Analysis of the Allegory of the Cave Essay Example for Free

Analysis of the Allegory of the Cave Essay Plato’s â€Å"Allegory of the Cave† presents a visualization of people who are slaves that have been chained in front of a fire their whole lives. These people observe the shadows of different things shown on the cave wall that is in front of them. The shadows are the only â€Å"reality† the slaves know. This is because they have never seen anything else to compare them to. Plato argues that there is a critical flaw in how people mistake their limited perceptions as reality, as truth, and as what they believe to be what is good. The allegory reveals how the flaw affects our education, our spirituality, and our politics. The flaw that Plato speaks about is how people trust what they see and think it is real. In The Allegory of the Cave, the slaves in the caves know that the shadows, shown on the wall by the fire behind them, are real. If they were to talk to the shadows echoes would make the shadows appear to talk back. To the slaves, as Plato puts it, â€Å"the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images†¦. † The allegory also talks about how a slave is later brought out of the cave, in what Plato refers to as â€Å"the ascent of the soul into the intellectual world. † Once out of the cave, the slaves discover that what they thought was real is not. They learn to understand all of these new images as what is real and what is true. Since the slaves have been in the dark for all their lives, both literally and metaphorically, the light blinds them. Representing knowledge, the light is too brilliant for them to see and comprehend. The slaves must be re-educated. They have to learn that the reflections are truer than shadows and the objects truer than reflections. They must deal with a new reality that does not exist within the cave. Plato says that these people who are brought out of the cave must go back into the cave to educate the other slaves. But the only people who should be allowed back into the cave are the ones who are willing to go back. The people must teach the other slaves about the reality outside of the cave, and what is outside of the slaves’ reality. These are representing the philosophers in the allegory. The capacity to learn exists in the soul. Humans need to use their whole soul to learn, not just use their eyes. The allegory states that, â€Å"†¦the power and capacity of learning exists in the soul already; and that just as the eye was unable to turn from the darkness to light without the whole body, so too the instrument of knowledge can only y the movement of the whole soul be turned from the world of becoming into that of being†¦. † According to Plato, human beings’ misperception about â€Å"reality† also affects the spiritual growth of that person. When the slave makes the ascent out of the cave that they have been in their entire life and sees the sun, they will be reminded of God. Plato wrote about how the slaves may even mistake the sun for God because the slaves would have no real perception of what the sun or what God looks like. Having moved from darkness into light, the slaves come to the conclusion that this bright light must be God. Plato argues that one’s soul holds knowledge of what is true. When one learns, one simply remembers. People originate from Heaven where they knew the truth. In the Bible it even talks about how on the outside people are wasting away every day but on the inside they are being renewed every day. One is renewed day by day by remembering things that their soul knows, but that they have forgotten. Also, Plato discredits a government run by the people in the cave who are uneducated and yet still fight for power. He also argues that the people who have made the ascent from the cave must govern, for they know what is real and what is not real because they understand that the shadows are only dreams, or something that is unreal. Plato says it is difficult to go back down into the darkness after somebody has seen the light, but they must. They must educate the slaves about the world above, so the slaves understand that power is not the greater good. Even though it will be about ten times harder to readjust to the darkness after descending into the cave again they will see about ten times better, because now they know the shadows are not real. They will govern with knowledge of good and truth. I believe that the Allegory of the Cave simply states that we must question reality and we must not trust just what our eyes tell us. We must know more than just what the eyes see. The slave in the allegory that makes the ascent and eventually rejects the truth of the shadows comes to know a truer truth. But then they believe what their eyes show them that is on this world. They have forgotten that they must question reality, because how are they to know that this reality is realer than that of the caves’? Somebody may wonder what if we are the shadows in the cave. And who knows. It corresponds to having an imaginary friend when a person is younger. The imaginary friend is very real to whoever the befriended person is, but as the person gets older or makes the ascent to the world of knowledge, they will mostly likely reject their childhood imaginary friends. Everybody is faced with a different reality where they start to believe that what their eyes show them is the only truth. They forget to question things and don’t realize that maybe there is yet another ascent, out of this bigger â€Å"cave† of the light. It may be something that nobody will know about until they reach the point of ascent. Human beings’ knowledge of goodness, reality, and truth will forever be limited by their fear of new ideas and new perspectives. As long as people are afraid of questioning what they cannot see, they will be stuck, chained up as slaves who are trapped in the darkness of the unknown in their very own cave.

