Prose Fiction in the English Classroom free essay sample

In this module we will be looking closely at how to approach close reading of fiction with our Senior English students. We will: think about text selection. think holistically about what a fiction unit might cover. understand some generic elements of prose fiction as a form and how they might be taught. learn how to develop 3 level guides as prompts for close reading. Lets begin by discussing the novels we might use with a senior English class. In most departments, teachers are free to choose texts for study with their class (departmental resources will limit the scope of your choice). It is important that you develop an idea of what you think is suitable for a senior class. Think back to your own experiences with prose fiction study and to texts you have enjoyed reading independently. Are there any you would consider appropriate for study with a year 11, 12 or 13 class? Why? Activity 1:1:1: Discussion Forum Texts for study Narrative study an overview The study of narrative is the study of how stories are told. We will write a custom essay sample on Prose Fiction in the English Classroom or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page When we study prose fiction, we are looking in detail at the choices that the author has made and how those choices combine to create a particular piece of writing. It is important to convey to your students the idea that nothing happens by accident; everything contained in the novel /short story is a product of the authors choices. These choices are made purposefully for a particular effect and to elicit a particular response in the reader. In order to help students understand this, we need to focus our study on the selection and organisation of material in the text. The following outline provides a useful overview of the headings we might include in a novel study structured around the selction and organistaion of material in a text. Read through the outline carefully. NarrativeNarrative is how a story is told. The how of story-telling involves techniques and conventions characteristic of narrative genres, e. g. narratives, anecdotes, news stories, parables. How involves: A) SELECTION(i) Vantage Point:1. Who tells the story. (Narrator) 2. Scope of the access. (Limited/omniscient) 3 Perspective in time (Removed/retrospective, immediate tense) (ii) Content:1. What are the significant settings? 2. Who are the significant characters? 3. What are the significant events and actions? B) ORGANISATION(i) The basis for sequence (plot) ii) The basis for juxtaposition. | Using this as our guide, lets look at how we might approach each aspect with a senior English class. In particular, we will discuss the activities, explanations and questions that might be of use. First though, we need a short story to read as an example for discussion. Read through the story A Piece of Yellow Soap by Frank Sargeson. Pre-reading At the very beginning of a prose fiction unit, it is common for a teacher to ask students to engage in an introductory activity. These activities are designed to draw students into the study of a text they have not yet read. A pre-reading activity might address itself to the theme of a piece of fiction, or be concerned with some aspect of style or form. Design a pre-reading activity you might use with a class studying A Piece of Yellow Soap, then add your ideas to the discussion below. Activity 1:1:2: Discussion Forum Pre-reading Point of View Once the pre-reading is complete and the students have read the text (hopefully), it is time to look in detail at various aspects of the text. It is not unusual for teachers to begin discussions on a novel/short story with a close look at the vantage point or point of view chosen by the writer. In my experience, students tend to struggle a little with point of view and the idea of a narrator, so it is important to have a clear explanation up your sleeve. Think about how you would describe the concept of point of view to a senior English class. And, just as a wee extra challenge, think about how you might make a connection between point of view and irony. Once you have pondered this, click on the link below to add your explanations. Activity 1:1:3: Discussion Forum Point of view Ok. Lets look at some resources that might help you. The art of the short story (page 22 of your readings) is a chapter taken from Close-Up on Literary text (Locke,2001) In the point of view section, the author asks readers to look closely at the narrator first. Read through the following excerpt and answer the 5 questions with reference to A piece of yellow soap. This introduction and these questions help students first to discover who the narrator of the story is, before they begin looking at the narrators influence on the story. They may still need to clarify the difference between the narrator and the author of the text. The next set of questions from The art of the short story helps them to do this. Once again, work through the questions with reference to A piece of yellow soap. The narrator of a story should not be confused with the writer. The writer of this story is Frank Sargeson. 6 On the basis of this story alone, which of the above questions can you answer if you substitute the word writer for the word narrator? 7 How would you go about finding answers to the questions that can’t be answered on the basis of information found in the story? 8 How might knowledge about Frank Sargeson contribute to your reading of this story? Once students have a firm understanding of the narrator and have it clearly differentiated from the author. It is time to begin looking more broadly at point of view. This invloves asking students to look at the perspective from which the story is being told. Work through the following explanation and questions reflecting as you do on the extent to which they help you develop a better understanding of the point of view. If you think of a story as providing a particular window onto the world a particular angle of vision then you are reflecting on the important notion of point of view. Point of view answers the question, Through whose eyes or from what vantage point am I viewing the action that is being presented in this story. (A useful analogy here is to imagine a movie camera and to think about how its location affects what we see when we are watching a movie. )9 From whose perspective is this story being told? 10 How much time has elapsed between the story being told and the telling itself? 11 How limited is the narrative point of view? To answer this question, try identifying the sorts of information that the narrator cannot access. 