Research paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 5

Exploration paper - Essay Example The banjo can have four or five strings and is produced using a gourd, utilized as the sound box, secured with stow away or plastic. The instrument created from African instruments (banjar, bandora, banza) that were presented by slaves (Banjo). The banjo’s antecedent was played in seventh century Africa (Mazbrow). In the seventeenth century, the instrument comprised of a long post and appended gourd with three or four strings, produced using horsehair, catgut, or hemp plant. From the outset it was played by West African meandering performers, yet by the eighteenth century was played by slave artists in the West Indies. Thumping and beating was the style utilized. Notes started to slide and twist once tuning pegs and a level board for fingering was included (Banjo). This â€Å"banjar† instrument was played in Maryland and Virginia from the mid-eighteenth century. It had a skin head, pegs, and a short thumb string. In Africa, the banjar was played with the talking drums a t the same time, in light of a slave uprising in South Carolina, drums and horns got illicit, and the customary method of playing was adjusted to banjar performances (Banjo). The mix of banjo and fiddle, at the center of Appalachian music, was played solely by dark performers for around 100 years, before white artists received it (Mazbrow). Similarly as spirituals were utilized to impart get away from plans, dark banjo tunes conveyed incendiary techniques to endure bondage. A significant number of these melodies utilized clever creatures, as foxes and snakes, to disguise their message (Banjo). Dark banjar music started to impact the fiddle playing of Appalachian settlers from Scotland and Ireland. Before long, white Appalachian artists were playing the instrument in a similar pounding style as the dark Appalachian artists. For quite a while, white banjo players relied upon dark banjo players, for mood and style, however in any event, for getting a banjo in any case (C. Conway 146). Shared intrigue and instrument structure joint effort before long changed the banjar, supplanting the gourd with a wooden edge and open back. Sweeney, an Irish American included a fourth tune string, and the short automaton thumb string was kept, so now the banjo had five strings (Banjo). Albeit African-American Appalachian performers played the banjo all through the nineteenth century, white Appalachian artists commanded the rising radio and recording innovation (Banjo). The primary white banjo player to accomplish distinction for his music, Joel Walker Sweeney, figured out how to play the banjo from a neighboring manor slave, and mid-nineteenth century white banjo players ordinarily acted in dark face (Mazbrow). It was white entertainers whom individuals associated with hillbilly music, despite the fact that white banjo players had received a dark melodic custom (Mazbrow). Truth be told, there has consistently been a great deal of white pride in fiddle and banjo music, by those wh ose convention originated from Appalachian progenitors, and could never think about any dark African American commitment to their melodic legacy (Mazbrow). Appalachian fiddle and banjo music is famously thought to be Irish and Scottish, however is timed and polyrhythmic, indicating African history (Mazbrow). Polyrythm is strange to European music and vital to African (Mazbrow). The run of the mill method of playing the banjo is to brush down with the backs of the fingernails while the thumb culls the

Family and Tan Ling Wei Free Essays

I am a common prospective 20 years of age young lady from a conventional family with remarkable dreams. My name is Tan Ling Wei, yet since everyone is making some troublesome memories to articulate Chinese names, I would prefer to be called as Zoey. I’m a Malaysian Chinese, and I was conceived in a major city with huge shopping centers †Kuala Lumpur. We will compose a custom exposition test on Family and Tan Ling Wei or then again any comparable point just for you Request Now At the point when I was more youthful, I used to remain in Bentong which is my old neighborhood in Pahang with my folks along with my grandparents. Since my folks were caught up with gaining professionally, my grandparents were my gatekeepers. Grandpa was my preferred individual since he was the person who spoiled me the most. He would concede whatever desire I wanted, regardless of whether it was the stars in the sky which takes about over 50,000 years to make the excursion. I recalled there was previously, my grandpa took me out on a bicycle to get me a school sack. I was so youthful and I didn't have a clue how to put my legs on the front seat, subsequently I hurt my foot by getting it caught in the bike wheel. I was crying uproariously in transit home since I couldn’t stand the agony and there was a great deal of blood. Grandpa’s face was full with blame when he saw his dearest grandkid got injured. In the long run, the crying halted after grandpa’s persistent consoling. The greatest appreciation goes to my mother. She’s a normal fulltime housewife, yet in addition my dad’s low maintenance individual right hand. Then again, she is the person who goes here and there to send me to college and my sibling to class. Indeed, to place it more or less, she lacks the capacity to deal with herself by any means. At the point when I was 2 years of age, I was conceded into the emergency clinic and told that I had bronchitis. She was the person who assumed up the liability to deal with me, remaining in the ward with me in any event, when she was pregnant with my sibling. A mother’s love is undoubtedly instinctual, unqualified and perpetually for her kid. The nearest individual when I was youthful was my father. He was the person who might persistently peruse me sonnets and stories when I was an infant. At whatever point he returned from his work, he would cuddle me in his arms and sing me nursery rhymes. Be that as it may, as I age and hit adolescence, our relationship floated separated. I quit having physical contacts with father. Maybe I was bashful since I begun seeing changes among females and guys. Nonetheless, the affection I had for father has never showed signs of change. Rather than communicating, it lays covered up. Have you ever known about affection and abhor and relationship? All things considered, that’s the relationship I have with my 17 years of age sibling. At the point when we were youthful, we were like a madhouse, battling for toys, essentially we battle for everything even until today. All things considered, blood is thicker than water. At whatever point we face any issues throughout everyday life, we would support one another, and obviously be there for one another. My sibling and I make them thing in like manner, that is we love playing PC games. At whatever point there’s available time, the two of us would invest energy playing Blackshot together either as partners or adversary to kill the time. Which young lady could ever play PC games? That’s the basic inquiry at whatever point I run over to any of my companions. All things considered, that would be me. The motivation behind why am I so innocent is on the grounds that when I was a little child, I blended for the most part with my cousin siblings. At the point when I at last got into an elementary school, my companions were all young men, since they were less emotional. During the break time, the young men would welcome me to the field for football. Additional time, my character passed on hard and subsequently the innocence and awkwardness. I love to peruse since I began my secondary school. As indicated by one of my Indian old buddy, my English was exceptionally awful when I was in structure 1. We despite everything snicker about it today at whatever point she recounts to the account of me talking broken English in class. I began blending around with the English taught companions to improve my English. At whatever point I’ve trouble seeing any English jargon, I would connect with my companions and request a clarification. Moreover, I began to develop the enthusiasm for perusing. In the year 2008, when I was in my structure 3, Twilight Saga had gotten celebrated as a romance book about vampire romantic tale. From that point forward, I began to have insane dreams of turning into a vampire as I could be an undying and that I could keep my childhood until the end of time. As senseless as I could be, the truth is consistently coldblooded. Nobody can ever live as an eternal. Everyone’s life will reach a conclusion in the long run when the opportunity arrives. All things considered, that’s my personal history, an extremely straightforward one obviously, there’s substantially more in life that I couldn’t express in words here in this article. I accept no one is great. Everybody is imperfect do as well, I. Life is much the same as an exciting ride with high points and low points. It just comes down to each person on how they manage it. Last yet not leaset, I might want to end with a most loved statement of mine about existence, â€Å"Life doesn’t necessitate that we be the best, just that we attempt our best. †-H. Jackson Brown, Jr. Step by step instructions to refer to Family and Tan Ling Wei, Essays

8 Tips to Spot an Online Imposter

8 Tips to Spot an Online Imposter 8 Tips to Spot an Online Imposter 8 Tips to Spot an Online ImposterOne minute youre having a quiet evening on your home computer. The next, youre exchanging messages with Nigerian royalty. Dont let this be you!Thank you for joining me here in the internet parlor. I apologize for waking you all, but this simply could not wait. I’ve determined that one of you, here in this internet mansion, is an imposter! Yes, one of you is lying about your identity.Perhaps it’s you, Stacey, the Instagram model who is constantly spamming links to diet pill stores on random posts. All of your conversations seem to always come back to the aforementioned diet pills. Your face was also stolen from a collection of 2012 intramural tennis champions.However, it may be you, Jeff. You claim to be my grandson, and yet your only communications to me are emails asking for money to bail you out of jail. You claim I can’t talk to your parents or else you’ll get in trouble, but surely I’m not the only one who finds this all suspicious.And f inally, there’s you, Christopher. You’ve told us all you’re a Nigerian Prince and that we need to wire you $5,000 to help you escape the country. In return, you’ll grant us each $10,000 once you can access your accounts again. While this offer may be compelling, I find it worthy of some skepticism.In fact, there are multiple imposters here! Do you, dear reader, know how I determined who the imposters are? Read on, and you may become quite the internet detective yourself.Here are the top eight  tips to spot an imposter online!1. Recognize the risks and reality.The first step towards spotting an online imposter is understanding that anyone could be lying about who they are. This is generally true, but all the more true online.“Understand the limitations of your technology,” advised Monica Eaton-Cardone, owner COO of Chargebacks911 (@Chargebacks911). Communicating with someone online is sort of like shouting at a stranger through a locked door, minus the peep-hole: Youre n ever entirely sure who the person is, and its incumbent upon you to adequately vet the person before you unlock your deadbolt.“Like it or not, the responsibility is yours. The online world is eerily similar to communicating behind a locked door because there are barriers to transparency. Clearly, texting with someone online, whether you know them or not, is radically different than talking to them in person.”2. Ask direct questions.Back in the day, if you wanted to trick someone into giving you money, you had to actually and actively maintain an ongoing character performance. Really, it was an acting challenge as much as anything else. But now these lazy scammers can just rely on automated bots to do the foolery for them. Luckily, those bots can’t stand up to much scrutiny.“If youre not sure, ask direct, follow-up questions that necessitate more than yes or no,” recommended Eaton-Cardone. Some online impostors rely on scam-bots that spit-out different prepackaged responses to inquiries.This might happen, for instance, when a scam-bot poses as a Facebook friend and sends you an urgent message, requesting money because of an unusual emergency. When you respond, the bot will respond back but fortunately, its technology isnt anywhere close to being as robust as a real persons responses.So ask direct questions. Be specific. Usually, these fabricated conversations become clumsier the longer they go, and the technological limitations become more obvious.3. Ask trick questions.If you’re actually engaging with a real person and not a bot, you may have to get a bit sneakier with your questions. To beat a trickster, you must become a trickster.“It’s always dangerous to reply to suspicious emails, but here’s another tactic that might be useful with email, social media, and maybe even over the phone or face to face,” offered cybersecurity expert and author Greg Scott (@DGregScott). “Challenge the potential attacker with a bogus question. I see people on social media all the time who try to impersonate friends.