Ralph Ellisons essay An Extravagance of Laughter Essay Example for Free

Ralph Ellisons essay An Extravagance of Laughter Essay Ralph Ellison in his essay, An Extravagance of Laughter demonstrated the living condition of black life in the segregated 1930s. Ellison grew up in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Unfortunately, His father past away when he was only three. He lived with his mother and brother in absolute poverty, but always believe that he could overcome the limits of racial prejudice. Throughout the years, Ellison fell in love with Africa-American music (Jazz). He played Trumpet and thought himself Louis Armstrong solos. For Ellison and many other blacks in the south, personal choice (privileges) was something they were lacking. He states, you lived in a Negro neighborhood because you were forced to do so, and because you preferred living among those of your own background. Which was easy to answer, because having to experience life in a mixed neighborhood as a child, I preferred to live where people spoke my own version of the American Language; and where misreading of the tone or gesture were less likely to ignite literal conflict (Ellison 145). By this, people did not have any choice about where they live. At times, They preferred to live among those of their own background just because they did not want to deal with inferiority. Imagine living in a place were you were not wanted, and where people were aggravating you and your family from day to day. People really do not want to deal with negative attitudes and they certainly will not live around it. Many people believe its more comfortable to live around people with the same background as they are. By doing so, its easier to understand each others view about a certain point. Not only they were forced to live in places they did not want to live; public transportation was places of hallucinations for Negroes. Once their fares were deposited, they were sent straight to the rear. During such time, both the driver and white folks tormented them. Imagine the type of pushing and shoveling that occurred. Such dramatic and inconsiderate attitude can cause horrible effects on a pregnant woman. Getting push on a moving bus is very dangerous. After all the disappointments in the south, an old hero and friend, Langston Hughes invited Ellison, to be his guest at a Broadway theater. The play, Jack Kirklands dramatization of Erskine Caldwells famous novel Tobacco Road left a great impression on him. The comedy and the extravagance of laughter told Ellison many things about himself. I couldnt have put it into words at the time, but by forcing me to see the comedy in Jeeter Lesters Condition and allowing me to react to it in an interracial situation without the threat of physical violence, Caldwell told me something important about who I was (Ellison 171). As we can see, the author was in a safe house and he mentioned how the play made him a better person, and how he became a more tolerant American. The play helped him to deal with the horrible experiences that he encountered in the south. In the south, there were no contests because the white man always won; where as in the north, survival of the fittest was the issue. It gave him a chance to redeem his self-dignity. The moment of laughter was the point when a change occurred in Ellisons life. He produced a new drama in the theater when he started laughing. Once his laughing got going, it was a germ that affected many people. This play allowed Ellison to understand his role in the American society. By doing so, it helped him to remember the important part, which is not to think about racism, but to think about race in conjunction to the south, and New York. Ellisons experience in learning to be a New Yorker was something he never forgets. He states, Madam, all you had to do was risk the slight possibility that I just might be a gentleman. Because if you had, I would have been compelled to step aside (Ellison 144). From this quote, we can all see the meaning into the authors words. In the south, it would be required for a black person to get up and offer their seat to a white one. Nevertheless, They were in New York, and Laws did not recommend such thing. The lady got herself into a shuffle with him and fortunately he won. Its that aggressiveness that caused Ellison to retaliate and not offer her the seat. For Ellison, The notion of imagined communities (Benedict Anderson) as Pratt says came about his experiences. This illustrated the inner self-esteem that he had to reach within himself to bring out to society. He gathered up all his experiences from the south and those he acquired from  New York to stand up for himself and not to let society destroy it. One way to connect Pratts observation about the contact zone and safe houses with Ellisons feeling that he was on a journey without a map is to connect both authors points of view, and how they tried to persuade their readers. Ellison States, This made for a constant struggle over the nature of reality, in which each group probed and sparred as they tried to determined the others true motives and opinions (Ellison 160). This quote indicates that people should drop their mask and try to put their differences aside to connect with one another. We must retrieve our logical inspiration, and break the barriers of stupidity. In her essay, Arts of the Contact Zone, Pratt observed how society must get rid of racism, and destroys the shadow of ignorance. She states, meanwhile, our job in the American course remains to figure out how to make that crossroad the best site for learning that it can be (Pratt 541). She demonstrated many ways to develop social and intellectual differences. She stressed the importance of what we came to call safe house, which are places that groups can constitute as communities. Pratt stated the way to comprehend communication and behavior is through common rules that must be shared. She mentioned how different personalities interpret a common rule. In her essay, Guaman Pomas unread masterpiece and Benedict Andersons theory of imagine communities demonstrated her argument. These examples are part of what someone should strongly focus on to understand their cultures as well as others. As both authors Stated, Our position in relation to the issue of contact, safety, mapping and community is very important. First, Ellison mentioned, And just as Henry James felt it prudent to warn Americans against a superstitious elevation of Europe, Negro folklore with its arrays of survival strategies warned me against an overvaluation of white pretensions. And despite their dominance and low opinion of Negro intelligence, white suspected the presence of profound reservations even when Negroes were far less assertive than they are today (Ellison 160).  Throughout this essay, Its clear that racism played a big part throughout society. The above statement mentioned how whites were looking down at Negroes. Even with their greatest efforts, Negroes were still underestimated.

