Crime and Punishment as a Polyphonic Novel :: Crime Punishment Essays

The term 'polyphony' was introduced into literary theory by Mikhail Bakhtin in his à Ãƒ °Ãƒ ®Ãƒ ¡Ãƒ «Ãƒ ¥Ãƒ ¬Ãƒ » à ¯Ãƒ ®Ãƒ ½Ãƒ ²Ãƒ ¨Ãƒ ªÃƒ ¨ Äà ®Ãƒ ±Ãƒ ²Ãƒ ®Ãƒ ¥Ãƒ ¢Ãƒ ±Ãƒ ªÃƒ ®Ãƒ £Ãƒ ®. The polyphonic novel is dialogic rather than monologic; this means that multiple voices can be heard, and each voice represents an alternative version of 'the truth'. (NB. The use of dialogue as a formal device does not make a novel polyphonic in the Bakhtinian sense; genuine polyphony entails a sense of ambivalence, a situation where the different voices compete with one another and represent alternative viewpoints between which the reader cannot make a straightforward choice.) In Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov is the main focalizer: his point of view is adopted by the third-person narrator almost throughout (exceptions include a small number of episodes involving Svidrigaylov, and the relatively impersonal first chapter of the the Epilogue). The reader is thus allowed access into Raskolnikov's inner world, and although third-person narration is used, the novel as a whole comes close to being the central character's interior monologue. Nevertheless, there is also a strong tendency towards dialogue. This has several manifestations: (1) Actual dialogues between characters are of central importance in shaping not only the events but also Raskolnikov's mental processes; in relation to Raskolnikov, the other characters with their distinctive voices all represent alternative truths and alternative points of view. The other characters, and their ideas and values, are perceived through the prism of Raskolnikov's consciousness: their voices echo in his mind, and he reacts to the ideas put forward by these external voices, often entering into a mental dialogue with them. (2) Raskolnikov also conducts an endless dialogue with himself (frequently addressing himself in the second person); the voice of his shrewd intellect alternates with the voice of conscience, and a lucid understanding of his situation coexists with unaccountable (even contradictory) emotional reactions. (3) The reader also has access to Raskolnikov's subconscious mind (the voice of the subconscious) in the context of his nightmarish visions (see especially chapters I:5 and III:6) In all, Raskolnikov's mind becomes a battlefield where a number of different internal and external voices (representing different ideas and world-views, or different facets of Raskolnikov's personality) keep vying for supremacy.

Culture and Attribution Essay

Every country in the world practice their own cultural traditions and norms. Nevertheless, these various cultures are generally characterized as either individualistic or collective. Individualistic culture is defined as â€Å"a society in which the ties between individuals are loose and everyone is expected to look after himself or herself and his or her immediate family only† (â€Å"Individualism versus collectivism†, n. d. ). On the other hand, a collective society pertains to â€Å"a society in which people from birth onwards are integrated into strong cohesive ingroups, which throughout people’s lifetime continue to protect them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty† (â€Å"Individualism versus collectivism†, n. d. ). These kinds of culture would be further elaborated in the duration of this paper. A group of business people coming from two different cultures work together but unfortunately, the project they conducted fails. This failure could be attributed to the fact that they have different beliefs and priorities. As such, they would also have different reactions as to why they did not succeed in this business venture. The ones who came from the individualistic culture would blame themselves and point out that it was their weaknesses and misgivings that cause this downfall. It could also be possible that they would blame their business associates and do all the possible means to protect the assets that they have invested on this project. On the other hand, those business people coming from the collective culture would blame the whole group for their failure. Since it is a group project, their shortcomings as a whole team could be the reason why they failed. Another possible reaction could be that they would propose that they work together to address the problem and to regain what they have lost from this unsuccessful project. Another similar incident personally happen to me in one of the group projects that is required in a course that I took. The professor assigned us to make a resolution regarding the issue of plagiarism. The group have to work together and each person must contribute their ideas on how the problem of plagiarism could be address. However, we were not able to complete a sound resolution due to the lack of group cooperation. This is due to the fact that some of our members did not attend the scheduled meeting, which is why only some of us made the resolution. Our professor gave us a failing mark that resulted for most of the members to blame each other. This attribution clearly shows that most of us came from an individualistic culture because we tend to think of ourselves and our own interest without giving due consideration to the shortcomings of the whole group. In another perspective, if this incident happen from someone coming from a collective culture the failure that took place would be seen as the responsibility of all members. Those who did the resolution also have their misgivings as they fail to remind the other members of the meeting. Furthermore, the lack of cooperation and teamwork of all the members is one of the major factors as to why we get a failing mark. The aforementioned incidents prove that culture has a huge impact in an individual. The behavior as well as the decisions of a person is greatly influence by cultural factors. Reference Individualism versus collectivism. (n. d. ). Retrieved July 29, 2008, from http://www. via-web. de/284. html.

Nonsampling or Systematic Errors

Nonsampling errors can occur both in a sample survey and in a census. Such errors occur because of human mistakes and not chance. The errors that occur in the collection, recording, and tabulation of data are called nonsampling errors. Nonsampling errors occur because of human mistakes and not chance. Nonsampling errors can be minimized if questions are prepared carefully and data are handled cautiously. Many types of systematic errors or biases can occur in a survey, including selection error, nonresponse error, response error, and voluntary response error.The following chart shows the types of errors. (i) Selection Error: When we need to select a sample, we use a list of elements from which we draw a sample, and this list usually does not include many members of the target population. Usually it is not feasible to include every member of the target population in this list. This list of members of the population that is used to select a sample is called the sampling frame. Thus, the sampling frame that is used to select a sample may not be representative of the population. This may cause the sample results to be different from the population results.The error that occurs because the sampling frame is not representative of the population is called the selection error. If a sample is nonrandom (and, hence, non representative), the sample results may be quite different from the census results. (ii) Nonresponse Error: Even if our sampling frame and, consequently, the sample are representative of the population, nonresponse error may occur because many of the people included in the sample did not respond to the survey. This type of error occurs especially when a survey is conducted by mail.A lot of people do not return the questionnaires. It has been observed that families with low and high incomes do not respond to surveys by mail. Consequently, such surveys over represent middle-income families. This kind of error may also occur in a telephone survey. Many people may not be home when the interviewer calls. This may distort the results. To avoid the nonresponse error, every effort should be made to contact all people included in the survey. (iii) Response Error: The response error occurs when the answer given by a person included in the survey is not correct.This may happen for many reasons. One reason is that the respondent may not have understood the question. Thus, the wording of the question may have caused the respondent to answer incorrectly. It has been observed that when the same question is worded differently, many people do not respond the same way. The answers given by respondents may differ depending on the race of the interviewer. (iv) Voluntary Response Error: Another source of systematic error is a survey based on a voluntary response sample.The polls conducted based on samples of readers of magazines and newspapers suffer from voluntary response error or bias. Usually only those readers who have very strong opinions about the issues involved respond to such surveys. Surveys in which the respondents are required to call some telephone numbers also suffer from this type of error. Here, to participate, many times a respondent have to pay for the call and many people do not want to bear this cost. Consequently, the sample is usually neither random nor representative of the target population because participation is voluntary.