George Orwells Nineteen Eighty-Four 1984 :: Free Essays on 1984

In the world of 1984, Winston rebels against the party, but not only does he do it in a different ways but his displeasure with the society leads him on to rebel numerous times. First of all, Winston has committed a â€Å"thought crime†, a crime which is used to prevent the individual from thinking and the penalty for committing a thought crime was death (so he thought). Winston knew he was guilty for the crime but at the same time he assumes that he is not going to be detected or caught, at least in he beginning. One thing Winston did was keeping a diary. A diary was of the more serious thought crimes. In his diary, it is pointed out of his sexual frustrations, along with the displeasure of society as a whole. In his diary, he expresses that he longs for the pleasures of the past that were once allowed but no longer due to the power of the Party. However his frustration leads to other things that were also deemed illegal and would eventually lead to his final downfall. Winsto n later goes on and meets a woman named Julia. He knows what he is doing is definitely wrong and is a crime but his dissatisfaction with life and his sexual frustration lead him to the wrong conclusion. That he still thinks that he can get away with this and that the thought police will never catch him. This is where Winston unconsciously seals his fate of being caught but he feels the adventure is well worth the risk. Later in the relationship, they both are aware that the end to them is near. There were a couple of things that Winston owned that were deemed illegal but ironically the glass paperweight seemed to be the most important. First of all, the paperweight serves no purpose in the world that Winston lives in. Another thing about it was that it represented individuality to him because he thought of it as a world in which he and Julia lived in and nobody could touch it, even the Party. Finally, it reminded him of the past, the past in which there was a better world and a worl d in which the Party never wanted anybody to think about again. â€Å"Ignorance is Stregenth†, one of the terms coined along with â€Å"War is Peace† and â€Å"Freedom is Slavery†, is used by the Party as a way of brainwashing the people of Oceania.

