Chapter 1 problems Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Chapter 1 problems - Assignment Example However, my utility of attending the game will be higher as compared to that of Joe because I had already paid more to get the best seat. Additionally, if we were to draw an indifference curve, I will be at a higher indifference curve than Joe (Frank & Bernanke, 2013). Therefore, my likelihood of attending the game at Syracuse will also be higher than that of Joe. This is because even if I will be late for the game because of the snowstorm I am assured of the best seat unlike Joe who did not even have a ticket to attend the game. The effects of change in price on quantity of garbage collected may be best explained by taking into consideration the law of demand and supply. This law states that when all other factors are held constant (ceteris Paribas) an increase in price may cause a decrease in quantity demanded (Arnold, 2010). On the contrary, a decrease in price may cause an increase in quantity demanded (Arnold, 2010). Therefore, in this case, the garbage was initially collected at $ 6 irrespective of the quantity causing the resident to supply even more cans of garbage. On the other hand, the change in price tag may have two significant effects on quantity of garbage collected. First the quantity of garbage collected will remain the same per average house hold. This is because for each can of garbage to be collected, residents of my city will be paying $2 per can which sum up to $6 for cans per average household. This means that the price per 3 cans will still be the same as the initial fixed price (Arno ld, 2010). The second effect is that, individual house hold may decide to supply less cans of garbage to minimize cost (Arnold, 2010).This is because consumers are rational which means that they always try to minimize cost and maximize their utility subject to their income constraint (Arnold,

People grieve over the death of a loved one in different ways Essay

People grieve over the death of a loved one in different ways - Essay Example For most people, when a loved one dies, they definitely feel a deep sense of sadness. The realization that the person will not be with the family anymore makes the living members cry inconsolably. However, they also realize that life has to go on with them. For some, they may try to cope with the pain and loss by denying the death of the loved one. They continue to live their lives as if the dead family member simply went on a long vacation. Some even try to write letters to make them feel that the person they love did not pass away but is just on another side of the globe. Others keep on doing things they enjoyed doing for the person such as cooking their favorite foods on special occasions. Some would keep their favorite things and use the favorite scents of the person they have lost. They want to feel the presence of the dead person by cheating on their perceptions and feelings. This may last for a few weeks, months or even years depending on a person’s ability to accept an d face the truth. On the other hand, a person may feel angry. Sometimes, they do not understand why they feel that way or they do not even know who they are angry at. They just feel indignant because they have lost a person whom they love. Some feel they do not deserve the loss. For instance, a wife who recently got married to the best man she has ever met suddenly losses him in a car accident with a drunk driver who miraculously survives. The circumstances can initially make her angry at the drunk driver. Eventually, she will question why the reckless, wicked drunk driver lived while her wonderful husband died. For those who believe in God, such questioning can turn the hatred toward the supposedly Omnipotent God. This grieving mechanism may not be helpful in the turn of events but it somehow helps the person release the anger and anguish within. In addition, an

Closing The Achievement Gap Education Essay

Closing The Achievement Gap Education Essay The American education experienced long and sustained period of school reforms filled with significant challenges. The policymakers as well as the governors made the school reform movement their top project priority since the 1980s (Sindelar, Shearer, Yendol-Hoppey Liebert, 2006). The school reform movement undergone profound achievements in the past and continues to tackle significant challenges although it has achieved its goal in creating changes to school conditions, student performance, and institutional policy. The National Governors Association for Best Practices is looking into the achievement gap challenge facing the schools today (Grant, 2009). This requires creating new policies and developing old policies to close in the achievement gap problems happening in several states. The policy primer discloses the nature of the achievement gap problem, its history, and the different states efforts to solve the existing problem. The primer also discusses alternative solutions and strategies at state level including important issues and factors to avoid in implementing solutions. Understanding the achievement gap context The achievement gap context is all about the differences one sees between people coming from different race and class (Chubb Loveless, 2002). There is an increasing difference concerning the performance of students coming from the disadvantaged minority as compared to the performance demonstrated by white students of the same grade level (Chubb Loveless, 2002). This achievement gap is a clear issue of racism and the effects of the power of the privilege. Educational institutions, educators, and policymakers face genuine lack of understanding creating and developing schools that can cope up with the context of a diversified society. The challenge goes on with the creation of correct policy that could help close the achievement gap. Federal response to the urgent persisting achievement gap problem