The Importance of Narrative Analysis in a Fake News World

The Importance of Narrative Analysis in a Fake News World Heroes, Villains, and Strangers: The Importance of Narrative Analysis in a Fake News World In When Narrative Matters More Than Fact, Ashley Lamb-Sinclair argues that Facts [ ] mean very little to people caught up in storylines. When it comes to creating ideologies and perceptions about the world, narrative is more powerful than facts and figures. Human beings tend to believe ideas that arise out of internal narratives, and these narratives are often based on limited personal experience. In an era of fake news, there is a tendency for teachers to focus on fact-checking as a way for students to combat erroneous information. Lamb-Sinclair argues that fact-checking is not the most effective approach to addressing errors in perception. Rather than placing an emphasis on facts and figures, adults should teach young people to analyze narratives and identify unreliable narrators, as well as heroes and villains. Lamb-Sinclair argues that narratives shape beliefs, and minds are changed when narratives change. The author draws upon her own experiences and provides two examples of the way that narrative has affected her own views. In high school, a love of historical narrative affected the author so deeply that she chose to study history in college. Perhaps even more significantly, Sinclairs youth experience working with two Latino men who were a little more flirty than is probably appropriate to be toward a 17-year-old girl became the source of her own temporary prejudice against older Latino males. It wasnt until she moved to Southern California and became sisters with Latina women in a sorority that she was able to form a new image of Latino men. While in the sorority, she went on dates with several men, and had the best carne asada from the father of her Latino friend. These new experiences caused her internal narrative about Latino men to shift, and her perceptions changed along with the n arrative. The author also points out that in an era of fake news, an emphasis on fact-checking and trying to persuade people through facts is largely unsuccessful. Narrative is rooted in the human experience, and will always be more compelling than a collection of facts. Even when people are not conscious of being involved in narrative, they want to connect with characters and to follow a plot to its end through multiple layers of conflict. The fascination with story and narrative structure means that emphasizing the extent to which a statement is factual has little impact on someone, if that person has already formed a narrative that contradicts the facts. Lamb-Sinclair offers an alternative to fact-checking: The best way to teach true understanding is not by teaching students facts (although that is still a valuable lesson); it is to teach them to analyze, as one does with elements of narrative. The recent U.S. general election provides an example of how this alternative approach might be ef fective. Simply pointing out that Donald Trump didnt help save 2,100 jobs with the Carrier deal may not be persuasive for someone who has lost a job and gotten it back. Creating a new narrative that challenges someones pre-existing narrative is far more likely to have an impact on causing someone to question her or his pre-existing views. Lamb-Sinclair sees adults, and particularly teachers, as playing an important role in teaching younger people how to analyze narratives. Teachers must not only teach students how to be critical thinkers who question the validity of facts, but also how to dissect a narrative and to identify unreliable narrators. Teachers must expose students to various types of characters and plotlines from many perspectives, both fictional and real in order for students to develop the analytical skills necessary to engage with real-world narratives. The author suggests that if students are familiar with heroes and villains from literature and history, they will be equipped to recognize heroes and villains in real life situations. Sinclair illustrates her own commitment to narrative by omitting facts and figures from her article and relying on personal narratives to illustrate her points. The efficacy of this approach poignantly demonstrates how susceptible readers are to being swept up in a narrative that makes use of only personal stories and recent events. Sinclair never refers to any statistics or facts when describing the way that her perceptions of Latino men shifted over time, yet her story resonates with the reader and felt trustworthy and factual. The author states that while no one had presented [her] with the facts, she understood much more of the story. Sinclair is critically aware that she has simply rewritten the original narrative, implying that the story is ever changing and another set of experiences could quickly alter what she believes. Lamb-Sinclair recognizes that not everyone has the opportunity to shift internal narratives through exposure to diverse people groups or experiences. The author states that while she was lucky enough to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ experience other cultures, the general population is not so fortunate. For that reason, Lamb-Sinclair writes to encourage the education system to teach students analytical skills to avoid another generation where the facts mean very little. If teachers and other responsible adults fail to teach young people how to recognize unreliable narratives and real-world heroes or villains, prejudice and bigotry may take root in our society and permeate the ideologies of future generations.

