Biography of Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize Winning Writer

Biography of Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize Winning Writer Alice Walker (born February 9, 1944) is a writer and activist, perhaps best known as the author of The Color Purple and more than 20 other books and poetry collections.  She is also known for  recovering the work of Zora Neale Hurston and for her work against female circumcision.  She won the Pulitzer Prize in 1983 and the National Book Award in 1984. Fast Facts: Alice Walker Known For: Writer, feminist, and activistBorn: February 9, 1944 in Eatonton, GeorgiaParents: Minnie Tallulah Grant and Willie Lee WalkerEducation: East Putnam Consolidated, Butler-Baker High School in Eatonton, Spelman College, and Sarah Lawrence CollegePublished Works: The Color Purple, The Temple of My Familiar, Possessing the Secret of JoySpouse: Melvyn R. Leventhal (m. 1967–1976)Children: Rebecca Leventhal (b. November 1969) Early Life Alice Walker was born on February 9, 1944, in Eatonton, Georgia, the last of eight children born to Minnie Tallulah Grant and Willie Lee Walker. Her parents were sharecroppers who worked on a large cotton farm during the days of Jim Crow. Recognizing Alices abilities at a very young age, her mother got the 4-year old into first grade at East Putnam Consolidated, where she quickly became a star pupil. In 1952, a childhood accident blinded her in one eye. Medical conditions in the Jim Crow south meant she did not get proper medical treatment until six years later when she visited her brother in Boston, Massachusetts. Nevertheless, she went on to become valedictorian of her class at Butler-Baker High School. At 17, Walker received a scholarship to attend Spelman College in Atlanta, where she became interested in Russian literature and the burgeoning Civil Rights movement. In 1963, she was offered a scholarship to Sarah Lawrence College, and, after her activist mentor Howard Zinn was fired from Spelman, Walker transferred to Sarah Lawrence. There, she studied poetry with Muriel Rukeyser (1913–1980), who would help her get her first collection of poems, Once, published in 1968. In her senior year, Walker studied in East Africa as an exchange student; she graduated in 1965. Professional Life After college, Alice Walker worked briefly for the New York City Department of Welfare and then returned to the south, moving to Jackson, Mississippi. In Jackson, she volunteered in voter registration drives and worked for the Legal Defense Fund of the NAACP. She met fellow civil rights worker Melvyn R. Leventhal on March 17, 1967, and they married in New York and moved back to Jackson, where they were the first legally married biracial couple in the city. They had one daughter, Rebecca, born November 17, 1969, but the marriage ended in divorce in 1976. Alice Walker started her professional writing career as a writer-in-residence first at Jackson State University (1968–1969) and then at Tougaloo College (1970–1971). Her first novel,  a three-generation saga of sharecroppers called The Third Life of Grange Copeland, was published in 1970. In 1972, she taught a course in Black Womens Writers at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. She continued steadily writing throughout this period. Early Writing By the mid-1970s, Walker turned to her inspirations from the Harlem Renaissance period of the early 20th century. In 1974, Walker wrote a biography of poet Langston Hughes (1902–1967), and the following year she published a description of her research with Charlotte Hunt, In Search of Zora Neale Hurston, in Ms.  magazine. Walker is credited with reviving interest in the writer/anthropologist (1891–1960). Her novel Meridian came out in 1976, and the subject was the civil rights movement in the south. Her next novel, The Color Purple, changed her life. Alice Walkers poems, novels, and short stories frankly deal with rape, violence, isolation, troubled relationships, bi-sexuality, multi-generational perspectives, sexism, and racism: all of the things which she knew from her personal experiences. Always, and more as she grew as a writer, Alice Walker has been unafraid to be controversial. The Color Purple When The Color Purple came out in 1982, Walker became known to an even wider audience. Her Pulitzer Prize and the movie by Steven Spielberg brought both fame and controversy. She was widely criticized for negative portrayals of men in The Color Purple, though many critics admitted that the movie presented more simplistic negative pictures than the books more nuanced portrayals. In two books- The Temple of My Familiar (1989) and Possessing the Secret of Joy (1992)- Walker took on the issue of female circumcision in Africa, which brought further controversy: was Walker a cultural imperialist to criticize a different culture? Legacy Alice Walkers works are known for their portrayals of the African-American womans life. She depicts vividly the sexism, racism, and poverty that make that life often a struggle. But she also portrays as part of that life, the strengths of family, community, self-worth, and spirituality. Many of her novels depict women in other periods of history than our own. Just as with non-fiction womens history writing, such portrayals give a sense of the differences and similarities of womens condition today and in that other time. Alice Walker continues not only to write but to be active in environmental, feminist/womanist causes, and issues of economic justice. Her latest novel, Now is the Time to Open Your Heart, was published in 2004; since that time her published work has been poetry. In 2018, she published a collection of poems titled Taking the Arrow Out of the Heart. Sources Alice Walker: By the Book. The New York Times, December 13, 2018.  Howard, Lillie P (ed.). Alice Walker Zora Neale Hurston: The Common Bond. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood, 1993.Lazo, Caroline. Alice Walker: Freedom Writer. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 2000.  Ã‚  Takenaga, Lara. A Q. and A. With Alice Walker Stoked Outrage. Our Book Review Editor Responds. New York Times, December 18, 2018.  Walker, Alice. Alice Walker Banned.  Ed. Holt, Patricia. New York: Aunt Lute Books, 1996.  Walker, Alice (ed.) I Love Myself When I Am Laughing... Then Again When I Am Looking Mean Impressive: A Zora Neale Hurston Reader. New York: The Feminist Press, 1979.  Walker, Alice. Living by the Word: Selected Writings, 1973-1987. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Company, 1981.White, Evelyn C. Alice Walker: A Life. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2004.

