This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona by Sherman Alexie Free Essay Example, 1250 words

However, the bonds of family cannot be destroyed. They are passed on from one generation to the next. Although Victor has no close contact with him, the father’s death is â€Å"a genetic pain† (Alexie, 7). The title suggests that, as Victor travels to Phoenix and claims the remains of his father, the old man lives on in his son. Victor experiences a sense of closure as he â€Å"searched his mind for memories of his father, found the good ones, found a few bad ones, added it all up, and smiled† (Alexie, 14). His bond with his father is strengthened. This theme of rebirth is emphasized towards the conclusion of the story, when Thomas states his intention of scattering Victor’s father’s ashes in Spokane Falls and his certainty that â€Å"He will rise, Victor, he will rise† (Alexie, 17). As the new offspring rises from the ashes of the old Phoenix, Victor, the son, rises from the ashes of his father. The ashes constitute another powerful symbol in the story. They are related to the myth of the Phoenix above, in which the ashes of the predecessor are the raw material for the rebirth of the progeny. We will write a custom essay sample on This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona by Sherman Alexie or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now In addition to this, the ashes also stand for the past. Both Victor and his father run away from their past. The father â€Å"wants to run and hide† (Alexie, 14). The father runs away from the reservation to Arizona, while Victor metaphorically runs away from his father. The ashes symbolize connection. The ashes form the bridge which connects Victor to his past and to his father. By accepting the ashes, Victor accepts his father and opens his heart to the enduring legacy of his parent in his life. The ashes stand for family bonds. The father-son relationship which is lost by Victor is reclaimed by him through the ashes. The ashes also symbolize the bond of kinship between Victor and Thomas. Victor is surprised when Thomas says, â€Å"Yeah, I remember your Dad† (Alexie, 14). He learns that Thomas, his cousin, shared a unique relationship with his father. It is Victor’s father who finds the thirteen year old Thomas stranded far fr om home in Spokane and takes care of the boy. The father secures an assurance from Thomas that he will look after Victor. The father thus becomes a bridge between the two cousins. Thomas and his uncle share a special bond founded on their concern for Victor. Thomas reaffirms this commitment when he tells Victor, â€Å"I came because of your father (Alexie, 14). The ashes are not only a bridge between Victor and his father, but also between Victor and Thomas. Victor acknowledges his enduring bond of kinship with his cousin by giving him â€Å"the cardboard box which contained half of his father† (Alexie, 17).

Alain Locke s The New Negro - 1400 Words

Though times have changed, Alain Locke tries to convey that meaning into many of his writings. Alain Locke has been an activist for the many years of the Harlem Renaissance. He spoke forward about how the ancestors of African American referred as the â€Å"Old Negros† and the newer generation referred to as the â€Å"New Negros† took different outlooks on life. American Negros goal in life at this point in time was to change their mentality. But how? Locke had introduced many readers to the vibrant wondrous world of African Americans. He opened the eyes to what American Negros can do and not what they cannot do, no one should be restricted by any boundaries. One of his most influential writings was â€Å"Enter the New Negro†, its open the mind of those who have come across it. The treatment of African Americans seemed as it has changed from the 1920 to the 1930s but mistreatment still remained. At this time African American needed to convey the images left be hind by their ancestors into something greater to please and uphold their legacy, not the legacy of themselves but a legacy for the African American community altogether. Locke speaks of the mistreatment when he states; â€Å"The Negro, too, for his part, has idols of the tribe to smash. If on the one hand the white man has erred in making the Negro appear to be that which would excuse or extenuate his treatment of him, the Negro, in turn, has too often unnecessarily excused himself because of the way he has been treated. TheShow MoreRelatedAnalysis of the New Negro Essay1605 Words   |  7 PagesIn the beginning Alain Locke tells us about the â€Å"tide of negro migration.† During this time in a movement known as the Great Migration, thousands of African-Americans also known as Negros left their homes in the South and moved North toward the beach line of big cities in search of employment and a new beginning. As Locke stated, â€Å"the wash and rush of this human tide on the beach line of Northern city centers is to be explained primarily in terms of a new vision of opportunity, of social and economicRead MoreWhat Was The Overall Impact Of The Harlem Renaissance1110 Words   |  5 Pagespart of the New York Public Library. It is a major repository of African American material which Schomburg collected over the years and felt it necessary and preserving a sense of one’s history especially when one belongs to a group whose history and humanity was routinely denied under slavery and segregation. 27. According to Hughes, who are the three â€Å"midwives† of the Harlem Renaissance? The three midwives of the Harlem Renaissance are Langston Hughes, Alain Locke and Charles S. Johnson. 