Case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 9

Case study - Essay Example On the pricing side, it is necessary to know what the prices should be, and what the price customers are willing to pay is. The company should be in a position to offer value addition to products and services, in order to enhance sustainability, and sustain a strong and consistent customer base. Products need to be designed according to the requirements of the customers, and the materials should conform to quality and pricing standards. After the transformation of the raw materials into finished goods through the manufacturing processing, these are packed and shipped to the various customers. It is important that the company receive relevant feedbacks from the manufacturing, suppliers, logistics and most significantly from the customers. It is necessary to offer the most economical and competitive prices to the customers, by reducing costs and increasing margins to the optimum level and also ensuring high quality products through satiation of the demands of the customers. The demand and supply aspects of the company should be continually increased, so as to be able to offer enhanced supplies for catering to a large demand for the products and services offered to the customers. (Produce best product, lowest cost). The Manugistics views are that there should be an integrated approach to the supplier relationship management and the supply chain management by strengthening pricing and optimizing revenue generation. It is therefore to be ensured that increased levels of demand side and the supply side of marketing are aimed at; thereby the pricing and optimization aspects could be taken care of. However, it is necessary to have complete knowledge about the customers’ profiles, including segmentation of markets based on the ‘ability to pay’ concept. (Produce best product, lowest cost). The best product mix provided to product locations

Correlational Methods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Correlational Methods - Essay Example On the other hand, the recent performance evaluation of each subject provided by the deputy chiefs was used to measure job performance. The scores obtained from each of the variables were correlated with one another. It was found that among the personality factors emotional stability and liveliness are positively correlated with job performance. Moreover, the subjects were found to be generally satisfied with their job, which is correlated to the good performance manifested in the subjects’ evaluation. In another graduate research paper conducted by Nimalathasan (2010), the relationship of job satisfaction and work performance among the employees of fourteen branches of people’s bank in Jaffna peninsula. The sample size consisting o f sixty subjects was computed by getting thirty percent of the total population. Stratified random sampling was employed in selecting the participants; however, the specific steps on how it was done were not explained in the research. A ques tionnaire in the form of Likert scale covers factors that measure the two variables mentioned.

Famine in Third World States Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Famine in Third World States - Essay Example But the countries of Africa are still dying of hunger. Why is that The main myth is that there is insufficient amount of foodstuffs produced in the country. But the fact is that the planet produces enough food to provide every individual with 3,500 calories every day. The problem is that many people are too poor to buy food, though even the poorest countries possess sufficient agricultural lands, and even export their products. In 1974 an outstanding philosopher Robert Nozick has created his theory of 'entitlement', which was outlined in his work 'Anarchy, state, utopia'. The main point of the theory is that the rights of an individual are sacred, and alienation of the property must be voluntary. He has acknowledged the necessity of the 'minimal state' which would deprive individuals the right of violence, but at the same time it would protect them from tyranny. Nozick was sure that any attempt to regulate the process of the property transfers is doomed to fail. The state must not dictate any redistribution of wealth, which can be presented in tax system. Nozick has absolutely rejected any idea of a 'social state'. It has always been easy to make nature guilty in people suffering from famine. But it should be remembered that only the poorest layers of the society suffer from hunger, though the nature is the same for everyone. The roots of the problem lie in politics, which makes effectiveness the corner-stone, and not sympathy. People are deprived of the right to earn enough money, they are made starve, thus becoming ready to give away their labor force for the minimal payment. The growth of population is also considered a problem. But it is interesting that active growth of population has never been a problem to developing countries. Such problem appears only in those countries where ineffective political system deprives people equal access to education, medicine, workplaces and social guarantees. According to Nozick, all actions of individuals must be voluntary, and here we see an absolutely different situation: the politics of the starving countries is consciously directed at depriving people of all possible rights. In the countries of the third world land belongs to large owners, who often appear to be ineffective in terms of business. The world experience shows, that small farmers receive 4-5 times larger crops than big farmers do. But in poor countries the inner policy is directed at concentrating all the land in the hand of few owners, thus giving people no right for equal access to land and its products. Nozick was the supporter of the idea that all individuals must have free access to all resources and he also bore an idea of the free market with minimal limitations. But I should say, that to my mind, the idea of free market have never solved the problem of famine. The formula 'free market is good, government is bad' has never helped with eliminating famine in third world states. In every state government is occupied with the redistribution of resources. In this problem authorities must help consumers, especially the poorest ones, with the help of tax preferences, grants, and credits. In such situation the state and the population supplement each other thus creating an

