Black Naturalism and Toni Morrison the Journey Away from...

Although my students were unaware of it, in a sense what they were questioning from the standpoint of literary criticism is not only the theory of postmodernism with its emphasis on race, class and gender, but the theory of naturalism as well: the idea that one s social and physical environments can drastically affect one s nature and potential for surviving and succeeding in this world. In this article, I will explore Toni Morrison s The Bluest Eye from a naturalistic perspective; however, while doing so I will propose that because Morrison s novels are distinctly black and examine distinctly black issues, we must expand or deconstruct the traditional theory of naturalism to deal adequately with the African American experience: a†¦show more content†¦The novels may focus on individual characters like Milkman and Jadine, but the salvation of individuals is not the point. Rather, these individuals struggling to reclaim or redefine themselves, are portrayed as epiphenomenal to community and culture, and it is the strength and continuity of the black cultural heritage as a whole that is at stake and being tested. (93-94) What is at stake in Morrison s novels and in black fiction in general is a consistent emphasis on the need to resist forces stemming from society which may serve to destroy continuity of the black cultural heritage by a conscious embracing of the past combined with a concurrent quest for identity. When analyzing this pattern of creative reSistance of outside forces and rebuilding of the self in Morrison s novels, one can perceive a distinct echo of naturalism. The word echo is significant because Morrison s novels are not strictly naturalistic. While Morrison s works do exhibit naturalistic tendencies, she presents them in a new way, illustrating different challenges specific to minorities and offering alternate ways of dealing with these challenges. Morrison s protagonists face a world that is more complex, oppressive, and destructive than either Theodore Dreiser s Carrie or John Steinbeck s Tom Joad because Morrison sShow MoreRelatedThe Bluest Eye Toni Morrison Essay2185 Words    |  9 PagesSociety, especially western, conceptualizes beauty through the use of publicity and cinema. We are under constant bombardment from consumer related magazine ads, billboards, television commercials, and movies about what â€Å"beautiful† people look like and how we should imitate them. This standard is overwhelmingly portrayed as white beauty. Starting from a young age this standard of beauty is forged in our minds; we want to look like these actors and models; we want to be thin, fit, youthful lookingRead MoreEssay on Self-Hate in Toni Morrisons The Bluest Eye2405 Words   |  10 Pages At a time when blue-eyed, pale skin Shirley Temple is idolized by white and black alike, eleven-year-old Pecola Breedlove desperately seeks out beauty for herself. In order to attain beauty in her culture, Pecola must do the impossible: find white beauty. Toni Morrison shows the disastrous effects that colorism and racism can have on a whole culture and how African- Americans will tear each other apart in order to fit into the graces of white society. The desire to be considered beautifulRead MoreBrief Survey of American Literature3339 Words   |  14 PagesBrief Survey of American Literature 1. Beginnings to 1700 Great mixing of peoples from the whole Atlantic basin Bloody conflicts between Native Americans (or American Indians) and European explorers and settlers who had both religious and territorial aspirations - Native American oral literature / oral tradition - European explorers’ letters, diaries, reports, etc., such as Christopher Columbus’s letters about his voyage to the â€Å"New world†. - Anglo (New England) settlers’ books, sermons

Supporting Babies Free Essays

Emotional Soft teddy’s Helps to comfort babies when they are sad Intellectual painting Helps children feel different textures and materials. It allows them to use their imagination to create pictures. Language Reading books Helps babies learn new words, sounds and socialism with people. We will write a custom essay sample on Supporting Babies or any similar topic only for you Order Now Please remember a baby is Birth to 15 months old How a babies individual needs and interests can be supported through play. Babies play can be supported by giving the right equipment and activities for their age group. E. G. Hand/finger painting, building blocks, play mats, colorful picture books, rattles and nursery rhymes. Talk to the babies about their activities colors of pictures, shapes, textures and ask questions (even if they not understand) to show them that you’re interested. Give babies eye contact to show them you are responding to them. Join in and talk to them. Encourage babies to say familiar words, listen to different sounds, explore different things and support their needs. Some babies may need more support than others due to a disability. Praise is very important because it helps their self-esteem and confidence. Play mats and mobiles which are great for children to reach out to and play with the toys there. Encourage babies to explore with different toys by putting interesting things beside them e. G. Soft materials, toys with lights and sounds, crinkle paper so they can feel different textures. Sing nursery rhythms to babies so they can copy the actions and facial expressions. Provide activities such as hand/sponge painting, playing with balls, building blocks and baby walkers. It stimulates creativity and imagination. These activities are good for developing their fine/gross motor skills and learning other new skills e. G. colors, textures, counting and helping babies to learn to walk. With any activity your baby does join in with them, talk to them, make it interesting and fun and always praise them. Babies learn by exploring with their hands, feet and mouth. They bang, throw, drop, shake and put items in their mouths. Babies are very alert, they follow adults with their eyes and head. Talk to babies about family members and names of family so they can recognize words and who family members are. Provide colorful books with lots of pictures and touchy-feely books this gives babies tactile experiences which leads to brain development. Point and talk about the pictures in the books. Ask them questions about the book e. G. What color is the sky. Get them involved let them turn pages of the book. Make Sure you give the baby lots of praise and encouragement. La engage Babies enjoy finding their nose, eyes or tummy as part as a naming game. You can place mirrors to see their own reflection and talk with them about what they see. Babies express their feelings and needs by crying, gurgling and babbling. When babies try to say words repeat it back to the baby and encourage them to say more. Singing nursery rhymes with babies is a great help for them to recognize words, learn new words and actions. This helps them to develop their language skills. Use sounds in play e. G. Brim for a car. Also use actions to support your words e. G. Waving your hand when you say bye bye. Give the baby praise by clapping and using facial expressions. Give he baby your full attention as this gives them confidence to talk more and communicate with others and they feel happy and proud they have learnt something new. Babies are just starting to learn to recognize and manage their feelings. Babies experience a wide range of emotions such as affection, frustration, fear and sadness. Babies have tantrums when they are tired we can help to control their emotional expressions by giving the baby a teddy bear or another comfort object when upset so the baby can calm down. Listening and comforting babies to their needs helps the babies feel secure. The baby miles and giggles when they want more of something or turn their heads shut their eyes when they want less of something. Social Babies are aware of others. They build good relationships with people that are close to them. By giving your baby lots of love and attending to their needs you establish a bond with your baby, which allows them to grow in a comfortable, confident and socially healthy atmosphere. Encourage babies to interact with others put out activities that other babies can get involved in e. G. Ball pool, sand and water and painting this helps babies build their confidence and self-esteem to play with others.. How to cite Supporting Babies, Papers

