Queer theory Essay

The concept of sexuality, what is socially accepted, what is ‘natural’, what is prescribed by religion, what is deemed deviant has been a form of social analysis, controversy, political debate and a measure of human progress. For what was considered the least talked about issue in society, sexuality was in many ways what defined the individual, their society, culture and the legal and moral laws that presided within it. The controllers of power were white, middle class, heterosexual men. If one of the white, middle to upper class men were found to be practising homosexuality they were gaoled and deemed to be under the influence of Satan himself. Homosexuality was in many ways to the hegemonic masculinity an abdication of the throne, stepping down from the privileged class and taking the form of the lower forms of life; women and the lesser races. Lesbianism was either thought to not exist at all or was not thought of as a problem because they were not threatening (in any substantial way) the existence of a stable, masculinized order. Oppression came in the form of the hegemonic masculinity passing laws to outlaw homosexuality and pronouncing that homosexuality was in fact a medical condition and could be treated. Yet despite the many laws passed, all the psychotherapy and electrocution the homosexual was still very much alive. Then came the Stonewall riots, gay and lesbian and feminist movements who swept around the world, the liberation swept into the academic world and new thoughts surrounding sexuality were being produced at rapid rates. These thoughts of sexuality are in a constant state of change, deconstructing and reinventing. Queer theory has emerged from this spiral of thought and has impacted not only on the academic world but in the form of popular culture, where it continues to challenge and in many ways further sexual liberation. Queer Theory; It’s precursors and Theorists. Sexual desire has been for centuries thought of as being part of our natural  makeup, as if it were embedded within our very being. This idea of sexuality being a natural drive was shared by many leading figures in the academic world; Charles Darwin, anthropologist Malinowski, the philosopher Marcuse and Freud saw sexuality within human psychology. These ideas were challenged in the form of Post-structuralism, often associated with the works of Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida, which dominants the structure and understanding of Queer theory. ‘[Post-structuralism] refers to a manner of interpreting selves and the social which breaks with traditional epistemologies’ Post-structuralism argues that subjects are the autonomous creators themselves or their social worlds. Subjects are embedded in a complex network of social relations. These relations thus determine which subjects can appear where, and in what capacity. Post-structuralism contends that a focus on the individual as an autonomous agent needs to be ‘deconstructed’, contested and troubled. It is engaged in denaturalising dominant understandings of sexual identity. In emphasising that sexuality is not an essentially personal attribute but an available cultural category. Michel Foucault in his much acclaimed History of Sexuality, Volume I changed the way everyone thought about sexuality and challenged the idea of the natural. ‘Foucault argued that society did not repress sexuality, which simply does not exist as an entity in nature. Rather, social discourses constituted sexuality as a cultural form, in the historical transition to modernity.’ Jacques Derrida offers a somewhat different approach through his ways of thinking surrounding how meanings are established. ‘†Supplement† suggests that meanings are organised through difference, in a dynamic play of presence and absence.’ A Derridean perspective would argue that heterosexuality needs homosexuality for it’s own definition. Feminist theory contributed greatly to many of the ideas behind Queer theory. Feminist theorists looked at gender as a system of signs, or signifiers, assigned to sexually dimorphic bodies, which served to differentiate the social roles and meanings those bodies could have. Feminist theory thus argued that gender was a social construct, something designed and implemented and perpetuated by social organisations and structures, rather than something merely ‘true’, something innate to the ways bodies worked on a biological level. In so doing, feminist theory made two very important contributions. The first is that feminist theory separated the social from the biological, insisting that we see a difference between what is the product of human ideas, hence something mutable and changeable, and what is the product of biology, hence something (relatively) stable and unchangeable. The second contribution is related to the first: by separating the social and the biological, the constructed and the innate, feminist theory insisted that gender was not something ‘essential’ to an individual’s identity. As a term ‘Queer theory’ was first used by Teresa de Lauretis in her introduction to the ‘Lesbian and Gay Sexualities’ issue of differences in the summer of 1991 in which to encompass the large circulation of Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual writings. To describe ‘the conceptual and speculative work involved in discourse pro-duction, and . . . the necessary critical work of deconstructing our own discourses  and their constructed silences’. The object of study in queer theory is the social articulation of same-sex eroticism and why, in recent centuries in  Western-dominated cultures, this human interaction has been articulated as queer, as abject Other. Judith Butler in her widely cited book Gender Trouble contributes to gender and ideas of sexuality. How gender operates as a regulatory construct that privileges heterosexuality and how the deconstruction of normative models of gender legitimates lesbian and gay subject positions. Queer Theory; Gender, Identity, ‘We’re Queer! and We’re Here!’ Queer theory and Queer politics is often hard to comprehend, and harder to define since part of it’s basis is intentionally having no set definition. Queer theory is surrounded by contradictions, difficulties, opposing thoughts and political debate. Queer theorists have different ideas on what is ‘Queer’ and what is not ‘Queer’ and some Queer theorists believe there is no set doctrine in which to be ‘Queer’ because that would adhere to the ‘norm’s’ of heteronormativity. Examining different ‘Queer’ thoughts can help aid our own formulation of what is ‘Queer’ and what ‘Queer theory’ is to the individual and how it can help develop understandings around sexuality, gender, history, societies, cultures and heteronormativity. Queer Theory assumes that sexual identities are a function of representations. It assumes that representations pre-exist and define, as well as complicate and disrupt sexual identities. That people discover their identities by working with (and against) the identities the culture represents as possibilities. Queer theory drawing very much from the theory of performativity, where sexual identity is marked on the body and is in a constant process of embodiment. Where selfhood is a constructed idea, something not ‘naturally’ produced by bodies or by birth. Selfhood, in poststructuralist theory, becomes ‘subject hood’ or ‘subjectivity’. The switch in terms is a recognition that, first of all, human identity is shaped by language, by becoming a subject in language. The shift from ‘self’ to ‘subject’ also marks the idea that subjects are the product of signs, or signifiers, which make up our ideas of identity. Selves are stable and essential; subjects are constructed, hence provisional, shifting, changing, always able to be redefined or reconstructed. Selves, in this sense, are like signifiers within a rigid system, whose meanings are fixed; subjects, by contrast, are like signifiers in a system with more play, more multiplicity of meaning. Queer theory takes on this idea and opts for ‘denaturalisation’, where the individual can ‘challenge the familiar distinction between normal and pathological, straight and gay, masculine men and feminine women.’ Queer theory surrounds itself with ideas about sexuality as an innate or essentialist category and the opening to reformulation and the bending of the idea of gender roles as essential, and as determined by sex (males are masculine, females are feminine) through their unique combinations of what used to be called masculine and feminine styles. Queer theory allows us to examine Western culture and problematize it’s approach to attributing everyone to not only certain behaviour’s but identity’s and it’s tendency to label, box and categorise. As said by Sedgwick in Epistemology of the Closet; ‘A society which insists that each individual, just as he or she possesses a gender also must necessarily occupy one or the other category of sexual orientation.’ Queer theorists seek to break down traditional dichotomies surrounding gender and as novelist Saul Bellow observes, ‘The idea is to clobber everything that used to be accepted as given, fixed, irremediable.’ For the new radical theorists, the enemy is no longer a ruling class, a hegemonic race, or even a dominant gender. Instead it is the sexual order of nature itself. Oppression lies in the very idea of the ‘normal’, the order that divides humanity into two sexes. Instead of a classless society as the redemptive future, queer theorists envisage a gender-free world. Queer theory results in an effort to speak from and to the differences and silences that have been suppressed by the homo-hetero binary, an effort to unpack the monolithic identities ‘lesbian’ and ‘gay’ including the intricate ways lesbian and gay sexualities are inflected by heterosexuality, race, gender and ethnicity.’ Queer theory also seeks to not only break down gender roles, sexual order and dichotomies but break down the very thoughts around sexuality in regard to biology and reproduction. Much of out culture tends to define sexuality in terms of animal instincts, sexual responses are almost purely biological: we respond sexually to what is coded in our genes and hormones, and this is almost always defined in terms of reproductive behaviour. Queer theorists problematize this by pointing out that human sexuality differs immensely from that of the animals and that females do not enter a period in which they are in ‘heat’ and males are not solely programmed to seek out those females who are in ‘heat’. Humans also have an enormous repertoire of sexual behaviours and activities, only some of which are linked to reproduction. Queer theorists ask that we dismiss sexuality in linkage to reproduction and more so that sexuality is a discursive effect with never ending intricacies, possibilities and pathways. Queer theorists also challenge the ideas of sexuality in terms of moral and social judgement and how this links in with identity, that is-morality, in terms of right and wrong behaviours. Western cultural ideas about sexuality come from lots of places; from science, from religion, from politics, and from economics. These ideas about sexuality often take the form of dichtomic moral statements about what forms of sexuality are right, or good, or moral, and which are wrong, bad, and immoral. These categories have shifted over time, which is another way of arguing that definitions of sexuality are not ‘essential’ or timeless or innate, but rather are social constructs, things that can change and be manipulated. Queer theorists note how powerful the links are between sexual activities and notions of morality. And the link comes, in part, from defining sexuality as part of identity, rather than just as an activity which one might engage in. Hence, if you have genital sexual contact with someone of the same sex, you are not just having homosexual sex, you ARE a homosexual. And that identity then is linked to a moral judgment about both homosexual acts and homosexual identities. Queer theorists note that while someone who engages in a homosexual act does not consider themselves homosexual but if another becomes privileged to this information then that person may inflect the term ‘homosexual’ on that person hence defining an identity for this person. Queer on the other hand  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœmarks a suspension of identity as something fixed, coherent and natural.’ Queer theory: Contributions to social analysis. Part of Queer theory is based around the recognition of the role of interpretation in understanding all aspects of human life. That is, queer theory assumes that events, attitudes, relationships, etc., are never self-evident or self-interpreting but always require some grid of interpretation or key to decode and make sense of them. Queer theorists state that while every is subject to subjectivity, the past and how the self views and interprets the past is filled with ‘glitches’ and we decode the past through a lens that it set to examine the past through  the ‘norm’, which thus distorts the past and continues and perpetuates those norms. As Michael Warner explains it: ‘Almost everything that would be called queer theory is about ways in which texts–either literature or mass culture or language–shape sexuality’. Queer theorists are thus devoted to rereading past events, texts, and social theories, especially those related to sexuality with the lens set to disrupt, de-straight or de-norm. Queer theory has made interesting contributions to sociology, and though many sociologists are wary and sceptical of Queer theory some have taken Queer theory and used it constructively in social analysis. Sociology influenced by Queer theory is a move to a model of difference that provokes new insights into the continual reproduction of heteronormativity hegemony. Sociologists have been challenged to sharpen their analytical lenses, to grow sensitised to the discursive production of sexual identities, and to be mindful of the force of heteronormativity as a fundamental organising principle throughout the social order. The impact of queer theory can also be seen in studies of the institutional regulation and management of sexualities, and in people’s responses to that regulation by media, religion, kinship institutions, and political organisations. Sociologists have used Queer theory in application of the globalised media, in particular in the explosion of reality television such as Big Brother and talk shows such as Ricki Lake who provide a slice of what and how sexuality and sexualities operate within society. They not only study the behaviour of the people within this media discourse but a public (church groups, politicians, psychologists) reaction to their behaviour. Sociologists have used Queer theory in an examination of power and authority in the intersections between class and or race and sexuality. Scholars have examined how those in power use languages of sexuality to naturalise oppression based on race, class, and gender, such as in racist understandings of black women as sexually insatiable, Asian women as sexually exotic, black men as sexually predatory, and white women as sexually innocent. These assumptions, whether spoken or unspoken, have influenced policies as broad as colonisation, marriage and welfare law, healthcare and education and not to mention less institutionalised practices. The importance of Queer theory and it’s contributions to social analysis and a general understanding how the world has and continues to function is never ending in possibilities. Queer theory can continue it’s deconstruction and reinvention over time because sexuality is always changing. A continued effort of social analysis through a Queer lens can only help expose the many intricacies of sexuality. It’s potential to escape criticisms of Eurocentric bias and utilise it’s position that it’s available to everyone can help deepen an understanding of Western understandings of race, culture, ethnicity in regard to sexuality. Queer theory is in a constant state of change and challenge, it can only continue to broaden itself and academics into new thought-provoking realms. Bibliography: Books: Connell, R.W. Gender. Polity Press; Cambridge. 