Spiritual Shallowness in The Great Gatsby :: Great Gatsby Essays

Spiritual Shallowness in The Great Gatsby The American Dream was based on the assumption that each person, no matter what his origins, could succeed in life on the sole basis of his or her own skill and effort. The dream was embodied in the ideal of the self-made man. The Great Gatsby is a novel about what happened to the American dream in the 1920s, a period when the old values that gave substance to the dream had been corrupted by the vulgar pursuit of wealth. Spiritual shallowness is portrayed in The Great Gatsby through the characters' pursuit of power and pleasure, the character groupings and images and the forgotten past. The characters of The Great Gatsby are Midwesterners who have come east in pursuit of this new dream of money, fame, success, glamour, and excitement. Tom and Daisy must have a huge house, a stable of polo ponies, and friends in Europe. Gatsby must have his enormous mansion before he can feel confident enough to try to win Daisy. The energy that might have gone into the pursuit of noble goals has been channeled into the pursuit of power and pleasure, and a very showy, but fundamentally empty form of success. Fitzgerald employs clearly defined character groupings and various images and symbols in developing the theme. Character groups include Nick, the observer and commentator, who sees what has gone wrong, Gatsby, who lives the dream purely, and Tom, Daisy, and Jordan, the "foul dust" who are the prime examples of the corruption of the dream. The primary images and symbols used are, the green light, the eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg, the image of the East and Midwest, Owl Eyes, Dan Cody's yacht; and religious terms such as grail and incarnation. Both the character groupings and the images and symbols suggest a second major theme that may be referred to as "sight and insight." The novel contains many images of blindness, perhaps because hardly anyone seems to "see" what is really going on. The characters have little self-knowledge and even less knowledge of each other. Especially Gatsby- he lacks the insight to understand what is happening. He never truly sees either Daisy or himself, so blinded is he by his dream. The only characters who see, in the sense of "understand," are Nick and Owl Eyes. Spiritual Shallowness in The Great Gatsby :: Great Gatsby Essays Spiritual Shallowness in The Great Gatsby The American Dream was based on the assumption that each person, no matter what his origins, could succeed in life on the sole basis of his or her own skill and effort. The dream was embodied in the ideal of the self-made man. The Great Gatsby is a novel about what happened to the American dream in the 1920s, a period when the old values that gave substance to the dream had been corrupted by the vulgar pursuit of wealth. Spiritual shallowness is portrayed in The Great Gatsby through the characters' pursuit of power and pleasure, the character groupings and images and the forgotten past. The characters of The Great Gatsby are Midwesterners who have come east in pursuit of this new dream of money, fame, success, glamour, and excitement. Tom and Daisy must have a huge house, a stable of polo ponies, and friends in Europe. Gatsby must have his enormous mansion before he can feel confident enough to try to win Daisy. The energy that might have gone into the pursuit of noble goals has been channeled into the pursuit of power and pleasure, and a very showy, but fundamentally empty form of success. Fitzgerald employs clearly defined character groupings and various images and symbols in developing the theme. Character groups include Nick, the observer and commentator, who sees what has gone wrong, Gatsby, who lives the dream purely, and Tom, Daisy, and Jordan, the "foul dust" who are the prime examples of the corruption of the dream. The primary images and symbols used are, the green light, the eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg, the image of the East and Midwest, Owl Eyes, Dan Cody's yacht; and religious terms such as grail and incarnation. Both the character groupings and the images and symbols suggest a second major theme that may be referred to as "sight and insight." The novel contains many images of blindness, perhaps because hardly anyone seems to "see" what is really going on. The characters have little self-knowledge and even less knowledge of each other. Especially Gatsby- he lacks the insight to understand what is happening. He never truly sees either Daisy or himself, so blinded is he by his dream. The only characters who see, in the sense of "understand," are Nick and Owl Eyes.