Asian American Stereotypes in Film Essay Example for Free

Asian American Stereotypes in Film Essay Asian Americans only make up a small percent of the American population. Even more significant is that this percentage live mostly on the west and east coasts of mainland United States and Hawaii; leaving the rest of the American population to most likely get their exposures to Asians through television and movies. However the exposure they have receive throughout the history of cinematography has been hardly flattering. Throughout the course of history Asians in film have been portrayed as evil or the yellow peril as described by others. If Asians are not being classified as evil in this picture then they are most likely the comic relief, with their lack of coordination or grasp of the English language. With these common stereotypes in place, it gives a white American viewer a sense or need to destroy this Asian villain or superiority over the comedic character portrayed in the film. In the film Gung Ho filmed in the year 1986, the story is told of the plight of the people working in the region known as the Rust Belt. The group that is the focal point of this story is the relation between Asian men in an American town and the differences they share are played out in this movie. The stereotypes enlisted in this movie are both that of a villainous nature and a comedic relief with some of the characters. Throughout the film it is how the clever, white working class people of this hard working town have to overcome the maniacal working environment these Asian men have. Common stereotypes of the Asian man lay throughout the entire course of the movie, stereotypes that have been portrayed by the film industry of Asian men since its inception. The main stereotype in this movie is that Asian men only care about their jobs and their careers and little else. That the Asian man will go through great sacrifice to get to the top of the business that they work for. From beginning to end, many white families are portrayed in the movie showing that the American people have family values. Yet absent through the whole course of the picture is any Asian man with his family. This signifies that the Asian group does not have time, nor wants to make time to have a family life because they are trying to succeed in business. The Asian boss in the film wanted the results to his liking and little else, whether time with the family was missed or not. Hardly a glimpse of an Asian woman is seen during the movie while the American, and predominantly, white working community always spends time with the family and it is a valued part of their lives. Any slight mention of the Asian characters family was done in conversation without an on-screen appearance by the wife or children. Another stereotype depicted in the film was that every Asian character spoke flawed English. Not one single person through the film had a perfect grasp of the English language. This provides the comical relief in the film as any Asian man at any time could pronounce a word wrong or use the wrong word to the bemusement of the film watchers. The broken English that is used by the Asian characters in this film seem to heighten or display the fact that the Asian characters have visible flaws. The Americans never have to display such flaws, in fact the only part of the movie where an American attempts to spoke Japanese it is completely flawless, without hesitation or pause. A further stereotype that is used in this film is that Asian people make good managers, but are never good leaders. What this tells use is that while a person of Asian descent might know the best possible way to accomplish a goal they will never have the force or strong enough personality to get others to get the goal accomplished. The film has Asian men taking over an American plant and trying to incorporate work ethics that are highly successful over in Japan. Yet the white, working class person refused to adhere to such a strict regime and basically revolts to the ideas. This ultimately leads to the failure and disgrace of the Japanese workers who are unsuccessful in making the plant completely efficient. In the end it takes the will of one of the white workers to bring everyone together and incorporate a meld between the two cultures in order to get the job done and everything to turn out successful. Asian men are depicted as not being strong enough to take control of a situation, where as white American has the ability and will constantly use it to save the day for everyone involved in the situation. One finally stereotype that the film has is the simple fact that all people of Asian descent have some knowledge of the martial arts. Scenes in which martial arts were used were placed in the film seemingly at random, and just for the sole purpose of showing that the Asian character knew a form of martial arts. The film did not need to have any martial arts in it, as it was not the main focal point, or even any kind of focal point, in the film. Yet the makers of the film deemed it necessary to show, in fact, these Asian characters do know how to use martial arts to their advantage. The film portrays the Asian men in a negative light by showing that they do not have the will or the ability to