The Handmaids Tale Essays (927 words) - The Handmaids Tale

The Handmaid's Tale Ruth McDermott November 30, 1998 The creation of Offred, the passive narrator of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, was intentional. The personality of the narrator in this novel is almost as important as the task bestowed upon her. Atwood chooses an average women, appreciative of past times, who lacks imagination and fervor, to contrast the typical feminist, represented in this novel by her mother and her best friend, Moira. Atwood is writing for a specific audience, though through careful examination, it can be determined that the intended audience is actually the mass population. Although particular groups may find The Handmaid's Tale more enjoyable than others, the purpose of the novel is to enlighten the general population, as opposed to being a source of entertainment. A specific group that may favor this novel is the women activists of the 1960's and 1970's. This group, in which Offred's mother would be a member, is sensitive to the censorship that women once faced and would show interest to the ?possible future? that could result. Offred is symbolic of ?every woman?. She was conventional in prior times, married with one daughter, a husband and a career. She is ambivalent to many things that may seem horrific to the reader. On page 93, Offred is witness to Janine's confession of being raped. She doesn't comment on how the blame is placed on Janine. Is this because Offred has begun to accept the words of Aunt Lydia, or more likely, is she silent to create emphasis on the horrific deed? The answer is easily satisfied when the reader finishes the novel. Offred must realize the injustices if she feels compelled to reveal her story on the tapes. She must grasp the importance of conveying the atrocities that were executed during the Gileadian area. Offred is representative of an average women also because she has experienced no great traumas. She isn't just ambivalent because of her tendencies but because she has been abruptly interjected into a new society. She is stunned and almost numb. She barely shows signs of life. She doesn't think there is any use to have a sense of hope. She thinks of the woman in ?her? room before her. Her strong sense of life did nothing to help her earn her freedom. She received nothing from her quiet rebellions. Offred is also obviously the perfect narrator because she is a handmaiden. In this new system, almost a caste system, the role of being a handmaiden is not only of great importance, but is also considerably better than other positions, such as an ?unwoman?, who cleans toxic waste in the Colonies. Because Offred is characterized as passive, and mostly compliant, she is not as much in danger as other characters. Moira, her friend from college and the previous life, is dynamic and full of life. She doesn't want to be held back, and her resistence causes her both trouble and distress. Janine, another character, is a ?brown-noser? who uses flattery and praise to achieve a virtually impossible level of hierarchy with the Aunts among her peers. She has to sacrifice self-worth, though, and her admittance of fault in being raped is disgusting. The tense that Atwood uses is relative to the narrator also. The shifts from present to past are frequent. When an author causes the narrator to use past tense, the reader can generally conclude that the narrator knows the end of the story. This builds a sense of suspense. Using present tense allows images in the story to be more solid and realistic, compared to past life. Not all shifts in tense are used for the same reason. When Offred is ?speaking? of Luke, she can't decide if she is in love with him, or if she was in love with him. Offred gradually reveals the story, which we are to eventually discover is on tape. Atwood elects to use leisurely disclosure in order to make the conclusion of the story more believable. The ?Historical Notes? chapter causes the reader to re-examine the book, both mentally and manually. As the reader recalls the jumble of thoughts, the bouncing back and forth between the present and the past, and the narrator's decisions to withhold certain details, they understand the possibility, though unlikeliness, that this could actually happen. Contrasts are important aspects in the narration of this novel. The obvious contrasts are between other characters, such as between Offred and Moira. There also are the images of past life that Offred

