Teens, Sex, and Virginity - I Lost My Virginity Essay -- Personal Nar

I lost my virginity i arrived at college a seventeen year-old virgin who had been drunk only once before. it wasn't a concious decision to change all that, but i definately had no intention of remaining the awkward, hesitant good girl i had been throughout high school. i had resolved to try everything without fear, which was one reason i signed up for a rock climbing orientation trip. it is here that martin enters the picture. he was one of my trip leaders, a twenty three year old senior from california. he was a runner and a republican, and his looks were not unlike those of teen heartthrob scott wolf. i quickly dismissed the idea of his being interested in me. he seemed too hot, too experienced, too suave. i was so young. the rock climbing trip was quickly over, and i returned back to campus covered in bruises and pride. classes started, i settled into the swing of things, and i gave martin no further thought, except when i ran into him at parties. i learned to drink, a lot, and learned to pass out at parties to avoid having to go back to my room alone. i experienced my first...

Effect of Globalization on Media Essay

The globalization since it took over the whole world in its vintage has given new dimensions and shape to varying aspects of Media in its whole vicissitude. As transnational in character, media has crossed all the cultural and political boundaries to reach the world audience with depth in dimensions in the shape, style and pattern of various programs. These intercontinental and transnational media outlets have posed challenges to the boundaries, questioned the territorial integrity and given shape to the media spaces. When many of the media markets all over the world got saturated, the media companies began to look at the global market place to earn revenues for their own firms and industries and global audiences are kept in mind while generating media content. As the accounting and regulatory structures differ in different countries and there is no reliable global financial data, it presented challenge before the media economic researchers. The companies are competing in the global as well as in the domestic market to gain a maximum share of audience and advertisers revenue. The whole gamut of programs seems to be seen as the representation of commercial interests of the bureaucratic elite and rich at the expense of public opinion and democracy. Views and opinions of the people to create their influence on the masses diminish when large media players do not hold themselves accountable to the state regulations. In other words, globalization has become an issue of privatization. Big market players are using the media to gain their commercial endeavors in the form of advertisements. In his Preface to â€Å"The Codes of Advertising† Sut Jhally said, â€Å"The symbolic dimensions of needing and culture and the economic dynamic of capital accumulation are symbiotically intertwined in the new communication age of advanced capitalism. † (1990) Here the advertisements act as the modern mediators between the end consumers and big conglomerates. Shoemaker and Mayfield (1987), for instance, underlined the view that â€Å"Sources of finance like advertisers are generally strongly influential on all aspects of News production and that a funder’s ideology is likely to have an ultimate effect on editorial’s decisions relevant to this ideology. †(McQual 1992: 113) Most of the media content also depends on the advertisers will, their commercial propositions and their market position. The advertisers offer the contents, which are friendly to the audiences and cater to their taste and liking. For e. g. Television soap operas function as advertisements aiming at attracting audiences to stay in tune. The scriptwriters in soaps use the strategies in their writing to keep the viewers on hold. An advertising industry has come under heavy criticism among groups such as Adbursters who accused industry of becoming a powered engine of most complex economic production system. Suggestions are being forwarded by many public interest groups to tax advertisers for their continuous intrusion in the mental space of audiences. The advertisers too are indirectly dependent on the changes in the demographical set up and society in its various shape and magnitude creating tremendous impact on the way media industries capture the moods of the their audiences. â€Å"They have an insatiable appetite for media related content and services and as people live longer and obtain more discretionary income, spending on media will likely rise. These shifts in audience composition and makeup will present new pressures on media firms to develop content that will appeal to these unique and differing audiences. † (Downing, McQuail, Wartella & Schlesinger 2004: 299) Graham Murdock treats advertising more as a cultural and social phenomenon rather than economical. (Jhally, 1990: 3). But the social influence is only a smaller stroke in a big game of Media players. For the New York Times and other companies associated with Media, as said by Naom Chowsky, the products are audiences, and customers as corporate advertisers. The product of New York Times is the paper itself audiences buy and it becomes an information for advertisers and therefore for them, the audiences that buy the products themselves become products for advertisers and it is the advertisers that bring in revenue for the companies. (Shah 2008: online). It would be most appropriate to mention that advertising is a â€Å"Superstructural facade† (Jenks 2004: 299) as they just not only are the expressions of capitalism but also produces and reproduces it. Advertising has reduced the concept of public opinion to cherish the desire of acquiring capital rather than fulfillment of personal desire. In the words of Marx, â€Å"In bourgeois society the commodity-form of the product of labor – or the value-form of the commodity – is the economic cell-form. † (Jenks 2004: 299) Audiences too reciprocate the same way. A certain kind of close relationship is developed between audiences and advertisers. Advertisers have created an image a global way making social relation, as a form of commodity yet creating an incredible influence on the ideological perception of individualism