take charge in a situation. This is completely different from the image of the American man who can take charge at any time, whether it is revolting against the Asian ideas or saving the day at the end of the film. The white American voice has no problem being heard and enforced, and its strong will might rub off on others in the end. They are portrayed almost as a type of savage or once again as the yellow peril as they were depicted years earlier. The seven-day work schedules and mandatory free overtime seems barbaric to the American workers, as well as the little amount of time spent with the families. Overall, the Asian men in this film seem to be a harsh taskmaster over their American working force. One of the consequences of this film is that it keeps up the stereotype of Asian Americans being the model minority. The Asian Americans have had this definition of themselves because of their strong cultural background, including strong work ethic, keeping them from becoming a problem minority, which many Americans saw the African American community as a problem. Asian Americans docile approach and lacking of any traits of masculinity were seen as positive traits and were widely regarded as no being a threat to the standards and norms White America had created for themselves. All this movie does is further portray that stereotype, as none of the Asian men in this film have any strong masculine qualities. They cannot take charge, they are easily intimidated, and they are never assertive with their beliefs and restrictions giving the impression to the movie viewers that Asian Americans are docile beings and Asian Americans are obstacles easily overcame. Overall, the object of this movie is to entertain the audience sitting at home watching it, laughing at the mishaps and situations that happen along the way. The question is, however, at whos expense does the laughter come? Perpetuating this stereotype only goes to further damage the way Asian Americans are seen by the American public. Also during the time the movie was being made, the yen and the dollar were in competition over which had more value. This movie in a subtle way suggests that American workers can overcome any adversity, while the Asian cast is lucky to have such determined Americans to help them out of their problems. The movie serves to inspire Americans by relying on a stereotype of Asians to show that Asian are weak and Americans are strong, and that they can overcome any challenge they rally behind.

The Family In Sociology

The Family In Sociology Functionalism, an approach which dominated much of twentieth century thinking, sought to explain the family through the vital functions it played as a social institution. George Peter Murdock, a notable American Anthropologist and functionalist, conducted a study in 1949 in where he studied the institution of the family in 250 different societies. He concluded by saying that the family plays four different basic functions which he termed reproductive, educational, sexual and economic. Education was vital in teaching the norms and values of society whilst reproduction produced members for society. The family certainly does not perform these functions exclusively, this perhaps more relevant after the industrial revolution when the family lost many of its functions to new specialized social institutions such as factories, schools and hospitals. However the family still makes important contributions to all of the above functions. Talcott Parsons, a respected American sociologist, also pioneered the functionalist perspective of the family. In addition to serving functions to society as a whole as explained above, it also plays equally vital functions for its individual members. According to Parsons, the family during early years of childhood structures the childs personality and the internalization of societys culture. Taught mainly by the childs parents, the central norms and values of society are internalized into a child to a point where it becomes natural and instinctive. This is the same for every child, and without this internalization, society would not be able to function. An American child for example would grow up with the central idea of independence and a strong motivation to achieve a high status in society as these are the central qualities of American culture. Once this personality is achieved, it must be maintained and this is the second basic function of the family: the stabilization of adult personalities. In order to balance the stress and strains of life found in a busy society, an individual can seek emotional support by his spouse. This function is especially important in Western societies as the nature of the popular nuclear family means that there is no extended family to rely upon for emotional support. Thus the married couple must solely depend on each other. The introduction of a child in a family also allows for the next step in stabilizing the adult personality. Adults can act out childish elements of their own personalities whilst engaging with his or hers child in a activity. This cannot be done in adult society. The points discussed above largely derive from two of the most influential functionalists in the 20th century. However, there work in recent times has come under particular criticism. Critics tend to agree upon the fact that both perspectives offer an unrealistic picture of the family, portraying a couple who unwillingly care for each others every need. Parsons idea of socialization is also dubious as it fails to consider the child who will not conform to his parents values and morals. Parsons and Murdock also both fail to offer functional alternatives to the family unit. As to affirm these criticisms, this functionalist view of the family has not been adopted by other sociologist who favor a more blunt and critical explanation. Friedrich Engles, with