Author: chris

Comparing a Civic and Religious Building

Introduction

Normally, buildings are built for certain purpose, ranging from residential, religious services, public use and official use. Designers of buildings have the function of the building in mind during designing, and design them around the function they are intended for, but also remain bound by architecture of the time or era the buildings are built. For instance, during the early 20^th century the buildings were influenced by the gothic architectural style and Byzantine as well. One of the religious buildings in Columbus Ohio is the Greek Orthodox Cathedral church that takes the Byzantine architectural style. This was build purposely for worshiping, and its design and interior are fitted for this particular function with centralized areas called the nave for congregation to gather in front of the altar. Another form of building utilizing a different architectural style is the Ohio statehouse that was completed in 1861 just before the American civil war. The building is built using the ancient Greek Doric style with many Doric pillars surrounding it. To serve its purpose, it is built on a big space, with spacious rooms and a cupola that supplies light down to the building. Unlike the Greek cathedral, the statehouse has many rooms form inside meant for each branch of the state government. Both buildings have decorations in the interior, each telling a history of its relevant purpose.

The Greek Cathedral church

The cathedral is built in a traditional Byzantine style of architectures that can be traced to the sixth century. The Byzantine architectural style is characterized by centralized church plans, surrounding isles, use of pendentives and domes on top of them and highly complex interior with decorations and lighting to create fancy interiors. The Greek cathedral church is not without these characteristics. It has a pendentive dome at the top, which is centered in the building. From the inside, it bears the shape of a cross due to others on the sides. This imitates the Greek cross that has all sides equal in length. From the inside of the dome, it is highly decorated with religious pictures such as Jesus, paintings of saints, with fine intricate details and curving on the walls. The dome is further lighted with windows that illuminate light, which is reflected by the brightly decorated interior wall of the dome. This gives a warm lighting color, making it quite fascinating (greekcathedral.com 2012).

The interior decoration is highly decorated to allow a fascinating interior meant to uplift the spirits of the worshipers. It serves to elevate the mind of the worshipers, through creating an atmosphere of worship through its splendor decoration and symbolism. The paintings have meaning to the worshipers, serving as a constant reminder of the Christian journey to heaven. According to the greekcathedral.com, “The primary function of the symbols within the Church is to serve as aids, as instruments that an Orthodox Christian may use in his journey towards a personal relationship with the living Christ,” (2012).

The dome is placed strategically, where both arms of the cross in the floor plan meet. The dome varies in terms of size depending on the particular church. For this church, it is average, placed at the center of the intersection of the floor plan. More so, it is strategically built on the four main corners of the building where the intersection is located, which transfers the weight of the dome to the four corners. Additionally, the dome is raised to allowing a cylinder below it that comes with windows around it. This allows more lighting in the church. Additionally, on top of the isles on the sides are fitted with windows for more lighting. The church is built using stones and only the four pillars supporting the dome need to be reinforced.

Below the dome is the center of the church where the congregation sits during a mass. The central area, referred to as the Nave with equal arms of the Greek cross extending from the center that can sit around 600 people (greekcathedral.com 2012). The stained glass windows built from Venetian glass tell the stories from the bible to create a continuous memory of the Christian journey. Ahead of the central location is the altar, which is below a large apse decorated with mosaics of the Virgin Mary. Further, the altar is separated from the nave, where the congregation sits by a wall with decorated icons and a small gate. The decorated icon wall represents the partition separating heaven and earth, with heaven symbolized by the altar while earth is symbolized by the nave. It also serves as the incarnation of Christ, representing the meeting of heaven and earth.

The purpose of the centralization of the nave is to place the congregation in a position where they can see the altar clearly without strain. These architectural forms are designed to suit the function of the building. Additionally, the altar area is raised from the ground to allow everybody to see listen to the speakers or priest during masses. Additionally, at the entrance there are other rooms meant for different purposes, such as the candle room where the worshipers sacrifice a candle while entering the church. The next part is the nave, where the dome is positioned on top (greekcathedral.com 2012). It stands at the center. Between the nave and the altar, there is a space, referred to as Solea where sacraments of the church are administered.  Additional to this there is a wooden structure on the southeast corner, which is referred to as “kouvouklion” representing the tomb of Jesus that is only used during goof Fridays. All the rooms in the cathedral are accessible and visible from the nave.

 Ohio statehouse

The Ohio statehouse is one of the historical civic building that continue to exist from the wartime. Before it was built, government matters were held in a small house but never enough for the expanding operations of the government. In1838 a competition for the design for a new statehouse was announced, where many entries were received but only three got the award. Its construction commenced in 1839 when the cornerstone of the building was laid. Unable to decide on the design of the building from the three winning ones, an architect from New York was consulted. The building went through several difficulties before its completion

It was completed in 1861 at the beginning of the American civil war. Its architectural design is one of the most interesting features of the building. It took the Greek revival Doric architecture (ohiostatehouse.org 2012).

The statehouse has a central recessed porch that is designed with a colonnade and a Greek Doric mode pillars that are built of limestone from Columbus. It has a broad and low pediment that supports the cupola with windows and contains an oculus for lighting the interior rotunda. Greek Doric mode is characterized by Doric columns or pillars that stand on flat pavements, without a base at the bottom. At the top, they were topped by smooth capitals that joined the square abacus intersecting the horizontal beam. The statehouse is surrounded by many of these columns. The building is not patterned on a single building. Rather, it is designed using a combination of Greek elements, modeled to fit the specific functions. The statehouse was influenced by the ancient Greek style since it was the birthplace of democracy (ohiostatehouse.org 2012). Additionally, it was simple and easier to build.

The floor is more definite, taking a rectangular shape with offices and open spaces for various functions. At the center, there is an open space that illuminates light into the building. It is centered where the central porch is located. The porch remains an open space for not only light but also allowing an easy access to all the rooms. The cupola has a height of 70 feet and 64 feet across while the diameter showing the skyline is 31 feet. The building is 158 feet tall from the ground to the top of the cupola. From below the cupola, the other parts of the building are accessible (ohiostatehouse.org 2012). It acts as the central point from where the stairways are accessed to enter the upper floors. Additionally, the ground floor and first floors do not have the same partitioning. Some offices such as the court room, library and a house of representatives. Its massive size and spacious rooms allowed for its functionality since all government offices of Ohio were fitted there when it was new until more space was required in later years.

Conclusion

Comparing the Greek cathedral and the statehouse, some distinct differences can be noted. The first most notable is the dome. Despite both having influence from Greek architecture styles, their domes are different. While the church is a full dome with a cross on top, the statehouse has a two story Cupola instead of a dome that is mounted with a conical roof. Another notable difference is the floor plan. The Greek cathedral’s floor plan takes the shape of a Greek cross that has both all arms equal as described earlier with the dome fitted at the intersection. On the other hand, the statehouse’s floor plan is basic and takes a rectangular shape that spans almost two acres. Similar to the cathedral, its cupola is fixed at the center of the building. The rest of the roof is flat. Both buildings have decorations in the interior. The cathedral represents the journey of a Christian through the stories from the bible and depictions of Jesus. With the statehouse, the decorations show paintings and pictures of famous leaders, depicting the history of Ohio. While the church has a central place the same as the statehouse, they both serve different purposes. For the church, the central area is where the congregation sits and everything else is accessible from there. There are few rooms. On the other hand, the rotunda in the statehouse is a central point as well, but only serves to allow access to other rooms and floors as well. The statehouse has many spacious rooms for official work. all branches of the government were once found there.

