving greater social equality. Many would say that the purpose of education should be to develop every individual to their full potential and give them a chance to achieve as much in life a s their natural abilities allow (meritocracy).However some take a particularly negative view, arguing that the education system is designed with the intention of causing the social reproduction of inequality and creating a workforce for society. One of the main sociological approaches that use theory to explain the role of education is Marxism. The Marxist perspective is critical of the educational system, arguing that it is unfair, and serves to coerce people into accepting their â€Å"roles† in an unequal society. The concept of the ‘hidden curriculum’ is key in the understanding of the Marxist perspective.The aim of the hidden curriculum is to socialise young people into accepting the role assigned to them by the capitalist class. It is argued the teachers subconsciously deliver this ‘hidden curriculum’ making pupils aware of the respect and obedience that should be given towards the established organisation [Karl Marx, 1983]. As well as this, sub tle skills such as time keeping and organisation are taught. In introducing these skills from a young age, society will accept them as norms and not question there status in society.The correspondence principle is a theory used by Marxists to explain how much of what we learn in school is preparation for our future roles as workers is in capitalist society. Many sociologists who support this principle argue that education is just a means of maintaining social class boundaries. Many argue that schools in capitalistic societies are geared toward giving children different types of education based solely on their social standing rather than by their inherent skills. Under this principle schools are believed to give lower class children a different type of education compared to their upper class counterparts.Typically, it is said that lower class children are put on an educational track that will prepare them for ‘blue collar’ jobs. It is thought that the education of lower class children is different because it prepares them to enter the work force directly after secondary school. Schooling teaches working class children to sit quietly at their desk, obey the teacher’s authority, and also acquaints them with becoming familiar with repetitive tasks. Similarly, the education of upper class children is thought to be geared toward upper class or ‘white collar’ professions.With upper class children, instead of focusing on preparing them to enter the workforce, there is added emphasis is on preparing them to move on to four year colleges and universities after secondary school. Here they are trained to be professionals and capitalists by teaching them how to think critically and instilling in them a sense of responsibility and authority [Frank M Howell 1982] Louis Althusser was a structural Marxist who, through the influences of Karl Marx, introduced the concept of an ‘ideological state apparatus’.He argued that economic rel ations structure education so as to reproduce these same economic values into teaching. He went on to state that education is part of the system of the reproduction of labour power. Schools work to ensure that those who are to do the work will do so co-operatively, out of the belief that the situation is just and reasonable. From this point of view, the failure of so many pupils in schools is not a failing of the system but actually what the schooling system is designed to do. Working class children, who opt out, fail, or find schools alien, are indications that schooling is working successfully.Thus, education is not designed to develop human potential, but to limit it. The correspondence principle (Bowles and Gintis 1976) takes this point further stating that education introduces the acceptance of hierarchy and motivation by external rewards. For example; teacher says, pupil does; boss says worker does. Hierarchy comes into place in the form of the teachers roles e. g. head, deput y head, head of year, head of department etc. Many pupils are not interested in the subject knowledge they are taught are school, the only reason that have for going to school is to get exam passes i. e. an external reward.This prepares us for the world of work where we do not work for the love of the job but for the wage. Thus what happens at school corresponds to what happens at work. There are several examples present in today’s society that support Marxist theories of education. The introduction of the Youth Training Schemes (YTS) in 1983 [online] is one of these. Known as ‘on-the-job training courses’, these YTS represented ‘working class’ and job specific qualifications for the needs of capitalism. Another example of such schemes are General National Vocational Qualification (GNVQ’s) which are now know as NVQ’s.Such courses are said to favour the working classes as the structure is mainly coursework based. Many of the courses invo lve hands on learning which again, teach the hidden disciplines needed to work for the capitalist society and prepare a skilled work force. The Class biased system of education is shown by league tables and examination results and the principle of student loans represents the way in which the disadvantaged (working classes) are ‘priced’ out of the system. In conclusion of the Marxist perspective, it is clear they take a very critical approach on the education system.The promotion of ruling class ideologies through institutions such as the education system is seen to supress the working classes keeping them conformed to the norms and values of society. The teaching of these values