Public Attitudes Towards Asylum Seekers Sociology Essay

Public Attitudes Towards Asylum Seekers Sociology Essay Immigrant Killer, Paedo Asylum Seeker, Asylum perv. Just three examples from the 1415 asylum and immigration articles reported in The Sun from 2003 to 2007. Is it any wonder that the general publics opinions on such issues are generally very prejudice. In 1951, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was established by the Refugee Convention, which gave a definition of a refugee. It states that a refugee is someone who is outside the country of their nationality, and is unable to, or unwilling to, avail themselves to the protection of that country due to a fear of being persecuted because of associations with race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion (UNHCR 2001-2013a). Although often confused, an asylum seeker is in contrast, someone who says they are a refugee but their claim for asylum has not yet been definitively evaluated. Therefore they are someone who is seeking asylum/refuge but their status is not yet confirm ed (UNHCR 2001-2013b). The mass media creates panic amongst the public through the false or misleading stories which cast asylum seekers in a negative light. The mass media industry is one of the most powerful sources of providing information on a large scale, and has been utilised throughout history as a tool to appeal to large public audiences. Eldridge (1997, p65) states that The media, wittingly or unwittingly, reproduces the definitions of the powerful. Suggesting that the media feeds information to the public making society believe what the powerful bodies what them to believe. However, there is a shared relationship between newspapers and their audiences. This means that the papers report on what they assume the people think, supporting and reinforcing general attitudes on strong issues. This in turn sets off a chain reaction where escalation of reflection and enhancement buries the truth and reality under myth and prejudice. Cohen (1972) coined the term Moral Panic to which he describes the media a s causing extra or unwarranted worry to society about particular values and principles that may already be a turning the issue into a national catastrophe. Cohen (1972, p9) describes the features of a moral panic to be a condition, episode, person or group of persons who become defined as a threat to societal values and interests. This essay will look at the moral panics created by the media towards the issue of immigration and asylum seekers and assess the extent to which public attitudes towards asylum seekers and refugees are a reflection of negative and hostile media reportings of migration issues. An interest in public attitudes towards immigration, asylum seekers and refugees has been around for several decades. However, Finney and Peach (2004) argues that it wasnt until the immigration dispersal policy was put in place in 2000, and the introduction of policies for accommodation centres, that a concern for public attitudes was amplified. Jowell and Airey (1984) suggest that the first survey on social attitudes in the UK came from the 1983 British Social Attitudes Survey. It was launched to collect attitudes on social, economic, political and moral issues including race and immigration, in the UK. From this report Airey (1984) found that there was a considerable amount of opposition in the UK in the 1980s towards ethnic minorities and race differences, with 60% of participants wanting less Asian and Black settlers, 90% believed there was racial discrimination in Britain against these two categories. Surprisingly 40% of people described themselves as being intolerant towards et hnic minorities. Young (1992) found that the 1994 British Social Attitudes Survey produced similar results. For example 60% of respondents still wanted less Asian and Black immigration throughout the 1990s.This is supported by results found in the 2011 British Social Attitudes Survey, 75% of respondents wanted a reduction in immigration overall and 51% wanting a large reduction in immigration (Park et el, 2012, p26). However, Crawley (2005) states that surveys such as this, often assume that the public have some level of knowledge about the issue. When in fact misleading questions may ill inform the public and therefore disfigure their attitudes on asylum seekers and refugee issues. The amplification of the interest in immigration and asylum may reflect the actual increase in the number of immigrants entering the UK. As the net flow of migrants into Britain over the last 15 years being the largest in British history, (Park et al, 2012, p26) but the increase in media coverage is huge ly disproportionate to the numbers of immigrants coming into the country. Public attitudes towards asylum seekers and refugees are a reflection of negative and hostile media reporting of migration issues, especially when those media sources are mainstream television broadcasters. Prime examples of how the media represents public attitudes is the 2001, Channel 4 programme named Bloody Foreigners. The Andrew Smith production investigated British attitudes towards asylum seekers and Immigrants living and working in the UK. Hardcashproductions.com (n.d) summarises the production as, an exposà © of the culture of how asylum seekers are physically and verbally abused on a daily basis due to pretence of xenophobia. Programmes such as this