...Close Reading of the Scholarly Text The Value of the Individual Throughout the world there is a constant debate over the value and importance of an individual versus the perceived public’s greater good. In his article Yi-Fu Tuan, expresses his take on the differences between what is a community, what is a society, and what is the individual. Tuan attempts to highlight some of the less appealing qualities of a community while at the same time showing the benefits of a society and praises being an individual in today’s day and age. The strongest evidence of this point comes when he says, “Society values a human individual as it values an animal species, for its unique, nonreplicable way of being… notion that individualism is selfishness is thus wide of the mark…” (Tuan, 317) Throughout the article, Tuan states that in a community, it is more important to feel a sense of belonging than a sense of who you truly are and what you have achieved. In addition, he describes his personal loves and how he couldn’t imagine someone else having the exact same set of interests, which in his mind means that there isn’t anyone else that could have affected the world and society the same way that he has. In the middle of the article, Tuan has a passage titled “Specialized Language and Community” (Tuan, 315) in which he gives a perfect example of how actually defining the difference between community and society is not as easy as it seems. Tuan tells the story of two mathematicians who...
Words: 531 - Pages: 3
...The individual, what makes up the whole, is who starts the avalanche, overflows the container, and tips the scales. In America, the individual may be small, but their contributions add to the whole in which every little bit counts. The individual in America has fear. It is why those who are able to change things are cowed into believing they do not make a difference. Ralph Waldo Emerson in his essay “Self-Reliance” proclaims those who “do that which is assigned you...cannot hope too much or dare too much” (Emerson par. 7). The individual makes themselves small by doing what the crowd does, taking away from the individual’s power. The individual is strong. They must not believe that America, being large, is not untouchable by the individual’s...
Words: 280 - Pages: 2
...fictional persons from wide-ranging backgrounds and have them share a portion of their life through the telling of a tale. The entirety of the work involves the personal concerns and outcomes of individuals in an ever changing medieval culture. The pilgrimage provided an opportunity for Chaucer to negate the barriers of class and social propriety in order to include diversity in the tales. Each tale is told individually. Each character is detailed with well developed personalities and specified occupations, clothing and social standing and in each tale; Chaucer relays the changes going on about him in Medieval England on a person by person basis. While The Canterbury Tales are relayed light heartedly, creating a caricature of medieval individuals and situations, Chaucer respected the religious doctrine of the time. The very fact that the characters of The Canterbury Tales are going on a religious pilgrimage tells of the ever increasing role of Christianity in Medieval society. While Christianity was becoming more accepted in the Anglo-Saxon period, its popularity has become more obligatory by medieval times for everyone from the peasant to the prince. The tales themselves relay the shifting ideas and ideals of the society in which Chaucer lived; the prologues tell more of the life of the individual. In previous times, such as the Anglo-Saxon period, works of literature focused more on the persons and peoples that surpassed the normal and the...
Words: 661 - Pages: 3
...support would be less likely to follow drinking norms. There were 574 college students, both men and women with an average age of 18.77. Each completed a measure of their social support level and what peer alcohol norms were. The participants were to keep a diary of their drinking habits everyday and used it to figure out each person’s drinking frequency and quantity. The hypothesis was proven and the individuals with lower social support were more likely to fall into the norms of drinking. However, there wasn’t a correlation between high social support and drinking norm behavior. In conclusion, if a social group is supportive the less pressure one feels to fall into the path of the norm. Within this article one strength was having the participants record each the drinking of each participant was measured by day. Not allowing any time to pass within each diary entry allows for a more consistent result as well as more confidence in that what the participants are keeping track of is more accurate. However, a weakness of this article occurs when the behavior of the individuals participating is not monitored. Allowing the students to record their own drinking behavior may allow for skewed results. Keeping track of how many drinks a person has can sometimes be based off of guessing instead of remembering precisely. The same thing can occur when having a mixed drink and...