his publication of The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State in 1884 developed the first Marxist perspective of the family. He combined an evolutionary approach with Marxism, explaining how at the early stages of evolution, means of production were communally owned and the family as such did not exist. There were no rules to dictate the boundaries of sexual relationships thus society as a whole was the family. However, with the development of the state later in history, restrictions were applied on sexual relationships and on the production of children, reaching the point in where the nuclear family was born. Coinciding with this new unit was the privatization of both property and means of production. These assets were passed down by the male to his heir, and in order to ensure the legitim acy of the link, greater control was placed on women in order to ensure that there was no question about the paternity of the offspring. Summarized by Eagles himself in the original book, It is based on the supremacy of the man, the express purpose being to produce children of undisputed paternity; such paternity is demanded because these children are later to come into their fathers property as his natural heirs. Alternative Marxist perspectives sought to study the role families played in industrial societies. They argued that the capitalist system exploited the free domestic labor of the housewife, seeing childrearing and housework as an essential part of the economy. However the central argument was that the employer only paid for the services of the male breadwinner, securing the housewifes contribution for free. In addition to this, Marxist also saw that the worker was only able to work long hours for his employer as the domestic labor of looking after the children for example was done by the housewife. The housewife, in addition to the above work, also benefited the employer by reproducing potential workers. Expanding upon this idea, families acted as an ideological conditioning device which reproduced ideologies which prop up capitalism. Children are in affect a reflection of their parents in terms of values and behaviors and so uninspiringly follow them into the same work and patterns. Outside of the household, women were seen as a reserve army of labor that could be drawn in when there was a labor shortage and returned home when demand fell. All of these valuable services were provided to the employer for free, with him only having to pay the male breadwinner. The Marxists approach compared with the functionalist idea is much more critical of the family unit, and this trend continues with the feminists perspective. In their book Familiar Exploitation, radical feminists Christine Delphy and Diana Lenoard attached importance in Marxist methodology in explaining the family unit but nevertheless were of the opinion that men, not capitalism, were the main beneficiaries of the exploitation of womens labor in the household. They began their explanation by detailing how they saw the family as an economic system in where men benefit from, and exploit the work of women. They identified several factors that related to the family as an economic system, for example that the family structure typically involves two roles and that the male usually occupies the most important one, head of household, and the women and children are left with being helpers. What makes the role of head of household so important is that he has final say on important decisions and assigns duties to other members of the family. These duties vary according to the status and sex of the person in the family as women for example are usual ly given the task of doing the domestic and reproductive work. The head of household usually has control over finances and spending decisions and this still applies even when the woman is in paid employment. As concluded by Delphy and Leonard, The head of the family may have a near monopoly over, and he always has greater access to and control of, the familys property and external relations. Both of these radical feminists perhaps offer the most comprehensive radical feminist insight into the family unit. They depict a patriarchal and hierarchal structure in where men dominate and receive 57 varieties of unpaid services. It would be wrong to suggest that women are not oblivious to their exploitation but economic and social constraints make it difficult for women to escape from the patriarchal family. However their assumption that all families have a head has earned their work criticism. The data where this theory derived from is also questionable as it is said to be dated, and more contemporary data show in actual fact show less gender inequality in middle class families than in working class families. Both of the above approaches tend to agree on the fact that woman are often exploited by men in family life and in the case of Marxism, also benefit capitalism. As already mentioned, both fail to take into account the variety family life can adopt in various societies and the effect this can have on individuals. Difference feminist ensure that the variety of positions women can find themselves in is central to their argument, taking into account lesbian couples, single parent families and the impact social position and race has on the womans position. Leading difference feminist Linda Nicholson in her book The myth of the traditional family began by defining what is meant by the traditional family. She saw it as the the unit of parents with children who live together, separating it from other kin and emphasized the important bond between husband and wife. This simple image of the family is the one often associated with the nuclear family and it became popular among commentators in th e 1950s. Alternative families to this image however were not regarded with the same esteem but Nicholson