The No Child Left Behind Act or NCLB is an attempt by the Federal government to close the achievement gap (Chamberlain, 2004). The policy set forth a new accountability practice for American schools to set the same standards with detailed plan for testing performance to ensure students meet preset standards of the schools. The framework of the NCLB allows a student to transfer to other schools located at the same district if he fails to pass the test performance set by the school. It is the responsibility of the school district to provide persistently failing students supplemental services as well as choices to study at other schools operating within the same district (Chamberlain, 2004). The school needs to demonstrate adequate progress about the problems of persistently failing students. Failure to show progress makes them open for state law corrective action (Chamberlain, 2004). The schools focus their performance targets based on the conditions of the students with disabilities a nd coming from disadvantaged family background. This includes students coming from ethnic or minority group that possess limited English language skills and proficiency. However, well performing schools are still required to alter school practices, policies, and governance to accelerate and enhance the educational experience of the disadvantaged group of students. The state considers a school as well performing only when they become successful in bridging the achievement gap. The intervention of the new Federal law on the educational scene has created quite a stir among schools struggling to meet the new set of policies and criteria. How do you measure the achievement gap? NCLB Act is clearly a Federal strategy to challenge the achievement gap brought by the effects and challenges of inequality among students in the US. Schools measure achievement gap by comparing African-American test scores and academic performance with the Hispanic group and white Americans using standard assessment tests (Chamberlain, 2004). Survey statistics gathered by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reflected a narrow gap between Hispanic and African-American 17 year old students reading scores for the period 1975 to 1988 (US Commission on Civil Rights, 2004). The gap becomes wider or somehow constant in the areas of mathematics and reading during 1990 to 1999. The NAEP charts on achievement gap raised concern over the intelligence and skills of the disadvantaged minority students. The Education Trust analysis on the NAEP data bothered policymakers. It concluded that the grade 12 level disadvantaged minority students performed similar to the level of the s tudents studying four years behind them (Ferguson Mehta, 2004). The skills of the Latino and African-American 17 year old students are comparable to the skills possessed by the 13-year-old White students in the subjects of English, science, and mathematics (Ferguson Mehta, 2004). The educational attainment is another way to measure the achievement gap between races. The different ethnicities showed wider gap as to the highest educational level of attainment they had achieved in the past. The groups showed gaps in all discipline. Dropouts among African-American and Hispanic groups in high school are heavier even though the tuition fee rates are lower than those rates given to the Whites (Ferguson Mehta, 2004). The Whites show more effort in trying to get a college degree than the Blacks and Hispanic young adults. Policymakers and schools do not overstate the importance of achievement gaps but actually noted the big difference between Whites and other ethnic groups educational achievement specifically Hispanic and African-American groups (Chubb Loveless, 2002). The achievement gap is the outcome of local and national standard test measures between diversified groups of students mostly categorized by ethnicity and socioeconomic status (Chubb Loveless, 2002). The other forms of category applicable to the groups are their gender and ability. There are many ways that a school can measure the achievement gap between the groups such as test scores resulting from standardized test and average grades obtained by each group. The dropout rates, highest level of educational attainment, and population of college enrollees are other ways to measure the achievement gap between ethnicities (Strictland Alvermann, 2004). Although the results of this statistic survey came from different American states, the same thing is also happening with other countries. These achievement gaps noted across countries showed the possible effects brought by discrimination and social injustice. The government made a good move eradicating social discrimination. The move to bridge the achievement gap between ethnicities also responds to their effort to solve existing social discrimination at the same time. Eradicating the gap as a public policy would help eliminate the other problem of social discrimination. However, some people disagree that the core causes of the achievement gap come from a persons class, culture, or even biology. These people believe that policymakers can directly influence economics and education using progressive education based on multiculturalism. This idea is more effective in helping them achieve equality among ethnic groups. Identified factors causing the widening achievement gap Researchers do not have any clear idea about the real reason for the increasing achievement gap between ethnic groups. Structural as well as cultural factors played a major role to the widening discrepancy. Students lacking the cultural capital portrayed by the middle class are likely to show low academic scores and achievements especially if they experience little parental involvement concerning their education and home coursework (Strictland Alvermann, 2004). Annete Lareau stated that better resource students demonstrate more accomplishments in academics and life (Lareau, 2000). Other