Words: 417 - Pages: 2
...How do individuals and groups maintain power over others in society? “The way to have power is to take it”. This was said by William ‘Boss’ Tweed, an American Politician in the 1860’s. Tweed mentions the way to obtain power, however he never once mentions how to keep it. In more than one way maintaining power is more important than gaining it. However, there are many philosophies which explore how one can maintain power. These methods include the use of propaganda, the power of language, your own sense of authority, and perhaps the most effective but least humane; violence. The maintenance of power over others in society is highly dependent on the ability of those in control to distort and abuse language. This is highly evident in our civilization, not only modern society but going back thousands of years. Both powerful individuals, and groups of people and establishments all use language as a means of control, and through deception such propaganda allows power to be maintained. In George Orwells Animal Farm, we see the pigs use their intellectual ability to take control over “Manor Farm”, and turn it into “Animal Farm”. Animal Farm is promised to be carefree and easy, Old Major tells the animals “almost overnight, we could become rich and free”. This is a powerful statement, used to entice and excite the animals, which is soon contradicted with “it might be in a week or in a hundred years”. However due to Old Major’s skilled ability to manipulate language he quickly follows...
Words: 582 - Pages: 3
...Individual: Project Budget CMGT/410 January 19,2015 Jim Kupferer Individual: Project Budget MEMO: To: Branch Managers CC: From: Date: January 19, 2015 Re: Proposed Budget for Offsite Training Session This memo is to inform all concerned of the budget needed for the upcoming proposed compliance training session. I will include estimates for all hardware, software, documents, airfares, transportation, accommodations, labor, and salaries of those attending the training. The first item on the budget will be the fees for the project manager. It is estimated it will take this person five days to set up the training session. The average salary for a project manager is $96,425 per year (glassdoor, 2014). If this is broken down for just the five days needed to prepare plus the two days of the training session, the estimated cost for the project manager is approximately $2600. Some equipment will need to be rented such as, a screen and projector to show slides during the meeting sessions. The cost for these items are $99 per day (Rental Projectors.Com, 2014), The item will need to be picked up the day before the training sessions and returned the next day. This means the equipment will need to be rented for four day at a cost of $396 and the cost of someone picking up the equipment and then returning it. The average wages for a delivery person is $13.35 per hour, (MyMajors, 2014), and it will take approximately...
Words: 832 - Pages: 4
...Introduction: Individuals bring a number of differences to work, such as unique personalities, values, emotions, and moods. When new employees enter new organizations, their stable or transient characteristics affect how they behave and perform. Moreover, companies hire people with a degree of expectation that those individuals have certain skills, abilities, personalities, and values. Therefore, it is important to understand individual characteristics that matter for organizations. Individual differences - are those differences among humans that distinguish or separate them from one another and make one as a single unique individual. Research in IDs ranges from analyses of genetic codes to the study of sexual, social, ethnic, and cultural differences and includes research on cognitive abilities, interpersonal styles, and emotional reactivity. Personality: Personality is the unique and relatively stable pattern of behavior, thoughts, and emotions shown by individuals. Do describe the personality of a person; researchers agreed that there are 5 main traits (The Big Five) that make up the personality of an individual. Personality is a potentially important predictor of work behavior. Matching people to jobs matters, because when people do not fit with their jobs or the company, they are more likely to leave, costing companies as much as a person’s annual salary to replace them. In job interviews, companies try to assess a candidate’s personality and the potential for...
Words: 486 - Pages: 2
...Individual Responsibility Rebecca Quick GEN/200 March 2, 2014 Darline Claus Individual Responsibility Essay No one else is responsible for the students’ actions but the student themselves! All student's have their own beliefs, morals, and ideas to reach their goals of academic success. However, to succeed personally, academically, and financially they must make every effort to work hard to obtain their life’s goal. Individual responsibility is the ability to make a decision and be able to accept the consequences for that decision whether it was right or wrong. Colby and Sullivan (2009), state that there are five dimensions of responsibility which include doing your best, having integrity, contributions, consideration of others, and being both ethical and moral. Striving for excellence by developing a strong work ethic and doing the very best in all aspects, including time management. In order for students to do this, they must be conscientious of what they are doing at all times. As students’ our sense of integrity, stems from our sense of self, honor, and trustworthiness by doing what we set out to do and in a timely manner. If students’ would contribute to a larger community ranging from an educational, national, or even a global community, this would allow them to have a sense purpose. Students’ should be open minded when looking at situations from an others’ point of view, and their perspectives must be taken seriously. An individual must develop competence...