at a young age means fewer questions are likely to be asked and the capitalist society can continue to work as it does, for the benefit of the economy. A second sociological perspective that takes a different view on education is that of functionalism. This is, in contrast to Marxism, a non-con flict approach. Functionalists believe that the education system has three main functions.Firstly it socialises young people into key cultural values such as equality of opportunity, competition and religious morality. Education is said by functionalists (especially Durkheim) to emphasise moral responsibilities in society that people should have towards each other [Education and Sociology 1922]. If these norms were not passed down through generations then there would be a tendency for individualism (where people believe that they are more important than social groups). An example of how education goes about promoting these values is through the subjects that are taught.Citizenship and religious education were introduced as compulsory subjects in schools to see that young people did things with thought for the society. The second function is to do with the skills that education teaches children, from literacy and numeracy to more job-specific skills. Occupational jobs are becoming mo re specialised and this in turn will lead to more years in education. The final function of education, according to functionalists is the allocating of roles of young people in society. Examinations and qualifications are said to allocate people for their most suited job.The equality of opportunity took place and so higher talented people are given the most functionally important jobs for the society. Emile Durkheim is one of the main influential and well known functionalists. He stated that ‘society can survive only if there exists among all its members a sufficient degree of homogeneity; education perpetuates and reinforces this homogeneity by fixing in the child, from the very beginning, the essential similarities that collective life demands’ [Education and Sociology 1922]. Homogeneity is defined as the quality or state of being of the same or similar nature having a uniform structure throughout [online].Durkheim saw sociology as a science and concentrated on the st udy of social facts rather than what motivates the actions of individuals. He argued that education has many functions; to reinforce social solidarity in subjects such as history (learning about individuals who have done good things for the many makes an individual feel insignificant) and through the pledge of allegiance in America (making individuals feel part of a group and therefore less likely to break rules); to maintain social role (school is a society in miniature. It has a similar hierarchy, rules, and expectations to the â€Å"outside world. It trains young people to fulfil roles); and to maintain division of labour (school sorts students into skill groups, encouraging students to take up employment in fields best suited to their abilities) [Education and Sociology 1922]. Although many of these points are similar to that of Marxism, the functionalists look at the positives of such class divisions. Two more perspectives that challenge the views of Marxism are Interactionism and Feminism. Interactionists take a micro approach looking at what happens in the classroom environment, specifically pupil and teacher interaction.They also concentrate on the way teacher expectations and perceptions of pupils can affect the life chances and educational chances of pupils. Whereas Marxists and Functionalists tend to focus on the structural sides to society, interactionists examine the relationships between the education system and the individual. This sociological group place a strong emphasis on labelling theology. Hargreaves, Hester and Mellor (Deviance in Classrooms 1975) studied how pupils became typified and classified. They conducted their study in two schools by interviewing teachers and observing in class.They found that teachers have a limited knowledge about their pupils when they first arrive at school, so they speculate, using the information that they already have, such as the pupils’ appearance, how far they conform to discipline, and their en thusiasm for work. This is elaborated over time until the teacher reaches a stage when they feel â€Å"they know† the pupil. It is therefore a gradual process that changes over time. Through this process the teacher can have an important influence on the progress of their pupils.It can affect the attention and encouragement a pupil can receive. The self-fulfilling prophecy follows on from the stereotyping and subsequent labelling of pupils. This theory argues that predictions made by teachers about the future success or failure of their pupils will tend to come true. The teachers’ interaction with their pupils will be influenced by the labels that they have attached. If a pupil has been labelled by their teacher as a potentially bright student they may receive extra encouragement to attain the higher marks.Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) tested the validity of self-fulfilling prophecy. They discovered that teachers’ expectations could significantly affect their pu pils’ performance The feminist perspectives generally focus on how education promotes patriarchy and a ‘male dominated’ society. There are many different branches within feminism such as liberal, radical and Marxist feminists however they all share the view that the education system is very male orientated and that women are socialised to conform to this dominance thus supressing them.Some of the more radical approaches go as far to say that ‘patriarchy will only end when women are freed from the physical and emotional violence inflicted by men in the classroom and the playground’ [online] In conclusion, the Marxist approach takes a very critical view of the education system arguing that is merely reinforces inequalities in society. They go on to state that in teaching a ‘hidden curriculum’, the system is only in place to create a dominant and trained work force to work for and fit the needs of the capitalist society.From a young age chi ldren begin to be shaped to fit these societal needs and are made to believe that their place in society is already decided for them through norms and values. In conforming to what they believe is normal, societies avoid anomie and complete social collapse as well as keeping the social classes from rising above their stations or asking questions. In contrast to such a negative outlook on the education system, functionalists look at how the teaching of norms and values creates social solidarity where shared beliefs bring together all classes.Interactionists take yet another view exploring the concept of pupil to teacher interaction and how labelling can shape behaviour. Finally, feminists take the view that the education system works in favour of males in giving them a higher status in the economical market thus justifying the suppression of women. References -Bottomore, Tom; Goode, Patrick [1983] ‘Readings in Marxist Sociology’ Clarendon Press (London) -Durkheim, Emile [1895] ‘The Rules of Sociological Method’ 8th edition, trans.Sarah A. Solovay and John M. Mueller, ed. George E. G. Catlin (1938, 1964 edition) -Durkheim, Emile [1956] ‘Education and Sociology’ Macmillan Publishing Co. , inc. & Collier Macmillan Publishers (London) -Howell, Frank M. ; McBroom, Lynn W. (1982), SOCIAL RELATIONS AT HOME AND AT SCHOOL: AN ANALYSIS OF THE CORRESPONDENCE PRINCIPLE, 55, American Sociological Association -http://socyberty. com/education/the-functions-of-education-according-to-functionalists-and-marxists/#ixzz1HN8LoWUv [accessed on 13. 3. 2011] -http://socyberty. com/education/the-functions-of-education-according-to-functionalists-and-marxists/#ixzz1HNLMioDC [accessed on 9. 03. 2011] -http://www. educationforum. co. uk/sociology_2/functionalist. htm [accessed on 9. 03. 2011] -http://www. le. ac. uk/education/resources/SocSci/zoe. html [accessed on 9. 03. 2011] -http://www. marxists. org/glossary/people/a/l. htm [accessed on 9. 03. 2 011] -http://www. thestudentroom. co. uk/showthread. php? t=185151 [accessed on 13. 03. 2011]

Of Kind and Cruel Fates Essay

Irony, in its essence, is the humor of contradiction. It is contradiction, in the sense that where we would expect events to lean on one way, events instead completely take the opposite direction. A crude example would be where a string of freak accidents occur at a factory where the manager is showing off to his potential clients that his company is â€Å"accident-free†. Irony is humorous because if one saw it with impartiality, one would find it funny. Having a car accident right after a road is â€Å"improved† to avoid further accidents, would be funny. To study irony further, one could study an average person’s sense of humor. While as a child, he may delight in the curiosities of the environment, eventually he becomes adjusted to seeing it everyday, and eventually his enjoyment of it fades. Humor takes on a different characteristic for him. There is the slapstick comedy, where he finds the antics of the performers as funny and absurd, and there is the situational comedy, where he finds funny ordinary people falling to ridiculous situations. The common thread to this humor is that it attacks at something. Whether it is to ridicule a person behaving out of the social norm (as the slapstick), or to ridicule a person’s belief or principle that is generally viewed as absurd (the parody), the higher the degree of abuse at the object of humor, the funnier. Irony, then, is humorous in the sense that it attacks something, through its contradiction. As an impartial viewer, we may find funny things that we know to be true as envisioned by the ironic set-up, but which is obscured in the minds of those who are involved in the irony. Humor moreover has intrinsic values it seeks to instill to its impartial witnesses, and consequently irony occurs as some way to inform the viewer of a cosmic lesson. We can delve in this further through the study of three stories, Tartuffe, The Princess of Cleves, and Nathan the Wise. There are several ironic situations that occur throughout the play Tartuffe. The story revolves around a household scandalized by having its head (the father) entertain and welcome as part of the family a man who openly and vocally shows his displeasure at what he deems as vices borne by the various members of the family and the house. One of the first ironic situations occurs with the son, Damis, who hides in the room while Tartuffe has a private conversation with his mother, Elmire. His intention is to unmask Tartuffe to his father as a hypocrite and get him out of the house (Moliere, 39-46). When he finally sees evidence of the man’s scandalous behavior towards his mother and reveals it to his father, not only does his father not believe (owing to the hypocrite’s skillful use of words), but has Damis instead kicked out and even encourages Tartuffe to continue his scandalous behavior towards his wife, in order to spite his family (47-51). The humor in the situation centered on how big a fool the father was to believe in Tartuffe’s virtue, and an even bigger fool not to see the truth when it is right in front of him. This is further stressed in the next ironic situation, where after Orgon (the father) finally realizes