2002. Jagose, Annamarie. Queer theory: an introduction. New Yorks: New York University Press, 1996. Kirsch, Max H. Queer Theory and Social Change. Routledge Press; Great Britain. 2000. Ringer, Jeffrey. Queer words, queer images : communication and the construction of homosexuality. New York : New York University Press, c1994. Steven, Seidman (Editor) Queer theory/sociology. Cambridge, Mass: Blackwell, 1996. Thomas, Calvin. Straight with a twist : queer theory and the subject of heterosexuality. Urbana : University of Illinois Press, c2000. Journals Cornwall, Richard. A Primer on Queer Theory For Economists Interested in Social Identity’s. Feminist Economics 4(2), 1998, 73-82 Gamson, Joshua and Moon, Dawne. The Sociology of Sexualities Annual. Review. Sociology. 2004. Horowitz, David. The Queer Fellows. American Spectator, Vol. 26 Issue 1, (1993) 40-51. Mitchell, Peter. Wishing for Political Dominance: Representations of History and Community in Queer Theory. Australian Literary Studies. Vol.7 No.18. (2003) 189-197. Myers, Helen. Queer or not too Queer, That’s not the Question. South-western University in Texas. College Literature, Vol. 24 Issue 1. (1997) 171-182. Rudy, Kathy. Queer Theory and Feminism. Feminist Studies, Vol. 27 Issue 1 (2000) 192-203 Shepard, Benjamin. Queer Theory and it’s Continuing Significance. Routledge Journals. Vol. 29. No. 4. (2002) 89-94. Online articles Altman, Dennis. On Global Queering. Australian Humanities Review. http://www.lib.latrobe.e du.au/AHR/copyright.html Bredback, Gregory. W. Literary Theory: Gay, Lesbian and Queer. New England Publishing Associates. http://www.glbtq.com. Hedges, Warren. Queer Theory Explained. Southern Oregon University, 1999. http://www.sou.edu/English/Hedges/Sodashop/RCenter/Theory/Explaind/pdfs/queer%20theory Klages, Mary. Thoughts on Queer Theory. University of Colorado. http://www.colorado.edu/English/ENGL2012Klages/queertheory.html. 1997.

Patterns of World History Vol 1 Essay Example

Patterns of World History Vol 1 Essay Example Patterns of World History Vol 1 Essay Patterns of World History Vol 1 Essay â€Å"Humans and Ideas† Some of the most powerful ideas humans developed during early divination of 3000 BCE to 618 CE have been about techniques to improve living. New technological ideas from the invention of the wheel to the hand crank pump have transformed how millions of people live. The way technological ideas have accumulated over time and the effects they have had on society is one of the main themes of world history. Shortly before 3000 BCE, Mesopotamians invented a technological idea which ended in a writing system called cuneiform that increased communication, record keeping, and abstract thought. Through symbols written on wet clay tablets that represented objects and sounds, history could be recorded for the first time. Writing was a major expansion of the conceptual horizon of humankind that reached back to the first flaked stones, ornaments, figurines, and cave paintings in the Paleolithic (Von Sivers 44). Early metallurgists discovered that by adding tin to copper they were able to make bronze which was much harder than copper and provided a sharper cutting edge which was the start of the Bronze Age (Lecture). By 2800 BCE Sumer entered into what is described as the protoliterate period where scribes would work with pictograms and official seals but there was still no official written language (Lecture). Harappan cities were unique to the 1700’s BCE due to the meticulously planned grid-like design that included a most elaborate urban sewer system for ancient times. Remarkably straight, brick paved streets ran in north/south, east/west axes forming square blocks of public buildings, temples, and markets in convenient locations. Houses had brick-lined indoor wells and primitive toilets emptying into terra-cotta cesspits whose overflow connected to the city’s drains and sewers (Von Sivers 80). Located several miles up the Sabarmati River from the Gulf of Khambat, Lothal was a large, perhaps the chief, of all trading seaports around 1700 BCE. Lothal central structure is an enormous basin, approximately 120 feet long and 70 feet wide. The location of Lothal on the Arabian Sea indicates a link between Harappan cities and trade that would have reached Mesopotamia and possibly Egypt. Lothal was also a famous regional craft center, with micro beads used for decorative craft items and jewelry as its chief product for internal trade and export (Von Sivers 80). Around 1700 BCE, the chariot and composite bow made their entry into the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean region, transforming armies who previously relied solely on foot soldiers. Black smiths mastered the art of iron making and incorporated iron into their chariot armies, in the form of swords, helmets, and protective armor (Von Sivers 53). The Shang Dynasty used the horse to drive chariots, which transformed the Chinese warfare for transportation, which linked disparate regions of China and helped the Shang to expand. It was a featured in art and poetry and thus offered a new symbol for artist and poets to work with. It will also link China to nomadic horse people from the north and west (Von Sivers 110). The people in Meroe mined, smelted, and forged iron which they were the first to do so in sub-Saharan Africa. The craft of iron smelting evolved gradually in Hittite Anatolia during several centuries after 1500 BCE. The possible spread of iron-working sills from the Middle East to Africa has not been satisfactorily proved. Iron workers in African villages adapted iron-making to local village circumstances. The production of iron, or greater import was the knowledge f how to forge the bloom-the combination of raw iron and slag- into an iron- carbon allow that was neither too soft nor too brittle (Von Sivers 165). Chariots and bows were introduced to the Shan army between 1300-1200 BCE. Around 1200 BCE, The Olmec crafted figurines, mask of clays, and made figurines from jade and serpentine. The Olmec heads were carved from 18 ton blocks of basalt that were quarried 70 miles away from San Lorenzo. Large groups of workers shouldered beams from which the basalt blocks, weighing 18 tons on average, hung in slings. They carried these blocks to the coast and shipped them to San Lorenzo on rafts. There, sculptors fashioned the blocks into fierce-looking, helmeted heads, kneeling or sitting figures, and animal statues (Von Sivers 145). The Lydians are notable for having created in 615 BCE the first minted money in world history, coins made of silver and gold and used in trade (Von Sivers 199). The Achaemenids created an elaborate system of roads known as the royal roads around 550 BCE for communication and transportation of troops and trade. The Persian Empire in particular covered vast amounts of land, from Anatolia to Egypt and Mesopotamia, to modern day Afghanistan. The Persian Empire was both centralized and decentralized. One centralized aspect, as revealed by the roads, was the need to pay taxes