Audism Unveiled Essay

Audism Unveiled Audism by it’s very definition is a negative or oppressive attitude towards deaf people by either deaf or hearing people and organizations, and a failure to accommodate them. This documentary really opened my eyes as to what deaf people have gone through since the beginning of time. They have been treated with prejudice and oppression. They have been looked down upon- as if they are some sort of â€Å"subhuman† not worthy of being classified as a normal person because of the fact that they cannot hear. Audism goes under the same category as racism, sexism, discrimination, etc. In the movie, â€Å"Audism Unveiled,† they were many testimonials of different deaf people explaining their stories of oppression simply because of the fact that they’re deaf or hard of hearing. Deaf people often have difficulty communicating with the hearing world and thus, they have been looked down upon with sympathy. They need to be healed. They’re disabled. They can’t have the same jobs as hearing people. It’s sickening how deaf people get treated. There was a deaf man in the film who explained how his parents would take him to a religious shrine and have a priest and his mother pray for him so his deafness can be â€Å"healed.† It, obviously, did nothing and he is still deaf and he seems happy that way. Another deaf man exclaimed how his parents made him go to a medicine man in a smoke filled hut, hoping that this kind of ritual will help him. But since he did not take the ritual seriously, his parents said that’s why it didn’t work. But, religion is not going to help the situation anymore than screaming at them will. But some stories were sad: A deaf man explained how his mother never learned to sign even though the man has been deaf since childhood. One day, when she was in her 80’s, she asked him if she should have learned sign language, baffled, the man asked why she was asking this. But she shrugged it off, and a year later, she was on her death bed, trying to write a note to her son and mid-write, she passed away. The man never knew what her last words to her son were going to be. Now, he is an advocate for parents of deaf  children to learn sign language so that no one would ever have to experience what he had to. I think that all parents with deaf children should embrace their child and their new culture and learn the language that is most easy for their child to communicate in. Most deaf children feel lonely and abandoned from their families because no one ever bothers to include them into family conversations. Whenever the deaf person would ask what’s going on, they would say â€Å"Oh we’ll tell you later.† Always the same thing and deaf people are tired of it. They want to know now and be included! It’s not fair that they have to be left out just because they’re deaf. It causes depression and resentment in the deaf person when the family constantly excludes the deaf family member. In some situations, deafness was viewed as evil. One man said that his aunt told him that he must have been a bad man in his past-life and as punishment, he was born deaf in this life-time. Hearing people do view being deaf as a misfortune, but that does not justify the way that they get treated by hearing people. I think it’s horrible how they are viewed as unable. I would hate to imagine someone treating me like I’m not able because I’m Hispanic or because I’m gay. It would tear me apart and I’m sure most deaf people feel the same way. Audism needs to be a bigger issue among hearing people and they need to know that being deaf is not a handicap, deaf people are not looking for sympathy. They want to be treated as equals.

Grammar in Context

Elbaum, Sandra. 2001. Grammar in Context 3rd ed. Boston: Heinle & Heinle Publishers. Grammar in Context by Sandra N. Elbaum is an interesting approach to teaching grammar. Elbaum encases grammar in a much more useful mantle by using real life examples of U. S. culture and history. Grammar is an important part of language, but it is technical, abstract, and boring. In order for a text to engage a student it must be interesting and relevant to their lives. I think Grammar in Context could be effective because it does this by integrating grammar into the real world. I thought the foreword by the author was very touching. She starts off by giving an example from her own life showing how important it is to include real life contexts into language learning. She tells of being a child and having not only having to explain the language to her Polish born parents but also the culture. This is a fitting start to a language text because; what is a language without culture. They are intrinsically linked. The text starts off with a review. I think this is important because ESL students are not always at the same place in every category of language learning. Placement tests do their best to place students in an appropriate level, but learning a language is not like other subjects. For example, if you miss the lesson on the Korean War in history class you would still be able to understand a lesson on the Vietnam War. Language is much more integrated. If you don’t have a strong foundation it is very difficult to progress. Having a review section in the beginning allows teachers to quickly find weaknesses in any fundamental areas, and address these problems in the beginning of the course. I liked that lesson one began with creating a resume and cover letter. A resume is a very technical but also very necessary composition for many ESL students. So often the people who emigrate to the U. S. are well educated professionals who are prevented from rising to their full potential because of a language barrier. The key to getting a good job is usually a good resume and by learning this skill early on ESL students who want a successful job will have one less obstacle. The basic setup of each chapter is user friendly. I like how the chapters begin with a text and the grammar focus of each chapter is highlighted in each text. This gives students a chance to learn deductively, and see grammar in use in real life situations. After the opening text the grammar rules are given and exercises are provided for practice. At the end of each chapter the lessons are summarized to give a final quick look at the content of the chapter. The next section â€Å"Editing Advice† seems very helpful to me. In this section examples are given of the grammar used incorrectly then corrected. I think correction is an important tool in learning. Knowing what you can’t do, or what is incorrect in a language is often as important as knowing what you can do. The last part of the chapter has an important section called â€Å"Outside Activities† this section provides activities that prompt students to look for examples of their grammar lessons in authentic texts outside of the classroom. â€Å"Outside Activities† is a vital section because one failing of all text books is the fact that they cannot stay current. Things are always changing so fast in life that it is impossible to include authentic texts that are up to date after the publishing process, the distribution process, and finally introduction into the classroom. By encouraging students to look outside the classroom the most recent and relevant examples of grammar in use are able to be incorporated into the educational process. The section on â€Å"Internet Activities† is similar but encourages students to use the computer to find grammar in context. This skill could be very useful for less tech savvy ESL students. Providing grammar in context is an important aspect of teaching because it takes a dull but necessary subject and makes it more relevant. ESL students are often very busy, and by combing lessons on grammar and U. S. culture kills to birds with one stone. It would be possible to teach grammar using irrelevant topics, but why would anyone want to do that when it’s so easy to incorporate real life contexts into everyday lessons. Word Count: 723

Absolute Moral Rules - 1954 Words | Bartleby

padding-top-2"> Absolute Moral Rules One may believe that an absolute rule against killing humans is essential because killing is always evil and inhumane. Others believe that there are great exceptions to killing humans, such as self-defense, that need to be taken into account when making an absolute rule about killing humans. If someone tries to kill your family member or tries to kill you, should you stand there and die because you do not want to violate the absolute rule, even if your reason behind breaking the rule brings about more happiness and outweighs the consequences of breaking the rule? Immanuel Kant believes that good will, what he sees to be the ultimate intrinsic good, along with following the categorical imperative determine whether show more content Kant argues that the right action is one that follows the categorical imperative, in this case, abiding by the moral rule not to kill anyone. Kant believes that no matter the circumstance, if humans violate the categorical imperative, and there are bad consequences, they are responsible for these consequences. If humans act under the categorical imperative and there are still bad consequences, they are not responsible because they abide by their duty- to follow the exceptionless moral rule. The only way to violate the moral rule is if the individual breaking the rule creates a new maxim, in which, for instance, it is always permissible to kill under self-defense. The issue with this new absolute rule is that by saying humans can kill in self-defense are the intentions of the humans good-willed or are their intentions faulty? Also, is killing under self-defense really going to bring about a new universal maxim in which everyone can kill under self-defen se, no matter the circumstance? It would be impossible to create this self-defense universal maim because creating this new maxim would just bring about new exceptions within that rule. Utilitarians, on the other hand, go against Kant’s idea that there should be absolute moral rules. They believe that moral rules should be followed if the consequence for one’s action brings about the most happiness and the least amount of pain. In Utilitarianism, John Stuart Mill The War Of The World War I - 1593 Words | Bartleby padding-top-2"> An advocate can be defined as a person who pleads on another’s behalf. Advocates are important in today 's society as they provide representation for the disadvantaged and foster a sense of hope for change in the world. During his life Wilfred Owen, the famous war poet, lived under many titles: he was a son, a brother, a student, a teacher, a fighter, an inpatient, a war poet and most importantly, an advocate. This essay addresses his most eminent poems, contrasting the ways in which war was promoted versus the true reality of war, as well as the ways in which Owen gave a voice to the men dying in futile war. Volunteer recruitment and conscription for World War 1 began in 1914 and continued until 1918, when World War 1 came to an end. Historically, war was portrayed as being heroic, and in some senses, adventurous. Boys as young as 16 falsified their age in order to fight, 18 year old men joined with parental permission, and 21 year old men joined on their own terms. Word of mouth, pressure from society, as well as Australian war promotion slogans such as â€Å"Boys, come over here, you’re wanted!† and "Get into khaki, we’re doing our bit!† acted as bait to lure young men into battle. The naive, selfless nature of these young fighters was constantly taken advantage of. They were not told about the trenches, the lack of food, the bone chilling cold, the shrapnel, the shell-shock or the dull ache of missing loved ones that would be ever-present in their chests. Owen, like many

