Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Paper on teen suicide
Introduction of teenage suicide
Essay on fashion traditions evolving
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Paper on teen suicide
The Tipping Point
What can one consider being a tipping point in a situation. Is it when a situation changes from bad to worse? Could it be when it changes from good to better? Or could it be from when it changes from a bad situation and all of a sudden it turns around and becomes good? In my essay we are going to explore the tipping point from four different authors: Malcolm Gladwell, Mary G. King, Lynne M. Anderson, and Christine M. Pearson. From subject of: hush puppies, teen suicide, crime, smoking, incivility in the workplace and the black women’s breakthrough into clerical work. There could be many reasons why there were tipping
points in these topics, but I will shed light on how hush puppies, which was a fad, had life put back in them and they were popular once again. Teens began looking at suicide as being the alternative to whatever problem they had. How most smokers had a particular person from their childhood who they looked up to and they thought they were cool. Crime had declined in New York from 1980 to 1992 because of the theory of criminals have aged during that time period. Civility in the workplace is easily spiraled down to incivility and aggressive behaviors and finally black women’s breakthrough into the clerical work.
Malcolm Gladwell (staff writer for The New York) looks at what brought on the tipping point of Hush Puppies Shoes. Hush Puppies were trademarked in 1958 and in 1963. American’s were wearing Hush Puppies at a ratio of 1 in every 10 adults (www.Ehow.com). It was at a fashion shoot that two executives ran into a stylist from New York had told him that the Hush Puppies were coming back after many years of suffering. There were a few kids from the downtown Manhattan who weren’t ...
... middle of paper ...
...ne M., and Pearson, Christine M. “Tit for Tat? The Spiraling Effect
Incivility in the Workplace.” The Academy of Management Review 24. 3
(Jul.,1999): 452-471. Fri. 18 Mar. 2011.
King, Mary C. “Black Women’s Breakthrough into Clerical Work: An Occupational
Tipping Model. “Journal of Economic Issues 27.4 (Dec., 1993): 1097-1125.
Fri. 18 March 2011.
Greene, Stuart and Lidnisky, April “From The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can
Make a Big Difference.” From Inquiry to Academic Writing: a
Text and Reader. New York: Bedford and St. Martin’s, 2008. 432-446. Print.
Zimbardo, P.G. 1969. The human choice: Individuation, reason, and order versus
Deindividuation, impulse, and chaos. In D. Levine (ED), Nebraska symposium
on motivation, 237-307. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
How exactly do social trends start and how do they become such huge phenomena? The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell explains how ideas, trends, and behaviors reach a “tipping point” (Gladwell, 2000). According to Gladwell, a tipping point is the peak of a particular phenomenon. The Tipping Point describes exactly how health epidemics, fashion trends, television shows, products, etc. become popular and last for elongated periods of time. In this summary, I will attempt to reiterate what Gladwell means in reference to “how little things make big differences.”
Palladino creates a historical background of the thirties in order to show how history related to and effected the personal experiences early teenagers were having. When Palladino wanted to talk about the challenges and repercussions faced by teens of the 1930s, how they were beginning to go to high school and develop a social group of their own, she first had to explain the historical context teens of the thirties were living in which was the Great Depression. Describing the historical context without directly bringing in teenagedom shows Palladino uses sociological imagination by implying a relationship between the Great Depression and the personal experiences of early teenagers. Palladino explains, “But the realities of economic depression, severe and unrelenting by the mid 1930s, altered their plans. Between 1929 and 1933, professional incomes dropped 40 percent, and the supply of white-collar workers dangerously exceeded demand...During the great depression there were 4 million young Americans sixteen to twenty-four who were looking for work, and about 40 percent of them--1 million boys and 750,000 girls--were high school age” (Palladino, 35-36). Later she elaborates to explain that much of teenage life was affected by this historical occurrence, showing that she understands history connects to the personal lives of the early teenage societal group. Palladino does this again when analyzing teens of the forties, “Although the nation had been gearing up for war ever since the fall of France in 1940…” (Palladino, 63), Palladino creates a fuller awareness of the historical context teenagers were living in, in order to examine the group by showing their relation to societal forces as a whole and the history being made around
At the time this was written, World War II was happening. Prior to the 1940s, the United States for the last decade was in a depression and remained isolated from other nations. The United States was sucked into the war when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The Great Depression had an overwhelmingly negative effect on the economy, and as a result of the war “Unemployment almost disappeared because the men were at war, and the women and blacks were allowed to fill the open positions” (American Cultural History the Twentieth Century 2). During this time in age, the Holocaust was taking place. The military provided for a GI bill, which in turn gave more men college educations. “In 1949, three times as many college degrees were conferred as in 1940. College became available to the capable rather than the privileged few” (American Cultural History the Twentieth Century 3). The baby boom was a result of the returning soldiers. Computers were in their early stages of development in the forties. ENIAC was a digital computer that was completed in 1945. The United States dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end the war. Another aspect of the forties was the use of the radio. ...