reflect and reinforce the hostility and attitudes of the British public toward asylum seekers and immigrants. By broadcasting such programmes the media is not only displaying existing negativities of public attitudes, it also encourages other members of the public to obtain these views which are becoming ever increasingly antag onistic. Public attitudes are often negative and hostile towards asylum seekers, due to the little amount of research that has been done to inform the public about how the complex asylum system works, and how issues surrounding asylum and immigration receive no compassion or sympathy. Reputable broadcasters such as the BBC try to report on the facts to try and make the public aware of what happens in the Asylum process and how Asylum Seekers and immigrants feel and are treated. This is particularly shown on the BBCs Asylum day in July 2003. The BBC ran several programmes including face the nation. On this programme Beverley Hughes, the minister for asylum and immigration at the time, faced the nation to debate some of the issues raised on the day (BBC News Online, 2003a). This programme brought out some very conflicting opinions from the public on the issues of Asylum and immigration. One such opinion is I am appalled by the way that some sections of our press demonise asylum seekers when the y themselves have not suffered the terrible hardships that these people have gone through. (Haworth, 2003). An extreme conflicting argument was expressed by Colemen (2003) How dare you allow these people in to our country? How dare you let them exploit our failing NHS? How dare you allow them to exploit our benefits system?. These two conflicting opinions show the difficulty and complexity of the public in understanding a complex issue. You the judge was another programme broadcasted. This depicted an interactive programme where audiences stepped into the roles of immigration officials to discuss real life immigration cases. However, it was argued by the immigration officer Minister Beverly Hughes that this programme turned the issue of asylum into a gameshow (BBC News Online, 2003b), making the asylum process more of a way to entice audiences rather than actually trying to educate the public of how complex the process can be. The most controversial programme aired on the day, was a panorama special The Asylum game. Where reporters posed as immigrants to see what happens as they pass through the complicated asylum process. The report details the reasons why there are so many people seek asylum in the UK and how and why the UK system is flawed and cannot cope with them (BBC news online, 2003c). The home secretary at the time of this broadcast, David Blunkett, accused the panorama programme as uncritically using claims from the right-ring anti-immigration pressure group, Migration Watch (BBC news online, 2003d). This suggests the BBC didnt take into account the reasons behind the complexities considering why things appeared to be flawed and just reported on figures. News papers and online news sources can also be a reflection of negative and hostile public attitudes. One such online source is the BBC. The BBC is known for displaying the accurate facts on certain issues in a way that attracts the attention of the reader. The headlines expressed, regard immigration as a real world issue, rather than influencing the public to create false perceptions around immigration issues. Headlines such as Romania Rejects British Scrounger Stereotype (BBC News, Morris, 2013) and Boston Protest Held over Immigration Levels (BBC News, 2012), do not use emotive language to draw the reader in. They simply state what has happened and then go on to further report the incidents in more detail within the article. In a further article Asylum seeker Assaulted on Plane During Deportation (BBC News, Eckleford, 2013), an account of the injuries through an interview with the victim is reported, but no conclusions about what happened and why are stated. It simply reports tha t several agencies were being involved and investigating the incident. Other liberal newspaper sources e.g. The Guardian express a balanced stance on issues of asylum seekers and refugees, in order to present their audience with the facts. The Guardian tends to report on the politics side of immigration, issues that are causing government concern leading to policy changes. Headlines such as David Cameron: Justice for all unless youre an immigrant (Jowit, 2013a) draws the attention of the reader, and in the article goes onto say that legal support and aid will be axed from April 2013 and a revision of other systems, housing, health and benefit will stop Britain being a Soft touch when it comes to immigration issues. This could be seen as a purely political move in order to keep voters happy, as the media have always implied that Britain is too soft when it comes to immigration issues. This is an example of where the media can not only influence public attitudes but can influence policy making at state level too. Negative and hostile media and public att itudes towards particular ethnic groups are not reflected by all members of the general public. The UKs approach to Bulgarian and Romanian immigration makes me sick with shame (Hanson, 2013) is one example of a recent headline that displays opposite views to migration issues. There have always been conflicting views on sensitive issues regarding