rejected this notion, arguing that alternative families offered greater benefits than the nuclear family for the women who live in them. In her particular study, she saw poor black women in the USA at more of an advantage when at the head of the household without men. Reason being was that their tended to be a stronger relationship between other friends and kin which in turn provided support and insurance, helping out families most in need at a particular time. This theory evidently had disadvantages, namely the lack of a father model which is integral for a childs upbringing. However traditional families also share several disadvantages such as the inability of a child to turn to other relatives for help when abused by his parent. Nicholson concluded her work in a very liberal manner, advocating greater choice in individuals choosing their preferred living arrangements according to what best suited them. She disagreed with the distinction between traditional and alternative families, citing that traditional families often give the impression that they have long been the norm whilst this is not true. The summary given above is only one take on the family by a difference feminist among dozens. On the whole however, they all tend to avoid narrowly define the role women play in families and instead show a degree of sensitivity towards different experiences of family life experienced by women of different classes, sexual orientation and ethnicity. It would therefore be fair to say that difference feminists offer the most advance perspective on family life. In order to expand upon the perspectives explored above, various themes must be examined to gain a comprehensive understanding of the family as a unit of social organization. Perhaps the greatest process to have an effect on family life was the advent of industrialization and modernization in the eighteenth century. Modernization refers to the development of social, cultural, economic and political practices and institutions which are thought to be typical of modern societies whilst industrialization refers to the mass production of goods in a factory system which involves some degree of mechanized production technology. Sociologists regard the above factors to be the detrimental reasons responsible for change in Western societies in the early eighteenth century. Embroiled in this was of course the family unit which found problems relating itself to industrialization or modernization. For example, every society experienced the above changes differently with each social institution ef fected in differing ways. This problem was exacerbated by the fact that industrialization and modernization is a developing process, our different culture, politics and society to those of our ancestor evidence of this. The complexity of trying to associate families and industrialization and modernization allows for plentiful confusion among academics as to what a pre-industrial family consist of. Michael Young and Peter Willmott were among those who traced the development of the family from pre-industrial England to contemporary times. Specific to their study, which was published in a book titled The Symmetrical Family in 1973, they traced the changes experienced by the family up to the 1970s. They concluded, using a variety of sources and social surveys, that the family had gone through four main stages. Stage one belonged to the pre-industrial family which was seen as an unit of production consisting mainly of a husband, wife and unmarried children who cooperate as a team. With the advent of industrial revolution however, this form of family became largely extinct with the exception of some farming communities in the nineteenth century. Followed closely after was stage 2 which coincided with the beginning of the industrial revolution and continued throughout the nineteenth century. As discussed earlier, the family lost many of its functions to other social institution and thus ceased to be an unit of production. The nineteenth century witnessed chronic poverty and high unemployment and therefore the family responded by breaking away from the traditional nuclear model into an extended network which included grandparents and grandmothers. This allowed for an insurance policy and someone to rely on in tough times. As with stage 1, stage 2 declined in importance in the twentieth century but still found prominence in low income, working class areas. Finally, and still predominating today according to Young and Willmott, is stage 3 which the two sociologist conducted a large scale social survey in order to prove and later became the basis of their book. Stage 3 saw the return of the nuclear family with the exception of it being now more home centered. Free time was usually spent doing domestic work at home and leisure time allowed parents to play with their children and watch television. Stage 3 witnessed a stronger conjugal bond between husband and wife and a notable self-reliance now associated with the nuclear family. The term used to describe this type of nuclear family is symmetrical family, referring to the now equally shared duty of maintaining the household between two spouses. Radically different to the inequality described above about the allocation of chores and responsibility of finances, couples in stage 3 now share many of the chores and decisions. Many of the above points are open to criticism, especially by feminists who disagree with the concept of the symmetrical family and instead still seeing oppressive inequality between husband and wife. Despite this, Young and Willmott accomplish in tracing the family before, during and after the industrial revolution and the various forms it adopted according to the needs of society. Many criticisimis raised about the sociological prespectives is that they fail to consider other forms family may adopt in society.