 

 

Work cited

Greekcathedral.com. The Annunciation Greek cathedral Columbus Ohio. greekcathedral.com, 2012. Web. September 29, 2012.

Ohiostatehouse.org. the Ohio statehouse. ohiostatehouse.org, 2012. Web. September 29, 2012.

 

 

Speeches made by Sarah Palin and Joe Biden

Both Sarah Palin and Joe Biden made their speeches at the height of political campaigns. From what they both talked about, they are people who value their families in many ways. During the time that they made their speeches, their families remained a point of reference. Joe was especially touched by his mother’s sacrifice and words of wisdom especially when he was a young man. Palin used the opportunity to speak of his son who was heading to Iraq for war. She also referred to one of her nephews who had special needs. By doing this, she managed to draw two groups of people: those who had a family member who was fighting in the war and those who had to deal with the difficulty and the struggle of taking care of a child or adult with special needs. Biden managed to draw some sympathy when he recalled the fond memories he had of his father.

He talked of how far he had come and how much his father would be proud of him. Palin’s speech was mainly geared to her opponents attack. She constantly referred to what her opponents were doing and offered her objections to their plans. Although she did talk about McCain and his achievements, she also dedicated a large part of her speech to her achievements when she was mayor and the rest of her political career. Biden on the other hand started by highlighting Obama’s achievements. He detailed out some of Obama’s achievements as a senator and what they intended to do as a government. From the speeches delivered both Palin and Biden loved their spouses. They appreciated who they were and what they meant in their lives. I find the speech made by Joe Biden better since it was credible and logical. By Palin focusing on her opponent’s side, much of what she said is lost and one tends to forget other issues that she addressed.

Political songs written before and after 1975

The song “Blowin’ in the Wind” by Bob Dylan is a good example of a song written before 1975. The song was written in 1962 but was released in 1964. The song speaks against racism. Dylan used the melody of another song, which was commonly sung by black slaves, and he added his own words to the song. It commends those who see it, hear about it, and yet do nothing about it. Dylan was only twenty-one when he wrote the song. He asked how many people would die before somebody did something about it. He said that the answer to all his questions lay in the wind. When he started singing the song, Dylan told the people that it was not a protest song. This was to change as more people listened to the song and they made their own judgments. Many people took it to be a protest song and most thought it spoke against racial discrimination, which was rampant at that time. He inspired other singers such as Cooke who went ahead and wrote more protest songs.

The hip-hop song “Fight the Enemy” was written in 1989 by Public Enemy. It calls for people to have awareness and for them to realize that they ought to have freedom of speech. The song also notes the racial imbalance in the states. It talks about black people not being given recognition. It gives the example of postage stamps where no black person appears. Although the issue of racial discrimination has come a long way, there is still a lot more to be dome. The two songs have one thing in common. They are fighting for a cause. They are both talking against racial discrimination. However, they are different in that the first song by Dylan does not see a solution to the problem.

In the second song, there is a solution to a problem. All that people need is to become aware of their rights including freedom of speech. The first song was released at a time when people were not used to that type of music. Many people therefore welcomed it. The second song was released at a time when hip-hop was gaining ground. The song lyrics are very strong and the writer did not hide the cause for which he was using. Although it used strong language, the song was appealing to those it targeted. Both songs delivered the message that they were supposed to. The first song was more effective than the second song. Not many people understood rap and hip-hop and the message was therefore lost to some.

Culture Wars and the Future of Cultural Democracy

The impulse for my Chinese family to migrate to the United States of America was similar to that of other immigrants living in this country. My family migrated to the United States or Jinshan (the gold mountain) purposely to look for better economic opportunities. My family was compelled to leave China due to the lack of employment opportunities. My parents were attracted to the United States of America by the availability of job opportunities where they were forced to move to the country to work as contract laborers (Taikaki 320). Since the Chinese first arrived in the United States in the 19^th century, their communal experience as a minority in terms of race is significantly different from other racial minorities and European immigrants.

Chinese were isolated for discrimination using laws, which were passed, in the states they resided. In 1882, they were the first immigrant community to be targeted for denial of citizenship and exclusion by the American congress. Their meeting with Euro-Americans was formed not only on their self-perceptions but also by the varying bilateral relationship between China and America. From a historical perspective, the experiences of Chinese immigrants can be enshrined in my own family experiences in migrating to the United States.

In 1852, the Governor of California, John Bigler, insisted that the Chinese should be excluded on the basis that they could not be assimilated into the American culture. In an 1854 case, Hall vs. people, the California Supreme Court decided that Chinese evidence against the whites was not permitted in a law court. The court was of the opinion that if this was to be allowed, then it meant that the Chinese were also to be permitted equal citizenship and voting rights, take jury positions, be allowed to testify and even take legislative positions. Judicial decisions and congressional statutes barred the immigrants from naturalization. This made them disenfranchised politically in the name of democracy and this exposed them to deliberate and continuous violation of their legitimate rights.

The immigrants could not comprehend why America used gunboat diplomacy to allow the Chinese immigrants on one hand. On the other hand, they used diplomacy to exclude the Chinese Americans. This conflict between hypocrisy and American democracy led to the emergence of modern nationalism amongst the Chinese immigrants. This led to fight for equal rights by the Chinese at home and the orientation of the collective will aimed at liberating China from what they viewed as imperialist domination (Daniels 125). The Chinese Americans associated the oppression experienced in America to the powerlessness of China.

In Chinatown, ghetto life was hard, but this did not imply that it was stagnant. The politically disenfranchised and legally discriminated Chinese Americans battled racism using diplomatic and litigation channels, set-up their foundation in Chinatown, actively engaged in numerous political movements and economic development projects in an attempt to modernize China. The immigration generation had only one purpose in mind, to improve China and themselves. Integration was viewed as impossible and for the generation born in America, they sought to be assimilated, but the mainstream society was inhospitable to them.

By the 19^th century, majority of the Chinese immigrants had no hopes in America and the oriented started focusing their lives on the eventual possibility of going back to their home country. Having this mentality of temporary residence in the US, they developed a high level of tolerance for racial discrimination and hardship. The immigrants maintained a prudent Chinese lifestyle, which involved observing Chinese festivals and customs through district and family associations and living modestly. They sent remittances to children, wives, and parents, regularly maintained village charities, and ancestral halls. Parents sought to instill Chinese culture and language in their kids and mostly took them to Chinese schools within the community and where possible back to China. The parents motivated their children to excel in the American educational system and arranged for their children’s marriages. In this era, the main aspiration of the immigrants was to work hard, accumulate sufficient wealth, and finally, retire back to their villages of origin.

The immigrants joined social organizations such as family associations and district associations. Such associations stood for the collective well-being and interests of people from similar counties or villages and people bearing similar family names. These associations established temples and schools, helped members to find housing and jobs, arbitrated disputes, provided comfort and aid to members, and sponsored cultural and social events.

A majority of the associations had sub-divisions in different Chinatowns, allowing members to tour one city to another. The collection of these associations made up the Consolidated Chinese Benevolent Association, which was put-up in each city (Zhou 259). This was viewed as the ghetto government, whose purpose was to resolve disagreements among organizations and individuals to represent the interests of the community with both Chinese and American governments using litigation, civil disobedience and passive resistance. At other times, they used grass root protests and diplomatic channels to air their concerns. On many occasions, these associations became too oppressive and powerful, and this resulted in the obstruction of political and social progress.