Free Essays on Liberal Intergovernmentalism

PAPER ON â€Å"LIBERAL INTERGOVERNMENTALISM† CAN WE APPLY THE LIBERAL INTERGOVERNMENTALIST THEORY TO THE BARGAINS OF THE EUROPEAN AGREEMENTS WITH THE VISEGRAD COUNTRIES (1990-1991) ? The historical events of 1989 with the collapse of the Iron Curtain created a unique historical situation in Europe: a new reintegration period between two political parties of the continent. The European Agreements were the first attempt of this reintegration period. When we look at the European Agreements made between the European Union and the Visegrad Countries (Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary) in 1990-1991, we see that they were signed after long bargaining period between both parties. In order to answer the topic question, we have to look at the basic aspects of the theory and the practices of the bargains of the European Agreements. Basically liberal intergovernmentalism includes a preference analysis (demand) and an intergovernmental bargain (supply) analysis. The former should be reflected by the interests of the European Union and the Visegrad Countries as the two parties, but there was the problem of diversified trade interests between the South and North countries within the European Union. The latter was purely existing in this bargaining process and showed the strength of the European Union in the trade regime. The Visagrad Countries were the regime takers, and suffered for their weak bargaining position. Another point was, that the European Agreemants had to be ratified in each member country just as constitutional changes have to, which illustrates the strong role of the state in the decision making structure, and this is also a main point in liberal intergovernmentalism. Shortly, the answer of the topic question is positive and the bargaining process of the European Agreements between the European Union and the Visegrad Countries can be explained with the liberal intergovernmentalist theory. Although there was some... Free Essays on Liberal Intergovernmentalism Free Essays on Liberal Intergovernmentalism PAPER ON â€Å"LIBERAL INTERGOVERNMENTALISM† CAN WE APPLY THE LIBERAL INTERGOVERNMENTALIST THEORY TO THE BARGAINS OF THE EUROPEAN AGREEMENTS WITH THE VISEGRAD COUNTRIES (1990-1991) ? The historical events of 1989 with the collapse of the Iron Curtain created a unique historical situation in Europe: a new reintegration period between two political parties of the continent. The European Agreements were the first attempt of this reintegration period. When we look at the European Agreements made between the European Union and the Visegrad Countries (Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary) in 1990-1991, we see that they were signed after long bargaining period between both parties. In order to answer the topic question, we have to look at the basic aspects of the theory and the practices of the bargains of the European Agreements. Basically liberal intergovernmentalism includes a preference analysis (demand) and an intergovernmental bargain (supply) analysis. The former should be reflected by the interests of the European Union and the Visegrad Countries as the two parties, but there was the problem of diversified trade interests between the South and North countries within the European Union. The latter was purely existing in this bargaining process and showed the strength of the European Union in the trade regime. The Visagrad Countries were the regime takers, and suffered for their weak bargaining position. Another point was, that the European Agreemants had to be ratified in each member country just as constitutional changes have to, which illustrates the strong role of the state in the decision making structure, and this is also a main point in liberal intergovernmentalism. Shortly, the answer of the topic question is positive and the bargaining process of the European Agreements between the European Union and the Visegrad Countries can be explained with the liberal intergovernmentalist theory. Although there was some...

Discussion Board 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Discussion Board 4 - Essay Example various options such as empathic and objective listening, nonjudgmental and critical listening, surface depth listening, polite and impolite listening, and finally, active and inactive listening. All of these options are used during a given moment in time. Each type of listening activity is dependent upon the existing conditions that may distract the attention of the listener and thus require an adjustment in his listening attention abilities. The culture and gender of the listeners have a direct effect on their ability to effectively listen to their peers. Admittedly, people never listen to each other the same way, each person listens to an responds to others in unique methods that are dictated by his ability to listen. The culture of a person has preconditioned him to listen to his peers in a certain way and it is this method that he will use regardless of the differing culture of the next person he listens to. This is almost the same reason as to why men and women have different ways of listening to others and each other. Women tend to listen in order to share feelings and establish closer relationships with their peers. Men on the other hand use listening as a method by which they can flaunt their natural or artificial abilities with his peers. Therefore, the focus of man is mostly on sharing information with one another. Women on the other hand seek to come to an agreement amongst themselves while discussing and list ening to one another. Therefore, the two sexes have distinct listening styles that are geared towards their gender specific roles and expectations within a given

Harlequin Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Harlequin - Case Study Example he product since each novel is a prominent segment of a superior product line, whose quality is delivered consistently in a manner that provides immense satisfaction and exhilaration to the consumers (Mark 3). Harlequin should re-enter the single-title business since the business presents the organization with substantive growth opportunities, particularly in terms of enhancing sales volumes. Since trends in the publishing industry show that demand for single-title fictional books continues to increase despite the stable demand of series romance, harlequin should re-enter the business so as to maximize opportunities presented by increasing demand. While single-title publishing presents relatively immense risks, the company’s previous venture into the business will prove beneficial since the company is aware of the mistakes it made during its last attempt at the single-title business. Furthermore, harlequin’s successfulness in the publishing industry is a significant advantage since a vast majority of the risks vary depending on the author’s reputation (Mark 2). Furthermore, harlequin needs to redefine its brand by entering the single-title business. This is primarily because research indicates substantive declines in the growth of the romance series business, which could, in turn, result in massive