Words: 708 - Pages: 3
...Principles of individual decision - making paper Developing professional knowledge and abilities can impact career success. Companies today require a minimum educational level for any job. Acquiring a degree in today’s society opens a vast array of opportunities in addition, to giving individuals an upper hand in many situations. Knowledge consists of facts and ideas that have been acquired by study, investigation, observation, or experience. In today’s society, Professional knowledge is just as important for the professional field as it is for personal use. Association of Professional Community Managers (APCM) is an organization of special interest. Working in Property Management it necessary to interact and meet new people outside my normal work environment. “For more than 30 years, APCM has been the leader in providing education and resources to the volunteer homeowners who govern community associations and the professionals who support them” (Community Association Institute, 2010). The above-mentioned organization contributes to increasing personal knowledge and abilities in the following ways: online training, monthly seminars, continuing education, conferences, and books. Our brains are like sponges the more “we” take in, the more we learn. These are critical tools that I believe need to be used effectively to improve my knowledge. I have found from speaking with others individuals within my company that this organization has an amazing group of individuals who, in...
Words: 374 - Pages: 2
...Is multiculturalism compatible with individual rights? Multiculturalism can be defined as a form of identity politics which aims to link personal and social life, seeing individuals as embedded in a particular cultural, social institution or ideological context, advocating equality, rights and cohesion between all different cultural groups. Therefore it is rooted in communitarianism, the idea that we are shaped and defined by the community we live in, and advocates minority group rights. Individual rights are a liberal idea which advances the interests of every individual person, rather than the rights of a group of people. Liberals hold a central belief in the rights of the individual, stemming from the belief that we are all rational, autonomous beings capable of making our own decisions in our own best interests, protecting our own individual freedom. Multiculturalism on the other hand does not specifically extend the rights of the individual, instead, advancing the rights of minority groups as a whole, embedded in the idea of group and social identity. Therefore, Liberals have accused multiculturalists of being ‘just another form of collectivism’ not respecting the rights of individuals. For example, Amartya Sen attacked ‘solitaristic’ theory which underpins multiculturalism. This suggests human identities are formed by membership of a single social group, which can lead to miniaturisation of humanity and increases violence as people identify with only their own monoculture...
Words: 1198 - Pages: 5
...Values, Beliefs, Clinical Gestalt with Individuals, and Systems University of Phoenix I am learning as much as I can about myself through the journal entries, exercises, and team discussion questions to better myself as a future therapist or clinician. To be productive and effective I must recognize, and accept my strengths and weaknesses with an attitude of striving for excellence. I have learned a great deal about myself and the areas where I can improve in the clinical setting. I realize that with improvement there will be challenges. I will overcome these challenges by utilizing the knowledge I am obtaining in these series of classes. My Values and Beliefs All the choices and decisions I have made in my life are based on my values and belief system. My parents strived to teach me the best values and to instill wholesome values. I was raised to always know a person can not be judged on what is seen, but by what you learn of them. In a clinical atmosphere I believe I can put these lessons to use. I know not to judge a person based on their situation as each person has a story that has led to where they are today in life. There are certain issues that I have an opinion about that I know I will have to set aside in order for my client to benefit. A few of these issues are abortion, molestation, rape, and murder. Realize every situation has a story behind it and I need to be able to hear the story so that I can help my client in need. My Clinical...
