What can police agencies do to better prepare police officers to understand diverse backgrounds and improve communications with people who are not native speakers of English? As societies increasingly become more urban and cosmopolitan, it becomes imperative for police officers to understand cultural idiosyncrasies and sensibilities. It is an acknowledged fact that the history of…
Cultural Theory and Images
The three images perused for this exercise do provide the viewer with broad interpretative scope. When looked at without cognizant of the title or the context in which they were made, the range of possible meanings contained in them grows. Take, say, the imaged titled Egon Schiele, Self-Portrait with Spread Fingers, 1911. Self portraits are…
Shakespeare in Love (1998): A critical evaluation
Shakespeare in Love, produced by David Parfitt, Donna Gigliotti, and others and released in 1998, is the movie chosen for this essay. There are several aspects of the movie that impressed me. These include the acting performances by lead actors Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes, the fictitious storyline surrounding the greatest English poet of the…
How will current world wide economic downturn impact our lives?
Structuralism as a social science discipline offers key insights in how social, historical and political contexts shape the lives of individuals and communities. Octogenarians living in America will recall the acute poverty and disarray that their parents faced during the Great Depression. Likewise, Baby Boomers will reminisce on the economic prosperity and social progress that…
First-borns V Later-borns
Conventional knowledge, as gathered from history, mythology and literature, has always differentiated human personality types based on the birth order. But it is only in the recent century that scientific evidence is brought to bear on the subject. Today, based upon numerous surveys and scholarly studies conducted on the subject, it is fairly clear that…
Mass Media Critical Analysis: Family Guy
The animated sitcom series Family Guy, which began broadcasting on American television channels in 1999, has always courted controversy. The perceived crude humor and lack of inhibitions in the characters of the show have offended the conservative sections of American society. At times unfavorably compared to The Simpsons, an animated family comedy which preceded it,…
Ode on a Grecian Urn by John Keats: A Critique
Ode on a Grecian Urn (also titled as Ode to a Grecian Urn) is one among John Keats’ series of Odes (songs) written in contemplation of various subjects. Collectively referred to as the Great Odes of 1819, they include the Ode on Melancholy, Ode on Indolence, Ode to Psyche and Ode to a Nightingale. Keats…
How can the literary characters Tonio Kroeger and Meursault be described as ‘outsiders’?
Tonio Kroeger by Thomas Mann and The Stranger by Albert Camus are both existentialist investigations. Existentialism as a school of philosophy ponders over the meaning of life, the relations of individuals to society, the conflicts inevitable in interpersonal relationships, etc. Such inquisitions are very much in evidence in the two novels in question. In particular,…
Personal Perception of the American Revolution
The American Revolution is a cornerstone geo-political event not just for the New World but for the entire globe. In retrospect, it is obvious that this mutiny against trans-Atlantic British dictates of the late eighteenth century is pivotal in shaping and altering power equations in coming decades and centuries. Although I started the course with…
Why has freedom of religion become a controversial issue in our nation?
Our nation is quite advanced in terms of religious freedoms it affords its citizens. Often billed as the melting pot of religions and cultures, the nation exhibits a truly cosmopolitan ethos. Yet, religious tolerance, prejudice and discrimination do crop up in public affairs. Christianity being the religion followed by a majority of the population, there…