Autocratic Leadership Style Essay

Can an authoritarian/autocratic/directive leadership style be appropriate in American companies currently? If yes/no, why? It is first important to clarify what the term leadership means. According to Kinicki & Fugate (2012), â€Å"leadership is defined as ‘a social influence process in which the leader seeks the voluntary participation of subordinates in an effort to reach organizational goals’† (p. 364). This means leadership involves exercising authority at individual, group, and organizational levels. Bass (2008) identifies positive leadership traits to include task competence, interpersonal competence, intuition, traits of character, biophysical traits, and personal traits. With this basic understanding of leadership, it can be said that the appropriateness of an autocratic leadership style depends on the type of company and situation at hand—the idea of situational leadership (Kinicki & Fugate, 2012, p. 370). Even though the United States is a democratic country, an autocratic leadership style fits some but not all companies, depending on what the company wants to accomplish and what the company’s circumstances are. A manager with an autocratic style of leadership typically does all the decision-making without getting input from his/her subordinates (Rao, 2010, para. 3). Therefore, the manager is the authoritarian while all the subordinates are to simply follow instructions without giving their own thoughts or concerns about the task given to them. A benefit of this style is it can help provide structure and discipline to an otherwise inexperienced team, and also help a team stay on top of strict deadlines. Since the manager makes all the decisions, there is no time â€Å"wasted† on decision-making if there’s a time constraint. This type of leadership is also helpful when the manager has the highest amount of knowledge and could therefore specifically guide the subordinates on how to complete a task (Cherry), or when a type of industry simply does not require much communication or creativity relative to other industries. However, an autocratic style of leadership would be ill-fitting for many other types of companies, especially if the autocratic style is taken to extremes. As the textbook Organizational Behavior mentions, a bad leader would possess traits like being incompetent, rigid, or callous (Kinicki & Fugate, 2012, p. 366). Since a manager taking up an autocratic style of leadership is enforcing rigid rules, it could be potentially easy to become rigid as a person as well, which could lead to loss of respect from subordinates and ruin morale of the team. Cherry states that abuse of the style can make a person seem â€Å"controlling, bossy, and dictatorial,† and that this autocratic style of leadership prevents subordinates from producing creative solutions to problems. Giving employees such a lack of influence in the company could cause them to feel resentful since their opinions are never heard (â€Å"Leadership Styles,† 2008, para. 3-4), which means valuable relationships cannot be developed, thus straining human and social capital. An example of where an autocratic style of leadership would not be appropriate is if all the subordinates are just as knowledgeable or skilled as the manager. It would make more sense to use a democratic style of leadership so that everyone can participate and have a sense of importance in the decision-making, and because of their contribution, would feel more committed and enthusiastic about the company’s goals. Situational leadership theories suggest that â€Å"the effectiveness of a particular style of leader behavior depends on the situation.† This applies to how the appropriateness of the autocratic style of leadership depends on the company at hand. It is important to fully analyze the employee characteristics (locus of control, experience, task ability, etc.) and environmental factors (task structure and work-group dynamics) to decide whether or not an autocratic style of leadership would produce the most desirable results for the company (Kinicki & Fugate, 2012, p. 370-372). References Bass, B.M., & Bass, R. (2008). The Bass handbook of leadership. New York: Free Press. Cherry, K. Lewin’s leadership styles. About.com: Psychology. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/leadership Cherry, K. What is autocratic leadership?. About.com: Psychology. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/leadership Kinicki, A., & Fugate M. (2012). Organizational behavior: Key concepts, skills, and best practices. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Leadership styles: Autocratic leadership. (2008). Leadership-toolbox.com, pp. 3-4. Retrieved from http://www.leadership-toolbox.com/autocratic-leadership.html Rao, M.S. (2010). Is autocratic leadership relevant today?. Chief Learning Officer: Solutions for Enterprise Activity. Retrieved from http://clomedia.com/articles

