Ethical Dilemma Executive Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Ethical Dilemma Executive Summary - Essay Example In some instances, it can be observed that some people are not certain whether some issues they encounter in their operations should be considered as right or wrong. A good example of an ethical dilemma is a situation when people viewing the same thing would regard it as wrong while others would see nothing wrong. As such, this executive summary seeks to outline the steps I can take in dealing with an issue involving an officer within the department who is accepting inappropriate gifts from members of the community and business which is in violation of the ethical code of conduct. 1. What measures would you take? As a new officer I will be afraid of spoiling the relationship but on the other hand I would become part of the problem if I do not report the case. I would first try to make sure that I document all the events and list parties involved as well as the gifts exchanged. Being a new officer, I would first approach the involved officer with my concerns reminding him of the code of ethics that we would have sworn to uphold. Based on my conversation with him, I would contact my training officer for some general advice without raising any alarm if I am not satisfied with the response I get from him. Within the semi-para military operation, I would then proceed through the chain of command starting with the supervisor explaining what I would have observed. I would not have blown the case out of proportion since I would have tried my best to engage this officer in a professional manner. If the supervisor does not respond in a positive manner, I would proceed to contact either the Police Union, Internal Affairs and I would make sure that the document is copied to the employee relations or City Manager. 2. What are the professional implications? This practice is likely to reduce public confidence in the police force as they will view them as corrupt. If the public loses trust in the police force, then it may be difficult for them to cooperate with the police offi cers which impacts negatively on crime prevention and control. Such conduct promotes criminal activities which can make the duty of the police difficult to do. Corruption also destroys effective police leadership which can affect issues related to inculcating discipline among the members of the police force. If the leaders fail to control their subordinates, then the members of the public will automatically lose faith in the police force as whole. This apparently tarnishes the image of the police force as a whole. Such a scenario can have negative implications on the performance of the police since their morale will be down. Police officers should always lead by example so as to gain the credibility and trust of the members of the public they are supposed to serve. 3. What are the liability issues involved with not reporting the officer? Failure to report this police officer to the commander can lead to a cancer growing among other members who may end up viewing this conduct as mora lly good. If a person gets away with something bad, he will tend to see the conduct as acceptable which can compromise the credibility of the police force in the long run. Other workmates can also copy this bad behaviour which can severely affect the legitimacy of the police force which is supposed to protect the people without fear or favour. Corrupt officers are not effective in their operations and this can compromise the safety of the community at large. It may also be very difficult for the police to deal with issues related to criminal activities as there will be likely chances the members of the community will be uncooperative. 4. What supervisory issues does this situation present to management and leadership? This particular situation makes it imperative for the management and

Identity-Feminist Paper Term Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Identity-Feminist - Term Paper Example Usually, the fear of unknown if women replaced men in the works they did, somehow brings about a difference between genders. Women empowerment is a great weapon from women to become independent from the oppression they have been from men (Kimmel, Amy & Kaler 2). With the mushrooming up of many gender activists and governments support, women became to get empowered and achieved their dreams. In a society that is gender based, fighting for the rights of women to be equal to that of men is really a hard task, but something still has be done. Therefore, any person who supports the rights of women in the society is usually a feminist. In this present generation, with much confusion originating from the aspect gender, still there is need for the minority and the oppressed gender to be given their rightful place in the society. It is high time women came up and proved themselves, but in order to reach there, much fighting for their rights have to be done. Recent researches have shown that t here exist little difference between man and woman and hence there is no need for gender inequality to exist. Today, gender being a very sensitive issue due to occurrence of gender based violence in most countries; careful attention has to be accorded to the empowerment of women (Kimmel, Amy & Kaler, 2). Gender on the other hand is defined as the relations between women and men, and can be both material and perpetual. In the past, people used to confuse gender as a tern that used to refer to women and men based on their sexual characteristics, but Holler and Miller try to give it another perspective from which to view gender. Emphasis is usually made on gender not to be determined