28Read MoreThe Rise Of The Harlem Renaissance1970 Words   |  8 PagesAtlantic in 1928 , and the list continues. Undoubtedly one of the most influential of events during this time was the Harlem Renaissance. Even with its many leaders and innovators, it wouldn’t have been nearly as effective had it not been for Alain LeRoy Locke: black writer, philosopher, and teacher who influenced black artists to look to African sources for pride and inspiration. Without Locke’s contribution, the Renaissance would not have flourished as much as it did, and black pride would have takenRead MoreThe Negro Movement1364 Words   |  6 Pageshistory of the culture that has risen from the ashes; one may be quite surprised just how far the African American culture has come. The progression of the African American culture is indeed one to be proud of. From cotton fields to Harlem, â€Å"The New Negro Movement†, sparked a sense of cultural self-determination, with a yearning to str ive for economic, political equality, and civic participation. This was a movement that sparked a wide range of advancements in the African American culture. LeavingRead MoreArt or Propaganda? - a comparison between Alain Locke and W.E.B.Dubois5435 Words   |  22 Pages1. Introduction. W.E.B. Dubois and Alain Locke were important contributors to the epoch called Harlem Renaissance. With their writings atrists wanted to do something against racism, they wanted to show that the African - Americans dont have to feel inferior. Writing in the April, 1915, issue of Crisis, DuBois said: In art and literature we should try to loose the tremendous emotional wealth of the Negro and the dramatic strength of his problems through writing ... and other forms of art. WeRead MoreAlain Locke Essay1153 Words   |  5 Pagesone common denominator. Alain Locke addresses this issue of cultural pluralism in his article, quot;Who and What is `Negro?quot; In this article, Locke states that, quot;There is, in brief, no `The Negro. quot; By this, he means that blacks are not a uniform and unchanging body of people. He emphasizes that we, as Americans, need to mentally mature to a point where we do not view ourselves as all separate races, but as distinct parts of a composite whole. Locke begins his article by questioningRead MoreBlack Boy Essay1063 Words   |  5 Pagescontrol. Really, it’s just like bullying in many schools, but one hundred times worse. In â€Å"The New Negro†, Alain Locke has many important ideas and thoughts about society and the treatment of African Americans. He shows you what every life of a black American was like in the 1920’s. Many of the ideas that he writes are shown in Richard Wright’s Black Boy. â€Å"So for generations in the mind of America, the Negro has been more of a formula than a human being-a something to be argued about, condemned or defendedRead MoreClaude Mckay s Harlem Dancer And Ended Around 1929 Essay1535 Words   |  7 Pagesintellectuals into the harsh realization that the mentality of prejudice was still deeply rooted in American society. Looking at the important figures of this period we must start with such names as Countee Cullen, W.E.B. DuBois, Langston Hughes, and Alain Locke to name a few. These intellectuals were the backbone to era and were instrumental in placing this period in a position of prominence. There were far more individuals who contributed to the relevance of the Harlem Renaissance, both black and whiteRead MoreAnalysis Of Alain Lockes The New Negro1646 Words   |  7 Pagesintellectual Alain Locke published the short essay The New Negro. In this essay, Locke describes the contemporary conditions of black Americans, and discusses the trajectory and potential of black culture to affect global change in its historical moment (Locke 47). Locke wrote this essay in the midst of the Harlem Renaissance, a period in which black artists and intellectuals sought to reconceptualize black lives apart from the stereotypes and racist portrayals of prior decades (Hutchinson). The New NegroRead MoreThe Harlem Ren aissance s Influence And Impact1262 Words   |  6 PagesThe Harlem Renaissance s Influence and Impact The Harlem Renaissance era is known for its rich culture and being the source for many African American breakthrough artists such as Alain Locke,W.E.B DuBois, and Ethel Waters. . Whether it be the diversity of music, drama, art, or literature, it’s surely present during that period of time and still is today. Many questions about this time period include â€Å"How was Harlem life like back then?† â€Å"What is the Harlem Renaissance?†, and â€Å"How did it

Improve And Test The Usability Of Goodreads - Linkedin And Bandcamp