researchers believed that a persons ability to achieve more in life and academics largely depends on its socioeconomic condition and the classification of race from which he belongs. It is evident that students belonging to the disadvantaged minority suffer the adverse result of the achievement gap because they find themselves at a disadvantage position than the White students. Understanding the effects of the environment and culture to students performance The culture, traditions, beliefs, social roles, and environment of the student influence the students performance and are factors that need extra consideration and study when dealing with the core causes of achievement gap (Lareau, 2000). It would be for the researchers advantage that he should look into the lives, environment, economic condition, and practices of the disadvantaged minority to ascertain and identify specific cultural differences that can help explain the differences of the child-parent relationships between ethnic group families (Lareau, 2000). Cultural differences shaped the childs behavior and motivation to become achievers. The authors Jencks and Phillips argue that a child belonging to the Black family do not have much motivation and encouragement from their parents because of the lack of understanding about the benefits of education and obtaining academic skills (Jencks Phillips, 1998). The lack of awareness resulted to Black children going to school with littl e vocabularies than their White counterparts. Studies claimed that students with parental involvement such as homework assistance show more progress in school (De Carvalho, 2001). In comparison, the disadvantaged minority consists of single parents have to spend more of their time looking for money to cope up with their household economics and other needs rather than staying and getting involve with their childs homework (De Carvalho, 2001). The minority group also consists of parents that do not understand nor speak English well. The study points two major causes of the childs difficulty namely unavailable English speaker at home and lack of parental involvement for homework. Researchers highly believed that children from the minority group do not attend school because they are not willing to find themselves in comparison with the Whites and accused as behaving like the White children by their peers (De Carvalho, 2001). The children of the minority group simply lack the motivation and the understanding to pursue higher education because they do not see and believe the benefits and role of education in their future. They possess little understanding about the benefits that knowledge and higher education bring to their lives and how it could improve years of hard work (De Carvalho, 2001). The common minority behavior from lack of motivation to do better in school is plain rejection of the idea to achieve something more in their future. It is like giving up their potential and the ability to do more by not studying and working hard to make any progress in their social status as well as to receive higher wages. Furthermore, researchers found that schools often set up their performance measures based from the students knowledge as well as familiarity about the White group that belongs to the middle class cultural capital. It is obvious that the disadvantaged minority is not familiar about the middle class cultural capital background of the White group. Schools need to change their test for students performance and base it on their understanding of the subject matter. The test should be solely base on how they understand and perceive the subject they are taking. How structures of the institutions influence the students? Students coming from the disadvantaged minority group definitely go to schools categorized by the district as poorly funded schools (Danielson, 2002). Children belonging to low-income household attend poorly funded schools because it is the only affordable form of education. Schools belonging to the poorly funded school category have limited resources and employ teachers with less qualification (Danielson, 2002). Schools tried to solve the achievement gap between ethnicities by placing students in tracking education groups. The framework of the tracking education group assigns students within the same school into several groups base on their skills and academic abilities (Ansalone Biafora, 2004). The schools then tailored the teachers lesson plans to meet the varying requirements of the different sets of learners abilities (Ansalone Biafora, 2004). The strategy made dramatic progress to some learners. However, some schools based their grouping from the students cultural capital and socioeconomic status that results to the disadvantaged minority overly representing the lower educational group (Ansalone Biafora, 2004). This made schools placed the African-Americans and the Hispanic students into the lower educational group. Their perception about the minority group wrongly placed the African-Americans and the Hispanic students, which reflects practice of institutional racism (Ansalone Biafora, 2004). This confirms some researchers beliefs that the initiation of the tracking education groups implies the existence of racial segregation within the school system itself. Several studies performed on tracking education groups provided negative results. The implementation of the tracking education groups harmed the potential of the minority students to learn more skills because the teachers assigned to their groups are less qualified (Molnar, 2003). The curriculum design for the minority group is also less challenging and provides less opportunity for advancement in their academic fields. The peers as well as the teachers of the students belonging to the lower tracking educational group labeled them as slow learners. This greatly affected their self-confidence and motivation to continue their studies, which resulted to increasing minority school