biologically due to sexual characteristics of women and men like in the old times, but nowadays constructed from the social perspective. Society being the place where gender lays means it plays a key role in influencing gender. These two authors tried very much to show the relationship between gender and t he society and how the two are linked too. Gender is regarded as a vital organizing principle of societies and sometimes governs the process of reproduction and production, distribution and also consumption. Despite this definition, most people associate gender with women. This is not the case since gender addresses issues dealing with women, relationships between women and men, their roles, control and access of resources, labour division, needs and interests. Living in such times where the true meaning is not understood by many, much efforts will be needed in case of fighting for women rights. In a country constantly being struck by news concerning gender based violence, denotes the need to be more careful and sensitive while dealing with issues regarding women empowerment (Holler & Kimmel 24). From an analytical angle, Holler and Kimmel tried to not to be biased while speaking about gender like many people do. By introducing the feminist theory in their writing, proved to be femi nists. These authors are more concerned about changing the past notion in which gender was viewed and try to replace it with their current concept. It seems that these two authors were after changing people’s minds on how they handle the aspect of gender in the society plus add more concerning gender inequality (Kimmel, Amy & Kaler 20). There has always been an issue of gender inequality in many societies over the past decades. Gender inequality denotes the disparity between people because of gender. Gender systems are

Role of Disk Formatting in IT Security

Role of Disk Formatting in IT Security Jay Kybert Security is becoming increasingly more important as the internet allows for data to be shared and received instantly, this is why lots of operating systems have pre-installed security software. A utility program, like Windows Defender, provides a good level of security against potential threats from the network. Windows Defender acts as a barrier between the computer and the network its connected to. These types of security programs have user customization which allows people to allow or block access to/from the network. This is important for many people who use the internet frequently as there may be lots of viruses which the defender can block. Although, sometimes security programs can block access to data that isnt a threat but the user can manually give access. Security utility programs are needed by everyone to protect their computer from harm via networks. An image of Windows Defender can be seen below. Anti-Virus software is another security program similar to defenders that stops viruses accessing the computer. They work by scanning a database with all known signatures of viruses, these signatures are essentially their names found within their source code. The reason why anti-virus programs are updated often is because new viruses are found every day so anti-virus software needs to add this into the database so the viruses can be blocked. Polymorphic viruses can essentially hide in files and alter their code to avoid detection. Once they have passed through anti-virus detections, they can infect the computer. Heuristic settings are designed to find hidden viruses by searching the entirety of the computer for any strange data. Even though some viruses may be harmless and can simply be deleted without anything bad happening, there are lots of dangerous viruses which can cost millions to patch. One famous type of virus known as Cryptolocker is a type of ransomware. This uncommon virus can encrypt all files on the computer it infects. The user is prompted to send money to the hackers in return for a decrypting key. There are a variety of Clean-up tools either available for download or pre-installed with a computer. One of the most important clean-up tools is Disk Defragmentation. When files are deleted from a hard disk, they cant simply disappear, they are still technically there, saved onto the disk. However, the hard disk marks the location as free meaning, if other files are within the size of the deleted item, they will be written over it. However, constant installing/deleting can cause gaps on the platter; this leads to longer load times than necessary. Disk defragmenting rearranges the location of files so that there arent any spaces in-between. Because solid state drives dont rely on magnetism, they are affected from defragmentation differently. Although it does work and data can be moved around, it severely reduces the lifespan of the drive as they only have a few thousand read/write cycles. The image below shows the before and after of a disk that ran a disk defragmentation utility pro gram. The blue lines are installed data and the red lines are defragmented data. Â   Disk formatting is a technique used to completely wipe and initialise a disk, it works with both magnetic disks and solid-state disks. All installed data will be erased in the process which means it is only typically done when using the disk for another purpose or installing a new operating system. Also, disk formatting is used when adding additional storage to a computer system as all drives should be clear. While clearing the drive, the disk formatting program checks for any errors that have occurred on the drive, usually being bad sectors. The program can attempt to fix the problems but it isnt certain it will work. Disk formatting is made up for