Decision To Fund The Atomic Bomb :: essays research papers

"No man-made phenomenon of such tremendous power had ever occurred before. The lighting effects beggared description. The whole country was lighted by a searing light with the intensity many times greater than that of the midday sun. It was golden, purple, violet, gray, and blue..."( Groueff 355). The words of Brigadier General Thomas F. Farrell describe the onset of the atomic age, which began on July 16, 1945 in Alamogordo, New Mexico. This was the site of the first large-scale atomic test, which utilized the tool of destruction that would soon decimate the populations of Hiroshima and Nagasaki less than a month afterwards. This test consummated the years spent developing the bomb, and was the end result of the efforts of nuclear scientists who constructed it, and those of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who made the decision to fund the so-called Manhattan Project. In a letter dated August 2nd, 1939, Albert Einstein first informed President Roosevelt of the research that had been done by Enrico Fermi and Leo Szilard with unstable Uranium which could generate large amounts of power and energy (Einstein1 PSF Safe Files). Einstein also included another possible use for the uranium- the construction of extremely powerful bombs, which were capable of destroying a seaport and the surrounding territory. This information may have come precisely at the right time, for in October of 1938 Roosevelt asked Congress for a $300 million military appropriation, and in November instructed the Army Air Corps to plan for an annual production of twenty thousand planes. Later, in 1939, Roosevelt called for actions against "aggressor nations," and in the same year submitted to Congress a $1.3 billion defense budget (Boyer 861). In an accompanying memorandum that was sent with the Einstein letter, scientist Leo Szilard explained the technical science of nuclear fission and stressing the importance of chain reactions (Walls 1 PFS Safe Files). Both documents, the Einstein letter and the Szilard memorandum, were to be delivered by Alexander Sachs, an adviser to Roosevelt’s New Deal since 1933 who would know how to approach Roosevelt and the government (Lanouette 200). It was not until mid-October 1939 that Sachs wangled an invitation to get in to see the President over breakfast (Burns 250). Though Roosevelt found the documents interesting, he seemed hesitant about committing government funds to such speculative research. But after Sachs reminded him of Napoleon’s skepticism of Robert Fulton’s idea of a steamship, Roosevelt agreed to proceed. Regarding the steamship issue, Sachs went on to comment, "This is an example of how England was saved by the shortsightedness of an adversary,"; this insight made Roosevelt greatly consider the creation of the bomb. President Roosevelt authorized a study, but the decision to