2 How involved is the narrator in the story? Is he quite central to the action or is he quite peripheral (like a witness to a motor accident)? [Language Tool Kit:Narrator: The voice one can identify as telling a story. Point of view: The perspective from which the events of a story are presented. Chronological time: The order followed by events as they actually happened. Psychological time: The order of events as they are recalled or reconstructed in a persons mind. ]Finally, we can distinguish between first-person and third-person narrators. A Piece of Yellow Soap is a an example of a first-person narrative, told from the point of view of a character who has quite a degree of involvement in the story being told. 13 Identify the pronouns in the first paragraph of this story which tell you whether this is a first-person or third-person narrative. | These explanantions and questions should prove useful in guiding students to a clear understanding of a narrator and his/her influence on the text. Time When we look at the ways in which the author has chosen to orientate the story, it is important to examine the authors treatment of time. When we do this, we are asking studnets to look at whether the narrators perspective is immediate (present tense), retrospective (past tense) or a mixture (see The art of the short story p. 25 of your readings for a table of tenses if you need clarification), and at the ways in which time is manipulated to suit the purposes of the author. The following exercise (from The art of the short story) is designed to make students think about the relationship between time and story-telling. As you read through them jot down some answers Time Activity You cant tell a story without thinking about time. The following log exercise is designed to make you think about the relationship between time and story-telling. 1. Write down in chronological order the things you did after you work up this morning. (You dont have to go on for too long. ) 2. Underline the words you used to indicate the sequence in time of what you were recounting. (First, then, later are examples of such words. ) 3. From the flow of events that have occured since you woke up, choose and describe the most memorable. 4. Add to this description an account of what lead up to or caused this event to happen. Reflect on what these questions are guiding you towards. What have you learnt by doing this activity? Or, what would your students learn by doing this activity? Activity 1:1:4: Discussion Forum Time Look back at our overview. As you can see, we have had a close look now at the elements that come under the heading of Vantage Point. We are going to take a quick detour now to plot because it makes sense to get a good grip on this before moving on to the content (character, setting etc). Plot Teaching plot can be tricky, mainly because it sounds deceptively simple. The key to students coming to grips with it is having a clear defintion of plot and some narrative structure terms to work with. So, how would you define plot to a senior English class? What are some plot elements that you would consider helpful in helping students understand the way a particular narrative is structured? Activity 1:1:5: Discussion Forum Plot The following extract from The art of the short story offers some clear definitions of a number of plot elements that may be of use to you and your students. As you read through them, try to connect as many as possible with specific parts of the short story A Piece of Yellow Soap. There are a number of plot elements that can be used to shape or structure a narrative. The selection and arrangement of these plot elements have an enormous impact on the effect a story has on its readers. although A piece of Yellow Soap is a very short story, it contains a number of plot elements. i Exposition: Exposition is the provision of important background information so that a reader feels oriented to what is happening in a story. How effective is the opening paragraph of this story as an example of exposition? ii Predicament: A predicament is a difficult choice difficult because it involves a character in a choice between two undesirable options. 2 What is the narrators predicament as described in paragraph one? iii Conflict: Most plots involve conflict. Conflict occurs in a plot when a character or groups interests are opposed by another character or group. 3 Why is the narrator in conflict with the woman? 4 On the face of it, the woman is the milkmans antagonist. Find evidence in the story that the narrator also feels himself in conflict with:†¢ his firm;†¢ the way his societys economy is organised;†¢ certain peoples views about God. Conflict can also be internal. Internal conflict occurs when two parts of a character are in involved in a struggle with each other. 5 In what way might the narrator of this story be described as in conflict with himself? iv Rising action: The part of a story, often accompanied by tension and suspense, which leads up to a climax or some other defining moment. 6 In what way does paragraph two contain suspense? ) Climax: A climax is the highest point in a single action, the decisive moment towards which events appear to be heading . 7 Which paragraph (indeed which sentence), in your view, provides a climax for this story? vi) Denouement: This is a French word meaning unravelling. It refers to the process which follows a climax, where some kind of sense is made of the proceeding events. Sometimes the denouement involves a discovery or a disclosure. Sometimes, as in this case, it involves a moment of recognition a sudden growth in awareness or the realisation of some truth. In what sense, do the last two paragraphs of this story provide a recognition. 