and tribute to the shahinshah, the emperor. Even more revealing is the style of the Persian roads, with distance markers at regular intervals, inns and depots indicating the sophistication of the Persian infrastructure. The centralization of the empire is further revealed by the regulation that local parts of the road had to be maintained by the local governors, appointed by the emperor; thus even to the local level the emperor had influe nce (Von Sivers 200). The Achaemenids achieved their conquests with the help of lightly armed; highly mobile mounted archers as well as heavily armored, slow-moving cataphracts-horsemen with protective armor consisting of iron scales sewn on leather shirts. Quilts and iron scales protected the horses. The archers fought with composite bows and the cataphracts, with 5-foot long, iron-tipped lances for thrusting. Infantry soldiers armed with bows, arrows, shields, and javelins provided support for the cavalry, complementing its tank-like thrust (Von Sivers 200). The Well-Field System was an attempt to untangle the more confusing aspects of land arrangement around 500 BCE. The Zhou was the first among many dynasties to attempt to impose a uniform system of land tenure in China. Each square Li(one li is about one-third of a mile), consisting of 900 mou(each mou is approximately one-sixth of an acre) was divided into a grid of nine plots. Individual families would each work one of the eight outside plots while the middle one would be farmed in common for the taxes and rents owed the landowner or local officials (Von Sivers 117). In the 5th Century BCE, sculptors began to explore physical movement, emotion, and individual character by Greek Painting and Sculpture. Greek vase paintings and sculptures achieved a remarkable wide range, from figures exerting themselves in their chosen sports to serene models of human beauty. Greek sculptors and painters abandoned symbolism and instead, embraced realism as their style of representation in which we call today photographic representation (Von Sivers 229). Craftspeople from the Chavin de’ Hauntar around 500 BCE made beads, pendants, stone tools and leather goods, but pioneered new techniques combining the wool from llamas with cotton to create a new blended cloth. They decorated it using new methods of dyeing and painting. Goldsmiths demised new methods of soldering and alloying gold and silver to make large ornamental objects. Small objects, such as golden headbands, ear spools, beads, and pins, signified prestige and wealth. Gold artifacts found in the graves of the wealthy attest to the value residents of Chavin placed on gold (Von Sivers 144). What technical and cultural development allowed the people of the Lapita culture to spread throughout the Pacific Islands? 500 BCE-200 BCE- The Polynesian Islands were settled in part due to sail and paddle-driven canoes, which were further improved by the addition of outriggers or double hulls. These boats improvements allowed the Polynesians to sail further and reach some of the more distant islands. Cultural developments included the ability to retain elaborate, detailed mental maps of islands, ability to read wind patterns and currents, and retention of celestial information that allowed for navigation (Von Sivers ). The Silk Road was an overland trade routes that connected eastern and western Eurasia, beginning at the end of the fourth century BCE (Von Sivers 286). Mayans developed writing that was a complex combination of glyphic and syllabic script as early as 400-300 BCE. Mayan writing is a glyphic as well as a syllabic script, numbering some 800 signs. It is structurally similar to Sumerian cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphic. The glyphic part consists of pictograms, one-word images of the most essential features of what is to be depicted. Glyphs as syllables consist of one, two, or three of syllabic glyphs, or syllabaries, are pronounced as a series of syllables. Given the mixture of pictograms and syllabaries, which is potentially immense, the complexity of Mayan writing appeared for a long time to be an insuperable obstacle to any effort at deciphering (Von Sivers 182). Around 300 BCE, The Upanishadic writers, or which one hundred are known, thought that the Vedic religion had become too distracted due to the thousands of gods. The Upanishads instead sought a monist, rather that polytheistic approach, and sought for a first principle, a universal truth that did not require the worship of many different gods. The Upanishadic writers were hermits who wanted to reach unity with the universal self, which would remove them from the cycle of rebirth and redeath that characterized earthly life. Salvation in this system was moksha, escape from reincarnation. This salvation was achieved through meditation and brief aphorisms becoming a vital part of a new evolving tradition (Von Sivers 248). Around 221 BCE, the Qin Shi Huangdi, the first emperor of the Qin, accomplished a significant part of empire and state building. These are several accomplishments of Shi Huangdi to include: building the Great Wall of China that was massive project stretching over 1400 miles to safeguard against attacks by nomadic people in the north; standardized weights, measures, and coinage; building roads, canals, irrigation, water conservancy projects; his tomb with life-sized warriors; use of conscripted labor; and the implementation of Legalism as the primary philosophy of the realm. Each of these was designed primarily to increase the centralized power of the Qin leader and his state. Babylonians were great mathematicians, who worked fractions, whole numbers and square roots as well as some of the elementary theorems of geometry (Lecture). Starting from the foundations of the Sumerians, the Babylonians made advances in arithmetic, geometry, and algebra. Buddhism, the most profound intellectual influences from India on the surrounding regions was in science and mathematics. During the period from the second century BCE until the second century CE India was an importer of scientific and mathematical concepts from the Greco-Roman and Persian spheres. Greek geometry, made its way into northern India during this time. Concepts of Indian health regimens-some involving yoga discipline-along with the vast body of Indian medicine, with its extensive knowledge of herbal remedies, also seem to have moved west. In the area of mathematics and astronomy an important synthesis of ideas took place in the developing the first Indian calendars, which were based on the lunar months, through a year consisted of six seasons and an intercalary period was inserted every 30 months to make up the difference with the solar year. The Indians then adopted the calendar of the eastern Mediterranean and southwest Asia, which had a 7 –day week, a 24-hour day, and a 365-day solar year-along with the 12 zodiacal signs of the Greco-Roman world (Von Sivers 264). The earthenware produced during the Tang dynasty 618 CE is among the most coveted in the world today. Perhaps even more impressive, by this time, too, artisans were producing a kind of â€Å"proto-porcelain† that, with increasing refinement, would be know in the succeeding centuries to the outside world as â€Å"china† (Von Sivers 284). Throughout history, humans have adapted their ideas to their environment and learned to overcome obstacles, thus paving the way for new elements of technology. Humans expressed themselves and communicated with one another in sophisticated ways through paintings, sculptures, and the decorative arts as well as writing, construction, and metals. Of more recent, humans invented writing systems that gave birth to many forms of literature. Humans have wrestled with ideas and beliefs regarding technology.