low level formatting, high level formatting and partitioning. The low level formatting focuses on the physical drive, making sure the structure of the drive is correct and ready for storage. The high level formatting part focuses on the file system management, the software that allows users to interact and manage data on the hard drive. F inally, the partitioning splits the drive into logical sections (partitions) that allow data to be stored on. The image below displays the disk management utility program which displays all drives and their partitions. The program can be opened by typing diskmgmt.msc into the run box (Windows Key + R). Furthermore, the computer can be scheduled to automatically carry out any of the functions above, whether formatting disks, defragging disks or a security scan. The schedule can be adjusted to have them carried out outside of working hours or how frequently they do them. However, if something was to go wrong, it could affect the entire system. This is where restore points can be useful. A restore point can be created which holds all current system settings at the time it is created. Therefore, if a problem was to occur, the user can simply reload the reload to the restore point. Although this can help if there was a failure, it does restore the computer to the date the restore point was made meaning there may be a loss of data. Utility programs are intended to keep the computer running healthy, this is why using utility programs frequently can lead to a better performing computer. Security programs constantly (but indirectly) help the performance of a computer. Having them installed doesnt mean that a computer will suddenly run faster or play games at a higher framerate but their job is to prevent any threats accessing the computer. If the computer doesnt have any security programs and a virus manages to gain access, this can negatively affect the computer, slowing it down by mass replicating, stealing data (keylogging) etc. Therefore, installing security software prevents possible problems that can occur via networks, giving the computer better performance than if there was no firewall/defender. Using a clean-up utility tool such as disk defragmentation can improve the performance of the computer. Although, in order to see noticeable differences, the user must have lots of data stored on the hard drive(s). After using disk defragmentation, all files are physically closer together on the platter. This means that the actuator and the read/write head have to travel less distance and check less sectors in order to find the data. This leads to programs loading up faster as they are closer together on the hard drive. This primarily affects software/programs that contain lots of data because their large file size typically results in a long loading time. Having a file like this closer to all of data on the drive means that the load times will be significantly reduced, improving the performance of the computer. Disk formatting does improve the performance of a computer similarly to disk defragmentation. If the entire drive is wiped (except for the operating system) there may be a visible increase in performance, especially if the drives had little to no free space. Having more space on the drive improves performance because files can be accessed and read/written faster because the actuator doesnt have to travel to the far parts of the platter in order to find data. Therefore, formatting a drive allows for quick loading much like disk defragmentation. Unlike disk defragmentation, formatting programs can fix any physical problems with the drive like faulty sectors. Fixing these problems may result in a little boost in performance as the fixed sector may have a faster access time than one currently read/writing to. Partitioning a hard drive may increase performance as it allows a drive to be split up into separate drives with each one hosting different data. For instance, one partition could h ave the operating system installed while another partition has documents/music etc. This increases the overall efficiency of the drive as everything is grouped together which may result in a boost in performance. Sources: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/safety/pc-security/windows-defender.aspx http://threadwheel.com/disk-defragmenter/ http://www.disk-partition.com/windows-8/format-hard-drive-windows-8.html

Effective Teaching Essays -- Education

Introduction â€Å"Those that can, do. Those that can’t, teach†. This simple proverb from George Bernard Shaw’s â€Å"Man and Superman† is often quoted in modern times, denigrating the hard work of teachers from preparatory grades right through to the highest academic institutions. While it is true that almost anyone can teach in the true definition of the word, being an effective teacher is a much harder proposition. A truly effective teacher has a wide pedagogical skill set, along with the knowledge of when to apply it, an awareness of their students in terms of their needs and abilities and an understanding of the curriculum and its aims. This essay will review some of the critical prerequisites of an effective teacher. Student Foundations The foundation of effective teaching comes from having an understanding of the â€Å"Facets of a Student† (Whitton, Barker, Nosworthy, Sinclair, Nanlohy, 2010 p.108) as these external factors play a major role in how a student learns. When planning an effective lesson, the content cannot be considered in academic isolation. The interpretation and implementation of the curriculum must take into account the unique combination of the class: their age, gender, socio-economic climate, cultural/religious beliefs and