Hillary Clinton and Universal Health Care

Hillary Clinton and Universal Health Care Hillary Clinton is perhaps most remembered during her tenure as the first lady of the United States in the mid-1990s for her unsuccessful push for universal health care, a controversial proposal seen at the time as a radical overhaul of the way Americans received coverage that drew strong opposition from both the drug and health insurance industries. The cornerstone of the plan was a mandate on employers to provide health insurance for all of their employees. Later in her political career, Clinton supported a mandate on Americans - not businesses - to purchase health insurance for themselves as part of a broad proposal to rein in costs and boost value and quality in the nations network of private health insurers. Clinton unveiled her newer proposals in her American Health Choices Plan during the race for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. Said Clinton in September 2007: My plan covers all Americans and improves health care by lowering costs and improving quality. If youre one of the tens of millions of Americans without coverage or if you dont like the coverage you have, you will have a choice of plans to pick from and youll get tax credits to help pay for it. If you like the plan you have, you can keep it. Its a plan that works for Americas families and Americas businesses, while preserving consumer choices. That same individual mandate became a part of President Barack Obamas health care law. Hillary Clinton and Universal Health Care Hillary Clinton was the first lady to President Bill Clinton in 1993 when he appointed her to chair the Presidents Task Force on National Health Care Reform. The president had warned in his inaugural address that the administration would face staunch opposition from powerful lobbies and special interests who would attempt to derail its efforts to provide coverage for all Americans, and he was right. Congressional Republicans opposed the plan, the public saw it as too complex and bureaucratic, but perhaps the kiss of death was the tremendous amount of criticism it received from health insurance industry, which went too far as to produce a multimillion-dollar television campaign against the proposal. The Clinton health care overhaul billed as the centerpiece of Bill Clintons presidency and a path to ensuring some 37 million Americans who had no coverage, died for lack of support in Congress in what was considered a major defeat for the administration and political setback for Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton Revises Health Care Proposals Clinton emerged with a new set of plans to ensure every American during the 2008 race for the Democratic presidential nomination. She said she had learned from her mistakes in 1993 and 1994 when the Clinton administrations proposals were too complicated, and that she had the scars to show for it. Clinton portrayed her new American Health Choices Plan as being one modeled after the health care program through which members of Congress are covered. The new array of choices offered in the menu will provide benefits at least as good as the typical plan offered to members of Congress, which includes mental health parity and usually dental coverage, Clinton said in 2007. Hillary Clintons plan would have required Americans to purchase health insurance and required insurers to cover everyone regardless of whether they had preconditions. It would have provided tax credits to Americans who couldnt afford to purchase health care and paid for them by rolling back the so-called Bush tax cuts on those earning more than $250,000 a year. Clinton said at the time her plan would have resulted in a net tax cut for American taxpayers.