Culture and workplace ethics Essay

Culture in the workplace has very little to do with the well known culture of literature, music and art. In the workplace, culture actually refers to the shared work environment, belief systems, behavior expectations and expected efforts, all of which usually characterize a certain organization or business enterprise. The work setting culture mainly includes things like, socialization expectations, dress code, how different groups within the organization perceive issues relating to attendance, problem solving and quality of work output. Finding the appropriate culture to fit an organization is a vital element in ensuring that a particular field or job is successful. Corporate culture has a lot of influence on ethics of an organization. It is through it that right or wrong decisions are made. They determine whether to adopt strategies that will benefit majority of the people in the workplace positively or adopting ones with an impact of affecting most workers in a negative manner (Russell, Para 3). Effect of culture on workplace ethics The organization’s culture is quite important perhaps more than most people appreciate. It holds various categories of people within an organization together and thus it has a lot of impact on what people within the organization perceive to be right or wrong. Even though certain conducts like corruption might be considered to be vice and thus culturally immoral in some organizations, there are other workplaces where the behavior is considered to be appropriate. Culture is usually deep rooted in an organization since although it is manmade; it takes several decades to grow. New employees in each and every work place are first introduced to the operating culture in the workplace and thus it is usually in each and every person working in the workplace. Ethics comes after culture and it therefore has to sing to the tune of culture (Lagan, & Moran, pp 46). The depth of culture within an organization is usually realized when someone attempts to alter an organization’s culture in a manner that is not consistent with the shared believes and norms of the organization. Such a person usually meets a lot resistance regardless of whether the intended cultural change is ethical or not. Culture within an organization is usually not stagnant but it is rather dynamical so as to take into account the changing business and workplace environment. Due to the fact that the workplace ethics are tied to culture, they also have to keep on changing so as to be consistent with the workplace culture (Russell, Para 4). Workplace ethics is highly influenced by the leadership of the entire organization. These are the people who are charged with the mandate of running the business and making decisions for the entire organization. The organizational culture determines the type of people to take managerial decisions. Therefore, if the culture of an organization is to be led by men and women of high integrity, then the workplace in such an organization is likely to be ethical. This is due to the fact that when an organization is led by such people, they will always make decisions with each and everyone within and without the organization in their mind. Their decisions will in most cases affect majority of the people in a positive manner. In this case, culture is very important on business ethics since it determines in an indirect manner the type of decisions to be made by the managers leading the organization (Hopkins, pp 78). On the other hand, if the organizational culture of a particular enterprise is one that allows men and women of less integrity to lead it, people who enter these offices via unethical channels where merit is not a priority, then such managers will in most cases be unethical. They will in almost all cases make unethical decisions which are likely to only benefit very few individuals within the organization while exposing the majority, mainly the junior members of staff to unfair treatment. Workplaces operating from such environments are mostly unethical and clearly this is as a result of the organizational culture. Most of the decisions adopted in such organizations are usually only aimed at maximizing the profits of the organization without putting into consideration other parties who are likely to suffer as a result of such decisions. These types of managements are mainly self centered and are only worried about their business organizations with little or no concern at all for other people. They are not worried of whether their actions are ethical or not, as long as business is running and making profits nothing else worry them. This attitude is usually enhanced by the organizational culture which in turn affects the workplace ethics significantly (Russell, Para 7). The corporate culture of an enterprise determines the criteria of promotion. If the culture of an organization enhances promotion based on merit, then the workplace will be more ethical as compared to instances where promotion is not based on merit. Since employees seek for promotion every now and then, they have to look for the criterion that is used for promotion so that they can be well equipped to qualify for promotion. Such a culture of promotion will take decades to develop and will thus be very much deep rooted to eliminate within the workplace (Lagan, & Moran, pp 69). The culture of an organization determines the values that are to be held in high regard within the organization. If a culture holds unethical behaviors in high esteem, then such conducts will be dominant in the organization. Rewards will be awarded to those people who excel in such conducts. In this case, the organizational culture is mainly concerned with appreciating the efforts of its employees who have excelled in certain field regardless of whether their actions were ethical or not. Such a culture therefore, promotes unethical behaviors among its employees (Brooks, & Dunn, pp 120). In other organizations, the culture is very clear and is tailored towards promoting ethical behaviors among its employees. In fact, the employees who excel in ethical