Messages In The Songs Of Female Rappers Cultural Studies Essay

Messages In The Songs Of Female Rappers Cultural Studies Essay Rap is considered to be a type of music which serves as a means of expression for those who feel alienated and outraged in American society for certain reasons. According to many scholars hip hop in America originated from disadvantaged neighborhoods and served as a voice for people of who lacked post secondary education and had difficulties in finding a job in the new post-industrial service sector economy.  [1]  In the early beginning rap artists rapped about poverty, racism and injustice. As the genre was developing, rappers would look for inspiration in other aspects of their every life. Male/female relationships would appear as a common motif in their songs. As discussed in the first chapter misogynistic messages could be found in a great share of male rap hits. Although rap has been associated mainly as domain of men, female contribution to this genre is also significant. Hence it is worth to examine how their legacy contributed to the black female image in the United State s. It is also important to note how the messages in their songs differed from those of male rap artists. In this chapter I am going to focus on the motifs of black female identity which permeated the lyrics of female rap hits starting from the late eighties through the beginning of the twenty first century. I will support my analysis by referring to the works of literary black hip hop culture critics such as Tricia Rose, bell hooks, Gwendolyn D. Pough or Cheryl L. Keyes. The findings presented in this study will be based on the existing researches on the subject as well as my lyric interpretation of Billboards Hot Rap Year End Charts. One of the recognized social theorists, Patricia Hill Collins, set the theory that much of the contemporary social phenomena is understood and analyzed from the European, white male standpoint  [2]  Moreover, by this approach black women in particular have been perceived as non-human, commodified and objectified.  [3]  Needless to say it is important to counterbalance this approach by interpreting black womens lives from their perspective. I find artistic works of female rappers, as well as their interviews to a be a great source for such a counter analysis. Female rap artists would oftentimes identify themselves as belonging to a certain crew or would use the words as fly, attitude, queen, diva while describing or referring to one another. Based on those self imposed labels Cheryl L. Keyes in her study distinguished four prevailing types of female rappers: Queen Mother, Fly Girl, Sista with Attitude and Lesbian. These categories reflect certain images, voices and ages of Afr ican American women.  [4]  Interestingly enough rappers assigned to these groups marked their presence on the hip hop scene in this particular order but, as Keyes noted, they can swing between these teams or belong to a few concurrently. According to Keyes, the first group Queen Mothers consist mainly of early female rap pioneers in the 80s such as: Queen Latifah, Roxanne Shante or MC Lyte. They express strong connection to their African heritage by calling themselves Nubian queens, and wearing ethnic clothes and jewelry. The symbol of queen mother may be supposedly rooted in African court tradition. Mothers of kings in many African kingdoms used to be cult objects and granted special privileges.  [5]  Queen Mothers in hip hop culture also consider themselves as strong, intelligent black women responsible of spreading the word among the community. They discuss issues similar to their male counterparts marginalization, subjugation, and hardship of an urban life.  [6]  A theme for their concern would be also heterosexual advances of men toward women, as well as domestic violence, and male sexism. These female rappers tended to present black women as self assured and independent in their songs.  [7]   Similarly to male rappers they would aim to challenge racist white supremacy by their music. Whilst black males in order to empower themselves oftentimes resort to sexist notions addressed towards their female counterparts, Queen Mothers do not apply the same strategy of subordination. As the excerpts from the songs presented in the first chapter show, many male hip hop artists depict women merely as sexual objects and generally cast derogatory light on them. Some black culture critics, as bell hooks, claim that male gangsta rappers engage in this behavior because women supposedly emasculate black men, negating their manhood and reducing the respect received from others.  [8]  The critic also states that most black males lack of strong male (father) models to look up to. They are being convinced throughout their childhood that they are not destined to grow up as successful, strong, virtuous males. Instead they receive education how to become emotionless thugs. The author blames t he mass media for perpetuating the image of a strong, angry black woman as opposed to black castrated male who is not able to provide for his family.  [9]  Other reason for that may be the fear of female sexuality, thus women must be controlled. Queen Mothers demand respect not only for black community in general but for black women in particular. This causes a huge inner identity conflict among black women, whether to be loyal to your ethnicity and race or gender. Extending the theory of black feminism to rap, black female rappers provide back lashing voices against male sexism and misogyny.  [10]  However being a black feminist should not mean rejection of the African heritage. The African legacy may be utilized as an additional source of strength and power in this struggle. Tricia Rose in the her book, Black Noise, argues that in the late 1980s and early 1990s pioneer female rappers although refraining from calling themselves feminist, expressed three feminist standpoints: female empowerment, agency, and independence. They would rather call themselves womanists as they did not feel much connection with the predominantly white second wave feminism movement. Moreover, they felt as having been overlooked or even purposel y excluded by white feminists in their struggle for female empowerment.  [11]  These artists rejected and challenged representations of women as simply sexual objects. Rose states that these artists use rap music as a platform of dispute between other female and male artists, and their audience in general.  [12]   The most noticeable Queen Mother on the hip hop scene is Dana Queen Latifah Owens. Although latifah in Arabic means feminine, delicate and kind she proved to be also a strong and influential rap artist. At the young age of twenty one, she became well acclaimed artist. Despite her young age, her maternal behavior and mature approach to life made her to be perceived as a Queen Mother. Although she would find such comparison flattering, she tried to distance herself from being labeled. She would call herself a queen because every black female is a queen to her.  [13]  The reason why Queen Latifah and other rappers have been allocated to the group of Queen Mothers may be linked to the othermothers phenomenon in black African community. Patricia Hill Collins elaborates on this notion in Black Feminist Thought. She claims that black women take a significant part in fostering of the black society in the United States. They have developed an image of a strong black woman who contribute t o the whole black community well-being. The notion of motherhood in general, whether invoked by bloodmothers or othermothers, has powerful connotation.  [14]  It seems that African American community seeks for strong mother figures not only in real life but also on the hip hop scene. Queen Latifah reflects the image of othermother by taking up serious political-economic issues of the black community in her lyrics, as in The Evil that Men Do  [15]  where she raps about struggle of women on welfare.  [16]   Another example of a strong political commentary is Queen Latifahs song Ladies First.  [17]  She focuses here on promoting womens importance and clamors for their equal treatment. She raps about the need for sisterhood which prompts women to support each other. The notion of sisterhood is emphasized here by the fact that the artist collaborates with another black European female rapper, Monie Love. They feel connected with each other by the bonds of the same gender and race. This is a typical approach of women of color engaged in the Third Wave Feminist Movement in America. The concept of global sisterhood coined by the Second Wave feminists is questioned and challenged here. Black feminists manifest more connection with other women of color from different countries or countries of their origin than with white middle class women from the United States. The video to this song is also a tribute to African American womens history featuring images of activists and abolitionists as Ro sa Parks, Angela Davis, Harriet Tubman, or entrepreneurs as Madame C.J. Walker.  [18]  The video also features the image of Winnie Mandela which may serve as a commemoration of the struggle against segregation in South Africa as well as emphasis on the concept of global black sisterhood. The rappers bring back these images into the light in order to re-inspire all women of color and prove they are capable of achieving the highest goals as breaking the racism and sexism. Queen Latifah in her Grammy Award- winning song U.N.I.T.Y, as one of the first female artists not only proves of her rapping skills but also takes up the issues which divide black community. She focuses here on perpetuated hatred directed by black males toward black females.  [19]  She answers back to males who use the insult bitch in reference to women. She does so by using similar forms that are used by many of their male counterparts to denigrate women. For instance, by the use of vulgar language she reclaims those forms for women. Another pioneer rapper, MC Lyte in her song Paper Thin also makes a black female as a subject. She brings it to the center of discussion by rapping about the constrains of her intimacy and setting the rules by which she will date a man. According to Rose, the above mentioned artists messages are both emancipating and liberating for women. They rebel against the restrain of black female voices, offering counter hegemonic perspectives. Female gangsta rappers in particular, have created and imposed their own definitions of womanhood through their use of vulgarity, voice intonations, and sexuality.  [20]   Although most female rappers identify themselves by belonging to specific rap crews some of them would fall from one category to another or exist in many simultaneously. As an example of such a swinging artist may serve Yo Yo. The rapper and activist when perceived through the prism of her artistic and social work would be allocated to the group of queen mothers. Her songs are devoted to her view on the political issues and black feminism. She is the founder of the group Intelligent Black Women Coalition (I.BW.C.) which aimed to fight against racism and sexism. Yet, Keyes claims that her style and attire would suggest she also fits the category of so called Fly Girls who gained recognition on hip hop scene mainly in the nineties. The origin of the new meaning of the word fly dates back to the sixties and seventies and describes someone wearing fancy clothes. The style has been presented in the blaxploitation movies like The Superfly (1972), Shaft (1971), The Mack (1973) or Foxy Brow n (1974) and then adopted by the black youth in the eighties and nineties.  [21]  Indeed, what distinguished Fly Girls from Queen Mothers at first sight was their sense of fashion. Queen Mothers tried to affirm their eroticism that refrains from the nakedness and exposure of Western styles by rejection of miniskirts or high heels. Fly Girls did not fear to wear tight clothes which accentuated their sexuality. They tried to counterbalance western European beauty canon by showing the beauty of black female body, accompanied by eye catching hairstyles, shiny jewelry and suggestive dancing. By doing so they made a statement against the white supremacist stereotype of the black round female body being undesirable. It was their fashion style that made them not only heard but also visible. The male hip hop group the Boogie Boys describe a fly girl as: [Woman] who wants to see her name, her game or her ability. . . she sports a lot of gold, wears tight jeans, leather miniskirts, a made up face, has voluptuous curves, but speaks her mind.  [22]   The most prolific and well pronounced Fly Girls of hip hop scene is undoubtedly the trio Salt- N- Pepa. They aspired to be acknowledged as models of real independent and successful black women of the nineties.  [23]  They reached the peak of their popularity in the early nineties by releasing controversial hits like Lets Talk About Sex (1991), What a Man(1993), or Shoop(1993). While the first mentioned hit raised awareness about safe sex, the other songs can be interpreted as manifestation on female sexuality and appraisal of men in terms of friendship, love and intimate heterosexual relations. Lyrics from their popular song Aint Nuthin But a She Thing, again typify messages of their powerful womanhood: Im a female, and I got it goin on /Dont be fooled by my s-e-x/It aint that simple, Im more complex/Lets keep moving forward, girls, never look back.  [24]  In this song artists are exchanging ideas with women and men in general, warning men not to rely on clichà ©d notions of gender roles when interacting with women. They refuse to be considered as a weaker sex. They prove of their ability to work as hard as men, yet their intention is not to empower, or emasculate men. Similarly, they are passing on the same message to women while concurrently urging these women to progress, not regress, in their thinking and behavior. Such messages permeate most of the Salt N- Pepa top hits. Many examples of the Fly Girls songs take focus on female agency in male/female relationships perceived from the womens point of view. In the chorus of her song, Whats Up Star, Suga initiates the interaction with males: Whats up star, Id like to get to know who you are/Lets have drinks at the bar/And if I like what I see then the drinks is on me.  [25]  While men are usually considered to be the initiators in heterosexual relationships, here the artist takes it over and demonstrates her empowerment on this field. By doing so she violates an unwritten procedure of male-female courtship. She breaches the gendered norm of conduct. Instead of waiting for a man to approach her with an offer to buy her a drink, she would rather sit in judgment and contemplate over possible suitors. Upon positive evaluation of a potential mate she offers to buy him a drink. Another example of assuming power comes from a rapper and bass dancer, MC Luscious, who in her song Boom! I Got Your Boyfriend seiz es another hypothetical womens partner: Ill take him, shake him, ring him out/ Ill show your man what its all about./ So when he tells you its the end./Thats when you know I got your boyfriend.  [26]  Her use of the verbs take, shake, and ring in reference to her male lover illustrates the control that she maintains over him. She outdoes her female competitor by articulating her ability to sexually expose what the girlfriend cannot to the boyfriend, leading to the termination of the relationship. Thus, she demonstrates her control and manipulation of the lover and eventually her supremacy over the female opponent by stealing her boyfriend. Although deceitful and potentially unethical, MC Lusciouss desires, and behaviors are at the core of attention in her song.  [27]   Another significant group of Fly Girls worth noticing is TLC ( Tione T-Boze Watkins, Lisa Left-Eye Lopez and Rozonda Chilli Thomas). Their popularity had been quickly developing since their debut in 1991 and reached its maximum in the second half of the nineties. They spread similar messages to the other Fly Girls like rising awareness about safe sex (Waterfalls)  [28]  or fighting with women insecurity (Unpretty)  [29]  . They also introduced more diverse fashion sense. Instead of accentuating their fit bodies with tight clothes, they would wear baggy pants as a symbol of solidarity with women of less flattering shapes. Similar approach was taken by another Fly Girl Missy Misdemeanor Elliot. Being a successful writer and producer paved her way to the enormous success in the music industry. In no time she was offered a possibility to launch her clothing line and appeared in GAP and Adidas commercials. The fact that full-figured Missy became a model of the established clothing brand could be perceived as ground breaking in the sphere of perception of black female bodies. She serves as a role model to many black women who doubt in their attractiveness.  [30]   As during the late nineties rap became commercialized, gained greater audience and shifted to mainstream it is worth examining what were the messages conveyed by the female rappers. During this time some female artists were as popular and selling as many records as men; for example, Lil Kim and Foxy Brown both had albums that sold one million copies.  [31]  Contemporary female rappers of the late nineties and beginning of the twenty first century also endeavor in empowering and subversive mission against male domination, but the lyrical content of their songs show surprising and alarming similarities between them and male rappers. This may be one of the reasons these female rappers gained more commercial recognition than the pioneers. As means of empowerment they apply the strategy of giving the attitude and answering back in a rude manner to their male counterparts. This group of female rappers fall into category of Sistas with Attitude which consist of such popular rappers as F oxy Brown, Lil Kim, and Da Brat, or Sis, or Eve. The characteristic of their style is the employment of the same symbolic speech and behaviors as their male fellow rappers. It may seem that by doing so they show to be equal to men on every level. The lyrics of their songs included motives of indulging in hedonistic activities as partying and smoking marijuana with their men, seducing, harassing, and sexually emasculating male characters; as well as disrespecting (dissin) their male and female counterparts. Although so called dissing in female rappers songs is mainly directed at male sexism, an analysis of contemporary female rap songs reveals that there are instances the same strategy is aimed at women. It is well visible here that these women seek for their self empowerment by all means. The content of songs with attitude is abundant in vulgarity. The use of derogatory terms may be interpreted in a positive way. I trace some similarities between Sistas with Attitude and some of the Third Wave of feminism representatives. Similarly to them, female rappers reversed the pejorative meaning of vulgar words addressed to women.Sistas may be considered a coarser, clad version of Third Wave of feminism Girlies or Riot Grrls. These were usually members of underground punk bands who addressed issues as rape, female sexuality, domestic abuse, and female empowerment. Same as Sistas they also adopted derogatory, insulting words as cunt bitch slut in their vernacular. By writing these words on their skins or t-shirts they ridiculed and nullified their derogatory meaning.  [32]  On one hand reclamation of the frequently used word bitch may be perceived as positive way of self empowerment or provide healing liberation. Other critics claim that this may bring worse returns as the message of female empowerment seem to be diminished and eradicated by female self-objectification.  [33]   One of the most reoccurring motives found in female rap lyrics is their swaggering feminine self assurance. This characteristic of rap has its roots in part of African-American oral tradition of toasting , where the toast-teller employs in verbal self- enhancement, and presents himself or herself as the dreams of his [or her] Black audience and symbolize for them triumph and accomplishment against the odds.  [34]  For instance, in Sittin on Top of the World, Da Brat writes: Im on top of the worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦/Girlfriend offender cuz they mans think Im all that/ One of the baddest bitches on the planet.  [35]  She highlights how she is so bad, meaning great to such extent that she aggravates other women because their men find her beautiful. Another fitting example of braggadocio can be found in Eves song What Ya Want,  [36]  writing Popular since I started my lifeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦/ Every thugs dream wife, see the love in they eyes/My time to shine, whole package make her a dime. In these lyrics, the rapper is presenting herself as popular, and good-looking to every male and a perfectly shaped physically ( adime in hip hop vernacular). Many rapper enhance their sense of attractiveness by emphasizing their possession of precious objects that others cannot afford. Foxy Brown, who adopted her moniker from the seventies blaxploitation movie protagonist of the same title, in Ill Na Na raps: Uhh, rollin for Lana, dripped in Gabbanaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦/And yall gon see by these mils I possess/Never settle for less, Im in excess.  [37]  Foxy highlights here the fact that she wears expensive womens designer clothing that working class and middle-class individuals could not afford. Furthermore, the audience gets the message that Foxy earns millions of dollars from her rapping. She also admits she is not willing to settle down and start a family but would rather live in abundance of material goods on her own. A vast majority of the female artists mentioned owning luxurious products of mass consumption. Obviously, possession of extravagant material goods are crucial for many contemporary female artists. Material success, fame, and sexual satisfaction is their achieved American Dream. Similarly to male rap artists who glamorize life a of a pimp, these female artists present themselves as physically attractive to possible mates as well as in possession of goods that regular people do not and cannot acquire. This type and degree of overconfidence permeates throughout rap music and is common to both sexes of rappers. It illustrates artists abilities, or their dreams, to overcome obstacles (unattractiveness, lack of money) and eventually achieve (sexual and material) success. The partying, alcohol and drugs abuse is a frequent theme also in Sistas with Attitude rap music. In the overall sample in Owares study of 44 female hip hop songs of the nineties, in each song there was an average of one-and a-half references made to alcohol or drugs.  [38]  For instance, in her song Deeper, rapper called Boss refers to both alcohol and drug use. In these lyrics, Boss is indulging in a popular malt liquor, and also smokes chronic, a strong form of marijuana mixed cocaine. Another song by Queen Pen, Party Aint a Party, presents: Im tipsy from the cab, down the whole bottle of Henney/ Is you dealing with the cat thats blunted. Queen Pens alcohol is Seagrams Hennessy and blunted means being under the influence of marijuana. These female rappers refute the stereotype that women refrain from hard alcoholic drinks and illegal drugs.. These women depict themselves as being equal to men by engaging in similar potentially harmful behaviors.  [39]   Another feature of rap music that is often taken up by female rappers is disrespecting or dissin, which is the act of verbally insulting an opponent. Dissin allegedly has its origins in West Africa, among tribes such as the Efik in Nigeria and later could be found in early African-American oral traditions.  [40]  Smitherman writes women rule when it comes to signifyingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦female rappers use this age-old rhetorical strategy to launch critical offensivesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ã‚  [41]  Traces of such style can be found in the verse rapped by Heather B.: Fuck how much you sell cause, I read your album cover/You couldnt write a jam if your last name was Smucker.  [42]  As jam may also mean a hit song she ridicules here the amount of records sold by her opponent while dissing his writing skills contrasting them with a popular food product brand Smuckers Jam. Most disrespecting attitudes were pointed at males who attempted to pursue women with pretentious tales of sexual gratification. While some rappers resorted to warning of the potential suitor who must approach them in a courteous manner or gets rejected, other rappers would openly ridicule males sex skills and their fear of womens sexuality. Considered to be one of the most overt and explicit rappers, Lil Kim in Hardcore rhymes: The sex was wack, a four stroke creepà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦/(later he asked) Could he come over right fast and fuck my pretty ass?/Ill pass, nigga dick was trash.  [43]  The rapper sets here her own conditions for a sexual intercourse. She keeps men under control and reserves the right to choose her partner by assessing his sex skills. She also implies what is surely feared by most of the heterosexual males to be ridiculed by a woman for poor sex performance. Black males in particular who have been trying to conceal the image of an emasculated black man may fee l highly sensitive about it. As many instances of male rap hits presented in the first chapter show that they tried to apply many strategies to regain their control over women. Boasting about their sexual hyper skills was a frequent topic. Gangsta Boo, a successful Sista with Attitude of the late nineties and early twenty first century, touches upon similar themes in her lyrics: Ha-ha, hey, Ladies check this out/ Well, let me tell this story about this nigga/ With a little dick but when its hard, hes swearin it (is) bigger/ Im not to be the one guess you aint got much to offer.  [44]  Here, Gangsta Boo speaks directly to women about false male machismo. Boo, similarly to her counterpart Lil Kim sets the norms here and evaluates whether her possible mate lives up to her expectations. When finds out that the man is poorly endowed she ridicules him in front of other women. Hence, as Rose writes you have women speaking to men, engaging in critiques of supposed male sexual prowess; in addition, they are speaking to other women about the failed attempts of these men to satisfy them sexually.  [45]  These disses provide a female response to male rappers chauvinism, misogyny and bragging about their sexual potency. Similarly empowering themes also permeate throughout the songs and lyrics that present female sexuality. Several popular female rap artists depicted themselves as explicitly sexualized. Lil Kim in one of her songs vulgarly demonstrates her acting upon a partner and presents herself as not submissive in sexual relationship.  [46]

Mine Boy by Peter Abrhams

Mine Boy by Peter Abrhams certainly demonstrates the effects of imposing imperialism, and capitalism on a particular society. In this novel Xuma the protagonists has somewhat of an awakening. He goes from being an ignorant and innocent boy to a radical and brave man, once he realizes the impact of the foreign influence on his fellow citizens. South Africans were being oppressed and forced to live a life in which there were little to no choices. Many of them accommodated this influence by integrating themselves with their oppressors to be accepted. Some led a life of self destruction by becoming alcoholics or even engaging in illicit activity. Some like Xuma became angry radicals. Abraham shows the characters frustrations with the capitalist system that was enforced on them. There were few job opportunities, therefore leaving them with almost no options. Working in the mine was not a desired job and neither were most of the other occupations available, which led them to pursue alternative paths for income. The paths many characters took were paths that led to ultimate destruction and chaos, however these were the unfortunate consequences of imperialism and imposed systems. There is also significant mental destruction on the characters that is a direct result of the apartheid and imperialism which takes place. For example Eliza, she struggles with a sense of identity. This is a typical result of being oppressed. The oppressed begin to believe what their oppressors claim they are and proclaim about them. The oppressed in this case Eliza, begin to identify both with their oppressors as well as the others in her own group. This causes a great deal of conflict and confusion within the individual and socially as well.

A wide range of technologies Essay

In this report I will describe a wide range of technologies used by John Smith. John was involved in a car accident 5 years ago where he lost the use of his legs and also injured his spinal cord. He has used a wheel chair ever since. He works as a lecturer at imperial university where he teaches science. This has been deeply traumatic towards his physical, social and working aspects of his life. I am going to find out what technologies he uses to get by in life and to decrease the hardships he faces with his disabilities and also to find out how he uses these technologies for his personal, social and working aspects of his life. John is known by all his colleagues and is very popular in his work place. He also goes out with friends in his workplace on social gatherings like clubs but this doesn’t often happen because of the trouble he has coping with his disability. Technology 1 – Work Related One technology that John uses for work is his eyegaze. An eyegaze is a communication and control system for people with complex disabilities it’s a response interface that tracks the eye allowing hands free computer operation. By looking at certain control keys a person can do almost anything e.g. turn his house light’s on and off, open certain doors in his house and use the internet. The eyegaze is an excellent system used by many disabled people. John has an eyegaze computer system attached to his wheelchair. At his university he can monitor his students and use the interactive white board in his classroom to show his students pictures or set them question for class work. His eyegaze can also connect to his printer wirelessly so that he can print out question that he has set his class for homework or revision sheets for their test. Advantages Advantages of an eyegaze are that it allows people with complex disabilities like spinal cord paralysis to surf the net and do day-to-day tasks that would normally have been impossible in their current state of wellbeing. The eyegaze allows them to do their work and play games that they would normally have been unable to do due to the fact that they would not have been able to reach the keyboard with their disability. The eyegaze allows them to surf the net, keep in touch with others around the world and