The eNotes Blog Does AP stand for Absolutely Pointless

Does AP stand for Absolutely Pointless My 12-year-old son began his first semester in junior high this year. In July, all of us parents were rounded up for a three-hour information seminar. We visited each of the Pre-AP teachers rooms,   a total of seven different potential course offerings. In every session, the message was the same: you enrolled your kid in ALL Pre-AP classes if your child isnt a complete dummy. Pre-AP, it was (sometimes not) patiently explained, was necessary for your child so that he or she could take AP courses in high school, and then be eligible to skip introductory courses in college. The point, apparently, was to save us a little money and to (it was implied) feel a bit superior about our offspring. The same teachers who teach Pre-AP classes also teach regular courses. Although our information seminar was supposed to tell us the difference between the two types of classes, virtually none   of the teachers even mentioned the regular classes. The Pre-AP was pushed so hard it made a parent feel like admitting your kid was as on par intellectually with the Honey Boo Boo clan for simply asking about the differences. As the evening droned on and on, I began to wonder: Whatever happened to teaching students at the actual level they are at, intellectually, emotionally, and socially? I wondered too, as a college professor myself, if AP is pushed so heavily, why is it that I find my freshmen so unprepared for the rigors of a college course?  This week, the Atlantic  published an article by John Tierney, a retired professor and high school AP teacher. Like me, Tierney wondered the same thing. So why this huge push into AP?   Probably the biggest reason is that the College Board, which sets the standards and publishes the AP curriculum, earns over half of its earnings from AP courses. Which might be all right with everyone if high schools truly were turning out enhanced and advanced learners. However, in Tierneys experience, and my own, they are not doing any such thing. Tierney investigated the many reasons for the failures of the AP programs, and some confusion about their promises. For example,  while AP courses in high school may let a college freshman opt out of an introductory course, they often do not receive actual college credit for AP classes as expected. And when they do get to skip an intro class, many students find that their AP classes in high school do not remotely resemble the challenges of a true college class, and many wish they HAD taken the regular introductory college course. Another valid argument is Tierneys opposition to open enrollment for   AP classes.   This was the case in my sons new school. There was no merit base.   No one was asked to join because of high scores in elementary school or a teachers recommendation. What we were basically told is that Pre-AP was sink or swim. Tierney argues that, two thirds of the students taking my class each year did not belong there. And they dragged down the course for the students who did. And what of the kids who fail to swim? Its pretty grim, according to Tierney. He says that those classes get ever more full as the years wear on and some kids just cant hack it, but they are not given the strongest teachers. Those teachers, of course, are reserved for the AP program. A lot of these non-swimmers are minorities, who will now face even more obstacles to higher education. Finally, and reinforcing what I have already seen in my own home, the push to cover so much material so fast leads to rigid stultification a kind of mindless genuflection to a prescribed plan of study that squelches creativity and free inquiry. No wonder when I took my Freshmen out on a sunny day and we all did nothing but read Thoreau out loud to one another, they all looked stunned then they slowly began to relax, smile, and enjoy the pleasures of learning. Sadly, high school teachers are not able to take their students down interesting paths of learning. After all theres a test coming up.

Free Essays on Fidel Castro And Cuba

Fidel Castro and Cuba When Columbus came to Cuba in 1492, he and his predecessors would probably never have imagined of this island’s outcome within the centuries ahead. From conquering the country, to its independence, to the rise of the current totalitarian regime, all these major events have made the island what it is today. Before giving the whole story about the Communists, one must understand how the country was born so here’s a little bit of a background history: Spain had conquered Cuba in 1511 under Diego Velasquez. Frequent insurrections failed to end Spain’s harsh rule. From 1868 to 1878 occurred the Armed rebellion known as the Ten Year’s War, led by plantation owner Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, a co-author of Cuba’s declaration of independence. After the loss of more than 200,000 lives, the revolt ended in failure. In 1933, Fulgencio Batista led a â€Å"sergeants† revolt† that toppled the despotic rule of Gen. Grarado Machado and it was at that t ime that Batista became the most powerful man in Cuba. He was elected president in 1940 and made himself chief of state with dictatorial powers. Years of corrupt government, terrorism and embezzlement made by the United States led to a revolt in 1958 under the leadership of Fidel Castro. Batista fled to the Dominican Republic and the Fidelistas were in control of Havana. Castro then became Cuba's leader at the young age of 32. At first people applauded the downfall of Batista and hoped that Castro could bring the country the prosperity it had wished for. Unfortunately, before long, people came to realization that the new regime had embraced Communism. In Cuba, Castro’s regime has created the most repressive police state apparatus in the Western Hemisphere. Cuba is like the George Orwell nightmare predicted in the book â€Å"1984† except that this time the country is set in the tropics with Big Brother sporting a beard and cigar. Cuba never believed in Human Rights as C as... Free Essays on Fidel Castro And Cuba Free Essays on Fidel Castro And Cuba Fidel Castro and Cuba When Columbus came to Cuba in 1492, he and his predecessors would probably never have imagined of this island’s outcome within the centuries ahead. From conquering the country, to its independence, to the rise of the current totalitarian regime, all these major events have made the island what it is today. Before giving the whole story about the Communists, one must understand how the country was born so here’s a little bit of a background history: Spain had conquered Cuba in 1511 under Diego Velasquez. Frequent insurrections failed to end Spain’s harsh rule. From 1868 to 1878 occurred the Armed rebellion known as the Ten Year’s War, led by plantation owner Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, a co-author of Cuba’s declaration of independence. After the loss of more than 200,000 lives, the revolt ended in failure. In 1933, Fulgencio Batista led a â€Å"sergeants† revolt† that toppled the despotic rule of Gen. Grarado Machado and it was at that t ime that Batista became the most powerful man in Cuba. He was elected president in 1940 and made himself chief of state with dictatorial powers. Years of corrupt government, terrorism and embezzlement made by the United States led to a revolt in 1958 under the leadership of Fidel Castro. Batista fled to the Dominican Republic and the Fidelistas were in control of Havana. Castro then became Cuba's leader at the young age of 32. At first people applauded the downfall of Batista and hoped that Castro could bring the country the prosperity it had wished for. Unfortunately, before long, people came to realization that the new regime had embraced Communism. In Cuba, Castro’s regime has created the most repressive police state apparatus in the Western Hemisphere. Cuba is like the George Orwell nightmare predicted in the book â€Å"1984† except that this time the country is set in the tropics with Big Brother sporting a beard and cigar. Cuba never believed in Human Rights as C as...