Integrated Marketing Communications Build A Cross-Team Campaign

Integrated Marketing Communications Build A Cross-Team Campaign So you need to launch a brand new marketing campaign. Usually, these campaigns entail multiple moving pieces, a plethora of different channels, and a lot of contributors. The best approach to take is usually an integrated one i.e. integrated marketing communications. Your team will entail: A Graphic Design team to  help you attract your prospects with an amazing experience. Public Relations to help you communicate with + notify your fans and stakeholders. An Advertising team to help you introduce your campaign to thousands of NEW prospects. A Multimedia team to help you reach your audience well beyond the written word (think webinars, podcasts, videos, and beyond). A Social Media team to help you spread the word to your existing community of loyal fans. Product Marketing to help you connect the dots between the prospects you attract and the product or service youre ultimately selling. As wells as your own marketing team to  manage everything behind the scenes + make sure you hit every deadline. ^^^ I bet that just felt daunting. I know. Ive been there in a past life. So the questions become: How can you possibly get every teams management on board to collaborate across these teams most effectively? How can you get the time from the talent you need for the campaign to be as successful as possible? How can you manage the campaign execution process when you arent necessarily the supervisor of the folks helping you out? How can you keep every stakeholder (your manager, the teams managers, your cross-functional team members, and your higher-ups) in the loop at every  moment? Continue reading this blog post to  learn how to: Draft an integrated marketing communications campaign proposal to get approval from the teams management to use their resources and talents to make your project successful. Turn your proposal into a serious campaign game plan complete with campaign execution and launch timeline. Break  every piece of content on your timeline into realistically delegable workflows that will help you crush your deadline. Keep the campaign on track every step of the way with proven project management frameworks. Lets turn you into an integrated marketing communications mastermind, shall we? How To Make The Best Integrated Marketing Communications Campaign In The World With Multiple TeamsUse Marketing Campaigns  To Manage Every Campaign In Looking for an easy way to collaborate across multiple teams? One place where you (and everyone else) can see everything? Well Check out Marketing Campaigns in . First, create your campaign, add a color label, and select your start and end dates. Next, add each individual project that will make up your marketing campaign. You can add things like blog posts, infographics, social media campaigns, webinars the list goes on. When adding a new project to your marketing campaign, you can create a custom task list for everyone on the team to know what to do and when. Learn More:  The Most Effective [+ Amazing] Way To Organize Your Marketing Campaigns Download Your Integrated Marketing Communications Templates To Turn What You Learn Into Action Immediately Your kit that complements this blog post specifically includes: An integrated marketing communications campaign proposal Word doc template to help you get  every stakeholder on board. A campaign execution and launch timeline Excel spreadsheet template to help you plan when your resources will complete the content  within your project. A marketing workflow process checklist to help you translate content into efficiently  delegable tasks your resources will execute. Download it now. Its well worth it. Trust me.Download your free integrated marketing communications template bundle here:Draft Your Integrated Marketing Communications Campaign Plan Your plan will include three key parts: A creative brief outlining why you're taking on this project, the audience you're targeting,  the verbiage you'll use to attract those folks, and more foundational elements  that will help your team understand the purpose of the campaign. A content and promotion campaign timeline that outlines the phases of work completed toward the ultimate publish date. This helps you understand when your cross-functional team will complete the work for each piece of content within the campaign. A human resources plan your campaign needs to be successful. This includes the names of the individuals you'll need to pull from other teams to get your campaign completed. ^^^ It's easier than it sounds, and the benefits of doing this give you a solid starting point for a conversation with your manager (to get campaign approval), which you can then take to the other teams' managers to get their approval. Let's dig in. Write Your Campaign's Creative Brief The first thing to nail down is the why. Why are you taking on this campaign right now? Why will it be successful? Why will your audience prefer your campaign on this topic compared to your competition (how will yours be better)? Anything you can do to back up those answers with your own data will help you prove why your team should take on this project right now. ^^^ The most effective way to do that is by citing how your  new campaign idea reflects qualities from your most successful projects you've  already launched. You can do this for yourself by: Setting Goals in Google Analytics. Tracking which pieces deliver the highest number toward those goals with a Google Analytics  Custom Report. Analyzing the qualities within those successful pieces to include content like them in your new campaign. Follow the instructions here for the extreme details on setting all of this up for yourself. At this point, you'll also want to  outline: Your target audience: Keep it simple; this could be, "{Audience title/role}  who have issues with {insert challenge}." Or, if you're feeling the pressure from office bureaucracy for a little more polished understanding of your target market, use this free template to create your own persona  and include it in  your campaign plan. Goal: While you based this campaign on ideas you know have already been successful, this goal isn't necessarily about laying out the "numbers" of what your campaign will generate (though you could include  that in your campaign plan, too, if your business needs the data).  Instead, write what you aim for your audience to experience. For example, "Attract the right kinds of {audience title/role} who will be interested in {company name's} {product/service}." Call to action: One clear call to action per piece gives your audience way fewer distractions. For your campaign, that likely means the same call to action across all pieces. In your creative brief, this could look something like this: Sign up for your free demo. Now  lay out the verbiage your audience uses to describe the challenges they face that your campaign will solve. This also includes the language they'd likely use to find the content  you're publishing within the campaign. At , we call this framework talking points or speaking points. It's an exercise to help you connect the dots between what you want to market and what your audience cares about. To do this, you can look at: Audience and/or customer user surveys: If you survey your audience, there is a plethora of information to look through to understand the actual words people use to describe their challenges. If you haven't surveyed your audience yet, it's easy. Use a tool like Polldaddy or SurveyMonkey, and ask one simple question: "Why did you hire/choose {company name}?" Open-ended questions give your audience the freedom to describe the why, which gives you the literal words they use (which, in turn, makes for excellent marketing copy). Blog post comments:  If you publish blog posts, your audience likely leaves comments through your comment system like Disqus. Those are GOLD for you to respond back and ask why they found the information helpful. Use their words in your marketing copy. Social media interactions: When someone shares your content or mentions you, you have the opportunity to  respond. In that response, you can ask, "Why?" Why did they share? What challenge were they facing that your content helped them solve? Now it's time to connect the dots between the words your customers, prospects, and audience uses and your  campaign's value proposition. Again, you'll use another why framework. Let's say your campaign is for a new service offering for  integrates one frequently used system or application with another. Ask: Why does my audience care about this new service? Because {insert benefit they get}. Why does my audience care about this {benefit from previous answer}? Because  {insert benefit they get}. Why does my audience care about this {benefit from previous answer}? Because  {insert benefit they get}. Why does my audience care about this {benefit from previous answer}? Because  {insert benefit they get}. Why does my audience care about this {benefit from previous answer}? Because  {insert benefit they get}. It's kind of like a why rabbit hole. You ask yourself, "Why?" Then you keep asking yourself, "Why?" to every answer you come up with.

