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Critical Literacy Essay Introduction
Critical Literacy Essay
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Critical Literacy Essay
Introduction
My chosen two theories are feminist/gender theory and Marxism theory. Feminist theory is construed as an approach that analyzes gender inequality in society. Through in-depth analysis, the theory describes the themes of discrimination, oppression, stereotyping, and sexual objectification in contemporary art and art history. Feminists believe that women and men have the freedom to develop their human interests and talents without regarding the conflicting interest situation to the status quo (Frueh, 2018). The second theory to analyze is the Marxist theory. The Marxist theory describes the struggles existing between the social classes. Majorly, the struggles get exhibited between the capitalist or the bourgeois and the workers or the proletariat. Marxist view gets based on the existence of inequalities based on social class. Mitigating the inequalities requires large-scale changes (Parkin, 2019). Marxist theory tends to ignore societal factors like ethnicity and gender.
Importance of Analyzing the Texts Through the Theoretical Lenses
The text Thank You, Ma’am creates a framework through which gender bias exists in society. As such, it is important to analyze the text using the feminist theory because the woman who was seen by the boy as weak and could not able to withstand the strength of a man upon the trial to steal the large purse. Unfortunately, the motive of the boy failed. He lost his balance, and the woman gained the courage to kick him, hold his shirt and hook the boy to the extent of rattling his teeth. However, the woman’s action toward the boy after the occasion was unbelievable. The woman took the boy to her place, prepared the coffee, ate together and gave out ten dollars to the boy to buy shoes (Hughes, 1958). The boy never expected the treatment because he thought the woman would take legal action. Therefore, the text Thank You, Ma’am, describes the importance of women in the society who understand the child’s economic needs despite the boy’s immoral action.
Also, analyzing the text Necklace by Maupassant using the Marxist theory depicts the struggles between people of different social classes. Mathilda Loisel was a relatively poor woman married to an economically struggling man working in the ministry of education (Maupassant, 1888). The lady longed to get rich by envying Jean, who had a large house and jewellery. One moment the family of Loisel and her husband was invited to the ceremony, but she could not afford the jewellery. As such, she had to borrow the diamond necklace from Madame Forestier. Also, the occasion was full of ministers and people from high social class, creating a class antagonism between Loisel and others.
Messages Conveyed by the Author on Money and Women
Langston Hughes in the text Thank You, Ma’am tries to convey the message of the importance of women in society. Hughes examines the importance of women in society by describing the role of Mrs. Jones, an elderly woman who caught the boy who intended to steal from her. Instead of taking legal action, the woman took the boy to her house, prepared the coffee for him, and gave an advice and ten dollars (Hughes, 1958). Finally, the woman forgave the boy by advising him to use the appropriate mean for economic gain. According to the audience’s expectation, the woman could have taken the boy to the legal authorities for discipline but was human enough to understand the boy’s fate. Also, the author tries to justify how society perceives women. The boy took it lightly that he could easily snatch the purse from the woman’s hand due to the age and the gender characterized by less energy.
The author of the text Necklace sends the message of the class differences existing in society. According to the text, Loisel and her husband’s economic status provides an antagonistic economic situation with other people like the ministers in the ceremony. Loisel’s husband was a secretary in the ministry of education, but her wife admired the economic status of others. The two got an invitation to the ceremony but struggled to afford the new clothing, making Loisel almost miss the event because of the fear of having old garments (Maupassant, 1888). After the event, Loisel lost a diamond necklace belonging to Madame Forestier.
Role of Money/Class and Gender in the Text
Gender plays an amicable role in the text. Thank you, Ma’am. Mrs. Jones understood the status of the boy by taking a unique action of giving advice plus money after a failed attempt of purse snatch at night. The woman recognized the boy as a son and never wanted to take the boy into custody (Hughes, 1958). As a mother, advice and money to purchase new shoes made the boy appreciate the presence of a woman in society. Also, money made the boy attempt to snatch the purse from the old woman. The boy was broke and had only an alternative of stealing from the old woman for survival.
Class in the text Necklace has played a role in the event’s organization. The event contained ministers and lower-class people like Loisel and her husband. The lower economic class of the family, Loisel, made them struggle with the need to purchase the new diamond necklace that got lost. They spent their whole savings to replace the lost necklace. Notably, gender role in the text necklace is exhibited where the husband cares for the wife (Maupassant, 1888). Also, women tend to help women look good during the occasion, as exhibited when Loisel borrowed a diamond necklace from Madame Forestier.