“Let’s say Roy and I took a trip last year to northern Minnesota. And then somebody impersonating Roy emails or wants to connect with me over social media. If I’m not sure whether it’s really Roy, I’ll challenge with a question, something like, “Hey Roy, what was the name of the restaurant where we ate lunch in our trip to Iowa a couple years ago?” The only correct answer is, it’s a bogus question and we never took a trip to Iowa, we took a trip to northern Minnesota.“One time, somebody impersonated a family friend and so I complimented her on the cookies she sent last week and asked for the recipe. The correct answer was, there were no cookies. If you’re not sure, challenge with a question like that and evaluate the answer. Use your creativity.”4. Reach out in another way.Rather than just trusting a profile created on one web site, try to reach out to the person in a different way.“Contact the perso n on a different platform,” urged Eaton-Cardone. If you receive an urgent-but-suspicious message from a Facebook friend or business colleague, it might be a good idea to stop responding and start calling.Just pick up the phone and say hello. Or you could try sending a follow-up message on a different platformâ€"Skype, LinkedIn, email, whatever. Its a nice excuse for staying in touch, and the other person should be made aware that his or her account could be compromised.5. Examine their photographs.You are hopefully web savvy enough to realize that any profile without photographs is inherently suspect. But even a profile filled with photos warrants investigation.“Use Google Image Search Tool,” recommended Justin Lavelle, Chief Communications Director for BeenVerified.com (@BeenVerified). “Google has a wonderful tool to help spot online fakers. You simply drag the person’s photos into Google’s search bar and this will bring up similar pictures it finds on the internet. If these photos were from someone else’s profile, there’s a chance it might show up in the search. Compare names and profiles. It may have your answer straight away.“While not all photos online are tagged, such as on Facebook, it’s one more easy way to double check a person’s identity. Fakers can steal pictures from someone else’s profile, but it would be hard for them to tag all the people in them. Scroll over the photos, but if they are all tagged and linked to credible Facebook pages, then they are most likely the person in their pictures. As well, look to see if anyone has tagged them in photos too.”6. Take note if they’re asking for personal information and don’t give it to them.It should make you very suspicious if the person you’re talking to online is trying to get access to your personal info. Also, don’t give it to them!“Catfishing is one of the original online stories that emerged, yet people still fall prey to these imposters,” warned Lavelle. “N o one should be asking for money for any reason or for your personal information. This is one of the biggest red flags of all.It doesn’t matter what they say the emergency or need isâ€"if they’re asking for either, they’re not who they say they are and you should end communication immediately.”7.  Do some investigating.Beyond their photographs (or lack thereof) see what other information you can dig up online about the person.“If you can not find someone’s name online, they could be using a fake name,” explained Lavelle. “Or if you do find them, and it does not look like them, they could be identity thieves.”8. Use your common sense.Sometimes if your gut is telling you something is up, it’s because something is up. At the end of the day, it’s going to be your call whether to trust someone or not, but it’s important to be very careful.“Humans are highly social creatures,” offered Eaton-Cardone. “Weve been interacting with an astoundingly diverse number o f people, literally since the moment we were born. Its not necessarily intuition, but we have a highly sophisticated, innate sense of social construct.When something is amiss, we often feel it. We sense it. Something deep inside screams out that this just doesnt seem right. When we feel this way in public, we obviously become much more vigilant about our surroundings.Well, the same should apply to the online world: If someones word choices, speech patterns or topic of conversation seems highly unusual, then you need to be extra careful.Now it’s up to you. Will you spot the next online imposter? To learn more about keeping your money and your identity safe from would-be fraudsters, check out these related posts and articles from OppLoans:What to Do About Data LeaksExpert Roundup: 13 Signs You’re Being ScammedHow to Protect Your Personal Info While TravelingHow to Identify and Avoid Fake Tech Support ScamsDo you have a   personal finance question youd like us to answer? Let us kno w! You can find us  on  Facebook  and  Twitter.  |  InstagramContributorsMonica Eaton-Cardone is the owner, co-founder,  and COO of  Chargebacks911 (@chargebacks911), the first global company dedicated to preventing chargeback fraud, eliminating cyber-shoplifting and safeguarding the “eCommerce experience” for retailers, banks, buyers and sellers.   Chargebacks911 manages billions of online transactions annually and has helped its clients recover over $1 billion in disputed revenue. Monica is also the author of Chargebacks for Dummies (published in 2018), part of the best-selling instructional/reference book series.Justin Lavelle  is a Scams Prevention Expert and the Chief Communications Officer of  BeenVerified.com (@BeenVerified). BeenVerified is a leading source of online background checks and contact information. It helps people discover, understand and use public data in their everyday lives and can provide peace of mind by offering a fast, easy and affordable way to do bac kground checks on potential dates. BeenVerified allows individuals to find more information about people, phone numbers, email addresses,  and property records.Greg Scott (@DGregScott) is a veteran of the tumultuous IT industry. After surviving round after round of layoffs at Digital Equipment Corporation, a large computer company in its day, he branched out on his own in 1994 and started Scott Consulting. A larger firm bought Scott Consulting in 1999, just as the dot com bust devastated the IT Service industry. A glutton for punishment, he went out on his own again in late 1999 and started Infrasupport Corporation, this time with a laser focus on infrastructure and security. In late summer, 2015, after “Bullseye Breach” was published, he accepted a job offer with Red Hat, Inc. an enterprise software company.  Greg Scott’s two novels have a cybersecurity theme, and he hopes readers enjoy the fiction and learn about internet threats.

Essay about Lady Macbeth - Human Weakness - 729 Words

Lady Macbeth in William Shakespeare’s play ‘Macbeth’ is a character who suffers greatly in because of her human weakness, which is her vaulting ambition. This ambition is not for her, but for her husband. This woman, who seemed so in control at the beginning of the okay, only cared for her husband and his success, later becomes so consumed with guilt and remorse that it results in her tragic death. Through the discussion of characterisation and lkey scenes, I shall reveal that Lady Macbeth’s human flaw is not only a major contributor to the ruthlessness of her husband but creates a huge influence in how the play unfolds. The effect of Lady Macbeth’s ambition and compassion towards her devoted husband is immediately shown in the first†¦show more content†¦As in the same soliloquy she states her concerns for Macbeth that his soul is ‘too full of the milk of human kindness/ to catch the nearest way’. This means that she thinks that Macbeth’s natural kindness is a bad thing and that he would be unable to murder Duncan, the quickest way to become king. However, when Macbeth returns home from fighting he is greeted with the plan to kill Duncan. At first he refuses to co-operate but his wife manipulates him to change his mind. She throws at him insults, such as ‘once you durst do it, then you were a man’ and to call a man who just fought bravely for his king a coward in a mighty insult. She also throws at him ‘From this time such I account thy love’. At the end, in order to make sure Macbeth does commit the unnatural deed she tells him a disturbing image of her with her newborn child ‘And dashd the brains out, had I so sworn as you’. Even so, if Lady Macbeth was a heartless, truly selfishly ambitious and a ruthless character then she would not have to call upon spirits to help become evil and take all her womanly qualities. Thus implying that she has womanly qualities that she wants rid of. And Shakespear makes us weary of this by allowing her to speak her thoughts and agony’s but only when Macbeth is not around. When Macbeth commits the murder, in Act 2, he is truly distraught and cannot think correctly and brings back the blood laden daggers with him. So Lady Macbeth, again, takes control of theShow MoreRelatedAppearance Vs Reality : Macbeth, And Lady Macbeth1504 Words   |  7 PagesAppearance versus Reality in Macbeth, and Lady Macbeth Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s most mystifying plays and is a study of human nature. The theme of appearance versus reality is apparent in Macbeth. It’s filled with numerous, notable, and significant scenes, including when King Duncan visits the Macbeth’s home, Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking scene, and Macbeth’s dagger soliloquy. They provide raw, psychological insight into the character of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, showcasing the differing characteristicsRead MoreMacbeth Essay1155 Words   |  5 Pages â€Å"It is neither the wickedness of the witches nor the urging of Lady Macbeth that finally ruins Macbeth. His basic weakness leads him astray.† In Shakespeares grand tragedy of blood, we are pitched into the time of a valiant warrior who has constantly been trustworthy to his king, until he hears of a prophecy that he will befall king. This is where the universe begins to acquire an unbalanced shift. This disturbance has occurred as a result of Macbeth’s various weaknesses. His sensitivityRead MoreEssay about Macbeth623 Words   |  3 Pages Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s Ambition The driving force to achieve the Macbeths’ goals was ambition. However, because they were solemnly ambitious at the same aptitude, it caused them not to fully achieve their goals, as one was always more or less ambitious than the other. Ambition is a characteristic of human nature, which, if expressed in an evil manner, can corrupt the entire person, leaving them permanently evil. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are great examples of these types of people. In WilliamRead MoreMacbeth by William Shakespeare1154 Words   |  5 PagesMacbeth is a play written by Shakespeare in the 1603; it is based on themes of ambition, power and authority. Macbeth is a tragic hero who becomes ‘Thane of Cawdor’ and meets three witches that predict he will become a king, which leads him to commit the regicide. Rupert Goold and many other directors have altered and interpreted Macbeth in many ways. In this essay I will compare and contrast the ways in which Lady Macbeth is presented in the original play and Gold’s 2010 film adaptation. ShakespeareRead MoreEssay William Shakespeares Macbeth671 Words   |  3 PagesWilliam Shakespeares Macbeth William Shakespeare lived in an era where women possessed few political and private rights. Women were subjected to the will of men as men were thought to be greater morally, physically and intellectually. Shakespeare, as he was living in this hierarchical and patriarchal world, was subjected to this value system. His powerful and tragic play Macbeth, reflects aspects of this world but also challenges the very basis of its foundations withRead MoreThe Supernatural Evil Within Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare’s Macbeth1561 Words   |  6 Pagesgenders. With this in mind, Shakespeare’s Macbeth heightens the supernatural evil possessing Lady Macbeth as she condones murder for her own selfish ambition, while in Shakespeare’s time women were regarded as peaceful and full of feminine sympathies. This anachronism with the reality of Shakespeare’s day, illustrates the immense sense of wickedness and abnormality emphasizing her character’s influence on her husband and the plot of the play. In contrast, Macbeth appears to some extent a more acceptableRead MoreSelf-Deception in Macbeth1011 Words   |  5 Pagesdeception is a human weakness. It means that even though something maybe wrong and untrue if an individual believes it enough it will come to pass. No matter what someone may say, it is hard to change ones opinion because that is what the p erson truly believes. This is portrayed in William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, through the actions of various characters. Shakespeare clearly shows the idea of self-deception through their actions and how this self-deception leads to moral disorder. Macbeth is a playRead MoreA Great Debacle: A Look Inside Macbeth’s Intentions1048 Words   |  4 PagesIn William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, a mighty commander during the 11th century is pictured as a loyal warlord for King Duncan. Macbeth seemingly values loyalty so much that he would never consider betraying his king, unlike the previous Thane of Cawdor. However, this changes when three witches confront Macbeth and Banquo and foretell their future fates. After their conversation finishes, Macbeth’s loyalty is constantly seen chipped away as more of his thought are revealed. Eventually, as he losesRead More Lady Macbeths Conscience in Shakespearess Macbeth Essay577 Words   |  3 PagesLady Macbeth, a leading character in William Shakespeare’s famous tragedy Macbeth, progresses throughout the play from a savage and heartless creature to a delicate and fragile woman, having no regard for mortality. In the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is both equally ambitious and evil as she urges her husband to kill King Duncan in order to fulfill the witches’ prophecies by gaining social power on the throne as king and queen. Lady Macbeth calls upon the spirits to give her emotionalRead MoreLady Macbeth Has Been Described as the ‘Fourth Witch.’ Do You Agree with This Statement?1113 Words   |  5 PagesLady Macbeth is an insidious and complex character. Throughout the course of the novel, she manipulates her husband, Macbeth, and spurs him to commit his first murder in order for him to ultimately achieve what she believes he deserves. Lady Macbeth is shown to the audience as a loyal wife who wants the best for his husband, but at the same time, she is portrayed as a malicious character from the very beginning of the play. The line between an evil human being, and a scheming witch, is so fine that