and consumerism. And in this atmosphere, political economy too is opening only a new door on the old platform- a typical characteristic of capitalistic society, whereas the content of media is being modified to keep to the capitalist standard. There is a whole new concept of audience ratings, used by the media companies to make the plans of their programs schedule and for studying the success rate of programs and media products. Government agencies, Government authorities and public service media organizations act as basis for making adequate economic decisions, endorsing regulations, and controlling the mass communications. Audience ratings are merged with research and also used by advertisers as tools to identify their target audience and prepare media plan accordingly. But these rating systems are being criticized on the ground as said by Liina Puustinen in her working paper on â€Å"The Age of Consumer audience† that â€Å"they do not give an adequate image of the consumers and audiences, and they objectify people into numbers and faceless masses†. (Puustinen 2006: Online edition). Number of theories, like audience receptive theories have been propounded to reflect the attitude and perceiving nature of mass audiences, which are contradictory to the rating systems. The rating system only give information of how many people have watched any particular program or advertisement but not how they perceived the program and what value they give to it, therefore the theories rightly said that the rating systems do not accurately represent audience satisfaction. Hypodermic Needle Model states that the media players make the contents of any program, idea or information enter into the consciousness of the people. In other words, audiences are manipulated to the ideologies and thinking of the creator of media product. Hans Robert Jauss and Wolfgang Iser developed the Reception theory by studying the people’s attitude and their receptive tendencies toward programs. The theory delves on the way people adapt to various programs and play their role in actual analyzing of the text. Another theory Culmination theory too deepens down the audience approach on the sensitivity of the programs. If they watch too much of the violence, they would in the years to come make you less sensitive towards violence in the same way if violence towards women are watched on year to year basis then it would make you ultimately less insensitive towards the issue. The audience receptive theory deepens down to the study of the psychological patterns of the audiences and how they reciprocate and adopt the programs and how the media players mould the sensitivity of the audiences to receive what they show. Some critics state that these theories are only based on their preconceived notions and assumptions. For example in 1930’s one of the advertising executive said about radio audiences: â€Å"The typical listening audience for a radio program is a tired, bored, middle-aged man and woman whose lives are empty and who have exhausted their sources of outside amusement when they have taken a quick look at an evening paper†¦. Radio provides a vast source of delight and entertainment for the barren lives of the millions. † (Media studies: Online) It is not just about radio audiences, but we can hear about it for several soap operas or quiz shows. Every human being has his tastes, liking and his own way of perceiving the things. Some may be critical and some may be appreciative. In this scenario, it is the way media players reach their target audience becomes the whole crux of their strategies and plans of their programs. To hit the right audience at the right time, right moment and right situation is the motive of media players around which the whole of media content depends. And it is the only way advertisers are attracted to use the media content for their valuable business propositions for these right audiences. Number of programs like â€Å"Pop Idol† created by impressionist music maestro Simon Fuller became the most popular format for the first show on the European TV and also reached the other continents as well. The craze of the Pop idol carried Americans, Canadians and Australians as American Idol, Canadian Idol and Australian Idol followed by Spanish bonanza â€Å"Operacion Triunfo†, making the Latin and South Americans also to come under their sway. Ipod, a melodious device of new generation and a complete new innovation being carried by the young and old alike in Shanghai as well as Innsbruck rapidly transferred to the new generations across the borders. It is quite true that if digital home cinema has gained so popularity in Japan then why it shouldn’t reach the other continents? Well, it has reached the homes of other continents. (Reding 2005: Online Edition) More than the spread of news, the world of music has imbibed in itself international facets in its thematic expression and lyrical notes. Music has reached new dimensions in the technological advancement. According to Steiner, â€Å"The totally new fact is that today any music can be heard at any time and as domestic background music. †(Nesbitt 2006: 103). The other programs are now more of sensational, individualist and reductionist in nature as these programs touches the heart of audiences. Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson, and Hazel Gaudet studied how the voters made the decision during 1940 presidential election campaign and got their results published in paper The People’s Choice. They found out that information did not directly reach the consciousness of the audiences rather modified and passed down by the opinion leaders, which was again passed over to lesser active associates. In 2002, Anthony Giddens, a sociologist in the radio national broadcast made the people feel the essence of Globalization. He said, â€Å"Globalization is like a code-word standing for the reconstruction of our social institutions, going all the way through from the family, gender, sexuality (because after all the changing position of women is surely a global phenomenon as much as any other one) through the economy, the restructuring of business organizations, a restructuring of the nation and government, through the restructuring of international organizations†. (O’Regan 2002: Online edition) The politics since last 2300 