Essay --

NUTRITION MONTH MALAYSIA By Nutrition Society of Malaysia (NSM) Secretariat: VersaComm Sdn Bhd (263773-W) Title Malaysia’s battle with the bulge Project EPA Expert Malaysia’s Battle with the Bulge Obesity is one of the biggest problems that face our nation. Learn more about what you can do to avoid becoming a statistic. By [Expert’s Name Here], [Expert’s Designation Here]. A survey carried out by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2010 showed that Malaysia has the highest obesity rate in Southeast Asia and is ranked sixth in the Asia-Pacific region. This finding is consistent with the Malaysian Ministry of Health nation-wide survey results. The National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) was meant as a yardstick to measure the health status of Malaysians. It was carried out in 1986, 1996, 2006, and 2011. When looking at the compiled results, it points to an alarming fact – in 2011, obesity has increased by more than 343% since the second NHMS in 1996. However, a follow-up study conducted by the Institute of Medical Research (IMR) showed higher figures when compared against the NHMS IV results. Putting the results of NHMS II, NHMS III, and NHMS IV together merely serves to expose just how serious the problem is. To illustrate the gravity of the situation, take a look at the graph below. A growing problem How did so many Malaysians end up becoming obese? There are many factors that have led up to this situation. At the top of the list is the Malaysian lifestyle. This involves two major aspects, one of which is our national obsession with food. Going out for meals would no doubt rank in the top-three list of favourite things to do with friends and family. We have even made it into a form of greeting when we bump int... ...ur family. Investing in your future Obesity is something that you have a say in. It doesn’t just happen, it happens because you have not taken the necessary steps to keep it away. While changing your lifestyle may seem like a chore, it’s completely possible and can even be fun to implement. All that you really need is a change in your mind-set. It’s alright to indulge in the occasional buffets or to indulge your sweet-tooth once in a while. Just don’t make it the norm! Living a healthy lifestyle doesn’t mean that you can’t still enjoy the good things in life, it just means not over-indulging. Remember that every little bit goes a long way toward reducing your chances of becoming obese, and at the end of the day, your health will be your wealth! Ref: 1. http://apjcn.nhri.org.tw/server/APJCN/16/3/561.pdf 2. http://apjcn.nhri.org.tw/server/APJCN/20/1/35.pdf 3.

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison was written on the heels of the World War II. It was a rebuilding time, a time of new birth for our nation. Ellison, an enlisted soldier came out of the war with haunting imagery that he crafted on the page. He exited the war filled with suffering and depression. He found isolation as a means of transitioning back into society. Invisible Man is a story of characters that chose to hide out from society, living underground. I will argue why Ellison’s satirical approach tapped into segregation issues and was a powerful and influential means of reaching an audience that can relate to its theme on many different levels. Death is an overwhelming subplot within the theme of Ellison’s masterwork. He chose a satirical approach to lighten the weight of death. Yet, at the same time, the powerful impact that death has on individuals is viewed with clarity due to his poetic, colorful, and humorous means of reaching his audience. He opens the story with satire while probing into the inner meanings of one’s path in life. This, in effect, lays the groundwork for our protagonist, the narrator. Ellison penned, I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer. (p. 15). this quote lets us in on the narrator’s persona. It begins. Our protagonist—and narrator—is a young boy who overhears his grandfather’s last dying words. These words remain deeply wedged within him, through high school and college. Issues beyond death play important roles in this novel as well. Ellison digs deep and moves across thin ice, so-to-speak, when he brings in issues such as incest, stereotyping and exploitation of women to the table; thus, without satirical softening through dialogue and deep—even poetic—story telling, readers might question his motive if he didn’t take the stance of satire. The article The Music of Invisibility from City of Words offers a very telling analysis that helps in the argumentative stance I have taken in Ellison’s work, Invisible Man. Just as the narrator is about to be sent away from college for his behaviors at the bar and brothel, he senses that he is losing his own identity, the only one he’s ever known. This identity was forged in his childhood. The letters from Dr. Bledsoe had the initial intent of guiding him to find a job that will, in turn, lead him into the bowels of his higher educational pursuits. They, instead, backfire. The letters hinder his progress, as it is Bledsoe’s secret scheme to keep him as far away from higher educational pursuits as possible. We see the issue of death surface over and over in the story. Early on, our narrator is led into a bar filled with mental patients from a nearby veteran’s hospital. Ellison displays an elderly man, near death, who is pushed around in the bar by our ‘mental’ patrons. They treat our narrator and the old man like a toy, feigning any morale fiber whatsoever. A barroom brawl ensues with your stereotypical beer-bottle-throwing scene. Then, to satirize the situation further, our narrator leads the unconscious old man into an upper flat to get away from the warring men down in the bar. The upper room is filled with prostitutes who miss the gravity of this dying man’s situation. One prostitute