ideals. The teacher must also consider the overall student body in regards to the number of students, their learning styles and their abilities. Lyons refers to this as the â€Å"Ecological Perspective... to remind us that when dealing with children, the individual with his/her immediate environment is also influenced by a broader more complex environment† (Lyons, 2011 p.41). Failure to recognise critical facets can lead to a student having a negative net result from a lesson. An example ... ...ons are used towards the end of each activity, to help relate the activity to the student's everyday experiences and for social constructivism and scaffolding. Conclusion As outlined in this essay, there are a variety of skill sets that help make a teacher more effective. Each skill on its own provides new value to each lesson, but it is when these skills combine into a lesson that a teacher truly becomes effective and stands above those that meet the more literal definitions of a teacher. Works Cited Colburn, A. (2000). Constructivism: Science educations "grand unifying theory". The Clearing House, 74(1), 9-12. http://search.proquest.com/docview/196881181?accountid=10382 Davies, P. (Producer) & Whitehouse, K. (Presenter). (2012). Knowledge & understanding of the world [Video File]. Retrieved from: http://www.schoolsworld.tv/node/2065?terms=644

Gardenia Bread Philippines

1. Francisco Alonso Liongson  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Outstanding Philippine playwright in Spanish and founding president of Circulo Escenico, Pampanga's Spanish theatrical group that became nationally renowned. 2. Aurelio Tolentino  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ one of the mystics of the  Katipunan, a compadre of  Andres Bonifacio, a nationalist writer in both Kapampangan and Tagalog. He coined the worddula  for drama and ironically became known in history as the Father of Tagalog Drama for his anti-US colonial masterpiece  Kahapon, Ngayon at Bukas.A theatre at the Cultural Center of the Philippines is named  Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino  in his honor. 3. Jose Abad Santos  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ First Kapampangan to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. After Pres. Manuel L. Quezon and Vice-President Sergio Osmena left Philippine soil for the safety in America, Justice Abad Santos was the highest ranking official of the Philippine government until his execution on May 2, 1942 by the Japanes e Imperial Army for his refusal to cooperate. 4.Sotero Baluyot- Provincial governor during the Commonwealth, he formed an organization known as â€Å"Cawal ning Capayan,† described as â€Å"the largest amd most powerful provincial organization† of its time (Sturtevant, Popular Uprisings in the Philippines: 1840-1949). Although it claimed to be a â€Å"conservative labor union,† it was, in fact, a strike-breaking group of â€Å"Fascist thugs,† as the communists called them. (Pol Kekai Manansala). 5. Rosalina Icban Castro  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Married to Jose Luna Castro, and while born in Rosales, Pangasinan, both her parents are from Pampanga and she speaks Kapampangan fluently.Obtained an   M. A. in English at Syracuse University , was a professor in English   at U. E. for several decades. During all her years as an educator, she was sought by researchers in Kapampangan literature for her intimate knowledge of Kapampangan writing. She is the author of â€Å"T he Literature of the Pampangos – an anthology and at the same time a political literary history. (ref. E. H. Lacson) (Ernie Turla) 6. Jose Luna Castro  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Born on March 4, l9l5 in Manila to Faustino Castro and Claudia Luna – both of Lubao, Pampanga.Finished High school at Pampanga High. Finished his M. A. in Journalism and political science at Syracuse University. He became president of the Asian Institute of Journalism and has held such high positions as press counselor of the Phil. Embassy in Peking, editor of the Manila Times (l959 – l972), editor-in-chief of the Times-Journal. He was a lecturer in   Journalism at U. P. and an Eisenhower Fellow in l970. He participated in international meetings in the U. S. , Korea,   Thailand, Singapore and Japan.He authored â€Å"Journalism Handbook†. (ref. E. H. Lacson) (Ernie Turla). 7. Virgilio David  of Bacolor, PMA graduate, retired Philippine Army general and former Anti-Drug chief during the pres idency of Cory Aquino, business executive and government agency director (by Alejandro S. Camiling). 8. Lito Lapid  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ a famous star turned politician. He became governor of Pampanga and later became a member of the Philippine senate. 9. Lorna Tolentino  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ is an actress, host, executive producer and wife of fellow Kapampangan actor  Rudy Fernandez.She was born in Concepcion, Tarlac and was raised in Manila. 10. Lea Salonga  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ is a Tony Award-winning singer and actress who is best known for her portrayal of Kim in the musical Miss Saigon. She spent the first six years of her childhood in Angeles City before moving to Manila. 11. Melanie Marquez  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ is a popular beauty queen-turned-actress who hails from Mabalacat. She was Miss International 1979 and was voted as the Most Beautiful Miss International in 2000. She's also a sister of another local actor,  Joey Marquez. 