dropouts. Concerned psychologist claimed that the schools tracking groups outcomes might not be beneficial to all groups (Molnar, 2003). They cannot identify any lasting benefit to the grouping. Chapter 2 Rational The schools explanation over the creation of the tracking education widely varies. The goal to find applicable institutional and policy solutions to narrow the achievement gap gave birth to drafting education reforms. The categorization leads schools to provide remedial classes as well as tutoring sessions for identified less performing students. Strategies applied to narrow the ethnicities achievement gap The school provided tutoring sessions to the less advantaged and low performing students after school. They also offer remedial classes to help underperformers. The main problem noted with the categorization program is the pressure it gave to minority students. The program pushes minority students or underperformers to learn at a fast pace in an attempt to catch up with the performing groups usually comprise of their White counterparts. The catch up required more efforts from the teachers and gave much pressure to the students. The schools changed their categorization by race to grouping the students according to their ability. This new grouping criteria enabled schools to provide fair quality education for the students without considering ethnicity. The detracking scheme made schools and teachers perceive students equally (Burris Welner, 2005). This also made schools provide more teachers that are qualified to the different groups, design their curriculum appropriately, and provide more resources to the learners. Understanding the condition of the minority The Blacks and the Latinos usually describe the low-income minority of the United States (Aragon, 2000). These students usually come from poor families and comprise the less performing group in school. The schools can easily identify minority students based on their SAT scores. Minority students often obtain lower scores than their White peers (Aragon, 2000). The schools broke down their SAT scores according to their socioeconomic status. The results showed that the Blacks and the Latino students usually achieve lower SAT scores than the Whites. However, Asians still achieve higher SAT scores than their White peers who belong to the same family income level. The analysis of the authors Steven G. Rivkin and Eric A. Hanushek fully explained the core causes of the increasing achievement gap. In their book published last 2006, the authors discussed the effects of the schools effort to group the students according to their socioeconomics and ethnicity (Hanushek Rivkin, 2006). The racial concentration in certain groups created the unequal distribution of experienced teachers and the inexperienced teachers (Hanushek Rivkin, 2006). The study noted the increasing achievement gap in the grades 3 and grades 8 levels. Looking into the structure of the high performers that belongs to the minority group There are minority students who managed to excel in their grade levels. One great example of minority high performers is the students attending at Davidson Magnet School of Augusta, Georgia. The other school with minority high performers is the Amistad Academy located in New Haven, Connecticut. The schools strategically employ traditional and rigorous training instructions that include providing direct instruction to students. Researchers found direct instruction effective and efficient in developing the skill levels of the learners coming from the inner city of the research title Project Follow Through (Harris Graham, 2007). Black schools sometimes perform higher than their White counterparts do. The results of the annual test during the later part of the 19th century at Washington, DC can prove this claim. The Blacks performing higher than the Whites do continued until the middle of the 20th century. The M Street School gave quite a performance during this period by exceeding on the national standardized test. The author Carl L. Bankston III and his partner researcher Stephen J. Caldas claimed that the achievement gap causes the segregation of the schools in US (Caldas Bankston, 2005). The book titled A troubled dream: The promise and failure of school desegregation in Louisiana published in 2002 and the other book titled Forced to fail: The paradox of school desegregation published in 2005, clearly pointed that students benefit more when placed in the same school with high achieving students (Caldas Bankston, 2005). Their research also showed that students experienced academic disadvantage when they interact more with low achieving schoolmates. This proves their perception about the achievement gap as the core cause of school segregation. This means that parents played a major role and are greatly involve in the creation of school segregation for the fact that many parents even avoid sending their children to schools with larger minority student population (Caldas Bankston, 2005). Understanding the standards based form of education reform The standard based education reform based its classification by the education characteristics and income level of the student regardless of performance (US Commission on Civil Rights, 2004). Most schools in US decide to adopt the education reform. The policymakers believed that students regardless of race and gender have the potential to become achievers and receive higher pay levels. There is a need to study the content and context as well as the effects of the states education policy and compare them with the education policies of other nations. Improved performance is attainable using the standard based assessments with clear set of incentives such as examination for high school graduation (US Commission on Civil Rights, 2004). The student reforms of whole language, multiculturalism, affirmative action, block scheduling, desegregation, inquiry-based science, and reform mathematics were not