asylum seekers and refugees. Opinions reflected in articles may then encourage and influence the general public attitudes towards these immigrants in a harmful and aggressive way. Immigrants are too often taking advantage of UK public services, says Cameron (Jowit, 2013b), this headline suggests that the government are hostile towards migrants which could filter down through the media causing the public to hold the same views as the government, and therefore view immigration in the same negative light. Although many articles express the disappointment towards the government and the UK public on wider immigration issues, they can also be tied towards issues on asylum seekers and refugees, as they are often confused to be economic migrants. Buchanan et al (2003) found that the most conspicuous features of the media coverage of the asylum issue is the confusion generated by the inaccurate use of language, the media often confuses immigrants and asylum seekers within the same article, leading to the public also holding confused views. This is because the British population do not see the reasons behind the people coming into the UK seeing them as just another statistic. They do not give asylum seekers a voice and therefore they are all targeted and branded the same by the mean, tight-ward, mendacious, xenophobic and bad mannered society we have (Hanson, 2013). The media demonstrates, reinforces and maybe even influences the negativities surrounding the immigration and asylum debate in Britain. Certain types of published media are staggeringly hypocritical on sensitive issues such as immigration and asylum, in order to influence public attitudes, for example tabloid newspapers such as, The Sun. Headlines such as Swan Bake (The Sun 2011) and Now their nicking fish (Diggines, 2007) accuse asylum seekers as being gangs plundering and snaring creatures from rivers to slaughter and eat (Diggens, 2007; The Sun, 2011). This negative and hostile media report, of what turned out to be a made up story of an innocent event, caused public outrage, creating an ever increasing antagonistic view by the public towards asylum seekers and refugees. This is supported by Mollard (2001) who found that most of the 253 news items she examined were negative in nature and had been partially based on false assumptions about asylum seekers which sustained a high leve l of hostility. Medic (2004) investigated the claim by The Sun and found that the police could not confirm any arrests, charges or cautions over the event and an unfaithful transcript of an interviewees words was used. In addition, it could not be confirmed that an incident described by The Sun ever happened. This story influenced the general public to believe that asylum seekers are selfish cruel animal killers that have no respect for English culture and monarchy heritage. Asylum seekers are characterised as being criminals and are entrapped by the criminal justice system of a host country resulting in a system that is punitive rather than protective (Amnesty International, 1999). However, they are not criminals but are treated as such being imprisoned you cannot be trusted to live freely because you are a cheat (Kundnani, 2001, P45). They are not seen as people who need help and refuge they are seen and treated as people who are a threat to host countries. A statement in The Suns article Taken to the Cleaners reported by Lister (2007), Most of us are hard-working taxpayers yet these people live in luxury compared to us. I wish I could afford to go to a gym and have a personal laundry service and cleaner suggests that confusion in the general public between immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees is reflected and reinforced in the media and classing them all as cheats, money grabbers and illegals. Rather than finding out about their personnel circumstances in the countries of origin. Buchanan et al (2003) also found that news articles regarding asylum issues often fail to provide a context for the articles by not effectively explaining the background issues and reasons for their flight. Refugees and asylum seekers face extreme difficulties, not just in the uncertainties about their future in a country, but when they arrive and live in host countries. Race and racism can become a big issue in the lives of these people. The policies on immigration can be seen as quite racist by large groups of people and therefore public attitudes towards asylum seekers and refugees are a reflection of negative and hostile media reporting of migration issues. Racism is reproduced by the mass media giving it a broad public exposure (Smitherson-Donaldson, 1988). It is a big issue faced by asylum seekers and refugees and gets a huge amount of media attention. Between January 2010 and March 2013, 2460 racism articles were published by the more conservative Daily Mail, it must be said that not all of these articles are based directly on asylum seekers and refugees, but it goes to show the importance of a contemporary issue and the influence the media can hold over publishing such articles. Buchanans (2003) study looked at how the story of Sangatte became central to the immigration and asylum debate in the media. It showed that the media reported on the negative attributes to rising numbers of asylum seekers and the ways, in which they arrived in Britain, allegations were made against the loss of control over UK borders