Essay on the Failure of Language in Malcolm and On the Road

The Failure of Language in Malcolm and On the Road        Ã‚  Ã‚   John Clellon Holmes in his essay "The Philosophy of the Beat Generation" characterized his young contemporaries as deeply spiritual; to him, the very eccentricity of the fifties with their characteristic sexual promiscuity, drug addiction, petty criminality, and heterodox forms of self-expression was an attempt to assert one's individuality in the atmosphere of pervasive conformity of that Golden Age. And judging by the literature of this era from the distance of four decades one might conclude that incessant search for one's true self was, indeed, what this time was all about. The shaping of identity of a young protagonist (or its failure) is the dominant motif of the two outstanding works of the period--James Purdy's Malcolm and Jack Kerouac's On the Road, published in 1959 and 1957 correspondingly; their central characters, Dean Moriarty and Malcolm, severed from the primal source of identity--their fathers, are on a quest to regain the touch with that most fundamenta l aspect of their individuality. Defining oneself in relationship to language is an essential part of this quest. There is a certain magnetism about Malcolm and Dean that wins over hobos, billionaires, chanteuses, and bohemians alike; but whatever the nature of their charm might be, it is not linguistic. Indeed, both Malcolm and Dean are at odds with standard English. Malcolm's verbal innocence makes him a foreigner to any circle he finds himself in; the pattern corruption in the novel, therefore, requires that his mentors introduce him to the vocabulary which stands for yet another aspect of the wickedness they are to "break him in." This is an arduous task, given the extent to which Malcolm is a... ...y appropriated, were the heroes of the generation (Krupat 407). Purdy's novel, on the other hand, denies his Everyman a father, humanity its God, and the world any meaning.       Works cited Adams, Stephen D. James Purdy. London: Vision, 1976. Holmes, John C. "The Philosophy of the Beat Generation." On the Road. Text and Criticism. By Jack Kerouac. Ed. Scott Donaldson. New York: Penguin, 1979. 367-79. Kerouac, Jack. On the road. Ed. Scott Donaldson. New York: Penguin, 1979. Krupat, Arnold. "Dean Moriarty as Saintly Hero." On the Road. Text and Criticism. By Jack Kerouac. Ed. Scott Donaldson. New York: Penguin, 1979. 397-411. Lorch, Thomas M. "Purdy's Malcolm: A Unique Vision of Radical Emptiness." Wisconsin Studies in Contemporary Literature. 6 (1965): 204-13. Purdy, James. Malcolm. London, New York: Serpent's Tail, 1994.      

Media War Coverage

Media War Coverage From the beginning of time when humans started fighting wars regardless of the reasoning leaders discovered how important propaganda and the public’s opinion of why they were fighting the war. If the nation’s leaders believes in why they are fighting a war the Country willbe more likely to give their support and motivated to stay in the fight for the long haul. Edward R. Murrow, former reporter for CBS once said, â€Å"We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason if we remember that we are not descended from fearful men, not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate and to defend causes which were, for the moment unpopular. † A delicate balance exists between the military and the media censorship and evolution of wartime media from WWII through modern day WAR in Iraq. World War II coverage came mostly through newspapers and radio coverage. During this time journalist had a good relationship with the military, both were working toward a common goal that would bring an end to Adolf Hitler’s war machine, which was determined to take over the world! Without being heavily censored by military leader reporters were able to provide much more coverage of the war. Reporters during this time were at a much larger disadvantage compared to reporters of today because of their technological disadvantage. What would take journalist during World War II hours if not days to report battles or events through radio, print, or even telegraph was plenty of time for the military to screen the story. But it also provided a buffer of time to prevent any issues of violation what is known as operational security. In other words by the time the story reached its viewers in the United States a potential battle plan had already been executed. The soldiers involved wouldn’t be in any danger of valuable information reaching the enemy. Not to mention if a battle went particularly wrong there was time to adjust or screen a story in order to portray it in a different light that may be more favorable. Vietnam armed with newer technology allowing the average American family to have a television in every living room created a way to usher in graphic images of the war. No