successful in improving the achievements of the students. The recent NCLB legislation requires students to take annual testing and demonstrate progress at an acceptable rate every school year. The federal government imposed sanctions to schools with larger population of under performing students. Obviously, the schools having the greatest attendance of minority and poor students face the problems of coping up with the legislation and working on the skills of the students. Those who favored the traditional education claimed that the schools are not designing the education reforms in a constructive way because the reforms are not curriculum and student based. The IQ tests and the SAT are widely accepted as norm-referenced tests. Some people claimed the ACT as limiting chances for the minorities. Many people favored the standards based assessment because they have a clear definition and design of the criteria for the reference test (US Commission on Civil Rights, 2004). The criteria are acceptable and regarded as free from any cultural bias. The students can easily pass the reference test criteria. In 2006, states like the Washington questioned the effectiveness of the approach. The assessment became a mandatory requirement for graduation. Terry Bergeson, a Superintendent, believes that students coming from the disadvantaged minority can compete and are capable of achieving higher scores (Thomas, 2005). However, these minority students need additional help to perform more. MCAS in Massachusetts showed higher percentage of graduating students for all races. In the Fairtest point, there are still many minority students dropping out and performing less than the Whites and Asians. Although the Washington state has narrowed the achievement gap, researchers cannot find any conclusive evidence that the standard based reforms are effective in closing the achievement gap. The author of the book titled The Bell Curve, Charles Murray, looked into the point gaps and its relative improvement (Locke, 1995). His analysis implied that the test is theoretically easy to pass but actually difficult to answer. The test consists of open-response questions that are mostly problem solving, reading, writing, and mathematics. Minorities who fail the test are about twice or even four times than the population of the students that achieve high scores of the testing history. In 2006, only one sophomore student belonging to the minority group passed the standard test. One needs to pass WASL to obtain a diploma. The tasks of keeping American public schools from educational failure depends on how fast policymakers and educators provide efficient policies and effective structure of framework for teaching that can respond to the students individual differences and capabilities. There is a rising need for educational institutions to meet projected challenges posed by changing demographic trends and requirements. The most crucial part is the transmission of societal values from diversified students of differing religion, philosophy, history, and political context. The lack of understanding of each ethnic group values and culture endangers the opportunity of any education reform to work for the learners. Chapter 3 Significance of the problem The American Indian group always ranked below the Latino and the African American students in terms of graduation rates and standardized test scores. The three groups always showed significant numbers concerning dropout rates. The achievement gap persists in the US history. The study published in the Education week revealed that American Indian or Alaska Native students graduation rate is about 47.4 percent. The foundation of the couple Bill and Melinda Gates funded the study. The statistics showed that American Indians were 30 points below their White peers, which means that about half of the graduating students belonging to the minority failed. The Council of Chief State School Officers report in 2006 declared that the low attendance of American Indian students across the country is a significant problem among the states specifically West Mississippi (Council of Chief State School Officers, 2006). The persisting problem about the achievement gap of the African Americans, Hispanic, Asian Americans, and Caucasian students present a challenge to the present structure of public education (Zajda, 2005). The gap narrowed a little during the 1970s and the 1980s and then started to widen again in 1990. The gap persists to widen until today (Vanneman, Hamilton, Anderson Rahman, 2009). There were about 22% grades 4 White students who scored below the basic NAEP test for reading in 2007. The report also showed about 50% Hispanic and 54% Black students who obtained scores below the basic NAEP. There were about 16% White students at grades 8 who scored below the basic mark required to pass the reading test. There were about 42% Hispanic and 45% Black students performing below the basic mark required to pass the reading test. The wide achievement gap reflected in their math scores also. Some people argued that district resegregation across the states reinforced the rising disparity problems. This is especially true in the northern and southern districts (Kozol, 2005). The White parents enroll their children in high quality suburban schools while the African-American as well as the Hispanic families enroll their children in racially isolated schools. These racially isolated institutions normally provide school instruction of very low quality and normally face other types of problems (Zajda, 2005). The California state is the most affected state in the US. Jack OConnell, State Superintendent, considers the task of helping the minority as moral, economic, and ethical imperative (Gerston Christensen, 2009). The California Department of Education (2009) revealed the state needs to prepare and train the students especially the African-American and the Latino to compete in the global economy. This