9 Is this recognition for the narrator, the reader (or both)? [Language Tool Kit:Exposition: The provision of essential background information early in the narration of a story. Predicament: A difficult choice between undesirable alternatives, often presented to a character early in a narrative. Conflict: A situation where the interests of characters or groups of characters are opposed. Antagonist: Usually, but not always, a character whose interests are opposed to th ose of the main character or group of characters in a story. Internal conflict: A situation where two parts of a single character are in conflict with each other. Rising action: The suspenseful part of a story leading up to its climax. Climax: The decisive moment in a story towards which events appear to be heading. Denouement: The process of unravelling or winding down that occurs in the aftermath of a storys climax. ]| Lets look, by way of example, at what we might do in the classroom to help students gain a better understanding of one of thesed terms: predicament. Once we have discussed the definition of predicament, we would need to help students pinpoint the predicament the narrator recounts in the short story. Having done this, it would be useful to engage students in a kind of role play activity to help them better understand the narrators predicament which is central to the story. This role play would be fun to do as a drama activity, using a voiced thoughts monologue. If this were impratical, it could also be done in the form of some expressive writing. Either way, the task itself might look something like this The milkmans predicament activity. Imagine you are the milkman and you are just about to go and visit the woman to ask her for money. What are you thining/worrying about? What thoughts are competing in your head? Try to use some quotes from the story and some of your own words. Activities such as this could (time permitting) be constructed for each plot element to help students develop a thorough understanding of the storys narrative structure. Character and characterisation Senior students seldom have any problems with the idea of character. By year 11, it is a term they are generally familiar with and comforatble using. Characterisation on the other hand is a different story. Understanding the term characterisation invloves students making the shift to seeing text as something that has been constructed by the author and that is constructed by the reader as he/she reads. This can be a difficult jump for some! So, how can we explain the difference between character and characterisation to senior English students? Keeping in mind that the term character refers to WHAT and the term characterisation refers to HOW, write some defiinitions that you might use with your students. Then, write some questions relating to A Piece of Yellow Soap that guide students to an understanding of characterisation. Activity 1:1:5: Discussion Forum Character and Characterisation For a clear definition, lets refer again to The art of the short story. Characterisation refers to the process whereby readers construct characters on the basis of evidence in the text provided by writers. This evidence can include:†¢ actions;†¢ thoughts, feelings and deliberations;†¢ descriptions (from a narrator or another character);†¢ dialogue| Setting Looking back to our overview of narrative study, the final remaining element under the heading of selection is setting. You may find students have a functioning albeit narrow understanding of the term setting as the place where the story happens. With a senior class, our task is generally to help them broaden this definition to include time and the cultural setting in which the text was composed and to help them to understand the ways in which setting is important in a prose fiction text. How would you explain to students what setting is and why it is important in a work of fiction? Design an activity that helps students understand the importance of setting in a piece of yellow soap. Activity 1:1:6: Discussion Forum Setting Style Style is a combination of the way a writer uses words, syntax and punctuation. In some books, the word texture is used to denote the characteristics of style a reader is aware of at any point in the narrative. As such it can be usefully contrasted with the term structure whicg refers to the organisation of the text as a whole. (Art of the Short Story). It would take far too long to look at all the possible terms and techniques that we might discuss under the heading of style. It might therefore, be more useful to discuss the particular features of style evident in A Piece of Yellow Soap, so that you can get a grip on how a style discussion might work ina classroom. Read through A piece of Yellow Soap once again, paying particular attention to its style. List some metalinguistic terms (terms used to describe language) you would use to describe the style of this short story. Select one sentence of the story that you believe would elicit an interesting discussion about style. Activity 1:1:7: Discussion Forum Style Theme The term theme is a problematic one. If we refer to the theme of a novel, then we imply that a theme is a central message put in by a writer who is deliberately concerned to raise an issue or communicate a lesson to the reader (The Art of the Short Story, p8. ) In the version of reading that this constructs, the reader is merely a passive recipient of the ideas in the story. How else might we look at the idea of theme (and reading in general)? How would you present the idea of theme to a senior English class? Activity 1:1:8: Discussion Forum Theme 3 level guides Just before we wind up this module, Id like to look at a type of resource that can be extremely useful when approaching close reading of a text with a class. The 3 level guide offers a set of questions which draw students into a close reading of a text. Students are asked to agree or disagree (providing textual evidence) with propositions grouped in three categories: Level 1: Reading for information Level 2: Reading to interpret Level 3: Reading critically Lets look at some examples from a 3 level guide written for Chapter 23 of the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J. D Salinger. Level 1: Holden has only a short converstaion on the phone with Mr Antolini. Level 2: Holden respects Antolini because he doesnt care about appearances. Level 3: Holden believes that natural ability is a stronger factor in what a person can do than education or training. Question 1 is straightforward. Students can go to the text and find a definitive answer. Level 1 questions involve facts that are direc tly stated in the text. Question 2 is more complex. It requires students to interpret a characters thoughts, words or actions in some way. They may need to refer to other parts of the text to do this. The level 3 question is still more complex. It requires students to apply a critical perspective to the text to examine the belief systems or prejudices at work in a characters actions. Sometimes, level 3 questions require students to examine their own beliefs and prejudices that are supported or challenged by the text. In your readings, you will find a copy of a short story commonly taught in year 11 English classes, The Outsider by Graeme Lay. Read through the first few pages of the short story. Once you have done so, come up with one questions for each level of a three level guide. Activity 1:1:9: Discussion Forum 3 level guide