and the treatment of refugees in comparison to British citizens. This is seen in further issues expressed in the Daily Mail, in particular is the reporting of so many headline figures about refugees and asylum seekers. Up to 80,000 bogus asylum seekers granted amnesty' Slack (2006), Migration IS killing off jobs: 160,000 Britons have missed out on employment because work was taken by foreigners (Slack, 2012) Enough illegal migrants to fill three cities the size of Newcastle: Home Office reports that 863,000 are living in the UK. These three headlines suggest that the amount of migration of asylum seekers and refugees is staggeringly high, which will in fluence and may already reflect the publics perceptions of a large amount of immigration into the UK. However when these numbers are put into context by more reliable sources such as the UNHCR (2001-2013c) who state that in 2011 the UK was the eighth largest recipient of asylum seekers with 25,455 considerably behind that of the USA who receive USA 76,000 and Africa where one tenth of asylum seekers go. In conclusion, the main aim of the media is to sell papers in order to generate profits. Therefore, it comes to no surprise that headlines and stories are exaggerated, falsified and even made up in order to attract the reader to buy more copies of the particular newspaper. Controversies about their articles will always be present as conservative and liberal political views will always be conflicting. Public attitudes towards asylum seekers and refugees are reflected, enhanced and even produced by negative and hostile media reporting of migration issues, due to the powerful nature of media devices. A lack of education, about the facts of asylum and immigration, of the general public cause media reports to become huge societal problems and issues, which, in turn, can lead to the backing up of racist views that have always been held in society. However, this lack of education stems from the media twisting the facts and not distinguishing between different types of migration in their art icles, leading to a view that all migration is bad. Therefore, a vicious circle is created and public attitudes towards such issues are warped and twisted to reflect those of the media. Word Count: 2989

Employees Provident Funds Act, 1952 Essay

Any establishment registered under Cooperative Societies Act or State law relating to cooperative societies, employing less than 50 persons and working without paid of power To any establishment belonging to or under Control of Central Government or a State Government and whose employees are entitled to benefit of contributory provident fund or old age pension. To any establishment set up under any Central or State Act and whose employees are entitled to benefit of contributory provident fund or old age pension. Administration of the fund [section 5(1A)]. Both employer and employee have to pay contribution at prescribed rates. These amounts are credited to a fund. The fund vests in and is administered by Central Board. Employees Covered Under the scheme As per section 2(f), â€Å"employee† means any person who is employed for wages in any kind of work, manual or otherwise, in or in connection with the work of an establishment, and who gets his wages directly or indirectly from the employer. Thus, Persons employed through contractor in connection with work of establishment are covered Apprentices employed under Apprentices Act or under standing orders of establishment are disqualified, i. . they are not employees. [The model standing orders merely state that an ‘apprentice’ is a learner who is paid an allowance during the period of his training]. Non-eligible Employees Under PF Employee whose ‘pay’ is more than Rs. 6,500 per month are not eligible. Apprentices as per certified standing orders or under Apprentices Act Casual employees. However, employees employed through cont ractors have also to be covered under PF. Employee to Become member of Fund Immediately on Joining Every employee employed in or in connection with work of a factory or establishment to which the Act applies is entitled and required to become member of Provident Fund, unless he is an disqualified employee. Contribution by Employer & Employee As per section 2(c) â€Å"contribution† means a contribution payable in respect of a member under a Scheme or the contribution payable in respect of an employee to whom the Insurance Scheme applies. As per section 6, contribution shall be paid by employer @ 12% of basic wages plus DA – dearness allowance plus retaining allowance. This amount is defined as ‘pay’. Employees Provident Fund Scheme This is the main scheme under the Act. Both employer and employee have to pay contribution to Provident Fund. The employer has to deduct contribution of employee from the salary of employee and has to pay both employees’ contribution as well as employer’s contribution by a challan in prescribed form. The amount has to be paid in approved bank. EMPLOYEE CAN PAY HIGHER CONTRIBUTION – Employee has to contribute 12% of his ‘pay’ as contribution. The employee can voluntarily pay higher contribution above the statutory rate. However, employer does not have to match the voluntary contribution, over and above the statutory rate. Contribution Payable under PF scheme The Principal Employer is liable to pay contribution of his own employees as well as employees employed through contractor. Principal