Compare and Contrast Nike vs. Adidas' Business Operations Research Paper

Compare and Contrast Nike vs. Adidas' Business Operations - Research Paper Example The founder of the company, Adi Dassler intended to offer superior quality equipments to every single athlete. The product offerings of Adidas ranges from apparel to footwear to accessories related to every kind of various sports. However, the company designs products that are mainly associated with football, training, running and basketball. The brand was acquired by Salmon group in the year 1997 and the company came to be known as Adidas-Salmon AG. In the year 2006, the group acquired Reebok which was perceived to be highly advantageous for Adidas. Reebok was also a well known name in the sports industry. With the combination of two such reputed brands, the new group was expected to attain a higher degree of competitive advantage in the industry. The group was expected to cater with an increased variety of products accompanied with a strong existence across athletes, leagues, teams and events. The Adidas group engages above 42,000 employees across the globe. The group also has abov e 170 subsidiaries which assures the availability of its products across the world. The group’s sales along with distribution of products have been categorized in four global regions which are North America, Latin America, Europe/Emerging markets and Asia/Pacific. The group deals in sportswear and footwear as well and is known to be amongst the biggest suppliers of Europe. The group is also observed to dominate quite a number of sports events being reputed as the ‘Olympic brand’ in Sydney. The sale of the group was stated to reach a record high in the year 2000 (Adidas Group, â€Å"At a Glance the Story of the Adidas Group†). 1.2. Nike Nike Corporation deals with developing, designing and global marketing of products ranging from apparels and accessories to footwear and sport equipments. The company is known to cater about 18,000 retail stores with its products across the United States. It also makes available its products in about 200 different countries with the combination of independent licensees, distributors and subsidiaries. The athletic footwear range of Nike is particularly designed for the use of athletes; however, few of the products from this range are used for leisure as well as informal purposes. The company designs its products for all age group of women, men and children. The popular group of products that has the highest sales is basketball, cross-training, running, women’s and children’s shoes. The company also designs and markets footwear that are required for outdoor actions like golf, baseball, bicycling, wrestling, aquatic activities, other recreational and athletic uses, tennis, soccer, football, volleyball, cheerleading and hiking among others. Nike is also involved with selling sports related equipments which entails majority of the mentioned groups, lifestyle wear that are athletically enthused and others. The competitive advantage of the company is stated to be its constant innovations in the field of apparels, footwear and equipments as well. The company attains this competitive edge with the help of its Research and Development team which is technologically quite advanced (Dermesropian & Et. Al. â€Å"NIKE†). 2.0. Sales & Supply Chain Management 2.1. Sales & Supply Chain of Adidas The suppliers of Adidas are trained in a way so that they comprehend the significance of setting up and synchronizing the organizational system of management along with ways and methods of proper communication. The easy and