In the American ghettos where the Chinese immigrants resided, there emerged a series of catholic and protestant missionaries. They built schools and churches, which were utilized in trying to assimilate and convert Chinese people to Christianity. In addition, there emerged reformers and political factions from China who sought to engage Chinese Americans to work and support their causes, and advanced their ideas of modernizing China. The missionaries, reformers and political factions were all viewed as agents of change. However, they worked at cross-purposes and on different constituencies. The missionaries aimed at incorporating them, whereas, the reformers sought to instill political and cultural loyalty to China. Nearly all main Christian churches, built schools and missions are found in the Chinatowns in San Francisco. This is the biggest state in America, and the heart of the political, cultural and economic life of the North America’s Chinese. In general, the churches were triumphant in winning the individuals who were born in America, as opposed to the immigrants.

The lesser population of the Chinese that was exposed to American education but were segregated soon recognized their inferior status. Most of them became ashamed of their culture, status and appearance. The need for acceptance and self-hatred became their dominant obsession. This meant that they had to disown their linguistic and cultural heritage in an attempt of being Americanized. This entailed the absorption of American social behaviors, values, personality traits and the conversion to Christianity.

However, in the period before the Second World War, the Chinese denial of cultural and racial heritage did not earn them the social acceptance that they desired. Most of the immigrants found themselves isolated from the mainstream (Daniels 329). These individuals were barred from competing for jobs despite the fact that they had the required qualifications. Some of them were forced to decide whether to continue living in America as second-class citizens or going back to China, where their culture and language had become alien to them, considering their attempt to be integrated. The Chinese people living in America did not know whether to continue living in the United States where getting a job had become difficult or to return to China where there were no jobs at all.

For the generation that had immigrated, their only choice was to focus on their future in China. They were occupied by the concept of modernizing China and concentrated their energy and attention to China as they linked their inferior class in America to the powerlessness of China due to domination by the western nation. Nevertheless, the reformers who came from China always had generous supporters and audiences among Chinese immigrants in America. Between the efforts of political reformers and missionaries, numerous political parties and churches were built and sectarian newspapers and schools were established. Newspaper industries and schools were some of the most enduring and influential organizations in Chinese America. Collectively, they played a crucial part in propagating the culture of Chinese among themselves and introducing ideas of nationalism and modernity to their country.

From the brief history of Chinese immigrants, their experiences are in many aspects similar to those of my family. The push factors include the lack of employment opportunities in China and the need to improve their standard of living. The pull factors include the better economic opportunity, higher standards of education, and better living standards. In the United States, the vacant economic niche is the lack of cheap labor (Taikaki 257). In the past and present, the deficit in cheap labor has attracted many immigrants to the United States. In the United States, Chinese immigrants have contributed a lot to the economy of the United States from their labor.

According to a research in 2002, there are approximately 286,000 firms that are owned by Chinese in the US, these firms have employed over 649, 100 immigrants, and make over $105 billion in revenue. In California, where my family lives, there are approximately 110,823 Chinese-owned firms, which are approximately 38.7% of all firms. These firms generate over $56 billion annually. In New York, there are 57,673 firms, with revenues of approximately $10.2 billion. However, Chinese immigrants encounter a lot of competition from other immigrants such as African immigrants and Hispanic immigrants. These immigrants also target the labor market in the United States and compete with the Chinese in the provision of cheap labor. My family was helped to immigrate to the United States through networking with friends living in the United States. Our family friends connected my family with organizations that employ Chinese immigrants, and it was through this that my family members were employed.

Similar to earlier immigrants, my family also experienced a lot of rejection and discrimination. When my family migrated to the United States, there was still a lot of discriminatory distrust of immigrants and Chinese-Americans. This was indicated by the campaign donor scandals and the Wen Ho Lee spy charges. In addition, there have been recent accusations that China’s sovereign wealth funds that these funds have the potential of undermining the financial institutions in America. These factors have lead to the discriminatory distrust that the Chinese immigrants are experiencing.

In conclusion, people from different countries immigrate to America in such for greener pastures such as employment opportunities and more advanced education systems. This is the same reason as to why individuals from China had to move to America. My family also moved to America in search for job opportunities (Taikaki, 2010). My family faced the same problems that were faced by other individuals living in America. This is where we experienced discrimination and to some extend the American government placed rules and regulations against further migrations to America specifically for individuals from China. This resulted from an increment in cheap labor that was provided in the United States.

Works Cited:

Daniels, Roger. Asian America: Chinese and Japanese in the United States since 1850. Santee, CA: University of Washington Press, 1988. Print.

Taikaki, Ronald. Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America. Retrieved on June 16, 2010, from

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpq722mR6nE

Taikaki, Ronald. A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America. Little, Brown and Company, 2008. Print.

Zhou, Min .Contemporary Chinese America: Immigration, Ethnicity, and Community Transformation. New York, NY: Temple University Press, 2009. Print.

 

 

Media

The media has been utilized in most cases to portray different gendered and sexualized norms in the modern world. These norms have been employed by many people ignorantly, into their day to day lives. The portrayals may not contain any grain of truth as they are advertising stunts but most people do take this factor into consideration as they are in constant belief that the media does not lie. The focal point of this paper is on the portrayal of women in print media with particular emphasis on five magazines that encompass InStyle, Glamour, Fitness, Women’s Health and Good Housekeeping. Based on the information extracted from the advertisements in the magazines, there is a clear-cut diverse portrayal of the women in different magazines. The imageries exhibited by the magazines yields varied expectations regarding physical appearance, sexuality, relationships and/or gender roles.

Shivprasad in his post on June 9, 2010, asserted that most people believed that if sex was not used in advertising products such as fashion styles, perfumes and other items, the marketing industry would not have been as flourishing as it is today. This is because products that were advertised using sexual imagery attracted the consumer’s interest for a protracted time influencing the particular individual into purchasing the product (Shivprasad, 2010). Since advertisers use sex to enhance their products sales, they resort to extreme of marketing strategies aimed at obtaining optimal attention from their customers.

In the advertising section of Women’s health Magazine, slender, well-toned full-length images of women are used in weight loss drugs segment to achieve the perfect ‘sexy’ look. This more often than never has a negative impact on women, as they tend to indulge in poor eating habits with intent of losing weight. Young girls are also ensnared in their mind frames, as they equate beauty to lean bodies. Work hard into losing their body weight for they will only look beautiful if they are skinny. Men are not omitted either. This advertisement will have a negative effect on men. This is because they will want to be in relationship with skinny women. The women they will get married to, will be influenced by the images found in these magazines.

In the Good Housekeeping magazine, it is found that when marketers advertise household equipments, they will include images of women who are fully dressed and respectful. This is the reason as to why women are said to be homemakers. These kinds of advertisements will affect women and young girls negatively for they will grow having in mind that their role in the society is to carry out the household chores (Dill, 1986). Gender inequality will come in where women will be viewed as dependents who cannot work for their own money. Young boys will grow up having in mind that women have no power over men for they cannot do anything better than performing household duties. On contrary, in most advertisements men are portrayed as strong. In most advertisements, images of men exposing their masculine bodies are used.

In the fitness magazine unlike in Good house keeping magazines the images used are for thin women. In the magazine, one can find some information like one has to lose weight to look more beautiful or even sexier. In this magazine, weight loss drugs are advertised that are recommended for weight loss. This magazine can be influential in that women are encouraged to take the drugs that can be harmful to ones health. Since the only images used in advertising products in the magazine include images of thin women, it encourages individuals in a given society to pressurize women towards weight loss. These women may end up engaging themselves in poor eating habits.

