The importance of literacy Essay Example for Free

The importance of literacy Essay Literacy is known as the ability to read and write. It is the ability to communicate with each other, and to understand the concepts of everything. It does not mean that you will find literacy in a book because it can be found at any place on a daily basis. For example, while watching television, reading a magazine, when communicating with people in social networks, and especially in school. All of that has something related to literacy because there are words and signs that have a significance. It is very important for us to read and write, because it is a way to express and communicate with each other. Strong literacy skills are closely linked to the probability of having a good job, decent earnings, and access to training opportunities. Individuals with weak literacy skills are more likely to be unemployed or, if employed, to be in jobs that pay little or that offer poor hours or working conditions Without literacy civilization as well as communication would be entirely different, it is the key for our future, because it means education, and with education we all would have a better future. Literacy is fundamental for learning in school. It has an impact on an individuals ability to participate in society and to understand important public issues. Since we were kids, we were taught to learn a language step by step. We first learned to understand it, then to speak it, and at school we learned to write it and read it. Nowadays the population of people that know how to write and read is bigger than before. Some of our grandparents are illiterate due to their poor education. My grandmother said that back in the day there was not enough money for education and only a few could afford it. But things had changed, now the government helps the students by providing them with financial support and it is easier for them to afford and education. I am one of the luckiest people that have the privilege to attend to college. I said privilege because not everyone can do it and I am the first one in my family that made it to college. A literate person has more possibilities to succeed in life. Why? Because it opens more paths tosuccess, more job opportunities and better earnings. For example if a company is looking for people to hire and they have a couple of options in which there are people with high education and people with less education, of course they are going to hire that ones with the most education. It is because they want the best for their company and they know that people with higher education would make a good job, because they have knowledge and the capacity to understand things better. An individual that is unable to read and write is called illiterate. He cannot calculate his own income and expenses, nor can keep his own accounts. An illiterate man is generally exploited by the clever men in the society. They take full advantage of his ignorance of the language or wisdom. For example, let’s suppose that you own a business, but you do not know how to administrate it. You must hire a person to do it for you, because you have no idea of how to deal with numbers. What if the person you hire is taking money from your business and you do not notice it, due to your illiteracy. That is why it is very important to go to school and learn. Some people think that going to school is a waste of time, but it is not. We need education in order to survive the daily basis. It makes a big difference in an individual’s life. Literacy is found in our daily basis, the internet, television, books, etc. But in the social networks it is very common to find a lot of misspellings. This is why you have to be aware and not believe that every word in there is right spelled. This all happens because people are being more and more adapted to the way of texting, or they simply do not care about how they a spell a word on their social networks. It is affecting our society because it makes them look illiterate and is affecting other people that are learning a language, for example English, and these people make them think that what they write is spelled right. I had a hard experience with literacy before. When I was a freshman in high school I had to learn English, since my first language is Spanish it was difficult for me to understand the English language. It took me a long time to learn it. My teacher told me that it would be very helpful if I started to read books for at least one hour a day and also to watch television in English. She told me to practice as much as I could. So I did it and as time passed by, I started to notice that my learning skills got better and my pronunciation too. The hardest part of learning a new language is when you write it, but with time and dedication you will understand itbetter. Comprehending English can be difficult, because sometimes a word sounds the same but means something different. For example, â€Å"they’re† and† there† sound exactly the same but both have completely different meaning. We get confused, that is why it takes time to dominate it, but with practice and dedication you would notice that little by little it would get easier. I read all the books I could and every time I read these books I learned new words and their meanings. Books can seem boring but once you start reading them, they are really interesting. By reading you will notice that your writing and reading skills would get better. My English teacher would always tell me that reading was very important when it comes to learning a new language, because in a book I would find different words that would help me with my literacy skills. I am looking forward to pass this course and I would do my best in this class. My expectations for this course are to better my writing skills and learn how to develop and organize a good essay, since I have problems with it. I would like to learn new strategies of writing and understanding words. I know this class would not be easy but I am going to give my best and turn in all my work. My goal is to be a highly educated person, so I need to study hard to achieve this. I hope that my literacy skills get better with time and practice and I am motivated to do it. I know that by the time I graduate I would be more educated, and this all would be because of what I learned in college, and I know that everything I learned in school would be very useful in my future. Literacy is essential in our lives. Without it we would not be able to communicate with each other or to be successful in life. We would have less chances of getting a nice job and we would be exposed to be manipulated by other individuals that want to take advantage of our ignorance. Education is the key to success and the laws state that every person has the right to an education. This is why we have to take advantage of the government help, to improve our learning and education. I feel honored to be in college right now, because not everyone has the chance to attend to school, and I will do my best in order to succeed and accomplish my goals. â€Å"Once you learn to read. You will be forever free†. – Frederick Douglass.