The Recycling Of Plastic Waste Environmental Sciences Essay

The Recycling Of Plastic Waste Environmental Sciences Essay When you think about the huge amounts of plastics we produce and the problems that can occur when we try to Disposal of plastic, it makes sense to reuse or recycle what we can. Recycling: means making new things from items that have been used and are not need any more. Steps to recycling First, depolymerization is the step of transfer a polymer in a mixture of monomers. Second, thermal depolymerization is a depolymerization step using hydrous pyrolysis for the reduction of complex organic materials (often waste products of various sorts, often biomass and plastic) in a light crude oil.Third, the heat compression process have taken all unsorted, cleaned plastic in all forms, from soft plastic bags to hard industrial waste. The Applications in plastics tybes. (PET) are recycled to reuse the material out of which they are made and to reduce the amount of waste going to landfills. (PVC) is a thermoplastic polymer. (HDPE) The most-often recycled plastic. (HDPE) came from petroleum. (Other plastics)The white plastic foam peanuts used as packing material are often accepted by shipping stores for use it again.Finlly Example Items Recycling,Recycle Plastic Bags. Recycle Plastic Coat Hangers. Recycle Plastic Bottles .Recycle All Other Plastic Waste. The Effect of Recycling Plastics on the Environment # Resource Conservation Recycling plastic bottles assists to conserve natural resources, specially oil, that is nonrenewable natural resource obtainable only in limited provide recycling one ton of plastic can conserves around 3.8 barrels of oil according to the Environmental Protection Agency . 2.12 millions of plastic was recycled in 2008 which is equivalent to approximately 7.6 million barrels of oil. # Energy Conservation. The process of finding new materials from existing materials need much less energy than what is needed for rare materials. Recycling one pound of the most common plastic used in water bottles called polyethylene terephthalate (PET) can conserve around 12,000 British thermal units of heat energy according to the Environmental Protection Agency . the process of recycle needs less energy by two- third than usual manufacturing . which help in reducing the damage of the usual power grid. That depend on burning fossil fuels. # Reduced Greenhouse Gas Emissions The process of producing plastic is able to increase the greenhouse gasses in air like carbon dioxide. Which is known as a major reason of global warming . because recycling plastic require less energy and fossil fuels it result in reducing greenhouse gas revival . The Environmental Protection Agency foredoomed that each family can help to reduce its production of carbon dioxide by the average of 340 pounds yearly . just by reuse the plastic things # Decreased Pollution besides reducing greenhouse gasses . recycled plastic can decrease the amount of pollutants in air and water . in addition many of landfill operations will burn the plastic bottles to keep waste that is able to secreted toxic pollutants and other materials that irritants into the atmosphere . the plastic resin is useful to produce water bottles. Besides it contain unsafe chemicals Challenges of recycling Recycled the Plastics have a low entropy of mixing. A macromolecule of plastic interacts with its environment along its entire length. Also In most places, plastics are collected for recycling. It is not easy to recycle plastics because the different kinds of plastic must first be sorted out. Mixed plastic connot be used for recycling.In addaion, some people donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t suport gaverment so they didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t put kind of plastic in the right place!!. In Germany and some parts of the United stats, you pay a deposit when you buy a full plastic bottle. When you take your empty plastic bottle back to the shop, you get the deposit back. This encourages people to return their emptyplastic bottles and not just throw them away. The shops then return the bottles to the company that made them for refilling. Another solution to reduce using of plastic Many scientists and governments are working together to find ways to stop using plastic. In Bangladesh the government prohibited the plastic bags completely. In 2002 Ireland imposed taxes for using plastic bags about 0.15 EUR per bag that helped to reduce the usage of plastic bags by 90 percent .besides , they gain 1 million dollar as a revenue. But as individual we can take the lead to reduce usage of plastic by several steps such as: we can use reusable bags which have a various shapes, designs and sizes, when you donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t use it you can rolled and put it in your pocket. Another way you can use reusable water bottles which made of recycled materials that can last for a long time and be recycled once again also we can use glass bottles instead of plastic bottles which is reusable. Also the number of Disposable Diapers used nowadays is very huge, and it cost around $300 million yearly to decompose single use diapers . so families can use for their kids Disposable Diaper s that made of wood base instead of the once with plastic base because it is going to decompose later so it will not cause environmental problems and it cost less than the plastic once. However, good cooperation between the people and government and the countries will lead to better results . Conclusion This report is concerned with the complex question of dealing with plastic waste. There are dozens of different plastics in common use, and many products are made from a mixture of these. However , people dont really care about throwing plastics away as they are not expensive. The Previous pages introduced and discussed ideas such as source reduction of waste, degradability of plastic, and the impact on environment and human ,which all inter-relate with the central issue of plastic pollution. In addition, the report provided overview of the facts and issues involved, together with examples from around the world which demonstrate how progress is being made in effective waste management and production of brand new plastics is less cost. It must be emphasized that plastic waste recycling and management are not merely the concern of large-scale schemes and companies. Every individual one of us can take action to deal effectively with plastic waste in our lives, and in this small way make an essential contribution towards improving our environment by put our own selfish needs before the needs of everything around us now and the lives of future generations.