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Vocabulary Word Groups - The Mind

Vocabulary Word Groups - The Mind The Mind The words below are some of the most important used when talking about the mind and mental processes. Youll find an example sentence for each word to help provide context.Once youve learned the use of these words, create a mind-map to help you remember the vocabulary in a creative way. Write a short paragraph to help you start using your new vocabulary. The Mind - Verbs analyze You should analyze the situation very carefully. calculate Can you calculate large sums in your head? forget Dont forget to take your computer with you. infer I inferred that she wasnt feeling well from your conversation. memorize Ive memorized many long roles in my love. realize She finally realized that the answer was sitting right in front of her nose! recognize Peter recognized his friend from college. remember Anna remembered to telephone Bob yesterday. work out The Mind - Adjectives articulate Articulate people impress others with their use of words. brainy I have a brainy cousin who is an engineer for a company that makes airplanes. bright Here child is very bright. Shell go far. gifted George is a gifted pianist. Hell make you cry! imaginative If youre an imaginative person, you might write a book, or paint a picture. intelligent Ive had the honor to teach many intelligent people in my life. The Mind - Other Related Words brain The brain is a very sensitive organ. emotion Some people think its best to not show any emotion. Theyre crazy. genius Have you ever met a true genius? Its rather humbling. idea Tom had a great idea last week. Lets ask him. intellect Use your intellect to solve the problem Mr. Holmes. knowledge He has a wide knowledge of birds in North America. logic Mr. Spock was famous for his use of logic. memory I have a vague memory of that day. Remind me of what happened. mind Focus your mind and lets begin class. skill Verbal skills are an important party of his job. talent She has an incredible talent for music. thought I had a thought about the project. Can we talk? virtuoso The virtuoso played Liszt excellently. More Word Groups The BodyCelebrationsClothesCrime

Phenomenology and Building seminar Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Phenomenology and Building seminar - Essay Example The place where I was born, the place where I grew up, the place which I learnt was called a house, a place that was so much more. It is difficult for me to describe how much this place means to me. It is the place where I took my first steps. Where I laughed and cried and grew up. It is a tangible representation of all my memories. Moving towards the history of my home, the historic value of this house is also very sentimental. When my parents got married they moved into this house. Thirty years ago it was constructed by the housing development in Tehran. However it seems older to me. Looking back at the last time I visited my childhood home I remember it all so clearly. Last year during my winter break as I went to Tehran I decided to go visit the old neighborhood. My cousin dropped me at the mosque near my home and I silently stared at it for a minute listening to the sound of the azaan. I was overcome with emotion because of the beauty of that sound and the way people left what t hey were doing and headed to the mosque to answer the call for prayer. The sound of azaan had always calmed me down and filled me with peace and hope. I had missed it a lot Moving on I walked on the footpath as I had done many times before. Then I was finally there. I was in my old neighborhood. There are so many times in life that we think that we would know how we would feel in a particular situation. Its times like these that we realize for our all knowledge, for all our experiences, for all our perceived understanding of things, how little we really know. I was here after twelve years. We had moved into a new house as I turned sixteen. Everything had changed so much.. I walked down the street and I smell the faint but familiar aroma of xangak and chelo kebab. I smile at the little children riding their bikes and running around. I see their mother’s watching them with such fondness from their driveways. I see so many faces. Strangely I recognize none of them. I see the tre es nearby and so many birds flying in different directions. I see the yellow bridge and it makes me happy as I remember standing on it as a child hoping to catch a fish. At this point Martin Heidegger’s concept of dwelling crosses my mind. I had initially struggled to grasp what he had meant when he had related buildings to dwelling. How he had mentioned the fourfold elements of earth, sky, divinities and mortals as essential for the idea of dwelling. At this point I could see with certain clarity what he had meant. My house was located near a natural environment. It was how I had related to the overall environment, also known as ‘place’ as Christian Norberg-Schulz would call it, and not just a structure of a building in which I spent a majority of my time in. I’m standing outside my house now. It’s a building of modest proportions. It’s a two storey family house built along a minimalist design. The character of which is defined from its semi hanging open terrace, a set of white pillars that start at the base and finish lightly touching the roof top, with huge glass windows and a small courtyard that provides shielding enclosure from the street while maximizing light and views.  I stare at the white residential security gate and I smile as fond memories flood my mind. I see myself struggling to climb over that gate and when tiring from the effort of doing so sitting right at the base with my feet hanging out and waving at people passing by. I can see my

