E-mail, Instant Messaging and Chat Rooms: The New Letter?
Personal communication over distance used to be laborious – considerable physical impediments slowed the process. In the 1800’s, an aristocratic gentlemen hand-penned a letter with a quill pen and bottled ink, sealed the envelope with melted wax, and sent a footman to hand-deliver the missive to his faraway love; in the midst of battle, foot-soldiers ran relays across hostile territories, rushing battle plans to waiting troops; news of the California gold rush galloped across America by horseback. Even our modern postal service takes at least a day – with numerous people, and ground and air transportation involved – to move a letter from point A to point B.
In years past, knowing a personal letter could take weeks to reach its recipient increased its significance. The writer thoughtfully chose paper, pen and ink, taking time to consider the message. Guided by historically-evolved etiquette and a sense of social propriety, he created an artful object by combining written thoughts with an individualized medium that reflected personal style (Landow 221). Sherry Turkle writes in Virtuality and Its Discontents “the (letter bears) the trace of the physical body of the person who sen(ds) it” (481). A written letter has meaningful form and content. You know the recipient either personally or by public reputation, and you know their residence or workplace.
Enter the personal computer: today, a dude clicks away, instant-messaging his favorite chick; complicated war strategies are instantly e-mailed across secure computer networks; chat rooms create never-ending global cocktail parties. Two PC’s with Internet connections equal instant communication, instant gr...
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Bob Dylan Website. www.bobdylan.com. Assessed 1 August 2004
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The novel A Lesson Before Dying is about a young, college-educated man and a convict, Grant Wiggins and Jefferson. Grant is asked to make a man out of Jefferson who is convicted of killing a white man during a robbery in which he got dragged along to. Grant is asked by Emma Lou to make a man out of Jefferson, so if anything, Jefferson can die with dignity. Something that he was striped of when he was tried and his attorney used the defence that he is a hog. While trying to get through to Jefferson, Grant struggles because he is so far and separated from his own community. He holds resentment toward the white man and wants to get away from his town which he thinks is an on-going vicious cycle of misery. The novel A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines depicts the social and racial injustices faced by African Americans in the South in the late 40...
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...e and relationship. Second section couples focus on self exploration: love, myths, family origin rules, relationship, and love. Third section couples teaches couples to build empathy for partner, shows couple how to differ the need for bonding and the need for sex. Couples identify caring behaviors they would like from their partners, and identify “turn-ons/turn-offs.” Fourth section couples explore the pleasure of physical bounding and touch. It also addresses early sexual decisions, sexual myths, and jealousy are also addressed. Fifth section is use to clarify expectations and goals. After completing the five sessions couples use the skills and insights learned to help negotiate a contract or set of expectations for their relationship.
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Marriage Dance is a treatment group designed for couples to work on their marital issues. A rationale for the use of therapeutic group work as an intervention is to help the members understand that they are not the only ones facing such problems, something that individual case work alone cannot achieve. Furthermore, the process of mutual aid takes place during group work when members draw upon their own experiences and deep-seated needs to support their fellow members. It is through this process of “giving” where these members also “receive” and learn from their past experiences (Kurland & Salmon, 1993).
The world is in another cold war, except this time countries are battling for cyber supremacy. Cyberspace is a massive land of ever changing technology and personal interaction (McGuffin and Mitchell 1). Cyberspace is not only a place that people post pictures and update their profile, but it also plays an enormous role in running a country. Advanced countries use computers to guide their military, keep track of citizens, run their
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