Words: 1391 - Pages: 6
...Knowing Ones Self: Should Individuals Identify his or her Identity? Why is it so important to know your identity? This question is summed up in the obvious statement, “you can only use what you know you have.” It is always easy to illustrate points when they are put it into a monetary context. Say for example that an individual has a bank account with one million dollars in it. He or she, however, did not know about it, but has the ability to find out. The benefit to a person, and possibly others, for making this discovery is worth the trouble taking the time to find out about it. Until a person makes that discovery, it is worthless. In a world of indecision, is it a good thing for individuals to identify his or her identity? In the dictionary, one can find Identity as, “ the condition of being one’s self or it’s self and not another.” In simple terms, your identity is who you are in this moment. As individuals, we can so easily place an identity on someone else without wondering what ours is. Dr. Seuss said that, “Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you;” Identity, however, does not reference the process of how you are shaped (Seuss). Within this essay, I will be taking a look at this question and related opinions from a variety of sources. Lets dive into identity. Where does any person start when trying to tackle such a personal natured question? Simply join a conversation. In Marian Ruderman and Christopher Ernst’s journal...
Words: 1184 - Pages: 5
...Social and Individual Responsibility in Frankenstein Mary Shelly wrote Frankenstein in a time of wonder. A main wonder was whether you could put life back into the dead. Close to the topic of bringing life back into the dead was whether you could create your own being, like selective breeding but a bit more powerful. Looking after something you create is one point that shows up in the story. Frankenstein created his creature so he should have looked after it but instead just because he didn't like the way it looked he ran away. He never taught his creature anything so for all that the creature knew it could have been okay to kill people and suchlike. That relates to today as some children who were not taught right from wrong by their parents and have to learn on their own, but by the time they learn, they might have messed up to immensely to fix it. This point could also be known as teaching a child or creation right from wrong. Responsibility towards family is another point Frankenstein brings up. This point can be taken in two ways that Frankenstein was irresponsible to his creature or that the creature was irresponsible to Frankenstein. Frankenstein was irresponsible to his creature by running away and to his creature Frankenstein was his family and Frankenstein was responsible for teaching him the ways of life. Instead he ran away. The creature was irresponsible to Frankenstein as when Frankenstein left he should have done his best to fend for himself. The...
Words: 655 - Pages: 3
...This topic is a very debatable one because, in my opinion, there is no perfect solution. For a democratic government to protect either only individual rights or only collective rights would be wrong so there definitely has to be a line drawn somewhere across this equation. My opinion tends to lean more towards protecting the collective rights of citizens though. I believe in fairness and equality so it seems like more of a viable option from my point of view. There will always be flaws in the system with perfectly functioning people that decide to stay at home and not work while getting money from the government but as said before, there is no perfect solution, just one that would be better overall. As Dahl said in his book, “the issue is not whether a government can design all its laws so that none ever injures the interests of any citizen ... [It is] to do less harm to the fundamental rights and interests of its citizens” (Dahl, p.48). That being said, having a program that promotes fairness and equality might not be perfect for everyone, but it is definitely the less harmful and better option overall. I do not think that the more fortunate should have to pay an incredible amount of taxes to compensate for the ones who are capable of working hard and decide not to but I do believe that the wealthier should hold a certain responsibility towards their fellow citizens. A fair chance of succeeding has to be given to both the person born in a wealthy family and the person born...
Words: 788 - Pages: 4
...usually without orderly arrangement” and Le Bon (2006:15) defines a crowd as “a gathering of individuals of whatever nationality, profession or sex and whatever be chances that have brought them together”. Crowding can have a wide range of negative behaviour and negative human effects. For example, crowding in prisons has been accompanied by negative psychological reactions and increased disciplinary problems, assaults, illness complaints, deaths, and suicides. Because of this, prison wardens are affected by it as much as the prisoners themselves because they are exposed to the behaviour prisoners may have. Merely being crowded in any setting can have negative effects. In the classroom, the larger the number of students, the more the strain, anxiety, and frustration it creates. When there is less crowding in the schools, at home, or at any other social setting, there is a reduction of psychological stress and problems are reduced. In other words, the reductions of crowding have positive effects. The larger the crowd is in public settings, the more negative effects there are for groups and individuals. The effects may cause groups or individuals to lose their sanity or take part in activities they normally would not be drawn to doing. Being in a crowd sometimes can mean that you lose your individuality as you are merely blending in with those around you and are not known as a separate individual but rather, the ‘crowd’. I feel this can have a very negative effect on your identity...
Words: 494 - Pages: 2