Question: Discuss about the Process To Improve And Test The Usability Of Goodreads, Linkedin And Bandcamp. Answer: Introduction The purpose of the study is to gather user information and experience regarding three websites, Goodreads, Linkedin and Bandcamp and in the process to improve and test the usability of these three websites. After a brief interview process, answers will be thoroughly assessed as to infer how the overall performance of the website can be enhanced. With the tool called usability engineering. Following the interviewing session a designer can evaluated and improve the website in an efficient manner by comprehending the user. The project will be responsible for focusing on how well the websites have their influences on the user and how it can be made more popular amongst the users. List of Interview Questions: bandcamp.com- 1) How does the user normally discover and listen to music? 2) Under which circumstances do they choose to purchase music? 3) Does the user engage with the musicians they listen to in any way? Goodreads.com How many books does the user typically read? What formats do they use for reading? How do they discover or choose new books to read? How do they engage with other people regarding books? Linkedin.com Has the user looked for jobs before? If so, how? If not, how would they look for a job? What information does the user want to know to decide on the relevance of a job? What support does the user want in applying for a job? Brief description of the usability test performed Usability testing emphasizes on the flaws and drawbacks of websites in order to improve its functioning and operations. There were a number of tasks stated previously in order to attain information from the users regarding the stated websites. Bandcamp is a website about singers and artists, striving to integrate music into everyday life and culture. The tasks associated with Bandcamp are searching for the track LOL in order to find out in-depth information about the task, for instance the copyright information. The above stated task will be significant to analyse users interaction with the website, the scenario will help the users to engage themselves with the website in a flawless manner. The task for Goodreads and Linkedin will assess the same from the users. The most effective and information seeking tasks are those assigned to Goodreads as it requires the user to write a review on one of the books they have read from Goodreads and suggest how helpful the site will be to the auth ors. The task gives the user a context or scenario for understanding and consequently improves the interaction level of the user with the website. The task poses an open-ended situation for the user to explore and write about the website. The next most information-seeking task is of Linkedin as the amount of time needed to asses and proceed with the task is significantly minimum. The task will able to find out a number of issues like whether the cost of online job posting is posing as a major hindrance to the users of Linkedin. It also includes a group interaction process whereby the test will bring to the forefront the users experience, issues since online job posting has become the backbone of attaining talented employees for the recruiters and vice-versa. The task will ensure to what degree the website is pleasant and advantageous to use. It will focus on each and every user and their unique preferences and expectations regarding Linkedin. Summary of the information Questions User A on B User B on C User C on User A Q1. Q1. User A has reported to read 5 books each month. Q1. In case of Bandcamp.com, we got to know that in todays generation, users or music lovers generally access to their favorite music from online portals because of the versatility of music available there Q1. Yes, they have looked for jobs before. With Linkedin we came to know that users have used online interface to look for jobs befitting their education and experience. They find online job portal very informative in a well- listed manner. Q2. Q2. In case of Goodreads, we came to know the advantage of online book reading and its popularity amongst readers of wide age range and occupation. Q2. Purchase of music usually is very rare, especially when it came to gifting near ones Q2. From online portals they can access a number of information like details of company, employee ratings, remuneration, and availability of similar jobs in different cities and the pre-requisites of the job position before proceeding with applications. The user want the support of a filtered job search from online portals so that they can look through and apply to jobs from their domain of expertise Q3. Q3. Users discovers new books in Goodreads based on readers rating and reviews, suggestions from Goodreads based on users most read authors and genres and obtaining suggestions from friends who are similar users of Goodreads. The recommendation engine generates a list of books that are hardly heard of with fascinating descriptions to intrigue the readers Q3. The users engage with the musicians with the help of tags and this further creates an opportunity for the fans to discover new artists and music belonging from that genre. Q3. The availability of relevant jobs in their own city or other cities where they would prefer to move into could also be useful to the users. Q4. Q4. The readers engage amongst themselves with Goodreads community interaction and book recommendation options. Task User A on B (GOODREADS) User B on C (BANDCAMP) User C on User A (LINKEDIN) Where does the user look for the commands or information? Goodreads Bandcamp.com Linkedin.com What errors does the user make, if any, when attempting to complete the tasks? The user committed wrong rhetorical analysis of the book. Confusing the book with another book was also frequent. The uploaded image file was corrupted. Repeated errors were made in comprehending certain technical aspects of UX designer job. Mistakes in calculating and analyzing job costs. How long does the user take to complete the tasks, and any subtasks? 