years have been influencing the communication processes in the state. But since last few centuries, the relationship between politics and media is being seen in much controversial light than it was seen in the past and it is due to the political influence and control over the content of media and thereby their indirectly control over the public opinion. The political control over media reciprocates the views of Marx who said that media is a product of ruling elite wherein there is no scope of any alternative ideas. In Marx’s own words, â€Å"The class, which has the means of material production at its disposal, has control at the same time over the means of mental production, so that thereby, generally speaking, the ideas of those who lack the means of mental production are subject to it†. (Chandler 2000: Online) Marx further stated that mass media brings to the people’s consciousness false notions and ideas making media as a product of expressions of the ruling class. Graham Murdock too emphasized that economic factors play a determining role in the domination of ruling elite over media messages. The political economists look at ideological messages as superior to the economic criteria. (Chandler 2000: Online). In the 1966 article, Stein Rokkan brought into focus the two ways of decision making in the media circle: corporate system and numerical. In 1996, the whole of media was under the control of one or the other political party. But in the last two to three decades, we have seen number of changes in the way politics is being related to Media. Globalization has touched every sphere of human commodity from increasing a sense of risk to creating uncertainty. Interconnectedness in the global sphere increased the value of the humanity as a whole and an awareness of deep understanding and tensions between Global Diaspora, national and local perception of shared identities. (Gillespie, 1995: 3). It is no doubt a global village and we are all now a part of this global village where not only individual’s perception is taken into account but the perceptions of the whole in all its shades and dimensions is considered as the most virtuous and commercial proposition. REFERENCES LIST Chandler, D. 2000.Media as means of production in Marxist Media Theory. [Online] Available: http://www. aber. ac. uk/media/Documents/marxism/marxism03. html [13 May 2008] Chandler, D. 2000. Media as amplifiers in Marxist Media Theory. [Online] Available: http://www. aber. ac. uk/media/Documents/marxism/marxism05. html [13 May 2008] Downing, J. , McQuail, D. , Wartella, E. & Schlesinger P. 2004. The SAGE Handbook of Media Studies. California, London & New Delhi: SAGE Gillespie, Marie. 1995. Television, Ethnicity and Cultural Change. Routledge. Hjarvard, S. 2003. News Media and the Globalization of the Public Sphere. [Online] Available: http://www. kommunikationsforum. dk/default. asp? articleid=10761 [13 May 2008] Jhally Sut, P. 1990. The Codes of Advertising. Routledge. Jenks Chris, P. 2004. Urban Culture. Routledge. Johnson, P. 2004. Are the media playing politics? USATODAY. com. [Online] Available: http://www. usatoday. com/life/columnist/mediamix/2004-10-10-media-mix_x. htm Media Studies. Audience (Adapted from Steve Baker’s Media Studies website) [Online] Available: http://www. northallertoncoll. org. uk/media/audience. htm McQuail, D. 1992. Media Performance: Mass Communication and the Public Interest. California, London & New Delhi: SAGE Nesbitt, T. 2006. Global Media and cultural change. China Media Research, Chang, et, al, Intercultural Symposium on Cultural Globalization, 2(3): 103. O’ Regan, Mick. 2002. Media and globalisation. The Media Report. [Online] Available: http://www. abc. net. au/rn/talks/8. 30/mediarpt/stories/s678261. htm [13 May 2008] Puustinen L. 2006. The Age of Consumer-Audience. [Online] Available: http://209. 85. 175. 104/search? q=cache:FsxLpxbPeeQJ:www. valt. helsinki. fi/comm/fi/english/WP5. pdf+The+audience+reception+theories+on+ratings+system&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=in&ie=UTF-8 [16 May 2008] Rantanen T. 2005. The Media and Globalization. 1st Edition. California, London & New Delhi: SAGE Reding, V. 2005. The Media and Globalisation. European Forum Alpbach [Online] Available: http://europa. eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction. do? reference=SPEECH/05/469&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening - 1900 Words

Poems are defined as being a piece of writing in which words are chosen for their beauty and sound, and are carefully arranged. Through a poem, special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinctive style and rhythm. Poems that are considered as a form of literature are referred to as poetry. Different types of poems can have a range of effects on certain people. They use devices such as emotive words and symbolism to establish this connection. Through this, one may uncover feelings or memories from their past and realize the ‘deeper picture’ of certain topics i.e. life and its meaning. A well-written poem can connect with people’s ideas, express their feelings and remain memorable in their minds. I†¦show more content†¦Frost really could be simply enjoying the lake while his horse is confused on the darkest night of the year. After looking at the surface analysis it seems fairly pointless if that is all what it means . The deeper analysis could be that Frost s little horse demonstrates his emotions or conscience. So the horse thinking that things are strange or unusual may extend to what Frost is really thinking. He also seems to be in a dilemma, and isn’t sure what or how to feeling. This and is something which he knows he must find out. This was extracted from the line, â€Å"Between the woods and frozen lake†; the woods being one emotion, and the frozen lake being another. But once you read the last line in the stanza, â€Å"The darkest night of the year†, you realize that he is depressed. Again, on the shallow meaning of the third stanza is exactly what the poem says. When the horse shakes his harness bells, he thinks that they shouldn’t be stopped while they’re in the woods and at the same time frost is relaxing and enjoying the falling of snow. To no surprise there is another deeper analysis. The horse shaking his bells means that Frost still doesn’t