Gender Differences in Employment - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 9 Words: 2593 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2019/03/29 Category Society Essay Level High school Tags: Discrimination Essay Did you like this example? Introduction Gender discrimination is a common problem around the world. It means to treat someone basis on a persons sex. Gender discrimination in jobs is unacceptable and unreasonable because is based on the kind of sex not on work performance and qualifications. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Gender Differences in Employment" essay for you Create order In some countries, companies dont accept women when they apply for a job or the opposite. This problem has many negative effects society and should be solved. This issue exists around the world and has not been resolved in some countries so far. People who discriminate in employment, they often only think of them self and they dont care about others and dont realize the effects that gender discrimination in jobs might affect on society. Also, there are some countries couldnt eradicate it. The problem is the law ignores this issue, though it is an important problem. Conflicts between society are one of the most negative effects because if they are only hiring men, that will cause derisive between society. The communication will be difficult. Also, single women and gay people will not find a job easily. They need to work for a living. This problem makes life hard for them. The number of single women these days is high around the world. People know there are some women who take responsi bility and pay their children education, so it will impossible to do these things without working. Some people say that there are some jobs women shouldnt work on it, like factories and police because they need to a person can handle and endure it. Some people dont agree with what they said men and women are the same in everything. The law must be strict in these kinds of issues and interest about people complains in this issue. If the law didnt ignore this problem, it shouldnt have been gender discrimination popular around the world. Gender discrimination in the workplace will affect the development of the country. Its unlawful for an employer to treat people differently from others based on sex. Everyone should be treated evenly, it doesnt matter if is a man or woman. Gender discrimination in jobs has a major impact on society and is a huge problem. Workplace Stress Gender discrimination in employment will make the workplace stress because there is unfair treatment by employers and this effect is limited to workers. The High amount of physical or mental effort leads to stress. Also, stress may lead to some of the health and psychological diseases (Cleveland, Stockdale, Murphy, 2009). Also, it can affect the impact of the employees as being absent or they dont make efforts because of the discriminations negative behavior stress. Thus, this can affect the workplace itself because there is no productivity coming from its employees., this is going to impact on the work environment. Stress mostly is negative, but it could be positive, there is a particular amount of stress if people can control this amount and use it in their work. This will help workers to complete the work as soon as possible. Workplace might affect by balance if the number of women and men not convergent or there are only men in the workplace, this may cause a little amount of st ress. Comparison of the number of men employed more than women because men produce more than women in general (Black, Sandra E, Brainerd, Elizabeth, 2002). Unpleasant Workplace Environment Gender discrimination in the workplace makes the work environment unpleasant and undesirable. The writers clarify that gender discrimination changes the legal environment. For example, it makes changes to the civil rights law. Which means the sex segregation in the work environment will make the work environment condition unlawful and will alteration civil right law (Pager Shepherd, 2008). Working in an unpleasant environment is no one can deal with this situation. People will change their jobs immediately if they are not happy and satisfied because the workplace is considered as a second home for them. People might not accept a stressful job and inactive environment because its hard to deal with it. The stressful workplace is like a prison, no one wants to be there. Gender discrimination in jobs creates a depressive and an inactive workplace environment because most workers distinguished on others. Thus, the workplace environment will be affected by gender discrimination (Pager S hepherd, 2008). In addition, gender discrimination may lead to decrease the productivity since the employees will not be enthusiastic and eager to work. They will be dealing with their sadness and feeling toward what they heard from other regarding their gender. Indeed, they might be underdressed when they feel that they are less than the others because of their gender. Moreover, if a manager is a female, other employees might refuse the follow her directions and ideas. This influences the work and its productivity. Therefore, the manager will feel unpleasant and might underestimate herself. Lack of communication There is communication between employees in every workplace. People cant work without a connection with each other. Communication is unavoidable, particularly in the workplace environment, where collaboration and innovation need correspondence between workers. High feelings of stress in the workplace environment are a huge sign that there are communication issues. According to Cleveland, Stockdale, and Murphy (2009), communication is an essential channel for passing on data. Differences between men and women in styles or content of communication may lead to misunderstanding. If female and male employees dont communicate with each other, it can lead to not having a good result of the work itself because of the high quality of the work is not available among workers. The relationship between workers seems to be missing among these workers because of discrimination. Communication and relationship among employees in a workplace is an important issue. Societal impact Gender discrimination in jobs affects the society in a negative way due to the lack of a positive productivity. People know that gender bias is a large influence. However, there is a gender difference in employment in the world. Employers are also cannot make a condition advantages free to employees based on social status or if the worker is responsible for the house because this will affect the rights of females employees and it has nothing to do with work performance (Sex / gender discrimination workplace fairness, n.d.). Gender inequality in jobs will destroy the society and spreading lot of corruption. When society doesnt have a respect and morals, this will impact peoples lives and creates many troubles. Gender discrimination affects all kinds of society. Each society depends on its workplace and employees to produce more and more positively. Once productivity is not excited in this society, it is a kind of failing that a society faces. Gender discrimination destroys the produc tivity because male and female employees avoid working together as a result of discrimination and teamwork is an important component in the workplace. Thus, gender discrimination leads to a decrease in the quality of work. Discrimination in the workplace destroys the rules of teamwork. Because male and female employees dont accept each other, they cant work as one hand. Working as a team is important to produce a high-quality work. Thus, employees must accept each other to produce positive work. Additionally, teamwork means help each other. For example, discrimination among male employees makes them refuse to help the female workers. This damages the high-quality work. Thus, working as a team avoids discrimination. According to Mabekoje (2009), the combination of women and men in the workplace has a positive correlation with job satisfaction, separation has the negative energy to the workers. Although there is a law of civil rights, not allowed to discriminate on the basis of sex, t here is gender discrimination and is a continuing issue in the workplace (Davison Burke, 2000). Family problems Discrimination in the workplace might cause family problems because, if the workplace employs only men this is going to make troubles between the husband and wife. Also, the husband could control and humiliate the wife due to he is the one who works and brings money to his family. Low feminine participation in some occupations or professions not just affects those trying to enter these occupations. but also, can adversely influence the performance of women already utilized in them (World Bank, 2011). The work of both men and women helps and supports family survival and maintenance. But if there is gender discrimination in employment they will not work together. Therefore, will cause family problems (World Bank, 2011). High women participation rates in precise occupations and large networks can additionally have negative effects (World Bank, 2011). Increase of conflicts Sex discrimination in the workplace is going to make a lot of conflicts and struggle between workers because the right law not applied. Gender discrimination at workplace has some negative effects which cause many conflicts between people, like the divorce between spouses because if the wife doesnt work the man might not afford it (Cleveland, Stockdale, Murphy, 2009). Anything against the law people will not accept it. Conflicts will increase as long as there is gender inequality in employment. All of conflicts that gender discrimination causes it are bad for society and hard to solve these problems after a long while. There are people who think this issue is not a big deal and it is everywhere. thoughts like these which made this problem increased and expanding around the world. The causes of increase this problem is people ignore this issue. They should have been solved from last century. Gender discrimination in jobs has increased conflicts in marriage life and some of these conf licts caused broke up the relationships. Also, it has affected kids and young people their life and education because the parents who pay their education (World Bank, 2011). There is no difference between men and women in function performance. They have the same qualities, so when employers discriminate on gender this will increase conflicts between men and women. Financial Problems Gender discrimination in the workplace will cause many financial problems to the society and the government. There are several people who will be financially affected by this problem. This issue will impact on family income if the men discriminate on women or women dont allow to work in some jobs, because sometimes the husband cannot afford to pay enough to the house, so the wife needs to work to help him. But if there is discrimination in employment this will affect on them and makes money problem for them. Statistics suggest that Gender discrimination in jobs will impose financial costs on customers (Pager Shepherd, 2008). Everyone works to live, so the job is necessary for people. Money one of the most reasons that lead people to work. If there is sex inequality in the work, some people might not find jobs this will impact on their lives because they cannot get the money. According to World Bank (2011), low women participation rates in the companies may decrease