Principles of Business Communication

Every customer is entitled to the best quality product and service.   We, at Stovall Home Products, realize this and constantly strive to uphold product excellence and innovation. It was therefore   with considerable concern that we recently learned about your unfortunate experience in connection with the   use of our flagship brand, White-n-Brite Liquid Bleach.As you may have read from reputable consumer product rating publications which have given the brand the thumbs-up, it is our common practice to carry out   rigorous testing, quality control measures, and regular updating of directions to guide consumer usage and care.We thank you for bringing the matter directly to our attention. After careful assessment by our Laundry Products Laboratory, we find that the item you had requested Stovall Home Products to refund was made of material not compatible with either dry or liquid bleaches. Moreover, we have publicly stated, and indicated in the label directions on White-n-Brite Liquid Bleach, that this product is not to be used as a local spot remover.Nonetheless, we understand the aggravation the incident may have caused you.   If you so wish, you can send your personal item, postage-free, to Stovall Home Products and we’ll see what we can do about it.Stovall Home Products definitely does not compromise its integrity, regardless of whether it concerns the flagship brand or new product innovations. As a token of goodwill, we are enclosing introductory single-use packets of White-n-Brite Bleach: Delicates suited for your lingerie and hosiery, as well as in-store coupons of our new Air Fare Home Air Freshener aromas, entitling the bearer to $1 off for every purchase of any three new aromas that include Sea Air, Autumn Spice, Fresh Pine and Spring Flowers.Allow us to do as much as we can for you, as our valued customer.   Let us know if you need further informational details, such as those contained in our free booklets on caring for delicate fabr ics, air freshener or tough stain tips, or any help we can offer on our new products.Yours sincerely,  Carol Smith  Applying the Principles of Business Communications  to Writing Negative MessagesUsing the principles of business communications gleaned from the readings, I made a conscious effort to avoid phrases that may possibly strike the reader, in this case the customer, as rude, hostile, uncaring, condescending or arrogant (Locker, 2000, p. 67).It struck me that when the customer wrote Stovall Home Products to refund her for her stained jacket, she has somehow already made up her mind that it is the product which is defective, and not her misuse or oversight to check both her garment care tags and the White-n-Brite Liquid Bleach label directions. The likelihood that the customer may be resistant to views not supporting hers counts as one obstacle to be overcome (Locker, 2000, p. 68).   I, therefore, used an opening line with an area of agreement or a common ground I obv iously share with the reader (Locker, 2000, p. 68).To make my writing sound like friendly face-to-face discussion, I used words such as we, you, and   our for readability, as well as contractions in cases when it will come out more naturally than two short separate words (Burne, 2006, para. 27-29).   I likewise took into consideration â€Å"the seven Cs of business letter writing† which are: clear, concise, correct, courteous, conversational, convincing and complete (Burne, 2006, para. 4).I avoided stating the negative message outright at the start of   the letter, and I agree with one of the main readings on conveying negative information that when the reader’s ego is on the line, â€Å"opening with the negative message would violate the reader’s expectation and damage rapport† (â€Å"Writing Negative Messages,† 2002, para. 4). I likewise agree that â€Å"the more the negative information concerns the reader as a person, the greater the nee d for psychological preparation† (â€Å"Writing Negative Messages,† 2002, para. 4).I therefore   built up the brand and the long-held tradition of product testing and updating of directions. Soon afterwards, I   incorporated a brief buffer (â€Å"Writing Negative Messages,† 2002, para. 7) leading to the finding that negates the customer’s claim and which forms the key subject or specific concern.   I was especially careful to avoid negative transitions like however, but, and even though just before conveying the company’s findings that show that the customer’s demand was off-tangent, because such transitional words signal a turn for the worse (â€Å"Writing Negative Messages,† 2002, para. 8).I also avoided blaming the customer, who is the reader of the letter, for instigating the problem even if all signs point to it (â€Å"Writing Negative Messages,† 2002, para. 9). Instead of â€Å"spotlighting† the bad news, I po sitioned it strategically, and since â€Å"explicit refusals may be unnecessary and at times cruel† (Guffey, 2000, p. 290), I opted to imply or indirectly refer to the negative reply without seeming unclear about the company’s decision, which is not to grant the refund to the customer because the product was not used according to the stated directions.â€Å"Implication is often an effective way of transmitting an unpleasant idea, that is, the idea is not expressed, yet the receiver understands† (â€Å"Writing About the Unpleasant,† n.d.) based on the facts and explanations presented.   In stating the legitimate reasons for turning down the customer’s request, I have implied that negative reply and I did not dwell too much on the created problem anymore, proceeding, instead, to further cushioning the impact on the customer and offering a workable alternative.By including the line â€Å"we understand the aggravation the incident may have caused yo u,† I wanted to show empathy, or placing oneself in the customer’s shoes to understand how upset she may be and to understand how natural her reaction was to write the company and request for a refund.   On the other hand, I also took note of the fact that there is a â€Å"fine but clear line between being sympathetic about the customer’s problem, on the one side, and implying or taking responsibility for it, on the other† (Erdman & Hildebrandt, 1998, p. 157).It is in this light that I suggested to the customer to send over to Stovall Home Products the stained piece of clothing, and I phrased it to sound non-committal.   I tried to be mindful or â€Å"careful not to take responsibility in circumstances where it’s not appropriate† (Erdman & Hildebrandt, 1998, p. 158). I realize that saying no or refusing a customer’s undue request serves my organization’s welfare and needs (Locker, 2000, p. 214), preventing the setting of   a precedent for company liability (Erdman & Hildebrandt, 1998, p. 158).   I also tried to show that while the offered course of action may not be perfect,   it is â€Å"the best solution currently available† (Locker, 2000, p. 68).At this point, my overriding objective, alongside cushioning the impact of the negative reply to the request, has now turned to educating the reader and reselling the product in question, where a problem spot was encountered, or for new product innovations of the company (â€Å"Writing Negative Messages,† 2002, para. 24).   Because I am also trying to change the customer’s brash judgment about the company’s flagship brand and attempting to correct this customer’s understanding of company policy, I deemed it best to let the reader â€Å"save face† by hinting that changed circumstances â€Å"call for new attitudes or action† (Locker, 2000, p. 68).I then closed on a positive note by offering a counterprop osal (â€Å"Writing About the Unpleasant,† n.d.) Maintaining goodwill is very important, especially in the light of the thrusts of a company like Stovall Home Products, which has relied for many decades on customers’ loyal support.At no part of the letter was an apology extended, because in so doing, it will serve, not just to trigger future company liability but highlight the company’s   â€Å"acknowledgment of the mistake or wrongdoing, acceptance of responsibility, expression of regret, and assurance that the offense will not be repeated†Ã‚   (Kellerman 2006). Except for accepting a measure of   responsibility in order to maintain positive relationship with the customer, and the expression of regret as a sign of empathy, none of these apply in connection with the Anne Thompson’s case.ReferencesErdman, K. & Hildebrandt, H. (1998). Stovall Home Products: Practicing prudence to avoidliability. Business Communication Quarterly, 61, 152-163.Guffe y, M. (2000). Business communication process & product. Ohio: South-Western CollegePublishing.Kellerman, B. (2006). When should a leader apologize and when not? Retrieved May 12, 2008,from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16579415Locker, K. (Ed.). (2000). Business and administrative communication. New York: McGraw-HillCompanies.Writing Negative Messages. (2002). Retrieved May 9, 2008, fromhttp://homepages.wmich.edu/~bowman/badnews.html

