Connections Les Murray Essay Example for Free

Connections Les Murray Essay A connection is an avenue of interaction that establishes and develops a relationship between people, places, and culture. Connections as social constructs may be positive or negative, impacted by internal beliefs, values and ideas that underlie the external determinants of environment, attitudes and culture within society. Poet Les Murray and educator Jane Elliott critically explore in their texts the cultural disconnection in the Australian and Canadian communities in response to the interaction of these factors and their effect on the avenues of interaction between people. Les Murray’s Sydney and the Bush embodies the poet’s personal connection and attachment to the ‘farmer lifestyle’ as he blames the disconnection of urban and rural Australia entirely on the city’s infatuation with materialistic pleasure. This consequently emphasises his value of the nature of rural society. Murray perceives the infatuation as an external attitude of the modernised and corrupted urban society, factored by the city individual’s internal values of luxury, wealth and power being the unmistakable cause of the cultural divide. He reinforces this notion through the technique of repetition, using the phrase ‘When Sydney’ in order to periodically mark the progression of cultural disconnection and accentuate the attributing internal and external factors. â€Å"When Sydney ordered lavish books, and warmed her feet with coal† reiterates the internal necessity for comfort and sophistication as few of limited sources of satisfaction. Les Murray further develops the concept of disconnection in the poem when â€Å"then bushman sank and factories rose, and warders set the tone†, contextualising this to reveal a loss of cultural identity for the rural community through industrialisation. â€Å"Then convicts bled and warders bred, the bush went back and back† whereby the poet suggests that nature is the central value of the farmer lifestyle, governing the internal and external factors of their connections, which in this poem is a disconnection to the urban society. Thus, Murray demonstrates that our connections are negatively impacted by internal and external factors, expressing a critical perspective that reflects his own value of and connection to nature and its simplicity as a source of contentment. creates another social critique of the urban social hierarchy contrast he begins the poem with â€Å"When Sydney and the Bush first met, there was no open ground† and ends with a juxtaposing â€Å"When Sydney and the Bush meet now, There is no common ground† enabling readers to identify the divided Australia in its urban and rural communities.

The Empire Strikes Back Essay -- French Revolution, French Society

France’s revolution of 1789-1799 destroyed the age-old monarchy, eliminated aristocratic privilege, and established the inalienable rights of all citizens. Dedication to the ideals of equality and freedom for all men is enshrined in the national motto, â€Å"libertà ©, à ©galite, fraternità ©.† Regardless of France’s longstanding commitment to the principles of liberty, contemporary social attitudes and policies have fallen far from the revolutionary ideal, particularly vis-à  -vis France’s burgeoning population of immigrants and their descendants. Despite its extensive and tortuous history of immigration, twenty-first century France remains vehemently committed to antiquated notions of citizenship and national belonging. France’s persistent refusal to acknowledge its de-facto multiculturalism has created a brutal cycle of marginalization, in which ethnic minorities are prevented from expressing their cultural identities and successfully in tegrating into mainstream French society. Immigrants from the Maghreb – a hilly, arid region in North Africa situated between the Atlas Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea – represent the largest segment of France’s considerable ethnic population. France is currently home to over 3.5 million foreigners, more than a million of whom are Magrà ©bins, primarily from Algeria and Morocco (Sekher 25). Contemporary Magrà ©bin immigration began in earnest in the years following World War II. After defeating Germany, the United States launched an ambitious program to revitalize the devastated economies of Western Europe and create dynamic markets for mass-produced American consumer goods. From 1948-1951, The European Recovery Program, commonly known as the Marshall Plan, provided unprecedented levels of developm... ...ologist Franà §ois Dubet notes, â€Å"Une socià ©tà © construite sur une à ©galità © des chances parfaitement juste pourrait, en mà ªme temps, à ªtre parfaitement inà ©galitaire† (qtd. in Rosello 237). To provide special benefits to minorità ©s visibles would undermine the egalitarian ideal of â€Å"republican assimilation† by treating them as more than equals. Such reverse discrimination would represent an unacceptable breach of the sacred credo of â€Å"libertà ©, à ©galite, fraternità ©.† Hence, minorità ©s visibles generally receive an insufficient level of social spending, with derelict public housing projects and minimal welfare payments the only programs currently providing benefits (Smith 176). Continued adherence to outdated concepts of citizenship therefore facilitates the separate and unequal treatment of minorità ©s visibles by concealing persecution under the guise of official equality.