longer could we use the view the war over there as a separate entity being left over there and nor were reporters on the battle field as highly censored they were able to relay events on the battlefield and the reality in pictures of what combat was truly like. Because we now possessed the technology so Americans at home could see war first hand. Young Americans formed their own opinions of the war causing protest swaying public opinion and subsequently support for the war causing a large Anti-war feeling. Ho Chi Minh and the Communist north believed that with the American public losing confidence in the Unites States government. Since the mainstream media were not in support of the war, media portraying the violence and how the US progress in Vietnam in a negative light that eventually was said to be the motivation leading to the pull out of Vietnam. The concept of winning by proxy meaning: to simply wait out the enemy until they lose the will of the people to continue to fight. The theory held by the enemy proved to be correct due to the lack of media support helping to drive the motivation of the people and the length of the war dragging on over several years the United States did eventually pull out of Vietnam. During the Gulf War the media had progressed and had grown leaps and bounds since Vietnam. The technology currently available allowed reporters to report from hotel rooms within Kuwait during the air campaign in the early hours of Desert Storm. New companies such as CNN had correspondents bringing up to date information and developments from the beginning of Operation Desert shield to the building up of forces. The destruction of SADAAM Hussein’s Army as it moved waged its campaign against Kuwait through the liberation of Kuwait. The images we saw of Scud attacks and Victory parades were brought to us twenty-four hours a day seven days a week. The positive view portrayed by the media had a direct affect on the public’s view on the war. From the beginning of the War on Terror Allied reporters who were covering stories for both Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Allied reporters were imbedded with American troops fighting on the battlefield, these reporters were able to use satellite cards for access to the Internet and laptops were able to report from anywhere on the battle field up to date information on the progress of operations and how the war was going with virtually little to no chance of the military censorship. Reporter’s ability to use technology to avoid censorship was evident with the opening of the ground war in Iraq; a reporter named Jeraldo Rivera announced planned movements of American troops on television. Mr. Rivera was being broadcasted internationally creating the potential for the enemy to be better prepared for the oncoming attacks by the American Forces. Powerful Photo essays and Internet blogs often show the harsh side of war, unlike the harsh side of WWII where media images were more benign. The one constant through history has always been evident and media wither or not being censored is powerful in determining the support in a nation and in many cases the outcome of success or failure in a conflict. A. Censorship War Coverage: Barhart, Aaron. â€Å"Speeding Up War Coverage. † Television Week. Apr. 2003. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. U. of Hartford Lib. 1 May 2005 Hernandez, Debra Gersh. â€Å"The simple days of war coverage. † Editor & Publisher. Jul. 1994. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. U. of Hartford Lib. 1 May 2005. . â€Å"Newseum: War Stories Technology. † War Reporting & Technology. 1 May 2005. Rather, Dan. â€Å"Truth on the Battlefield. † Harvard International Review. Spring 2001. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. U. of Hartford Lib. 1 May 2005. . Rosenberg, Jim. â€Å"Tech from Gulf War to Gulf War. † Editor & Publisher. March 2003. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. U. of Hartford Lib. 1 May 2005. . Shafer, Jack. â€Å"Embeds and Unilaterals. † 1 May 2003. 1 May 2005. B. WWI Coverage: BibliographyChase, Stuart. Guides to Straight Thinking. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1956. Combs, James and Nimmo, Dan. The New Propaganda: The Dictatorship of Palavar in Contemporary Politics. New York: Longman Publishing Group, 1993. Doob, Leonard. Propaganda: Its Psychology and Technique. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1935. Edwards, Violet. Group Leader's Guide to Propaganda Analysis. New York: Columbia University Press, 1938. Ellul, Jacques. Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes. New York: Vintage Books, 1965. Hummel, William and Huntress, Keith. The Analysis of Propaganda. New York: William Sloane Associates, 1949. Institute for Propaganda Analysis. Propaganda Analysis. New York: Columbia University Press, 1938. Institute for Propaganda Analysis. The Fine Art of Propaganda. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1939. Lee, Alfred McClung. How to Understand Propaganda. New York: Rinehart and Company, 1952. Lowenthal, Leo and Guterman, Norbert. Prophets of Deceit. Palo Alto: Pacific Books Publishers, 1970. Miller, Clyde. The Process of Persuasion. New York: Crown Publishers, 1946. Pratkanis, Anthony and Aronson, Elliot. Age of Propaganda: The Everyday Use and Abuse of Persuasion. New York: W. H. Freeman and Company, 1991. Rank, Hugh. Language and Public Policy. New York: Citation Press, 1974. Thum, Gladys and Thum, Marcella. The Persuaders: Propaganda in War and Peace. New York: Atheneum, 1972. C. How Media Coverage of the Vietnam War Changed America, Journalism Cossa, Frank. Photojournalism and the â€Å"War at Home†. 19 October 2005. Digital History, The Vietnam War. Online American History Book, Period: 1960's. 19 October 2005. Kahrs, Kristian. â€Å"Lies, Deceit and Hypocrisy. † May 1997. 19 October 2005. LaborLawTalk: Vietnam War, Encyclopedia. LaborLawTalk. com. 3 December 2005. Lester, Paul Martin. Chapter Four: Victims of Violence, Photojournalism An Ethical Approach. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, Hillsdale, 1991. Digital Version, 1999. McLaughlin, Erin. â€Å"Television Coverage of the Vietnam War and the Vietnam† Veteran. December 3, 2001. August 2004. The Media and the Vietnam War. 19 October 2005. Reference. com, Encyclopedia: Vietnam War. Copyright 2001-2005 Tennant, Michael. â€Å"Now You See It, Now You Don't. † 27 May 2004. Strike the Root. 19 October 2005. â€Å"Vietnam War. † Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Digital version. 19 October 2005. â€Å"Walter Cronkite. † Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Digital version. 19 October 2005. D. Censorship in the Gulf Clark, Ramsey. The Fire This Time: U. S. War Crimes in the Gulf. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 1994. Denton, Robert E. , Jr. , ed. The Media and the Persian Gulf War. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 1993. Fialka, John J. Hotel Warriors: Covering the Gulf War. Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1992. MacArthur, John R. Second Front: Censorship and Propaganda in the Gulf War. New York: Hill and Wang, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1992. Massing, Michael. â€Å"Another Front. † Chap. in The Media and the Gulf War. ed. Hedrick Smith. Washington, DC: Seven Locks Press, 1992. Nohrstedt, Stig A. â€Å"Ruling by Pooling. † Chapter in Triumph of the Image: The Media's War in the Persian Gulf–a Global Perspective. Mowlana, Hamid, George Gerbner, and Herbert I. Schiller, eds. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1992 Norris Margot. Only the Guns Have Eyes. † Chapter in Seeing Through the Media: The Persian Gulf War. Susan Jeffords and Lauren Rabinowitz, eds. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutger's University Press, 1994. Schanberg, Sydney H. â€Å"Censoring for Political Security. † Chap. in The Media and the Gulf War. ed. Hedrick Smith. Washington, DC: Seven Locks Press, 1992. Trainor, Lt. Gen. Bernar d E. , USMC. â€Å"The Military and the Media: A Troubled Embrace. † Chap. in The Media and the Gulf War. ed. Hedrick Smith. Washington, DC: Seven Locks Press, 1992. Williams, Pete. â€Å"Ground Rules and Guidelines for Desert Shield. † Chap. n The Media and the Gulf War. ed. Hedrick Smith. Washington, DC: Seven Locks Press, 1992. Williams, Pete. â€Å"Statement before the U. S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs. † Chap. in The Media and the Gulf War. ed. Hedrick Smith. Washington, DC: Seven Locks Press, 1992. Woodward, Gary C. â€Å"The Rules of the Game: The Military and the Press in the Persian Gulf War. † Chap. in The Media and the Persian Gulf War. ed. Robert E. Denton, Jr. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 1993 E. Military censorship of the war in Iraq Naomi Spence †Military censorship of the war in Iraq†, 31 July 2008 All of

How to Use Charts, Graphs, and Maps for Information

Many people find frequency tables, crosstabs, and other forms of numerical statistical results intimidating. The same information can usually be presented in graphical form, which makes it easier to understand and less intimidating. Graphs tell a story with visuals rather than in words or numbers and can help readers understand the substance of the findings rather than the technical details behind the numbers. There are numerous graphing options when it comes to presenting data. Here we will take a look at the most popularly used: pie charts, bar graphs, statistical maps, histograms, and frequency polygons. Pie Charts A pie chart is a graph that shows the differences in frequencies or percentages among categories of a nominal or ordinal variable. The categories are displayed as segments of a circle whose pieces add up