How does the mass media reinforce sterotypes - 1508 Words

Stereotyping is a mental activity that is neither natural or necessary; however, due to laziness, upbringing or coincidental experiences (Lester, 1996, p.1), the stereotyping of individuals results in harmful generalisations that ultimately deny an individuals unique contribution to humanity (Lester, 1996, p.1). When the mass media engage in stereotyping, misleading representations concerning members from diverse cultural groups are confirmed. In this essay, a broad range of texts will be used to examine the ways in which the mass media construct and reinforce social stereotypes around gender, ethnicity and age, as well as how the media shape ones imagination though direct images. It cannot be doubted that the media profoundly†¦show more content†¦444). In their literary pursuits, books have the capabilities to teach children what other children do in their culture and what is expected of them. In a study undertaken in America analysing preschool books, boys played a more significant role in the stories by a ratio of 11 to 1 (cited in Newman, 2000, p. 135). Together, boys were portrayed in adventurous roles or undertook activities that required independence and strength, whereas girls were likely to be confined to indoor activities and portrayed as passive and dependent (Newman, 2000, p.135). Similarly, the mass media construct and reinforce social stereotypes around ethnicity, particularly through their stereotypical images and portrayal of ethnic groups performing certain roles in society. Sociological approaches which attach particular importance to racism emphasise the limitations imposed on ethnic minorities by such hostility and discrimination (Haralambos and Holborn, 1995, p.688). The attention is not placed upon the ethnic minority itself, however on the wider society which is the minority group. Negative stereotypes of African Americans in particular have been deeply ingrained in Anglo American cultures since Africans were brought into the country in chains (Lester, 1996, p. 21). The stereotypes served an essential purpose - they justified Anglo enslavement of Africans.