Agriculture In More and Less Developed Countries Essay -- Agriculture

Dark, thick smoke rises from the engine of a huge tractor that is plowing the plains of Dumas, Texas with enough power and technology to plow fifteen rows at one time. While just overseas in Pakistan a farmer works to plow one row in his field with the help of his oxen. Both farmers come home late at night, one just the same as the other, but the work they have accomplished for the day will be drastically different. The farmer in Pakistan farms 2.5 acres of land hoping to use what he harvests for feeding his family and his village. The farmer in Dumas farms 500 acres of land, which is 200 times the size of the farmer's land in Pakistan, and he uses what he harvests to make a living and to sell to grocery stores in the United States. Agriculture is practiced all over the world but agriculture in one country can be far different than in another country. The world can be divided into the less developed countries, where the output of the farm is used on or near the farm where it i s produced, and the more developed countries, where the farmer sells the crops and livestock. There are some major differences between what we do in the United States and what others do in other countries concerning agriculture. As one can see, agriculture is a very important way of life for many different people all over the world. The uses of agriculture are very different throughout the world considering whether the country is more or less developed. First, we must define agriculture and determine how agriculture began. Agriculture is the deliberate modification of Earth's surface by cultivating or caring for plants and rearing animals to obtain sustenance or economic gain (1). So how did agriculture begin in the United States? Before agric... ..., so maybe someday they can be more fortunate in their living conditions. Through agriculture, we as humans are surviving together as we provide for each other. Works Cited: 1. Rubenstein, James M. An Introduction To Human Geography. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1996. Sources of Information 2. "History of Agriculture." 199?. http://www.ag.usask.ca/cofa/displays/college/plains/history.html (16 April 1998) 3. "The Nation and the People." 1996. http://www.prica.org/indonesia/nation_people/econ2.html#Agri (16 April 1998) 4. "Pakistan Goverment - Agriculture." 199?. http://www.pak.gov.pk/govt/agri7.htm(16 April 1998) 5. http://www.ext.missouri.-edu/agebb/commag/index.htm (16 April 1998) 6. Deterling, Del. "Grain Growers Look South for Markets" 1998. http://www.progressivefarmer.com/markets/0498/south/index.html (16 April 1998)

Mexican Culture Essay

I. Introduction A. Hello my name is Yaakov B. The purpose of my presentation today is to inform you on the Mexican culture. C. First, I will talk about the early history of Mexico. Second I will talk about its religion. Last I will tell you about the lifestyle This ends my introduction .now onto my body of my presentation II. Mexican culture goes back to the olmec, Maya and Aztecs 1. The Olmec where the fist Mesoamerican civilization, they were also the first to practice blood based rituals, they had type of artwork characterized by the colossal heads. 2. Maya lived in a vast area covering parts of present day Guatemala, Mexico and the western areas of Honduras and Salvador. Mayas had no central king that ruled a vast empire. Each city had its own ruler. Ancient Maya developed advanced systems of astronomy, mathematics an accurate calendar systems, extensive trade routes. The jaguar is the icon of power of Maya history. 3. The Aztec empire was peopled by a group that was once nomadic. The Aztecs principal food was tortillas. Tenochtitlan is their capital city, which is present day Mexico city. B 1. These civilizations where destroyed by the Spanish in 1521.hernado Cortez accompanied by five hundred and Indian allies. The Spaniards won victorious over the Aztecs. 2. The Spaniards had better weapons and horses. Iron armor and steel swords were where above Aztecs weaponry as the Aztecs had clubs, wooden swords, and spears. Guns and cannons were used to annihilate the Aztec defense . Horses stunned Aztecs for they had never seen horses before. 3. The Spanish brought new diseases, such as smallpox’s which killed many people. An African slave who came in 1520 had small pox. One of the Spanish soldiers contracted the disease. During combat the soldier died and Aztecs contracted the disease which killed many . That was my fist point. Now into my second point. A. Religion in Mexico was influenced by Spanish rule. 1. The Roman Catholic Church had a strong influence. Hernandez Cortez was the one who brought the catholic church to Mexico . 2. Priests learned native languages and converted American Indians to catholism. this way it would be better talk then to fight for conversion. B. 1. Catholism was established as the dominant religion of Mexico. Catholicism is not just a religion it’s a way of life in Mexico. Fifty percent of Mexico’s population attends weekly mass in their local church. Religion is a big part of Mexican culture. I have shared the early history of Mexico and religion. Now onto my last point A. The lifestyle of Mexico consist of celebrations, cinema and arts 1. A celebration that is celebrated is the day of the dead. This celebration has come far as the Aztecs. This holiday is for remembering and honoring those who have passed away. 2. The golden age of Mexican cinema. This period between 1935 to 1969.the golden era is thought to have started with the film â€Å"vamonos con pancho villa† (1935). To now it has been considered the best of the cinema of Mexico, another famous actor of this era is Maria Felix. 3. Diego Rivera the artist who painted many famous paintings such as the flower vendor, and many more. Fernando Botera had a unique style of painting all of his characters were oddly figured which would be impossible in real life III. Conclusion I have shared the early history, religion and lifestyle of my unique culture. Now into my conclusion of my presentation. 1. The significance of the history of Mexico is to inform people about the great history of Mexico. 2. The religion is the cause of Spanish influence on Mexico. 3. Lifestyle is significant because of how it has developed. I want to thank all of you for allowing me to share this important part of me with you.