the company inco me in terms of that the salary of women less than men in general and women work more seriously than men. There are some people who think that is right to give women a less salary than men because they think men must take more money to able get marriage or buy a house. This is an injustice for women most people dont agree with that is kind of prejudice. In access to these productive inputs result from a combination of barriers to market access, including discrimination and differential pricing in land and credit markets, and institutional constraints, including land rights and financial rules and regulations (World Bank, 2011, p. 239). Single Mothers The number of single mothers and single women is high around the world and still increases with the passage of time. People know that no good life without money. Those people need to work to get a salary and have a good life. Some of the single mothers have kids, so they should be responsible and take care of them. Gender discrimination will affect single mothers to have a normal life like others. During early stages of industrialization, when women worked for pay outside the home the situation typically involved single women working in low-paying jobs that were gender segregated (Cleve-land, Stockdale, Murphy, 2009, p. 8). There are many single women who dont want to get married, they prefer to stay single all their life, so sex discrimination is going to harm and influence them be-cause it will not let them live like the way they want. Housing problem Everyone needs money to buy a house or apartment to live inside it. there are some people who work part-time only for paying the rent or house premiums, so the housing problem will be affected by gender discrimination in the workplace. Housing issue could be the main reason for family problems. People often hear about someone who couldnt buy or rent a house because he didnt find a job to get a house due to gender discrimination in employment. Regardless of gender. Pager and Shepherd (2008) state that gender inequality in employment will affect to own house and might get an inappropriate house because of distinction people. In USA, people always see the homeless on the sidewalk when they are going to work. People know that the homeless dont own home or even a place to stay and sleep in it because they dont work might due to gender discrimination in jobs. Gender discrimination in jobs might not let some people to own house and will cause financial problems for them. Conclusion In conclusion, workplace stress, Societal impact and financial problems are caused by gender discrimination in employment. Gender discrimination in jobs is a huge issue and occur everywhere around the world. This problem is important for society because it affects the normal life. It has not been solved this issue in some countries yet. Sex inequality in jobs is a general issue throughout the world. Sex segregation in the workplace has negative effects on society and relationships. The conflicts between people will increase by gender discrimination which affects the communication between people and influence the workplace environment. Gender inequality will cause divorce and problems to the families due to an inability to take responsibility and lack of money. Problems between society are expanding and increasing as long as there is gender inequality in employment with the passage of time. Gender discrimination in employment has a significant influence on society and is a large probl em. Gender discrimination in jobs might affect financial problems for single mothers because they dont work which they have not enough money. Also, it makes difficult to own house for some people. The law should be strict on this issue and take it as an important problem that cannot ignore it. Gender discrimination is something no one can endure it. People should oppose gender discrimination in the workplace, if someone sees discrimination in jobs it is necessary to act directly. Report the discrimination and send it to the place where it should go. In the USA, many states also make it unlawful to distinguish based on sex (Sex / gender discrimination workplace fairness, n.d.). Its unlawful for a company to treat people differently from others based on gender. Everyone should be treated equally, it doesnt matter if is a man or woman. Many groups of people will be affected by gender discrimination. It is unreasonable to employ or treat someone based on his gender, people must realize that there is no difference. There some people who say Gender discrimination in the workplace is considered as prejudice against the women. Employers liability is equality between workers

Social Responsibility of Business Free Essays

However, in the 21st century it is a firms’ responsibility to create a broader range of value along what is called the Triple Bottom Line, which consists of people, planet, and profits. Although financial profit is vital for a firm to exist, the intangible benefits that come from operating with society and the environment in mind go way beyond pure financial gain. As a manager, hiring hard-working and competent individuals to work for your firm is obviously important, but it is often not enough. We will write a custom essay sample on Social Responsibility of Business or any similar topic only for you Order Now Your employees are takeovers Just like you, your customers, your suppliers, and even the firm’s shareholders. Taking their concerns into consideration, and allowing them to express themselves openly and honestly can make them much happier employees. Happy employees provide better quality customer service, which leads to happier customers. Happier customers lead to more business, which leads to happy investors. In other words, making your employees happy can have prosperous results. Although conducting â€Å"green† business is expensive and may require costly investments depending on what industry a firm is in, we are obligated as a planet to move in that direction. Practices like pollution and deforestation, along with byproducts like CA emissions are very rough on the environment, and unless we engage in cleaner, more sustainable practices, we may cause irreversible damage to the planet. A quote comes to mind, although I don’t remember where I heard it from: â€Å"If you think economics is more important than the environment, try counting your money while holding your breath. Yes, it’s a bit extreme, but it effectively puts the importance of the environment into perspective, and reminds us that there are future generations relying on our consideration and treatment of the environment. I hope that businesses in the 21st century will take more accommodative and proactive strategies toward CARS practices than their historical counterparts. D ue to the costly nature of CARS related activities, I doubt that all organizations will truly support CARS activities, and will continue to take reactive and defensive stances regarding CARS. Being realistic, however, we can see that CARS is becoming a hot topic mongo firms around the world, which means Coos and other shareholders are likely to begin to push their company’s in that direction. It may be because the shareholders are genuinely concerned with ongoing social issues and the sustainability of our environment, or it may be because the CEO simply wants to promote their company in a positive way to the public. Either way, it seems that CARS will become much more accepted and practiced as the 21st century progresses. Both the benefits of implementing CARS activities and the inevitable costs of ignoring them cannot be denied. How to cite Social Responsibility of Business, Papers

Dystopian free essay sample

It can provide space for heroism in disrupting the dystopian setting. Most dystopian fiction takes place in the future but often purposely develops contemporary social trends taken to extremes. Dystopias are frequently written as commentaries, as warnings or as satires, showing current trends extrapolated to nightmarish conclusions. A brief note on the etymology of ‘Dystopia’ The Oxford English Dictionary reports that the term ‘Dystopia’ was first used in the late 19th century by British philosopher John Stuart Mill. He also used Jeremy Benthams synonym, ‘cacotopia’. The prefix caco means ‘the worst. ’ Both words were created in apposition to utopia, a word coined by Sir Thomas Moore to describing an ideal place or society. DYSTOPIA: definition dys-/dus- (Latin/Greek roots: bad or abnormal) + -topos (Greek root: place) = bad place eu- (Greek root: good) / ou- (Greek root: not) + -topos (Greek root: place) = good/no place dystopia n. an imaginary wretched place, the opposite of utopia utopia n. a place or state of ideal perfection, the opposite of dystopia Some writers see the difference between a Utopia and a Dystopia often lying in the reader/visitors point of view: One persons heaven being anothers hell. The History of Dystopian Literature The term utopia originated in the early 1500s as an idea created by Sir Thomas More and refers to a society where perfection and stability have been attained. Throughout history, though, many authors have taken that idea and used its exact opposite as a literary device to motivate their stories. The anti-utopias or dystopias take place in societies where the people live in constant fear and control of their governing body, live meaningless lives and have very little hope for any amount of change to take place. While dystopian literature really didnt come into the mainstream until the 20th century, the 19th also held a few stories of significant importance to the emergence of the genre. One of the most important was a novel written in 1863 by Jules Verne entitled Paris in the Twentieth Century. It tells the tale of a young man who has graduated college with a degree in literature; however all of the arts in Paris are government-controlled. Without being able to use what he learned in school to make a living for himself he finds he is running out of money and with no place to live. He is freezing to death at the end of the novel and walking the streets of Paris. There are mechanical wonders of all sorts, but nothing that will keep him warm and he becomes more and more delirious. He eventually dies after reflecting on how his societys lack of the arts ultimately led to the death of many innocent people. This dystopian epic paints the picture of a world without art and warns that it is a cold and mechanized future. In 1895, H. G. Wells wrote The Time Machine. The story tells the tale of a 19th century inventor who discovers the secrets of time travel. While his travels take him to various times in the future and some are wonderful, he ultimately ends up in a future where humanity has devolved into horrid creatures called the Morlocks. There is an upper class of humans in this same future, but they seem to be desensitized and highly uneducated because of years without war or challenges. The lower Morlocks, however, have become violent and aggressive beasts who attempt to kill everything they see. The story warns of the dangers of human class systems over centuries and the ability for man to be both angelic and hellish. The story, much like the society it details, begins in harmony and ends in disaster. One of the more modern examples of a dystopian epic in the 20th century was Anthony Burgesses 1962 novel A Clockwork Orange. The novel takes place in an alternate-reality England where gangs roam the streets and rape and murder are a common occurrence. The main character is a leader of one of the gangs that terrorizes the innocence of England and cares nothing for peoples emotions or property. By the end of the novel, however, the hero is arrested and taken to a secret government facility where he is brainwashed into being unable to think negative thoughts. The main character quickly discovers without the ability to defend himself or even posit a negative idea, that he is quickly swallowed up by the world he has helped create. This is a great example of a dystopian epic because Burgess is able to immerse the reader into a new world, with a new language and a character who has helped to create a society of terror. He is ultimately victimized by this same world and the cycle of a corrupted society becomes apparent. Dystopias have existed for as long as literature has been recorded, however people before the 1800s were less likely to write stories of hellish times for fear of retribution from their rulers. For instance, in Shakespeares age, any slight against the king that would appear in a play could lead to the execution of the entire ensemble. For as long as man has dreamed of paradise, they have also dreaded utopia. Many ideas in the bible can be seen as dystopian, but are allowed to survive because of the overall positive message of the book. A story which showed the overall negative aspects of society would never have seen print. Works Cited: Frye, Roland Mushat. (1970). Shakespeare: The Art of the Dramatist. Houghton Mifflin Company. Boston. Greenblatt, Stephen. (2004) Will in the World. W. W. Norton and Company, New York, London. Gray, Terry A. Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet 2008. MIT Tech. Project Muse. English Literary History 2008. John Hopkins University Press. Smith, David Nichol. Eighteenth Century Essays on Shakespeare 1903, J. MacLehose and Sons _________________________ o 0 o _________________________ A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian. Examples of dystopias are characterized in books such as Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four. Other examples include The Iron Heel, described by Erich Fromm as the earliest of the modern Dystopian, and the religious dystopia of The Handmaids Tale. Dystopian societies feature different kinds of repressive social control systems, various forms of active and passive coercion. Ideas and works about dystopian societies often explore the concept of humans abusing technology and humans individually and collectively coping, or not being able to properly cope with technology that has progressed far more rapidly than humanitys spiritual evolution. Dystopian societies are often imagined as police states, with unlimited power over the citizens. The word derives from Greek: -, bad, hard and Greek: place, landscape. It can alternatively be called cacotopia, or anti-utopia. Etymology The word dystopia represents a counterpart of utopia, a term originally coined by Thomas More in his book of that title completed in 1516. The first known use of dystopian, as recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary, is a speech given before the British House of Commons by John Stuart Mill in 1868, in which Mill denounced the governments Irish land policy: I t is, perhaps, too complimentary to call them Utopians, they ought rather to be called dys-topians, or caco-topians. What is commonly called Utopian is something too good to be practicable; but what they appear to favour is too bad to be practicable. Counter-utopia, anti-utopia Many dystopias found in fictional and artistic works present a utopian society with at least one fatal flaw, whereas a utopian society is founded on the good life, a dystopian society’s dreams of improvement are overshadowed by stimulating fears of the ugly consequences of present-day behavior. People are alienated and individualism is restricted by the government. An early example of a dystopian novel is Rasselas (1759), by Samuel Johnson, set in Ethiopia. Society In the novel Brave New World, written in 1931 by Aldous Huxley, a class system is prenatally designated in terms of Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons. In We, by Yevgeny Zamyatin, people are permitted to live out of public view for only an hour a day. They are not only referred to by numbers instead of names, but are neither but ciphers. In the lower castes, in Brave New World, single embryos are bokanovskified, so that they produce between eight and ninety-six identical siblings, making the citizens as uniform as possible. Some dystopian works emphasize the pressure to conform in terms of a requirement not to excel. In these works, the society is ruthlessly egalitarian, in which ability and accomplishment, or even competence, are suppressed or stigmatized as forms of inequality, as in Kurt Vonneguts Harrison Bergeron. Similarly, in Ray Bradburys Fahrenheit 451, the dystopia represses the intellectuals with particular force, because most people are willing to accept it, and the resistance to it consists mostly of intellectuals. Social groups Concepts and symbols of religion may come under attack in a dystopia. In Brave New World, for example, the establishment of the state included lopping off the tops of all crosses (as symbols of Christianity) to make them Ts, (as symbols of Henry Fords Model T). But compare Margaret Atwoods The Handmaids Tale, wherein a Christianity-based theocratic regime rules the future United States. In some of the fictional dystopias, such as Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451, the family has been eradicated and continuing efforts are deployed to keep it from reestablishing itself as a social institution. In Brave New World, where children are reproduced artificially, the concepts mother and father are considered obscene. In some novels, the State is hostile to motherhood: for example, in Nineteen Eighty-Four, children are organized to spy on their parents; and in We, the escape of a pregnant woman from One State is a revolt. Nature Fictional dystopias are commonly urban and frequently isolate their characters from all contact with the natural world. Sometimes they require their characters to avoid nature, as when walks are regarded as dangerously anti-social in Ray Bradburys Fahrenheit 451. In Brave New World, the lower classes of society are conditioned to be afraid of nature, but also to visit the countryside and consume transportation and games to stabilize society. ] A few green fictional dystopias do exist, such as in Michael Carsons short story The Punishment of Luxury, and Russell Hobans Riddley Walker. The latter is set in the aftermath of nuclear war, a post-nuclear holocaust Kent, where technology has reduced to the level of the Iron Age Politics In When the Sleeper Wakes, H. G. Wells depicted the governing class as hedonistic and shallow. George Orwell contrasted Wells world to that depicted in Jack Londons The Iron Heel, where the dystopian rulers are brutal and dedicated to the point of fanaticism, which Orwell considered more plausible. Whereas the political principles at the root of fictional utopias (or perfect worlds) are idealistic in principle, intending positive consequences for their inhabitants, the political principles on which fictional dystopias are based are flawed and result in negative consequences for the inhabitants of the dystopian world, which is portrayed as oppressive. Dystopias are often filled with pessimistic views of the ruling class or government that is brutal or uncaring ruling with an iron hand or iron fist. These dystopian government establishments often have protagonists or groups that lead a resistance to enact change within their government. Dystopian political situations are depicted in novels such as Parable of the Sower, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451; and in such films as Fritz Langs Metropolis, Brazil, FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions, and Soylent Green. Economics The economic structures of dystopian societies in literature and other media have many variations, as the economy often relates directly to the elements that the writer is depicting as the source of the oppression. However, there are several archetypes that such societies tend to follow. A commonly occurring theme is that the state plans the economy, as shown in such works as Ayn Rands Anthem and Henry Kuttners short story The Iron Standard. A contrasting theme is where the planned economy is planned and controlled by corporatist and fascist elements. A prime example of this is reflected in Noman Jewisons 1975 Rollerball film. Some dystopias, such as Nineteen Eighty-Four, feature black markets with goods that are dangerous and difficult to obtain, or the characters may be totally at the mercy of the state-controlled economy. Such systems usually have a lack of efficiency, as seen in stories like Philip Jose Farmers Riders of the Purple Wage, featuring a bloated welfare system in which total freedom from responsibility has encouraged an underclass prone to any form of antisocial behavior. Kurt Vonneguts Player Piano depicts a dystopia in which the centrally controlled economic system has indeed made material abundance plentiful, but deprived the mass of humanity of meaningful labor; virtually all work is menial and unsatisfying, and only a small number of the small group that achieves education is admitted to the elite and its work. Even in dystopias where the economic system is not the source of the societys flaws, as in Brave New World, the state often controls the economy. In Brave New World, a character, reacting with horror to the suggestion of not being part of the social body, cites as a reason that everyone works for everyone else. Other works feature extensive privatization and corporatism, where privately owned and unaccountable large corporations have effectively replaced the government in setting policy and making decisions. They manipulate, infiltrate, control, bribe, are contracted by, or otherwise function as government. This is seen in the novel Jennifer Government and the movies Alien, Robocop, Visioneers, Max Headroom, Soylent Green, THX 1138, WALL-E and Rollerball. Rule-by-corporation is common in the cyberpunk genre, as in Philip K. Dicks Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (made into the movie Blade Runner) and Snow Crash. Caste systems In dystopian literature the advanced technology is controlled exclusively by the group in power, while the oppressed population is limited to technology comparable to or more primitive than what we have today. In order to emphasize the degeneration of society, the standard of living among the lower and middle classes is generally poorer than that of their equivalents in contemporary industrialized society. In Nineteen Eighty-Four, for example, the Inner Party, the upper class of society, also has a standard of living that at least appears lower than the upper classes of today. In contrast to Nineteen Eighty-Four, in Brave New World and Equilibrium, people enjoy much higher material living standards in exchange for the loss of other qualities in their lives, such as independent thought and emotional depth. In Ypsilon Minus by Herbert W. Franke, people are divided into numerous alphabetically ranked groups. Similarly, in Brave New World, people are divided into castes ranging from Alpha-Plus to Epsilon, with the lower classes having reduced brain function and conditioning to make them satisfied with their position in life. _________________________ o 0 o _________________________ Commonly Used Dystopias Totalitarian dystopias As the name suggests, totalitarian societies utilises total control over and demands total commitment from the citizens, usually hiding behind a political ideology. Totalitarian states are, in most cases, ruled by party bureaucracies backed up by cadres of secret police and armed forces. The citizens are often closely monitored and rebellion is always punished mercilessly. Stories taking place in totalitarian dystopias usually depict the hopeless struggle of isolated dissidents. Totalitarian dystopias have, in general, dark psychological depths and strong political qualities. Hitlers Third Reich and Stalins Soviet Union were real examples of such societies. Bureaucratic dystopias Bureaucratic dystopias, or technocratic dystopias, are strictly regulated and hierarchical societies, thus related to totalitarian dystopias. Where totalitarian regimes strive to achieve complete control, bureaucratic regimes only strive to achieve absolute power to enforce laws. When totalitarian regimes tend to found their own laws, bureaucratic regimes tend to defend old laws. The law always seem to stand in conflict with rational thinking and human behaviour. To change status quo, even everyday procedures, is a long and difficult process for the citizens. It goes without saying such dystopias have strong satirical qualities and to some extent surreal qualities as well. Cyberpunk dystopias A cyberpunk society is essentially a drastically exaggerated version of our own. Cyberpunk is a heterogeneous genre, but most dystopias have the following settings: the technological evolution has accelerated, environmental collapse is imminent, the boards of multi-national corporations are the real governments, urbanisation has reached new levels and crime is beyond control. Important, but not necessary essential, concepts in cyberpunk are cybernetics, artificial enhancements of body and mind, and cyberspace, the global computer network and ultimate digital illusion. Cyberpunk stories are often street-wise and violent. It is debatably the most influential dystopian genre ever. Crime dystopias Crime dystopias may have different settings. These societies have been infested with grave criminality and the authorities are about to lose control or have already lost it. This criminality may span from street crime to organised crime, more seldom governmental crime such as corruption and abuse of power. The authorities often use drastic and inhumane measures to fight the moral decay, perhaps out of desperation, perhaps out of necessity. The society is often in imminent danger of becoming totalitarian. Crime dystopias are not-seldom political statements, usually of a radical and controversial nature. Overpopulation dystopias The population of the world has grown dramatically and the limited resources of our planet are exhausted. Mankind is living in despair and society is in imminent danger of becoming or has already become social-Darwinistic. There is an enormous wealth gap between the rich and the poor, and military and police are used to control the starving masses. There are many parallels between overpopulation dystopias and cyberpunk dystopias, especially when speaking of environment and urbanisation. This kind of dystopia is rather rare, which is surprising: it may become an imminent problem in the near future. Leisure dystopias Leisure dystopias are probably best described as utopias gone wretched or failed paradise-engineering projects. In these