Individuality vs Community in Shirley Jacksons The Lottery Essay

Individuality versus Community in The Lottery    The works of Shirley Jackson tend to the macabre because she typically unveils the hidden side of human nature in her short stories and novels.   She typically explores the darker side of human nature.   Her themes are wide-ranging and border on the surreal though they usually portray everyday, ordinary people.   Her endings are often not a resolution but rather a question pertaining to society and individuality that the reader must ask himself or herself.   Jackson's normal characters often are in possession of an abnormal psyche.   Children are portrayed as blank slates ready to learn the ways of the world from society.   However, adults have a hidden side already formed and lurking beneath the perceived normality of the established social order.   We see this best in Jackson's most famous short story, The Lottery.   Jackson's uses many elements of fiction to demonstrate how human nature can become desensitized to the point of mob murder of a member of their own com munity.   One of the ways she does this is through character.   While the shocking reason behind the lottery and the gruesome prize for its winner are not received until the ending, the characters come back to haunt us for their desensitized behavior earlier in the story.   For example, the children in the beginning of the story innocently gather stones as normal children might, yet their relish in doing so becomes macabre once we find out the purpose for which that are collecting them "Bobby Martin hard already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones; Bobby and Harry Jones and Dickie Delacroy...eventually made a great pile of stones in one ... ...re many similarities when it comes to technique, characterization, themes, and ideologies based on the author's own beliefs and life experiences.   However, we also see that it appears the author herself often struggles with the issue of being herself and expressing her own individuality, or obeying the rules, regulations and mores of a society into which she was born an innocent child, one who by nature of her sex was deemed inferior to men who controlled the definition of the norms.   We see this kind of environment as repressive and responsible for abnormal psyches in the plots of many of her works. WORKS   CITED Jackson, S.   The Lottery.   (Internet) 1-8. Jackson, S.   We Have Always Lived In The Castle.   New York, Penguin, 1962. Mukamel, E.   The Irrepressible Individual In The Works Of Shirley Jackson.   http://www.askjeeves.com,   May 13, 2004, 1-7.  

What representation of American Social Class is there in the first four scenes of Falling Down?