Titanic Film Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Titanic Film - Movie Review Example The paper tells that in the movie â€Å"Titanic† each scene, irrespective of the situation, you would be swept off your feet, seeing its beauty. A typical example of mere creation would be the scene which shows the ships logo. The movie opens with a sepia tone scene of the first voyage of the ship. Slowly as the camera covers the entire ship, it shows that Titanic is the most elegant, grandest and beautiful ship to be ever made on the face of the earth. It shows how majestically it floats in the mighty Atlantic Ocean, even the smoke churning out of the tall smoke towers on the top of the ship, and with the most soulful hymns, to add icing on the cake. She simply becomes the metaphor for Eden, sailing in the ocean of blue. Slowly we see the title, ‘TITANIC’, which appears over dark waters, which eventually speaks of her story, in the same way as Eden, as she will also fall into the darkness of the water. ‘I’m flying’. This happens to be the most beautiful and memorable scene in this movie. Who could ever forget the scene when Jack and Rose stand on the frontest tip of the mighty ship and opens their arms wide, and feel like they are flying. Everything was perfect in this scene, the sun setting, the beautiful hymns of ‘Every Night In My Dreams’, Rose’s clothes and hair symbolizing her freedom, which she is beginning to move into, and the words that she says, â€Å"I Trust You†, to Jack. These aspects make it one of the most beautiful romantic scenes in the history of Hollywood.

Earthquakes in the Xi Chuan Province Research Paper

Earthquakes in the Xi Chuan Province - Research Paper Example Being near an active fault, the area regularly experiences light tremors due to the constant movement of the plates. However, there are instances where big, catastrophic earthquakes hit the region. An example of which happened on May 12, 2008, 06:28:04 (UTC) which according to official reports, seventy thousand people were killed, three hundred seventy four thousand people were injured, and about seventeen thousand more were reported missing. (Chen, Qiao, and Liu 809) To make a good equivalence, the Xi Chuan province is like Charleston of the United States. These places when they were established were not really plagued by catastrophe but, throughout the years, they became known to be the â€Å"center of calamity† for their respective countries. (Steinberg 5) For most people, inside and especially outside China, we only hear about these great catastrophes through the reports given by media. Although those in the media are sworn to present news in the most accurate way possible , it is hard for get such an accurate representation. There will always be bias and only snippets of the catastrophe can be recorded at one time. The perspective from which the report was derived is important in determining how a catastrophe will be seen by viewers inside and outside the immediate areas affected. Responses from these reports will ultimately determine how people will act with regard to the needs and situation of those struck with the calamity. There are several perspectives that a disaster report might come from. A disaster can be seen through the eyes on a local who has experienced the tragedy first hand, or through the eyes of an outsider, a foreign journalist perhaps that was tasked to report on the case. Another and more prevalent perspective, especially in a socialist country like China, is the perspective given by the government. These perspectives are the key that determines how locals as well as the policy makers will prepare their disaster management and pre paredness plan in for future catastrophes. Loopholes in the presentation of facts or exaggerations in the number of lives lost or damage to property can adversely affect these efforts to reduce damage and mortality for earthquakes. Aside from the perspectives, there are also a lot of ways wherein the reports on the disaster can be expressed. Newspapers and Blogs carry text and images regarding the aftermath of the disaster. Television and radio broadcasts also carry video and audio information about the activities and current situation of those affected. Incorporation different types of media and harnessing different modes of getting information disseminated can create a big effect on how a disaster is perceived and might well be the key determinants to the immediacy as well as the appropriateness of the actions instigated in response to the catastrophe. In this regard, the study intends to analyze how the Xi Chuan earthquakes are represented in media through text, videos, photo doc umentaries, and press releases. The study tries to connect how these reports affect the views of the locals, and even the rest of the world regarding earthquakes in the Xi Chuan province and will also try to determine the implications of these reports on the disaster management and preparedness plans for the area, the conduct of the rescue and relief operations as well as its effect on other relevant sectors. Literature Review A brief history of the study of seismic activity in the Xi Chuan basic region was detailed in the study of Han and Jiang (231). The Xi Chuan –

Technological Advancements in Communication Essay Example for Free

Technological Advancements in Communication Essay What technological advancements in communication were discussed in the article? In this article, The technological advancements in communication discussed included collaborative technologies like social computing, wiki’s, mash up’s, video conferencing, and instant messaging. These technologies allow businesses to get away from all the e-mails or traditional communication that involves only a select number of people. With collaborative technology, business can communicate with anyone they want and everyone feels like they are included. Choose two communication types and compare and contrast them. How could these be used in your workplace? Two of the communication types that I am going to compare are emails, and interactive spreadsheets like the one mentioned from smartsheet.com. In my workplace, we could use interactive spreadsheets to our advantage. We share emails back and forth to our subsidiaries’ in many countries. Most all of the different countries share a different language and translation could present a problem. With an interactive spreadsheet, you could have a space reserved for the different languages so that information could be translated one time instead of many times. Emails are only available to whoever you send them to. With an interactive spread sheet, information could be viewed by everyone and other people could put their two cents in. You would be creating a larger team than with emails. Do these technological advancements in communication follow what is traditionally considered business communication? Why? I think that these technological advancements in communication follow traditional business communication to a certain extent. Information is still being shared, teams are still collaborating, and decisions are still getting made. The difference with collaborative technology is that it is much easier to do all of this now. Businesses are able to communicate on a much broader level and more people can be involved. Technology is also  taking the leg work out of the equation for some businesses, freeing them up to concentrate on more important tasks.