Why is this so important to find evidence of life in another planet Essay

Why is this so important to find evidence of life in another planet - Essay Example Accordingly, Hurowitz (2008) says that the scientific explosion to detect evidence of life on other planets has led to a mass enthusiasm among scientists and researchers, but the idea of our civilization finding places â€Å"teeming with life† elsewhere is quite apprehensive. According to Cessna (n.d.), one reason scientists find it so important and fascinating sort of a research to determine life on other planets may be simple burning curiosity to find out if we are really absolutely alone in the universe and a desire to establish connections with life from other planets to achieve many kinds of benefits. The question of what to do after finding evidence of life elsewhere fascinates many. This may include many benefits, some of which are also identified by Hurowitz (2008), like once life gets detected on some other planet, that may include solution to high gas prices or in my personal opinion, that may also include solutions to many problems on Earth, like food scarcity and oil

ABC hospital Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

ABC hospital - Essay Example Therefore, recruitment of nurses has become a tedious activity. ABC hospital is experiencing a similar situation where it is in shortage of nurses. So the company needs to employ a better strategy for the recruitment and retention of the nurses in their hospital. Registered nurses are available not only from the US but also from other countries. The first strategy should be taken up is to rely on recruitment agencies. It should open up direct offices in those countries where a great pool of prospective registered nurses are available. The office can be for short term or long term depending upon the requirements. ABC should portray a better picture about them through their agencies. Otherwise there are chances for the prospective candidates to choose another organization. The recruited nurses and already working nurses can be used as referrals. They may be asked to refer to whom they knows. In this way more and more pool of candidates can be made available. The nurses may be remunerat ed in a reasonable amount for referring the candidates. "Ask your top nurses individually to increase their referrals (give them a target of five a month). Ask them to refer their "mentees," friends, and former colleagues." (Sullivan, 2001). Retention of Nurses: Retention of nurses is one of the issues faced by the hospital. The process of retention is more complex than recruitment. Since there are sufficient opportunities for registered nurses in the job market they don’t mind quitting from an organization. ... Timely redressing of grievances is the primary strategy to be employed by the hospital to retain the nurses. "It's a complex process, requiring in-depth knowledge of the needs and wants of the nursing staff and lots of creativity. "You have to know what motivates nurses to stay," says Pamela Thompson, CEO of the American Organization of Nurse Executives." (Runy, 2001). Therefore, the management should first of all identify what the requirements of the nurses are. Proper examination of the working conditions must be done by the management. The HR management of ABC must try to maintain a personal relationship with the nurse's inorder to learn them in detail. Such an interaction will help the nurses to express their grievances before the management. In short a free and two way communication chains must be fostered in the organization. Providing a better learning environment is one of the factors that the nurses expect. Providing new certificates for specialized practices will make the n urses self motivated. Most of the personal factors affect the nurses at the work place. So, the management should assist them in solving their personal matters. This will provide a homely atmosphere for them. The nurses must be imparted a feeling that they are a very important compound for the success of the hospital. The role that every nurse should perform must be clearly defined. After all what affects most in the retention is the proper remuneration. Sufficient incentives along with the fixed remuneration will motivate the nurses to stay with the organization they work. Efficient nurses and the one who have been with the organization for quite a long time should be promoted with more responsibilities. Decreasing turnover: Employee turnover refers to the phenomenon of

Managing Performance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Managing Performance - Essay Example Many managers have been â€Å"speaking† and practicing effective performance management naturally all their supervisory lives, but don’t know it!†(A Handbook for Measuring Employee Performance, 2001, p.3). Manpower is the only active element in an organization whereas all the other organizational resources are passive in nature. Since human has emotions, intelligence, and the ability to think, his activities will be primarily motivated or controlled by these individual characteristics. No two individuals are alike and therefore a manager will struggle to implement a uniform management style in an organization. In short, individual differences have to be taken into the account while managers devise their strategies for managing employees. In other words, managing individual performance is a complex task. This paper analyses why the management of individual performance in an organization is a complex issue. Team work is encouraged in majority of the current organizations because of the advantages of team work over individual work. However, it should be noted that individuals constitute a team and therefore individual characteristics can affect team work also. Majority of the decisions in a team is taken after a team meeting. Frisch (2008) mentioned that â€Å"reaching collective decisions based on individual preferences is an imperfect science† (Frisch, 2008). Team meetings usually give more importance to the majority’s opinion while taking decisions. It is not necessary that majority’s decisions may always be the right ones. Members of a team may have some common interests and they will vote for safeguarding their interest. It is not necessary that such interests may suit to the interests of the organization. For example, majority of the team members may show reluctance in working overtime for the completion of a project. If the team leader accepts the majorityâ⠂¬â„¢s opinion, the completion of the project could be delayed. Majority’s opinion

Case Study (Communication) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Case Study (Communication) - Essay Example There has been a big role that a negotiator should do during cases of conflict within the management or company. The purpose of this report is to present the key concepts and ideas that a negotiator needs in mediating conflicts between person/s and departments. It is important to win the cooperation of the opposing parties and the responsibility of the negotiator is to make steps that will persuade both parties to subject in an agreement (Chaiken, Gruefield, and Jude, 2000). Case study analysis in this report is organized by presenting the situation that is needed to be solved. It is important that the reason of the conflict, persons involve and attitude of the characters should be first considered before getting into any further analysis (Borissoff and Victor, 1989). The preceding discussion will be based on the findings in the analysis and relate it to the best approaches that should be done by the negotiator. Managing conflicts between departments or between persons within a particular company is essential. It is necessary to know the role of communication in resolving conflicts (Borisoff and Victor, 1989). A good negotiator should understand that resolving conflicts is so crucial and skills in communication and negotiation are the needed module for positive and favorable change. Generally speaking different people has different attitudes when it comes to conflict. However, it should be regarded that conflict whatever be the reason always fall into three dimensions: perception, feeling and action (Mayer, B., 2000). The amount by which conflict can be defined is outlined in these three factors. According to Mayer (2000), all conflicts involve power. He said- "Power can be usefully conceptualized as a mutual interaction between the characteristics of a person and the characteristics of a situation, where the person has access to valued resources and uses them to achieve personal, relational, or environmental goals, often through using

The Interior Market of Dehenhams in 2014 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

The Interior Market of Dehenhams in 2014 - Essay Example Some of the notable designers include Ted Baker, Jane Packer, Erickson Beamon, Janet Reger, Matthew Williamson and Ashley Thomas among others. Based on its high investment in British design for the last 20 years, Debenhams has benefited from a stable financial position that has assisted the company in expanding to other countries. This paper discusses the direction that Debenhams interiors market is heading for 2014 with reference to its customers, products, and the retailer. The consumer In efforts to increase its sales, Debenhams has embarked on increasing the number of customers who purchases its products. Debenhams customers are individual consumers who cut across the whole family regardless of gender, age, and social status as well as foreign customers. Its main business is in clothing though they have adopted various strategies in order to successfully tap footwear industry (Data monitor, 2011). Majority of the customers are women who spend few minutes to almost the whole day i n the stores. The time spent by the customers in the store varies from one store to another depending on their purchasing power. For example, most customers who visit White rose store are middle class earners and spend less time compared to the other store in the city center. They have customer who visit their store on weekly and monthly basis but on average a customer visits the store every quarter and spends about half a day in different sections shopping. More to that, the store boost itself based on increased number of online shoppers through its website as well as their iphone application for the smart phone users and a video facility that offer online display of products, well known designers interviews and photo shoots. (Data monitor, 2011). The company controls 17 percent market share in the clothing industry in United Kingdom. (Data Monitor, 2011). However, many customers visit the stores to compare prices and may end up visiting the store several times without making a pur chase and when they does it, most probably it will be an impulse buying of another product rather that what they needed in the first place. In UK, most shoppers have changed from using traditional shopping method to the internet based shopping. Debenhams has opted to use different channels to reach its target consumers; it has convectional stores as well as online kiosks (Neolane, 2013). It also allows its customers to order products that are not available on their shelves for the same day delivery. Clients adopt shopping methods that suits them. Debenhams customers who adopt new channels are frequent and valuable than then store shoppers (Data Monitor, 2011). Most customers are embracing these changes because online channels offer convenience and are slightly cheaper. This is especially so for Debenhams since most of their customers are women who are busy with family and tight working schedule. Customers are also given ample opportunities to compare the prices of the three products that include furniture, outdoor and lighting brands. In line with this, the company has enhanced its online shop, reduced the delivery period and increased its range of products.