In her article posted on June 9, 2010, Anita said that advertising without sex would be unsuccessful. She argues that it is because people live in a world that is sex crazed and it is the reason as to why marketers use sexual images in the media. Women are used in advertising certain products like jeans and perfumes. For instance, in the Glamour magazine, women wearing clothes such as jeans exposing their butts are used. This will give the teenagers the mentality that they will look more attractive if they wear clothes that reveal parts of their bodies (Ganesh, 2010). For instance, in such advertisements they may use a woman wearing tight jeans with men fancied by her appearance. Having women being widely used in most advertisements to draw men’s attention portray them as sex objects. This where women will be viewed as people who should work hard towards the improvement of their appearance where in turn they will be used by men in satisfaction of their needs.

For instance, in the Instyle magazine, the cover page has the image of a half-naked woman. This is a proof that fashion in most magazines is associated with nudity. This is an implication that women will look more attractive if only they expose most parts of the body. The marketers make use of the sexy looks that the women have in selling their products. In this magazine, it is found that women cannot be used in advertising other areas that do not require nudity such as career advertisements. This indicates women inferiority in the society.

In most of career advertisements in most magazines, the marketers use images of men. This is where an image of a man who is well dressed in a suit is portrayed as successful with his family. This indicates that the only people who can pursue their careers are men and women will just rely on their success. This is an indication of gender inequality where it is depicted that education is only meant for men only. Women portrayed as individuals who have to be submissive to men for they have to depend on them in the satisfaction of their daily needs. In return, women will have to satisfy men’s sexual needs where men will use them as sex objects. This is an indication that women have no significant place in the society.

Mass media may influence individuals from different ethnic and racial groups in the society including the teenagers. Lately, youngsters have access to media materials where they view most of the advertisements in televisions and in most of the fashion magazines. Different commercial advertisements may have positive or negative impacts to different individuals. Most advertisements portray gender inequality where women are depicted as people who are not educated and their role to the society is to perform household duties.

This is the reason as to why in most commercial advertisements women are found improving their physical appearances to draw men’s attention. On contrary, in most advertisements men are portrayed as strong intellectuals who are domineering (Kimmel & Mahler, 2003). This is the reason as to why men are used in advertising products such as motor vehicles. These advertisements will influence teenagers in the sense that they will grow up emulating the social values and practices as depicted in the media.

In conclusion, marketers should come up with different marketing strategies aimed at improving gender equality. This can be achieved by making use of both men and women from different racial groups in all types of advertisements. Marketers should improve on this area for these advertisements influence peoples ways of lives and specifically the young individuals. For instance, women should also be included in career advertisements. This will have a positive impact to young girls who will be encouraged to work harder in their academic work.

The prevalent focus of both Fitness and Women’s Health magazines was on women with petite figures whereas Good Housekeeping magazines focused on full figured women. Glamour magazine focuses on the portrayal of women as sexual symbols through the exhibition of the highest number of naked or inadequately dressed women. Good Housekeeping magazine on the other hand, enhances a good image for women due to the high number of fully clothed women who form its focal point.

 

 

Reference:

Dill, B. T. (1986).Our Mothers Grief: Racial Ethnic and Maintenance of Families. Memphis, TN:  Center for Research on Women.

Ganesh, A. (June 9, 2010). Retrieved on June 15, 2010, from

https://portal.cuny.edu/portal/site/cuny/index.jsp?epi-content=LOGIN

Kimmel, M.S. &Mahler, M. (2003).Adolescent Masculinity, Homophobia, and Violence, New York, NY: Sage publications.

Shivprasad, Y. (June 9, 2010). Retrieved on June 15, 2010, from

https://portal.cuny.edu/portal/site/cuny/index.jsp?epi-content=LOGIN

 

Section 7 and 8

Unemployment rate is the percentage of the unemployed people in the labor force while labor force is the total number of nonmilitary people who are employed or not employed. The labor force consists of people of a working age, probably adults, and therefore students, people who are institutionalized and the retired are not include in this group. Therefore:

Unemployment rate = (No. of the unemployed/ labor force) * 100

Q 7-2

1. a) Total population = labor force + adult military + non adult population + institutionalized adults

206.2 M + 1.5M + 48.0M + 3.5M = 259.2 million

1. b) Unemployed people = labor force- employed adults

206.2 M – 196.2 M = 10 million

Unemployment rate = No. of unemployed/ labor force

(10 million/206.2 million) * 100 = 4.8%

1. c) Labor force participation rate is the ratio between the people in the labor force and the total population of people who should be in the labor force because they are of the acceptable age probably between16 and 65

Therefore, labor participation rate = labor force/ (labor force + non military, non institutionalized adults not in labor force)

206.2m + 40.8m = 247 million

Q 7-4

3. a) Friction unemployment rate = 30/ (1000- 20) * 100 = 3.8%
4. b) Unemployment rate= 30/ (1000 – 20) * 100 = 3.8%
5. c) Friction unemployment rate = (60/ 800) * 100 = 7.5%
6. d) Unemployment rate = (60/ 800) * 100 =7.5%

Q 7-6

1. a) Unemployment rate = (10/ 200) = 5%
2. b) Average duration of unemployment = 30 days/ 360 days =0.083
3. c) Average duration of unemployment = 60 days/ 360 days =0.167
4. d) Unemployment rate = (20/ 200) = 1%

Q 7-8

1. a) Price index = (Price for 2006/ Price for 2008) * 100

($2100/ $2000) * 100 = 105

Q 7-10

Anticipated rate of inflation = nominal rate of interest – real rate of interest

6% – 4% = 2%

Q 7- 12

1. a) Nominal rate – inflation rate = Real interest rate

7% – 5% = 2%

1. b) Anticipated value of price index the following year.

100 = 7%

105 =?

(105 * 7)/ 100 = 7.35%

Q 7-14

1. a) Contraction Y
2. b) Peak U
3. c) Trough X
4. d) Expansion S
5. e) Recession Y

 

Q 8-2

1. Contribution to GDP

$200 + $225 + $50 + $245 = $720

1. $720 + $500 + $50 = $1,270
2. $1,270 + $1,200 = $2,470

 

Q8-4

Q8-6

1. no
2. yes
3. yes
4. no
5. yes
6. yes
7. yes
8. yes
9. yes

Q8-8

1. There is no change in the GDP since there were no effects on the aggregate production or on market prices of final gods and services.
2. The GDP goes down since there is a reduction on government spending.
3. The GDP decreases due to consumers spending less.

Q8-10

1. Nominal GDP

2007

(2*15 + 200*10 + 40*5 + 3*10 + 1*40) =$ 2300

2011

(4*20+250*10+50*4+4*3+2*20)= $ 2,832

1. b) Real GDP

2007 $2300 same as nominal GDP since it is the base year

2011 (4*15 + 250*10+ 50*5 + 4*10 + 2*40) =$ 2930

(2930 – 2300) = $630

Q8-12

1. Nominal GDP

2009

(1000*10+6*3000+100*500+1*10000) = $43,000

2010

(800*15+11*1000+150*300+2*10000)=$172,600

1. Real GDP

2009

(800*10+11*3000+150*500+2*1000)= $118,000

$172,600-$118,000 =$54,600

2010

$172,600 same as nominal GDP

 

Q8-14

$5 million +$15m + $3m =$23m

Using the expenditure approach, the GDP rose with $23m since this is the amount that was spent.

Q8-16

2006. The base year is 2006.this is because this is where the nominal GDP and the real GDP are the same.
2007. Since the base year the country has experienced inflation in years 2007, 2008 and 2009. This is so because the real GDP is less than the nominal GDP meaning that there has been n inflation that has caused the real GDP to be less. There is deflation in years before the base year because the real GDP is less than the nominal GDP.