PROGRAMMING AND CULTURE IN ARCHITECTURE WAY Assignment - 1

PROGRAMMING AND CULTURE IN ARCHITECTURE WAY - Assignment Example The outdoor spaces and areas such as the porches, decks and gardens are also an important element in the design of the house. They speak the importance of the outdoors lifestyle of the Eressos community. The superfluous elements identified in the design of the house included the fitting of air conditioners. The house will be designed in a â€Å"green† manner to enable plenty of airflow during the warm summer periods. Unnecessary resource in the bathroom will be minimized as these are superfluous. The bathroom will be compartmentalized, instead, in a manner that will still provide functionality and privacy. Based on what I have read about Eressos, I would consider housing design in other contexts as being innovative and creative. The use of other materials besides stone in construction is quite creative and less costly. Such materials include bamboo that not only construct good houses but whose use also helps in the conservation of the

Literature Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Literature - Research Paper Example These poems were recited in the fields as the slaves worked while others were made into strong songs that not only united but also gave the slaves a sense of unity in their black heritage. The late 19th century and for most parts of the 20th century, poems from the black community and other human rights activists were used to bring down the racial divide between the whites and the black communities. Through poetry, a sense of self-discovery was ignited in African Americans and this was able to see them survive slavery and racial segregation. The theme of Racism is one of the most important themes in the history of the modern world. These paper will explore the relevancy of how racism as a theme has been handled in poetry successfully to instill self-discovery attitudes. Racism as a theme has featured in many texts by black poets. However, it is important to note that racism not only occurs when amongst the African American group in the United States. A number of poets from different races and on a global level have handled theme of racism in their texts. Racism can be defined as treating people indifferently based on their race or color of their skin. Denying an individual something or treating someone indifferently due to the color of his skin or origin, is against the basic human rights. In the US, the history of Racism goes back before the founding of the nation during the days of slavery. Africans were taken from their homes in Africa and turned into slaves to work in agricultural plantations while at the same timework as slaves in white homesteads. Working as slaves, African Americans were beaten, killed, tortured and treated like second-rate citizens. The emancipation proclamation in 1864 ended the civil war and abolished slavery while giving African American slaves the right to their freedom (Hathaway, Jarab &Melnick 37-44). However, the freedom that African Americans gained had its own limitations and most of

Ineffectiveness of GPS Monitoring System for Sex Offenders Research Paper - 1

Ineffectiveness of GPS Monitoring System for Sex Offenders - Research Paper Example Despite the optimistic effects of technology in the society by improvising the GPS devices, understanding the restrictions of this technology remains essential in maintaining the safety of the society. A case is depicted of a sex offender who cut off his GPS monitoring device and eluded authorities. Although the device still warned the police to keep an eye on the sex offender, the device remained incompetent since the sex offender was able to roam around and carry out his inhuman acts again. Using a GPS requires the free flow of information to those responsible for making sure that the task is accurately carried out. Therefore, using the GPS to monitor or track a sex offender does not entirely depend on the technology but responsibility of those using the device in order to ensure its effectiveness. GPS monitoring device only acts as a part of the solution to sex offenders. They only track where the individual goes, but in essence, do not deprive him the ability to find their next target. John Albert Gardener depicts a sex offender who had a GPS device to monitor his tracks and make sure that he never went near any young woman. However, still having the device, Gardener was able to rape and murder two helpless teenagers back in 2009. It is evident that the paroled felon was not at any chance under careful supervision as officials thought. It can be depicted that these two victims could be alive if only the devices were effectively used. As a dangerous sex offender, John Albert Gardener still roams in the streets.

History Of Mass Media From Traditional Age

History Of Mass Media From Traditional Age Mass media has coexisted with Homo sapiens since the brink of time as its history stretches back beyond the dawns of recorded history to the individual who then wanted to reach out to a larger group of audience through any form of communication, regardless a painting on the wall of a cave, or just by telling a story to a group of people. History of mass media can be traced back to the early days of dramas that were performed in various cultures. The word media was first mentioned in the 1920s, but back then, it referred to something that had its origin much further in the past and the term Mass Media originated with the print media that was also its first example. The first newspaper was printed in China 868 A.D, but due to the high cost of paper and illiteracy amongst people, it didnt prosper. It was Johannes Gutenberg, who for the first time printed a book in a printing press in 1453. However, the invention of printing press in the late 15th century gave rise to the first forms of mass communication, enabling publication of books and newspapers on a larger scale than previously possible. According to Wikipedia, mass media refers collectively to all media technologies, including the Internet, television, newspapers and radio, which are used for mass communications, and to organizations which control these technologies. Over the years, during the period post-Second World War, radio, television and video were introduced. The audio-visual facilities became immensely popular as they provided information and entertainment. Of late, it is the Internet which has become the latest and most dominant of all the mass media. Here, information is been generated through various websites and search engines. One can play games, listen to radio while working and chat with friends and relatives, irrespective of location. It also gives information on various topics such as literature, politics, science, sports, fashion, movies, education, career, jobs etc. similar to other types of mass media. Indubitably, one of the biggest influences in our modern lives today, is the force of mass media. Without this medium of communication, our way of live and our civilization would be much more backward than where we are today. We humans are still immature as we definitely have a lot of growing up to do as a race, and mass media is a tool that is supposed to aid us in achieving the aim of fulfillment. Mass media comprises of two parts; print media and the broadcast or also known as electronic media. The print media refers primarily to newspapers and magazines. Radio, television and the Internet constitute the broadcast media. Mass media is simply a section of the media that spreads to a large audience simultaneously, through various types of media. The simplest way to understand what mass media is about is to take a look at newspapers. The first high-circulation newspapers arose in the eastern United States in the early 1800s, and were made possible by the invention of high-speed rotary steam printing presses and railroads which allowed large-scale distribution over wide geographical areas. However, mass production of newspapers had a downfall. The increased rate of circulation led to deteriorate in feedback and interactivity from the readers, which made newspapers a one-way medium. Newspapers first appeared in Europe in the mid-17th century. They evolved gradually from a similar type of publication called broadsheet a single sheet of paper that responded to unusual events. Although newspapers of today and those in the past are quite similar in almost every aspect, newspapers and their content have changed over