Unwarranted Cellular Tracking in The United States Essay -- Personal F

In this day and age of technology and digital information, finding the location of a restaurant or landmark only takes the click of a button. At the same time, the technology being used for directions and GPS allows the government to find the location of anyone at any given moment, watching over all as they so please. The prevalence of unwarranted cell phone tracking is extremely high, so much so that a case was taken to the Supreme Court to debate the issue. It was decided in this case, United States v. Jones, that a device having its movements tracked is the same as trespassing on property (United States Supreme Court). More recently than this, the American Civil Liberties Union released several public records detailing the process police departments use before tracing cell phone locations. Shockingly, it was revealed that a large majority of departments around the country fail to acquire a proper warrant before tracking suspects (Crump). Considering the ubiquity of cell phones in society today, jokes about the government turning into a "Big Brother" watching over citizens have nearly become a reality in the U.S., with tremendous worries about what little privacy there is left. What was once thought of as a handy communication tool has now turned into a traveling tracker for the police to spy on the common man with. Imagine, every step outside of a denizen's home being tracked step for step. This was entirely unknown before, and the revelation of such broke the illusion of safety civilians thought they had. Law enforcement agencies shouldn't be allowed to so freely track cell phones without the use of a warrant, it violates a citizen's rights, gives no regard to privacy, and creates an inconsistent legal standard within ag... ...media story brings this issue to light again. Making the push to put reform on this matter and enacting a law to require warrants will restore the values law enforcement agencies are meant to uphold, and bring back the sense of security that is seldom found in society today. Works Cited Clark, M. Wesley. Cell Phones as Tracking Devices, 41 Val. U. L. Rev. 1413 (2007). Crump, C.. "Results of nationwide government cell phone tracking records request show frequent violations of Americans' privacy rights." . N.p., 2012. Web. 22 May 2012. Lightblau, Eric. "Police Are Using Phone Tracking as a Routine Tool." www.nytimes.com. New York Times, 03/3. Web. 28 May 2012. U.S. Supreme Court, . "United States v. Jones Opinion."supremecourt.gov. Us Government, 2012. Web. 28 May 2012. "Cell Tracking." Electronic frontier foundation. EFF, n.d. Web. 22 May 2012.