Microm3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Microm3 - Essay Example 7 4. How Does The ‘Invisible Hand’ Described By Adam Smith Work? Explain What Smith Meant By The Invisible Hand And How It Works. What Signals Producers And Buyers To Adjust Quantity Supplied/Demanded And Reach Equilibrium? 8 5. According To Economic Theory, How Do Consumers Decide What Goods To Buy? What Does The Final Decision To Buy Something Depend On? 10 1. What Happens When The Government Imposes A Minimum Wage? Explain Using A Graph. Minimum wage laws set rules regarding the minimum wage that can be provided by an employer for obtaining labour. The Fair Labour Standards Act of 1938 was established by the US congress to set down the minimum wages that should be offered to employees to ensure a proper standard of living. The labour market faces the forces of demand and supply. The supply of labour is determined by workers and the demand is determined by the employers. In the absence of the government intervention the wages get adjusted with the labour supply and dem and. When the minimum wage is above equilibrium then the supply of labour exceeds the demand. This causes unemployment. Thus, the wages of employees who already have the job increases and the income of employees who do not have the job are lowered. The affect of minimum wage depends on the experience and skills of the employees. The skilled and experienced employees have their equilibrium wages much above the minimum wages. The greatest affect of minimum wages is on the teenage labour based market. Teenagers have low equilibrium wages because they do not have much skills and experience and are willing to work on low pay in exchange for the training they receive on the job. A study reveals that 10% increase in minimum wage reduces teenage employment to 1% - 3%. 10% increase in minimum wage does not increase teenage wages by 10%. The minimum wage also affects the supply quantity of labour. Since the minimum wage of the teenagers increase, the number of teenagers willing to work also i ncreases. Minimum wage increases the income of the poor. Certain opponents of minimum wages consider that it results in unemployment, teenagers dropping out of schools and restricts unskilled workers from obtaining training on their job (Mankiw, 2008). Source: (Encyclopedia of Earth, 2006). The above figure represents the condition in the classical labour market. A legal minimum wage interferes with the free market adjustments and causes true unemployment. The demand and supply model of labour Source: (Encyclopedia of Earth, 2006). The above figure shows conditions in the traditional market. The labour quantity and the equilibrium are determined by market forces. 2. What Economic Concept Explains Why Most People Specialize In A Specific Profession Rather Than Trying To Make All Of The Things Themselves? Specialisation is a concept that relates to most of the modern economies. Modern economies do not produce everything. Rather they produce those things that provide them a ‘comp arative cost advantage’. The excess from the production is exported and the items that are not produced within the country are imported. This kind of specialisation ensures greater economic growth. At an individual level, specialisation ensures greater work efficiency and greater productivity. The high levels of productivity and efficiency ensures high income levels (Jain & Ohri, n.d.). Specialisation is based on the law of comparative advantage. According to the law of comparative advantage, the individual who has a lower opportunity cost of production of a

Planning for the Chevy Volt Essay Example for Free

Planning for the Chevy Volt Essay Question 1 The nature of strategic decision making at a large complex organization like GM appears to be done without having a thorough plan outlay to the planning groups or the business development unit within the company. There were several areas that put the company into the situation of making inappropriate strategic decision. The project was initially proposed by top two managements. Due to lack of thorough analysis and plan, they could not convince other managers in order to pursue this Chevy Volt project. This implied the missing link of strategic leadership that should have been a transformational force. In addition, the shareholder’s wealth creation had not been properly addressed and the well-defined business plan had not been emphasized and communicated when decisions were made. This implied that the management’s responsibility and expertise were all taken for granted that put the company in the threshold of a gamble betting on the success of this project. The accountability of management was disappeared. Question 2 The external environment trends that favor this project were the rising oil price, economic slowdown that made people to be more cautious about spending, the falling costs of manufacturing lithium ion batteries that help make the car price become more affordable, and global warming concern together with going-green concept. The Chevy Volt project could help promote the CSR of GM, which is favorable to the image and brand. These trends had signified that the external environment had been changed. As a green concept car, the Chevy Volt makes a point as far as cost saving for users goes in context of rising oil prices. However, what is crucial also can be exemplified in context of sustainable development process that the Chevy Volt can impact. Limiting carbon gas emission in the backdrop of global warming and greenhouse effect can significantly present a wider socio-economic relevancy and impact. Question 3 Cost is the most critical hurdle in pursuing with Chevy Volt. The cost factor is unfavorable given that GM had already invested substantial capital for the development of lithium ion batteries. The relevant cause for that could be observed from top management who were skeptical of Chevy Volt project. When the EV1 hybrid model, a green concept electric car running on conventional fuel cell, was introduced by the company way back in the 1990s and did not succeed, such model was a crucial loss in term of resource and brand image. In addition, the missing link among the strategy planning, formulation and lifecycles were also another internal obstacle unfavorable for pursuing the Chevy Volt project. Question 4.a The strategic plans are based on how well the company analyzes the existing market situation, competitors and the market trend. The external environment analysis such as the macro and micro-economic factors should also be emphasized and properly addressed. The economic theory of demand and supply should also be brought in contention when making the decision and planning the strategy. The plan should be flexible enough to reflect the dynamic business environment when the revision and amendment to the strategic plan are necessary for business to gain competitive advantages over the competitors in a timely manner. Question 4.b The Chevy Volt project strategic plan was based on assuming that oil prices would continue in rising trends which could then be able to market the company’s electric car model and generate profitability. Thus, falling oil prices could negatively affect the potential success of Chevy Volt. Question 4.c When supply is relatively limited, while the demand can increase once the global economy recovers, it would be difficult for oil prices to remain low in the future. Rising oil prices demonstrates the typical economic basis of the law of demand, in which the price depends on the market equilibrium for a product. In addition, there are no substitute product as far as fuel goes. There is still no other alternative energy or technology that can match or surpass the oil in all aspects. Question 5: What will it take for the Chevy Volt to be a successful car? For the success of the Chevy Volt project, effective marketing strategy has to be formulated. Marketing aspects should capitalize on the internal and external forces that influence the products within the industry and against its rival for the competitive factors. As the Chevy Volt is a high-tech car, the external analysis from operational and business perspective should focus on the competitive structure of the industry and factors; such as, innovations, socio-economic and environmental impact that defines value added product and the opportunistic cost that comes with it. Thus, innovation in the development process of the car should be fostered as one factor to benchmark against competitors in the industry, which is critical for success for a profitable outcome and goals achievements. Part of it also should focus on the strategic marketing aspects that give the car and its salient feature to reach the people through advertisement and awareness created in that regard are interrelated and need to be present for the Chevy Volt to be a successful car. Last but not least is the price and related costs of Chevy Volt. The price must be affordable for target group of GM’s customers in order to boost the demand and achieve cost advantage over competitors in term of economies of scale, and the related maintenance cost and useful life of lithium ion battery must be reasonable enough to be able to convince target consumers to purchase the car. It is also suggested that the strategic plan has taken into account of effect of the capitalization on the capability and expertise the company has; effective strategic management of operational process and procedures; top management involvement, responsibility and accountability; collaborative approaches to leadership; cultural and structural upgrade of the corporate echelon and strategic management panel and process; careful analysis of the opportunities and threat; and the facilitation of a dynamic leadership culture. Question 5: How risky is this venture for GM? Launching this project is very risky for GM as it involved significant resources, time and capital investment. Given that GM has already exposed to potential bankruptcy, the success of Chevy Volt will be one of the critical factors affecting the possibility of GM to diminish the bankruptcy risk and boost the future cash flows. Question 5: What are the costs of failure? The cost of failure as far as Chevy Volt car concerns is huge and tremendous. Less involvement from the managers also brought to fore the cost and its effect to directly hit the company that brought it to the stage of total shutdown of its operations. Since the company has already been in the situation of potential bankruptcy, the Chevy Volt project that failed to impact the company strategic goals and its achievements posed the total effect of bankruptcy of GM and huge economic consequences as an aftermath, because the company is already on the process of huge public debt facilitated by the government to save itself from bankruptcy. Question 5: What are the costs of not pursuing the project? There are substantial costs and adverse impacts as far as Chevy Volt project concerns when it is not pursued at all. Example costs are the huge opportunistic cost lost in between; operational and business capability that went for a toss; marketing research that has not been capitalized effectively and efficiently for result outcome; change factor and organizational learning experience; cost factors in term of direct financial investments to investors, and stakeholders; resource accumulation; brand image and identity; corporation competencies that have not been capitalized; sustainable development plans; CSR; exposure to bankruptcy risk; and economic consequences.