Functionalist Theory Essay

The functionalist theory is one that views the society as one that is social system made up of interrelated components. Each of these components is important and works together towards the achievement of a whole complete society. A common analogy supporting the functionalist theory is the human body which has several body organs which usually work together with problems in one organ affecting the rest of the body. The major components within a society are customs, traditions, norms and institutions such as families. It is agreed among major functionalists that social institutions make the essential components of society with rules and regulations being needed so as to organize the society in an effective manner. Functionalism within the discipline of anthropology developed in the early 20th century as a reaction to the extremes of the diffusionist and evolutionary theories developed within the 19th century (Goldschmidt 1996). The change was as a result of a change in focus from the more speculative diachronic examination of cultural traits and social customs as survivals to a more synchronic examination of the various social institutions existing within functioning societies. Functionalists were attempting to increase socio-cultural examination beyond the limits of the evolutionary notion of social history which viewed cultural traits and social customs as the residual pieces of cultural history. The theory has anthropological roots based on the thoughts and works of Bronislaw Malinowski, who argued that social institutions existed so as to meet the physiological needs of individuals within a society. As such, social stability was achieved by ensuring the needs of the individuals comprising the society were met with adequate knowledge of the feelings and motives of these individuals forming a basis for understanding how the society functioned. He viewed culture as the main element that ensured the needs of the members of a society were met. It is also based on the works of Alfred Radcliffe-Brown who argued that the basic divisions of anthropology were the various processes of human life within a social structure interlinked through interactions. Stability within society was therefore achieved through social practices that would repeat themselves and develop overtime supporting each other. As such, he theorized functional analysis as the attempt to understand social stability by observing how these social practices would fit together. The functionalist theory is also based on the thoughts and works of major social positivists and was first theorized by Auguste Comte following the French revolution which resulted in social malaise. This led him to see the need for social cohesion within society. This was followed by the works of Emile Durkheim that advanced the theory of organic solidarity, whose major emphasis was on the fundamental function that ethical consensus played in ensuring social order as well as building an equilibrium within society. His main concern was how certain societies were able to maintain stability and be able to survive hence proposed that such societies are usually have subdivisions with the separate divisions being held mutually by common values and symbols. In addition, Talcott Parsons argued that a social system is usually one that is comprised of the actions of individuals who are faced with a variety of choices which in turn are influenced by several social and physical factors. He posited a social system that had four types of action systems which included culture, personality, organismic, and society, with each these four systems having to satisfy four functional needs which were latency, adaptation, integration, and goal attainment. His analysis involved studying the processes and trade offs of social structures within and between the four system levels (Turner and Maryanski 1991). Central principles in the functionalist theory Functionalist analysis studies the social importance of phenomena. It seeks to examine the various functions that these phenomena serve within a society in order to preserve the whole (Jarvie, 1973). According to Malinowski, the major concepts included: †¢ Understanding behavior based on an individual’s motivation in addition to both rational and irrational behavior; †¢ Recognizing the interrelationship of the various items which comprised a culture forming a system; and †¢ Recognizing a particular item and identifying its function within the contemporary operation of a culture. Radcliffe-Brown based his works on those of Emile