Globalization and Anthropology :: Outsourcing, Offshoring, Free Trade

1. We live in a world where nothing is sacred if selling it can make a buck. Be it â€Å"tourist† indigenous memorabilia or your own â€Å"extra† kidney, you can bet there’s a viable market, and someone’s willing to buy. Given the fantastic stealth of international transactions, globalized markets evoke particularly ominous possibilities for the marginalized in our capitalistic economy. Exposing obscure global issues from â€Å"tourist† art to bio-piracy, Schneider and Scheper-Hughes complicate our understanding of globalization by questioning one’s responsibility to the agency of others in an increasingly interrelated world. According to Schneider, defining â€Å"authenticity† is a battle between indigenous peoples and the tourists who purchase their arts and crafts. As â€Å"tourist† art grows with the realization of international tourism as means of development and economic growth in marginalized communities, foreign assumptions affect the perception of indigenous arts and crafts as â€Å"legitimately† indigenous. Indigenous peoples readily â€Å"transform† functional items into feasible commodities; â€Å"goods such as â€Å"indigenous blouses and shawls† easily become â€Å"alien place mates and pillow cases,† enabling indigenous peoples to survive (Schneider 80). Schneider asks, does this practice rob peoples of their culture, or simply generate a new kind of survival market culture? In seeking â€Å"to recognize and question Eurocentric imaginings of the world,† the discipline of anthropology complicates the right of tourists to judge the commodities of indigenous communities, as it questions the right of a global economy that forces peoples to produce such commodities to survive (Schneider 83). In her more gruesome study of organ theft in impoverished communities, Scheper-Hughes similarly demands that consumers understand the implications of â€Å"neo-cannibalism† on an international scale. Rejecting the idea of impoverished peoples as â€Å"uneducated and gullible informants,† Scheper-Hughes questions the meaning of doctors, organ brokers and prestigious anthropologists denying people voice about body-snatching (35, 39). Her research proves that â€Å"eviscerated bodies† do appear in allies and morgues, and verifies the accounts of poor peoples denied as mere â€Å"inventions† by authorities (36, 38).

Motivation Behind the Murder of Santiago Nasar’s Murder and Exploration of the Themes of Cultural Conventions and Women’s Societal Roles