Employer can recover from contractor the amount paid by him on behalf of contractor. The contribution is 12% of ‘pay’ i. e. basic wages, plus dearness allowance, cash value of food concession and retaining allowance. Contribution of both employer and employee is same i. e. 12% each. Employer has to pay his contribution to EPF. He cannot deduct his contribution from wages of the employee. However, he has to deduct employee’s share from his salary and pay the same in EPF scheme. This deduction can be only from the wages pertaining to period for which contribution is paid. However, if there is accidental omission, the amount can be recovered later. Amount deducted from salary of employees is held in trust by the employer or contractor. The balance will be retained in the EPF scheme. Thus, on retirement, the employee will get his full share plus the balance of Employer’s share retained to his credit in EPF account. Lower Contribution in certain cases The employer’s and employee’s contribution is 12% each. This is applicable to many of industries and establishments. However, this contribution is not applicable to – â€Å"any establishment employing less than 20 persons† any establishment registered with Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) as a sick company – the lower rate of contribution continues till its net worth is positive * any other establishment which has accumulated loss equal to or more than its assets and has also suffered cash loss in last two years. Jute industry , Beedi industry ,Brick industry other than the spinning sector. In these cases, the contribution is 10%. Transfer of accounts (1) Where an employee employed in an establishment to which this Act applies leaves his employment and obtains re-employment in another establishment to which this Act does not apply the amount of accumulations to the credit of such employee in the Fund or as the case may be in the provident fund of the establishment left by him shall be transferred within such time as may be specified by the Central Government. Investment The amount received by way of provident fund contribution is invested by the board of trustees in accordance with the investment pattern approved by the government of India. The members of the provident fund get interest on the money in their provident fund accounts. The rate of interest for each financial year is recommended by the board of trustees and is subject to final decision by the government of India. 2) Where an employee employed in an establishment to which this Act does not apply leaves his establishment and obtains re-employment in another establishment to which this Act applies the amount of accumulations to the credit of such employee in the provident fund of the establishment left by him may if the employee so desires and the rules in relation to such provident fund permit be transferred to the credit of his account in the Fund The Employees’ Pension Scheme, 1995 Applicability EPS, 1995 applies with effect from 16. 11. 995 to all establishments to wh ich EPF,1952 and 1971 were applicable. Eligibility Employer’s and employees’ contribution Protection of provident fund Pensionable salary Pensionable service Formula for calculation of pension Monthly members’ pension = Pensionable salary * pensionable service 70 Employees’ family pension scheme For the purpose of providing family pension and life insurance benefits to the employees of any establishment or class of establishment to which the act applies. the scheme is applicable to all subscribers of employers’ provident fund. Contribution The employees contribution of 8. 33% will be diverted to the fund of pension scheme. Employers contribution is 12%. In such cases, 8. 33% is diverted to pension scheme and balance 1. 67/3. 67% as the case may be, will be in credit of employee’s name in provident fund account. family pension fund from and out of provident fund contributions payable by the employer and employee in each month, a part of the contribution representing one and one and 1/6 the percent from and out of employees contribution is remitted by the employer to the family pension fund. Benefits under the scheme: Members will get pension on superannuation or retirement from service and upon disablement during employment. Family pension will be available to widow/widower for life or till he/she remarries. In addition, children will be entitled to pension, up to 25 years of their age. Employees’ Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme The Central Government may by notification in the Official Gazette frame a Scheme to be called the Employees’ Deposit-linked Insurance Scheme for the purpose of providing life insurance benefits to the employees of any establishment or class of establishments to which this Act applies. Deposit-linked Insurance Fund into which shall be paid by the employer from time to time in respect of every such employee in relation to whom he is the employer such amount not being more than one per cent of the aggregate of the basic wages dearness allowance and retaining allowance (if any) for the time being payable in relation to such employee. The employer has to pay contribution equal to 0. 50% of the total wages of employee, in addition to administrative charges of 0. 1% of total wages. The employee need not contribute any amount too the scheme. The salary limit for coverage of employees in same as that of provident fund.