Forecasting Notes free essay sample

Qualitative models incorporate subjective factors into the forecasting model. Qualitative models are useful when subjective factors are important. When quantitative data are difficult to obtain, qualitative models may be appropriate. 2.? Approaches are qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative is relatively subjective; quantitative uses numeric models. 3.? Short-range (under 3 months), medium-range (3 months to 3 years), and long-range (over 3 years). 4.? The steps that should be used to develop a forecasting system are: (a)? Determine the purpose and use of the forecast (b)? Select the item or quantities that are to be forecasted (c)? Determine the time horizon of the forecast (d)? Select the type of forecasting model to be used (e)? Gather the necessary data (f)? Validate the forecasting model (g)? Make the forecast (h)? Implement and evaluate the results 5.? Any three of: sales planning, production planning and budgeting, cash budgeting, analyzing various operating plans. There is no mechanism for growth in these models; they are built exclusively from historical demand values. We will write a custom essay sample on Forecasting Notes or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Such methods will always lag trends. .? Exponential smoothing is a weighted moving average where all previous values are weighted with a set of weights that decline exponentially. 8.? MAD, MSE, and MAPE are common measures of forecast accuracy. To find the more accurate forecasting model, forecast with each tool for several periods where the demand outcome is known, and calculate MSE, MAPE, or MAD for each. The smaller error indicates the better forecast. 9.? The Delphi technique involves: (a)? Assembling a group of experts in such a manner as to preclude direct communication between identifiable members of the group (b)? Assembling the responses of each expert to the questions or problems of interest (c)? Summarizing these responses (d)? Providing each expert with the summary of all responses (e)? Asking each expert to study the summary of the responses and respond again to the questions or problems of interest. (f)? Repeating steps (b) through (e) several times as necessary to obtain convergence in responses. If convergence has not been obtained by the end of the fourth cycle, the responses at that time should probably be accepted and the process terminated—little additional convergence is likely if the process is continued. 0.? A time series model predicts on the basis of the assumption that the future is a function of the past, whereas an associative model incorporates into the model the variables of factors that might influence the quantity being forecast. 11.? A time series is a sequence of evenly spaced data points with the four components of trend, seasonality, cyclical, and random vari ation. 12.? When the smoothing constant, (, is large (close to 1. 0), more weight is given to recent data; when ( is low (close to 0. 0), more weight is given to past data. 13.? Seasonal patterns are of fixed duration and repeat regularly. Cycles vary in length and regularity. Seasonal indices allow â€Å"generic† forecasts to be made specific to the month, week, etc. , of the application. 14.? Exponential smoothing weighs all previous values with a set of weights that decline exponentially. It can place a full weight on the most recent period (with an alpha of 1. 0). This, in effect, is the naive approach, which places all its emphasis on last period’s actual demand. 15.? Adaptive forecasting refers to computer monitoring of tracking signals and self-adjustment if a signal passes its present limit. 16.? Tracking signals alert the user of a forecasting tool to periods in which the forecast was in significant error. 17.? The correlation coefficient measures the degree to which the independent and dependent variables move together. A negative value would mean that as X increases, Y tends to fall. The variables move together, but move in opposite directions. 18.? Independent variable (x) is said to explain variations in the dependent variable (y). 19.? Nearly every industry has seasonality. The seasonality must be filtered out for good medium-range planning (of production and inventory) and performance evaluation. 20.? There are many examples. Demand for raw materials and component parts such as steel or tires is a function of demand for goods such as automobiles. 21.? Obviously, as we go farther into the future, it becomes more difficult to make forecasts, and we must diminish our reliance on the forecasts. Ethical Dilemma This exercise, derived from an actual situation, deals as much with ethics as with forecasting. Here are a few points to consider:  ¦ No one likes a system they don’t understand, and most college presidents would feel uncomfortable with this one. It does offer the advantage of depoliticizing the funds al- location if used wisely and fairly. But to do so means all parties must have input to the process (such as smoothing constants) and all data need to be open to everyone.  ¦ The smoothing constants could be selected by an agreed-upon criteria (such as lowest MAD) or could be based on input from experts on the board as well as the college.  ¦ Abuse of the system is tied to assigning alphas based on what results they yield, rather than what alphas make the most sense.  ¦ Regression is open to abuse as well. Models can use many years of data yielding one result or few years yielding a totally different forecast.