12.Efren â€Å"Bata† Reyes  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ is referred to as â€Å"The Magici an† and a very popular Filipino billiards player who hails from Angeles City. He is considered to be one of history's greatest practitioners of billiards. 13. Artemio Panganiban  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ 21st Supreme Court Chief Justice of the Philippines. His ancestors originated from Pampanga and then later generations migrated to Manila. 14. Herminia â€Å"Minang† Dizon. Girlfriend of Ray Hunt (author of Behind Japanese Lines), who wrote: â€Å"Minang was a schoolteacher before the war and a most remarkable individual.The only word to describe her would be ‘fierce. ‘ She had taken up with Maj. Claude Thorpe before the fall of Bataan †¦ and she had been captured with Thorpe. .. some of her captors were quite taken with her. One high ranking Japanese officer even offered to take her with him when his countrymen conquered Australia †¦ One day Minang got a chance to escape and did so, but her life was precarious in the extreme because she was pursued not only by the Japanese but by the communist guerrillas (Huks), who hated her, and by her uncle who wanted her killed †¦ tough and resourceful woman. She was not especially pretty, though she did have flashing eyes, but she was intelligent, well organized, and articulate. †¦ I soon became smitten with her and she with me. †¦ Though she was just a slip of a girl who weighed no more than 90 pounds and could stand under my outstretched arm, no lion ever had a stouter heart. Near the end of the war †¦ she was commissioned a lieutenant in recognition of her wartime services. † [source: â€Å"Behind Japanese Lines† by Ray C. Hunt and Bernard Norling, 1986, 333 pages] (by Pol Kekai Manansala) 5. Armando Q. Madamba  of San Fernando, PMA graduate, Philippine Navy commodore, a staunch advocate of the modernization of the Philippine Navy, senior staff member, Armed Forces of the Philippines Joint Chiefs of Staff and served as military attache in the Middle East (by Ale jandro S. Camiling). 16. Marco G. Palo. A resident of Angeles City, was arrested in Feb. 1982 with other trade union organizers; severely tortured and was hospitalized as a result of this. Detained at the Bicutan Rehabilitation Center for two years and charged with conspiracy to commit subversion.Re-arrested in 1988 with alleged leaders of the CPP-NPA. and detained at the Camp Crame PC stockade. Charged with rebellion and released after two years (Dave Nepomuceno). 17. Senator Gil Puyat. Son of the pioneer Pampangan industrialist, Don Gonzalo Puyat. Graduated in l929 in Business Administration (cum laude) from U. P. where he became a dean in its department of economics. First elected senator in l955, he was consistently named â€Å"One of the Five Most Outstanding Senators† every year. He became the President of the Senate in l967.Very popular and well-known, and a notable economist Senator Puyat became Majority Floor Leader in the Senate. He hails from Guagua — he lov ed the people of Guagua such that he was instrumental in constructing several public works such as the bridges leading to Barrio Santa Filomena and the plaza in front of the town church . Buendia   Ave. in Makati is now renamed after him. (Andro Camiilng) (E. H. Lacson) (Ernie   Turla) 18. Rosa Danon Rosal  . More popularly known by her screen name of Rosa Rosal, born in Manila 16 October 1931 to Julio Danon and Gloria Lansang (from which town of Pampanga? , lived in garage for 16 years, sold sweepstakes tickets starting at six years old, studied at Antonio Regidor Elementary School. secondary schooling at Arellano High School. Worked at National Coconut Corporation as weaver, moved to soap factory where she pounded and shaped soap cakes under the sun, promoted to wrapping department, learned typing on old typewriter and worked as secretary. â€Å"Discovered† while watching shooting of a film and starred in film â€Å"Kamagong† (I remember this film–weren' t parts of it shot at the Don Pepe Henson house in Angeles.I seem to remember being aware of the shooting when I was a little girl. ). Finished secondary schooling between movies. Won best actress for Sonny Boy (1956), won highest award in Southeast Asian film festival in HK in 1956 for Anak Dalita, leading to presidential award from Magsaysay. Refused to start in bomba films and instead devoted energies to social work and rearing of daughter (didn't she become famous too? ). Gave up weekly TV show for lesser paying daily show called Damayan to help socially disadvantaged. Active in innumerable socio-civic areas ranging from promotional activities for Red Cross to relief work.Recipient of countless awards and citations from movie, civic, and religious organizations for humanitarian work, including the Outstanding Pampanguena Award in 1979. When asked why she's so dedicated to the poor, she replied: â€Å"I have been poor and I know how it feels to be pushed around. † (Pat Sut ter) 19. Lilia Garcia â€Å"Baby† Pineda  Ã¢â‚¬â€ Lubao town mayor who was elected president of the Pampanga Mayors League and more recently, as vice president for Luzon in the League of Municipalities, the umbrella organization of 1,540 towns in the Philippines.She does a great deal of humanitarian work, including helping in the resettlement of people in lahar-devasted areas. A well-known philantropist, she financially helps the poor in Pampanga especially families who cannot afford to send their children to college. Way back in the 60's, she was among the outstanding students in this author's class. (Ernie Turla) 20. Sixto V. Torres, Sr. of Apalit, former regional director and deputy commisioner of the Land Transportation Commision of the Philippines and founder of the Gonzales Memorial College (by Alejandro S. Camiling).