Role Of Professional And Managerial Skills Management Essay

Role Of Professional And Managerial Skills Management Essay Management can be defined as manage all organisational function that are sales, finance and marketing, etc. Management can be decision what to do and then perform through their stuff. And a manager can be explaining as someone who is responsible for the management of whole organization. He has also power to move stuff to do things. Armstrong M. (1999) That means a manager main task to lead the whole team in an organisation. Manager is attention to deal with their stuff and all kinds of customers. Manager has responsible to communicate with people, team builders, innovation and supervision of stuff and successfully develop every project within dead line. The main managerial skill concerned with planning of every project in organisation, direction of the work, allocation of responsibility, controlling, implementing, monitoring and evaluation, etc. Javed (2009) Here identify some professional and managerial skill or experience in following areas: Communicating with other people The great deal of manager and most of the time he spent to communication with internal and external all people and stuff. For communication of other people or stuff or customer, first need to influence of those people, listening and asking question, writing report and presentation skill. For influence people by manager there are many basic influencing skill are available. The most common influencing method is attracting people by given ideas that are conveying the managerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s enthusiasm. For this reason people feel to taking part of this project. Another method that are observing and listening of other people what they want to say. Try to draw the plan in other peopleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s point of view. And at the same time join own view with their. And another common method is asserting that means explain the views in direct ways, clearly and always assertive statement. Swinton Another communication method is report writing in logical structure where reader can find sequence of section in every view and continuing in from introduction to conclusion. In this report should be included from introduction, the analysis, the diagnosis and beneficial recommendation and then planning for action and at last conclusion with executive summery. This report should be written in plain word in familiar word without any ambiguity that can be readers can easily understand. For communication it needs to be better presentation. For good presentation, there are techniques are available that are first need to collect information, then decision what need to say. Then need making structure of the speech. And it also remember of the timing of the speech, no more time taking that are look like boring. And at last deliver the presentation with pace and in conversational way. Team work / Team Building For successfully develop any project in every organisation in need to a sound team group. To build a group, this is responsible for managerial body. It is need to first identify the group behaviour that means who are work together for a specific project. And also determine the functions that are carrying by team member. There are many major function accomplish by team member that are decision making, information collecting, action taking action and summarizing the work , setting of standardization and work together with co-operatively. For develop or building a team group there must be follow some stages that are first need to create forming of the group. By forming it can be realize the dependence on the manager or leader. And also understand the acceptable behaviour from the team member. Then need to storming, norming for increase the cooperation and at last performing the problem for solved. Control Controlling means monitoring and measuring the performance, always compare that work are running according to the plan and also taking action if necessary. Barnett . And control means compare the planning and actual performance. For good control of team group it needs to take plan with aims and objectives, monitoring regularly and take activity for reached to the correct destination. Time management Time management means controlling the most valuable resource of company that means good scheduling of time for compilation of the project. By proper timing management, it can be possible effective project planning. Timing management can remove wastage of time, good preparation for any meeting with other people, approaching plan with effectively in every moment. It can also help to allocate all kind of resources especially form time. Time management is most important for long term project schedule. Blair Some time poor time management is the cause of failure of the project by over confidence. Managerial skill in Motivation Motivating for his stuff is the basic responsibility of a manager. Without motivating properly, it is nothing would be created. For motivating of employee is more challenging work for a manger. In motivation, there are include recognition, work achievement and all over responsibility for employee. Flexibility By using flexibility, it can be assured how and when project will be done. It can give the overall effectiveness of the project. In flexibility there are include schedule flexibility, flexible place and work cooperation and careers flexibility. Supervision Supervision means monitoring the day to day operation and maintenance for project improvement that are related in administration and management of the faculty. Here also prioritized for provide training in stuff if necessary or co ordination of the stuff. Always need to monitoring requirements of the stuff and review work flow that means its progresses. Innovation Innovation leads to the commercial idea of the manager that is important requirements for successful development of project. There are mainly two role of the innovation of the manager that are operational innovation for specifies the area of company and chief innovation to secure the resources of the company. Meeting deadline A successful project depend on its objectives, complete in target date and target budget with maintain standard strategy. That are deadline is the part of every project. Co-ordinating Co-ordinating means the task are carried by the stuff and mesh together for to achieve the project goal. Co-ordination need because individual work needs to be synchronized. And this synchronization is done by the managers that need to be skill and experiences. In co-ordination it involves planning, organising, monitoring and communicating. Managerial Effectiveness A management style always is proactive or supportive for every stuff and customer. And reactive behaviour of a manager cannot expect. Management style are very from one organization to another organization McCrimmon(2007) In old management style Manager does not want to share his knowledge with other stuff. He thinks that he only knows everything. All innovation conducted through the manager, and does not like the team work All controlling power is conducted from manager. That his main job is control the other stuff. In new management style Planning and deciding all projects effectively. An effective management style always tries to prioritising that means classifying the significance of the work. Organising the whole task that are synchronisation the work. Delegating other people when he have not enough time Co-ordination is also controls from manager that are individual action are sequenced properly. To identify the managerial effectiveness it needs to be understood the skill or behaviour and project result. The measurement of effectiveness and performance therefore compare expectations about achievement and behaviour with actual results and behaviour. Analysis the managerial effectiveness The ability to acquire the successful result is called managerial effectiveness that means ability of the leaders. To find the result effectively, here describe the manager skill and experience that he apply for achieve desired result. To make a effective manager, need to combining of technology, stuff, and proper skill and experienced to make proper model of a leadership. In proper skill means technical skill in specialized training of a unique task include skill stuff to motivate and delegate roles to solve problem quickly and communicate properly with all other team member. And an effective manager also has knowledge about conceptual skill that means understand the every components of the company that how they are work together. He has ability to visualize a future course of action based on present company. Also have a concept about the interrelationship of the company among different stuff. Heller (1998) As an example of managerial effective can be say that a project of marketing spearheaded. In this project, a financial manager can be better understood the result then the marketing manager. So it is need to specific choice for overall performance of the company. Managerial effectiveness also creates the product competition against rival company and increase opportunities for future enterprise. Attitude, value and behaviour of change agent A change agent is someone who supports the change that are undertaking. But also need to understand the detailed operation, process, system and people in a specific are that the change will be implemented. Newton (2007) The attitude, value and behaviour of a change agent are reflect are describe at the below: Change agent can understand the difference between the request state and present state. Beer (2003) Agent can be understand, how can operate an organization. The starting point for change is really how the organization operates and to know how process actually work. Only individual with direct and current experience of the process can provide this understanding. Change agent has ability to develop team group and can be synchronize together customer and create effective working team group. They also communicate with the outside of organization to maintaining appropriate network skill. They can handle all uncertain environments and can tolerant of ambiguity. Change agent has strong communication skill to communicate with other team member to reach the project goal. They have strong interpersonal skill that means listening to others problem, information collection, and selection idea and arrange meeting. Evaluation of an effective change agent Change agents are look like leaders who conduct the company and its team group without regarding the conventional hierarchy. Sometimes this change agent is free from their daily routine task for maintaining soundly leading of the company and driving change. They develop new procedure for train the stuff and act as main role model for better ways to work. Change agent spends their half of time in a project to advising manager that how to improve performance, auditing progressing and look up areas that are undergoing in change. For evaluating of an effective change agent, it needs to articulate the change. Change agents are accepted by others as trustworthy and competent and try to motivate people to change. Find out who people listen to and change agent lead with the power of their ideas, but this may be not be stuff with other formal authority to lead. Take close look at new employees who have come from outside the circle of traditional competitors. They may not be infected with the same mind- set as everyone else.

Sun Angel :: Free Essay Writer

Sun Angel â€Å"Sun Angel† by Chris Fisher is a collection of short stories, each one portraying a different character that grew up in the small town of Dolguard. Each story is written from someone else’s point of view, therefore giving us a closer look into the town. We get to see the full picture, and see how the characters shape the way we view life in a small town. The characters in these short stories were all very unique. They ranged from children, young kids just out of college, drunks, and farmers trying to make ends meet. It was interesting to see how each character was tied to the town. Even after moving away to a large city, Muriel, always thought of Dolguard as her true home. When Greg, a young college student, wants to run for mayor, an old farmer named Dick sums up the ways of the town by saying, â€Å"It’s town stuff. It’s working together stuff. It’s Dolguard, and now some young bucks want to tear it apart.†. As i read that it occurred to me that this might also be how some people in Dalmeny feel when they see us young kids trying to organize dances, have parties, or start up a recreation center. It helped me to understand a little where they were coming from. Some characters in these stories were rather shady. In one story there was an Uncle Matt, who seemed rather nice in the beginning. But as the story went on it was evident that he was raping his niece. In the end, she ends up seeking revenge and killing him. As you can see, this small town does have some dark secrets. I liked how this book was written. It may have been a collection of short stories, but since some characters were mentioned in more than one story, it linked it all together nicely. Chris Fisher does a wonderful job of showing the roots of a small town, and how the characters shape this community. Often the stories are told in first person narration, so you can see how the character feels and what they think. It takes it to a more personal level, making it easier to relate to the different characters. The one thing that bothered me about the novel was how certain things weren’t said. For example, in the story of Uncle Matt, it wasn’t directly said that he raped his niece, or that she killed him.

The Set of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Essay -- Whos Afraid Virgin

The Set of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For a play as drastically depressing and oppressive as Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, the set needs to augment the mood as much as possible. Albee’s play calls for several props, and all of these have to be provided, but more than that, the set needs to look as real as possible, to show that these people are not vastly different from the rest of us. And because in that fact the true horror of the play resides the set is all-important. Luckily, the performance featured a realistic, intricate, close set.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is set in an ordinary 1950s New England suburban house. Nothing is overly expensive or glamorous. But in plays, designers typically want things to catch the eye, even though in this instance such would ruin the mood. The set designers captured this mood perfectly. Nothing is anachronistic. The set even lacks a coherent color scheme; but why would there be? In most houses, walls are painted and papered, carpet is put down, but, twenty years later, these same walls are decorated with paintings and the floors are covered with rugs and furniture that would not have even been considered in the inception. The set of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? shows this hodgepodge perfectly. Above the set, the eaves of the house, and the roof of another house are clearly seen, providing, again, a voyeuristic view of the play’s events. Such realism creates a believable mood for the play, heightening the effect that these things are actually happening (heightened still more with Albee’s back-and-forth style of dialog), leaving the viewer acting as a voyeur, but also identifying closely with the characters. The realism in the set design is even more ... ...h a crowded area (set close to the edge of the stage for an even greater close appearance), and seeing them not bump into one another is uncomfortable to watch, simply because of the slight inherent feeling of wrongness, rather than a good-natured and cozy feeling, that is supported by the caustic dialogue.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The set of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is perfectly designed for the play. The realism and intricacy of the scenery and props attempt to raise the fourth wall as much as possible, heightening the reality of the performance, while the claustrophobic closeness of everything tears the wall down in tiny shreds, giving a feel of unease to the play. In any modern play, unlike Shakespeare’s plays, there is a struggle to present the play in the accurate time, and the set designers of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? have done this flawlessly and accurately.