The Stereotype, Societal Roles/ Expectations Within the Text Correlating with the Chosen Theories
Gender stereotypes in the text Thank You, Ma’am gets exhibited in correlation with the Feminist theory where the boy took advantage of Mrs. Jones by trying to snatch the purse from her at night. The plan failed, and the woman caught the boy after sliding to the ground. Also, the social role of women is exhibited in the text Thank You, Ma’am, in the situation where the old woman Mrs. Jones understands the economic status of the boy and refers to him as a son (Hughes, 1958). Giving ten dollars to purchase shoes depicts a woman’s feelings for her children. As such, Mrs. Jones played an amicable gender role described by the feminist theory as caring. The societal role is depicted in the text Necklace, where Loisel’s husband cared for his wife to the extent of offering the saved money to enable the wife to purchase new clothing (Maupassant, 1888).
Impact of Gender on my Life
Gender has impacted my life in several ways that have made me appreciate the existence of the female gender in the world. My education achievement is because of a woman who was a friend to my parent. The woman has an amicable connection with Mrs. Jones, an old woman and a character in the text Thank You Ma’am (Hughes1958). I was almost dropping out of school, fortunately, met an old woman who searched for the needy students that required finance to complete the A-level education. The woman took good care of me economically and socially as her child as Mrs. Jones helped the needy boy with ten dollars to purchase the shoes.
References
Frueh, J. (2018). Towards a feminist theory of art criticism. In Feminist Art Criticism (pp. 153-165). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429500497-9/towards-feminist-theory-art-criticism-joanna-fruehHughes, L. (1958). Thank You, Ma’am
Maupassant, d G. (1888). The Necklace
Parkin, F. (2019). Marxism and class theory: A bourgeois critique. In Social stratification (pp. 162-177). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429306419-27/marxism-class-theory-bourgeois-critique-frank-parkin
Critical leadership issue
Critical leadership issue
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Good leadership is a top human capital concern in many organizations. It is the number one talent issue organizations face today since it is an important aspect of organizations. The most critical leadership facing organizations in the second decade of the 21st century is leadership development. Leadership development involves the enhancement of the quality of leadership within the organization (Storey, 2004). High performance organizations have some processes in place to identify leadership development gaps. Such mechanisms in place are a clear indication that most organizations are struggling to make sure they grow their future leaders.
Finding and developing good leaders in an organization is termed as a top challenge for organizations. Organizations are struggling to come up with a solution, but the problem is only getting worse. Organizations face the challenge of developing leaders that have a high flexibility as well as a global fluency.
Organizations have to ensure that their leaders possess skills that enable them understand and also adapt to the technology that is rapidly changing. Today, leadership is taking a broader meaning compared to what it did previously. Organizations need to develop leaders in all levels by bringing in younger leaders into the organizations. There is also the need for development of leaders globally in order to make sure they remain relevant and engaged for a longer period (Amagoh, 2012).
The 21st century leadership is not the same as before as leaders are required to have global flexibility and fluency. They are also required to understand the new fields and disciplines that are coming up in the 21st century (Vries, 2011).
Leadership development is a challenge to many organizations as it ends up failing. Most organizations concentrate on training of their leaders instead of their development. Training is the number one reason why leadership development is not successful. In many occasions, training is termed as being productive but in the real sense it is not. In most organizations, training and development are considered to be synonymous which is not true. Training usually focuses on best practices but development emphasizes on next practices. Leadership development fails in organization as it is substituted with training (Amagoh, 2012). Organizations do not understand that these two are different and one can not substitute the other. They concentrate of training and assume it is a way of development and hence it fails. For leadership development to be effective there are specific aspects that organizations need to focus on to develop leaders. These aspects are development of global leaders locally, developing leaders at all levels and development of a succession mindset. If organizations want to realize growth in the global world, they need to develop global leaders.
Leadership development is the most critical issue than any other the management of an organization faces. First, there is an increased pace of changes in the economy, organizations treat leadership development as a survival tactic. Successful leadership development enables an organization to be able to survive in the changing business world. It also ensures that the organization is able to outperform its competitors with an increased revenue, profitability, market share and rising stock price (Vries, 2011).