1 hour 25 minutes 30 minutes What positive or negative emotions does the user express while completing the tasks? Negative-Biased opinions. Positive- amazement to come across a number of books. Negative- Nothing notable Positive- Excitement to explore more artists and genres. Negative- Lack of participation while working as a team. Positive- Eager to What notable comments are made by the user while thinking aloud? The easy navigation and availability of books sped up the process of completing the task. In-depth artist information prompted a quick emotional attachment with the songs. There is a stark variety of people with vast number of job preferences accessing Linkedin. Additional Task Goodreads Bandcamp Linkedin 1. Create a community and discuss book genre, interesting points and social contexts approached, to be viewed by public. Identify your favorite genre and collect more information on the singers of that genre. Mass messaging to survey individual users experience and expectations after using Linkedin. Dimension of Usability Effective: the websites are useful to the users because of the convenient and easy user-friendly interface. With Bandcamp, users effectively came across music and songs from the favorite genres or genres closed to being their favorite. Goodreads and Linkedin were also effective in showcasing or making the users aware of products of their liking. The books and types of jobs that Linkedin produced in front of the users were both relatable and useful for them. Efficient: Efficiency depends on the amount of time the websites are taking along with the accuracy of results that they are being able to produce. The users found it easy to navigate through the websites and the results were structured in an organized manner with relevant information grouped together for users. The same is especially true with Goodreads where the users came across interesting books from different genres without hassles. Engaging: some users found Linkedin and its contents structured in a haphazard manner. Many users found it rather creative and presented in a curiously professional way. The number of parameters for job search also perplexed some of its users. With Bandcamp and Goodreads were vary systematic with easy book recommendation options and genre enumerated in alphabetical manner. The same is applicable for Bandcamp with a clear view of interviews in a neat e professional manner. Error Tolerant: the three websites are well-reputed amongst users for providing error free content and important details to be accessed by users. Easy to Learn: users have been using these three websites because of their informative manner. Linkedin especially provides with an easy apply feature explaining in lucid language the operations and features. Goodreads and Bandcamp provides with colorful illustrations to make the products more appealing and relatable to the audience. Conclusion Linkedin is accessed by millions of people unrestricted by geographical boundaries with lesser number of problems like repeat your password and the like. However, many users have complained about the lack of relevancy in job searches and different pages use different button styles which tend to become a bit deviating and problematic. Gopdreads on the other hand is very illustrative following a simple page format. With Bandcamp, it uses bright color combination, creation of multiple number of lucidly written blogs and coverage to influence album sales accelerating its growth and profit level. According to data, users had greater accessibility to music and artists owing to Bandcamps strategic usage of tags and visual aid to work on the music tracks popularity. Limitations of the study and recommendations Communicational problems amongst the different users completing the tasks therefore delaying the process. Is not adequate enough for a thorough market research and opinions depend from person to person thereby making the process of preparing a statistical graph erroneous for websites like Bandcamp. Is not dependable for carrying out long-term plans or deducting definite conclusions like which one is the best-selling album as in the case of Bandcamp and therefore developing strategic marketing plans. The above method is only useful for designing short-term innovative ideas. Recommendations Making it less scenario-based and more data-oriented. Vague recommendations should be avoided by providing screenshots and thereby working on the illustration section to generate more audiences for this kind of study. Bandcamp can make use of image map to improve accessibility of users. Justification of recommendations and synchronize it with the business goals and technical constraints. For instance, in case of Bandcamp a community based research should be conducted in order to come up with more varieties of music. This would be an effective way for Bandcamp for promoting music and consequently website. Reflection: The process helps a business to identify and know in-depth about the choices and psychological pattern of different customers and align the services and products accordingly. The cost-effectiveness of the test further makes it wildly desirable and a comprehensive way to assess the importance and significance of e-commerce and design ways to improve the same. The results will encourage the designers of websites to come up with better options to improve their service and can keep the usability report away from public gaze. The concept is to create a realistic scenario to assess the usability of a product, in this case, the three different websites goodreads, Bancamp and Linkedin. It would be of considerable help to Bandcamp for branding and improving the quality of content, music, that the website has. It ensures that quality and versatility is consistently met.