would make California gain a competitive edge over world economic leaders. The success of the task largely depends on how well the students respond to the NCLB standardized test. Taylor (2006) is the main advocate of the Critical Race Theory. He tried to bring awareness about the racial minority and institutionalized oppression hidden under the Federal as well as state policies. Although the Federal government created the NCLB in an attempt to bridge the achievement gap, Taylor claimed that the Federal regulation puts too much pressure over the educators and students in trying to improve academic performance. Taylor claimed that the movement did not correctly address the issues stated in The Colors of Poverty by Lin and Harris. Taylor claimed that putting pressure to perform better does not respond to the racial segregation practices and policies. People and policymakers do not even understand the occurrence and the consequence of the practices nor do they have the ability to reverse its occurrence (Taylor, 2006). Understanding the context of differentiated instruction Differentiated instruction makes students the center of learning and teaching based from the theory that students come to school bearing different skills implying unique differences on their learning needs (Tomlinson, 1999). The varying degrees of differences may refer to their personal and educational context, community or environment background, and academic skills. The educators under the differentiated instruction design and employ several methods of instruction that can facilitate the learning experiences of the diversified students in the classroom effectively. The goal is to match students skills to the resource materials in a qualitative manner. The program includes blending the needs of the whole class with the design of their individual instruction using effective approaches and methods to expedite the processing of knowledge, input and output, of the learners. This requires constant assessment of the students progress by their respective classroom teachers. Policymakers considered the differentiated instruction movement as a proactive approach to educational issues facing practitioners today (Tomlinson, 1999). The proactive approach makes the students become more comfortable in pursuing their education. Educators refine and tailor their instructions according to the needs of the students. This also entails adjusting the curriculum to fit the students academic needs. Teachers committed to this approach understand that the students they teach shape their teaching style and practically believe that students create awareness on teachers how to shape them. The students personality and learning style necessarily influence the instructors teaching philosophy and methods (Tomlinson, 1999). This is the only way to get through them and seems the only possible way that they get to learn things. Creating a model for differentiated instruction requires student centered approach that supports the key elements of interest, readiness, and learning profile (Allan Tomlinson, 2000). The Russian psychologist, Lev Vygotsky, declared that people receive and learn more things when they are ready to learn these things (Daniels, 2001), which is the theory behind the differentiated instruction movement. The differentiated instruction approach matches the individuals interest and methods of learning. This approach supports the student interest, which is one of the key elements of differentiated instruction. Jerome Bruner claimed that the moment a teacher gains the interest of the student is the specific moment that a student starts to learn and the learning experience becomes more rewarding (Tomlinson Allan, 2000). The American psychologist who wrote about the multiple intelligence theory, Howard Gardner, claimed that a human being is a unique individual that possesses different levels of intelligence and perceives learning in different ways. This led him to suggest that schools need to look into the possibility of providing individual-centered approach. The framework tailors the curriculum to the intelligence and preferences of the child (Tomlinson Allan, 2000). This suggestion fits to the different student learning profile key element of differentiated instruction. The context of differentiated instruction supports and integrates the learning styles of the students to the conditions of their brain development. This constructivist learning theory details and analyzes the various factors that influence the readiness, intelligence preferences, and the interest of the students that motivate and engage them to learn at school (Anderson, 2007). Kathie Nunley, an educational psychologist, stated that the movement for differentiated instruction is crucial to the classroom makeover from the 1970s homogeneous groupings to the present heterogeneous learners (Nunley, 2006). Educators using the differentiated instruction approach are able to ascertain and meet the differing needs of the students, help each student in their learning process, and exceed expectations from established standards (Levy, 2008). Tomlinson believed that the need to implement differentiated instruction came from the fact that learners are unique individuals that vary in different ways. The student population is also fast becoming academically diverse, which presents higher probability that diversity will continue for a long time . Pre-assessment criteria for differentiated instruction The most crucial part of the differentiated instruction program is the assessment, identification, and determin

Theodore Geisel :: essays research papers fc