have video conferences. Disadvantages The eyegaze has many disadvantages is that it’s harder to use then a normal keyboard as it track you’re eye if you make the slightest twitch it will follow and go onto what you looked at. It is very difficult to use as it will follow every move you eye make and the slightest twitch could change the page or delete the sentence you were on. It could also turn off the lights when you want them on or shut a door you want open. Eyegazes are also very expensive and if they break down it take along time to replace because only a small minority of business produce the technology also the technology needs to shipped from other countries and that takes a lot of time. How the technology meets the Needs of the adult in a work related environment: To John his eyegaze is a great comfort as he needs to mark his class’s work and as he is disabled it would take along time with normal pen and paper so his students send it to him by email. He uses a special program which allows him by using his voice to mark their work and send it back to them on by one. His eyegaze allows him to do this without putting a great strain on his back whereas using a keyboard and mouse would have put a great strain on his spinal cord and caused him a great deal of pain. His eyegaze is very useful to him in work related situations as it allows him to go throw his work and lecture note quickly without any strain or pain on his back. WHAT WOULD HE DO WITHOUT THIS PIECE OF TECHNOLOGY Without his eyegaze John wouldn’t be able to monitor his students in class or set them work by email. Also he would have to use a normal mouse and keyboard to monitor his constant stream of emails which he receives from students, his colleagues and his doctors and this would have been a constant strain on his back and would have put him in a lot of pain. He would also be unable to automatically turn on lights or open doors as his eyegaze is connected wirelessly to his house and allows him to control his environment. Technology 2 – Socially Related One technology that John uses in his personal life is his electronic wheelchair which allows him to move around anywhere without the hassle of pushing the wheels. His electronic wheelchair has a portable eyegaze computer connected to his electrical wheelchair allowing him to take his work with him on the go. He uses his electrical wheelchair in a number of personally related activities. Thanks to his electrical wheelchair he can move anywhere around his house and area without straining his back by having to manually push the wheels. Advantages Electrical wheelchairs have many advantages including because they’re battery powered there is no hassle of moving it instead you push the control stick forward and the wheels move of their own accord. This is excellent as John has spinal paralysis which means that he cannot use his back and if he had a manual wheelchair then someone else would have to push him around and John has told me that â€Å"I don’t like having people wait on me as I had difficulty coping with the realism that I cannot use my back or legs anymore†. Disadvantages An electrical wheelchair has many disadvantages like: it is dependant on batteries therefore it will not work if it has no charge. Another disadvantage is that it cannot be folded and be put into the boot of a car. It is also very heavy and it can be quite a nuisance when going up the university stairs as he needs his students help as the ramps are on the other side of campus and it would take him an hour to get from his car to the back to his lecture hall. His wheelchair is also very expensive and if it breaks down it will take along time to repair. How the technology meets the Needs of the adult in a socially related environment: For John his electric wheelchair is one the best pieces of technology he can use as it is fast and reliable and allows him to go everywhere without the hassle and strain of a normal manual wheelchair. It is also a great relief as his back is often in pain and thanks to the wheelchairs special cushions he can lie back and have the special in-built massagers take his backs pain away. WHAT WOULD HE DO WITHOUT THIS PIECE OF TECHNOLOGY Without his wheelchair John would be unable to move around as efficiently as with his electric one. Also it would have put increased constant strain on his spinal cord and put him in a great deal of pain. He would be unable to take his work with him on the go as there would be no battery to connect the wires to. Without his electric wheelchair it would take him longer to go shopping or go anywhere else. Technology 3 – Personally Related Another piece of technology that John uses is his single fingered keyboard. The single fingered key board is a special type of keyboard which follows a new style of keyboard allowing the disabled person to be able to type on his/her computer without putting a lot of stress on themselves. Another definition for a single fingered keyboard is: The Maltron Single-handed keyboard is curved, with a single recess. It comes in left-handed and right-handed versions and is divided into four major blocks of keys: * 1 block for the fingers * 1 block for the thumb * 1 