to 100 percent of the total frequencies. Pie charts are a great way to graphically show a frequency distribution. In a pie chart, the frequency or percentage is represented both visually and numerically, so it is typically quick for readers to understand the data and what the researcher is conveying. Bar Graphs Like a pie chart, a bar graph is also a way to visually show the differences in frequencies or percentages among categories of a nominal or ordinal variable. In a bar graph, however, the categories are displayed as rectangles of equal width with their height proportional to the frequency of percentage of the category. Unlike pie charts, bar graphs are very useful for comparing categories of a variable among different groups. For example, we can compare marital status among U.S. adults by gender. This graph would, thus, have two bars for each category of marital status: one for males and one for females. The pie chart does not allow you to include more than one group. You would have to create two separate pie charts, one for females and one for males. Statistical Maps Statistical maps are a way to display the geographic distribution of data. For example, let’s say we are studying the geographic distribution of the elderly persons in the United States. A statistical map would be a great way to visually display our data. On our map, each category is represented by a different color or shade and the states are then shaded depending on their classification into the different categories. In our example of the elderly in the United States, let’s say we had four categories, each with its own color: Less than 10 percent (red), 10 to 11.9 percent (yellow), 12 to 13.9 percent (blue), and 14 percent or more (green). If 12.2 percent of Arizona’s population is over 65 years old, Arizona would be shaded blue on our map. Likewise, if Florida’s has 15 percent of its population aged 65 and older, it would be shaded green on the map. Maps can display geographical data on the level of cities, counties, city blocks, census tracts, countries, states, or other units. This choice depends on the researcher’s topic and the questions they are exploring. Histograms A histogram is used to show the differences in frequencies or percentages among categories of an interval-ratio variable. The categories are displayed as bars, with the width of the bar proportional to the width of the category and the height proportional to the frequency or percentage of that category. The area that each bar occupies on a histogram tells us the proportion of the population that falls into a given interval. A histogram looks very similar to a bar chart, however, in a histogram, the bars are touching and may not be of equal width. In a bar chart, the space between the bars indicates that the categories are separate. Whether a researcher creates a bar chart or a histogram depends on the type of data he or she is using. Typically, bar charts are created with qualitative data (nominal or ordinal variables) while histograms are created with quantitative data (interval-ratio variables). Frequency Polygons A frequency polygon is a graph showing the differences in frequencies or percentages among categories of an interval-ratio variable. Points representing the frequencies of each category are placed above the midpoint of the category and are joined by a straight line. A frequency polygon is similar to a histogram, however, instead of bars, a point is used to show the frequency and all the points are then connected with a line. Distortions in Graphs When a graph is distorted, it can quickly deceive the reader into thinking something other than what the data really says. There are several ways that graphs can be distorted. Probably the most common way that graphs get distorted is when the distance along the vertical or horizontal axis is altered in relation to the other axis. Axes can be stretched or shrunk to create any desired result. For example, if you were to shrink the horizontal axis (X axis), it could make the slope of your line graph appear steeper than it actually is, giving the impression that the results are more dramatic than they are. Likewise, if you expanded the horizontal axis while keeping the vertical axis (Y axis) the same, the slope of the line graph would be more gradual, making the results appear less significant than they really are. When creating and editing graphs, it is important to make sure the graphs do not get distorted. Oftentimes, it can happen by accident when editing the range of numbers in an axis, for example. Therefore it is important to pay attention to how the data comes across in the graphs and make sure the results are being presented accurately and appropriately, so as to not deceive the readers. Resources and Further Reading Frankfort-Nachmias, Chava, and Anna Leon-Guerrero. Social Statistics for a Diverse Society. SAGE, 2018.