Theodore Geisel was born in Springfield, Massachusetts on March 2, 1904. He graduated from Dartmouth in 1925, with a BA in English literature. He went to Europe after to study at Oxford. He then went to Sorbonne and then to the University of Vienna. He planned on getting a doctorate in literature, but the experience was less than ideal so he returned to the United States. (LeBeau 20)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1927 Geisel married Helen Palmer who was a classmate of his from Oxford. She was also a children’s author, until her death in 1967. (Diehl 169)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Theodore started working for a magazine, Judge, in 1927. He worked there doing cartoons and humorous ads for them. He was also submitting his work to other magazines such as Life, Vanity Fair, and Liberty. In his ads he made a reference to an insecticide called Flit, which were noticed and led to a tight contract to draw ads for Flit. The contract said he couldn’t do anything else. In his ad he used the saying â€Å"Quick Henry, The Flit!†. He did that for 17 years, which gained him national exposure. He only did that in the summer though, since insecticide is a seasonal thing. He went to an attorney and found that the only thing his contract didn’t forbid him to do was children’s books. (Diehl171)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Geisel’s first children’s book came about in 1936 when he was on vacation in Europe. He was listening to the rhythm of the ship’s engines, he came up with â€Å"And to think I saw it on Mulberry Street.† It was rejected by 43 publishers that he showed it to. Eventually a friend published it for him and it went on to at least moderate success. (Morgan 43)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During World War II he joined the army and was sent to Hollywood. Captain Geisel would write for Frank Capra’s Signal Corps Unit, which he won the Legion of Merit for. He also did documentaries such as Hitler Lives and Design for Death, which won him an Oscar. He worked on the 5,000 Fingers of Mr. T., which was something that he didn’t enjoy. Geisel also created General Mc-Boing Boing while he was in Hollywood, he sold it to UPA. John Hulbey designed and won an Academy award for it. Theodore won an Oscar for it, though he had little to no part in General Mc-Boing Boing. (Diehl 172)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In May 1954, Life magazine published an article about illiteracy among school

Swange Dance

SWANGE DANCE Introduction. Benue State is state of the historic Benue river, a State renowned for the valiancy of its progenitors, a State of notable political gladiators and hardworking people who rightly brand themselves as ‘the food basket of the nation’. Benue is also a State of rich cultures and traditions, as exemplified in the world acclaimed SWANGE DANCE which has brought fame to both the State and the nation. Meaning of Dance Dance is a type of art that generally involves movement of the body, often rhythmic and to music.It is performed in many cultures as a form of emotional expression, social interaction, or exercise, in a spiritual or performance setting, and is sometimes used to express ideas or tell a story. Dance may also be regarded as a form of nonverbal communication between humans or other animals, as in bee dances and behaviour patterns such as a mating dances. Definitions of what constitutes dance can depend on social and cultural norms and aesthetic , artistic and moral sensibilities.Definitions may range from functional movement (such as folk dance) to virtuoso techniques such as ballet. Martial arts kata are often compared to dances, and sports such as gymnastics, figure skating and synchronized swimming are generally thought to incorporate dance. In some cases, the motion of ordinarily inanimate objects may be described as dance (the leaves danced in the wind). History Dance does not leave behind clearly identifiable physical artifacts such as stone tools, hunting implements or cave paintings. It is not possible to say when dance became part of human culture.Joseph Jordania recently suggested that dance, together with rhythmic music and body painting, was designed by the forces of natural selection at the early stage of hominid evolution as a potent tool to put groups of human ancestors in a battle trance, a specific altered state of consciousness. The same could be said of the Swange dance which originated from middle belt of Nigeria, Benue state, among the Tiv, Igala and Idoma people, a locale which is around the River Niger. Swange is a popular social dance of the Tiv people of Benue State in Central Nigeria.It is a dance of fast, slow, rhythmic and undulating movements, expressing youth and vigour. Swange is played at various types of social and religious functions for the enjoyment of the old and the young. The dance is characterized by rhythmic contortion in slow mode & vibrant display, typical of African dance forms. It has wonderful beat and beautiful rhythm. It is heavily percussion- based, aided by a traditional horn (al-gaita), which blows in an unbroken succession for as long as the drumming, Singing and dancing is going on. The dance particularly exhibits fluidity in body movement, which was inspirited by the flow of the River .Sixfootplus had this to say about it â€Å"Swange is the name given to the traditional dance of the Tiv-speaking people of Benue state of Nigeria. The dance is cha racterized by rhythmic contortion in slow mode & vibrant display, typical of African dance forms. It is heavily percussion- based, aided by a traditional horn (al-gaita), which blows in an unbroken succession for as long as the drumming, Singing and dancing is going on. † Some Benue artists mix this dance pattern up with their stage performances to the admiration of their fans; notable amond these are, Zulezoo, Bravo D, Sixfootplus etc.If you have been opportuned to listen to Swange music or watched the Swange dance, let us know what you feel about it. Significance of Swange Dance Swange Dance has been an important part of ceremony, rituals, celebrations and entertainment since before the birth of the earliest human civilizations. [pic] Swange Dance References www. nairaland. com/12749/swange-music-how-see-it http://www. goodlife. com. ng/gltourism. php? gltourism=read&id=164 Joseph Jordania, 2011, Why do People Sing? Music in Human Evolution, Logos, pg. 98-102