This passage from Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s, Chronicles of a Death Foretold, occurs at the end of chapter two shortly after Angela Vicario is returned back to her family in disgrace after her groom discovers that she had premarital sex with another man. In this extract Angela Vicario is beaten viciously albeit silently at the hand of her mother for shaming the family honor before her twin brothers force her to give up the name of the man whom she lost her virginity to, in which she names an innocent man, Santiago Nasar. Within this passage, the importance of honor is evident when the lost virginity of Angela leads to the disgrace of both her groom and her family as well as leading to the death of an innocent man in Santiago Nasar by consequence. It is also within this passage that readers find out the motive behind the murder of Santiago Nasar, which is discovered to be an unfortunate coincidence, which along with the other coincidences in the rest of the novel convey the idea that Santiago death was indeed a death foretold. This passage is significant because it reveals two central themes in the – the problems with outdated conventions of a society, and the idea of fate- as well as revealing one of the most crucial aspect of the novel, the motivation behind the murder of Santiago Nasar. In this novella, Marquez attempts to express the conventions of a South American society. From this passage alone, it is clear how important the purity of a woman and honor is for a family. Bayardo San Roman returns Angela on the same night of their wedding because he discovers that she lost her virginity to another man before their marriage. The humiliation of having a wife whose virginity was taken away from her by another man is cast upon San Roman because of the customs of the society which forces him to return her despite his love for her. Marquez unveils the customs of the society in situations such as San Roman’s refusal of an impure Angela in order to subtly criticize them. San Roman breaks his marriage to a woman who he loves because of the fact that in their society it is shameful to not be the one who takes the virginity away from the wife. This is done again within the passage, when the twins â€Å"trembling with rage† (Marquez 47) force Angela to â€Å"tell [them] who it was† (Marquez 47) who took her virginity so that they may avenge her lost of honor. This forces her to them Santiago Nasar’s name, who is most likely innocent, in order to protect the identity of the true perpetrator. Through this sequence, these time-honored conventions of the society are shown once again to be poor, when an innocent man, Nasar, must be sacrificed in order to redeem the honor of a family. Along with the theme of conventions of society, Marquez integrates the theme of women in this society to further criticize the outdated customs that are present. Pura, the mother, upon receiving her daughter back in disgrace, beats her with such â€Å"rage that [Angela] that she was going to kill [her]† (Marquez 46). In this violent beating, the painful emotions within Pura are seen; her daughter has dismantled her honor. Pura represents the model woman in this society, one who â€Å"devoted herself with such spirit of sacrifice to the care of her husband and the rearing of her children that at times one forgot she still existed† (Marquez 31). She, herself, has lived a life of suffering because of the societal conventions of women roles, and she raised her daughters with the same demeanor. Through the return of her daughter, her reputation has been tarnished and she feels as though she has failed. The manner in which she beats Angela â€Å"with such stealth that her husband†¦ didn’t find out anything until dawn† (Marquez 46) reinforces this idea of her life as sacrificing for her husband that in even moments of anguish she allows her husband to have his rest while she deals with the problems. From the perspective of Angela, she defies the conventions of society and has premarital sex and does not deceive her husband into believing that she is a virgin. She faces the consequences when she is returned but at the end of it feels â€Å"as if the drowsiness of death had finally been lifted† (Marquez 47). She is relieved that she does not have to live life any longer in fear of someone finding out that she is no longer a virgin. This passage, the characterization development of Angela can be seen as becoming more independent and stronger as the weight of the her lost virginity is lifted off her shoulders. Nevertheless, the customs of treating disgraced women in this society are shown and the severe consequence of lost family honor is demonstrated through the outdated conventions of the South American society. In addition to expression of cultural conventions, this passage also sustains the idea of a death foretold. In the novella there are many circumstantial coincidences that all ultimately lead to the murder of Santiago Nasar, such as the Mayor checking his game of Dominoes which delay him from stopping the twins from murdering Nasar, Cristo Bedoya having to help a sick man when trying to warn Nasar and Placida Linero, Nasar’s mother, shutting the door to the house believing Nasar was inside which prevented Nasar from escaping the assault of the twins. The naming of Nasar as the man who took Angela’s virginity is no different. From the passage, it is clear that Nasar is innocent and that it was misfortune that his name was given. When demanded for the name of her perpetrator, Angela â€Å"looked for it in the shadows† (Marquez 47) and â€Å"found it at first sight among the many, many easily confused names from this world and the other† (Marquez 47). The many, many names represent the possible men that came across Angela’s mind before she gave her answer, the fact that they are easily confused in the mind of Angela suggest that it she did indeed give a false answer to protect that man who took her virginity as she would not have forgotten the name of that man. The narration describes the naming of Nasar out of all the potential names by Angela as her â€Å"[nailing] it to the wall with her well-aimed dart, like a butterfly with no will whose sentence has always been written† (Marquez 47). The comparison of Santiago’s situation after being named as the one who dishonored Angela and the situation of a butterfly pinned by a dart to a wall with no will is Marquez’s way of explaining that from that moment Nasar was as good as dead. Like a butterfly pinned to a wall, Nasar’s fate has been pinned by the naming from Angela, he cannot escape the vengeance of the Vicario brother. Moreover, in this naming of Nasar, the motivation behind his murder is finally revealed. A false claim has that was forced to be given led to the death of an innocent man. Not only is this significant to the plot, as it reveals why Nasar was murdered even though he himself did not know upon his death, but it helps to magnify some of the themes in the novella. Themes such as honor and outdate conventions are strengthened by learning the motive behind the murder of Santiago Nasar. The importance of honor and the conventions of the culture are evident when the Vicario brothers learn that it was Nasar who dishonored their sister. They are forced to murder Nasar against their will for redemption while the rest of the society condones this and even encourages it because its is what is expected in the culture. This extract which is taken from the end of the second chapter in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s, Chroncles of a Death Foretold, is significant because it reveals the motivation behind the murder of Santiago Nasar, an innocent man, and expresses the author’s thoughts of fate and outdated customs of the South American society. Within this passage, Angela names Santiago Nasar’s as the man who took away her virginity for an unknown reason, which alongside with many other coincidences crystallize the idea that it was a death foretold and that it could not have been stopped. Along with this theme of fate, the role of women in this society can be seen through both Angela who represents one who defies the conventional role of women and Pura who epitomizes the role of women. Angela’s defiance of the conventional woman’s role leads to her being returned back by her groom in disgrace, not only is she shamed but the family name has been stained. Marquez’s use of magical realism to portray Angela’s thoughts before naming Nasar and the use of the butterfly simile at the end of the passage infer the extremities that must be carried out in the society for a family to regain their honor. Word Count: 1492 Work Cited Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. Chronicles of a Death Foretold. Trans. Gregory Rabassa. New York: KNOPF, 1982.