time. Newspapers in different communities often contain dissimilar contents. The future for newspaper industries seems to fade over time as people look to the Internet for news and young people turn away from papers, paid-for circulations are falling year after year. Papers are also losing their share of advertising spending. Classified advertising is quickly moving online. Inevitably, the newspaper industries which was once experienced explosive growth now faces cyclical trough as new technology such as the existence of e-book has rendered obsolete newspapers in their traditional format. Revenue has plummeted since fierce competition from internet media has squeezed older print publishers. The number of people reading newspapers and magazine has decreased over the years, and polls indicate that the public has more confidence in the accuracy of stories aired on television than in the papers. On the other hand, those who get their news from the print media are better informed. On the bright side, reading newspapers has a lower impact on global warming than reading online. This is so because the impact from powering a computer itself outweighs the impact from creating newsprint. According to Torraspapels Paper, Reading a newspaper generates lower impact on global warming than reading the news online for 30 minutes. Most newspapers today focus on local coverage. There are only a few that cover national issues in depth, and whose editorials can influence national policy. How important the print media is to the individual is subject to debate, however. Magazines, on the other hand, were known to exist since the 1700s in which it resembled books. Based on historical research, the first magazine ever produced was called The Gentlemans Magazine, released in January, 1731 by well-known writer of his prime, Edward Cave. The main idea of Edward was to compile a monthly issue of news and commentary on topics the public were interested in. The difference between magazines and newspapers is that magazine has a relaxed style of writing, while giving and sharing opinions in a magazine is encouraged. However, newspapers during that era were more fixed and straight-to-the-point, following strictly to collected data and statistics. Magazines from the past have a similar purpose to newspapers, criticizing organizations. For instance, Daniel Defoes first English magazine, The Review was published to criticize the Catholic Churches of England. The magazine was also released during the 1700s but published magazines then only lasted for a few months as publishers are geographically limited and the cost of magazine printing is very expensive. More than five decades after magazines were introduced, mass circulation was made possible. Magazines which was once only affordable by the buying elite, now available for the working class as well, and the subject matter had shifted mostly to entertainment sake as well. Magazines are now very affordable to the public. This was made possible by the lesser cost in printing and a bulk of the cost is also reduced due to the many advertisers that the magazines have. This is why that it is in magazines that advertising went full-blast. They can secure one whole page for their products in colored form unlike that in newspaper. Admittedly, this can cost more than the dailies but the potential buyer would be enticed more about the product as the ad would be more attractive in color. Nevertheless, from there, the concept of magazines expanded to various interests, ranging from sports to entertainment, general knowledge and more during todays popular culture. Magazines have a more casual style of reading as literary freedom is practiced. With this, venturing into each interests or fields is easier and more fun as magazine writers have freedom to express their ideas on the subject, as collected data comes second in magazine writing. Today, magazines can be found in almost every newsstand, divided into categories; some of them include IT, fashion and family. Successful magazines include Readers Digest, National Geographic and Peoples Magazine which are also placed in the Top 10 most subscribed magazines in the world. Readers can now also choose from the subscription options that publishing companies offer their customers. They can choose to be subscribed on a daily, weekly, monthly, semi-annually or annually on their magazine of choice. It is also great for short reading for its articles would not really be so mind-boggling but not that shallow either. This is why a lot of readers prefer magazine as well because they are not intimidated by the number of pages within, and they can stop at one article anytime they like and read the other articles any time they want. Book reading gives a much more different experience in which if you stopped at a section, you have to read the rest immediately if you dont want to risk losing yourself or being confused with the story. Magazines really had gone a long way since then as it already evolved itself in just less than three centuries and it was able to stand on its own with its own share of loyal followers. It is already an industry on its own and the evolution doesnt stop there. Magazines would still evolve and change but rest assured that its followers would be with them all the way. Commercial radio first began to broadcast in 1920, and got into politics very quickly carrying the results of that years presidential election. The 32nd President of the United States, President Franklin Roosevelt effectively used radio to communicate directly with the American people through his fireside chats during the worst days of the Depression. Radios are the earliest form of televisions, developed over 80 years ago when wireless communication was never a thought even in the most brilliant scientists minds. It was until the late nineteenth century that James Clerk Maxwell developed the first radio-wave theorem in 1864. Mathematically, he proved that if an electrical interruption is of short distance from the point at which it occurred, there would be effect or passage of electrical current due to a type of wave that moves at the speed of light, in which the electromagnetic energy would travel. Heinrich Hertz experimented with Maxwells thesis in 1888 and demonstrated that waves travelled in straight lines and could be reflected by a metal sheet. Augusto Righi, an Italian physicist, continued and refined Hertzs work, establishing the equality between electrical and optical vibrations. Another scientist, Temistocle Calzecchi-Onesti, constructed, in 1888, a tube due to his belief that electrical discharges of atmospheric perturbations influence iron filings. In 1894, Oliver Lodge named Temistocles famous tube the coherer and increased the reception gain of the hertzian waves. Alexander Popoff then created a vertical metal pole by using Lodges coherer and collecting atmospheric disturbances in a rudimentary antenna. The invention of these instruments helped Guglielmo Marconis discovery who verified that electromagnetic waves travel between two points separated by an obstacle which led to the creation of the first radio transmitter. This experiment was repeated with larger spark gaps starting with 5 feet; expanded up to 100km and radiotelegraphy was born. The first radio station began operation in the 1920s. The broadcasting radio station was KDKA in Pittsburgh. This service became very popular and soon the concept spread around the globe. Early uses of radios were maritime, for sending telegraphic messages using Morse code between ships and land. Radios were used to pass on orders and to communicate between armies and navies on both sides in World War I. Germany used radio communications for diplomatic messages once it discovered British had tapped its submarine cables. Besides broadcasting purposes, point-to-point broadcasting, including telephone messages and relays of radio programs became common in the 1920s and the 1930s. In the pre-war years, radios were the development of detection and locating aircrafts and ships by radars. As time progressed, so did the development of radio. Today, the concepts used in radios are also used in many modern devices that are now essential to our modern lives. Inventions of radios ultimately lead to telephony (Mobile phones), videos (Television sends the picture as AM and the sound as AM or FM, with the sound carrier a fixed frequency), satellite navigation systems (Satellites with precision clocks, the satellite then transmits its