...pirit of innovation in the air, women taking on new and exciting roles within society, and a rise of crime and chaos. The movements of Jazz and Prohibition were essential to the formation of the American society at this point in time. With the innovation in writing, dance and music was substantial to the ideals of American life. The new woman fought for what she believed and wanted equal rights. However, for as many who wanted to reform society, there were some on the other side of the spectrum that just wanted to have fun, while disregarding authority. The spike in crime was attributed to two things: the first being the KKK with their terror tactics, and the disdain towards other ethnic groups. The second being bootlegging, creating the alcohol that people were not allow to have. The ideologies from the 20’s stem from the movements of the Jazz Age and Prohibition.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in the 1980’s? The crazy hair styles, the new and improved things that were being created made this time alive, and fun. To be born in the 1980’s would have a been a privilege, who wouldn’t want to be known as “The decade that defined…. “US!” The 1980s was a decade that began on January 1, 1980, and ended on December 31, 1989. This decade was a great social and economic time period for people living in the 80’s. The world was becoming more developed as well as everyone in it. This decade became the “Look at me” generation of status seekers. The 80’s made a new breed of billionaires and money makers. “The decade began with double-digit inflation, Reagan declared a war on drugs, Kermit didn't find it easy to be green, hospital costs rose, we lost many, many of our finest talents to AIDS which before the decade ended spread to black and Hispanic women, and unemployment rose,” according to Peggy Whitely of Lone Star College. Although this time seemed like all fun and games, there were many problems. People say we lost the meaning of “We” and it suddenly became “I.” Citizens were realizing that you couldn’t depend on others around you; they were coming up with new ideas, and inventions to allow things to be more efficient. Although the 1980’s suffered a huge change for the American people, the fads and fashion part of the people strived, as well as the inventions. These two things will be some of the most historical, yet fascinating parts of the 80’s generation in American History.
The Sixties, by Terry H. Anderson, takes the reader on a journey through one of the most turbulent decades in American life. Beginning with the crew-cut conformity of 1950s Cold War culture and ending with the transition into the uneasy '70s, Anderson notes the rise of an idealistic generation of baby boomers, widespread social activism, and revolutionary counterculture. Anderson explores the rapidly shifting mood of the country with the optimism during the Kennedy years, the liberal advances of Johnson's "Great Society," and the growing conflict over Vietnam that nearly tore America apart. The book also navigates through different themes regarding the decade's different currents of social change; including the anti-war movement, the civil rights struggle, and the liberation movements. From the lunch counter sit-in of Greensboro, N.C. in 1960 and the rise of Martin Luther King, Jr. to the Black Power movement at the decade's end, Anderson illustrates the brutality involved in the reaction against civil rights, the radicalization of some of the movement's youth, and the eventual triumphs that would change America forever. He also discusses women's liberation and the feminist movement, as well as the students' rights, gay rights, and environmental movements.
As World War Two came to a close, a new American culture was developing all across the United States. Families were moving away from crowded cities into spacious suburban towns to help create a better life for them during and after the baby boom of the post-war era. Teenagers were starting to become independent by listing to their own music and not wearing the same style of clothing as their parents. Aside from the progress of society that was made during this time period, many people still did not discuss controversial issues such as divorce and sexual relations between young people. While many historians regard the 1950s as a time of true conservatism at its finest, it could really be considered a time of true progression in the American way of life.
After the heavy stresses of WWI, many young soldiers returned home with a need to feel alive again. With the war over and the American economy growing, many US citizens found themselves with money, time, and new ways of expressing themselves. Over one long, prosperous decade, United States grew and changed drastically. The younger generations turned the societal norms of their forefathers on their heads and women began to take large steps away from their stereotyped lifestyle. There were movements in art, music, writing, and politics, as well as an introduction of new cars and machines. With changes in constitutional laws, public ideas, and everyday ideals, the 1920s are considered some of the most pivotal times in the history of the United States.
During the nineteen twenties in America, the country had undergone a substantial amount of change throughout the country. These changes included sports, music, fashion, the economy, prohibition, transportation and of course organized crime. Organized crime was a major contributor of the problems of the twenties and a major side effect of the prohibition. Organized crime was at its peak in the nineteen twenties and America hasn’t quite been the same sincense the crime started.
While the materialism of the 20’s faded into the economic depression that followed, and the glow of the 1950’s was dimmed by the onset of communist fever, both decades proved to be successful and iconic in the way that they brought about massive prosperity, and because youth found new ways of expressing themselves and inviting progress. Unfortunately, not all outcomes were good, and both eras triggered an onslaught of racial tension that would continue well into the future.
The Roaring Twenties was America’s golden age. F. Scott Fitzgerald once said,“The parties were bigger, the pace was faster, the shows were broader, the buildings were higher, the morals were looser, and the liquor was cheaper” (“People” PBS). The cultural undertone of the twenties was very different from the times before and during World War I. “ For the first time, more Americans lived in cities than on farms…people from coast to coast bought the same goods…listened to the same music, did the same dances, and even used the same slang” (“Roaring” History). The Twenties was a time of social and cultural change. During this time, things like the automobile and jazz became more popular and mainstream. These things were possible because America
During the years between 1920 and 1960, America saw change in many aspects of life. The United States was a part of two major wars and a crash of the banking system that crippled the economy greater than ever seen in this country’s history. Also the country had new insecurities to tackle such as immigration and poor treatment of workers. These events led to the change of America lives socially, economically, and politically. The people of America changed their ideas of what the country’s place in the world should be. The issues challenging America led the country to change from isolation to war, depression to prosperity, and social change. The threats to American way of life, foreign and domestic, were the changing forces to the country in the twenties to the sixties.
Turning points in history can mean a change in the way the things are done in the past, sometimes for the better, and other times for the worse. Two notable turning points in history were the Industrial Revolution and also World War I. These both had some political, social and cultural impacts.
During the first half of the 20th century, Harlem became a mecca for African American culture and ideas. Home to the Harlem Renaissance, Harlem housed many influential African American leaders and influenced much of African American culture of the 20th century. Harlem’s population exploded during the 1920s-30s due to the Harlem Renaissance, and continued to expand until reaching its peak during the 1950s. The decade of the 195...
The nineteen fifties was a decade of prosperous times in America, but the average lifestyle of an American seemed extremely dull. The average American conformed to social norms, most Americans in the nineteen fifties dressed alike, talked the same way, and seemed to have the same types of personality. Music is what started to change the conformist lifestyle in America. Teenagers started to rebellion against their families by listening to Rock-n-Roll...