conducts in various fields in the course of their work are identified in a fair manner and rewarded so as to encourage them to continue in the same spirit and be even more ethical in future. The other employees are also challenged to act ethically and at the same time they are made to desire to act ethically so as to be rewarded like their counterparts who were more ethical than then in a certain period. This form of culture thus acts as a tool for enhancing ethical behaviors within an organization to develop (Bassman, pp 55s). Culture within an organization determines how the organization as whole perceives the outsiders, more so its competitors. There are cultures which are tailored towards viewing the competitors as enemies and thus it promotes actions which will deal with such enterprises as enemies. Such a culture will promote unethical behaviors to its competitors and enmity arises between the two organizations. Culture is responsible for various unethical actions that might be penetrated to the other organization since it has made everyone within the workplace of the organization to develop a negative attitude towards its competitors (Russell, Para 9). At the same time, culture can act as a catalyst for enhancing ethical behaviors among the various employees of the organization especially in their actions towards the competitors. Culture will in this case promote good relations among the two organizations and it will make the employees to perceive the other organization as a competitor and not an enemy. This form of culture will promote actions that will enhance positive competition between the two sides and thus ethical behaviors will be enhanced greatly (Lagan, & Moran, pp 89). While there are employment regulations and laws governing the manner in which employees are to be treated, the ethics of an organization are more tailored by the organizational culture and not such laws and regulations. The ethics therefore goes beyond the regulations and the laws connecting the business practices of an organization to the workers’ personal beliefs. Culture in this case plays a leading role in ensuring that the actions adopted by the organization are in line with it. In this case, the organizational culture ensures that various employees in the workplace within the enterprise work together for a common objective as well as having the intention of doing the right thing in a world that is quite diverse and complex (Bassman, pp 126). The culture in operation within an enterprise determines how an organization treats its outsiders and whether or not it does anything that is likely to affect them negatively. For culture to be able to promote ethical actions among its employees towards the outsiders, then it must be one that encourages decisions that will affect these people in a positive manner. Among the current issues that has brought a lot of criticism in the entire world is that of pollution. An organization is considered to be ethical if it emits fewer pollutants to the environment. This means that it is concerned about the environment and the consequences of disposing untreated chemicals to the environment. On the other hand, there are organizations that are completely unethical. They pollute the environment without really caring how many people will be affected by the same. This affects the workplace environment indirectly since the employees will face hostility from members of public and will in several occasions be referred to as unethical people who do not care about tomorrow. This might make the organization to loose several employees to other companies which are more ethical as employees will like to be associated with organizations with good reputation (Brooks, & Dunn, pp 258). Conclusion Culture is a very important element in every organization. It is responsible in shaping the ethical behavior of the employees and also the workplace ethics. This is due to the fact that ethics within an organization is driven by the culture that is in operation within an organization. Culture is therefore a very important force in driving ethical practices of an enterprise. This is mainly because the organizational culture takes time to grow and mature and that it is taught to all new employees which make it to be deeply rooted within all employees. Culture has the ability of making an organization to act either ethically or unethically. Work cited: Bassman, Emily S. ; Abuse in the workplace: management remedies and bottom line impact; ISBN 089930673X, Quorum, 1992. Brooks, Leonard J. & Dunn, Paul; Business & Professional Ethics for Directors, Executives & Accountants; ISBN 0324594550, Cengage Learning, 2009. Hopkins, Willie Edward. Ethical dimensions of diversity; ISBN 080397289X, SAGE, 1997. Lagan, Attracta & Moran, Brian; Three Dimensional Ethics: Implementing Workplace Values; ISBN 097574223X, eContent Management, 2005. Russell, Mike; Workplace Ethics & Business for Social Responsibility: Initiatives for corporate culture’s committed to ethical business practices, concern for the environment and global humanitarian causes (2008): Retrieved on 5th August 2009 from http://sandiego. jobing. com/blog_post. asp? post=8929.

Microsoft The Rise Of Technological Development

Microsoft on the Rise In the technological industry, significant advances are often the results of sequential evolutionary steps. For example, in 1997, the company of Microsoft rose to power and became the world s most influential company, valued at 261 billion dollars. This happened because Microsoft offered something that society was missing: personal computing (a new approach in technological advancement). Microsoft allows the expansion of new horizons and the ability to bring about change throughout the world. During the rise of technological development, Microsoft had significant outcomes throughout the time period, which carried on to have lasting residual effects on society today. During the early 1970’s, computers as we know them now, did not exist. That being the case, personal computers were a thing of fantasy and imagination. 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