Blood Brothers :: Drama

Blood Brothers 1. On stage left were the posh houses where Edward lived, on stage right were the council houses that Mickey and his family lived in. Upstage centre was a brick wall with a painted goalpost, lots of graffiti. The piece of graffiti that stood out the most was the word ‘Everton’. Upstage right was a large alleyway. On both stage left and stage right in between the houses were smaller alleyways. 2. Mickey- Young Linda-Teen  · Large sleeveless V-neck Pullover  · Short Black skirt  · Very dirty white plimsolls  · High heeled black stilettos  · Large dirty shorts- falling down.  · Blond hair- worn in a high ponytail.  · Black socks  · White shirt, couple of buttons undone revealing stomach and cleavage (just).  · Grubby white shirt (short sleeved under green pullover)  · Dirty knees, face, hands and arms.  · Shirt tied at bottom  · Dark, messy hair. 3. The childhood scenes were made realistic by the costumes the children wore. For example Linda wore a girly dress and wore her hair in pigtails. The voices also made these scenes realistic because the males made their voices higher. The scenes were made humorous by the games they played and how excitable they were. 4. One of the actor’s performances I enjoyed was that of Sammy because he was a troublemaker. His performance was made effective by the sneaky attitude he had and the tough loud voice he used, this created the impression he had a lot of power over people and was in charge, but was never going to be punished for his actions. He only looked out for himself and seemed not to care for anybody else even his brother. Another actor I enjoyed watching was Mickey because he started off being a strong, fun, helpful character and ended up being a vulnerable, self-hating character. This made me feel sorry for him. Mickey ended up getting his brother and himself killed. He gave the impression of needing stability in his life. 5. I think the narrator’s role was many different things. He was the storyteller; he was also the characters’ conscience for good and evil. He looked over the characters. The narrator was also a forewarning to us of what is to happen. 6. I think the playwright managed the pathos, through the action and final song ‘ Tell me its not true’ this causes the audience to feel

Advantages Of Playing Sports Essay

Improved self-esteem is another benefit of competitive youth sports. When a child wins a game with his team, he feels accomplished and recognized. However, though someone may argue that if he lost the game, it will reversely lower his self-esteem. But that may perhaps not the real case, even when he doesn’t win, he can learn a valuable lesson: that you can’t win every time. Conversely, losing with his team can also increase self-esteem, as he learns to hold his head high and feel proud for trying his best. HEALTH According the some scientific research, millions of American children and teenagers are overweight. This obesity epidemic has made the early onset of health problems such as diabetes more common. Participating in competitive youth sports burns calories and helps to prevent obesity. Additionally, many children who are active in sports are motivated to eat healthier foods, such as fruits and vegetables. Children who play sports are more likely to be physically fit, have a healthy weight and maintain a better body image. A healthy body contributes to a healthy mind, and regular exercise contributes to overall physical and mental health. Competitive sports are challenging for youth. They require kids and teens to cooperate, compete in a sportsmanlike way, use strategy and communicate with one another. All of these attitudes can be developed through playing sports. According to the University of Florida Extension, youth sports can enhance a child’s emotional and mental development, helping them to become mature in an accelerating rate. Youth who play sports form a good social circle. They will become better able to make friends, socialize with others and respond in constructive ways to conflict. Competition is a situation in which conflict and problems inevitably arise, and children who play sports are more likely to handle.

A Case Study on Schizophrenia and Delusional Disorders in the Film A Beautiful Mind

The John Forbes Nash, Jr. biopic A Beautiful Mind (2001) detailed the dramatic rise and fall of the celebrated Nobel Prize winner and mathematician as he battled the debilitating effects of schizophrenia to eventually attain international acclaim.Schizophrenia, a mental disorder characterized by an inability to perceive reality, affects roughly one percent of the human population. In the film, John Nash’s disorder is depicted through a series of delusions that eventually leads to a downward spiral which almost incapacitates Nash. It also showed the various treatments Nash had to undergo in his fight to overcome schizophrenia.Symptoms and DiagnosisWhile schizophrenia is usually experienced by people in their adolescence, just â€Å"as they are about to spread their wings† – as Nasar said in the New York Times – Nash â€Å"was struck when he had already begun to soar† (Lautin, 2001, http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2001/02/27/page3/). John Na sh began to visibly exhibit the symptoms of schizophrenia in 1958 when he was approximately 30 years old. When Nash’s mental disturbances began, he was working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his wife Alicia was pregnant with their son.During this time, he began having delusions – he believed that he could see encrypted messages in newspaper articles, and often missed classes and lectures, so absorbed was he in his quest to decode the newspapers. Soon after, his delusions escalated and he began to think that he was being recruited into a secret code-breaking unit of the military.Once, he disrupted a lecture by announcing to his students that he would appear on the cover of a magazine masquerading as the pope. He also believed that spies were trying to reach him through the New York Times. He also refused an offer from the University of Chicago, believing that he was about to be appointed as the Emperor of Antarctica.Nonetheless, the film showed that th roughout Nash’s stay at Princeton, from 1945 to 1949, he was already having delusions. While at Princeton, he believed that he had a roommate, whereas records show that he had lived alone. He also believed in the existence of his roommate’s young niece, a little girl that sometimes accompanied his roommate.As a consequence of his growing schizophrenia, Nash was forced to resign from MIT, and was practically incapacitated for the following two decades. In 1959, Nash began to become increasingly paranoid, forcing his wife to admit him into the McLean Hospital where he was treated with chlorpromazine injections.The McLean Hospital is a private psychiatric institution which employs treatments such as counseling, psychoanalysis, and group and family therapy. There he was placed under observation for 50 days and was eventually diagnosed with â€Å"paranoid schizophrenia and mild depression with low self-esteem† (Wikipedia, 2006, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Forbe s_Nash#Schizophrenia).A Beautiful Mind portrayed John Nash’s disorder as a succession of visual hallucinations: the roommate in Princeton, the roommate’s niece, the operatives that recruited him into a covert code-breaking mission, the encoded messages in newspaper clippings, and the spies that pursued him.Bu the symptoms of Nash’s disorder that were depicted in the film are misleading and inaccurate. If these symptoms were exhibited by someone in real life, the physician might suspect that the patient is merely suffering from the effects of a drug or he might send the patient for an MRI to assess the presence of a brain tumor. Hallucinations and â€Å"split personalities† are not always indicative of schizophrenia. The version of the disorder portrayed in A Beautiful Mind does not reflect what actually occurs in real life.