flat panel of keys to the side * 1 row of function keys along the top The keyboard has â€Å"push-on push-off† functions for the shift, control, and alt keys. The blocks for the fingers and thumb are mirror images of one another in the left-handed and right-handed versions (whereas the flat block and function key row are identical in both). Advantages There are a lot of advantages of a single-fingered keyboard like the fact that it doesn’t put a lot of strain on the individual using the keyboard. Another advantage is that the special shape and layout takes into account of the letters used in modern day typing. This is done to make the layout more efficient than a normal QWERTY keyboard and can save strain and unnecessary movement between keys. The user of this type of keyboard will find input than is ideal so it’s recommended that the user used a predictive word processor such as TEXTHELP or prototype to speed up entry and avoid frustration. Disadvantages Some disadvantages of using a single fingered keyboard is the fact that it’s very slow and takes long time to process a sentence you wrote and even longer for a paragraph. Also because of it’s design you’re hand may be to small to reach the buttons or too big and you may press the wrong button meaning that you would have to wait until the entire word or letter or sentence appeared before being able to change it. Needs of the adult in a personally related environment: John enjoys writing papers and articles for various scientific magazines. Thanks to his keyboard and software that increases the speed of appearance of words he can write fast without straining his back or being frustrated at the slowness of his keyboard. This piece of technology allows him to type fast as he is a fast single fingered typer and the keyboard allows him to do this without the fear of him injuring his back further. Without this technology John feels that he cannot have the same hands on affect to his work like so many of his colleagues. WHAT WOULD HE DO WITHOUT THIS PIECE OF TECHNOLOGY Without his technology John would have to use a Braille keyboard which in affect would have been more comfortable to use thanks to the special polymer which allows the user to type with his hands on the surface of the table but this would have injured John further as he cannot strain his back as that may prolong his recovery further. CONCLUSION In conclusion I feel that the technologies available to disabled people have been enhanced exponentionally as more people these day’s are concerned about the welfare of the disabled. This means that there is more awareness now than there was several years ago. The technology in our decade has also been enhanced therefore the development of newer, more practical technologies are easier to produce. The technologies in John’s life mean that he can now appreciate life and enjoy experiences like a normal, healthy person. However there is still room for improvement in the technologies in our life today. In the future we should expect life to become much better for the disabled as there has been much more research into how our body works so their may be development in flexible devices for the disabled.

Analyzing The Metamorphosis Essay - 706 Words

Analyzing The Metamorphosis Upon first reading The Metamorphosis, a person might think the author is a little strange for writing such a story. It seems to defy anything rational, yet it has been regarded as a masterpiece in literature. I, myself, still wonder how Kafka could write such a great story that is, in my opinion, extremely bazaar and, well, weird. And that is putting it lightly. In the beginning of the story, Kafka abruptly brings us into the sad life of a traveling salesman, named Gregor. When he wakes up in the morning, the first picture that is painted is a round-bellied sort of insect lying on its back with its numerous legs, which were pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk, waved helplessly before his†¦show more content†¦I found this dependence frightening and would probably make me want to turn into a bug, too. Kafka was brilliant in not actually letting his readers know exactly what kind of bug Gregor was. It was obviously intentional. When the book got published, K afka was actually worried that the publisher would want to illustrate a picture of the bug-like creature. He wrote the publisher explaining that he didnt want any pictures that depicted what Gregor might have looked like. I like this idea because it really helps the reader of the story use their imagination. One of the worst things in the world is to read a book, get a picture in your head of what characters look and act like, and in the end, flip through pictures generated from another persons mind. In John Updikes commentary of Kafkas The Metamorphosis, he alludes to Gregor maybe being a centipede instead of a beetle or a cockroach. Though Kafka says Gregor has numerous legs, I do not necessarily think that means he has to be a centipede. To a human being, numerous legs would be six legs as compared to our normal two legs. Besides, never have I seen a centipede with a domed-like brown belly. 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