Human resources Essay Essay

This essay is basically about the Catastrophe Concepts contract. Catastrophe Concepts is an Australian manufacturer as well as a distributor of women’s fashion apparel. The sales manager of the company, Karen Stevens was hired by the company in the year 2001 and currently Karen works as a senior sales executive for Catastrophe Concepts. It has been eight years now that Karen is working for the company and is being paid $175,000 annually and is also provided with a company maintained car. However, there is no specific written record regarding Karen’s recruitment except for a letter that was sent to Karen in which she was welcomed to the company and it also said that she would be paid $75,000 annually by the company. However, Catastrophe Concepts is now facing a serious downturn that has concerned the marketing manager of the company, Lilly Zheng to question whether Karen should be allowed to continue working for the company or not. Karen has been working for Catastrophe Concepts since the last eight years with all sincerity and no issues of misconduct or decline in her performance can been seen as her performance has always been rated acceptable but she does not have any further chance of promotion or to further advance in her career. This is the reason why Lilly Zheng is concerned whether Karen should be allowed to continue working for the company or she should be terminated and due to this Lilly has a few questions in her mind and she wants the human resource manager, George Chapel to answer. In this part of the paper I would answer some of the questions arising in the mind of Lilly Zheng from the viewpoint of George Chapel. The first question that Lilly has in her mind is related to Karen’s termination and she wants to know how Catastrophe Concepts can terminate Karen. For this, I would say that termination would not be the correct word to be used in this case and the reason behind this is that an employee can only be terminated from the company on the basis of misconduct or due to unsatisfactory performance but Karen is not charged of any of the two so she cannot be terminated from Catastrophe Concepts. However, termination has a broader concept than this and it can be voluntary i. e. with the employee’s free will or it can be involuntary i. e. terminated by employer. Layoffs and dismissals are a part of involuntary termination. In this situation, Catastrophe Concepts can layoff Karen due to the downturn of the business or they can opt for a mutual agreement between Karen and the company. In order to make the termination soft, the company can take certain actions such as by asking Karen herself to resign and to convince her to do so by explaining her facts. Termination always leaves negative affects on the other employees working for the company as they become unsecure about their own job and their motivation level decreases. For this purpose, at the time when Karen is terminated, she should be given various incentives and should be allowed to leave the company in the most respectable manner (Storey 1998).. In case Karen agrees to leave the company and if she joins a competitor, there are many risks involved with this as Karen has worked for Catastrophe Concepts for quite a long period of eight years and she knows a lot about the company. Moreover, she is the senior sales executive and so she knows all the techniques of selling women’s apparel and where ever she will go she would definitely use her skills. Due to this, there should be some restrictions that should apply to Karen such as she should be made to sign a contract not to provide the company details to the competitor or to provide the competitor with the secrets of the company. (David 1997). If Karen provides confidential marketing information to the competitor, this would be very bad for Catastrophe Concepts as this will help the competitor not only to know the marketing secrets of the company but it would also help the competitor predict the future actions Catastrophe Concepts is planning to take and on this basis, they might come up with better strategies or they might use the same marketing plans before Catastrophe Concepts applies these strategies and plans and this will prove to be awful for Catastrophe Concepts. Another possibility that might happen after Karen’s termination is that she might lure and hire other staff currently employed by Catastrophe Concepts. This would also prove to be bad for Catastrophe Concepts as they would loose their employee and with the employee, they also have a lot of possibility off losing company’s information. Moreover, as the employees as already trained by Catastrophe Concepts, they would have to hire a new employee and train them all over again and this involves both financial and time cost. Huselid 1995). The second part of the paper suggests the restraint of trade clause that should have been included in Karen’s original written contract. Moreover, another thing that needs to be taken care off in this contract should be in context with the duration, extent and geography. For such situations, it is very important for Catastrophe Concepts to have a good human resource department so that they can fulfill their duties and do the best for the employees working in the company. It is the duty of the human resource department to come up with various strategies and trade clauses for the employees. Previously, however Catastrophe Concepts did not have any such trade clause due to which they are facing this problem now, therefore they should take steps now and should work on the clause so that such problems do not occur in future. It is always necessary for the company to have their legal rules defined to the employees so that they are aware of things. Having a trade clause would further enable to protect its legal rights and there should always be an agreement between the company and the employee. It is also a wise idea to have employment agreements as these would enable Catastrophe Concepts to guard their wellbeing against the employees working for the company; however the human resource department has to be careful when coming up with trade clauses and they should make sure that they have the most important ones already defined for the company. Some of the most important ones are mentioned in the paragraphs below. (Micallef & Powell 1997). When an employee agrees not to opt for a profession that is similar to the one he is currently working as in order to prevent competition against the company is possible when an employees signs a non-compete clause. Once the employee signs the contract, he is bound to obey it and he cannot opt for the same profession once he resigns or is terminated from a company. This contract can help the company to prevent the employee from distributing the company’s confidential information or any kind of trade secrets to the competitor. These secrets might include the company’s marketing strategies or the products the company plans to come up with in future. (Lado &Wilson 1994). Non-Solicitation Agreement would basically help Catastrophe Concepts to guard the employees from stealing information or the customers. Other than this, they can form non-competition agreements as they can center on geography, customers as well as knowledge. It is not likely for Catastrophe Concepts to stop the competitors from competing with the company but there are certain situations in which such contracts can be signed such as in employee-employer situation. Non-disparagement agreement averts the employee to speak bad things about the employer and the non-interference agreement averts the employee from interfering in relationships such as between the vendors or the customers, etc. Other than this, Catastrophe Concepts can also opt for confidentiality agreement, termination agreement and workplace property agreement, etc. Confidentiality agreement would prevent the employee from giving the confidential information of the company to the competitors while the termination agreement would help the company in terminating employees by making the employees sign a contract at the time they join the company. Moreover, another problem Catastrophe Concepts might face could be to keep the property at the workplace safe and secure and for this it is essential for the company to make the employees sign the workplace property agreement. (Leat 2001).