societies, all problems have been solved, at least officially, and all citizens are living in wealth and happiness. Unfortunately, this is often achieved by suppressing individuality, art, religion, intellectualism and so on and so forth. Conditioning, consumption, designer-drugs, light entertainment and similar methods are widely used in order to combat existential misery. Conformity is encouraged as it makes it easier to control the population. The governments means of control are always of a very subtle nature and open repression is basically non-exist. Leisure dystopias are not very common nowadays, probably as Utopia is almost extinct as concept. Feminist dystopia As the name suggests, feminist dystopias deal with oppression of women. The feminist dystopia is built on patriarchal structures and the role of woman has been diminished, e. . to house-keeping and breeding. The society is often totalitarian or at least crypto-totalitarian, sometimes with more or less obvious parallels to fascism as represented in Mussolinis Italy and Hitlers Germany. To one degree or another, all dystopias are patriarchal, but in feminist dystopias it is explicit. This genre is debatably one of the most innovative dystopian genres nowa days but has received a remarkably small amount of attention, all too small in my opinion. _________________________ o 0 o _________________________ Critical background for teaching about dystopias Characteristics of dystopias Dystopias usually express original and innovative ideas, thus forming a heterogeneous genre. Still, there are some common characteristics. Settings Dystopian depictions are always imaginary. Although Hitlers Third Reich and Stalins Soviet Union certainly qualify as horror societies, they are still not dystopias. The very purpose of a dystopia is to discuss, not depict contemporary society or at least contemporary mankind in general. Stories like Taxi Driver and Enemy of the State may have dystopian qualities, but they still depict reality, however twisted the prerequisites of those stories might be. Dystopian depictions may borrow features from reality, but the purpose is to debate, criticise or explore possibilities and probabilities. Dystopia is not really about tomorrow, but rather about today or sometimes yesterday. Nevertheless, dystopian stories take place in the future in most cases. The year 1984 may have past, but George Orwells horror story described a plausible future scenario when it was published for the first time in 1949 and it may still come true in a not too distant future. Interesting exceptions from this rule are uchronias, so called What-if? tories, like Fatherland. Dystopias have always been a powerful rhetorical tool. They have been used and abused by politicians, thus making dystopian stories controversial. The anti-totalitarianism in Nineteen Eighty-Four is explicit, but the anti-Reaganism in Neuromancer is implicit. The war-ridden world in the Mad Max trilogy is obviously a Dystopia, but it would be ridiculous to call it a political statement, although o ne can claim it is a warning regarding the dangers of anarchy and Social-Darwinism. Themes The leitmotif of dystopias has always been oppression and rebellion. In Nineteen Eighty-Four, the pseudo-communistic party Ingsocs oppression of the people is obvious, but the multi-national mega-corporations oppression of the people in Neuromancer is more subtle. The oppressors are usually more or less faceless, as in THX-1138, but may sometimes be personified, as in Blade Runner. The oppressors are almost always much more powerful than the rebels. Consequently, dystopian tales often become studies in survival. In Neuromancer it is simply a question of staying alive, in Brave New World it is a question of staying human. In Nineteen Eighty-Four it is even a matter of remaining an individual with own thoughts. The hero, because it is usually not a heroine, often faces utter defeat or sometimes Pyrrhic victory, a significant feature of dystopian tales. As the citizens of dystopian societies often live in fear, they become paranoid and egoistical, almost like hunted animals. Dystopian citizens experience a profound feeling of being monitored, shadowed, chased, betrayed or manipulated. The factors which trigger this paranoia may be very evident and explicit like in Brazil or more diffuse and implicit like in Blade Runner. The most extreme example of paranoia is probably the Thought Police and the thought-crime concept in Nineteen Eighty-four. As a result of this fearful atmosphere, dystopian heroes are not seldom monsters in many respects. The dehumanisation of society may also be connected to the benefits and hazards of technological progress. Cyberspace cowboys refer to their bodies as meat and blade runners hunt artificial, but completely sentient beings like animals. In Dystopia, the borderline of humanity is often blurred and the very concept of humanity distorted. Finally, dystopian stories tend to explore the concept of reality. Rick Deckard in Blade Runner is not sure if he is a human being or a bio-mechanical replica. Case in Neuromancer sometimes cannot distinguish cyberspace from reality. Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four is forced to learn that two plus two make five. In many dystopian tales the people in general and the heroes in particular get manipulated beyond reality. Aesthetics Dystopian stories frequently take place in landscapes which diminish people, like large cities with mastodontic architecture or vast wastelands devastated by war and pollution. Dystopian societies are usually, but far from always, battered and worn-out. They may be colorless like Nineteen Eighty-Four or kaleidoscopic like Blade Runner, but always visually obtrusive. For uncertain reasons, dystopian movies often use film noir features like dim rooms, rain wet asphalt, disturbing contrasts, symbolic shadows etc. Unproportionaly much of the action takes place during night in many dystopian stories. Possibly, this reflects the thematic relationship between dystopian fiction and film noir. Generally speaking, the environment plays an active role in dystopian depictions. The environment is not only a fancy background, but emphasises the message. A prominent example is Blade Runner: there can be no doubt in the viewer that USA has become completely commercialised and that the world is in a state of terminal decay. _________________________ o 0 o _________________________ Characteristics of dystopian fiction The following is a list of common traits of dystopias, although it is not definitive. Most dystopian films or literature includes at least a few of the following: †¢a hierarchical society where divisions between the upper, middle and lower class are definitive and unbending. a nation-state ruled by an upper class with few democratic ideals †¢state propaganda programs and educational systems that coerce most citizens into worshipping the state and its government, in an attempt to convince them into thinking that life under the regime is good and just †¢strict conformity among citizens and the general assumption that dissent and indivi duality are bad †¢a fictional state figurehead that people worship fanatically through a vast personality cult, such as 1984’s Big Brother or We‘s The Benefactor †¢a fear of the world outside the state a common view of traditional life, particularly organized religion, as primitive and nonsensical †¢a penal system that lacks due process laws and often employs psychological or physical torture †¢constant surveillance by state police agencies †¢the banishment of the natural world from daily life a back story of a natural disaster, war, revolution, uprising, spike in overpopulation or some other climactic event which resulted in dramatic changes to society †¢a standard of living among the lower and middle class that is generally poorer than in contemporary society †¢a protagonist who questions the society, often feeling intrinsically that something is terribly wrong †¢because dystopian literature takes place in the future, it often f eatures technology more advanced than that of contemporary society To have an effect on the reader, dystopian fiction typically has one other trait: familiarity. It is not enough to show people living in a society that seems unpleasant. The society must have echoes of today (see Rosenblatt; Pike), of the readers own experience. If the reader can identify the patterns or trends that would lead to the dystopia, it becomes a more involving and effective experience. Authors can use a dystopia effectively to highlight their own concerns about societal trends. George Orwell apparently wanted to title 1984 1948, because he saw this world emerging in austere postwar Europe. As fictional dystopias are often set in a future projected virtual time and/or space involving technological innovations not accessible in actual present reality, dystopian fiction is often classified generically as science fiction, a subgenre of speculative fiction. Back stories Because a fictional universe has to be constructed, a selectively told backstory of a war, revolution, uprising, critical overpopulation, or other disaster is often introduced early in the narrative. This results in a shift in emphasis of control, from previous systems of government to a government run by corporations, totalitarian dictatorships or bureaucracies; or from previous social norms to a changed society and new (and often disturbing) social norms. Because dystopian literature typically depicts events that take place in the future, it often features technology more advanced than that of contemporary society. Hero Unlike utopian fiction, which often features an outsider to have the world shown to him, dystopias seldom feature an outsider as the protagonist. While such a character would more clearly understand the nature of the society, based on comparison to his society, the knowledge of the outside culture subverts the power of the dystopia. When such outsiders are major characters—such as John the Savage in Brave New World—their societies cannot assist them against the dystopia. The story usually centers on a protagonist who questions the society, often feeling intuitively that something is terribly wrong, such as Guy Montag in Ray Bradburys novella Fahrenheit 451, Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four, or V in Alan Moores V for Vendetta. The hero comes to believe that escape or even overturning the social order is possible and decides to act at the risk of his own life; this may appear as irrational even to him, but he still acts. The heros point of view usually clashes with the others perception, most notably in Brave New World, revealing that concepts of utopia and dystopia are tied to each other and the only difference between them lies on a matter of opinion. Another popular archetype of hero in the more modern dystopian literature is the Vonnegut hero, a hero who is in high-standing within the social system, but sees how wrong everything is, and attempts to either change the system or bring it down, such as Paul Proteus of Kurt Vonneguts novel Player Piano or Winston Niles Rumfoord in The Sirens of Titan. The Domination is perhaps unusual in featuring members of the upper caste of the dystopian society (the von Shrakenbergs, Myfwany, Yolande Ingolfsson, various Draka military members) as among the protagonists although serfs (Marya and Yasmin, from among conquered people) questioning that society are also included, along with international enemies of that dystopian society (such as Lefarge). This may be an example of the anti-hero. Conflict In many cases, the heros conflict brings him to a representative of the dystopia who articulates its principles, from Mustapha Mond in Brave New World to OBrien in Nineteen Eighty-Four. There is usually a group of people somewhere in the society who are not under the complete control of the state, and in whom the hero of the novel usually puts his hope, although often he or she still fails to change anything. In Orwells Nineteen Eighty-Four they are the proles (Latin for offspring, from which proletariat is derived), in Huxleys Brave New World they are the people on the reservation, and in We by Zamyatin they are the people outside the walls of the One State. In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, they are the book people past the river and outside the city. Climax and denouement The story is often (but not always) unresolved even if the hero manages to escape or destroy the dystopia. That is, the narrative may deal with individuals in a dystopian society who are unsatisfied, and may rebel, but ultimately fail to change anything. Sometimes they themselves end up changed to conform to the societys norms, such as in With Folded Hands, by Jack Williamson. This narrative arc to a sense of hopelessness can be found in such classic dystopian works as Nineteen Eighty-Four. It contrasts with much fiction of the future, in which a hero succeeds in resolving conflicts or otherwise changes things for the better. Destruction The destruction of dystopia is frequently a very different sort of work than one in which it is preserved. Indeed, the subversion of a dystopian society, with its potential for conflict and adventure, is a staple of science fiction