Comparing Classic Literature to the Lion King

The first animated film with sound was the 1928 Disney film Steamboat Willie. Since then, animated movies have been cranked out due to the admiration they receive from children. Disney is known world wide for their animated films. People love them because of their feel good story lines, astounding use of animation, and largely, the music incorporated into the movies. My generation especially has grown up watching what could arguably be considered â€Å"Disney classics† such as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King. Although most people still consider Disney films to be more than appropriate for children, some take a deeper look into possible underlying plots that reveal material that may no longer be deemed acceptable and â€Å"G-Rate†. Robert Gooding Williams, the author of Disney In Africa And The Inner City: On Race And Space In The Lion King, argues that The Lion King depicts urban decline in the United States. â€Å"The Lion King marks the elephant graveyard as inner city. It uses Whoopi Goldberg's and Cheech Marin's voices to represent the speech of two of the three prominent hyena characters as Black English and Latino slang respectively,† (Gooding-Williams). He views The Lion King to be degrading to some races with inappropriate themes. Matt Roth, another scholar, argues in his article The Lion King A Short History of Disney-Fascism, that Disney supports monarchism and fascist themes due to the story line of The Lion King. The Lion King echoes all of its fascist themes: hatred of gays, communists, and minorities, and the glorification of violent male initiation and feminine domesticity all set in a bucolic suburban environment under the strong leadership of an all-male state,† (Roth). He argues that Mufasa, the King, rules as a communist or monarchist because all animals in the beginning of the movie bow down to him instead of fleeing from a predator as they would in reality (The Lion King). Annalee Ward, author of the article The Lion K ing's Mythic Narrative argues that The Lion King is a biblical narrative that can teach children good moral values. Ward uses the example of Simba, Mufasa’s son, returning home to save the Pride Land from evil, or Scar, Mufasa’s wicked brother, and compares it to the prophecy in the Bible of Jesus returning to save humanity from evil. Although all of these scholars have valid argument that have clear correlations to the movie, an argument that was not presented was how closely The Lion King’s story line matches that of a famous Shakespeare play. I argue that The Lion King does not necessarily have an underlying plot that can only be perceived as our society, but instead is simply based off of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The overall theme of both Hamlet and The Lion King is about responsibility and revenge. The death of the princes’ fathers leaves both characters extremely downhearted. Hamlet Jr. and Simba both go through a confusing and mournful stage after losing their fathers. At one point in both plots, both Simba and Hamlet Jr. run from their responsibilities although both characters know what they need to do to avenge their fathers deaths. Another key part of the plot is that the two characters both see their father’s spirit, which is a turning point for them to avenge their fathers. Mufasa and Hamlet Sr. lso have striking characteristic resemblance. Both of the kings were killed by their own brothers. As kings, they both ruled their kingdoms with peace and prosperity and were well liked(McElveen). As deceased kings they approach their sons in spirit, but neither tell their son directly to kill their murder (McElveen). Although Hamlet Jr. actually does kill his uncle Claudius, Sca r is killed by the pack of hyenas that at one time served him as their leader and king. Not only do the protagonist allude to each other; the villains in Hamlet and The Lion King can also be compared to each other. Scar and Claudius, brothers of the kings, are both in pursuit to take over the throne. Once they have succeeded in killing off their sibling and taking over the throne, both enjoy the comfortable life of being a king. Claudius holds banquets in his own honor, and marvels at all his materialistic things. Scar allows the hyenas to hunt the Pride Land until every source of food and water has been depleted to almost non-existence while he lounges in his cave eating more than his fair share of food (McElveen). As far as secondary characters goes, The Lion King’s Timon and Pumba allude to Hamlet’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Both pairs of characters act as a relief from the main focus in the story in both works (McElveen). Timon and Pumba introduce a carefree style of living (also famously known as â€Å"Hakuna Mata†) to Simba while Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are friends that Hamlet Jr. enjoys life outside of the royal house (McElveen). A lot of today’s entertainment can be related back to older literature. A lot of today’s literature can also be related to theories on societies, the bible, etc. When experiencing a new piece of literature, music, or film, it is important to keep an open mind. All of these things are considered to be a type of art and art is supposed to be open to interpretation. When interpreting The Lion King and other pieces, there are no wrong answers, just difference in opinions. Works Cited The Lion King. Dir. Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff. Perf. Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Matthew Broderick. Walt Disney Feature Animation, 1994. Videocassette. McElveen, Trey. Hamlet and The Lion King: Shakespearean Influences on Modern Entertainment. Rep. N. p. : n. p. , n. d. 17 Apr. 1998. Web. 19 Apr. 2013.