Durkheim who had posited that social phenomena comprised a domain of reality that was independent of any biological or psychological facts. As such, social phenomena have to be explained in terms of the other social phenomena occurring within the domain (Broce, 1973). Radcliffe-Brown therefore studied the circumstances under which the various social structures are upheld within society. He developed an analogy between organic life and social life in order to be able to explain the idea of function hence placing emphasis on the contribution of phenomena to preserving social order. Functional analysis has given value to social institutions. This is because it considers them as integrated and active components of a social system and not as simple customs (Langness, 1987). Functionalism has also contributed to the current idea that traditional usages have been formed by the necessity that human beings have to live collectively in harmony. Its emphasis on exhaustive fieldwork has offered an in-depth study of human societies. In addition, the study of functional interrelationship between institutions and customs has provided a framework for collecting information on how societies function. Major criticisms There have been several criticisms raised against the functionalist theory leading to its decline. The functionalist theory has been criticized for its major ignorance towards historical process in addition to its presumption that societies exists in an equilibrium state (Goldschmidt, 1996). Interactionist theorists have criticized this theory due to its failure to conceptualize sufficiently the multifaceted nature of individual actors and the methods of interaction within societies. Marxist theorists have criticized functionalism due to its conservativism and the fixed nature of examination used that underlined the role of social phenomena in the preservation of the status-quo within society (Holmwood, 2005). Constructionist theorists have criticized functionalism due to the use of classificatory theories that characterized phenomena based on their functions (Turner and Maryanski, 1991). Responses to Critiques Comparative functionalism, developed by Walter Goldschmidt, attempts to respond to the difficulties that have developed as a result of Malinowski’s argument that a culture can be comprehended on its own with institutions been seen as products of the various cultures within which they were created. Comparative functionalism seeks to understand institutional differences between cultures by examining phenomena within the different cultures and the problems experienced in these societies. This approach is worthwhile since it is aware of the universality of the functions to which social institutions are a response to. Problems are usually consistent from one culture to another culture, but the institutional solutions that will be needed will vary from one culture to another (Holmwood, 2005). As such, one begins with analyzing the problem so as to find out how institutional procedures provide solutions. Neo-functionalism is an attempt to revise British structural-functionalism. Some neo-functionalists seek to analyze phenomena based on particular functional requisites. Other neo-functionalists focus on matters of social integration, social evolution, and social differentiation. Others examine how the various cultural processes such as rituals, values, and ideologies integrate with social structures. However, neo-functionalism places little emphasis on how phenomena are able to meet system needs (Turner and Maryanski, 1991). This approach is worthwhile since it provides a bridge between human behavior, which frequently involves cooperation, and natural selection, where individual interaction involves competition more than cooperation. References Broce, G. (1973). History of Anthropology. Minneapolis: Burgess Publishing Company. Goldschmidt, W. (1996). Functionalism. In Encyclopedia of Cultural Anthropology, Vol 2. David Levinson and Melvin Ember, eds. New York: Henry Holt and Company. Holmwood, J. (2005). Functionalism and its Critics, in Harrington, A. Modern Social Theory: An Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Jarvie, I. C. (1973). Functionalism. Minneapolis: Burgess Publishing Company. Kuper, A. (1996). Anthropology and Anthropologists. London: Routledge. Langness, L. (1987). The Study of Culture. Novato, California: Chandler & Sharp Publishers, Inc. Turner, J. H. & Maryanski, A. (1991). Functionalism. In Borgatta, E. F, Encyclopedia of Sociology, Vol 2. New York: MacMillan Publishing Company.