stories. Poul Andersons short story Sam Hall depicts the subversion of a dystopia heavily dependent on surveillance. Robert A. Heinleins If This Goes On— liberates the United States from a fundamentalist theocracy, where the underground rebellion is organized by the Freemasons. Cordwainer Smiths The Rediscovery of Man series depicts a society recovering from its dystopian period, beginning in The Dead Lady of Clown Town with the discovery that its utopia was impossible to maintain. Although these and other societies are typical of dystopias in many ways, they all have not only flaws but exploitable flaws. The ability of the protagonists to subvert the society also subverts the monolithic power typical of a dystopia. In some cases the hero manages to overthrow the dystopia by motivating the (previously apathetic) populace. In the dystopian video game Half-Life 2 the downtrodden citizens of City 17 rally around the figure of Gordon Freeman and overthrow their Combine oppressors. Destruction of the fictional dystopia may not be possible, but—if it does not completely control its world—escaping from it may be an alternative. In Ray Bradburys Fahrenheit 451, the main character, Montag, succeeds in fleeing and finding tramps who have dedicated themselves to memorizing books to preserve them. But ironically, the dystopian society in Fahrenheit 451 is destroyed in the end — by nuclear missiles. In the book Logans Run, the main characters make their way to an escape from the otherwise inevitable euthanasia on their 21st birthday (30th in the later film version). Because such dystopias must necessarily control less of the world than the protagonist can reach, and the protagonist can elude capture, this motif also subverts the dystopias power. In Lois Lowrys The Giver the main character Jonas is able to run away from The Community and escapes to Elsewhere where people have memories. Sometimes, this escape leads to the inevitable: the protagonist making a mistake that usually brings about the end of a rebel society, usually living where people think is a legend. This concept is brought to life in Scott Westerfelds novel Uglies. The main character accidentally brings the government into the secret settlement of the Smoke. She then infiltrates the government to escape, but chooses to join the society for the greater good. _________________________ o 0 o _________________________ This is an attempt to pin-point important landmarks and possible influences in dystopian fiction. Needless to say, Dystopia is almost as old as Utopia. However, the elaborate or modern dystopian depiction was born in the late 18th century. Before this time, dystopian depictions were merely rhetorical tools and intellectual experiments. 1868 John Stuart Mill uses the term dystopia in a parliamentary speech, possibly the first recorded use of the term. 1879The famous American inventor Thomas Edison introduces the electric bulb. It is an important landmark in the electrical revolution, since it brings the electric wonder to private homes. Many a utopian writer finds inspiration in this technological development, but also many a dystopian writer. In The Begums Fortune by Jules Verne, utopian and dystopian societies are contrasted. Whether it can be regarded as the first modern dystopia is debatable, but it certainly is an important forerunner. 1880In USA, the first industrial execution method since the guillotine is introduced: the electric chair. 1885The publication of the first modern post-holocaust depiction: After London by Richard Jefferies. 1895Guglielmo Marconi introduces the first practical application of radio technology, the telegraph. It marks the beginning of the mass communication era and entails a dramatic evolution of communication and information technologies. The Lumiere brothers construct the cinematograph and exhibit the first motion picture. Until the break-through of television after World War II, the motion picture will be the most effective means of propaganda. 1897Henri Becquerel discovers the phenomenon radioactivity. The dangerous potential of this discovery is recognised almost directly. 1898H. G. Wells ground-breaking novel War of the Worlds, the first depiction of an alien invasion of Earth, is published. 899The publication of the novels The Story Of The Days To Come and When The Sleeper Wakes by H. G. Wells. They are debatably the first modern dystopias per se, probably the first elaborately ideological dystopias, and definitely the first anti-capitalistic dystopias. 1901Guglielmo Marconi establishes the first transatlantic wireless connection, thus indirectly enabling effective global trade and warfare in the future. 1903The Wright brothers perform the first successful flight in an aeroplane. It lasts for 12 seconds and 40 meters. The practical implementation of aircraft will revolutionise communications and warfare the following decades. 908The publication of H. G. Wells The War In The Air, the first prediction of air raids against cities. 1909Jack Londons The Iron Heel reaches the bookshelves and consolidates ideological themes in dystopian fiction. A manifesto by the Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti marks the birth of a controversial and short-lived art movement: Futurism. Its worship of dynamics and machines will indirectly influence dystopian visions for decades. 1911Only eight years after the accomplishment of the Wright brothers, aeroplanes are used in combat for the first time. Italian pilots bomb two oases near Tripolis in North Africa; needless to say, the targets are civilian. 1914In a haze of war romanticism, the European powers engage in the Great War; not only the first world war, but also the first industrialised war. It lasts for four years and results in more than 10 million dead people. The world will never be the same again. The same year, The World Set Free by H. G. Wells is published. It is the first prophecy of devastating nuclear wars that will end human civilisation. The publication of Charlotte Perkins Gilmans Herland, debatably the first feministic ystopia. 1915Chemical weapons are deployed in battle for the first time: the German army uses chlorine gas near Ypres in Belgium. 1917A revolution in Russia gives the Bolsheviks an opportunity to seize power. Soon, they begin to call themselves Communists, and their radical political program will gradually evolve into a totalitarian nightmare. It will end over 70 years after the revolution. 1918 The Spanish Influenza, the worst pandemic ever next to the Black Death, claims more than 21 million lives, more than every 100th human being. 1919The Bauhaus school of design is founded in Germany. It will influence art and design in a futuristic direction, and indirectly also science fiction. In the long run, the influences will be most prominent in dystopian fiction. 1920Karel Capeks play R. U. R. introduces the term robot and the modern robot concept, and is the first elaborate depiction of a machine take-over. Capeks robots can also be seen as the first androids: they are in fact organic. 1921The publication of the earliest major cyborg novel: The Clockwork Man by E. V. Odle. The protagonists life is regulated by a clockwork mechanism built into his head. 924Yevgeny Zamiatins My (English title: We), the first totalitarian dystopia as well as the first critical comment on the future of USSR, is published. It will serve as inspiration for Aldous Huxley and George Orwell. In the essay Daedalus, or Science and The Future, J. B. S. Haldane prophesies with remarkable precision about different kinds of genetic engineering in the future. It served as inspiration for e. g. Aldous Hu xleys Brave New World. 1925In Italy, the Fascists seize power, and implement the first truly totalitarian system; USSR will soon follow. Many intellectuals, even in democratic countries, praise Mussolinis new order. Franz Kafkas world-famous novel Der Prozess is published. The pessimistic perspective on modern society basically revolutionises literary fiction. It influences dystopian fiction in many respects, albeit usually indirectly; some intellectuals will even label the novel per se as dystopian. The Paris Worlds Fair can be regarded as the official starting-point of art deco. This aesthetic current will be dominant in design and architecture for decades, including such expressions in science fiction cinema. Illustrative modern examples are Cloud City in The Empire Strikes Back and the Tyrell Pyramid in Blade Runner. 1926 The Scotsman John Baird conducts the first successful television transmission, thus introducing the most effective means of mass propaganda and mass marketing so far in human history. Within a decade, regular television transmissions have begun in London, Paris, Berlin and New York. Premiere of Fritz Langs mastodontic movie Metropolis, the first serious science fiction movie, as well as the first dystopian movie. It sets a new standard for cinema in general and futuristic cinema in particular. 929 Capitalistic break-down: On the so-called Black Sunday, 80 million dollars disappear from the American economy due to stock exchange mania. It entails severe depression, social unrest and indirectly also autocratic take-overs around the world. 1930 In the novel City Of The Living Dead by Laurence Manning and Fletcher Pratt, artificial illusionary worlds a la virtual reality or cyberspace are introduced. Interestingly enough, the novel focuses on the escapist dangers of such technology. 1932 The publication of Aldous Huxleys Brave New World, the first depiction of failed paradise-engineering. Among many other things, it basically introduces the themes of mass culture and technology abuse in dystopian fiction, as well as scientific concepts such as designer drugs, conditioning and cloning. Carl W Spohrs short story The Final War prophesies that the world will be divided between two superpowers, and that the invention of the atomic bomb will entail nuclear deterrence strategies. The story ends with the annihilation of mankind. 1933 The National Socialists seize power in Germany and implement an autocratic and militaristic order, soon to become elaborately totalitarian. The nightmare ends 12 years later in the ruins of Berlin. Fritz Langs movie Das Testament des Dr Mabuse is banned by the new regime in Germany. Tellingly, it depicts how a criminal organisation attempts to seize power with terror methods. 1934 Premiere of the German propaganda film Triumf des Willens by the controversial filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. It will influence dystopian nightmare visions of totalitarian systems for many decades to come. 1936 A rebellion by military units in Spain triggers the first armed ideological conflict: the Spanish Civil War. The Fascist side introduces barbarian war methods in Europe, methods which previously had been reserved for the colonies; the most horrifying novelty is air raids against civilian targets, e. g. in Guernica. More than one million people die, and Fascism triumphs. The war entails a dangerous polarisation between Fascism and Communism. The first public trials against alleged traitors are staged in USSR, which marks the beginning of Stalins terror era. It lasts until the dictators death in 1953 and costs at least 20 million lives. The first modern use of the term android in Jack Williamssons The Cometeers. 1938Orson Welles causes public panic in USA with a realistic radio adaptation of The War of the Worlds, and effectively illustrates the potential of mass media manipulation. The publication of A. G. Streets Already Walks Tomorrow, probably the first elaborate depiction of environmental collapse. John W Campbells short story Who Goes There? introduces the stealthy alien concept. It raises little interest, but will later be filmatised as The Thing From Another World in 1951 and The Thing in 1982. 939Hitlers Third Reich attacks Poland and triggers the most devastating conflict so far in human history, World War II. More than 40 million people die in five years. Especially the German scientists excel in inventing advanced military technology which will claim many lives in the future, e. g. jet fighters and directed missiles. The publication of Raymond Chandlers first major detective story: The Big Sleep. Chandle rs novels, and the film adaptation, will influence dystopian fiction with their potent mixes of lonely detectives, realistic approaches, urban settings, societal critique, harsh dialogue etc. 941The premiere of John Hustons film noir classic The Maltese Falcon, an adaptation of a novel by Dashiell Hammett. Film noir in general and this movie in particular will influence dystopian cinema, especially the art deco aesthetics, the visual settings, the cinematic techniques and the concrete narratives. 1942The Holocaust is outlined in the infamous Wanzee conference. The first industrial genocide in human history will claim the lives of 6 million Jews. All in all, the terror machinery claims at least 12 million lives, including communists, dissidents, gypsies, homosexuals and disabled. The first nuclear reactor is constructed in USA for military purposes. The full scope of the hazards with civilian nuclear power will not be recognised until much later. 1943COLOSSUS, the first electronic computation machine is completed in Great Britain. It is in fact more advanced than ENIAC, but it will remain a military secret for decades. 