A Freelance Writers Basic Guide to SEO

A Freelance Writers Basic Guide to SEO A Freelance Writers Basic Guide to SEO A Freelance Writers Basic Guide to SEO By Colin Hands up all those freelance writers who, when scanning the job boards recently, have seen writing gigs looking for copywriters with SEO experience? (should be everyone). Keep your hands up if you don’t understand what SEO is, or if you do, were confused the first time you saw it used? (should still be everyone). And now keep your hands up all those freelancers who have since realised how easy it is to make money writing SEO articles, or who would like to know what it’s all about? (Everyone should still have their hands up). Yes it’s true, SEO seems like one of those fancy modern phrases, that only applies to tech-minded people, but the reality is very different. SEO has been around for a while; it’s only since the Google revolution has it been defined as an entity. Get your head around SEO, and it can be the source of many lucrative writing jobs. This article will give you the low down on SEO, what it is, and how you can earn from it. What is SEO? SEO is an acronym for Search Engine Optimisation. It is the term to describe the methodology used to boost a website’s rating when it is searched for on an Internet search engine, and the resulting page rank it receives in relation to other related websites. This is achieved through the use of web content and articles enriched with keywords, and meta tags in the structure of the webpage. Why is it Relevant? SEO is relevant in the world of e-commerce and online business, and for those involved in the creation of web sites and web content. Because most Internet users don’t browse past the first page of search results they are offered, the higher a website can rank for a given keyword or phrase, the better its chances are of bringing in new customers. Research has shown most users only ever click on the top 5 to 10 results. Yahoo, MSN, and in particular Google, account for over 70% of all search engine traffic on the Internet, so for an online business this avenue of attracting customers is highly valued. What is a Page Rank? Page rank is a way of determining a websites importance dependent on its desirability and exposure. The term was derived by Google, who developed an algorithm to calculate rankings. When this algorithm is executed, it determines the number of links pointing to a website, the amount of relevant content it contains, and then assigns it a number between 1 and 10; 1 being the lowest level of rank, 10 being the highest. The higher a page rank, the better chance a website has of appearing at the top of an Internet search result page. What is a Keyword? A keyword is a word or phrase an Internet user will enter into a search engine when trying to locate something, i.e., a product or information. For example, a website selling herbal tea will list keywords such as, â€Å"herbal,† â€Å"tea,† and â€Å"tea bags,† etc. What is Keyword Density? Keyword density is the numerical factor derived from dividing the number of words on the page of a website, by the number of keywords that are used within it. The more keywords used throughout a web page (and ultimately the entire site), the better the website will rank for that keyword or phrase. Websites that have too high a density tend be considered as spam by search engines, and may be excluded. Cant Website Owners Pay For A Higher Ranking? It’s not possible to purchase search list rankings, because they are free and calculated through algorithms. Instead, a website must earn its rating over time, and through the use of Internet links and keyword relevance. It is possible to pay for promotion based on specific keywords or phrases, however these are separate to the free results offered when running a standard search, and usually appear as sponsored adverts. What Has All This To Do With Freelance Writing? For freelance writers, this means the appearance of more and more writing gigs looking for writers who are able to write dedicated SEO-rich web copy, related articles, and blogs. All these methods are aimed at attracting hits and links to a website, thus boosting its rankings, and pushing it up the search ladder. There are two main methods you might be hired to do this. The first is through the writing of web content for the target site. The aim of this is to attract interested users directly into a website via a landing page. For example, a user will search for the term â€Å"herbal tea,† and find their way onto a website that sells it. They will then be able to read all about it and order their favourite brand before they leave. The second method is through the writing of articles and blogs that are external to the website, but show up in search engine results and guide users towards the main website at the centre of the business. So for example, somebody might search for â€Å"Lemon tea† and discover an article written by a freelance writer on the physical benefits herbal tea promotes. The article will contain a by-line or other links throughout it, that direct the reader to the main website so they can purchase lemon tea. Where there are websites looking for business there will always be a need for writers. Fresh and attractive articles that are written using SEO techniques, and are enriched using keywords in a subtle and sensitive approach, are becoming more in demand. Master SEO writing, and you will never be short of work. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! 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