African American Culture Essay

African American culture in the United States includes the various cultural traditions of African ethnic groups. It is both part of and distinct from American culture. The U. S. Census Bureau defines African Americans as â€Å"people having origins in any of the Black race groups of Africa. â€Å"[1] African American culture is indigenous to the descendants in the U. S. of survivors of the Middle Passage. It is rooted in Africa and is an amalgam of chiefly sub-Saharan African and Sahelean cultures. Although slavery greatly restricted the ability of Africans in America to practice their cultural traditions, many practices, values and beliefs survived and over time have incorporated elements of European American culture. There are even certain facets of African American culture that were brought into being or made more prominent as a result of slavery; an example of this is how drumming became used as a means of communication and establishing a community identity during that time. The result is a dynamic, creative culture that has had and continues to have a profound impact on mainstream American culture and on world culture as well. After Emancipation, these uniquely African American traditions continued to grow. They developed into distinctive traditions in music, art, literature, religion, food, holidays, amongst others. While for some time sociologists, such as Gunnar Myrdal and Patrick Moynihan, believed that African Americans had lost most cultural ties with Africa, anthropological field research by Melville Hersovits and others demonstrated that there is a continuum of African traditions among Africans in the New World from the West Indies to the United States. The greatest influence of African cultural practices on European cultures is found below the Mason-Dixon in the southeastern United States, especially in the Carolinas among the Gullah people and in Louisiana. African American culture often developed separately from mainstream American culture because of African Americans’ desire to practice their own traditions, as well as the persistence of racial segregation in America. Consequently African American culture has become a significant part of American culture and yet, at the same time, remains a distinct culture apart from it. History From the earliest days of slavery, slave owners sought to exercise control over their slaves by attempting to strip them of their African culture. The physical isolation and societal marginalization of African slaves and, later, of their free progeny, however, actually facilitated the retention of significant elements of traditional culture among Africans in the New World generally, and in the U. S. in particular. Slave owners deliberately tried to repress political organization in order to deal with the many slave rebellions that took place in the southern United States, Brazil, Haiti, and the Dutch Guyanas. African cultures,slavery,slave rebellions,and the civil rights movements(circa 1800s-160s)have shaped African American religious, familial, political and economic behaviors. The imprint of Africa is evident in myriad ways, in politics, economics, language, music, hairstyles, fashion, dance, religion and worldview, and food preparation methods. In the United States, the very legislation that was designed to strip slaves of culture and deny them education served in many ways to strengthen it. In turn, African American culture has had a pervasive, transformative impact on myriad elements of mainstream American culture, among them language, music, dance, religion, cuisine, and agriculture. This process of mutual creative exchange is called creolization. Over time, the culture of African slaves and their descendants has been ubiquitous in its impact on not only the dominant American culture, but on world culture as well. Oral tradition Slaveholders limited or prohibited education of enslaved African Americans because they believed it might lead to revolts or escape plans. Hence, African-based oral traditions became the primary means of preserving history, morals, and other cultural information among the people. This was consistent with the griot practices of oral history in many African and other cultures that did not rely on the written word. Many of these cultural elements have been passed from generation to generation through storytelling. The folktales provided African Americans the opportunity to inspire and educate one another. Examples of African American folktales include trickster tales of Br’er Rabbit and heroic tales such as that of John Henry. The Uncle Remus stories by Joel Chandler Harris helped to bring African American folk tales into mainstream adoption. Harris did not appreciate the complexity of the stories nor their potential for a lasting impact on society. Characteristics of the African American oral tradition present themselves in a number of forms. African American preachers tend to perform rather than simply speak. The emotion of the subject is carried through the speaker’s tone, volume, and movement, which tend to mirror the rising action, climax, and descending action of the sermon. Often song, dance, verse and structured pauses are placed throughout the sermon. Techniques such as call-and-response are used to bring the audience into the presentation. In direct contrast to recent tradition in other American and Western cultures, it is an acceptable and common audience reaction to interrupt and affirm the speaker. Spoken word is another example of how the African American oral tradition influences modern American popular culture. Spoken word artists employ the same techniques as African American preachers including movement, rhythm, and audience participation. Rap music from the 1980’s and beyond has been seen as an extension of oral culture. Harlem Renaissance [pic] Zora Neale Hurston was a prominent literary figure during the Harlem Renaissance. Main article: Harlem Renaissance The first major public recognition of African American culture occurred during the Harlem Renaissance. In the 1920s and 1930s, African American music, literature, and art gained wide notice. Authors such as Zora Neale Hurston and Nella Larsen and poets such as Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, and Countee Cullen wrote works describing the African American experience. Jazz, swing, blues and other musical forms entered American popular music. African American artists such as William H. Johnson and Palmer Hayden created unique works of art featuring African Americans. The Harlem Renaissance was also a time of increased political involvement for African Americans. Among the notable African American political movements founded in the early 20th century are the United Negro Improvement Association and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The Nation of Islam, a notable Islamic religious movement, also began in the early 1930s. African American cultural movement The Black Power movement of the 1960s and 1970s followed in the wake of the non-violent American Civil Rights Movement. The movement promoted racial pride and ethnic cohesion in contrast to the focus on integration of the Civil Rights Movement, and adopted a more militant posture in the face of racism. It also inspired a new renaissance in African American literary and artistic expression generally referred to as the African American or â€Å"Black Arts Movement. † The works of popular recording artists such as Nina Simone (Young, Gifted and Black) and The Impressions (Keep On Pushin’), as well as the poetry, fine arts and literature of the time, shaped and reflected the growing racial and political consciousness. Among the most prominent writers of the African American Arts Movement were poet Nikki Giovanni; poet and publisher Don L. Lee, who later became known as Haki Madhubuti; poet and playwright Leroi Jones, later known as Amiri Baraka; and Sonia Sanchez. Other influential writers were Ed Bullins, Dudley Randall, Mari Evans, June Jordan, Larry Neal and Ahmos Zu-Bolton. Another major aspect of the African American Arts Movement was the infusion of the African aesthetic, a return to a collective cultural sensibility and ethnic pride that was much in evidence during the Harlem Renaissance and in the celebration of Negritude among the artistic and literary circles in the U. S. , Caribbean and the African continent nearly four decades earlier: the idea that â€Å"black is beautiful. † During this time, there was a resurgence of interest in, and an embrace of, elements of African culture within African American culture that had been suppressed or devalued to conform to Eurocentric America. Natural hairstyles, such as the afro, and African clothing, such as the dashiki, gained popularity. More importantly, the African American aesthetic encouraged personal pride and political awareness among African Americans. Music [pic] Men playing the djembe, a traditional West African drum adopted into African American and American culture. The bags and the clothing of the man on the right are printed with traditional kente cloth patterns. African American music is rooted in the typically polyrhythmic music of the ethnic groups of Africa, specifically those in the Western, Sahelean, and Sub-Saharan regions. African oral traditions, nurtured in slavery, encouraged the use of music to pass on history, teach lessons, ease suffering, and relay messages. The African pedigree of African American music is evident in some common elements: call and response, syncopation, percussion, improvisation, swung notes, blue notes, the use of falsetto, melisma, and complex multi-part harmony. During slavery, Africans in America blended traditional European hymns with African elements to create spirituals. Many African Americans sing Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing in addition to the American national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner, or in lieu of it. Written by James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson in 1900 to be performed for the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, the song was, and continues to be, a popular way for African Americans to recall past struggles and express ethnic solidarity, faith and hope for the future. The song was adopted as the â€Å"Negro National Anthem† by the NAACP in 1919. African American children are taught the song at school, church or by their families. Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing traditionally is sung immediately following, or instead of, The Star-Spangled Banner at events hosted by African American churches, schools, and other organizations. In the 1800s, as the result of the blackface minstrel show, African American music entered mainstream American society. By the early twentieth century, several musical forms with origins in the African American community had transformed American popular music. Aided by the technological innovations of radio and phonograph records, ragtime, jazz, blues, and swing also became popular overseas, and the 1920s became known as the Jazz Age. The early 20th century also saw the creation of the first African American Broadway shows, films such as King Vidor’s Hallelujah!, and operas such as George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. Rock and roll, doo wop, soul, and R&B developed in the mid 20th century. These genres became very popular in white audiences and were influences for other genres such as surf. The dozens, an urban African American tradition of using rhyming slang to put down your enemies (or friends) developed through the smart-ass street jive of the early Seventies into a new form of music. In the South Bronx, the half speaking, half singing rhythmic street talk of ‘rapping’ grew into the hugely successful cultural force known as Hip Hop. Hip Hop would become a multicultural movement. However, it is still important to many African Americans. The African American Cultural Movement of the 1960s and 1970s also fueled the growth of funk and later hip-hop forms such as rap, hip house, new jack swing and go go. African American music has experienced far more widespread acceptance in American popular music in the 21st century than ever before. In addition to continuing to develop newer musical forms, modern artists have also started a rebirth of older genres in the form of genres such as neo soul and modern funk-inspired groups. Dance [pic]. The Cakewalk was the first African American dance to gain widespread popularity in the United States. [pic] African American dance, like other aspects of African American culture, finds its earliest roots in the dances of the hundreds of African ethnic groups that made up African slaves in the Americas as well as influences from European sources in the United States. Dance in the African tradition, and thus in the tradition of slaves, was a part of both every day life and special occasions. Many of these traditions such as get down, ring shouts, and other elements of African body language survive as elements of modern dance. In the 1800s, African American dance began to appear in minstrel shows. These shows often presented African Americans as caricatures for ridicule to large audiences. The first African American dance to become popular with White dancers was the cakewalk in 1891. Later dances to follow in this tradition include the Charleston, the Lindy Hop, and the Jitterbug. During the Harlem Renaissance, all African American Broadway shows such as Shuffle Along helped to establish and legitimize African American dancers. African American dance forms such as tap, a combination of African and European influences, gained widespread popularity thanks to dancers such as Bill Robinson and were used by leading White choreographers who often hired African American dancers. Contemporary African American dance is descended from these earlier forms and also draws influence from African and Caribbean dance forms. Groups such as the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater have continued to contribute to the growth of this form. Modern popular dance in America is also greatly influenced by African American dance. American popular dance has also drawn many influences from African American dance most notably in the hip hop genre. Art [pic] Sand Dunes at Sunset, Atlantic City by Henry Ossawa Tanner 1859-1937 From its early origins in slave communities, through the end of the twentieth century, African-American art has made a vital contribution to the art of the United States. During the period between the 1600s and the early 1800s, art took the form of small drums, quilts, wrought-iron figures and ceramic vessels in the southern United States. These artifacts have similarities with comparable crafts in West and Central Africa. In contrast, African American artisans like the New England–based engraver Scipio Moorhead and the Baltimore portrait painter Joshua Johnson created art that was conceived in a thoroughly western European fashion. During the 1800s, Harriet Powers made quilts in rural Georgia, United States that are now considered among the finest examples of nineteenth-century Southern quilting. Later in the 20th century, the women of Gee’s Bend developed a distinctive, bold, and sophisticated quilting style based on traditional African American quilts with a geometric simplicity that developed separately but was like that of Amish quilts and modern art. After the American Civil War, museums and galleries began more frequently to display the work of African American artists. Cultural expression in mainstream venues was still limited by the dominant European aesthetic and by racial prejudice. To increase the visibility of their work, many African American artists traveled to Europe where they had greater freedom. It was not until the Harlem Renaissance that more whites began to pay attention to African American art in America. [pic] Kara Walker, Cut, Cut paper and adhesive on wall, Brent Sikkema NYC. During the 1920s, artists such as Raymond Barthe, Aaron Douglas, Augusta Savage, and photographer James Van Der Zee became well known for their work. During the Great Depression, new opportunities arose for these and other African American artists under the WPA. In later years, other programs and institutions, such as the New York City-based Harmon Foundation, helped to foster African American artistic