Mountains, rivers, other features Essay

Mountains in Belgium are: Baraque de Fraiture,Baraque Michel,Botrange. There are many rivers in Belgium such as: The Lys (Leie) in the cities of Bruges and Ghent, The Escaut River (Schelde) in Tournai, Bossuit and Ghent . The Meuse (Maas) and Sambre in the south let you visit Namur also Liege and the Willebroek-Charleroi Canals (The Belgian Tourist Office (BTO) in the US). In northwest of Belgium, there are the coastal lowland, a continuation of the continental shelf lying under the shallow waters of the North Sea. The shore is lined with low sand dunes. Fringing them is a narrow belt of polders, land reclaimed from peat bogs and shallow lakes (Encyclopedia Britannica Online, 2007). Economy How do most earn a living The Britannica Student Encyclopedia (2007) mentioned that: Daily commuting between homes on the farm and jobs in the city is a common practice in Belgium. Many industrial workers are part-time farmers who have strong family ties in the country. A large number of Belgian workers, called frontaliers, travel each day to jobs in France. This shows that Belgian works in both cities and country. Natural resources. Belgium produces many natural products, such as: coal, natural gas, construction materials, silica sand, carbonates (The Belgian Tourist Office (BTO) in the US). Main agricultural products Sugar beets, fresh vegetables, fruits, grain, tobacco; beef, veal, pork, milk (The Belgian Tourist Office (BTO) in the US). Manufactured Goods engineering and metal products, motor vehicle assembly, transportation equipment, scientific instruments, processed food and beverages, chemicals, basic metals, textiles, glass, petroleum(The Belgian Tourist Office (BTO) in the US). Exports Belgium import raw materials and export a large volume of manufactures. Exported products like: machinery and equipment, chemicals, diamonds, metals and metal products, foodstuffs . Belgium has many Exports partners like Germany 19. 9%, France 17. 2%, Netherlands 11. 8%, UK 8. 6%, US 6. 5% and Italy 5. 2%(The Belgian Tourist Office (BTO) in the US). Currency & Exchange rate The currency for Belgium is Euro, the value of the euro in the range of 1. 20 to 1. 40 US$ (Steinbicker, 2006, p. 155). People and Daily Life Race and Religion The Belgian Population is (10,364,388 ). In Fleming 58%, in Walloon 31%and the rest 11% . Religions in Belgium vary from Roman Catholic 75%, Protestant or other 25% (The Belgian Tourist Office (BTO) in the US). City Housing Accommodations vary from usual modern Apartment like in Flanders & Wallonia, to farms and castles just like in Brugge , Ferrieres, Liege and Huy (The Belgian Tourist Office (BTO) in the US). Clothing With simple words The Britannica Student Encyclopedia (2006) says about the Belgian people: Belgians, especially those in the cities, wear modern Western-style clothes. Men who work in offices are expected to wear suit jackets to work. It is generally acceptable for women to wear slacks to work. The ethnic costumes of the Flemings and Walloons are seldom worn today. On some farms women still wear the traditional dark-colored clothing and white aprons, and men wear the old-fashioned. Holidays Other than the regular Public holidays like: New year’s day, Easter Sunday, Easter Monday, Labor day(May 1 st),Ascension Day(6th Thursday after Easter),whitsum,whit Monday(7th Monday after Easter), National day(July 21st),assumption(august15th),All Saint’s day(Nov 1 st),Armistice day(Nov 11th) and Christmas day (Steinbicker, 2006, p. 154); there are many crazy festivals held in Belgium like: Ommegang Festival – Brussels Every year in July, the lavish Ommegang procession commemorates the tribute paid to Emperor Charles V and his VIP guests. Richly-colored costumes, horses, embroidered banners, flag throwing and stilt jousting (The Belgian Tourist Office (BTO) in the US). (See Figure 3). Figure 3. Carnival de Binche – Binche For 3 days in February the town of Binche is transported back to the 16th century for this festival. Highlighted by music parades and fireworks, the climax of this event is when the Gilles appear on the Grand Place and throw oranges to the spectators (The Belgian Tourist Office (BTO) in the US). Procession of Holy Blood – Bruges This annual event takes place in May and is divided into 4 parts: Old Testament, New Testament, Historical Section, and veneration of the Holy Blood. Since the 12th century the numerous brotherhoods and associations of the city of Bruges venerate and pay homage to the Holy-Blood (The Belgian Tourist Office (BTO) in the US). Stavelot (Mid-lent Carnival) – Stavelot This event takes place in March and is highlighted by the Blanc Moussi, which means ‘clad in white. ’ Beginning on Sunday, the Blancs Moussis wander the streets of the town putting up their irreverent posters. In the afternoon they step out from the cortege while staying on their floats and shower the crowds with confetti while flogging them with pork bladders (The Belgian Tourist Office (BTO) in the US). Zinneke Parade – Brussels It’s also known as Big Z-Day. It is a street opera of music, choreography, costumes and floats (The Belgian Tourist Office (BTO) in the US). Ghent Festival – Ghent It is held every year in July. People sing, dance, eat and drink, get together and watch theater. (The Belgian Tourist Office (BTO) in the US).

Sexism Within Advertising A New Era Of Social Justice

Sexism within Advertisements As a whole, this society has greatly improved, with new cures to old diseases, more efficient ways to complete daily tasks, and new technology with information at our fingertips. Along with these newfound practices, humanity has also given rise to a new era of social justice. Humans everywhere are working everyday to ensure everyone is treated with equality and respect. Nevertheless, humanity still has a long way to go. The mission will not be complete until there is not a single example of mistreatment. However, many of these mistreatments have been normalized so the task of completely eradicating them will be even more difficult. An example of these mistreatments is sexism in advertising. Sexism is obviously†¦show more content†¦Last month, household goods company Unilever said it would â€Å"unstereotype† its adverts after research suggested that 2% of ads showed intelligent women† (Davies and Obordo 15). Advertisements that continue to show a lack of s "educated† women have the potential of instilling predetermined values within the minds of those in a society and raising younger generations to believe they cannot result to move. Along with supposedly â€Å"rectifying† a woman’s place in society, advertisements develop a sublime message which shows women as the inferior gender. In the 1980s, the Women’s Monitoring Networks started a project called ‘sexism in the media’. Over the course of a few days, they asked women in the UK to send in clippings of sexist advertisements. Of all the six they received, each one of them included themes of patriarchy (Blloshi 7). Blloshi further explains the themes of patriarchy that were included. For example, â€Å"†¦Courtney and Lockeretz (1971, p. 94) coded and grouped 729 advertisemts into the following stereotypes of women: ...â€Å"Women are dependent and need men’s protection†...(Blloshi 6-7). In this case, women are shown amount t o nothing. 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