the extent of his friend’s deceit, he tries to tell his mother, who was also fooled by the hypocrite. For all his protestations she does not believe him until she sees it herself (Moliere, 68-71). The irony is that where he once ignored the loud protests of his family, likewise his mother does not believe him, even for his loud protests. The final ironic twist, however, turns out for the good as the hypocrite Tartuffe, having been unmasked and set his plans for revenge, intrigues on the King and plans to have them all arrested, only to have him as the object of arrest, as the King was â€Å"wise† to his intrigues (77-80). The play has these alternating reversal of fortunes, and its ironic humor attacks two things: that blind faith without reason in open Virtue is folly, and that any malice masked in virtue never remains unpunished. A more tragic tale of irony is that of the Princess of Cleves. Introduced to a court as Madam Chartres, she wins the affection of the Prince of Cleves, who endeavor to marry her despite the protests of his father; she falls, however for someone else, the Duke Nemours (Lafayette, 15-17). The story then centers around him trying to find the opportunity to confess his love, and she, now married, desperately tries to stave off his affections while suppressing hers. We do not see the irony unfold until the very end: the Princess anguishes over her affection for the Duke throughout her marriage, but following the death of her husband suddenly she has a change of heart and is convinced that her husband was a far better man than the Duke (101-107). It is only after the husband dies and they finally have an opportunity to be together does she decide not to be with the Duke. The irony here attacks the notion that love borne from adulterous intention will eventually bear fruit. It might have been attack towards the growing acceptance of the public towards the notion of infidelity, (almost every character is involved in an affair with someone else) and their giving it idealistic fervor. The Princess of Cleves, despite the best of her intentions, continued to bear her love to someone else, and pined for that other person, and consequently, in her husband’s death she realized her folly too late, and chose to suffer the rest of her life in that guilt. Nathan the Wise has such a complicated string of ironies, that one who skims through even the slightest of details would not appreciate the ironies that eventually occur. Originally, the story of the Jewish merchant Nathan centered around the Muslim conqueror Saladin trying to fool him out of his money—and this tale has found itself in the pages of Boccaccio’s Decameron. Nathan answers so skillfully that ironically it was Saladin who was put to shame by his own question and humbled before the Jew (Lessing, 90-97). This story is, however, expanded by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, and this encounter between the Egyptian conqueror and the Jew becomes the main theme. The tale then revolves around a Templar, who was pardoned by Saladin for the reason that he resembled the conqueror’s brother (Lessing, 36); the consequences of his rescue of a Jewish maiden (and subsequent encounter of the grateful surrogate father Nathan), and the intrigues of the Patriarch who would have him either kill Saladin or turn over Nathan, who he found had raised a Christian child to the Jewish faith (the same Jewess he rescued) (37-40). The irony, from an impartial point of view, might have been to some degree absurd. The Templar, in almost the fashion of Oedipus, tries desperately to seek the truth, and unmask what he sees in his prejudice as malice committed by the Jew Nathan (Lessing, 109-127). And, also in the fashion of Oedipus, not only does he discover that the girl he was trying to save (and hope to marry) was his sister, but Saladin who he would have killed had he agreed to the Patriarch, was his uncle after all (165-172). The irony also hits Saladin, as his pardoning the Templar Conrad because he looked like his brother, redounds to the truth that Conrad was his brother’s son. While the ironic twist might seem ridiculous to the trained eye, in the sense it fits to the lesson first imparted by Nathan to Saladin: that all men are equal before God, regardless of Faith. This is a happier chide at the Medieval sensibility of hostility between Faiths. Irony is humorous, because we find that the contradiction it creates makes sense. We might have felt our sensibilities offended when we saw that the Princess of Cleves did not end up with the Duke Nemours, but the cosmic twist was to show to us that infidelity was wrong. We would have preferred that the Templar should have instead ended up marrying the Jewess, but the irony was there to impart the lesson that prejudice has, after all, no place in the world. We sometimes do not find ironic circumstances that funny, as if we lived the life of Duke Nemours or became as aghast as the Templar Conrad. But eventually, we will learn that the contradiction was to impart to us that our plans may go completely the other way, because they may not have been right in the first place. And, the wiser we become to this truth, the more we will realize that irony, though it might strike sad for us, has a reason. The better we accept this, the more we will be prepared to just take a step back, take a view of the bigger picture, and laugh. WORKS CITED Lafayette, Madame de. The Princess of Cleves. New York: Project Gutenberg. 27 Sept. 2008 . Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim. Nathan the Wise. New York: Page, Curtis. Project Gutenberg. 01 Mar. 2003. . Moliere, Jean Baptiste. Tartuffe. New York: Project Gutenberg. 26 Oct. 2008. .