Comparatve Essay on the Fat Black Womans Poems, Sula and Wide Sargasso Sea Essay

â€Å"These writers explore both the social roles that confine them and the bodies that represent the confinement†. In light of this quotation, compare how the writers explore gender. ‘Wide Sargasso Sea’, by Jean Rhys, and ‘Sula’ by Toni Morrison are both novels that respond to the issues of women that are confined to their social roles. Grace Nichols’ book, ‘The Fat Black Woman’s Poems’, supports and also contrasts the views of both Rhys and Morrison. All three texts question gender roles and oppression in society. While Nichols is very outspoken and doesn’t let her gender confine her, the main character in Wide Sargasso Sea, Antoinette, is restricted by social and historical roles in her society. Characters like Sula are a threat to the rigid stereotype of the serving woman, and Morrison contrasts the role of Sula with Nel, a girl who embraces the conventional belief of society that a woman should marry and settle down and serve her family. All three texts explore gender by emphasising the importance of a woman’s voice. Nichols uses her voice to focus on her identity, and to portray her confidence. In her poem ‘Love Act’, she says â€Å"Her sorcery cut them, like a whip, she hide her triumph, and slowly stir the poison in†. This shows that Nichols knows that women aren’t weak, and have their own kind of power and intelligence, and she challenges the oppressive men that surround her. Her use of simple English and Creole reinforce her Creole identity. For example, in the poem Skin-Teeth, she says ‘Massa’ (Master) and in The Fat Black Woman Goes Shopping, she says ‘de weather so cold’. Her use of colloquial language shows us that even though she lives in the Western world, she still speaks as they do in her homeland, and she will not change the way she speaks to conform to society’s ways. The title ‘Love act’ acts as an ironic euphemism for the degradation derived from forced sex with the planter, but one critic claimed that the rest of the poem shows that â€Å"this situation allows the slave to enter the Big House as the white planter’s mistress and then use the power of her African magic against the white family†. 1] The confident tone in her voice leads us to believe that despite being a slave, stuck in her role, she is battling against the social figures that confine her. Much like Nichols, Rhys also emphasises the importance of a woman’s voice. She gives Antoinette a voice in her novel, even though Antoinette has a mental problem. Her pathological suffering means that her mental stability can be questioned, and Rhys gives her a voice in order for us to understand Antoinette’s complex thoughts and emotions. For example, Antoinette tells Rochester, â€Å" I hate [the place] now like I hate you, and before I die I will show you how much I hate you. Rhys allows us to understand, through this quote, that Antoinette once loved her home. Interestingly, Antoinette and Rochester never express their love to each other, which shows Antoinette is more ready to express her love for a place than for a person. However, Rhys giving Antoinette a voice does not change the way women are treated in the reality of the novel. Antoinette is still personified as an entrapped wife. She is trapped in patriarchal social structures of exploitation; her husband takes her to England, where she is locked away in the garret room of her husband’s house, under the watch of a servant. This truly portrayed Antoinette’s vulnerability and confinement as Rochester’s wife, and this influences how Rhys portrays women to the readers who are familiar with the restraints on women. Nichols and Rhys use the first person narrative to reveal the character’s thoughts and to give the reader an insight into the psychological and physical problems the characters encounter. For instance, in WSS, Antoinette’s husband Rochester says, â€Å"I was tired of these people. I disliked their laughter and their tears, their flattery and envy, conceit and deceit. And I hated the place†(P141). Because Rhys has used first person, it discloses Rochester’s most personal thoughts, and he has become a more complex and psychologically interesting character. He suffers a certain paranoia around Antoinette and her ‘family’, and this paranoia can only be truly revealed using his thoughts. Rochester, as a white male, does not connect with his surroundings, he sees it as alien, and to overcome this infamiliarity, he asserts his power and regains control over his wife. For Antoinette, her first person narrative account of her story is a key way of the reader being able to understand her pains as a lonely Creole woman. Both Wide Sargasso Sea and The FBW’s poems give a strong voice to otherwise marginalized women and transforms them both from original tragic demise into a kind of triumphant heroism. Nichols uses humour as the main deconstructive strategy to be an efficient tool for subverting the myths that have oppressed black women. The woman’s body acquires relevance, as the poems focus on a black immigrant woman within a context of white supremacy. Nichols creates persona who she uses to represent the black female body and she constitutes a challenge to black women’s objectification in the Western (British) society, in which she is exiled. The writer occasionally speaks in the first person, has no name, so the third-person poetic voice refers to her as ‘the fat black woman’. The fat black woman refuses to be a victim and, therefore, rejects all the traps laid by racist and sexist society by means of stereotypes that aim at constricting her into limiting roles. It is her that dictates in her poem ‘Holding My Beads’: â€Å"The power to be what I am†¦ a woman†¦ charting my own