Challenge of Intercultural Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Challenge of Intercultural Communication - Essay Example Intercultural perspective helps to deepen our knowledge and broaden horizons. During my studies I was involved in the common project with my Iranian friend, we provided each other with useful insights about our countries. Comparative analysis made our essays better and, as a result, we both got excellent marks. Even though now I understand how beneficial intercultural experiences might be, earlier I had some prejudice regarding meeting representatives of other cultures. I was especially suspicious about meeting Iranian men, whom I imagined as very closed-minded and even dangerous people. Probably, such prejudice was formed in my mind by popular mass media, talking a lot about Muslim terrorists and difficulties in negotiations with Iran. When I first met Ahmad, first representative of his race, ethnicity, nationality and religion, I was confused and hesitated to start conversation. However, our common task made me do so, and when we started talking, I realized that I met very interesting open-minded person with broad and yet deep knowledge in different spheres of social sciences. Ice was broken, we made a great common project and even became friends afterwards. Later on, I told him about my initial prejudice and we laughed together on it. This intercultural encounter has taught me to be mor e open to representatives of other cultures. I made more international friends which made my life more exciting. I believe that it is important to be able to overcome all stereotypes and prejudices as this is essential basis for our own well-being, the way to enrich our life and make it more interesting. Most importantly, this is the only possible way to peaceful coexistence in our world, which is so diverse and intercultural, though globalized and highly interconnected. Advertisement campaigns usually appeal to societal values, which are important for consumers. Companies try to understand the identity of the person who would buy the

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Significance of the study Essay Using a help desk management software leads to the increase in efficiency in operation as it allows for the solution of some of the redundant issues over call. This has the effect of reducing traveling costs and man-hour billing to field engineers as they go to customer sites. Research Question The purpose of this research is to determine whether purchasing COTS or building a service desk tracking application is best for the automation and tracking of the GovComm, Inc. Engineering Support Services’ Helpdesk. To answer this question, this research must explore: ? The entities of GovComm, Inc. Engineering Support Services’ Helpdesk ? Based on advantages and disadvantages, which qualities of each configuration best adhere to Engineering Support Services automation and asset tracking; ? 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Chapter 2 Literature Review Automated office systems support (AOSS) is a model made up of teams of technicians in computer who are charged with the responsibility of providing a variety of support activities in a desktop computer environment and area networks for any organization. To ensure the provision of high quality services and products, each of these teams must follow the processes, standard and procedures. A process referred to as quality assurances is used in monitoring and evaluation of the level of adherence to the procedures processes and standard in a bid to determine the potential quality that the product will attain. Therefore, QA involves review and audit of the services and activities as a means of verification of their compliance with the relevant procedures and standards so as to assure the appropriate results are seen. The question of whether to buy or build an AOSS is one of the very complex decisions that an organization has to deal with in its daily activities. It is in deed a perpetual dilemma for the organizations that are contemplating on automating their office activities. Buying implies purchasing an off-shelf Automated office systems support that are produced in mass by some software company, more often multinationals (Leopoldo, 1999). The products typically contain contents that are not unique to a particular organizations or user population needs. Moreover, it is the general trend in the software industry to create new softwares that do no conflict with the existing and thus the technology can be implemented without conflict with the existing systems. Build imply the creation of Automated office systems support from scratch (Leopoldo, 1999). Therefore, the process of building requires the determination of the organizational needs, the data and information nature and needs of the organization, design of the system an the actual implementation of the system. The process of building may and often include testing the end product to ensure that its functionality are as per the objectives that acted as the basis for its formulation (Leopoldo, 1999). A decision to buy or build a Automated office systems support may seem to be complex but in reality it can be reduced to three considerations: Resources, Needs and uniqueness. The organization must clearly determine its needs and wants before a decision is made, this may involve identification of features which are critical in meeting the organizations needs. In determination of the organizational needs they must consider the following:? Organizational objectives ? Skills ? Information needs ? Culture ? Corporate direction. Meeting all the needs is an impossible event and therefore setting priorities is inevitable. Resources Resource as a factor is one that many organizations and individual would quickly jump at an opportunity to ignore. However, examination of resources is a very important aspect to the development agenda. Moreover, many organizations make the mistake of viewing resource in the monetary dimension only. Although money as a resource is quite critical, two other pieces; time and personnel, need to be considered to complete the puzzle (Shrapre, 1999). Time When taken in the context of either building or buying a Automated office systems support, time takes the following into account: ? The time that will taken in decision making. ? The developmental time of the Automated office systems support including the time taken in testing. ? The time taken in rolling out the Automated office systems support or implement it within the organization. Analysis of organizations against the three time variables helps in the determination of the importance of time in deciding whether to buy or build.