1945The Manhattan Project is completed, and USA deploys nuclear weapons against human populations for the first time. One bomb in Hiroshima and another in Nagasaki’s claim at least half a million lives, including the victims of the lingering radiation. Only four years later, USSR detonates its first atom bomb, and the nuclear arms race is a fact. Only a few months after Hitlers death, the first uchronia, i. e. alternative history, concerning a Third Reich victory is published: Laszlo Gaspars Mi, I. Adolf. 1946In the Nuremberg Trials, the full scope of the totalitarian horrors in the Third Reich are recognised. The first truly global peace organisation, the United Nations, is founded. USA and USSR immediately begin to manipulate and weaken the organisation. The first official electronic computation machine, ENIAC, is completed in USA. The first real computer, EDSAC, is completed only three years later in Great Britain. 1948The publication of Norbert Wieners cross-disciplinary work Cybernetics: Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine. From a scientific point of view, Man has become Machine. The term cybernetics is, by the way, Wieners own invention. 1949After a bloody civil war, the Communists proclaim the Peoples Republic of China. Exactly how many lives the revolution claims the next two decades will never be certain, but it is probably at least 20 million, hypothetically ten times as many. George Orwells Nineteen Eighty-four, the most elaborately anti-totalitarian dystopia and the politically most influential dystopia of all times, is published. It advances and consolidates the dystopian themes of systematic oppression and mind control. Until the making of Blade Runner, it is basically the sole Dystopia prototype. 1950Alan Turing defines the so-called Turing Test, the philosophical foundation of artificial intelligence theory. A new science is born, and the following decades many a scientist will claim to have created an intelligent computer. 952USA detonates the first hydrogen bomb at Bikini Atoll in the South Pacific, thus increasing the scope of nuclear mass destruction dramatically. The heart pacemaker, the first implanted mechanical body enhancement, is introduced. Debatably, this event marks the beginning of the post-human era. The Space Merchants by Fredrick Pohl Cyril Kornbluth, the first elaborate satire over commercialism and consumerism, is published, and in troduces concepts such as corporate dominion, corporate overexploitation and corporate wars. The publication of Kurt Vonneguts Player Piano, debatably the first depiction f a pseudo-utopian society run by a computer. The term dystopia is popularised in Quest For Utopia by Glenn Negley and J. Max Patrick. 1953Watson and Crick unravels the structure of DNA. From a scientific point of view, Man has become Computer: the Code has been revealed and the Code can be reprogrammed. The publication of Ray Bradburys Fahrenheit 451, possibly the most intellectually advanced dystopian satire, together with Nineteen Eighty-four. In any case, it certainly contributed to the intellectual integrity of dystopian fiction. Filmed by Francois Truffaut in 1966. 954A TV play adaptation of Nineteen Eighty-four starring Peter Cushing entails anxious questions in the British parliament. 1955Premiere of Don Siegels Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, an adaptation of a novel by Jack Finney, the first major depicti on of a stealthy alien take-over. 1957USSR launches the first man-made satellite, Sputnik I. The space race is a fact, and it engenders a rapid technological evolution. Among many other things, satellites will enable new means of communication, mass culture, surveillance and warfare. The publication of Nevil Shutes novel On The Beach, made into a movie in 1959 starring e. g. Gregory Peck. It was not the first depiction of nuclear holocaust horrors, but the first one which had a strong emotional impact on the main-stream audience. 1959The publication of Robert Heinleins pro-militaristic and anti-democratic novel Starship Troopers, which engenders a heated debate among science fiction writers. Harry Harrison is one of Heinleins prominent antagonists. 1962The Cuba crisis almost triggers a nuclear war between USA and USSR. If mankind would have survived a full-scale nuclear conflict is uncertain. Philip K Dick advances the uchronia in The Man In The High Castle, the first uchronian novel to receive the prestigious Hugo award. 965In the novel Dune, Frank Herbert basically introduces dystopian themes in space opera. 1966Make Room, Make Room by Harry Harrison, the first major over-population dystopia, is published; later to be adapted for the silver screen under the title Soylent Green in 1973. D. F. Joness novel Colossus, adapted for the silver screen in 1969, is probably t he first depiction of a global take-over attempt by military computers. The concept will later be advanced in the Terminator and Matrix movies. 1967The first heart transplant operation is performed, and human beings suddenly become sets of organic spare parts. The anthology Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison, marks the birth of a new science fiction movement: New Wave. It only lasts for a few years, but expands the science fiction concept by breaking many taboos. 1968Stanley Kubricks and Arthur C Clarks 2001: A Space Odyssey sets new visual and thematic standards for science fiction in general and science fiction cinema in particular. It advances the artificial intelligence concept and introduces more realistic and conceivable space programs. Philip K Dicks Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? dvances the android concept and raises disturbing questions about human identity. 1969USA implements the first Moon landing, the Apollo 11 expedition. A few more manned Moon landings will follow, but the costly Vietnam war will soon put an end to these grand projects. In USA, the first primitive computer network, a nuclear defence application, is constructed. The event will entail a dramatic evolution of computer technology, perhaps most not ably the development of the first global computer network, internet. John Brunner advances the over-population theme in Stand on Zanzibar. 971The first space station, the Soviet Salyut 1, is constructed and put into operative use. Stanley Kubricks adaptation of A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess hits the theatres and engenders a furious debate, especially in Great Britain. The movie basically introduces the theme of urban anarchy in dystopian fiction. Robert Wises The Andromeda Strain, based on a novel by Michael Crichton, popularises the modern pandemic horror theme. The premiere of Douglas Trumbulls sadly underestimated Silent Running, the first environment-conscious science fiction movie. David Rorvik popularises the modern cyborg concept in As Man Becomes Machine. 1972John Brunner advances the dystopian theme of environmental collapse in The Sheep Look Up. 1973In Japan Sinks, Sakyo Komatsu advances the apocalyptic theme in science fiction, especially the social and psychological aspects. 1974John Carpenters obscure low-budget comedy Dark Star is probably the first non-romantic and non-heroic movie about space exploration. Screen-writer Dan OBannon will later advance the concept dramatically in Alien. 1975Altair 8800 is the first personal computer to be produced in fairly high quantity. Thus, the personal computer industry is launched, a technological development that will inspire the cyberpunk movement. The same year, John Brunner basically introduces the modern cyberspace concept in The Shockwave Rider. 1976A new potential plague is recognised: the Ebola haemorrhagic fever. The first outbreak occurs in Sudan, shortly followed by an outbreak in Zaire. Within the next decades, more outbreaks will occur, some of them with a mortality rate of 70-90 %; as a comparison, the mortality rate of the Black Death was 30-75 % K. Eric Drexler popularises the term nano-technology in his book Engines of Creation. 1977The publication of Joe Haldemans brutal anti-war novel The Forever War, debatably the first serious depiction of possible space war horrors; also, it can be seen as a critical comment on Starship Troopers. Together with Alien, it basically demonises space adventures. The punk album God Save The Queen by Sex Pistols reaches the hit lists and marks the official birth of punk music and punk subculture. This revolution of pop culture will influence the cyberpunk movement. 979In Three-Mile Island, USA, the first serious incident at a nuclear power plant occurs. In Iran, a fundamentalist revolution entails the first proclamation of an elaborate theocracy since the proclamation of the Vatican state in 1929. Ridley Scotts famous horror movie Alien hits the box office, and changes the look and feel of space adventures dramatically. 1981A new disease is recognised in USA, although yet not named: AIDS. Exactl y when this lethal virus began to circulate is uncertain, though; it probably occurred for the first time in the late 1960s or early 1970s. George Millers Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior advances the break-down of civilisation in the first movie into Social-Darwinist anarchy, and sets a new standard for post-apocalyptic depictions. 1982Ridley Scotts Blade Runner sets a whole new standard for science fiction, especially visually, and influences the coming cyberpunk movement immensely. It will engender debates on e. g. hyper-technology and urbanisation for decades to come. As a spin-off effect, it also popularises Philip K. Dicks works. Steven Lisbergers Tron, immensely underestimated at its time, advances the cyberspace concept. 984William Gibsons Neuromancer is published and marks the birth of the influential cyberpunk movement. It also inspires science, engenders debate, revitalises dystopian fiction, popularises the cyberspace concept, and consolidates the themes of corporate dominion and hyper-technology in modern science fiction. James Camerons The Terminator hits the box office and reanimates the old dystopian machine h orrors, later to be continued in the Matrix movies. George Orwells dreaded year passes, and some people claim that Aldous Huxleys nightmare prophecy is more accurate. Premiere of Michael Radfords ambitious adaptation of Nineteen Eighty-four, starring John Hurt and Richard Burton. 1985Terry Gilliams Brazil reboots Kafkaesque themes in dystopian fiction and basically defines the visual standards for tech noir; compare with The City Of Lost Children and Dark City. 1986In Chernobyl, USSR, the first nuclear power plant catastrophe occurs. 1987The publication of Margaret Atwoods The Handmaids Tale; not the first feminist dystopia, but the first one which gains recognition. It popularises feminist theory in science fiction and advances the concept of modern theocracies in dystopian fiction. In the novel Consider Phlebas, Iain M. Banks basically integrates the utopian-dystopian complexity in the space opera genre. Paul Verhoevens RoboCop modernises the anti-capitalistic satire with cyberpunk concepts. 1988Katsuhiro Omotos Akira popularises anime and manga outside Japan, cultural expressions which will continue to influence dystopian fiction, albeit mainly on aesthetic levels. 1989The fall of the Berlin Wall is a fact, and it will soon be followed by the fall of the USSR. It entails a political vacuum and an uncertain future. 990The publication of the first dystopian steampunk novel: The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. 1992Neal Stephenson reboots and advances the cyberpunk genre in Snow Crash. Robert Harris advances the uchronia in Fatherland, basically the only best-selling uchronia so far. 1993Graphical user interfaces make internet practically accessible to the public. Possibly, future history books will claim that it entailed social, psychologi cal and perceptual changes. 1997The premiere of the first major genetic-engineering dystopia, Andrew Niccols Gattaca. 998Almost 40 years after the publication of Robert Heinleins Starship Troopers, Paul Verhoevens controversial adaptation engenders a new debate. 1999The Matrix by the Wachowski brothers revitalises the fading post-cyberpunk current in dystopian fiction. 2001The largest terrorist attack ever occurs in New York. The terrorists achieve their goals: wide-spread paranoia, non-democratic tendencies and illegal war campaigns. Possibly, the event will mark the end of Western hegemony in future history books. 2003The first taikonaut in space. Possibly, the event will mark the beginning of a new space race in future history books. The publication of Margaret Atwoods Oryx and Crake, a radical renewal of the bio-engineering horror concept. List of Dystopian Texts 19th century †¢A Sojourn in the City of Amalgamation, in the Year of Our Lord, 19 (1835) by Oliver Bolokitten †¢Erewhon (1872) by Samuel Butler. †¢The Republic of the Future (1887) by Anna Bowman Dodd †¢Caesars Column (1890) by Ignatius L. Donnelly †¢Pictures of the Socialistic Future (1890) by Eugen Richter †¢The Time Machine (1895) by H. G. Wells †¢When The Sleeper Wakes (1899) by H. G. Wells 20th century 1900s †¢The First Men in the Moon (1901) by H. G.