Monday, February 24, 2020

Critical assessment of an article by the anthropologist Peter Essay

Critical assessment of an article by the anthropologist Peter Rudiak-Gould - Essay Example ibility of climate change - and the golden mean, â€Å"constructive visibilism† (Rudiak-Gould, 2013, p.128), yet focusing on the implications and ideological, social and political context standing behind these stances rather than the stances themselves. The source of the controversy lies in the fact that one cannot see climate change itself, but rather its impacts and manifestations. Visibility of climate change is viewed as the opportunity to see the climate change with the unaided eye, whereas invisibility addresses the scientific aspect implying that witnessing climate change without any scientific devices and measurements is impossible. In the argumentation, the author unfolds social, political and cultural factors underlying both approaches, for instance, profound incompatibility of democratic (predominantly empirical) view and undemocratic position of science: in fact, this opposition is an important balancing power, because assumption of visibility devaluates the status of scientists. Science, asserting that climate change is invisible, has been accumulating data via observation, testing and other methods (Weber & Stern, 2011, p.315); at the same time, numerous indigenous peoples have been insisting on visibility of climate change, as they face its impacts themselves. The compilation of articles edited by Koppel Maldonado et al. (2014) takes the stance of visibility, incorporating articles describing experiences of climate change in indigenous peoples of America. Rudiak-Gould’s argumentation concerning indigenous advocates of visibility is supported in Wildcat’s article, expressing a similar point: whereas most citizens â€Å"form opinions about climate change† via mass media, frontline ethnicities become aware of it through the practical experiences of their lifeway (Wildcat, 2013, p.2). As Rudiak-Gould states, inhabitants of urban areas are unaware of climate change, in other words, they view it as short- or long-term weathe r changes and typically access

Saturday, February 8, 2020

Discuss character development in Everyday Use Essay

Discuss character development in Everyday Use - Essay Example She even decides to change her name, though its history may be traced back to the Civil War â€Å"I couldnt bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me†. Instead, she chooses name Wangero, which her mother finds difficult to pronounce. What Dee desires is to become a new person. It becomes obvious that Dee’s mother and sister worship her. It is noticeable from the first lines. â€Å"Sometimes I dream a dream in which Dee and I are suddenly brought together on a TV program of this sort† acknowledges her mother. What she wants is to achieve her daughter’s approval. At the same time, Dee is unlikely to desire it. What she seeks seems to be attention and personal meaning. Even more, she seems to behave like a selfish, arrogant, and insensitive person. The story is told on behalf of Mama, that is why readers are not given an opportunity to trace the way Dee thinks. Instead, readers are offered to judge her by her actions, words, and relations to others. For example, these lines â€Å"At sixteen she had a style of her own: and knew what style was†. It says a lot about a girl who comes from a family which leads a labor-intensive life. â€Å"In real life I am a large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands† that is how Mama describes herself. At the very beginning readers understand that Dee is totally different. She wants to be a part of idealistic Africa. Consequently, she rejects actual experience and severe realities that Afro-Americans face. That is what unites her with Hakim-a-barber. This couple stands in stark contrast to Dee’s mother and sister. At the same time, readers may only guess what kind of relationships Dee has with this man. â€Å"They didnt tell me, and I didnt ask, whether Wangero (Dee) had really gone and married him† comments Mama. It is clear that Maggie and Mama cannot let themselves live in a world of illusions. At the same time, rustic realism of their world becomes a