Dave Matthews Band †The Sons of Crash :: Music

Dave Matthews Band – The Sons of Crash    All I want is for a voice to come out of the wilderness and the stereo to crackle in flames like the burning bush. I don’t want to have to ask, "Are you talking to me?" I want to know. -Ariel Swartley "The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle" Music is a funny thing. I’ve listened to music all my life, thousands of songs, hundreds of artists. But only a few stick out; like my first real album (Tiffany’s self titled release. What ever happened to her?), or my first alternative album (the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s Blood Sugar Sex Magik: I bought it on tape when I was 14 and listened to it so much that it wore out). Only one has become a part of who I am, the Dave Matthews Band’s Crash. Somewhere between its "So Much To Say" and "Proudest Monkey" my indifferent hearing turned into awareness, and I stopped listening with just my ears and started listening with my heart. When I went to my first class at Mary Washington College, my English professor- an interesting man, but temporarily an agent of authority- posed a question to us, one that at the time had as much meaning as "What did you do this summer?" He asked us to pick a Desert Island Disc. It really wasn’t a hard decision; I was listening to the Dave Matthews Band’s Crash more than the rest of my CDs and I was pretty sure I could write the four papers on it required by the class. I really didn’t understand then the decision I had made. But out of respect and insecurity, I headed off to my desert island with Crash (cf. Mark 18). Most rock records aren’t hard to understand. They draw on commonplaces of community and adolescence: easy listening, good dancing, simple emotions, and sharp images†¦ But [Beggar’s Banquet’s] cleverness makes the difference.    -Simon Firth, "Beggars Banquet" Simon Firth "changed [his] usual habits" in 1968, choosing The Rolling Stones’ Beggars Banquet over "The Beatles’ more comfortable music," and was rewarded with "the most interesting rock record [he had] ever heard" (30). My musical snobbery ended in my junior year of high school, when my typical (and boring) choice of anything ‘alternative’: Metallica, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, was replaced with Garth Brooks, Blackstreet or my mom’s favorite, the Dave Matthews Band. Dave Matthews Band – The Sons of Crash :: Music Dave Matthews Band – The Sons of Crash    All I want is for a voice to come out of the wilderness and the stereo to crackle in flames like the burning bush. I don’t want to have to ask, "Are you talking to me?" I want to know. -Ariel Swartley "The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle" Music is a funny thing. I’ve listened to music all my life, thousands of songs, hundreds of artists. But only a few stick out; like my first real album (Tiffany’s self titled release. What ever happened to her?), or my first alternative album (the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s Blood Sugar Sex Magik: I bought it on tape when I was 14 and listened to it so much that it wore out). Only one has become a part of who I am, the Dave Matthews Band’s Crash. Somewhere between its "So Much To Say" and "Proudest Monkey" my indifferent hearing turned into awareness, and I stopped listening with just my ears and started listening with my heart. When I went to my first class at Mary Washington College, my English professor- an interesting man, but temporarily an agent of authority- posed a question to us, one that at the time had as much meaning as "What did you do this summer?" He asked us to pick a Desert Island Disc. It really wasn’t a hard decision; I was listening to the Dave Matthews Band’s Crash more than the rest of my CDs and I was pretty sure I could write the four papers on it required by the class. I really didn’t understand then the decision I had made. But out of respect and insecurity, I headed off to my desert island with Crash (cf. Mark 18). Most rock records aren’t hard to understand. They draw on commonplaces of community and adolescence: easy listening, good dancing, simple emotions, and sharp images†¦ But [Beggar’s Banquet’s] cleverness makes the difference.    -Simon Firth, "Beggars Banquet" Simon Firth "changed [his] usual habits" in 1968, choosing The Rolling Stones’ Beggars Banquet over "The Beatles’ more comfortable music," and was rewarded with "the most interesting rock record [he had] ever heard" (30). My musical snobbery ended in my junior year of high school, when my typical (and boring) choice of anything ‘alternative’: Metallica, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, was replaced with Garth Brooks, Blackstreet or my mom’s favorite, the Dave Matthews Band.

No More Couch Potatoes Essay

There is no doubt that there is too many obese people in this world, and that is clearly a problem, but we are focusing on the wrong things in our searching for a solution. It is not the overweight itself and the thinking of a better look when all the kilos are gone, no, it is a good physicality that is the main drive or motivation that leads to a good and forever being los of weight. Too many of the obese people do not keep being thin when they have lost weight, because they are not supported on their personality, the particularly obese young boy or girl, have being abused and bullied because of their overwhelming weight, and look. That breaks the physical motivation in those young kids, and makes them take a part of this way of being treated, they accepts it and puts on a role as the â€Å"fat dude†. Personality and losing weight has to expand i the same tempo to keep the necessary motivation, not just to loose more weight, but to get a stronger and more confident personality. One of the newest answers to the obesity problem, is the â€Å"TV-cycle†, a bicycle connected to the TV, so to watch television, the kids now has to get a movement in the pedals, if not, the TV will turn off. That is not a way to get rid of the obesity. Treating the obese kids otherwise than regularly weighting kids in average teenage activities is giving them the fat-kid role, and that will not strength their outer persona. Respect and accept from other kids is important to get the essential feeling that creates a confident personality, a person who believes in him/herself. Wathing Tv, playing computer, and eating fastfood, those things are not the main problems, they are just a part of what the physical breakdown effects. Everyone do those things once in a while, and everyone should do it if they want, but everything is healthiest in small doses, and that is on thing that the obese kids has to learn, i a way so it feels natural in their minds to think of exercising, healthy food and so on. Once i had a rule that everytime i eated couch potatoes, i also took an apple from our fruit bawl, and everytime i had been surfing on the internet for too long, i went to my garden and played football. Everyone can do that. Everyone do like some kind of good and healthy food, and everyone do know how to run, kick to a ball, hop, whatever. If we just treat everyone the same, there will be a place to evolve, from overweight to regular weight, and from unconfident to confident about ourselves, and our surroundings.