talent. Augusta Savage, Elizabeth Catlett, Lois Mailou Jones, Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence and others exhibited in museums and juried art shows, and built reputations and followings for themselves. In the 1950s and 1960s, there were very few widely accepted African American artists. Despite this, The Highwaymen, a loose association of 27 African American artists from Ft. Pierce, Florida, created idyllic, quickly realized images of the Florida landscape and peddled some 50,000 of them from the trunks of their cars. They sold their art directly to the public rather than through galleries and art agents, thus receiving the name â€Å"The Highwaymen†. Rediscovered in the mid-1990s, today they are recognized as an important part of American folk history. Their artwork is widely collected by enthusiasts and original pieces can easily fetch thousands of dollars in auctions and sales. The Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s was another period of resurgent interest in African American art. During this period, several African-American artists gained national prominence, among them Lou Stovall, Ed Love, Charles White, and Jeff Donaldson. Donaldson and a group of African-American artists formed the Afrocentric collective AFRICOBRA, which remains in existence today. The sculptor Martin Puryear, whose work has been acclaimed for years, is being honored with a 30-year retrospective of his work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York starting November 2007. Notable contemporary African American artists include David Hammons, Eugene J. Martin, Charles Tolliver, and Kara Walker. Literature [pic] Langston Hughes, a notable African American poet of the Harlem Renaissance. African American literature has its roots in the oral traditions of African slaves in America. The slaves used stories and fables in much the same way as they used music. These stories influenced the earliest African American writers and poets in the 18thcentury such as Phillis Wheatley and Olaudah Equiano. These authors reached early high points by telling slave narratives. During the early 20th century Harlem Renaissance, numerous authors and poets, such as Langston Hughes, W. E. B. Dubois, and Booker T. Washington, grappled with how to respond to discrimination in America. Authors during the Civil Rights era, such as Richard Wright, James Baldwin and Gwendolyn Brooks wrote about issues of racial segregation, oppression and other aspects of African American life. This tradition continues today with authors who have been accepted as an integral part of American literature, with works such as Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, and Beloved by Nobel Prize-winning Toni Morrison, and series by Octavia Butler and Walter Mosley that have achieved both best-selling and/or award-winning status. Museums The African American Museum Movement emerged during the 1950s and 1960s to preserve the heritage of the African American experience and to ensure its proper interpretation in American history. Museums devoted to African American history are found in many African American neighborhoods. Institutions such as the African American Museum and Library at Oakland and The African American Museum in Cleveland were created by African Americans to teach and investigate cultural history that, until recent decades was primarily preserved trough oral traditions. Language Generations of hardships imposed on the African American community created distinctive language patterns. Slave owners often intentionally mixed people who spoke different African languages to discourage communication in any language other than English. This, combined with prohibitions against education, led to the development of pidgins, simplified mixtures of two or more languages that speakers of different languages could use to communicate. Examples of pidgins that became fully developed languages include Creole, common to Haiti,and Gullah, common to the Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia. African American Vernacular English is a type variety (dialect, ethnolect and sociolect) of the American English language closely associated with the speech of but not exclusive to African Americans. While AAVE is academically considered a legitimate dialect because of its logical structure, some of both Caucasians and African Americans consider it slang or the result of a poor command of Standard American English. Inner city African American children who are isolated by speaking only AAVE have more difficulty with standardized testing and, after school, moving to the mainstream world for work. It is common for many speakers of AAVE to code switch between AAVE and Standard American English depending on the setting. Fashion and aesthetics [pic]. A man weaving kente cloth in Ghana. Attire The cultural explosion of the 1960s saw the incorporation of surviving cultural dress with elements from modern fashion and West African traditional clothing to create a uniquely African American traditional style. Kente cloth is the best known African textile. These festive woven patterns, which exist in numerous varieties, were originally made by the Ashanti and Ewe peoples of Ghana and Togo. Kente fabric also appears in a number of Western style fashions ranging from casual t-shirts to formal bow ties and cummerbunds. Kente strips are often sewn into liturgical and academic robes or worn as stoles. Since the Black Arts Movement, traditional African clothing has been popular amongst African Americans for both formal and informal occasions. Another common aspect of fashion in African American culture involves the appropriate dress for worship in the Black church. It is expected in most churches that an individual should present their best appearance for worship. African American women in particular are known for wearing vibrant dresses and suits. An interpretation of a passage from the Christian Bible, â€Å"†¦every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head†¦ â€Å", has led to the tradition of wearing elaborate Sunday hats, sometimes known as â€Å"crowns. † Hair Hair styling in African American culture is greatly varied. African American hair is typically composed of tightly coiled curls. The predominant styles for women involve the straightening of the hair through the application of heat or chemical processes. These treatments form the base for the most commonly socially acceptable hairstyles in the United States. Alternatively, the predominant and most socially acceptable practice for men is to leave one’s hair natural. Often, as men age and begin to lose their hair, the hair is either closely cropped, or the head is shaved completely free of hair. However, since the 1960s, natural hairstyles, such as the afro, braids, and dreadlocks, have been growing in popularity. Although the association with radical political movements and their vast difference from mainstream Western hairstyles, the styles have not yet attained widespread social acceptance. Maintaining facial hair is more prevalent among African American men than in other male populations in the U. S. In fact, the soul patch is so named because African American men, particularly jazz musicians, popularized the style. The preference for facial hair among African American men is due partly to personal taste, but because they are more prone than other ethnic groups to develop a condition known as pseudofolliculitis barbae, commonly referred to as razor bumps, many prefer not to shave. Body image The European aesthetic and attendant mainstream concepts of beauty are often at odds with the African body form. Because of this, African American women often find themselves under pressure to conform to European standards of beauty. Still, there are individuals and groups who are working towards raising the standing of the African aesthetic among African Americans and internationally as well. This includes efforts toward promoting as models those with clearly defined African features; the mainstreaming of natural hairstyles; and, in women, fuller, more voluptuous body types. Religion While African Americans practice a number of religions, Protestant Christianity is by far the most popular. Additionally, 14% of Muslims in the United States and Canada are African American. Christianity [pic] A river baptism in New Bern, North Carolina near the turn of the 20th century. The religious institutions of African American Christians commonly are referred tocollectively as the black church. During slavery, many slaves were stripped of their African belief systems and typically denied free religious practice. Slaves managed, however, to hang on to some practices by integrating them into Christian worship in secret meetings. These practices, including dance, shouts, African rhythms, and enthusiastic singing, remain a large part of worship in the African American church. African American churches taught that all people were equal in God’s eyes and viewed the doctrine of obedience to one’s master taught in white churches as hypocritical. Instead the African American church focused on the message of equality and hopes for a better future. Before and after emancipation, racial segregation in America prompted the development of organized African American denominations. The first of these was the AME Church founded by Richard Allen in 1787. An African American church is not necessarily a separate denomination. Several predominantly African American churches exist as members of predominantly white denominations. African American churches have served to provide African American people with leadership positions and opportunities to organize that were denied in mainstream American society. Because of this, African American pastors became the bridge between the African American and European American communities and thus played a crucial role in the American Civil Rights Movement. Like many Christians, African American Christians sometimes participate in or attend a Christmas play. Black Nativity by Langston Hughes is a re-telling of the classic Nativity story with gospel music. Productions can be found a African American theaters and churches all over the country. Islam [pic] A member of the Nation of Islam selling merchandise on a city street corner. Despite the popular assumption that the Nation represents all or most African American Muslims, less than 2% are members. Generations before the advent of the Atlantic slave trade, Islam was a thriving religion in West Africa due to its peaceful introduction via the lucrative trans-Saharan trade between prominent tribes in the southern Sahara and the Berbers to the North. In his attesting to this fact the West African scholar Cheikh Anta Diop explained: â€Å"The primary reason for the success of Islam in Black Africa†¦consequently stems from the fact that it was propagated peacefully at first by solitary Arabo-Berber travelers to certain Black kings and notables, who then spread it about them to those under their jurisdiction† Many first-generation slaves were often able to retain their Muslim identity, their descendants were not. Slaves were either forcibly converted to Christianity as was the case in the Catholic lands or were besieged with gross inconviences to their religious practice such as in the case of the Protestant American mainland. In the decades after slavery and particularly during the depression era, Islam reemerged in the form of highly visible and sometimes controversial heterodox movements in the African American community. The first of these of note was the Moorish Science Temple of America, founded by Noble Drew Ali. Ali had a profound influence on Wallace Fard, who later founded the Black nationalist Nation of Islam in 1930. Elijah Muhammad became head of the organization in 1934. Much like Malcolm X, who left the Nation of Islam in 1964, many African American Muslims now follow traditional Islam. A survey by the Council on American-Islamic Relations shows that 30% of Sunni Mosque attendees are African Americans. African American orthodox Muslims are often the victims of stereotypes, most notably the assumption that an African American Muslim is a member of the Nation of Islam. They are often viewed by the uneducated African-American community in general as less authentic than Muslims from the Middle East or South Asia while credibility is less of an issue with immigrant Muslims and Muslim world in general. Other religions. Aside from Christianity and Islam, there are also African Americans who follow Judaism, Buddhism, and a number of other religions. The Black Hebrew Israelites are a collection of African American Jewish religious organizations. Among their varied teachings, they often include that African Americans are descended from the Biblical Hebrews (sometimes with the paradoxical claim that the Jewish people are not). There is a small but growing number of African Americans who participate in African traditional religions, such as Vodou and Santeria or Ifa and diasporic traditions like Rastafarianism. Many of them are immigrants or descendants of immigrants from the Caribbean and South America, where these are practiced. Because of religious practices, such as animal sacrifice, which are no longer common among American religions and are often legally prohibited, these groups may be viewed negatively and are sometimes the victims of harassment. Life events For most African Americans, the observance of life events follows the pattern of mainstream American culture. There are some traditions which are unique to African Americans. Some African Americans have created new rites of passage that are linked to African traditions. Pre-teen and teenage boys and girls take classes to prepare them for adulthood. They are typically taught spirituality, responsibility, and leadership. Most of these programs are modeled after traditional African ceremonies, with the focus largely on embracing African ideologies rather than specific rituals. To this day, some African American couples choose to â€Å"jump the broom† as a part of their wedding ceremony. Although the practice, which can be traced back to Ghana, fell out of favor in the African American community after the end of slavery, it has experienced a slight resurgence in recent years as some couples seek to reaffirm their African heritage. Funeral traditions tend to vary based on a number of factors, including religion and location, but there are a number of commonalities. Probably the most important part of death and dying in the African American culture is the gathering of family and friends. Either in the last days before death or shortly after death, typically any friends and family members that can be reached are notified. This gathering helps to provide spiritual and emotional support, as well as assistance in making decisions and accomplishing everyday tasks. The spirituality of death is very important in African American culture. A member of the clergy or members of the religious community, or both, are typically present with the family through the entire process. Death is often viewed as transitory rather than final. Many services are called homegoings, instead of funerals, based on the belief that the person is going home to the afterlife. The entire end of life process is generally treated as a celebration of life rather than a mourning of loss. This is most notably demonstrated in the New Orleans Jazz Funeral tradition where upbeat music, dancing, and food encourage those gathered to be happy and celebrate the homegoing of a beloved friend. Cuisine [pic] A traditional soul food dinner consisting of fried chicken, candied yams, collard greens, cornbread, and macaroni and cheese. The cultivation and use of many agricultural products in the United States, such as yams, peanuts, rice, okra, sorghum, grits, watermelon, indigo dyes, and cotton, can be traced to African influences. African American foods reflect creative responses to racial and economic oppression and poverty. Under slavery, African Americans were not allowed to eat better cuts of meat, and after emancipation many often were too poor to afford them. Soul food, a hearty cuisine commonly associated with African Americans in the South (but also common to African Americans nationwide), makes creative use of inexpensive products procured through farming and subsistence hunting and fishing.