The Rise of American Industry- American Economic History Research Proposal

The Rise of American Industry- American Economic History - Research Proposal Example Although America has been blessed with abundant geological resources, the intensity of conversion of natural resources into manufactured commodities, which grew the most during 1880 to 1920, was the major reason that American industry could grow to this predominance. Economies of scale and capital intensive production was possible because of the access to new materials like aluminum and copper as well as larger markets through the transportation network (Chandler, 1992). This enabled the American industry to get a competitive advantage in the period prior to the First World War. During the inter-war years, 1929-41, the American economy witnessed the worst recession and unemployment situation as a result of demand crash, hence the period popularly known as the Great Depression. The economy recovered after the Second World War and the period between 1948 and 1973 was a boom time, with private non-farm enterprises growing fast. Interestingly, even during the depression years, growth in real output was higher than the growth in real wages and real capital, that is total factor productivity (TFP) grew faster than in the post-war boom years. Some economists have argued that this simultaneous existence of high labor productivity and unemployment stems from the fact that with decline in demand, private enterprises tended to lay off the unproductive labor. Hence, selective labor retention and improved management practices enabled higher labor productivity. However, other economists have found that factors other than selective retention of labor resulted in the high inter-war productivity growth, which was the base on which post-war economic revival happened in America. For example, quality of labor improved as Americans received better educational qualifications during the inter-war years, a level that was not achieved again since the 1960s (Goldin, cited in Field, 2006). On

List the author's main point Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

List the author's main point - Essay Example It’s not really† (837). The author further explains this argument by stating that even though these factors results into environmental calamities, they don’t deserve to be totally eliminated but rather safeguarded to balance the ecological and social state, this is backed up by the statement where the author says that â€Å"economic, political and social systems have produced our current environmental calamities but they don’t deserve to be replaced rather they should be preserved† (837). The author also states that in pursuit towards a successful environment and culture, virtue and violence needs to be combined, this is supported by the quote where the author indeed feels that his readers wonder why he would† yoke together value and violence†(838). Although the use of positive violence is encouraged when it comes to business and economics as supported by the quote â€Å"How can one remove the claim of virtue from the behavior that is most habitual to people?† â€Å"The artful use of violence is obviously something that we admire in those sectors of the culture that we most associate with success† (838). The author states that our virtue is manifested ethically through the use of positive violence. The use of the expression â€Å"we can move mountains† (839) clearly supports this statement of pride. By presenting itself as a type of wisdom, sustainability acts as a mediator between our damaging values and truthfulness to democracy. This is supported by the quote† Sustainability participates in the yearning and willingfulness to the Barbaric Heart despite of itself† (839). The author states that to achieve sustainability, economists, politicians and scientists put their minds together to work and set a common goal .This is supported by the quote â€Å"In short, sustainability assumes that the reasoning of the economics-or economics as thought of