A Story from the Childhood That Is Reenacting My Life Today Essay

Years ago when I was a small kid, there was a point in time when I thought I was going to die or was going to live in a way other than other normal people. I accidentally cut my finger with a scissors by mistake while I was at my father’s work place for a visit. As a little child, I was very frightened by the look of blood and thought I was going to lose my finger or hand back then. My father used to be a banker working in one of the leading banks in Kuwait. I recall my father told me that he was going to be away for some time from his desk to do some important work and once he comes back he will get me chocolates and candy. While I was playing around at my father’s office I picked up a scissors and starting cutting papers and then I screamed as I have cut myself by mistake in my finger. Moments after, a colleague of my father ran into his office and helped me. His name was Ali. He helped me clear the blood quickly and was very supportive. I recall Ali’s response was exactly what a kid in such situation would hope for. He cared over me in delicate and nurturing manner. My whole world changed since that day, as a child I have developed love and respect to Ali and used to ask my father to take me to his office every school holiday to see Ali. I recall I used to prefer sitting in his office than staying at my father’s. I grew up having the same thoughts till the day I have graduated from high school as I have then decided to study Accounting and Finance in order to allow me to work in a bank and be a good caring person like the people I used to see when I was a child at my father’s work.

Indian Land essays

Indian Land essays Your house can be anywhere in the world just as long as you can survive in that area. The house that you own is on a property that your landlord owns. This means when you sell your house or when you need to fix your house you can complain or negotiate with your landlord. Then say that your landlord decides to come by to your house one day and decides to kick you to the curb because he or she wanted more space for their luxuries. This example of taking away your house which you have been living for quite a while, just so happen to the Indians around the 1600s. The British just one day set sail out of Europe and decides to obtain the land of Indians, who were there way before the first settler settle and takes away their right to live, to breathe, and to their free will. The Indians werent able to resist the encroachment of the British because there werent any advantage for them to take, have or use. For example, the Indians didnt have anything to defend themselves from the British. This means that the Indians only resources were stones and woods to made spears and bows. This shows that Indians couldnt become skilled at using or building a British weapon. In addition, the British effortlessly pushed the Indians here and there. This means that the British can either drive the Indians to the West or sell them as slaves in other colonies. This shows that Indians were mostly sold to plantations since they know how to plant several of food and they were cheap labor. Furthermore, when the British started coming to the Indians land the Indians population had been decreasing rapidly. One reason was that the British had brought to them new, strong, and also deadly diseases from their land to theirs. This shows that the Indians didnt have the strong antibioti cs to cure the new diseases and their warriors couldnt protect their homeland. Then again the Indians never had the advantage to defend the ...