Isamu Noguchi, Kouros and Alberto Giacometti, Three Men Walking II

Kourous is a sculpture by Isamu Noguchi that he made between 1944 and 1945. The sculpture is more than nine feet tall, pink; made of interlocking marble slabs and its specific dimensions are 117″ h. x 34″ d. x 42″ w. The technique used was carving in the round. He used marbles because of its availability and low cost. His works dating from the 1940s are figurative and biomorphic and Kourous is no exception. Kourous is a name from biomorphic vocabulary devised by Noguchi to portray the human form as fragmented and having bonelike elements. This work was similar to biomorphic abstractions by Surrealist artists like Matta, Jean Arp, Joan Miro, Pablo Picasso and Yves Tanguy. Noguchi, who was born in Japan though he got most of his education from the USA, said that his inspiration was traditional Japanese arts and crafts floral arrangements and samurai swords. Noguchi once worked with Constantin Brancusi in Paris, who was a sculptor and a Surrealist and could have been inspired by him too[1].

For five months, he worked as Constantin’s office assistant and learnt how to analyze simple organic shapes and the figurative associations they evoked. He went further to acquire carving skills and used them, employing traditional methods and materials. He did not use adhesives and for Kourous he assembled pieces of carved stones, notched and slotted them together. In doing so, he considered the weight of each marble and the potential engineering problems he would encounter in carving Kourous. On this he said, “You have to consider the weight of the material, the forces that conspire to hold up the figure engineering problems, essentially. Everything I do has an element of engineering in it particularly since I dislike gluing parts together or taking advantage of something that is not inherent in the material … there are no adhesives of any kind only the stones holding themselves together.” (Noguchi 66).

The fragmented figure shows Noguchi’s feelings about the period after the second world war, which he refers to as “the encroaching void.” In an exhibition in Museum of Modern Art he said, “If I say that growth is the constant transfusion of human meaning into the encroaching void, then how great is our need today when our knowledge of the universe has filled space with energy, driving us toward a greater chaos and new equilibriums.” (Noguchi 85).

This statement brought out his feelings on World War II and his quest for a change that would stop wars. Other Abstract Expressionists used similar terms to “the encroaching void” to describe this period that had caused so many deaths and yet nothing had been accomplished. It therefore brought the mood of the time, the pains, the broken bones and the weakening of the human body. Being a Biomorphic hence an advocator of the power of life, he sought to show the importance of human life. When giving his reasons for using the marble in his work, Noguchi said, “…must be approached in terms of absolutes; it can be broken, but not otherwise changed…. The very limitations of the medium imposed a kind of honesty; to find the minimum means for construction and expression rather than the myriad possibilities that metal welding soon came to involve…I took a peculiar satisfaction in its fragility, arguing the essential impermanence of life, much as in a Japanese poem. Like cherry blossoms, perfection could only be transient-a fragile beauty is more poignant.” (Noguchi 84). Before the First World War Noguchi’s sculptures touched on the society’s needs for example, his portrait on Ruth Parks who was a poor waitress, but later after the Second World War he addressed personal matters mostly borrowed from his First World War experience. These matters were on the loss of morals in the world that lead to gross animosity and many deaths.

I believe it was an effort by the artist to portray the human form as weak, in a quest to stop the massive killings and injuries. If the governments could visualize the hard times every one was going through, then they would have considered ending the war to spare the weak human structure from further damage. In his decision on not to use addictives, he wanted to show that people cannot be brought back to life once they are gone since they are not like other materials that can be easily brought back to use by using adhesives on them. Kourous was critiqued by the Americans because though some of their artists were Surrealists, they did not understand Noguchi’s work. Noguchi’s work was viewed as scary because of their incapacity to connect to the sculptors’ feelings hence understanding his work from his own point of view. Though he combined both Japanese and Western concepts and used fragility to show the Japanese take on the ephemeral nature of every thing and the American existential ethos that was dominant after the World War II, the Americans did not fully understand him (Grove 1985).

Some critics insisted that there was no need for Noguchi to call his sculpture Kourous if it was an exploration of the pure form of humans rather than a real representation of a youth since in Greek, it meant a young male. Some argued that an artist’s work was not to explore the form of human nature but to deal with things that were important to humans.

Alberto Giacometti carved “Three Men Walking II” in 1949. Its dimensions are 30 1/8 x 13 x 12 3/4 in. (76.5 x 33 x 32.4 cm) and he used grey and beige on bronze patinas platform. The sculpture is of three thin men who appear weightless, vertically stretched, remote and unaware of each others existence. Their strides are also broad and there feet look oversize. Giacometti was a Swiss who came from a background of sculptors and his category is that of expressionist sculptors. The shades of grey and beige and touches of pink and blue on the brown patina is used bring out an eerie environment. To bring out his technique more clearly, he goes further to use make the brown patina rough. The base serves as a dual purpose; one to create an illusion of distance and two by putting the unknown figures on a raised base. He gives them an illusion of heroes, as is the case in public monuments. The men look like a tree that has shed its foliage in winter. Giacometti’s theme was of the walking man, the nude woman and the standing man and all the three had their bust joined.

Giacometti had studied cubism and surrealism and was even regarded as the most renown surrealist sculptor. His associates were Joan Miro, Pablo Picasso, Max Ernst and Balthus. There are two versions of “Three Walking Men” with the first figure having the men wider apart and on a larger base. This cast is found in the Museum of Modern Art with two other collections in New York. The second version is called the “Three Men Passing” since the figures are closer to each other and when viewed from a certain angle it appears as though two heads are overlapping and becoming one giving the illusion that the figures are interchangeable. This version belongs to Dallas Museum of Art and another sample of this is under private ownership in Switzerland. When asked about his sculptures Giacometti said “In the street the people astound me and interest me more than any sculpture or painting. Every second the people stream together and go apart, then they approach each other to get close to one another…. They unceasingly form and reform living compositions in unbelievable complexity.” (Giacometti 138).

His other motivations were in his early childhood eerie experiences. Concerning this experiences he said “The form undid itself; it was little more than specks moving in a deep black void.”[2] He was also inspired by Tintoretto’s figures that were emphasized by the dissolution of mass into light and space and supported elongation of figures to show tension. This method of dissolving went further to separate the figures from their space and normality. Giacometti preferred to use clay in his sculptures to bring out the historical bit of everything and demonstrate the nature of humans to be just as that of clay that can be molded to anything and fragile. In “The Walking Man”, it can be seen as Giacometti’s own life as he struggles to move forward in every aspect of his life especially as an artist. The men are walking as if they are taking their first steps and are therefore unsure of what is happening in their lives. This uncertainty is further emphasized by their slim figures and an illusion that they are disappearing into thin air. The weightless forms were Giacometti’s way of showing a need for a fresh start after the Second World War. Just like the figures seemed to be dissolving, so should the heartaches of the war and most of all, the causes of the war, so that in the future there would be peace[3]. There is also tension on brown patina base, which shows how they try to show their dignity and yet are vulnerable and how eventually they end up falling. There are many things in the people’s lives that bring them down and no matter how they try to remain calm, cool and collected to keep their good names, they will eventually bring them down. This could also be connected to the war times where the causes of war were deeper than many people knew. These causes were built up over time and had been swept under the carpet giving an illusion that everything was okay but they came out at last causing World War II.