The opening scene of Falling Down immediately establishes the location of the film, America; this is obvious to the audience with the American cars and yellow school bus with the stars and stripes hanging on the side. The lead character played by Michael Douglas is established as a white, Anglo-Saxon, protestant (WASP) who is supposedly the most privileged class in American society. He is meant to represent the typical American white-collar worker. The audience gets this impression of D-Fens (Michael Douglas) because he is smartly dressed with a white shirt and tie, he wears glasses, he's cleanly shaven and is driving a typical American family sedan. This first impression of D-Fens is subsequently taken apart throughout the film and the audience later finds out that he is unemployed and discontent with American society. D-Fens' car and the way he acts give the audience a early clue that he is not all that he seems. D-Fens is stuck in a traffic jam and getting more and more frustrated by the things around him, he reacts very violently to the fly in his car and thrashes around trying to kill it, this gives the audience an indication that he is quite a violent person when he gets annoyed. Another indication is when D-Fens tries to cool himself down and his air conditioning system doesn't work, so he tries to open the window but the handle is broken, the car is like a metaphor for D-Fens' life shabby, worn out and not like it used to be. There is quite a range of different social classes represented in the opening scene all seen from D-Fens' point of view. In the back seat of the car in front of D-Fens is a young Hispanic girl who is staring impassively at him watching his frustration and breakdown unfold. D-Fens seems uneasy about this maybe because it reminds him of his own daughter and he feels ashamed that he can't drive her to school anymore. This girl is shown in contrast to the children on the bus who are noisy and happy whereas she is silent. She is sad looking and the car she's in is also old these things make the audience think she also doesn't have the happy life that the American dream is supposed to offer. This immediately brings up the question of race in the film and whether people from minority ethnic groups have the same opportunities as WASP's. The camera then pans across to show another white-collar worker, a middle-aged woman putting on bright lipstick and trying to make herself look younger, this gives the impression that she feels threatened perhaps by younger women in her work place. The next vehicle that comes into shot is the typical American school bus the children are very noisy and annoying, there is also a mixture of races represented and they appear to be getting along with each other. There is a black boy that is staring at D-Fens in much the same way as the Hispanic girl and it appears that non-WASPs are more of a threat to D-Fens and this perhaps suggests he is racist. Next to the school bus is a new sporty, convertible with two yuppies in the front seats. They can be categorized like this because they have mobile phones, a nice car, and smart suits. They are represented as aggressive and impatient as the driver is honking his horn for no apparent reason. They are rude and loud on the phone and they appear arrogant because they don't feel that they should be stuck in the traffic jam with everyone else. They seem to epitomise capitalism in America and the type of people that become rich and successful in a capitalist society. There are also representations of American society shown on the three bumper stickers that D-Fens looks at. The first one says â€Å"Financial Freedom phone †¦ † this also shows capitalism in America and that fact that many people live in debt and see themselves as being trapped with only money being the way out. The next sticker says â€Å"He died for our sins† and this shows how religious orientated American society is. The last one says â€Å"How's my driving? Phone 1-800 EAT SHIT! † this just shows how uncaring American society has become with many people being stuck in poverty, whilst many others are living in luxury. The flashing ‘Delay' lights, the heat, noise and smoke all come together and the quick straight edits from each of these elements build up the sense of desperation and threat until D-Fens finally has enough and gets out of his car and tells the man behind him that he's â€Å"going home†. This phrase is repeated throughout the film and it becomes D-Fens' quest. ‘Home' is not literally his house but back to a time when D-Fens felt less threatened from foreign immigrants or non-WASPs, a time when his role in society was more defined and he was a family man and a breadwinner, a time when he felt proud of America and its people. In the next scene the second main character, Prendergast, is introduced. He also appears to be a white-collar worker and a WASP but he is slightly older than D-Fens, his reaction to the traffic jam is in contrast to D-Fens' because he is more relaxed and doesn't let it frustrate him. He is represented as a wise old cop who is from the old school of policing and he is contrasted with the young arrogant policeman on the motorbike who enjoys his power but turns out to be a less competent cop than Prendergast. There is also a smarmy salesman on the scene trying to offer the young cop help, which he rejects. He talks about his trade and how he gives discounts for officers of the law, this suggests that money can influence police and that they are corrupt. The third scene represents a single mother who turns out to be D-Fens' ex-wife, she is shown as stressed and overworked having to get the groceries, walk the dog and look after the child all at once. The house appears to be nice, quite large with a garden and white picket fence and it seems to represent the ideal American family home, although there are signs of it starting to fall into disrepair with the paint on the house peeling off and the front garden being untidy. This shows how D-Fens used to have a nice traditional family life and the suburban idyllic house that went with it, that's when it used to be ‘home'. There is also a sign of how gun culture is very much part of American society with D-Fens' young daughter playing with a realistic looking toy gun and learning from a young age the power that you can have by possessing a gun. The fourth scene represents an immigrant shopkeepers in particular a Korean man. It opens with the well dressed, white D-Fens walking into a poor area of the city, this is shown by the graffiti on the walls, the rubbish on the streets and the fact that there are metal bars over the windows to keep the small shop secure. The Korean shopkeeper is dressed in old, unfashionable clothes and he appears quite impoverished because his till is very old fashioned and he is wary of a WASP coming into his shop in this area. This shows the separation of communities in America and the lack of trust between them. D-Fens is very racist towards the shopkeeper in this scene and he shows no respect for him when he marches in and asks for change without even having eye contact with the shopkeeper. D-Fens sees himself as being dominant over the Korean man and he sets the price of 50cents for the can of Coke and he takes control. He sees the immigrant as inferior to him because he is a WASP and he still has the ideals of the time before. D-Fens is racist because he mocks the Korean mans accent and the fact that he can't pronounce the ‘V' in five, then because the man is Asian he immediately assumes that he's Chinese and this is a typical ignorant view of an American who are traditionally insular in their views. This is shown again later on in the film when Prendergast immediately assumes that his fellow Japanese cop can understand the Korean man. When D-Fens finds out the man is Korean he says about the foreign aid that his country has given to Korea and he therefore feels that this man owes him and in saying ‘my country' he implies that the Korean man doesn't belong there. The image of the American flag is used once again in this scene when the container full of flags is smashed on the floor in a struggle between the two characters. This shows how immigrants feel that they have to be visibly patriotic towards America to fit in with society. The broken glass container could also be a symbol for how communities are now broken in America. Or it could symbolise how the American dream is broken for this shopkeeper and also significantly for D-Fens. D-Fens then says that he is â€Å"going to take prices back to 1965† before violently smashing up the shop. This period of time is what D-Fens associates with â€Å"home† because at this time WASPs were the dominating group in society and there was prejudice against other ethnic groups, this was a time when he felt accepted and valued in society and he was a happy family man living the American dream and this is a time he wants to return to. The Korean shopkeeper is obviously used to violence and robberies living in the area that he does because he gets on the floor and shouts â€Å"Take the money! this is seen as a major insult to D-Fens because he sees himself as middle-class and in his opinion robbery is a thing that poor working class people do. He also feels that he is justified in terrorising this shop because all he wanted was some change for the phone. This scene has been interpreted by many people as being racist and this is an understandable view because the Korean man is represented in a negative way. He is rude and scruffy whereas D-Fens is represented almost like a hero figure with traditional Hollywood hero lines and he appears to be fighting for consumer rights.