Battle of Globe Tavern - Civil War

Battle of Globe Tavern - Civil War Battle of Globe Tavern - Conflict Dates: The Battle of Globe Tavern was fought August 18-21, 1854, during the American Civil War (1861-1865). Armies Commanders Union Major General Gouverneur K. Warrenapprox. 20,000 men Confederate Lieutenant General A.P. Hillapprox. 15,000 men Battle of Globe Tavern - Background: Having begun the Siege of Petersburg in early June 1864, Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant began movements to sever the railroads leading into the city. Dispatching troops against the Weldon Railroad in late June, Grants effort was blocked by Confederate forces at the Battle of Jerusalem Plank Road. Planning further operations, Grant transferred Major General Winfield S. Hancocks II Corps north of the James River in early August with the goal of striking at the Richmond defenses. Though he did not believe that attacks would lead to the citys capture, he hoped they would draw troops north from Petersburg and force Confederate General Robert E. Lee to recall troops sent to the Shenandoah Valley. If successful, this would open the door for an advance against the Weldon Railroad by Major General Gouverneur K. Warrens V Corps. Crossing the river, Hancocks men opened the Second Battle of Deep Bottom on August 14. Though Hancock failed to achieve a breakthrough, he succeeded in drawing Lee north and prevented him from reinforcing Lieutenant General Jubal Early in the Shenandoah. Battle of Globe Tavern - Warren Advances: With Lee north of the river, command of the Petersburg defenses dell to General P.G.T. Beauregard. Moving out at dawn on August 18, Warrens men moved south and west over muddy roads. Reaching the Weldon Railroad at Globe Tavern around 9:00 AM, he ordered Brigadier General Charles Griffins division to begin destroying the tracks while Brigadier General Romeyn Ayres division deployed to the north as a screen. Pressing up the railroad, they swept aside a small force of Confederate cavalry. Alerted that Warren was on the Weldon, Beauregard ordered Lieutenant General A.P. Hill to drive back the Union forces (Map). Battle of Globe Tavern - Hill Attacks: Moving south, Hill directed two brigades from Major General Henry Heths division and one from Major General Robert Hokes division to attack the Union line. As Ayres made contact with Confederate forces around 1:00 PM, Warren ordered Brigadier General Samuel Crawford to deploy his division on the Union right in the hope that he could outflank Hills line. Advancing around 2:00 PM, Hills forces assaulted Ayres and Crawford, driving them back towards Globe Tavern. Finally stemming the Confederate advance, Warren counterattacked and regained some of the lost ground (Map). As darkness fell, Warren directed his corps to entrench for the night. That night, elements of Major General John Parkes IX Corps began to reinforce Warren as Hancocks men returned to the Petersburg lines. To the north, Hill was bolstered by the arrival of three brigades led by Major General William Mahone as well as the cavalry division of Major General W.H.F. Rooney Lee. Due to heavy rain through the early parts of August 19, fighting was limited. With the weather improving late in the afternoon, Mahone moved forward to strike the Union right while Heth assaulted Ayres in the Union center. Battle of Globe Tavern - Disaster Turns to Victory: While Heths attack was stopped with relative ease, Mahone located a gap between Crawfords right and the main Union line to the east. Plunging through this opening, Mahone turned Crawfords flank and shattered the Union right. Desperately attempting to rally his men, Crawford was nearly captured. With the V Corps position at risk of collapse, Brigadier General Orlando B. Willcoxs division from IX Corps moved forward and mounted a desperate counterattack which culminated with hand-to-hand fighting. This action rescued the situation and allowed the Union forces to maintain their line until nightfall. The next day saw heavy rains descend upon the battlefield. Aware that his position was tenuous, Warren used the break in the fighting to construct a new line of entrenchments approximately two miles to the south near Globe Tavern. This paralleled the Weldon Railroad facing west before turning ninety degrees just north of Globe Tavern and running east to the main Union works along the Jerusalem Plank Road. That night, Warren ordered V Corps to withdraw from its advanced position to the new entrenchments. With clear weather returning on the morning of August 21, Hill moved south to attack. Approaching the Union fortifications, he directed Mahone to assault the Union left while Heth advanced on the center. Heths assault was easily repulsed after being hammered by Union artillery. Advancing from the west, Mahones men became bogged down in a swampy wooded area in front of the Union position. Coming under intense artillery and rifle fire, the attack faltered and only Brigadier General Johnson Hagoods men succeeded in reaching the Union lines. Breaking through, they were quickly thrown back by Union counterattacks. Badly bloodied, Hill was forced to pull back. Battle of Globe Tavern - Aftermath: In the fighting at the Battle of Globe Tavern, Union forces sustained 251 killed, 1,148 wounded, and 2,897 captured/missing. The bulk of Union prisoners were taken when Crawfords division was flanked on August 19. Confederate losses numbered 211 killed, 990 wounded, and 419 captured/missing. A key strategic victory for Grant, the Battle of Globe Tavern saw Union forces assume a permanent position on the Weldon Railroad. The loss of the railroad severed Lees direct supply line to Wilmington, NC and forced materials coming from the port to be off-loaded at Stony Creek, VA and moved to Petersburg via Dinwiddie Court House and the Boydton Plank Road. Eager to eliminate the Weldons use completely, Grant directed Hancock to attack south to Reams Station. This effort resulted in defeat on August 25, though additional parts of the railroad line were destroyed. Grants efforts to isolate Petersburg continued through the fall and winter before culminating in the citys fall in April 1865. Selected Sources CWSAC Battle Summaries: Battle of Globe TavernEncyclopedia Virginia: Battle of the Weldon Railroad Civil War Trust: Cutting the Supply Lines

Social networking and politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Social networking and politics - Essay Example Early childhood program is expanded such that all students can access to it. This will include provision of universal access to pre-kindergarten and kindergarten education background (Ishiyama 69). This will enable students to get smart and stable background of their education. Students with stable background will not be having problems in their future education. In addition, adults who dropped out of the education process can access affordable programs, which were created specifically for them to continue with their education. Collaboration was created between school and community to bring social services and education together under one roof (Stiftung 83). This strove to help students and families who are at risk. Qualified teachers should be equally distributed in all parts to bring changes in current practices affecting students who are at risk of being instructed by less qualified and inexperienced teachers. Class size limits: class size limits should be enforced and extended to allow each student to get access and receive necessary individualized attention. This will make public education the highest priority. Experts should be put in charge of curriculum as non-partisans such that they can review any substantive changes to curriculum. The reviewed changes made on curriculum should be made public by the state board. Republican Party ignored the drop out crisis and did not propose any change or action to improve it. Republican Party also proposed that effective class size limits should be eliminated (Parmelee 134). They did not see any importance of effective class size limits on students and parents. Early childhood development: they oppose early childhood development and pre-kindergarten, as they believed that parents could train their children in their early development. They urged congress to remove government-sponsored programs that