futures†¦ a woman†¦ holding my beads in my hand. : This particular quote allows us to understand that she is proud to be a woman, and she feels a certain type of strength because of her identity. Her ‘beads’ symbolise that she believes she herself has power over her future. Nichols’ Black woman uses her body, her voice and her song to maintain her sense of selfhood, to support others and to subvert the structures that oppress her. [2] She refuses to accept the stereotype of the long-suffering black woman. She shows that she is strong and full of fight in her poem The Fat Black woman’s Motto On Her Bedroom Door. She says â€Å"It’s better to die in the flesh of hope, than to live in the slimness of despair†. This tells us that she has hope and is not going to live in despair, in the suffering stereotype she is given. Much like the Fat Black Woman, Sula also rejects the stereotype, and leaves The Bottom to explore, and in doing so, she shows her community that she is not going to suffer like every other black woman. Morison has said that she wanted to help create a canon of black work, and therefore portrays Sula as more than just a wife or worker. Morrison’s work highlights the timeless and universal themes that exist within this specific struggle of gender confinement, and Sula’s character is a rebel this stereotype, and she leaves her oppressed community to explore the world. When she returns from her ten year absence, she is â€Å"accompanied by a plague of robins†. The plague of robins symbolizes the evil that she brought with her, and how it would affect those who lived in The Bottom. The attire she returns in shows the reader that Sula has totally rebelled the stereotype of â€Å"the poor black girl†, and she was â€Å"dressed in a manner that was close to a movie star as anyone would ever see†. She is dressed in a Western style, perhaps American, and her attire alone portrays her attitude that she has no longer allowed society to confine her to the role of a reserved woman, she is now more westernized. Morrison explores the mythic power of femininity in a poor, and isolated rural black community, where women rule as mothers, warriors, witches and storytellers†¦ one of the most compelling writers at work today. [3] It has been argued that women in the community act as protectors of the community, and are stuck in the domestic role. Sula’s grandmother Eva Peace is a perfect example of this. Although she was abandoned by her husband, she kept her family away from starvation and became a matriarch in her busy household. She cares for everyone who stays in her house, and as a mother, she helps her own son to die, in order for him to be at peace. This shows the ultimate sacrifice and reassures the reader that Eva is exactly what a woman was like in post-colonial times – a mother, housewife and helper. Rhys starts the novel with Antoinette and her family in isolation from the rest of society; they are ex-slave owners and after the Emancipation Act of Slaves in 1833 and the death of Antoinette’s father Mr Cosway, the family are left to fend for themselves. Kenneth Ramchard described the role of the Creole in the novel as a ‘fictional statement’, that cannot ignore ‘areas of social and historical information’. [4] This quote shows that Antoinette’s portrayal is being restricted by the social norms of society, as she is a Creole female. Antoinette’s mother spends little time with her, so she is looked after by the servant Christophine. Antoinette’s social role of a daughter of ex-slave owners force her to be alone throughout much of her life, and she learns to enjoy her own company. Christophine acts as a surrogate mother to Antoinette, as her own mother is confined to herself. Antoinette’s earliest memories of her mother shows signs of madness and melancholy, and throughout book she is abandoned after the fire and humiliated by the couple who look after her. This shows that Anotinette’s mother is never really a proper mother figure to her, as she is disregarded so easily by Mr Mason. It is Christophine’s voice that opens the novel, as she explains Antoinette and her family’s exclusion from Spanish Town society. Although Christophine is a woman, she still is a figure of authority, which would have been unusual in those times, as men were the primary sources of authority. Christophine’s narrative glides from French Patois, to a Jamaican dialect, back into English, and her command of language corresponds to her powerful role in the novel. In â€Å"Three Women’s Texts†[5] Spivak identified that the novel provides us with Christophine’s perspective as an ‘Other’ while at the same time being careful to not â€Å"contain† her in the novel†. This tells us that Christophine is a strong character, who should be allowed to freely speak her mind, and not be ‘contained’. Western writings about the Orient depict it as an irrational, weak, feminised ‘Other’, contrasted with the rational, strong, masculine West. 6] Said claimed that there was a need to create a difference between the East and the West, but in WSS Christophine’s authority rejects the usual stereotype of women being weak and reserved. Therefore, Said’s claim could be argued with, as in Christophine’s case, there is not much difference between the authority she has, and the authority Western women have. Christophine instructs Antoinette that â€Å"woman must have spunks to live in this wicked world. † and ultimately advises Antoinette to leave her increasingly cruel husband, citing her own independence as an example to emulate. This just ensures us of her strength, as she has gotten by her whole life without a male dominating her. The burning of Antoinette’s family home (by the freed black people) acts evokes sympathy in the reader, for the Creole