Leadership development also provides a business opportunity for the organization in terms of sustained performance. It enables the organization to grow a culture of innovation, customer satisfaction, operational excellence and continuous improvement. Leadership development provides an effective and strong succession planning within the organization.
Globalization is on the rise in the world today hence there is need to develop global leaders at the local level. With leadership development, organizations are able to produce leaders who are competent in the local and global markets. These leaders are effective in the organization as they have a global mindset of working hence they are more productive. Effective leadership development provides an organization with leaders that mentor, coach and develop other leaders within the organization. It provides a constant and steady flow of leaders in the organization at all levels (Vries, 2011).
Leadership development is also important because it provides an opportunity for developing competencies of leaders. Most of the leadership aspects are behavioral and hence they can be developed. Leadership competencies are more than just a set of leadership skills. They are also opportunities and risks faced by a leader. Leaders in an organization need to develop competencies in order to be able to make appropriate decisions and solve problems (Amagoh, 2012). The market environment today places an importance of flexibility, speed and ability of leading in situations that are uncertain. The flattening of organizations has made leadership skills crucial at every level. Therefore, leadership development is important as it provides an opportunity for leaders to develop these required skills (Storey, 2004)
Without leadership development, an organization can not perform well. Leadership is all in the mind and hence good leaders have to be developed. Leadership development has to be conducted appropriately in order for it to be effective. Organizations have to bridge the leadership development gaps so that they can remain competent in the market. Leaders are an important part of any organization and hence there is need for constant leadership development so as to achieve the best results. Organizations carry out leadership development appropriately have a potential of realizing great success.
References
Amagoh, F. (2012). Leadership development and leadership effectiveness. Management Decision, 989-999.
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Storey, J. (2004). Leadership in organizations current issues and key trends. London: Routledge.
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Vries, M. (2011). Leadership development. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.
Deviance and Injustice
Deviance and Injustice
Question 1.
To maintain a stable and visible “class” of criminals, five elements are identified as victimless crime, discretion, cruel and unusual punishment, lack of employment, and debt to society (Reiman 142). Victimless crime represents the development of las that prevent acts that have no unwilling victim such as laws against gabling, drug use, and prostitution. Discretion points to the powers conferred to the police, judges, and the prosecutors to make decisions on who to arrest, charge, and sentence to prison terms (Reiman 142). The cruel and unusual punishment element points to how the prison experience is made painful and demeaning with no privacy and zero control over actions and time (Reiman 142). Lack of employment means that prisoners are intentionally denied an opportunity to redeem themselves in a society by receiving no job training, being restrained from working after their release, and keeping prisoner records as permanent record to prevent future employers from hiring (Reiman 142). Debt to society requires ex-offenders to carry a constant debt by revoking their right to vote, constant harassment by the police, and are at the mercies of the criminal justice system (Reiman 142). For people in positions of power, blaming the poor deflects the disconnect and hostility of Middle America, away from other classes above them, and towards lower classes. It allows the middle class, the majority of Americans, to frown upon the poor as opposed to the rich. TED (6:1-37) mentions that the justice system is meant for the poor and protects the wealthy. The criminal justice system is not meant to provide justice for all but to make it look like crime is only the work of the poor.
Question 2.
The opposite of poverty is justice. This quote places a relationship between poverty and justice. It means that when one is poor getting justice is an issue. The opposite of poverty is wealth, yes, but wealthy people do not have to face the same justice system as the poor. When one is poor, getting justice is near impossible. The quote points to how poor people are exposed to a different justice system compared to wealthy Americans. Wealth is equated to justice, albeit force or corrupt justice. The poor and the disadvantaged do not stand a chance at justice in the American criminal justice system. The system is meant to reinforce public fear of crimes committed by those under poverty (Reiman 141). The definition of justice for poor communities is different from what is defined in law. In the American system, one is related differently, and much better, if they have money than when they are poor. The justice system has shaped outcomes in urban dwellings and in communities populated by people of color. As a result, wealth is seen to be a key determinant of justice (TED, 5:55-6:56). The politics of fear and anger have made the definition of justice to be altered, with those that are afflicted having no say and those not affected seeing the issue as not of concern to them. Therefore, the opposite of poverty is justice.