Giacometti’s line of thinking is seen in the elongated female figures and “The Walking Man”, where the woman is portrayed as an unfit companion for the man. The man’s gait is Giacometti’s and he remarked that in “Man Walking in the Rain”, he was the man. It was difficult to show the space between the women than the men but his theme was that of alienation and he still brought it out by emphasizing on the space between individuals. Giacometti was inspired also by memories of Surrealists models that showed people stretching out in streets and for long, he had tried to bring out the appearance of a person seen from a distance[4]. Until the carving of “Three Walking Men”, he had not been able to achieve this effect. Just like the city had struck him as a place where there are several configurations and everyone minding their own business, which is unlike his mountain village where everyone greeted each other as they passed by, this is what he brought out in his sculpture.

Giacometti tried to balance modern society’s concerns with those of the historical society and harmonize specific views with universal ones. Many people have seen his sculpture to bring out the bad experiences of the Second World War with emphasis on the eerie experiences. The sculptures have a connection with the Egyptian burials and early Greek korai. The universality of the sculptures is brought out by the space between the men as each walks away from the other. It shows the modern world where everyone minds his or her own business therefore creating a communication gap. The gap shows how humans go about their activities with each minding his or her own business and failing to know of the others well being. It is therefore clear that Giacometti had all the three times in mind as he carved this sculpture[5].

William Barrett in “Irrational Man: A Study in Existential Philosophy (1962)” said that Giacometti’s sculptures showed the 20^th century modernism and existentialism, which was empty therefore having no meaning. Having shown the dangers of hidden agendas and the effects of wars particularly the Second World War, Giacometti is known to be a sculptor who expresses his thoughts and feelings through his sculptures.

Noguchi and Giacometti have a lot in common in that both of them were inspired by Picasso, the used elongated forms, were Surrealists and were also inspired by their personal experiences of the Second world war when coming up with there sculpture. They had a common theme of showing the cruelty of war and focusing on a new beginning that would be based on truth and optimism. There is also emphasis on how sacred life is as they all view it as fragile therefore showing it as something that should be taken care of. There message is focused on there individuals and the government with an aim of creating a better world.

Work Cited

Barrett, William. Irrational Man: A Study in Existential Philosophy. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1962. Print.

Fletcher. Alberto Giacometti, 1901-1966. Washington, D.C: Published for the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden by the Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988. Print.

Giacometti, Alberto. “Modern Masters.” Artnews. 95.3 (1996): 59. Print.

Grove, Nancy. Isamu Noguchi: A Study of the Sculpture. Outstanding Dissertations in the Fine Arts. New York, NY: Garland Pub, 1985. Print.

Hale, Robert B. “The American Moderns.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. 16.1 (1957): 18-28. Print.

Lanchner, Carolyn, and Christian Klemm. Alberto Giacometti. New York, NY: The Museum of Modern Art, 2001. Print.

Wilson, Robert, and Isamu Noguchi. Isamu Noguchi, Sculptural Design. Weil am Rhein, Germany: Vitra Design Museum, 2001. Print.

 

 

[1] Wilson, Robert, and Isamu Noguchi. Isamu Noguchi, Sculptural Design. Weil am Rhein, Germany: Vitra Design Museum, 2001. Print

[2] Giacometti, Alberto. “Modern Masters.” Artnews. 95.3 (1996): 59. Print

[3] Giacometti, Alberto. “Modern Masters.” Artnews. 95.3 (1996): 59. Print

[4] Lanchner, Carolyn, and Christian Klemm. Alberto Giacometti. New York, NY: The Museum of Modern Art, 2001. Print

[5] Fletcher. Alberto Giacometti, 1901-1966. Washington, D.C: Published for the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden by the Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988. Print

Hamlet

The play Hamlet is one that brings out several themes the most common being revenge, treachery, incest and moral degradation among others. Claudius, the King of Denmark brings out these themes as the story goes on and develops the plot with his actions. In this paper, I am going to look at Claudius, a character in the play, and how his dialogue develops the plot. He brings out the themes of revenge, treachery, incest and moral degradation, the most prevalent being moral degradation. Claudius has corrupt morals and this can be seen in his dialogue, which is regarded as pouring poison in the ear. His dialogue is persuasive and this is enhanced by his good command of English therefore making his listener view him as an intellectual and makes him go further to follow his evil advices.

Claudius was King Hamlet’s brother, hence Hamlet’s uncle but he went ahead to kill King Hamlet and did not only seize his throne but also married his widowed wife (Timmins & Shakespeare 132). These two actions fuel Prince Hamlet’s anger and he vows to seek revenge. The details of King Hamlet’s death are revealed by his ghost, which goes further to instruct Prince Hamlet to avenge for its death. Claudius dialogue motivates the rest of Prince Hamlet plans of revenge. First, Prince Hamlet does not believe the ghost’s story and seeks to know the truth by staging a play whose theme was to show how his father died and therefore getting an opportunity to study Claudius’ reactions to establish the truth. As the play goes on, Claudius rushes out of the hall confirming Prince Hamlet’s suspicions. With this new truth, Prince Hamlet decides to avenge for his father’s death by killing Claudius but he is not able to immediately do so because Claudius mumbles incoherent words giving Hamlet an illusion that he was praying. This incident saves his life and gives him more time to plot on Hamlet’s death. Earlier on, Claudius had told two of Hamlet’s friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to investigate Hamlet, after Ophelia reported of his strange behavior, and report any strange behavior to him. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern later met their deaths in England as they tried to follow Claudius’ instructions.

When Claudius rushes out of the court, Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother and Claudius wife, seek an explanation from Hamlet for his strange behavior. During their conversation, Polonius eavesdrops and Hamlet stubs him thinking it was Claudius. To give justice to the bereaved family, Claudius decides to send away Hamlet to England but in his heart, he has a hidden agenda for Hamlet to die in the battlefront hence clearing his name. His plan does not work out and Hamlet returns to Denmark, which annoys him. In his dialogue with Laertes, he convinces him to take on Hamlet in a fencing match citing the appropriateness of avenging his father’s death and his sisters’ madness and her eventual drowning (Timmins & Shakespeare 97).

After Ophelia’s burial, Laertes and Hamlet went into the ring to battle each other. In his dialogue with Laertes, Claudius gave Laertes the option of doping his sword to make sure Hamlet died. Claudius went further to disclose to Laertes, that if Hamlet missed the sword, then he would not survive the poison he would put in his wine. This dialogue clearly shows moral degradation and how he was poisoning Laertes mind so that Laertes could poison his sword. This dialogue led to the actions that followed, which are as the fight went on, Hamlet was scratched by Laertes’ poisonous sword, Gertrude drunk the poisoned wine and Hamlet scratched Laertes with his poisonous sword. While dying, Hamlet avenged for his father’s death by killing Claudius through piercing him with the poisoned sword and forcing him to take the poisoned wine.

The symbolism of ears and hearing is also brought out through Claudius. Claudius caused King Hamlet’s death by pouring poison through his ear. This means that the dishonest words and advices Claudius gave King Hamlet caused his death and the ghost was warning that the same words would cause Denmark’s downfall, which they did.

Work Cited:

Timmins, Samuel and William Shakespeare. Hamlet. London: S. Low, Son, and Co, 1860. Print.

A letter to my grandson

It is my greatest pleasure to take this ample time to talk to you through this letter. I am pleased to hear of the social, political and economical changes that have taken place in America for the past couple of years. It is truly unbelievable to hear that you are working towards transforming the social, economic and political lifestyle of the African-Americans in the United States. Long time ago during my days in America, Africans were only there to be seen and not to be heard. Blacks were seen to be inferior to any other race in America. This called for racial discrimination against the black people living in America (Takaki, 1993). Africans were treated as slaves in America by being subjected to hard odd jobs with less payment. Most of them were used as domestic slaves who worked at the homes of the whites. This comprised mostly of the women who were enslaved as house helps in the homes of the whites.