A Review of The Dream Society Essay

It is not easy to talk about businesses and make them appeal not only to a niche market but to all people. Most often, a book that talks about business, marketing strategies, and corporate culture is believed to be complex and even boring at some point. This I believe makes Rolf Jensen’s creatively written book entitled The Dream Society: How the Coming Shift from Information to Imagination Will Transform Your Business a deviation from the complex and difficult-to-understand image of business books. The book is about the noticeable reality emerging in today’s business cycle of how the tales and stories behind the products become essential factors that help the product sell. Jensen managed, in his insightful book, to produce an enlightening analysis of today’s business culture and predict a futuristic direction for companies without losing his readers in hard-to-understand concepts and difficult-to-memorize theories. The book revolves around the idea that more than information, imagination will be the biggest selling point of the products in the future. As time progresses and as competitions among companies become tighter and more profound, people become more and more interested on the stories behind the product than just the product itself. A book that intends to explain the flow of the market is often deemed an instructional book that offers tips and suggestions. The Dream Society is very different because it focuses on the trends and phenomena that are observable in the market but are easily missed or not looked upon twice. The book has promising value because it laid down facts along with interesting trivia and anecdotes that would not normally appear in boring business books. Jensen’s work is definitely able to capture the attention of his readers as he talks about how markets today target the consumers’ emotional needs and how some successful companies like Disney, Nike, and Rolex supply these needs by utilizing whatever tales they have that appeal to people’s hearts. Jensen, a talented and knowledgeable scholar, notices how this trend had slowly become the root of huge demands from these companies and he discusses how this marketing strategy will adamantly shape the future of business and corporate culture. Classified under the â€Å"classic Dream Society logic†, these companies are just among those who are able to understand that what the market wants are stories and appeals on their emotional side (Jensen, 2001, p. 3). Companies known as the Dream Society are predictably the ones who will be able to dominate the business world in the future because they could deliver what the consumers want. The Dream Society is actually a vital piece of work that would relate to academic, sociological, and corporate issues. It revolves around the question of what really sells today. Based on the careful research of the author, it is evident that society will give more attention to the stories behind the products and would direct its consumption towards things or objects that appeal to the heart. I felt that the author wants the book to focus more on providing its readers an outward perspective of the market because it narrates in a futuristic sense, providing all the facts of today that are in line with a potential market. The author iss able to achieve this through subtle narrations of personal experiences, analysis on how markets transform and direct attributions to organizations that make use of the consumers’ needs for emotional satisfaction. I noticed that even when the author is speaking in the first person perspective, he never lose credibility of the facts he is stating. Also, despite tackling a very sensitive topic, the book is actually written in a simple manner, organized thoroughly, and given a unique spark by the thought-provoking writing style of Jensen. These characteristics definitely set out the book differently from the others. Jensen’s work appeals to readers because of its insightful and interesting attack of useful topics. It tackles not just facts about huge businesses, but also realities about the people who work behind them. According to the book, more than IQ, EQ is also equally, if not at times, more important in making a person successful. The ability to build good relationships often brings people to the top. What makes the book more appealing is that it addresses a reality that is already being enjoyed by half of the huge organizations while the other half remains ignorant or in denial of it. Jensen’s work offers a fresher and more honest perspective of the transformation of businesses that should not be overlooked. In corporate culture, businesses that focus on being closer to the emotional weaknesses of people guarantee more support from these consumers. The Dream Society also highlights how success stories of companies surpassing adversities and odds become essential tools in dominating the corporate culture. The Dream Society highlights the value of storytelling and the treatment of emotions as commodity as a part of the future of businesses. Products that are packaged in a more imaginative way have the ability to tap the emotions and support of the consumers. The author’s concrete example in the early parts of the book about consumers wanting to buy eggs that are naturally made even if they cost higher emphasize the argument that Jensen wants to present in this book that consumers buy with their hearts and it is bound to be this way for a very long time. Jensen’s work is an understandable prediction for business transformations in the coming decades but it neither offers guarantees nor detailed specific steps of what business owners and corporate leaders should do to make their make their businesses more successful. It only narrates the facts and what influences the market but it could not be considered a guide or directional book. It is an easy, unconventional, very informative, and enjoyable book to read that addresses realities about the market and the corporate world, but it could still not be classified as a guide book on business and how businesses should be run. One of the book’s most creative lines in describing how a business is run is that â€Å"managing a company means staging a drama, daily† (Jensen, 2001, p. 134). And this drama, the strategy of commercializing emotions, and storytelling to appeal to the hearts of the people makes product sell. The Dream Society is definitely different from other business books I have encountered. The author is obviously very talented not only in writing but also in making careful analysis about the future direction of the world’s market. Understanding the needs of the consumers is one of the most basic rules in marketing strategies. Despite being unconventional, Jensen’s book should still be considered a business book because it offers insightful and important facts about the probable future of the market. Even if it is written with simplicity, this does not limit the valuable lessons and realities it shares to its readers and makes it invaluable to the world of business and corporate culture. Reference Jensen, R. (2001). The Dream Society: How the Coming Shift from Information to Imagination will Transform Your Business. McGraw-Hill: New York