family, and we realise how ill-fitted they are in the society they live in. All three texts are concerned with women’s sexuality and the body that represents social confinement. Sula, much like her mother, loves â€Å"maleness. † They both have short, frequent affairs with whichever men they take a liking too. Helen, Sula’s Mum, is resented by the wives of these men but no body hates her. However, Sula, who ends up stealing her best friend Nel’s husband, is resented by the whole town. The contrast in attitudes towards mother and daughter allow us to understand that while her mother was kind and generous, Sula does have an uncaring side to her. For example, when asked by Nel why she chose to sleep with Nel’s husband, Sula merely replies with â€Å"there was this space in front of me, behind me, in my head†¦ and Jude filled it up†¦ that’s all’. Sula does not feel any remorse in breaking up her best friend’s marriage, and even at her old, frail age she does not ask for forgiveness. This shows that Sula just used sex as a tool to occupy her loneliness, and probably did not respect herself a great deal. Nel, however, is more respectful of her body. Her grandmother was strict and religious and this had a positive effect on Nel’s values. Sula grew up around numerous, strange men and this probably made her view her behaviour as normal, just like she witnessed as a child. In Wide Sargasso Sea, Antoinette also links her happiness to sex. She submits to her husband sexually and begins to hunger for sex as much as he. Afterward, Antoinette seems more lost, crying when Rochester whispers, â€Å"You are safe. He feels no real tenderness for her, and this shows that once again, the woman is left suffering and stuck in a situation that she is unable to break free of. Also, Rochester has sex with Amelie (a servant who accompanies Antoinette and her husband), while Antoinette is next door. He does this to exert his power over Antoinette and to belittle her. Amelie, like Antoinette is lonely, and this sexual act with Rochester is the only way she feels wanted. Although she knows Rochester does not love her or even have feelings for her, she is content with the fact that she is wanted for single moment. She uses sex to fill the void of loneliness, much like Antoinette does. Unlike Rhys and Morrison, Nichols demonstrates her sexuality and confidence in her body. In her poem Invitation, she says â€Å"Come up and see me sometime.. † and she repeats this four times throughout the poem. Her use of repetition puts emphasis on her confidence and we realise that she is flirtatious, and uses her sexuality as a tool of power. There are also graphic and amusing descriptions of her breasts, thighs, front and bum, such as â€Å"My breast are huge exciting amnions of watermelon, your hands can’t cup†¦my thighs are twin seals, fat slick pups†. This shows us that she is happy and proud of her body, although some may not agree. In the poem Small Questions Ask by the Fat Black Woman, she refers to Eve committing a Sin in the Garden of Eden, and says â€Å"Will like Eve†¦ be tempted one again’. She is portraying herself as a sin, and a temptation to resist, which symbolises her confidence in her self, she knows men are lustful towards her. While Nichols focuses solely on portraying the character of a black woman, Sula also explores the male characters in the texts, and how social roles confine them. The typical male is regarded as the provider for the family, but Morrison takes this typical male figure, and demonstrates how they are dependant on woman and incapable of raising a family, and they have an insatiable hunger causing them to commit adultery. In all of the men that Sula, her mother and Eva sleep with, they are willing to cheat on their wives to fulfill their needs. There is usually a punishment for adultery, but the women use their own personal strength and respect for each other, and they let the men get away with adultery. While many will argue that forgiving their husbands is a sign of weakness, really it is the men that are weak for giving in to temptations. Female domination is also present with Sula and Jude (Nel’s husband), as he sleeps with her despite the fact that â€Å"she stirred a mind maybe, but not his body†. Contrary to the typical male provider role, men are incapable of raising a family in Sula. Eva was left alone to fend for her children, and Sula’s father died when she was a child, and Sula also failed to find a suitable male to start a family with. Men were unfaithful to their wives and they even left their family, in the case of Nel and her husband. Nel’s father, although married happily to his wife, was always working away at sea, leaving Helene to raise her daughter alone. Though they are physically strong, men need women in order to be effective, and they frequently fail to be a father figure. To conclude, all three texts explore gender, through the social roles that confine them and the bodies that represent the confinement. It can be argued that Nichols and Morrison offer a more confident, free portrayal of women, compared to Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea. The use of first person emphasises the turmoil faced by the characters in Wide Sargasso Sea and also The Fat Black Woman. Unlike Nichols, Morison and Rhys use narrative techniques to show how women are both emotionally and psychologically confines in the post-colonial world. Nichols offers the fat black woman freedom and happiness, while Rhys ends Antoinette’s story with her in captivity, foreshadowing Antoinette’s next actions. All three writers effectively present their characters battling the confinement that being a woman brings; Sula and Nichols remain rebels while Antoinette fails to break free of her confinement.