The women were insulted by the whites through different ways, which involved sexual abuse and excess work. On the side of the men, it was very harsh because it involved hard work and brutality. I remember of the long nights that we spend in the cold working without receiving any payment but food and harsh strokes on our backs. Life was full of agony and injustice to the black men. In addition to these assaults, we were emotionally depressed because of losing our beloved ones through slave trade (Takaki, 1993). My aunt and my father were taken away from us to unknown destinations in America. I have never met them ever since that awful day they were fetched together with other people by a black military truck. Flashbacks always race in my mind and leave me in deep pain when I remember of those bad days. The big issue in America was nothing but the slave trade.

I am deeply saddened by the fact that slave trade led to my horrible Future. Slaves in the United States were distributed to the areas with fertile soils for large plantations for growing high value cash crops like cotton, coffee and sugar. The southern United States had majority of slaveholders, where most slaves were involved in proficient machine-like team system of agriculture, with farms of fifteen or more slaves proving to be distant extra prolific than farms devoid of slaves (Takaki, 1993). The slaves were manned by a managerial class of overseers who ensured that the slaves did not waste their working time. I am so worried that am causing great pain to you although this is the reality about slavery trade in the United States. It is before the establishment of outright ownership of slaves that much labor was planned under a system known as indentured servitude, which was a means of employing labor to pay transportation costs for transporting people to the colonies (Brown, 1865). During my time, twelve million people were shipped to America of which 645,000 were taken to the United States.

After some time, more slaves were brought to join us and slave population in America grew to four million. Slavery was later resisted through non-compliance and avoided through voyage to non-slave countries, promoted by the Underground Railroad (Takaki, 1993). Supporters of abolitionism were involved in political debates, and promoted the making of Free Soil states as Western development went on. Slavery was one of the major subjects leading to the American Civil warfare. Later on slavery was made illegal after the thirteenth amendment to the United States constitution.

It was now the time for the blacks to exercise their freedom in America because slave trade and unfair laws were overlooked in America. Blacks were now free to own their property and free to work at any place (Brown, 1865). It is during this time that I was able to buy a piece of land at Mississippi after working for two decades. I left this land for your father and his brothers when I decided to return to Africa. I would refer to this as the brutal suffering of the blacks in America but personally, I Experienced a hard life.

My mother died when I was seven years old still living in Africa. She was attacked by a wild animal when she had gone into the bush to fetch food and water. I was left with my father whom we were shipped together to America where we were separated from each other. That was the last day for me to see my father who had brought me up to the age of twelve. I was left with my aunt under the same slaveholder in Mississippi (Waldinger, 1996). It was during this time when I witnessed my first brutal act of slavery when I saw my aunt Esther being whipped. Despite the beating were involved in singing as we worked. It was necessary as we sung praise songs to our masters who punished us whenever we failed to sing.

I vividly remember the first death of one of our fellow slaves who was shot. He declined taking part in the singing of the songs a factor that led to our master shooting him in the head (Waldinger, 1996). The master said that he shot him to set a good example to other people that rules were to be obeyed strictly in the farm. His death was so painful that it left me in fear that I may too die soon. It was after sometime that our master wanted to relocate to Africa when we got new masters. The land, livestock and the slaves that he had were all his property. He sold us together with his land and livestock to other whites in America (Takaki, 1993). It is at this time when my aunt left to unknown destination. I have never met her again ever since we parted ways. I cannot tell whether she is alive or not and the place where she is living at. I am hoping that she has been good ever since that day. Her first-born son she left in Africa at the age of two is now married and with five children. I confess that tears roll down my cheeks when I remember the sad disappearance of my father and aunt. It gets me wary when I think that they might have been killed by the brutal whites. A reminisce of the good memories of the good life we had before being shipped to America makes me sick.

My worst time came when I was posted to a new working station. Mrs. Claudia was my new master who turned to be more brutal than what many men expected. She was the real devil’s incarnation and mistreated many of us. I did not believe my eyes when she whipped a woman slave and warned to shoot anyone who did not adhere to her rules (Brown, 1865). The good thing about her is that she used to reward her employees by offering gifts. The slaves were not also very good people as they could take their revenge when opportunity rose. Mrs. Claudia was later killed by one of us when she was asleep. Charles sneaked into her room at night slashing her into pieces with his machete (Brown, 1865). The news spread and Charles escaped to unknown location. It was after three days that the death of Charles was made known to us. Our lives were in danger and the whites became harsher to the slaves. We could now work for long hours without food and water. The whites whipped our backs as we worked in the farms to make us work more efficiently (Waldinger, 1996).

It was now time for us to have a third new master, Mrs. Alex who was a widow and a Christian. This was a complete transformation of our lives as slaves (Brown, 1865). She introduced us to reading the bible and taught us more about the bible. This was truly a rare character in America and all the slaves were interested in her character. She treated everybody equally and enabled us live together as a family. Her idea was not to enslave any one but to cease slavery in America. She requested us to work hard in our daily activities for a bright future in front of us (Waldinger, 1996). Her friends used to come at her home in the evening to pray and worship the lord. We were taught gospel songs and new bible memory verses that we could recite after the prayers. Whites who came to her home were friendly to us and would sometimes bring gifts for us.

Life was in a new dimension and to us it was nothing but a movie. Everybody was so taken aback by the new acts and suspicious that they might be planning to kill us. It was though honest and true that they wanted to support us when we discovered that they had formed an alliance to abolish slavery in the United States (Takaki, 1993). It is during this time that we were free to attend church meetings and even get payment for the work that we were assigned to do in the firms. It is also during this time that the blacks were able to purchase property from the whites. Slave trade ceased and no more Africans were shipped into America.

Racial discrimination reduced in the continent. This is the time when I started earning from the work that I did. My payments enabled me to buy a land at Mississippi in which I settled with my family (Waldinger, 1996). I got married to a white, Mary who is the mother of your father. Mary and I met at church and loved my hardworking character and God loving attitude. We lived together as husband and wife for thirty years before she died. She died of cancer in Mississippi after a long illness. It was after her death that I decided to elope back to Africa to join my other people leaving your father and his sister at Mississippi to take care of the property.

It is good news that you are working towards the African-American improvement of social, political and economical status in the United States because during our times it was very hard. I would like to encourage you to work hard towards the achievement of the movement’s goal (Brown, 1865). You are capable of changing the life of African-Americans to a better place through this movement. I am also pleased that that my words have unraveled so much information which your father may not have told you. I trust in you and hope that you will work towards making the African-Americans a superior community (Waldinger, 1996).

 

 

Works Cited:

Brown, Robert T. Immigrants to Liberia, 1843 to 1865: An Alphabetical Listing. Philadelphia: Institute for Liberian Studies, 1980. Print.

Takaki, Ronald T. A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1993. Print.

Waldinger, Roger David. Still the Promised City? : African-Americans and New Immigrants In Postindustrial New York. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1996. Print.

 

Do extracurricular activities affect academic performance of students? If so, how do sports affect student performance?

It has been a question on many people’s minds and research has confirmed that extracurricular activities do affect the performance of students academically. These activities may include, dancing, singing, acting, poetry, sports, watching television and many more. It has been left to the students, with a little help from their parents and teachers, to choose the activities they get involved in. Though class participation is the best way to improve student grades, people may wonder if participating in co-curricular activities contributes to academic performance.