Importance of hunting Essay

Like baseball and apple pie, hunting is an American tradition shared by young and old, rich and poor, regardless of social or economic status. Three out of every ten people are against hunting but for what reasons? What makes them stand out from the seven out of ten that are for hunting? My preference supports hunting for many reasons. Hunting is important because without it there would be animals struggling to survive because of the shortage of the nutrient food they need on a daily basis to stay healthy. It would also cut down the number of damage done to vehicles by animals. It also gets more kids outdoors and involved in agriculture activities which is needed now days. Believe it or not hunting is also a big part of our economy bringing in hundreds of billions of dollars each year. The first and foremost reason it’s important is because it reduces the number of abundant animals struggling to survive and causing car wrecks. Many states including Nebraska have opened special seasons for the notoriously known â€Å"trophy† whitetail deer. Whitetail deer are in abundant numbers all over the United Sates, some people see them as pets, but even more people see them as pests. They destroy crops and cause car wrecks. The average claim after a deer collision is 3,100 dollars. Every 1 in 85 people have known or heard of someone dying because of a collision with a deer. The number of these animals is stable because of one thing and that is hunting! Without hunters hunting these animals they would be unhealthy, and over populating the suburbs of the southern parts of the United States and the country side of the Midwest. They would also be causing severe or fatal car wrecks. Deer aren’t the only abundant animal there are many others including wild Turkey, Elk, and Bear. These animals are all struggling because of the three out of ten people that are against hunting, if just one of those three people would change there mind and see that the animals and humans both are struggling even more without hunting it would make a major difference. The second reason is that it gets more kids involved in the outdoors and other agriculture activities. Every year obesity becomes more of a problem for one reason; video games. If more kids were exposed to hunting or to the outdoors alone that could make them see that there’s a much better life outdoors then inside sitting down in front of there TV eating a bag potato chips. If more kids got involved in hunting it would also help the reducing of the abundant animals. This would mean less suffering and car wrecks. Many states are lowering the prices of there youth permits in hope that it will get more youth hunters in the field. All states have a mentor hunting program that takes kids hunting whose parents do not hunt or are not eligible to hunt. The National survey of fishing, hunting, and wildlife recreation, states that the number of youth hunters has tripled since 2006. It also states that the number of car wrecks dealing with deer has decreased 15 percent since 2006. Nearly 80 percent of adult hunters started hunting as youths. They predict that only 15 percent of youth in the year 2020 will hunt. Hunting leads into other agriculture activities. More kids are also becoming irresponsible do to one thing the lack of chores. Every eight in ten kids will tell you they do not have chores. Those two kids that say they do have chores are usually farm kids or have parents who grew up on a farm or engaged in agriculture activities. The third reason is vitally important to are economy and for the future. Many people say that hunting deals nothing with the economy of the world and there wrong. 12. 5 million People 16 years of age and older enjoy hunting a variety of animals within the United States. They hunt about 220 days a year and take about 185 trips. Hunting expenditures totaled about $22. 9 billion dollars. Hunting also generates more then $67 billion dollars in economic output and more than one million jobs in the United States. Hunting also generates $25 billion dollars in retail sales, $17 billion dollars in salaries and wages, and employs 575,000 Americans. If hunting was outlawed think of all the people who would be with out a job! They would struggle JUST like the abundant animals. Like Baseball and apple pie hunting is an important American tradition that should never change because without it there would be animals struggling to survive because of the shortage of the nutrient food they need on a daily basis to stay healthy. Car wrecks related to animals would increase. And it also gets more kids outdoors and involved in agriculture activities which is needed now days. It also boosts the economy, bringing billions of dollars each year. I hope you are on the same page as me now and see that hunting isn’t wrong.

Anasazi Indians Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Anasazi Indians - Essay Example Anasazi Indians practiced artwork, which was different from other tribes, hence giving them a uniqueness. For instance, they practiced pottery used for cooking or storage. The potteries were smooth and unpainted (Linda 18-19). Similarly, Anasazi Indians decorated pottery with black paints on a white background between 500 to 1300 CE (Maestri 5). They decorated their pottery using fine hatching and contrasted them using a mineral-based paint. Tall cylinders also characterize the community for ceremonial purposes. The narrow-necked jar was used for storing or drinking liquids (Linda 18-19). Additionally, this community also created pictographs and petroglyphs such as â€Å"sun dagger† that allowed sunlight to pass (Brian 35). The sitting of the dagger on the Petroglyph varied throughout the year to symbolize different positions of the sun and different seasons of the year (Brian 35). For instance, dagger-shaped light form pierces through the heart of the spiral during summer; this is an indication that it serves different purposes, and the community identified themselves with the different positions. Sun daggers also marked winter and equinoxes hence were important for the community in marking the events or the four seasons (Maestri 9). Architecture is also another aspect that defines the cultures of Anasazi since they were uniquely designed within the community spaces (Brian 35). The ancient community settlements were based on apartments-like structures made of stones and other local materials (Brian 35). The ancient towns were multi-storied building and served multipurpose as they also surrounded the open plaza; people occupied them (Brian 35). Similarly, they served the purpose of hosting cultural and civil events important for this community (Brian 35). The Anasazi Indians architectural structures marked by villages and towns acted as defense symbols because of their locations (Bureau of Land Management 6). For example, some were placed in strategic