System Tray Delphi Application

System Tray Delphi Application Take a look at your Task Bar. See the area where the time is located? Are there any other icons there? The place is called the Windows System Tray. Would you like to place your Delphi applications icon there? Would you like that icon to be animated - or reflect the state of your application? This would be useful for programs that are left running for long periods of time with no user interaction (background tasks you typically keep running on your PC all day long). What you can do is to make your Delphi applications look as if they are minimizing to the Tray (instead of to the Task Bar, right to the Win Start button) by placing an icon in the tray and simultaneously making your form(s) invisible. Lets Tray It Fortunately, creating an application that runs in the system tray is pretty easy - only one (API) function, Shell_NotifyIcon, is needed to accomplish the task. The function is defined in the ShellAPI unit and requires two parameters. The first is a flag indicating whether the icon is being added, modified, or removed, and the second is a pointer to a TNotifyIconData structure holding the information about the icon. That includes the handle of the icon to show, the text to show as  a tool tip when the mouse is over the icon, the handle of the window that will receive the messages of the icon and the message type the icon will send to this window. First, in your main forms Private section put the line:TrayIconData: TNotifyIconData; type TMainForm class(TForm) procedure FormCreate(Sender: TObject); private TrayIconData: TNotifyIconData; { Private declarations }public{ Public declarations }end; Then, in your main forms OnCreate method, initialize the TrayIconData data structure and call the Shell_NotifyIcon function: with TrayIconData dobegin cbSize : SizeOf(TrayIconData); Wnd : Handle; uID : 0; uFlags : NIF_MESSAGE NIF_ICON NIF_TIP; uCallbackMessage : WM_ICONTRAY; hIcon : Application.Icon.Handle; StrPCopy(szTip, Application.Title); end; Shell_NotifyIcon(NIM_ADD, TrayIconData); The Wnd parameter of the TrayIconData structure points to the window that receives notification messages associated with an icon.   The hIcon points to the icon we want to add to the Tray - in this case, Applications main icon is used.The szTip holds the Tooltip text to display for the icon - in our case the title of the application. The szTip can hold up to 64 characters.The uFlags parameter is set to tell the icon to process application messages, use the applications icon and its tip. The uCallbackMessage points to the application-defined message identifier. The system uses the specified identifier for notification messages that it sends to the window identified by Wnd whenever a mouse event occurs in the bounding rectangle of the icon. This parameter is set to WM_ICONTRAY constant defined in the interface section of the forms unit and equals: WM_USER 1; You add the icon to the Tray by calling the Shell_NotifyIcon API function. The first parameter NIM_ADD adds an icon to the Tray area. The other two possible values, NIM_DELETE and NIM_MODIFY are used to delete or modify an icon in the Tray - well see how later in this article. The second parameter we send to the Shell_NotifyIcon is the initialized TrayIconData structure. Take One If you RUN your project now youll see an icon near the Clock in the Tray. Note three things.   1) First, nothing happens when you click (or do anything else with the mouse) on the icon placed in the Tray - we havent created a procedure (message handler), yet.2) Second, there is a button on the Task Bar (we obviously dont want it there).3) Third, when you close your application, the icon remains in the Tray. Take Two Lets solve this backward. To have the icon removed from the Tray when you exit the application, you have to call the Shell_NotifyIcon again, but with the NIM_DELETE as the first parameter. You do this in the OnDestroy event handler for the Main form. procedure TMainForm.FormDestroy(Sender: TObject);begin Shell_NotifyIcon(NIM_DELETE, TrayIconData);end; To hide the application (applications button) from the Task Bar well use a simple trick. In the Projects source code add the following line: Application.ShowMainForm : False; before the Application.CreateForm(TMainForm, MainForm); E.g let it look like: ...begin Application.Initialize; Application.ShowMainForm : False; Application.CreateForm(TMainForm, MainForm); Application.Run;end. And finally, to have our Tray icon respond to mouse events, we need to create a message handling procedure. First, we declare a message handling procedure in the public part of the form declaration: procedure TrayMessage(var Msg: TMessage); message WM_ICONTRAY; Second, the definition of this procedure looks like: procedure TMainForm.TrayMessage(var Msg: TMessage);begincase Msg.lParam of WM_LBUTTONDOWN: begin ShowMessage(Left button clicked - lets SHOW the Form!); MainForm.Show; end; WM_RBUTTONDOWN: begin ShowMessage(Right button clicked - lets HIDE the Form!); MainForm.Hide; end; end;end; This procedure is designed to handle only our message, the WM_ICONTRAY. It takes the LParam value from the message structure which can give us the state of the mouse upon the activation of the procedure. For the sake of simplicity well handle only left mouse down (WM_LBUTTONDOWN) and right mouse down (WM_RBUTTONDOWN). When the left mouse button is down on the icon we show the main form, when the right button is pressed we hide it. Of course, there are other mouse input messages you can handle in the procedure, like, button up, button double click etc. Thats it. Quick and easy. Next,  youll see how to animate the icon in the Tray and how to have that icon reflect the state of your application. Even more, youll see how to display a pop-up menu near the icon.

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