position, and the time of the transmission, the receiver listens to four satellites, and can figure its position as being on a line that is tangent to a spherical shell around each satellite, determined by the time-of-flight of the radio signals from the satellite. A computer in the receiver does the math), radars (Detects objects at a distance by bouncing radio waves off them. The delay caused by the echo measures the distance and the direction of the beam determines the direction of the reflection), radio remote control (Radio remote controls use radio waves to transmit control data to a remote object as in some early forms of guided missile, some early TV remotes and a range of model boats, cars and airplanes while large industrial remote-controlled equipment such as cranes and switching locomotives now usually use digital radio techniques to ensure safety and reliability), heating (Radio-frequency energy generated for heating of objects is generally not intended to radiate outside of the generating equipment, to prevent interference with other radio signals. Microwave ovens use intense radio waves to heat food. Diathermy equipment is used in surgery for sealing of blood vessels. Induction furnaces are used for melting metal for casting, and induction hobs for cooking), and even radio services. Radio became the dominant form of media during and after World War II, as it could provide war information much faster than newspapers, and people desired current news of the war situation and of their relatives fighting overseas. However newspapers still supplied daily information and advertising. Radios importance as a news and information source declined however with the introduction of television in the late 1940s. Television dominated the media industry in 1950s. Radio and print media was to compete with television that seemed to give the best of both media: pictures and sound. With the advent of television in the 1950s, print media and radio were forced to rethink their approaches towards news and entertainment. The new media changed the nature of running for the United States presidential office, the first campaign ads for a presidential candidate appeared on television in 1952 and the first presidential debate was aired in 1960 between Senator John Kennedy and Vice President Richard Nixon. The television however was not invented by a single inventor, instead by many who contributed to the evolution of television. It was Joseph Henrys and Michael Faradays work with electromagnetism in 1831 that jumpstarted the evolution of electronic communication. In 1862, the very first still image was transferred over wires by Abbe Giovanna Caselli, the first person to accomplish such feat in the history of mankind using his brilliant invention, the Pantelegraph. Scientists May and Smith then experimented with selenium and light, which eventually revealed the possibility of transforming images into electronic signals in 1873. Boston civil servant George Carey thought about complete television systems and in 1877 he put forward drawings for what he called a selenium camera that would allow people to see by electricity. By 1880, great inventors, Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison theorize about telephone devices that were capable of transmitting images as well as sounds. Alexander invented the photophone, a device that used light to transmit sounds but he wanted to advance his device for image sending. Four years later, Paul Gottlieb Nipkow, first to engineer a rotating-disc technology that was able to transmit pictures over wire, making Paul Nipkow the father of mechanical televisions. He was the first human ever to discover televisions scanning principle, in which light intensities of small portions of an image are analyzed and transmitted, making Paul Nipkow the forerunner of televisions. At the Worlds Fair in Paris, the first International Congress of Electricity was held. That is where Russian Constantin Perskyi made the first known use of the word television. At the dawn of the 20th century, the momentum of ideas and discussions shifted to physical development of television systems. Inventors around the globe attempted to build mechanical television systems based on Paul Nipkows rotating disks and electronic television systems based on cathode ray tubules developed independently in the 1907 by English inventor Alan Archibald Campbell Swinton and Russian scientist, Boris Rosing. Electronic television systems lagged behind mechanical systems for several years as mechanical television was cheaper to build and delicate parts was not used. Besides, it was difficult to get financial backing to develop electronic television when mechanical television worked so much better at that time and with a cheaper working system, the public didnt see the need to change. However, Vladmir Kosmo Zworykin and Philo Taylor Farnsworth made some critical breakthrough, and electronic televisions began to catch up. Electronic television systems eventually replaced mechanical systems. Peter Goldmark, working for Columbia Broadcast System, demonstrated color television to the Federal Communication Commision in 1946. His system produced color pictures from a red-blue-green wheel spin in front of a cathode ray tube. Cable television, formerly known as Community Antenna Television or CATV, was born in the mountains of Pennsylvania in the late 1940s. The first successful color television system began commercial broadcasting on December 17, 1953 based on a system designed by Radio Corporation of America. On June of 1956, practical television remote controller first entered the homes of Americans. The Germans however used remote control motorboats during World War I. In the late 1940s, the first non-military uses for remote controls appeared. The very first prototype for a plasma display monitor was invented in July 1964 at the University of Illinois by professors Donald Bitzer and Gene Slottow, and then graduate student Robert Willson. However, it was not until after the advent of digital and other technologies that successful plasma televisions became possible. There was an explosive growth of the media in the 1980s, especially television. Satellite television reported events across the world live. With competition from 24-hour cable television news, many newspapers disappeared. Cable news and subscription cable television also rose in popularity, competing with network television. According to a Media Research in May 1994, 98 percent of all American houses has at least one TV set. 63 percent received at least basic cable. It is estimated that the average American spends 20-25% of his or her time with the television on. According to a Newsweek article on June 7 1999, the United States is the largest exporter of television programs and American movies are in prime time television all over the world. However, the Europeans are now making more of their own shows and sitcoms that have more local flavour. As in the 80s, parents continue to question the appropriateness and value of media programming for children of different ages. As the 20th century was coming to an end, a new media was born the Internet. It links people together through their computer terminals with modems connected to telephone lines and with the Internet electronic publishing and chat rooms sprang up, allowing individuals to express their opinions freely to a large global audience, giving printed media a challenge to survive. With minimal technical information, any individual will be capable of commenting personal views on air without the huge expense as of in traditional publishing. The Internet also gave advertising a whole new platform to promote their products and delivering their message. The future of mass media is yet to be unknown as there are possibilities of new medium yet to be invented and because of the widespread distribution of cellphones and the Internet, it is easy to forget that both technologies are at their immature stage. However, it is unlikely that we, as of living in this society are able to focus on the lens of history with clarity upon what these technologies have or might have effect upon us in the future. Mass communication is truly the mass power to shape the future of human culture as communication is culture and since humans are searching for new forms of communication, indubitably, we are indirectly looking at new forms of utilizing power, new forms of controlling individuals and new forms of shaping the human culture to come.