says, â€Å"I sho do. I just love ‘em. Now this one, old as he is, he could put his shoes under my bed any night. † (p. 88) Also, it’s no coincidence that the bar and brothel are on the other side of the railroad tracks. This represented an underground segment of society gone wild, yet another segregated piece of society growing in two directions: the pleasure seekers and, at the other end of the spectrum, we have the good-natured cynic. So, depending on what side of the track a person walks, their political stance will vary. As our narrator returns to his college campus, he exits from the â€Å"apparent† lower crust of society that dwells in saloons and goes window-shopping through brothels and enters his collegiate setting. Here, however, we see segregation in the lime light: his bubbly roommate enters with a hopeful girlfriend. The narrator states that she’ll probably become impregnated. This rude remark that he hoped will get a negative reaction actually wins him praise—denouncing this segment of society that claims higher status due to their educational pursuits. We see how the symbol of fertility for college students is viewed in stark contrast to the middle-class expectations many of the students were raised in. Our narrator is confronted by campus officials for going to the bar and brothel in the first place and even called â€Å"nigger,† which inflames our narrator—and rightly so. This hits the mark of segregation that Ellison was reaching for. He does it with biting clarity. They even threaten to expel our narrator and, the reverse-discrimination attempts by our narrator are of no use in this situation—at least in so far as the ruling official is concerned. Ellison wrote, â€Å"He said that I believed white was right,† I said. â€Å"What? † Suddenly his face twitched and cracked like the surface of dark water. (p. 140) The intensity of this argumentative scene is strengthened further by Ellison’s use of satire within a deeply scarred scene where segregation is toyed with. The official even goes on to yell at our narrator by asking if the man in question was â€Å"northern or southern. † This geographic tip is almost a slap in the face and could only b softened, again, with Ellison’s satire-like plotting and character development. Then, our narrator is staged into a scene of isolation by Ellison. It is in this very state of isolation that the narrator begins to gain confidence. He wants to represent his school with pride. He goes to Harlem. Aboard a subway, our narrator is pushed into a white woman. She gives little, if any notice, of him. Even her lack of concern over the narrator’s close proximity adds mysterious intensity to the scene as centuries of racial tension are nearly impossible to ignore. He, then, meets up with a huge contingent of black’s from Harlem. A riot is brewing; yet, the police lead him to the Men’s House. Eventually, our narrator’s agitation surrounding all this racial tension and segregation issues gets to him. As the scene unfold Ralph Ellison weaves sarcastic wit into the story by mixing rage into his thoughts with memories of our narrator’s childhood. A vendor is seen buttering a yam which swells him with nostalgia. He is beyond feeling homesick as he is drown in rage. He becomes vengeful over his own past. He attacks Bledsoe and is laughing at the same time. The yam becomes a form of life insurance, or a life policy. Why should he feel embarrassment of his youth? Instead, he chooses to eat them whenever he wants, and he’ll be more than pleased. Ellison describes this satire in the following, â€Å"These here is real, sweet, yaller yams. How many? â€Å"One,† I said. â€Å"If they’re that good, one should be enough. † (p. 263) Ellison creates more satire—again with death. Here, the satire is the necessary writerly element that creates impact without losing the reader. I cut through a block in which there were a dozen funeral parlors, each decked out with neon signs, all set up in old brownstone buildings (p. 286). This satirical segment of the novel creates the humor necessary to softens the blow regarding respecting the dead and families in mourning. Rinehart is another key player in the storyline that is heavily tainted in satirical prose. Rinehart is a very suspicious and distrustful member of the Harlem community who holds his share of power. Rinehart is also a manipulator. The narrator never meets up with Rinehart. He wears dark green shades an a big hat for a disguise—another agent of mockery crafted by Ellison that make fun of how society tries to hide from one another, yet they are always obvious to someone in the crowd of life; for the people walking the streets recognize him. According to the narrator, Rinehart has taken on many roles: zoot suit wearer, Reverend, and player. He uses his reverend stature to manipulate others to believe in him and follow his requests. Rinehart is the poster-child manipulator of his culture. As the novel nears its end, our narrator makes a leap of faith, so to speak. He is tossed back into his own past and life experiences. Now he envisions his past as a unified whole. He believes in his Brotherhood experiences; for they have shown how blinded he was in his youth. He sees all the liars and hypocrites in society. He discovers that he can make them feel happy when he preaches what they want to hear. This is yet another satirical slant taken by Ellison that wraps up his characterization and thematic nature. In closing, it is clear that the impact of Ellison’s Invisible Man was so persuasive due to his knack for mixing satire into his storyline. With all the issues that he brought to light— segregation, racism, and gender inequality—satire was the lightening element that helped keep the story moving as our narrator discovered himself, first in isolation and finally as a member of this society filled with hypocrites and those yearning for equality.