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Snow by Julia Alvarez
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Week 2-Snow by Julia Alvarez
Snow by Julia Alvarez
The main idea of Snow by Julia Alvarez is that human beings tend to easily get caught up in the issues that are going on in society that they forget about the little things that matter the most. The story is about a young girl who has immigrated to New York. In school, the teachers are always teaching them about the way set to take place against communists. The first time Yolanda sees snow, she thinks it is a bomb. The audience of this article is teachers, parents, and young children. The text aims to show that children should be allowed to enjoy their childhood and that irrespective of background, everybody is equal and unique. The article indicates that there is a possibility that Julia went through similar experiences as Yolanda growing up. She was probably misunderstood because of her background and, as a result, treated unequally. Education plays an important role in language because children learn new things if they are taught by other people or as a result of interactions with new knowledge. Language is the means by which people acquire new knowledge and, by extension, get educated.
Comparing Mother Tongue and Snow
From the articles Snow and Mother Tongue, I have gathered that both authors encountered differential treatment because of their background and the languages they spoke. Both authors are non-English native speakers and immigrated to a new environment at a young age. They struggled to get acceptance in their societies because they could not speak English properly because of mother-tongue interference. Their families were also instrumental in shaping their languages. Education helps improve language because as one gets educated, their vocabulary gets better (Tongue, 291). It is rare to find an educated person speaking broken English. In most cases, educated people have a great mastery of the English language. Although they might have an accent, it does not hinder them from communicating effectively.
About Julia Alvares’ and my Tan’s Professional Work
Born in 1950 in New York, Julia Alvarez’s parents went back to their native country, the Dominican Republic, shortly after her birth. However after ten years, they went back to the United States. Julia Alvarez is a Dominican-American essayist, poet, and novelist. She rose to fame with the novels Yo (1997), In the Time of Butterflies (1994), and How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents (1991). Alvarez has authored other novels, including Saving the World, The Other side, Homecoming and nonfiction books like A Wedding in Haiti and Something to Declare. Alvarez has won numerous awards include the National Medal of Arts from President Obama in 2013, the Hispanic Heritage Award, and the Pura Belpre awards. Amy Tan is a Chinese American novelist and writer. She has published a collection of children’s stories known as The Moon Lady (1992), The Opposite of Fate (2004) and The Chinese Siamese Cat (1994), which has since been converted to a television series. Any Tan has won many awards, including the Commonwealth Gold Award and nominated for the International Orange Award and the National Book Award.
Quotations
Quote 1: Alvarez writes, “As the only immigrant in my class, I was put in a special seat in the first row by the window, apart from the other children so that Sister Zoe could tutor me without disturbing them”( Alvarez, 21).
Paraphrase: Alvarez explained that being the only immigrant in the class, Sister Zoe strategically positioned her in the first row by the window so that she could tutor her separately without disturbing the rest of the class
Explanation: Here, Alvarez is trying to show the unequal treatment she received in school. Because she could not speak in proper English, the teachers took extra time with her to tutor her and help her improve her language, including pronunciation.
Quote 2: Alvarez writes, “But then Sister Zoe’s shocked look faded. ‘Why, Yolanda dear, that’s snow!’ she laughed.”
Paraphrase: The author explained that Sister Zoe was amused when she saw that Yolanda was referring to snow as a bomb
Explanation: Alvarez tries to show how as a child, Yolanda has been socialized to only think about the war from what Sister Zoe had taught them in class. As an immigrant, it was the first time Yolanda saw snow, and she thought it was a bomb. This shows the extent to which Yolanda was not aware of her immediate environment.
Works Cited
Alvarez, Julia. “Snow.” Northwest Review 22.1 (1984): 21.
Tongue, Mother. “Amy Tan.” The World is a Text: Writing, Reading, and Thinking about Culture and Its Contexts (2003): 291.
Visualizing the $94 Trillion World Economy in One Chart
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Visualizing the $94 Trillion World Economy in One Chart
The article notes that only four countries, including the U.S., Japan, Germany and China make up more than half of the global economic output through gross domestic product using nominal terms. As a matter of fact, USA’s gross domestic product alone is more than that of 170 countries combined. The article notes that GDP functions as a broad indicator of the economic output for a given country. It evaluates the total market value for final services and products that are produced in a given time frame, such as a year or quarter. The article notes that when the DGP of a given country increases, it indicates greater economic activity which benefits businesses and workers.