Why Foreign Aid Is Hurting Africa Essay - 1029 Words

Benefield, Alicia February 14, 2013 INR3932-03 Paper 1 Why Foreign Aid is Hurting Africa In this article Dambisa Moyo, is arguing that money, in the form of aid given to African nations has not only trapped many of these nations in debt, but has started a cycle of corruption as well as slowed down economic growth and poverty. To solve this isuue Moyo suggests cutting off the flow of aid to these African nations. Many developed countries will gladly give aid to Africa, these countries do not give small donations they donate by the millions. This continued donation of aid has only been putting Africa further in debt. What many do not realize is that aid is not given to Africa freely, the African nations receiving aid must pay this†¦show more content†¦This is because the donations are being given with â€Å"no strings attached† so the funds are being used for everything except what they were meant for, development. Political elites are using these funds to finace their own expidentures as well as financing their families and home life. The other problem is countries like the U.S. Implementing programs like the U.S. Food for Peace program, which buys American food and ships it overseas to African nations. This program is not helpful, it is a hinderance to Africas economic growth. By supplying American food for free, the U.S. is putting African farmers out of business. Moyo suggests that instead of purchasing American food, they U.S. could purchase food from the African farmers to distribute to the African nations. Done this way the African farmers are benefitting from the program and are able to compete in the market. The opinions presented in this article relate to many of the concepts we have touched on in this course; views on poverty, the development, as well as the international aid system. 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