Main Ideas Of The Glass Menagerie Play - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 1043 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2019/10/30 Category Literature Essay Level High school Tags: The Glass Menagerie Essay Did you like this example? 1) Each character in the play is living as an illusion. Which means theyre truly not themselves in this scene. As the play forms they break out into their characters more and more as it progresses. Theyre living there life as a dream when truly its not one. 2) In the play the past haunts all of the characters. For example, Tom sees past as physical and emotional events that prevent him from living his life. As for Amanda, shes always held back by things and is always worrying about her family instead of herself. As for Laura, she has basically given up on herself because shes lost the unicorn, her familys breaking apart and cant find a man whos loyal to her. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Main Ideas Of The Glass Menagerie Play" essay for you Create order 3) The father is a fifth character because he was included in the play. In the beginning of the play, Tom gives brief descriptions of his father, helping us to realize who he really is. Each character briefly makes him present even though hes absent for so long by mentioning who he is and why hes not physically there. I think they miss him because if the father didnt leave the family, there probably wouldnt be a huge conflict between the family like this. If the father didnt leave, Tom probably wouldnt have but because of him Tom followed in his footsteps. 4) Blue Mountain is a town in which Laura and Amanda grew up in. The mountains symbolized it being hard to reach someone because of how high they were. No one being able to get to them. Amanda and Lauras relationship grew stronger everyday because of how much time they spent together. 5) Although everyone wants to escape from a different reality, they all believe to get away. In this play, the father is the most successful because he leaves the family and doesnt have to deal with any issues going on at home. As for Laura, Amanda, Tom and Jim they always never seem to move forward. Towards, the end Tom breaks free and somehow reflects off the rest of the family to move on.   6) Tom is very fond of Laura. Even though hes very honest with Amanda about Laura he shows kindness. Tom never fails to have her back. For example, although Tom knew about Jim he kept warning her to stay away from him. When she didnt, Jim truly broke not only her unicorn but her into pieces. These were her only hopes that shed be able to find a husband but because of Jims engagement, he really screwed her over 7) The fire escape symbolizes the exit for the characters, escape from frustration throughout the play. The Paradise Dance Hall it is the place across the alley. Tom describes it in the beginning of Scene 5 and it plays a huge role in Scene 7. This symbolizes the loss that Tom has experienced. The victrola symbolizes Lauras fear of reality. The records represented the music in the play which belonged to Mr. Wingfield, which helped Laura escape her reality. Amanda Talks about jonquils when shes looking back at her past. They represent what Amanda wants for Laura, but thats really not who Laura is. 8) List FIVE †¹Ã¢â‚¬ ¹descriptions Laura uses for the unicorn in Scene 7. Write the exact lines down. 9) After closely examining Scene 7, I think the unicorn symbolizes Lauras fragility. Lauras very lonely and this is her hope that theres still people in the world other than her. When Jim breaks the unicorn, shes truly broken in pieces. The unicorn is very delicate, just like her. Although, I felt she was better off without it it was really sad that such a big part of her was broken. 10) Amandas transformation for the gentleman caller was very interesting. She always had been shy in front of people she couldnt express herself in front of. Out off his will Tom invites Jim, a man from work over, who is therefore the gentleman caller. Laura and Jim become very flirtatious that night and then begin to dance, leading Laura over to the unicorn, it falls and breaks. Jim acted very innocent until the end when he had told Laura he was engaged. He had left Laura heartbroken. 11) Jim and Laura went to school together when they were younger. Laura had gotten very sick. Jim asked her what was wrong and she told him she had Pleurosis. Jim had given her the name Blue roses because he didnt know what Pleurosis was. Ever since then hes always called her Blue roses. 12) Jim OConnor was the perfect guy for Laura. He had a good heart and cared for her. In scene 7, things really came about when he leads her on to tell her he has to go. He leaves after kissing her and telling her hes engaged and to never call again. Laura has always had it hard but to lead someone on to tell them he was engaged, this really was a terrible disgusting move. My opinion depicted as soon as this happened. From dancing with her to kissing her just to tell her he was engaged really made my heart hurt for Laura. For me this was the biggest tragedy in the play. 13) In Toms closing monologue when he tells Laura to blow out her candles hes asking for forgiveness. My opinion is affected when he says this because although hes having a hard time with his family, I believe that he shouldve just gone on and progressed his life. 14) After reading the play, I sympathize Tom the most. I felt that whenever he wanted to go forward there was always someone there to pull him right back. He never was able to move on forward in his life until he left Laura and Amanda behind. 15) I can relate to the inability to expressing myself. When I first meet someone Im scared of what their first impression may be. I dont want them to hate me for saying or doing anything wrong. I act really shy when Im really a totally other person with people I know. Another element I can relate to is anxiety. Whenever I forget to do something or do something wrong, I get very overwhelmed. One of my biggest fears is needles, this gives me the most anxiety by far.