The article notes that the United States GDP accounts for more than 25% of the global economy, which has changed drastically over the past 60 years. The insurance, real estate, and finance sectors add the most to the US economy, followed by business and professional services and government. China which has the second largest GDP of around $17 trillion remains to be the biggest manufacturer globally according to output on extensive production of electronics, steel and robotics. Germany is the biggest economy in Europe and export about 20% of global motor cars. The article also mentions the smallest economies by GDP in the world including island and developing nations. Tuvalu, with a $70 million GDP, is the smallest in the world. It is located between Australia and Hawaii. Additionally, Tuvalu earns considerable revenue from its web domain “.tv”. Tuvalu earned $5 million annually between 2011 and 2019 from companies including Twitch which Amazon owns in licensing Twitch.tv domain name, which accounts for equivalently 7% of the GDP. The article also talks about countries with the fastest-growing economies, including Libya, Macao, Guyana, Ireland, Maldives, Panama, Peru, Chile, Aruba, and the Dominican Republic. Libya is at the top of the list, with a projected economy of 123%.
Culture, Race and Ethnicity
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Culture, Race and Ethnicity
Introduction
Diversity at the work place is an emerging social ideology that has various implications on organizational management. Recent trends ascertain that the US population is increasingly becoming diversified along racial, ethnic and cultural domains. The inherent differences have a wide range of benefits as well as challenges. If incorporated in a workplace, ethnic, racial and cultural diversity enable the respective organization to address the relative challenges with ease. In order to enhance executive functioning, public agencies such as the police department are being challenged to make this aspect a mainstream factor.
This would enable them to identify relative challenges and address the same accordingly. This is critical for empowering them to attain their fundamental goals and objectives of maintaining law and order, protecting the populations and enforcing justice. It is against this background that this paper provides an intrinsic analysis of three challenges that these personnel experience when executing duties to diverse populations. Moreover, it underscores possible solutions that are instrumental in curbing the challenges.
The US census bureau cites that there are thirteen racial classifications in America. Within these, there are various cultures or social groups that share common beliefs, traits as well as values. Further, they have different ethnicities that constitute subgroups of the various cultures. Adams (2006) indicates that the law enforcement agencies recently employed numerous personnel to deal with the unique needs of these populations. Nevertheless, the police continue to face various challenges that compromise their ability to deal with the inherent concerns effectively.
The first challenge that the police continue to grapple with is the inability to incorporate diversity at the work place. In this respect, Hess and Christine (2009) assert that a significant percentage of the police departments across the nation do not have sufficient representation of the persons from diverse populations. Just like other professions, the police department has a predominant White workforce. This has been particularly challenging for the departments that are located in states that have a high representation of diverse populations.
The inability to reflect the racial, cultural and ethnic diversity of the population has culminated in feelings of discrimination, distrust and isolation by the locals. At this juncture, it should be appreciated that communities are important in assisting the police with investigations. Thus this has undermined the ability of the police to carry out operations effectively. To counter this, the respective authorities need to hire personnel from diverse populations and empower them accordingly through training and promotions.
Language barrier is another challenge that the police struggle with during the execution of duties in diverse populations. The inability to understand the language of the natives makes it difficult for the police to carry out investigations in an effective and timely manner. In this regard, Shusta, Deena and Herbert (2007) argue that this affects the accuracy of the information as the police officers are forced to seek for interpreters. In addition, it compromises the safety of the officers as the offenders can easily plot to harm them or and escape in their presence and without their knowledge.
Of great concern is the fact that failure to understand the language of the population has the capacity to exacerbate the conditions of the crime. The most viable counter measure in this respect is to incorporate multicultural studies and bilingualism in police training. This would enable them to deal with the diverse populations effectively and without infringing on their cultural and ethnic rights. Short term solution to this includes hiring of a staff that is competent in multilingualism.
Further complexities stem from the sensitive issue of racial profiling. Shusta et al (2007) cites that even when used unconsciously, racial profiling triggers feelings of distrust in the operations of the police as it is considered a form of discrimination. Practical strategies that have been adopted to address this include the banning of racially generated information in profiling. In addition, Adams (2006) asserts that use of dialogues in problem resolution as opposed to use of argument can be rewarding. Social studies also posit that the police should partner with civil society organizations as well as other non profit oriented organizations to address racial profiling. This would be instrumental in enhancing objectivity when dealing with diverse populations.
Conclusion
The increase in the racial, ethnic and cultural diversity in the work place has generated various challenges to respective organizations. Public and private organizations are expected to address these issues in order for them to be able to operate in an executive manner. Failure to mainstream these concerns culminates in social conflicts that threaten the harmonic living. Indeed, it can not be disputed that the inability to incorporate diversity at the work place, language problems and racial profiling undermine effective functioning of the police. Effective counter measures include hiring of multilingual staff, incorporation of cultural studies during training and banning of racial profiling. Employment of independent bodies such as the civil society and the non profit making organizations when dealing with racial issues is also desirable.
References
Adams, F. (2006). Police Field Operations. USA: Prentice Hall.
Hess, M. & Christine, H. (2009). Criminal Investigation. USA: Delmar Cengage Learning.
Shusta, F., Deena, L. & Herbert, Z. (2007). Multicultural Law Enforcement. USA: Prentice Hall.