In this paper, a consideration is made on the effect of sports on academic performance. Students have been known to enjoy participating in all kinds of sports for example soccer, rugby, baseball, basketball and many more. To get the details of these effects, I conducted an interview given by Dr. James Michael, Professor of Physical Education, Brookshine College. He gives an insight on how sports impacts on the academic performance of students. Secondly, I observed John Lennon and Andrew Edwards, students at the same college, one who is in the college Basketball team and one who does not participate in any sports. To validate this information, it was important to get information from valid literature on the same topic. Those are the steps followed to gather the information.

An expert in matters relating to sports and academic performance gave the following information. According to Dr. James Michael, Professor of Physical Education, Brookshine College, sports do in fact affect the academic performance of students. When asked whether this effect is negative or positive, he responded, “Research shows that the effect can be negative or positive”. He continues to say that, more positive effects are seen as compared to negative results. He says that participation in sports has been seen to produce a positive impact leading to improvement of grades. Participation in sports results in improved health and fitness thus having a greater positive impact than a negative one. He adds that, if physical activity like sport is included as a break to classes, improved participation, concentration and understanding was recorded. Dr. Michael continues to say that, participation in sports results in improved brain function and higher energy levels thus improved academic performance. He also says that sports help students psychologically to reduce stress levels and boost self esteem. On the contrary, if a student does not manage time properly, a negative impact on grades may be seen. When asked if schools should reduce the time given to sports, he says that this is not necessary.

The next step was to observe two students who share different views on participation in sports. John Lennon is a student in Brookshine College and is an avid member of the basketball team. He goes for practice everyday after classes for two hours. He also creates time during tea and lunch breaks to practice. On the other hand, Andrew Edwards says he is a serious student and does not participate in any sports whatsoever. I observed their activities for one week to see how participation in sports could affect academic performance. On the first day, they all arrived in class in time and during the lessons looked quite exhausted. At break time John, went to the pitch and played with his friends while Andrew stayed in class and read a short story. In the lesson that followed, John seemed more active and answered the instructor’s questions more often. This trend continued for the next few days with john seeming more energized after a few minutes of ball. Andrew seemed to stick to his books almost all the time and talked to very few students. However, John was more social and seemed to know most of his classmates by name. His instructors also seemed to know him more than they knew Andrew. Based on this experience, I can say that sports have a positive impact on the academic life of students.

Formal research has established that sports do affect the academic performance of students. “A positive relationship between physical activity and academic performance has been established” (Lee, Burgeson, Fulton, & Spain, 2007). This statement confirms that the effect of sports on student performance is positive. As seen earlier, participation in sports increases brain activity and improves blood circulation thus improving participation and concentration in class. “Extracurricular activities maybe of different categories” (Woods, 2006). These categories can be formal or informal. Watching television and films is termed as informal while participating in activities like sports and learning to play an instrument are formal activities. Informal activities can be detrimental to academic performance but formal activities are helpful.

Learning institutions like schools and colleges provide a superb environment for participation in sports. Some students may not have access to such facilities at home but can access them at school. “Participation in sports keeps student fit and healthy, resulting in improved grades” (Pellegrini & Smith, 1998). In these days of the obesity threat, children need enhanced physical activity to keep them fit. A student who is physically fit will find it easier to cope with the challenges of school life as compared to one who is not in shape. When students participate in sports, it takes their minds off books for a while so that when they get back to class, concentration is higher. In addition, by being part of the sports clubs, students get to have a sense of identity and improve their social skills.

In conclusion, the impact of sports to the academic performance of students is primarily positive. This means that students of all levels should be encouraged to participate in sports so as to nurture their talents and improve physical health. However, adequate advice should be given to students on how to manage their time so that they do not spend too much time on sports and forget their academics. Sports are a healthy part of student life and should be encouraged.

References.

Lee, S., Burgeson, C., Fulton, J., & Spain, C. (2007). Physical Education and Physical Activity: Results from the School of Health Policies and Programs Study 2006.Journal of School Health, 77,435-463.

Pellegrini, A.D., & Smith, P.K. (1998) Physical activity play: The nature and function of a neglected aspect of play. Child Development, 69:577-598.

Woods, R. (2006). In Social issues in sport. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Teaching Self-Advocacy

Teaching self advocacy to students with learning disabilities encompasses imparting knowledge about how to make informed decisions, how to solve the problems they may encounter as well as developing critical thinking skills in their future lives (Wong, 2004). This is not only aimed at helping in changing their decision making process on matters to deal with sex, drugs and crime but it also aimed at enhancing their self-esteem and self confidence.

Metacognition encompasses the control center of a person’s cognitive system that enables him to acquire knowledge about his cognitive process which is relevant for effective learning. Effective learning for the students with learning disabilities encompasses instructions on how to monitor and control their Metacognition process (Israel, 2007). Most students with learning disabilities take a lot of time to decipher the information contained in their reading materials. This is because their Metacognition monitoring is at a low level, as their working-memory capacity is limited.

The students engage in Metacognition monitoring when they are reading simple texts that are easy to understand but they fail to monitor when reading difficult texts. To enhance the students Metacognition monitoring, they should be encouraged to build enough background knowledge and vocabulary about the topics they are learning through reading other related materials about the topic (Cartwright, 2008). This boosts their inferences so that they can pay attention to what they are reading. Before the strategies for improving Metacognition monitoring are implemented, the level of monitoring for the students should be measured to provide insight as into what strategies to be used.

The first method to be used is thinking aloud when they reading which helps to know the students who did not understand the text. The second method to be used is the reading of a comprehension and rating them according to the answers they provide on questions asked about the comprehension. The third method is error detection where mistakes are inserted into a text and student re asked to find them (Israel, 2007). The fourth method is putting error in a text and analyzing those students who reread the parts where the errors are. The last method encompasses the use of interviews or questionnaires to root out the students with learning disabilities.

These are students, who do not utilize such strategies as memorizing, summarizing, text structure, skimming or rereading and who provide the answers they think the interviewers want though they are wrong. Cognitive strategy instructions or Metacognition control strategies are utilized in eliminating these problems (Cartwright, 2008). These strategies include rereading the text, making diagrams to provide more insights, summarizing or paraphrasing as they read and using dictionaries to provide more understanding.

The students should also be encouraged to ask questions when they do not understand, and to read ahead to make more comprehension of the text being used in class. PQ4R which stands for Preview, Question, Read, Reflect, Recite, and Review should also be utilized especially when reading difficult texts that are hard to comprehend. This also encompasses the making of predictions which enhances more understanding (Wong, 2004). Teachers they should use multiple strategies where the students work with teacher support first and then work with the teachers, because studies show more success when multiple strategies are used as compared to the use of one strategy.

Students with learning disabilities find it hard to comprehend the texts they read because their level of Metacognition monitoring is low (Israel, 2007). To help them enhance their learning abilites Metacognition control strategies should be employed. Before these strategies can be employed the level of their learning disability should be measured using different methods so that the best strategies can be employed in the controlling of their Metacognition. The acquisition of a high level of Metacognition monitoring does not only boost their reading capacity but it also boosts their self-esteem and self confidence.

References:

Cartwright, K. B. (2008). In Literacy processes: Cognitive flexibility in learning and teaching. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Israel, S. E. (2007). In Using Metacognitive Assessments to Create Individualized Reading Instruction. Newark, Del: International Reading Association.

Wong, B. Y. L. (2004). In Learning about Learning Disabilities. San Diego, CA: Elsevier Academic Press.