know what is bothering him inside or how to resolve it: thus making him feel confused. The mistake resembles something that he did which upset him or made him feel guilty. From this point he notices that the only other sounds are of the wind and snow, and he realizes that he is all alone, not just currently in the woods,Show MoreRelatedStopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening1415 Words   |  6 Pagesoften triggered by feelings of helplessness and the inability to cope (Suicide Facts). Many people who suffer from feelings of self-despair mistakenly believe that ending their lives is the antidote to their pain. Robert Frost’s poems, â€Å"Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening,† â€Å"The Road Not Taken,† and â€Å"Acquainted with the Night† each have distinct moods and messages, but they converge on a common theme. While many readers may have diffi culty interpreting the gloomy, hopeless poems, the main message ofRead MoreStopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening904 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening† is a poem written by Robert Frost in 1923. In order for us to understand the message that the author is trying to depict in this poem, we must use â€Å"the drill† method. The drill method consist of analyzing the poem for devices of sound and figures of speech. The drill method is used to unravel the distilled content within the artwork. The devices of sound are resources that poets utilize in their art to project and reiterate the meaning or the experience ofRead MoreStopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening600 Words   |  3 PagesRobert Frost’s â€Å"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening† is a poem that gives off different feelings the more times one re-reads it. At a first glance, it seems like a simple momentary encounter for the speaker with beautiful Mother Nature, who stops to enjoy it before returning to the long journey that awaits him. However, with the second read, as one thinks more deeply, it becomes clear that the poem is actually illustrating the speaker’s journey through life. The unforeseen stopping depicts a pointRead MoreStopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening1556 Words   |  7 Pagesis present in Frost’s poem, â€Å"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,† from the 1928 collection, West-Running Brook. Here, Frost creates a good example of a Rubaiyat stanza that is br oken into four sections totaling sixteen lines. From the moment we meet the narrator, we are aware that his persona is suspicious, from his inspections of the winter surrounding, to the focus on his odd behavior and the final reminder of a plan. What â€Å"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening† deeply concerns is found inRead MoreStopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening847 Words   |  4 Pagesfeeling all of the emotions portrayed by the speaker? In the poem â€Å"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening†, written by Robert Frost in 1923, you receive that exact feeling. The poem is about a man stopping to admire the beauty that are the woods on a snowy night on his way to complete his task. This poem had many parts that could be well analyzed, which was surprising for how short the poem truly was. â€Å"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening† had many literary terms including the structure of the stanzasRead More Stopping by woods on a snowy evening Essay2229 Words    |  9 Pagesincluded. quot;Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Eveningquot; Complete Text Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village, though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queernbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the yearRead MoreAnalysis Of Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening1920 Words   |  8 Pagesâ€Å"Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening† By Robert Frost Commentary The poem, â€Å"Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening,† by Robert Frost is about the speaker walking near the woods while snowing. Though deceptive in length because of the feeling of a dream or deep sleep, the poem is rather short with only 16 lines. Ultimately, Frost creates a tension throughout the whole poem between a near-silent sleep or dream state and inclination to face reality. The readers are being drawn into sleep with the speaker’sRead MoreAnalysis of Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening851 Words   |  4 PagesAnalysis of Stopping by woods on a snowy evening Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening is a very well know poem by Robert Frost. The poem appears to be very simple, but it has a hidden meaning to it. The simple words and rhyme scheme of the poem gives it an easy flow, which adds to the calmness of the poem. The rhyme scheme (aaba, bbcb, ccdc, dddd) and the rhythm (iambic tetrameter) give the poem a solid structure. The poem is about the speaker s experience of stopping by the dark woods in the winterRead MoreStopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening Essay1431 Words   |  6 PagesFrost poetry in my free time. A phrase within the fourth stanza of the poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, curiously mirrored the journey of Christine J. Walley, the author of the ethno-biography Exit Zero. â€Å"The woods are lovely, dark, and deep but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep,† Frost writes. He presents the reader with a lone traveler trekking through the woods in search of answer. These woods display a level of co mplexion that may not be noticed by the everyday passerbyRead MoreAnalysis Of Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening1506 Words   |  7 Pageselements of human life within simple poetry. The fourth stanza of his poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, curiously mirrored the journey of Christine J. Walley, the author of the ethno-biography Exit Zero. â€Å"The woods are lovely, dark, and deep. But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep,† Frost writes (Frost, 1923). He presents a lone traveler trekking through the woods in search of answers. These woods display a level of complexity that may not be noticed by the everyday passerby